One Foot in the Grave

I had been standing across from Lucian for what felt like an hour. After stealing me away from Apophis he had led me down to what seemed to be his office. It was extremely modern compared to the rest of the Underground, the floor was white marble, the walls were deep black with expensive looking paintings on them. Off to one side of the room a fire crackled in the white marble fire place. And in the middle of the room was an ornate wooden desk which was as black as night, and it had a white marble top on it. Perched on the edge of that desk was none other than Lucian himself. There were three chairs sitting in front of Lucian’s desk but I stayed standing behind those chairs because I was too much of a wimp to sit so close to Lucian.

“Are you hungry?” Lucian asked, his silk like voice breaking the silence.

I shook my head just as my stomach grumbled. Lucian smiled softly and met my eyes, my breath caught in my throat for a moment and then Lucian was suddenly gone. I felt a rush of cold air brush against my shoulder and the door to the office was open when I looked behind me. Just as I began to wonder where he had gone I felt that same rush of air and I whipped back around to face his desk but he wasn’t perched against it once more. Instead he was standing right in front of me with a glass of juice and a plate of fruits. I stumbled back out of surprise and noticed Lucian’s smile falter slightly at my fear.

“Why don’t you sit down and eat while I explain everything?” He suggested, slowly walking over to one of the chairs and setting the glass of juice on the small table next to one of them and holding the fruit out to me. I took a moment to contemplate refusing his suggestion for me to sit down. But after such a show of speed I doubted that even I could out run him. I sighed in defeat and sat down, Lucian handed me the plate of fruit and returned to his position on the edge of his desk. His proximity instantly registered with me and I noticed he was now a mere three feet from me. That is what I kept thinking about as I reached down for my fork, before I touched it however, I noticed it looked an awful lot like silver. If it was silver it would burn my skin rather badly. Lucian must have noticed my hesitation, “it is not silver mon chaton, I know of your kinds severe illness for the substance,” he explained. After another moment of hesitation I quickly began to eat. I brought my feet up to sit Indian style on the chair and balanced the plate on my lap. The bells on my skirt jingled as I did so.

“Apophis was very impressed with you mon chaton, he has never let someone into his group so quickly,” Lucian observed.

I swallowed the chunk of strawberry I had been eating and looked up at him, then quickly looked away when I met his eyes because I could so easily recall their hypnotic pull. “What does that mean, ‘mon chaton’?” I asked.

“Well, roughly, it means ‘my cat’,” he said, I couldn’t judge his expression by his voice so I kept asking questions.

“Well my name is Sigrid,” I said, mustering up any ounce of courage I had to say that. Lucian just smiled.

“Of course, Sigrid.” A blush covered my cheeks as I realized how much I liked the sound of my name when he spoke it with his French accent.

Clearing my throat, I quickly regained my composure. “How did you know about me?” I asked, genuinely curious about that answer.

Lucian laughed softly, “it was not easy mon- I mean, Sigrid. The herbs you wear work very well, even now I have trouble knowing that you are indeed a leopard. But the witch you got them from has loose lips when asked the right questions.”

“Did you hurt her?” I asked quickly, not liking the tone of his voice at all. I hadn’t realized my sudden outburst had made me look up at him until I noticed I was staring into eyes the color of the sea in its deepest places. Quickly, I looked away.

“No, I did not harm her, only made her a little more willing to divulge her secrets on who she was giving her little concoctions to. Then I just had to find whoever was wearing the herbs, which was you.” I reached up held onto the little vial around my neck, which was filled with the very herbs he was talking about. “You might as well forget about wearing them, news will travel that I have found my animal to call, and it is common knowledge that my animal to call must be a leopard.

I clutched the little vial possessively; I had been wearing it for almost a decade now. The thought of parting with it was almost frightening.

“Are you not interested in the marks I have bestowed upon you at all? No questions about where you are or who you are with at the moment?” Lucian asked, tilting his head to the side as if examining a curious specimen.

“Actually, yeah, I do, I guess lets start off with who you are.”

“You seem to be taking this well,” Lucian noted.

“Honestly, you scare me to death,” I said, meeting his gaze for a moment before looking away. That one glance showed me that my comment had hit him hard.

“Well, I am Lucian De Maur; vampire master of the city.” His voice was no longer teasing; actually, it was void of any emotion. Empty.

“What does that mean?” I asked, picking up a piece of water melon and slipping it into my mouth.

“After a few centuries, some vampires reach a sort of ‘master vampire’ status. This power allows a vampire to control other vampires in a territory. For a vampire to be master of a city they must be able to support their own bloodline.” Lucian said, pausing to see if I had any questions.

“Why do you have to be able to support your own bloodline?” I asked, finishing off my fruit and taking a sip of my juice. It tasted very fresh.

“Because, the vampires in this city have taken an oath to me, swearing to abide by the rules I have set forth and the rules of the elders. Those same oaths put their existence in my hands; I must have the power to be able to wake them when the sun sets. If I do not have that power, and they stay dead to the world until the sun rises, then they will never rise again.”

“So, you’re like a battery all of the vampires in this city run on?” I asked, trying my hardest to process all of this information.

Lucian chuckled at my choice of words but still nodded, “oui.”

“What happens if you don’t wake?” I asked, blurting out the words before I could think them through.

“My people would die, but that has only happened to one master vampire and that was almost a century ago. Now vampires are more attentive to their master’s power, if they see it dwindling it is not out of line to force the vampire out of the position through execution.”

“That’s terrible,” I breathed, it seemed so barbaric to just kill off your leader and replace him with someone more powerful.

“If they were to let a weak leader continue to rule the possibility of never rising to see the night would become very strong. Even though vampires are immortal, the thought of ceasing to exist is still a terrifying one. Even after a few centuries,” Lucian said, I could hear the sliver of pain in his voice and it forced me to look up. He seemed so caught up on this topic, like he was thinking too hard on it or remembering something related to it. “But none of that is going to affect you,” he assured me. I had a moment to wonder if any of it might affect him but I denounced the thought immediately. I did not trust this vampire, he may have saved my life but it was obvious he had some ulterior motives up his sleeves.

“Your silence has become typical of you but I doubt that means you have run out of questions,” Lucian commented, pulling me from my thoughts and making me slightly mad at him. It seemed Lucian had decided being obnoxious would get me to open my mouth. I was disappointed in myself when his plan worked.

“Where am I?” I asked in a demanding tone.

“The daytime resting place for most of the vampires in this city, not many vampires have a safe place to hide from the sun. The first master of this city created it decades ago after many of his kin were killed by hunters who had easily gotten into the homes of the vampires in this city. It was deemed unsafe for vampires to rest in their basements and so he created this underground fortress,” Lucian explained. “And then the master after him was known for his flamboyant attitude, he had a penchant for the spotlight and happened to be able to wield the powers of pyrokinesis. So he started a small circus act in a little circus tent he had set up upstairs, well, it grew into what it is now and after I took control of the city I decided to leave it. It brings in enough revenue to make this whole fortress financially self-sustaining.”

It was interesting to hear someone talk about things that happened decades ago as if they had happened a year ago. The question slipped from my lips before I thought it over, “how old are you?”

This time Lucian’s laugh was very full hearted, the sound sent shivers down my spine, shivers that had nothing to do with fear. What did strike fear into my heart was the sight of his fangs, my hand unconsciously went up to the nearly healed bite marks on my neck. Lucian must have sensed my sudden fear for he quickly stopped laughing and looked away from me. “I have long since stopped counting the individual years, but I am a little over five centuries old,” he answered, using his fingers to comb his dark hair back away from his face.

My emerald eyes widened at this little bit of information. Five-hundred years old! Geez, and John thought he was an old geezer. However, Lucian looked nothing like an old geezer. He was wearing black dress slacks, a shirt that was a very dark crimson and appeared to be silk, and he wore black leather shoes that must have cost a pretty penny. I could tell he was at least six feet and a few inches tall, and he was defined in a way that was not too much, but not too little. However, I was well aware from the stories Rafael and the other told me that a vampire as old as him could look like a twig and still lift a minivan without a sweat. “Wow, that’s old.” I really had to start thinking my words through.

Lucian chuckled, making sure to keep his lips covering the two pointed canines I knew he had. “Yes it is.”

When I realized he was waiting for another question I quickly plucked one of my important ones from my brain. “What do these marks mean?” I asked, setting my plate and glass down on the small table next to my chair and holding out my wrists. There, as plain as day, were two ornate circles on the insides of my wrists. Little twists of smoke twirled around and through the circles. When Lucian reached out to grasp my hands with his those curls of smoke came to life and the circles darkened in color. At first I struggled to get out of his grasp but then I watched as the vine like designs around my wrists seemed to snake onto Lucian’s hands and curl around his wrists. I stared in astonishment as I watched what I had first thought of as tattoos come to life before my eyes. When I looked up at Lucian to see what his reaction was he was staring at our wrists as if he were a drowning man who had just been thrown a life-preserver. I opened my mouth to ask what he was thinking, but he cut me off before I could speak.

“These are the first of the marks that will in time completely bind you to me, through power and mind. This one,” he pointed at the mark on my left wrist, the first one I had gotten, “has made you harder to kill if I must be simple in my words, and has made it much harder for me to use my mental powers on you.” He pointed to the one on my right wrist, the one I had gotten last night, “this one allows me to draw power from you and enter your dreams-”

“What if I don’t want that?” I asked, my voice timid and afraid of how he would react.

“Once given, even I cannot remove them. I have shared my life essence with you, if you had been raised among your kind you would know the magnitude of such a thing. Your kind posses powers of magic that made even the vampire elders wary of your species. I have seen your kind’s magic first hand and it is an amazing sight. That power is within you, and now it is tied with my own, tied so tightly that trying to break the knot would only result in the death of one or both of us. A vampire has never survived breaking a tie with a lycanthrope of feline origin, and if the vampire does not survive, neither does the animal to call he or she is bound to.”

His words sent a chill down my spine.

“This is not a simple thing you are caught in Sigrid, it is usually a gift bestowed upon the animal to call, do not think of it as a curse,” Lucian continued, noticing my expression slowly sinking into horror.

“How can it not be a curse, your fancy words disguise it but you’ve basically claimed ownership of me,” I ranted taking my wrists out of his grasp. “I was just fine before you came along, and now I’m tied up in some crazy magic stuff that I never wanted! I mean, honestly, what good is a ‘animal to call’? Huh? Am I just some pet for you to show off to your vampire friends now?” I snapped, I didn’t care how polite he was being or how truthful he was being. He had disrupted my whole life and I was pretty certain he had turned John, Rafael, and the others against me.

Lucian moved in a blur of speed that I barely caught. He rested his hands on the arms of my chair and leaned in close to me. “I marked you, not to parade you around, but because I had to,” he hissed, obviously annoyed with me.

“Had to?” I questioned, my words suddenly very quiet. Fear can do that sort of thing to you.

“I told you how weak masters are executed and replaced correct?” Lucian asked.

I nodded.

“Not many vampires become a master of their city without having an animal to call. That is because it is a considerable detriment. You compared me to a battery from which my people gain power. Well, think of yourself as a battery I gain power from.”

“I don’t understand,” I whispered.

“A master vampire draws power from their animal to call,” he switched his position and took my hands in his once more, turned them over and rubbed his thumbs over the marks there. Instantly a rush of power surged through my system and I could see from the way Lucian’s eyes were suddenly an electric blue that he had felt the rush too. “When you are near me my powers are almost ten fold of what they used to be. Just having you bound to me makes waking my people incredibly simple.” He said, his voice now soft as he looked at my wrists. “This evening, I woke much earlier than usual, my people did too.”

“So, what, I’m just your key to keeping your position as master of the city?”
Lucian shook his head, “you make me sound selfish when I am not.” I waited for him to continue. “I have ruled over my kin for decades, I care for all of my people deeply, if I did not I would have relinquished my position ages ago. At one point, just a few years ago, I thought about doing just that. When I spoke of it to the other master vampires I knew of who were very strong and without a city to rule, many came to investigate.” Lucian hung his head and sank into a sitting position on the floor; he leaned against his desk and looked up at me. “The one vampire I had prayed would not answer my call did, Damien Agustine came seeking my position. I had no doubts he would kill me without a second thought, I also knew that he ruled through fear. He made others fear him to the point they would do anything he told them to. When word spread that Damien would be the one to take my position the other master vampires retreated for they knew they could not take on Damien. I refused to surrender my position and since my people feared Damien, they stood loyal to me.”

I tried to ask him something but he shushed me, “let me finish before you ask any questions.” I nodded and he continued, “However, loyalty will only go so far and I knew the day would come where I would barely be able to wake my people and they would have to choose Damien or death. That is when I sought you out in earnest, Apophis assisted me in finding you during the daylight, tracking down leads for me to follow when the sun set.” Lucian looked up at me then, I went to look away but he was too quick. He was kneeling on one knee in front of me with my chin caught in his gentle fingers before I could get out of the chair. “You are not my ‘key’ for keeping my position; you are my ‘key’ for keeping my people out of the hands of Damien and his evil ways.” The raw emotion in his voice was almost overwhelming. He cared for his people, that much I could tell. “You are the last hope I have, the last of your species, I do not intend to treat you like my subordinate. You are much too important to me.” I blushed at his words; they burned with sincerity and truth.

He leaned towards me, so slowly that I could have pulled away if I had enough thought to do so. Instead, I sat frozen as Lucian’s lips slowly brush against mine. That was it, just a brush of his lips that lingered like the feeling of silk against one’s skin. My first kiss. He pulled away and even though he said his vampire powers didn’t really work on my anymore I still felt hypnotized by his gaze. Just when I thought he was going to kiss me again raised voices met my ears. Lucian looked up as a loud bang issued from the door, then the door was opened and Lucian stiffened in his position. Rafael stood, stunned for a moment in the doorway of Lucian’s office. I knew what he must have thought of the position Lucian and I were in. Lucian was kneeling in front of me, his hands cupping my face, and his lips mere inches from mine.

“Lucian I’m sorry, he ordered me to step aside, I couldn’t refuse him-” The guard, a werewolf, pleaded, but Rafael shut the office door behind him. He took a deep breath before looking at me.

“Sigrid, I know I have no authority over you. But I still want you to know how bad of an idea I think this is, willingly going with a vampire.” Rafael’s words were tense, as if he were fighting off a fire of rage trying to force its way out.

“I am sure Dominic told you that there is no turning back once the second mark has been given, so you should know that this arrangement is permanent. Unless, of course, you plan on killing both of us?” Lucian said coldly.

Rafael chose to ignore Lucian. “Sigrid, I’ve heard the stories of how your kind disappeared. It was not just humans who hunted you; vampires sought the leopards out for their blood. Vampires are not the friends of your kind, they never have been, how can you suddenly trust a vampire you’ve known for less than a day?” Rafael spat, gesturing at Lucian. “Vampires are evil, all of them, they are quick to kill, quick to judge, and quick to anger.”

“I have no evil intent for Sigrid,” he continued, his voice like a snake preparing to strike. It held all the intention of lashing out but had not made a move.

Rafael snorted, “You really expect her to trust some walking corpse?”

“Rafael, I do not want to fight with you because I am quite certain it would upset Sigrid.” Lucian said tightly, “So listen to me when I say, that what I am hoping you will understand is that I do not intend to treat Sigrid as vampires have treated her kind
before-”

But Rafael cut him off, “quit acting like you care for her,” his voice was almost a growl in its anger. “Your promises mean nothing to me Lucian, I know what you’ve done in your struggle to remain in control of your clan, and I know Sigrid is just a way to secure that position.”

“That is not true Rafael,” Lucian snarled, now visibly getting angry with Rafael.

Rafael scoffed, “So you really wouldn’t harm her? You honestly want me to think you care for her?” he asked as if he didn’t even believe it.

“I gave her my word that no intentional harm would come to her from my hands.”

“Again, you play with words,” Rafael accused.

“I cannot promise that no harm will ever come to her from anyone, it would be out of my control, if an unintentional occurrence breaks my word I would be sentenced to death. And, I hope you recall that my death means her death now.”

“And what happens when you harm her ‘unintentionally,’ she can be really irritating sometimes Lucian, what happens when one of her comments finally pushes you over the edge?” Rafael said snidely. I instantly recalled Lucian towering over me after I had snapped at him. “Your word happens to have quite a few loop holes in it, and I don’t trust you to keep from hurting her.”

“Rafael-” I pleaded, praying he would listen. I didn’t want him planting these frightening images in my mind.

“In two months I will be the alpha of my pack, and the wolves in my pack are a large part of your guard Lucian. I think I should have the right to speak my mind, or perhaps you can go back to letting the wererats guard your daytime hiding place.” The threat was obviously there. Everyone knew the wererats were terrible at anything but thievery; they were mostly thugs and gang bangers. Nothing compared to the trained wolves of Dominic’s pack, who were mostly retired soldiers.

“Then by all means, continue.” I could see that Lucian was clenching his jaw as well as his fists.

“If you dare hurt her-”

“I will do my best to keep my terrible temper in check so as not to hurt your precious Sigrid. Now that you have made that point clear are you finished?”

“She is not like the vampire women I see parading around, treating sex like a daily thing, Lucian,” Rafael argued next, causing my cheeks to burst on fire. I was about to yell at him for even suggesting that I would let Lucian do such a thing, but Lucian spoke before I could.

“Not all the women in my kiss are like that Rafael, and I happen to know quite a few women of your pack who frequent the chambers of my vampires,” was Lucian’s biting reply, it was obviously meant to cut deep. It only infuriated Rafael more.

“I can’t wait for the day that your soul rots in Hell Lucian De Maur, at least, what’s left of it,” Rafael spat, advancing towards Lucian.

“Just give me one more reason to end your silly existence and I will,” Lucian hissed, stepping foreword.

It wasn’t too hard to tell what was about to happen, the power emanating from both of them was almost suffocating me. I stepped in between the two of them and had to press a hand against Lucian’s chest to stop him in mid stride. Big mistake. Suddenly the breath was pulled from me in a gasp when Lucian’s power, hot with anger, flew into me. Now I could tell he had been holding his power in check when he had touched my wrists earlier. As soon as he noticed what had happened his power stopped flowing into me and I had a moment to wonder if he had locked his power away somewhere, but then I stumbled back.

“What did you do to her!” Rafael demanded, when I looked at him his eyes had changed to a bright gold. The color of his wolf’s eyes. I bolted back between them, wobbling slightly as I did so. This time I took care not to touch Lucian, but I still managed to make it between them so that I was in Rafael’s way.

“Move.” His voice was a growl.

“Don’t, you two have to calm down.” I demanded. Admittedly, it took all my courage to do that.

“You’re going to protect him?” Rafael asked; I could hear the hurt in his voice.

“I’m protecting both of you,” I reasoned. “Come on, I’ll walk you out.” I took his arm and forcefully turned him around and took him out of the room. He roughly tore his arm from my grasp once the door to Lucian’s office was closed. “I can show myself out, thanks.” But his words sounded anything but thankful.

I followed him to the exit anyways, hoping he would turn around and say he didn’t hate me, that we were still friends. But he didn’t. We walked in silence until we reached the heavy door leading out into the circus.

“Please Rafael, say something to me,” I pleaded. Rafael paused, his back still turned to me.

“Be careful.” That was all he said before leaving.