It was the second day of having York as my secretary and I was determined to get an answer from her. Yesterday she had left, after manipulating me into asking about her vampiric lineage, giving me a teasing smile while she walked out the door.
She still unsettled me, but even the brief interactions we had yesterday had gotten me somewhat used to her behaviour. I found her attractive, there was no doubt about that, what man wouldn't? But her fangs, her vampiric nature…
It both scared and intrigued me. I felt like I wanted to know more about her, about it. Whether that was for my own safety, or my own curiosity, I was unsure. I hear her distinctive knock on the door and call out for her to enter.
"Come on in York" She strides in, ever graceful in all her movements. Her bright turquoise eyes run over me until a smile places itself on her lips.
"Thou knew 'twas my presence. How very observant, O Commander."
I smile quickly at her, but try my best to remain serious. I steady myself and gather the courage to ask the question that has been burning away inside me. "I... err..."
She grins playfully at me. "Yes? My Commander? Struggling with thy wordplay?" I burn with embarrassment but manage to eke out my question eventually.
"um... York... Please, tell me. Are you really a vampire? Do you really need to drink blood? I need to know… you never answered me yesterday…"
Her eyes widen in surprise before settling back down and she eyes me with a renewed vigor. What is that expression on her face? Admiration perhaps?
"O' so very bold, Commander. Did I tease thou too much on the day past? Wales is always scolding me for such matters."
Her mouth opens slightly, and she slowly runs her tongue over her fangs. "Thou truly wishes to know the truth?"
I nod. "Hmph. Very well." She responds.
"Yes. I drain a human utterly dry every morning. Otherwise, my hunger builds… to the point one cannot contain such a force. Then, I eat the flesh as a morning breakfast" She says, her voice completely serious.
I go white as a sheet. Drain dry? Flesh? Did she kill them? I start to panic as she gazes at me and I swear I see a primordial hunger in her eyes.
She cocks her head, looking at me quizzically, not understanding my reaction. Then laughs lightly. "Apologies. Howe tells me that my sense of humour lacks refinement, 'twas a jest, Commander. Doth not fret so."
I breathe a sigh of relief. Thank god, she said it with such a serious glint in her eye, her voice utterly flat… her sense of humour needed some serious adjustment.
"Alas, I can tell I have disturbed thee, so I shalt speak frankly." She grins.
"Aye. I am truly a vampire, as thy fiction books call them. I am required to drinketh blood, once in the morn, once at dusk. And I keep a private stash on thyself for a treat or an emergency." She pulls out the silver canteen from yesterday, sloshing it around for effect, before returning it to her pocket.
One question immediately comes to mind. But York, sharp as a whip, knows what I am about to ask and interrupts me.
"No. Tis not 'fresh' blood. Tis provided from the nearby hospital, blood bags. I hath never felt the taste of fresh blood on thy tongue, directly from the tap, so to speak. That would be incredibly uncouth of me, without a willing participant."
"Doth thou offer thyself to sate my hunger?" I quickly shake my head, the thought of her fangs… in my neck… I shudder. But the more I think about it… the more I wonder. What would it be like? Would it hurt? Would it leave me weak? What would her lips feel like on my throat? Would she caress me at the same time? Hold me as she would a lover?
I shake myself from my odd thoughts to find York looking oddly disappointed at my rejection. "I understand. What work doth my Commander have for me today?"
I point her towards some shelves that need cleaning, and some files that need organizing, and she gets to it immediately. I try to clear my head by burying myself in paperwork, but my mind continues to race. I'm terrified of her vampiric nature… but… I'm so interested as well, I want to know more.
I cannot help myself, I stop my work and look up at York. "So… how exactly did you become a vampire?"
She gives me a predatory smile before lithely walking across the room and placing herself atop my desk, her long legs dangling off the side, almost touching the floor. "Thou is an inquisitive one. Tis impudent to ask a lady so many personal questions. Dost thou findeth thyself enamoured by mine own unusual form? I hast read many tales of fictitious vampires with men bewitch'd by a bloodsucker's aura. Art thou such a man?"
I feel heat flood my cheeks at her questioning. I wouldn't say I was bewitched by her. But… my thoughts are filled with her and the many questions I have. I cannot shake them, no matter how much I try.
She continues. "If thou wishes for me to answer thy prying words. I shalt. On a singular condition." Her eyes roam my body, eying me up like a piece of meat.
I shift, uncomfortable at her piercing gaze. "And… what would that be?"
Her eyes stop their roaming and she looks into my eyes, her own filled with a longing, a need. "I wish to partake of thy nectar, thy blood. Just a small sip. I hast wanted to try fresh blood from a human for so very long. And my Commander's blood in particular…" She licks her lips, closing her eyes and shuddering with pleasure, imagining the taste.
Immediately, I go to deny her request once again. I was interested, but not enough to let her sink her fangs into me. The one thing I had been terrified of in the first place.
But then, I think. I wanted to know what it was like? Didn't I? I might be scared of it, but I was curious. And the thought of York, holding me close, gently feeding on me… It was more than a little stimulating.
"Just a little?" I ask tentatively, still very unsure.
Her expression immediately becomes one of surprise. She had expected me to say no outright. Her eyes fill with the fire of hope and she speaks with gusto, trying her best to cajole me into it. "Aye, Commander. Just a tiny sip. Thou shalt barely feeleth a scratch!"
I'm still incredibly nervous. And I do wonder why I'm even considering it at all. Yet, before I can ponder more, I find myself nodding, and the words have already left my lips. "…ok."
She breaks into a warm smile and clasps her hands together excitedly. "O' Commander. I appreciate it. I truly doth."
She pauses and her lips slip into a teasing smile along with a lustful gaze. "Although… I doth hope thee hath not set thy heart on a more… carnal experience. I am not such an easy lay…"
I blush deeply at her words. I would be lying if I said multiple images of us, making love while she fed on me hadn't immediately appeared in my head. But I knew that was pure fantasy.
I shake my head, stuttering out a no.
"Of course, valorous things cometh to those with patience, Commander. Thou may earn the deepest parts of mine own affection eventually if thee wishes." She gives me a sultry wink before dismounting the table.
"I am afraid thee shalt hath to wait for mine own bite. I hast already fed this morn. And a lady must watch her diet. I shalt be ready to feast on thy lifeforce this evening."
Immediately I pale at her words. I do not like how she phrased that one bit. Feast on my lifeforce? She laughs at my reaction to her words but does not offer any reassurance. I think she was just playing with me yet again.
"An honourable deal hast been struck. And I shalt fulfil mine own part. Answering thy questions. I wast created like this. As was HMS Vampire. Akashi hath said it is related to our names. The perception of them, the human thoughts upon hearing such names. All kansen's appearances and traits are based on the perception of their ship."
A look of sadness descends on her face. "As far as my knowledge beholds… we art the only ones in existence. Vampires art a manmade construct, a fairytale, a falsehood. Our very traits art based on that fiction, not biology."
Her sad expression clears and she gives me another smile. "Doth thou have more burning questions within thyself?"
I do have an especially burning one, so voice it. "Can you turn someone, into a vampire that is?" I was a bit worried that I'd agreed to be bitten but didn't actually know what that entailed.
"Akashi ran some tests, a bite does nought. She theorizes that drinking mine own blood couldst possibly spread the condition. But that is all she hath, pure speculation. I am not sure I would wish this condition on anyone regardless. Although it has its moments, one supposes."
"and…what happens… if you don't feed?"
Her smile widens. "Worried that I shalt run feral around the port, O' Commander?"
She chuckles, but her expression quickly turns serious as she answers me truthfully. "It burns. It burns unrelenting… If I miss even a single feeding… I am filled with a hunger… a need. But… I grow weak… so very weak, and the burning… it continues. It spreads from mine own bosom, enveloping the whole body. Mine own strength vanishes, and I can barely stand. It is… an incredibly unpleasant experience… If I wast to miss two feedings… I fear I would honestly perish."
She describes the intense pain with melancholy. She clearly has experienced it before. She already knows what I am about to ask and interrupts me.
"Twice. Yond is how many times I hast missed a feeding. The first wast at a time when I barely understood what I was. A fledgeling, so to speak. It quickly became apparent, and I discovered what thy body craved. The second was many years later, the delivery from the hospital wast delayed, by a mere hour. And it wast the most painful hour I hath spent on this earth… I learnt mine own lesson. And now keepeth a stockpile ready, just in case."
"I'm sorry… that sounds horrible."
She shrugs nonchalantly. "Tis true. But I hath grown used to mine own nature. How to control it. How to tame it. It is simply who I am. I see the other ships, giving me side-long glances. Odd looks out of the corner of their eyes. They art afraid of me. As art thou."
She doesn't say it like an accusation, more just a matter of fact, something she is used to. Her words hurt me. It's true that I used to avoid her, even now she put me on edge to a degree. But I was judging her by appearances alone, and that was unfair.
She must notice my guilt because she offers me a reassuring smile. "Doth not feel like thou lacks valor, Commander. I fully understand. Even mine own blood struggled to accept me at first. And even now, while they love me, they struggle to comprehend my true nature, Wales, Howe… even Monarch. My siblings doth not like to talk about mine own feedings, the urges. They stayeth away from yond subject as if it is a taboo."
I'm not really sure what to say, so simply ask another question to try and change the subject. "Can you eat and drink normally?"
York laughs. "Of course. I appreciate a good wine as much as any respectable noblewomen. And I can feeleth the hunger for regular food. But… it never satisfies… not completely, and it never tastes quite as good… not even compared to stale blood…"
"Are you satisfied? I tire of thy questions, and there is work to be done, correct?" I nod.
I couldn't think of any more, and regardless, I feel like I've pried more than I should. The fact that she felt like the whole port was scared of her… her utter reliance on feeding to live. It sounded like she had it tough. It made her… more relatable somehow. She wasn't a monster, a creature of the night, she was just a woman struggling with the hand she had been dealt.
As the day progresses, York works as diligently as she did yesterday. I had a couple of meetings with various shipgirls and this is when I truly notice what York means. They would come in, smile and greet York politely. But when she turned her back to sit in the corner of the room, taking notes on the meeting, their eyes would reveal their distrust, their wariness of her.
It wasn't all of them, some simply ignored her, not being friendly personalities to begin with. Others would greet her with a truly genuine smile. But the majority were clearly unsettled by her presence in the room.
Finally, the clock strikes 10, the end of the day had finally arrived, and I knew what that now meant. My heart was pounding in my chest, my nerves getting the better of me as a pit of trepidation opens in my stomach.
York stands from her seat in the corner of the room, flashing me a knowing smile before she slowly glides over to the door, locking it shut. I gulp nervously.
Why exactly had I agreed to this again? But just as much as I scared, I was excited. I felt like an inexperienced young man, and a girl had just asked me up to her bedroom. I couldn't slow my heart at all, and neither could I take my eyes off York as she lithely strides towards me.
"Art thou ready? Commander." I barely manage to nod, shaking nervously.
She steps behind me as I remain seated, placing her hands on my shoulders. I can't see her, and it worsens my condition further, the anticipation killing me.
Her left-hand rubs my shoulder comfortingly. "Thou is nervous?" Her voice rings out from directly behind me in a concerned tone.
"…I…yes." I reply, telling the truth.
"hmm…" She hums in thought. "Perhaps a gift for thee, to calm one's nerves. Relaxed prey tastes all the sweeter…"
What does she mean? But before I can ask, she has stepped to my side and is using her hand to swivel my head towards her, her lips mashing against my own suddenly.
A gasp at the unexpected affection, which York takes full advantage of, pressing her lips harder against my own and slyly moving her tongue into my open mouth. On instinct, I return the favour, slipping my tongue into her own mouth and exploring the warmth within.
The angle we are kissing at means that I cannot really make out her face, but I can still certainly feel her, as her arms keep me still. I dart my tongue upwards on a whim, excited to try something. I run my tongue over her teeth, and finally, her fangs.
The very fangs she wished to sink into my neck. The fangs that mark her out as different from all other kansen. The thought excites me as I run my tongue over them, again and again. Getting used to their shape, their curves. I even experimentally run the end of my tongue against the sharp tip of one, revelling in the ever so slight pain it provides.
My focus on her fangs seems to excite her further and she moans approvingly into the kiss. Eventually, she retreats slightly, enough that her fangs brush my lips. She bites, gently, cutting my lip the smallest amount, sucking the wound clean as I groan at the sensation. Then, when she has finished, she pulls back, although her arms are still placed firmly on my shoulders.
She catches her breath for a second, eying me hungrily. "…even in that small amount… thee tastes… utterly resplendent…" She steadies herself, her eyes losing their hungry glare slightly. "Art thou nerves tamed?" All I can do is offer up a nod.
God I wanted more. More of that, more of her.
She reads my mind easily and laughs, offering an embarrassed smile. "I am glad thou enjoyed it. Twas the gift of my first kiss. Purely to calm thy nerves, understand?"
My heart deflates at her words, but nonetheless, I nod happily. I would give anything to experience that again. As it is, even without the promise of more, if she asked me to roll over and play fetch right now, I would. I was completely at her mercy, I was… how did she phrase it earlier? …bewitched.
She retreats back behind me, her right hand creeping upwards, and gently tilting my head to the back and to the right, exposing my throat. Despite the kiss to 'calm my nerves' as she justified it, my heart was still racing. If anything, I was more excited now than before.
I gasp as I feel her lips on the back of my neck, and she moves them, coating my skin with a layer of wetness as she does. Her tongue brushes my ear and I hear her whisper quietly.
"I can hear thy heartbeat from here. Loud. Throbbing with so much… blood. What an enrapturing sound…"
She laughs and continues whispering. "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil…"
She whispers the verse into my ear. I vaguely recognize it, or at least what she was talking about. The garden of Eden.
She moves her lips further forwards, and I can now feel her hair falling down her shoulders, and onto mine, brushing me gently. I shudder as she sticks her tongue out, tracing that last few inches till she reaches her destination. My throat.
"…so the women bit into the fruit of the forbidden… and it was oh so sickly sweet..." She says before she kisses my throat. Then, she sinks her fangs in.
I gasp at the sudden pain. My body automatically jolting, trying to put distance between itself and the source of the pain. But York is strong and holds me still. My eyes water at the pain. I never imagined it would hurt this much. I begin to regret everything. That kiss had been great, but it sure as hell wasn't worth this pain. She starts sucking, slowly. Her hand rubs my head while keeping it in place, reassuring me.
As she sucks, the pain fades slowly, to be replaced with an odd warmth. It's pleasant even, and before long I've completely forgotten about that initial frightening pain. I don't know if it was me getting used to it, the fact that York had her lips firmly placed on my neck, or some vampiric effect to calm the one they fed on. But it felt great, better than great.
"Aahhh. York… that feels… really good." I call her name as she suckles at my neck. I close my eyes, just enjoying the sensation. It was so easy to lose yourself in it. Forget about the world, just focus on the beautiful vampiric women and the feeling she was producing inside me.
It's at least 40 seconds before I groggily start to realise something. It was meant to be short. Barely a taste. But she had been sucking my blood for at least a minute now.
I try my hardest to drag my mind out of the pleasurable sensations it has been smothered in. "York…" I say weakly. "York… stop…" I get no response as the women clutching me from behind continues to suck my blood.
"York… you promised… stop…" I have trouble getting my words out. The pleasurable sensation is making everything feel diluted, foggy.
I try my best to push her off with my arms, but I seem to have lost a lot of my strength, whereas York still has all of hers.
The world starts to blur and my struggles ebb. "York…" I whisper quietly, begging.
Then, all of a sudden, the sensation stops. My mind slowly clears, and I realise that York has released me. In fact, she is on the other side of the room, having backed away from me as much as she can.
She's breathing heavily and as I raise my gaze towards her, I notice something. Her eyes, normally a beautiful turquoise blue are glowing a faint red. Actually glowing in the darkness of the room.
It's a menacing look, which coupled with the blood dripping from her mouth, my blood, truly does make her look far more like a monster than a woman.
She wipes her mouth with her sleeve before speaking. Her tone is scared, she stutters and stops. Gone is the confident noblewomen, and in its place, only fear remains. "It…it started ok… then I drank more… then more… it was so good… so good…. I couldn't stop… I couldn't, I tried… I tried so hard… but my body refused… It was so good… so fresh…"
She rambles as her eyes start to lose their red glow, settling back to their normal colour. "Are… you ok?" She asks. She speaks commonly, not in her usual high-class speech. She was clearly shaken.
"I…I'm ok." She looks at me, ashamed of what she has done. Not fully believing me when I reassure her that I'm fine. She's shaking, she can barely keep her arms still.
"I… should go…" She quickly runs to the door, unlocking it and dashing through, trying to put as much distance between me and her as possible.
I call out for her, but it's already too late. She's gone, into the night. I feel a bit weak, and my throat hurts, but aside from that, I do actually think I am ok. Gently, I run my fingers over the two vampiric pinpricks in my neck and gasp at the pain when I touch them.
What the hell just happened? York seemed so confident before. She talked me into it. Then she just lost all control? She seemed to be very upset, I hope that she is ok in the end.
But all I could do was hope for now. This was clearly a bad idea from the start. Why in the world did I agree to such a thing in the first place?