The False Vampire

The longer these people looked at me, the more creeped out I became. Ambrosio let go of my arm and disappeared into the crowd, leaving me standing alone. I briefly saw him in the back corner of the room with one of the women – a succubus, his arm was curled lovingly around her waist and he was kissing her tenderly. A pang tore through my chest – many more of these and I may start thinking I’m going to have a heart attack.

‘Why did he need me when he has her?’ I thought bitterly. Ambrosio smiled at me as though we were the oldest of friends.

“Why don’t we make our guest comfortable?” An elderly man walked out, and whilst lines carved his face, he was still undeniably handsome. Apparently, it was part of incubi physiology to age extremely well, if what I was seeing was any indicator. Two incubi stepped out, towering over my comparatively small frame.

One person grabbed each arm, and together led me through the dark, mauve tunnels into an equally dark room. There was hardly anything inside except a desk and small wardrobe. In the corner sat a chamber pot. My nose crinkled in disgust. At least according to the smell the room was clean. There wasn’t even a specific bed in the room, but rather a pile of blankets in the middle that looked decidedly comfortable.

Judging by the side of the ‘bed’, it could fit roughly ten people.

‘There’s room for an entire orgy. Awesome.’ I rolled my eyes. I wondered over to the wardrobe, uncomfortable with the concept of walking around in my pyjamas all day. Opening the heavy mahogany doors - I assumed, there was thousands of bits of silk. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure that there was anything I could actually wear in here, everything was a version of what the succubi were wearing.

Rifling through the cabinet, I fingered each piece I came across before settling on an emerald green dress. It had an elasticated empire waist that ended tied at my back. Otherwise, it was backless and low plunging, but reached just below my ankles. Besides the fact that it showed a little too much of my chest, I was otherwise happy with my decision. Undergarments were a no go though, considering I hadn’t been wearing any at the time of my kidnapping.

I looked at the desk again, noticing the jug of water and glass sitting on a silver platter. My stomach rumbled noisily.

“Ssh,” I murmured to it, hoping quietly that it would stop soon. Knowing that no one was around me to hear it didn’t make me any less embarrassed to hear it.

As if they could hear my stomach, a quick tap came on my door before it was pushed open. A succubus walked in, her long black hair gleaming in the candlelight. In front of her she carried another silver platter with fish and what seemed to be roast vegetables on plates. Another flush rushed to my cheeks. There was no way that was a coincidence.

“What is this?” I pointed to the purple vegetable, the only unidentifiable thing on the plate. The succubus huffed before giving me a haughty look.

“It’s a carrot, mortal. Like we’d waste our food giving you anything poisonous.” Deciding that that would be her last word, she turned on her heel and dashed out of the room, a blur except pink silk and black hair trailing behind her.

#

On the second day of my imprisonment, I was sitting at my desk when Ambrosio walked him. He draped himself over the mussed sheets of where I slept the night before. We stared at each other for a long while before either of us spoke.

“What do you want?” I grumbled, bored from looking at stone walls the entire day.

“I thought I’d give you company, my dear.”

Glaring at him, I replied, “I wouldn’t want your company if you were the last person on earth.”

Ambrosio cackled, throwing his head back as his whole body quivered with amusement. He stood abruptly, laughing no more but still amused. He wondered over to the desk – where I was sitting. I watched his movements carefully. He paused behind my back, reaching over to grasp a cup and water from the pitcher.

“The truth is, my dear, that you don’t have a choice,” he whispered in my ear. I turned partially to him, looking at his expression from the corner of my eye. His face was what I would describe only as stoic.

“There is always an option,” I whisper to him. I can see his face harden. The next second, his hand is wrapped loosely around my throat. I don’t miss the meaning behind the silent threat though – he could kill me at any moment if that is what he choses to do. It was a likelihood that I would be killed after I gave birth. It was something that I suspected would happen.

“That is not an option,” he hisses, fury shining in his eyes.

“I hope someone kills you,” I spit at him, the venom in my voice clear. His eyes narrow, before he spins on his heel and storms out of the room.

With shaky hands, I rub my throat. It didn’t hurt – he didn’t squeeze hard enough, but the experience still left tingles on my skin. Slightly spooked, I laid down on the pallet of blankets, hoping that sleep would make the time pass a bit faster.

Though I could easily close my eyes whilst laying there, drifting in and out of sleep, a true deep sleep couldn’t come easily. My mind seemed to run at a speed of a thousand kilometres per second. At the foremost of my thought – I hoped the boys found this place quickly.

#

Adrenaline rushed through my system before my eyes flew wide open. The air around me was impenetrable, so dark I couldn’t see the silhouette of my own hand in front of my face. My ears rang, a sound you get only with true silence. There was a tension in the air, as if something was about to happen. I held my breath, trying to calm by racing heart by straining to pick up any noise beyond the thick doors that caged me in.

Slowly, I could pick out a sound. Swords clanged against each other, shouts echoed through the halls. I could almost imagine people falling. But was it Jae and Sam, or just other, unknown strangers?

Releasing my breath, I began to hear heavy footfalls racing down the hall. They seemed to be heading in the direction of my room.

Slightly panicked, I lurched up from the floor and attempted to hide. The only place that offered any solace was the desk. It wasn’t the most fantastic place to hide but I could only hope with that with the apparent lack of appreciation for modern lighting, who ever it was that busted in this room wouldn’t be able to see me.

The door whooshed open; banging against the stone wall with such a loud crack it hurt my ears after such silence. It took all my effort to contain the yelp that wanted to escape. I bit into my closed fist, trying to calm my breathing.

“Adrienne?” A voice, perhaps Ambrosio whispered into the darkness. I could hear the scuffling of his feet as he moved a bit deeper into the room. Soft candlelight touched against the desk. I huddled in closer, trying not to be seen.

Unexpectedly, Ambrosio’s face appeared. This time I didn’t bother to smother my startled yelp, considering I was trying to hide it from him in the first place.

“My dear, that wasn’t going to work. This is the only place you can hide from me,” he snickered. Much like he did the few days earlier, he pulled me out from under the desk by the arm. I felt a little like a rag doll, my feet trailed behind me as I reluctantly walked with him.

Once we were out in the hall, Ambrosio blew out the candle, and once again we were plunged into that oppressive darkness. Never in my life had I felt more vulnerable than what I did in this moment. The only thing guiding me through this darkness was Ambrosio’s tight grip on my arm. So tight in fact, that I could feel my pulse in my fingertips from the loss of circulation.

The sounds of the ongoing battle webbed closer and then grew further away. Finally, after walking for what seemed to be ages, with aching feet I was led into the brilliantly lit hall. It appeared to be a central meeting place. A bunch of incubi stood in the room in a rough semi-circle. I looked to the ceiling, where it had a massive skylight that showed the beginnings of dusk.

Ambrosio pushed firmly on my shoulder with his free hand, forcing me to kneel at his feet. Quickly, but gently he procured a long piece of hemp rope from an onlooker and tied my wrists together. Though it wasn’t tight, the hemp chafed at the delicate skin at my wrists. I steeled myself to stay as still as possible for as long as I could possibly stand.

Once I began fidgeting, the stone floor making my knees ache and the flimsy silk dress not being much of a cover from the cold, the battle erupted into the meeting hall.

It was Jae in his fae form, with sunlight beaming out brilliantly from everywhere his skin was exposed. The effect was dazzling, and the incubi hissed and shrunk away from him. I could feel pinpricks of pain as the rays touched my skin. My stomach seemed to sink as I came into the realization that the sun protection spell must have faded.

“Fae!” Ambrosio roared, coming to stand behind me again. The cold bite of metal appeared against my neck. With a shiver, I realized that he now held a knife to my throat.

‘He can’t kill me,’ I reasoned with myself. I knew though, that if it came down to his life being on
the line he would kill me.

Jae stilled as he caught sight of me. None of the incubi approached him, sensing that at this stage he wouldn’t be a threat.

“Let her go, Incubus. Your fight is with me, not her,” Jae’s tone betrayed his feelings of anxiety. I wished disparately to run to him.

“You’re wrong,” Ambrosio laughed. With slow motions, he knelt and pulled me roughly into his body. The knife at my neck never wavered. “She was unclaimed, and I claimed her. This child,” he rubbed my stomach, “Is mine. Not yours. But considering you have claimed her whilst knowing another had, perhaps my fight is with you.”

Jae took a deep breath. “The amanchara claim is higher than all other claims. Unless the female knowingly rejects it, all other claims are rendered invalid.”

“But she has not rightly accepted it, and therefore you have no right to be here. Isn’t that right, My Dear?” Ambrosio looked at me pointedly. I took a moment to deliberate my chances.

I looked straight at Jae, “I accept his claim.”

Ambrosio flinched behind me. The knife dug in deeper, and I winced when I felt a warm trickle of blood run down my neck. Jae roared in rage, his form quivering, the light burning brighter.

“She’s mine!” Ambrosio roared.

“Not anymore! She accepted my claim! You must return her!” Jae lunged for me, but was met with incubi. I knelt on the ground, still. Watching with baited breath, Jae slowly became covered in blood as he slayed all those that tried to stop him.

Ambrosio jumped to his feet, grabbing my hair in the process. Pulling me backwards, he wrapped an arm around me to stop my struggling, despite the knife at my neck.

“I should have just killed you whilst you laid there on the bed sobbing, you bitch,” he hissed in my ear. He licked my cheek, tasting the tears that had dried there before groaning. “You remind me of the good old days, when I took whomever I pleased. The young ones were the best.”

I felt the knife dig into my flesh just a little deeper. Looking down, I watched the thin rivulets of blood stain the silk of my dress into a dark burgundy colour. Some dormant maternal instinct led to me wrapping my arms around my small bump as tears began to flow.

“Cry some more, Bitch. It just makes me want you more,” Ambrosio snickered. He turned me in his arms. I closed my eyes, knowing what he wanted to do, and also knowing I wouldn’t survive it again if he so chose to do so.

“Sam!” Jae bellowed, obviously seeing the incubus’s intentions.

Ambrosio’s body jerked, the knife sliced across my neck as his arm fell to his side, useless. Blood started flowing faster than before, but I didn’t move my arms away from cradling my stomach.

Time seemed to freeze for one long second. The concept of a deer stuck in headlights seemed to make sense all of a sudden; I couldn’t do anything but just stand there.

Ambrosio’s body just wavered, before falling forward. I was caught in his literal downfall. For a moment, I was freefalling and then my back his the stone, the blow rendered me unable to catch a breath, winded. The weight of Ambrosio’s body crushed me, and I feared for the baby. Black dots began to appear in my vision, all I could hear was the sound of fighting, of Jae roaring. Blood still seeped out of the cut from my neck, moving sluggishly. I must’ve looked like a nightmare.

Protruding from Ambrosio’s back was a long arrow, the flights were vaguely familiar, but in this altered version of reality I couldn’t think clearly about anything. I still struggled for breath, and in just moments the world turned black. Again.

#

Dr Treacle was the first person I saw when my eyes opened. I was still in the incubi stronghold, I could tell that much from the skylight above my head and the mauve coloured walls. However, someone had moved me onto some bedding.

“Adrienne, how many fingers am I holding up?” Dr. Treacle held up two fingers in front of my face, and though my vision was slightly blurry, I could still make out the number.

“Two,” I murmured. The doctor sighed with relief before she moved out of my line of vision.

My eyes met Jae’s, “Hello.”

He smiled gently at me, “Hi.”

I looked around again, before struggling to sit up. Jae noticed the movement and helped me up gently. As I looked around the room, noticing what must have been several dead bodies under white blankets, I waited for what I assumed would be horror to see so many killed. Strangely, I didn’t feel anything. My hand reached up to my throat, feeling the thick bandage where the knife had cut. The next thing to be checked was my stomach as my eyes flew to Jae’s once again.

“The baby is fine,” Jae muttered, pulling a stray lock of hair behind my ear.

“The only thing that’s wrong with you is some bruised ribs and the cut on your neck. I’m sorry to say, but you’ll have another scar. Oh, and another sunburn. But Mum fixed that so it doesn’t happen again,” the arrival of Sam startled me somewhat. I looked up at him, seeing his solemn expression.

The top of his bow could be seen, strapped to his back while his quiver was held to his thigh, half the arrows gone. Remembering the way that Ambrosio died led me to believe that Sam was the one who killed him, and again, I didn’t feel anything for his death. Nothing but numbness about the destruction all around me.

I looked around the room again, noticing that Mrs. Purswell was here, and was presumably the person who had brought along Dr. Treacle. Sam was wondering around, peeking under the sheets and then ambling out of the room. I didn’t really know what he was doing.

“At least I’ll know how I got this scar,” I murmur to Jae. For some reason, I felt the compulsion to whisper, unwilling to interrupt the silence that echoed around us.

Jae gave me a long, hard look. “Do you want to leave?”

I could only nod. Jae swept me up into his arms, cradling me against his chest as he rose.

Resting my head against his chest, I whispered in his ear, “take me home.”