Midnight After Midnight - Nanowrimo 2022

Chapter 18 - Legacy

The creak of Adelaide's bedroom door startled her. She immediately turned to see who it was, and it turned out to be Lionel, just as she'd expected. As he strode over to her bed with a broad smile on his face, she wondered what his intentions could be, but she didn't have to wonder for long. In a matter of seconds, he seated himself on the edge of her coffin, right next to her, his eyes gleaming with vivacity. He then embraced her and began whispering into her ear.

"Hello, my beloved. Today's been a wonderful day, and I think it would be a great idea to celebrate it furthermore if you know what I mean. You're my queen of darkness now, which means that there's no desire you can't allow yourself to succumb to. Come on, indulge in your passions, indulge in them like you never have before."

Her heart began to burn with passion at his romantic words, wanting to fall into his embrace and do as he said, but her mind made her flinch ever so slightly away from him. 

"I'm your queen of darkness?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "You'll never leave me for someone else again?"

He shook his head. "It's all a thing of the past, Adelaide. I'm incredibly sorry for what I did, and I promise it won't happen again. I've told you so before, but I understand why you wouldn't trust me. However, let's forget about that now. Let's have fun and nothing think about anything, shall we?"

She nodded eagerly, unable to suppress her passions any longer. With much haste, they both took their clothes off and began kissing each other's faces and necks with everything in them. Slowly but surely, they descended, exploring each other's bodies as thoroughly as they would explore the forests near the castle. In the middle of the deed, they began conversing with each other.

"Our kind is already raiding the graveyards of London," he said breathily. "One by one, the bodies keep being destroyed, and the humans are helpless against it, having no clue as to what it could be. We do it for maximal secrecy at the beginning, we do it to warn the mortals subtly enough, and most importantly, we do it so that we won't run out of food before we're ready enough to attack further. It feels amazing to desecrate all those bodies, which I'm sure you'd also think if you participated in it. There's simply something about leaving those corpses in a state of restlessness that is rather freeing. You really should go to a graveyard sometime."

She formed a forced smile. "It does sound pretty amazing. Perhaps I'll go to one tomorrow."

"That's splendid," he said, sighing dreamily. "By the way, there's a plan that I've concocted recently. I wanted to tell you about it first so you can tell me what you think about it. Our daughter, Elizabeth, won't be able to return home, and besides, what would she do in that smelly old house anyway? Rot away? No, I can't let that happen.

I want my child to live the best life she possibly can, and I'm sure it would be grand if she were able to stay in a huge castle where she could do whatever she wanted. So, that's what I've been thinking about, and it sounds quite good to me. I mean, despite the initial prejudices she might have, I'm certain that she'll end up being very happy about being turned. After all, being a vampire isn't as bad as one might think."

"It's not your child, it's mine," she said coldly. "Besides, I don't think being turned into a vampire would be good for her psyche. We all know what happened to your parents, and I assume you wouldn't wish for that to occur at all. Although she might end up somehow avoiding it, I'm not taking any chances. You'll never turn my daughter into a vampire, and that's the last you get to talk about it in front of me, unless you want to cause yet another rift in our relationship, of course."

He snorted. "I understand your perspective, but I don't think it's very fair of you to get to represent hers. I'll go to her tomorrow and see what she thinks."