Twenty-Six
Surely Saben Frost had been born in the company of the vampire called Mezereon. Deep in her very being, her molecules vibrated with the knowledge that she was utterly and hopelessly in love with him.
Every moment was grief that was not spent in the sight of Mezereon.
Bright halos gleamed above his head, making his copper curls shine like something precious. His eyes were dark, piercing, cut from black rock. They were eyes that had seen too much and did not suit his round and youthful face, his mouth soft and cherub-like, he had been barely fifteen when he had Turned.
Time passed differently in the golden haze of Mezereon's refuge.
Deep in the earth, in a labyrinth of tunnels he conducted his business amidst a revel, Saben could never have imagined the sprawling society that existed there, all devotees to Mezereon's cause.
He reclined on a golden throne draped in animal furs, the head of a large wolf sat on one arm. "You may ask me a question if you like." He said and stroked dark hair from her face and her eyes closed to luxuriate in the sensation of his touch.
She was drunk on it, had been glutting on it for days as jealous eyes looked on.
"What would please you?" The words had been taken out of her mouth before her mind had a chance to listen to what she had said.
"Sing for me, my little songbird, sing for me."
So she sang, and sang, and sang and could not remember a time when she had done so and she knew without equivocation that she had always sung for Mezereon. She found herself simpering beneath his smiles, swooning at the merest glance...as if she were in love.
She spent brief moments in reprieve, shut away in a small room which had four walls and a bunk. She lay on the cool sheets and each time she shut her eyes Mezereon's face was printed on the back of her eyelids.
She relished the memories of his touch, soft and gentle and passionate as he summoned her to his private chambers.
There was a timid knock on the door and she rose, alert, ready to be taken back before Mezereon, she had a sick hunger for it.
"Saben?" Iris face peered round the door.
Saben had a vision of the time Iris had guided her to this room. "You will speak when he tells you to speak. You will sing when he tells you to sing. You will feed when he tells you to feed. You will be his and his alone because you belong to him." Her voice as cool as the a frigid air through the tunnels as she sealed her to him.
"Will we see him tonight?" Again those words, her voice, the desperate need flooding each syllable and yet somewhere she knew it wasn't right.
"Not tonight." Iris said and reached out an lily white hand. "I have something to show you."
Saben looked this way and that, as if seeking approval, as if fearing Mezereon's displeasure for surely as a living god he could see all.
"Come."
Fingers trembling, Saben took the girl's hand.
She was led into the darkness of the halls, her bare feet soundless on the cold ceramic tiles. "Tonight the master dines with his clients." Iris murmured.
Clients. That word, the air, she could feel her perfect notion of love for Mezereon slip away from her like the tide. But it was momentary.
"We can enjoy a little treat." Iris smiled showing her sharp teeth.
The further she moved away from Mezereon the easier it was to remember parts of herself including the need to feed.
Iris took her past the Parlour of Games where the soft sighs and ambient music spilled into the corridor. Saben paused thinking they were going to enter but the little vampire put a finger to her lips and pulled her onwards.
"You hungry?" Iris asked.
The moment the words left the girl's lips Saben realised she was ravenous, her fangs wear protruding, her gums aching and she was suddenly aware of the cramps painfully seizing her stomach. "Yes." Her voice erupted in as a sigh.
"Then I have a surprise for you."
"Wait." She said as Iris tugged her forward, "Does Mezereon know about this?"
Iris looked both ways to confirm the halls were empty. "He won't catch us, his guest is a very old friend." Though the word friend did not sit well on her tongue.
Soon the ceramic tiles beneath her feet turned to damp stone. "Iris-"
"It's not far now, sister." Saben could see her fangs flash in the night like twin blades and a shudder ran through her as the air changed from the icy fragrance of Mezereon's inner sanctum to a sour stench of human waste and rot.
A hand flew to her mouth as if she could stop the onslaught of ripe shit and piss from cramming its way in her throat and nostrils. As id she didn't have the memory of Baba Lucine's bloated, decomposing corpse imprinted on her senses.
Iris smile was unnaturally wide, pointing into the darkness, the same direction the smell was emanating from. Suddenly Saben was scared.
The shock of the sensation cleared her mind and she wandered she was doing here, hadn't she had a purpose? Then it was gone, almost as quickly as it had materialised and she was inching closer toward the dark, passed the tip of Iris' finger.
She could smell the shivering child flesh before she saw them, could hear their teeth clattering and feet dragging on stone. There were twenty or more children cramped together like an organic mass of fear and loathing.
The smell was sweet to her senses and hunger consumed all her other senses.
"I'll let you taste one if you're quick." Iris said as she appeared with a cold smile, thoroughly pleased with herself.
It took effort for her to turn her head to the vampire child and she was irresistibly pulled back to the cage by the beat of blood that flowed through their virgin skin. Her ear caught the rhythm of their hearts and she was brought to her knees, her hands curling around the thick iron bars.
She tried to focus on their faces, to separate one from the next but they were all made one by the soot and mud. She could see her own reflection in their eyes filled with the gloss of new tears, her face gaunt, her fangs as large as sabres.
There was a ripple of movement as they tried, desperately to keep as far back as possible even if it meant crushing the child behind.
But he didn't move. His face shone like pearl amidst the silt, his chin lifted in defiance and his eyes, the colour of fertile soil, eyes that were so like his mother's were has hard as tunnel rock. He glared at her despite his trembling lip.
"Which one would you like?" Iris prompted and Saben hissed. The sound provoked a shared whimper from the gathered children.
She could see Daniel flinch and instantly felt ashamed of what she was, the hunger receded but didn't altogether disappear. Lark, her heart began to ache and Mezereon's magic faded just a little.
She feared that Iris could read her hesitation and she reached between the bars, control, she thought to herself as she grasped Daniel's collar and pulled him toward her until his nose touched the cool bars.
She could feel his pulse pumping through her own tongue and knew she could rip into his skull with her teeth, as if it were a ripe piece of fruit. I would never hurt you, she projected into his mind, his mouth going slack, his eyes wide as he voice penetrated his thoughts. I want to help you.
"Quick now." Iris urged.
Saben released Daniel and he collapsed into the dirt and grasped the plump arm of the next child: a skinny, dark haired girl with large golden eyes.
Saben put her lips to the child's skin and was surprised to find the girl was not trembling like the others but was passive as if resigned to her fate. She only hesitated a moment before sinking teeth into her neck and the blood exploded onto her tongue.
The blood tasted bitter, and she knew it was the keen edge of disease she had tasted. She released the girl and her frail sickly body collapsed back Daniel's arms, he wound his arms around her protectively, his expression fierce and filled with hatred for the monster vampire beyond the bars.
Saben wiped the blood from her lips, the taste still thick on her tongue and suddenly the completeness of Mezereon's spell and her appetite fell away, her fangs receded and a keen sense of nausea rose.
She met Daniel's furious gaze, her lips parting on an unspoken apology.
There was a noise in the tunnels and Iris looked nervously about her. "We should go now." She took Saben by the wrist and tugged her away from the cage.
Saben cast one last look at Daniel who stared steadily back, eyes that were so much like his mother's.
"Quickly." Iris hissed and they sprinted through the tunnels, rock damp enough to slip. Iris' sense of panic could only amplify Saben's own. The crushing weight of where she was, who she was and who she was with threatened to steal her resolve.
It didn't take long to reach the corridors where paltry torchlight offered some reprieve from the disorienting darkness. Even the dull glow of the flame was harsh to her unaccustomed sight.
The taste of Mezereon's magic rammed up her nostrils like an invisible limb and she doubled over, choking on it. Iris tugged her in a valiant effort to get her to move but Saben could not be roused quick enough and she abandoned her.
Through her watery gaze, Saben could see Iris small frame disappear into the distance seeking the refuge of her own little room.
Mezereon's spell was warring against the blood she had just ingested and she felt torn between the two. Her insides were twisting in immeasurable pain. She staggered through the hall, drawn on by the distant echoes of life.
Moving in a sickly daze she bumped into something and her lips opened to apologise, to beg forgiveness for it was surely Mezeron's own hands that gripped her bare shoulders so hard. Weakness invaded her and she slumped forward, collapsing..