Chapter 3

(1956)

The penthouse was as beautiful as it was extravagant. Its walls were painted in dark red and a rich gold color. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling and 18th century furniture littered the rooms. Soft classical music was playing from a gramophone and it acted as an almost ironic accompaniment to the 'going ons' in the master bedroom.

With an almost bored expression Aleyssa Caine watched her husband plunge his teeth into their latest victim. The young girl gasped as her neck area was bitten into but then remained docile as the blood trickled from her neck to her chest and then the floor. It was obvious that she was glamoured as her pitch black eyes showed no emotion and her body gave no signs of protest.

Jane was such a pretty little thing in her poodle skirt and stiletto heels that Aleyssa couldn't resist taking her home to Alric. Aleyssa had seen her at the 7:00 pm premiere of 'Oklahoma' at the grand opening of the Syosset Cinema. And almost as if it was fate, Little Jane was all alone, and it was therefore an easy feat to charm and coax her into accompanying Aleyssa for an 'evening stroll'. From there the rest was history.

Feeling satisfied that Alric was amused enough, Aleyssa got up to leave. She had other pressing matters to attend to, and watching her husband drain a girl was not one of them. Aleyssa flung a fur coat over her shoulders and flattened her empire lined skirts. Aleyssa's mind flashed to the beautiful , blue-eyed vampire that was waiting for her in a not 3 miles away from the penthouse. Aleyssa bit her lip as she thought of Eric. If she's been a human she'd be blushing, but thankfully she was not. That fleeting life had ended 20 years ago.

As Aleyssa walked away from the room toward the front door, she felt Alric's eyes on her back. The sucking sound had stopped and she heard a thud, then him stand up. A charged silence filled the penthouse suite.

"Where are you going?" Alric asked as he wiped the blood from his mouth. Jane lay forgotten on the bed as blood seeped out of her neck reddening the linen sheets even more. Her eyelids fluttered as she took in the scene before her. "Where was she? Who were these people?" The questions flooded her mind as the glamour wore off and her eyes closed shut for the last time.

"Where are you going Aleyssa?" Alric repeated, his voice was quiet but with an underlying threatening tone.

Taken aback by the question, Aleyssa stared at her feet then looked up."To look for another human, after all you finished Jane off." Aleyssa pointed to the lifeless body on the bed. "And I am famished."

Alric stared at her, then he smiled. She really thought she could fool him. He walked the short distance between them and bent towards her. His lips touched her ear. "Don't lie to me."He felt her freeze and then looked at her face hidden behind rouge and lipstick. She was so much younger than him, yet thought that she could outsmart him with her lies. He had known about her and Eric since the beginning. He had smelt his scent off her. A scent he had been familiar with for 200 years ever since Eric had found him crazed out of his mind after just being turned by an anonymous vampire. They'd been comrades and brothers ever since. They'd both fought in the pointless wars that humans had thought necessary. They'd killed and fed together. Their bond had been strong but it had broken when he'd found out that Eric was f%$#*&%^ his wife. %$#*$%^ so much so, that they'd never realized he knew. Times and situations had obviously changed.

"Eric m'dear" Alric said deviously. He leaned in even closer. "I know."

Frightened beyond belief, Aleyssa frantically sped towards the door. Alric being much faster than her, appeared at its entrance simultaneously and blocked her exit. " Don't try to run from me. I made you. Now sit DOWN."

Aleyssa walked towards a chair and although scared maintained her composure. Her skin appeared more porcelain and her green eyes pale. She sat down, fearing the end.

Alric watched her. He could feel her fear. He touched her face. She resisted the urge to flinch. "Don't worry darling, I won't hurt you. I still love you, regardless of your….betrayal. And I still need you. Aleyssa searched his eyes.

"We have no money," he said simply. He got up from his place on the floor and turned his back on her.

"No money?" Aleyssa repeated in a puzzled tone. Was this a joke? She thought to herself.

We are vampires, we kill humans and we take. Isn't that what we have been doing for decades now?" She momentarily lost her fear.

Aleyssa, things are not what they used to be. Our killings are catching up with us. The human government is becoming suspicious. And if they do find out about us, they will not rest until we are dead"

Alric began pacing and his voice dropped to a desperate whisper.

"And we need money if you want to maintain this life of wealth, which I know you do."

Alric stopped pacing and knelt at Aleyssa feet.

"Now I heard that vampire blood sells for a lot of money. An ounce brings in $500. The older and more mature the blood is the more it pays."

"Who buys this?" Aleyssa asked contemplating the situation.

"Werewolves from all parts, rich human who've been trusted with our secret and maenads. Now, I've been selling my blood for the past six months…"

Aleyssa gasped. Her fear was slowly returning.

It's brought in quite a bit of money….but now I'm taking too long to regain my strength and I fear if I continue along this path, I may perish."

Aleyssa listened to him in shock. She had thought before that becoming vampire was the greatest decision. She'd witnessed their glory and power before deciding to be turned but now it seemed their life was no different than that of a human except that it was infinite and without many it's benefits.

Aleyssa looked to her husband's pleading face suddenly realizing what he was asking her to do. Drain Eric.

"No, No. I won't do it!"

Alric looked at her with disgust, and then with all his force he slapped her. Her body was airborne for a minute before landing forcibly against a shelf which held crystal cutlery. "You are pledging your loyalty to another when I have forgiven you for your wretched ways"

Alric's fangs came out and he continued "Now you will do what I say….As your maker, I command you!"

…..

Eric stood on the patio of his small Long Island house that was on the outskirts of the city. It was a private place, secluded with the nearest neighbor 1.5 miles away. It was the perfect place for a vampire in hiding unlike that of Alric and Aleyssa whose desire for materialistic things he couldn't understand. Aleyssa….Eric's mind drifted to the beautiful woman who would be sharing his bed that night. As his body responded to his erotic thoughts, he thought about the way they'd come to this arrangement.

After decades and decades of roaming throughout the world Alric and Eric had finally decided to rest for a while in Paris, France where they came across a beautiful Aleyssa LeBlanc painting a picture of the Seine River. She was the daughter of a poor merchant and to her, her life was nothing more than a fight for survival. She had flirted, teased and loved them both, even when she found out what they were. Alric had proposed to her and she'd accepted because she longed to be turned. But even though she had chosen Alric, Eric vowed that he would have her in every other way.

"Hey, when is your friend coming?" A voice sounded from inside. A blond woman was sitting cross-legged on a bed in one of the rooms in the house. She'd had often been paid for kinky sex, but something was fishy about this whole arrangement; the secluded area and the pale cold man. She ignored the instinct that was telling her to run but instead made herself comfortable on the hard bed that seemed brand new and never used. She convinced herself that anything was better than returning to the small, broken down apartment that her Swedish immigrant parents had left her. That anything was better than the life of poverty she lived now.

"Don't worry," Eric responded. "She will be here." Eric had 'picked-up' the young blond when he went to his usual visits to the city for 'food'. She was supposed to have just been lunch but the fact that she spoke fluent Swedish and was very pretty intrigued him. Shame she had to die eventually, though.

Suddenly a dark figure approached.

It was Aleyssa. In an instant she was in Eric's arms. His hands caressed her back and then lower as she kissed him. He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around him as he brought her to the room. Quickly enough, Aleyssa spotted sight of the blond woman.

She tore her lips from Eric's and asked "Who's she?"

"A guest" Eric replied "I thought she would make our night a little bit…."he ripped off Aleyssa's top, "interesting."

Aleyssa smiled as she straddled him but in her mind she was terrified, things were not going according to plan. Eric motioned to the young woman. She got up and smiled. This was what she was good at.

Eric put Aleyssa on top of the bed and began to remove her clothing. The blond was about to do the same when, without a warning the front door burst open. Shards of wood and clumps of brick flew everywhere. In fear, the blond backed up and hid in a corner. With a gloved hand, Alric threw the thick chains of silver he held in them at Eric. Eric screamed violently. Aleyssa moved from beneath him but not before meeting his eyes which pleaded 'Why?'

"Come on!" Alric yelled. He pulled a wooden stake from a duffel bag he carried and unhesitantly stabbed Eric in the arm. "Get the vials"

More screams of pain came from Eric's mouth. He tried to fight off. Another sharpened stake was thrust into his body, a leg this time.

Begrudgingly Aleyssa brought the vials. For two hours they bled him, seemingly unaware of the blond who was in the corner trying her best to be quiet and not be seen.

"We have to stop" Aleyssa finally said as she watched Eric drift in and out of consciousness.

"No we don't have enough," Alric replied fiercely, all the while pumping blood out of Eric into his 100th vial.

"WE HAVE TO STOP!" Aleyssa yelled "or he is going to die!"

Alric looked at her then at Eric. What the hell he thought. They had enough V and Eric was probably going to die anyway.

"Fine" Alric responded as he got up. He quickly put the vials into the grey duffel bag." Let's leave!"

Eric was passed out on the floor. The silver chains were singed into his skin and the scent of burnt flesh was in the air. His blood coated his body, dry in some spots and still fresh and wet in others. The stakes were still in his limbs, but his body did not respond to the pain that they obviously caused.

That was the last image that Aleyssa saw of Eric as she sped off into the unknown distance with Alric.

In a corner, the blond girl sat crumpled on the floor. Her eyes were wide open and filled with fear and terror. Her mind was wrought with the torturous scenes that she had just witnessed. What were these creatures…these beasts? She decided to count herself lucky that she was alive. Instinct told her to get up to get out of there and to find her way back to the city to continue living her poverty-ridden life, but instead she was compelled to help this…this whatever he was who lay in a pool of his own blood. She remembered when he had 'picked' her up outside of that fancy hotel ,which she could only dream of entering, in her barely there attire. He was beautiful, hardened and seemingly other-worldly (which he obviously was). Even though she now knew that his previous intentions were to probably kill her, she put all caution aside and crawled toward him carefully avoiding all the bits and pieces on the floor. She had to help him even if it may mean her death.

She pulled the stakes from his arms and legs and tore off the silver chains that had sunk deep into his flesh.

His eyes struggled to open. " Your hand," he whispered.

Without thinking she gave him her hands, then seeing his fangs protrude she pulled it back.

"Please," Eric murmured "or I will die." She looked at him and hesitantly placed her hand near his mouth.

He bit into it. She gasped as the pain wrecked her body. It was at first unbearable, but then it became almost relaxing as he continued sucking at her wrist. She looked at her blood drip onto the floor and mingle with his. A voice screaming for her to run sounded in her head but she ignored it and closed her eyes.

Minutes later, Eric removed his fangs from her. He felt slightly energized and healed. He was not up to his full capacity but definitely better than he had been an hour ago.

A picture of Aleyssa placed itself in his mind's eye. A drop of blood escaped from his eye. He only then realized that he had loved her, but now hate and disgust filled every crevice of his being. Eric looked at the blond woman. She was deathly pale and weak, as he had drunk much of her blood. Her eyes were still closed.

"Open your eyes" he commanded gently. Her eyes fluttered open.

"What is your name?" he said in Swedish.

"Pam" she responded.

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