There isn’t much known about myself or my sisters. We generally like to keep “on the down-low” however I have read the confusion in the words of others of my kind, when they simply cannot figure me out. I have remarkably clean memories of my previous life, I’ve been told that this is an uncommon trait, our strong and clear memories usually equate only to our present state.
However is is this, these oddly clear memories and thoughts, that keep me… grounded you could say. Compassionate even, despite my choice in diet.
In 1730 soldiers came to my families villiage, the Maizona tribe was a peaceful tribe, we had no need for warriors. The soldiers who came to us demanded that we leave our fruitful land and give it to them. My uncle, who was the village’s high elder turned them away. They slaughtered all the elders, and many of the families, my father raced to my mother and I, our friends were with is, he took older brother and told the women to run into the forest to hide. And we did. I was only 2 suns. All who remained in the village were decimated, my father and uncle, and brother included. So together, my uncle’s wife and two daughters, my brother’s child wife, and infant son, braved the wilds and survived. My cousins and I grew strong, while older brother’s child wife weakened caring for her baby, and mourning her husband. When I was 13 suns, my mother, and uncle’s wife took myself, and my cousins to a neighboring village, far away from our own. Brother’s wife had died, and my Nephew, only 11 suns, was brave and strong as his father had been at twice his age. The village took cousins and I, as a price for mother, aunt, and nephew to live there. I was married to the son of this villages high elder. My husband was cruel and did not care for me as his father seemed to. High Elder thought I was the most beautiful child bride, and he doted upon me. But my husband sent me out to the river alone, to clean and hunt for food.
A particularly warm day when I was 24 suns, my cousins each had 2 children, my nephew had wed to High Elder’s daughter, I felt glad my husband despised me, my cousins children were loud, their husbands yelled at them and made them cry. But I was free, I had no children and I was still made to leave the village alone. This last day was no exception, I went to the river and splashed cold water over me, thinking I should take some for my cousins children, to cool, and calm them. I went about hunting when I heard the hushed voices of two men. When I saw them I recognized their garments, they were the soldiers from across the sea, the same men who had killed everyone in my village. I tried to sneak away, but the men had heard me, they had learned to speak our language and asked me about my NEW village, how many people there were. The men had eyes that looked as red as the wild flowers the grew where the sun shined in the forest. Their skin was whiter than the white sands of the shoreline near my old village. They had dark circles under their eyes that made them look sunken, but they were very handsome, handsomer than my husband, than my nephew. They smiled, but I new they did not mean any friendliness toward me. I spoke quickly trying to make them understand, one took pity on my story, he had kept a foot behind his comrade the entire time. but the first glared, without warning he pounced on me, like a cat, he bit my shoulder. The second soldier, the kinder of the two pounced his friend in turn, tearing away from me. I know now it was the smell of my blood that had thrown him into such a frenzy, they fought amongst themselves and I, though in incredible pain, I ran as fast as I could before I fell and rolled under a felled tree. The two soldiers did not look for me, and I lay there, whimpering, begging the gods for death. I felt as if I had been thrown on a fire that only grew hotter as time passed… until it was gone all together. Until I was gone.
I had never felt so free, so strong, even the hot air did not bother me, though I knew how hot it was. I could see farther, hear better, I could even smell things that I had never smelled before. I knew I had been away from the village for too long, I consciously knew that my husband would be very angry. I hunted until I came across a panther about as big as I was, something in me threw myself at the large cat, tackling him to the ground, choking off his air with my own hands until he was dead. I was strong, I was fast. The large animal was sure to please my husband. I made my way to the village and smelled a new smell, very different from the cat. All pretense was lost, I dropped my previous prey and began killing my own tribe members… feeding.
When I saw my nephews face as he held his child bride behind him, protecting her I felt a surge of remorse and ran away. I ran all the way to the old village on the shore, and knowing my strength, feeding my anger and hatred of the men who killed my family, I slaughtered and fed upon all the soldiers from across the sea. I reclaimed my village, but in the most horrible way. I stayed there for a year, occasionally running to other villages, far away from my family’s to steal away a human upon which I fed. I learned to control my thoughts, and my thirst, and myself. So when Nephew came to find the old village empty, I was able to leave. I jumped into the water and swam.
I had wandered alone, mostly letting myself starve for three years. I avoided the humans at all costs. I found myself confronted with a smell that was not animal, nor human. But I didn’t not have to search for it. It came to me. She was a beautiful woman, her hair was cropped short, but rich in color, her pale skin shined as she stepped quickly through a patch of sunlight, a bright smile on her face.
”So it’s you.” was all she said before launching into an explanation of herself. Her name was Morgan, and she, was like me. Alone, and never changing, she too fed upon the blood of humans. She could tell from my eyes that I had not allowed myself to feed. It made her sad, she told me everything about what we were and how we lived. She asked me questions pertaining to the soldier that had bitten my shoulder, nodding all the while. Then she did something I did not expect, she invited me to travel with her. I was wary of her, but I felt I could trust her, and she clearly felt she could trust me. We traveled the into what is now Texas, there was a town that was surrounded by a darker forest than mine, and she felt so pleased that she worked to build a house. I stayed with her for a time but found the dark forest to be unhappy, so I bid my friend farewell and travelled back to my rainforest. I lived alone, hiding in the trees until I smelled another smell, like Morgan’s and my own. Another one, like us. I made my way to her and found her with colored oils, painting on the bark of a tree, the most stunning landscape I had ever seen.
She was called Zafrina, she had been like me much longer than even Morgan had been. But she took me under her wing, she cared for me, and I loved her dearly, she reminded me of of brother’s Child Wife, talkative and vibrant. It concerned her that I had never been called anything but Daughter, and sister, and cousin and wife. She called me Senna of Maizona, over time I became Senna Mazoni, I didn’t feed often, but we kept to a regular schedule, twice a month. There was a day that I came across a young woman, she was human, but she reminded me of myself when I had first married, she was sad and alone, cleaning and hunting by herself. I felt compassion remembering what it was like for me. I returned everyday to watch her, to keep her safe in case those soldiers still stalked the area. But it wasn’t the soldiers that posed the danger. A large panther, bigger than the one I had attacked that first day prowled after her, when he attacked her, I in retrospect attacked him tearing him away and choking the life out of him. But the poor human lay there mangled and bleeding to death, I was so saddened that I took her broken, but alive body to Zafrina. Together we saved her, by changing her, making her like us. She, like myself had been glad for a reason to leave her husband. Her name was Kachiri, and she became our third sister. We were never apart, happy in each other’s company.
Much time has passed since then, and recently Kachiri has found her mate, a young one called Josh. They left our home together to see the world, Josh had her easily convinced it seemed. But I am glad she has found love. Zafrina too has taken a trip away from our home. And here I am, having done traveling before life with my sisters, I look back on it as a time spent only to pass. Having my family with me gave me no more desire to leave home, than be without them. But alone, I’m finding myself longing for something to do, somewhere to be.
So now… I travel.
