I could still taste it. That beautiful taste, so intoxicating… so delicious.
I had held her limp body in my arms, her red-brown hair thrown behind her head as the marks on her neck were exposed. There was no dry blood, the smell terribly strong when it occurred to me that if this blood continued spilling she'd die.
The first person I had drunk from.
The girl whose skin was suddenly sweet and the scent she carried made me want to monopolise her. To lock up this strange being who made me feel such strange terrifying emotions.
Something had changed in me the moment I drank it. My senses heightened. Sight and hearing stretching to inhuman lengths. The sudden feeling of strength and the power that I had only felt such little of before was overwhelming.
This is a vampires power.
I lowered my face towards her neck. Tongue stretching to lick the wounds I had caused. It was instant. The wounds disappeared. The blood stopped spilling.
I decided to do the most logical thing at the time. I had little vampiric power, basically non existent, but there was one thing I could do.
I laid a hand on her head, diving into her memories. At first, I fell deep, a desire to know this child and that moment of greed took me to memory of a man, dark hair and a stern face, if I looked closely I could see a familiar green of his eyes.
"No" it was all he said, but I could feel how it devastated her. How it shook her core and made her feel a pattern of emotion I had very much been familiar with. Hurt. Anger. Spite.
I pulled away from the memory until I came to the most recent one. She left her bed to go to the library. That was it.
I cut it off. When she awakes her memories would stretch no further than that moment when she lay in bed.
I wasn't sure why simply touching her sent shivers down my body, or why I was strangely excited. There was an unfamiliar emotion. Something I didn't know, but it made my heart race.
"George" i called my closest aid, trying to shake off the memory of her.
"Yes sire" he replied, appearing almost immediately at my side.
Despite him being a close aid I didn't dare disclose what had happened to him. Rather I wasn't sure if I could tell anyone. I wanted to forget it happened, but I couldn't wipe my own memory.
It was disgusting.
Immoral.
But yet the thought of tasting it again sent such a thrill through me I loathed myself.
Disgusting.
"Sire?"
My head snapped towards George and I realised he was still waiting for what I was going to say.
"My apologies" I coughed into my hand, "how many passed the last round?"
"Thirty young ladies" he answered.
I knew she was among them. The thought made me jolt.
"What will be of the next task?"
"It's an oral test, sir"
"Oral?" I echoed.
"The ladies will engage in debate. Mostly mundane topics, but we naturally would like to gauge their personalities".
"I see…"
"Is something wrong?"
"Not at all".
"You seem troubled, your majesty, do you have a thirst?"
I pursed my lips. If her blood tastes like that to me then other blood should too.
"Grab the vials" I looked to the boxes, deciding to have it checked again.
George gave me an uncertain glance, and tentatively grabbed a box, displaying the vials in front of me. The freshest of the batch. All lined up before me.
He stepped back as usual, staring at me with more curiosity than the usual caution.
I lifted a vial, popping the cork as I slowly bought it my lips. I took in a deep breath. Awaiting the short pounce of ecstasy with a growing sense of dread.
Nothing.
No smell that made me incapable of self control. Nothing that made my teeth feel as if they grew sharper and my animal instincts took over. No boost of adrenaline.
No change, whatsoever.