Jagger got off of me and looked away as he threw a blanket over my body. I looked down in confusion at his actions, only to realize that my body was only covered by my fitted chemise and corset. "I am sorry Lord Jagger! This is so embarrassing!" I squeaked out. My cheeks burned bright red at this point, but he did not turn to look at me. I could tell he was trying to be respectful of me. I covered myself properly with the blanket and he turned to face me once more. "How did you know that I covered myself and it was ok for you to look back?" I asked. "All of my senses are elevated. I could hear you moving the blanket and determine where you placed it by the sound". "You will understand in due time" he reassured me and sat down. "Alright, so tell me what did the boy do next?" I asked.
"He ran to his father at once and told him everything. The boy's father went to examine the room for himself and decided to throw the adviser in the dungeons beneath the castle. The next few days passed by normally, with the family trying to conclude what should be done to the man as punishment. They made one grave mistake though, underestimating him. On the third night, while they all slept, the man escaped and set fire to the castle. He decided that since he could not have what he wanted, then they could not keep it either. The family awoke when they smelt smoke coming from the downstairs area. The mother and father got up as quickly as they could and rushed to look downstairs. Standing at the staircase, they saw that the entire downstairs area was filled with flames, including the servants' quarters. They covered their noses and ran upstairs trying to get to the children's rooms. The fire produced smoke that was too thick and covered the air like fog, depriving them of oxygen. They fell at the eldest son's doorstep and desperately called out to him, but there was no answer. That's when something incredible, almost unreal happened. There was a silhouette of a woman amid the smoke. This was no normal person though, she moved so fast it was almost impossible to keep up with her movements. She picked up both the mother and father, throwing them over her shoulders. She had heard them crying out to someone earlier and realized that there were others in the area". I felt my mind drift to a scene from the recurring dream I had. A castle in flames was now stuck in my brain and a feeling of familiarity ran through me.
"This story, may I ask where you got it from?" I questioned him.
"You will find out when it is finished" Jagger repeated once more. I could feel my patience wearing thin but I decided to keep quiet and listen to him purely because of my curiosity. Jagger proceeded to tell the rest of the intriguing story.
"She ran to the back exit of the castle and laid the mother and father on the grass far away. She came back within seconds and climbed up to the top section of the castle as that was the quickest way to the top floor of the castle. As soon as she reached a window she jumped through it and there she found on the bed two young boys wheezing, begging for help. She grabbed them both into her arms and reassured them that they would be okay. They were so scared that they buried their heads in the crooks of her neck on each side, holding on tightly to their savior. She jumped through the window with them and laid them beside their parents. All were unconscious, except the eldest son and she began to feed them her blood. She wanted to make sure that they would survive. Then the eldest son began to speak, but it only came out as a whisper. He was not sure how she heard him. He was trying to tell her that his sister was still in the castle and the woman understood immediately. She was unlike anyone he had ever seen before. She rushed back to the castle and within a few minutes, the boy saw his sister land beside him gently, as if she was carried by the wind. He was happy, but then he realized the woman was not yet back. He used what little strength he had to look out in the direction of the castle and saw huge pieces of it crumbling down. He tried to scream but his voice was dry, which made the sound come out like a painful whisper. He had no choice but to lie there and watch the castle burn to the ground, knowing the woman was still in there. He wanted to get up and run to her but his body would never allow it in that state. The young boy cried with all his might until he passed out".
"Lord Jagger what-" I began to speak but was cut off by Jagger pulling me up from the bed. He seemed to be moving impossibly fast. I watched as he knelt before me with his head down and hugged my legs. At that moment, he seemed almost vulnerable. "Look at me. What is wrong? Why are you doing this?" I could not believe what I was seeing before me. I gently pulled his chin upwards when I saw that he wasn't moving. His bright red irises changed to sapphire blue as a single tear fell. I gasped as a memory of a young boy flashed before me. The young boy from my dreams, those were his eyes. No words were exchanged between us for a short while as I stared intently.
"Who are you? It cannot possibly be.." I paused. Jagger smiled and hugged my legs even tighter as he whispered "I have waited more than a hundred years for you". None of this was making any sense until a thought hit me. "You are not human are you?" I asked, feeling sure I was right. Jagger nodded "I am what you turned me into all those years ago". "What exactly are you? You are obviously older than I am, so how could I have turned you into anything years ago? Did you perhaps step out of my dreams?". Jagger laughed as he stood up. He held onto my waist, pulling me close to his body. I gasped as I felt the bulge from earlier at dinner pressed against my belly. As I looked at the man before me, his expression was unreadable, almost devoid of emotion as he spoke "I am what some may call an abomination of nature. Monster works too, as I have heard that plenty of times, but what I truly am is a demon. A slave to the temptations of blood". I started to tremble in his hold as I looked at him. This only seemed to make him enthusiastic about telling me who he truly was. With a smirk, he leaned down to my ear and whispered slowly "I am a vampire, just like you Grand Elder".
I wanted to reject his words. Vampires were mere myths made up by paranoid people that spent too much time in the church. However, it would absolutely explain this odd behavior. None of this could be true, could it?
"Does that explain why you were so eager to taste my blood earlier?" Jagger asked.
"How could I possibly be a vampire? I was never bitten and what do you mean by Grand Elder?". I responded in confusion. Jagger only smirked at me, not saying a word.
"This has to be some sort of joke. I walk in the sunlight every day". There was a part of me that felt he was telling the truth, but I simply could not bring myself to agree until I had more answers.
"Humans know very little of our kind. Most of the stories they tell are simply fictional. You do not turn into a vampire from a simple bite. There are those that are born vampires and there are those that are turned by drinking the blood of vampires. You, my dear, are this way because it is within your gene pool. Also, sunlight is a complicated one to explain so I shall elaborate on that tomorrow". I gulped as I considered how many more things there are to learn. Jagger's eyes became drawn to my throat as he licked his lips. He made no move or sound and just kept staring. "Why are you staring at me like this? It's making me uncomfortable". I was about to look away from him, but he roughly tugged on my fiery curls, causing my head to tilt back. This left my neck fully exposed to him. I breathed tremulously as I felt fear building in the pit of my stomach. Was he going to bite me? I watched as he leaned down and smelled the vein that throbbed on the side of my neck. He looked up at me as his fangs extended and I began to whimper. To my surprise, he retracted them and pulled back. Instead, he inhaled deeply and regained his composure. Lightly grazing his finger over the vein on my neck, he spoke "Do not worry, I will never feed from you unless you want me to even though your blood is so tempting. There are many things you need to learn about your past and I shall teach them to you. You should know that you saved my family and me from death and we are eternally grateful".
"Are you truly the boy I kept seeing in my dreams?" I asked, feeling my body shiver at his touch.
"I am that same child, though I appear older now" he spoke with a broad grin.
"So, in that story, you were speaking of me weren't you?" I asked.
"Yes, you see there aren't many things that can kill a vampire. Every vampire knows what can kill them and fire is a major death hazard. Yet you did not care one bit. All that mattered to you was making sure we lived."
"You so bravely risked your life to save us and yet still you went back and sacrificed your life to save my sister" Jagger held onto both my hands, pressing a kiss to them.
"If I also saved your family, why is it that all these years I have only dreamt of saving you?" I asked while trying to process everything.
"That is because, out of all my family members, I drank the most blood from you. A vampire could create a million new vampires, but they will only be bonded forever to the one that drank the most blood from them. The bond they have with ones that have drunk smaller amounts of their blood can weaken over time unless they are fed more blood. You and I are connected forever, even in death." Jagger said. This information was all just too much to take in. If all of this is true then what does it mean?
Jagger seemed to notice that I was becoming engulfed in my thoughts. I felt him let go of me and suddenly he stooped down and pressed a kiss to my belly. "Hail the Grand Elder" he said with conviction. I did not understand his actions in this moment. All I could do is watch and await his next sentence.