Eternally Evangeline

Men have battled for liberty and faith since the beginning of humanity. They would compel some young boys, who were barely out of puberty, to inscribe during wartime solely so their family name wouldn’t be tarnished.

Vladimir Belikov was only one of such individuals who had given their lives for the cause, having gone to fight against their volition; their souls frequently refused to move onto the afterlife.

After plenty of time, hatred would conquer their spirits, envious of observing the living, and their souls would transform into something more sinister. More evil.

In one such incident, Vladimir’s spirit acquired flesh and bone once more, having no remembrance as to how he departed, born again to a world that had become so distantly familiar to him.

All on his own, he would have to navigate life without either a parent or parents to instruct him from good to bad.

He was cursed to dine on human flesh to stay youthful for an eternity, because his need could never be satiated, his unquenchable yearning for a drop of anything genuine.

For many decades after his resurrection, Vladimir enjoyed toying with his meals.

He used to be merciless. He had gone on killing sprees, not quite understanding how to control his hunger for blood. He had become the monster of bedtime tales for unruly children to stop them from misbehaving. Everyone knew his name for decades.

While hunting, he was captivated by watching the humans go about their lives and what very small lives they led compared to his.

He learnt virtually everything he could from the individuals he followed: the way to speak, the way to move, the way to dress. If he hadn’t resided alone, some may have even characterised him as distinguished.

He would scoff at their mortality, watching the dead being carted out onto the streets, or the elderly wrinkly humans who tasted as if they had already expired.

Vladimir became pickier with his food and preferred to go for the younger ones.

Their blood was just more succulent and sweet.

His perfect meal was husbands and wives, preferably the ones with small children. There was just something more fulfilling about his victims, who feverishly hunted for their kin, youngsters yearning for their mothers or fathers but never being able to see them again.

His personal favorite in the village right now would be a woman called Evangeline, betrothed to a democratic socialist called Clay Branch.

He saw her stroll to and from her work every day, watching every facet of her life; from the tiny lump of a tummy she looked to have been growing, or to the home and her spouse, which weren’t as immaculate as they may have seemed.

Inside the tiny cottage, with no lights on and no one home, Vladimir waited for his Evangeline.

He knew she was coming home alone; he knew that her husband would have already given her an explanation for having to work late in the night. What sort of man lets his gorgeous wife to go home alone in the middle of the night, with a monster on the loose, no less?

“Good evening, my darling Evangeline.” Vladimir’s voice rang from the deepest region of her house as she came through the front door and closed it with a click.

“Clay?” She peered around, flicking on the lights on the wall near the entryway.

“Not quite,” he replied as her eyes turned to the size of dinner plates, backing up to the wall as he came forward; thumbling with the doorknob. “What sort of husband doesn’t take his darling wife home so late at night?”

“W-What are you doing in my home?” She trembled. “My husband will be home any second.”

He chuckled. “My darling, I tell you, your husband is not coming home.”

“What have you done to him?” Evangeline agitated, attempting to locate the closest item to her that she might fling at the invader.

“Oh you don’t have to worry about him,” Vladimir waved her off, taking her hand in his. “He is rather tangled up as we speak.”

Evangeline attempted to shove him back from her, still unable escape. She attempted to scream, though he held her neck and any noises she made died fast. All she could do was gaze up at him, horrified.

“That’s a girl,” he murmured into her ear, beguiling her with his melodious voice. “We wouldn’t want the foolish humans to wake up now, would we? Not for what I have planned for you.”

“Get away from me, if you know what’s good for you.” Her voice buzzed back as he released his grasp on her, and he stared back at her, pleased. “You can be sure that my husband will hear about this.”

His laughter echoed like bells in the air.

“Oh my beautiful Evie, you’ve got it all wrong.” He shoved her violently up against the wall, hovering in mid-air, blocking her mouth from another scream from her lips. Her eyes widened as two of his front fangs extended into sharp points, and he lunged towards her neck, smelling the delicious odour of the blood flowing in her veins. “I don’t believe you realise who you are talking to.”

She gazed at him in disbelief. She remembered all too well the legends of the cold ones that had haunted towns like hers. There were legends, and never once had she thought they had been genuine until now.

“Vladim-” She whispered against his palm before she felt his razor-sharp fangs burrow into her neck. She struggled violently against his grasp on her throat, twisting in an unusual fashion.

For Vladimir, he was having the time of his life. Hers was the most exquisite blood he had ever tasted, and she tasted so much better than he had anticipated her to.

Her blood aroused him in ways he could not articulate. It danced over his tongue and melted like butter. With every swallow, he wanted more and more.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t already fed himself; today, he simply enjoyed himself a wonderful snack in the evening, much like how the wealthiest in this town were able to purchase pudding after their meal.

She made him feel like he hadn’t fed in decades, since his rebirth, and this was the source of nutrition he had been craving for his entire undead existence.

He tried to savour her blood; he truly did, but he lusted for it. He hadn’t gone this insane since his first century or two.

He halted for air when he began experiencing gaps in between drawing out her blood. When he pulled back and looked at her face, she had gone completely white and her eyes were dead.

“Shit.” He talked primarily to himself, sheepishly. He let her go and watched her fall to the floor like a flightless bird.

He hadn’t planned to completely empty her of blood; he was going to keep her around, perhaps even employ her as his personal snack.

Vladimir couldn’t help but recall how mesmerised he was by her elegance the first time he ever saw her.

Her rosy pink lips, her otherworldly pink eyes, her light blonde hair that curled naturally to the middle of her back, and her complexion as white as snow.

He had never come across anyone so gorgeous in his very long life. It surely had to be a sin to let her die.

A choice had been made, and it would have to be carried out promptly, or else she would be lost forever.

Vladimir pushed his sharp claws into the flesh of his wrist and sliced a sizable gaping wound into it. As dark, vile blood flowed from his body, he wrapped his lips over his wound and started sucking his own blood into his mouth.

He made a frown, as though in distaste at the awful stench of his own blood, before he bent down beside Evangeline. He grabbed her cheeks so her lips pursed, and he pressed his lips into hers, pushing the blood to pass from his mouth to hers.

He then clenched her jaw and angled her face forward, caressing her neck up and down, urging her to swallow.

He maintained this practice until the early hours, assuring her survival. He observed as, very slowly, life began to pour back into her veins.

He cursed himself. This has occurred several times. Maybe not this precisely. Years ago, he didn’t fully know how to manage withdrawing his venom, and he had spawned numerous vampires. They were a pain in his ass.

Evangeline, however, would make a lovely immortal, and she would soon dwell by his side. He had surely made sure of it.

What Vladimir had given Evangeline that day would bring disruption to her life forever.