Blood Lust

Chapter 3

There was a river of blood running uphill, in what could possibly be the darkest place in all the realms, which meant one thing only – the vampire was near, and very, very real. Something was waiting for her in the dark. It started as a prickling feeling on the back of her neck. The type that makes you acutely aware that someone, or something, is watching you. She had half expected to explore the cave and not find anything except rocks and excess dampness, but alas, luck was never really on her side. It was while Eleanor stood there cursing her bad luck that she heard a faint whooshing sound like a gust of wind, and then the cavern in front of her wasn't so dark anymore.

Everything dances, but nothing dances quite like fire, and it was clear that the glow was coming towards her, and not from the torch she had firmly grasped in her hand. The faint clicking that accompanied the fire's growing closeness was drowned out by the sound of Eleanor's heart thudding relentlessly in her ears. Instinctively, Eleanor drew her dagger and pointed it towards the growing orange glow. And that's when she saw her.

Eleanor had been expecting an old hag, paler than parchment, and made gaunt and nearly unsightly from the lack of exposure to the outside world, and dependence on hemoglobin. Instead, emerging from the darkness was a woman with fire in her eyes (and more importantly, in her hand) dressed far too nicely to live in a cave, with a dress of  blackvelvet worth far more than half the kingdom's wardrobe combined, and a lustrous wave of jet black hair that would put the finest hardwood to shame. She walked with darkness dripping off her shoulders, wearing shadows like armor, and that fire? The woman had hurled the fireball towards her head, which Eleanor had avoided by a hair's breadth, before it exploded on the wall behind her, lighting a line of torches she hadn't previously been able to see.

It was only when the chamber was properly lit for the first time did Eleanor get a decent look at the woman. She reminded Eleanor of the sea; the way she came flitting towards you, wild and beautiful, and when she was almost close enough to touch she'd rush away again; just out of reach, back into the shadows where the light didn't quite reach. The woman spoke from the darkness. "Well what do we have here?" And her voice? Her voice could sink ships. It was smooth enough that you felt safe, yet you could hear the venom in it, luring you into its depths.

Eleanor was mostly fixated on the vampire's glowing red eyes, her mouth stained with a dark claret. She felt like she was being sedated by the alluring red, swirling like a ruby forged in fire then ran under freezing water to give it a crackling effect. She bit her tongue, forcing herself from the stupor the woman placed her in.

"You." Eleanor held her dagger tighter and struggled to find words, her voice shaking. "You're the lady at the top of the hill. The beast that lurks in the shadows and preys on innocent men. You're a-a vampire?"

"And you're the jewel of the realm, Eleanor Schafer. Daughter of the farmhand William Schafer and his late wife Margaret Rolfe, a dweller woman." Her voice was mocking, egging her on and Eleanor felt the blood rush to her face in unbridled rage. The vampire's lips quirked up in a smirk. "Met when William worked as a young boy on Margaret's fathers estate. Love at first sight, when she caught him sleeping among the sheep." She pouted in a passable impression of despondency. "Sad isn't it? How they die?"

Eleanor was taken aback, and lowered her dagger without thinking. "How did you know all that?"

The vampire chuckled. "Well you don't think I'd hole myself up in here without a way to personally keep track of everyone, do you? Living for centuries gets awfully dull."

"How?"

The vampire tsked. "I'm not going to give up all my secrets that easily, we've only just met. Treat me for dinner first." Her eyes raked over the spanse of creamy skin on Eleanor's exposed neck, before her eyes lazily moved to stare at a spot over her shoulder. "Besides, I haven't decided if you're leaving this cave alive yet, and I can't have you running off and telling all the Queen's men my immortal secrets. That would just be silly."