A Beautiful Sacrifice

Chapter Four

He finished feeding her the breakfast, or rather she turned her head away from him and would not eat another bite so he no other option but to take away the tray. He was apprehensive in leaving her alone, in case she should wander off again and panic. Was it too much to hope that she wanted to explore his home –and now hers – out of curiosity and not for the exist? Maybe it was too much to hope for so soon after bringing her back.

                He had been given a woman and so the bargain was complete but they had misunderstood too much. He was angry at the village; he couldn’t word his  anger that was bursting through his chest. A bride was what he wanted, not dinner and how was he supposed to gain her trust and love if she thought herself his dinner?! He thought of telling the village they had forfeited their protection from him, but in the end, they had done what everyone else always did. His unnatural teeth had repulsed and scared them, they had been told to give a woman to him and that obviously had not been explained as clearly as it should have.

                Curse his teeth, curse his diet and his isolation, his loneliness and now his luck in finding a mate who was confused and unwilling. His existence had never been such a burden as it was now. He left her alone. Mostly because he was losing his temper and needed to vent his frustration without her being there to see him. He explained where the bath was, but he knew she would not go, not yet. She would most likely not leave that bed for a while now and he intended to give the peace she pleaded for in her eyes.

                His gaze lingered on her as he edged out of the door. He would not leave her for the day or the night, he also would not feed off her. Not yet. Feeding always came with a trust. Even amongst vampires there were those who disliked the giving of blood. To take blood required the calmness of the one giving; if they were too afraid the blood flowed faster, more powerful as their hearts beat faster in their chest and so judging the amount they were taking became a lot harder and a vampire could easily lose control like that. Forgetting that with each mouthful was more blood than normal and they could not feed as long.

                He did however need to feed and so he searched his mind thinking of one who would not mind his calling, and who would be calm enough for him to take from. He was too angry to deal with even the faintest apprehension on the givers part. In the end it had to be a man. Less emotional, more practical and more used to giving than a woman. He ignored his sisters, his aunts and his one female friend, looking instead at his cousins, ignoring also his younger brother who was not yet an adult in vampire years. He would not take from a child.

                Joseph. One of his closest cousins and one who had been in many battles - that was good it meant he was more used to giving to brothers. Battles always made the wounded vampires hungry for blood and warriors gave to each other. Soft sobbing penetrated his thoughts. A finger print appeared in the banister of his stairs. He sighed at his now misshapen wood and quickly set up a mind link between himself and his cousin.

“Joseph.” Was his greeting.

“Perttu?”

“Are you free?”

“I can be. I will be there just before dawn.”

“Thank you.”

                That was what he loved about Joseph. He asked no questions. He came straight away. To have Joseph as an ally was greatest thing you could ever have. And god help you if he was your enemy. Mmn, maybe he would unleash the wrath of Joseph on the village, that would really show them what the fangs were there to do…