Chapter 25 the Anniversary Party
The night of the anniversary party arrived and everybody was dressed in their best clothes just like they were for our blessed mateship ceremony. The halls were decorated with all sorts of banners and ribbons that had been hung up from every corner of the room.
I was pleased to see a good number of guests who had turned up to celebrate our anniversary. The guests were not all clan members either as the whole Cirque Du Freak in its entirety had come to party.
I had not met all of the Cirque Du Freak members so it was so cool to meet them as some of them had amazing abilities. One girl who was about twelve could manipulate fire in her hands. She could surround herself with a fire ball and step out of it unharmed. It made me watch her skills in awe as I had never seen anything quite like that before.
Sive and Seersa the twisting twins came along, they were women now and not the teenagers who I had known when I travelled with the Cirque Du Freak. They had grown up a lot and they had aged but of course I looked the same. Then I saw Evra Von the snake man and his family, I was glad that they had made the trip as I missed Evra and so did Prince Darren as Evra and Prince Darren had been best friends for a long time.
When I had mingled with the guests for a while the band started playing and then the fun started. Everybody was dancing and having a good time which was good except for David who was at the party but he was in shackles and he was under guard in case he tried to escape. He was however on his best behaviour even though he was not really dressed for the occasion as he was still a prisoner at the end of the night.
I enjoyed the feast that had been provided for us, we had tonnes of food and drinks, everybody tucked into roasted meats and other things. I had made a vat of soup for everybody to share and there was so much alcohol floating around that soon everybody was tipsy and the alcohol kept on flowing so that everybody could drink and party until the dawn came. I knew that everybody was going to be hung over but nobody turns down free champagne even vampires like to celebrate in style sometimes.
I had to remember not to drink too much as I had to sing and after the party was over I obviously had to go to bed and celebrate my anniversary with Larten on my own with him so I did not want to be too inebriated.
The time came for me to sing my songs and I was not at all nervous. I stood up on our makeshift stage and I started my first song which was the Olly Murs song "Dance with me tonight" with a few lyrical changes.
Larten came up on stage halfway through my song and I was able to sing it to him then as my song was all about asking Larten to duel me and how I had seen him on the Bars all alone looking like he wanted to duel and that he did not care that he was alone up there.
Next I sung with Larten as we did our ballad next. It was hard to keep focused as I got all emotional because the lyrics meant a lot to both of us.
Finally we finished off the rest of our songs amongst the cheers and cries for encores from the crowd and when it was all over we got a standing ovation so Larten scooped me up as if he was on ice and he held me up high and spun me round to show me off amidst all of the cheering and clapping from the drunk and entertained vampires. We took our bows and we sat down as we needed to get our breath back as we had held the last note for a few bars so that it sounded really good.
I loved singing as it was one of my favourite hobbies and when I got such a positive response it made it all worthwhile. I had practiced hard and it paid off. I continued to party until I could not stand up anymore. I danced until I was exhausted. I collapsed into a seat and drunk a barrel of water to counteract the alcohol that I had consumed.
Eventually I got to my feet with help and staggered up the stairs to my quarters. I collapsed on my bed and I was a mess. I was very drunk and I could not really think straight as I had drunk so much.
I had not really intended to drink so much but my weakness was raspberry sours with lemonade. I had drunk a lot of it and though it was not that strong I had drunk about two bottles of it which was way more than what I was supposed to have drunk.
If I thought that I was drunk though I only had to look at Larten who was passed out next to me as he had got totally wasted and he was so drunk that he had to be carried up to our quarters, I staggered with help but there was no way that either of us could mate so I did the only wise thing and slept off the effects of my raspberry sours and champagne.
I had insisted upon getting bottles of very expensive champagne that cost around two thousand pounds for twelve bottles, we needed a lot to share out so we spent a huge amount of money on getting the very best as Larten had told me that I could have the very best that money could buy.
I was so drunk it was ridiculous but it had been my fault as I had not controlled myself. I fell asleep on my bed next to Larten and he was totally dead to the world so he did not even stir when I moved next to him and curled up to sleep off my drinking session.
I heard a lot of banging around and that woke me up, I woke up with a thumping headache and I felt very sick but I was alright, I just had a hangover. I had not had a hangover for a long time so it felt dreadful but I only had myself to blame as no-one had forced me to drink as much as I had done. I was so weak when I woke up, I felt very ill and the thought of eating made me feel even sicker but I knew that I had to in order to get over my hangover.
I have no idea as to why I drunk so much but I was celebrating and I forgot about how much I had actually drunk so I drunk more and more until I was staggering everywhere and that is when I retired to bed with help.
When Larten eventually woke up he was a bit dizzy and he could not work out how he had got into his quarters so I explained it to him.
"You were carried up here by Seba and Vanez as you passed out. You drunk so much ale and champagne and I drunk what seemed like two bottles of raspberry sours and champagne so I staggered up here with help. You were totally unconscious so I curled up beside you and slept off most of my hangover but you are still a bit wobbly on your feet" I said.
"Why the hell did I drink so much? I was supposed to stay sober and so were you so that we could mate but obviously that did not happen" Larten replied.
"Well it does not matter. It is not the end of the world if we did not mate" I said naïvely.
"It certainly does matter as it is traditional because we are supposed to reaffirm our bond and then we are supposed to spend a few days together like this as part of the ritual" Larten replied.
"I did not realise that. I thought that it was just part of the celebrations but I did not realise that it was an actual ritual" I replied feeling stupid because I had not remembered how important it was.
"Well we can postpone until we have recovered fully from our alcoholic drinking session" Larten said.
"I agree, I need to train anyway as I am a bit podgy and my curves are not as defined as they once were but soon I will be back to the hourglass figure that I am supposed to be" I replied.
"I do not want you getting too thin but you do need to be a little bit more curvaceous as it is necessary to keep up your luscious looks" Larten replied.
"Thank you for that Larten. I know that I have neglected myself recently but that was only because I was so busy but now I have free time that I can use to train" I said.
"That is good to hear, I am hungry and I do not know about you but I need a good feed" Larten said.
"I think that I need a feed too but I have not thought about it so it would be good to get some fresh blood in me" I replied.
"I agree let us go and feed as we both need it and the blood here is not the freshest, we need a direct feed" Larten said as we both stood up and tried to get rid of our dizziness due to the fact that we were still kind of hung over, however the vampire blood in our veins had helped us to recover quicker than a normal human would have recovered.
I was still suffering slightly from my hangover when we decided to leave the mountain and go out for a feed, I needed blood and I was craving it so I had to feed and soon or I would grow weak, lose my powers, age quickly and die as was the fate for all vampires who did not feed regularly.
I set off at a medium flitting speed as I would have toppled over with motion sickness due to the alcohol if I had gone any faster than what I was going already. Larten followed close behind me and soon we were racing each other across the fields and over the mountain paths until we reached the nearest town where we would sneak into a side street and take a rest to get our breath back before we would proceed to climb up a wall, break into a home, feed ourselves on fresh, warm, delicious blood and leave before the dawn came.
I remember climbing up the wall until I reached the window and then I opened it and pulled myself into the bathroom, then Larten pulled himself in through the window also. We exited the bathroom and we were on the landing with three bedrooms in front of us. I headed to the nearest bedroom and opened the door, I saw a girl asleep in the bed she looked like she was in her mid-teens or early twenties. I went over to her and I took my fill, Larten was in the other room feeding on his victim and then I heard a thudding noise coming from up the stairs so I healed the wound that I was feeding from quickly and made my exit but Larten was not so lucky as the guy had caught him in the act and assumed that he was a burglar.
The police were called and Larten was carted off in the back of a police car. He would have flitted but that would un-covered what he was so he acted like a human and went quietly also the guy had a gun which could cause serious damage if Larten put up a fight.
I followed the police car at a safe distance and watched as Larten was taken into the station and booked into the custody suite until he could be interviewed.
I walked into the police station and went up to the reception desk.
"I believe that you arrested my husband for burglary" I said.
"Name" The policeman said.
"Sarah Crepsley and my husband is Larten Crepsley" I explained.
"Let me check the books. Ah yes a Mr Crepsley was indeed brought in to our custody suite. He stands charged with breaking and entering, assault and burglary which are not misdemeanours" The gruff policeman said.
"That is not good. What happens now?" I asked.
"Well in the morning your husband will be interviewed and formally charged but for now he is locked in one of our custody suites" The policeman explained.
"I want to see him. I hope that there are no windows as my husband has a severe sun allergy" I explained.
"Well he didn't mention it and there aren't any windows anyway" The policeman said.
"I still want to see him though" I insisted.
"Sorry it's against policy" The policeman said.
"When will he be released?" I asked.
"If bail is granted then tomorrow but that is all I know" The policeman grumbled.
"Oh right well I will come back tomorrow after the sun has gone down as I too have a bad sun allergy" I explained.
"Alright I will let the custody sergeant know" The policeman said and I left the police station and returned to the mountain alone.
Meanwhile back in the police station there was a huge commotion in the custody block. Larten had decided to escape by breaking the roof tiles of his cell, pulling himself up through the gap and escaping through the ventilation shaft and out onto the street.
The policemen tried to stop him from escaping but of course Larten was too strong and too fast for them, he hopped from one roof to another until he was out of sight then he flitted back to the mountain at top speed where I caught sight of him and it was a bit of a surprise but I knew that Larten would stay in a police cell for long if he had the chance to escape.
Larten told me how he had escaped and it was very ingenious, it was lucky that Larten could jump high and grab onto the ventilation pipes that he could shimmy along until he got out onto the roof via the attic space that had been used to store all of the police case files of the last fifty years.
Then all Larten did was kick the attic roof and it crumbled, he climbed through the gap and hopped from one roof to another before he simply jumped down onto a wheelie bin and set off at a full flit back to us here in the mountain. I was impressed and the police would never find him here as we were like a hundred or so miles away.
The police would never solve the case I thought to myself as I clambered into bed next to Larten who was upset that he had ripped his cloak when he was escaping from the police custody suite.
"You should have escaped in another way, you could have opened the door with your static charge rather than bursting through the roof and ripping your cloak in the process" I said.
"It would have made too much noise and anyway I wanted to get out into the fresh night air rather than running through a maze of corridors and locked gates" Larten replied.
"That is fair enough and besides I am glad that you escaped as now we can catch up on our lack of rituals" I said.
"Alright then although I am afraid that as I consumed so much alcohol I may not be able to perform to my greatest ability but I will still give it a good go" Larten replied.
"Well there is no point if you are not up to your highest standards" I complained.
"That is fair enough but I have missed you and we did refrain for a while so that it would be better for us both" Larten explained.
"I am not at my best standards either but I still want it badly enough to give it a go" I retorted.
"I guess it is like blood in the sense that if you do not get any for a while when you do get some you take more and the release is so much more powerful than what it would be normally" Larten said.
"Yes that is what I thought but we can hold off until we are both completely prepared" I replied.
"But I want it now for I cannot wait any longer. It has been too long since we became as one entity and shared a moment of pure excitement between the two of us my dear" Larten said.
"Alright then if that is what you want then fine but we must find somebody to do our duties for us as we will be unavailable for the next few evenings" I replied.
"Let them sort it out between themselves. I will put a symbol on the door that symbolises that we are taking part in our bonding ritual then no one will disturb us until we emerge after the ritual is complete"
"Oh right what symbol is that?" I asked as I had not heard of it before.
"It is a circle with twisted edges like a rope and in the middle of it there is like an infinity symbol that represents two people coming together as one for ever" Larten explained.
"Oh right you had better paint it upon the door as I have not heard of this particular symbol" I explained.
"I will do it now and then we will not leave this room until the ritual is complete" Larten said.
"What about food and going to the loo?" I asked sounding stupid.
"That is permitted but only at certain times of the night as this ritual is about us coming together and living as one entity in two separate bodies and after it is complete we will truly be blessed mates" Larten explained.
"What happens during the ritual?" I asked as it interested me.
"During the ritual we will mate and then we stay joined to each other so that we become one body and all of our fluids mingle together then the bond is sealed by repeating our vows to each other plus an additional vow which is to swear by all that is good and vampiric that we are blessed mates and that we will remain so until we die" Larten explained.
"How long do we stay joined to each other?" I asked.
"Until all of our fluids have been mixed together and that is when we will endure pleasure at the same moment so that we enter a state of sheer power that is uncontrollable" Larten said.
"So we basically orgasm at the same time and that will give us a feeling that neither of us has experienced" I replied.
"Yes if you want to think of it like that but it means more than that to me" Larten said.
"Alright so when does this ritual take place?" I asked.
"Whenever we decide that it is appropriate" Larten answered.
"Oh right, then that is alright with me. It sounds like I am going to have a lot of fun in this ritual and I hope against hope that I am not too loud when I show my appreciation to you when you and I hit the height of our orgasms" I said sounding a bit apprehensive.
"Well that is going to be a challenge but I hope that you have learnt some control over your vocal appreciation as this is going to be very powerful and I doubt that I myself will be able to control my voice" Larten said in response.
"Well then does it really matter what others think if we are performing a ritual?" I asked.
"Well not if they see the sign because it means that there will be some disturbances as it comes with the ritual, if they are not happy then they can leave the mountain" Larten said decisively.
"Alright if that is what you think then I will not hold back my vocal appreciations as long as you deserve them for I am not one to fake my emotions and you will know if I am enjoying it or not" I explained.
"How long has it been since you screamed out for more at my skilled hands?" Larten asked me.
"It has been a while because the last time was when Gavnur made that comment when I was in the medical wing" I explained although I was a bit unsure.
"We were in the Halls of Sport not that long ago and you seemed to take to that new routine quite nicely. That was fun and you know that it was good" Larten replied.
"I enjoyed it but it was not too powerful as we were not really going all out like normal" I replied.
"Well this time there will be no holding back and I will do whatever I can to make you beg for more before I give it to you as I am planning to actually go inside you fully instead of only half way like I normally do as I think that you can take it now" Larten said.
"Oh right well that would give me more sensation for a fact and that in turn would make it more powerful for me and as a result of that I would definitely appreciate your skills" I replied.
"Well in that case I will use all of my skills to make our ritual worth doing. I admit that I have held back until now some of my specialities that I should have used but you enjoy it so much already there was no need to use them until now, now it is time to use all of my skills in order to really make you appreciate my talents" Larten said.
"I am so looking forward to our ritual now Larten" I said.
"I expect that you are and I swear to you now that if you do not scream out my name and beg for more you can leave me and sleep with whoever that you feel will satisfy your needs" Larten said.
"Well you sound very confident about your abilities so I will hold you to that" I replied.
Then we heard somebody coming towards the door of our quarters. I opened the door and in walked Seba.
"I heard your conversation and I am here on behalf of your neighbours as they are not happy that you are intending to be very vocal during this ritual" Seba said.
"Well I cannot help it if my blessed mate is good at what he does" I said.
"Yes Seba, you are no longer my mentor and as such you cannot tell me not to perform our bonding ritual if we wish to" Larten said.
"Just please try not to be deliberately disruptive and if you really want to be vocal then save it for the woods" Seba said.
"No way Seba am I going to hold back for you or anybody else. The sign is on the door to give fair warning and if that is not good enough then they can get lost. Now if you do not mind Seba I have a blessed mate to satisfy" Larten said and with that Seba left leaving us alone in our quarters to do whatever we wanted and that meant performing this ritual.
"Right shall we start our ritual?" I asked.
"If you would like to then yes I think that we have waited long enough" Larten said in reply.
So we began our ritual and to start with it was just foreplay and then we really got into it and there was no holding back, Larten entered me fully and that caused me to gasp with shock but it felt so good and soon our bodies had joined together as one body. I did try not to scream too early but it was just too much and I had to tell Larten exactly what I was feeling at that precise moment in time.
I screamed out as I orgasmed and it threw me into a new sensation that was more powerful than what it ever had been and I could not control myself.
I was having the best sex that I had ever had and nothing compared to it. I hoped that Larten was enjoying it too; he seemed to be really into it as Larten was also breathing hard and he was really trying to make it fun for me.
I knew that I was not the easiest of people to penetrate but when Larten was inside me it was alright it just took him a bit of time before he hit a spot inside me that made me see stars and beg for more. It was pretty cool actually.
I loved doing this and we lasted for quite a while before we stopped and snuggled up together to sleep before we did the same again.
I was very stiff when I eventually woke up and I could not really move as my muscles had been pushed to their limits and now all I could do was sleep off the effects. I had not really been prepared for this ritual and as such I was not really up to doing much but I had to please Larten so I tried my best to recover quickly so that I could continue the ritual and get it out of the way so that I would be able to return to normal.
"Are you alright?" Larten asked me.
"I am very stiff and worn out but I think that I am OK" I replied whilst yawning.
"I went all out and I did not hold back, I know that you loved what I did to you because I have never heard you make noises like that before, it was almost as if I had made you enter Paradise and then I joined you there" Larten said.
"It did feel like I had indeed entered Paradise for a brief moment and then I returned back here only to feel like I was soaring across the sky with you flying next to me whilst we consumed one another in a flurry of passion, vampiric love and lust" I replied.
"Well we can do the same thing later as that seals the bond between us and if you thought that last night was good just wait until later. I will send waves of pleasure through you like you have never known before. I would not be surprised if you were to lose yourself in me and if that were to happen the only thing that you could do would be to scream out for more of me inside you and then I would of course finish you off in a manner that would make you beg me to do more to you until you came screaming again" Larten explained.
"It sounds like I will have an amazing night with you in here and I know how good you are because of what you did to me on our mateship night and last night was phenomenal I could not ask for anything better although I did ask for more because I wanted more of that sensation" I explained.
"I will give you as much as you ask me for as it is good for me too but of course my sensations are different to yours and besides my job is to give you pleasure, you do not need to worry about satisfying me as when I give you pleasure I get satisfaction from you screaming as it means that I have done my job properly" Larten said.
"I am scared that I am not giving you enough though because the height of your orgasm cannot be as good as mine is and that is not fair because you do all the work" I said.
"Do not worry about it my love. The whole point of this ritual is me showing you what I can do and it is also about you having a good time to reinforce and strengthen our bond" Larten replied.
"Alright then if that is OK with you. Of course I do not mind but can you please make the sensation that I get last as long as possible? I love it so much" I asked.
"I can certainly try to make it last longer before it fades and I have to start again" Larten said.
"Thank you I appreciate it as it is so damn good. When that feeling hits me and I scream out your name I get such a buzz and the release afterwards is indescribable, it is like you can satisfy me and I will not need it again for a while as it lasts so long. You truly are a wonder and you are so good at what you do that it makes me love you more each time that you do it to me" I explained.
"I am glad that I can keep you happy, I only hope that our fellow clan members do not get too disturbed by your screams for more" Larten replied.
"Well I cannot help myself and besides they know that this is traditional so it is not as though we are being deliberately annoying is it?" I replied.
"Yes I guess so. I am pretty tired but I have enough energy to last me through the night" Larten responded.
"Good because I need to make sure that our ritual is completed" I said.
"I agree. Have you any idea what the time is?" Larten asked me.
"None at all I am afraid but it is night time at least and that is about all I know. Why did you ask?" I asked.
"Only because I want to hunt and feed to restore my energy before tonight but we can only leave our room at certain periods of time and that is why I asked" Larten explained.
"Oh right I understand" I replied.
"I do not think that anybody would mind if we bent the rules a little. I am dying to feed again although I fed recently. You must feed too as part of the ritual is that we share a feed as a symbol of trust" Larten explained.
"Well there are not many humans around here and after the last feed that ended with you in a jail cell we will have to be very careful Larten" I replied.
"Yes I apologise for that but it was a total accident and I am lucky that we got off lightly" Larten replied.
"Yes we were very lucky. It is rare but it happens that we get caught whilst feeding and we will have to go to another town to feed as if we return to that one we will be caught and hunted or worse" I said firmly.
"You are sounding more like me all the time. I have to sometimes think to myself what to say next because you say what I would have said" Larten replied.
"Well that is what happens when you know somebody as well as what we know each other" I said.
"Yes and we have been together for a long time, it must be going on fifteen years or it seems that long" Larten said.
"Well we met in 2011 when I was twenty one and now I am a lot older but I do not look like it, I lost track of my age but I must be in my thirties by now, I mean all of the Cirque Du Freak performers have grown up and they were teenagers or children when I knew them and Jodie is all grown up now too and she has settled into her life as a vampiress quite well" I explained.
"Well you must be at least thirty five but you look like you are twenty five because of the vampire blood in your veins" Larten said.
"I figured that out for myself, I cannot believe how long it has been. I mean we travelled the world with the Cirque Du Freak for ages; the UK was the best although the theatres that we performed in were not always in the best of conditions. We have been in the mountain for a long time and maybe we should leave and return to the Cirque Du Freak as I miss them awfully and I love performing" I explained.
"Well yes I think that Mr Tall could do with us in the line-up, he has had low ratings recently and if we go back then the ratings might improve. There are so many new performers now that the show has a wide variety of people that perform on a nightly basis. I miss performing but Madam Octa is a bit old to perform so we will have to perform without her as she needs her rest" Larten replied.
"Oh alright then Larten I was always able to do a solo performance but with you it felt right" I said.
"Well we could do solo performances but what would I do without Madam Octa?" Larten asked.
"Well you could do some illusions with your speed or some kind of hypnotism act" I suggested.
"Yes I could, you could be my assistant on stage and show off the props and things, I could do an escape act and pull chains apart with my hands" Larten continued.
"Yes that would be so cool and the audience would not expect it, using your vampiric abilities for good and for entertainment" I said.
"Well we will ask Mr Tall about it but he should be fine as he always likes his acts to come up with new material to enthral the audience" Larten said.
"Yes alright I am looking forward to it but we need to finish off our ritual and feed first" I replied.
"That is fine by me let us go hunting now. I am dying to feed as I should have taken more of that blood when I had the chance and now my hunger is controlling my thoughts and I am seeing red literally" Larten replied.
"Alright then Larten if that is what you want to do" I replied and we left our quarters and went out into the cold night air. There was snow on the ground and it was falling quite hard around us.
The usual path down from the mountain was blocked by a rock slide so we had to take the long way round through the woods which would take time and energy but there was no other safe path to take in this weather. Besides the trees would catch the snowflakes also they would provide shelter from the wind and sun when it eventually rose. It was really cold outside and even wrapped up in my thick travelling cloak I was freezing.
I was beginning to think that this was not a good idea but my urge to feed drove me on through the woods and into the gloomy, misty darkness and out onto the foot of the mountain. All I could see in front of me was mist and snow as it was very poor visibility outside.
I had not been outside in weather like this for a long time and it was damn near impossible to see where I was going to and I had to rely upon Larten's lantern and my own vision. I lost the path and I slipped on some black ice but I got stood up again and continued to walk until we reached the path that would lead us to the village where we could feed and refresh ourselves.
"I would flit but it is so dark and slippery it would be dangerous to do that so we have to walk and hope that the weather clears up" Larten said.
"OK then if that is your advice" I replied.
"It is my advice so you should follow it but we should find shelter as this weather is so bad and it is a lot worse than what I thought it was. It is too dangerous to continue on our trip tonight" Larten replied.
"I agree this storm is a lot worse than what I thought that it would be too, we cannot flit so we have to find a cave or something to hide in until the storm passes" I replied.
"I know of one place but it may not be any good anymore follow me" Larten said.
"Alright we can check it out anyway how far away from here is this place?" I asked.
"It is not far away but we have to walk up this thin slope and enter a secret cave that I discovered years ago when I was a lot younger. The only problem is that the path could have been worn away or blocked by a rock slide and the cave itself could be home to some wild beast most likely a bear so we have to be careful. However it is our only option as this weather is too much even for me and you know how tough I am" Larten replied.
"Well we can try and reach it and if not then there must be a bush or a rest spot somewhere near. I can smell bonfire smoke somewhere nearby" I said.
"Yes I can too but this wind could be bringing it from miles away so let us press on for this cave" Larten replied as he lifted me upon his back and walked at speed.
"I can walk you know" I said.
"I know but this path is treacherous, one slip could mean death so it is better that I carry you" Larten replied.
"Thank you. I appreciate your concern" I replied.
"I know you do but I must concentrate on this next leg of our journey so we should not talk" Larten said sternly.
I nodded and gripped on tighter to Larten's waist and neck with my arms and my legs as I did not want to fall off and hurt myself.
Larten walked very slowly along the path as it was so thin and slippery and it was a sheer drop to the bottom if Larten slipped but he did not slip and as he went along the path got wider and it was safer at the other end but Larten still carried me.
"We are not far away now but we have to climb up to that ledge as that is where the entrance to the cavern is. This rock is quite hard but your daggers will go through it however your nails will not so you have to use your daggers like ice picks" Larten said as he placed me at the foot of the rock face. Larten vaulted up and stuck his daggers into the rock and he climbed up like a bat climbs over the roof of a cave, Larten pulled himself up and then he held out his hands for me, I grabbed hold of his two daggers that were like handles and I stuck my own two daggers in the rock to act like foot supports whilst I vaulted up to the top, Larten gripped hold of me and pulled me up to where he was standing.
"How do we get our daggers back?" I asked.
"If I lower you down and hold your feet you can pull them out of the rock and pass them to me" Larten replied.
I did so and soon our daggers were safely back in their sheathes. We entered the cavern and I held up one of our lanterns to see some green stuff that was glowing on the walls around us.
"What is this green slippery stuff Larten?" I asked.
"That is luminous lichen and it will help us to see our way through this cavern into the part of it that I am looking for" Larten replied.
"Alright that is good then. What exactly is in this cavern?" I asked curiously.
"Apart from bats and maybe a bear there should be a lot of interesting things in here that I have collected and hidden over the years" Larten replied then he continued;
"Aha this is exactly what I am looking for, I remember leaving these marks on the wall to remind me where to go. We go ahead and turn left and then we will be there"
"It is about time Larten; we have been travelling for ages in that horrible weather. I am wet through and I need some dry clothes" I complained.
"I am soaked to the skin also and I am freezing but we can get dry by the fire" Larten replied.
"What fire?" I asked.
"The fire that I will build in a minute" Larten replied.
I inched a few steps more as I did not know what to expect and if there was a bear in here I did not wish to disturb it due to my previous run in with a bear which had nearly killed me. Larten held his lantern up and he entered the large cavern and I followed him. The cavern was clear of animals but it had been lived in as there was clothing inside and marks on the walls.
"Gavnur Purl must have found this place, the whole room smells like his deodorant spray stuff that humans use to keep clean" Larten moaned.
"Well it smells OK and not nasty and rather that than an angry hibernating bear Larten" I replied.
"Yes when you put it like that I agree but still I tried to keep this place a secret" Larten said.
"Why is that Larten?" I asked.
"Look around. What do you see?" Larten asked me.
"Spare clothing, a few chests and weapons" I replied.
"Exactly and what do you suppose is in the largest chest?" Larten asked.
"More clothing, maybe some of Arra's old belongings as I have no doubt that she came here with you" I replied.
"Well Arra did come here once and her marks are on the walls over there where she dug her nails in and got stuck" Larten said.
"Why would she dig her nails into the rock? You cannot climb up so what is the point?" I asked.
"Arra dug her nails in because I pushed her onto the wall and the force of her hitting the wall made her nails go into the rock when she put her hands out" Larten explained.
"Did you get into a fight?" I asked curious.
"Not exactly but it turned into a fight as Arra was furious that she had got stuck into the rock and she could not pull herself out so I pulled her out and took a lot of the wall with her, hence the pile of rocks over there" Larten replied.
"Is it safe? The wall will not collapse will it?" I asked.
"Of course it is safe. I repaired the wall long ago and now the fire is going you can have a look in that big chest over there" Larten said.
"Do you have the key?" I asked.
"Yes, here it is" Larten replied as he handed me a big, rusty key.
I opened the chest with caution and inside I saw something glittering. I took the lid off and stared at the contents. The chest was full of gold coins and jewels that I had never seen.
"Wow you never told me that you had a treasure hoard" I said smiling.
"I am telling you now and before you ask you can take your pick of the jewels as they are no use to me" Larten said.
"Seriously, I can have whatever I like?" I asked.
"As much as you want my love as what is mine is yours and now you understand why I wanted this place kept secret" Larten said.
"Of course I understand and I think that I will have this and these oh and those too" I said as I picked out a necklace, earrings and a pair of jewelled shoes.
"Very well if that is your desire and if you want anything else just take it as it is yours now. You can count this as your anniversary gift from me" Larten said.
"Thank you so much. How can I ever repay you? I could never give you anything that is equal in value to this" I replied smiling brightly as I put my new jewels on.
I could not believe that Larten had not shown me this place before now and it was only because of the storm that we had taken shelter here. I believed that if the storm had not been so bad we would not even have taken shelter so I may never have seen this place.
"I wish that I could have seen this place before now Larten" I said.
"I was waiting to see if you really loved me and I wanted to make sure that you were not using me for my wealth that I have accumulated and if you had have known about this place you may have tried to come here alone and then all kinds of problems could have arisen" Larten replied.
"That is fair enough and I can understand your point but now these gems are mine and as for the money I guess that half of it is mine and the rest is yours" I said.
"I said that you could have your pick of the jewels and what is mine is yours so if you want some of the money that is fine by me but it is so old it may not be worth anything in shops but you could sell it for scrap and get the scrap value, I understand that gold is valuable on the market currently" Larten replied.
"Well then that is what I will do when we go to the city. I will go into a jewellery shop and get it valued then they can melt it down and give me its value in cash" I explained.
"If that is what you want to do then that is fine because in the chest this gold is worthless" Larten replied.
"Thank you for that Larten. I am still wet through though. Are there any spare clothes in here that might fit me?" I asked.
"Only some of Arra's old shirts and maybe a skirt or two but she was so much more muscular than you I doubt that it would fit your tiny frame" Larten replied as he had a quick look around.
"Here this might fit you if I pull it tight and this will probably fit you but everything else is either moth eaten or slashed that is why it got left behind" Larten said as he handed me a corset and a skirt that had seen better days but it was better than wearing wet clothing.
"Well I am not really any good at putting corsets on so you will have to help me but the skirt is OK if I pull the ties at the front and tie them into a bow" I said.
I stood up and held the corset around me well Larten threaded it up and yanked it tight so that it would not slip down.
"How is that?" Larten asked.
"It is hard to breathe but it is better than being wet and cold" I replied with a gasp.
"I can loosen it slightly but that is the best that I can do until we can dry out our actual clothes. I am soaked but at least I have some of my clothing in here" Larten replied.
"Thank you anyway though. I am sure that I will manage but I do not feel right wearing Arra's clothes as it is a bit weird wearing your dead ex's clothes" I said.
"Well your clothes will be dry soon if I hang them over the fire on a string because heat rises" Larten said.
"I am starving Larten. What food did you pack for us to eat?" I asked.
"I did not pack any as we were going to feed I thought it was unnecessary, did you pack anything?" Larten asked me.
"Only some bread rolls and a jar of berry jam that I made but no meat and no blood" I replied.
"Well we will manage on bread and jam then until the storm passes and we can reach the city to feed" Larten replied as he took one of the bread rolls and toasted it on the fire which was going really well.
"At least we are out of the wet and we do not have to sleep under a bush or in a tree. Incidentally do you have a spare coffin in here for us to sleep in?" I asked. "Yes and no. I have a coffin but it is not mine it was Arra's and mine so you can see my predicament" Larten said.
"Well what is the problem? I am sure that Paradise has lots of coffins and Arra would not mind would she in this situation?" I asked.
"It is not that it is the fact that I swore to Arra that only me and her would ever use this coffin so by letting you sleep in it I am breaking my word to Arra. Had I known that Gavnur Purl had been in here before now I would have told him the same thing" Larten explained.
"I see your problem Larten but in this situation what is to be done?" I asked.
"Well I can sleep in the coffin and you could sleep next to it on the floor" Larten suggested.
"Larten why should I sleep upon the floor? I am your blessed mate and I am entitled to sleep next to you" I said in an angry voice.
"I cannot break my vow to Arra though Sarah, surely you must see that and besides I may have some spare bed linen in that chest. I can vaguely remember packing some in case the coffin was destroyed or too dirty to sleep in" Larten said as he had a look in another chest that was in the far corner of the room.
"I knew it. I have two pillows and a duvet cover thing in here. It is clean which is a bonus and we can sleep on that if you want to" Larten explained as he swiftly made up a bed for us both.
"Very well that is our sleeping arrangements sorted out and now we just have to wait until the storm passes over. We can play cards if you wish" I suggested.
"If that will pass the time quicker but I am pretty tired Sarah for I have come a long way tonight in that storm and I want to sleep sorry to be a bore" Larten said.
"I am pretty tired too actually but I have no idea how dark or light it is outside so when will I know when we can move on?" I asked.
"I will check the weather and then if it is a clear night I will wake you up but if it is not then we will sleep in until it is a clear night" Larten said.
"Alright that is a good idea. I am so tired but at least I am a bit drier now and these clothes are not too bad but I prefer my own" I replied as I lay down on the duvet and arranged my pillows.
Larten lay down next to me and snuggled up beside me. I was so cold but Larten put his arms around me and he kept me warm with his own body heat as he was much warmer than me. Even as a human I had always felt the cold and now I did not feel it as much but it was still cold in a stone cavern with only a fire for warmth.
I was so tired I just curled up and went to sleep immediately but Larten stayed awake for a while. He often watched me when I slept and sometimes I would wake up and see him watching over me, it made me feel safe but it was always a surprise to see Larten's deep blue eyes peering into my own eyes when I awoke.
I was soon warm and when I did wake up I felt better now that I was dry and Larten was holding me close to him. I saw that the fire was going out so I chucked another couple of logs on it to keep it going and then I fixed breakfast for us which consisted of the last four bread rolls and jam. I listened out for sounds of thunder but I could hear none and that meant that the storm may have stopped because it rained hard before the blizzard had started. I was relieved to see that my clothing had dried overnight and I put on my now dry clothes and I felt a lot better. I ventured down the cavern's entrance to see what the weather was like outside. It was very cold but at least the snow storm had stopped but it had stuck and everywhere was white for miles around.
I went back inside the cavern and Larten was still asleep so I left him to sleep whilst I ate my two bread rolls and jam. Larten stirred slightly and he rolled over but still I did not wake him, besides it was daytime outside and we could not go anywhere until night fell again despite the snow.
I tried to go back to sleep but I could not so I stayed up and went through all of the chests to see what Larten had in this cavern. Most were full of clothes or weapons but some had jewels in and some had bottles of wine in or what looked like wine anyway. I later found out that it was rum that had been stored to mature and then forgotten about.
I was starving so I decided to brave the snow and go for a hunt, I was so hungry that my animal instincts were kicking in and the urge to hunt was strong inside me.
I went hunting and I was able to bring back a small roe deer that would feed us for a day or two but it would not sustain us for long. I carried the deer back to the cavern, gutted it and skinned it then I jointed it and put it on a spit to cook before we ate it later.
The smell of the roasting venison must have been strong because Larten sat up in our makeshift bed and he looked hungry.
"What time is it?" Larten asked.
"It is about four pm I think, the storm has passed but everywhere is covered with snow. The whole place is white and it is bloody cold out there" I replied as I turned the venison slowly upon the spit.
"When did you get that meat?" Larten asked.
"Today, I went out when you were sleeping and I brought it down myself, skinned it and gutted it like you showed me and then I stuck a stick through it and put it upon the spit" I explained.
"Well it will keep us going for a while but you should not have gone out in the daylight" Larten said.
"Well we have to eat Larten and I was not gone for long. I caught the first thing I found and I dragged it back here ready for you to eat when you woke up" I explained.
"It is better than bread rolls and jam anyway I need meat as much as you do. What did you do with the blood?" Larten asked me.
"I drunk some of it and the rest I bottled for you to drink whenever you want it" I replied.
"Good, I am so hungry for blood I need it" Larten said.
"I thought that so I have tried to provide for you" I replied.
"I know and I am very grateful to you" Larten said as he tucked into the blood that I had left for him, I had drunk a lot but I left Larten a good bottle full as he was bigger than me and his hunger was greater than mine.
After we had both had a drink and after we had ripped into the venison carcass and devoured it we decided to take a walk in the snow as the sun was weak and it was nice to walk around in the snow. We had a snowball fight and then we built a snow vampire (The same as a snowman but he had a cape on and a sword by his side instead of a hat and scarf). The snow vampire was fun to build and it made me think of my childhood and how me and my brother had built snowmen over the Christmas holidays before I had been turned into a vampiress. I wondered how my brother was; he would be quite a lot older now. Did he have a girlfriend? Did he do well at school? Was he a young father? All of these questions haunted me and I am sure that he often thought about me and what I would be doing if I had still been alive as he obviously thought that I was dead and that I had been dead for a long time.
The snow vampire stood out in the light and it looked really good. I was pleased with my efforts and he stood tall and proud over the entrance of the cavern.
"That was a fun way to spend an evening Larten" I remarked.
"I have not built a snow vampire before but when I was a boy I often built snowmen with my younger siblings whilst my dad was working and my mum was in the kitchen before I went out to work in that awful silk factory" Larten said.
"Well what shall we do now?" I asked.
"We could try and make our way onto the city and feed if you want to as the weather has cleared up now and it is not too cold" Larten replied.
"Alright then can we leave our stuff in the cavern if we do not need to take it with us?" I asked.
"Yes as we will be returning here as it is a long way back to the mountain and we would not make it tonight" Larten replied.
"Well we should take our weapons and our empty bottles and the rest we can we can leave behind as we have our fur lined cloaks on and we will not be much warmer than what we are right now but I do have one more gift for you that I forgot about. Wait here for a moment" Larten said and I waited as he disappeared into the cavern and he returned with a package which he handed to me. I untied the string and un-wrapped the paper carefully and inside the package was some kind of shawl but it was pure fur, it had a satin lining and a jewelled clasp on it. I held it up in the dim light and I draped it around my shoulders under my cloak. It fit me perfectly and I felt instantly warmer and I felt quite special that I had something so fine to wear.
"Do you approve of my gift?" Larten asked.
"Of course I approve. This is really nice and I am warmer already. What fur is it?" I asked.
"You are wearing artic fox and mink that has been mixed together and made into this garment" Larten explained.
"The jewelled clasp is great too as it matches my cloak pin I feel so privileged and honoured but seriously you should not spoil me as I can never pay you back for it" I said.
"Enough with the whole pay back thing you have paid me back already because you gave me a child, you give me unconditional loyalty and love which is all that anyone could ask for vampire or otherwise" Larten replied.
"Well as long as you are sure as I would hate to accept these gifts and then have nothing to get for you in return" I said.
"Well I require nothing and besides it is my duty to take care of you my dear and that is what I intend to do" Larten replied as we headed to the city where we would be feeding.
We were miles away and we could have flitted but flitting in snow was not easy because thick snow stops your feet from moving as quickly as what they should do when you flit and besides we would leave tracks which could be confusing to any humans as you would see odd footsteps and blurred lines so we had to walk the whole way and it seemed to take forever. I had the energy but not the patience and I got fed up of walking. I hated walking and by the time we arrived at the city limits I was exhausted and I could barely hold onto the wall that I dug my nails into and scaled up in order to enter my victim's bedroom.
I was so thirsty that when I fed I drank lots of blood and I did not want to stop but I had to. I healed the wound up and then I started scouting around for another victim.
It made me think of my times in the sewers with the old vampaneze troupe and how I had fed back then with no remorse and no control over the amount of blood that I took in. Larten had his fill and then we went to another house and fed again as I was still begging for blood and I needed to keep my hunger at bay.
I finished feeding and I was alright afterwards because I had been feeling tired and weak as I had not fed for a while and now that I had filled up on fresh blood I would be strong enough to travel back to the cavern before we headed back to the mountain.
"I needed that Larten, I was feeling weak" I said.
"I saw how much blood that you consumed and I was worried that would take too much but you have learnt to control yourself and you seem to know when to stop which is good as I would hate for you to kill a human unnecessarily" Larten said.
"I have killed before and so have you so it would be good to avoid it if we can" I replied.
"Anyway we have to focus on getting back to the mountain now as it is a long way and we have to get there before too long as the weather could turn bad again and then we would be stuck out in the open at the mercy of the Gods and the elements" Larten replied as we reached the entrance to the cavern and went inside to where it was warm and dry.
I was glad to sit down by the fire and warm up and now that I had a full belly I felt strong and healthy again. I had not fed for a while so it was good to have the sensation of blood running through me and I knew that I would not need to feed again for a while but I would feed if the hunger was inside me.
I was so pleased to return to the mountain. I was tired but I was happy and I was looking forward to seeing all of my friends again as I had been away for a few days and I had a lot of duties to catch up on.
I walked into the main halls and most of the clan were there but quite a few of them were missing as they had gone off on their own business or they had gone back to their own homes where they felt safe as when they were away from the clan and the stresses of the mountain it could be hard to adjust to a solitary life again.
I was hoping to return to the Cirque Du Freak but first I had to catch up on my duties and I had to catch up with the Princes as I had not seen them for a while. Also I wanted to show off my new jewellery and my other gifts that Larten had bestowed upon me including the fur shawl that had kept me very warm and dry when I had been travelling.
I was happy to be back inside the mountain and I had been gone for nearly a week or so I thought. Prince Darren had a surprise for us when we arrived back to the mountain he had finally decided to take a mate and it was unexpected but it was good news as we were quite short of vampiresses so to have a new addition was always a good thing. This new vampires was named Julia and she was quite feisty but she had a good heart and Prince Darren thought that she was ideal as she was young, goth, single and she had no family to speak of so she did not have to fake her death which was always a good thing.
Julia was welcomed into the clan but the whole time that she was with us she was so fussy and snobbish that she wound the Generals up and she refused to do duties as it was beneath her or so she said so we all had to work extra hard to clean up her mess that she left everywhere as she had never kept anything tidy and her quarters were chaos.
Julia had clothing and jewellery scattered everywhere, weapons and other ornaments littered the limited shelving and the floor was covered in dust where she never swept up or cleaned it.
Prince Darren was kept at arm's length and Julia was only ever seen with him at meals or when she wanted something so it was not a very harmonious mateship and frequent fights broke out between the pair of them.
The couple fought over spending money as Julia expected the best of everything and the normal clan stuff was not good enough for her so she expected Prince Darren to buy her all new stuff which was unfair as Julia never gave Prince Darren anything, they also argued over the general lack of effort to keep their shared quarters clean.
Julia also had her own individual quarters which were always a mess and Prince Darren's quarters were beginning to look like a tornado had been in there and destroyed everything as Julia treated her shared quarters as another storage compartment with little regard for Prince Darren's belongings.
Julia was meant to clean up and serve Prince Darren as she was his mate but Julia left him to do it all while she sat upon his throne and demanded stuff from the Generals all of the time and they of course had to obey her as it was their duty.
"Honestly Larten I do not understand why Prince Darren does not just end his term with Julia and get back to normal as she leaves a mess everywhere she goes and I end up cleaning it" I complained one evening.
"That is not fair but it is up to Prince Darren and we cannot get involved. How messy is it?" Larten asked.
"Come with me and I will show you" I said and I took Larten to Julia's personal quarters. I unlocked the door and walked inside.
"This is not acceptable, I would go mental if you left our quarters in such a state but Prince Darren has no fight in him. He should order Julia to clean up but he is too kind and too in love to care" Larten said.
"I know and I have to clean this up. I mean look at this place it is a disaster zone. The carpets are blood stained, the coffin lid is broken, the floor is covered in mess and there are items of clothing and weapons everywhere and yet the cabinets and wardrobe is empty" I said as I stepped over a pool of blood and picked up a dagger that should have been sheathed.
"This is a total disgrace but we can do nothing about it" Larten said.
"I know and now I have to clean this place. Julia said that she wants it perfect by tonight apparently" I replied angrily.
"Well I will help you but it is not fair and if you want me to get Prince Darren and show him I will do" Larten replied as he left to go and find Prince Darren.
I started to mop up the blood and I put the weapons away in the weapons cabinet. I scrubbed the floor and then I repaired the coffin lid, I hung up the clean clothes and washed the dirty ones and all the time Prince Darren was watching me so that he could see how much effort that I had to put in to keep his mate's quarters clean.
"It has to stop Darren, I cannot keep cleaning up after your mate as I have my own duties to perform and I am meant to be going back to the Cirque Du Freak soon" I said when I had finally finished.
"I know and I will deal with it now that I can see how bad it actually is. My quarters are exactly the same and it is beyond a joke now" Prince Darren replied.
"You mean that your quarters are in a mess like this too?" I asked.
"Yes except I have no blood spilt in there thankfully as it stains everything which you know" Prince Darren replied.
"Well at least now you can see how bad the mess actually was and how hard I have to work to keep your mate happy and clean" I replied.
"Well I will deal with it after I have cleaned up my own quarters for the third time this week already" Prince Darren replied as he left. Then Larten came back and when he saw how clean Julia's quarters were now that I had cleaned them he was shocked at how bad that it had been before I stepped in and cleaned up.
"Well you have certainly worked hard in here and it looks so much better but how long will it last?" Larten asked.
"Hopefully a while as I am not here to deep clean quarters every night but that reminds me I still have to dust ours and clean the carpets as they have not been done for a while and they are looking a bit dull" I said.
"There is no need as I have already done it. I figured that you would be busy in here for a while so I cleaned out our quarters for you" Larten replied.
"Are you telling me that you actually cleaned out our quarters so that I would not have to do it? I am very grateful for that Larten and I will return your favour later when I am not so tired" I replied with a naughty look in my eyes.
"Well I had to do something and I thought that if I did that then we would get some spare time alone later" Larten replied.
"Well we will get some time alone later on but right now I have to go and eat as I am hungry and besides it would be good to catch up with my friends downstairs" I replied.
"Alright well I will go and have a shower as I need one and then I will join you in the halls as I need to eat as well" Larten said and he vanished as he went to the shower room and I was left alone to eat and hang out with the clan members who were still left in the mountain.
I stuffed myself on fresh rabbit and jugged hare then I washed it all down with a good barrel of dark ale that I had missed whilst on my travels as barrels of ale were hard to carry at the best of times.
I was bored in the halls as there was nobody around. I had not realised just how few vampires had remained at the mountain and the ones who were left were either old or they were Generals who I did not really know to speak to.
I felt quite lonely and even the Princes were not around as they all had things to do and I felt like I was in the halls alone until Larten turned up and joined me.
"So few vampires are left here at this time of year, do you think that we should cut our losses and join the Cirque Du Freak now?" I asked.
"Well we could do that but I have had a better idea however it will take a lot of organisation and if we can pull it off it will provide entertainment for everybody here" Larten said.
"What is this great idea then Larten? You have got my attention" I asked.
"I was thinking about turning two of those abandoned adjoining halls into a theatre and a back stage area so that we can put on plays and musicals to entertain the clan when we are all in residence. Of course we will make a few vampiric changes to classic stories" Larten explained.
"That is an amazing idea. That would be so cool and everyone would love it" I replied.
"Well then you had better get permission from the Princes in that case to renovate the halls, build dressing rooms, a costume department, a make-up room and a stage. A sound and lighting booth will be needed also" Larten said.
"Well it is your idea but I will certainly ask Prince Vancha and Prince Arrow when I see them next. Where are we going to get the materials from though? We need lots of things" I asked.
"That is what I thought that I could use my spare cash for. I have lots of money that I have saved in case you wanted or needed something big and since we have paid our debts off from our blessed mateship ceremony and our anniversary party we are rather rich" Larten said quietly.
"How rich Larten?" I asked grinning.
"Rich enough to live well and rich enough to build a theatre with all of the necessary equipment and rooms" Larten replied.
"So we have a few thousand pounds spare?" I asked.
"Yes you could say that Sarah but I do not like to brag about it in case we have poorer vampires asking to borrow money all the time as we would probably not get it back" Larten explained.
"I live well enough and I have my own money as I saved my Cirque Du Freak wages up so I will not need you to support me for a while" I said.
"That is fine. I have to spend my money on someone and besides you are my blessed mate so half of my wealth is yours anyway" Larten replied.
"Well that is fine but I spend money like water as you have seen in the past" I remarked.
"I know you do but it is fine if you have no debts and you can pay for it" Larten replied.
"I have no financial worries at the moment but it is good to know that we both have some savings in case of an emergency" I responded.
"Anyway we had better go and see the Princes now about this whole theatre idea" Larten replied and we left the halls and we headed straight for the Prince's Dome.