Chapter 2 : Anyone Is Capable of Just About Anything
There were no words spoken between the three of them for a moment. It appeared to him that they had all forgotten the girl was there. In a way, the claim on the girl did explain her reaction, most humans would have tried to run or scream by now, rather than sit sobbing as three of the same creatures stood in the same area.
Though he had heard of claims on human's before, it was rare. A claim in the vampire world was a big deal, most vampires considered humans below them, so forming a contract with them, meant one of two things: the vampire cared greatly for them, or they were something of serious gain. His maker had always shown disinterested in the idea, something about the responsibility of looking after a pet. Yet, from what he heard, it always seemed to be the eldest of his kind that kept them. He did understand the politics around the issue, even if he didn't quite get the attraction, and feeding of another's human was forbidden. His maker told him stories of those who had done so in the past, what the authority had done to them, another reason against the idea. Surely, he could stop it before it got that far, maybe he could convince the vampires not to report it, or find the sheriff of the area and explain the situation first. If the authority were called, his maker would be involved, and it was too short of time, to be reunited already.
"I was not aware, of your claim on her, had I been aware of it, I would not have dreamt of feeding on her, I assure you". He paused, trying to gauge the reaction, on the stranger's familiar face, but it was giving nothing away. The man who answered to Malcolm though, a smirk was plastered on his face.
"Clearly. Wait there, I need to deal with that." The woman hissed, nodding her head towards the girl.
It annoyed him that the woman didn't bother to hide her arrogant tone from her words. He did not even know who she was, yet she seemed to expect respect from him either way. He wasn't about to be suicidal, he would play along, for now. As long as it would keep the authority and his maker away. He knew how to be charismatic, if he needed to be, it was something Lorena had taught him in the 1920s to seduce a few French couples into their grasp. Though it made him sick, that we he would still use her tactics, even if she weren't here, it was only temporary. He would only do so to get him out of this situation, and then he would go on as he had previously intended to.
He watched as the woman walked, slowly like a cat catching its prey, towards the girl, bending down so that she was closer to her level. Every movement the woman made seem to be calculated, in order to get the girl's attention. Surely, there were quicker ways to glamour her, he thought. Why the theatrical-ism, especially if the woman had claimed the human girl already, she would know their kind, and how they conducted themselves.
"Kitten?" The woman said, barely louder than a whisper, sniffing the woman's hair at the same time. It didn't quite seem caring, nor animalistic, but he couldn't quite find the right word to describe it. He heard as the girl's heartbeat seemed to speed up as the woman touched her head. It was a moment before he saw the girls head lift, her eyes flickering to him before quickly returning her gaze to the older vampire.
"I want out, Eva." The human girl replied to the vampire in front of her. Eva, it wasn't the name he expected the graceful elder vampire to have, but maybe that was just because she resembled his Caroline so much, that nothing else but her name, would have. He couldn't let himself get drawn in, this woman wasn't Caroline, Caroline was dead, along with the rest of his family.
An unneeded sigh left the vampire who seem to be known as Eva. Their kind, had no need to breath, nor could they, so what else could this be other than for dramatic effect or some other end goal, he had yet to figure out. He still hadn't quite grasped what the relationship was between Eva and the human, so had yet to grasp, any sort of game or plan he had interrupted. The faster beating heart, as well as Eva's seemingly purposeful actions and reactions, made it seem to him, that this wasn't a relationship of love and care, but something else. The faster heartbeat seemed to suggest the girl was scared of her, and the fact that the vampire seemed to care more about the claim that tending to her human, seemed to consolidate his thoughts further.
"No." Eva said abruptly. Her voice was still quiet, but there was edge to it, he noticed. A warning if he didn't know better. He had heard his maker use the same tone, and nothing fantastic seemed to happen when any woman used that tone. It seemed to be some power that Woman had, to completely change the tone of conversation, or completely change your thoughts on a subject, with just a word, and didn't matter what that word was, it was just the way they said it. Most women also seemed to be aware of this as well. He could help but smile briefly, remember the time he had got his Caroline some Lemon Verbena.
"No ?Just no, is that all you're going to say?" The human girl's heart was still beating fast, and tears still stained her face, yet she still managed to reply to the creature in front of her. He did not know the human or the Eva the vampire that well, so could not assess whether this was brave or stupid. Probably both.
"Yes. It's not up for negotiation. I have spent six years working on you, I am going keep you around, at least half that long." The vampire paused briefly, moving a strand of hair from the girl face, before continuing. "You don't know how grotesque it is feeling the emotions of a hormonal girl, who can't face up to the fact that she is attracted to other women. I'm not just letting you go, after dealing with all that. " Eva replied, in a matter of fact tone.
Letting her go from what, he wondered ? What exactly did this human girl want out of ? What exactly had this vampire been doing, by 'working' on this girl. It was clear to him that this Eva, and this Malcolm, who was still just standing there casually, with a smirk still on his face, had some sort of setup. Perhaps he could use it to his advantage, if he could figure out what the two had going on, he could use this as leverage, either against the vampires, or as token in order to get the sheriff of the area on his side. It was a mistake after all, he didn't feel the need for the redemption on his actions, especially as the human girl was still alive. For the moment anyway.
Bill cleared his throat. His annoyance regarding the situation seemed to be increasing more and more, and he did not want to spend the entire night out here, If he could help it. As all three pairs eyes instantly looked towards him, he held his own stare against them. The vampire Malcolm had moved somewhat to stand closer to his maker. He could understand the protectiveness, he had done the same for Lorena when in 1905, when they came across an elder vampire Mr Northman. Eva placed a hand on her child's shoulder.
"It's alright my le garcon de l'eau, he is a boy, no harm will come to us."
"I do not take kindly to you referring to me as, a boy, considering I have been on this earth for nearly a century now." Bill hissed, he had yet to retract his fangs from feeding on the girl. He did so detest rudeness, whether this was from a human or vampire, respect was underrated in his opinion, and he wished more people chose to use it when speaking to others.
Less than a second had passed before Eva's fangs had snapped down over her lips and her hand was clasped round his neck, her nails piercing into his skin. She was strong, and he was struggling against her vice-like grip.
"I have over five hundred years on you, Boy, you are nothing but a child compared to me, and I don't like disrespect, so I suggest you remember that, because clearly your maker has taught you nothing, based on your actions here tonight." Her fangs retracted back into her mouth, but the iron like grip remained against his neck.
"Evangeline." Malcolm warned. His tone seemed cautious, as he spoke to his maker. It seemed to Bill that Malcolm did not want to provoke her further, as if knew her temper too well. "Be careful. You said, we can't afford another death of a vampire in this area , the authority are watching. Especially considering there are glamour-able witnesses present." He hissed nodding his head towards the girl.
"Who said anything about killing him?" She snapped back, her tone very much different to the way she was speaking to the human girl earlier.
"Your temper usually" the vampire answered back, holding his hands up as he said it, in some sort of surrender. "I don't give a fuck, personally, if you kill him or not, but you will, when you calm down, mistress." he continued. Clearly Malcolm knew his maker well enough, that he could work out her next steps. Perhaps, this had happened before. The mention of the Authority was both curious but inconvenient to him. On the one hand, these vampires were clearly doing something that he could go to the authority with, but on the other hand, if the authority were watching these two, they could have also seen that he had fed on another vampire's human. No, he had to play this very carefully if he was going to come out of this with his fangs still intact.
With Eva, or Evangeline, as her child called her, this close to him it was first time he could really take in her appearance. Her eyes, the same brown, only different by the age shown in them, and the same waves lay in her dark brown hair, as Caroline. Her face showing the same child-like features as Caroline's did when they first met, after the arranged courtship by her his Father. There was nothing comely about either of them.
With an unneeded sigh, the vampire released her grasp on his neck. He retracted his fangs at the moment, out of respect for the vampire, making the choice not to kill him. He would have to be a gentleman about this. They clearly both had a similar idea about respect, so maybe he could use this and some of his southern charm, to defuse the ever growing tension.
"Merci, my child " Eva replied in a softer tone, stoking the face of Malcolm as she glided past him back towards the human girl. She held out her hand towards, pulling the girl up off of the cracked floor beneath them. He watched the human's face grimace slightly as she did, as he spotted how her heel didn't make contact with the floor beneath her, but instead remained on its toes. A birth defect perhaps, or possibly an accident.
"Kitten, I've got business to attend to now, you've had long night, why not just go home, get some rest, big day tomorrow, after all, right?
"I..." Eva had placed a finger on the girl's lips before she could utter a word. She lent in close to her so her lips were against her ears. If it wasn't for his enhanced vampire hearing, nobody would have known that she was whispering words in her ear.
"I do admire your fight, you are so much more fun than the others, they just sit there and cry all the time, but not you, you feel brave enough to answer me back and resist me, and you enjoy the pain I inflict on you because of it, and that's another reason why I keep you around. There was a pause while Eva placed a small kiss on girl's nose before continuing. "Not tonight though. Not after tonight's events, go home my delicious little masochist." The human girl seem to pause for moment before nodding, flinching slightly as Eva seem to grab her hair as she turned. Eva put her finger towards her own lip expectantly grabbing the human's hair tighter. The human girl seemed to hesitate slightly, before planting a kiss on the Vampire's lips, her cheeks blushing slightly, as Bill watched the scene in front of him.
"Good girl, off you go." With that Eva, let go of the human's hair, ushering her away as she did.
"You are not going to glamour her?" Bill questioned. Would the human girl not just run and scream at the next human she saw? That would then lead to more deaths because he would be forced to kill those who came after him. He didn't want more death on his hands, he had killed so many people for his maker, he did not want do that anymore. He did not want to be the monster Lorena had made him, against his will.
"No. You glamour them too much, they eventually forget their own bloody names." she paused, letting out a laugh, and whatever thought she seemed to have. "She won't say anything, she knows I can always find her, and what I will do her if she even thinks about it. Humans are idiotic, no doubt, but she is not that stupid."
"So Mr Compton, what exactly are we going to do about this current situation?" The vampire asked him curiously, still remaining stood next to her child. He had not introduced himself to the vampire so how would she know his name?
"I don't recall telling you my name." Bill replied.
"You didn't. However, your maker mentioned you on informing me of both of your presence in my area, as the sheriff. Clearly she did not feel the need to tell me of her departure."
"What makes you think she has left?" He replied. She was right of course, but why she knew of it, was something else.
Eva seemed to let out a laugh at his question before pressing her lips together again. "Mr Compton, a few moments ago,I had my hands around your neck, any respectful maker in the area, would come to her progeny's defence. By the way she spoke of you, I have no doubt she would have, if she were near."
"She released me." Bill replied coldly. He did not want her to think that he had any attachment to Lorena, nor that Lorena had any hold over him anymore, not in that way anyway. The things he had done for her, would always have a hold of him, there was no doubt about that.
Eva seemed to look to Malcolm with a curious look on her face, they seemed to exchange some sort of unspoken conversation before both vampire's gaze returned to his. "A decision, you convinced her to take, Mr Compton? Interesting, indeed." The vampire paused, before a smile plastered her face, like a child on Christmas day. "Then perhaps, we can come to some sort of agreement, Mr Compton? You must have quite the charisma, If you could convince your maker to release you, after the way she spoke of you, and I could use someone like that, especially with the mess you caused me this evening."
"Such a handsome face would get you many places." Malcolm chimed in. He had no attraction to men himself, though Lorena had explained most vampires weren't so binary in terms of who they associated with.
"I left her alive, unharmed, I do not see how my actions have affected whatever arrangement you have. What deal do you think would interest me? I do not even know who you are " he questioned. Whether she was an older vampire or not, it made no sense to blindly follow her, especially if the authority supposedly watching her. That seemed to him, a more dangerous game to play, even if he was curious to know why she looked so much like his wife.
"That's where you're wrong, Mr Compton. You scare her like that, it makes her wary and afraid, and when humans are afraid, they are less susceptible to manipulation. That means I am going to have put some time in her with her, to get her guard back down again, so I can get her back to behaving the way, I want her to. I don't put six years of hard work in, for some boy to come and undo it in a matter of moments." she paused as if choosing her words carefully. "While I'm doing that, it means I do not have the time to find other humans, that is where you come in, Mr Compton."
Bill watched her with interest, still unable to figure out the meanings behind the words she was saying, as she was still clearly hiding something, or at least not telling him the whole truth. "Find you a human? There are plenty who have been walking along the street, that you could take, and no one would notice." It was true, being as old as she claimed, would mean she could have grabbed countless numbers of Human's as they walked in and out of the building, that enclosed this very street.
"I do not believe in mindless and purposeless slaughter, Mr Compton. There are so many humans that other humans reject, so why should we, the superior species, also reject them? Should we not be better, and give these rejects something to live for, a purpose?. Even if this purpose is to serve us. Everyone functions better, when they have a purpose, Mr Compton, Was that not what you were looking for when you requested that your maker, release you?" She looked at him, as if she could see right through him.
Though he did not quite agree with her sentiment in terms of being the superior species, she did have a point about purpose. He wanted Lorena to release him, so that he could see past the bodies, and the blood that has taken over his life. He wanted to feel like he was worth something again, and not just a monster who killed innocents for fun. This wasn't a purpose he wanted though, ruining and breaking more human lives to serve a vampire.
"That, Mr Compton, is my price. If you feel you are not capable of that, I will call for the Magister, and tell him of you feeding on my human. I'm sure he would rejoice at the idea of pulling the fangs out of such as young vampire's mouth. He does so enjoy that cruelty. As sheriff of this area, I could arrange that quite quickly." The arrogance in Eva's voice had returned at this statement, "It is your choice, Mr Compton, but for what it's worth I think it would be such a waste if you go for the latter, and if you were to choose the first option, we could forget this incident ever happened."
It didn't appear like he had much of a choice in the matter. Both of them would mean parts of his life would be taken out of his control, but the first would mean he could at least have some control over it, and the direction he would be heading. She did also make a point, about not killing for the sake of it, and that would at least earn him some redemption.
"Merde!" It seemed to leave Eva's mouth before she could control it, as she appeared to place her hand over her mouth as she said it, letting her fangs snap down at the same time. She seemed to shivering, and vampires did not feel the cold. Malcolm had moved closer to his maker, concerned covering his face, wanting to know what was wrong.
"Remus." She muttered, directing her gaze to her progeny. "Do not follow me. You are in charge of the area till I get back, my le garcon de l'eau. Why don't you explain more to Mr Compton, about our little society, so that he can inform me of his decision on my return." she finished, her eyes flickering towards him, before returning to her progeny. "Do not worry, my child." She seemed to touch Malcolm's face briefly before there was a breeze, and she seemed to have disappeared into the blackness of the night.
He and the vampire Malcolm looked to each other for a moment, with a similar look of confusion on their face. "Mr Compton, I do so revolt spending my time here. There is a hotel not far from here, which is much more appealing and glamorous. Care to join me, Mr Compton?", There was an element of seduction in Malcolm's voice, and though he had no feelings for him in this way, perhaps he could use the attraction to his advantage.
He nodded, before following the vampire into the busy street beside them. He would have to use endless amounts of charm, and deceit to get him through, he could find some of his time with Lorena useful after all. He hated to admit that, he really did, but if he had learnt anything with his time with her, he had learnt that anyone was capable of just about anything, and now would be the time when he could truly find how who he was and what he was really capable of doing.