Chapter 11: The Memory of the Vampire Lord, Part 2
~Fifty Years Later~
Draco shoved Veronica down onto the bed. "Oh come now, Augustan," she purred, stroking his cheek. "Surely you aren't jealous of the boy?" Draco said nothing, but kissed her neck. "Aren't you hungry?" He shook his head, clutching at the folds of her dress.
Veronica pushed Draco off her. "Not tonight, Augustan," she purred. "Tonight, Lilith comes. Hungry or no, it's best you feed even a little tonight."
The boy, a youth, lay covered in his own blood behind them. Draco glanced at the boy and snarled, even though he was dead. He was very possessive, he had learned, and was not willing to let Veronica toy with other men, no matter what their age.
"Augustan, you made quite a mess."
"Why do you do this?"
Veronica blinked and kissed him. "Because it's fun," she giggled. "Tomorrow night, I promise you, we will join. Now get up and feed. Then make yourself presentable. We must be ready to gaze upon our Mother."
Draco obeyed.
He had never met Lilith before. Veronica met her once. Draco followed Veronica to the forest where they would meet that night with the Queen of the Un-Dead.
They met with other of their kind on the way to the center of the forest, where Lilith would reside. At the sight of a grand tree, there rested a woman of unearthly white skin, hair the same shade and a gown of fresh white snow. Her lips and her eyes were bright red. Around her was a guard of wolves.
When all who were in her presence gathered and bowed to her, she looked around and rested her eyes on Draco. Standing, she walked towards them.
"You are trapped." She said to him. "You were forced into a position no greater than a slave." She raised him up. Draco looked into her eyes. She glanced away from him and at Veronica. "You killed his family?"
Veronica looked up, eyes wide. She struggled to keep her mouth shut. "Y-y-e-e-s-s-s." Veronica's mouth and voice answered against her better judgment.
"And yet you kept him alive to torture him?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I hate him! I wanted to make him suffer!"
"For what? For venomous bloodshed caused by you? Because he detained you?" Lilith asked. She drew from her dress a dagger.
Veronica jumped up to make her escape. Draco grabbed her arm. "Veronica, stay."
"Are you an idiot?!" she shrieked. "I turned you in order to ruin you! I hate you!"
Draco blinked and sighed, smiling. "How I longed to hear those words. Thank you, Veronica. All this time, I thought I had fallen for you. Thank you for bringing me here. I wouldn't have woken from the nightmare otherwise." He turned to Lilith. "Mother, I will kill her."
Lilith smirked and handed him the dagger. "The heart is where to strike, Augustan Mello."
Veronica struggled against him, but it was futile. When he was human, he was a powerful man. As a vampire, his strength was beyond that of twenty men. He held Veronica close and kissed her mockingly before plunging the knife into her heart.
"You are free, Augustan Mello," Lilith said. Augustan cleaned the knife and returned it to Lilith. "But unschooled. Lucia!"
A wolf stood and transformed into a girl of about twelve years old. "Yes, Mother?"
"I leave him in your care. Teach him well."
"Of course," Lucia bowed.
"I am to be left in the hands of a child?" Draco asked, slightly perturbed.
"Lucia may have the appearance of a young girl, but she is an adult at least one hundred years your senior. The child here, Augustan, is you."
The meeting went on until the early hours of the morning. Once Lilith vanished into the tree, the court meeting ended and Lucia approached Draco.
"Come with me," she said. Draco followed her out of the forest. "Tomorrow night, I will assess your abilities and see what was not taught to you. If all she wanted was revenge than she must have been keeping you alive out of spite. You only know how to hunt?"
"Yes."
"We'll find out more tomorrow." Lucia stopped at a house and opened the door. Draco entered. She followed. "I don't know how anyone could hate you, Augustan. I heard a lot of good things about you."
"Really?" Augustan asked. "I figured I was forgotten."
"The Wizard who was torn apart by a Succubus? No. You've made a mark on history. You're descendants are in hiding, but you're not forgotten. With my help," Lucia turned to look at him. "You could climb to the top. You'll never be able to replace Lilith, but I can make you my heir—in the event of my death, Augustan Mello will take my place in Lilith's Court."
"Can you do that?"
"Of course I can," Lucia said, smiling. "I a Vampire Lord. Next to Lilith, who is sacred, my word is law. If I say you are my heir—which I do—you are officially and legally my heir. No one can change that now." Draco followed Lucia deeper into the house. "Tomorrow, Augustan, you will learn what you were never taught."
~Seven Hundred Years Later~
Draco sat beneath the tree. Lucia was late. He glanced down both sides of the road and stood and stretched, yawning. As he was about t go and look for her, Lucia finally came. The black wolf that was Lucia nudged her head against Draco like a cat.
"You're late." He said.
"Forgive me, Augustan," Lucia said. "Lilith carried on longer than usual." Draco licked her face.
"Of course, Lucia darling." They snuck into a village and began to hunt. Draco turned into a human, as did Lucia. They entered a house where two children lived. Both were girls. Draco sniffed each girl and carried away the younger sister. The girl woke instantly and tried to scream, but her voice was muffled by his hand. Draco pulled the girl out.
He and Lucia carried the girl deep into the forest.
Once they were a safe distance away from the village, Lucia bit the girl's neck and Draco drank from her wrist. Once the girl was drained dry, they burned the body and turned back into wolves.
Draco and Lucia returned to their home. Lucia stopped at a door and stared at it.
"What is it?" Draco asked. Lucia bowed her head and touched her stomach.
"Why is it that Vampires cannot bear children?"
"You want a child?"
"For you," Lucia muttered. "I want a family to give you."
Draco picked up the petite Vampire and carried her down into the catacombs of their home. "I only need you, Lucia. You are my family now. If you want a child, than I shall try to give you one—"
"There is no possible way to have a child directly, Augustan," Lucia lectured. "Not without Lilith's blessing."
"I could turn a child," Draco said. "And we could raise it as our own."
"No—that is forbidden. No child under ten years of age is allowed to be turned. Lilith set that rule at the beginning of time."
Draco sighed. "Do you want a family?"
"Yes, but not at the expense of breaking that taboo," Lucia said.
"Have there not been incidents of Vampires getting pregnant?"
"Only by the blessing of Lilith—I'm afraid to ask her for that blessing."
"Then I shall ask it," Draco said, kissing her hand. "Tomorrow we will go to Lilith and receive her blessing. If my wife wants a child, she shall have a child."
Lucia blushed. "You are quite untraditional."
"How so? You and I have been bonded as such for seven centuries now. I cannot call you my bride. You were a Child of Lilith before me. Therefore, I call you my wife."
"Fool," she said. Draco kissed her. "A great fool."
He kissed her again. Lucia returned the gesture, wrapping her arms around his neck.
The door burst open. Lucia and Draco turned towards the intruders. Men pulled them apart and dragged them outside. The sky was brightening. Draco was thrust into a silver cage and howled whenever he touched the bars. The men dragged Lucia to a meadow nearby. The sun began to peak over the horizon. Lucia's struggling multiplied and she pulled their assailants in various directions.
They flew and hit rocks and trees. Draco tried to pry the bars, but they burned his skin. After giving up hope of release, he grabbed the cloak of one of the hunters and pulled it over himself.
Helpless and fearful, he watched Lucia fight. Finally, they tied her between two trees and watched as the sun peaked over the horizon. She began to scream and her flesh began to scorch.
"Lucia!!" Draco shouted. "Lucia!! Lucia!!"
She burst into flame.
Draco stopped shouting her name. He dropped to his knees and starred at the burning mass that was once Lady Lucia—his best friend, mentor, teacher, lover…his wife.
The hunters turned to Draco and prepared to move the cage into sunlight. Draco growled at them. "I'll rip you APART!!" he shouted, kicking the bars. They broke. The men backed away. Draco kicked the bars again and they fell apart, allowing him to climb out. Fixing the cloak, he grabbed one man and dug his nails into the man's head.
The other men backed away, fear stinking the air.
Draco lunged at them and they scattered, some of them stupid enough to run into the house. Draco followed them and, one by one, tore them to shreds.
When night came, the whole area inside and around the house was covered in blood. Draco exited the house and looked at Lucia's corpse.
Falling to his knees, he lay next to the skeleton and sobbed, holding it to his chest, stroking the skull. "Lucia…Lucia…"
He did not know how long he lay next to her. But when the moon was high in the sky, he stood and carried the skeleton, oh so carefully, with him to Lilith.
He placed Lucia's bones before the Vampire Queen.
"What happened?" Lilith demanded.
"Vampire Hunters attacked us," Draco said. "I avenged her."
"And what do you want me to do about that? Do you believe I can revive her?" Draco didn't answer. "Augustan Mello, Vampire Lord," Lilith said, approaching him. "What were you going to come to me for this night if she did not die?"
"To ask your blessing for Lucia to bear a child for me."
"So you hope that I might be able to revive her to fulfill such a selfish thing?"
"Lucia wanted to have a child."
"It is still selfish. You avenged her." Lilith placed a hand on Augustan's hand. "My child, you have suffered much. I do not have that power—I am not Christ. I am not a god. I do not have the power over the living or the dead. Simply the Un-Dead. Augustan Mello, Vampire Lord, mourn our beloved Lucia—your wife and my daughter. Tonight, mourn her. Tomorrow, you will take her place beside me and will be recognized as a Vampire Lord."
Draco nodded, and began to sob again. Lilith petted his head, saying nothing, but being the loving mother that she was well known to be.
yeah...it's a tad late. Oh well. Thanks for reading, everyone!