A chilling scream echoed as the sun melted behind the horizon. The village folks all freeze in their places as the hair on the back of their tender necks rose on end.
"Another poor soul." A girl sighed as she stood and stared down the dark, wooded path.
"When the day dwelling beasts go to sleep, the vampires come out to feast." A mischievous boy along with his giggling posse whispered eerily into the girl's ear.
The girl let out a little scream and the boys laughed hysterically.
"That's not funny, you actually scared me!" the girl shouted, her hands balled up in fists.
"What? Are you afraid of some make-believe creature?" the boy laughed as another pretended his fingers were fangs and hissed at the little girl.
"No!" cried the little girl, her face red.
The boys continued to laugh as they walked under a wooden archway with the village name: "Draynor" spelt out in white paint.
"You better hurry home, Mary. Or else the vampire will get you!" the boy teased and walked into the village with a satisfied smirk on his face.
Mary watched as the boys left her at the intersection in front of her village.
"Hey." A voice half-whispered behind Mary.
Mary squeaked and whipped around to find an older girl sitting a bit seductively on the wooden fence. Her skin was pale and her eyes were tinted a golden hue. Her inky black hair was tied back in a smooth ponytail. She wore a black hood on her shoulders, her cleavage almost spilling from her tight, black, long sleeved shirt. A taupe miniskirt covered the upper-half of her smooth, milky, perfect thighs. Although, a slash-like belt kept anyone from taking a peek as she sat. She smiled at Mary as if she understood her.
"Don't let them get to you." She said, her voice smooth and sexy, yet, if one was listening carefully, had chilling sadness to it.
Mary couldn't take her eyes away from the stunning girl that stared back down at her from her perch on the fence.
"You better hurry home, little girl. There are many evil creatures out after sun down." She then said mysteriously.
A twig snapped behind Mary, making her snap out from her vacant stance. Hidden in the shadow of a tree awaited a man who was the mysterious girl's spitting image. This once human male, deprived of iron, ducked back into the shadows before his prey could see him.
Mary turned back to where the girl was perched only to find the strange girl was gone.
"H-hello?" Mary quivered backing away slowly to where the male vampire awaited.
As soon as Mary was within reach, he quickly snatched her from the light, into the darkness of the trees. Unable to scream with the male's hand over her mouth, Mary was taken and never seen again.
On the other side of the village three men gathered on the edge of a dark swamp known as "The Vampires' Enchanted Forest". They run away to hide nearby a dummy they dressed to look like a defenseless human. A young, fiery-haired, female vampire, who was on a hunt with her sister, the same girl who was the last to have seen Mary, strayed from her older sister's watchful eye. The dummy caught her eye, thinking it was the perfect opportunity to show that she didn't need her sister to babysit her constantly, she stalked the dummy. The fiery-haired female's sister finally noticed her inexperienced baby sister no longer following her.
"River?" she called.
When no one responded, she had no other choice than to connect to her using her unique vampire ability. She squeezed her eyes shut and almost teleported to her sister's location. She found herself at the edge of the swamp, a place their father warned to stay away until the humans were asleep, and helplessly watched her sister fall for the human's trap.
"River!" she screeched as River plunged her fangs into the hay dummy.
Spitting out hay in disgust she responded, "Gwen?"
Suddenly the humans had River trapped in a large net and tackled her to the ground. River screamed as Gwen rushed out to attack the humans on top of her sister.
"There is two of them?" one human male screamed.
Another male blew into a horn that alerted the nearby guards to surround the two. Gwen was too focused on getting the male that was holding River down off that she didn't even see the guard come up behind her and throw her off. The guard quickly bound Gwen's arms behind her back and held her to the ground.
"You shall no longer terrorize this village!" a male screamed.
As Gwen looked up, a male had flipped River on her back, made an opening in the net around her chest, and plunged a stake into River's heart.
"River!" Gwen cried out to her sister.
Tears streamed down Gwen's face as she felt her bond that kept each other from separation break.
Townsfolk emerged from their homes, curious of the action happening at this late hour.
"Should we kill the other one?" a male guard asked.
"No." A snooty sounding female answered, "Not with all these people watching. Besides we could use her for cheap labor."
Gwen could feel her throat tighten, her eyes wet with hot, angry, tears.
A blonde, female human in an obnoxious pink skirt knelt down in front of Gwen and lifted her chin so she could smirk into her starless eyes.
"You are one lucky little vampire. You could be like your little friend over there, but we are giving you a chance to change your demonic ways and help society." She said with fake sweetness.
Gwen spits in the female's face.
"Burn in hell." Gwen growled.
"Disgusting, dirty beast, if you wish to continue your undead life you shall treat me with the upmost respect!" the female hissed.
"How the living mortals can bear to even look at you, I don't know. You are the weakest thing I've ever seen. I feel sick to even be within five yards of you!" Gwen snapped.
The female stopped, flustered by the vampire's words. Her face then returned to the snooty look she had since childhood.
"Stupid fool!" she spat, in response to being put down by a common vampire, then kicked Gwen in the gut.
Gwen gasped and coughed.
"Guards, take her to my dungeon. Be sure to find her the dirtiest, most foul cell there is." The female ordered the guards.
As Gwen was thrust to her feet, she looked the horrible woman in the eye and smiled.
The candle light flickered softly against her soft, fleshy face. Cloves of garlic rested beside her on a small bedside table, completely useless for the event that was about to take place. The sound of her soft breathing was the only sound to be heard in the room. Guards that were supposed to guard her outside her door were on the ground, knocked out cold. Behind a gasmask that covered her face, Gwen slowly slinked up to her sleeping, golden-haired demon. A slow smile crept onto the vengeful vampire's face as she gently stroked her hair with one hand. She finally blinked awake to the sight of the stranger next to her. Before she could scream, Gwen clamped her hand over her mouth and plunged a knife, which she hid behind her back, into the female's heart. Blood stained her nightgown and bed sheets, as the light begin to leave her eyes. Gwen then let go of the female's mouth to toss the garlic out the open window nearby. Gwen ripped the gasmask off her head and stared into the woman's dying eyes.
"Y-You…" the female choked.
"This world wasn't meant for the weak." Gwen softly purred smiling oh-so sweetly.
The female coughed, spewing blood. She was to never move again.
Gwen dipped a finger in the knife wound and wrote on the wall above the dead female:
So powerful, yet so weak.
She then licked the blood off her finger and walked out of the female's manor.
"Stop demon!" A guard shouted behind me as I took off in hyper speed through the streets. The few pedestrians on the street yelp and hold on to their hats as I dart past them, faster than a speeding arrow. The adrenaline pounds through my dead body, some things just never die, as I laugh from the pure excitement of running from the law. My mischievous, childish pranks have been featured in many newspapers in all the major cities.
In most of those cities, like the one I'm in right now, I'm wanted as 'Red Velvet Cake'. Red because of my blood splattered clothes and the dried blood crusted around my mouth, Velvet because I'm too smooth to catch, Cake is still a mystery to me.
"I'll never stop!" I screamed behind me.
I then slammed right into a hard, strong body. I fell on my back, groaning and holding my head. I then look up to find my long lost father looming over me in the moonlight.
"Stop." He ordered me.
"Okay." I replied quietly.
He then looked up to the guards that were just catching up.
"My apologies, my daughter here got a hold of some magic potion and ran away. I apologize for any inconveniences my daughter caused for you. She had mental issues that I'm working hard to correct. She is not a vampire." He said coolly, not breaking his cold, hard stare or thorough tone of voice.
I got to my feet and blushed with embarrassment that I've felt many times before when I was alive.
The guards straightened up and walked away.
"Long time, no see…Red Velvet Cake." My father said, his voice returning to its familiar soft seductiveness.
"Indeed." I respond, cheeks still a bit pink.
"You must be thirsty from all your childish antics." Father said as we walked to the other side of the sleeping city.
"Quite. Prostitute and street bum blood isn't the finest of dinning." I answered bitterly, the stiffness returning to my voice even though I try so hard to hold on to the adrenaline.
"Then we shall stop in the city where the blood is the finest before we return home." Father declared and sped down the road.
As I sped along behind my father I thought of River. Did he know she was dead?
"Father…" I said softly.
"If it's about River…I know." Father said the sadness showing in his voice.
"I'm sorry…" I said, the tears returning to my eyes.
"Don't be."
"But…"
"It was her fault. My continuous lecturing never seemed to reach her understanding." Father said resentfully.
The rest of the trip was in silence until we reached the city of white.
"This town is like an endless barrel of rich, healthy blood. When one disappears, another appears in its place." Father said.
We breathed in the night air in hopes to locate a stray human that was already out. My overly sensitive nose picked up on an older human in a garden a few paces ahead. I finally felt how thirsty I was and I blinked until my eyes glowed a blood red.
"Excellent sensing." Father praised, always able to sense a human first, "Now drink, daughter."
I sped away from my father who watched after me as if he was my teacher and I was his student. Without a sound, I darted into a patch of tall plants in the fenced in park. The old bag was asleep and I started to creep out to bite him as he slept. But I stepped on a twig, which snapped and woke him up.
"Wha?" the old man's eyes shot open and glued onto me who was crawling towards him.
"What are you doing out so late, missy?" the old man asked sweetly.
He thought I was a child.
"I'm looking…for…my ball." I improvised.
"You can look for it in the morning. Let me escort you home." The old man, who happened to be a white knight of the white city said and stood up.
"No…no, that's okay." I said getting to my feet and backing up a bit.
"Don't be silly. I just want to make sure you get home safe." The old man insisted and took my arm.
He then led me out of the park and down the street away from my father towards the center of the city.
"Now, where do you live?" the old knight asked.
"Back that way!" I said and pointed back towards the park.
"No, the only one who lives on the other side of the park is the mining dwarfs and a man who doesn't have any children."
"I'm that man's…niece…I'm visiting from… far away…" I lied.
"Don't be silly…" the old man started again.
I grew tired of this, I was thirsty and I needed blood now. I got on my toes and swiftly sunk my fangs into his flabby neck. The old man gasped and collapsed while I was drinking. He clamped his hand to the bite area.
"Vampire! Vampire! Guards! Vampire!" He gasped.
The other, younger guards ran to his rescue and surrounded me.
My temper flared. I just wanted to feed and leave. Suddenly, all the guards that surrounded me collapsed to the ground with arrows sticking out from their backs. A Gryffin cawed above me, it was my Uncle Steel on the back of Griffin his Gryffin.
"Gwendolyn!" he cheered and landed Griffin in front of me.
Uncle Steel slid off of his Gryffin and ran up to give me a bear hug.
"Uncle, I missed you. But I'm very thirsty at the moment." I mumbled into his shirt.
"Of course Wendy, chow down!" Uncle Steel said cheerfully and gestured his arm towards the dying guards lying in a circle.
Uncle Steel: The only known being who can still be cheery even with all the pains of being a vampire.
I darted over to an already dead guard and sunk my fangs into his fine, muscular neck. The overflow of his sweet, healthy blood caused some to flow out of my mouth and drip down my chin. The woman who lived in the house that I was feeding in front of opened the door. I looked up into the blinding light of the lantern she held. My eyes hadn't dimmed back to its usual amber hue; I must have scared her pretty badly because she froze up.
"I suggest you shut the door and pretend this never happened at your doorstep before you end up like him." I growled and pointed down at my meal.
The woman slammed the door as soon as I finished my sentence. I could hear her sobbing hysterically behind the door. Through a window I could see her husband rush into the room and console her in his arms. The sight made my cold, dead heart shatter knowing that I could never feel love, warmth, happiness ever again.
"Let's go." My father placed a cold hand on my shoulder, "The sun will be rising soon." He said half-heartedly.
I licked the blood from my lips and left the guards as they were.
The sun was just peaking over the horizon when we arrived at the long abandoned manor that we lived in our entire lives. I used to enter the big oak doors expecting warmth and comfort, but now I enter large dead doors to a cold, empty manor.
"I shall retire to my coffin now. Saving you from damnation is quite tiring." Father sighed and retreated up the large staircase, "Good day."
Now alone in the dusty foyer, I start to remember the days when I was alive in attempt to ease my troubled mind. I soon grew tired and dragged my feet into the parlor where a lever stuck out from the wall. Pulling down on the lever, the walls opened up to my hidden room. I stepped into my room, which glowed a pretty orange from the rays of sun escaping from a crack in my thick, black curtains. I closed the curtains all the way and removed my grimy clothes and threw them on the floor to be washed later. I shuffled over to my basin to wash the drying blood from my face and body. I finally collapsed in my large bed. I looked over to my clothes that lie on the ground and suddenly remember where the blood stains came from. My knees then ached from nine months of being that blonde chick's bitch. I moaned and got under the covers, pulled the hair tie from my hair and fell asleep.
I dreamt myself lost in a strange graveyard. Based on the surrounding landscape, I could tell I was deep with in a vast, haunted Wilderness. Unidentifiable beasts roar and snarl in the distance, the sound of lost sprits moan in my ear. From the mist ahead, a pale form with fiery red hair that was tangled with dirt and blood arose. The creature turned to me with a vicious expression that made chills run down my spine. It was River, my dead undead sister. Vampires that die again from a natural death turn into stone statues and are placed in vampire cemeteries underground, but for those, like my sister, who die from some other cause become this demon-like entity. The whites of her eyes were a pale yellow while the rest was a darker golden color, her clothes were tattered with splashes of dried blood from hunts, and her skin was scarred and rotten from fights with the other creatures. River growled at me, snapping her broken fangs at me like a rabid dog. Not many things scare me but this takes the cake. River: my baby sister. The one I used to giggle and make daisy chains with in the plush grass out back, the one who had to hold my hand to keep from getting separated, the one I carried home when she scraped her knee trying to climb a tree.
River suddenly pounced on top of me as I stood their frozen.
"Long time…no see, big sis." River hissed, her breath burning my nose hairs.
"River…" I cried.
"I should kill you, like I did to everyone else…but I want to see you suffer like I had to!" she spat.
River raised an angry, dirty hand and slapped me. The strike left three bleeding scratches on my cheek.
"River!" I screamed, "Look, I'm sorry that you're dead! I'm also sorry that I was forced to turn you into a vampire all those years ago! I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you from the humans' trap!"
"Sorry won't change me back into a human again! It won't change shit!" she screamed and started to cry acid tears, "It won't make Mother return!" River screamed, the acidic tears falling from her eyes.
We both became silent.
"Give me a reason why I shouldn't turn you into this!" River continued to scream and cry.
"Just what will that solve!" I screamed back.
"Justice, Gwen. Justice." River said bitterly and swung her hand down to slit my throat.
I woke up in a cold sweat. I quickly patted my cheek to see if the scratches were still there, but all I could feel was cold, smooth skin.
A loud knock came at the front doors. I got up and answered it. Uncle Steel stood outside, trying to control an enraged, green-haired Barbarian.
"Look at the size of this one!" he exclaimed and held the bounded Barbarian in front of him like a fish he just caught, "Found him snooping around our HQ. His blood seems healthy enough to harvest!"
"You know where to put him." I yawned and rubbed my eyes as I let Uncle Steel pass.
"Who is at the bloody door at this hour? The sun hasn't even set!" My father shouted as he descended the stairs, rubbing his eyes.
"Uncle Steel caught another Barbarian." I answered.
"Excellent!" My father roared, "When he returns, tell him to meet me in my study. At the rate that we're catching them, the Barbarians will soon be completely wiped out by next month!" He then turned and walked back up the stairs.
I sighed and ventured into the kitchen. In the walk-in pantry I found a vial of freshly farmed Barbarian blood. I put the vial on my lips and threw my head back. The blood was filling, and would last me until midnight. Uncle Steel was taking longer than usual, so I wander back into my room and opened the trap door in the floor. Uncle Steel's voice echoed.
"Someone help!" my uncle screamed.
I jumped into the trapdoor to find the green-haired Barbarian on top of my uncle with a knife in his hand. The Barbarian looked at me and his murderous look disappeared. I then noticed that I was only wearing a black, lacey bra and a tight, short skirt with long slits on the sides that were tied together with twine at the top. The knife in the Barbarian's slipped and clanged beside my uncle.
"H-hello." The Barbarian stammered.
His lonely brown eyes sparkled and made me feel…warm.
Uncle Steel pushed the love struck Barbarian off of him and jumped to his feet. Uncle Steel swiped the knife from the ground and placed it on the table next to the syringes.
"Hello." I responded my voice a bit shaky and throat dry.
The Barbarian continued to gaze at me as he was pushed into an open cell and locked in.
"I better not find you anywhere near my family, or you'll be the next one to swing from the gallows!" Uncle Steel hissed at him between the bars.
"Don't be too hasty to kill him!" I gasped.
Uncle Steel shot me a look.
"We still need to harvest his blood and make him suffer, don't we?" I gushed.
"Indeed. But we already have over twenty heads of foodsacks. One won't affect much." Uncle Steel said.
"But he's sweet…" I moaned.
"What was that?" Uncle Steel snapped.
"Err, he has sweet blood." I said quickly.
Uncle Steel looked at me strange and turned back to the Barbarian.
"I'm watching you." He spat and climbed up the ladder.
"Thank you, kind vampire." The beady-eyed Barbarian said innocently, "Why do vampires hate us so?"
"I'm not entirely sure myself. My father tells me nothing about why he wants your kind gone." I answered.
"Your father should tell you. You have the right to know the truth." The Barbarian said with a voice as sweet as blood.
"Tell that to my father. If I bother him long enough he'll tell me that you're filthy, lying creatures that only want to hurt you." I said, recalling my father's warnings, threats and lectures.
"Your father is an ignorant man. Who is this man?" The Barbarian asked kindly.
"James Bleu." I answered with a slight pout.
The sweetness dropped from his face and twisted into three thousand other sour emotions.
"James Bleu burned down my village and left my pregnant sister's body in a pool of her own blood." The Barbarian spat with much hatred in his voice.
Everything suddenly came together in my head. The distant memory of my father's gatherings and why he didn't want me around to hear what they were planning.
"I promise you I'm nothing like my father!" I cried.
"No fear, I can see in your beautiful brown eyes that you are different than the others." The sweet Barbarian said with a soothing voice. "What is your name, fine one?" he said, checking me out.
I blushed, "Gwendolyn. But I'm known as Gwen."
"Well Gwen, if you let me out, we could escape from here." The Barbarian said, reaching out for my hand and kissing it softly.
I blushed some more, "If I only could. My father would murder me if he ever found out that I let a Barbarian go free. He hid the keys somewhere for that reason exactly." I explained.
Suddenly, the trapdoor opened and my father climbed down the ladder.
"Gwendolyn! Why are you down here without my supervision?" He demanded.
"A Barbarian was attacking Uncle Steel." I answered honestly.
"Which one?" Father asked, his voice getting darker.
I couldn't tell him the green-haired was the attacker; he'd murder him…literally.
"He's already dead." I lied.
"Then where's the body?" he interrogated further with a dark expression.
"Uncle Steel took it." I continued to lie like a dog.
"That's strange; I don't recall seeing him return with a body." Father said like a father trying to get the truth from his disobedient daughter, which is exactly what's going on.
"Because I ate it!" I said loudly, blushing because I know he's not going to buy it.
"You ate it?" he said slowly, a bit disgusted.
"I'm a very hungry girl, you see. Now, are we going to harvest blood or are we going to stand around questioning everything?" I said quickly, trying to change the focus of conversation.
Father pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "I'll deal with you later, just go change for Hell's sake!" he pointed to the ladder.
I climbed the ladder, looking back at the kind Barbarian who watched me leave with childlike eyes behind the cold, iron bars.
Upstairs, I stared at the pile of dirty clothes that still need to be cleaned. I had no time to clean them so I quickly tugged my dresser open and pulled on a blood red tunic and tied the dust colored bodice around my midriff. I then found the matching sarong that Father took because it was 'too sexy'. I quickly combed the knots from my thick black hair and tied it up into a slick ponytail. I splashed some cold water on my face and jumped back down to the cellar.
My father stood above the kind green one with an extra large syringe about to take his blood. The green one sat there, helplessly shackled to the point where he couldn't even move.
"Gwendolyn! Get back upstairs this instant! I never told you to return!" Father snapped at me.
"But I just got word of a Barbarian attack at Headquarters!" I gasped, getting better at this lying game.
Father immediately put the large syringe on the table and rushed with vampiric speed upstairs. I rushed over to the table and picked up the keys he left. I then turned to the green one and unlocked all the shackles.
"Thank you, my love." He said as soon as I untied the dirty gag from his mouth.
He then picked up my hand again and kissed it.
"I never got to learn your name." I said a bit giggly.
"I am known as Blaze." The Barbarian introduced himself.
Blaze was remarkably taller than me, and his perfect abs called out to me. But we had no time to hold each other. My father would soon return enraged.
"We must hurry, my father will soon return and he will mount your head over our fireplace. As for me, he's going to make me wish I was dead." I said urgently.
"Indeed, my graceful lamb." Blaze said softly and grinned.
We darted for the ladder and excited the cellar. I tugged on the large doors in the foyer, but they refused to open.
"Damnit!" I spat, "He locked the doors from the outside!"
"Why would he do that!" Blaze shouted feeling the urgency I felt.
"For this reason exactly." I breathed and took Blaze's strong hand.
I pulled Blaze along behind me as we stampeded through the dinning room and to a back door that also refused to open.
"Ahhh!" I screamed in frustration.
"Stand aside." Blaze ordered and crashed through the flimsy door.
"Hop onto my back!" I ordered once we were outside.
"But I will most certainly crush you under my weight!" Blaze declined.
"You most certainly will not! Just trust me!" I shouted directly.
As soon as the muscular Barbarian jumped onto my skinny vampire back, we sped off into the night, like in Twilight.
We soon found ourselves on top of a steep hill on Mudskipper Point. The moon was low in the sky, the stars were sparkling radiantly. Blaze sat next to me, staring up into the sky.
"And that group of stars just south of Chief Tonga is Ugg: the Mud Maiden." Blaze said pointing to the sky.
"Quite the name she had there." I said staring up into the sky.
"Some warrior men were lonely in the camp, so they made a maiden from the mud. A witch came around and made it come alive for the men. But the witch was wicked, and cursed Ugg. Ugg would lure men deep into the Wilderness, where no one could hear their screams as she suffocated them with dirt." Blaze said, then lying back in the tall grass, his hands behind his head.
I lower myself beside him, resting my head in my hands. Suddenly, Blaze drew me in close so that my head was resting on his arm. He then landed a soft kiss on my head and fell asleep. After a few hours of listening to his slow breathing, I became lightheaded and thirsted for blood. I slowly got to my feet, careful not to wake Blaze. With my vampire speed I darted into the nearby village known as Rimmington. I hid in the shadows and waited for my senses to pick up a scent. After a few moments of nothing, a door slammed open from a large wooden house across the way. A woman ran out in distress. I smiled slightly as I watched her run further and further away from anyone who could hear her scream. I jump between shadows of the trees, following the woman until she reached the shore. She collapsed on her knees in the sand and sobbed into her hands.
"Why Saradomin…why…?" she cried, looking up into the night sky.
I darted up behind my soon-to-be meal.
"Are you okay, miss?" I asked sweetly.
The woman gasped and turned around to me.
"H-how did you get here?" she whimpered, getting to her feet.
"I was passing through and I saw you here crying. I just wanted to know if you were okay." I said.
"I won't lie, I'm far from okay."
"Oh really? Do you want to talk about it?"
The woman looked at me strange.
"Why do you care?" she asked.
"I'm always here for a…friend in need." I said, narrowing my eyes.
The woman then poured her heart out to me about her fights with her husband.
"…I just don't think I can take this anymore." She sighed finally.
"Aw. I'm sorry to hear that something as cruel as that goes on in these parts of the world." I said, using this other vampire ability I possess. I emanated a scent that can make any human-being fall in love with me. I saw the sad puppy-dog look leave her eyes and turn almost in love.
"Would you care for a hug?" I offered with a sadistic smile, arms out wide.
The woman nodded and quickly threw her self on me. I wrapped my arms around her tight and brushed the hair away from her neck. With one swift movement, I plunged my fangs into her neck. Her semi-sweet blood wet my tongue and slid down my throat nice and smooth. The woman became heavy in my arms as I sucked till I had my fill. Knowing that she would wake up a vampire, I dragged her body into the shade of a large oak. Licking the blood from my lips I leisurely strolled back to Mudskipper Point where Blaze was still sleeping, blissfully unaware of my actions. I snuggle down next to him again; listening to his human heart beat. I was melting away to the slow beat of his heart, and everything was perfect until, Gwendolyn Rose! How dare you lie to me, you disobedient, disgraceful child! My father's voice screamed in my head. One of my father's vampire abilities is to be able to send thoughts into other's minds. Human's call it their 'conscience'. Evil vampires with this ability tend to put their evil thoughts into evil human's minds, and the same goes with not-so evil vampires. But there have been some incidents where evil vampires have put evil thoughts into the minds of some good humans.
When I get my hands on you, young lady, you're going to wish you were ashes!
I rolled my eyes. Not if he can't find us. Blaze's eyes opened and he yawned a long, powerful, yawn. He sat up and looked down at me.
"Good morning, Gwen." He said with a smile.
He looked up at the pending sunrise and then looked at me in alarm.
"My princess, the sun is about to rise! We must leave now!" he said, his thick, manly eyebrows shooting up to his hairline.
I could feel the rays start to burn my flesh as the night sky became a dark blue color and the stars faded away.
"But where could we go?" I asked, getting a bit anxious.
Blaze thought for a moment. His eyes suddenly lit up.
"I know a place we could stay for the time being." He said, getting up, taking my hand, and leading me off the point.
The village people were just starting to emerge from their houses and start their short, sad lives.
"You're taking me back to Draynor!" I screamed in a whisper.
"We're almost there, there is a trap door nearby that leads to a dry sewer." Blaze said, still pulling me along.
I follow behind him, anxiously looking around, expecting my father to show up somewhere. We were near the intersection where not a few months back, I watched my father take an innocent village girl. I knew down that path, heavily surrounded by dead trees was the manor that I escaped from a few hours ago. I could sense my father's presence there. Looking at the sky, which was turning from dark blue to a pink color, I predicted that he must be sleeping by now. I was getting tired as well.
"Are we there?" I yawned.
"Indeed we are." Blaze said, quickly opening a door in the ground. "Watch your step, my lady." He said gesturing me into the hole.
Blaze followed me down the ladder into the sewer. The sewer smelled of rotting things and decay. The sewer was chilly and the sound of rats scuttling away echoed off the walls.
"Reminds me of home…" I muttered.
"Follow me." Blaze said, lighting a torch.
We walked further into the sewer until we turned a corner and we approach a campsite, elevated from the water. There was a little hay bed and a small campfire, at the time, it looked inviting. Before Blaze had time to even utter a word to me, I had collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
I dreamt of the world like it was when I was a child. A time when the dead trees that surrounded the manor were healthy and full of green leaves. A time when the manor was one of the most beautiful homes any human could lay their eyes upon. Little Gwen, with her puffy black hair sporting a milky ribbon tied in a ribbon in the back, her chubby cheeks always a little pink. She wore a pretty black dress with black lace bordering the hem of her skirt. She took hold of River's, who looked just barely able to walk, hand and led her back home.
"Don't cry, River." Gwen said sympathetically to River.
River was crying softly, her fiery-orange hair damp and her loose yellow dress sticking to her body. She slipped on a rock while trying to cross a stream with Gwen. Gwen opened a large, heavy oak door and led River inside. A maid who was dusting the foyer caught sight of River.
"Oh you poor dear!" she gasped at River, completely ignoring Gwen. "Are you okay? Let me go get the nanny, okay dear?" she cooed.
The nanny rushed into the foyer and scooped up River into her arms.
"Oh, River, you poor thing!" she gushed.
"She accidentally fell into the stream outside." Gwen explained to the nanny.
The nanny looked down at Gwen and scowled.
"You should take better care of your sister!" she scolded. "I have every mind to know that you must have pushed her in!" she then accused.
"But I didn't push her in! She slipped!" Gwen pleaded.
"Don't talk back to me!" the nanny snapped.
With that, the nanny turned on her heels and took River upstairs. Gwen sighed and went to her room to pout. A few moments pass before an angry knock came at her door. Her father stormed in.
"What's this I hear about you pushing your little sister into a stream!" he demands.
"I didn't push her into the stream!" Gwen fought back.
"No, I cannot have a daughter who pushes children into streams. Children like that grow up to be murderers and you will not disgrace the Bleu family name!" he continued to talk in a quick angry tone, disregarding Gwen.
"I told you I didn't do anything!" Gwen screamed.
"How dare you scream at me like...a Barbarian!" Father began to scream at me.
I suddenly jerked to life, panting heavily and soaked in sweat. I felt a tear slide down my cheek. Another thing that sucks about being a vampire: you dream memories. I then picked up on a scent, except, this one wasn't human. I whip my head to my right and caught sight of another vampire hiding around the corner. I darted around the corner and behind my new admirer.
"What business do you have down here?" I demanded loudly.
The male vampire jumped at the sound of my voice and quickly turned to face me.
"I-um I…" he stuttered, blushing in a cute British accent.
"Get it out, boy." I barked, darkening my face against the glow from the fire.
"I came to escape the guards." He said.
"I see. And how am I supposed to know you're not a spy?" I asked, with a smirk on my face.
"I am not a spy!" he exclaimed, offended.
"And you expect me just to take your word for it?" I tilted my head a bit.
"Why on earth would I want to spy on you!" he asked, checking me out.
"There is a certain being I am hiding from." I said. "You could be sent to spy on me and disclose my location."
"And who might you be hiding from?"
"My father." I said lowering my voice.
"I swear to the gods I am not a spy. And if I am, may you strike me dead." He said, with one hand on his chest.
After a moment of hesitation I finally allowed him into the camp, where I got a better look of him. He looked no older than I, with long white hair that ended around his mid-back. His dull brown eyes sparkled at me.
"So why are you running from the guards?" I asked as soon as we sat down by the fire.
"I stole some wine from the market." He said flatly. "I'm Rysc, by the way."
"I see, Rysc. I'm Gwen." I introduced.
"A pleasure it is to meet you, Gwen." Rysc said like a gentleman.
I couldn't help blushing a bit.
"What's your reason for running away?" Rysc asked as if we were in jail.
"It's a long story…" I said, lowering my eyes.
"I have plenty of time." Rysc said, sending me a friendly smile.
I began to tell him everything that happened these past two nights. Rysc stared politely right till the end.
"Interesting." Rysc said when I finished.
Blaze then came around the corner with a leather bag with something clinking inside.
"Who is this?" Blaze demanded.
"The names Rysc." He said cheerfully, jumping up and sticking his hand out.
Blaze stared at Rysc's hand.
"What business do you have here?" Blaze demanded, his temper rising in his voice.
"I am escaping the guards." Rysc said as if he said I went to get some food.
"So you trespass on my lady's camp?" Blaze said, raising his voice.
I stepped in front of Rysc, before this became ugly.
"No. I invited him in." I said calmly.
"Move aside, Gwen." Blaze said sharply, pushing me out of the way. "Now tell me why you're here!" Blaze said, ready to pounce on Rysc.
"Gwen invited me in." Rysc said simply.
Blaze turned to me.
"Is this the truth, Gwendolyn?" Blaze asked.
For a moment I almost saw my father in him.
"Yes." I sighed, irritated.
"Don't you know how dangerous that is! Letting a stranger into the camp, is the most idiotic move you could make!" Blaze scolded.
I opened my mouth to say something but Blaze spoke before I could get a word out.
"I'll never leave your side again, Gwen. I see that it's too risky to leave you alone." Blaze said taking my hands in his giant ones.
"No. I don't need you to hold my hand through this!" I said ripping my hands from him.
"No Gwen. I must protect you. It's my duty." Blaze said taking my hands again.
"I don't need to be protected by a human. I'm a vampire after all." I said trying to pull away again, but his hands held onto my wrists refusing to let go.
"I brought you some vials of blood so you don't have to leave the sewer." He said lovingly, taking out thirteen vials full of blood. "I have enough to last you a long time."
"You really didn't have to. I'm a very proficient hunter." I said my voice lowering.
"Don't be ridiculous, my lamb." He said stroking my cheek with one large hand.
I took his hand off my cheek and put it down at his side.
"You don't have to worry about me, Blaze." I said impatiently and turning my back on him.
Blaze muttered something under his breath and got into the bed, soon snoring.
"Want to go hunting?" Rysc piped up.
"I'd love to." I said, following him out of the sewer.
The sun was barely visible on the horizon. The sky was a pretty bluish-green color. The cool autumn breeze made my ponytail flap around behind me as we jump from shadow to shadow. I breathed in deeply, hoping to catch a scent.
"This village is hopeless." Rysc sighed next to my ear as we crouch in a shadow together.
"They're learning to stay inside before the sun goes down." I said, staring on at the dim lantern lights illuminating from the small village homes.
"Humph, figures." Rysc sighed. He then pulled two vials of blood that Blaze collected. "Good thing I brought these just incase this happens. Say, I know of a grassy little hill where we could drink to the moonlight. Would you like to go?"
Ah. Fuck. I thought.
"I don't know, I think Blaze would get angry if he ever found out." I said.
"Blaze doesn't have to know anything." Rysc said with a devious smile stretched on his face.
"Well, I am thirty." I said without really knowing it.
I followed Rysc like if I had no control over my body. Half of me wanted to run back to the sewer and into the protective arms of Blaze, but the other half seemed to be in some lovesick trance. At the top of the plushy grass, Rysc pulled out a blanket from his backpack and spread it out. He then pulled out two wine glasses and set the vials of blood down on the blanket.
"My lady…" he said so smoothly that part of me melted inside. He gestured to the blanket, inviting me to sit.
I sit down on the blanket, my legs tucked beside me. Rysc sits uncomfortably close to me and pours some blood into the wine glass.
"You look stunning with the moonlight shining against your face." He said staring deeply into my eyes.
"This…feels wrong…" I said, barely able to form the words.
The loving look left his eyes and was replaced with a mix of anger and determination.
"What Blaze doesn't know won't hurt him. Just trust in me, Gwen. Do you trust me?" Rysc said, his eyes digging deeper.
My lip quivered. I was so close to saying yes Rysc! I trust you and I love you more than words could ever show! When a familiar voice broke the spell I seemed to be under.
"Gwendolyn." My father barked behind me.
I never felt happier to hear my father's voice in centuries.
"Father!" I cheered and ran up to him, giving him a tight squeeze.
"Gwendolyn!" Father gasped and pushed me away. "You have a lot of explaining to do."
"She doesn't have to do anything." Rysc came up behind me, his arms crossed.
"Rysc Griffiths." Father said as if he was being reunited with an old school enemy. "You possess the power to make any being fall in love with you." He said coldly.
"Good evening, James Bleu. Last time I saw you, I was with my father and we were discussing your misfortune in obtaining no unique vampire ability." Rysc said snidely.
Father looked as if a steak was just plunged into his heart. His throat moved as if he was swallowing something.
"Indeed. I may not have any special abilities besides the basic sensing prey and send thoughts into human minds, but at least I don't use my powers to control women." My father fought back with words as sharp as daggers. "I have the least bit of respect for those who abuse and take advantage over women." He spat like the words were rotten cabbage in his mouth.
I whipped around to Rysc, who stood with a disgusted look frozen on his face.
"How… dare… you!" I said slowly, then slapping him with quick vampire speed. The strike left his whole cheek a bright red color.
Rysc screamed in pain and stumbled onto his back, holding his cheek.
"Let's go." Father ordered me.
I happily snatched up the vials of blood and left Rysc lying in the grass.
"I searched all over for you, young lady!" Father scolded me as soon as we got through the door. "What made you think that it was a good idea to lie to me and run away with a bloody Barbarian!" he continued to scold, his voice rising a bit with each word.
I had completely forgotten about Blaze in the sewer!
"But that is were you are wrong, father!" I pleaded. "He is more than just some bloody Barbarian. When I'm wrapped in his muscular, protective arms I feel warm and safe…I feel…loved. And that's all I ever wanted, my entire life!" I said, getting a bit angry myself.
"How many times must we go over this, Gwendolyn? Barbarians are not vampires. You can't trust any kind of human. Their aim is to demolish our kind. That's why we must destroy them before they destroy us!"
As his voice echoed off the walls, Uncle Steel came hurtling through the door.
"James!" he gasped, leaning on my father, out of breath.
"What is it, brother?"
"Head Quarters is up in flames! And Margret is in there!"
Aunt Margret: The last remaining human in the Bleu clan.
"No!" father shouted, brushing Uncle Steel off of him and bolting out the door.
Uncle Steel and I follow close behind. When we reached the headquarters, flames were spewing from windows, smoke tumbling into the sky.
"Margret!" Father screamed at the burning structure.
"Oh my Saradomin!" Uncle Steel gasped, "I can hear her screaming inside." A tear running down his cheek.
Father suddenly ran for the blazing building only to come to a screeching halt as the roof collapsed into itself.
"No! Margret!" Father screamed.
I could feel Father's pain and anguish without even attempting to use another vampire ability I bear. Tears formed in my eyes. I blink. A tear slides down my cheek. I look over to Uncle Steel, whose eyes are watery, the flames reflecting in his eyes.
"Sister…" he sighed, voice wobbly.
As awful as it may seem to sneak away from my family in their time of mourning and need, I had to return to Blaze who was probably just about to awaken and wonder where I was. In no time I was back in the sewers, luckily Blaze was still snoring in bed, back under his arm where I felt I belonged. Blaze stirred and woke.
"Gwen. I would've been sure I would wake without you here." He said smiling a bit.
"I must say, he did take me. But he turned out to be evil…well evil to the eyes of a vampire." I sighed, smiling, my fangs showing.
"I told you so. I had this feeling he was a rotten meat sack as soon as I set my eyes upon him." He said, narrowing his eyes at the wall, "You know I only want what is the best for you, my princess."
"I understand that." I said, getting sleepy.
"Rest your head now, my sweet lamb, I won't allow anything to come between us ever again." Blaze said sweetly and softly in my ear, luring me to sleep.
If I had only known of what was to come.
Sixteen year old Gwen was lying awake in her bed, her body covered in bruises. She quivered; the hot tears that formed in her eyes slid out and seemed to leave frozen paths on her cheeks. Gwen wished the snow that fell from the heavens was the only reason why she quivered. All was silent in the manor. No echoes of screaming matches between her parents. No crashes of vases and other household objects breaking. Silence. This was like a sweet symphony to Gwen's ears. The full moon shone down from the starless midnight sky and made the snow on the ground sparkle and glow. The light that shone on Gwen's expressionless face darkened for only moment, as if something passed by her window. Gwen sat up in her bed and looked out her window. A horrible, sickening feeling dropped into the pit of her stomach, making it feel hollow and empty. But she knew from past experiences that if she were to ever wake her parents, especially her father, at this late of an hour, they would most certainly throw her out into the snow. It was probably an animal or snow falling from the roof. She calmed herself in her head. She rested her head back on her pillow and tried to ignore the pain her bruises caused her. Hours later, just as Gwen was dozing off a chilling, horrible scream rang out, jerking Gwen to life. The scream belonged to her mother. Gwen jumped to her feet and burst out of her room, pounding up the steps to the door to her parents' room. The door was ajar; she could peek inside and see her mother on the ground, breathing hard, her arms covering her head and neck.
"It's her or us, James." A stranger's voice barked.
"Yes. Make her one of us, or she becomes our next meal." Another voice snarled.
"You've gotten what you wanted from her, now it's time to carry out the rest of the plan." the first voice hissed.
"W-What are they talking about, James?" Her mother's voice trembled.
"Shut up, mortal!" the second voice shouted at her mother, making Gwen's temper flare.
"Take your damned 'heirs' and lets go!" the second heartlessly ordered.
"No! You can't take my babies!" Her mother pleaded and reached up to hold her father's arm in attempt to stop him.
Her father bent down and kissed her mother's hand.
"Forgive me, dear Isabelle." He whispered, brushing her mother's long hair away from her neck.
Her mother became limp, her head tilting back, her neck exposed. Gwen could see, just for a moment, the silhouette of fangs in her father's mouth, about to sink them into her mother's neck. Gwen's head felt heavy. She began to back up from the door. A floorboard beneath her bare foot creaked just as her father was about to feast on her mother. All three heads spun around, their glowing red eyes piercing Gwen's soul.
"Oh look who up and about like a little vampire princess?" The first stranger hissed with a sadistic smile, he finally walked into the light from the moon. It was Rysc.
"W-what is this?" Gwen stammered, fear rushing through her veins.
In a flash of white, Rysc was on top of Gwen, pressing her against the wall.
"Such a pretty little thing, silky long locks, black as night." Rysc purred as he stroked Gwen's hair behind her ear.
"Leave her, Rysc." Her father commanded.
Rysc dropped his hand and looked over his shoulder at James.
"As you wish…" Rysc hissed, "…your majesty." He stepped away from Gwen.
"Gwen." Her father only managed to get out before the sound of glass shattering took everyone's attention away from Gwen.
When Gwen looked past the men he could see that her mother no longer was there. She had jumped out the window. Having the attention directed away from her, Gwen darted down the stairs and ran outside into the snow. In the snow, lay an imprint of where her mother impacted the ground. Above that, were footprints that led off into the dark.
"Mother!" she called into the dark.
No response.
When Gwen turned she ended up getting a faceful of her father's chest. Before Gwen could even take a breath, her father had his fangs deep in her neck. Gwen felt warm… too warm. She could feel beads of sweat form on her forehead. Far away screams echoed in her ears. Her thin, dark eyebrows bent upward in distress. Far away she could hear Blaze's voice calling her name.
Gwen….Gwen….GWEN!
I jerked to life, sweat making my shirt stick to my back. Blaze was squatting above me.
"W-Where am I?" I asked, looking around.
I was sitting on a straw bed on the second story of a wooden structure. I assumed I was in the Barbarian Village. I looked past Blaze; everything surrounding the structure was set ablaze. But it wasn't the flames that bothered me…it was the look on Blaze's face. He wore an expression so malicious, so iniquitous, so…enticing. The flames reflected in his shining eyes as he slowly pulled a stake from behind his back. His lips curled into a smile and in a flash the stake was raised above my heart. Just as he plunged the stake down, I dived out of the way.
"What the hell!" I screamed at him.
"Disgusting creature of the night, your kind don't deserve to walk this Earth!" Blaze howled at me and stomped over to where I lay. I quickly got to my feet and darted out the door. I stampeded down the wooden steps to the dirt ground. Everywhere I looked there was flames and smoke. I didn't know which was out but I could hear Blaze following. I chose a direction to run and hoped for the best. The flames burnt my flesh as I continued to run with all my vampire might for my undead life. I suddenly felt a strong hand yank me onto my back. I look up. Blaze was towering over me, this time he wore a snide face.
"Any last words, vampire?" he said as he dangled the stake above my heart.
With broken tears in my eyes I gasped away a cry.
"So strong, yet so weak." I said with a smile.
In a flesh-colored blur, Blaze, my miracle, my warmth, my love…my betrayer drove the cursed stake into my heart. I let out a scream, one that burst anything glass for miles around. Blaze didn't dig the stake deep enough into my heart, but it still hurt the same. Suddenly, a pale blur seemed to wipe Blaze to the ground. My faded vampire senses told me it was my father and Uncle Steel. From what I could just barely hear, they were feasting on Blaze like a rapid pack of wolves. I let out a breath and closed my eyes. I felt arms under my back and legs.
"You were right Gwen, he was sweet." Uncle Steel whispered in my ear.