The Crimson
1/1
Andrea.
From the moment he first laid eyes on me I was dead. I knew it deep down in my soul. But that didn't stop me from loving him.
I was alone in the living area of our yacht when the pirates hit us. I could hear my family along with our servants and crew being murdered above me so I did the only thing I could think of. I barricaded myself in the closet and prayed. I was holed up for what seemed like hours listening to the bone chilling screams and then just as suddenly as the chaos began it was silent and suddenly I was hyper aware of every sound that my body made. I took slow deep breaths in an attempt to keep myself calm and quiet.
He crashed through the door to the living area and I bit my tongue until I tasted blood to keep myself from screaming. One horrible scenario after another played in my head. I prayed harder than I had ever prayed in my life. I could hear his boots on the wooden floor as he made his way through the boat. Was he looking for me? Did he know anyone else was still onboard? What would happen if he didn't find me would they leave the boat to sail the seven seas forever? or would they burn it down? Hot tears began to roll down my cheeks as I accepted that I was going to die no matter what. This wasn't fair. I was too young for this and I was an heiress! I was supposed to grow old gracefully on the arm of some dashing man.
His footsteps stopped in front of the closet door and so did my heart. The door opened slowly, I held my breath and I prayed.
"Well well what do we have here?" His voice caught me off guard.
I swallowed hard and looked into his eyes. I froze. Normally I was 'mouthy' as my father put it. I had an attitude, and normally I would be flinging around obscenities and giving this guy hell. But I couldn't speak. Something in his eyes captivated me.
Apparently something about me silenced him as well. We were both silent for what seemed like an eternity.
Finally I found my voice, but it was weak and afraid.
"Pl-please don't kill me." I begged. The tears coming again.
He paused licking his lips.
"C'mon. Lets get ya out of here." He said grabbing me and tossing me over his shoulder gently.
It seemed like I blinked and we were back on the shore and he was placing me back on my feet. I should have ran as soon as my bare feet touched the sand. But I didn't. I stood there looking at the pirate waiting for him to do God only knew what. I had lost my voice.
"Do ya have anywhere you can go? Any - uh - family…" He asked breaking the silence but letting his voice trail off at the end as if he was trying not to remind me that he had been apart of murdering everyone I loved.
"No. You killed all of them." I snapped. There was my voice.
He grinned at me and I swooned. He was really handsome, with eyes that I could swim in and a scruffy face that made him look - wild.
"Look I'm tryin' to help ya. I really am." He rubbed the back of his neck looking around. "But I have to get ya somewhere and quick."
"I don't have anywhere to go. Everyone was on the yacht." I told him looking down at my now dirty bare feet.
"Well damn." He mumbled.
I could feel tears welling up in my eyes again and my bottom lip began to quiver.
"Awh now don' do that." His voice was soft as he tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.
"I'll take care of ya. I swear."
Benny
What the hell was I thinking?
I was doing a final sweet of the yacht to loot the downstairs and make sure we hadn't missed anyone. As soon as I was below deck I could smell her. I licked my lips as I jerked open the closet door. But when her eyes locked on mine, something in me changed. There was something about her that stopped me in my tracks and suddenly what The Old Man told me to do didn't matter. Looting the yacht didn't matter.
Before I knew it I was standing on the shoreline with this mess of a girl trying to figure out how to keep her safe.
For years my life was dedicated to serving The Master, my Father the man who was responsible for making me who I was today. I could barely remember my life before I was turned and I loved traveling the seas with my family and taking out yachts. I felt alive and free more so than I ever had when I was human.
But now I was starting to rethink everything. It was like my loyalties suddenly shifted and I was no longer tied to my coven but to this girl and hell I didn't even know her name.
Andrea
I had so many questions. But I didn't ask any of them. I wasn't sure I could handle the answers. I was also afraid that if I got too mouthy that this stranger might decide to kill me after all. He had taken me from the shore to a lighthouse high on a cliff. The view probably would have been more spectacular if you know everyone I knew and loved wasn't dead.
Even with everything that had happened, and everything going on I couldn't help but notice my captor? was he my captor? Was I being held against my will? It kind of seemed like I could just leave if I wanted too. But I didn't. He was older, but attractive and a little scruffy.
The silence was awkward and a little tense. I listened to the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks and tried not to think.
"Are ya hungry?" He asked, but his question trailed off as if he was waiting for me to introduce myself.
"Andrea. My name is Andrea Kromos and yeah I guess I am." I answered.
"Andrea, I'm Benny and I'm real sorry that - well. You know." He said rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I'm gonna get ya some food. I'll be back." He added before disappearing.
I should have ran away. I should have given him a head start and torn out of that light house as fast as my legs would carry me until I found someone who could help me. But I didn't. I stayed there and I waited for him to come back. There was something about him, I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was but there was just something about him. I also might have been a little suicidal because I was alone now. I didn't have a family, or friends or servants. It was just me and I had never been alone before. I didn't know how to be alone.
Benny
I made my way quickly into town. I found a bakery and I bought food for Andrea. I had no idea what she would like so I bought a little bit of everything that looked good.
I should have been thinking ‘Why did I care what this human girl wanted? Why was I going against my master?’ but I wasn’t. I was trying to figure out how I could escape with Andrea, how we could be together safely away from my nest, my master, my sins.
Would she even want to be with me? I had just helped murder her entire family in cold blood. Then there was the whole I was a blood sucking monster thing. Could she ever even be in the same room with me comfortably? Would she run screaming away when I told her I was a vampire?
All of these questions ran though my head as I tried to make my way back to the light house as inconspicuously as possible. I didn’t want to draw any attention to myself. I didn’t want to be hunted by humans or other vampires.
If Andrea was even there when I got back, this would be our life. Always having to watch over our shoulders. Hunters were the biggest risk to me, and my coven was the biggest risk to her.
I finally made it back to the light house, after stopping to steal some clothes that looked like they were Andrea’s size off of a clothes line in town and make a long trip back around the city to the beach to make sure I wasn’t followed
I was surprised the girl was still there.
“You looked surprised.” Obviously I wasn’t good at hiding it either.
“I kinda figured you would’ve tucked tail and ran darlin’” I admitted.
“Like I have anywhere to go, besides its almost dark.” She responded. The tone in her voice was annoyed.
I couldn’t figure her out, and I think that’s why I was so intrigued by her. Even when she was terrified she was strong. I liked that.
“True.” I smirked.
“Here, I think these’ll fit ya.” I said tossing her the clothes.
“Thanks.” She replied as she held them up.
It was silent for a moment before she rolled her eyes.
“Can you at least turn around so I can put them on?”
“Oh sorry.” I said embarrassed. I stepped outside the door. “Just let me back in when you’re ready to eat.”
Andrea
When Benny shut the door I quickly tore off my clothes and pulled on the new ones. They weren’t what I was used too and they were obviously stolen but they were warmer than the damp clothes I had on before. I didn’t have a mirror or anything but I was assuming that I looked insane. My hair was probably a mess. I tried to brush through it with my fingers and make it look half-way decent. My mother always taught me that one should look presentable for dinner.
I opened the door and peeked out.
“I’m ready.” I said quietly.
“I didn’t know what to get so I just brought everything.” He said laying out the food on a sheet. I sat down indian style on the floor.
I waited patiently for him to eat first.
“What are you waiting for? I can hear your stomach growl all the way over here.” He teased. I blushed.
“Men eat first.” I replied politely.
“I’m not hungry.” He replied. There was a glint in his eye and a near smirk on his face when he said that. I got a chill. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know why. So I pushed all the thoughts out of my head and started to eat. I tried to be as lady like as possible but suddenly I was starving so I started shoveling food in my house as quickly as I could.
After I finished eating I was exhausted.
“You look like your about to pass out love.” Benny cleared the leftover food and shook the crumbs off the sheet.
“Come here” He offered and I crawled into his lap. He pulled the sheet over me and I fell asleep.
Benny
I watched her sleep all night. Using every ounce of my willpower not to rip her throat out with each rise and fall of her chest.
What the hell are you doing? I asked myself over and over.
I seriously considered leaving her at least a dozen times. But every time I talked myself out of it. I reasoned that she needed me. I helped make her an orphan and she would never make it on her own.
I didn’t sleep. I stayed up working on a plan. I would ask Andrea to be my mate.
She started stirring in my lap.
“Mornin’ sunshine” I greeted her.
“What time is it?” She asked rubbing her eyes.
“It’s close to morning.” I replied.
“Oh.”
“Look, Andrea. This might sound crazy – hell I know it sounds crazy. But I want you to run away with me. Lets get out of here and start a life together. I’ll take good care of you. I swear. I mean I might not have has much money as your family did but we can make it. “
She went to open her mouth but I stopped her.
“Let me finish. There is something you need to know about me and it’ll probably change everything and I won’t blame you if you say no. I won’t blame you if you call me a monster and run away. Because I am a monster. I’m not just a murdering pirate Andrea, I’m a vampire. I drink human blood.”
She gasped and her eyes went wide.
“But I went all night and I didn’t feed from you. I couldn’t feed from you. I could never hurt you like that. And that’s a promise. If you go with me I’ll never hurt you I’ll protect you for the rest of my life.”
Andrea
And I did go with him. Call it Stockholm syndrome, call it crazy, call it whatever you want. I call it fate. Fate that brought us together – and fate that tore us apart.
We landed in New Orleans, we found a cottage by the ocean. I took a job cleaning houses and minding children. Benny foun odd jobs here and there. He tended lawns, did mechanic work, taxied around the elderly and the drunk. We were just a few miles from the hospital. Benny was able to steal blood from there to survive.
Believe it or not I was happy, we were happy. I became lulled into a false sense of security. I believed that no matter what my Benny could protect me. When I woke up screaming in the night reliving the day my family was massacred he was there to shush me back to sleep, holding me in his strong arms and stroking my hair.
I knew those arms could crush me, and the lips that kissed my forehead gently every morning to wake me up could just as easily rip out my throat. But he didn’t. He cared for me, he doted on me. Benny loved me.
But we couldn’t be together forever. I think I knew that all along. Benny would never age – one day I would be old enough to be his mother, his grandmother. Could a vampire produce children? Would I ever have the little family I always dreamed about? If I did get pregnant would my children drink milk – or blood? There were too many unknowns. So I tried not to think about them.
I tried to live my life blissfully unaware that everything could come crashing down around me at any second. Because I was pretty sure I couldn’t handle loosing Benny. I had already lost my entire world once. I couldn’t do it again.
But I did.
One day while Benny was working and I was home alone there was a knock at the door. Thinking nothing of it I answered but when I saw the man standing there I got a cold chill down my spine and straight into my soul.
“May I help you?” I asked trying to hide my fear.
“Where’s Benny?” The guy asked.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You must have the wrong house.” I said slamming the door in his face. But he caught it and forced it open. It caught me offgaurd and I forgot everything Benny taught me about killing vampires and protecting myself. All I could do was scream and then I blacked out.
Benny
I was almost home when I heard Andrea scream. I knew her voice from a mile away and I ran. I ran as fast as I could. When I got there it was my worst fear confimed. My house was full of vampires and the Master was sitting in my livingroom chair.
“Leave her alone!” I growled as I raced in the door, only to be caught by two vampires I used to consider my brothers.
“Not so fast Benny.” The Master smirked and I thrashed against the vampires who held me.
“Please. Kill me, take me do whatever. Just leave Andrea alone!” I begged.
“Andrea? So dinner has a name.” He chuckled.
“I will destroy you. Let me go.” I fought as hard as I could but I couldn’t get free.
“Bring her in.” He demanded.
Two other members of my old nest appeared then when Andrea. Her hands were tied and she had a gag in her mouth. There were tears running down her face. When she saw me she started to scream against her gag and cry even harder.
“Andrea. It’ll be okay baby.” I lied. I knew it wouldn’t be okay. There were too many of them and I was weak. I had to think of a plan and fast.
“How sweet. Benny has a pet human.” One of the vampires jeered.
“Shut up. She isn’t a pet.” The Master snapped.
“Benny is in love.”
“Leave. Her. Alone. Do whatever with me but she isn’t part of this!” I growled.
“Oh but she is Benny. You see she’s the reason you abandoned your family. We can’t just let that go unpunished!” He said getting up and pulling Andrea to him. He pulled the gag from her mouth and she shrieked.
“Shhh shhh. It’ll be alright.” He grabbed her by the hair and ripped her throat out.
I screamed at the top of my lungs. What had I done? How could I let this happen? I let them kill the only person who had ever meant anything to me. I heard the sound of a swinging blade and I fell to the ground, and then everything went black.
Andrea
But Benny was wrong. I wasn’t dead. I woke up hungry. Hungrier than I had ever been.
♠ ♠ ♠
I hope this doesn't suck too much.