All Chapters of Leesa's Advent: Chapter 541 - Chapter 550

I HAD BEEN A VAMPIRE for nearly a century when I met Gabriela. I still remember that autumn night as clearly as any in my long existence. Ricard and I were hunting along a country road that twisted among the wooded foothills of the mountains of what is now Austria. Thin, wispy clouds drifted in front of a strikingly full moon, at times cloaking it in a gauzy film and at other moments floating aside to reveal the golden orb’s full luminosity. The wind blew out of the north, carrying the chill air of the mountains with it. As usual, we smelled our quarry before we saw them: two humans, one male and one female, approaching from the east. Pairs were always our preferred targets, since they provided one victim for each of us and required no needless killing of any witnesses. Their scent came with the smell of horses. From the sound of the hoof beats and the clackety-clack of wooden wheels on the hard-packed dirt, we knew the humans were traveling in a wagon or a carriage. Ricard an

The new land provided everything Ricard and I had hoped for. Untold miles of forest and hills to explore, isolated farms, small towns and villages, and a few growing cities for when we felt the need to prowl the streets of a more urban setting. We fed where and when we wished, making no distinction between the dark-skinned native peoples and the newly arrived immigrants from our former homeland. As Ricard had predicted, America was for the most part a savage land. Only in the cities did we bother to hide our kills. Otherwise, we let the deaths be chalked up to the warring tribes and wild animals that filled the sparsely populated sections that made up most of the country.The more southern areas near where we had come ashore turned out to be too hot and sunny for our tastes, especially in the summer, so we gradually worked our way northward. We spent time enjoying the bustling cities of Philadelphia and New York before drifting north once again into New England, whose clime we found m

I waited a few weeks to see if my interest in Leesa might fade. I did not dwell on her; rather, I let my experience with her percolate inside me, not forcing my thoughts to take any particular shape. I knew too few details about her to make any real judgments, so I just let my mind wander where it would, hoping something might come of it. When nothing did, I decided it was time seek her out again, thinking perhaps a second encounter would be less enthralling than the first and might rid me of the feelings gnawing inside me. How wrong I was!A thick overcast sky offered the perfect chance to return to the college. With Leesa’s spoor embedded in my brain, I knew I would be able to find her without much difficulty. Giving it no further thought, I took my leave of our caverns and headed to Middletown. I wandered the campus for twenty or thirty minutes before my sensitive nostrils picked up her trail. When I discovered where she was that afternoon, I couldn’t help smiling.Professor Clerva

For several hundred years, our coven has used the perpetual night of our caverns to avoid the hated sun and to remain hidden from the ever-increasing human population as well. Cut eons ago under the tree-covered hills on the eastern side of the Connecticut River by a now-vanished underground waterway, the caverns provide the perfect hideaway. Thousands of hours of labor have shaped the various chambers to suit our needs—but what are hours, or even years, to those of us who have all eternity stretching out before us?The largest of the natural chambers serves as our Council chamber. It’s a vast natural amphitheater more than one hundred feet across with a ceiling almost thirty feet high at its tallest point. Rows of stone benches carved from the uneven floor can hold the more than three score vampires who make up our “family.” The benches face seven seats hewn directly out of the limestone wall. When our entire coven gathers, the members of the High Cou

He wore a dark blue raincoat that covered him down over his hips. He’d come upon us in that silent volkaane way while I was distracted by the complexities of my talk with Leesa. I could see the tension in his limbs, showing he was ready to spring if given the chance. Tiny blue flames flickered menacingly from his fingertips. I imagined I could hear them crackling. I wondered what was stopping him. Why had he given me warning? Besides their magic fire, surprise has always been the volkaanes greatest weapon against us. Slowly and with great care, I rose to my feet and let my fangs drop from my upper jaw, ready for battle. A low growl escaped my throat. “I said get away from her, Stefan,” the volkaane repeated, his voice dark with barely restrained fury. How did this volkaane know my name? And if he did know me, he should know of my strength as well. So why had he given up the advantage of surprise? Distracted as I was by my conversation, he could easily