Soulstice: Luna's Dream. Lance Jr. Dow

almost unabated.

      We fought against them every way we could. The battles between vampires and werewolves were like the battles of humans in the middle-ages-- brutal and bloody hand-to-hand battle to the death for many on each side.

      Even in battle the werewolves consumed our dead and also dragged off as many of their own dead to eat. They wasted nothing of value. They only lived to consume. We began to set fire to our dead and the werewolf dead to turn the bodies and any werewolf carcasses to ash. We did anything we could do to limit their voracious needs and their population.

      After years of major battles, aided by the werewolves’ own decimation of every food source, we succeeded in driving their population down to levels where we were now greater in number.

      The tide was turned. We drove their remnants into the deep woods of swamps and thick briars where they could only find small creatures to eat such as snakes and swamp rats. They became weak and sick creatures. Eventually, we drove the werewolves to extinction with teams of werewolf hunters. In fact this was the mission of these werewolf hunters; to find the last werewolf and kill it.

      At least we believe they no longer exist. No one has seen any evidence of them for centuries. They say this last dead werewolf has been stuffed and is in some high-echelon secret government location where it is kept as a reminder to the leaders of our society of how close we came ourselves to extinction by another species. Some of the voices use it as a symbol of our situation with the humans.

      I hope those voices are never joined and given true credence by our society.

      The werewolf years were hard years for vampires. Luckily our great speed allowed us to travel great distances to get to populations of humans to feed. We returned these great distances the same night because we did not want the werewolves to find the humans. That was one of the things that saved us. Werewolves used up their energy quickly. They could not travel far without needing to consume. But like a ripple in a pond they were moving out in all directions. Eventually, without the vampires to stop them, they would have spread through the planet like locusts. If not for us vampires, the human race itself could be extinct. If werewolves had been left unchecked by us vampires, they could have continued killing humans unabated. By the same token; if we had not prevailed that would have meant our demise as well. There was no other option but to wipe them out.

      Imagine. We did all this at night and during rainstorms and overcast days or battling the werewolves under the canopy of the forests. Many vampires died when they got caught in the sun. Werewolves had no such limitations from the sun.

      As to the myth about a human turning into a werewolf after being bitten and transforming into the monstrous form with the full-moon – total utter nonsense. Werewolves were just big bad wolves that learned to walk upright. But the werewolves are gone. Enough said.

      We don’t “turn” humans by biting them either. That’s another myth. And we don’t “live forever.” That may seem romantic to some, but I think it would be the ultimate tragedy. I really wouldn’t want to live forever. I think all the vampire books and movies done by humans have it right. How boring and empty would it really be to replay the same kinds of events, and have the same kinds of feelings over and over and over again. How sad to know you would never transform and see God. I’m looking forward to that someday when I’ve lived enough of life. It’s kind of comforting knowing that all the pain of life will finally be gone. It’s painful; it seems almost unbearable at times. Don’t get me wrong, life is also wondrous. Just right now, I’m in kind of a Neverland of teen angst. I’m on an emotional rollercoaster 24/7, or so it seems.

      We’re born just like humans. The gestation period is only five months though. We get baked fast. Haha! We eventually die of old age when our heart just stops. Because when you’ve got a heart that beats some twenty-times faster than a human heart due to your extreme metabolism-- that can’t go on forever. We used to live longer than you humans by about twenty years but we actually die younger than most humans now that humans are living longer. If we get in a bad enough accident, let’s say our head gets severed or the heart gets pulverized or the aortas get ripped away... yup… we’re goners. So, don’t believe everything you read and see in the movies!

      Over the millenniums, our venomous saliva developed both anesthetic and hypnotic qualities so when we strike against a human and feed, the entire experience is disjointed, almost dream-like. You’re basically unconscious, but not really, if that makes sense. The properties of our venom allow you to come out this semi-conscious state quickly. You won’t remember the fear or pain. Our venom’s genetic properties will heal over the wound in a few minutes of contact with the air. You’ll never know you’ve been fed upon. That is, unless of course, you meet the wrong kind of vampire. Then, you’re out of luck as they say.

      In a symbiotic way, we actually impart special immunities against a host of diseases, most especially cancers and blood-related diseases and infections. Most of those who have been fed upon will live longer lives. A gift I’d guess you’d say. Unless of course you run into one the less-evolved types of vampires any of which means you will die. That’s obviously a gift that goes one way. My Dad says that if humans knew about vampires’ saliva, we’d be the ones being drained—or milked like a venomous snake.

      We also have rules as to the age of a human that can be taken. No human younger than the age of thirteen can be taken. I guess it has something to do with the amount of blood loss adversely affecting their future growth and well-being of the brain and major organs if taken before age thirteen. Obviously, we want adult humans to be around. They are our “only source” of true sustenance. And they tend to have more humans!

      Animal blood can only be consumed by a vampire for a very short period of time. A number of days before our bodies begin to reject it. Animal blood has little nutritive value for us as well. You are basically starving while you consume it, no matter how much is consumed. The taste alone is enough to make you want to die. We’re given a survival course when we’re very young and we’ve got to suck the blood from an animal to pass the course. It’s horrendous.

      Don’t ask me how, but we can sense the age of thirteen fairly accurately just by seeing our victim. It’s like a sixth sense. If the sense is off, the moment we taste their blood, the age is instantly known to us. It is carried in the blood cell, each cell carrying the exact moment of birth and has something to do with oxygenization of the cells that begins with the very first breath in humans. We are supposed to immediately release. Some of us don’t. Can you say Killer Bees? Many of us choose to not even strike when we get any vibe near the age of thirteen. My parents for instance will only feed upon those twenty-one or older. They are very considerate vampires. It’s why I love them so much.

      Nowadays, many vampires that are a family-unit hunt as a family pack. It’s almost a necessity with all of the technology around today. But - teenagers being teenagers, many of us teen vampires go it alone or with friends. I sometimes go with my BFF, Lily Burgoyne, or sometimes, with my little sister, Skyla.

      Skyla’s the cutest nine-year old vampire. But don’t let that fool you. This girlie is fast and nimble. She’ll be at your throat before you know what’s happening. Or (and this is funny), because of her size, she’ll take a human in the popliteal artery just above the knee. You just have to see it to get the funny part. Hilarious.

      In the final move, we vampires found we could actually live among humans. We created a symbiotic relationship with humans, only they didn’t know it. Our society grew along with yours only in secret. Secret bakers and candlestick makers, cobblers, tailors and butchers-- with humans out front in the shops that had no idea of who they were working for. The humans that worked for these mysterious employers didn’t care because they were paid well. The vampires earned the money they needed for the other necessities of a comfortable life and could pay better because their food (blood) was free. Vampires work fast as well so our productivity is much greater than humans. Of course some vampires got their wealth the old fashioned way-- by stealing and they still do. Most of us want to live a decent life with the cards we’ve been dealt and work doing everything humans do. For those that do labor – it’s actually a breeze. The harder jobs are the ones you have to use your brain for.

      As the