Prologue
The moon hung ominous over the castle's land as he sat by the window. He peered down at the female that picked the flowers to decorate his tables in the great room of his castle. How many days that he watched her and admired her beauty were beyond him.
Something about this female's looks drew him in. He knew nothing of her personality nor did he care to. He only wanted to enjoy the feelings of lust that quickened his heart when he first saw her. Love wasn't something he was interested in requiring. That would be dangerous for him but more so for the female whom his feelings of love would befall upon.
The female's raven hair cascaded over her shoulders touching her cerise colored dress. The man watching her appreciated the coloring of the dress against the darkness of her hair. Her skin was darker than the pale females he was used to viewing not inside his castle walls. Many of his servants were dark skinned slaves. Yet, he treated them well and would not dare beat them for lacking servitude like some slave masters. However, they feared him for other reasons.
He watched her slowly walk around the garden to his castle. He raked his hand through his long dark tendrils of hair. His lust for her had escalated over the months of viewing her.
A small knock on his bed chamber door never deterred him from thinking of the beauty in the garden below his castle walls.
"Enter." He called out calmly.
The maid slowly stepped into the door to place down his tray. She swallowed nervously due to wanting to be away from the handsome demon that owned the castle as well as the servants that resided there. They all feared him. He was a beast.
He turned to her causing her to breathe out nervously as his piercing brown eyes shined with a luminosity that seemed unreal had it not been for knowing what he was.
"My lord, tis your dinner." She spoke quickly wanting to get away from him.
The master of the castle watched her moving towards the door. Her dark eyes spoke of terror of him. He glanced up and down her curvaceous body admiring her physique. It caused her an unexpected pleasure to be viewed as such by her master.
She knew that he could seduce her into doing his bidding. She would even agree to die for him if he placed his seductive spell on her.
He walked up and grabbed her arm causing the female to shrink away from his touch. She closed her eyes not wanting to fall under his enchantment. His handsome features would weaken any female. She had heard the rumors or more like the truths. Once in his bed, the females were owned until their fateful day. The females were treated with grand gestures until he tired of them. Then they would face the brutal reality of their sacrifice for the beast that's heart only beat half living.
"Emily, who is the female in the garden that gathers flowers?" His voice was soft as he whispered in her ear.
She wasn't surprised that he knew her name. He had an incredible ability to remember all names once spoken to him. He knew all his servants' names. Emily's knees buckled slightly as his hot breath burned her neck. She stuttered not due to fear but due to lust that seemed to seize her body at her master being so close to her.
"Her name is Laura Porter. She doesn't belong to you." Her voice wavered at the last of her words. She knew if her master wanted her, she'd belong to him.
"What is her entire title?" He ran his hand along her dark skinned neck before he gripped her in a choking type hold.
"Lady Laura Judith Porter. She is said to be …" Emily could feel his hand edging down her body to touch her in places that only her husband was allowed to touch yet she did not stop him. Her master would never force himself upon a female even his own slave. However, she wanted him to continue his touching of her. "…a freed slave, my lord."
Her master chuckled into her ear at hearing of this Laura being a free female. It was unusual for this day and age. "Do you have children, Emily? Does your husband worship you? Or can he live without you?"
Emily swallowed as her eyes closed. "I have no children. My husband finds my body pleasing yet he still visits brothels."
Emily knew immediately her words sealed her fate. She didn't care. She knew that she was his conquest for his bed before he would quench his thirst.
Soon her body was satisfied as his thirst lingered on. He took her body with his own as her scream of pleasure echoed amidst the castle walls as well as down to the court yard.
Laura glanced up knowing that the master of the castle had found his new victim. She had seen him watching her. It caused her skin to rise up in small prickles with the excitement of knowing he found her enticing. She had not seen his face nor wished to. She had heard of his unmatched beauty that was beyond the mortal man. However, he was rumored not to be mortal.
It didn't matter to Laura either way. Mortal man or immortal man would not deter from her quest for freedom from both man and slave master. She craved it more than wanting a gentleman by her side. She had even begun to study secretly in hopes of obtaining power.
"Daniel…" Emily arched her body one last time against her new lover. "Take me, my lord. Allow me the pleasure of keeping you alive."
Daniel smirked as he licked his lips. Then he pushed back her sweaty hair from her neck. Her tangled locks of hair would soon be stuck against the crimson flow of blood from her ebony neck. Daniel slowly sucked on her neck before biting down causing Emily to jolt in an unexpected pleasure. Daniel closed his eyes as the vein in her neck throbbed with the nectar that his body craved.
One last scream came from Emily as her body succumbed to death. It was blood curdled but had an unmistaken lacing of pleasure.
At the sound of Emily's scream, Laura squeezed the rose in her hand causing her palm to be pricked by the thorn. Blood trickled down her hand and onto her fingers. She held her breath as she nervously tried to wipe away the blood. But it was too late. He had felt the familiar burning in him of new blood being drawn.
Daniel was in front of her. He held her hand as Laura swallowed seeing his dark handsome features for the first time. His menacing brown eyes seemed to glow even brighter in the moonlight than normal. She wanted to turn from him but was too taken by his gorgeous face that reminded her of an angel. Yet, she knew that there was nothing angelic about him.
Then Daniel reached to grab her palm as he jutted out his tongue.
Laura Porter noticed the red blood already staining his lips and teeth. His white ruffled tunic had the stains of blood on it as well. She gulped wanting to pull away but could not. He was too enticing.
Daniel pulled her hand to him. He licked her palm before running his tongue to her fingers. He then drew her finger in his mouth tasting of the blood. Then he released her as he stared at her.
"The best I've ever had." Daniel licked the remaining blood from his lips.
"Would you kill me tonight, my lord?" Laura questioned as she pulled her hand back to her.
She held it against her chest to protect it from his leering gaze.
"I've been quenched tonight, my lady." Daniel's jaw twitched slightly. He placed his thick long fingers under her chin to allow him to pull her to look at him. "I have viewed you for a long time. Yet, I chose not to approach you."
"Why is this?" Laura questioned as she fought the urge to kiss him. Strangely, despite the blood that stained his lips, she was tempted to kiss him.
Daniel laughed slightly. "The same reason you come to my garden even though you know the danger. Tis easier to view one another than take that step into the dangerous unknown."
"Yet , tonight, you have crossed the boundary into the unknown." Laura peered at him. Her russet colored eyes stared up at him.
The smell of her blood had drawn him to her more than he could fight. Daniel wanted her. He would obtain her.
"Sometimes we are fighting the inevitable." Daniel whispered huskily as he licked his lips once more. He had never tasted a female causing him such pleasure. "I want you in my bed, my lady."
He bit his bottom lip before pulling Laura to him. His lips touched hers as his hands gripped around her waist. The kiss was long and passionate. The taste of her own blood clung to her own lips as well as Daniel's earlier victim.
Strangely, Laura didn't find that repulsive yet more tempting. When his tongue raked across her teeth, she did the same with his teeth. She felt his fangs with her tongue sliding salaciously across the pointed edge. She gasped and moaned into his mouth as blood came from her tongue due to the sharp edge of the fangs.
Pulling her closer to his body , he felt the desire of wanting to taste her as well as the desire to make her body his own.
Daniel gripped her waist and squeezed as he fought the urge to take her in the garden over and over again. "We need to stop now, my lady. Tomorrow, you shall meet me here at this same hour."
Daniel and Laura knew that this was the last kiss between them of innocence even if the kiss was far from innocent. Tomorrow, she would end up in his bed as his newest lover. Tonight, there was too much blood spilled in the bed. He would need his maid's body removed and the room cleaned before allowing the new lady of the castle to enter in his chambers.
"Will I die, my lord?" Laura gasped after the long kiss.
She had been kissed and even taken by a vile male before. Her purity had been stripped from her causing her to want nothing to do with a man and to never be a victim again. That seemed to be placed in the back of her mind. She was never enticed to be someone's lover before him. Now she wanted this man more than the freedom she had craved for so long.
"Perhaps." Daniel said as he studied her body. "You will be mine first. Then I shall decide when I will taste of you."
Laura nodded as she stared at him one moment. The next moment he disappeared with a quickness only known of the immortals.
She touched her hand over her heart feeling the rapid beating. She turned and ran as fast as she could away from his castle. Tomorrow, she knew she would return. Even if it meant certain death, she had no choice. Daniel Vikram Desai had claimed her as his.
Daniel watched her from the window once again as she scurried away. He didn't love her. He desired her. That was enough to make her his next conquest. She would be as the other immortals. All were different than him even the other immortals. He was considered phenomena even among them. He was not meant to be changed by the immortal that had attacked him. He was only meant to be a means to survive for that immortal. Little did that immortal know that he was attacking what was known as a pure bred. A pure bred that was not ready for change into immortality.
Daniel's years were long yet he was young in features. Being bitten at age sixteen was what kept his youthful look. He aged some due to not being completely immortal. He could pass for anywhere from sixteen to twenty-five. It depended on what age Daniel decided to be. He would dress the part. Perhaps, he'd grow a beard if he wanted to look adult. Perhaps, he'd be clean shaven if wanted to be the teen that he had ceased to be.
Daniel heard the scurrying of his servants behind him. He could hear their murmurs due to his acute hearing. They spoke of fearing him as they should.
Daniel turned towards them. "Clean up the mess. Inform her husband of her death."
He referred to Emily's dead body that lay sprawled on his bed. Then he walked out to the guest chambers. He noticed the metal tub filled with water. His servants knew he would have to clean the blood from his body.
After Daniel cleansed himself from the blood from his victim, he chose to sleep. Daylight was not a threat to him as the other immortals. He felt weaker in the day but sunlight could not kill him.
Never had a pure bred immortal been bitten by another immortal before their change.. He was the only pure bred vampire to experience this making him unique. However, he was not unique in the craving for blood. Like the immortals, he needed human blood to survive. Animal blood was not a substitute as rumored. Only human blood could make an immortal remain immortal. Without the human blood, the immortal would cease to be. Starvation was a kind word for what torment an immortal's body went through without the human blood.
Daniel closed his eyes to slumber. His thoughts were on the beauty that he had tasted of in his garden. She would make him a good companion in life. He never made an immortal of any human. Feeding upon one and making them immortal required for the immortal to give of his own blood. A female immortal could not create an immortal. She could only feed off of her immortal maker. He had never experienced that level of intimacy with any one. Perhaps, Laura would be his first. Perhaps, not.
Laura did return to Daniel the next night. He made love to her for many weeks before he made the decision to kill her. He had no desire to make her an everlasting partner. Daniel didn't seem to care enough for any human to do such. He had drunk of her. He had enjoyed her body and her blood. Yet, he still hadn't felt the familiar feeling of love as mortals spoke of. However, Laura was killed before he gave her the fatal bite that would end her life. She was captured and burned as a witch. It was a made up charge. However, Daniel was once again alone in his life.
Many years later…..
Daniel stood watching her. He couldn't believe the vision he saw. This creature was no Laura in looks yet she was close. She enticed him still but she did not intrigue him. He came to the Americas years ago. He changed his name many more times. However, at this time frame, he chose the name Victor.
He knew the female was the descendant of Laura. He craved her as much as he did Laura. He wondered if her blood would taste as good. Soon, Daniel built a brief relationship with the descendant of Laura. Her name was Kayliegh. She intrigued him as much as Laura had. Yet, still he had no quicken of his heart for her. She was killed by her own husband before Daniel could decide to make her more than his partner in between the sheets.
Daniel had changed since his many years of life. He began to respect the mortals more. He decided that most of the time, innocent blood would not be shed for his cravings. Instead, he chose to feast upon the humans that were detrimental to society. On occasion, he'd still taste of any convenient human blood.
Was it murder? Yes, it still was. However, Daniel's conscious was not bothered by their deaths. He feasted upon murderers, rapists, child abusers, and other low lives. He couldn't help but to laugh at the authorities looking for the famous Jack the Ripper for so many years. That murderer was a tasty treat.
Daniel went through life merely surviving. He was curious of love but never ventured to gain it. He could charm any female into his bed. He wasn't sure he wanted one to be in his heart.
Was he to be alone for the rest of his existence? He wanted death but it would not come to him. He could not starve due to the craving for human blood being so strong in him. Yet, he felt so alone at times. He craved normalcy but knew he was never destined to be normal.
Daniel Desai was forever destined to be a killer.
