Author's Note: Hey all, I've had an idea for a vampire AU for a little while. Ended up writing it fairly quickly, and to be honest the result kind of surprised me. But, I hope those who like Elsanna and the blood-sucking undead enjoy it.
She slipped through the gaping maw, silently appearing from the night. Elsa set her feet upon the stone floor, and after making sure no one was around, looked back out the open window. Spots of flaming torchlight flickered through the mist wrapping around the ground. Things were clearer on the top of the tower, where the stars shone bright and the elevation turned people giddy. Elsa hissed at the flames and bared her teeth. Her canines curved down her lower lip, pointy and slender.
She shifted to the curtain. The black velvet concealed her, letting her scan the room. There was a doorway, leading down a long spiral staircase, as she knew; a mahogany dresser propping up a mirror by the wall; and, finally, at last, the silhouette of a large bed, canopy draping, its occupant fast asleep under the covers. Elsa hesitated, recognizing the success. Then she came forward silent and intent.
Her cloak glided in the air as she advanced. This was it, she thought, toes trembling just a little on her way along the cold floor. You've made it. How many months of planning had it taken, how many observations of royal life did she make before she could sneak through unnoticed? It was a long time coming. She'd had to be careful, thorough, and analytical.
And she'd done it.
The mirror flashed with the body of something before it, but when Elsa looked, there was no reflection. Just that of of sleeping chamber girl, oblivious.
Elsa's eyes flicked to the dresser. It was littered with ribbons and hairpins but also spatters of ink where they'd dashed off the quill, and a journal on the side. The girl had a dresser but not a desk, and Elsa frowned. They can afford it, why not give one to his only daughter?
Elsa went next to the doorway, out of caution and curiosity. There were torches here too, but they hung firm and shackled to the wall, providing guidance for those on the winding shell of steps. They disappeared long before they ended, swallowed out of sight into a hollow cavern. If Elsa had a pebble she might have dropped it to see how long it took to echo.
After a moment of waiting she knew they were alone. Elsa whirled to the bed, face hard and flat. Carefully now, can't be rash...with great control she made her way to the bedside. Here she could see the intricate stitching of the canopy above, the patterns and shapes, so beautiful. Almost as beautiful as who it was commissioned for.
Which was just a bonus in Elsa's mission.
Her gums started to wet when she saw the neck tilted to the left and exposed for her use. It was pale and pretty but also promised blood, a rich fill of it, healthy and tenderized by days in the sun. The king's daughter had crossed paths with Elsa before. Sheltered from the world, Elsa could tell she was far too naïve to sense the danger, much too desperate for friends and attention. Anna only saw someone hiding in the shade of the woods, and when informed of her sensitivity to daylight, provided Elsa a parasol so they could see each other more.
She had been advised against roaming the forest, but did so anyway, sometimes; it was a thrill and where Elsa felt more at home. She only met benevolent creatures and thought nothing of it. It never occurred to her that her guide was known in the area, that word of her kind whispered through the trees and shuddered the forest to its core.
On other days they played in the sun. Elsa insisted on staying away from the kingdom, and on the first day Anna turned to her, confused by the slim figure standing under the parasol.
"Why?"
Elsa had smiled, a long, slow smile, and when she spoke her lips barely parted.
"I don't think your father would like me."
There were the times she became scared, where she loathed having to hide and peek warily over her shoulder. The king certainly did not agree with vampires, even executing the common and poor in suspicion. Elsa had seen a few from the far reaches of trees, and though she resented the violence under her species, the spills of blood were a thing of magic to her. The arcs were golden, the stains perfect as they sank deep and rooted beneath the earth. It made her mad. She'd imagine throwing herself toward the death in a frenzy, feeling the life spray onto her, and had to dig her fingers into the bark to keep herself still.
She supposed the king had a point. Vampires did classify as a predator and a monster, some grotesque being that poisoned humanity. Elsa remembered being bitten herself many years ago, from a careless choice to chase a frog out of the village one night. It was upon her in a second, and though horrible, the pain of the bite soon went away. She returned quietly, but it was soon noticed, the way she avoided the light, how her pupils narrowed into diamonds at the sight of a pig, fat and lazy in its pen. She'd gone out to kill it, for just a little, just a bite, but the pig thrashed and squealed and woke the village, which found her hunched over the carcass covered in blood. It was a miracle she'd gotten away, chased deep into the woods, and she moved on to terrorize other parts of the land.
Animals weren't so bad. They were less risky to catch, and guaranteed something to tide her over to the next night. But she did not relish the gamy sinew as she plunged into their necks, the way the blood was metallic but not nourishing. She liked the way the animals writhed for escape—didn't all predators?—but many nights she'd remember the soft contented fat of the pig, how juicy it was to drink something raised by humans.
The first kill was nauseating, and after the hunter's lust was over she went to the river and vomited. She fed shamefully, hoping the man was no one loved. Over time it became easier, and on some nights she drank greedily, leaving nothing but skin over bones in the morning. Those she changed were special people to be savored. She loved the exercise of self-control as she bit just enough to taste them but to also turn them monstrous, into something like her. Occasionally she felt ashamed, though it was in her nature and couldn't be helped.
But this kingdom she'd stumbled upon, it was prepared. Long used to security and threats, it was ready to face vampires before Elsa had ever showed up. Night patrols were regular, and the king held a tyranny greater than Elsa had seen. Mass hunting, the constant watchfulness was too much to handle. Elsa was boxed into isolation in her forest, and if the kingdom wouldn't let her leave, then she should take the king's most precious possession. How nice it will be, Elsa thought, looking down on Anna, for this wonderful woman to join me as a vampire.
After the conversion Elsa would slaughter a guard. Anna might recoil in horror; it was normal to flinch at first. But soon enough she would grow used to the need for blood, even look forward to it. And just think, Elsa processed with a smile, the blood would overwhelm Anna and she'd shake. Elsa would hold her, of course, and just imagine the King and Queen bursting into the open and seeing their daughter in the castle square, eyes different and wild, shrieking at the light she used to welcome. Elsa would look right at the king as Anna did this, would see his horror and fear, and she would love it. Couldn't help his child but too filled with fatherly devotion to end her. Then Elsa would take them into the woods, where they'd evade the royal soldiers and live as magnificent beasts.
Saliva coated her mouth, making her teeth slip out. Anna still had not stirred, and lay completely unaware in her bed. Her hair, usually done into pigtails, now spread loose and around, a halo of red tangled behind her. She made the tiniest noise. Elsa's eyes turned to slits and she leaned down.
There, there she was, coming closer to the body. She was shaking harder than she ever had. It would be delicious, she knew it. Elsa hovered right over Anna, mind shrieking for her fangs to plunge forward. There was a tremor in her heart from the closeness, and she swallowed. Her mouth opened.
And she didn't move.
A heady heat grew thick in the air. Elsa opened wider, some wanting cry emerging from her stomach, but she didn't pounce. In the dark her eyes better traced over Anna. She took in the skin smooth as pearl, the map of freckles softly dotting her face. Her nose was fine and tiny, tapering into a curved point. Closed eyes lost her in sleep, her normally bright and adventurous being wound down to serenity. Elsa's mind screamed again—Do it!—and then she remembered days of picnics under the sun, the bitter taste of fruit and bread somehow better in Anna's presence. How Anna bit an apple and the juices flowing down her chin didn't consume Elsa with cravings for blood, but more opportunities to see Anna in such bliss. The way the parasol snapped shut when they went into the woods, locations running through Elsa's head as she wondered what new place she'd show Anna that day. Watching her lie by flowers at the stream and reach up to pet deer and faeries, which were oddly calm despite Elsa's presence.
Since losing her humanity to the vampire, Elsa had been alone. She'd been relegated solely to her own, and though sophisticated, they were colder and more determined to kill than she. Anna was new. Anna was friendly. She never judged Elsa for her behaviors. She might not even be upset if she knew what Elsa was.
Elsa took in another shuddering breath and stood. Anna was beautiful, and she could not harm that beauty. She stepped back, dazed, and realized her previous slowness was not just out of caution. It was also out of hesitation.
She pierced her own skin, and hit the wall. Concrete dust fell to the floor. Anna moved. Elsa whipped to her, frozen. A moment later Anna muttered again and relaxed.
Elsa sensed a quenching source under her nose, and smelled the iron tang that dripped down her cloak. Her stomach pained from hunger. She swept her tongue down, and with a wipe, tasted her own blood.
There would be food roaming the forest. What she really needed to do was find a way out of the kingdom to get there. It wouldn't be total improvisation; she knew the guards' schedules. It was just that her exit wasn't going to be as brazen as planned.
She peered out the window, measuring the drop. She'd climbed up the tower herself, hunkering up the numerous broken crags, though now a straight jump down might be better to give her the element of surprise. Then she could bound off the surfaces above the ground, running along the rooftops until she had a path to escape. She'd make it to the forest and leap upon some hapless creature, ripping and tearing and satisfying the thrill of pursuit. And then she'd rest, curled deep in a place she couldn't be found. Maybe, in time, Anna would be allowed out on her own again. Until then, Elsa could hide in the wilderness and scavenge conversation among the other vampires.
She poised on the window ledge, waiting for the torches to move farther away. Once back in the forest, she would make something clear with the clan. That girl, with the freckles and the pigtails and the smile bright as day? No one lays a finger on her. Ever. Not if you want to stay clear of me.
Her heels dug in as her moment came. After a final look back, she jumped.