Lust For Her Master's Blood

For the next week I concentrated solely on how to go about assassinating the Mother, mostly so then I could ignore all of the heart wrenching thoughts of the Master that my mind was so insistent in conjuring up. So far I had not come up with much. I knew sneaking up on her was useless and I definitely knew that she would tear my throat out the moment she caught me. Frontal attacks were quite frankly suicidal and all weapons I could use would not be as effective against the Ancient as they are against normal vampires.

I growled in annoyance and thumped my head hard against the wall. This was driving me round the bend. I had absolutely no idea how to take her out. Well, that wasn’t strictly true. There was one thing however only the Master could release the seal and allow me access to my Matter and I could not ask him otherwise he would know instantly what I was up to which was not the idea. The moment he would realise I would be in a lot of trouble with him. It annoyed me that not even Viorel could help me come with an plan. He stayed for another day as he organised himself and made sure nothing else popped up and during that time he stayed by my side, listening to what I had to say about the Master’s past. I hoped telling him would press the urgency of the situation into his mind, much like Arnold hoped with me, and it worked. In the next hour he left but not before expressing his wish to stay with me and help me through this, much like I did with him all those years ago. I felt a little sad after he left. It was nice seeing such an old friend, one who knew my predicament without me needing to explain much to him.

I turned my head while still pressing it against the wall when a ball of cloth was thrown at me. It failed to hit me and unravelled and floated to the floor before it even came close but it was enough to grab the attention of my ears.

I stared with narrowed eyes at Sall who watched me with a slightly irritated expression.

“What?” I asked.

“Work and plot at the same time Susan. It won’t be long before your body shuts down now.” She said and returned back to polishing the oak furniture.

I grumbled under my breath but did as she asked, knowing full well she had a point. While all the other fellow slaves could work in the early morning sun, I could not so I had to put in as much effort as possible to ensure I did my fair share of work. And it also kept my thoughts focused. It annoyed me that I had to do that a lot recently. If I didn’t I would think about what Arnold had told me and about the Master which made one half of me to cry my eyes out from a warm light feeling and the other to yell at him for blatantly lying. But whether or not I was focusing on something else I always became indescribably happy whenever I saw him. However he seemed to be angry at me recently. He often gave me hard looks and refused to talk to me unless it was absolutely necessary. It pained me and I loathed that. I just wanted to go back to the emotionless me, life was far easier and far less confusing and painful to endure

Realising I was thinking of the Master yet again I threw myself into my task, wiping down the wooden panels from dust as violently as the weak wood would allow me. I glanced up and my eyes froze while I continued to work when I saw a particular loathsome woman enter the room.

Clare swept in and glancing around as she did before her eyes settled down on me. Instantly she smiled and walked lightly over to me, instantly placing herself on the sofa Sall had just finished cleaning.

“I wondered where you were working. This place is so big it is hard to find one person.” She commented. She did not seem deterred by my heavy silence and carried on. “How are you? You do not seem happy lately.”

I glared at the wood and began to clean faster.

Of course I was not ruddy happy at the moment! I was struggling to think of a way to kill Morrigan before she killed me, told that my friends were put through hell for the Mother’s entertainment years ago, people keep insisting that the Master was in love with me, which is utter bollocks, and my emotions were going completely insane and making absolutely no sense to me. Anyone in their right mind would be a little angry having all that shoved in their head.

“Why do you ask?” I growled.

“Because the Master is worried.” Clare said calmly.

I whirled around at that point, my face contorted into a mask of anger, trying to smother the small flame of joy that suddenly came to life in my chest.

“The Master is not worried about me. He is angry if anything. He ignores me and keeps his distance.” I had to force my tone to stay low and force back the strange sensation of tears. I did not like the fact my voice very nearly broke down and I felt pure rage at the fact I wanted to cry.

Clare sighed lightly and very nearly sounded exasperated. “You’re both as bad as each other, you two.” She muttered. “The Master has been angry with you because he has been feeling betrayed by you.”

My eyes widened. “What?” I said stupidly before my anger bit me. “Betrayed? How can I betray him? He knows that I will do anything to make sure he is safe. That’s my bloody creed since I was a kid!” I snapped.

Clare looked a little alarmed by the slowly rising volume of my voice and urgently pressed her finger to her lips, shushing me gently. “Lower your voice Susan. Be calm.”

I took a deep breath and forced some control over my voice. “What do you mean that I have betrayed the Master?”

“I know you have not Susan, this is what the Master feels though. He does not like the fact you have blocked him so firmly from the bond, it is as if it is not even there now. He can’t sense you like he did before nor tell whether or not you are in danger. It scares him.” Clare said softly.

I snorted. “If I was in danger I would open the bond but how on earth does that make me a traitor to him?”

Clare hesitated before she answered, twisting her long pale fingers in a nervous gesture. Finally she seemed to decide to tell me and her sharp blue eyes snapped up at me firmly. “He does not like the fact you started blocking him at a similar time to Viorel’s reappearance”

My angry visage fell suddenly to be taken over by a blank and shocked stare. I did not even bother to scold Sall when she snorted out a laugh rather loudly.

“What?” I asked dumbly.

“He does not like the fact when Viorel appeared and spent so much time with him you blocked him from the bond.” Clare said plainly. “In other words, the Master is jealous of Viorel. He is scared that you might’ve developed feelings for him which is why you are blocking him from your mind.”

I stared at her in utter shock while my mind remained frozen. He was jealous? Because I spent so much time with Viorel?

“Wait, what? This is confusing.” I muttered as I was battered by strange happy emotions.

Clare smiled at me and stood from her seat. “Just open up a little bit. The Master will need all his focus to stay alive these next few days. You distracting him by not speaking to him is not going to help.”

I glared suddenly when annoyance surfaced from the fluffy feeling. “How is this my fault?”

“I am not saying it is as it both your problem. Just be the first to open up to him. Lucius is surprisingly stubborn when it comes to you, it took me a while to pry that information out from him, and he won’t be the one to make the first move.”

I grumbled darkly but agreed all the same. Clare smiled warmly and bid us farewell having now done what she needed to do.

I glared at the door even after she shut it behind her and ignored the strange sound of suppressed laughter that was emitting from Sall as she struggled to continue with her task while fighting not to laugh.

Hesitantly, after making sure everything was under some sort of control in my mind, I slowly opened the bond and reached out to the retreated mind at the other end.

The Master felt very surprised at first before I felt his warmth spread out into my mind tenderly, almost as if he was caressing a long lost lover. That thought made me want to hide from him and could’ve killed Sall when she looked at me and saw my glowing face which resulted in her let out one quick snigger before she caught herself.

Both of us were silent as we felt each other’s minds in the first to for over a week. I do not know why but a strange calm feeling swept over me, as if I was content, which made me uneasy. I was not used to feeling contentment. As I delved deeper into his mind I was surprised to find dark thoughts, things that he tried to keep away but kept popping up right in front of me and begging to be noticed. One of them, the most noticeable, was quite ugly. I felt a nasty feeling in that thought, a horrible stomach gnawing feeling that made me want to kill something. I realised this must’ve been the jealousy Clare spoke of and swore out loud. He should not be feeling this. He can’t. It just wasn’t possible. If he felt jealousy over me then it meant Arnold and Clare had been telling the truth and that realisation scared me.

Gently I willed the feelings to go, trying to get his insecurity to vanish. Once I felt the Master’s dark feelings melt away, I gently retreated and blocked the bond though not as strongly so I could not feel the echo of his mind. Just enough so he did not know what I was hiding in my thoughts.

Slowly I returned back to work, the emotions that had been dead for so long becoming even more lively. I don’t know why but I felt so happy I could cry, as if this was something that a genuinely wanted deep inside. Fear suddenly swallowed me. I did not want this. I didn’t! He had trapped me here as a child, he sealed me and turned me into a Black Blood. I did not love him for what he did to me!

It took a moment to realise that a hand was on my shoulder and my eyes snapped up to meet Sall’s face which now filled with concern.

“The young master is here Susan.” She said gently. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.” I said firmly and adopted my blank face although inside I was begging to be given something, anything, that would keep my mind away from such distressing thoughts.

I stood sharply and turned to Alphonse and became confused when I saw two parcels in his hands.

“These were just sent to the house Susan. Both are addressed to you.” He said. “Were you expecting anything?”

I shook my head. “Other than a short reply from Eva, no.”

He shrugged and then turned to head back out the door. “I will take them to your dorm. You can have them once your job is done.”

I nodded voicelessly and returned to work, ignoring Sall’s concerned questions. After a moment Sall fell silent, knowing I was not going to talk until I was ready. I had no idea when that would be though. I had been messed up emotionally for days now and it was only getting worse. I knew that it was to do with the Master though. It was always his doings that made me happy, angry or sad. It was always to do with him. And now the idea that I could love him made me so confused with emotions I felt sick. I wasn’t right. Everything was just so wrong now. Everything.

Rapidly I carried on with my tasks, rushing around to keep my thoughts completely blank. I finished early luckily and returned exhausted to my dorm. I had promised Sall and Mo, who had been informed of my rapid and deranged mood swing that morning, that once I has worked out what was going on I would tell them. They were they only people I knew I could speak to and not be embarrassed or ashamed of them knowing my thoughts.

When I opened the door the light flooded into the small simple and cluttered room, instantly illuminating the parcels that Al had left on my bed. With intrigue I approached them and reached out to the first box.

I was surprised to find a few vials in there alongside a letter. I pulled out the letter out from the box and observed it, noting there was no name on it, before opening it.

I smiled broadly when I recognised the hand writing of Eva

Susan,

Firstly, I have heard from Viorel the troubling news of what is happening in the Rain household and I am sorry I cannot do anything as such to stop it. Morrigan is playing, what Viorel kept referring it to, her ‘game’ within the rules. As she is the Head the clan, she has the right to control her Clan as how she sees fit and from what I heard, she manipulates her family to attack each other, she never actually harms them herself.

Vince and Viorel have come up with an idea that I am reluctant to agree with on how to deal with her. They have said that Morrigan has to die but to fight her alone would be stupid, especially with two pure blood vampires within the house. I know Arnold will help us but it is you who must stop Lucius before Morrigan uses him as a shield. I have put in the box three vials. Each one of them is for your Matter. The contents of the green vial will unlock the seal and the contents of the purple vials will allow you to momentarily use your matter at full strength through your guns but without the damage. This will allow you to fight Lucius with being held back by the fear of mortally wounding him. But you must be patient Susan. Vince and Viorel will be there in a few days so you must not make any sign of what they are planning. Tell Arnold but only him, too many people knowing of this will threaten the upper hand of surprise we have in this.

Secondly, I have passed the message you wanted me to onto Vasco although I cannot tell whether or not he took it with any feeling. He is very good at masking his emotions even with me. If he is going to make his move it will be very soon though. Vasco has a reputation for being protective of his own Clan.

Finally, your request. I am truly sorry Susan but there is no turning back. Once a vampire drinks the blood of a Witch he cannot live without that source. Any who have their blood taken away have all gone insane or killed themselves. However I am looking into it and seeing if there is a way of releasing you two from this curse. If and when I find something, you will be the first I will tell.

In the mean time be patient Susan, and this affair will be dealt with shortly.

Eva

I was smiling an empty smile by the end of reading my letter. Deep inside I guess I knew there would be no cure. It made me sad that I could not free the Master, that when I died he would die along side me. But I was glad that it seemed I was not the only one wanting Morrigan dead and with the Ancient Vincent backing me along side Viorel, there was a good chance that we could beat her.

I carefully took out each vial and gently placed them under my pillow after wrapping them in a spare apron. I then reached out for the far longer parcel. I was quite surprised by it weight when I picked it up. As soon as I unravelled the brown paper my heart quickened and my eyes grew wide. Resting gently in the palm of my hands lay a long sleek sheathed sword, but it wasn’t just any sword. I remembered this sword from my childhood, I watched my mother demonstrate sword play with it to my older sisters. This was my Family sword, a Witch blade. I had never thought I would lay eyes on it again after I was taken from my home and how Eva came across it, I had no idea. I would have to ask her about it one day.

Slowly I wrapped it up again and slid it under the bed. It would be disastrous if anyone found that laying around here. I just hoped no one looked under the bed.

I quickly undressed when I felt the heavy weight of the rising sun and slipped under the thing covers. I was glad when sleep claimed me swiftly, not allowing my tired mind to think about the Master or Morrigan.