Blood of the Trinity

The Enemy's Arrival

Sapphira had known that her enemy would potentially go after Priest to get to her. She hadn't expected her enemy to patiently bide his time, drawing both her and Priest into some kind of false sense of security. Two years had passed when she had accidentally turned Priest into her Blood Puppet. He was thirty now. His English was fluent and he was well liked by the congregation of the Sisterhood of Angels. Sapphira had been tempted to end Priest, but because of his popularity, she had spared him.
Her enemy, for whatever reason, had also spared Priest. He had dragged him from the confessional and had taken him to a place Sapphira didn't know about. If it hadn't been for her keen sense of smell, she would have never found Priest. Or have discovered that her enemy was working with another Vampire.
Sapphira knew the Vampire her enemy was working with. Her name was Allison. She was about the same age as Sapphira with curly, light brown hair, brown eyes, pale skin and a small, heart shaped freckle underneath her left eye. Sapphira knew when Allison noticed her surveying the abandoned church. The gleam of Allison's eyes fixed on Sapphira and Sapphira saw her give a wicked smile before heading away.
Sapphira didn't want to give into the temptation to enter. Not right now. But it was unfortunately an overwhelming desire and Sapphira cautiously entered the abandoned church. Allison was at the pulpit, watching Sapphira with a eerie smile.
"Where's Priest?" Sapphira demanded. Allison chuckled and studied Sapphira, not responding to Sapphira's question. Allison then headed away from the pulpit before Sapphira could attack. Sapphira decided that this was a trap. Getting rid of Allison would be a challenge, but it would be doable. Sapphira proceeded with extreme caution, knowing her true enemy could be waiting in the shadows. Allison stayed in Sapphira's line of sight and out of reach from any attempt Sapphira might have to kill her.
Eventually Allison entered an underground room that had the scent of Priest's blood wafting through the door.
"Your Blood Puppet waits," Allison whispered with a triumphant smile. Before Sapphira could strike, Allison slipped to the side room. Sapphira growled softly and eyed Allison as Sapphira approached the door. She hesitantly opened it and saw Priest in a small cage, blood coating his throat and mouth and twitching slightly as occasional whimpers emerged from him.
Sapphira instantly knew what was happening. Her enemy had spared Priest and had forced The Change on him, creating a much more effective form of revenge on Sapphira. Judging by the fact he was still in a sleeping state, he had only just recently had The Change forced on him. The blood coating his neck and mouth suggested he had The Change forced on him two days prior. Tonight would be the final night. The night that would decide whether Priest survived or died.
Sapphira breathed out a horrified breath and carefully approached the cage, keeping an eye out for her enemy. She reached the cage without incident and sank to her knees as Priest's breathing became more anguished and ragged.
Sapphira was silent, tears welling in her eyes as she watched Priest struggling to survive. "I'm so sorry," Sapphira whispered. She meant it. She had never meant for this to happen to him. Sapphira leaned her head against the bars of the cage, listening with growing guilt as Priest's struggles slowed and his breathing became steady. He had survived by some sort of twisted miracle. She stood up and left before Priest could wake and glanced at Allison who was still in the side room by the door.
Allison was silent, watching Sapphira warily. Sapphira only headed away. Her true enemy had not shown themself tonight, but he had successfully managed to defeat Sapphira in this battle. The revenge to use Priest to draw her out and then force The Change on him had destroyed her thoughts that she could win.
Priest would be forced to rely on his sire. This wouldn't be for a long period of time, but it would be long enough for Sapphira to be forced to do nothing. Not until Priest could hunt on his own. And that depended on Priest's willingness to learn to hunt and feed on what he required now. Blood, specifically human blood. Animal blood he could survive on, but human blood was guaranteed survival as well as keeping The Thirst satisfied.
This act of her enemy didn't guarantee that he would do nothing. He was free to do what he wanted. Sapphira was not. The thought filled Sapphira with a feeling of dread. She didn't like it. But she couldn't do anything about it. All she could do was go home and wallow in the guilt of what had happened. After all, she was the reason Priest had been Changed into a Vampire. She had been unable to assist him in time to prevent that. She had been unable to resist drinking the Vampire's blood to begin with. If she had been able to do that, none of this would have happened. Priest would be human and she wouldn't have to constantly feel the urge to look over her shoulder for fear of her enemy.
She entered her estate and froze at the sight that greeted her. Her maid, footman, gardener and cook were dead. Their blood drained or spilled on the floor in a dark red, slowly spreading pool across the floor. Sapphira noticed a message scrawled across the wall in the blood of her footman. The message simply said "I won't underestimate you again." Sapphira knew the words her enemy had hissed. These were the words. Her enemy had not only Changed Priest, he had eliminated her human help with frightening ease.
Sapphira would have to be prepared for her next strike. Like the message written in blood, she couldn't and wouldn't underestimate her enemy again.