by GR Griffin
Brahms had been waiting for her, the man visibly shaking with his impatience. He hadn’t been able to remain still, instead pacing about a path that had had been trampled into existence by his booted feet. Brahms wouldn't relax until Silmeria had been presented before him, and even then the vampire lord had not cracked a smile. Instead he had been rife with tension, that expression of his so solemn and so serious. Silmeria had tried not to tremble before him, holding her head steady as she had locked her eyes with his. That had proven to be a mistake, the only one she had been given the chance to make. Those crimson colored eyes had been so compelling, his stare muddling her thoughts, letting loose an enchantment about her. One that Silmeria had been ill equipped to deal against. Under that compulsion, aided and abetted by the pain and the herbal tonics within her, Silmeria’s already weakened mind had dulled further. That proud strength of will, that and the fierce determination of a Valkyrie, all of it had meant nothing under the combined onslaught of Brahms’s charisma and Silmeria’s own immense pain. Her breaking had been unavoidable, the only thing that had remained in question had been how quickly Brahms could strip the valkyrie of the last of her mental defenses.
She hadn’t been able to fight him in this, not head on and not in her current condition. Silmeria had still tried to put up a struggle, her eyes having narrowed to focus on a point somewhere above the vampire’s head. Brahms hadn’t been content to be ignored by Silmeria, his large meaty hand reaching to grasp hold of her chin. With a gentle but firm insistence, Brahms had guided her gaze back towards his, the crimson color soon becoming the only thing that she had been able to focus on. Vaguely she had been aware of him speaking, but the words had all been nothing but soft whispers urging her to give in. Silmeria had tried to resist that seductive command, knowing that she had to last long enough for the possibility of her sister Lenneth arriving to rescue her.
"Submit to me...." Brahms had urged her, and something inside her had rebelled at that very thought. He had had no right to demand her obedience in this, in ANY moment! She had tried to jerk free of his grip, but his fingers had tightened on her chin. Other commands had come, Brahms never having lost his patience, even as she had hissed and bore her teeth at him. Silmeria had cursed him, had actually reached up to grab at his wrist in an attempt to pull his hand free of her.
But the world around them had been in the slow midst of fading, the circling vampires that had all stood watch having become mere shadows. It had been as though Silmeria and Brahms had been on a stage, with the lights having grown dim all around them so that only the crimson glow of his eyes remained. She hadn’t been able to keep from losing herself into that glow, Silmeria’s growled out threats dying mid gasp as fangs had sank into her neck. She hadn't even been aware of Brahms having drawn her into his embrace, Silmeria not even feeling his breath on her skin as his fangs had pierced her flesh.
The last of her fight had erupted out of her once he had bit her, Brahms right arm going around her waist. He had hauled her up against him, settling her softness against his solid mass, her body actually attempting to go pliant. Her body had wanted to give in to the pleasurable feel of Brahms' bite, having wanted to sink into oblivion that he had offered her as he had been draining her blood. Silmeria had attempted one last resistance, stamping her foot down on his. Her soft soled slippers had no impact on his boot, and in desperation Silmeria had ended up beating her fists against him. Her struggles had made the pleasure turn to pain, Brahms having turned savage at her neck as he had growled at Silmeria in warning. She hadn't cared, still fighting even as each blow had grown slower, weaker, Silmeria’s mind turning sluggish.
As he had fed, his voice had whispered in her mind, urging her to give up that last bit of her control. Silmeria had hung on by a sliver thin line, one that had been fraying in the center at Brahms' continued persistence. And when it had finally snapped, the woman had gone limp in his arms, a moan escaping her as she had given herself over to the feeding. Silmeria had soon after lost control of her legs, needing Brahms support to stay upright. She had known then that she had been dying, and not even that of her sister's scream could have brought Silmeria back from the abyss.
Her memories were confused over what had happened next, a hot liquid being poured down her throat. She could remember Brahms’ voice, not so much urging as commanding her to drink. Silmeria hadn’t even been aware of what that liquid had been, or where that it had been coming from. But those first mouthfuls were like acid, burning their way down her throat as Silmeria had inadvertently swallowed. Even that had soon changed, the liquid holding a plethora of nutrients that had made her greedy for it. There was life in that drink, salvation, hers. And so Silmeria had drank, aware of nothing but that of her need to survive.
It had been all too similar in feeling and need to the thirst that had taken hold of her just seconds ago. A thirst that remained, that left her mouth dry and aching. But Silmeria had no desire to drink, staring instead absolutely horrified at the blood that was trickling out of Brahms' many throat wounds. The allure that it had first held for her had turned to disgust, Silmeria shaking violently. Her hand was still clutching at Brahms hair, the girl clinging to him like he was the only support she still had left. The vampire lord hadn't even noticed the change in her, an eager moan escaping him.
"Do not stop Silmeria." Brahms' tone was husky, his large hand cupping the back of her head as he attempted to push her face closer to his neck. The thumping of his pulse was louder yet, sounding very much like thunder in her ears. The scent which had been so appetizing before, now made Silmeria want to retch. "Drink from me…"
Silmeria knew that Brahms would like that if she did. It would secure his hold on her, and damn her soul in the process. A moan escaped her then, but it was not one born out of pleasure. It was despair, and that emotion reached through the haze that Brahms had surrounded himself in. He began to shift about, and she had reacted to his movement, pushing and shoving at his chest. Silmeria had desperately wanted him off her BEFORE she gave in to the urge to start screaming.
"Silmeria? What's wrong?"
He wasn't moving as fast or as far as she would have liker, Brahms actually gripping hold of her arms to keep Silmeria rooted on the bed before him. She began to struggle harder, another hiss escaping her. It was better than the sob that had wanted to come out, Silmeria at last raising her eyes to meet his. Her anger clashed with the worried look in Brahms' gaze, and then she was growling at him.
"What have you done?!" She quickly shook her head, wild wisps of blond hair falling across her eyes. She would flinch when Brahms had attempted to brush it back, Silmeria glaring at him as he went still. "How could you?!"
"How could I not?" He was calm as he had retorted with that, speaking as though what he had said had all the rational in the world. Perhaps to Brahms it did, the vampire feeling as though his actions were justified. With that irritatingly calm manner, the vampire Lord had continued with only the slightest hint of agitation tainting in his voice. "How could I do anything but act when you were about to be given away. Given to another man, an undeserving fool?"
"Lord Rufus is a good man." She was shaking with her anger, her breath hissing out of her as Silmeria spoke. "A kind man, a just man. He would have..." She trailed off mid retort, anger spiking in her eyes at the way that Brahms had just openly laughed.
"He would have what?" Brahms prodded at her silence. "Would he have made you happy? Made your life fulfilling?"
She tried not to hesitate, to instead sound sure of her answer. "Yes." She was anything but sure. Her only certainty had been that the marriage would have been for the good of Asgard, relations strengthened between the two realms. Good would have come from the union, even if Silmeria herself might have never learned to love Rufus, or never even come close to being happy with her new life and her duty.
"You lie." Brahms sounded certain of that, even as she continued to shake her head no. "To me, and to yourself. You'd never be happy with him, never fin
d fulfillment at some elf's side."
"So you what? Acted on my best interest?" She demanded, and he actually nodded, gripping tighter hold of her two arms. "You've turned me into a monster!" She snapped, struggling to get free. "You've made me into a thing that feeds on the life of others. The very creatures that I am sworn to exterminate. The fiend that...."
"I've given you new life!" Brahms roared over her voice. "I've given you purpose, the chance to find reason and happiness."
"As if I could ever be happy like this!" Silmeria screamed back, her voice just as loud as his. "You think there is joy in killing others? In ending a person's life to further my own?"
"There is more to a vampire's life than that." Brahms protested, but she shook her head no. "There is!" He insisted. "I know this will be a difficult time for you, for us. You need a period of adjustment, but eventually you will see. This was the best course for you."
"You've given me a death sentence!" Silmeria snapped. "My sisters will not tolerate my existence, any more than they will tolerate yours. It would have been a mercy for you to have killed me quick, rather than let me know of such torture, such misery."
"I would sooner rip out my own heart, than let you die." Brahms retorted. "And do you know and understand why?" She didn't, and it showed, Brahms' bruising grip pulling her closer so that he could bring his lips onto hers. "Because you are mine."
She broke the kiss with a hiss, almost snapping her teeth at his lips. But she didn't want to risk the chance of tasting his blood, of getting any more of that foul concoction into her system. "You overbearing, possessive Neanderthal! I am not yours! I will never be yours, no matter what you do to me!"
"You feel the connection between us. I know you do." Brahms had insisted, hardly deterred by her words. "It's existence has been established since the time of our first meeting, though we have both fought against it. We are the same Silmeria...the same sides of a soul, beings who shouldn't exist apart from one another."
"You are delusional as ever if you think to say we are soul mates." She scoffed. "A Valkyrie and a vampire make for mortal enemies, NOT love matches."
"Once I would have agreed with you." Brahms retorted. "I could have killed you back then, and have never known what I would have been stealing from myself."
"Your motivations are as selfish as they are insane." Silmeria sneered. "You seek to secure yourself happiness at the cost of mine!"
"You don't even know what true happiness is!" Brahms pointed out. "Your life as a Valkyrie was hardly fulfilling. You lacked a reason for your existence, a purpose."
"I would have found that purpose at Lord Rufus' side!"
"You wouldn't have!" Brahms snapped back. "How could that man, that elf, ever hope to make you happy? To give you the kind of life that you need?"
"We would have managed." Silmeria answered coldly. "Now let go of me."
"I won't let you go far from me." He warned her, slowly relaxing his grip. She immediately shot out from under him, fleeing to the farthest corner of the room. He turned just as fast as Silmeria had, his watchful eyes marking every inch of her progress. His unsettling gaze stayed on her, Silmeria trying to ignore the way that he continued to look at her, reaching up with her still shaking hands in an attempt to try and wipe off the blood smears sticking to her face. Even once those streaks of blood were gone, Silmeria continued to rub at her cheeks, that skin feeling as though it could never get clean again
.
"Stop that." Brahms grumbled an order. "You only serve to irritate your skin."
She ignored him, continuing her rubbing motions. She wanted the blood gone, from her hands, from her dress, from her SOUL. Would a bath even be enough to get her that clean feeling ever again? Silmeria doubted it. Not when her very insides had been tainted by Brahms’s blood, her core more vampire than Valkyrie now.
~It's just not fair.~ She thought to herself. Her future was supposed to be so much more than this. She was supposed to finally find her reason for existing, her chance at happiness. Even if her match with Rufus might have never produced love, at least there would have been other things to distract her. To give her purpose. She'd no longer have to fight, or spend an indefinite eternity out on the battlefield. Brahms had stolen all that away from her, and more, Silmeria realizing that her transformation had also stolen away her sisters.
Yet another thought had hit her, Silmeria's hands suddenly stilling in place at her sides. Lenneth! What had happened to her? She had heard her dear sister's scream, Lenneth having arrived just as Brahms had finished drinking Silmeria to the brink of death. Horrified, the young woman now met Brahms' crimson gaze, the accusation heavy in them and in her voice.
"My sister, the Valkyrie, Lenneth. What have you done to her?!" She had to lean against the wall for support, a frightening thought going through her mind. Was Lenneth's blood that which coursed through Brahms' veins at the moment? Had Silmeria's own sister's blood been what had been tempting her to take a drink? Silmeria thought that she might be ill, and wondered if it was possible for a vampire to vomit.
"Ah Lenneth." A faint twist of his lips, more smirk than smile. It made her want to slap him in an attempt to wipe that expression off of his face. "She fought valiantly on your behalf. But she was no match for me."
"And just what was her fate then?" Silmeria asked, knowing her skin had grown even paler because of her fright and her worry.
"Fear not, Silmeria." Brahms’ tone of voice was hardly reassuring. "I did not kill her. Nor did I allow any of my people to touch her." She closed her eyes then, her relief making her dizzy. "Your sister still lives. I dare say she has returned to Asgard, and reported the happenings of your abduction."
"You spared her in order to taunt my King?" Silmeria guessed, completely incredulous.
"I spared her because I knew that it would displease you if I had killed your most favorite of sisters." He countered. Her eyes snapped open at that, the rage in them boiling over into her words.
"You think one life spared can make up for all the deaths your kind have caused on that day!?" She demanded. "The countless einherjar who have died, the valkyries who accompanied us that were slain?!"
"Necessary deaths." Brahms retorted. "They stood in the way of what I wanted." His eyes narrowed, Brahms stepping towards her. "And Silmeria, I ALWAYS take what I want."
She turned to avoid his hand's caress on her cheek, Silmeria instead stalking over to the window. With a perceptive interest, she noted how the window hadn’t been barred, though arcane symbols had been carved into the glass. She was no wizard to know what those symbols meant, but Silmeria could feel the power of the spell’s magic.
"I wouldn't advise trying to leave that way." Came Brahms' voice from behind her. "The windows have been enchanted to keep a vampire confined within these walls."
"So I am nothing more than your prisoner.…"
"Oh, you are so much more than that." Brahms answered. Again he tried to touch her, attempting to lay his hands on her shoulders. "You are my everything."
"I am nothing to you." Silmeria retorted, moving away from him. "It's best you accept that."
"Never." Brahms answered. She held back a sigh, annoyed by his stubborn and delusional response. "It's not so bad..." The woman had turned at that, her eyebrows raised in surprise. "To be a vampire." Before Silmeria could angrily retort, Brahms was continuing. "You no longer feel the pain of your injuries."
She considered that briefly, noting there wasn't even a faint lingering of pain. It was as though she had never been injured, Silmeria able to do the most exaggerated of movements with complete ease. "It's not worth it." Silmeria answered at last. "I would have gladly endured the pain a million times over to remain as I was." He snorted at that, but he wasn't amused. Neither was she, Silmeria narrowing her eyes at him. "Was this all part of your master plan?"
Brahms looked confused then, Silmeria sighing. "Surely you didn't leave this all up to chance. My injuries were part of your plan to get close to me, to be
able to kidnap me. You knew that Odin would send me away if I was no longer able to fight. You were counting on that, weren't you?"
He turned angry then, growling aghast at her. "I would never purposefully do you harm. Especially to that extent."
"But you have!" She countered, but he ignored that.
"What happened on the battlefield was a mistake. It was out of my control, those vampires who so injured you." His look was savage then, the man unsatisfied with those soldier’s actions. "I have personally seen that all involved with harming you have paid. For their transgressions against you, they have died."
"You expect me to be glad for that?" Silmeria asked. He blinked in confusion then. It appeared that he had expected her to at least be happy at that news. "You merely proved what a savage you are, what brutes your entire race is!"
"Silmeria…"
Again she shrugged off his attempt to touch her, Silmeria still so rightfully angry. "Don't! Don't call me that! You have no right to my name...to the intimacy it implies."
"But I will use it all the same." Brahms retorted. "You are mine Silmeria. Do not ever forget that."
"You think making me into your own kind grants you ownership over me?" She demanded, hands fisting on her hips.
"You do not yet understand the ways of the vampires. I am not just your husband…"
"Husband?!" She scoffed.
"I am your sire as well." Brahms continued without pause. "That implies certain rights, though I do not intend to force them on you. I will wait for you to love me back."
"Love you back? That will never happen!" She retorted, dismayed by his calm smile. "You will learn first hand how difficult it is to gain the heart and soul of a Valkyrie."