The Day Walker

***-Four Years Earlier-***

Over the past year, livestock had been suspiciously disappearing from Visenya’s farms. She had her borders heavily guarded at night, when vampires were out lurking. Yet, they were still infiltrating her land somehow. It was midday when Visenya arrived at the far southern border, where she was approached by her head patrolman, Jack.

“Your Majesty.” He bowed.

“I received word that you found the one responsible for stealing our livestock?” Visenya asserted.

“That’s right, My Queen. We would have brought her in, but we needed to be certain that we weren’t all losing our senses. We didn’t want to trouble you with this though…you could have sent the Beta instead.”

“Cas has been tasked with another assignment.” Visenya revealed. “Besides, I personally wanted to meet the one who’s been sly enough to get past my guards.”

Visenya only appointed the best of the best at her borders, and to learn that it had been breeched by one single female intrigued her…to say the least.

“Where are you keeping her?”

“In the holding tent.” Jack pointed.

Visenya stared at the tent, wondering if she had heard wrong. It was made of mere canvas which was not fortified enough to keep the sunlight out.

“A flimsy tent out in broad daylight? How has she not burnt to a crisp?”

“That’s the thing, My Queen…we’re not so sure that’s she’s a vampire. She smells human…I think.”

“You think?”

“I can’t explain it. You just have to sniff her out for yourself. That’s the only way you’ll understand.”

Visenya walked towards the tent, unclear about what exactly she would find in there. She stepped inside, and found a young woman in shackles with six Lycans standing guard. Six Lycans to guard a human who didn’t look much older than her? It didn’t make much sense, until Visenya moved closer and took in her scent.

Visenya was beyond baffled, questioning if her senses were off as well. The woman did smell human, but she also smelled…vampire. Visenya pulled up a chair, and sat across from the woman that avoided her eye.

“Who are you?” Visenya interrogated. “Most importantly, what are you?”

“She won’t speak.” Jack chimed in. “We’ve been tr…”

“Victoria.” The woman interrupted, taking everyone by surprise.

She finally met Visenya’s gaze, harboring pure hatred in her eyes. It allowed Visenya to get a proper look at her though, and despite her rather frail looking disposition, Victoria was a beautiful woman. She had long, straight black hair that had a rather complimenting contrast against her pale, white skin. Her eyes were blood red, which only confirmed her vampire origin.

“I presume that you are the one that has been stealing my cattle?”

“You don’t own the world!” Victoria hissed.

“Some may beg to differ with you there, but I’m not arrogant so, I’ll agree…I do not own the world. However, I do rule over this land, and you hunting anywhere within a two hundred mile radius of it is forbidden.”

“My people are starving!”

“So, you take my livestock and in return cause a scarcity in my food supply?! I provide sustenance to your kind every month!”

“Sustenance?!” Victoria scoffed. “You give us dead livestock to feed from! Everyone knows the nutrients that we need can only come from a live host! We are growing sick and weak from your sustenance!”

“Then go and hunt your own damn animals and leave mine the hell alone!”

“Don’t you get it?!” Victoria raged. “There are hardly any animals left out there!”

Visenya didn’t know what to say…there was nothing more that she could offer Victoria and her kind. She wasn’t giving up any humans, nor could she give them live animals every month and risk her own people starving. This is why she hated vampirism, because it came with an insatiable appetite for blood…and only blood.

“How is it possible for you to be out at this hour?” Visenya asked. “This is how you snuck onto my land isn’t it? You know that we are less guarded during the day.”

Victoria sighed heavily, giving off the impression that she was done conversing with the queen that her people hated with all their hearts.

“They call me the day walker. I’m the only one of my kind that isn’t harmed by sunlight.”

“But how?” Visenya probed.

Victoria huffed in annoyance. “Isn’t it obvious? What does your nose tell you?”

“Don’t speak to me in riddles or I’ll end this conversation and lock you away in my dungeon.” Visenya threatened.

Victoria took a deep breath, swallowing her pride and whatever bad tempered remark she wanted to voice. “My father is a vampire and my mother a human…I’m a hybrid”

“Bullshit.” Visenya retorted. “A human has never been able to carry a vampire fetus to term. They leach the woman to death.”

“You’re right…for centuries that is what has always happened, but my mother was different. Or perhaps, it was me who was different…no one knows for sure. All I know is that my mother was able to carry me to twenty-four weeks…that’s longer than any other woman had ever been able to…but she died giving birth to me. I was in bad shape myself and died shortly after I was born. As a final attempt to save me, my father fed me the blood of my mother, and it was as if I was reborn again…My human biology becoming one with the vampire in me.”

“She’s faster than the average vampire.” Jack added. “You would think she’s lived for centuries. Her father must be of high rank.”

“She’s strong as hell too.” Another guard blurted.

“You should see me when I’m fully fed.” Victoria smirked.

“So, what are you…like two hundred years old or something?” Visenya asked.

Victoria chuckled. “Not quite. I’m twenty-two.”

“Twenty-two? Like me?” Visenya uttered.

“That’s right. Just like you…My Queen.” Victoria mocked.

Visenya stood up from her chair, walked over to Victoria, and crouched before her. “You can loathe me all you want, but you will never understand the weight that I’m forced to carry. I didn’t take the position or circumstances that I’m in, it was my birth right…”

“But you chose to condemn my kind to death!” Victoria fumed.

“What would you have me do?! Let you continue to treat humans like inanimate objects that you can use, abuse and kill when ever you please?!”

“I never harmed any of them! I was advocating for them! Trying to make things better! It’s taken some time but my…” Victoria paused. “My…King was starting to see the errors of his ways.”

“Was he now? Was that before or after he attacked my Kingdom?”

“He panicked.” Victoria explained. “He thought you would pull a stunt like your father. At least, your father killed all the dragons in one quick blow. You prefer it to be slow and agonizing I see.”

“Don’t even go there!” Visenya raged. “I’m trying to do the right thing! Protect humans from the likes of you!”

“And who will protect us from you huh?! You say it is your birth right to lead? You didn’t ask for it? Most of us didn’t ask to be a vampire, like you didn’t ask to be Alpha! You hate us because you think we’re all the same…depraved, murderous creatures. Well, tell me something…how many Lycans and humans are in your dungeon right now, awaiting trial for a heinous crime that they committed?”

Visenya was at a loss for words, because the truth of the matter was, she had several humans and Lycans awaiting trial. Victoria made her point, but it still didn’t change the fact that statistically, her kind was responsible for the most deaths.

“Remove her shackles.” Visenya ordered.

“But…Your Majesty?” Jack resisted.

“I said remove her shackles.” She repeated.

Jack did as he was ordered and removed the shackles from Victoria’s wrists and ankles.

“Now, leave us.” Visenya waved them off.

As reluctant as they were to leave their queen alone with Victoria, they obeyed her commands.

“You’re not worried that I might try and kill you?” Victoria queried.

“No, your King couldn’t kill me at full power. So…I think I can handle you if you tried me. Besides, I don’t believe that you want to hurt anyone.”

As much as Victoria wanted to hate Visenya, she couldn’t help but believe the same about her. After all, Visenya could have killed her father. Yet, she chose to let him live. Visenya let out a breath as if she had been holding it in all along. She slumped down beside Victoria and held out her arm in front of her.

“What are you doing?” Victoria asked, looking over Visenya’s extended arm.

“You’re hungry aren’t you?” Visenya answered. “Well, go ahead…eat.”

Victoria wondered if this was some kind of trick. Lycan blood was considered a great delicacy amongst her kind. It made vampires twice as strong, feeling revitalized for days, but a vampire couldn’t get anywhere near a Lycan without a fight to the death occurring.

She looked down at Visenya’s arm, the sound of her blood pumping through her brachial artery pulsated in Victoria’s ears. Her fangs elongated, no longer able to control her desire to feed. She took hold of Visenya’s arm and sank her fangs right in.

She drank with a ravenous thirst that seemed impossible to quench. Visenya was beginning to think that she might have to throw Victoria off of her, but to her surprise, she stopped on her own. As Victoria wiped the blood from her mouth, Visenya examined the boots that she was wearing. They were worn down with holes in them, and the soles didn’t look like they would hold up for much longer.

Visenya untied the boots on her own feet and placed them in front of Victoria. They looked at each other for a moment, both trying to figure out the other’s motive. Victoria removed the grungy boots from her feet and replaced them with the ones that Visenya gave her.

“So, what now?” Victoria inquired. “Am I your prisoner?”

Visenya raised her brow amusedly. “You could have tried to drain me dry moments ago. Or with the vitality that you have now, attempt to take my head from my body, but you haven’t even considered it…have you?”

A subtle smile graced Victoria’s face. “You said it yourself…I have no desire to hurt anyone.”

Visenya stood to her feet, feeling less woozy from the blood loss as her Lycan blood worked quickly to regenerate itself.

“You are not my prisoner.” Visenya assured. “You’re free to leave if you wish. Or…”

“Or what?” Victoria returned.

“Or…you can come back to the palace with me. I can keep you fed and…you’ll be…taken care of.”

Victoria laughed at the proposal. “Is that an invite for the human part of me? The part that you give a shit about and want to protect? I bet you’re telling yourself that you’ll just ignore the part of me that you hate…the vampire?”

“It’s not like that.” Visenya shot back. Look, I’m giving you a choice here. You can take it or don’t, but at least stay, rest and think it over…alright?”

Victoria didn’t agree nor disagree, she just looked at Visenya as if she had already made up her mind. At least, that’s what Visenya saw in her eyes anyway. For reasons unknown to her, this made her heart heavy. She felt this strange urge to bring Victoria back home with her and she didn’t understand why.

Victoria noticed this inner conflict within Visenya and wasn’t sure why it troubled her either. Their eyes communicated a complex series of unspoken words, then Visenya left the tent. As she made her way over to her guards, a gush a wind flew right by her, prompting her guards to shift into their wolves and chase after a fleeing Victoria.

‘Don’t…’ Visenya ordered through the mind link. ‘Let her go.’

‘But what if she comes back, My Queen?’

Visenya stared off into the distance…Victoria a mere speck in the landscape.

‘Let her take what she needs...’ She replied, ‘…and leave her be.’