Revenge is Sweet

by Berni Stevens

  ‘I also know that you have never been truly in love, which is something I intend to rectify.’

  The sheer arrogance of the man astounded me almost more than his in-depth knowledge of my life.

  ‘Now I know you’re insane,’ I spat.

  ‘A trifle optimistic I grant you. But insane? No.’

  ‘What are you going to do to me?’

  I felt a rush of cool air, and found myself pinned to the wall so suddenly, and with such force, that my head smacked into it. I saw stars for a split second. His strong hands held my arms above my head and, once again, I hadn’t seen him move.

  I stifled a panicky scream of terror. He regarded me almost lazily as he traced one elegant finger softly down my cheek, and brought it to rest against my lips, his other hand easily keeping both of mine captive. My face tingled where he had touched it – ice and fire at the same time. He prised my mouth open with his finger and ran it lightly over my canine teeth. His breath was cool on my face as he spoke in quiet even tones. ‘Have you not felt the change in your teeth child? Have you not ran your tongue over those oh-so-delicate points?’

  I swallowed the hysteria rising in my throat. I would not let him see how afraid I was.

  I would not. I chose not to answer his question, either. I merely stared defiantly into his eyes.

  He leaned in even nearer, and spoke softly, his lips very close to mine. Almost touching, but not quite.

  His words sounded strangely loud. ‘If my main objective was merely to have sex with you, would I not have taken my pleasure many times already?’

  Still I didn’t answer. His close proximity was having a strange effect on me. His lips were close enough to kiss and … I … wanted to. My eyes widened at the thought and he swiftly drew back, just far enough away so he could see my eyes. His look was mocking now.

  ‘What do you think you could ever do to stop me taking whatever I want?’ He released me abruptly, and I let out a shaky breath as he moved away across the room.

  The silence between us became almost tangible but he didn’t seem inclined to break it. Reaching into his coat pocket, he brought out the silver phial, and turned it slowly in his hands, almost reverently.

  ‘I won’t drink blood again, and you can’t make me,’ I said quickly.

  I couldn’t bear the thought of attempting to swallow the repellent stuff again.

  Will shot me a serious look. ‘I should not have to make you. You should yearn to drink blood, in fact, your very essence should be filled with desire for the taste.’

  ‘Well it isn’t.’ I yelled at him in agony and sheer frustration, clutching my stomach as the pain seared through it again. ‘You just want me dead.’

  Will came closer again and stared down at me. ‘If I wanted you truly dead, little fledgling, trust me on this, you would be very dead. Although you are indeed dead to the human world, you still exist, as do I. But in order to remain in existence you have to feed.’

  ‘I won’t drink blood!’ I almost screamed the words in despair. ‘I just can’t.’

  Will continued to stare down at me, his arms folded. ‘If you are really adamant that you will not feed tonight, then I should warn you that you will feel even worse tomorrow,’ he said.

  ‘So what?’ I asked.

  ‘So you must at least try to take some blood. I am afraid it is the only way.’

  I gripped the edge of the bed, and stared at my trainers. They looked so normal. How could anything look that normal when nothing would ever be the same again? Will was still and quiet, as he observed me intently. I could feel his eyes on me even though I wasn’t looking at him. I pressed my hands to my stomach as the pain started up again.

  ‘If you would permit me to simply hold you, the pain will lessen,’ said Will.

  I looked up at him in surprise. ‘I’d rather have the pain,’ I ground out through gritted teeth.

  He didn’t try to force the issue, and I felt glad he didn’t. If he was in any way put out by my refusal, it certainly didn’t show. He merely shrugged and walked to the other side of the room. Lighting another cigarette, he watched me with his eyes slightly narrowed, as though his thoughts were too scary to share.

  ‘How long do you intend to defy me?’ he asked after a few minutes.

  I looked at my trainers again. ‘Who died and made you King?’

  ‘Ah, the sulky child act.’

  I did look up at him then, and a flood of hot

  anger suddenly suffused my whole body. ‘I have every right to be sulky and angry!’ I shouted. ‘I didn’t choose to be here. You brought me here for some revolting

  purpose that I don’t even want to think about. I want to go home.’

  ‘This is your home now.’

  ‘Wonderful.’ I almost spat back. ‘Very cosy. Locked up in a disgusting, damp cell with no lights, no bathroom and not even a change of clothes.’

  Will merely raised his eyebrows.

  ‘Why am I here?’

  ‘You are here in order to remain safe and undetected by the human world.’

  ‘But I am human,’ I began, but faltered when I saw his expression.

  ‘I am afraid you are no longer human. As I constantly have to explain, you are now a vampire, and a very young vampire at that. I am your maker, and it is my dubious pleasure to instruct and care for you.’

  ‘So I really am dead then?’ I was finding our conversations becoming ever more bizarre. ‘If that’s true … you must have murdered me already.’

  ‘I sired you. Brought you over. It is not the same as murder,’ he replied.

  ‘Bloody well is from where I’m sitting,’ I said.

  ‘Dead is just dead,’ he shrugged elegantly. ‘We are undead, we do not age, we cannot contract any disease, and we are extremely difficult to kill.’

  ‘Sunlight would do it.’ I couldn’t believe I was even having this conversation. I must have surely been deep within some weird nightmare.

  ‘Indeed it would,’ he agreed conversationally. ‘Why else would you be in my cellar where there are no windows?’

  ‘I hate the dark.’ I shook my head slowly as I realised he had actually told me I was in his cellar. His cellar? ‘I really hate the dark.’

  ‘That could be yet another potential problem for a creature of the night.’

  I looked up swiftly. I thought he might have made another joke at my expense, but no expression showed on his face. His eyes held a wicked glint, however, and I held his gaze briefly before I looked down again.

  ‘So you have brought me to this existence on some kind of whim?’

  ‘I never have whims.’

  ‘You must just be a selfish bastard then. You came along and took me from my life and forced me into yours without so much as a by your leave. You gave me no choice … I wanted children one day … ’ my voice cracked in anguish at that thought.

  A strange look passed across his face at my outburst, and he was silent for a while as though mulling over my angry words.

  ‘You are right,’ he said at last, surprising me. ‘I am a selfish bastard. I tend to take what I want when I want it, but regrets will not solve anything now.’

  Another uneasy silence grew between us. Eventually I looked up at him. He just stared at me, his expression guarded.

  I clutched at my stomach as the Thirst attacked me again.

  ‘Help me,’ I gasped.

  Suddenly it was as if Will had changed his own personal channel, flicked a switch that said ‘normal Will’ and the previous conversation had never taken place.

  ‘It would be so much easier, for us both, if you would accept that which you cannot change, and allow me to help you move on,’ he replied, his voice still quiet.

  ‘Why should I make things easy for you?’ I said, and gasped at another surge of pain. ‘I don’t even know who the hell you are. You’re nothing to me.’

  ‘The fact that I am your maker means we have an unbreakable bond whether you like it or not.’ He arched an eyebrow. �
��Although it rather appears to be “not” at the moment.’

  ‘So, I’m stuck with you,’ I retorted. ‘I don’t have to like you.’

  He burst out laughing at that, which startled me. I watched him warily. This mercurial Will was disconcerting, to say the least.

  ‘No, you do not have to like me, little fledgling,’ he said, with laughter still in his deep voice, ‘but you will, given time.’

  ‘In your dreams, sunshine,’ I muttered as the pain in my stomach grew stronger. ‘Leave me the hell alone.’ I curled up on the bed again like a wounded animal and closed my eyes. I didn’t hear Will walk away. All I heard was the slight creak of the door as it opened.

  ‘You have yet to meet the others too,’ he said from the door. ‘That should be most entertaining.’

  I heard the key in the lock. It clicked with a sound of finality.

  I opened my eyes, so I could watch the door in case he came back, then listened for a few minutes, but there was nothing to be heard except the occasional drip of water. He didn’t come back, so I curled up on the bed, with my arms around my stomach. At least when he was in the room, I had something else to concentrate on, even if it was only the arguments. Alone, I just felt weak and ill.

  I wondered why he hadn’t insisted that I try to feed again. Perhaps he was bored of me already and wouldn’t come back any more. The pains in my stomach intensified, and I raked my nails down my arms in an effort to counteract the all-consuming pain of the Thirst – if that really was the cause.

  ‘Someone help me,’ I whispered into the darkness.

  I closed my eyes and longed for a release of any kind. To escape from this interminable pain. Death would be preferable to this.

  12 February

  I confess to some considerable anxiety about the fledgling’s lack of desire to feed.

  She must have sustenance soon or the pain from the Thirst will become all-consuming and it will erode her mind until her brain no longer functions. Once this happens I cannot help her, and she will have to be destroyed. I cannot even contemplate the horror of such an outcome.

  But I will not give up on her. If I have to force-feed her, I will do so. I refuse to lose her now.

  Perhaps this is the outcome of my turning an intelligent woman from the twenty-first century. Women today are so different from the women of my own era. Modern women are confident in their ability to live their lives as they wish. They often live alone without man or family and I have found this strange beyond belief. My little fledgling has lived alone for years, and quite happily, it seems. She forged a career from her own talent, and worked hard to maintain that career.

  I will not lose her to the Thirst.

  I will not.

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