Act IX

by Alexander Gordon

  “Shouldn’t I have been happy?” Star distantly questioned. “That’s what I used to think to myself.”

  Over time her chanting became less lively and more distraught.

  “I was doing everything my mother asked of me.”

  Her eyes held more sorrow in them then joy.

  “I was being a good girl for her, doing everything for her, everything to make her happy.”

  The weight of her daggers grew heavier, the blood they had spilled becoming a daunting burden on her heart.

  “I was given everything a monster would want. I was given everything… only a monster would want…”

  And then one day Star merely sat before her clock, staring at it, completely speechless as she felt a painful hole in her soul starting to grow.

  “I had a beautiful home, a bigger one in fact as Seraphine had enlarged her citadel to better suit her reflection of the tyrant she had become.”

  The gentle ticking of the clock did nothing on this day to make Star feel at ease, did nothing at all to soothe her spirit.

  “I had all the fish I could eat, only the most delicious and freshly procured catches brought to me from all over the region as tribute to the killer that I was feared as.”

  The words Star used to sing fell silent in her throat, the glaring realization that the life she once had and held onto so dearly was indeed gone becoming unmistakable. It was truly lost to her now, and it was never coming back.

  “And I had men. So many men, all enslaved and given to me so that my inner nature would always be satisfied. Fourteen of the finest, most virile men that our country could provide for my… sole pleasure.”

  “You had a harem of men?” Specca asked.

  “I did. And I tried filling the growing emptiness in my heart with them, something I could never do. I had it all, everything a monster could ever ask for. A home, food, men, everything was given to me all because of what I had done for my mother.”

  “But you weren’t satisfied?” Kroanette wondered.

  “Not enough men for you?” Kitten laughed.

  “I didn’t want men!” Star yelled out at her. “I didn’t want fish! I didn’t want that palace! I wanted my mother back! I wanted my life with my mother back!”

  Standing from her place before the clock Star felt her world cracking apart. Everything she had strived to keep in her life had slipped through her grasp, the life she wanted to stay in had long since left, and the sudden realization of what had replaced it finally came upon her.

  “The monster my mother had become, she wasn’t the one I wished to be with. She wasn’t the one I was fighting for all that time. She was… someone else entirely. I finally realized that my mother never came back from Elliran that day, she never came back at all. Vindicus corrupted her, twisted her soul, changed her into a bloodthirsty warmonger who didn’t repress her darker nature but instead engorged upon it. My mother Seraphine had been dead for years, replaced by a horrible demon born from her inner nature, and I never realized it until my heart finally broke from what had become of us. I was a fool. I gave up my morals, my heart, and even my entire being, all in a vain attempt to keep my mother in my life.”

  “Then what brought you here to us?” Specca asked. “If you really did hate the life you had and what you had become, what did you do about it? What happened to your mother?”

  “I told you, my mother was killed by the Countess of VanEllovan.”

  “And what happened to her?” Daniel asked.

  Star slowly made her way through the citadel, wandering almost aimlessly as she suddenly felt detached from the place that had been her home for so long. The lavish interiors of the halls and chambers were lost to her, the prestige of the palace meaning nothing to her now, and all that it held within became meaningless to her.

  Passing by the kitchen she caught a glimpse of the many servants inside who were busy at work. Although she could have as much fresh and delicious fish as she wanted it all brought a bad taste to her mouth from the mere thought now. Walking by the library she knew of countless tomes of knowledge and wonder that lied within, however all were just empty books and nothing more in her eyes. The bathing room she ignored couldn’t have relaxed her even with her servants brushing her hair or scratching behind her ears, such comforts couldn’t bring a smile to her face anymore. And her personal chamber, which had all the luxuries a princess could want along with over a dozen human men who were bound by collars and chains to remain on her large bed didn’t bring a smile to her face in the least. Stopping by the door she merely stared at the men as they watched her from the bed, all their eyes conveying they had resigned themselves to the fate of being her toys forever. She could have them right then and there if she wanted, she could make them do anything and they would obey just as they had been trained to, she could have as many daughters as she wished and forever be sexually satisfied. Yet she wanted none of that, she didn’t want a single man there at all now.

  “Don’t believe any who would say I had it all, for in truth I had nothing. I had lost everything I held dear, I had lost who I was, and by the time I realized it there was no fixing it. My life was broken beyond repair.”

  “You had all that, and yet you didn’t want any of it,” Alyssa wondered.

  “All I wanted was my mother, and she was gone. She was gone… and in her place…”

  Star eventually found herself entering the main court of the countess, the grand double doors behind her slowly closing while standing along the walls near the pillars were her guards. The vampires bowed in respect to their Bloodcat gracing them with her presence, something Star only took a fleeting notice of before resting her eyes on the woman seated in her throne ahead at the end of the hall. The torches and moonlight from the stein glass windows above lit the court, casting a hauntingly cold bloom amidst the stone tiles and walls. But although everything was illuminated clearly for all to see the countess remained shrouded in a black shadow, at least by Star’s description.

  “Star, why do you avoid telling us what she looked like?” Specca asked. “You’ve detailed your home and life so well, yet whenever you speak of Seraphine you don’t say-”

  “What she looked like?” Star interrupted. “Her face, her eyes, her hair, who she was? That’s because you don’t need to know. You won’t know. The woman I loved, the woman who was a mother to me, died. Taken from me, by a monster that replaced her soul and brought my world down into darkness.”

  “Star,” Seraphine said as the jinx slowly walked across the hall towards her. “It’s nice to see you again. Why the forlorn face? What could you possibly have to feel miserable about?”

  “I was the last one to see her as she was, to know what she was. I was the last one to truly love who she was.”

  “Are the men we procured for you not to your liking? Haha, if they’re meek or poorly in bed we can have them replaced. There are many more who can replace them. In fact, I could have my followers drain them dry tonight and have them exchanged with far more virile men within an hour. All for you, my perfect Bloodcat.”

  “And, Reiko? I swear to the heavens if you tell a single soul what my mother looked like I will kill you where you stand. I will never forgive you.”

  “Star?” Reiko nervously asked. “I wouldn’t want to anger you, I assure you of that. But why is it you don’t wish for anyone to know what she looked like?”

  Star came to a stop in the middle of the court, her eyes locked onto the woman who had been everything to her in life. The one who gave her a home, food, clothing, and hope for a better future.

  “Because I’m the only one who knows what Seraphine really looked like. Who she was, before she was replaced with that inner demon of hers. For any who see her face now, they’ll only see a horrible monster, a butcher, a tyrant, they’ll only see everything that the real Seraphine wasn’t.”

  “Star? What’s bothering you? Speak,” Seraphine ordered. Her only reply was silence from the jinx, the cat merely staring at her with t
ails that weren’t moving at all.

  “I’m the only one who knew her. I’m the only one who truly saw her. I’m the only one who loved her like no other.”

  The light from the windows above dimmed as clouds drifted by, the hall shifting to an orange hue as the torches lit up the court more profoundly now. All eyes turned to the jinx as she stood perfectly still in the middle of the room, not speaking or even wagging her tails, just standing there as she stared at the countess with her heart breaking apart.

  “Star? Speak when I tell you to,” Seraphine ordered standing up and walking forward. “What is the meaning of you coming into my chamber and filling it with your gloom? Explain yourself.”

  “I’m the only one that had the right.”

  “The right to see her?” Daniel asked.

  “No…”

  Star took a step forward, then suddenly leapt into a teleport across the hall, covering the distance from where she was to where she instantly appeared before countess. In one smooth motion, just as she had trained herself to do for years as a perfect killer, she slipped out a wooden stake that was sheathed behind her skirt and struck it into the heart of the one who had taken away everything she held dear. All the guards gasped in shock as Star plunged the stake into Seraphine’s heart, the countess letting out a sharp yell before freezing in place with trembling hands held down at her sides. Star meowed softly with closed eyes, a tear running down her cheek as she didn’t want to see the look on the monster’s face anymore. She couldn’t, it was too much to bear at this point.

  “The right to avenge her.”

  “You killed her?” Reiko exclaimed. “You killed Countess Seraphine?”

  “I killed the monster who took her from me.”

  “My… Bloodcat…” Seraphine breathed out. After a moment of silence the woman dropped back onto the floor with a thump, leaving Star standing above her and meowing softly in mourning. The jinx slowly opened her eyes but kept her gaze forward, refusing to give the monster that took her mother away even one more fleeting glance. Her world became quiet and blurred, everything seeming to unravel all at once after she had done the deed she knew needed to be done. She refused to look at the monster that now lay dead before her in a pool of blood, she didn’t even notice the guards as they quickly charged from all sides with muffled warcries of vengeance, and she especially didn’t care that all the guards fell from her cursed aura damning them to horrible accidents. From stakes being misfired from crossbows, to slipping and self-impalement following after, to even a chandelier of candles dropping down and crushing a guard before setting her on fire, nobody was able to harm the jinx or avenge their fallen countess while they were slain by grave misfortune befalling them.

  “Star,” Daniel softly said in awe.

  “You killed her,” Kroanette spoke from behind her hand.

  “You were the one who struck her down in the end?” Reiko wondered. “Then, that means when the citadel fell…”

  “Yes,” Star solemnly agreed. “It was because of me.”

  The building shook, windows cracked, and bricks began falling from the ceiling. It seemed like a groundquake, with the rumbling echoing throughout the trembling halls as crimson glows bled through the cracks and frames of all the rooms. Star didn’t move, didn’t budge an inch. She knew what would happen, yet she didn’t care. She knew what she had done, and felt just as dead inside as before. Nothing mattered to her, nothing could be changed; everything was already lost to her.

  “When a vampire countess is slain her magic dissolves,” Star explained. “Those that were infected by her blood remain cursed as such, albeit now no longer bound to a master. And the domain of the vampire countess which is fortified and shielded with magical energy loses its strength and falls into ruin just as the lives of all those who are left stranded without their countess.”

  “What does that mean?” Cindy asked curiously.

  “It all falls apart. Everything.”

  All throughout the palace screams and crashes were heard. Vampires began fleeing the manor as fast as they could, with many being crushed and buried by the falling rubble while flames began flowing through the crumbling halls. From the town at the base of the citadel’s hilltop the vampires of VanEllovan watched in shock as the mighty citadel collapsed into itself, throwing dust and flames high into the air while the roar of the once grand estate being demolished echoed out across the land. A pulse rippled out across the countryside, leaving monuments and unholy cathedrals that once stood as keeps to the countess’ reign to fall from their magical hold leaving them. Vampires all across VanEllovan fell into disarray as their churches crumbled into ruin from the vampire countess being slain.

  “What did you do then?” Falla asked.

  “I stayed right where I was.”

  “But why?” Luna wondered. “Oh, that’s right, you couldn’t have died then anyway, could you?”

  “I wanted to be buried.”

  “Buried?” everyone exclaimed.

  “I wanted to be buried in the tomb of where my mother and I once spent our days together in peace. I wanted to go to sleep, and never wake up. I wanted it all to end, for the nightmare that plagued us to finally end.”

  “Star,” Daniel breathed out. “But… then what happened to you?”

  All was quiet around Star. She was buried tightly in the debris, her body having healed from broken bones and the like while being trapped inside rubble. What little air she could breathe was stale, the world around her dark as no light reached down to her, and the only sound she heard was her stomach grumbling. Even after having a citadel collapse onto her and crush every bone in her body, the only thing causing any discomfort was her growing hunger.

  “My magic couldn’t reflect a building falling on top of me from my own doing, however my vampire blood rebuilt my body after it should have been pulverized into oblivion and left me alive and awake under the rubble. I couldn’t see where to teleport to, couldn’t move to dig myself out, and I was alright with that. I may not be able to be killed by any attack, however starving to death is still something that could end my life. And that’s what was going to happen to me.”

  “You were just going to let yourself die and leave me all alone in the world?” Reiko whined. “Star, you’re so mean!”

  “But how did you live then? What happened?” Specca asked.

  “This is the part of the story you might not believe,” Star hesitantly said.

  “This is the part we’re going to find hard to believe?” Alyssa questioned skeptically. “After hearing that you’re the Bloodcat of VanEllovan and are part vampire, this is the part of your story we’re going to find difficult to hear?”

  Star waited for her time to end, for her body to starve itself to death so that her cursed life may finally come to a close. She wondered if she would be reunited with Seraphine as she once was in the underworld, if they could cross over together, if they might finally have a peaceful life, or rather afterlife, with each other. Her thoughts were then quickly interrupted as a rumbling sound was heard from the dirt and rubble above her. A hand then reached down through the rock and grabbed her collar. With a surprised meow the jinx was yanked up from the ground like a carrot and held in the air, her neck slowly healing from being snapped by the forceful ejection before her eyes focused again at seeing daylight shining down on the land. A few clouds were drifting by overhead however it was clear another day had begun while Star was buried under the citadel’s remains.

  “I was pulled out of the debris by someone…”

  “Nope, this isn’t it,” a woman plainly said before tossing Star aside with great force. The cat yowled as she tumbled and crashed through rubble and stone pillars before coming to a sudden stop against a slab of marble tiling face first.

  “And then promptly discarded like a piece of garbage.”

  After taking a moment to regain her senses, pull her head back from the indentation she had made in the solid stone wall, and allowing her teeth to grow
back and face to regenerate after having been smashed into said stone wall, the jinx blinked a few times then shook her head. Looking back she then quickly pressed against the wall with a surprised meow, eyes widening at seeing a woman dressed in a skimpy white toga, having bright white feathered wings, and long silver hair with red streaks running through them. Star’s jaw dropped as she saw the winged woman standing before her, stunned to actually see such a monster as she could take a very good guess as to what it was yet wasn’t sure if she could believe it.

  “An angel saved you?” Daniel exclaimed.

  “An angel? A real angel?” Kroanette gasped. “Those monsters really exist? I thought they were just from storybooks.”

  “An angel?” Doku wondered. “A real holy maiden from the heavens came to your rescue?”

  “Well…” Star reluctantly said.

  “Where the fuck is it?” Valentina scoffed as she kicked away large chunks of debris. She searched the collapsed remains of the citadel in growing frustration while tossing aside anything that got in her way before turning to Star. “Hey, cat. Where the hell is it?”

  Star merely blinked while staring at the holy monster, being both surprised and confused about what was happening. Valentina marched up to her and grabbed the cat by collar to pull her closer with a scowl on her face.

  “I said where is it? I know it’s here, don’t try to say it isn’t. Now tell me where it is. Or was, or whatever. Where the hell were you keeping it? Talk!”

  Star merely stared at her in silence while seeming to be speechless. Valentina growled then shook the cat about by the collar, having her yowl repeatedly while the angel’s wings glowed brightly with her increasing anger.

  “Talk! Where is it? Where were you hiding it? I know it was here, so where was it?”

  Star meowed loudly while being shaken about before she teleported out of the grip of the furious angel and appeared further away. The cat caught her breath while holding her neck as she watched the angel merely glance over to her with a scoff.

  “Fine, if you won’t tell me then I’ll just have to get it my own way.”