Chapter Eight
And so, another hundred years flew by, and with it the human populations had more than quadrupled in numbers. The sons and daughters of Adam had become fruitful, and finally after a century of near starvation, Luluwa, Cain and their son Nunka could feast on blood. To indulge in the sweet, rich nectar of human life, to taste the pain, the joy and the lusts of humanity, had proven to be more than addictive. It became an obsession. Just as the humans replenished themselves, Cain and his family gorged. They moved from land to land, following the trails set by Seth, careful to not feed too much lest they draw angelic attention as humanity was still within the early stages of infancy. However, within their path of destruction, they left behind a legacy of death. Aklia still hunted them just as ferociously as her last encounter with Cain, and came awfully close to successfully taking his head.
And once upon a time, Cain had almost let her when he realized what he had done.
"Cain," He overheard Luluwa summon him as she released the dead body of Seth's runaway grandson.
He tuned to face her "Yes Luluwa?"
"What shall we do with this body? I have already snapped his neck so that he does not turn..."
"Leave it. I will come back before sunrise and will dispose of it."
"Seth will hunt us for this," Luluwa said sadly. "What have we become?"
"Aklia's daughters are strong like their mother," Adam reminded her. "We will keep surviving as we have always done."
"Seth's sons also grow strong and look to Aklia to lead an army," Luluwa whispered.
"It is the price we pay for what we are. Where is Nunka?" Cain asked, searching the surrounding darkness for their son.
Instantly Cain dematerialized out of the hidden shadows of the jungle in which they hid, before he realized he was too late. Nunka, now a fully adult vampire, with all of his father's strengths and none of his mother's weaknesses stood out in the open, his face covered in blood as he stared at the young woman off in the distance bathing in the river. His eyes remained fixated on the gorgeous dark skin that blended in with the deep crystal clear waters.
"Who is she?" Nunka asked.
"That looks like Adrina-Aklia's oldest daughter," Cain stated flatly.
"She is beautiful..." Nunka breathed.
"She is dangerous," Cain added. "She is a huntress like her mother. And she is a thousand times more lethal because I killed her fath-" A dagger sliced through the air, interrupting Cain's sentence and piercing Nunka's shoulder.
"How dare you watch me while I bathe!" Adinkra cried out, wrapping a goat's skin around her even as she lunged forward.
The woman moved like lightening, and in a flash, Cain snatched his injured son and the two of them deconstructed into mist, disappearing before Adinkra could catch them.
"What were you thinking!" Cain shouted at his son. Luluwa rushed forward to offer assistance. But when she noticed the silver dagger still burning a hole through Nunka's shoulder, she hissed.
Nunka collapsed on a pile of leaves, grimacing from the pain. "I just wanted to see who she was! Her beauty is like that of no other!"
"Her beauty is what lured you," Cain growled as he kneeled down next to his son.
"Then make me a bride then!" Nunka shouted as Cain yanked out the silver dagger. Luluwa gasped at the request.
"Do you know what such a request requires?" Luluwa asked, sharing an uneasy glance with Cain.
"it is not right that I am alone," Nunka groaned. "Father has you mother and what do I have? Human women do not survive long enough-"
"I told you son to control yourself-"
"Make me an equal!," Nunka demanded. The silence that befell around them, drowned out the white noise of Cain's rage. He understood Nunka's need for companionship. Soon, he was certain that his son would dare to venture off into the world on his own, independent and unrestrained from his parents. Something that Cain also feared would get him killed.
"I will not turn Adrina," Cain growled.
"Then I will find a woman whose beauty rivals that of Adrina," Nunka stammered.
Cain said nothing as he bit into his wrist, opening a vein for his son to feed from.
"You are right, it is not fair that you are alone. That is something that I almost faced myself and had it not been for your mother, I would have had no choice but to face the darkness alone."
Nunka accepted his father's wrist and took in several deep pulls before releasing it. "Thank you father."
"You're welcome son."
Cain and Luluwa shared another look, worry filled those beautiful grey eyes of hers that reminded him of the very silver pierced Nunka's shoulder. "Worry not my love," He told her. "This will be the first and only sacrifice we make. Perhaps we find the most wicked of Adam's daughter's that should be a fit to be a bride for Nunka. If we turn one of innocent blood, the angels would surely come for us. We must wait until we find one that calls for darkness-"
"And then we make her the nightmare that she dares to dream," Luluwa says with a grin.
