Thank you for the reviews! So glad you were willing to give a vampire, Victorian Era fic a chance
Like I said, rated M (there's death, seduction, the Vamp Life. . . )for a reason. We have skipped centuries and gone into the Victorian Era. Takes place all around the Scottish Highlands.
Bash may seem OOC because he's not the sweet Bash we adore on the show, but hey, he is still loyal to those he cares for (even if it's believed that his heart is dead and cold). And anyway, what do you expect from a vampire fic? =)
Mary is about 18/19, Bash 26-28.
Scotland- 1865
Sebastian lifted his head and swallowed the blood, before releasing his grasp on the human. He lifted his head to bask in the moonlight, only after spitting out whatever flesh had come off the human when he had been feeding. Meals were not always pleasant.
He had spent the last several hundred years learning new ways of life. After many years of spending the nights hunting with only Henry and Francis at his side, Henry asked for more children. Sebastian had become Henry's "second-in-command" but that was not to say Francis did not have his fair share of fun as well. Henry had given the younger one the duty of finding another child. In 1610, Francis found Henry a daughter, Elizabeth. He had found her in her bedroom, a knife aimed at her own chest, distraught over the death of her husband while he fought in the war of the Jülich Succession. Francis offered her a new life, just as Sebastian had been given. Elizabeth accepted, staying a 16 year-old girl forever.
They had even tried to find another sister, this one named Claude. She was younger, at 14. She was with them for many years, until she could no longer be. She had displeased Henry most after she revealed herself to a boy in town that had caught her eye. Claude was reckless. Desperate to keep their identities secret (and furious with his daughter), Henry had ordered her death and assigned Bash the task. It would have broken his heart to kill his sister, had he one that was beating. But Henry would have done it if he could not have, and much less quickly too, so Bash had given his sister a kiss on the head when she was asleep before separating head from body. He had given his sister a proper burial the next morning.
Unlike Claude, Elizabeth was quiet and delicate. Sebastian and Francis had both taken her under their wing the moment she entered their family. They had been living in Scotland for the past 15 years, with Henry buying them their own castle with another man's gold. The castle had been nearly abandoned for a 100 years; it lay atop a hill, away from civilization, covered by mist and darkness.
Unless, of course, it was Spring. There was sunlight that reached the windows of the castle, but it was too covered by shadow to go too far in.
"Where do we put them in?" Francis asked.
Sebastian had been out feeding with his brother, roaming the streets as he had been doing for the last 15 years.
"Leave them," Sebastian's sharp teeth went back to their smaller size.
"Out here? What made you change your mind? The dark alleys have always worked so well," Francis smirked.
"To send a message."
"I was not even aware we were trying to send one."
Sebastian turned to his brother, and took him by the collar of his coat. Both of their eyes and teeth had returned to their human form. "The next time you try to engage the men into an argument, do not do it so publicly," He released the hold on Francis.
"Ah," a knowing smile stretched over his young brother's face. "The man really got you angry, did he, when he hit you over the head with his drink?"
"And his friend," Sebastian looked to the other man, the one his brother had been feeding on, "made his last mistake when he picked up his paddle and tried to knock me out with it. Where do you think he got it, anyway? Seems a bit misplaced in a bar."
"Sailor?" Francis seemed untethered by a man carrying a paddle with him. "You really think leaving them here is the right course of action? They know our faces."
"You forget, little brother, that the entire bar was involved. It could have been anyone."
The two walked away, waiting until they were out of sight to run back to the castle at their full speed.
"Bash!"
Sebastian stopped at the door, knowing who it could have been. There was only one person who called him by that name.
"Elizabeth, what are you doing inside? There are so many people outside tonight," Sebastian opened the doors to the library. "Go and have your fun."
"Will you not be joining me this evening?" She asked, following him into the room.
"Not tonight," he looked over the books on the shelves, and picked out Great Expectations, before settling himself in a chair. "Francis and I had our fair share of excitement."
She pouted. "Well, all right. You know Bash," she pointed to the book in his hands, "you have read that book 100 times."
"And I will read it 100 times more," he said simply, already too focused to hear her words.
"I will see you tomorrow night," she said, taking her leave.
"Enjoy yourself!" he called after her.
Once the doors were closed, Sebastian settled into his chair and read until the first light of the day was threatening to come into their home. He went to sleep in his coffin. They all had their own beds, but the light from outside was strong enough to go through their thick curtains this time of the year.
The next night, Sebastian took Elizabeth and Francis out with him. Henry would wander on his own every night, occasionally bringing home a feast for his children.
"Do your hear that?" Elizabeth looked away from her dinner to her brothers.
They listened. The sound was coming from far away but there was someone running quickly along the streets.
"Sebastian, we should go," Francis dropped the arm he was feeding on.
"You two go," Sebastian was not done.
"Sebastian, Henry will find us another," Francis tried to argue. "What are you doing?"
"Go!" Sebastian hissed. "I will be with you both shortly."
Francis took their sister's arm and pulled her up. They were out of sight before Sebastian could say another word.
He took the body and dragged it into a small, run-down street with homes deteriorating. There was no one around, half the town being asleep at this time of the night. The street was as dark as Sebastian's home, a street no one would see if they did not look carefully.
It was the perfect place to hide bodies at night.
Sebastian hid at the corner of the main street and the small street. There was a street light on the other side of the corner.
He listened carefully. The footsteps were light but it was the crying that caught his attention. That of a young woman.
He stood still, thankful for once that he need not breathe in this dead life. For she was breathing, a sound Sebastian had not heard for centuries, except for those who were seconds from death in his hands. The girl was on the other side of the wall, so close that he could reach out his fingers and touch hers. He looked down, his eyes widening. Her hands were but an inch away from his. He could barely see the tip of her fingers. Sebastian stood in the shadows; she stood under the street light.
And there she stayed for minutes, her breath evened out when she took control of herself. The girl ran away when voices from close by rose. It was only a lady and a man (a man Sebastian knew was only for the night) but the girl took off down the street. Sebastian waited until the woman was gone with her client before leaving.
Who was that girl?
She had been barefoot, her clothes hidden by the long cloak that covered nearly her entire body. He had only seen her hands and her long, dark hair. It was a curious thing.
Bash went back to the castle as quickly as possible, the sound of the girl's cries never leaving his thoughts.
He entered the house and stopped. It was almost too quiet.
Listening more closely and laughing quietly to himself, he walked to the ballroom doors and opened them. It was just as he had expected.
"I'm hurt that I was not invited."
Henry, Francis, and Elizabeth were scattered around the room. Bash looked at the ground. There had to have been at least three people for each one in his family. Most lay dead.
"Your invitation must have gotten lost somewhere in the house," his sister told him, finishing off one before looking to him. "Do accept my apologies."
"Forgiven," Bash told her. "Possibly."
"Might this," Elizabeth looked around and held up a limp arm, "get me back in your good graces again?"
"Not tonight Lizzie," Bash sat in an armchair and closed his eyes. "I'm afraid I am still recovering from last night. I think I might have swallowed skin."
"Would that have been your first time doing so?"
"No it would not be, but that one seemed to have had a revolting odor surrounding him throughout his life," Bash opened his eyes. "I think I will read a book tonight, give you three some company."
"Which book?" Francis spoke up, red falling from his lips.
"I think I am in the mood for Great Expectations," Bash answered. "Or perhaps, Frankenstein. Lizzie, would you pick a book for me?"
"I hate when you call me that."
"Just as I hate not receiving my invitation to a dinner party," he snapped his fingers and pointed to the wall of library in the next room. "The night is not getting any younger, my dear sister."
Elizabeth had nothing to say to that, so she walked out of the room, into the library and the bookshelves (carefully avoiding staining her shoes with the blood in the room) and picked out a book. She came back with one in her hand. "Frankenstein for you."
"Thank you," he opened the pages and began to read. Henry had taught him how to read shortly after he had turned.
"Have you not read that book a hundred times?"
"I have read every book in that library a hundred times and I will read each one a hundred times more," he answered, deep into his reading.
"Fine, if you must," she stomped over to whomever was still alive. Bash chuckled. Elizabeth was like that. Always so opinionated.
Bash stayed with his family until Henry asked him, as usual, to take care of the bodies by burial or burning.
Francis and Bash were out for hours, burning and burying. They went back inside just as the sun was starting to come out.
Henry left the three of them on their own the next night as he usually did. This time it was different. Elizabeth left her brothers to go on her own, coming back hours later with what she called exciting news.
"You two will not believe what I have just heard."
"Where did you go? How far?" Bash demanded.
"Relax, I did not wander very far. I was becoming acquainted with the townspeople."
"Elizabeth," Bash said in a warning tone.
"Trust me not to make the same mistake Claude did. Now, do you mind if I tell you what I heard? I feel as if I am about to burst."
"Tell us," Francis urged.
"There is a party," both her brothers looked at each other. Elizabeth placed her hands on her hips. "Do not laugh until I have told you everything. As I was beginning to tell you, there is a party tomorrow night. It is a party given by Count Donaghue and his wife, in honor of the Count's business partner, Count Blackthorne. I am told that it will be filled with people of their status and reputation."
"And why does interest you?" Bash asked.
"There will be many people. And they have connections. If we are to get into their circles, we just might have a way in. Think about it. No doubt people will be reported missing or dead. Becoming acquainted with Counts is a way for us to not raise any suspicion."
"Nobody ever sees us though," Francis argued.
"News of murders and missing people are front-page stories. Do you not think that everyone who walks alone will not be walking with others? Or that police are not going to be on the streets, all night?"
"So we do to everyone what we have always done."
"And risk exposure?" She asked, before turning to Bash. "Sebastian, think about it."
He was. "Why are you so eager to go to this party? We could meet a Count or Countess at any time. We only must dress the part."
Elizabeth's face fell. "This would allow me to have my own party when my birthday comes. I can see what a party is like if we go tomorrow night."
"You want a birthday party?" Bash asked. "Your birthday is in the summer months. Guests will be going home just as the day goes dark."
"Not unless we have an enormous celebration. Oh, Bash, imagine how thrilled Henry will be when I bring all those people to him!"
"Obviously, nobody would notice all those Counts and Countesses missing? There are so many flaws in your plan, my dear sister, but as I can never say no to you, I will accept your invitation to join you tomorrow night at this Count Donahue's party."
"And Count Blackthorne," she reminded him "He and his wife are the main guests of the evening."
"Count Donaghue and Count Blackthorne," Bash repeated the names. "Sounds exciting. Francis, will you be joining us?"
"No," his brother refused. "Just bring one back, you hear?"
"We are not going for that reason," Bash said. "We will do that before the party."
"Well, all right," Francis agreed.
"Be thankful that we live in these times," Bash told him. "Or you and I would be wearing those godawful hair wigs to this party."
"That was a monstrous time, indeed," Elizabeth agreed.
"Elizabeth will enjoy herself, you will find your own entertainment, and I shall control my temper if anyone dares to overstep their boundaries," Bash was speaking of those at the party. Over the years, the name given to him the night of his rebirth had become him. He took pride in calling himself the Darkness.
"Shall we tell Henry of this?" Francis asked.
"No, he will not care to be around them," Bash answered.
"How do you expect to find a dress?" Francis turned to their sister. "We cannot go into the shops in the day."
"No, we cannot. I suppose I will have to go into an empty shop at night," Elizabeth said.
"Good, it's settled then. Francis, you will accompany her to the shops, keep her out of trouble and I will find us a way in," Bash said.
His decision was met with complaints.
Francis looked appalled. "You cannot expect me to help our sister try on dresses!"
"Why do I need security?" Elizabeth asked at the same time.
Bash lifted a hand up. The other two went quiet immediately. "Francis, you will do as I ask without argument. Elizabeth, you said yourself that there will be police out on the streets."
"But not-"
"Now? Maybe not, but just do as I ask. Please?"
"Fine," she crossed her arms. "But do not think for a second that I am happy about this arrangement."
"I would never dream of it," he told her. "Tomorrow night, Francis, you will help our sister find something to wear and I will get us the clothing we need. Are we clear?"
So they did. Francis, of course, argued until Bash got angry. But he went with his sister as Bash found them clothing. They were done with everything in less than an hour. They entered a tavern to change their clothing and Elizabeth led them to the party. When nobody was in sight, they stopped walking and sped to the gates of Count Donaghue's estate.
"Which one is Count Donaghue?" Bash asked his sister.
"Should I know?" she whispered. "I only heard his name in passing. I know nothing of him."
They looked among the crowd. There were carriages lined in front, with men and women climbing in and out. Bash examined the people closely.
"Shall we try to fit in?" Elizabeth linked an arm with each brother.
"What shall our names be?" Francis looked over to Bash.
"Sebastian, Elizabeth, and Francis," Bash was looking at a man and his wife. "De Poitiers. We have come to Scotland from France. If they want to know why, do not tell them. Let me do the talking. Francis, I believe I see Count Donaghue and his wife. Why don't you help Elizabeth make acquaintances while I get us in with our host?"
Francis led his sister away as Bash approached their host.
"Pardon my interruption, but I was told to introduce myself to our host," Sebastian gave a small bow. "Are you Count Donaghue? You are spoken highly of in these areas."
Count Donaghue was a cheerful, middle-aged who introduced his wife with great pride. The Countess smiled and held her hand out for Bash to kiss.
"May I introduce my business partner and close friend, James Blackthorne," Count Donaghue looked to another man that stood with him.
"Count Blackthorne," the man corrected his friend. "And you might be?"
"Sebastian de Poitiers," Bash held his hand out for Count Blackthorne to shake. The man only jumped back.
"Your hands are cold," he said, looking Bash in the eye.
Bash rubbed his hands together. "I apologize."
"May I introduce my wife, the Countess? Mary, do not be rude." Count Blackthorne motioned to a woman, not much older than Elizabeth. Her eyes wide and brown, her hair long and dark.
Bash took her hand, looking the Countess in the eyes. "Your Grace," he whispered against her hand before kissing it.
Count Blackthorne had a beautiful wife indeed.
Sorry for the delay! Summer classes started and I've been distracted by the World Cup. I wrote this chapter in two hours so I promise to make the next one better! Lol.