The Darkest Colors- Exsanguinations

by David M. Bachman

  BITTEN: After you defeated Duchess Camille of the House of Richard during the last major assembly of the IVC, there were some fears that a war of bloodlines might erupt. We understand that a lot goes on behind those closed doors of the Hall of the High Court, and indeed in the Fallamhain Estate, and not all of it makes the nightly news. Has there been any violence or threats of war between any of the major Houses of the IVC since then?

  RAINA: Surprisingly, no. Duchess Camille was something of a radical, an extremely conservative and outspoken opponent of any kind of changes in IVC policy or law. She was prone to having a violent temper, and she had consistently taken an opposite stance against me in virtually every matter that had ever arisen since I became Grand Duchess. Frankly, she hated me. And because she was one of the senior Elders of the IVC, she had a lot of political clout. She lobbied to get the rest of the Elders behind her, and she tried to divide the entire Council by taking a black-and-white stance on everything.

  However, I finally managed to get people to see that I’m not trying to uproot every tradition and destroy every value of the High Court. They took a step back and realized that they didn’t have a valid reason to stand with Duchess Camille. So, when she found herself standing alone, she panicked and went after me.

  She never understood that I’m not trying to use my position to trample all over the Code. I’m not trying to force my own personal agenda on the High Court. I’m just trying to bring the IVC in line with common-sense thinking and what I feel are universal ethics. I simply feel that the Code is extremely vague, and because it was written so very long ago when vampires all over the world lived in a very different environment, there are some things that need to be reconsidered and reinterpreted.

  BITTEN: Reinterpreted in what way?

  RAINA: When Duvessa wrote the Code and presented it to the other Elders over a century ago, vampires were still a myth, a fairytale legend to most people. As a rule, vampires lived entirely outside of human laws.

  However, when she later decided that vampires needed to integrate and live in harmony with humanity in order to avoid being hunted into extinction, she neglected to change the way the IVC governed itself. She was used to ruling through fear and violence, and she used torture and rape and murder as tools to keep others in line. I’ll never understand how she expected to convince humans that vampires are just everyday people with fangs, that we’re no more violent or cruel than humans, when she was doing so many terrible things, herself.

  There is a mountain of documented evidence and countless witnesses that show she had committed so many horrifying atrocities against countless people … both vampires and humans. The individuals that she surrounded herself with were every bit as brutal and cruel and bloodthirsty as she was. They enjoyed assisting her in committing those crimes. They practically made a hobby out of it.

  Duvessa is gone now, but a lot of her cronies are still around, and I’ve begun to really see these individuals for what they are. These are the kinds of people that will smile for cameras and act like total saints when they’re in public, and then drag you into a dungeon and start cutting off parts of your anatomy with a rusty knife the minute they get you alone.

  BITTEN: In a prior interview with another reporter, you seemed especially bothered by the deaths of the two servants that accompanied you on your trip back to America – Sophie and Thomas Fallamhain. There has also been speculation that you killed their mistress, Lady Olivia Fallamhain, over something that transpired during that trip. Can you tell us what happened?

  RAINA: Well, to make a long story short, I found out through Sophie that Lady Olivia was nothing at all what I had thought her to be. As it turned out, she was every bit as wicked and evil as Duvessa had been. She was Duvessa’s right-hand dungeon partner, actually. Whenever Duvessa had been killing someone, Olivia had been right there with her, helping to strap people down, holding the camera, and handing her sharp objects, just like Duchess Camille had done.

  Just an hour or so before she was killed, Sophie told me that Olivia’s lover, someone named Edward, had been her father. After Olivia became his Maker, he started going rogue and began molesting Sophie when she was only twelve years old. Duvessa found out about this a couple of years later when he wound up forcing the Change upon Sophie. She knew this would look bad for the House of Fallamhain if anyone else found out.

  She shackled Edward in a room and locked Sophie in there with him, alone, and refused to let her out until Sophie “punished” Edward sufficiently. Sophie was just then going through the last parts of her Change, so her bloodlust took over and she killed him. That was Duvessa’s sick, twisted idea of justice. And she watched the entire thing unfold on a television monitor in another room. I’ve seen the video footage, in fact.

  BITTEN: You’ve never mentioned this before in any prior interviews. How long ago did this take place?

  RAINA: I’m not sure exactly, but it wasn’t too long ago. Sophie was only sixteen when she died. (pauses) She was just a kid when those men shot her to death. She never told me until it was too late. I never had any idea before that she was so young. She always spoke and acted like someone in their twenties, rather than someone who should have been a freshman in high school. If I’d had any idea at all how young she was, I never would have let her come along. And if I’d known about what Olivia had helped to put her through, I would have killed Olivia much sooner than I did.

  BITTEN: It’s been said that you executed Lady Olivia for conspiring to have you assassinated. Others have reported that you dragged her out into the daylight and watched her burn for awhile before you drank her to death. And from what you’ve said, you seem to have no regrets about having killed her.

  RAINA: That’s correct. Again, I only wish that I had killed her much earlier. The night before that first assassination attempt in October, I was made aware of a large collection of incriminating evidence that involved Duvessa and many of her associates, including the video I mentioned that involved Sophie. There was such a mountain of videos and stuff that I didn’t have time to go through it all before the assembly.

  Apparently, Olivia knew that I’d found Duvessa’s stash of trash, and she had a pretty good idea that I wouldn’t like what I would find out about her through those things. So, she immediately told Dante Giovanni to put a hit on me. I don’t know how he managed to hire someone so quickly, unless he had already been planning in advance to have me killed anyhow. But the sick part of it is that Olivia deliberately put Sophie right in the line of fire when she ordered that attack. She wanted Sophie dead, along with me, to keep her past crimes a secret. And the second time I was attacked, Olivia did succeed in having Sophie killed.

  But I survived, and Olivia eventually got what she had coming to her. She should have seen it coming as soon as I came back to London, but she really did seem genuinely surprised when I killed her. She had honestly believed that when Sophie and Dante Giovanni had been killed, her secrets had died with them.

  BITTEN: But what about that mountain of evidence? The videos…?

  RAINA: She tried to have the vault cleaned out while I was away. A dear friend of mine was wise to her plans and he managed to change the code to the vault so she couldn’t get in. My friend then arranged to have all of the major items from the vault removed and stored away someplace safe. Luckily for him, Olivia thought that I was behind it, otherwise she probably would have killed him. I have since turned over all of those videos and other items to the authorities. I am told that they are using those to solve a few missing person cases.

  BITTEN: You personally carried out Lady Olivia’s execution, as well as having publicly slain Countess Wilhelmina and Duchess Camille. You’ve also killed three men in London and another three in Arizona. Aren’t you afraid that people will accuse you of holding a double standard when it comes to violence?

  RAINA: Well … yes and no. I can see how it might be confusing to some people. A lot of folks take a black-and-white view on things like capital punishment and
violence in general. These people don’t really understand that when you’re a vampire, almost all of those black-and-white issues become one big gray area.

  You can’t be against bloodshed when you’re genetically programmed to bite people and suck their blood for sustenance. And you can’t punish someone that’s theoretically immortal by sticking them in a cage and hoping that they’ll be rehabilitated when you let them out. You can’t even keep them in that cage in the first place, because vampires are extremely hard to keep in prisons. That’s why humans have those “three strikes and you’re dead” laws for vampires in some states.

  But all vampires start out as humans, and most of us vampires never forget that. We don’t become these soulless, amoral monsters after the Change, like people in certain religious organizations would have everyone believe. We love and care and dream, just like you, and we have a conscience. By and large, vampires are not automatically inclined to be cruel and evil. It’s that small percentage of the vampire population, the rogues, which give our entire species a bad reputation with humanity.

  My responsibility as Grand Duchess is to keep vampires in line. Some of these people cannot be reasoned with. Some of them are too far gone to be helped or saved because they have gone mad. They have allowed themselves to be consumed and controlled by their bloodlust. Sometimes, the only thing that can be done to stop these vampires from hurting anyone else ever again is to put them down like rabid dogs. It’s the reason why I carry a sword and a knife.

  BITTEN: Why not a gun?

  RAINA: Firearms are not permitted in formal combat between vampires of the High Court. Beyond that, I have armed bodyguards that carry guns. So, at this point, I haven’t really had a need for one yet. I’m sure someday that will change, though. After all, not everyone likes to play by the rules.

  BITTEN: So, officially, you have killed six humans and three vampires, and many people have credited you with killing Duvessa…

  RAINA: That’s not true. In all honesty, Duvessa almost succeeded in killing me. Those hospital security officers were the ones that killed Duvessa, not me. I was in sorry shape at the time, and she flew into a fit of rage when she realized that all of her dirty secrets were about to be made public. She nearly ripped my throat out with her bare hands. I can heal some really bad wounds pretty fast, but it took me almost a week to heal all of the damage she did to me.

  BITTEN: Even so, does it bother you to know that you have killed more humans than vampires?

  RAINA: It bothers me that I’ve had to kill anyone at all. It saddens me that the only way some people can be stopped from doing terrible things is by killing them. Whether they’re human or vampire is irrelevant when it comes to self-defense. If someone is threatening my life or the lives of those I care about, and if there is no other way to stop them, then I will kill them, and I won’t feel the least bit sorry about it.

  BITTEN: How does it feel when you kill?

  RAINA: Mostly, I haven’t felt anything at all. At least not at the time I do it, anyway. I usually never have time to really think about it. It almost always happens so quickly. When stuff goes down, I just act on instinct and training.

  I mean, I was reluctant to kill Countess Wilhelmina von Reichenbach, but she really left me no choice. She had gone rogue, and she was killing nearly everyone in sight. The only person I’ve ever killed with forethought has been Lady Olivia Fallamhain, and I still have no regrets about that.

  Technically, the decision to kill her wasn’t mine. I left it up to the Elders of the IVC to decide her fate. They unanimously voted to sentence her to death. As Grand Duchess, it was my responsibility to carry out that sentence. I don’t take pleasure in killing, per se, but I do take pleasure in seeing true justice being done. And in that particular case, I had a personal stake in seeing her brought to justice. After seeing so many good people die because of her … like I said, she got what she had coming to her.

  BITTEN: On a lighter note, a lot of people are curious to know what else goes on behind closed doors at the Fallamhain Estate. I hope you do not mind my asking something of a bit more personal nature, your grace…?

  RAINA: By “personal,” I’m going to assume you mean something in reference to my sex life. (laughs) Unless you were just going to ask me what kind of underwear I prefer…?

  BITTEN: Well, why not? May I ask what kind?

  RAINA: Anything black. I don’t always wear black clothes, but the underwear is almost always black. I’ve been that way for years, even before I was a vampire. I’ve never been a fan of granny panties, floral patterns, or plain white cotton. I guess I like to think that I’m just a little bit naughty underneath it all.

  BITTEN: I’m sure you’ve just made a lot guys very, very happy with that bit of information.

  RAINA: (laughs) I don’t even want to think about how some guys are going to react to that. It’s bad enough that I’ve seen some of the fake nude pictures of me that people have been passing around on the Internet. Heck, there’s guys out there that go nuts if I even so much as flash a bit of cleavage in public.

  BITTEN: Would you rather be admired by women than men?

  RAINA: I’d rather not be admired by anyone, really … at least not as some kind of a sex object.

  BITTEN: With regard to your relationship with Duchess Samantha Fallamhain, what are your feelings on the fact that she was once the sister of Lady Brenna Fallamhain, your former lover and one of your Makers?

  RAINA: Honestly … it’s a little strange. That’s the only word I can use to describe it. Not weird, just strange. For one thing, I didn’t exactly set out in search of Brenna’s family. Quite frankly, I never even knew they existed. She never told me much about them, other than the fact that her mother disowned her a long time ago. So, when recent events led me to meet Samantha and then become involved with her … I don’t know why, but it just felt right. Everything just fell right together, almost like I was picking up right where I’d left off before.

  BITTEN: Do you mean, where you had left off with Lady Brenna?

  RAINA: Not really. Samantha is nothing at all like her sister. I loved Brenna for who she was, just as I love Samantha for who she is. They’re both very extremely unique personalities. I don’t know if there really is such a thing as reincarnation, but … if there is, I’d say that Samantha and I were probably together in a previous life. I know that probably sounds a little too cliché, but it really does feel like that. Everything has just felt so familiar with her, so comfortable. I never thought twice about falling in love with Sam. Blame it on the vampire genetics if you want, but I’d rather chalk it up to fate.

  I really don’t care much about being normal anymore. I don’t put a lot of stock into what people make of it all, my being with another female and whatnot. I’m just glad to finally be happy with my life now because I have the right person with whom to share it.

  BITTEN: And what about your first consort, Duke Marco Fallamhain? After his affair with Lady Svetlana, have things been damaged beyond repair in your relationship with him?

  RAINA: I don’t hate Marco. I still do love him. We do still care for each other. But my feelings for him have definitely changed. I guess I was too slow to see things for what they really were. But his feelings for me have never changed. He was never “into” me the same way that I was “into” him … you know? I mean, there’s still an attraction there, and I’m still glad to have him in my life.

  Really, he’s a good man. We just aren’t an “item” like we once were. I’m not angry with him anymore, and I’m not angry with Svetlana. They’re happy with each other, and I’m happy with Samantha. It all just works out nicely for everyone this way. We keep things civil, and there’s no drama. Life goes on.

  BITTEN: I understand you’ve been reluctant to answer questions about your orientation in the past, but can you perhaps shed some light on what it is that you seek most in your partner, or partners?

  RAINA: You know, the biggest reason I have avoided giving a direct answe
r about that is because I really, really hate labels. People want you to declare yourself as being one thing or another because it makes it easier for them to assume things about you. To me, labels are worse than stereotypes because they’re an even more inaccurate way for people to make general assumptions about others.

  If you say, “I’m this,” then people will automatically think, “Oh, okay, so she must also be this, this, this, and this.” If I were to say that I’m bisexual, people will automatically assume that I feel exactly the same about everyone of either gender. I made the mistake of sort of alluding to that in the past, without actually calling myself bi. Within a couple of days, everyone got this idea that anyone I’m ever seen with, male or female, is someone that I’m either looking to boink or get boinked by.

  It’s insulting, really, because if you tag yourself as bi or gay, people automatically assume that you’re promiscuous. And if I were to say, “No, I’m straight and always have been straight,” then everyone will either call me a liar or accuse me of being in denial. People are just going to draw their own conclusions about me, regardless of what I say, so it’s almost pointless to even try to set the record straight.

  BITTEN: So then, without calling yourself straight, gay, or bisexual, what exactly are your feelings towards men or women, in general? What leads you to be more inclined to become involved with, say, another female as opposed to accepting another man into your life?

  RAINA: Really, it’s just … I don’t want to call it random, but … well, I don’t really feel one way or the other about either gender as a whole. I’m not drawn more to men or more to women. I’m attracted to certain individuals, certain kinds of personalities. I mean, I could just throw out those generic answers that everyone looks for in a mate, no matter what: intelligence, humor, motivation, honesty, patience, compassion, and so on.