Cazi's Journey Ch. 02

Cazi woke slowly from dreams that she couldn't remember. She stretched languidly as she already felt the thirst within. She opened her eyes and looked around the room. There was still a faint light coming in through the closed shutters. She could see it on the wall around the curtains. The glow around the window was faint but bright as the sun itself to her eyes. Oddly enough she was not frightened by the glow and even though it hurt her eyes, dim as it was, she found it beautiful. A wistful sigh escaped her as she knew she would never again see the colors of a sunrise or sunset.

She rose from the bed and walked over to her dressing table, standing in front of it. She looked down into the empty mirror with another soft sigh. "Something else I will have to get used to." She closed her eyes and focused for a moment. When she opened them again, the mirror was no longer blank. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her pale skin seemed to glow in the fading sunlight as it always had. She ran her hand up her flat stomach, smiling as she looked into her eyes. They looked their normal shade of green instead of the glowing brightness they had before.

She turned away and began to dress. As the room darkened fully she realized the sun had set and she threw back the curtains and opened the shutters. She took a deep breath of fresh air before stepping back from the window. She walked to the door of her apartment and picked up the newspaper that had been delivered. She sat down in her chair and looked through the newspaper. She smiled to herself as she saw that Her Majesty, Queen Alexandra had awarded the Italian marathon runner a golden cup since his medal had been taken away from him. There was no mention of the dead Whitechapel woman in the newspaper, not that she expected there to be.

While she was looking at the theatre listings she opened her mind trying to hear nearby thoughts. She smiled as they began to filter into her head just as if she was standing on the street listening to people talking. That is what she was doing when she sensed... something. It was like a sound but she was almost positive that she did not hear it. She set the paper down and rose from her chair. The feeling had come from her bedroom. She walked as quietly as she could towards her room, being careful to take her time. As she stepped through the doorway she relaxed. Aelfric was smiling from his seat beside the window. "Hello, Cazi. I trust you slept well."

Walking over to the seat opposite him she settled down, smiling back at him. Yes, Aelfric, I slept quite well. And yourself? She was careful to keep her 'voice' down to a normal 'conversational' level. Aelfric smiled. "You are learning quickly, Cazi. What else have you been practicing?"

"I was just practicing opening my mind to hear other people's thoughts when I... heard... or sensed... something from this direction." She said, still not sure how to describe what she had felt. She remembered her experiment the night before and added excitedly. "Oh! And last night I moved the brush with my mind." She fought to keep her hand from going to her forehead as she remembered how her first attempt had turned out.

Aelfric laughed as she felt a light brushing against the back of her mind, the hairs on the back of her neck sticking up. "Hit yourself in the face did you?" His laughter broke off as he looked at her. "You heard me before I came up here? And you just sensed me reading your thoughts just now. That is amazing." He sat back stroking his beard thoughtfully.

Cazi felt the ghostly touch at the back of her mind fade and shook her head. "That was you? What was it that I... heard? And why is it amazing?" She asked as she leaned forward, resting her arms on the table, looking at Aelfric.

"It is amazing," he said. "Because it took me a decade or two before I had developed the ability to sense when a vampire was using its powers around me. It's just a feeling I get when one of our kind is using certain powers near me. And it only works with certain powers. If a vampire is reading someone else's mind, I cannot sense it. Only if they are reading mine. And with some vampires I cannot sense it even when they are reading mine. Some of our kind are very subtle with it." He smiled and shrugged. "I'm not very subtle."

"So someone might be able to read my thoughts and I would not even know it?" Cazi asked, incredulous.

Aelfric nodded. "Yes, especially as young as you are. As you get older you might be able to sense it more effectively. You will also be able to sense other powers being used."

"Like what? And how will I know?" Cazi interrupted.

"Like when a vampire moves something with its mind. That has a distinctive 'sound' to it." He smiled at her. "I heard your first 'practice' down the street. It was quite loud. Our ability to move faster than humans can see, that has another distinctive 'sound'. It is not a loud one but if you are nearby, you can pick it up."

Cazi frowned thinking about what all he had said. She wondered how many other vampires had heard her practicing. Aelfric's voice shook her out of her thoughts. "What was that, Aelfric?"

"I said, it is also surprising that you were able to move the brush so soon." Aelfric patiently repeated himself. "Can you do it again? I would like very much to see you do it."

Cazi smiled proudly, unconsciously sitting up straighter in her chair. When she heard him ask her to do it again she nodded. "Yes, I think I can." She half-turned towards her dressing table, holding her hand out towards the brush. She slowly built up her will, keeping her concentration on the brush even when she heard Aelfric's voice in her head. That should be enough Cazi. Too much and it will be loud. She concentrated on the brush and sent out her will, the brush rattling on the desk before sailing across the room into her hand.

"Very good, Cazi. Very good indeed." He said as she turned to him, holding the brush with a huge smile on her face. "A little bit more practice and you will be hardly making a whisper when you do it." He looked at her closely. "How do you feel, Cazi?"

She set the brush down on the table. "I feel fine. Thirsty, but fine."

"Then come. It is time to begin teaching you the fine art of feeding." He rose, holding his hand out to her.

She took it and rose as well. They exited the apartment and went down the stairs. She opened her mind and gasped as she caught the tail end of one of her neighbors thoughts. ... up in her apartment for the last two days doing God knows what, but I can imagine from the noise she was making the first night. She looked around trying to pinpoint where the thought came from as she lost it in her surprise and she saw Aelfric smiling. He looked over her head towards the woman sweeping her stoop. A quick glance showed that even though her apartment was in the next building over, it still jutted almost next to where her bedroom wall would be.

"Let it be, Cazi." She heard Aelfric whisper. "They don't know that I left your apartment through the window." She looked away from the woman sweeping with a polite nod of greeting that the woman returned. "So it is natural for them to think that I stayed with you the entire time. That is why I came out the front door this time." She looked back over at him as she heard him chuckle and continue. "And, truth be told, you were a little loud that first night."

Cazi gasped again, this time at him. She slapped him lightly on the arm. "That was not my fault and you bloody well know it." She smiled and squeezed his arm. "Some roguish fellow took control of my body and forced me to make all that noise."

Aelfric laughed loudly as they turned to walk down Thames Street. "As you say, Cazi." He tipped his homburg at a lady passing by with her child while his voice spoke in Cazi's mind. I might speak into your mind, Cazi, but I did not control your body. He looked over at her and smiled before looking back down the street as they walked but continued to speak into her mind. Controlling someone takes a lot of energy. It also takes a lot of concentration. I find that it is more trouble than it is worth. You can control someone's body, but unless you are very subtle about it they will know they are being controlled. You have to control their mind first.

Cazi's eyes widened in surprise but she quickly smoothed out her features. She nodded to a passing man respectfully, her eyes picking out amazing details in the light of the gas lamps along Thames Street. Do you mean that I will be able to control people's minds, Aelfric? How?

Aelfric looked at her, his eyebrow moving slightly upward in a quirk that she would learn over the years was an early warning sign of his growing irritated. In time, my sweet Cazi. One thing at a time. He gestured subtly towards a man and woman in dinner finery walking towards them. What are they thinking, Cazi. You have to know how to read and enter minds before you can even attempt to control them.

Cazi sighed softly and looked at the pair Aelfric had chosen. She opened her mind and focused on the two, listening for their thoughts. She smiled as she caught their thoughts. They are both thinking about the night they spent together and their courtship. A shocked look crossed her face as the thoughts continued to slide into her mind. Their courtship to other people! She looked from the cheating pair to Aelfric again as she looked deeper into their minds. They both cheated on their spouses to be... who are responsible for their meeting. Her eyes narrowed in concentration as she sought the answers she wanted, mindless of Aelfric's amused look. Her fiancé is his brother and his is her sister. They felt an attraction to each other since they first met... but it was a purely physical attraction... Neither wants to break off their engagement so they can be together.

Aelfric nodded slightly. His approval was evident as he answered her. Very good, Cazi. And if it was just one of them cheating, I would say that they were a prime candidates for feeding. But since they are both cheating...

Cazi finished right where he left off. If they both disappeared it would cause too much notice. She smiled as Aelfric nodded, proud of herself. She pressed a hand to her stomach as she felt the hunger growing within her. I need to feed soon, Aelfric.

Aelfric nodded to her, chuckling. Yes,Cazi, I know you do. Although it would not be too hard to go to their families and spread the rumor that they had disappeared together... to America or something. Although that would take some work.

Cazi focused her attention on the woman, fuming. She had been utterly faithful to her beloved Henry. Since his death she had indulged in her dalliances, this was true. One of them had led her to this point. But when her dashing Captain Bevington had been alive she had never even considered an affair. Despite her focus her mind wandered to when she had first met her dearest Henry John.

"Father!" Cassandra almost yelled. "How could you? I thought you wanted me to stay and run the plantation after you." She sat down hard in the chair beside her, tears welling in her eyes.

Her father, an older gentleman dressed as always in waistcoat and tie despite the humid heat of India walked over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "My dearest Cassandra, you have to understand. The Captain is the son of Lord Bevington. The youngest son, yes, but it is still a good match for you. The young man is quite smitten with you already."

"Smitten?" Cassandra interjected. "How could he be smitten with me? He has only met me once. No, twice, once in the market and once at the Colonial Governor's gala ball." She didn't really know why she was objecting so vehemently. She had found herself quite smitten with the handsome Captain Henry John Bevington of the 13th Hussars as well. No, she was not smitten, she corrected herself. She was merely attracted to him, as were most of the young women who had attended the ball. "Father, we have hardly spoken. How will we know if we will get along?"

Her father smiled down at his eldest daughter. "Your mother and I didn't know if we would get along when our parents arranged our betrothal either. I was just a young man getting ready to inherit a struggling medium-sized plantation and she was the only child, the spoiled only child, in her own words, mind, of a wealthy family that wanted their daughter taken care of." He sat down beside her, taking her hands in his.

The mention of her mother, deceased ten years past giving birth to her youngest sister, sent the tears welling in Cassandra's eyes rolling down her face. She heard her father sigh as he squeezed her hands. "She told me many times that she had asked the same question of her father and mother. And they told her the same thing that I am going to tell you, Cassandra." She looked at her father, listening. "In time love comes to us all. You just have to give it time to grow. Even if you don't love him now, you will. You just give it a chance and you will see."

Cassandra sighed. "Yes, father." She said meekly.

Cazi smiled softly remembering the long ago argument with her father. She had indeed given it a chance and she did indeed grow to love Henry. It had not even taken until their wedding for it to happen. She had loved him through most of their long engagement. Lost in her remembrances she did not notice as Aelfric led her through the streets of London.

Cassandra barely heard the Minister say: "I now present to you Captain and Mrs. Henry John Bevington." Her eyes and her thoughts were all on her new husband. She felt Henry's hands squeeze hers before letting go to allow her father to step forward to kiss her. She accepted her father's kiss with a smile that threatened to tear her face in half. She whispered in his ear. "Thank you, father. You were right" as she kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly.

She accepted the rest of the congratulatory kisses from her relatives before turning to take her husband's hand. His family had been unable to make the trip to India for the wedding. Unable or unwilling one. Henry said they were unable to, but his reaction after reading the letter from his father led her to believe it was more that they were unwilling to.

They returned to her father's house after the wedding at the head of a long line of carriages and horses. Theirs was drawn by the traditional four white horses and as they left the church their guests threw rice and grain, symbols of fertility, after them to bless their wedding. When they arrived at her father's house they were shown to the reception room. Cassandra and Henry stood in a decorated corner with him to her right. Her bridesmaids stood beside them with her maid of honor standing beside her. Her father came up and leaned down to kiss her cheek again, smiling proudly. "Well done, Cassandra. You look beautiful." He then turned to Henry. "Congratulations, Captain Bevington."

Henry smiled at his new father-in-law. "Please, sir, call me Henry. I do believe that you have earned that right."

Her father smiled. "Very well. Congratulations, Henry. May you and Cassandra be as happy as her mother and I were."

"Thank you, sir," Henry said. "I hope that we will be as happy as you and your wife were."

Cassandra just smiled at her father as the other guests began to file across the room towards them. She smiled and nodded her thanks to those who came to offer their congratulations, even though none directly congratulated her, only Henry, believing that, as she was now his wife, the congratulations were naturally conferred upon her as well.

Aelfric caught her arm and stopped her, pulling her back into a narrow alleyway. "There, Cazi." He said quietly but aloud as he pointed to a man making his way towards them. "Him." When he saw that she saw who he was referring to he lowered his arm.

Cazi looked at the man. He was shabbily dressed, though he fit in well with the people in this neighborhood, which she recognized as being between the Strand and Oxford Street. She took a moment longer to narrow it down further to being west of Charing Cross. She sent her mind out and smiled as she caught the man's intentions to find someone to rob tonight to pay for his ale.

"I doubt he would take me as a target, Cazi." Aelfric whispered in her ear. "But a woman walking alone, obviously with some means about her... I'm sure he would take that bait."

As Cazi stepped out of the alleyway, Aelfric spoke into her mind. She acted like she was lost as she listened to him instructing her on how to ensure the man's silence when she had lured him into the alley. She kept listening to his thoughts as she walked up the street. When she 'heard' him start thinking about robbing her. Abruptly she stopped and turned her back on him, partly to return to the alley and partly to hide the smile on her face at knowing she had him. She kept his thoughts picked out in her mind as she made her way back to the alley. Just before turning into the alley she caught his thoughts changing from just robbing her to robbing and raping her.

She turned down the alley, using her speed to get farther into the darkness as soon as she was out of sight. She saw Aelfric waiting a bit farther down the alley watching her and kept his instructions in the front of her mind as she watched for the man to step into the alley. As she saw him stop in the alley mouth looking for her she reached out and touched his mind with hers, almost whispering the thought into his mind. Come. Follow her in. She was rewarded when he slowly, almost reluctantly stepped into the alley. She could hear his thoughts, confusion prominent among them as he stepped forward. Exhilaration surged through her as he drew closer to where she stood in the shadows.

SILENCE. She thundered into his mind as the distance between them blurred and she suddenly found herself standing beside him. She wrapped one arm around him, trapping one of his arms as her other hand grabbed his hair, yanking his head to the side. She felt her fangs extending as she bit deeply into his neck. She held him tightly as he began to struggle against her strength.

As the man's blood flowed over her tongue and down her throat, she once again felt a surge of life into her body. She growled and sucked harder at the bleeding wounds as his struggles intensified. Be still, rapist. She ordered him directly into his mind, feeling him almost immediately go limp in her arms. As the life continued to flow from the robber's body into hers she felt Aelfric's surprise as she heard his voice in her mind. Bring him deeper into the alley, Cazi. Keeping her mouth tightly to the fountain of blood flowing more slowly now from the man's neck she dragged him deeper into the alley. She turned and held the man against the wall as she fed on his life.

Remembering Aelfric's admonition she pulled her lips from his neck before his heart stopped. She looked over at Aelfric as she dropped the man to die in the filth of the alley, mindless of his body's jerkings as he died without ever having uttered a sound. She closed her eyes, looking to the sky, letting the blood of her first solo kill course through her body. The same tingling that had accompanied her feeding the night before followed the blood through her body. She had to stifle another moan as the tingling seemed to concentrate at the tips of her full breasts and the increasingly heated juncture between her thighs.

Well, Aelfric? How did I do? She asked without opening her eyes, still savoring the feeling surging through her. When he did not answer her she opened her eyes and looked at him. She was slightly discomfited to find that he was still standing where he had watched her feeding from, still watching her. "Aelfric... Did I do something wrong?"