One-Shot, Shorts, And Ponderings - 4. My Dark Birth

Night fell over the streets of Luziana. My father, my sisters and I were walking home. Father hastened us along; we all knew what prowled in the night, we had all heard of the sudden disappearances, the agonizing screams. Some of the peasants had even spoken about seeing the corpses of their loved ones rising from the grave, suddenly thirsty for blood.

We walked in a close group, father at the lead, my youngest sister in the middle of a protective circle made up by me and my other three sisters. The rustle of our gowns against the cobblestone made my hair stand on end, I could barely breathe. My eyes kept darting back and forth, scanning our surroundings with a fevered terror that chilled my very bones. I knew we would die this night, I knew mother would not welcome the Duke home, or her daughters. I knew that our dowries would now pay for our coffins and graves. I knew this night would bring our end. It happened suddenly; I heard the bodies of my loved ones hit the ground, but my eyes didn’t register a thing. Then the cold hand was on my throat, the deep emerald eyes were staring into my own jade ones, the olive skin gone pale was against my own fair one. He exercised no great amount of strength, and yet I couldn’t break his grip, nor did I want to.

His mouth came closer to my neck, my hands wrapped around his waist, my head tilted to give him freer access.

-Art thou well of mind Milady Liath? Doth thou offer thine blood to my thirst so freely?-

I struggled to find my voice, to make a coherent thought. His scent was like an anesthetic, his lips were like a drug that I wanted to taste, and his fangs were a knife I wanted to plunge into me.

-I am of sound mind Sir, I assure thee. I know thine kind, and fear thee not. I stand to gain much, and lose nothing. I beg thee Sir…Master, make me one of thee.-

-Child, child, child. Thou thinkst this is what thou wants, but I assure thee; for one such as thyself…with titles and lands, well let us state it simply; thou would not enjoy it.-

His finger traced my neck, but I no longer had apprehension. I was filled with a raw passion that clouded my thoughts, filled with a desire so great it felt like molten lava running through me. I wanted this…gift or curse, I wanted it.

-I assure thee, no titles, or lands, shall come to me. The laws forbid it, the lands and titles are for our Cousin, and he shall take it when our father dies. Nothing holds me in this place, I am lost. Will you not find me master?-

I felt his hand tighten around my neck. It was devoid of all warmth, but it did not bother me, the heat in my own body was enough to counter the chillness of his.

-Thou hath opened thine own grave. Thy father is renounced, thine sisters are renounced. I shall give thee immortality, but its burden shall be yours to bear alone.-

His fangs bit into me then. They tore skin, ligament and muscle, and the blood flowed freely into his awaiting mouth. A chill spread through me. It began at the bite site and then claimed my whole body in a matter of seconds. Death was coming, but eternal life had merely just begun.

I remember it as if it were yesterday. I can still feel the wind against my skin, feel the oppressive heat that covered the streets of Luziana, smell the stench of the livestock in their stables, and hear the clop of hooves on the cobblestone paths. If anyone would have asked me that day what the night would bring, I could’ve never answered them.