I do not know when it happened, but I fell heavily into her, inhaling her smell that was so different from all the others wafting throughout the house. Her scent remained unchanged.
"We must escape from here, whatever the cost."
I just barely heard her sweet, sweet voice over the pounding of my own heart. And slowly I withdrew from her, gazed into her eyes. Then glanced back to the closed, locked door.
"...We can't." I heard the rain still beating relentlessly down upon our house. "The land will be flooded by now, making passage into town impossible. We must wait until the morning."
"The morning," she cried, "We could be dead by morning, the witch will surely have finished us off by then. This is impossible; if we stay here, we will surely perish."
I glanced down. Her face was rivetted with both fear and concern. Swallowing my own I let out a slow, deep breath to exhale it from my body. My eyes closed as I considered her words, then promptly opened again.
"...Very well." We must go through with this- for her sake.
Grasping her hand in mine I turned to the door, not even bothering to grab the small quantity of gold that rested on the nightstand. I simply wanted to get her out of here, and now. Reaching out for the door's handle, listening for any other noise save the relentless pounding of rain and thunder, I heard none. Nevertheless my hand wavered before grasping the door, wrenching it open. I immediatly scrutionized the area before me. No one. Holding my breath against the stench of burning flesh, I quickly, quietly, led Ellisa to the door leading out side. Rain pelted, stinging, against my face as I opened it; it fell in heavy sheets just beyond. I practically had to shout for her to hear me over the crashing thunder.
"Stay here. I will see if there is anything suspicious around."
I saw her nod, and taking her approval, made my circle around the small house. Water ran in rivellets through depressions in the earth; I had only taken a few steps before I had stepped in a muddy puddle, and the rain had soaked me through. This was folly. Ellisa should have better sense than--
Suddenly a loud noise made me stop in my tracks, a noise that wasn't the boom of thunder nor anything else the Mother of Nature proivided.
Ellisa.
Turning sharply around, I ran back to the front of the house to find my fiance in the rough hands of another man, a man who seemed as pale as a corpse.
She was struggling vainly against him, and then he opened his mouth to reveal canine teeth that had been abnormally elongated. By what means I knew not, though it was the furthest thing from my mind as, to my horror, he bit the neck of Ellisa. She immediatly stopped her struggling, and her frightened, wide brown eyes focused on me before shutting forever.
And when the man withdrew, I understood. Those twin puncture marks on my mother, sister, and now my dead fiance were created by this man, who at least seemed to be some sort of witch.
I screamed, I honestly could not help it. This man, what exactly was he? He would surely kill me, but if I fled now-- no. I could not flee, could not leave the body of my dead fiance for the soaking rain, stench-ridden mud, lowly maggots. So I stayed, even stepped a few paces forwards. Rain stung my eyes.
"Stay away from her," I snarled, the animosity in my voice surely covering up the fear and panic, "Lest you wish to be judged by God Himself."
Even with the pelting rain, I could hear his mocking laugh plainly, and his reply even better. "Brave words, little boy. However, you should know by now that God holds no power over me."
I think I visibly flinched at his rash, harsh words. This man, I realized, was more than just a witch. He was a blasphemer, pure evil to kill three innocent women and soon a young man, as well. But I cared not for myself. All I cared for was Christdean, Mother, Ellisa. But this man had stolen my happiness from me, indirectly burning them to naught but ashes.
I watched in horror as he let the limp body of my fiance drop uselessly to the muddy ground, watched in horror as he licked her blood painfully slowly from his lips. Panic-stricken, I stumbled back, muttering the Lord's prayer as if it would save my life. It wouldn't.
"Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed by Thy name-" My feet kept slipping back from this demon. "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven-" I felt my rain-soaked, numb back run into something even colder. Startled, I turned around. I shouldn't have.
It was a man, this one bigger than his companion. His muscular, handsome form was shrouded in a black cloak, though he didn't wear the hood. His long raven hair was soaked in water and sticking in stringy clumps to his chisled face, the sharp angle of his jaw. His eyes were an icy blue, and I found myself staring down into them, as I was just a bit taller than this imposing figure. I felt foolish.
Suddenly from behind, I felt a hand upon my head, forcing it to one side and baring my neck. I could feel the demon's breath upon me, could feel the faintest prick from the demon's fangs, ready to--
"Wait, Drusdell."
It was the new man who spoke, and I heard an animalistic growl from the creature behind me before I felt the breath and the fangs reside.
"Bring him to our Chambers. We shall deal with him there."
I struggled as I felt a strong pair of arms grip me tightly by the shoulders, but it was no use trying to escape. I was helpless, at their disposal.
Then they carted me off, quite litterally mind you, kicking and screaming despite my fatigue every grueling, treacherous step of the way.
They led me somewhere that I had never seen before, which was a surprise considering I had examined every inch of my property and beyond when Father had died. I suppose that meant the trip took longer than it felt like, for after a while I began to loose track of time.
When I finally opened my eyes against the rain, I found myself handled roughily into a dry, though not-so-welcome, cave. Torches dimply lit the way, and after numerous endless minutes I was suddenly thrust into a more extravigant Chamber. Plush, supple rugs graced the frigid stone floor; the walls were painted ferverntly in a style unknown to me. Candles were set upon every inch of clear table space, the latter lines with padded chairs. Pillows were laid down carefully on the rugs, and it was in one of these vibrant beautires in which I sank into. Nothing had ever felt so warm and welcoming after the cold and rain of outside, nothing so wonderful, so--
"Stand up," the demon called Drusdell snapped, grabbing me under my arms after I had collapsed, lifting me back up with an un-natural ease.
The second demon picked a comfortable but functional chair to sit down in, facing me, and lounging back against the ornamented table behind him. A glass of some crimson liquid was in his pale, cold hand. It smelled not like wine, but rather like something completly different. Just what, I didn't know. I didn't dare know, but I already feared the ultimatum. That it was crimson water; blood. I felt a shiver creep its way up my spine.
"You are quite loyal, determined, to your lover to follow her wishes though it went against your own. However it was your mistake as well for listening to such folly, fleeing into the rain in a futile attempt to seek help."
It was the more reserved, collected demon who spoke.
"Did you honestly believe anyone would come to your aid? Much less listen to your story? No doubt they would put you through unspeakable firey torture for even mentioning something so unholy."
I strained against the demons arms that held me still. He didn't move, much less let me go. Instead I recieved a sharp cuff to the back of the neck taht would've had me falling again if Drusdell didn't stop it.
"Devils!" I cried, and I could practically feel the glare at the back of my head. "What are you going to do to me? If you are to kill me, do it now, I do not wish to be in your foul demonic presence any longer."
The more handsome demon smiled. I saw his ivory fangs gleam like razors in the light. My stomach churned.
"How presumtious of you, boy."
"We're not going to kill you," Drusdell cooed almost soothingly, "At least not in the traditional sense."
I ignored him. My thoughts were focused on the more mature devil.
"Then what are you going to--?"
"Silence!" Drusdell's voice rang throughout the cavern, but before the last shattering echo could be fulfilled his superior locked gaze with him.
I heard the former speak, barely more than a cold shred of a whisper, though his mouth did not move.
Leave us.
Instantly Drusdell released me as if struck by some unseen force; I dropped to my knees in response as he quickly disappeared before I wrenched my gaze from the padded floor and peered wordlessly at the remaining devil. He was busy examining his claw-like fingernails.
"If you are not going to kill me, what are you going to do to me?"
His pale, thin lips twisted into a well-defined, smooth smirk before he spoke.
"Oh, boy," His light laughter sounded like the purest tinkling of silver bells. "You take my inferior's words far to seriously." He rose the goblet to his lips, drank. "Mortal life is nothing, a mere candle in the wind, blade of grass amoung thousands of others in a raging fire."
"Blasphemer," I whispered.
"And your beliefs!" He went on, unheeding of my deadly, fatigued glower, "How loyal you must be, how determined, to stick by them even to the point of death. For the point of death is where you are."
I simply could not wrench my gaze from him, even when I pushed myself to a shaky stand. Somehow when I accomplished my goal, he was right next to me. I cried out in shock, fell back into the wall behind me. I hadn't even seen him move.
Do you enjoy your fear so much, boy?
Again I heard his words in my head, though by what cheat or spell I didn't know.
Before I even began to settle my thoughts upon it however, his hand suddenly shot out, grabbing me by my hair and roughly wrenching my head back, baring my neck. I struggled against his iron grip, but no sooner had I done that then a haze settled into my mind. My futile efforts stopped at once.
“I will give you a choice, boy.” His words resounded too loudly in my head, causing me to flinch and my teeth to grind in protest.
He bent his head down. I felt acrid breath, twin razor-sharp points graze my neck. “To live- or to die.”
My mind reeled at his words. I was in denial. He couldn’t really... kill me, could he? Send me spiraling into death through one long, painful moment? I knew full well he could. Him and his companion had already infected Mother, Christdean, my dear Ellisa, with their tainted ethics. And now he was about to do the same for me. Unless...
“Live?” My voice rasped out, questioning him. I felt his lips, pressed against my neck, curve into what I thought to be an amused smile.
“Yes, love.” The tone of his voice, sickly calm and smooth, positively sent an inescapable chill up my spine. “The Dark Gift -the gift of eternal life- is yours for the taking.”
My mind was still in a haze, though somehow I managed barely to speak. My eyes fought to stay open; the intricate nature-born ceiling swam before me. “Though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death...”
His biting, though beautiful laughter cut off the part of scripture that followed. Instead I couldn’t believe my ears. “...Never shall I walk through the Golden Gates with thee in the House of the Lord.”
"Blasphemer," I whispered once more.
I thought he would overlook my foolish hushed words, however to my amazement he did quite the opposite.
"Do you really think that way, boy? Aren't you craving the knowledge, as you have been for the better portion of your life, to know what lies behind Death's Gates? To live eternally, to merely watch as civilizations rise and fall, to see Saints and Evildoers be born into this world only to succumb to Death's Embrace in the end?"
I was begining to get captivated by his melodic voice, the steady streams of words ushering from his pale, thin lips in my euphoric daze. And the Devil seemed to be feeding off of that weakness; his words grew even more silken yet even more confident in the moments to pass.
"Say 'Yes', believe in me, and I will thrust you head-first into that knowledge which is not even dreamt by Man. You will live for eternity, One with the Universe, never expiring though mankind will change and evolve. Say Yes and I will give you the world."
I could hardly stand, I was so overcome. My legs threatened to buckle and cast me to the ground where I stood. My breathing was shallow though harsh; both my vision and mind was awash in a vast obsidian abyss. After what felt like an eternity I finally heart myself gasp,
"Y-yes."
The Vampyre's eyes turned to me, and he smiled.