Chapter Two

Though the girl was by no means one of the working class, she was unfamiliar with the level of decadence that Vorador lived in. As the only daughter of a wealthy merchant she had never really wanted for anything but most of the family fortune was spent on protection from monsters and the elements alike…Nosgoth being the place that it was.

But it was not the excessively expensive décor of the vampire's mansion that attracted the most of her attention…nor the somewhat egotistical theme to everything…no, it was the scantily clad ladies that appeared to drift about the place; 'drift' being the appropriate word as she swore that their feet did not touch the floor. They came uncomfortably close, watching her intently with their golden eyes as if they had plans laid out for her, passing reddened tongues over painted lips and sharp bright white teeth.

Vorador felt the girl shrink closer to him as they walked down through his home as if instinctively seeking protection.

One of his brides, practically falling out of what could loosely be called her dress came closer still and spoke in her sultry siren voice to her master. "What new game is this that you play, Prince? Might we join?"

At these words, other women joined in the calls. "Oh please say yes!"

"What fun have we tonight my lord?"

"It's been such a long time since you've brought us a pretty maiden."

Vorador's voice grew stern to his brood. "Away with you, harlots! She's no gift for you; lay a finger on her and the life that I gave you is forfeit. Be gone!"

Somehow managing to pout ungracefully around their fangs, the women retreated as they were bidden and secretly hoped that whatever leftovers they might receive were still alive so that they might have the opportunity to properly vent their frustrations upon it.

"Who are they?" the girl asked of her host.

Vorador's pace never slowed, not did he turn his face as he spoke. "Unless I say otherwise, they'll not harm you; that's all you need to know. Although…if I am not present they are still likely to circle you like a pack of wolves and goad you into doing something foolish that will allow them to bypass my order without breaking it. They may seem it but they are not entirely stupid…they are cunning and cruel but their attention span is somewhat lacking."

"They called you 'prince' and 'master'." she mentioned.

"I am lord of this manor and I made them." he told her simply.

"They are vampires also? But not like you?"

"If you are not strong enough to channel and guide the bloodlust properly then that is what it makes of you."

As he moved on the girl followed one step behind and to the left of him, silent as a mouse, her gaze flitting about the corridors and critically observing what she saw. It was so strange to him…she appeared so obedient but at the same time quizzical, both in fear and in awe of him and took in all that she was faced with, assimilated it the way that only human beings could. That's what made them so successful, so resilient; because of how swiftly they could adapt to change regardless of what they might think of it, leaving other races desperately clinging to the past and slowly self-destructing. He supposed that it all came from them living such short fragile lives; their strength came from their weakness for they had no choice but to quickly move with the times as their species would not survive being left behind…it was written into their blood…especially with how the world was now.

He led her to what appeared to be a dining or meeting room, the door to which was expertly painted with the image of a being much like Vorador's deceased sire. The girl took a moment to marvel at the artwork before trailing into the room to be awed all over again by its contents. She really wondered where all of his money must come from and how he could stand to rattle about inside this huge old building all by himself. Of course he had those women she had seen, but by their meeting she did not assume them to be the easiest of company…the vampire had brushed them away and thus it appeared somewhat self-evident that there was little or no care or warmth between them; just co-operation and need. And some rather base needs at that if their attire was anything to judge by. A horrifying thought came to her minds eye as she recalled this fact and she was suddenly overcome with repulsion at the idea of just what she might be offered to replace her sodden dress.

In a nervous tone she quietly approached the subject. "You…you mentioned…a change of clothes."

"I remember." He replied, glancing back at her and noticing the concerned wrinkle on her brow. Adding recent events with her query he discerned what it was that troubled her so and smirked as he answered her worry accordingly. "Believe me when I say that this home of mine hold more…shall we say 'substantial' outfits than those you have seen."

She breathed a sigh of relief, only to tense once again as one of her host's heavy hands fell upon her shoulder and she was ushered towards the crackling fireplace. Leaving her before it he turned briefly to move a chair from by the long table to her side. "Wait here and warm yourself while I locate something suitable." She was told almost kindly…and then the vampire seemed to suddenly remember himself and hurry away without another word.

Until his return she was left to her own devices, perched on a chair in front of the fire inside a vampire's abode. She sighed quietly and clasped her hands in her lap but chose not to take in her surroundings…she was alone now and acknowledging unfamiliar things only drove home this heartbreaking fact, that she was completely alone, her brother really had perished and would never return and that this really was happening…all of it. She shed a few more tears, dried her eyes and produced a few unfortunate and sad sounding hiccups before becoming awfully aware that she was not quiet as alone as she had been internally lamenting about.

Bright eyes and pale faces watched from the corners and the shadows, shallow breaths echoing uncomfortably against the silence. The girl remained in her seat and focused on the flames; she had been told that she would be safe unless something was instigated by her own hand which would allow a bending of the rules and so it was that she was determined not to make a move of any kind. After a few more moments the silence was pieced by whispers…the kind of lowered voices that were actually deliberately intended to be just loud enough for anyone nearby to hear.

"Why did he bring it?"

"What is he thinking?"

"He's not himself today."

"He's been strange all night…and then to bring something like that."

"What will he do? Will we have a chance?"

"So selfish today."

"We could…make it an accident…say she was spooked."

"Yes, and stepped too close to the fire."

"Dear, oh dear. And we tried so hard to help."

"But we were just too late, too late."

"We couldn't get any water…"

"A terrible, terrible tragedy indeed."

Insane giggles crept out of the darkness and were closely followed by those that had caused them, crossing the space with snake-like grace; both elegant and predatory. Their movements too swift for the human eye to easily follow, the girl found the four brides that had arrived to torment her directly beside and before her vision. Two lay languidly in the warmth of the fireplace in the same manner one could observe of cats, another knelt by her right while toying with the hem of her dress as the fourth and final one stood too her left, far too close for comfort, running her ribbons through clawed fingers.

The girl bravely attempted to hold in the shivers she could already feel rising to the surface. "You can't touch me." She said quietly, though it was open to debate as to whether she was reminding them or assuring herself.

One of the women laughed through her unpleasant smirk. "And what makes you think that he would not lie to you? You are just a bag of blood: a meal waiting to be consumed. He does love his games…and that is all you are to him, you realise."

The girl gulped down a breath. "Perhaps I might say the same of you."

All of the brides hissed at this statement.

"Is there something that you want or do you simply wish to torment me?"

One red-haired temptress upon the floor stretched and yawned. "A little of both, my dear."

"How so?"

"Tormenting you is indeed a pleasure but there is also something desirable that you possess which we would so adore taking from you."

"And what might that be? I have nothing of value."

The bride laughed and rose to her feet, placing herself directly before the seated girl and leaning forwards to be face, separated only by a thin veil of air and trailed one claw like nail down her neck to settle in the small hollow under her throat. "Why…your life, dearest; your blood."

All but squealing the girl slapped the finger away and clamped her hands protectively about her own neck. "Well you cannot have it! Not a drop! Do you hear?"

"We're not asking you to give it to us. We would be more than happy to simply take it from you."

All of the brides climbed to their feet now and gathered as close as they dared to; pulling at the girl's dress and snapping their teeth bare millimetres from her skin, making every effort to see her panic and vault from her chair, attempting to run only to find herself penned in by the vampires' superior speed.

The brides' plans to create such a panic within her that she would lash out and thus create an opening for 'self defence' might well have succeeded if it were not for how the girl turned for the door only to slam headlong into the chest of their master for the second time that night.

Unlike the first time back outside on the swamp, however, she did not fall backwards but instead buried her face against him and fisted her small hands into the fabric of his coat while wailing almost incoherently. At first he was taken aback, only able to gawp at the human girl weeping against him, but soon had focused a stony glare across to his brides.

"What possessed you to believe that such behaviour was acceptable?

They did nothing but shuffle their feet and avert their eyes.

"Get out of my sight." He ordered them evenly and without complaint they were gone, leaving him and the sobbing girl alone again.

He sighed inwardly; after everything it was now that she decided to have a breakdown…and all over him no less. Perhaps he'd made a mistake…

This was such a bother…

"I'm sorry." She squeaked through new hiccups and tears.

"For what?" he asked, peering down at her as she released and leaned away from him, wiping her eyes with her palms.

"I didn't believe you. You promised that they wouldn't harm me unless I did something…but I was so frightened…"

He stumbled over a few appropriate replies in his mind and eventually settled for simply holding out the full length red and gold dress he had hooked over his right arm. "Indeed…well…here you are…it seems to be around the right size."

Even with her pretty blue eyes now dark, reddened and sore she managed a grateful smile of sorts and took the garment from him, holding it against herself to inspect just how good his guess had been at finding a match for her size. Though it was slightly disturbing to realise just how hard and long he must have been staring at her to have figures it out so accurately.

For a second the two of them merely stood and watched as if waiting for something before Vorador politely recalled his manners and turned his back so that she might be able to change clothes with her dignity still in tact.

He had judged correctly and the velvet creation was as perfect a fit as could be hoped for…if not ever so slightly too long, causing it to just touch the ground. She thanked him accordingly which served the dual purpose of also informing him that she was decent and he could turn to face her again while she herself went to lay her old and still damp dress by the fire to finish drying without her.

"You're welcome." He replied slowly, almost stumbling over the unfamiliar words as it was a rare occasion when he had been thanked for anything in such a way that it warranted a reply.

This whole situation was completely abnormal to him; here he was with a human girl and he was not killing her. And not only that but in some strange way she was happy to be in his presence and he was going out of his way to ensure her comfort, to a degree…he couldn't help but wonder when he might wake up.

He became aware of a now familiar small voice speaking to him. "Might I enquire as to whom that might be?"

Vorador blinked and followed her pointing finger to the portrait hanging high above the fireplace; the face of the tattooed lady. "Oh…no-one important" He told her.

"Then why keep her visage in such a prominent place."

Frowning, he attempted to avoid the subject. "Is it not acceptable to keep attractive things in view even if they have little value?"

"I'm sorry…I…shouldn't have asked."

He sighed and waved a hand vaguely. "I have lived for a long time and know a great many people…that is just one face in a sea of many."

"…yet…you seem alone now."

Another silence ensued, for to such a statement there is little that could be said, especially as the girl still had no idea as to why she was there to begin with and was not about to press the subject further with one such as he. Regardless of how nicely he put himself forward to her it did not erase the solid fact that he was a merciless, sadistic mass-murderer and no doubt he would have allowed her to die back there with her sorely missed sibling if something about her had not quirked his interest. She was undoubtedly thankful for all he had done for her but she was afraid nonetheless.

"Why do you think I have done what I have done?" Vorador asked slowly, gazing at the fire regardless of the fact that he was talking to the girl.

"I suppose...if I had to guess...because I did or said something that interested you. I do not wish to seem rude in any way but, ultimately, being what you are makes you a predator and so, like a cat will ignore prey that does not move you would not pay any mind unless there was something of distinct interest. And as you have not killed me I can conclude that your reasoning does not involve me being a particularly attractive meal. That is all though."

"It is strange to me to acknowledge that fact there is a human whom may not be a complete fool." he told her.

In the back of her mind she wondered if he expected her to feel honoured, but she said nothing for, as he had admitted, she was no fool.

She was about to enquire whether he was now about to let her know just what was going on inside his head when he began to whisper, seemingly to himself.

"But all of you...so stupid...you couldn't even understand what was right there in front of you...and you blame us regardless when it all went wrong...when they had to..."

He was called from his reverie by the girl again. She seemed to be good at attracting his attention and interrupting his thoughts with even the quietest of sounds...let alone with the innocent question directed at him.

"What did we do?"

He stopped staring into the flames and turned to her soft eyes, filled with genuine apology for something that she herself had not done. She did not even know the crime for which she was silently apologising for...seemingly willing to be the voice for her entire species.

"You killed this world." he said simply.

"How?"

"It was a long time ago, so long your kind never even recorded it...or perhaps that was deliberate. But regardless of that, just because the memory is erased it does not remove your guilt in the matter. All we tried to do was keep the peace...preserve everything... everything...but you couldn't see it that way, and you fought against the people trying to save you. You're so concerned with saving yourselves that you are blind to the bigger picture. You don't have time for the bigger picture. You just see a threat; a predator, just as you said, and you don't pause to consider that we are sentient beings with reasoning behind what we do...we kill but-"

She cut him off. "I can't blame you for killing people...well...I could but...it's pointless. I can't hold a grudge against you for it."

Vorador frowned. "How so? The rest of you do."

"Humans kill too, but our reasoning behind it is far more vulgar and evil than yours. You must drink blood to survive, to live. It is the only nourishment that will sustain you but we...we kill for so many other petty reasons. So, in some regards at least, we are far worse than you. You're only doing what you must do while we only do as we want."

"You are probably the first human to ever say such a thing…but you are reading too far into it all, somewhat. Certainly it is an unquestionable part of our being that naught but blood can keep us living but we do not perform the act grudgingly. Long ago, maybe, such a thing was a truth but no longer and not for some time. Not for me, for certain, as I've no doubt you can tell by tales and what you have seen. I will not deny what pleases me nor what motivates me."

"I would not expect you to."

Vorador looked away and found himself drawn to gaze at the statue at the end of the room; an angelic creature, much like the enshrined corpse of his beloved sire and the painting upon the door, whose hands reached out to clutch something presently missing from the scene. Indeed it had been a long, long time since the vampire race had been known in their full, true glory and now there was not even a footnote in the oldest of dusty volumes to speak of the fact that they had even ever even existed. Look hard enough and you would find what was still left of their glorious world…something as simple and in plain sight as the nine silent sentinels guarding the path to another place…but no one remembered now. No one cared. All except he, but perhaps it was high time that the knowledge which had been solely his for so many years was passed on...now that there was someone whom might honestly listen and understand.

"I want to tell you something." He said carefully, eyes unblinking and still focused on the marble figure across the room. "Something important which has been unheard by human ears for longer than I can comfortably remember. You might not fully comprehend but if what faith I have in your…unique mind is true then you'll understand why I have told you at the very least. It's something that should be known but I've always feared what humanity might do or decide which such knowledge. I detest your kind for so many reasons but you…please prove me wrong in some of them. I want you to know."

She nodded and held her hands clasped to her chest as if to prevent her pounding heart breaking through her ribcage. "Whatever it is that you wish to entrust to me I promise to keep it safe."

"It's history." He breathed.

To be continued…

Author's Note – Once again I grovel for forgiveness for taking so long. I really want to be able to have this finished within the next couple of weeks because I've made you wait for too long...plus, the longer I keep it the more I'll find things wrong with it to stop me updating later.

Y'know…I often find it hard when writing this to get Vorador right…I hope I have but I'm not sure. I'm trying to make him seem more possessive than protective as, after all, he's only keeping that girl around because he has a use for her not because he likes her. But anyway, thank you for being patient, for reading and reviewing. The third and final part shouldn't be too long now…though it may not be as long as these two.