by Avin Vang
His body was like a moving statute. It was hard as rock, and very strong. Unfortunately, it had been cracked in several places earlier in the evening. Matthias couldn’t put any weight on his right leg and his chest was having a hard time holding his neck in place. The only advantage he had was that now the ground was giving him energy and power.
“You better stay down,” Roman yelled as he stood over Matthias. Roman wanted to finish the vampire off, but he wasn’t sure how close he really wanted to get. He started to look around the dig site in the castle grounds. All of the tools had been put away, but there were wooden stakes in the ground. “Ah, here we go.”
“You stay back!” Raven started to run after Roman, knowing he was going after the wooden stakes. They were almost three feet long, and he would be able to kill Matthias without getting into striking distance for the severely injured vampire.
“Form a circle,” Carrie cried as she grabbed Raven’s hand. Matthias fought his way back to his feet and steadied himself as the witches started to chant. The idea of a group of witches saving him had never crossed Matthias’s mind.
“Out of my way,” Roman charged through the circle. His amulet was glowing. There was nothing that the witches could do as long as he was wearing that little trinket. He came charging at Matthias with the stake held high. “I’m going to finish you off!”
“Many have tried,” Matthias laughed as he rolled to the side. His foot couldn’t support him, and he went right to the ground. This time at least he was expecting it. Matthias sprung back up to his feet and launched himself at Roman. Knocking the stake out of the way, the old vampire landed a punch.
Roman landed a punch of his own. The cracking on his chest was starting to spread out in every direction. Matthias knew he couldn’t take too many hard hits to his weakened body. He jumped back to get out of range. Roman took a wild baseball-style swing with the stake.
“I don’t even need to stab you,” Roman laughed. “You’re just going to fall apart.” Roman took another swing, and then another. Matthias attempted to keep jumping on one foot while staying out of the way.
The next swing took Matthias to the ground. Roman smirked at his fallen opponent and strode over confidently. “I am going to enjo…ugh!”
Roman had gotten too close to the vampire. With the castle grounds fuelling his energy, Matthias snapped Roman’s shin like a twig. He fell forward and Matthias pulled him in and ripped out his throat. When he finally pushed the young werewolf away, Matthias was drenched in blood.
“Are you okay?”
“Get me inside,” the old vampire begged as he struggled to get up.
“He was going to kill me,” Raven sighed as she looked at the boy dead on the ground. “But I still hate to see him die.”
“He threatened your life,” Matthias’s voice was firm. “He had to die.”
Matthias leaned on Raven as he hobbled into the castle. She looked so beautiful and he couldn’t believe that he had almost lost her. He was ready to die, but not ready to lose Raven. He stopped her as they walked through the gate and fixed a loose strand of hair. “I’m glad that you’re alright.”
“That’s what you have to say after all that,” Raven laughed. “I’m glad you’re okay too, bud.”
“I’m sorry,” Matthias laughed. “I’m not good at this. Emotions are not my thing.” Their eyes met and a heavy silence fell.
“You’re doing fine,” Raven teased.
Matthias took Raven’s hand and led her through the castle. He couldn’t believe where he was standing. He had wanted to come back for so long, but the castle brought back too many horrible memories. “I can’t explain what happened to me here, in this place.” Matthias looked down at the floor. He just wanted to be happy, but how could he be happy after everything that he had done.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t deserve to be this happy,” Matthias whispered in despair. “If you only knew the things that I had done. I am a monster, and I have only brought evil into this world.”
“I saw them in a vision.”
“Then why are you here?” Matthias was shocked.
“It isn’t your fault,” Raven said as she put a hand on Matthias’s cheek. “It was the ring. It was your father and my grandmother. You got caught in the middle of a magical vendetta. My grandmother couldn’t undo her own spell so she punished you instead of your father.”
“I killed my brother,” Matthias couldn’t take his eyes off the floor. A delicate finger lifted his chin. Raven’s lips felt full, and moist, but they meant more to him than a feeling could explain. She loved him even though she knew what he was, and what he had done. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Raven said as she kissed the vampire again.
Matthias led the way through the halls once again, but he could now feel the joy pushing the pain out of the way. He could feel the victory. He had won. Not just over Roman, or Zdeno, but he had beaten Helga, and the challenge that she had put in front of him centuries ago. He had become more than just a monster.
Ch. 15 – Raven
“They lived like pigs in here,” Raven whined as she walked through the largest of the upper bedrooms. They were in a part of the castle that had been closed off to the public. The pack had spread their clothes, pillows, and other personal belongings over every inch of the place. Raven kicked a clear path through the mess and led Matthias to what she was hoping was a modern bathroom.
“This has been renovated,” Matthias laughed as they got into the room. It was odd for Raven to see a man soaked from head to toe in blood, cracking jokes. Matthias’s mood had improved a great deal since the battle. The castle seemed to be reviving him. Most of his injuries were too severe though, and it would take a day’s sleep to heal them.
Raven started unbuttoning his shirt. There was barely any shirt left. The silk had been ripped by werewolf teeth. He was going to need new clothes before they left the castle, and none of the werewolves seemed to share his love of silk shirts and tailored suits. Raven peeled the shirt off and then got onto her knees to help Matthias out of his pants.
“Thank you,” Matthias sighed as he leaned on the sink. He couldn’t put any weight on the left leg and Raven could tell that he was hurting everywhere.
“Get in,” Raven said as she turned on the shower. Matthias went to move past her, and pulled Raven into the shower with him. “Hey! Hmm….mmm…” Raven’s protest was smothered by passionate lips. She fought it for a second, but then she wrapped her arms around the vampire. She was his after all. Raven liked that a vampire would kill to save her life.
Her wet clothes made a squishy thump on the shower floor. It felt good to let the hot water run down her body. Raven found some soap and rubbed it in her hands. She watched as the bubbles moved over the blood on Matthias’s cheeks and nose. Her hands then moved to his neck. There were bites all around his neck; the canine teeth had broken the skin in several places.
Raven covered Matthias’s chest in white bubbles and then worked her way down to his washboard abs. She took a moment to scrub each muscle on her way down. Looking up into his eyes, Raven could see the hunger he felt for her. For her blood, and for her body. Raven moved onto his legs. She could see Matthias’s cock throbbing as she scrubbed his thighs.
She finished cleaning his legs before returning to scrub the eager appendage. Matthias grunted and his hand went to the wall for balance. His head went back. Raven soaped it up and then watched as the water took the suds away.
Edging out playfully, Raven’s tongue rolled along the head and glided down to the bottom of the shaft. She went all the way back to the other end and made circles around the edge of the mushroom-shaped head. She parted her lips and sucked the head into her mouth, stopping at the head and moving slowly back and forth.
Matthias’s hand dropped gently onto the back of Raven’s head. Firm pressure guided Raven’s mouth down the rod. Raven let the hand move her until she could take no more. She loved that he knew w
hat he wanted. Mathias was not afraid to take the lead.
Raven kissed her way back up to the vampire’s lips. “Are you going to soap me up now?” Raven asked with a devilish look in her eye, but Matthias knocked the soap away from her.
“I like you dirty,” Matthias sneered as he turned Raven around and pressed his body against hers. Running one hand down the front of her chest, his other hand parted her legs. The hands were firm, but not rough.
His lips went to her neck. Raven put a hand on Matthias’s head. “Do it,” she cooed, and then gasped as his teeth sunk into her neck. Raven quivered as the teeth and hands sent so many different signals through her body. Matthias withdrew his teeth and wrenched his head away. He was trying to control his hunger.
Raven reached between her legs and slid his manhood into place. She worked her hips and Matthias started to thrust to meet her motions. Raven grabbed Matthias’s hair and pulled his head back to her neck. He didn’t bite down, and she knew that this was driving the vampire wild.
Matthias lifted Raven off the floor and they glided through the air to the bed. His strength was returning, and as they touched down on the bed, Raven could feel his vitality in full. Long, slow strokes had turned into quick pounding thrusts. Raven cried out as the vampire moved faster and faster.
Raven didn’t think she could take anymore when Matthias eased the pace and started to move slowly and rhythmically. Raven lost herself to the rhythm and her moaning filled the castle walls. She could feel Matthias starting to throb and his grunting was only getting louder.
The animalistic noises were driving Raven wild. She needed to feel him erupt inside of her. She needed to hear him cry out. She wanted to know that she had pleased him. Raven put her head down into the bed and pushed her hips back hard against his pelvis.
“Grrraugh!” Matthias’s final grunt pushed Raven over the edge and she cried out. The throbbing of pleasure took over her body and she stretched out flat on the bed. Matthias lay beside her and pulled the young witch on top of him. “I needed that.”
“I need you,” Raven sighed as she kissed the teeth marks on his chest. She traced the scars on his body with one finger. Raven knew that the marks would be gone the next time she saw Matthias, but she never wanted to forget what had happened that night. She never wanted to forget how close they had come to death.
“We are okay now,” Matthias assured his woman. He could see that she was focused on the damage he had taken in the battle. “This is just temporary.”
“I know,” Raven said as her finger traced a line that ran from the vampire’s belly button to his ribs. It was a claw mark, and it had removed all the layers of skin to reveal the stone-like insides of the ancient being. “I just can’t believe that you nearly died for me.”
“I was already dead,” Matthias was staring out of the room’s only window. The night sky was clouded, and yet there was a single opening that revealed two stars for a moment. The clouds moved fast and the stars disappeared. “And I had never really lived until I met you.”
Raven wouldn’t have believed that line from many people, but the earnest look in Matthias’s eyes drove the meaning home. The 600-year-old man was staring at her like she was the only woman in the world. She put a hand on his cheek and he kissed the palm. Raven laid her head on his chest.
Earlier that night she was sure that she would never sleep again, but with the adrenaline wearing off and the feeling of comfort in Matthias’s arms, Raven could feel her eyelids sinking. “Rest,” Matthias said as he kissed Raven’s head and closed her eyes with his fingers.
* * *
“Where is he?” Raven asked as Carrie tossed some fresh clothes at her.
“He buried himself under the castle,” Carrie explained as she checked the window. “I don’t know what to do. I feel bad that we’re not at the dig.”
“The villagers want to kill us,” Ali reminded her friend and then jumped into bed with Raven. “That sounded fun last night. You guys had a little ‘reclaimed the castle’ sex, how was that?”
Raven smacked Ali with a pillow, but then a thought ran through her mind. “Are you okay?” Raven asked.
“Roman, right,” Ali sighed. “It really wasn’t the same after he kidnapped you and told me to leave town or he’d have to kill me too. That was about the end of that.”
“Still, you were close.” Raven knew that Ali hated talking about her feelings. Ali was better at having fun than she was at having relationships. She didn’t usually date guys for more than a month. Raven could tell that Roman was a special guy to this ‘life of the party’ girl.
“Yeah, but I could tell that he wasn’t the one,” Ali shrugged through the pain in her voice. “I don’t like werewolves, I prefer guys with less hair, get it?” Ali laughed, and the others threw their arms around her in a big hug. She wasn’t going to talk about her feelings, but they weren’t letting her off the hook.
“Alright, I say we go to the dig,” Raven said as she stood up off the bed. “We came here to dig and I think we should do it. If the villagers say anything we’ll cast a spell and make them forget everything.”
“Not really how it works, but we can try it,” Carrie decided. She really did want to be a part of the dig. Raven and Ali both just needed to keep their minds occupied. Raven knew she was going to go crazy waiting for Matthias to wake up. She had so many things to say, and so many things she wanted to do. She got dressed quickly and they headed out the door.
“I think this is the right call,” Carrie mumbled mainly to herself as they headed out to face the world outside the gates of the castle.
Carrie and Ali had taken care of the crime scene on the castle grounds. It had taken a few hours, but Carrie had spent most of the night worrying that she had missed something, or the blood had soaked down deep and someone would find it.
No one seemed to be freaking out as they walked onto the dig site. “Were you guys in the castle all night?” The professor seemed very excited. “That place is supposed to be haunted, if you’re into all the witches, ghosts, and goblins crap.”
“No,” Raven chuckled. “We don’t buy into any of that.” The girls laughed as they headed off to get their tools.
It was a beautiful, calm day and Raven enjoyed being at the dig site. She kept trying to help as many people as possible. She didn’t even break for lunch. Raven was too distracted to eat anyway. She brought food and water to the crew so that those who could eat did so. Carrie and Ali teased her about being a keener, but Raven didn’t care.
Raven raced through the castle halls as the light began to fade. She didn’t know exactly where Matthias had gone, but she had an idea. She ran to the dungeons and opened the door. Light flooded into the room. At first there was just the empty room.
Then Raven heard the stones moving. A stone slab moved up and over as Matthias pulled himself up out of the ground. “I missed you,” Matthias said as he walked over to the woman he loved. Taking her by the back of her neck, he kissed her deeply.
“I missed you too.”
Epilogue
Epilogue – Raven
“Are we really just heading back to school,” Ali asked. It was hard to believe that the break was at an end.
Raven knew it was her last night in Romania. She had tried to talk to Matthias about it, but how could she ask him to leave the castle he had finally taken control of. Most days she could hardly wait all day to see Matthias again. Today the thought of seeing him was causing her distress. “What if he’s not coming with us?”
“You wouldn’t go anywhere without him,” Ali laughed. “If he stays, I have a feeling that there’s going to be more space in our train car on the way back.” Raven rolled her eyes as Ali made a goofy, lovestruck face at her. “You got it bad, girl.”
“Fine, but what do I do?” Raven asked. “I can’t just leave him. I can’t stay either, not really. I have a life back home.”
“Do you?” Ali teased. Raven’s social life was nothing compared to the active
, non-stop party that Ali had been maintaining for the last three years. “You can do the credits long-distance.”
The girls headed off to the town to give the lovers some privacy. Raven needed time to prepare; she wanted everything to be perfect. She had cleared all of the wolf clothes out of the bedroom. Her favorite lingerie was left out on the bed. She had picked up a red satin robe in town. She didn’t think it was necessary to get all the way dressed tonight.
She had another hour to get ready, but she heard steps and ran for the dungeons. “Grandma!” Raven shouted as Helga Holstein stood smiling warmly at her in the hall. “What are you doing here? The girls just left.”
“I came to talk to you,” Helga said as she took her granddaughter’s hand. Raven pulled her hand back. “I know what you saw, and all that I can say is sorry. It must’ve been very painful to see that.”
“Who was that?” Raven cried. “That was not the Helga I thought I knew. Who are you?”
“I am your grandmother,” Helga said. Her face was staying strong, but the tears were falling anyway. The redness around her eyes was taking over fast. Raven couldn’t remember the last time she saw her grandma cry. “I lost my way. I needed you to see that, and know the depths that magic can take you to. I needed you to know, because I have always known how powerful you are, and will be as you continue to grow.”
“So to teach me a lesson, you transformed a man into a vampire and tortured him?” Raven’s sarcasm wasn’t lost on her grandmother. Helga moved closer only to see Raven pull away. “I’m sorry, but I can’t un-see what I saw. I need you to give me some space.”
“I can’t,” Helga smiled sadly as she moved closer once again. “I am still your grandmother, and I love you. I am the woman you knew and loved only a few days ago. I have lost my humanity at times, and you could too.”