A STRANGE AND WONDROUS KILLING

We were in the rough tunnel. The large female grabbed the torch and dashed it to the floor. Then she stomped it out , plunging us into darkness. I stood there. What could I do? What could I say. I new she was different. Her scent was different. And even to this day, I can't say how. I think the scent is unique to all of us. Vampires, I mean. But finally she spoke. Her voice was low and smoky. Her words were shaped differently, what you today would call an accent. Yet imagine living in a time when every few bands of people spoke completely different words. Still she managed to produce sounds familiar to me. Now I know she was reading my mind. More than reading it. She was melding with it. And she told me not to be afraid. She said - You will leave here as whole as when you entered. I understand that now. And I see the humor in it. But what could I do? I was afraid to even breathe. Her hand caressed my neck. I shuddered. She laughed and said - Are you not too big for that? Come, turn around. Go ahead. It will be all right. Turn around. Do it.....So I did. Her hand softly rested on my shoulder. And we penetrated deep into the blackness. We passed back through the chapel. I could smell it. I could smell the ocher and the pigments and the colors. Then we snaked through the passageway leading to a larger chamber, the one I glimpsed before. It was cooler in here and that seemed to relax me. Now I could sense things in her mind. At least that's how I interpreted it back then. I knew we were coming up to a large pit. Part of me thought she'd throw me in, but she did not. And we carefully made our way 'round this unseen danger. Yet others were not so lucky. There were people down there, maybe three of them. They were too scared to breathe. I could feel their heartbeats. The sound seemed to echo from the walls. She laughed, but this time it was not a pleasant sound. Annd we went on , entering a secluded den. She pushed me down onto a pile of furs. They were new and fresh. I could smell that even with my human senses. I heard her rumaging around. All I could think of was her nakedness. She was as bare as the gnomes. I mean the Neanderthals. When she struck the flint and lit the little fat bowls, I saw her. She was beautiful, tall and lean,  similar to what the Hellenes would have called a 'Diana.' But perhaps that's who she was? Then she layed down next to me and began to untangle the knotted thongs that secured the skins on my body. I did not say a word. I did not have to. She knew me and I knew her. When all the skins were gone she inspected my hunt marks, what we now call scars. And she asked me about them. I told her of sturgeon hunts upon the lake and struggles with the great auroch out on the plain. But she did not need the words. I think she just asked me to hear my voice. Her hair was long and loose and dark like ravens' wings. Her fingers light and sensative. I asked her about her life. But she said that her life was lived long ago and that she did not remember. She kissed me. I kissed her back. Her mouth had a salty tang, but more than a salty tang. Then I remembered I was with a life-eater, a shaman, a doer of miracles. And I let her work a miracle on me. We came together. We satisfied each other. And I almost passed out from the pleasure of it. Then we did the same  a second time and laid there like wolf  cubs after nursing. Finally I found my voice. I spoke. I told her of my purpose. I told her why I was sent. I asked her. I said - Will you return with me to the place of my people  and stand between us and the spirits?......She was quiet. I could feel her mind work....She said - Do you not think that I have memories of this place? They were my children. I was their mother....I said - Then you can be my people's mother now......But I saw that she was crying. I saw the tears and I kissed them away. They tasted of blood. I began to beg again. She put her finger to my lips and silenced me......No, she said. I will not go back with you. Not in the way you imagine. But your people will have their shaman. They will have their life-eater. And he will be a more meaningful force in their lives than I ever could...... It was then that I understood......I said - Do you plan to spill the magic over me?.......She whispered - Yes.....And her sharp, little, cunning teeth began to do their work.....A bite to the neck.....A tiny drink.....A nip at the groin....A little more.....In this way she drew off enough blood  and brought me to the brink (in more ways than one). My eyes began to flutter. the small, flickering orange lights danced 'round like silent bees.....She kissed me and held me  as a pieta. She whispered in my ear - No, no, no. You shall not expire. I will not let that happen..... Then she ran a nail along a generous nipple and blood began to flow. Not a lot. Nothing gory. Just enough. So she pulled me up and gave me life to drink, the very life she'd drained away from others. And after a while, I was restored, not the way I was. But this felt even better......It was then I began to hear the others moan.  I crawled to the pit  and hung my head down, taking in their rich, intoxicating scent. She came up and layed down beside me. We both began to purr.....And the first step on the ternal road stretched before me. I was the first to die that night. But I would not be the last..................