Chapter 3
The first of many

The sky was darkened by the storm clouds overhead, many of the people who lived in the nearby village were either asleep or attending some sort of function in the nearby dancehall. Luke had dressed in his frock coat and golden embroidered slacks. He was quite dashing, Darla had to admit, but he seemed generically vain and a bit too full of himself and his looks.

"You look…nice." Darla squeaked out as he entered her vision.

"Why thank you." He said looking at himself once before walking in front of her.

:"Now whom would you like to eat tonight in celebration of your turning? May I suggest someone of high stature? A rich socialite maybe?"

Luke began to rub his hands together as though he was trying to get warm and then looked over the town. The look of a greedy child was more than present on his face. Darla was slightly amused at his enthusiasm but her patience was wearing thin. The night was young and though the night was his to have, she was also desperate to appease the master for her disrespect.

"Well?" She asked impatiently.

"I smell so many good people to sample it is hard to choose my sister."

Darla stared blankly at him for a minute before scoffing in annoyance and taking his hand. Together they made their way to a dancehall called the Vincent LaRouge. She knew that there were many rich and reputable people littering the place.

"You've been here before I take it?" Luke asked playfully.

"Once or twice…I used to get a lot of money from the governor St. Marks. He was quite a man of stature in this town but his nighttime habits earned him stiff punishment. He was a frugal man with nothing but an argumentative demeanor. One night I saw him propositioning a streetwalker and was bickering over the price, there's nothing more that I hate than that. After all I was a woman of the streets once myself."

"You?" Luke said surprised.

"I was." Darla answered coldly as they made their way through the crowd. The people around them hardly noticed their presence. They seemed to shift through the crowd without much notice.

"I think I may have found you someone worth your night." Darla said with a smile.

Their eyes fixated onto a woman in the crowd, she had a smooth head of lightly curled brown hair braided through with white and pink beadwork. Her dress fitted her well with a corset laced so tightly that her bust was a bit more noticeable than most would allow in public.
"The Countess de Chambourg?"

Darla looked a Luke with astonishment.

"You know the young morsel?" She inquired.

"We were to be married at a time, my father sent me to Barcelona to meet her. Then I met our master in the alleyway on my way back and so I guess she is now out to court another suitor."

Darla stared at her with caution, the woman was a prize kill, it was true, but she was too close to Luke to make certain that there would be no notice of her absence. Just as she was about to make her thoughts of caution to Luke, he was gone from her side and nearing the young countess.

"Luke…"She whispered before forcefully making her way through towards him.

He was seemingly playing coy with the young woman, gently running his hands through her delicate curls. At first Darla's heart seemed to pound though it no longer had a beat to it. But then she realized something, this woman didn't seem to recognize her new brother Luke. In fact she seemed as though she had just met him. She laughed at his anecdotes, blushed when he whispered in her ear, and even gave his cheeks light kisses here and there. Darla made her way to the refreshments and lightly sipped her tonics.

The night was beginning to grow on and Darla was waiting for her chance to prove herself worthy of redemption. She scanned the crowd for a possible prospective member to initiate into the order. She looked over to the crowd when suddenly a hand crept over her shoulder startling her.

"I've decided to take her."

Darla turned and smiled, then looked upon the girl who was seemingly waiting for his signal to leave the crowd.

"Do you think it wise to take this one my brother?" She asked playfully.

"And why not my love?" He asked with slight concern.

"You know her too well and you would be the last person to be seen with her in a public scene, suspicions make the mouths loose in the world of the elite."

Luke pondered her words for the moment and then smiled.

"I don't care…"

Without another word he walked away and made his way towards the Countess. Darla was infuriated with the complete dismissal of her advice. She had been around 50 years, more than long enough time to know the ways of society.
She followed behind him in the shadows though he did try to evade her enough times to let her know he knew she was following him. The sight of them made her want to heave. He was so tacky, his hunting style was so typical of newborns, seduction of the simple-minded to make the first kill easy.

She then backed off and waited for him in the streets on a nearby bench when she heard a piercing scream. It was the girls, Darla was warned immediately for the sound of it was so loud it startled nearby walkers. They rushed into the alley where Luke had taken her and soon the sounds of people screaming monster and murderer and devil filled the night air.

"Damn you Luke…" She swore under her breath.

Then she took off into the alley where she found the crowd slumped over the ground. Her neck was ripped out and the dress that she admired was covered in scarlet liquid. She then made her way out to the streets riddled with false panic before making her way towards the lair. Then behind her she heard a twig snap and with that she transformed and took the neck of her stalker. She lifted him up in the air and snarled. Then as she looked up she caught the scent of blood. It was the familiar scent she had smelled earlier when the girls body was found. It was then that she saw the person she had her deathly clutch

"You are an idiot!" She shouted.

"Do you realize what you could've done? You could have exposed us all! We are predators, sure enough, but you do not feed in public that way or you might as well expose us all!"

Luke merely stared at her.

"If you insist on acting without discretion I shall see to it you will only be living off the vermin in the sewers."

The two walked into the sewers and though the night was over for now, Darla knew there would only be more nonsense left to deal with. It would be one of many.