MISHA
Her memories flooded through my mind like a tidal wave, her birth, life with her mother, and her life after. I felt what she felt watching her burn, the crushing vortex of her pain hurling through my body, my skin searing like that under a flame with an untamed wrath. Her sorrow, ceaseless and unrelenting, fear that held her body in a vice, leaving no air in my lungs. Then, finally, a breath of fresh air, I felt... her warmth, her love, the feelings I never became familiar with. Her feelings towards us, faithful and true, strong and fierce. The range of emotions she felt with us. Nervousness, giddiness, shyness, and... arousal. Suddenly without warning I was knocked back with images of her and Pasha together, the ecstasy that wracked her body as she laid with my brother. The way his hands traveled over her immaculate body, the way she moaned his name. Without realizing it, I had dug my fingertips into my palms until they bled, the feeling of betrayal stabbing me. I knew well that Pasha loved her, more than a pet. I was fully aware of what happened that night when I left, I could smell her on him when he burst in my room later. He drank her blood and through that gained knowledge of her and her origins, revealing them to me. I was crushed under the weight of it, the suspicions long ago proving true. It was wrong of me, I confess but I didn't give a fuck about who she was. I wanted her for myself, I never admitted, not even to myself, until Pasha departed. Humans were animals, they disgusted me, I hadn't spared a single thought to their existence. They were our menials and our main source of food, nothing more. Yet, all those consecutive nights spent alone together training, she grew on me, I found myself more and more captivated by her. The way she trained tirelessly every night under my strict advisory. I never went easy on her, not once, I wanted her to truly be able to handle herself should the situation arise. Her determination to absorb all I had to teach, hovering over dusty decayed books, diligently studying each page. Her wit, which at times often left me biting my own tongue. She challenged me, never directly, always in an passive manner. She unknowingly gave herself away by the way her lips curved in satisfaction as she tested my limits. In my free time, my thoughts always came to her, the way her body was wiggling beneath me as I taught her close combat, the way she pressed into me. I shamelessly relieved myself every night after parting with her, all the while thinking of her body beading with sweat from being taken by me. Her moans of pleasure in my ears, the taste of her nectar, her delicious scent filling my nostrils, all of her being marked by me. I could tell she felt the same way, her cheeks would always flush a familiar pink each time our eyes met. The uncomfortable shifts she tried to conceal as she grew wet in my presence. The way her worried eyes regarded me, wondering if I too felt the pang of loneliness from Pasha's departure. She cared for me for some unfathomable reason to which I gave her no cause. I knew that, yet like a child I craved her affection but...that is fool's dream. Only Pasha and I know who she really is, why her mother burned that day, and why we can never fully be.
I carried her to my chambers, laying her limp body across my bed. I was painfully aroused, I loved her struggling against me, her whimpers, the way her blood quenched my unsatisfiable thirst. The way, even at her angriest, the sense of love and desire that seeped from her pores. I couldn't bear the thought of her leaving me, guilt wracking my mind, selfish as I am, I could not see with another. Pasha and Osha flashed once more across my mind, I could kill him. She was mine. I stood over her, my eyes trailing the length of her body. I lost myself earlier, if only she knew what I'd do for her. I leaned down, inhaling her, my mouth watering, and pressed my mouth to hers. So fucking delicious.
OSHA
"Wake up my little flower." I knew that voice anywhere, Mother. I could feel her warmth, smell the distinguishing scent that from birth, told me was her. I cracked my eye, trying to stifle the hope that rose up in me. I couldn't move nor speak, there she was, clear as day. The sun shining in a halo around her figure, her dark chocolate waves rich in color as the light peaked through. Her face, glowing, her eyes the same pools of chestnut which I gazed into so many times before. I had never forgotten them, not once, they were etched into the fiber of me. Her petit pink mouth curved up in a knowing smile. I was completely dumbfounded and then the flood gates opened. I had no idea how, I didn't need to, she was here, that's all I needed. I flung myself on top her lap, sobbing. "My my, did we have another dream?" She cooed, stroking my hair. I struggled to regain composure but failed, I could only produce more sobs. "Osha, what happened?" She gently squeezed. Flashes of my life, of that day, sprung forth in my mind. I raised my head to meet her worried face, her hands gripping mine. "What is it child?" She pressed. Steadying myself I replied in a whisper, "You... died."
Before I could say more, her face shifted into a troubled gape, the skin on her flaking away, as if she were made of sand. "No... no... I'll help you, I promise, I've got you." I mumbled grasping at her uselessly as she faded through my finger tips. "Mama... please don't leave me.... please!!" I collapsed, watching the last of her drift off, the room I once knew, had faded into black. I was knocked back by the weight of my failures, a strange wail crawled out of my mouth filling the darkness with my anguish. Until.... something shifted. No.... anything but this.
"We cannot stand for this brothers and sisters! She was fooled by the Devil, tainting herself with sin, allowing herself to be besmirched him! She has let the Devil himself, in between her thighs, baring an unnatural monster! A monster....being the Antichrist! It hides behind the face of an innocent child but brothers and sisters, I implore you, do not be fooled by this wolf in sheep's clothing!"
I again was unable to budge from my position, just as before, a bystander to my mother's murder. The pyre she was tied down to, the shaking of her body, eyes searching frantically for a familiar face, tears blurring her eyesight. Mother I'm here! "We must now, do what be must done, to save our village, to save our very souls! Find the girl and bring her forth, we must be pure in our work! This is the one true way to please our Lord, by sending these demons back to Hell!" He roared, a soldier handed him the torch, my heart stopped. "No!! Don't!! STOP IT!!" My screams rising with hers, the fire erupted then...darkness again.
"Osha..." "Osha!" "OSHA!"
My eyes flickered open, Misha's face hovered over mine. I shot up, startling him in the process, my face felt wet. Wiping my cheeks, I gathered I'd been crying in my sleep, I couldn't think of it. "What happened?" I was aware he was there and asking me questions but I was still dazed by what just transpired. I felt a cry coming on, I bit my lip, not now, don't think of it. The coolness of Misha's hand on my shoulder jostled me from my despair, momentarily. I slapped his arm away, overcome by the chaos of emotions. "You-You bit me!" I blurted out rather clumsily. Impassiveness stretched across his features. "A moment of weakness." He nonchalantly sighed before rising from my side. I absentmindedly rubbed where the bite should've been but felt nothing. "How did-" "You should leave now that you are better. Surely you must be busy." He interrupted. "I don't understand. I thought-". "You don't need to. Now if you'll excuse me." He help his arm out gesturing me to leave. I winced at his formality and threw the covers back to find myself wearing a pale blue gown. It was gentle against my skin and so wonderfully soft. "Where are my other clothes?" I rose from the bed and tidied the sheets. "Gone, think of the gown as payment for your years of service." I flinched again at his way of wording. I nodded my head in his direction, turning on my heels for the door. Before closing the door behind me I called back to him. "You know, I'm a person right?" I paused then scoffed to myself for even trying to humanize him. "Never mind."
I rushed down the corridor, my dream repeatedly playing through my mind. I was consumed by anger, having felt cheated. Was my complete existence going to be like this, no matter what I did, would it all only surmount to this? I never asked for this life, for my mother to be taken, to be saved only to be indentured to someone. I only survived up to this point, never truly living but waiting for the next storm to brew. On some base level I was aware that I owed all I had to the brothers, they spared me from a most horrible fate. The fate of all the other poor souls who made up my race, they being treated lower than dogs, scraping by just to make it through to the next hour. They had no real chance at life, but as humans we fought to accept that inevitable end. I was torn, I was better off than them but the pain from my own life bore its weight . I could never definitively say if my love towards the brothers was a sickness of the brain from being their captive or if it was true unwavering emotion I developed over time. They each had different qualities which made them endearing there was no denying that but it was only ever directed towards each other and me. It was as if it was just the three of us, no one else. I secretly preferred it this way, I wanted them to myself, forsaking myself and my people for them. As a result, here I am, no more than a dog to them. What a crock of shit.
I had absentmindedly wandered to the door of Gertie's kitchen, I hesitated for only a fraction of a second before entering in a gust. She was hovering over a young man, one whom had seen better days. His mousy brown hair covered his face, his bruised and beaten body hunched over in an all too comfortable defeated heap. His bones were prominent, starvation and dehydration evident, poor thing must be on the brink of death. Gertie's eyes met mine, no doubt taking in my tattered appearance, dread written all over her face. "Ollie this is Osha, a dear friend of mine." Her eyes told me we would be discussing everything in due time. Ollie's head tilted slightly towards me. "Hello Ollie, it's a pleasure to meet you." I greeted timidly. "Hello." He mumbled back, lifting his face, one hazel eye peeped out from his matted tangles. I edged closer to the pair, Gertie patted his back soothingly the entire time. I took my place at the table with them, wondering what to say. "Ollie here is stationed under the Alchemist, he comes here instead of eating down there." A blanket of uncomfortable silence cloaked the three of us, we all knew what the Alchemist's lair was. The lives of so many lost, all in the name of science. Over the years, along with human experimentation, weapons to counter the rising number of foes were forged. Shivers went down my spine thinking of it, of the old man. He had as little regard for human life as the vampyrs did. Long ago I asked for Pasha to dispatch him or make him disappear. I assumed since he witnessed the very hell that was his laboratory he'd be more inclined to agree. Alas, he was too vital a member of kingdom to simply kill, it would not be wise to do something so "hasty". It was also then that I started to understand the gravity of my position, we did not matter to the vampyrs at all, not even me. Somehow though, they spared me, it was plain cowardice but I was so thankful for it.
"I think a good stiff one is in order." Gertie interjected. Ollie and I exchanged horrified glances. That hearty laughter of hers which I loved so much rose from her, instantly easing my troubles. "Ok." I smiled, Turing back to Ollie. "But Ollie must too, he could use a bit more than one." He peeked from his hairy curtain and twitched the corners of his mouth up. Gertie rummaged through the bags of flour until she found a bottle and cups she must have stashed. "Here we are." She breathed heavily setting the cups and bottle on the table. "Let's drink."
The hour was late, after hours of drinking and storytelling it was time to rest. Gertie and Ollie lingered behind in the kitchen, I had enjoyed the two of them very much. The more we drank the more Ollie came out his shell, he was knowledgeable for one whom had been in servitude for a great part of his life. Having a mind sharp as his, he was most excellent at telling jokes and stories. He admitted though, they were not conjured from his mind, but from the others slaves. Since I lived apart from my people I was never able to immerse myself in them, in my culture. In the darkness, they all sat, huddled together in small circle they each pondered the mystery of their future, if they did in fact have one. The loss of dignity and freedom left them with limited means of keeping hold of their humanity. Each one had a story to tell, perhaps about their life or particularly humorous moment that would gain some quiet laughter. For some, it was the stories told by candlelight as they lied snuggled in their bed, the voice of their mother or father lulling them to sleep, dreaming of the worlds that formed from their lips. Through the many tales told, was a way for them to survive, to pass on something after they were gone. As we sat there at that table listening to these stories, they lived once more, and for a moment, so did we.
I did not expect my body to disobey me so, the drink proving to be strong, I wobbled quite ridiculously. It had been my first drink you see, I was not seasoned enough to hold it well. Were the halls always this long? I needed air, surely that would help, but where was I? I rounded a corner, knocking against it on my way. "Oh!" I exclaimed louder than intended. I know where I am now! I broke into a hurried pace, the gardens were up ahead. Just as I reached the threshold leading outward, my legs gave out without warning causing me to fall forward. My head met with the with the entry before I landed on my stomach with a sound ooof. My senses being dulled, I felt just the thud of my body connecting, the pain I was expecting numbed. I breathed out a strangled sigh before rolling over, the sky itself was spinning above me. Inhaling deeply, I tried to fill my lungs with as much air as I could, I'd feel better afterwards. I slowly crept my hand along the wall to clamber to my feet, breathing deeply and slowly. I needed rest and my room was far away, I let out an exasperated sigh. Wonderful.
I decided after tumbling over twice more, that I must find somewhere closer to sleep which is what brought me in front of Pasha's door. I entered his abandoned room, the smell of him long gone. I needed no light for I knew his room like the back of my hand. I flung myself across his bed, gathering his sheets to my face, how I missed him. I was closing my eyes when I heard a scream, I thought it to be a trick of the mind but then again what if someone is hurt? Misha's room being the only one close in proximity had me up on my feet. I hadn't quite realized what I was doing, I needed something to... candelabra . I flung open the door racing to Misha's chambers. I didn't bother to knock but threw open the door instead, searching the room for the source, I quickly discovered what it was. WHO it was.
Lounging the shadows sat Misha, his hair falling wildly around him, his shirt open and her hand running up his exposed chest. Her hand. A naked brunette hunched over him, her head was on his nethers, sucking him, taking him in her mouth with a slurp. Her body was absolute perfection, her warm honey colored skin looked enticing even to me. His cool silver eyes met mine, my cheeks flamed hot, his hand sliding into her hair, making her further take him. He stared intently at me, letting out a moan, his eyes never leaving mine, his canines low his lips curved in satisfaction. I stood there gaping, I felt a dark force unfurling, I wanted to kill them, kill her. In that moment I fought the murderous intent which drove me to simply throw the candelabra at him. Humiliation drove into me further, I had meant to grab the something more menacing why did I snag a candelabra? It fell with a metallic ding at the woman's feet causing her to pause her work and turn to face me. I grew hot again, words strangled in my throat, I wobbled backwards throwing the door closed. Breathlessly running for Pasha's room I sensed a drop in my gut, like a child about to be scolded. I entered his chambers yet again, locking the door behind me, I ran to his bed and weaved myself into the sheets. Staring out into the loneliness that colored the room I stifled a scream. My body shook with a white hot fury, my mind returning to what I had just seen. What is wrong with me??