The entire coven grouped before the human, protecting him from me—the unstable monster.
Being locked away by my maker for so many years had made me volatile and unpredictable. Being ruthlessly beaten and belittled endlessly affected me far more than I realised, making me want to kill anything with a pulse. I halted and crouched low, pulling myself out of Charles' grasp, readying myself to attack, all set to seize the meal before me.
"We can't let you through," said the female. She looked disgusted at my lack of self-control over human blood and its smell. I immediately began to feel ashamed. I clamped my hand over my nose and mouth and tried to block out the noise of his beating heart while the young driver stood there stunned, with a look of disbelief. Obviously, he had been here many times without any attempt to make him a meal! Still, Charles being a leader and able to ignore the hunger much better than I was, appeared behind me and clamped his arms around me again, making it impossible for me to move.
"I'm fine. Let me go!" I said and tried to wriggle free.
"Not until we are safely in the house," he replied, turning to the human. "Ben, make your delivery, then leave," he ordered as he marched me towards the house, not letting go for a second.
I followed helplessly, feeling shame and disorientation from the lack of food flowing through my body.
Still, Charles guided me, ensuring I didn't cause any more trouble. I didn't plan to stay around long to cause any further problems. As soon as I'd fed and rested, I would leave before my maker could catch up with me.
Charles swung open the front door and unceremoniously pushed me backwards into the nearest chair. We seemed to be in the front room with other doorways leading off the enormous house. The smell of the sea caught my senses, as well as the sound of waves crashing onto the shore in the distance, which meant only one thing; we weren't that far away from the ocean.
"Food . . ." I moan.
"Soon. Hush, you're going to be okay," Charles replies as he calls for Megan, a name I didn't recognise, and it makes me wonder how many people were in this coven.
"Yeah?" replied a soft voice.
"Get some blood. Pour it into a cup or whatever's there. And quickly! We don't have much time," Charles ordered.
He stood in front of me, guarding the front door (and any other possible access to Ben outside), preventing me from being able to escape and protecting Ben from the hideous monster that I had vowed never to become. My thirst had turned me into this.
"You'll be fine. Trust me. I won't let anything happen to you. Stay still. Don't think; just take what I give you. I promise you will feel better," Charles encouraged as he remained beside me and helped me relax in that strange house.
"Here. This is what was left before Ben brought his delivery. Will she be much trouble?" Megan asked as she stood before me, watching my every move with a wary expression. I sat helplessly in the chair Charles had slowly guided me to.
"Leave us now, please. She's going to be fine. Go!" Charles said.
Megan abruptly took flight, leaving Charles and me alone. My fingernails started digging into his arms as the thirst again began to swarm my senses. I could smell the blood in the jug that Charles poured into a cup for me. I drank thirstily, wanting and needing more than one cup after spending days without sustenance.
"Why are you helping me?" I asked.
I grabbed the jug and decided to abandon the idea of a cup after all—so ladylike. But, with the internal cravings taking over my normal senses and my thoughts about humans and preserving their life, the whole jug seemed like a better and faster option to quench my thirst.
"Because you need me," he replied, holding back his smile from my unladylike slurping. "Can I ask why you have run away?" he asked as he watched and lost his battle to refrain from smiling while I drained the jug and satisfied my hunger. I really wanted to lick the insides of the pitcher, but that would be pushing my luck concerning manners.
"You can ask," I say, "but I won't answer. I don't have to answer anything," I replied, straightening up in my chair. Every so often, my speech seemed to revert to the old days of speaking eloquently and beautifully.
I felt the blood making me stronger, and my senses were returning to normal like they once were before I was imprisoned by my maker, the one person who had taken my human life for no apparent reason and had destroyed all of my fantasies.
I had only just turned nineteen when I was turned into a vampire. The old and dark rumours that vampires existed had come true for me on that fateful night when I met him, Hervido. With his strength, charisma, and typical vampire skills, he had drawn me into his arms so many hundreds of years ago. My body relaxed in his arms as he waltzed me around the ballroom, appearing as a perfect partner in every way until later on when he took my life from me. I was forced into the darkest depths of this nightmare.
It hadn't taken me long that night to figure out he wasn't the person I had thought he was. He was Hervidor, my maker, the most powerful vampire of our time, and the leader of the most powerful coven, The Tellis coven. His 'vampire wife', Scarlet, had hated my presence. Whenever the opportunity presented itself, she would purposely maim me somehow. Scarlet wasn't the nicest of vampires, especially amid threats from the younger and healthier vampires that had been turned by her husband.
"Nessy?" Charles said in a gentle tone.
"Sorry. What did you say?" I asked.
For a moment, I had let my mind drift away and delve into my past, and the present just seemed like a dot in my life. The past always seemed to catch up with me; whenever it did, it didn't want to let me go. My past and my future had been controlled by Hervidor and his coven; I had fought them many times. I had screamed, scratched and lashed out but to no avail. They were, without a doubt, a solid and deadly coven, and they eventually locked me away in my room, where I couldn't escape from.
"I was asking, where are your from?" Charles repeated patiently as I drifted again back into my own world.
"Nowhere, you'd know. It doesn't matter; I don't plan to stay long. Is there somewhere I may go to tidy myself?" I asked as I began to rise out of my seat.
Charles stood up beside me and placed his hands on my upper arms, his eyes looking down at me kindly. His black hair was neatly combed, and his eyes were the colour of the blue skies on a summer's day. My eyes were black, symbolising my clan, my coven, but surely Charles knew that part! The Tellis coven had unique traits passed onto all of the vampires they turned.
"Well?" I asked again, as his eyes seemed to wander over me as if he memorised every detail of me.
"I'll have a room prepared for you," he finally answered as he abruptly released me and walked away.
I followed him and remained at a safe distance. There was no way I would answer any more questions concerning my origin. The places I had seen and the devastations caused by my coven were bad enough for me to endure; I wouldn't pass this horror on to anyone else. And I really didn't feel that this coven should be pulled into my mess.
"Here," Charles said. He had stopped abruptly, and I collided with his back. "You can stay here for the night."
"Thanks," I muttered and slowly entered the room, my face burning from embarrassment at colliding with him because I hadn't been paying attention to where I was walking.
"We have a gathering every evening at six. You're welcome to join us. It's nothing special, just a general discussion on events and places we have all seen," Charles said.
The room he had led me into was unlike my old place, where I was kept a prisoner. It was lightly decorated and faced the ocean; the enormous bed took up most of the space in the room.
"The bathroom is through the door on your left. Here, let me show you," Charles walked forward at a speed that would shock any human. He opened the door, allowing me to view the spacious bathroom, its high mirror sparkling directly in front of me and beautiful marble tiles covering the floor, extending to the ceiling. No vampire needed a toilet, as we didn't have the same urges as humans, but we still needed to use mirrors; even the vainest vampires required to look beautiful. The myth that we didn't have a reflection was an ugly old misconception about vampires.
"Do you like it?" he asked me quietly as he stood beside me.
"Oh, yes. It's lovely. Who decorated this room?" I asked.
"I did."
My mind suddenly reeled with the thought that Charles must be older than I had initially thought. His taste was impeccable; he was a perfectionist in his own right. I still had that feeling of being pulled towards him, something that I had heard could happen. Still, only with the older generation of vampires, but I couldn't remember what it meant.
"Rest, and we will see you at six. I'll have someone come and collect you," he said.
Then he was gone! Leaving me surrounded by the dazzling beauty of the room. It was more than I had ever seen in all my years. Even as a human, nothing compared to this room.
Just for tonight, I was planning to rest and enjoy the company of the coven members. Tomorrow, I would have no choice but to flee again into the unknown parts of the world.
As vampires were commonly thought to exist in the shadows and the relative safety of the night, we could walk among humans, day or night. We had been for centuries as we wandered around conducting our business-like ordinary people. We always remained undetected unless humans let their guard down and noticed how pale some people were or that we didn't drink or eat the same regular food they did. We had to have blood to survive in a morbid, dark, hidden world of death. Hervidor and his coven were satisfied with their own making. With those humans they had set to destroy, luring them in under the pretence of love and lust, ensuring that none would realise until it was too late and that certain death awaited them—and not only by the hands of the one that had lured them, as once a human was led to a coven nest, the atmosphere would suddenly turn into a mass feeding orgy.
I sighed as I sat down on the edge of the bed and tried to relax my aching muscles. Usually, vampires didn't feel pain, but I wasn't a full vampire yet. Never had I become a full and complete monster because I hadn't killed anyone. The very thought made me feel nauseous; so many lives were stolen prematurely because of how we are. The others of my kind had always endlessly fed and had been incredibly pleased with their killings, forcing me to endure their stories until I reacted badly. They all felt I was a timebomb waiting to explode and expose them all.
Never had I been ready to become the walking dead. My mind had refused to accept what I had become. When every story had been described to me, my mind had screamed with the emotional pain and the undignified way people had died.
My own turning by Hervidor had caused me endless nightmares for many centuries of my undead life. Each vampire of my coven had reacted differently to my screaming each night as I lay before them, tossing and thrashing about the bed, never waking to end the nightmare of my birth to a vampire. Hervidor had been compassionate at first and had tried desperately to persuade me to follow their ways and make my first killing, explaining each time he took me out that it would end the torture and the pain that I started to feel in both my mind and body.
But each time, I had shrunken away from the horrified expressions of the innocent humans dragged before me. I ran in any direction to place as much distance between Hervidor and me until he eventually caught up with me. He had then locked me away in my room, telling others in the coven that I had turned crazy on each hunt and that I was unpredictable.
His wife, Scarlet was delighted with my banishment and had taken pride in the horrifying stories she told me of her killings. She had been jealous right from the start that Hervidor had chosen someone like me. I never needed a vampire's traits to lure in any prey if I so wished; I had my own that I had been born within my human life. Men had flocked around me and had wanted to be by my side, including Hervidor, but little did I know when I accepted his offer of marriage that I was to become the undead, the world's most dangerous predator that would destroy all human life that crossed my path.
I stood, walked to the window, and attempted to forget my past and the pain inflicted upon me. I heard voices downstairs, bickering and laughter as the coven had come together for their nightly meeting. My mind wandered over the possibility of pretending to be asleep when I was called. Still, they would know I wasn't and would wait until I eventually appeared. Their startling representation of reality and open grounds seemed unrealistic and foreign compared to how the Tellis coven existed. They had been closed and had kept their doors firmly shut, only venturing out when they felt the need to feed. Some constantly fed when they didn't need to and used it as a game to pass the time. And time was all a vampire had once they were fully turned, until another of their own kind sliced through their heart and burnt them to ashes.
I heard Charles' voice float up from below and listened to his words.
"I don't have any answers for you. She isn't ready to talk," he was explaining. "Megan, remember when you came to us and how you refused to talk?"
My supernatural vampire hearing meant that I could pick up on every word.
"I know. But she can't expect to stay with us when we don't know anything about her," Megan replied. The frustration was apparent in her voice.
"And besides," another male voice added, "she doesn't even drink human blood, apparently, even when we aren't killing anyone but simply taking what is being freely wasted. What kind of vampire is she supposed to be?"
"Stop it, all of you! As the leader of this coven, I am telling you that you will respect her wishes of not wanting to tell us anything, as we respected all of you when each of you came stumbling along. We haven't had anyone of our kind come this way for a long time, so allow her some peace. And be nice; making her feel unwelcome and alien to us will not help the situation," Charles spoke sternly with a slight hint of anger in his voice as he tried to explain and make the others of the coven stop and listen.
"Well," said another female voice, "if you think I'm going to be all chummy with it, think again. She's leaving tomorrow anyway, and good riddance. I've met her sort before, and let me tell you, flighty vampires are very unpredictable. They are not something we should have to be associated with."
None of them knew who I was or where I had come from. The only thing they had right was the human blood aspect, but they didn't know and wouldn't even understand why I had chosen to feed the way I do.
"Blake, please go and collect Nessy. It's time she came down to meet us all. She's expecting you," Charles said.
I waited for Blake by the window and frequently checked myself in the mirror, ensuring I looked presentable. The ongoing conversations amongst the coven downstairs told me they were suspicious and unsettled by my presence; however, I was not overly worried because I wouldn't be there long enough.
"Nessy. We're ready for you to join us," Blake called from behind the door.
His voice sounded rich and deep as he breathed steadily, even though vampires didn't need to breathe to stay alive, and it's more of a habit from our human days
"Ready," I replied as I swiftly approached the door and opened it.
As I stood face to face with Blake, his suave looks surprised me; I had never known vampires to possess such beauty in all my years. The vampires I had been exposed to only showed their ferocity for killing. This coven was a group of models in comparison.
"Nessy, I believe? Nice to meet you. I'm Blake, forever at your service," he said as he took my hand and bowed humbly, kissing my fingertips.
"Thank you. It's nice to make your acquaintance," I answered while blushing profusely. Blake placed my hand securely into the crook of his arm and led me forward.
We walked back down the hallway, and I marvelled at the grandness of the house this coven lived in. My coven lived in squalor compared to this; their hallway had been dark, dreary, and depressing. However, this grand house seemed exquisitely decorated, light, and airy, leaving the beholder feeling relaxed and welcome.
"How long have you lived here?" I asked curiously.
"I joined the coven exactly one hundred years ago today," he smiled and answered. "We're not that bad, but I'm guessing you heard the conversation we held downstairs?" he asked as he continued walking steadily.
"Yes, but don't worry, I won't be staying long with you. No one has to worry before the sun comes up in the morning. I will be long gone. But thank you for making your home available to me at such short notice," I answer.
Maintaining politeness with this coven was essential; they didn't seem bad like I had been subject to, but they were highly cautious of outsiders. The last thing I needed was to arouse any further suspicions or face additional scrutiny.
"It's Charles' home, not ours," he said. "Although we are all welcome to live here. We are more like a large family of vampires than a coven. Charles only steps forward as the leader when he really needs to. He prefers to allow us to live as we choose, so long as we don't take any human life upon his turf. And, of course, the Gulons are not that far from us and are always watching and waiting for any of us to make a mistake."
As we entered the room where the meeting would occur, the coven members stopped talking and turned to stare at me. Their expressions appeared to be a mixture of intrigue and fear, mainly because they didn't know me or where I had come from. After all, they found me only wandering around the forest that morning.
"Hi, I'm Tilly. Nice to meet you," she stood up directly in front of me with long hair that fell in curls that framed her face, making her appear more angelic than vampiric. I guess her nickname would be an angelic vampire.
"Nice to meet you, too," I replied as she embraced me.
She smiled at my reluctance and didn't seem to be offended by my reaction.
"Tilly, that's enough for now. Let Nessy settle and find a seat," Charles said softly from the window ledge.
"Oh, Ok. Sorry," she said, smiling as she skipped away towards Blake.
Tilly then placed her hand in his; it was evident from how they smiled and looked at each other that she had found her eternal mate. Still, I wondered if that was what they meant by the magnetic connection you feel? The same link that I keep on feeling whenever Charles is near.
"Nessy, please take a seat, join us," Charles offered, extending his hand towards the only remaining seat in the room.
As I crossed the room, the eyes of the coven fell upon my graceful movements, the deftness I had developed over the years. Time has taught me much about being a vampire while acting like a human. Contrary to the many historical myths surrounding vampires, we could walk around in the daylight, amongst humans, undetected. There was nothing apart from what we ate that would arouse suspicion. Of course, the exception to this was Hervidor, whose own way of working was completely different. He didn't care whether anyone found out that vampires existed, nor did he care whose life he took or where he took it, so long as he got his feed whenever he required it.
"Nessy, let me introduce you to the rest of the coven," Charles said.
As the introductions continued, Megan, the girl who had spoken out earlier at my rather embarrassing confrontation with Ben, their delivery boy, appeared pleasant enough on the outside. Still, something in her voice seemed slightly out of the ordinary when she spoke. Her clothes were of the highest fashion and delicately cut to fit her expertly, her hair styled short, and her eyes were the colour blue I had seen in Charles' eyes earlier. But her hair didn't match and seemed out of place, the colour of pure coal, and I couldn't help but stare as my curiosity built.
"Oh, I dyed the hair yesterday; ironic, isn't it? I know that a vampire shouldn't want to change something about themselves. However, I like it, and so does Romany," Megan added as I continued to observe her quietly from where I sat.
"Looks nice," I muttered.
Romany, her mate, was stocky and masculine and could possibly be this coven's dominant and most energetic vampire. Still, he lacked the charm and forward-thinking I knew Charles possessed, which must have forced him back to second place. He stood beside Megan, watching me quietly; a grin spread across his face as Megan mentioned his name and drew him into the conversation about her hair and looks.
"And finally, this is Alejandra and her mate, Bobby," Charles said. "They have recently joined us. There's one other person you have yet to meet, but she doesn't appear much before midnight; her travels take her away all day. I believe you have met her—Melody—she spoke to you earlier today."
The hate emanating from Alejandra was static; everyone in the room felt it. Bobby had tried to be friendly, but in return, he had received a scathing look from Alejandra. Instead, they merely nodded in my direction.
"I remember Melody," I said as Tilly, who seemed her usual perky self since being introduced, served drinks, inspiring the buzz of conversation to resume.
"We have drinks in special glasses in the evening; Charles likes to think we are aristocratic Vampires rather than just blood-sucking venomous ones," Megan said as she appeared beside me. I noticed how she turned the heads of the coven vampires, even the ones with their mates; they couldn't help but look at her and just as quickly look the other way. She was alluring, and her soft, friendly, gentle smile could put anyone at ease.
Charles gently chides her. "I just think it's a nice way to spend the evening, rather than drinking from blood bags. You get to do that all day, but in the evening, while you're in my study, having our time together as a coven, you will abide by the rules I set before your birth."
"I know, Charles; I was simply trying to make conversation. But you seem to have the knack for destroying any attempt to converse with Nessy," Megan sulked.
"Quite right, Megan. Please carry on," Charles winked at her to show his amusement and sense of humour.
Despite appearing as a strange, aristocratic and purpose-led coven, it was clear that they valued each other as a family.
"Well, it's wonderful," I said, "I haven't spent an evening quite like this for some years."
Megan turned to face me again and laughed at my odd choice of words. "Oh, and where is it you have come from?" she asked innocently, cocking her head to the side.
"Not from around here, and I doubt at your age you would know or even begin to understand the vampires that still remain hidden in our midst," I replied.
I had spoken too soon and too harshly. I realised I may have said too much, raising the inquisitive vampires' curiosity. I sighed inwardly whenever my host stared in my direction, silently asking me to continue and give them the needed explanation.
"Who remains hidden? Charles, I don't understand. Am I missing something?" Megan asked, facing me.
"Megan, we had a discussion on the different kinds of vampires out there, don't bother Nessy with that right now. She's had a hard day, and we must respect her wishes for privacy at this time. Nessy will trust us when we prove to her that we are worthy of being trusted," Charles replied while getting up and walking towards me.
"Well, I was forced to speak when I first came here. Why is she any different?" Megan fumed, drifting off to where Romany stood against the far wall.
"Megan, hush! It doesn't matter; Charles has never let us come to any harm before, trust his judgment," Romany answered quietly while quickly embracing her before she said something she might later regret.
Charles stood a few feet away from me; his eyes watched me softly and thoughtfully. He smiled slightly as he stared at Megan, who was currently having a temper tantrum. It seemed as if it was a regular everyday occurrence.
"Nessy, will you take a walk with me?" Charles offered, holding out his hand.
I found myself nodding and standing, captivated by the intense look in his eyes.
His hand closed around my mine, fitting like a lost glove. It was a strange feeling. It felt as if I had finally come home. Charles' eyes seemed to soften at my response, as if he, too, shared something special at this moment. That unknown, confusing, and currently unspoken magnetic connection seemed to pull at me, making me want to go with Charles.
"Let's go," he said as he folded my hand through his arm and guided me out of the study towards a door further down the hallway. My mind was going into overdrive. As a vampire, I had not bitten a human in three hundred years, so many of my human feelings remained intact. I felt overwhelmed with whatever human emotions I had left, as I felt an attachment towards Charles.
"This way," Charles said, moving aside to let me pass through the door that led to the outside.
My body brushed past him, and I audibly gasped as the electricity between us fizzled, making the strange connection stronger. And as my human feelings began to make themselves known once more, I became worried. A part of me longed to be human again, but that wouldn't happen unless Hervidor was beheaded and his ashes were burnt to prevent him from rising.
"Penny for them?" Charles asked as we stood on the doorstep of the garden.
"Pardon?" I asked.
"You looked lost in thought. What were you thinking?" he inquired.
"Nothing, don't worry. Where are we?" I asked as I looked around.
The garden had been lit with lights and lanterns that marked the way down the tiny isolated-looking path. The stars and the moon above illuminated the gardens causing shadows to dance.
"This house has been in my family for centuries," Charles said, retaking my hand and leading me down the path. "My great-great-grandfather built everything you see from nothing. His dream was for his descendants to follow in his footsteps and make this house a symbol of everything the Eaves family stood for. I believe that would make me a disappointment to him."
"Why a disappointment?"
"Because I am a vampire by all accounts, and no one else in my family believed vampires lived and were walking among us until I returned home from a hunting trip three hundred and fifty years ago with my neck clearly revealing the distinguishing bite marks; left by a vampire."
"What happened then?" I asked, intrigued about Charles' origin.
"They kept me hidden here, in the cellar. I grew strong and managed to find ways to get outside. I fed until I was satisfied and returned each time. My family knew it was me taking the lives of their friends and neighbours. The sorrow and grief I caused them were undeniable each time they looked at me," he said. "Therefore, I left of my own accord and travelled around for a while, still biting humans to cure my thirst. My mind caught up with me, my conscience if you will, and eventually, I grew tired of the same ways and endless and meaningless slayings for my thirst. I returned home to find that my family had been taken from me by the greatest vampire ever walking the earth. I claimed the land for my own and have lived here since, only moving when my time to die in human years should have come." Charles' history seemed both devastating and full of the sorrow and endless slayers that I had ever encountered in my lifetime.