The moon was scarlet and the ground was ivory.
The natural satellite of the Earth burned into the skin of the dusk sky.
In another world more distant than this one, humans were dressing up in masks and costumes. Pumpkins were carved, painted, vibrant, and grinning. Gooseberry jam was being spread on pastry and candies were being littered as trails of reward.
This realm, however, was a dreamscape manifested as reality. There were witches brewing in cauldrons, warlocks devising spells, ghouls scattered amongst the fog. Zombies broke from their graves, werewolves howled to the sky, and goblins, grotesque as ever, meddled throughout.
Still and all —
There were vampires.
Visual puns in comparison to humans: Afraid of light, garlic, running water, crucifixes, and holy water.
These creatures were only tamed by blood. Unrighteous, sweet-sucking. Full of greed, domination, and lust. They find purpose in thorns even if they are given roses.
Nevertheless.
The moon was blood-colored.
And this was the night Lord Garfield Logan was waiting for, for a century. One hundred years. One thousand and two hundred months. Thirty-six thousand and five hundred days. Eight hundred and seventy-six thousand hours, and this was the one he anticipated for what seemed everlasting.
Time wasn't a concept in such a dimension, but its indefinite quality was still felt in intensity.
Lord Garfield had silver, shoulder length hair, and deep, lidded jasper eyes. A scar running from the bottom of the right side of the lip, to the top. He had the helix, auricle, and three lobe piercings on his left ear, which he wore silver jewelry. On his right ear, he had the anti-tragus and two lobe piercing. He has the frog eye piercing on his tongue, as well.
His face well chiseled, eyebrows thick, eyes sharp. The middle phalanx of his index, middle, and ring fingers were scarred, and joined by thick stitches — that were woven as argent threads in his flesh.
Lord Garfield sported an all black outfit. This was the night he was going to put the beast he has been for the last century, to rest. He had on a leather trench coat that extended to knee-length, and the sleeves were embroidered in burgundy, petite gems.
He had a belt through his black pants, and dark leather shoes with merlot soles. Under his black blouse which was buttoned half way up his chest, he had a dark tie.
He was preternaturally handsome, appearing ever so nocturnal.
A soft knock landed on the wooden door of the mansion.
"Finally, my cure has arrived."
Adria was one of the five servants Lord Garfield had in his residence. Adria was a curvaceous, well-melanated female with hazel eyes.
"Yes, Lord Garfield. I will attend to the guest."
The door opened, and an alabaster-skinned woman was guided inside.
Her eyes were as purple as aubergine, hair as ebony as obsidian, and her lips as rosé as cherry blossoms. She had on a black choker with a silver circle, and a silver Ankh necklace on her neck.
A black choker was on her upper left thigh. She had on a gothic, black Lolita dress with fishnet sleeves, stockings, and dark platform boots. Black matte lipstick. Smudged eyeliner. A septum piercing and upper lobe piercings. She had the word "feel" tattooed on her neck. The woman had a small, black purse
The wind howled over the snow-covered ground as the door shut.
Adria bowed, reverencing her superior and introduced the woman. Then, Adria went about her tasks.
The woman looked in awe at her surroundings. Glass windows that gave the view of mountains, reflected the buoyant lights of the torch lamps. Gargoyle statues lined meticulously along the walls. Dark draperies, white marble floors and staircases, crimson carpets, glistening chandeliers, and concrete pillars with the friezes and bases adorned in gold.
"Good night, Angel." Lord Garfield softly took the woman's hand, and kissed it.
She gasped.
Lord Garfield's emerald gaze collides with her violet. His eyes were alluring, and a pair that would make any woman lose her salvation.
"Good evening, Lord Garfield. I was summoned on your request to come here tonight."
He already knew that much, but his presence had her speaking balderdash.
Lord Garfield resumes his full posture, gently releasing her hand. "Correct. I'm glad to hear my letter made it to you safely, and that you've come here in a timely manner."
"Yeah, quite the drive from where I live."
"Really? How far?"
"About four hours. Two hours in I was sucked into Snow Glory you guys have got going on out there. I would have never guessed such a pretty place would be in the wild of Coeur de Sang."
Lord Garfield informed. "Interesting. There's certainly more humans within that distance."
"Humans?"
Now, Raven was confused. Of course, there were humans everywhere.
This figure of nobility must be nuts, she thought.
She then said with minimal eye contact. "Raven, by the way. It's… a pleasure to meet you."
"I already know your name, Angel,"
Why does he keep calling me "Angel"? She thought to herself.
She had no idea how this man knew her name, he simply addressed her as "Angel" on the letter.
Lord Garfield stroked his threaded index finger across her delicate lips. He tilted her face so she had no choice but to look him in the eyes.
"Raven," He said her name for the first time, and it made his blood rush with lust.
Lord Garfield's whisper made her knees quiver. "Dark-haired, wise, and mysterious."
They stared at each other for several seconds.
Then, Lord Garfield says, "Why won't you come in, and let's get you settled."
Lord Garfield brings Raven to the living room, and seats her on a velvet couch.
Another one of the servants is pouring wine in glasses on the small table in front of the couch.
There was an assortment of salted crackers and fruit on a platter.
"Please, eat," Lord Garfield persuaded, "Your body needs to be nourished."
Raven was suspicious, she felt like she was walking blindly into whatever this was. She loved the interior design, the mannerisms, and the formality, but something about this whole scenario was off-putting.
Something about this man.
He was intense.
Too intense.
Her tongue felt heavy as she spoke. "The food's not laced… is it?"
Lord Garfield said between chews. "Laced?"
"It means to put something toxic in someone's food or drink."
The royal man chuckles. "Oh, please, Angel. I would never do something like that to you. Especially if I've waited an entire century to meet you."
"What?"
"Eat," His voice almost sounded demanding. "I forgot I didn't disclose enough context in the letter I sent you all those months ago."
Raven sighed, side-eyeing the food. She took a red grape from the bunch, ate it. She made an expression of approval, then grabbed another sweet fruit.
Raven watched Lord Garfield's mouth open, and eyed long, keen fangs.
In an anguished tone, she exclaimed. "You're a vampire!"
Raven grabbed her bag, and attempted to break for it.
Swiftly, Lord Garfield grabbed her hand. He sat her back down on the couch, and her bag dropped to the floor.
He kissed the inside of her wrist as she squirmed.
"Yes, I am, Angel. Now, can you please relax and let me tell you why you're here with me?"
Raven fought back. "No! You're going to kill me!"
"I like stubborn women like you," His words were deep and possessive. "We were doing so well, and then you started acting out. Please, don't put me in a position where I have to make you obey me."
Raven eased, and sat back in the chair with a huff. She kept a space between herself and the vampire.
"I'm not going to kill you, sweetheart. You're what I've longed for, for a century."
Raven didn't know if she was anxious or frustrated. Maybe both. "You keep telling me that, get to the point."
"The bloodline I come from has a generational curse running through it. Usually vampires are able to maintain themselves for eternity by feeding on human blood. However, that isn't the case with me. I need more than blood."
"You need my life." Raven uttered sarcastically between bites of crackers.
"Not necessarily. By the hundred year mark, I need to match with a woman who is capable of enduring my bite. The women are picked by random, sent into a town of humans, and whoever the letter ends up with, is the one who is summoned. If the woman isn't compatible with my bite, she dies. Two women have already died from my teeth."
Raven's nervous system was infused with thrill. Her mind was a hurricane of thoughts, and her heart resounded in her stomach.
Lord Garfield sipped wine from the mouth of his glass. "I'm a pure-blooded beast who has had a share of unpleasant ratios in his life."
"Clearly," Rachel grunted, "And what happens if the woman oh-so-graciously survives your biting kink?"
"Biting kink," Lord Garfield laughed.
He wasn't as foreign as Raven thought.
"The woman will become a vampire, and we will live off of each other's blood."
Raven quizzed. "What happens to you if the match fails?"
Lord Garfield asserts with a stern face. "I go through one hundred years of insatiable bloodlust. I've drank the blood of servants, visitors to the town, even walked distances to find areas where any trace of human blood could quench my thirst. I've even tried drinking my own blood, and that didn't help. I get that desperate to drain myself of my own source of life."
Raven feels empathetic. "Wow, that must be really difficult to deal with. I mean, a hundred years is a very long time to be dealing with something like that. So, you're at least two hundred years old, since you have experienced two women."
Lord Garfield grinned at the woman. "Years don't really matter to creatures like us. I look as young and dashing as you, don't I?"
"You do," Raven laughed, and so did Lord Garfield. "So, how do we do this thing? I mean, you could just bite me right now."
"True, but there's a little bit more to it than a bite,"
Lord Garfield moved closer to Raven. His ears perked as her breath hitched.
He was pompous and bold, tracing his stitched fingers on an expanse of flesh on Raven's thigh. She lets out a fragile sound. Her skin prickles as his touch wanders.
Lord Garfield closes his lips on Raven's ear, nibbles. She smelled like the freshest lavender field the world had to offer.
"Vampires do crave blood, but my ancestors have always craved more to manage the curse. We crave more bodily fluids than blood. More namely, saliva, semen, tears. Those are the three additional items we desire."
Raven whispered cautiously. "Do you need all four for the curse to dissipate?"
"You're an intelligent woman, Angel. Yes, I need all four. Once you survive the bite, everything else will come easy."
Lord Garfield tracks his hand to her curtain of dark purple, and tucks it behind her ear.
His tone was sinful. No longer decent.
"Can I taste your blood?"
Raven used one second to think.
She was at a fork of a road that gave her 50/50. Make it or don't make it. Life or death. She dies, or she lives as a blood-sucking monster with a man she just met. Nonetheless, something inside of her, she didn't know what, was craving for this creature. Desperately. Raven knew her feelings well enough to know what she felt had meaning behind it.
She finally decides. "Take my blood."
"I knew you were obedient and willing."
Lord Garfield takes the dark-haired woman in front of the rufescent path of light that the moon shone through the window. He stood behind her.
"You're the first who has yielded to me. Such a good girl," Lord Garfield moves his hand from Raven's waist, to her neck. He holds her neck firmly, watching it tilt and expose skin.
Her lips part. Her violet hair is wispy and flowing like the women in fairytales. She was blissful and all things well.
He knew this even before he got a taste of her.
She was willing to give herself to him without knowing her fate.
Lord Garfield's tongue wiped the skin where he was going to plant his teeth. His blood grew hotter as he watched her breathe in anticipation.
He kisses her neck languidly, then sucks.
She writhes.
"This is your last chance, Raven. Your blood, is it mine?"
"My blood will tame the beast inside of you," Raven interlaced her fingers in his and held his hand. "Please, bite me."
Lord Garfield instructs with desire seeping through his teeth. "Hold still, and focus on your breathing."
The vampire sinks his fangs into the angel's flesh.
Raven holds Lord Garfield's hand tighter as the adrenaline of ecstasy spilled through her bones and shattered everything human in her that she's ever known.
She calls his name, hoping it would purge her of her sins. Her voice was soft around the edges. He deepened his bite with a proprietorial growl. Her blood stroked his appetite and made him lose his identity.
The stars broke. The world split. Time found its essence once more, and froze.
She shattered like glass in his hands. He held her carefully, heaving breaths of air. He observed the sweet crimson running down her neck. He watched. He waited. He was baptized in her blood.
Ivory bled scarlet.
hi! this is my first time writing a vampire story. i hope you guys like it so far. more coming soon!