3 chapter 2 : Abandonment, discovery and encounter
For the next 30 years, Zack and I stayed together and he taught me everything there was to know about our species, as much as he knew about it, anyway.
He taught me to control my senses and my strength, he very quickly had a day ring made for me thanks to one of his acquaintances and asked me never to go into the sunlight without this ring because I 'd die burned by the sun, he gave me a demonstration on himself and I understood why.
Zack had saved me and had my gratitude, I obeyed him but only one thing was particularly uncontrollable about me and that was my bestial and exaggerated thirst for human blood.
Almost every time I fed, I was seized with such euphoria that I would massacre every human in the vicinity to feed myself and Zack would spend his time covering my tracks. It was on one of these occasions that I understood the gap in strength between Zack and me.
Zakaria was a vampire over 300 years old where I was only almost 54 years old. He was strong, much stronger than me and when it was necessary to use force to calm my crazy appetite, he totally dominated me.
I tried, I tried to control myself, calm down and control this monster inside me with all the guilt I felt but I couldn't do anything about it, it was like a completely wild second nature within me.
One day it went too far, way too far. I had attacked an encampment established by several families and when I woke up the next day I was sitting guiltily in the middle of all these corpses with Zack standing there looking at me with deep disappointment and sadness.
Zack: What have you done, Harper? What did I create...?
I couldn't say anything, I could only look at the bodies, among which there was a child barely two years old, completely dismembered. I could only cry, the images of my massacre still fresh in my mind.
"I can't do this anymore Zack, I'm a monster…" I told him in tears as he grabbed my arm to help me up. We got rid of the bodies and I prayed, prayed for their rest but also and above all for their forgiveness.
Zack said he knew a place they could help me and I begged him to take me there. We traveled together until we reached a Mountainous Area where we saw a very small cave and Zack suggested that we rest there.
This idea intrigued me because we normally don't feel tired but I followed it anyway. It was almost noon and the inclination of the entrance to this small place suggested that at a certain time, this entire small space will be lit by the sun's rays but I saw no problem because I had my day ring.
" How do you feel? " He asked me kindly and I told him that I couldn't wait for us to arrive so that I could finally be cured of the madness that was inside me. At my response, Zakaria gave me a smile and nodded with a guilty smile.
" Something is wrong ?" I asked him and Zack looked at me and said he was sorry.
Suddenly, Zack charged at me and with one of his hands, he grabbed my throat to pin me against the rock wall right behind us as I watched in disbelieving and helpless eyes as he snatched the day ring from my finger then he came out of the little cave into the sun where I couldn't reach him.
" Why?!" I asked him and he looked at me sadly.
Zack: I'm sincerely sorry my friend but it can't continue like this. You have killed far too many innocent people, you are uncontrollable and dangerous even among people of our kind and it's bad for our security but also for the innocent people outside. Only, I refuse to kill you myself, I prefer to leave this work to the sun.
"This place you were talking about never existed…"
Zack: No, Harper. I'm sorry.
"I don't blame you, maybe it was the right thing to do…"
Zack: I'm sorry, Harper. I really regret…
He looked at me with some regret before leaving while I looked at the rays of the in the cave, at 4 p.m. this cave will be filled with daylight and I will die so I waited in a corner. The hours passed as I saw with anguish the light coming closer and closer to the corner where I was, my guilt made me wish for death but my new nature feared the immolation that awaited me.
At the right time, the sun's rays completely lit up the place but to my amazement, I was not burned like Zack showed me over 30 years ago.
The heat was slightly unpleasant but nothing more, the shock for me wasn't small and I came out of there with deep confusion and disbelief, I no longer understood anything that was happening.
Lost, I searched for Zack for the next few months but without success, he had disappeared from my world. With my savior and mentor no longer there, I had to look for a solution to my problem and the only method was violent self-discipline because I was now alone.
For two years, I fed on animal blood and the only human blood I drank was mixed with vervain, a poison for our species that literally burned my throat and veins but it was effective in suppressing my urges and in two years I was able to control myself thanks to that.
I had a number of encounters in Zack's absence, I met witches and I very narrowly escaped death from contact with them, they were women with monstrous powers and hostile to our species for the vast majority.
I only met one friendly witch, I had saved her from an attack. I wasn't the first vampire she'd met and it was with her that I learned a lot about magic.
When she told me about her child hood and how she felt the life in nature around her , I immediately drew parallels with me and told her that I felt the same way in nature around me.
She informed me that one of my parents was definitely a sorcerer and that if I had remained human then I could have used magic too.
At her house, I discovered others things about myself, I could absorb magic into her bewitched objects but that wasn't all because apparently I could also freely feel the magic within me.
The day of this discovery, Deborah, this witch looked serious and tried to kill me for a reason unknown to me, she said that it was normally impossible for people of my kind to be able to exercise magic and that I was too great a danger, I ran away from her house before she managed to put an end to my existence.
Wanting to be alone and isolated, I isolated myself far into northern Montana where I lived in a small abandoned mining camp in a certain place and it was snowing at this place practically all year round.
I fed on animal blood and that of the occasional outlaw while remaining alone, I never came into contact with the inhabitants of these lands.
One snowy morning in May I returned to camp after several days elsewhere, earlier on my way into the high mountains I came across a distressed man in the snow, he was injured and had apparently been attacked by wolves.
Begging me for help, I carried the man on my horse and quickly returned to camp to provide him with first aid before taking him to the nearest small town, Strawberry.
As I approached my house, I saw smoke at the camp. Intrigued, I approached, dragging the elk carcass that I had with me because I sold the furs of the animals that I killed as well as their meat that I dried and salted, I had learned to do a lot of things in over 30 years old. Once at the camp, I got off my horse with my revolver in my hand.
It was in the large main cabin that there was the most noise so I moved forward cautiously.
"Are there people inside…?!" I asked calmly and the people inside fell silent although I could still hear their whispers.
The door opened and three middle aged men came out, the one in the center wore a black fur coat and had a neatly trimmed mustache and goatee, he seemed to be the leader.
The other two wore blue coats, one was dark and had Mexican features and the other was a white man. They pointed their guns at me and their leader spoke first.
??? : Hello dear sir, can we help you?
" I live here. Can you ask your men to lower their weapons? I don't want to kill anyone today..."
Leader : You must be the owner of the salted meat and furs we found inside.
"I sell them to meet my needs. Once again I ask you, put down your weapons…for the last time…"
Leader : You see my young friend, we have come a long way, we were hungry and cold so we put up with the fruits of your labor in your absence.
2nd guy : Listen my friend, I'm sorry to break it to you like this but your stuff is ours now and we need this place for shelter.
The mexicain : We're sorry. We can give you some of your meat but then you will have to-(interrupted)
*BLAM-BLAM*
I quickly and with crazy accuracy fired two bullets at their weapons which fell from their aching hands while their looks were shocked.
"Look, I don't mind that you ate that meat but I hate having a gun pointed at me and I have an injured man on my horse. Leave this house and settle in one of the neighboring houses, ask your five men in ambush to come out of their hiding places..." I said, pointing my weapon at the leader whose look didn't lack surprise. I had spotted the different positions of his men from the sounds.
[General POV]
Five men came out from the outside corners with their guns trained on Harper who didn't even show a single sign of fear, the bullets were nothing to him and before they wondered how he would still be alive, he will have already killed them all.
Leader : My young friend, you are very fast and an excellent shot but you are outnumbered, if I believe the model of your revolver, you only have three bullets left.
Harper: It's more than enough, believe me...
"Oh my God, Dutch. It's Jon on his horse!"
One of the men looks older than the leader exclaimed as the others moved closer to see John.
2nd guy : Damn Marston! This guy found him...
Harper: Do you know this man ?
" He's one of us." A young black man said.
Harper: Are you planning to stay long? I was taught hospitality and it's not time to put women and children outside, from here I can hear the voice of a little boy inside.
Leader : We plan to leave when the snow starts to melt. Thank you for your hospitality.
Harper: Why are you here?! The only thing that can push people to come here in weather like this is to escape. You're outlaws, aren't you?
The men carrying Jon immediately went on guard and Harper calmed them down.
Harper: You have nothing to fear, there are two types of outlaws. There are those who don't want to submit to oppressive laws depriving them of their freedom and there are those who do it for the taste of Crime and the abuse of this freedom to the detriment of the innocent, these people don't take children with them and even less black people.
Leader : Incredible address and such an enlightened mind. My name is Dutch, Dutch van der Linde...what's your name my friend?
Harper: Harper…Harper Franklin.
Dutch: Well Mr. Franklin, it's a real pleasure to meet you. From what I see, you are a handsome young man and very intelligent. What is someone like you doing in such a place!
Harper: I'm trying to isolate myself...
Dutch: Isolate yourself?
"Let's just say that I too have done things that I'm not very proud of. Take care of your friend..." Harper said as he left while the others watched him go into a small cabin a little further away.
He had grown attached to this place so he was going to wait for them to leave, plus it had been a while since he had this many people around him so it was an opportunity to practice mastery of his thirst.
