Vampire

 

The castle loomed against the night sky. Moonlight filtered through the clouds, illuminating its grey stone. Low light escaped through various windows, all heavily laden with rich brocade curtains. A great wooden door stood, waiting, as I approached. Rain began to splatter the ground and lightning flashed, silhouetting the palace against the brilliant sky. 

I could feel eyes on me yet saw no one lurking. The door creaked open before me, opening to a great hall with cascading stairs. Barely a torch was lit. Instead, it sat in faint darkness. A human’s eyes would’ve strained to see in the night, no doubt succumbing to fright against the backdrop of the haunted halls.

Perfect stillness hung in the air as I stepped inside. An eerie man stood by the door, pale as a ghost, eyes sunken and face gaunt. My eyes wandered over him, noting the faint disdain as he looked back at me, his thin frame moving slowly. I glanced at the brown eyes, wondering what they had looked like when he had felt alive.

“Madam,” he said softly, hand extended for the cloak that hung at my shoulders. 

I pursed my lips, struggling to decide if I left any part of me with him before I unfastened the cloak and handed it to him. He took it then held out his hand again.

My brows rose in silent question.

“Your bag, madam.” 

“I’m actually just here looking for someone.” I turned my head at the feeling of something watching me. Yet the stairs were empty, as was the hall that led to grander rooms. 

“Yes, I am aware of the… rumors you may have heard.”

I turned my eyes back to the man. “Then you’ll know I’m looking for a man, Remy, from Storm’s Edge.”

His eyes studied me, his hand still waiting for my bag. The thin lips pursed with a hint of impatience. A small eternity stretched between us as I waited for his hand to drop in vain. Finally, I smiled then took the bag off and handed it to him. His lips finally parted to speak. “Yes. The rumors are always wild from that place.”

“So then he’s not here?”

The man turned, neatly resting my cloak and bag on a series of hooks. Along them, multiple cloaks sat, some seeming aged and from another time. I pulled my eyes away from them as he began to walk down the long hall. “This way, madam.”

I sighed and followed. The hall was filled with great portraits, each human in them dangerous and beautiful. Scenes of horror and sacrifice filled others with familiar faces populating the monsters within. A chill ran down my spine as lightning flashed, making the eyes in the paintings nearly glow. 

We wandered through halls, twisting and turning throughout the palace. I noted where we went, but by the time we reached the ornate door I was nearly lost. The man opened the door and gestured for me to walk in. “You will bathe and clothe yourself in what awaits on the bed. The lady will call on you shortly.” 

My eyes finally turned to his, a hidden monstrosity lurking there. His eyes widened briefly yet he didn’t move but instead drifted his eyes downward. “I will have the lady call on you shortly, madam. In the meantime,” he gestured inward.

“Very well,” I murmured and walked inside the room. As beautifully decorated as it was, it belied hidden truths. The four-poster bed had scars in its wood from where chains had been cast about its pillars. The ceiling had metal rings here and there for anchoring. Decorative daggers hung on the wall, still faintly smelling of blood. 

I smirked and shook my head before I looked at the claw-footed tub, hot water steaming in it. A fire crackled merrily in the hearth as the scent of rose drifted gently from blood-red flowers that sat on the mantle. Wine waited in a glass with a decanter beside it. Sprawled across the bed was an elegant dress, white and gold, with delicate lace trim. I fingered the satin, wondering why she chose white of all colors. 

“The red shows better,” a rich voice whispered in the room. 

I turned, eyes resting on a beautiful young man, his rich umber skin stricken with a ghostly pallor. Enchanting eyes caught me off guard, peering into my own with unflinching authority. The hint of a smile pulled at the corner of his plush lips and I found myself swallowing, nervousness peeking through my innate curiosity.

“Red?” I asked, raising a brow. 

His hand rested on the doorknob, thumb casually caressing it before lifting as he sauntered into the room. He grinned, wicked and striking. It was infectious. I bit my lip to keep from smiling in return. “I heard you were looking for me.”

I glanced at the door before back to him. Instinct whispered to watch him, to never look away. The way a deer stares at the wolf before bolting. “Word travels fast.”

“Indeed.” Long fingers plucked the wine glass from its resting place and offered it to me as he neared. “You must be parched.”

The eyes pierced my own and I felt the tug of his will. Refined and smooth. It would be as easy as breathing to obey. “No, thank you, sir…?”

Curiosity flashed in his eyes before he smirked again and brought the glass to his lips. I watched, wanting to taste those lips with my own. “Ephraim,” he replied sweetly with a nod of his head.

“Remy,” I said evenly. “You don’t seem very…”

“Abducted?” He stepped closer, closing the distance between the two of us in a heartbeat. Cold fingers touched my cheek, sweeping back strands of wayward hair. 

“I was going to say alive.” I stepped back only to feel the pillar of the bed meet my back. 

He grinned, a glint of fangs showing as he chuckled. “She said you wouldn’t be afraid.”

“There’s a difference between cautious and frightened, Remy,” I murmured, barely whispering as his fingers trailed down my cheek over my neck, fingers playing with the collar of my shirt. 

“Now, what on earth could you be implying?” His lips moved against my earlobe. “You should bathe, put the dress on…” I lost his voice with the touch of his will. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end and I shivered. 

My warm hands touched his chest and I gently pushed back. He leaned back, enough that I could look into his wondrous gold-flecked eyes. “I will never do what you compel me to. But I will do it if you ask me, not command me.”

Confusion flickered over his face. Brows knit together as he examined my face, fingers pulling my chin upwards softly, as though to kiss me, just so he could see me better. “Wh-”

“A guardian.” Her tone was sharper than his but filled with unspeakable knowledge. I didn’t dare turn to look at her, yet I felt her walk into the room, her heels making noise purely because she allowed it. “She’s immune,” the woman said coolly as she came into view.

Raven hair hung around her shoulders, framing her face perfectly. Dark eyes and bronzed skin captivated my mind. I wanted to smile at the intensity of her presence but chose silence as she stared at me. “What brings you to my door?”

“They say you’ve stolen this man from his home, killed him. You’re such a monster.” 

Her laughter was joyous and filled the room with delight. I shivered as goosebumps rose on my arm. She stood beside him, head back, eyes sparkling, fangs white against red lips. “As they say. Aren’t we all? Offering a world where temptation is simply hungers given flesh? Where they are attainable?”

“What’s life without shame?” I asked, not daring to move as she gazed at me and he watched her. 

Slowly his head turned to look back at me. “And what is it you crave then? What is your shame?”

The smirk on my lips faltered and I shook my head. “I have no shame in my wants.”

“That’s not true, though, is it, Guardian?” Her fingers touched my cheek, as cold as his, before playing with a piece of my hair. “I know your kind. You come, you seek us monstrosities out, you comfort us. I am not in need of comfort.”

“No,” I said softly. “But you are in need of sustenance. And someone to give it willingly without your hunter’s skills.”

Her eyes grew wide for a moment. “Is that what you came for? To scold me for hunting? Will you stay then? Here? Give yourself freely to me daily? Swear to never run from me, call me your death? Turn the humans against me?” 

Fear touched her voice and she stopped, then shook her head. I stepped forward, touching her shoulder softly. She froze, looking at me with an unreadable expression. “If that’s what you need, then yes. For a time, at least.”

A hand touched the back of my neck as Remy stood behind me, body pressed up against mine. He was cold as night’s frost yet hunger stirred inside me. She watched me, dark eyes staring into mine. 

“Prove it. Prove that I need not command you as I would another. Remove your clothes.” No touch of power tried to penetrate my mind. I saw her test for what it was. My fingers moved deftly, pulling the layers from my body. Remy’s cool hands helped as soon as I began, peeling dirty wool and repaired fabric until I stood naked before them both. His eyes wandered over me as though I were flesh to be consumed. She appraised me, curiosity mixed with amusement.

“I’m surprised,” she confessed, a moment of hesitation in her eyes. “Bathe.” Her head nodded to the water. I swallowed and then stepped away from both of them. As I slipped into the bath they appeared before me, as though they had always been there, watching. 

The water was hot, almost painfully so, as I slid down into the tub. The sweet perfumes of violet and rose touched my skin as I began to scrub the dirt off of myself. She was the first to move, kneeling behind me on the stone floor, fingers trailing up my back, nails playing with the skin. 

“Who are you?” I asked her as I leaned back against her touch. 

She tilted her head. “Elizabeth.” 

“It’s lovely to meet you both.”

“Is it?” Remy tilted his head, leaning languidly against the fireplace as he watched the water move over my skin. “Is that because you crave the dangerous, Guardian? Is that what you get out of your choices?”

I paused, considering. “Guardians are monsters, too. At least partially so. Everyone gets stuck inside themselves sometimes. Often because they’re forced to. I just… open a window so they can see outside.”

Elizabeth’s hands pulled me into the water, fingers working my hair. “Yes but why?” she asked, her voice temptation personified. “What do you get out of it?”

Water ran down my back as she rinsed the hair. I shivered and dropped the rag which Remy plucked from the depths before rubbing it against my knee and moving up along my thigh. “What we all do from others. I get what I try to give. Connection, hope, release, sometimes love.”

The rag slid against my skin until he pressed his fingers between my legs, sliding along the sensitive skin. I sucked in a breath, eyes watching his fill with hunger as I shifted, rolling my hips to push against the fabric that separated our skin.

Her lips brushed my ear as she whispered. “Do you want him inside of you?” Cold fingers pulled my hair from my neck as her tongue tasted the water droplets on my shoulder. A hand slid around my stomach and roamed upwards, cupping a breast before firmly pinching a nipple. 

 I whimpered and leaned back into her mouth. “I want you both. All of you.”

Elizabeth’s husky laugh was low as she leaned her face against my neck. She smelled of orchids and dust, of time distilled. “How depraved, Guardian. To want so much at one time.”

The rag slipped out of Remy’s grasp as his long artistic fingers slid inside of me. I moaned, leaning my head back against Elizabeth’s shoulder. “Then I’m depraved,” I replied, a gasp following my words. “Is that what you want to hear? That I’m as craven as you.”

Remy grinned. “Yes. To see you embrace what others hide.”

His fingers curled inside of me, flicking upwards to hit my inner depths. I cried out, hips bucking against him. “Please,” I whimpered. 

They both stood, lifting me with them with frightening ease. Their grip was strong as stone, cold as death. We moved to the bed in an instant, the speed making much stomach lurch. My body was laid bare on the white sheets, wetness seeping through. 

Elizabeth smirked down at me as she knelt beside me, elegant dress shed so that her undead skin and flawless body were exposed. Remy stood at the end of the bed, cool hands on my knees, just as naked as his partner. His head lowered to kiss my knee then the other before his lips began to drift downward, leaving a cold trail of soft touches in his wake.

“You could stay with us,” she whispered to me. “Forever.” Her lips laid soft kisses along my neck and shoulder, tongue tasting my skin between the pecks. 

I shivered against her and raised a hand to cheek before touching her hair. “I will stay without you keeping me here through blood,” I replied and turned my head to kiss her. 

She stiffened for but a moment before she leaned into the embrace, tangling her tongue with mine. Despite her deathly touch, there was enough heat between us to warm her. I pressed into her, swallowing her kiss, wanting to taste her. The vampire moaned, fangs catching my lip and the taste of copper touched my tongue.

Her hand grasped my shoulders, holding me still as she deepened the kiss. Her mouth sucked on my lip, pulling what blood she could from it as a cold mouth touched my inner thigh. Remy’s tongue playfully lapped against the sensitive nub of flesh above my opening before he closed his mouth around it and pulled me into him, tongue swirling. I cried out into the kiss, moaning and shuddering beneath his skilled mouth.

Elizabeth held me, not letting me thrash too much as Remy drove me wild. I whimpered, pressure building within me as his fingers slid inside me once more, stroking my inner folds in tandem with his lapping tongue. 

Our kiss broke as Elizabeth trailed her mouth over my jaw and down my throat. “Say you love me,” she whispered. A gentle, loving kiss was placed against my neck before her mouth opened and pain mixed with intense pleasure as her fangs slid into my throat.

I knew I gasped though I didn’t hear it. A rush of euphoria ripped through me, making me cry out and shuddered against her bite. My fingers gripped her hair, pulling her against my skin as though she needed encouragement. My other hand moved over Remy’s head, holding him to my thigh as his fingers slowed. 

His head turned, chin covered in my own wetness, before he licked the sensitive skin of my inner thigh. My fingers tightened on his head, pushing his face down in encouragement. I felt his smile rather than saw it. 

Teeth sunk into my skin as he gripped my hips with strong cold fingers, pushing into my flesh to hold me still as I writhed beneath the two of them. A thousand sensations of pleasure and ecstasy moved through me, pushing me over the edge and into an abyss I hadn’t known existed. 

Time stretched eternal as I lay, body seemingly weightless, caught between them. My eyes slid closed as I felt the soft embrace of death on the horizon, yet barely noticed it over the waves of ecstasy I rode. My grip on them lessened and I felt a tremble move through me as the points of pain on my flesh faded away.

The smell of violets and copper touched my nose as Elizabeth held out a bloody wrist to my lips. Weakly I grabbed her arm and pulled it down to my chest, shaking my head against her. A soft kiss was pressed against my hair. “Was it all you wanted?” she murmured.

“You are,” I replied. I opened my eyes to glance up at her. “I love you,” I said softly, finally obeying her command.

The vampire made a soft noise of amusement. “Thank you for your gift,” she whispered. They were both warm against me as I lay between them, head on her chest, body pressed against him. As dawn crept into the sky, we slept.