Feed only when necessary and dispose of your victim as to not cause attention to your kind.
Clutching onto the body tightly, he took off, traveling swiftly through the thick bushes and trees. I followed him, keeping up with his pace as he swam in and out of forest, low brush, and open areas. Ahead, I saw the moonlight glistening off a small body of water. He stopped about a half mile away in an open, quiet area and dropped the body to the ground.
He held out his hand and I tossed him the shovel. He didn’t say anything as he sank it into the dirt, breaking the hard ground open. First, he dug slowly, but soon picked up speed. The hole was deep enough to swallow him from the waist down. When he finished, he tossed the shovel at my feet, gently grabbed onto Bobbi’s legs, and carefully placed her body into the hole.
I thought that was it. Now he’d simply cover her up and we’d be off to finally get dinner and eat, but he stood in silence, staring at her remains. I tapped my foot, impatiently, knowing that he was going to reminisce about her again.
“Kei, you don’t know the trouble you’ve caused here,” he said.
I scratched the back of my head. “No, and again, I don’t care.”
“You have to care about something.”
I thought for a moment. “No, I don’t think so.”
He jumped out of the hole. “You cared about your sire at one point, right?” He picked up the shovel lying at my feet.
“Now, that’s a sire bond,” I answered. “You don’t know anything about that because I broke off our bond, before it had a chance to grow.”
“Yeah, I remember.” He pushed the shovel into the pile of upturned dirt. “However, I never broke my bond with you.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Apparently, it does. You’re the one who came back for my help.”
“What are you trying to say, Nash?”
He flung the dirt into the hole. “I said I will help you and I’ll keep my word as long as you keep yours.”
“And I agreed. Can you hurry up? I’m hungry.”
He picked up speed, covering the hole and the body as quickly as he dug it. Now finished, he placed the shovel over his right shoulder.
“While you were gone, I learned everything I could about Deamhan,” he said. “I thought about searching for you, but I didn’t want to leave Forsan. At first, I didn’t understand the desire, the craving inside me that would have done anything to be next to you. I thought it was because I needed to be near someone who was like me. I learned much later what I felt was the need to bond.”
I placed my hands on my hips. “Yeah. And?”
“I can’t refuse your need for help, Kei, even though I want to,” he spoke. “I know I’m not strong enough to fight alongside you if your sire finds you. I can’t win and he’d surely kill me, right? But still, you came back here for my help. That must mean something.”
“I came back because I sired you,” I said with a hint of distaste in my voice. “You really don’t know anything. You see, Nash, in the end, we’re all in it for ourselves. In the end, bonds don’t matter. We’re creatures who can’t, or won’t, trust one another.”
He shook his head. “I don’t believe it.”
“Well, believe it.”
“Things change. Everyone changes, including us,” he replied. “Just because you were told that we don’t show any emotion doesn’t mean that we can’t at least try. Our bodies may be dead, yet we still live.” He pointed to the tree. “Trees grow by adjusting to their environments. If an environment is cruel and harsh, their growth will reflect the cruelty and harshness. But if the environment is peaceful and blissful, they will become peaceful, graceful and blissful.”
“For the love of everything unholy.” I turned around, tired of the conversation. “Enough of this spiritual talk. We’re done here. Let’s go.”
“I’m saying that it’s the environment you’re in, Kei. That’s what made you into what you are.”
“Yeah, well life ain’t easy.” I walked away from him. “I thought you would’ve outgrown that Native American stuff as a Deamhan.”
“It’s not ‘stuff,’ Kei. It’s part of who I am.”
“Well, whatever it is, I’m tired of hearing about it.”