“Your run-in with the mysterious vampire,” Irina explained. “I knew this day would come, but I am getting ahead of myself. Get yourself some more coffee, child.”
Ian stood and poured himself another cup of coffee. A thousand thoughts ran through his head. Why would his family lie to him about the curse? What did they have to gain from not telling the truth? He was anxious to hear what his grandmother had to say, but at the same time, he was fearful. How would the truth effect him?
“Centuries ago, the Merripen and Renaldi families lived beside each other in happiness. The families had become so close, in fact, that an arranged marriage was going to take place between the Merripen leader’s son and the Renaldi leader’s daughter.” Irina paused and took a sip of her lukewarm tea. “The two tribes were very excited about the union of their families. It was decided that once each child reached the age of twenty-one they would be married. The number twenty-one was considered to be a sign of good luck.”
“An arranged marriage!” Ian exclaimed.
“You must remember, Ian, that it was a different time back then.” Irina gave her grandson a patient smile. “Arranged marriages were very common place at that time. No one thought that there would be any problems with the arrangement between the families. It soon came to light though that the marriage would not work.”
“What happened?” Ian was being drawn into his grandmother’s story.
“It was during one summer night when fate decided to stick her hand into things and change the families forever. The Merripen boy was found in the woods having…relations.” Irina chuckled as Ian rolled his eyes at her choice of words. “The problem was it was not with the girl he was to marry.”
“Who was it with?” Ian asked.
“He was with the girl’s brother.” Irina sighed heavily. “Needless to say the Merripen family was outraged. They couldn’t believe that one of their own would mate with someone of the same sex. They were even more upset when the Renaldi family didn’t even blink an eye. In fact they offered their son in place of their daughter.”
“Are you serious?” Ian was shocked. “Their family was that open-minded?”
“The Renaldi family loved their children very much and only wanted for their happiness. The Merripen family felt very differently. They demanded that the boy still marry the Renaldi girl. Of course the boy refused, he claimed he was in love with the young man.” Irina’s eyes filled with tears as she continued the story. “The boy threatened to run away with his lover. His father gave him a choice: either stay with his family or he would be hunted down and killed. The man believed his son was betraying the family.”
“So the boy had to choose between life or death, his love or his family?” Ian’s eyebrows rose high on his head. “That is so wrong.”
“Wrong and ironic, Ian, because the name Merripen in Romani means life or death.” Irina continued. “It gets worse, my child. The boy was so fearful for not only his life, but his lover’s life, he choose to remain with his family. His father is the one responsible for the curse. He forced his child to perform the ritual and curse the Renaldi family. They were cursed to forever walk in the darkness, to never see the light of day again.”
“How could someone do that to their own child?” Ian was pissed off. “That had to have destroyed the boy.”
“It did break his spirit.” Irina agreed. “The full impact of what the curse had done was not realized until weeks later when half of the Merripen family were killed in their sleep. The Renaldi family sought justice for the cruelty that was inflicted upon them.”
“They had every right to!” Ian exclaimed. “They did nothing wrong. Their family should have never been cursed!”
“I agree with you, my child.” A sad smile appeared on her weathered face. “The Merripen family was scared for the remaining lives of their family. So they called upon their ancestors to help protect them. The Merripen family had some Gypsy magic in their blood, but with help from their ancestors they became very powerful. They vowed to hunt down and destroy the creatures that killed their family.”
“You mean hunt down the people that they had fucked over to begin with!” Rage surged through Ian’s veins. “They cursed the Renaldi family, and if they wouldn’t have done that then no one would have died. It makes me sick to even be a part of this. I won’t hunt anymore. I refuse to! This is why no one has told me because they knew I wouldn’t agree!”
“You must continue to hunt, my child.” Irina gave Ian a stern look that told him to keep his mouth shut. “The boy had worded the curse very specifically. His father wanted the family to be stripped of their humanity, but the boy’s love stopped him from doing that. Yes, he turned them into creatures of the night, but he did not take their souls.”
“What?” Ian’s head pounded in confusion.
“The Renaldi family was forced into the night because the sun was deadly to them, and of course they were forced to drink blood to survive.” Irina explained. “However, they were not monsters because as long as they didn’t kill and only fed from willing humans, they would keep their souls and their humanity.”
“So I’m not hunting innocent beings.” Ian’s eyes showed his understanding. “Once a vampire takes a human soul on purpose, they lose their own soul. And if they lose their humanity, there is nothing that would stop them from killing again and again. I’m hunting murderers.”
“Exactly! I knew you were a smart boy.” Irina patted his hand. “The Merripen ancestors were very smart as well because the power they bestowed on the family would only allow us to sense vampires without souls. That is why you were surprised by that vampire. You were not supposed to kill him because he still has his humanity, his soul.”
“Are the vampires aware of this?” Ian asked.
“Are they aware we only hunt the soulless?” Irina smiled as Ian nodded his head. “Yes, Ian, they are aware of it. A few decades ago a hunter ran into one of the Renaldi family members. She was completely unaware that the woman was a vampire. They were attacked one night walking through a park, and when she killed the soulless creature with her power the vampire revealed herself.”
report “Why would she do that?” Ian couldn’t believe the hunter trusted the vampire.
“Because it made her job easier. If the vampires with souls knew that the family would only be going after the soulless then we didn’t have to worry about them trying to attack us as well.” Irina sighed. “We have enough on our plate with the soulless, could you imagine, my child, what it would be like if every vampire alive was after you?”
“I don’t want to.” Ian shuddered. “I can’t believe all of this was kept from me. Why wouldn’t anyone want me to know this?”
“It’s because of your destiny, my dear one.” Irina leaned over and patted Ian’s cheek. “You…”
“Irina! What are you doing?”
Ian cringed at the sound of his father’s voice booming through the kitchen. Jeffery Sanders’ tall frame filled the kitchen doorway. Anger flared in his eyes as he stared at his mother-in-law. Ian avoided his father as much as possible because he just didn’t feel like dealing with the headaches that normally accompanied being in his father’s presence. Ian couldn’t believe his father’s timing. Leave it to his father to interrupt during something important.