I was truly a master of choosing the most excellent humans; I congratulated myself as I watched two of them fighting from the shadows of my north facing balcony.
These two men were glorious specimens, all brawn and muscle and instinctual power. Certainly, they could not match a vampire's strength and speed head to head, but it was that original human strength that our indefinite condition drew upon for power.
The fighters traded blows viciously, both clearly determined to win. My strong and handsome Marcel, fighting as my champion, and my antagonistic Jamie, still as determinedly oppositional as his first day, despite his now usual outward compliance.
I would have this glorious sight burned into my mind for centuries to come, well after both of these men were long dead. Perhaps I should reward Marcel for pulling off his shirt first, since Jamie had then done the same in response. It had not been intended for my benefit, but I could still revel in the sight. I could not take my eyes off those well used muscles straining while he blocked Marcel's deluge of blows.
As I observed, Jamie knocked Marcel to the ground and I watched enraptured as he pinned Marcel and started raining blows down upon him. Poor Marcel returned the blows as best he could, but he was in a bad spot. He tried to get out through a series of movements, but Jamie shifted and manoeuvred his leg over Marcel's upper chest holding him prone. At the same time as he got Marcel's right arm extended in a lock between his legs.
Marcel tried to get his legs up far enough to strike Jamie's face, but Jamie was leaning back and Marcel was prone. He struggled valiantly, but finally Raoul called the match in Jamie's favour and ended the fight.
There was a decent cheer from my humans who had been observing, although probably not quite as loud as it would have been if Marcel had won. For as much as the two grated on each other's nerves, Marcel was well enough liked amongst the other humans. Raoul made them shake hands and they both did so surprisingly easily, considering their earlier antagonism.
Perhaps they had garnered each other's grudging respect. This whole little violent display would probably resound to my benefit, although I would miss the two of them sniping at each other. Still, I would always the delightful memories of those two terribly attractive men demonstrating what they were capable of. I could not help but smile.
I was not truly surprised that Jamie had won, nor was I disappointed, at least not until he walked over and grabbed his discarded shirt, pulling it swiftly over his head. Shame that Marcel had not drawn the fight out longer, in retrospect.
Still, it had been quite impressive. I would almost like to witness Jamie go up against a vampire, except that I did not want his life to be in such peril.
As I retreated back into my home, my mind went to Jamie's quest down in the archives. He was getting quite far through them, farther that I would have expected considering there were far more entries than the first time he had sifted through. Perhaps his impatience was hastening his search.
Still, something had seemed a bit off when I had been looking at the screen next to him earlier. It had not been fear, but his heart had sounded a bit faster than normal. As much as I would like to believe he was excited by my presence, even I could not lie well enough to convince myself of that.
No, it had been something else. Another puzzle, discovering what was going on in that delightful mind of his.
I made my way back to my chambers, thinking about Jamie, his determination, his prowess, his goals. As always, I was far too interested in the doings of a mere mortal, although how could I possibly not be? He had caught my eye from the very start as thoroughly as he was caught in my control.
He did not understand it, but even though I held all the power, we were equals in our negotiations. We both held things that the other would not or perhaps could not, give. A stalemate, of sorts.
I glanced at my guards. "Tell Theo that I wish to have an update on Jamie's search. It's no rush, though."
"Yes, Mistress," Carter said and he left the room with swiftness borne of willing obedience.
* * * * *
I smiled at Theo, hours later, when he walked into the room.
I had a special place in my heart for this one. I could well remember how afraid he had been when I had first brought him to live in my home. The human I had in charge of my textile factory had seen Theo's potential and thought he might be useful to me. She had been correct, and I had brought a reluctant Theo into my fold.
He was not afraid of me now after long hours spent in my company, although if I moved too quickly I could still inadvertently startle him. Like so many humans in a world ruled by vampires, his past experiences had left him with quite a lot of unresolved traumas. I watched as he straightened his glasses with one hand, his clipboard in the other.
"Mistress," he said.
"Good evening, Theo. Find anything interesting?"
"Yes, actually." Theo walked forward and handed me a small pile of papers. I flipped through the printouts, glancing at the black and white faces.
I slid over on my settee to make room for my human. "Sit down, please."
He took his place beside me and indicated one of the papers in my hand. "Jamie has been making his way through as he did before, but he keeps going back to this one particular entry and a few other seemingly random ones, but upon closer inspection we discovered that they are all connected tangentially to the first.
I looked more closely at the paper and inspected the picture of a hollow eyed, dark haired male. He seemed to fit the bill well enough. I skimmed the information, until I hit on a particular name.
"Ivan. This is problematic. Figures that one of his fledglings would be running around wantonly wasting humans." I could feel my irritation building. All my vague thoughts of letting Jamie have his way and kill whatever vampire he was hunting to buy his acquiescence died a quick death.
Ivan was old and powerful. He was as dangerous as I was and significantly more cruel. Worst of all, this horrid little creature he had spawned was still living in Ivan's domain, under the ancient vampire's protection. It would be almost impossible to kill him and get away with it. Jamie was almost certainly running straight towards his own destruction.
I did not want that for him. I wanted him to be here with me and learn to be content, but he had lived too long for his single minded purpose. His revenge had become his existence.
I sighed, filling my lungs with useless air and releasing it again.
My choices truly were only two. I could hold him as an unwilling captive for the rest of his life, or to let him go and most likely meet his death far too soon.
I did not like either choice. I bit my lip until I drew blood.
"Are you hungry, Mistress?" Theo asked.
"No thanks. What I am is frustrated."
Theo was watching me. He adjusted his glasses again. "You managed to win the rest of us over," he finally pointed out.
I considered his words. He was right. Almost all my favourites had feared and hated me in the beginning, and now all were dedicated to my cause. In all likelihood, my newest humans would be the same.
All except Jamie. Could I win him, if I stopped all the games and finally laid all my cards on the table?
Perhaps, or he might just turn his back and walk away no matter what I did.
An unpleasant pang ran through my stomach at the idea. What was this strange sensation I was experiencing? I could not quite place it. It was rather as if I were reluctant to face loss, or something equally as silly and foreign.
Theo's voice drew me out of my most odd musings.
"I can analyze his searches further, if you wish."
I shook my head, as much in response to Theo's offer as to try to clear my muddled thinking. "No, I believe I know all I need to. Do not speak to Jamie about his search, I'll talk to him when I am ready."
I sensed that time—the very time that refused to properly hold me—was short.
* * * * *
After talking with Theo for a while longer, not about Jamie but rather about general matters such as my newest human acquisitions, he went back to the archives, and I looked for something else to do to occupy the deepest hours of the night.
The halls were fairly empty but for a sprinkling of guards standing at their posts. I was restless, so I went outside and roamed around the large enclosed yard circling my dwelling. I let my mind wander to memories of the earlier fight and I smiled to myself, before moving on.
I walked to the east side of the wall. More of my guards were there, as well. They were tired and I did not blame them. I remembered the latest hours of the dreadful parties I had once been forced to attend when I had been human. So often my feet had ached and my head had pounded at the thought of even one more dance with some dreadful bore of a suitor.
"I'm going out for a while," I informed them. "Stay alert."
They nodded, their postures straightening as if marionettes pulled up by their strings.
I smiled at them encouragingly as I strode out through the exit and made my way out into the night.
The sky was clear and the stars, the most constant of all my friends, decorated the sky.
The world around me was dark, but my eyes cut through it like the nocturnal predator I was. I smiled at the thought that one of my humans might catch a glimpse of me as I moved through the external defenses.
I picked up speed and ran until I was beyond my territory. The wind rushed over me as I moved into the wilds that were unclaimed by any vampire, but I was not alone. Creatures of the night sang their songs and a pair of bats flapped through the sky above me. Insects flew disturbed in my wake, confused at the movement, but with no real interest in the indefinite creature amongst them.
Somewhere in the distance, a canine howl rang out, eerie in the stillness of the night. A second echoed it, and I considered going to located the creatures, but then an intriguing scent caught my nose, the faintest hint of smoke.
I followed the scent, losing it more than once as I hurried on, but I found it again. Soon it was stronger, and I was well convinced that it was the lingering scent of a campfire. Foolish humans, utilizing fire so close to a vampire's domain.
Still, had I not decided to go for a stroll, I would never have known of their presence. I moved closer, keeping my movements slow and silent as I crept around trees.
The scent was coming from the ruins of a building, the crumbling remains of a structure from before vampires had ruled the world. I had watched it degrade over the years, only my memories of the house that had once stood tall and proud were testament to what it had once been.
It had already been old when I had first established my territory, but its structure had been solid. Yet time had worn down its strength and left it as it was with only a couple half vertical walls engulfed by nature as testament to the fact humans had ever been.
That and this delicious scent. I moved closer still, more slowly, more quietly. It seemed that there were none standing guard. I stepped over the remains of a wall and located my prey.
Three masses huddled in the corner of two walls, half concealed by a bit of shrubbery growing from where the floor once had been. As I neared, it was obvious that two were mere children and the third had not even yet reached reproductive maturity. They looked skinny and cold, and also absolutely useless to my plans.
The oldest one stirred and I slipped back further into the shadows. I watched as she sat up and squinted into the darkness. Her heart pounded and her breathing quickened. She could not detect me, but perhaps some instinctual part of her knew that I was there.
"Darcy?" one of the small voices mumbled, tinged by sleep.
"Go back to sleep, everything is fine," the older one lied to the child. She kept her voice calm and even and very much believable and I respected the efficient lie. The human might not be fully mature, but she was surely old enough to know that nothing in their lives were fine. The well crafted falsehood tugged at my respect.
I stealthily moved back and out of the old house, careful not to allow any noise to tip the now watchful human off to my presence. Once I was well far enough away, I began to run again, sweeping along the edge of my territory, until the sun began to lighten the sky and hide all but the brightest stars.
When I returned back to the gate, I received respectful nods. I wandered to Leif's office, but he had not yet arrived. I settled in the chair across from his and waited.
The wait was not long. The door handle moved and he stepped in.
"Good morning," I said to him.
He jerked in surprise, but calmed almost instantly. "Good morning, Vienne. Have a good night?"
"Very much so. I actually need something from you."
He nodded. "What is it?"
"As I was wandering around, I came across three human children sleeping in the remnants of that house to the northwest. Have a team go out and deal with them."
"Of course. Do you need anything else?"
I considered. I was feeling a mite bit peckish, but I had fed on Leif too recently to bother him for blood. "No, that's all I wanted. I'll leave you to your work. Thanks."
"You're welcome," he said, as I stood up. I smiled and left his office, and went hunting for my next meal.