I'm Doing This For Them

The Strange Voice

At first, no one responded to Alison's demand. She hissed again, fangs fully extended and visible, glinting in the moonlight. Although Alison was naturally quiet, withdrawn and passive, she was not incapable of violence and murder and even she loved a good brawl every now and then. And she was really good at it too! Alison wasn't just a vampire princess, she was also a warrior! And she had many years of training and natural skill to back that claim up.

And tonight, as unhappy as Alison was, she did not plan on going down without a fight. She did not expect for her challenger to pose any real risk to her, but she had already decided she would die for a victory if push really came to shove. Besides, this would be a great way to let off some steam! So she was more than ready for her challenger to approach!

"Come on!" she shouted. "Hit me with your best shot! You won't escape the night if you think you can defeat me!"

But for another few seconds, only silence answered. Alison finally lost patience. Even if this stranger meant no harm, Alison still knew it was there, so the least it could do was answer her instead of hiding in the shadows like a coward!

"Who goes there?!" she repeated. "Come out and show yourself! Reveal yourself! For I am not afraid of you, and if you had any sense of honor or courage, you would come out to fight me, face to face!" she finished, her thirst for battle rising up in her chest again. She even tossed her head boastfully. "As the princess of vampires, I command you to-" but before she could finish, someone finally replied.

"Whoa! A princess? Really? Cool! And a vampire princess at that!" she heard the voice laugh, but it was not mocking. Instead, it sounded sincerely delighted and amazed. Alison was so shocked by such a jovial and unbothered response that, just for a second, her composure slipped. Who the heck was this? The strange voice sounded like it belonged to a young woman, even younger than Alison herself! (Or rather, younger than she appeared to be. Doing the math, Alison should've been very old at this point, but she didn't look older than her early 20s at most). But even stranger than the youth of the voice was its mirth! Despite Alison's best attempt at intimidation, the voice sounded more interested than anything.

"I didn't even know they had monarchies! How cool!" the strange voice continued, still sounding quite delighted. But that was the remark that finally snapped Alison back to attention. Even though it was clear the speaker meant no harm, Alison still took insult. The implication was that vampires were either too stupid or too savage to form orderly governments. Naturally, this wounded Alison's ego.

"Of course they do, you ignorant little peasant!" she spat. "In fact, we possess a very elaborate and intricate form of government! It is a fully functioning society! A carefully organized hierarchy! Do you think vampires are only just a bunch of mindless, man-eating monsters?! No! Of course not! We are a highly skilled and sophisticated, intellectual species! Far beyond that of a common mortal human!"

Alison's sense of vampiric pride, though she did not have much, reared its ugly head as she insisted that vampires were superior to humans. She continued to lecture the stranger for the careless remark. Maybe Alison didn't like being a vampire and maybe she didn't like being part of Dorian's court, but even she respected vampires as a whole. And admittedly, she'd been a vampire for so long that of course some vampiric arrogance had rubbed off on her. She was far stronger, smarter and faster than any human, didn't that warrant some level of respect? Or were all humans so daft that they believed the rumors about vampires being too savage to be functional? What fools!

"Oh, no, no! Of course not!" the voice replied, sounding genuinely upset now. "Forgive me! I never meant to offend you, your highness! And I swear to you that I never meant to imply that your kind was in any way stupid or inferior! Not at all! Never! It's just that, well, I've never met a vampire before..." the awe slowly returned to the voice's tone after a surprisingly sincere apology.