Chapter Twenty-Two: The Three Bite Rule
The
jet-black carriage raced down the darkened road. The horses pulled it with ease as two of its
occupants watched the quickly moving scenery.
Eliza’s red eyes peered into the night and Annabelle mused at how
strange the two of them must’ve looked.
Thomas
said, “I just want to thank you both, again.
Henry can be a pain, but he’s my brother.”
“Think
nothing of it. He’s a friend of
ours. The children were right. We shouldn’t leave him to those monsters.”
“You’re
amazing, Eliza. If I was a vampire and
someone said I didn’t have a soul I wouldn’t risk everything to save him...
oops.”
Eliza’s
head snapped towards Tom’s direction.
Annabelle’s mouth fell open as she asked in shock, “What?”
“I’m
sorry. I need to keep my mouth
shut.” Tom sighed. “Henry thinks when you become a vampire you
lose your soul to the devil.”
Annabelle’s
blood boiled. “How dare he? My brother and I have always treated him with
the utmost respect. What have we ever
done to him?”
Eliza
spoke up with her usual calm voice.
“Now, Ann, don’t be too upset with him.
This is the same paranoia we’ve heard throughout the ages. Besides, I cannot say I blame the mortals for
fearing us and making up stories.”
“But
Eliza, it’s wrong!” She stood up and
paced, moving her hands to emphasize her points. The carriage rocked as it rumbled on its way
over the gravely road, but Annabelle had no problem keeping her balance. “Of course I have a soul! I’m still the same person I was before I
became a vampire. How can you defend him
for saying such lies?”
Eliza
wasn’t reproachful or angry when she replied, “You have known less than a
handful of vampires in your short life.
Most are evil, or at least indifferent.
True, there are good ones out there, like my troupe of gypsies, but
there are many more rotten ones as well.
The mortals have gained a deep fear because of the atrocities these bad
vampires perform.”
Calm
followed by shame washed away the anger.
Annabelle promptly regained her seat.
“I’m sorry I was upset. It really
bothers me when people say things they know nothing about. I can see what you mean about the bad
vampires, but why say we have no souls?”
“First
of all, it’s ignorance. See, most people
do not even know what a soul is.”
“What
is a soul?” Thomas asked.
“A
soul is the combination of your body and your spirit.”
“Spirit?”
“Yes. Here, let me show you.” Eliza pulled out her white satin gloves from a
pocket in her cloak and held one up.
“See my hand? This represents my
spirit. Your spirit is the ‘you’
inside. Your dreams, likes, dislikes,
everything that makes you who you are.
See this empty glove? This is my
body. This represents the physical part
of you. When we were born our spirit
went into our body.” She put the glove
on and then moved her fingers inside it.
“When we die, and I mean really die for good, our spirit comes out of
our body.” She removed the glove and
placed it down on her lap.
“Our
body goes into the grave and our spirit goes to a sort of Spirit Realm. Many religions teach one day our spirit and
body will be reunited. The soul is the
name for your body and spirit when they are together.”
“So
vampires have spirits like everyone else.”
Tom reasoned.
“Of
course.” Eliza sat back and put away her
gloves. “As for the devil, I’ve never
met such a thing. I do not believe
vampires owe their existence to the devil.”
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