Faith Maria Winter

“Why would such a pretty girl feel the need to be in a cemetery at night?” He whispered with a cold voice. I felt his breath on my neck and my body stiffened, “Praying for a dead relative, maybe? A lover? Well, you will see your ancestors soon, my pet,”

Why me?! My head screamed, Blake!

The man’s hand was still over my mouth as he bit down. I could feel my own skin getting pale as he drank my blood. The feeling of it getting sucked right from my body was sickening. My eyes closed and my head fell back. The man took his hand off my mouth and wrists, lifting his head for a moment. My legs stopped working, and I fell back, into one of his arms.

His other hand moved along my jaw lines and up my cheek. His brushed his cold fingers through my hair. I heard him chuckle.

“So innocent,” he said to himself, probably thinking I was passed out. He lifted me up, holding me like a small child. I moaned lightly, and he laughed once more, “My dear, are you still awake? Be calm, you won’t die tonight. A creature as lovely as you should never have to die, and I will grant you that immortality,”

I wasn’t sure what he meant; I couldn’t think straight. I felt my hair whip around my face, and realized that he was running with me in his arms. I was very unsure as to how fast we were moving, and I was fine with that.

Just a few minutes later, or maybe it was hours later, I felt the warmth and comfort of a bed. The thick blankets wrapped around my cold body. I heard a fire going, and wondered if maybe it had all been a dream. I tried to open my eyes, but it felt like a chore. My body wasn’t responding, either. I felt heavy, like someone had filled my veins with stone. I, myself, felt like I was made of stone.

I groaned.

“You’re awake?” a voice asked. An alarm went off in my head. It was the voice from my dreams, the vampire that had killed me. It wasn’t a dream?

I forced my eyes open and looked around. I was in an elegant room, with red and gold as the main colours. There was a stone fireplace, and, of course, a large bed. At the end of the bed sat a handsome man with red hair. His eyes stared at me with a tranquility that seemed wrong for his face, as if he wasn’t normally a calm man.

“Where-?” I tried to talk, but failed. I groaned again, closing my eyes. I felt dead.

“You are in my manor, ma belle,” he told me, his voice coming from directly beside my face. I opened my eyes, startled, and there he was, inches from my eyes. He had silver eyes like Blake, but they weren’t as beautiful, “May I have your name?”

“Faith,”

“A name as lovely as you,”

I cringed at the compliment. This man had kidnapped me from my kidnapper. I wasn’t sure if I should thank him or hate him. It was so hard for me to know which vampires I should trust. Blake was trustworthy, I knew that, but his friends certainly were not. To Marcus, life was a game. He was obnoxious and rude, and deserved no respect from me. Isaac looked at me like I was the evil monster, I felt as if he might kill me at any moment.

This man that sat near me, I didn’t know anything about him. I knew he was a vampire, I knew he had bitten me. He had brought me back to his warm home and seemed to be taking care of me, but he could just want me strong so he could feed off of me once more before letting me die.

“How do you feel?” the man asked me.

“Am I dead?” I asked him.

“No,”

“I feel like I might be,”

“That’s understandable,” the man’s hand slid behind my head, and he helped me to a sitting position, “I drank quite a bit of your blood,”

The colour drained from my face. I stared at him with wide eyes.

“Shall I die soon?”

The corner of the man’s lips turned up into a small smile. He nodded, “You will die, but whether you stay in this world is up to you,”

I stared at him; confusion took over my horrified face.

“I could make you a vampire,” he told me, leaning in closer to me, “You could be young and beautiful forever or…” he lifted up my chin, “I could drain you till death now, and forget about you,”

“I don’t want to die,” I whispered.

“I thought not,” the man’s voice was amused. He lowered my chin. I was feeling woozy again, and I struggled to keep my eyes open. His hand dropped from my face, and he lifted a knife to his wrist. He sliced the blade across his skin, cutting his wrist deeply. Blood poured out over his hand, dripping off onto the bed. He brought the wrist to my mouth, but I backed away.

“Drink this, it will help you,” he assured me. I looked at the wrist for a few more moments, unsure. I was feeling worse and worse as the seconds ticked on, and I knew that death was waiting for me. I took hold of his arm, ignoring the smile on the man’s face, and brought the wrist to my mouth. At first, it was terrible. The iron taste made me feel like gagging, but then…I started to enjoy it. I drank more deeply, unable to back away from it.

Then the pain settled in. I released his arm and screamed. Every organ in my body felt like it was exploding. My blood was a flame traveling through my veins. My heart felt heavy in my chest, and I felt the beating slow down.

I was dead.

I felt my chest for a heartbeat. Nothing. Frantically, I checked my pulse at my wrist. Still, I felt nothing. I looked at the man, I wasn’t sure what expression my face held. I raised my hand to his chest, but hesitated.

“May I?” I asked, my voice was now full of life. He nodded, and I felt for his heartbeat, “Nothing…”

“You are a vampire,”

“I am dead,”

“Being a vampire is, in a way, dead, but don’t be upset,” he begged, “I can’t bear to see you in pain, that’s why I didn’t kill you,”

I slid out of the bed, no longer feeling tired or heavy. I felt more alive then ever before. There was a mirror in the room. Slowly, I approached it. I gasped at my reflection. My skin was pale, but so unnatural that it was beautiful. The green of my eyes was gone, and replaced with black. I looked at my hands, and saw that my nails had grown to be longer then they have ever been.

I looked so unnatural, like a statue. I was a living piece of art.

“I knew you’d look like an angel as a vampire,” the man said, suddenly standing at my side. His arm wrapped around my shoulders, “I just didn’t realize I would fall for your looks this easily afterward,”

I took an uncomfortable step to the side, brushing his arm away. My heart could not be won so easily.

“Sir, may I know your name now? It feels only fitting,” I asked, giving him a charming smile.

“Of course, love. My name is Logan,”

I nodded once, not sure what I should say. I felt strange...there was a thirst in me that I’d never felt before. I walked over to the window and opened it, letting the cool air clear my confused head.

“It’s a great feeling, isn’t it? The thirst of a vampire,” Logan slowly walked over to me. I suddenly felt disgusted at him.

“You feel this always?” I asked.

“The feeling is worse in the beginning,” he informed me, “but, yes, I do. The only way to feel at ease it to drink the blood of a living creature, preferably humans,”

“I…” I turned around and stared at him with fear in my eyes, “I could never kill a human! I am...was a human…”

“And so was I, but that has never stopped me,” Logan put his hands on my shoulders, “I understand the reluctance, Faith, truly I do. For the first while, it’ll be hard for you, but never you fear. I’ll always be here to help you,” he leaned to me, and at first I thought he was going to kiss me. He looked passed me out the window, “Day time is upon us,”

I looked out the window, seeing the faint light as the sun began its way over the hills.

“Vampires can’t…”

“Exactly,” Logan took my hand and pulled me towards the door of the bedroom. He led me out into the hallway, passing servants who bowed and showed their respect for their master and his guest. Logan took me into the cellar, where no sunlight could possibly get in. Behind a curtain, there was a door. Through that door, there was a room that looked just like the bedroom I had been in, but without the window. To replace the bed, there was a coffin, lined with satin the colour of red wine.

“I’m afraid I don’t have one for you,” Logan said with a sigh, opening the coffin, “So you’ll have to sleep with me today,”

“Oh, but I already have a place to live,” I told him, thinking of Blake. He must be worried by now. Logan glared at me for a moment, and then regained his too-peaceful look.

“Faith, I am your mentor,” he told me, “I made you, I shall teach you and you shall live with me, understand?”

“But Blake…”

“Blake? Who is he? Your lover?” Logan spat out the words in disgust.

“No, he’s the vampire that…” I remembered exactly what Blake had done. He killed my servants and took me away from my home. He was very kind to me, but he lived in a cemetery. Logan was also very kind to me, and he lived in a large manor with servants, “He’s the vampire that doesn’t matter anymore,”

Logan seemed pleased. He took my hand and lay down in the coffin. I lay beside him, with his arm wrapped around me. It reminded me of Blake, how he had slept with his arm around me protectively. Though this time, I wasn’t scared. I was, in fact, extremely tired. Falling asleep, even in a coffin with a vampire, was incredibly easy.

I woke up the next night, ready and willing. Logan brought me back into the bedroom upstairs before we were to venture out. I blushed when I realized he was giving me a dress.

“You can’t go out in that,” Logan told me, chuckling, “That poor night gown of yours is tattered and dirty, and no longer fitting. Give it to one of my servants; they could do something with it,”

“Logan, do your servants know what you are?” I asked as he handed me a beautiful dress made from fine silk and expensive cotton, with the colours purple and red, and lined with golden roses. I gasped, taking in the beautiful gown.

“They suspect that I’m not human, but they would never tell anyone. They are too fearful. Do not worry, dear, you are perfectly safe here,” He gestured towards the gown in my hands, “You like it?”

“I love it!”

“Would you like me to send someone in to help you put it on?”

“Please,”

Logan gave me a small bow and walked out of the room. A few minutes later, a beautiful young girl came into my room. She couldn’t have been older than myself. Her skin was smooth and dark. Her hair was light brown, held up in a tight bun, and she had large blue eyes. She came in and gave me a small smile, though her eyes were full of fear and sadness. Without a word, she helped me take off my torn dress. She looked it over.

“Goodness, miss! You must’ve taken quite a fall,” her voice was as small as she was, “I’ll fix this for you,”

“You can have it, actually,”

“Miss, I couldn’t…”

“Your lord suggested it,”

“In that case, I thank you,” she helped me into the dress, then did my hair, “You look stunning, m’lady!”

I giggled, turning to get a better look at myself in the mirror.

“You should get out to my lord,” the girl opened the door and I started out. She took my hand and looked into my eyes pleadingly, “Miss, take care of yourself,”

“Excuse me?”

“You are too young and pretty to die,”

“I still don’t understand,”

“He’s...well...we think our master is a monster. He kills people, miss! He’ll kill you, too, if you get too close to him,” She bowed, “I just want to protect you, miss,”

I glared at her, pulling my hand away from her.

“How dare you? He is your master, show respect! Logan is no monster, how could you think that? You should get a whipping for just thinking such terrible things,” the girl looked down in shame, “I’ll keep this a secret, of course,”

“I thank you, miss!”

“But next time you think about crazy notions, write a book instead of accusing people of being demons!” I stormed down the hall, holding back my laughter. Logan waited for me at the front door with a carriage. I took his arm and he helped me in. As soon as the carriage was off, I started to laugh.

“Something funny, love?” Logan asked me, curious as to whether I’d gone crazy.

“That girl you sent in tried to save my life,” I explained, “She warned me that you’re a monster!”

Logan joined in on the laugh.

“That little girl has always been trouble,” Logan said, “I should just kill her,” he stopped and looked at me, wondering what I might say to that.

“What?” I asked, wondering why he was looking at me so oddly.

“Sorry,” Logan chuckled to himself, clearly enjoying my sudden calmness with murder.
We arrived at the ball an hour later. Logan had explained that for us, running would’ve been much quicker, but we wanted to appear as human as possible.

“Logan, I must let you know...I’m supposed to be dead,”

“Oh?” Logan smiled at me with intrigue.

“Three vampires attacked my house a few nights ago, killing everyone except my father, because he wasn’t home. The vampire, Blake, let me live, but had me living with him...in a crypt at the cemetery,”

Logan chuckled, “That’s what you were talking about last night. You are a pet and you were fearful of him coming for you and me, eh?”

That wasn’t exactly it, but I nodded. It would’ve been hard to explain that Blake didn’t think of me as a pet, I happened to think that he really liked me.

“Dear, do not be afraid for a moment longer. This Blake will not want a vampire for a pet, obviously. You are free!”

“I’m still assumed to be dead,”

“You look a bit different, Faith. Before you were beautiful, now you’re a goddess. If someone you know asks for your name give them a fake one,”

“Help me think of a name...I’m no good at those types of things,”

Logan chuckled again and closed his eyes, concentrating.

“How about...Cossette?”

My face lit up and I nodded once more. What a gorgeous name! Suddenly, I wished my name really was Cossette.