CHAPTER 4

For dinner with Sarah that evening, Von Krolock dressed with care. He knew what he wore was laughably out of date, but having lived over four hundred years, he had seen many fashions come and go. For whatever reason, the ones of the previous century suited him best. When you had eternity to contend with, your perspective on these matters changed considerably from the mortal one. The only concessions he made to the current century were trousers instead of hose. It was pleasing to have the freedom to dress as one wished. Many vampires remained stuck in the century of their transformation. Von Krolock was more forward-thinking.

He had ordered gowns made of the latest fashions for Sarah, however, because he knew that was what she would want. He put the seamstress to work six months ago, in anticipation of her arrival. It was easy for him to estimate her measurements with his centuries of experience. She was not the first woman for whom he had ordered gowns made. But by Heaven and Hell, she would be the last.

Sarah had every color and fabric to choose from. He wondered what she would select tonight. Maria would help to lace her corset and gown. He wished tonight would be the occasion for him to unlace her...All in good time.

He arrived early, seating himself at the table and gulping down a bottle of blood as quickly as he could so she would not witness it. He took care not to leave any vestiges on his teeth or lips. Unable to use any mirror, his sense of smell was so keen, he already knew nothing remained. All blood had been licked clean. He disposed of the bottle and waited, surveying with approval the place setting in front of him, the candelabra and flowers.

Before long she appeared, stepping cautiously towards the table, not able or willing to meet his admiring gaze. She was dressed in a green velvet gown so sumptuous, the fabric rustled with her slightest movement. Her hair was worn down her back as usual, befitting her virginity, and her neckline was cut low, allowing a tantalizing glimpse of her décolletage. There was no sign of her necklace. She had at least obeyed him in that regard.

He rose, crossing to the other side of the table, and took her hand, pulling out her chair and helping to arrange her gown. She said nothing.

He reseated himself and gazed at her downcast face, her little mouth twitching nervously.

"Sarah...look at me."

She met his gaze reluctantly.

"You fear me still." It was more statement than question.

"No, my lord. I know that you love me. I have felt it my whole life. I fear what you have become. And what I...must become."

"You admit then, that you will are willing to live this life with me?" Von Krolock motioned for the first course to be served.

"I admit that I have no choice. I am resigned to that. I cannot fight a power such as yours."

The meal was brought then, and he let her dive into her roast chicken. She was ravenous, he knew. He watched her tear the flesh apart with her knife and fork, as she took little bites and he imagined her beautiful small teeth with newly acquired fangs.

He refilled her wine glass himself and permitted her to eat her fill before speaking again.

"You are wise in understanding that you cannot fight me. I chose this destiny for you when you were just a babe in your mother's arms. I have been waiting for you, Sarah. I have never loved another woman as I love you."

"My lord, you do me too much honor. My family is poor, we are your tenants. I am a simple girl from the village. I am by no means unusual or special and while I don't doubt your love for me, I do not understand it. You could have any woman, whether they wanted you or not."

"And indeed, I have had many women, beloved." He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his massive chest. "How old do you think I am, Sarah?"

She blushed and looked away. He laughed and continued:

"Ah, do not flatter me, answer me truthfully. You can't offend me. I know the streaks of gray may confuse you."

Sarah studied his face for a long moment before cautiously opening her mouth. "Forty-five."

He threw back his head and laughed menacingly, the booming sound echoing throughout the chamber.

Sarah flinched, worried that she had overestimated his age and insulted him.

He ceased his laughter and fixed his gaze on her, his eyes suddenly changing to a smoldering black, the scowl deeper than ever.

"I am four-hundred forty-six years old, Sarah. I have been a vampire since 1460."

She gasped and rose from her chair, looking about her for means to escape. Instantly Von Krolock was at her side, seizing her shoulders and boring into her with his black, inhuman eyes, fangs visible, his voice guttural. "What, your mother failed to tell you that we live forever?"

She had indeed. All Sarah had been told was that vampires drink blood and could drink yours until they transformed you or until you died. She knew nothing of their more subtle powers and the great advantages of immortality.

"You want to transform me...to have me live... forever?" She gasped again as he seized her in a fierce embrace, kissing her with such passion that the room spun and she swooned, little realizing that she was all but offering up her throat to him.

This was too much. He scooped her up effortlessly in his arms and bore her up to the battlements. The torches had been lit, affording them some light. The fresh night air was biting at these heights. He set her down against a wall and kissed her again. She was shivering. He wrapped her inside his cape and pressed himself against her. He was hugely aroused and knew despite her fear that she wanted him too, for he had caught the strong scent of her desire between her legs as he carried her.

"Forever, my love." He finally answered her breathless question. "No illness. No growing old. No decrepitude or death. I want this for you more than I want my own happiness. Your future is everything to me. Your destiny is inevitable but I will give you a fair warning. I will not seize you by surprise, I promise you this. You shall know the hour of your transformation, so you need not recoil from my kisses in the meantime. I will not bite until I tell you I will."

Von Krolock then kissed her neck and gently sucked until she yelped.

He smiled down at her. "Do not fret. Do you see any fangs?"

Sarah frowned, disbelieving. She stroked his mouth. At her touch, he bared his fangs.

"I can make them appear and disappear at will. This is why you need have no fear of any premature bite." As if in confirmation of this his fangs retracted.

He kissed her again and ground himself into her against the wall. Sarah moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck. He lifted up her skirts, her petticoats, and finally her legs. Undergarments were a regrettable invention of the current age, he much preferred the previous centuries when only women's skirts concealed the most prized part of their bodies. He ripped her undergarments to shreds with his fangs and tossed them over the edge of the battlements. Keeping his trousers on he thrust against her bare wetness, moving expertly up and down against her. She was proving to be highly responsive, his Sarah. He knew she would be.

"Imagine when I take you fully, beloved," he whispered unsteadily in her ear as he nibbled it. "Imagine when I break through your barrier and I am fully embedded inside of you." His excitement was mounting at the very thought and at the slickness he could plainly feel against his erection. Her inner thighs were dripping with her desire as well.

He thrust harder against her, again and again until she cried out, her fingers digging into his shoulders. He kept thrusting as she rode out wave after wave of ecstasy, then he shouted as he climaxed inside his trousers. A messy affair to be dealt with later, but worth the inconvenience.

They both sank to the cold stone ground, exhausted. He removed his cape and wrapped it around her. Since he was never cold he had no real need of it.

"My lord..." Sarah mumbled against his chest. "There is much more I still don't know, isn't there?"

Von Krolock paused, not certain if she was referring to her imminent transformation or learning the pleasures of being in his bed. Perhaps she meant both.

"There is. But I don't want you to distress yourself. I will teach you all you need to know. Remember you are safe with me."

When she next spoke, Sarah's voice was slurred. "I miss the sun on my face." And then she fell asleep in his arms. Clearly, she had not fully accustomed herself to day sleeping. It would take her some time.

But her words haunted him. For he dearly missed the daylight too. He could just barely remember the feel of the warm sun. Less than the feel of it, he had memories of simply being in it, chasing his toddler son around these very battlements on a summer day. That had been a few months before he sickened and died. Riding his horse within his hunting grounds on a bright blue morning, the crisp air exhilarating him. All denied to him now.

And would he condemn Sarah to this fate, never to sit in the sun, never to feel the chill of the snow caressing her face or the heat of a welcoming fireplace?

Never to bear her own child? For his essence might be plentiful but his transformation rendered him sterile as hers would render her infertile.

He could not do this to her. She didn't want it. But to imagine releasing her to her family, never to see her again? He would shrivel away to nothing from the loss of her.

He looked up at the clear sky thick with stars and he prayed to God, though he knew He would not listen and would not answer.

"Don't make me give her up. You claimed my wife and all of my children. Let me have Sarah for all time." And he wept quietly into his beloved's hair.