Severance
Author's Note: Taking a short break from Lacrimosa. As much as I love writing about Holly, I also love writing about my more darker characters. I hope that you guys will enjoy this fanfiction and Jacqueline as much as I enjoyed writing it.
The preferred temperature for vampires was the cold. Warmth was associated with sunlight and fire, both of which caused harm and death among the race. It was also associated with love; romantic and platonic, neither of which were necessary in this new world. Coldness represented all that was lifeless on both biological and emotional levels. Coldness was all she ever knew in this new life. No longer did the burdens of empathy or compassion apply to her. The warmth she felt with a beloved person had long since vanished. The passion and anger that burned through her very being as a human was now but a dying flame. And yet she felt no emptiness, nor did she feel any kind of loss for these emotions. Where there was once passion was now nonchalance. Where there was once love, there was indifference. Where there was once empathy, there was now apathy. This new state of existence left her uncaring, unfeeling, and untamed.
The only thing worth living for, the only thing that could revive that dormant passion, was the thirst...
No... the hunt.
It was not the blood itself that drove her, but the act of pursuing it. Of selecting her prey and tracking them down; hearing their beating, thumping hearts grow louder and faster as she drew closer. It was the act of coming down upon them armed with nothing but enhanced strength and sharper nails and teeth; it was hearing them scream as they faced oblivion. There was the thrill of taking life away, tearing away at different parts of a human anatomy to discover newer painful, effective tactics. Her heart was singing hosannas of delight at the sound of skin and muscles tearing away from the bones. She laughed to the point of tears at the sounds of fracturing skulls, snapping femurs, and cracking ribs.
And to feel the blood itself upon her, soaking into her pale skin, coating her body with it's coppery, sticky substance, was euphoric. She would mount the remains of her victims with the same ardour of a courtesan and hold their bodies against her, just to fully embrace their lifeblood. The hunt brought her pleasure beyond her wildest fantasies, and the blood itself was the icing on the cake. To feel it pour over her face and rush it's way through her hair, down her soft throat and across her slender, petite frame was an ecstasy she could experience in no other way.
They called her a "Ripper," or at least they did after that infamous evening in the harem.
Vorador explained to her the night after that particular evening that he chose Jacqueline to be a bride because of her innocence. It was a guilty pleasure of his to occasionally change younger and seemingly inexperienced women. He was unaware that Jacqueline was not all that she seemed, and it wasn't until her transformation that she was more open and accepting with who she was and what she wanted to be. When he first made love to her, he was surprisingly tender, and she learned later that it was merely part of his strategy for seducing and keeping those seemingly inexperienced, innocent girls. He was only a tender lover for the first few nights when it came to the seduction of his young brides, and then they became nothing more than pets or toys for him to sate his more violent urges upon.
Except Jacqueline took no pleasure in these acts. There was no pain, there was no pleasure, there was no illusion of affection or companionship. The act itself was nothing more than an overall bore to her, and her lack of enthusiasm was considered to be her way of insulting Vorador's performance. When he took her once more, he soon discovered that his newly sired bride had lost a great many things when she had decided to make the change, one of them being her sexual arousal. It did not take long for the vampire to grow tired of her and move on to his other brides. This rejection in itself left no scar or injury upon Jacqueline's pride, but it was the Brides themselves who turned her minor inconvenience into a major annoyance.
Jacqueline quickly learned that it was always a pleasure to find ways to get under one's skin by smiling and giggling in a very insulting, provoking manner. Belittling an opponent and rousing their anger often made them sloppy and destroyed their concentration. There was no better tutor for this particular lesson than Vorador's arrogant Brides, particularly the bride named Shani. She was a voluptuous creature with all the curves in all the right places, full lips, amber-colored eyes, and wavy mahogany-colored hair. She was the most beautiful of Vorador's brides, and as such, carried an air of authority about her that went unchallenged by the other brides. Because she was Vorador's favorite plaything, she was under the impression that she could order the other brides as she saw fit, as well as insult them should she feel the need to. This was always done in a very playful, but certainly infuriating manner. With that unfading smirk, those amused eyes, and that belittling laugh, her behavior was enough to drive any woman mad.
Jacqueline endured several insults and many annoying questions about her apparent dislike of sex, but the worst and most degrading had always come from Shani. The insults themselves did not irritate her, but Shani's constant verbal attacks were beginning to grate on her nerves. Eventually these attacks evolved from theories about Jacqueline's genitalia to physical assaults. One evening, after Vorador sought the company of Shani and three other brides, Shani had sought out the rejected Jacqueline who was, as always, off on her own either reading or staring endlessly into space. Jacqueline's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of shredding clothes, and she glanced down to see that her pale skin was exposed to everyone who cared to look. She glanced over her shoulder to see the remains of her attire in the clawed hands of Shani.
"I have always wondered why he never sought your company... and I think I see why..." Shani giggled, then twirled about to observe Jacqueline's naked body. "Such a thin, small little body... and your breasts are not all that impressive at all..." she giggled again and placed a finger upon Jack's breast. "Our lord does not prefer prepubescent little girls. Is that why you are without your desire, Miss Jacqueline?"
Jacqueline glanced down at her own body, then glanced at Shani's. Threads too thin to be considered proper clothing draped across every curve of her body, exposing her cleavage and groins enough to bring any man to his knees. And then Jacqueline looked at her beautiful face. Shani prided herself on her cosmetics, it would seem. Her red lips were a shade much darker than they should have been, the blush brought some lifeness to her pale face, and her half-shut eyelids were painted a shade of rouge. It was no surprise why Vorador desired this one if his lust did not run deeper than appearance and performance. And that realization only caused Jacqueline to giggle. Her small, slender hand moved to her lips as more playful laughs escaped her.
"If zat is ze case..." Shani's expression went from intimidating to surprise. It was the first time she had actually heard Jacqueline speak, and she was completely unaware that she came with an accent. "...I see no reason to pleasure a man vith such 'orrible taste, if 'e vould prefer somevon vith your aging, artificial looks over a natural beauty, such as myself." She patted Shani's cheek and then rose to her feet to make a retreat.
What she did not expect was that Shani, a creature so used to being dominant and in control, was not one to take her own medicine. She felt a clawed hand dig into the back of her head and a force push her into a wall. Jacqueline's forehead made contact with the wall before Shani fired her across the room. Jack's body made contact with a wardrobe within the parlour and it shattered into pieces. Before Jacqueline could make it to her feet, Shani was already upon her and struck her across the face. The older bride straddled Jacqueline's hips, one clawed hand grabbing holding onto her throat while the other prepared to claw at her face. Jacqueline took this opportunity to grab a a tipped shard of the shattered wardrobe and thrust it into one of Shani's eye.
A high-pitched shriek filled Vorador's mansion. Shani's body whipped back and both of her hands moved to her face as screams and sobs poured out of her. The shard was at least half of a foot in length and stuck out of her eye socket. Blood gushed from the wound and poured down her face.
It was in that moment that Jacqueline noticed something. A change... from within.
Her heart was pounding... she felt her blood rushing... with every sound of the bride's screams, with every drop of blood that poured from her eye, Jacqueline felt excitement. And it only increased when she picked up another large shard from the wardrobe. A smile crossed her lips and she rushed at the screaming bride, slamming into her and forcing her against the wall. The second shard drove itself into the screaming vampire's side, lodging it's way between her ribs before a powerful jerk of Jacqueline's arm caused the bones to snap apart. Shani's arms flailed infront of her and she clawed across Jack's throat and face, screaming louder before she felt the shard penetrate into her groin. Unspeakable pain shot through the vampiress. Physical and psychological torture overwhelmed her.
Her reaction was enough to cause Jacqueline to burst into laughter. A laughter she could not control. Her hand reached up to grab the shard sticking out of Shani's eye and she ripped it out of her skull before stabbing it into her shoulder. With her left arm now completely useless, Shani's screams and sobs grew louder. In desperation she tried to attack Jacqueline with her other arm, but every quick movement she made only caused her injuries to hurt more. Jacqueline's eyes were large in wonder and amazement. Her face lit up like a child receiving a pet kitten. She felt her nails growing longer and stronger than before, and instinct took over her logic. She swung her arms and clawed across Shani's stomach, screaming in delight at the feeling of skin tearing across her claws. Another hand rushed forward and thrusted it's way through Shani's chest, feeling bones break apart and giggling at the feeling of the organs against her hand. Shani's mouth parted and an eruption of blood burst from her lips, splattering onto Jacqueline's face.
Whether it was Shani's attempt to scream, or a way to insult Jacqueline a final time, the young vampiress did not know. But when she felt Shani's blood on her skin, and when she pulled her hand out of the vampire's quivering, convulsing body, she felt herself trembling. The excitement was overwhelming her. She felt stronger... she felt powerful... and she knew she did not want to lose this feeling. Her eyes fell to Shani's useless arm, and then to her now useless leg. Curiosity was getting the best of her, her imagination was running wild with all of the things she longed to do to this creature. Without a moment of hesitation, she moved to Shani's side and her hands latched onto her bicep. Very slowly, she began to pull, her smile growing wider as Shani's body began to convulse and tremble withe very pull and ever tug. In a final shower of gore, Shani's arm parted from her torso, and Jacqueline burst into hysterical laughter that brought her to her knees.
Shani's body was limp and nearly lifeless. Oceans of blood surrounding her twitching, bleeding body. Jacqueline cradled the torn limb in her arms and shook with hysterical laughter. Shani's blood stained her flawless naked skin and she felt very much like an excited infant in a bath tub, playing with toys, splishing and splashing, squealing with delight over every little thing. She should have been satisfied with things as they were, but no... she wanted more. Slowly, trembling with joy with every move she made, she crawled on her hands and knees to Shani's body. Her hand smoothed up the bride's perfect leg, lightly dragging her nails across the skin before she reached Shani's hips. She grabbed the shard within her groin and tore it out. Shani's reaction was a choking gasp of pain, and it would seem that she had lost her capability to scream. But Jacqueline, already intoxicated with her project at hand, no longer cared for the sound of shrieks and screams at this moment. Instead, her clawed fingers pushed their way into the open wound in Shani's groin, and using all of her strength, parted the leg from her hip.
The screams that night had filled the entire mansion. The vampire inhabitants feared a Sarafan attack, while the brides were found within their master's chambers in tears, trembling with fear and horror at the display in the room. By the time Vorador had arrived, the only blood remaining were the stains on the floor and the walls of the harem. Shani's lifeless and mutilated body lay in a heap in the corner of the room, drained of every ounce of blood she owned.
And Jacqueline lay upon the floor, naked as the day she was born, sucking on her bloodstained fingertips.
That playful smile upon her dark lips never left her.
