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I was driven from my slumber by a dream that made me think. Why I had been sleeping in the first place was beyond me. I suppose maybe I missed the way I was back when I had thought I was human.
The dream was really just some woman urging me to go find her. I could not place her name with her face, but somehow I felt I knew her... somehow, I knew I knew her.
It was about midnight when I awoke in a cold sweat. I slowly got up and stumbled to the closet. I dressed simply and packed a small bag with more simple clothes and left my room, shutting its door as I left. I did not hang around the hallway to peek into anyone’s room in farewell; I just hurried to the door and left the house, hoping that the darkness would conceal me. I did not want Tai or Spike or Antonio knowing that I was leaving, but I knew that they would find out soonly enough.
The woman in my dream had not specified where she was. I knew this was a test; what else could it be? I lifted my head to glance at the moon and sense for which direction I should go in. I sensed the woman faintly; she was far, far away; I could tell that much. I also could tell the general direction she was in, so I headed that way.
I walked for five or six hours before the first hint of daylight was etched on the sky. I was surprised to find I was not the least bit tired. I was further surprised when a few days had passed and I had not yet had to stop. I felt I was getting closer, too; I was headed in the direction of the coast. It was all instinct, this trip; nothing more, nothing less.
When I got to the very edge of the ocean, I did not hesitate; I stepped right in. It worked against me at first, throwing ten foot waves at me, but not once was I pushed back. The ocean sensed my determination and turned as passive as a kitten. I swam from that point on, for days, weeks, maybe even months. It soon got to the point where I was near another shore. I rode a wave onto the land and nodded at the ocean in some type of thanks. It lapped gently around my ankles and then I began walking in the direction that the woman was. She was closer than ever. I felt her.
That night, I ran into some vampires. They sensed I was also a vampire, but a younger, weaker one, and they attacked me at once. I was scared to death, but some part of me that had been previously asleep woke then and my fear was diminished as I fought back and soon drove the vampires off. One remained, though, refusing to leave.
“Who are you?” he growled deeply. My fear returned at once.
“M... my name is-...”
“I don’t care about your name. Who are you?”
“I have nothing but name to define myself with.”
“Then you do not belong here. Leave now,” he bellowed. I began to turn to go, but I quickly shook my head and turned back to look at this menacing figure.
“I will not leave! Not yet. I came here on a mission and I shan’t leave until I have accomplished it. I have overcome several obstacles on my way and it won’t have been for nothing.”
“You must get by me, first. Who are you?”
I thought of all the things by which one defines themself. I looked down, “I am a deceiver, a black widow, a walker of water and a vampire.” He looked somewhat pleased with my answer. He crossed his arms over his chest a moment and thought.
“Why?” he asked. I lifted my head slowly, a smirk playing on my lips.
“That is a question no one can answer and everyone asks. Why? Because that’s the way it is. That’s the way I am. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
“No one can answer? You did a fine job answering it.”
“No one knows for sure if their answer is correct,” I replied, moving my shoulders awkwardly.
“Correct?” he said, frowning.
“Hm. Then again, what is correct?” I shrugged. “I guess everyone can be sure of everything, because what they think is all that matters to them.”
The formidable creature laughed. “Well, what is your mission that you spoke of?”
“A woman came to me in my slumber and beckoned me. I’m very near to her now, I can sense it.”
The creature could no longer conceal its true identity. At once, its ten feet of height went down to a little lower than six feet and its masculine face turned into that of a woman-more specifically, the woman from my dream, who I now recognized the identity of.
“Who are you?” I teased. She smiled.
“A two-faced, deceptive praying mantis-and vampire. In short... your mother.” She smiled at me. “You made it here. Excellent. How was your trip?”
“Simple enough,” I shrugged. “So, are you going to come back with me?” I asked, and at once, her face darkened.
“Go back? Do you really want to go back? Why not stay with me? We can travel the world... we can see everything, Mysiri-...”
“I don’t care about seeing the world. I want to go back to Tai and Spike and Antonio-...” I paused. “It’s killing you to be away from Tai. That’s why you summoned me in the first place; because I have a part of Tai in me. You disgust me-you refuse to acknowledge that you miss and love Tai, thus throwing yourself into a state of perpetual melancholy. Pitiful,” I muttered, turning away.
“You only hate me because you are the same way!” she cried out desperately. I could not help but fall into her trap. I turned back to face her well hidden smirk, but though I saw right through it, I was tangled in her web of deception.
“I am the same way?” I snorted, but knew it was true, and that knowledge is what kept me with her for the next several years.
All through those years, I did not notice that she had put a mental barrier around us so that no one could find us. She was afraid they would take me from her and, though she really wanted to be reunited with Tai, she was too stubborn to admit to it. I missed Spike enormously, but I told myself that Spike would come to me. I suppose I had inherited my mother’s stubbornness. I also had no idea that my mother had made it so he could not find me. And he was the main person that she was blocking against because she knew he was the one most capable of taking me away.
So, we traveled the world together for years, she teaching me how to harness all my powers, along with many other things. I grew to love her almost as much as any daughter loves her mother, but her flaws seemed to stick out like a sore thumb to me. I constantly reminded myself of the fact that she had abandoned me when I had first been born and I should not grow too trusting or attached to her.
Whenever we ran into other vampires, they cowered and ran. It was not because of me; they still thought I was a puny, pathetic young vampire, but it was getting to the point at which I could almost beat my mother at sparring. This was a real accomplishment, as she was the strongest vampire in existence-or so she said to me. But there is no truth in the world; no one can be trusted. I was just learning this and I soon came to the belief that I had surpassed her in strength-and perhaps even in understanding of the world.
She soon noticed how I started to seem disinterested in her and I even mouthed off at her once in awhile. It was not long before I angered her immensely. She grabbed me by the shoulders, her nostrils flaring and her entire face furious.
“You will respect me!” she roared. I chuckled, shaking my head. She shook me. “What, you think you can defeat me in a mental battle?” she challenged.
“Of course I can, “ I returned. She was even further infuriated.
“Then, let’s go! Right now!” she growled, and at once she threw many items conjured up in her mind at me. I destroyed each and every one and shoved her back mentally with a small fraction of my strength. She was flung back twenty feet and slammed right into a tree, but leapt right back up and attempted to throw me back mentally. I had not let my guard down, so I only stumbled back a foot or so. She was getting discouraged; I could tell from the way her eyes were shining. I threw her backward again; this time she flew back about fifty feet. She suddenly disappeared from sight, but she underestimated me. I had never been watching her with my eyes, but I had been sensing her all along. I sensed her right beside me and grabbed her wrist just as she was about to plunge a knife into me. I tightened my grasp so that she dropped the knife and it faded into the air, just another image projected from her mind and made material with her will.
“Give it up. You underestimated me, mother. I am going-right now. I miss Spike, Antonio and Tai. Tai raised me better than you could ever think to.” I began to walk away. My mother began to weep.
“Please don’t leave me! I’ve been so miserably lonely-...” she pleaded. I shut my ears to her and continued to walk. She did not follow, which I was grateful for.
I sensed Spike and was half-surprised to find him so nearby. I went in the direction of him. I saw him hunched over and prowling around. I approached him.
“Spike!” I exclaimed. He turned around. Blood was streaming from the side of his mouth. “Spike...? What-...?”
“Oh, so, now you come to me, hmm? When you’re searching for an excuse to get away from your mother and not feel guilty, you just come across me, and, poof! You’ve got an excuse! I won’t be used like this, Mysiri.”
“Spike, how can you-...?” I shook my head. “I missed you while I was with my mother! I could barely stand being away from you! The moment I got away from my mother the first thing I thought of was finding you!” Spike shook his ratty hair and turned away. I grabbed his shoulder. He smacked my hand away and was viciously upon me in an instant. “Spike!” I shouted. He smacked me and pinned me down, his knees sharp on my arms. I shouted over and over in pain. He was strangling me.
“So you just trick me, huh? You just use and abuse me, huh? Think I’m just a toy you can throw aside when you don’t want it, and then pick it back up when you want it again, huh?”
“No, Spike! Not at all! Spike-...”
“Shut up!” he roared. I covered my face to hide my tears. “Just, shut up, Mysiri! You’ll make this much easier for both of us-...”
“Make what easier-...? You don’t mean to-...”
“I don’t mean to,” Spike scoffed. “Nooo, I never mean to. Just like I didn’t mean to kill Kyoto.” Spike laughed evilly. “No, I didn’t mean to kill him and throw his parents into such despair that they felt they had to kill themselves. No, I didn’t mean to kill Syti, who felt it was completely her fault that I had changed so dramatically. No, I didn’t mean to kill-...”
“Stop it! Stop it, Spike! You shut up! Shut up!” I cried out, shoving him roughly off of me. He flew back about fifteen feet. I got up and wiped my tears away with my arm. “What happened to you?”
“What happened to me, “ he chuckled. “What happened to me! I wonder, you know, Mysiri!” Spike started trembling, his face downward, his hair covering all his features. I wondered what the trembling was from... tears, or laughter? His face slowly raised, and I soon saw that it was a combination of the both; both tears and laughter. “What do you think of this new me, huh? You still love me the way you used to?”
“How can I love someone so cruel?” I whispered in reply. Spike just laughed openly again.
“Cruel! Maybe that’s the word I was looking for when I was explaining how I had changed to-...”
“Damnit, Spike!” I shook my head, shuddering. “Why-...”
“Why have I suddenly changed? Hah! Think for a minute, Mysiri. Think!” After a few moments of nothing, Spike shook his head, disgustedly. “You left me-no goodbye, no nothing. How was I supposed to know how you were, where you were, if you were okay-...” Spike glared at me.
“Spike, you don’t seem to understand what I-...”
“No, Mysiri. You don’t understand. You don’t understand what I went through.”
“Spike, I’m sorry. I never meant to leave you hanging-... I needed to find my mother. I had to see what she was... what she was like... if she was any better than I thought she would be... I discovered she was worse. It wasn’t me that kept you away. She kept a mental barrier up so no one could find us... and she kept it especially strong against you. She was so selfish! Wanting me all to herself-...”
“Stop lying!” Spike growled. “Why do you persist in lying to me-...”
“Spike, listen for a second! Think of the logic in the words I speak as opposed to the illogical drivel you’re speaking-...”
“Drivel!” Spike bursted out. He ran at me, and I easily dodged his fists.
“Spike, stoppit! This is pointless!” I begged. He refused to stop. Eventually, I decided it was up to me. I just stopped blocking him, and let his fists hit home. I never really got hurt; everything healed the second my blood was exposed to the air. Spike just got more and more frustrated, and I just stood still, enduring his fists. He refused to stop until suddenly, he was flung violently back.
“What do you think you’re doing?” a familiar voice demanded. I shook my head and looked up.
“Annami-...?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s me,” Annami sighed, keeping Spike pinned mentally on the ground about twenty feet away from me.
“How did you get out of that room?” I asked in wonder. I actually had never gained the hatred for Annari and Annami that Tai had wanted me to. “And where is Annari?”
“That’s not important right now. You left your mother, then?” I nodded solemnly. Annami nodded. “Then it must be done...” she said, more to herself than to Spike or me. “Mysiri, you’re gonna have to come with me.”
“What?”
“Me. Come with me.”
“Why?”
“I need your help.”
The promise I had refused to make to Antonio however long ago it was came fresh to my mind. I hesitated. “What do you need help with?”
“Mysiri, please, trust me. I know that Tai and Antonio insisted that you not trust Annari or myself ever, but, please, trust me... for now, anyway. I promise, this is not a trick.” She looked so truthful; I could not help but believe her...
“Okay, Annami...”
And thus began my dealings with the Devil.