It hadn't been Cara's intention to stop in the small town and visit the saloon but the craving to taste human blood had been almost overwhelming.
The last few weeks she had had to be happy with animal's blood, but whether it was from a mountain lion or a deer, it all tasted foul and couldn't sustain her for as long as she hoped.
She walked into the saloon, head bowed as she scanned the establishment from beneath her head, quickly spotting the owner and walking up to him.
"I want a girl," she demanded, dropping a heavy coined pouch in front of him.
His eyes gleamed as he weighed the coins in his hands, a vile smile distorting his ugly face as he motioned for her to follow.
The room was rather spacious but it felt suffocating in comparison to the open plains she was used to.
The large chair next to the window attracted her eye and as she went to sit down, she took off her hat and gun belt, placing them on the nearest table.
As she made herself comfortable, the door to an adjoining room opened and a young woman stepped out, head dropped, her face hidden behind raven black hair which was in stark contrast to her milky white skin.
She was wearing a scandalously small set of lingerie that left little to the imagination but for the moment that did not interest Cara in the slightest.
Her eyes were locked on the girl's neck as soon as she had lifted her head to speak: "I am yours for the night."
Cara remained stoic though she was somewhat affected by how the girl's voice was monotone and seemed laced with coldness and numbness.
Shaking those feelings from her mind, she motioned the girl towards her, waiting impatiently for her to come and sit between Cara's legs before leaning backwards against Cara, turning her head to the side to look out the window.
Cara could feel her fangs extract and ache to sink into the girl's throat but an annoying voice in her head kept nagging about how she was not a mindless beast and she should at least say something before she hurt this poor girl.
She gritted her teeth together, clenching her jaws tightly and forced herself to calm down considerably as she spoke: "Miss," she whispered, not trusting her voice to not sound animalistic: "I hope you will accept my apologies for what I am about to do but I'm just so..."
She rushed forward, not leaving any time for a response and let her mouth fill with the warm liquid that sustained her very being.
She allowed herself to take a generous swig before pulling back, her nails digging in the wooden arm rest to keep from lunging again, containing the beast within herself.
The girl however seemed quite confused by Cara's sudden withdrawal as she stood up and turned around, her brows creased in a frown: "I thought you were hungry?"
Cara took a jagged breath, the high from the feed still tingling all over her skin: "Yes but that does not mean I will drain you dry."
"But you took near nothing," the girl remarked, almost challenging.
"I have taken enough," Cara said with a finality that would have scared any other creature into agreement but for some peculiar and enticing reason not this human.
Later Cara would admit to herself that she had let it happen because she wanted to test the girl, to see how far she was willing to push her challenge.
Now she blamed her recent consumption of blood, human blood at that, and the rush it brought that made her reflexes slow, too slow to catch the hand darting for the knife, that lay forgotten with her belt on the table and swiftly cut through the soft flesh of the girl's other palm.
A deep gash oozed out the red liquid steadily and before Cara could comment on the girl's foolishness, her mouth was full of sweetness.
The girl pressed with all her might, knowing that the vampire could flick her away with a single finger – at half strength.
Their gazes met, determined blue locking with slightly shocked yet very intrigued flashing green as Cara feasted.
The vampire kept going until a droplet of sweat rolled down the girl's temple and her arms began shaking from extortion, hissing in pain at every gulp Cara took.
Regaining her speed, Cara ripped the hand away from her mouth while with the other she ripped a stripe of cloth from her shirt and bound it tightly around the wound to stop the bleeding, earning a gasp of pain from the girl.
"I'm very sorry about that," Cara said, her tone accusing as she squeezed the wound for good measure.
The girl gritted her teeth: "An apologetic vampire, an uncommon sight these days."
Cara tilted her head slightly: "As is a human with no sense of self-preservation."
The girl looked at her sharply, blue eyes gazing upon her with such intensity that it made Cara a little uncomfortable.
She cleared her throat before asking: "What is your name?"
"Kahlan Amnell."
"Well, Miss Amnell," Cara spoke, lifting the girl of her lap and gently placing her on the bed: "I thank you for your services ."
Kahlan eyed her carefully as she began to redo her belt and weapons, speaking softly: "You're not like the others.."
"Mmh?"
"You're respectful, even though you know what I am," Kahlan continued, every word coming from her mouth cutting deep into Cara's unbeating heart: "The others, they drain me until I am unconscious. When I wake up, I do not know what they have done to my body."
It wasn't like that was the worst thing Cara had ever seen or heard but somehow hearing that cross Kahlan's lips made the vampire stop dead in her tracks, her hands stilled in the middle of buckling her belt.
Kahlan chuckled mirthlessly, trailing her fingers over a bite mark on her inner right thigh that she did not remember happening, shivering in disgust: "I suppose some things are better left unknown."
Cara clenched her jaws together bonecrushingly tight, internally debating whether to leave the situation as it was.
She was no hero, saving helpless women from neglectful brothels; being a hero in these times usually got you killed so Cara typically opted to stay away from such foolishness.
Yet that same nagging voice of being faithful to her humanity got the upper hand and after a deep annoyed sigh she restarted the process of dressing herself, speaking in as plain a tone as she could muster: "Some crave the change. They think that being a vampire will make them gods. It alluring and feels so good to start when one's own blood still runs in their system. They deem themselves invincible and perhaps for a few weeks they are but that high quickly wears off as soon as their first blood deficiency starts," Cara shifted awkwardly as she had nothing else to put back on but she did not want to face Kahlan who had remained rather quiet during her speech, so she stepped to the window, looking over the rolling plains of the desert-like landscape: "After the first feed, they somehow begin to miss their human life, the warmth of their own body, the steady beating of a heart beneath their chest,.. the possibility to start a family with their loved ones.."
Cara chocked there, her fists clenching at her sides as Kahlan eyed her carefully, finding the courage to ask: "Were you human?"
After a long pause there came an answer: "Yes."
"Do you miss it, as you described?"
Cara shook her head lightly: "I remember little about my time as a human."
Kahlan frowned, shifting closer to the edge of the bed, closer to the vampire staring out the window: "I don't understand.. what you said-?"
"Drunken vampires converse quite a lot, it's rather annoying," Cara regarded her sideways with a light smile on her lips which speedily disappeared as she continued: "I was raised by vampires, a couple who had found each other and were devastated that they could not have a child of their own so they adopted me, a human child, to appease their needs. How exactly that they adopted me remains quite the mystery but they took good care of me. We were like a normal family… happy."
By now Kahlan was standing, inch by inch coming near, cautiously extending her hand.
Cara turned around sharply however, staring accusingly at the hand until it was pulled back before continuing, her face void of any emotion: "One day my father was away hunting and my mother had starved herself too greatly waiting for his return. The despair that one feels when so deprived from blood is agonizing and can make someone go mad. I was the only meal within reach and in her feeding frenzy, she turned me by mistake."
The silence that followed was almost unbearable, weighing down on the vampire's shoulders like a ton of rocks and those blue eyes upon her being were too much to take.
"I'm sorry," Kahlan whispered softly.
Cara regarded her, steeling her gaze: "That is a useless sentiment," she turned fully towards Kahlan: "I was merely trying to explain why some vampire might seem heartless."
Kahlan's eyes narrowed: "Feeling sorry for yourself does not excuse one's actions."
Cara eyed her, calmly saying: "Perhaps..," she placed her hat upon her head, slightly tipped back: "Thank you for your services, Miss Amnell."
The brunette took a deep breath, it wasn't the words that cut deep but rather the finality in the vampire's tone.
Steeling herself and squaring her shoulders, Kahlan made a courteous bow: "The pleasure was mine," she said dryly, promptly leaving the room.
Cara rolled her eyes at the dramatics and ignored her consciousness nagging as she descended the stairs back to the main area of the saloon, making quick eye contact with the keeper.
The man smiled vilely before turning his attention to another customer, nodding and giving him the green light apparently because that vampire all but raced up the stairs, nearly knocking Cara over when he ran passed her.
This man was Kahlan's next customer, Cara understood and subconsciously she assessed him carefully: he was in a very advanced state of blood deprivation clear by the fact that his hands were almost shaking uncontrollably like he had no control over them anymore, his fangs were larger than they should be and drool was dripping from his chin.
There was a very real possibility that he was so far gone that he would quickly dismiss Kahlan's comfort for his feed, maybe even kill her in the process.
Cara groaned at this thought and silently cursing herself for stopping at this saloon at all.
Within the next moment she stood before the keeper's nose, startling him as she spoke: "Change of plans, I want the girl, permanently."
She threw another coin purse in front of him and his despicable sneer worsened for a moment as he eyed the gold but then turned to her: "I'm afraid that she is not for sale..," his tone was anything but sorry, like he was mocking her.
She smirked almost devilishly as she retrieved her gun in less than a nano second, faster than even his eyes could follow, and turned it around to inspect it from all views as she feigned disinterest: "Do you know what happens when a vampire is shot?"
The keeper's eyes widened for a moment and he swallowed thickly before shaking his head.
"It's something that has always baffled me," she locked eyes with him as she pressed her gun into his chest hard: "When shot in a part where there's bone beneath the flesh, a vampire will regenerate without much problem but now the peculiar part, when shot in soft area's a vampire is somehow unable to regenerate..."
Cara smirked even wider as she saw the fear grow in his eyes: "For example an ear," she pointed her gun at one of his ears: "Or a nose," she trailed the weapon over his cheek as he trembled beneath it.
She laughed lightly as she drew closer to him, whispering: "Or a man's cock.."
Before the words were spoken, the gun's aim was already on the man's lower regions, posing a menacing threat to his manhood.
Any mirth disappeared from Cara's features as she continued: "Now I suggest you take my generous offer if you don't want to separate with most precious appendage."
He swallowed deeply and took the coin purse with shaking hands, much to Cara's relief.
Holstering her gun she went back up to the room with more haste than when she had left it, opening the door without knocking, quickly scanning the room and sighing as she saw that Kahlan had not yet come into contact with the mad driven vampire, anxiously awaiting his meal in the same chair Cara had occupied less than an hour ago.
For a moment he seemed quite baffled by her being there but when the door to the adjoining room opened and Kahlan stepped out once more, he went into a predatory mode and lunged.
To Cara, fresh off a feed, it felt like he was moving in slow motion and she easily caught him mid-air, slamming him head first into the wooden floor, holding him down as she addressed Kahlan: "Get your things, we're leaving."
A sense of relief and happiness washed over the brunette's features and she scrambled back into the other room, leaving Cara and the helpless vampire she had in a crushing hold.
He tried to his best abilities to get her off but remained unsuccessful up until the moment Cara released him when Kahlan was ready and eager to leave.
Seeing his crazed gaze zone in on the human, Cara warned him coldly: "You wouldn't be able to get within three feet of her, don't bother trying because I will rip you apart."
For a moment it seemed like he would test her threat but luckily he still had the little sanity left to stand down.
Cara nodded approvingly before guiding Kahlan down the stairs, grabbing her by the elbow as they went, whispering: "Keep your head down. Don't make eye contact with anyone."
They got more attention than Cara had hoped for, but luckily their interest did not move them to approach, yet.
Cara hurried Kahlan along, constantly scanning around them: "Get on the horse," she urged, herself untying the beast.
She crawled on top behind Kahlan and steered her mount out of town, back to the clear vastness of the wild.
~0~0~
When they were a good two hours into their ride and the town was but a little spec upon the horizon, Cara pulled her mount to a stop in the middle of a crossroad, dismounting smoothly and her gaze going from one path to another.
Kahlan just stared at the pacing vampire from atop the horse, not quite finding the right words, a struggle that had occupied her mind since they had left town and yet her silver tongue eluded her still.
Cara grumbled low in her throat before turning around sharply: "There's a town five miles along that road," she pointed to the left road: "I am certain you will be received with kindness," she added as a frown descended upon Kahlan's features: "I would give you some coin but I seem to have lost my pouch somewhere."
Kahlan didn't need to be told where the coins had gone, she knew that buying a whore wasn't cheap.
A bad taste rose in her mouth as she thought of herself as such, if she would see herself so badly, other people wouldn't hesitate to do the same or worse: "You would leave me now?"
Cara sighed deeply, taking of her hat and stoking back her hair in annoyance: "I have no need for a -"
"Whore?" Kahlan finished dryly.
The vampire turned towards her: "Pet, I was going to say pet."
She snorted, her hands clenching around the reins: "That's no better.."
Cara clenched her jaws together, taking a deep breath: "You are free now, do as you please," she then turned around and started walking, clouds of dust springing up from the ground beneath her boots.
Immediately the sound of hoofs followed and after fifteen minutes she grew tired, turning around, nearly fuming and regarded Kahlan, speaking through gritted teeth: "What are you doing?"
"Doing as I please," the woman answered defiantly, sliding of the horse and marching up to Cara, speaking softer as she neared, almost making Cara uncomfortable: "You saved me, I want to repay that debt, please."
Cara eyed her unimpressed at first, gauging her general worth before rolling her eyes in annoyance and begrudgingly grumbling: "Fine," already irritated by the unlimited happiness appearing on the woman's face she added smugly: "It will be nice to have a hot meal now and then."
Kahlan was surprised that instead of appalled by the statement she actually laughed lightly, somehow knowing that Cara would not pose a threat even when feeding and more so that she would even offer freely to let the vampire feed off her.
"You coming or what?" Cara's voice snapped her out of her little euphoric haze and her smile only grew more as she took Cara's hand and was hoisted up on the horse once again as it trotted along the right road, leading to the unknown wilderness and certain freedom.