Name: Euthalia Akakios
Age: 2895 years of age.
Year of Birth: 888 B.C.
Place of Birth: Gordium, Phrygia
Year of Death: 882 B.C.
Place of Death: Phrygian countryside
Apparent Age: 6 years of age
Gender: Female
Coven: Tarepha Leader
Appearance: Euthalia, in most ways, looks like the perfect little girl. Her cheeks are plump with youth, although her rosy cheeks have long since gone. Her hair is a strange brown-red that can’t seem to make up its mind between the two, and that is always curled into ever-perfect ringlets. Eyes the colour of Caribbean waters stare out, unnerving in their age and, perhaps even more, because of their lack of anything resembling compassion. If snow could be turned to flesh, that would be the colour of her skin. Victorian dresses adorn her body, making her look like a living doll.
There is, however, a darker side to this angelic appearance. When she moves, she shows just what an unnatural creature she is. No child could move that way – her movements are graceful, and almost seductive despite the fact that she appears to give no thought to it whatsoever. Euthalia when livid is not something to see, as the skin on her face takes on the quality of grey wax paper, pulling close to her skull. Only then do you see the monster that truly lurks within.
Personality: If there is a merciful bone in Euthalia’s body, she shows it only in private away from any curious eyes. She is an enigma even to people who spend every day with her – possibly even to herself. Whatever emotion she might feel beyond anger is rarely demonstrated in public. She likes to remain completely in control and to speak with more intelligence than her appearance would believe the casual observer to believe she possesses.
When feeling in a particularly sadistic mood, she will pretend to be the child she appears to be. It is one of her few true amusements, and she can continue the game indefinitely. She has done it to get people into positions where there can be no escape. Rarely does she simply walk up and kill someone – there is always some macabre calculation behind it.
History:
Introduction
The story of Euthalia Akakios is something that is very much shrouded in mystery. Even I, who have heard it and read over my notes many, many times find holes in it. There are gaps in my knowledge, and perhaps these signify gaps in Euthalia’s memory. Perhaps there are greater repercussions to turning a child than what we have already seen. Perhaps these repercussions are mental deterioration. I cannot say.
My part in the story, I hope, will be minimal, but let me give you some background about myself. My name is Rostislav Vasilyev. I am Russian by birth, and was made a vampire only two hundred years ago. I am compiling this record as a favour to – well, I would not call her a friend. Euthalia Akakios could most certainly never be that.
Some of the information in this document is based on the firsthand accounts of others, some on my own observations of the woman (for she is a woman, whatever form she might have), and still more from the woman herself.
I will try to give the evidence with as little bias or opinion as I can, but as I am a flawed creature, cannot be sure that I will succeed entirely.
Rostislav Vasilyev
Berlin, Germany
January 2nd, 1995
Birth and Turning
Euthalia Akakios, whether under this name or another, was born in Phrygia roughly 3000 years ago. It is suspected that she has determined her true age as close as it can be determined, but hasn’t shared that information. By her own account, she lived in the capital city of this particular kingdom – the city of Gordium. Although many do not realize it, this region was particularly wealthy and had trade with the Greeks to the West. They were known especially for their lovely carpentry.
Ms. Akakios’ father was one such carpenter, and beneath the bland telling of this tale, it is evident that her childhood was not an unhappy one. When she mentions her mother and her father, there is, upon close inspection, some slimmer of emotion deep in her eyes.
No one knows the exact date the Cimmerians attacked the capital, but most historians agree that it was either the late 8th century, or early on in the 7th BC. With the suicide of the king, the city fell to the invading force. Euthalia was taken by her mother and hidden in the countryside upon word that the invading force was approaching.
The next part of the tale was particularly hard to piece together because of Ms. Akakios’ aversion to the topic. What has been reconstructed is this: that Euthalia came, somehow, to the attention of a Cimmerian soldier of high standing. When this man tried to approach the then child, he was killed by his lover – a lover that was a vampire. It is unknown whether or not the soldier ever knew this fact.
The vampire, a woman by the name of Aglaia, promised to care for Euthalia, and instead of taking her back to Gordium (where at least one of her parents might have still been alive) stole away with her and turned her into a vampire. On the subject of this woman-vampire, Ms. Akakios has only one thing to say:
“Aglaia was fucking insane.”
But one must wonder what absolute loneliness and despair would have made a seemingly well-intentioned woman turn a child into an abomination. While mental medicine was far from advanced at this point in history, surely there must have been some thought as to the impact such a transformation could have on the child as she grew in mind. But as later evidence will show, it was maybe that Aglaia was as Ms. Akakios said, and not entirely right in the mind.
Early Years
After turning Euthalia, Aglaia took her new vampire child with her back to Greece. There, she met up with several friends whose names have been lost to time. These friends were apparently more than a little disturbed with the creation of their friend, but agreed to help her take in the little one. One, whom Ms. Akakios remembers only as ‘old’, taught her how to speak and write in Greek.
There is little evidence of this time in her life. It is one of the few that she bluntly refuses to talk about. However, if this historian might be able to make some deductions, I do believe that she was more or less happy in the beginning. Presents were lavished upon her, as was attention. Aglaia, a woman who had been turned before ever being able to conceive a child of her own, fell to the task of making Ms. Akakios the embodiment of all she’d been denied.
Through various secondary sources, it has become apparent that as the centuries passed in Greece, Aglaia did not notice the mind of her ‘daughter’ growing ever more mature. In every way except in body, Euthalia Akakios had become a woman.
One accident in which Ms. Akakios grew violently angry involved a vampire by the name of Halius. In the 5th century BC, Euthalia seems to have fallen truly, deeply in love for the very first time with the aforementioned vampire. Through digging through testimonies and descendents of this Halius, it has been discovered that he was an ancient, and that he had been a friend of Aglaia even before her return to Greece. Some evidence points to him being the tutor that Ms. Akakios mentioned in passing, but she will neither confirm nor deny it, and there is no one else with any light to shed upon the subject.
In any case, it seems that when Ms. Akakios revealed her love for Halius, he recoiled in horror. Heartbroken, she returned to the only person left who could give her comfort – Aglaia. Unfortunately, her ‘mother’ still did not realize – perhaps because of denial, perhaps because of some real psychological reason – that the child before her was a child in body only. Thus she comforted Ms. Akakios the way a mother would comfort a child.
This event, more than anything else, helped shaped Ms. Akakios more than anything else in her long life. All evidence points to her being more than courteous before then – even being cheerful and kind. With the rejection, and what came after, she withdrew slowly inside of herself.
In the following centuries, the first acts of cruelty on the part of Ms. Akakios become apparent. Her cunning and her sadism grew – things that were, perhaps, never very far from the surface.
The Beginning of Cruelty
It was in the 4th century BC that Ms. Akakios started to rebel against the position that had been given to her by Aglaia. One night in particular stands out. Ms. Akakios went out and came back with a soldier, so similar to the one that Aglaia had killed. This was the first vampire Ms. Akakios was known to have made. His name was Hermolaos. It was her first rebellion, but it turned against her.
Whatever else she might have been, Aglaia was an apt seductress. When she, for all intents and purposes, stole Euthalia’s childe, Ms. Akakios showed her true face for the very first time, showing just how deep into her vampiric nature she had truly fallen. There was, it is believed, a physical altercation between Ms. Akakios and her sire, but as Hermolaos was on Aglaia’s side (and in her bed), it was Ms. Akakios who ended up losing.
Exhausted and frustrated, Ms. Akakios turned her attention to what she had. It was obvious that simple strength would not work in her favour, but it was equally obvious that she had something that both Aglaia and Hermolaos didn’t – the innocence of appearance. She slowly, but surely, learned to exploit this leaving the company of her childe and sire to be ‘adopted’ by wealthy families only to kill them. It was always Aglaia and Hermolaos that sought Ms. Akakios, and never the other way around.
After a violent slaughter of a prominent family in the 3rd century AD, Aglaia (weeping) and Hermolaos (resolute) seemed to decide that it was in their best interests to kill the child-vampire who was becoming something of a monster. It is for this reason, more than any other, that it is obvious that neither Aglaia nor Hermolaos were (though it did not yet exist) Tarepha material.
They attempted it while they thought Euthalia was sleeping. It did not work the way they had planned, and instead they were killed in a way far more brutal than any she had done to that point.
A friend of Hermolaos – a vampire – was the one that found Ms. Akakios amongst the carnage. Onesimus, still living in an undisclosed city to “protect” himself, said: “She was just sitting there. Her clothing was stained red, and dried blood was peeling off her skin, and she was just sitting there, licking the blood off her hands. When she saw me, she looked up and smiled. She asked how my night had been, as polite as could be, but I could not formulate a reply. The smile she gave me then was almost sympathetic, before she skipped off. I haven’t seen her since, but I hear she has a seat of power now. May the powers save us all.”
The Egyptian
Because information is so hard to find on the subject of Ms. Akakios, and because for the next several centuries she had no long-term companion at all, it is impossible to tell what she did. All that is known for certain is that when she appeared again in the 12th century AD, she was more ruthless and cold than she had been previously. It is, at this time, not possible to determine how many deaths might have been her doing during this time.
In the 12th century, she met up with a fellow vampire – a scholar, from Egypt named Suten Anu. This vampire was of a peculiar sexual orientation in that he adored small girls. Ms. Akakios used this against him for a time. He followed her, desiring her – perhaps even loving her. It was a long time before Ms. Akakios ever gave him what he wanted: her body. Eventually, she did give in, but there is no indication that she drew any special pleasure from these encounters.
They lived together for a long time, and he is the companion about which we know the least. They travelled together until Victorian times, when in England, Ms. Akakios expressed a desire to see the New World. On the way over by ship, a plague attacked the passengers. Angry at her, (for the only time on record) Suten Anu lashed out at his lover. This proved to be a fatal mistake, as the ship’s crew found him dead the next day and attributed it to the plague. He was cast overboard with a Christian service. His small charge was not there, but there was only sympathy for her.
Cheveyo
Euthalia Akakios met Cheveyo in what would become the country of Canada. According to local legend of the time, she had simply wandered into the forest, and, knowing the dangers, the people of the town had mourned for her. When she returned several nights later with a Native American by the name of Cheveyo with her, most were surprised, and many were outraged. When they tried to separate the two, it became evident from the responses of both that it would be better to leave them be.
So far as I can discern, it was Ms. Akakios who taught Cheveyo English. Before then, they had communicated in ways that had much to do with hand gestures and intuition.
Upon asking why they had chosen to stay together, the expressions on both their faces were entirely blank and betrayed nothing. Almost like she was nervous, however, Euthalia reached up and took Cheveyo’s much larger hand in hers.
The relationship between Ms. Akakios and Cheveyo is far more complicated than one would originally believe. Many believe that Cheveyo is nothing more than a servant, but to anyone who has studied Ms. Akakios for any length of time, this idea is preposterous. It is obvious through all her little gestures that Cheveyo may be the only being alive that Ms. Akakios feels any sort of love for. For his part, Cheveyo seems devoted to her. In many ways she is the daughter he lost to the plague before becoming a vampire. In many ways, she is the mother that gave him the life he has now.
It is unknown if they are lovers.
When, at the beginning of the 20th century, Ms. Akakios returned to Europe for some time, Cheveyo went with her.
Leader of the Tarepha
It is unknown, even to the woman herself, when thoughts of leading a coven – especially the Tarepha – first entered her mind. She had joined shortly after its establishment, but had always been a member in the shadows. Few even knew of her existence.
In the spring of 2005, however, she returned to Canada – to Demaitre in particular – determined to take what she felt was hers. Claiming to wish an audience with the then Tarepha leader, Nyx Ciardha, and killed her. In a swift coup, she gained the Tarepha for herself.
End Notes
I believe the reason that Euthalia Akakios is so comfortable in her vampiric nature hinges upon a few key facts. One: that she never truly learned to be a mortal, and so looks on them as a human being might look upon cattle. They have life, but in the end, they are food. Her upbringing was taken care of primarily by someone who we can only assume was mentally unstable, and perhaps she did nothing to teach her child of true compassion, kindness and love.
Two: that her physical appearance directly contributed to what she is today. Had Aglaia taken her as a mortal child, allowed her to grow, and then turned her, the result may have been entirely different. If such had been the case, Halius would not have rejected Ms. Akakios’ love so long ago, and would not have spawned the bitterness and cruelty that followed it.
Third, and most important: I do not believe that Euthalia has ever truly been loved simply for being herself.
I have no illusions as to what will happen to me once I finish this words. I will die by Euthalia Akakios’ hands. She cannot allow anyone to know her story – it would destroy the walls that she has so carefully over the centuries. It would allow them to see the woman beneath the monster. But there is something else that motivates her.
She wishes for no one to pity her. She cannot abide that.
If these are my last words, if no one shall ever read these words, know that I do pity her, and, try though I might, I cannot fault her either.
Rostislav Vasilyev
Demaitre, Canada
September 5th, 2005
Talents and Weaknesses:
¤ Enhanced strength
¤ Faster than the average human
¤ 'Calling' blood (which causes cuts to appear on the victim's body, severity depending on power exhibited)
¤ Has recently gained an ability to 'create' illusion within one's mind - that is to say, they believe it's real, and that it's happening, but it is really only in their imaginations.
- Needs to feed every second night
- Even diffuse sunlight will severely injure her
- Fire would kill her
