Fallen Extras

Selena

How she became who she is

M I C A L E A S M E L T Z E R

The Year Is 1893

Copyright 2012 Micalea Smeltzer

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Uprising

The paranoia is in bloom, the PR
Transmissions will resume, they'll try to
Push drugs, keep us all dumb down and hope that
We will never see the truth around, so come on

Another promise, another scene, another
Package not to keep us trapped in greed with all the
Green belts wrapped around our minds and endless
Red tape to keep the truth confined, so come on

They will not force us
And they will stop degrading us
And they will not control us
We will be victorious, so come on

Interchanging mind control, come let the
Revolution take its toll, if you could
Flick a switch and open your third eye, you'd see that
We should never be afraid to die, so come on

Rise up and take the power back, it's time that
The fat cats had a heart attack, you know that
Their time is coming to an end, we have to
Unify and watch our flag ascend, so come on

They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious, so come on

Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey

They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious, so come on

Hey, hey, hey, hey

Muse

Selena 1893

Tonight was the night. Tonight everything would change. Andrew would become mine forever.

“Selena,” he whispered from his perch on the bed. Oh, he was so beautiful. His long red hair was tied back with a leather band. His skin was tanned from working outside this summer. His freckles reflected in the soft light. I loved his freckles. I loved everything about him.

To think, my father’s stable hand was my soul mate. If I was still human my father would never approve. Father, was a very strict man.

Even when I was human I had a soft spot for Andrew. I would see him and instantly become captivated. He was tall and strong with broad shoulders and he had the most beautiful red hair. He was nice to everyone and gentle with the horses. He never seemed to grow irritated. He was always so patient. It was one of the many things that I loved about him.

When I was human I had been promised to Massimo Drake. He had money and a high title in Roman society. He could take care of me. Andrew was a nobody. He couldn’t take care of me.

I knew deep down that had I stayed human I would’ve gone through with my planned marriage to Massimo. I didn’t love him, I despised him, and he didn’t care about me. But I wouldn’t have wanted to disappoint my parents.

For the first time in a year, my curse of being a vampire, suddenly felt like a blessing.

I loved Andrew with all my heart. All my being. All my soul.

After I had been turned into a vampire I returned home once. Only once. I had wanted to check in on my parents. But really I had wanted to see Andrew.

BAM!

It hit me like an atomic bomb when I saw him. The cord tying me to him. My soul calling to his. I could feel it. I knew. Andrew was my soul mate. It was just as Jonathon had said it would be even though he had never experienced it himself.

Andrew had been shocked when I appeared from the shadows. Then elation replaced shock.

I remembered back to that day. I remembered everything about it with perfect clarity.

* * *

“Is that really you?” he asked. “Selena, you look different?” he said in Italian. His Italian always had a funny lilt to it since he was originally from Russia. Ust-Kut. I knew that his mother had been Irish, hence the red hair, and his dad Russian.

“It’s really me, Andrew,” I smiled. “Just a little less breakable.”

“Your parents will be so happy to see you. You must go to them at once,” he said taking my hand. He dropped it at once when he felt how cold it was. “Selena?” he asked, his hazel eyes were the size of saucers.

“Andrew, I can’t do that,” I said.

“What are you?” he asked. I knew he must already have a pretty good guess. Superstitions ran strong.

“I’m a vampire and you are my soul mate,” I smiled kindly. For the first time since I had been turned hatred was not my ruling emotion but love. If I had been thinking with my head and not my heart I would have prepared him better instead of just spitting it out.

“Vampire?” he asked. “Soul mate? Are you possessed? We must get you to the priest at once? Demons have invaded your soul,” he cried and looked frightfully at me.

Hurt, I stepped back. I didn’t want to frighten him.

“What can I do for you to believe me?” I asked softly, timidly.

Andrew began to mumble a prayer under his breath.

“I’m not lying,” I whispered. I noticed that the horses shied away from me. Their noses twitched more than normal as if my scent burned their nostrils.

I let my incisors slide out. “I’m a vampire,” I hissed around my teeth.

He paled immensely.

“Please, don’t run from me,” I whispered picking up on the subtle tick of his muscles.

“You’re… you’re a demon,” he cried.

“Andrew please,” I pleaded, “I love you.”

He turned to leave. In a moment I grabbed him by his shoulders and pressed my lips against his. Jonathon had said that this was the conformation of soul mates. He had said that as cheesy as it sounds that you felt sparks.

Oh boy, was he right.

This was my first kiss and I had never imagined myself to be so bold but I had done it. And there were sparks. Oh, were there sparks and fireworks.

I had thought he would push me away but he didn’t. One of his hands cupped my waist, pulling me to him, while the other tangled in my black hair.

“I believe you,” he said against my lips.

Three words had never sounded so good before.

* * *

“Selena,” repeated Andrew breaking me from my walk down memory lane. “I’m ready.”

I looked to Jonathon. I had asked him to be here for moral support. Jonathon motioned for me to get this show on the road.

I sat down on the bed beside Andrew. I looked around at the small shack that had become my home. I liked it for its obscurity.

“I’m scared,” I whispered to Andrew ducking my head so he couldn’t see the shame in my eyes. He plucked at my chin with his hand lifting my head. His hazel eyes gazed into my silver ones, completely trusting.

“Shouldn’t I be the one that’s scared?” he chuckled trying to ease my worries.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” I breathed.

“You’ll have to if you want me to become one of you. I’m ready for this Selena. You and me for all eternity,” he turned and bared his neck to me with a smile. How could he smile at a time like this? He knew he’d be in pain. I guessed his show of confidence was probably more for my benefit.

I glanced over and my eyes met Jonathon’s matching ones.

“You can do it, Selena,” he said and gave me an encouraging smile.

I can do this. I just bite him. Bite him and the venom spreads. The venom spreads and then Andrew will be like me. Forever young.

I bit my marble lip. It was a nervous habit that I had when I was human and it had carried over to my second life.

“Andrew, I love you,” I said.

He smiled. His teeth were crooked but I thought it was cute.

“I love you,” he said, tucking a stray piece of red hair behind his ear. “Ready?” he asked.

Shouldn’t I be the one asking him that?

I bit my lip once more. I glanced from Andrew to Jonathon. Both had such faith in me where I had none in myself.

I scooted closer to Andrew. I ran my fingers through his silky red hair. His pale white tunic glowed like the moon. He rubbed his hands against his brown, worn, pants.

“Nervous?” I asked.

“I’d be crazy if I wasn’t,” he smiled sweetly.

I kissed his neck before I sunk my teeth into his sensitive flesh. I could feel the venom leaving my gums and flooding his bloodstream. I could hear his heart pumping faster.

Jonathon gasped behind me.

“Pull away, Selena,” said Jonathon. “You’re killing him.”

I pulled back and licked his blood off my lips.

Andrew was now lying back against the bed. Two rivulets of blood dripped from the puncture wounds in his neck.

He began to scream. I had never heard a grown man scream like that. I hoped I never heard it again.

“Andrew?” I whispered frightened.

“He’s okay,” said Jonathon. “Tis normal. You did everything right, do not fear,” he said.

“Normal?” I asked him.

He nodded his head. “Surly, you remember your own transformation. It is not pleasant.”

“Certainly not,” I breathed remembering the pain of my own transformation. The burning was the worse. You felt both on fire and soaked in ice. And everything hurt so badly. I had begged Jonathon to kill me when he found me. Obviously, he had not listened.

“You did great,” said Jonathon in reassurance. He could see the doubt in my eyes and repeated his words.

“I hope so,” I said because I wasn’t so sure.

“I’ll be back,” said Jonathon putting his hand on the door knob. My hand was on his in less than a second stopping him.

“Where are you going?” I asked panicked.

“To get him blood. He’ll be starving when he awakes,” said Jonathon with a bag in his hand.

“Don’t leave me alone,” I cried and glanced at Andrew’s contorted form. He continued to scream.

“He’ll have to have blood,” hissed Jonathon.

“But I don’t know what I’m doing! You stay, I’ll go,” I said already pulling on my cloak.

Jonathon ran his fingers through his blond hair.

“Fine,” he said and plopped onto a stool. “Hurry,” he added handing me the bag which I hid under my layers of skirts. It wouldn’t do to be spotted at this hour carrying an empty bag. That could only mean one thing; you were up to no good.

I was out the door and running through the field of wildflowers before he could say anything else. I could still hear Andrew’s screams as clearly as if I was in the room with him.

I blurred from the country into the city. I slowed once I reached the cobblestoned streets of Rome. I had to blend in. I had to appear human but I also had to make sure no one recognized me. But at this late hour most people I would run into would be too drunk to recognize me.

I may be a vampire now but I was still Selena Dulac. I was still the daughter of one of the most affluent men in Rome. I could not risk discovery. I was supposed to be dead.

It was a cold, chilly, night. I pulled my cloak tighter against me even though it wasn’t necessary.

I no longer feel the cold.

I bustled quickly through the ancient streets. I had to hurry. I had to get back to Andrew.

I ducked into a narrow alcove looking around quickly to make sure I hadn’t been followed. I opened the door into the ancient little shop. I closed it behind me. I turned around, my cloak hood falling down to reveal my face. My long, straight, black hair flowed around me. My silver eyes flashed up to look at the man in front of me.

“Luigi,” I said.

“Selena,” he replied his silver eyes sparkling in the dark identifying him as a vampire. His black hair was tied back, much like Andrews, and his pale skin seemed to glow. His full lips pulled up into a smile. Luigi was an older vampire. Well, older to me anyway. I had only been a vampire for a year. Luigi had been a vampire for the last ninety and he had been in his forties when he was turned. Most vampires I encountered were younger when they were turned. But I guess for that matter I haven’t met very many vampires.

“I need blood,” I said taping my boot on the floor of the dusty shop.

He laughed. “I figured that,” he said with a flick of his hand, signaling me to follow him.

I did, my cloak swishing around my feet.

He opened a refrigerator, a luxury in this day and age but a necessity to keep the blood from spoiling. His pale hands flicked over the various jars of labeled blood. There was every type of human blood and even some animal blood. Yuck. I didn’t understand vampires that wanted to live off of animal blood. It was disgusting. And the smell! When I was human I would equate the smell to that of rotting eggs only ten times worse. I couldn’t begin to imagine actually drinking the stuff. It must be an acquired taste.

I glanced around anxiously. I needed to get back to Andrew I needed to make sure the venom was spreading properly. Jonathon said he would sit with Andrew until I got back but I still felt the need to worry. Jonathon said it would be a while before the transformation would be complete but I still worried that he might wake up and I would be gone. I wanted my face to be the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes to his new life, his second life. At this point I had probably been gone some twenty to thirty minutes. I danced from foot to foot wanting to hurry Luigi along.

“How many do you want?” He asked me, turning around. I glanced in the refrigerator and saw that he had moved all of the animal blood out of the way; giving way to the human blood I wanted.

I bit my lip, how many would Andrew need? The jars were of medium size, so maybe?

“Ten,” I said finally.

 “It’s going to cost you,” he said with a smirk.

 “I know,” I replied but Luigi was the only vampire around that had access to fresh blood and even though I was against drinking animal blood I hated the thought of actually killing another human being to get what I needed.

I produced the large bag I had been hiding under my skirt to store the blood in. Luigi began loading the blood in. After every last jar was in I handed him the money.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” he said with a tip of his head. I smiled as I lifted my head, I had been looking into the bag. Double checking that I had what I had paid for but Luigi hadn’t cheated me.

“It always is,” I said to Luigi.

I left out his back door hurrying to get back to Andrew. I hoped he wasn’t in too much pain. I hated for him to suffer. His pain was my pain. But I had to keep up appearances which meant that while I was still inside the city I had to act human. It was killing me. I wanted to run. I wanted my body to blur as my feet glided over the ground so that I could reach Andrew faster.

A group of five men came out of a door, singing a song at the top of their lungs, and I ducked into an alcove to be hidden from their sight.

Luckily, they continued down the street away from me, completely oblivious to the predator hiding behind them. It was comical. Even if they had spotted me they wouldn’t have seen me as a threat. What they didn’t know is that if I wanted them dead they would all be gone before they knew what happened.

I leaned out of my hiding spot and looked both ways. The coast was clear and I didn’t hear anyone except the men and they were now heading in the opposite direction.

In a matter of minutes I was out of the city.  

I opened the door to my small house.

“Jonathon, I’m back,” I said. I heard a shuffling in the room. “Jonathon?” I said again. The room was in pure blackness when I closed the door. But the dark only intensified my vision.

“I’m so sorry, Selena,” came Jonathon’s voice and then his pale face.

 I put the bag down my hands were shaking so badly that I thought I might break the jars.

In another part of my head it occurred to me that there was no screaming but I didn’t have time to process that. I couldn’t I wouldn’t. But the silence was too loud. It was funny how silence could be loud.

“What are you sorry about?” I asked gulping.

 “I couldn’t save him,” he said sounding like he would be crying if he could.

 “Who couldn’t you save?” I asked becoming hysterical. But I knew what he was going to say. There was only one explanation for the missing screams.

 “Andrew,” he whispered.

My whole world fell from the heavens. My knees caved sending me to the stone floor. I hit my fist against one of the stones of the floor and a large crack appeared.

“What happened?” I asked from between my teeth. Anger, fear, pain, all dangerous emotions flowed through my body. I was clenching my teeth so hard I thought they would break.

“His body resisted the change,” whispered Jonathon.

 I laughed a cold harsh laugh. Not many resisted the change.

I began gasping.

Doubt replaced my other emotions.

“No, no, no! I’d feel it in here!” I said putting my hand to my heart. I was grasping at straws. At anything, in order to resist the truth that was staring me in the face. I had thought that I never wanted to hear a man scream like that again but right now I wanted it. I wanted to hear Andrew’s screams fill the room because it would mean he was alive! Andrew couldn’t be dead! This couldn’t be happening to me! I had finally begun to accept my existence as a vampire because of him! I couldn’t lose him now!

And losing him meant my death. Without Andrew I would turn into a crazed monster until I finally expired. I truly would become a vampire in every sense of the word. Without Andrew my humanity would be gone. Andrew was what kept what was left of my soul tethered to the earth. But that was no more.

Without Andrew, I had nothing left to live for.

“He’s dead Selena, there’s nothing I or you could have done,” said Jonathon softly, like he didn’t want to startle me.

“You could have saved him!” I screamed coming to my feet in less than a second.

 “I tried!” yelled Jonathon in an exasperated tone. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration so it stuck up in every direction.

“This isn’t fair! It’s just not fair!” I screamed into the small room where the only thing that could hear me was Jonathon but I needed to scream. I needed to release this pain. I felt like my insides were on fire. The feeling was worse than when I had been turned. I clenched my teeth yet again and my breath hissed irregularly out of my chest. Red hazed my vision. I had never felt anger like this before. It was taking me over. It was out of my control. I wanted to fight it but I couldn’t.

 “I’m sorry Selena. I’m so sorry,” said Jonathon. The old me knew he meant what he said and wanted to forgive him, to hug my best friend, but the new me? The red hazed, angry, sadistic, monster, version of me wanted to rip him to shreds. But that wasn’t good enough. The new me wanted him to suffer. He deserved to have this out of control feeling.

 “It’s all your fault!” I screamed lunging at him. I didn’t want to kill him… yet… but I wanted to hurt him. I wanted someone else to feel my pain. I needed to release it. He was gone in an instant and I ended up slamming into a piece of furniture.

I got into a crouch and hissed between my teeth, “Jonathon Pulmer, losing Andrew is going to kill me, but I’ll promise you this; I’ll live long enough to kill your soul mate like you did mine. I promise you!” I screamed at him. My friend, my protector, my brother in every way even if we weren’t actually related, stared at me in horror. Pain laced his silver eyes.

 “I’m sorry Selena,” he whispered before he left me in my one room house with my dead soul mate.

“Sorry is not good enough,” I whispered and laid down on the bed pulling Andrew’s body against me. I kissed his dead, pale, waxy, cheek. “Sorry is not good enough for what I’ve done,” I said to no one. “I failed you Andrew. I failed you,” I whispered. I wished then that I could cry so that I could release some of the tension in my body but that wasn’t possible.

Night turned to day.

Day turned to night.

Three days passed before I could take the smell no longer and I lovingly buried Andrew in my garden. I found a large stone and with nothing but my finger nail I carved his name, birth, and death into its surface. I sat there, in the freshly turned dirt, for another two days. I didn’t want to leave him. I didn’t want him to be alone.

But it was time to put my plan into action.

It was time for Jonathon to start paying for what he had done. He didn’t have a soul mate and I didn’t know how long I might have to wait but I was determined to make sure I lived long enough to see him suffer as I have. But in the meantime he needed to grieve for something. And I needed to expel some of this anger.

I laughed manically.

Jonathon had been right when he said that vampires went crazy when they lost their soul mates. It had already happened to me. I was over the edge and beyond and there was no going back.

I had no soul now.

I was a shell.

I was nothing.

And Jonathon was going to pay for my suffering and I didn’t care who had to die to make him hurt.

I smiled.

I knew how to really hurt him. I knew whose deaths would really eat him up.

“Goodbye, Baron and Katherine,” I said out loud.

I laughed and laughed and laughed as I planned their demise. It wasn’t my normal laughter. It was more of a cackling.

Murder had never sounded so good. I had always thought murder was for the lowest of the low and I guessed it still was because I was low. But I couldn’t wait to see the life leave their silver eyes. I wanted to hear them beg for mercy. But mercy was not something that I would deliver.

Death.

That’s what I would deliver.

Just call me the Reaper.

End.

Chapters from Jonathon's POV coming soon.