Redemption: Breaking Free

Chapter Four

Vince

The scent of the bloody steak hit his hunger the moment he exited the bedroom, leaving the dreaming Dee still buried in the lush blankets on the bed. He pulled his shirt on as he descended the stairs, Damien was already at the foot of the stairs.

"Oh, I was just coming to get you." Damien grinned.

"Yeah, well... it'll just be me. Dee's fast asleep."

Damien looked disappointed, "Oh... good." He forced a smile as Vince stopped just a stair away. "She needs her sleep."

Vince smirked, "I may have tuckered her out."

Damien's cheeks burned, clearly understanding Vince's full meaning. "Right. Well, let us eat then." He clapped his hands together and turned on his heels.

Vince's stomach growled as they approached the rather large dining room; he knew which spot was his by the scent alone. Sitting down as he watched Damien instruct the male server to take one of the other two covered plates away. As Damien removed his own cover, Vince did the same. Two thick cut bloody steaks, cooked only enough to be warm but still much closer to raw.

"This will help you maintain your cravings."

His hunger burned through his veins, but he maintained a bit of dignity and used the provided steak knife and fork. "How do you know about this? I mean, what I am."

Damien poured himself a glass of red wine. "Let's just say I've been around."

"There are more like me?" Vince's heightened sense of smell could pick up on how sweetly rich the wine was, probably a very expensive vintage, making him curious.

"Not exactly." Damien poured a second glass, handing it to Vince who happily took it. "If it were possible to do a genealogy trace for you, we would discover your lineage dating back to Vlad the Impaler."

Vince furrowed his eyebrows, "Forgive me, but I was never very good in history."

"Not that it would matter. History doesn't speak the truth on your lineage. Myths, however, come a bit closer. Vlad the Impaler was also known as Dracula, at least in fables... some anyway."

"So I'm a vampire?" Vince glanced down at the meat on his plate. "I don't understand."

"Actually, you're not a vampire. Your blood can create those monstrosities, but you are merely a descendant of a cursed bloodline. The males in your lineage, the first born will carry the curse. Which is triggered when the carrier either suffers greatly or dies."

"But neither--"

"Ah, but your mother claims that her boyfriend beat you until you were dead and that after they were panicking on what to do, you just popped back up and tore that despicable man to pieces. Bravo on that, by the way." Damien stuffed a fork full of food into his mouth.

"You do realize this makes absolutely no sense, right?" Vince spoke around a mouth full of blood steak.

"The world is not as black and white as it seems, my friend." Damien put the fork down, leaning back in the chair, elbows resting on the wooden armrests. "You never did question where I got my wealth."

Vince shrugged, "Never cared. And how's that relevant?"

"Antiques." Damien motioned towards the painting on the wall. "When I purchased that painting it was for mere pennies compared to today's currency. But like anything you keep long enough, it gained value. Now it's worth nearly ten million dollars. I have lived long enough to gain a vast fortune, just by merely collecting art over the years."