She loved the shadows of the Sanctuary halls, being wrapped in darkness as if they were the very arms of the Night Mother herself. The Bosmer silently made her way down the hall, with a single purpose in mind. It was time.
She knocked on the door, and waited for permission to enter.
"Sister," she was greeted. "Please, come in."
She purposefully stepped through the door and closed it behind her.
"How may I help you?" he asked her, arching a brow as the door clicked shut, lowering the book he was reading to give her his full attention.
"Vicente, I would like to discuss the. . . dark gift you mentioned before," she said hesitantly, feeling her courage buckle for a moment now that she was here.
"Ah," he said as he rose from his chair and walked over to her. "You are interested then?"
She nodded. "Yes." She had thought long about it, and the more she had, the more appealing it seemed to her. Going through with it, however, was a different matter. There was always uncertainty at transitional points in life, and this was no exception.
Vicente seemed to sense her hesitation. "Shall I pass along the terrible power of my Dark Gift?" He stepped closer to her, voice soft. "Do you wish to become a vampire?" He angled himself toward her, and she was hit with a gentle wave of desire – a thirst, but for what she couldn't identify. It was on the tip of her tongue, and unconsciously she leaned toward him as well. And then it was gone, and he straightened.
Her mind raced backward – he had asked her a question, hadn't he? He was waiting for her reply. Standing straight again, she nodded, this time more confidently. "Yes. I wish to be a vampire." She cleared her throat. "Please."
Vicente grinned, baring his teeth, fangs and all, and came even closer. "Most excellent," he approved, his eyes appraising her. She tried to remain still, though the trail left by his wandering eyes left her warm, making her nervous. "Here is what you must do," his eyes flashed back to hers, and she started slightly. "Simply go to sleep here in the Sanctuary, at any time, and I will visit you as you slumber."
She nodded, though her face showed her confusion. "Is that it?" She was slightly disconcerted, having thought there would be more to it – perhaps even wishing there was.
"That's it," he said, amused, coming even closer, so that his body was within inches of hers. "I will wrap you in vampirism's dark embrace," he began to circle her, his voice barely above a whisper. She shivered in anticipation, a curious sensation spreading from her stomach outward. "You'll never even know I was there; but when you awaken," he paused at her side, his mouth hovering by her ear, "we will be of the same blood."
He stepped away from her then and met her eyes, which were wide with anticipation. "And then?" she asked, meaning what she was supposed to do when she woke, but unable to articulate her thoughts, her mind muddled.
He smirked, obviously amused by his effect on her. "Once infected with vampirism, you must wait three days and then sleep once more. Then the Dark Gift will truly take hold."
She nodded, and turned to leave, and as she opened the door, he said, "Sleep now, and awake anew."
Tyri shifted in her sleep as she felt her senses stirring. Something was different, her intuition told her sleeping mind – her body could feel a certain pressure upon her bed that hadn't been there before. Suddenly, she was on full alert, and her reflexes had her rolling off the bed and on top of her assailant. She growled, until she heard the bewildered grunt of a familiar voice.
The sleep-haze in her mind cleared, and she realized she was staring down into the face of Vicente from atop his chest. She pressed her lips together and frowned.
"This is most unusual," he quipped, arching a brow at her. "You were not supposed to wake up, dear Sister," he said, chagrined.
She leaned down to him, so she could see him better in the dim light. "One assumes a vampire assassin would be more careful about disturbing his victims," she retorted lightly. There was a strange look on his face, and Tyri was beginning to wonder if he really was disappointed at waking her up, or if he had done it on purpose She couldn't explain why, but she felt like this wasn't something she shouldn't sleep through, as though she might miss out on something. She pressed her hand onto his chest when he began to shift under her, trying to sit up. "Must I be asleep for this?" she asked him coyly.
He looked at her curiously. "It's not done that way," he said, hesitantly.
She looked at him pleadingly, her stomach tightening in anticipation. "Please, Vicente."
Something dark and pleasant crept onto his face, and he nodded. "Very well," he said. Suddenly, he was on his feet, as was she. He brushed her dark hair from her left shoulder and backed her up to the wall. Her heart picked up its pace, that feeling in her stomach from before spreading like wildfire until his sharp fangs sank into her flesh as her back hit the stone wall.
She shut her eyes as an intense pain radiated over her neck and collarbone, overpowering the pleasant feeling in her stomach, and she bit her lip to hold back a sob. Then, as quickly as it had come, the pain ebbed. Once he was sure the pain had gone, his mouth clamped down on her neck, sending a wave of painful pleasure down her body.
Her neck throbbed, and the sensation of her blood flowing into his mouth was somehow sensual in a way she had never experienced before, and Tyri let out a soft whimper. As the sound escaped her lips, Vicente's hips slammed against hers, pinning her even harder to the wall and her legs involuntarily wrapped around his waist.
Tyri gasped as his mouth suddenly disengaged from her neck to lick at the blood dripping from the bite, a feeling that was both soothing and arousing. She whimpered again when the vampire's hands found their way under her nightgown to her breasts and began to caress the sensitized flesh.
The heady mix of pain and pleasure began to build within Tyri, and magnified when Vicente resumed draining the blood from her bite mark. A hand abandoned its attention to her breasts to venture between her legs to further stimulate her. The pain in her neck expanded, as did her pleasure, and soon her hesitant whimpers became rapturous cries, until she reached her peak when Vicente had finally drained her life's blood.
Tyri slumped against him, utterly drained of energy, her head falling gently against the vampire's shoulder. She was out cold, quite literally. Vicente disengaged her legs from his waist, carefully lifted her up and carried her back to her bed. He cleaned the excess blood from the bite marks and covered her with the blanket, and before leaving, he stooped to place a gentle kiss on the Bosmer's pale forehead.
Today was proving to be the worst day of her life. Her family was dead; murdered, by her own hands. Tyri gazed down at her blood-soaked dagger, numbly sinking to her knees. Talaendril, Teinaava, Ocheeva, M'raaj-Dar, Gogron, Antoinetta Marie. . . The only one left was Vicente. He hadn't been in the Sanctuary when Tyri began the Purification.
She didn't know how long she'd been sitting like that, staring dumbly at the massacre around her, the blood her loved-ones covering her gloved hands, when she sensed the silent footsteps of the other vampire entering the Sanctuary.
They stopped dead in their tracks behind her. "What in the Void. . . Tyri?" His voice held anguish at what he beheld. Slowly the Bosmer got to her feet.
"It is the will of Sithis," she moaned, her voice raw from sobbing, and she turned to face him, revealing the blood-spatter on her face, her armor, and in her hair. She raised her dagger. There was so much she wanted to tell him; but she knew if she hesitated now, she would never finish the Purification. She advanced toward him, tears falling anew, mingling with the blood of her brothers and sisters.
Vicente's eyes widened and he backed away from her, drawing his own dagger and adopting a defensive stance. "Are you mad?" he asked, shocked by the sight of her. In all his years, and in all the time he had known her, he would never have expected this.
"Sithis help me," she murmured, advancing closer, pushing him into the wall, "I must be."
Vicente knew he could not win against her; not when all the rest of their Family could not. "What of the Tenets?" he hissed, trying to distract her.
She kept coming, blade poised to strike. "The Purification overrules the Tenets." The blade tip was pressed against his chest. "The traitor must be neutralized."
Realization hit him, and he knew that this was not her will, but truly the will of Sithis. If the traitor was among the Cheydinhal Sanctuary, then they must all die. The Dread Lord would sort them out. Vicente nodded his understanding to her, and he saw the sorrow in her eyes turn to anguish.
As she thrust the knife into his chest, she met him in a final kiss. "Forgive me, my love," she whispered as she pulled away. The elder vampire smiled softly at her before the light left his eyes and he fell to the ground. Tyri wordlessly sank down to lay beside him, and wept.