Rowena
David accompanied me home. He refused to say anything about tonight's events until we were back at my place. I tried to understand what had happened, but nothing made sense at all. Nothing in my life had ever made me feel the way I felt when I was in Henry's arms. It was almost like I was under a spell.
The all-consuming pull to him was unreal and was more than love or lust. It was like every cell of my body demanded I be with him. I forgot about everything in my life that wasn't him, even Charlie. I still felt the pull now, its force was significantly diminished compared to when I was with Henry, but it remained, lurking beneath my conscious thoughts. I could think for myself now, which was a relief.
By the time David and I arrived home, I was exhausted, both mentally and physically. I wanted to fall straight into bed, and I would have, except I knew I needed answers. I was going to take this damn dress off first, though. I still felt uncomfortable in it. I wondered if Henry liked it. I blushed as I remembered the way his hand comforted me, rubbing my bare back and how he licked his lips when he peered into my eyes with his swirling red and amber ones.
I tore my thoughts away from Henry and concentrated on the present as best I could. "Would you like some tea?" I asked David as we went inside.
David shook his head. "I'll make you one while you get changed, sister."
I was a little unnerved by the new way David talked. He appeared to be mimicking the speech and rhythm of both Henry and Lawrence. Both of them spoke well, it was David that made it strange since he never used to talk like that.
I got changed into leggings and a sweatshirt and went back to sit with David at the table in my tiny kitchen. As I walked in, I was surprised to see another man standing with David.
"Lawrence, what the hell are you doing here?" I was furious. How could he think he would be welcome here after what he had done? Even though I didn't understand what was going on, I knew that Lawrence had been the architect of the meeting tonight and had manipulated not only Henry and me but also David. "I didn't say you could come in."
"Oh, my sweet child. That's just a bit of misinformation we feed humans to make them feel safe." Lawrence said. I did a double-take and looked at David.
"Is he mentally ill?" I asked David.
Both men chuckled, and Lawrence asked David, "You haven't told her yet?" David shook his head, wiping a tear from his eye. "Then what have you been doing?"
Becoming serious, David said, "I know my sister. She should hear it here."
Lawrence threw his hands in the air with exaggerated gestures and flounced over to sit at the table. "Well, I suggest you start talking, Dearest One. I will stay and assist with questions of Henry, which I'm sure your sister will have. Won't you, dear Rowena?"
"Umm," I felt very much in the dark. Listening to them made me feel like I was watching Shakespeare. Yeah, I kind of knew what they are saying, but the true meaning was lost on me. "I do have questions about Henry, but more importantly, why are you threatening to take Charlie away from me?"
David took a moment to think and said slowly, "That's arguably not the best place to start."
"Well, start somewhere," I said, getting frustrated. "Start with why you look so different." I gasped, thinking I knew what could explain it. "Did you have plastic surgery?"
"No, Row, but I did undergo a..." David looked at Lawrence thinking. His face brightened, and he said, "a transformation."
"Transformation?" I asked incredulously. "Like a fucking caterpillar?"
Lawrence lost patience and sighed, "Oh, Dear Lilith, this is going to take forever." Lawrence reached across the table and took my hand. "There is no easy way to say this, and we don't have time to ease you into it. Your brother and I and everyone you saw at my home tonight are Vampires."
I looked from Lawrence to David. Lawrence looked sincere, while David looked like he felt sorry for me. I laughed, "Well, if that's all, I'll just go to bed."
"We are serious, Rowena," David said, completely deadpan.
"David, this is ridiculous, what..." I started but was struck dumb when Lawrence opened his mouth. I watched as his canine teeth grew and his eyes became bright red. Blood drained from my face, and I felt faint. Lawrence retracted his teeth, and his eyes returned to normal. Well, normal for him.
"Holy fucking duck shit," I swore.
David smacked Lawrence on his arm. "That was uncalled for, Lawrie."
Lawrence sighed. "Are you forgetting that we only have tonight and tomorrow night to get her prepared?"
"Just be a little understanding," David implored. "For me, as well as for her." David pouted.
Lawrence put a hand to my brother's cheek and said, "How can I refuse my Inamorato?" It would have thought it was a sweet thing to say if it wasn't directed at my brother, and he hadn't just made his teeth grow and eyes change colour.
I shook myself. This can't be true. But how could I explain what I saw? "What kind of trick was that?"
"No trick, Rowena," David said. "Watch." David imitated Lawrence and descended his teeth or fangs more accurately, and his eyes became red. Then he barred his teeth and growled so softly it was almost a purr.
Lawrence had David against a wall in a flash and held him by the throat. I didn't even see them move. I screamed, "Let him go, Lawrence!" David thrashed against Lawrence, trying to free himself from his partners grasp.
Without looking at me, Lawrence said, "I cannot do that, Little Sister. His Lust is out of control. He forgets how young he is sometimes."
"Lust? I'm his sister, for fuck's sake."
"Not that kind of lust, my dear child. A bloodlust." Lawrence said with all the emotion of someone ordering a pizza. He leaned against my brother's body, began whispering in his ear. I watched, disgusted as he held his wrist to David's mouth. David's fangs sunk into his lover's wrist, and he clamped his mouth over it. David's eyes slowly lost their red hue and returned to a small ring around the edge of his iris.
I hid my face in embarrassment when I saw my brother had a raging boner and was humping against Lawrence. To make it worse, David's growls had gone from animalistic to soft moans of enjoyment.
"Can you two get a room?" I felt ill.
David and Lawrence took a few more moments and returned to the table. "I apologise, Row. This has been quite a stimulating evening," David said remorsefully.
I played with my cup of tea, turning it by the handle in little circles, thinking about all I had seen tonight. Nothing made sense if I tried to calibrate it against my knowledge of the world. If I added Vampires to the filter by which I could judge the evening, surprisingly, it all made sense. Everyone I saw appeared otherworldly. They all moved with the grace of a prima ballerina even the men, some of which, like Henry, were far too large to move that way naturally.
The magnetic pull I had felt to Henry had made me think of a magical spell. Not to mention that we both seemed to recognise in each other the deep attraction. I had dreamed of him for years, and when he appeared, I knew I had to be with him. What could explain all of this except for something unnatural or something I had never encountered before.
"Vampires," I stated.
David took my hand, "Vampires." He agreed.
"This is insane," I said. I tried a different tact. "Ok, say I believed you. How do you become a Vampire?"
Lawrence answered, "Well, for men, there are two ways. You can be born, or you can be made. I was born David was made."
"And for women?" I asked.
"Women can only be made. All female Vampires were once human." Lawrence explained. "Our Universitalis scientists seem to believe it has something to do with a mutated gene on the Y chromosome."
"So Vampires aren't magic?" I asked. "You're mutants? Like X-men?"
"The current scholarly belief is that we are both. It's partly genetic and partly magic." Lawrence spoke up. "All vampires are born male and reach maturity at about 35 years old. Anytime after that, they will feel their Inamorata or mate. Some Vampires find their mates young, others don't. I am 203 years old and have only just found my mate."
"Wait, so you two are mates?" I asked.
"Yes," David replied. "Lawrence found me when he..." David paused and started again. "When Lawrence found me, I felt all the things you are feeling. I understand the Pull to be with your Inamorato, I felt it too."
"So I am..." I couldn't make myself say his name. I was too fearful of what they had told me.
"Henry's mate, yes," Lawrence confirmed.
I waved the information away. Somehow I knew if I concentrated on Henry again, I would obsess about him and not think of anything else. I had more to find out. I had to protect my son. "So, what does that have to do with Charlie?" I asked.
They looked at each other. David shrugged. They were quiet a few moments until Lawrence said, "Henry's father Alfred, the King, is a brutal man. When the King met his mate, Henry's mother, she was married with a child. Now, this is uncommon. Many vampires meet their Inamorata when their mates are young, roughly 16-20 years old. Perhaps it was because the king didn't care to find his mate, but he didn't find her until she was 25.
"The King took her immediately, and in a fit of rage, killed her child and husband. She never recovered from the death of her child. Of course, she felt the initial bond as you and Henry feel it now, but the bond must be fostered with love and proximity once consummated. The King wasn't that kind of man. He impregnated her and sent her away.
"After Henry was born, grief over her husband and child festered until she decided to take her life. She almost took Henry's, but the bond held enough for the King to realise something was wrong and took Henry before she could go through with it. He didn't try to save her, and he allowed her to die. He had an heir, which was all he needed from his mate.
"Rightly or wrongly, Henry believes he would do the same as his father had done, he thinks he would have no choice. So when he found you with a child, he walked away. With great difficulty, mind you. He has been in misery for the last few years.
"I would not have interfered, but there is a war coming. Different factions are vying for power both within the Vampire world and the external world. I couldn't allow Henry to face the upcoming battle as he was miserable and broken, so I forced you together tonight. Henry will not avoid his Inamorata this time. He almost took you tonight. Did you feel the moment?"
I nodded. I remembered the moment Lawrence was talking about. The moment where I had begged him to take me. The moment David had interrupted. Is that what would have happened? Would we have completed the mating? "How do you consummate the bond?" I asked.
"Henry will bite you, marking you as his mate. He will drink your blood until you are nearly dead, and then he will feed you his. Then you will turn, and by next sunrise, you will be desperate for him, and you will make love at which time you will bite him, marking him as yours."
"Fuck." I said. "You did that, David?"
David squirmed in his seat, a little uncomfortable. "Yes. It is actually a much more meaningful process than what my lover makes out here."
"Regardless of how it feels, it must be done," Lawrence said academically. "He will be strong enough with you be his side to take leadership from his father."
"What? Why must he do that?"
"His father is in league with some werewolves, and there is talk of a dual coming out to humans. The reveal would also involve the subjection of all humanity. Keep in mind all Vampire mates were human, so it is unpopular with many Vampires to suggest that we should overthrow humanity and enslave them. Many Vampires are seeking to revolt and looking for leadership. Most see Henry as that leader as he has always been sympathetic to humans. However, Henry's status as unmated was held against him by the dissidents. Many were unwilling to support an unmated King because of the weakness in most unmated males. The Vampires you saw tonight are witness to the fact that Henry has found his mate. We accepted his father being unmated and most regret that decision."
Almost all of the explanation of Vampires' politics went over my head and, at this point, was ultimately uninteresting. I had other concerns. "What will happen to Charlie?"
"We will take Charlie. We don't have the drive to breed, so he will be safe with us." David said.
"Would I be able to see him if you had him?" I asked.
"It would be best if you didn't." Lawrence explained, "We don't know how Henry would react. Henry may smell him and want to kill him. Once the bond is consummated, we will know more. The bond is strong, especially until you have bred."
"Bred?" I said, furious. "You're making it sound like I am a broodmare. You two cant breed, why are you mates?"
"Lilith has other plans for us," Lawrence said with a shrug.
"I, uh, I think that's all I can take tonight," I said. It was too much. I had a small plan formulating in my head. But I needed to get away from these two, I had a sneaking suspicion they could read my mind. "I'm going to bed."
"We will be here. We will go to sleep when you wake up." David said.
I nodded and went to give David a kiss on the cheek. He shook his head as I approached. Oh right, hungry Vampire. When I was in my bedroom with the door closed, I formulated a plan.