Page 3 of Vameer

By the time I reached thirty, the age of maturity, my gravito had been acting on its own for years.

It’s never acted in a way I don’t agree with. It’s a part of me. An extension of my will. It knows what I know. Feels how I feel. And after nearly two centuries of working as one, I trust it, and myself, enough to let it do as it pleases.

Sentient gravito is not a common thing among vampires. I have only witnessed it a few times in others. And those instances are the only other times I’ve seen gravito. Aside from my own. Otherwise, it’s always invisible. Clear. Completely see through. But when it wants to be seen, or not seen through, it can darken to look like smoke.

And I have moved enough prisoners to know that they are slightly less crazed with fear if they can see what is carrying them. Even if that thing looks like air.

I step aside, and my gravito floats the two men, sideways, through the narrow entrance into the cell.

“You can’t do this!” one of them shouts. The other is just crying now.

“I can.” I pull two of the swords from the sack.

I twirl the blades, keeping my wrists loose. Then I channel gravito into my arms as I thrust the sword across the entrance of the cell, embedding the blade several inches into the rock.

Stabbing across and up with my other arm, I sink that blade into the opposite side of the entrance, creating an X.

The sword was not put in the stone by a wizard.

I take a third and thread it straight across, pinning the original two in place.

Then I repeat the process, working my way down the doorway.

Before I do the last set, I kick the sack of rations into the cell, then I complete the barrier.

With the last sword in place, I step back, and the gravito wrapped around the men disappears.

They fall to the floor in a pile.

“Where are you going?” One of the men crawls to the front of the cell. “What are we supposed to do in here?”

“I’m not going anywhere. And you are supposed to survive.” I wave my hand, and the large slab of stone on the outside of the chamber slides back into place. Removing all traces of light, filling the room with utter blackness, and sealing us off from the world.

The men whimper.

They were feeling tough a few hours ago, when I found them slaughtering their neighbor’s cattle. But now, in the dark, trapped in a cave with a vampire… They are not so tough.

I unsheathe the sword at my hip, my favorite one, and lay it on the edge of the altar.

Looking around the space that will be my home for the next few weeks, I pull my hood up and thread my horns through the slits in the wool.

Then I sit on the altar and lie back beside my sword.

I adjust my robe around myself and fold my hands over my stomach.

One month.

I close my eyes.

Visions of death fill the darkness.

Ones I’ve caused.

Ones I’ve witnessed.

I keep my eyes closed.

Remembered sounds of despair resonate in my skull.