I promised a chapter soon and now I'm proud to present the ninth chapter of Gabriel's Mark.
I personally liked this chapter quite a bit, hehe ;) you'll see.
PLEASE REVIEW, I'M TRYING TO BEAT MY RECORD OF FIVE REVIEWS PER CHAPTER!!!
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CHAPTER 9.
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For the first hour Fleur hugged herself so hard she was sure she left bruises, but after that she slowly unclenched her hands and eventually managed to open her eyes and peek down as the landscape rushed past.
In time she got use to the rough feeling of Damien's chest under her cheek and the grasp of his talons that were the only thing keeping her in the air. As much as she wanted to hold on to something, anything, she refused give in to the urge to simply wrap her arms around his neck and hold on for dear life.
Soon Fleur was gazing around the country side; it was night and the dark landscape was empty and silent; it was beautiful. Fleur could barely make out the form of Dracula as he flew ahead of them, his dark wings and hair making it near impossible to spot him, but from what Fleur could see he was even bigger than Damien whose wind span ranged over ten feet. She shivered, the temperature had continued to drop as the moon rose higher and now even her thick cloak and Damien's body as a shield against the wind could not stop her uncontrollable tremors.
Fleur's stomach eventually started growling loudly and she wrapped her arms harder around her middle trying to fight off the hunger pains. She hadn't eaten anything since yesterday afternoon and the fatigue and strain of the yesterday's events were still catching up to her. Giving in, she pulled the hood of her cloak tightly around her head and buried her face in Damien's chest and let her eyes droop shut. She was cold, and hungry, and her arm shot agony through her body every time she moved it, but overall she was exhausted and soon gave in to a fatigue induced sleep.
Dracula touched down gracefully on the rooftop of one of the many buildings that littered the streets of Slatina before shimmering back into his human form. Damien landed soon after and then obediently followed his master as they entered the building through a door conveniently built into the roof.
"One of the first things you must learn," Dracula started addressing Damien as they descended the steps, "is the hierarchy of the vampires."
Damien gave him a confused look. "Hierarchy?" he repeated.
"Indeed," answered Dracula, "After I died, most of my followers began turning large masses of people into vampires. At first this worked very well and it was almost as though my prodigy had indeed come to life, but soon after we realized the enormity of our mistake as the new vampires began competing for food, power, and position. There simply was not enough of anything for that many people. Lucky, we managed to establish a system of order where the stronger and more pure blooded of the vampire rule over the lesser vamps."
He shrugged. "I have often considered just killing off the lesser vamps, they barely have enough of my blood in them to truly even call them vampires, but I suppose they are at least better than humans."
Dracula came to the end of the stairwell and turned a corner bringing them into a dimly lit foyer; as soon as he entered all discussion seemed to cease and its occupants immediately fell into graceful bows and curtseys. At first Damien was surprised there were so many people awake at this early an hour, but then remembered where he was, the vampyric kingdoms were composed almost entirely of the undead, he supposed this was only late evening for them.
Soon the attention of the room was focused on him and he shifted confidently to meet their gazes with stoic dignity. What did make him uncomfortable however, were the looks they were giving Fleur. He realized it was entirely possible she was the only human heart beat in the building, maybe even the city. He shifted her a little closer, praying she wouldn't wake anytime soon.
Dracula had a quick work with one of the vampires behind a counter and soon returned with two keys. "Come," he said, before turning away, obviously expecting Damien to follow. Which he did.
He led the way down the hall, "Do you realize why you were being given those looks," he asked quietly as they walked.
Damien shook his head. "I honestly don't know master. I suspect Fleur grabbed most of their attention, but others were looking at me as though they'd never seen a vampire."
Dracula chuckled at his ignorance. "It's not that they've never seen a vampire, they all were vampires, it's that there were only three vampires in the world which held my direct blood." He looked pointedly at Damien, "and now there are four."
Damien was shocked. He knew the high lords were sired by Dracula, but he hadn't realized they were the only ones. And now he was one of them.
"You would be what is called a second-generation vampire," Dracula continued, "or a high lord, from there is the third-generation or the lesser lords, the forth-generation which are the barons, and so on. Since vampire can not reproduce, one of the few things that has not changed the thinner the blood gets, people are forced to sire someone to take over should they be killed."
He waved his hand absently as he turned yet another corner, "It's a long complicated process to explain, one I shall leave to my other high lords to explain to you, but what you should realize is that by giving you my blood directly you have been made into one of the most powerful beings in the world. Quite astonishing is it not?"
Damien was shocked. "I'm honored master," he managed, still recovering, "but I must know, why now? I've heard you haven't sired anyone in over two-hundred years, why me?"
Dracula brushed Damien's gratitude aside. "I simply needed another highlord, our boundaries are expanding and I'll need more people I can trust to watch over them. I've specifically banned my vampires from siring the humans, the last thing we need is more lesser vamps; no, we'll enslave the humans probably, maybe make the strong ones into werewolves, or simply kill them; but I specifically picked you because one; I needed to sire a human, I can't sire someone who's already a demon. That's why I was scavenging the boundary, I needed fresh blood. Human blood. I saw in your mind your skill with leadership, your skill as a warrior, and most importantly your thirst for power. You were a perfect match, and in time my other highlords will accept you as one of their own."
He stopped at one of the doors and turned to face Damien. "Do not make me regret my decision Damien," he warned his eyes flashing for a second before it disappeared.
"Never Master," he replied bending low and accepting the key Dracula held out. Turning to his room Damien was about to enter when Dracula cleared his voice meaningfully. Damien turned around and saw Dracula raise his eye brow at Fleur sleeping form, still cradled to his chest.
If he had any blood in his veins, he might have blushed. Without a word he transferred the woman into Dracula's arms and slipped into his room. "We leave at sunset tomorrow," he heard Dracula call out before he shut the door.
Dracula continued down the hall till he came to his own room. Sliding the key in the lock he entered the room pleased with what he saw. A large bed with white fluffy sheets and pillows dominated the room but he could also see one door leading off to the right where he spied a sturdy dark mahogany coffin and another leading off to the left where he supposed was a bath. Dark navy curtains were pulled tightly across the windows and the room had a faint smell of brandy and blood. Perfect.
He was about to deposit Fleur on the bed when a loud growl form her stomach cause her to turn in her sleep. Dracula frowned as he noticed she was cradling one of her arms to her stomach. Gently he laid her on the bed and studied her arm; it seemed to be twisted at a weird angle. Experimentally he reached out and gently manipulated her arm but let go abruptly as Fleur jerked awake with a cry.
The second those cat-eyes focused on him she jumped to her feet only to have her ankle abruptly give out. Luckily Dracula was fast and caught her before she managed to connect with the floor. Panicking she struggled against him. "Let me go!" she cried, trying to twist away.
Surprisingly he complied and threw her back onto the bed. He studied her she sat there, her chest rising and falling quickly as she breathed; her hair now nearly completely out of her braid resting around her shoulders in disarray, face a little flushed as that delicious blood rose to the surface. Dracula felt his annoyance and fatigue drain away as lust began to gleam dangerously in his eyes.
Gently he sat himself next to her on the bed, Fleur's eyes never leaving his gaze as she watched his carefully. Tenderly he reached out to softly caress her arm with his finger. "Come now lovely," he cooed, his eyes seeming to capture her, "don't look at me like that. I've never hurt you, why would I?" Sneakily he let his finger slid up her arm till he was gently soothing the back of her neck with his soft hands. Fleur felt her eyes getting heavier, all she wanted to do was lean into those hands, let him rub away the hurt and aches. He'll make you feel better; a voice seemed to whisper in her head as she let her eyes drift shut. Let him hold you, let him touch you; it said.
Fleur felt her back hit the covers and she let out a soft sigh as those wonderful hands gently healed her shoulder, and then her ankle, before moving up to stroke the covered column of her neck and moving lower.
Dracula struggled to keep his hands slow and soft; even he was having difficulty controlling the urge to rush and plunder as he felt her muscles go lax. Suppressing the little hunter's mind was proving more difficult as it worked in overdrive trying to comprehend what was happening but Dracula managed to sooth her and stifle her mind as it screamed for her to react.
Gently he lay himself more fully beside her and felt himself become more and more aroused as she made little noises in her throat as he stroked her shoulder and neck. Figuring she was deep enough in his spell he moved closer and pressed his cool lips to her neck, nuzzling it his hands slipped down to undo the ties that secured the front of her tunic and then light armor.
Finally he managed to untie all her layers and pushed the clothes open to reveal an arousing gap of naked skin. The second he pressed his eager lips to her collarbone however, her eyes shot open and he was abruptly thrown from her mind as panic snapped her mind out of its dreamy state.
"Damnit!" Dracula's mind cried, he had been this close to having completely seduced her mind. His curses her cut off when, for the second time that day, Fleur's knee came up and connected solidly with his groin. He groaned aloud and collapsed onto his side, it was even worse this time because he was aroused. Damn her! Why hadn't he just waited till he reached Bucharest like he planned?
He heard he scramble to her feet and then the sound of her racing into the bathroom quickly followed by the slam of a door and the thud as it was barred form the inside. As if that would stop him.
Getting slowly to his feet and taking deep breaths Dracula was unusually calm as he walked toward the door, but most would simply say it was the calm before the storm. "Open this door now," he said, not bothering to raise his voice, he knew she could hear him.
The silence and the not-opening-of-the-door were testing his patience. "I said, open this door now," he said, a little louder, his hands curling into fists. Of could he could have simply materialized inside the room, but that was not the point. No one disobeyed him. No one.
His temper snapped and he let loose a deafening roar as his beast form took over and he thundered on the door splintering the wood and effectively cracking the door. With one unnaturally strong hit the poor door flew off its hinges and crashed into the opposite wall.
Dracula stormed into the bathroom to find Fleur huddled in one of its corners. Her arms were wrapped around her bent legs and she was backed as far as she could go against the wall. Her head was buried in her arms and she was shaking. He quickly released his beast form and marched over to the small figure. Bending down he grasped hold of the front of her tunic and hulled her to her feet.
"You will not ever lock a door against me! Do you understand you little wench!" he shouted, watching satisfied as she visibly flinched at his tone, "I am your master and you will respect me as such!"
Pushing back her fear she snapped her head up and met his furious gaze with one of her own. "You are not my master! You're just a coward and a manipulator and I swear to God if you ever do that again I'll kill you!" she yelled, breathing hard.
Dracula was slightly taken back at the little mortal's words and felt his anger wane a little under her defiant glare. "She will break," he promised himself, "have patience. It will be so much sweeter when the time finally comes." He smirked. Instead of sinking his fangs into her neck as was his original plan he now bent close and whispered in her ear. "You think yourself brave little hunter, but really your showing just how ignorant you truly are. Trust me, if you knew exactly what I am capable of, you would not speak to me so." Calmer now as he listened to her heart beat race, he lightly reached up and traced the line of her jaw. "I suggest you enjoy your night in Slatina," he whispered, "because when we reach Bucharest I will make sure you realize just what you're dealing with. And trust me; it will be less than pleasant for you my pet."
With that he dropped her back to the floor and calmly retreated from the room, stepping around the splintered door frame as he made his exit.
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For a long time Fleur sat unmoving on the cold stone floor, staring at the ground as her mind worked furiously trying to sort through her thoughts. "What had happened back there?" her mind thought as a wave of shame rushed over her. Had she really let him touch her like that? Had she really been so weak that he had nearly unbuttoned her top before she even realize what was going on? She shut her eyes, furious with herself for being so pliant.
Every story she'd heard was true, she thought grudgingly, maybe more than true. He was charming, and manipulative; terrifying and controlling. He was cold and ruthless yet fiery and temperamental. She felt a shiver run down her body as she gently re-buttoned her top and wrapped her arms once again securely around her knees. Gods what was she going to do?
Exhausted from lack of food and fatigue, she lay her head weakly against her knees and shut her eyes praying for a dreamless sleep. The last thing she needed was go from one nightmare straight into another.
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Haha, I'm so mean to this character but I have my reasons. Before we go any further in this relationship there's something you all need to know about me:
I don't believe in all that "first love" stuff, it can be nice sometimes but usually I just can't stand it when I read stories and they're like "and then he saw her and she was just so beautiful he knew they were meant to be together forever"…I cringe.
You all know what I'm talking about. I truly think love is something that emerges out of circumstance, not a spontaneous emotion. Those are usually "lust", not love. What I'm trying to do through out this story is change that lust into love. To me a much more believable course of events.
Ok sorry for the ridiculously long author note but I don't want any reviews that are like "WHY ISN'T DRACULA IN LOVE WITH FLEUR YET?!? YOU SUCK." Because I'll have to come back with something like "GO AWAY YOU FIVE YEAR OLD!!!"
Ok, love you all, hope you're all well, and please HELP ME BEAT MY RECORD OF FIVE REVIEWS FOR THIS CHAPTER!!!!
I'll really a appreciate it and it will motivate me to write even faster! Kay, chow now.
OH OH ONE MORE THING!!!! If you see any errors at all I'd really appreciate it if you just write me a quick message letting me know. I know it's annoying to try and read a story when it's riddled with mistakes. Ok, bye now.
