"The Books of Aurelius" The history of a Vampire: six
To Feed
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Buffy was feeling slightly disoriented. How did she get here? Here was a dark London street in the Victorian age. Together with her company, when did an old vampire became company?, Buffy was following 2 young high society men. I am going to feed of one of them! Why did I think this was a good idea again? For one thing she was growing increasingly hungry and not the 'I'd like a cookie' kind more like the 'if I don't eat soon I'm going to pull out my hair' kind. Then there was the man beside her. She did not want to disappoint another father figure in her life. Another rejection would leave her wounded and this time for eternity. And then there was the possibility that if she kept herself alive (or undead as the case was) she might find a way to get to Sunnydale in the correct century and find a way to change her back to where and when she belonged.
Charles had suggested they go to the poorer neighborhoods. But she had been very clear about that, she wanted rich people! He must have thought she was just picky but she had very good reasons for taking from the rich. For one she had seen how the truly poor lived and they did not deserve to end up somebody's dinner. The rich however had lived a life of luxury and they could afford to hire a Physician and have a sickbed. Besides the chances of somebody going looking for them were somewhat less slim and therefore the survival chances were bigger. Nope, if she was going to feed it would be from the rich. So she found herself following a perfect specimen while Charles was giving her all sorts of tips about hunting.
"Some of our kind enjoy frightening their prey because of the added pheromones and adrenaline in the prey's blood. I personally go for the unnoticed attack. My philosophy is to stay in plain sight and I try not to follow the prey around. Once you have hunted as long as I have, you'll know where a prey is headed purely on instinct. Then I make sure our paths cross at a convenient place and grab them there." He spoke softly making it seem like they were engrossed in a soft discussion much like the other couples that were out for a late evening stroll.
"There is a reason that vampires attack the throat. It is closest to our mouths, the arms can make sure a prey does not leave and in case of a discovery one can pretend to be pleasuring the prey and scare other humans away." Buffy nodded to indicate that she was listening but she had also established a connection with the young lord walking approximately 200 meters in front of her. "We are going to take a left turn here and we will meet them coming out of a dark alley in 3 minutes. Once they are captured you can feed in the alley. I will take the other one away so you can have some privacy. Try and keep the connection going for as long as you can."
The alley they cut across was not much different from where she had awoken her first day in London. Fitting that I leave my little bit of humanity behind her. She pondered while waiting for her prey. She could feel him across the street, a good half of a kilometer away. How easily have I slipped into feeling like a vampire, will it be just as easy to truly be one?. She stopped thinking when she felt him closing in on her location and just slipped naturally into a fighting stance. She glanced at Charles who nodded his approval and some encouragement and when the gentlemen had almost crossed the end of the alley she slipped out behind his back. While gripping his arm and clamping a hand over his mouth she took him back with her into the darkness. She almost didn't notice the speed with which she did this. Using the hand across his mouth she pulled his head to one side and sank her now elongated fangs into the jugular.
The heated blood from yesterday was an experience that paled in comparison to the one she was having now. The way her mouth worked at getting to the ambrosia that was his blood, the way it filled her with the sweetest and darkest essence she had ever tasted. How it felt that his arms went from pushing to embracing to stroking to slack. The beats of his heart that accompanied the experience and went straight to her core and finally the slowing of that beat that alerted her to stop. She mentally tore herself away and softly pulled her fangs out of his neck while putting him down into a comfortable position. She used a finger to slowly clean her lips of the blood and then pulled it into her mouth. Ahh, this is better than Tom & Jerry's phish food. The nagging hunger had left and she felt warm and languid. She exited the alley following the string in her heart that she had come to know was Charles and found him under a street lamp waiting for her. She choose to ignore the fate of the other gentleman and just smiled at Charles.
"My dear every time you feed you add to the radiance that surrounds you naturally." Charles flattered her with the proudest expression on his face. Buffy yawned and Charles hailed a passing carriage. "Time to take you to your bed. You've done so well my Child. Now sleep" She settled herself at his side and fell asleep with her head on his shoulder.
The next afternoon Buffy awoke sometime around 3. She rang the bell for Marie who helped her with her morning ritual. "Tea is being served in the drawing room, my lady" Marie informed her with some instructions on how to get there. She entered the room only to find Charles seated on one of the two chaises in front a table filled with dishes and cups. The heavy curtains were pulled together and the room was softly illuminated with many lamps.
Charles patted the bank next to him while pouring her a cup of tea in one of the delicate porcelain cups and offered her one of the little sandwiches from the tray. Guess this is tea time. The sandwich did little to stop the small hunger she felt in the pit of her stomach but it tasted just fine.
"Tomorrow after dusk we leave for home but first I want to explain some more things to you and we have to go on a shopping trip." Buffy perked up at the word shopping but she was also very curious to find out more about her new home.
"So tell me more about home and make it quick so we can go shopping sooner."
"Are you familiar with the term Master Vampire?" He continued after Buffy nodded while munching on another sandwich. "At the head of our Order stands our Master. At the bottom are the fledglings. In between those the Order consists of clans. I am the leader of one of those clans. We are known as the Warrior Clan. I am Commander of the Order's Armies and as of tomorrow you will be trained as one of the Officers. First you will be instructed in the laws and structure of our Order. Then I will instruct you further before I assign you your duties." Buffy felt that pang in her stomach again like she did the first time Merrick talked to her about her duty as the Chosen One. She must have had a frightened look on her face because Charles laughed softly at her. "You will not be working much, my Dear. When you have an eternity time does not fly as quickly as in a human life. There is one thing however that I must instruct you now. Our Order has a strict hierarchy. You are better than the fledglings but that does not mean they automatically earn your contempt. You on the other hand may be lower that another Newly Borne. Although my status as your Sire puts you very high up in the Hierarchy that does not mean that others can not command you. The Childer of the Master or even their Childer will be your superiors. Do you understand?" Nope "Yes, I will behave myself." Buffy said with more confidence than she felt.
"I have already talked too long. Let's get our coats and head out for that shopping you need to do. We will order you some different gowns and dresses and some clothes for fighting and training. Some nightwear and toiletries will also be in order and maybe you can think of more necessities?"
Buffy laughed relieved to be back to a safer subject. "I'm sure I can think of something else."
That morning she lay awake in her bed thinking about the night to come. The shopping had been a blast and she was now the owner of 4 trunks filled with nightgowns, breeches, shirts underwear, socks and shoes. One of them was appointed especially for jewelry and toiletries and another held weapons of all kinds. I guess I'm just destined to fight. It had felt good though holding the crossbow and wielding the small axe. She always loved trying out new weapons and it was also a very safe feeling to be able to defend herself again. The great amount of dresses and gowns, she now understood the difference- that Charles had ordered for her were being altered to fit her measurements and then they would be delivered to her new address. The tailor had looked as though he knew who they were and had shown a great measure of respect for Charles. She had everything that she needed except for a clue about where she was going. It felt like that first night before kindergarten. After dusk tomorrow her life would never be the same again. She fell asleep a little past dawn and dreamt of telling Spike and Angel about her adventures.
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AN 3:
To Catlimere, Lhasa, Jill, Tariq, redcristal, Mrarisa: Thank you all for your kind reviews. It's wonderful to hear that you are enjoying my story so much. I won't answer questions about the coming chapters, partly because I don't do spoilers and partly because I'm exploring this as I go along.
AN 4:
I finally got FF.net to display the html tags correctly so now everything looks spiffy (no not spuffy, spiffy!!) Sorry you had to put up with the tags and ugly ass breaks. On with the show!
To Feed
===========================================================================
Buffy was feeling slightly disoriented. How did she get here? Here was a dark London street in the Victorian age. Together with her company, when did an old vampire became company?, Buffy was following 2 young high society men. I am going to feed of one of them! Why did I think this was a good idea again? For one thing she was growing increasingly hungry and not the 'I'd like a cookie' kind more like the 'if I don't eat soon I'm going to pull out my hair' kind. Then there was the man beside her. She did not want to disappoint another father figure in her life. Another rejection would leave her wounded and this time for eternity. And then there was the possibility that if she kept herself alive (or undead as the case was) she might find a way to get to Sunnydale in the correct century and find a way to change her back to where and when she belonged.
Charles had suggested they go to the poorer neighborhoods. But she had been very clear about that, she wanted rich people! He must have thought she was just picky but she had very good reasons for taking from the rich. For one she had seen how the truly poor lived and they did not deserve to end up somebody's dinner. The rich however had lived a life of luxury and they could afford to hire a Physician and have a sickbed. Besides the chances of somebody going looking for them were somewhat less slim and therefore the survival chances were bigger. Nope, if she was going to feed it would be from the rich. So she found herself following a perfect specimen while Charles was giving her all sorts of tips about hunting.
"Some of our kind enjoy frightening their prey because of the added pheromones and adrenaline in the prey's blood. I personally go for the unnoticed attack. My philosophy is to stay in plain sight and I try not to follow the prey around. Once you have hunted as long as I have, you'll know where a prey is headed purely on instinct. Then I make sure our paths cross at a convenient place and grab them there." He spoke softly making it seem like they were engrossed in a soft discussion much like the other couples that were out for a late evening stroll.
"There is a reason that vampires attack the throat. It is closest to our mouths, the arms can make sure a prey does not leave and in case of a discovery one can pretend to be pleasuring the prey and scare other humans away." Buffy nodded to indicate that she was listening but she had also established a connection with the young lord walking approximately 200 meters in front of her. "We are going to take a left turn here and we will meet them coming out of a dark alley in 3 minutes. Once they are captured you can feed in the alley. I will take the other one away so you can have some privacy. Try and keep the connection going for as long as you can."
The alley they cut across was not much different from where she had awoken her first day in London. Fitting that I leave my little bit of humanity behind her. She pondered while waiting for her prey. She could feel him across the street, a good half of a kilometer away. How easily have I slipped into feeling like a vampire, will it be just as easy to truly be one?. She stopped thinking when she felt him closing in on her location and just slipped naturally into a fighting stance. She glanced at Charles who nodded his approval and some encouragement and when the gentlemen had almost crossed the end of the alley she slipped out behind his back. While gripping his arm and clamping a hand over his mouth she took him back with her into the darkness. She almost didn't notice the speed with which she did this. Using the hand across his mouth she pulled his head to one side and sank her now elongated fangs into the jugular.
The heated blood from yesterday was an experience that paled in comparison to the one she was having now. The way her mouth worked at getting to the ambrosia that was his blood, the way it filled her with the sweetest and darkest essence she had ever tasted. How it felt that his arms went from pushing to embracing to stroking to slack. The beats of his heart that accompanied the experience and went straight to her core and finally the slowing of that beat that alerted her to stop. She mentally tore herself away and softly pulled her fangs out of his neck while putting him down into a comfortable position. She used a finger to slowly clean her lips of the blood and then pulled it into her mouth. Ahh, this is better than Tom & Jerry's phish food. The nagging hunger had left and she felt warm and languid. She exited the alley following the string in her heart that she had come to know was Charles and found him under a street lamp waiting for her. She choose to ignore the fate of the other gentleman and just smiled at Charles.
"My dear every time you feed you add to the radiance that surrounds you naturally." Charles flattered her with the proudest expression on his face. Buffy yawned and Charles hailed a passing carriage. "Time to take you to your bed. You've done so well my Child. Now sleep" She settled herself at his side and fell asleep with her head on his shoulder.
The next afternoon Buffy awoke sometime around 3. She rang the bell for Marie who helped her with her morning ritual. "Tea is being served in the drawing room, my lady" Marie informed her with some instructions on how to get there. She entered the room only to find Charles seated on one of the two chaises in front a table filled with dishes and cups. The heavy curtains were pulled together and the room was softly illuminated with many lamps.
Charles patted the bank next to him while pouring her a cup of tea in one of the delicate porcelain cups and offered her one of the little sandwiches from the tray. Guess this is tea time. The sandwich did little to stop the small hunger she felt in the pit of her stomach but it tasted just fine.
"Tomorrow after dusk we leave for home but first I want to explain some more things to you and we have to go on a shopping trip." Buffy perked up at the word shopping but she was also very curious to find out more about her new home.
"So tell me more about home and make it quick so we can go shopping sooner."
"Are you familiar with the term Master Vampire?" He continued after Buffy nodded while munching on another sandwich. "At the head of our Order stands our Master. At the bottom are the fledglings. In between those the Order consists of clans. I am the leader of one of those clans. We are known as the Warrior Clan. I am Commander of the Order's Armies and as of tomorrow you will be trained as one of the Officers. First you will be instructed in the laws and structure of our Order. Then I will instruct you further before I assign you your duties." Buffy felt that pang in her stomach again like she did the first time Merrick talked to her about her duty as the Chosen One. She must have had a frightened look on her face because Charles laughed softly at her. "You will not be working much, my Dear. When you have an eternity time does not fly as quickly as in a human life. There is one thing however that I must instruct you now. Our Order has a strict hierarchy. You are better than the fledglings but that does not mean they automatically earn your contempt. You on the other hand may be lower that another Newly Borne. Although my status as your Sire puts you very high up in the Hierarchy that does not mean that others can not command you. The Childer of the Master or even their Childer will be your superiors. Do you understand?" Nope "Yes, I will behave myself." Buffy said with more confidence than she felt.
"I have already talked too long. Let's get our coats and head out for that shopping you need to do. We will order you some different gowns and dresses and some clothes for fighting and training. Some nightwear and toiletries will also be in order and maybe you can think of more necessities?"
Buffy laughed relieved to be back to a safer subject. "I'm sure I can think of something else."
That morning she lay awake in her bed thinking about the night to come. The shopping had been a blast and she was now the owner of 4 trunks filled with nightgowns, breeches, shirts underwear, socks and shoes. One of them was appointed especially for jewelry and toiletries and another held weapons of all kinds. I guess I'm just destined to fight. It had felt good though holding the crossbow and wielding the small axe. She always loved trying out new weapons and it was also a very safe feeling to be able to defend herself again. The great amount of dresses and gowns, she now understood the difference- that Charles had ordered for her were being altered to fit her measurements and then they would be delivered to her new address. The tailor had looked as though he knew who they were and had shown a great measure of respect for Charles. She had everything that she needed except for a clue about where she was going. It felt like that first night before kindergarten. After dusk tomorrow her life would never be the same again. She fell asleep a little past dawn and dreamt of telling Spike and Angel about her adventures.
===========================================================================
AN 3:
To Catlimere, Lhasa, Jill, Tariq, redcristal, Mrarisa: Thank you all for your kind reviews. It's wonderful to hear that you are enjoying my story so much. I won't answer questions about the coming chapters, partly because I don't do spoilers and partly because I'm exploring this as I go along.
AN 4:
I finally got FF.net to display the html tags correctly so now everything looks spiffy (no not spuffy, spiffy!!) Sorry you had to put up with the tags and ugly ass breaks. On with the show!