"untitled vampire story" by Mariposa Gollery

            I grinned. She was mine. I began to lower my mouth to her slowly, drawing out the tension. She didn’t scream. Some of them did, but my secret favorites were the quiet ones. It meant that I scared them so much they couldn’t even scream. This one was unexpected though. Unlike the rest, she punched me in the stomach.

            My fangs missed her neck by a centimeter, but it was enough to humiliate me. This was my first loss since I was first brought in to this world. I had always been a natural killer, even in my human years. I was one of the few that had originally been human. That always gave me an extra edge. I had been cruel enough to get an honor not naturally born to me.

            As I gained my breath that I didn’t need, she kept on punching me. Again and again she beat me down, until I was on the ground. This was a trick I hadn’t used for a thousand years, when I hadn’t had special talents. She lowered her fists. I reached out with lightning swiftness. Her ankle was in sight. My fingers were nearly around it.

            She stomped on my outstretched hand. I could feel my bones crackling like cellophane and saw them crumple. I winced.

            She bent down and stared me in my eyes. No human had done that since I murdered (for I was human and it was murder when a human does it) my last victim in front of the vampire that turned me.

            “Now, I need a place to stay and seeing as I can easily beat you in a fight, lead me to your lair.”

            I grumbled. She sounded like an inexperienced human. Apart from her fighting skills, that is. “Follow me. Don’t you lag behind, I was running a little late on my snacking and seeing as I can’t fly or I would lose you only to have my stuffing beaten out of me.”

            She followed, if a bit smugly. By the time we had gone over the hill leading to my castle (old fashioned, I know, but this place is really magnificent) it was my turn to be smug. As she stared in openmouthed amazement, I remarked to her, “Do you like to read?”

            Still dumb with wonderment, she nodded. Then she spoke. “Will you wait for me? I just have to see the sunrise.”

            My pride left me, I returned to a sulking vampire that had just been beaten up by a human.

            By the time she had finished marveling at the amazing spectacle, I had a script ready for myself. She would be dumbfounded with the way I would present this.

            She walked in the door, a look of wonder on her face. I envied her, but my pride would help me gain my dignity. What I was about to show her was my pride, though I was ashamed to admit it.

            “This way. I know you are tired, because humans get tired way too easily, but I would like to make a small detour on the way to your chambers.”

            I could tell from her pesky human nature that she was extremely curious. Now if she had been a vampire, she would be mildly interested, but more interested in sleeping than whatever lay in store, but humans will be humans.

            Despite my murderous background, when I found someone as dangerous as me interested in the same field as me, I couldn’t kill them, human or vampire. This was the one human case that I had ever come across.

            “Now, you are getting a great honor that I wouldn’t even allow my kind. Be grateful.”

            By then we had reached some magnificent doors. I pushed them open with a flourish.

            A huge library was in the room beyond. Its highly polished shelves had not a speck of dust on them, and if I wasn’t a vampire, the room would be flooded with light from east facing windows with light drapes, allowing a sort of filtered light into the room. Wherever the filtered light couldn’t reach, chandeliers could be turned on with the flick of a switch. Thick, heavy bound books filled every space possible, sorted by author. Titles stood out in bold lettering; gold, silver and bronze type crawled along the spine. Every book of interest to me sat on the shelves in perfect order.

I pretended not to notice that she had stopped in her tracks and began walking through the aisles. I then turned. “Are you coming?”

She scurried to catch up to me. As I casually strolled through the wonderful room, past comfy chairs and couches, window seats and just plain cushions to sit on, her eyes widened with every step.

We reached two doors of oak at the other end of the very large room. By then her eyes were bugging out of her head. I first went to the door on the left. “This will be your room. Consider yourself lucky. Most visitors end up locked in the cellar, or set in a room near the cellar with a flea-ridden cot and a chamber pot. If you want to get out of those clothes, you’ll find some in the wardrobe. Your bathroom has all the necessities.”

She went and twirled in the center of the large room. She kicked off her shoes and stepped into some satin slippers at the edge of the bed. She explored her bathroom briefly, then looked inside the wardrobe and gasped. She ran over to the boudoir and ran the mother of pearl brush through her long auburn hair. She flopped down on her bed, then rushed over to where I was still standing. “Oh, thank you! I feel like this is my home already!” she hugged herself. “Oh, by the way, my name’s Amber. What’s yours?”

I was astonished. I hadn’t been asked my name in centuries.

“Raven.”

She smiled up at me. “Well, Raven, there is one last thing that I’d like to know about your castle. Do you have an herb garden?”

Another surprise for me. I had thought that she would just want to sleep. “Right this way,” I said.

As we walked through the magnificent halls of my castle, she took it all in. I just thought of why she would want a garden.

When we finally reached the much overgrown garden, it was midmorning. I longed to go out into the sun with her to point out some of my more amazing plants, but the bright light just hurt my eyes.

I was reading when she came in. “I’ll be staying here for a while,” she informed me. “I want to try something that I’ve never gotten the chance to before.”

“May I ask what it is exactly?” I asked, looking up from my book.

“You’ll know.”

She then retired to her room. I sighed and went to mine.

The next night, I knocked on her door and waited. I was feeling refreshed and had flown out quickly and bitten some poor girl that I would soon forget. I heard footsteps just inside the door and straitened up a bit. Slouching vampires do not look as intimidating as those standing up straight.

She opened the door. She was wearing one of the silk dressing gowns kept in the wardrobe and had her hair up in a towel. She had matching slippers on.

“If I’m interrupting…” I said.

“No, no, not at all! I was just watching the sunset and letting my hair dry. I decided that since I am the company of a vampire, I’d better start acting nocturnal. Your castle really does have nice sunrises and sunsets.”

That was another secret that I couldn’t tell anybody. I wished that I was able to watch sunrises and sunsets. For a murderer, I had been strangely attracted to beauty. I liked to attack wealthy young girls and steal their jewels. I loved a good seduction story, where a strange young man seduces any beautiful young maiden and invites her to run away with him into the sunset. When she meets him at the appointed place and time, he kills her in the beauty of the sunset.

After a few more minutes of waiting while she dressed, she entered wearing a lightweight sky blue dress and matching flats. Her hair was tied back with a blue ribbon.

She went immediately to a certain book, selected that day, most likely, and then proceeded to the garden. I hadn’t been to that section of the library in a while; it was full of things that didn’t particularly interest me. I didn’t catch the title of this one, and never got a chance to. The second she got to the garden, she opened it to the table of contents, quickly scanned the page, and flipped through to the back of the book. After watching her for a few minutes, I decided that she wasn’t going to talk to me very soon and took a quick flight around the surrounding area.

I loved flying, and I think I always will. I made this a short one, because I didn’t want to leave Amber unattended in my home for a while, but the sensation of wind blowing through my hair and the free feeling I always get was good enough for me.

When I got back, an herbal smell was wafting through the castle from the rarely used kitchen. I went to investigate and found Amber coming out with a steaming mug.

“Just thought I’d make some tea,” she said brightly. “Do you want any?”

I shook my head.

“Raven,” she said like she was about to ask a question.

“Yes?”

“Do you mind showing me around a bit? I’m insanely curious and think that you probably don’t want me poking around and possibly disturbing something important.”

I thought so. “Yes, yes of course, Amber.” It felt weird saying a name. Vampires aren’t exactly what you would call talkative, or social, so it was strange talking to someone.

“Then lead the way.”

I hadn’t gone around my castle in a long time. I had a witch that lived nearby cast a cleaning spell over the castle so that it wouldn’t get dusty, but otherwise the rest of it was mainly unused.

As we started walking, I mentally made a decision as to where we would go along our route. She marveled at the art, the stories, and the furniture, things that would be more appreciated if I used them. Then we reached the last room.

I had saved this for last because I knew that it would be what she liked. Even I liked taking a detour from my room to go here occasionally.

I opened a door to a room full of jewels.

Emeralds, garnets, rubies, even diamonds were displayed here. Pearls and sapphires, gold and silver, all kinds of precious stones were here. Quartz, turquoise, aquamarine, and amethyst lined the walls. Even amber, the golden stone gleaming where it sat.

Amber had the expected reaction. She gasped and went to explore the necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets, tiaras, and brooches. She came to a blue diamond that matched her satin dress, and looked to me with longing in her eyes. I gave a nod, and she smiled and placed the necklace around her neck. She found earrings and a ring that complimented her nicely. She even found a little silver circlet inset with aquamarine to place around her head. She untied her hair and put it on, tying the ribbon around her wrist.

Bedecked, she spun in a circle. I watched with slight amusement. She came over to me.

“Oh thank you! They’re so beautiful!” she said with emotion.

I smiled and bowed. “Where to, your highness?”

She gave me a playful shove. “Really, for a vampire you seem very human.”

I straitened up. She was right. I wasn’t the cold-blooded killer that I had been. Ever since she had punched me in the stomach and followed me to my domain I hadn’t been myself. I actually smiled a real smile, instead of that cold grin of satisfaction. I had made a joke and toured my castle. I had been curious and amused. It was like I was constantly flying.

That was it. When I flew, I felt different, and let all stress fall away. I didn’t think of my victims, I didn’t think of my life, I was just happy. Come to think of it, I hadn’t found someone else as dangerous as me and interested in the same things for centuries. I hadn’t met anyone interesting or funny. At least, until I met Amber.

She giggled. “I do look like a princess, don’t I?”

She then began acting like she was a young girl again and pretended to be a queen.

“You shall mop the floors and cook me dinner and clean the whole castle until even the dust is afraid to enter my domain!” she declared royally.

“But milady, that will take days!” I said sarcastically.

“You shall be thrown in the dungeon and not fed on anything but broiled octopus and lemon juice!” she said menacingly.

I placed a hand on my forehead. “Oh, you are a cruel queen!”

I went from the staggering slave to a royal attendant. “Shall we go to the ball, your highness?”

She held out her hand and I escorted her down the staircase like we were attending a royal ball. When we got to the ballroom floor she curtsied. I bowed formally to her.

“Now, hold your arms like this. Hang on,” I said, and half ran, half flew over to a small box. This box had an enchantment so that when activated, it would play the tune of what it sensed (it was made by witches, and some of their stuff is just plain weird) was the best music for the moment. It put on a waltz when I spoke the activating words. I went back to Amber.

“Okay, now just count, 1 2 3, 1 2 3. Yes, that’s how it’s done.”

We waltzed around the room, and I corrected her when she made a mistake. Next, the box played a slower song.

“This is where your arms go for this style. You just move your feet like this and basically do the same pattern but slower. You’ve got it.”

With every new song, she learned a new dance. When you’ve had a long enough time to practice, you can master almost any kind of dance. Around midnight we stopped and she had a bite to eat. She also put together some more tea for herself, sending more herbal smells through the halls.

She spent some extra time in the kitchen than I could remember tea taking. When I went in though, all I saw was the kettle and Amber crushing some mint leaves. While she sipped her tea in a china teacup out of a set that had come with the castle, I sat and simply watched her. She had gray-green eyes and long, dark eyelashes. Her eyebrows, the same color as her hair, were nicely arched and thin. She had a long face, her auburn hair falling down to her slender waist. Her nose was small, but her eyes made up for the size. She had long, thin, fingers and a slender body, like a willow tree. Her neck was like the rest of her, long and thin. Her lips were also thin, but in a pretty way.

“What do you do in the garden?” I asked.

“Oh, nothing,” she said nonchalantly. I could tell that she was lying, but she didn’t need to know that. I settled back in my chair to watch her drink her tea.

I knew that he was watching me, but I ignored him, except for glances under my lashes. He was rather dashing, and he looked like one of the young men that father would bring in to marry me. Well, father hadn’t liked my interests and now I had a new friend. Father wouldn’t control my life anymore. Oh, how I hoped my experiment would work!

He settled back in his chair. He was quite dashing. His raven black (I know, his name is Raven and he has raven black hair, but that’s the best description that came to mind) hair wasn’t slicked back like most of the other vampires I had met, just combed. I took a sip of tea. His eyes were piercing blue, penetrating eyes that could make any liar shifty and uncomfortable. His eyes looked like they could see what you were thinking. He looked as though he believed me when I told him that the garden thing was nothing. It wasn’t.

His long nose hovered over narrow lips.  When curled in a smile, they were inviting and trusting, like an older brother or a very good friend. He was tall and lanky, thin from his diet, (well, vampires are rarely fat, so what did you expect?) and had thin, slightly bony hands. He was a good dancer and looked like a fair piano player. Even if he didn’t know how, I could probably teach him. I smiled into my tea. He was very hospitable to the human that had broken almost every bone in his left hand.

When she finally finished her tea, she asked me if I had a piano. I thought about it for a second. “Let’s see,” I said.

We went to the ballroom and looked around. Sure enough, I spotted a small, dusty object covered with a dustsheet. I pulled the sheet off with a flurry of dust to reveal a shiny black grand piano. Brushing off a little dust that had gotten under the sheet, Amber pulled the dust sheet off the bench and sat down. She lifted the lid and ran her hand over the ivory keys. She began to play a delicate tune, using the pedal lightly. I watched her hands fly over the keys. She occasionally glanced at the edges of the keyboard so that she hit the right notes, but otherwise she just stared at the center of the keyboard.

I exercised my left hand, pretty much healed since she smashed it. After working out a few kinks, my hand was moving normally. Amber finished her song and stood up. “You should learn,” she said.

“Maybe tomorrow night,” I said, noting the time. “It’s almost sunrise.”

The next day, we met outside our rooms, and immediately went to the piano.

I had learned a bit on the piano a long time ago with a hostage, but I got bored with them and ate them. Amber, on the other hand, was interesting and soon had me playing some of the old music we found around the piano. I quickly caught on, and while I was distractedly playing a pretty sonatina, she went off somewhere. I shrugged and kept playing.

After a while she came back, the smell of tea evident around her and a few books clutched under her arm.

“I found these in the library,” she said. “They might have some interesting songs in them.”

We browsed through the books, and tried a few songs, but we found more interesting pieces in the piano bench. The herbal smell clung to her, masking slightly the scent of her blood. Though I knew that by now it would be hard to kill her, the intoxicating aroma always hovered around her, and I could always hear the soft beating of her heart.

My fingers flew over the keys as I played, and she suddenly went rigid. “There’s a new moon tonight, isn’t there?” she asked.

I stopped playing and nodded. Her heart beat faster with growing excitement. She grabbed my arm, the scent of tea wafting towards me.

“Come with me,” she said, pulling me away from the piano. “There’s something I’ve always wanted to try, but I’ve never gotten the chance to.”

Curious, I went with her. She had mentioned something like that before, but I couldn’t remember what exactly she said and when.

She pulled me quickly through the mainly used parts of the castle, her dress rustling. I could almost remember who I had gotten it from. Some duchess, who had blood tainted with greed, and I took all her dresses for no reason.

I was pulled to the garden, but didn’t go out because the sun hadn’t set yet. I cringed in the shadows, reduced to a cowering creature, hiding from light.

After the sun had set, I went outside as instructed. The castle smelled strongly of tea, and I suspected that it wasn’t. Amber hurried out after a while, carrying a bowl of herbal stuff, and she added a few more select herbs. I watched her with amusement, realization dawning on me.

She was hurrying past when I caught her and stopped her. “You’re a witch, aren’t you?” I said.

She looked surprised, but quickly regained her composure. “Took you a while, didn’t it,” she said. “Ah, well. It was only a matter of time.”

She continued to talk as she went around with her little bowl. “I really wanted to try this spell, ever since I read about it. That’s why I came down here, you know. I needed to meet a vampire to test it on.”

I stopped her again. “So that’s it, is it? I’m the guinea pig, the lab rat, and if you get anything wrong I suffer?”

She looked at me coolly. “Actually, not really. That’s why I’m willing to try it on someone that I feel like I know so well. If it goes wrong, all you get is a bad taste in your mouth.”

I looked at her suspiciously, but I let it go. If she killed me, she was going to have one annoying afterlife.

At 11:30, she drew some mysterious markings in the dirt and sat down after muttering a few words to keep her dress clean. I watched with interest.

After a few minutes of muttering, she handed me the bowl. “Please drink this. Trust me, we’ll know if it works because you’ll start hurting like hell.”

I glanced at her over the rim of the bowl. “Thanks,” I said sarcastically, but curiosity had gotten the better of me as to what this spell would do, and I raised the bowl. “Cheers,” I said, and downed the lot in one gulp.

It was the first thing I had eaten or drunk besides blood in thousands of years. It didn’t taste bad. “Hmm,” I said appreciatively, and then my world became a world of pain.

The bowl dropped and broke, the sound magnified to the point where I felt like my ears were bleeding. I screamed, and writhed on the ground. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t act; I could only twist in pain.

I didn’t know how long I stayed in that black, bleak, world, but I knew that once it was over, I didn’t feel any different. I tidily picked up the broken bowl, and stared at Amber.

She was picking herself up, brushing a few imaginary folds out of her dress. The jewelry glittered at her neck, sparkling in the starlight.

“Well, that was an uncomfortable little side affect,” she said, not looking up.

“I never would have guessed,” I said. “That pain couldn’t have possibly been mentioned.”

“Yes. You just had to drop that bowl. I felt like my eardrums were going to explode with the sound,” she said, still not looking up.

I did a double take. “Wait, you were in intense pain too?”

She nodded, and looked up. There was truth in her eyes.

“Oh,” I said. “I thought it was just me.”

She shook her head.

“What exactly did that spell do?” I asked.

“Well…” her voice faltered.

“Let’s discuss it after a nice cup of tea,” I suggested. For some reason, tea calmed humans down.

I proffered my arm, and we went into the kitchen, where she just poured some already heated water over some herbs. After a few gulps, she looked ready to explain herself.

“Vampires have always fascinated me,” she said.

I stared.

“I wanted to do some spell or something with one,” she continued. “but all of them were nasty. Repelling, killing, the whole thing. But then I heard a mention of one that wasn’t so mean. I did some research, and found the spell. Now all I needed was a vampire. All I did was sit out in the cold and wait, and you came. After almost becoming a midnight snack, I stewed the potion for a while until the new moon, and then it was ready. You drank it, and we ended up here.”

“I get that,” I said, “but what did you do?”

She looked at the tea held in her lap, and took a nervous gulp.

“I’m pretty sure,” she said quietly, “from my research, that you can now go out in sunlight.”

I stared. There was nothing else I could do. Go out in daylight? She must be joking.

“And you can eat, I think,” she said, and offered her tea. “Try some. If it tastes good, then we know it worked.”

I took the cup. The last time I drank anything mad by her it sent me into spasms of horrible pain that felt like I was dying. I drank it anyway.

I tasted mint, lots of mint. It was and old taste, a memory from long ago. Some sweetness, probably sugar, and the slightest hint of lemon. More memories. I drained the cup.

She laughed. “It did work!”

“So that means…” I started, staring down at myself, “That means that I can go outside in daylight!”

I couldn’t believe it. Then another thought struck me. “What are you going to do now that you know your spell worked?”

She looked at her hands in her lap. “I don’t know,” she said quietly. “I’ve always been a really good witch, but it’s not really that fun. I’ve had more fun the past few nights than I’ve ever had.”

“Well you’re welcome to stay,” I said.

She looked up. “Really? Oh, thank you!”

She flew out of her chair and wrapped her arms tightly around my neck. I rocked backwards, surprised by her reaction. A wave of her scent came flooding towards me, but the urge to suck her dry was lessened by the spell.

When she let go, there were tears in her eyes. “There was never anyone who really understood me,” she said. “Until I met you.”

That was the same for me. I had never really thought about it, but nobody, even the vampire who made me what I am, really understood.

Until I met Amber.

“Wait,” I said. “You think what we’ve been doing is fun? Wait till I take you flying…”