"He was tasty," she whispered as she fondly remembered the unwilling donor to her collection.
She smiled softly. She noticed her two guards at the end of the hallway. She resumed her strut. She still had to keep up appearances. As she approached, dutifully, they both stepped aside. They reminded her of military soldiers. They were products of Vladimir's brutal, but regimented, training. One of the guards, who did not speak to address her, opened the heavy iron door. She rolled her eyes. Do they think that I am a fucking invalid? she thought, but she swore that she heard the words of Lady Sangre regarding appreciating her minions. She nodded.
"Thank you," she said.
"Ah…you are welcome, My Queen," the guard said.
She wanted to grab him by the head and rip out his throat. She calmed herself and smiled at him. She stepped through the door into the dungeon. The heavy door creaked as it closed. She inhaled.
The dungeon reeked of death. The smell of fear, blood, and decaying flesh filled her nostrils. The scents intoxicated her brain. Shivers ran down her spine. She heard begging and crying. She smiled. She peered between the small section of bars in one of the heavy iron cell doors. In the limited light, she could see a young family huddled together in the corner. Two toddlers clung to their mother as they wept. The mother's eyes pleaded with the eyes at the door. Mikhaeli chuckled.
"Mmmm, fresh meat," she said hungrily.
She heard a growl. She glanced at her stomach, but she realized that the sound didn't come from her body. She listened intently. She stepped away from the door and listened. Soon the weeping children were a distant memory. The growling sound came from beyond the door directly across the hallway. She approached the cell door and peaked inside. Chris, his vampire face partially visible in the limited light, hung from the wall.
"GUARDS!" she bellowed.
The main door opened. The old hinges protested. The door was partially open and a vampire burst into the room. His vampire face was stern and his fangs were bared. He glanced from left and right to see who was threatening his queen. She stood with her hands on her hips. Her face was told a story of complete disgust.
"Open the door," she said flatly.
"My Queen, we thought that you were in troub…"
Before he could finish his sentence, he flew backwards into the wall. His body slammed into the stone wall. Bones shattered and blood splattered. Slowly, the broken body slid down the wall. The dying vampire stared directly ahead. The door opened and the second guard entered. He looked at his dying partner and then to his queen.
"He didn't open this door," she said matter-of-factly as she pointed her thumb at the cell door.
The guard didn't speak. He removed his keys from his hip and he fumbled through them. He found the key. His hand shook as he tried to get it into the lock. Mikhaeli rolled her eyes and snatched the keys from his grasp.
"Give those to me and get that rotting piece of shit out of my sight," she ordered as she inserted the key into the lock.
She turned the lock. It clicked and released. She pulled on the handle and the door slowly opened. The guard, who wanted to help her, slung the decaying body over his shoulder. He pulled on the main door with his free hand and he disappeared into the hallway. She pulled harder on her door and she nearly ripped it from the stone wall. She stepped inside the room and she cringed. Chris was frail.
She searched for a light switch. Despite wishing to maintain the ancient aura of the castle, she was forced to install a few modern conveniences. She turned on the lights and she nearly gasped. His head was hanging forward. He was motionless despite the rat which chewed on an open wound in his shoulder. She ran to his side and the rat scurried away. She stared at it and snarled. It exploded as a result of her telekinetic grip.
She turned her attention to Chris. She lifted his chin. His right eye was swollen shut. There were open wounds along both arms. He was barely conscious. She fumbled with the keys until she found the key that fit into the lock on his shackles. She released him and he fell into her waiting arms. She eased him to the ground. She rested his back against the wall. She brushed his blood matted hair out of his face. He gave her a crooked smile.
"Come here often," he joked as bloody spittle dripped from his swollen lip.
"What did they do to you?" she asked. "Don't lie either. I want to properly…"
He chuckled as blood trickled down his face. "I am a prisoner of war. I don't see the United Nations coming to rescue me and punish you for war crimes for a war that isn't supposed to exist."
She continued to brush the hair out of his face. "I give specific orders for you to be treated properly."
"They are vampires and they see me as a human. What did you expect?" he asked sarcastically.
"What did they do to you?" she asked. "You are very frail."
Chris was confused. The concern in her voice appeared genuine. "They nearly drained me."
"THEY FED ON YOU?" she bellowed.
He shook his head. "No, but they were doing their best impression of the Red Cross."
She was puzzled. "They saved your blood?"
"You're in charge here. Shouldn't you know why?"
"Don't concern yourself with that," she said as she rubbed his face gently. "We need to get you better. After all, I need a prince."
He chuckled again. "Some prince I'll be if I'm dead."
She shook her head. "Did I hear you correctly? Did you say you'd be my prince?"
He gave her another crooked smile. "If I get something to eat, I might consider it."
A million thoughts raced through her head. She had been fascinated with the vampire hunter since the first time that she had faced him in battle. He was handsome, strong, and he had a hidden darkness in his eyes that had attracted her. Common sense told her to kill him since he was the biggest threat to her existence, but he was the forbidden fruit. "I…I will bring you one of the humans that I ordered captured for a feast," she said as she turned to leave.
"NO!" he bellowed.
She gave him a puzzled look. "What is wrong?" she asked.
"Sorry," he said weakly, "I meant that I need time to recover before I could even think of draining any living creature."
She nodded curtly. "GUARD!"
Half a minute later, the sole surviving guard dashed into the cell. "Yes, My Queen?"
"Head to our blood storage and retrieve four vials of our freshest blood that wasn't drained from this man and bring them to me," she ordered.
The guard glanced at the unshackled prisoner. "May I inquire as to why?" he asked.
She glared at him. "No," she said sternly.
He bowed. "As you command," he said before quickly turning and dashing out the door.
Five minutes passed before the guard returned. He had a satchel under his arm. He didn't speak. He placed the four bags of blood on the ground in front of Chris and he stepped backwards. His queen nodded her approval.
"You've done well," she said. "This man is no longer a prisoner. He is to be my prince. Inform the others that he is not to be harmed in any way or they will answer to me. Furthermore, any requests that he might have are to be fulfilled as if I were asking. Is that clear?"
The guard nodded. "Absolutely, My Queen," he said.
She smiled. She leaned down and opened a bag of blood. She placed it on his parched lips. He drank greedily. She pulled it away. She passionately kissed his blood soaked lips. She pulled away and held his chin.
"I expect to see you later," she said with a wink. "Build up your strength."
"Count on it," he rasped.
She turned to her minion. "If anything happens to him, I will personally rip out your fucking throat," she said as she tossed him his set of keys.
The vampire swallowed hard. "Of…Of course, My Queen."
Mikhaeli curtly nodded. She turned and winked at Chris. She blew him a kiss. She strutted out of the room. Chris watched her leave before he grabbed another blood bag and drained its contents. The guard watched p
assively as Chris drained all four bags of blood. Blood dripped off of his chin as he fell back against the wall.
The blood coursed through his veins. The wounds on his body healed. His muscles rippled. He stood slowly. He tilted his neck from side to side. Loud pops echoed throughout the cell as his joints slipped back into place.
"Ahh," he said. "Getting there."
"Feeling better, sir?" the guard asked.
"No, I need more," he said.
The guard smiled evilly. "I think that what you need is across the hallway."
Chris inhaled deeply. "Yes, I can smell their fear."
"Follow me," the guard said as he exited the cell.
He flipped through the keys. He found the proper key and inserted it into the lock. The ancient locking mechanism protested. Finally, the lock released and the guard pulled on the door. Chris stepped inside.
The same family that Mikhaeli saw earlier sat huddled in a corner. The young children screamed. Chris glanced around the room as the guard entered and stood next to him. He saw their sparse meals which provided the bare necessities to keep them alive. The water container was half full. He turned his attention to the frightened family and his vampire face appeared. The entire family screamed.
"I'm sorry," he said, "But I must do this."
He struck.
* * *
A slightly irritated Mikhaeli stomped through the hallways of her castle. Her minions, who had seen her previously chipper demeanor, began to duck into rooms and closets as her angry gait had returned. She ignored their frightened stares. She stomped from room to room and through various hallways until she reached a wall. The wall was guarded by two burly vampires. They immediately stepped aside as their angry queen approached. The guard pulled a lever and the wall parted. The chains and gears, like the locks in the dungeon, protested as they were called into service. Hasn't anyone heard of fucking oil? she thought as she waited.
The false wall parted into a dark hallway. The guards nodded as their queen passed them. The doors closed behind her leaving her in total darkness, but her gait did not slow. She had traveled these passageways many times during the centuries prior to relocating to North America. The treatment of her future prince had caused her frustration to fester. She stomped through the darkness towards an unseen location.
"Open," she commanded.
The darkness immediately was filled with fluorescent light from the opening wall. She walked directly into the main vampire stronghold. Like the Council of the Light command center located beneath Canterbury Cathedral, the room resembled something from a science fiction movie. Vladimir stood at the head of a long table surrounded by walls of monitors and flashing lights. Several vampires sat at computers and worked feverishly to decipher all of the data. Unlike the council's command center, this room had been built with monies that had been stolen over centuries. She initially protested the upgrade of her castle to meet the modern world, but her younger minions informed her that they needed to stay ahead of the council. She, along with Vladimir, agreed that the upper levels of the castle would retain its gothic architecture while their command center beneath it would be constantly upgraded.
Vladimir bowed. "My Queen," he said.
"Stop it, Vlady," she growled, "I'm not in the mood."
He nodded. "Shall we get down to business then?" he asked.
"That is why I am here," she said. "Who permitted that the vampire hunter be drained?"
If the elder previously had any color to his face, it would have drained. "It…It has been our policy to drain blood from our captives before feeding on them. We need to replenish our reserves."
Her blue eyes stared directly at her mentor. "I distinctly recall ordering that he remain unharmed," she said coldly.
"Forgive me, My Queen," Vladimir said.
"If you weren't so special to me, I'd rip out your throat," she said with a growl.
He nodded again. "Understood."
"Good. He has agreed to be my prince…"
The elder's eyes widened. "Your prince?"
Her icy stare returned. "Interrupt me again and I will forget how much I like you."
"Again, forgive me."
"As I was saying, he is my prince. He is to have free movement throughout the castle and he shall not be detained or harmed. He is one of us now."
"Send out the command," Vladimir ordered and a vampire immediately started typing.
"We will have the traditional union ritual at midnight," she said.
"Of course, My Queen," Vladimir said.
"Now, Vlady," she said sweetly, "Why am I down here? I wanted to be resting."
"I'm relieved that you received my page," he said.
"The page wasn't. Now, what is so important?"
Vladimir picked up his tablet computer and he began typing. The center of the table turned over and a large LCD screen appeared. He continued tapping away and a map of the eastern hemisphere filled the screen. Several more commands isolated the Russian Federation. Large blue circles flashed in nearby cities. Red arrows pointed towards the circles. He frowned.
"The council has increased its presence in this area. Our spying programmers have been tracking communications between several of their leaders. It appears that they are trying to move their warriors towards a location possibly in India. One communication hinted that the last tome could be hidden within that country. It was highly encrypted and we haven't been able to completely translate their code," he said.
"And the red arrows are my minions moving to intercept?" she asked.
"Yes. Many vampires are moving towards the possible location of the tome," he said. "As you know, the tome will call out to…"
"And then why am I still standing next to you?" she asked tersely.
"Pardon?" he asked.
"The more powerful the vampire, the more likely that they are to be called to the tome," she said. "Is that not what we have learned?"
"Yes," he replied.
"And if they opened a tome, don't you think that I WOULD FUCKING KNOW ABOUT IT?" she screamed.
Vladimir blinked several times before hanging his head. "I should have thought about that," he admitted.
"Never mind," she growled, "I need to know what they are up to."
One of her human programmers raised a trembling hand. "M… May I speak?" he asked.
She smiled at him. "Of course," she said sweetly. "I like you."
"I…I…I know," he replied.
She placed her hands on her hips. "So why are you trembling?"
"I don't want to be someone's dinner," he replied honestly.
She smiled. "Of course not. EVERYONE, BUT THE HUMANS, OUT!"
"Are you certain?" Vladimir asked.
She shot him an angry glance and he nodded as her vampire programmers quickly left the room.
"Approach," Mikhaeli ordered.
The frightened computer technician stood slowly. His legs did not want him to move. He lost his balance and fell into his chair. He chuckled and he stood again. He inhaled deeply and he puffed out his chest. The vampire queen was the most exotic woman that he'd ever seen but she still terrified every fiber in his body. He tried to appear confident and unafraid as he approached but his legs and arms would not stop shaking. He stopped in front of her and tried to remain calm. He refused to look at her.
"You're terrified," she stated.
"N…No!" he tried to say firmly.
"You're shaking and you can barely form words," she said. "In my opinion, you are terrified."
"I am n…"
She placed her hand on his trembling arm. "Look at me," she ordered.
The man, who was the same height due to her high-heels, turned robotically and stared at her. He blinked slowly. He could feel his entire body being controlled.
"Good," Vladimir said approvingly.
Mikhaeli ignored him. "Your fear tells me that you know your place," she said.
"Yes, My Queen," he said robotically.
"Now, I ass
ure you that you will remain unharmed unless you cross me," she said sweetly as she rubbed his arm.
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