Page 54 of The Diary of the Vam'pir Jacques

Marel spoke to a few of the calmer and more rational people and managed to calm everyone down. Which was lucky, because we were quite willing to return them to the boats and defend our land.

It turned out that there were only forty-six dissidents among the first load that arrived. But those assholes were loud! The remaining Kaltons feelings were fuelled by fear that we would enslave them—or worse. The fact they were incredibly upset at leaving their homes back on Kaltos also made them erratic.

When most calmed down after being told Vam’pirs and Morans meant them no harm, they managed the dissidents themselves.

Indeed, they left a few gifts in a way of thanks for our help. The next night, one of the Morans teleported himself to NewKaltos, as it was to be called, and began to start teleporting Kaltons to where he was. I personally would have made them march for five weeks, but the Morans simply wanted rid of them, and so made their journey easier. It also left them not knowing where they were.

It was true they could attempt to teleport back. But camping on the beach, they hadn’t got a clear view of Mora. It was more likely they’d make a mistake when teleporting. Accidents had happened in the past when people had teleported themselves into rock faces or other immobile stuff.

Of course, it killed them outright.

Generously, we had given tools for the Kaltons to clear the woodland away and gave them other essentials such as grain and food.

Me? Personally? I’d have let them die.

The place we had chosen for the Kaltons, as I said, was a large, wide valley that would give them protection from the weather. It also had huge flat parcels of land that they could use as fields for growing food and rearing animals. They should be capable of using it effectively.

The land was big enough to hold thousands of people, and that was one reason we had chosen it for them. Vam’pirs meant for the Kaltons to stay where they were and not roam about the countryside, looking to expand and maybe finding the Morans.

As the New Kaltons were transported, the Morans made only one demand. The New Kaltons were still expected to donate their blood. They agreed willingly, thankful for somewhere safe to live.

This happened within the first four weeks after Marel had approached us. There were only six weeks to go till the comet hit, and changes were already apparent. Kaltos and Mora were struck by several large storms and tides were high over at Kaltos.

More individuals now trusted Marel’s words, causing a rush for spots on the boats. Every night, a thousand individuals sailed to safety, mostly older families without infants.

Marel came to us in despair. He didn’t know how to convince those with children to leave, and he was terrified at the potential loss of young life. The decision was made for the Vam’pir to rescue the children the night before the comet was supposed to strike. Even if it meant stealing them from their families.

Marel was horrified by this idea, but we didn’t see why the children should suffer for the blindness of their parents. The adults had become adept at burying their heads in the sand. Even now, they refused to believe that there was a comet, though it was clearly seen in our night sky.

People only saw what they wanted to. Two weeks before the comet was due to hit, we moved the bulk of the Morans to their new home. Mora became a ghost town with only fifty to a hundred people living in it. These had stayed behind to help move the rest of the Kaltons coming over. Morans knew they were in danger not only from them but also from the elements and were prepared to risk their lives. Each evening, as we had before, we helped build Har’ches just like we had built Mora. But we left a couple of Vam’pirs at Mora to protect our people.

To see Mora empty caused grief, but we hoped that we would be able to return and live there again. Tragically, that was not meant to be. The penultimate night before Kaltos was destroyed in the Reckoning, we moved the rest of the Morans to safety and kissed them goodbye.

Vam’pirs hadn’t started to build our own home yet; we were more concerned that the good-natured Har’chens were settled first. There was no denying that the comet meant to hit Earth square on, as the night sky was filled with white fire, and the sight of it frightened everyone. Morans, Kaltons and Vam’pirsalike. Although we had scientific evidence that Mora was the safest continent, we were all still scared.

After transporting the Morans to safety, we took a boat and sailed the sea over to Kaltos. The seas were some of the roughest we’d ever sailed, and Vam’piric strength was needed to keep them on point.

Vam’pirs planned to stay the night in our old coven in the cellar, where we would be safe. We landed on a deserted beach and silently made our way back to our first home.

Marel had promised to line up as many boats as he could to save the children the next night. Although looking at the high waves of the sea, it would be hard to sail them. Worryingly, tomorrow would be worse than what we had just sailed through. But we had sworn to try to save the Kaltos youth, and we would do our hardest.

When we saw our old coven, we couldn’t believe our eyes. It was utterly destroyed. Not a single wall was left remaining. Vandals had done their job well and completely tried to wipe our very existence away. The glass windows had been smashed to smithereens, and ceilings were pulled down.

As we scrabbled among the ruins, we found the cellar had been filled with rubble from the outer walls.

Vam’pirs had nowhere to stay that was safe. Out of desperation, we turned in hope that my father’s old villa still stood, but Anton had been right. It had burned the evening we left in that desperate chase.

Finally, we hoped Marel would be alone and chanced going to his home for hope that he would house us for the day. Marel was surprised to see us, thinking that we were coming the following night, but readily agreed to house us. It was the least he could do, he insisted, as we had helped him and the Kaltons.

The words were sour in my ears.

Remember, I and four others hadn’t wanted to aid and were quite prepared to watch Kaltos go to the bottom of the sea. (Which we did, eventually.)

Marel kept to himself all throughout the next day, even when people came pounding on his door demanding entrance as the comet filled the sky. Now, the fools believed, when it was too late.

Marel stubbornly refused to speak to them, and he had the foresight to anchor the ships out of reach with trusted people on board. I imagine they had a rough time of it, seeing that terrible thing in the sky, and holding firm and not fleeing. But Marel had chosen well, and they stuck to their duty. By midday we were awake as the sun had disappeared behind the comet. Changing our timeline, we began implementing the plan.

Sneakily, we began creeping about, going to dark houses and stealing the children within. We had to hold our hands over their mouths, frightening them deeply. They must have thought that their worst nightmares were coming true. Soon, the boats were full of crying and hysterical children. Of course, this alerted the Kaltons who had refused to leave, that something was happening, and soon, we had to flee for our lives.

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