Marionette

Chapter 7- Don't Go

Nicolae prided himself on being a gentleman, eager to take care and love the women closest to his heart now he could not hold himself to that standard anymore after what he just did. Nicolae needed to hunt; to take his anger and grief out on some poor undeserving animal was what made him feel better. After all, a vampire's nature meant bleeding others. Usually he'd put the animals into a sleep state, making sure to thank them before feeding. He took that deer back to shed along with some rabbits to store blood for his family when she'd walked in and met the vampire.

Within Nicolae's body lived two people. Nicolae Roman, the remnant of the British-Romanian human, son of a banker, husband of Odette, father to Octavian turned werewolf hunter turned vampire. The one who wore the mask of tranquility as the man of the house and the one who yearned for a family. Vampire Nicolae however...vampire Nicolae was another entity who Nicolae could rely on to take over when things got too much. The vampire within him was animalistic, instinctive, protective and ready to attack. It fought like an animal and tore others apart like a beast in heat. Oddly "he" wanted to protect Nicolae because if Nicolae let his guard down it meant trouble for them both.

Save for the elite vampires, their race was very territorial when it came to females and offspring. Vampire Nicolae was born for Odette and Octavian. He lived for blood, carnage and vengeance for those he loved. The blood of those who fell by his hand, seeping down his fingers in the name of Odette.

"You're so used to fighting for her, you were ready to fight Selene for her." the oldest brother whispered to himself hoping the vampire hidden in the deepest pits of his soul would hear.

"But we didn't know any better, my heart knows who it truly belongs to now. I need you to fight for Selene, not hurt her."

The bee balms, wood sage, and globe thistles all became a mishmash of colours to his vampiric speed. The world around him sped up whilst he remained in motion, sprinting past statues and fountains in seconds, a normal human would have taken minutes to get back to the manor.

"How can I make her forgive me? I know she will try to leave. She can't leave!" Bribes weren't an option. She made it very clear that she was tired of what his siblings did to her. "I have to make things better! That's the only way I have a chance.'

Racing past Lorie's brightly coloured playground and the still pool, elegantly the predator leaped onto the roof of the Queen Anne porch.

"This feels like I am on the hunt again." he brushed some strands of hair looking back at the garden below him. "But my prey isn't an animal. I can't call her a prey; she is my equal, my better half, my lover."

Lover.

The word rolled off his thoughts, feeling strange yet filling him with a warmth that temporarily ceased his fears. A mental album of young women flipped through his mind's eye of women he could consider that word. Agatha, his childhood friend, daughter of a rich family friend with her curly brown hair, Florence, the blonde he'd fancied at his secondary school, Alice the first girl who was mesmerized by his magic tricks, he'd courted and dated many women yet for the rest of his life he kept wishing for someone like Selene.

He noted that Selene had a head start and due to her being lighter, her supernatural run was faster than his. What made chasing her so exciting to him was her blood on his lips and the confirmation that she was indeed a child of the night as well.

She could hurt him and he could hurt her, it wasn't a human and vampire union where the scales tipped oddly against the human's life. Selene fought back. Not a silver of anger coursed through Nicolae for Selene. He didn't feel much, however, the nerve of the usually timid housekeeper impressed him.