The Vampire's Crimson Kiss (Editing)

Chapter 39/Temple

My session with Lady Valencia convinced Mary that I could pass myself off as a coven girl and she agreed to let me go. I would hide in plain sight again. On the night of the ceremony, I played the role of a coven girl and helped Mary get dressed. She put a leash on me from a hook on my waist, and I followed her down to the Temple hall. I was used to the high heels, but tonight, the formal attire for viands was a hobble skirt. It hugged my figure but was a pain to walk in.

The greeting ceremony was to happen in the Temple of Eternal Night. This, again, was a treat for me; as a non-believer, the temple was forbidden. Coven girls and boys would be taken in, but only as snacks. Mary, as a high familiar, had technically converted, for her, the alternative was death. I wasn't sure about praying to a demon god who created vampires in her image and then gave them humans for their needs. Mary didn't seem to care; she said her belief was purely a matter of convenience. I found it hard to believe she was as hard-boiled as she pretended.

I was terribly nervous as we approached the temple. No one noticed, and most coven girls would be petrified at this point. The Vampires liked the taste of fear in the blood, so nothing was done to undo their fearful expectations.

The temple was decorated differently from the Feast of Fools. Curtains had hidden many of the walls then. They now displayed numerous reliefs showing scenes from the Book of Ayrbus. Sexual acts and savage forms of killing littered the walls along with occult symbols and occasional shadow tongue writing. One of the scenes looked familiar. It was from about the 1500s when the great purge happened. There was a woman with lines coming out of her mouth. I wasn't sure what it meant but it marked the point many vampires went into hiding. It looked familiar but I couldn't recall where I had seen it before.

Looking up metal Gargoyles perched upon sleek metal pillars, while stained glass windows depicted scenes of vampire lore amidst the backdrop of a neon-lit skyline. Some of the Loslobishman clan where there already. Some adorned themselves in intricate corsets and velvet coats, while others sported leather jackets and sleek, form-fitting attire. The looked tense but with good reason, the last such ceremony led to the killing of their  coven leader and a coven war. 

Guards patrolled the perimeter, swords gleamed at their hips, alongside menacing machine guns, and gas masks obscured their faces, adding an air of ominous authority to their presence. In the center of the temple, an altar awaited, bathed in the flickering glow of torches.

As we walked through the entrance, I noticed books in glass cases. I touched Mary's elbow and nodded at them.

"The Book of Ayrbus. The Demon Bible," she whispered while no one was looking. I had heard about them; the most important 'books' were rumored to be tattooed on cured human skin. Then I realized I had seen a book in glass before in a venom-inspired dream. In the vision I was reading a chapter from 'The Uses of the Day-walker Demon.' If it was part of the Book of Ayrbus, then that meant at some point I had converted to the Blood God or I would not be permitted to read it. Or perhaps Mary was right, and the venom dreams were just delusions.

As a viand, everyone ignored me, which is what I wanted. Even Electra didn't give me a second glance as I went by. The anonymity felt wonderful. Mary clearly had some friends, mostly soldiers; she was acknowledged by a number of immortals.

I noticed Valencia moving around,. The temple was large and dominated by a gold sculpture of the Blood God. It was a woman with three heads, one of a woman, one of a bull, and one of a ram. The eyes were flames, and she had a tail of a serpent which lay across the bear she was riding. 

Around the edge of the room, coven boys were being handcuffed to the walls. Shoulders bare, they had a look of cold resignation on their faces. Other familiars began to enter; the women wore more hobble dresses, and the soldiers strutted around in their highly polished ceremonial uniforms. There was a pause, and it looked like people were taking their places. When the ceremony began, music started, and the familiars were joined by immortals all dressed in their finest clothes.

Mary tapped on the back of my knees with a riding crop and got me to kneel on the floor. Mary joined me on her knees, leaving only the immortals standing. From between the forest of legs, I saw a phalanx of beautiful girls enter, then getting down in synchronized kneeling, faces down, motionless. Music was played, and then doors opened. I saw a pair of high heels leading a group of immortal legs moving gracefully towards the raised stage. The high heels finally moved next to the Duke's legs.

I had heard the stories from Lady Valencia; the last time this had happened, the Chief Feast Maiden was a Defiance infiltrator. She had silver in her blood and got herself chosen as the Chief Feast Maiden, the 'offering' human which the two lead vampires would 'share' as a peace offering. No one was sure how the Defiance had done it. Some pointed at Malphas.

The Duke clapped his hands, and the phalanx of feast maidens rose in one perfect, well-rehearsed motion. I felt my leash being pulled, and we all stood again.

At this point, I could see the Duchess. Even for an immortal, she looked stunning. She was classically beautiful, with dark, manicured hair, long legs, and a cleavage she wasn't afraid to show off. She had hollow cheeks like an overly ambitious wannabe supermodel. Everything about her features was flawless and perfect. The feast maidens were arranged in a triangle, and at the apex of the triangle, the girl walked elegantly forwards and bent her head. The Duke looked uncomfortable; he kissed the girl's neck, and you could see the girl flinch as she was bitten. Then you saw that moment of transcendent bliss on her face. The Duke pulled back as if he was tasting bitter blood.

"Last time he did that, he was in his crypt for two months," Mary whispered. Formally, he passed the girl to the Duchess, who then took the other neck and bit it. The Duchess drank for longer and then stood back. The girl, her neck covered in twin streams of blood, stood slightly drunkenly with a clear expression of bliss on her face.

At this point, a gong sounded, and music played.  The immortals picked up dance partners and began to elegantly dance moving around in a large counter clockwise pattern. Couples glided across the polished marble floor, their movements graceful and fluid, as if caught in a timeless waltz.  Dressed in their finest attire, the guests exuded an air of sophistication and elegance. Women twirled in gowns of silk and satin, their skirts swirling like autumn leaves caught in a gentle breeze. Men stood tall in tailored suits, their eyes alight with anticipation as they guided their partners across the dance floor.

As the music swelled, a sense of enchantment filled the air, weaving its spell over the gathered throng. The melody, haunting and seductive, wrapped around the dancers like a lover's embrace, pulling them ever closer together.

But then, with a sudden shift in tempo, the mood changed. The once melodious tune took on a darker, more sinister edge, sending a shiver down the spines of those present.

Unbeknownst to the unsuspecting dancers, the vampires among them felt a different kind of hunger stir within their veins. With predatory grace, they moved amongst the throng, their eyes gleaming with an otherworldly hunger as they sought out their prey. 

With a swift and silent strike, the vampires descended upon their unsuspecting victims, sinking their teeth into tender flesh as screams of fear and ecstasy echoed through the temple.

Many of the immortals from both covens moved in to feed on the chorus of feast maidens. It was open season. Others took the familiars and cover boys and girls that accompanied them. Through all this, I noticed I was impressed with the ancient ritual, the temple, and strangely uninterested in the blood-taking. I was so far disappointed; I had seen more blood drinking at the café in the night market.

Mary took me to one side as the orgy of bloodletting began. We went to a corner of the temple. I sat at Mary's feet like a large dog while Mary talked to some of the other familiars. A few of the familiars had clearly visible pinpricks where one of the coven or guests had fed already. They seemed to ignore it, like being bitten by a mosquito. They drank, they took Venom and other recreational poisons. They talked, and everyone wondered who the siring was going to be. All would be revealed to the public in an hour or so.

As the feasting died down you could feel the anticipation rising. A stone sarchophcus was brought up you could feel the moment of the siring approach.