Page 1 of Paying The Vampire

Chapter One

Cassius

I sighed. It drifted up helplessly in the cavernous silence. I looked at the empty chamber. Moonlight spilled in through the windows, illuminating the checkered floor, dancing upon the lifeless eyes of the statues that stood by the walls. I brought my goblet to my lips. The long sleeves of my cloak draped over the thick wooden arms of my throne. I sipped the wine. It was as dark as blood. I held it in my mouth and let it swim over my tongue, the rich taste lingering there. I tilted my head back, thinking of better days. After swallowing, I ran my tongue along my lips. They slid over my fangs, the sharp points eager to draw blood. I thought back to the days of old when my ancestors would have gone out hunting for fresh meat. This hall would have been alive with the crowing of valiant vampires, eager to display their trophies.

It had all dwindled until there was only me.

I was the last of my kind, the last vampire. I was but a ghost, a memory of the ones who came before, the ones who ruled the skies and who struck terror into the world around me. Yet that world is a dusty shell, filled with nothing but shadows and phantoms. My whispers are my only company, and I am only sustained by the morsels of life that flitter through the castle, rodents and other animals that never quite slake my thirst for blood.

Most of my days are spent in ennui, the sleepless hours dominated by melancholy thoughts. I addle my mind with wine, of which the stores were plentiful. It cannot dull the ache in my heart though.

The witching hour grew near. I dragged myself from my throne, staggering through the castle to a room at the top. I walked up the stone stairs, running my pale hand against the cold stone. My cloak draped against the floor behind me, flickering as it was caught by the chilled breeze that swept through this rocky land. The cold and the loneliness were my cocoon, yet I longed to break free, to find something that could save me… to find a mate.

I entered the scrying chamber. The room was darker than the others in the castle. Even I, Count Cassius von Aachen had to wait for my eyes to adjust. I licked my lips slowly. The taste of wine lingered. In front of me stood a pedestal which held an old tome. The pages were dried parchment. They creaked as I turned them. Upon each page was an incantation written in the old language, of runes and strange symbols that had been passed down from generation to generation. As I ran my slender fingers along the pages I felt connected with the old world, and for a moment I could picture myself there, but then I opened my eyes again and was returned to the present world.

Beyond the pedestal was a large pool of shimmering water. It was still, and cold to the touch. I read the spell and then walked to the other side of the room where I selected a number of different potions from a shelf. There were all kinds of things here, ingredients stored for a number of years, but the reserves were dwindling as I had used many of them up in my search. Perhaps if someone else had been beside me they might have said that I was being too particular, too selective, but there was nobody from whom I could receive such criticism. If I was to welcome someone into my lair then they were going to have to be perfect. I could not sully myself with anything less. A companion was going to have to be charming and witty, intelligent, curious about the world. They would have to be wise, yet innocent, and, of course, beautiful.

I had not found a creature who possessed all the qualities I searched for yet, however, and I was beginning to doubt if one existed at all. Perhaps the search was a futile one and I was just wasting my time. If that was the case then… well… I had nothing but time to waste. I suppose I could have left the castle for one of these other worlds, but I winced every time I thought about it. This was my ancestral home, and I was the last vampire. If I abandoned it then what did that say about me and my people? How could I bear the shame of letting them down in that manner?

I carried the ingredients back to the pool of water and looked down at the liquid. Its silent visage gazed back at me. I saw nothing in it. I opened the vials and poured the crushed beetles into the water. It looked like ash. I then added a few drops of Satan’s Tears, which was the sap from a particularly devilish plant. Just three drops were enough. The heavy liquid lingered there before it was engulfed by the water. Just these ingredients were enough to open a pathway to another world. Some worlds took more ingredients, while others took less. While I allowed the water to absorb these ingredients I returned to the pedestal and curled my fingers around the book. I spoke in a dry, redolent voice as I uttered the ancient phrases that had been sealed within these pages. I suspected that rather than ink, my ancestors had used blood to write these incantations down. It was from a time when such a thing was in abundant supply. Oh, how they must have feasted…

I shook the thought from my mind, reminding myself that I needed to concentrate. It would do no good to lose myself in longing for a world that I could never reach. I inhaled deeply, a force of habit, and continued with the spell. As the arcane words slipped between my lips I could feel the air in the room crackle with nascent energy. The water began to ripple, as though a gentle bell had chimed under the surface, the peals of which grew in intensity. It soon reached a fever pitch, bubbling as the spell took hold, twisting the nature of the water to something divine and fervent.

The last word left my lips. Back in the old times there would have been an entire group of vampires here chanting a spell, the dolorous sounds filling the chamber, their power able to cast and summon great things, things that were beyond the power of a solitary vampire.

But I could still do this.

The water rippled and changed its form. Its dull, colorless shade shifted and transformed, morphing as it became a window into another world. A starry sky took shape, with a forest below, and then another shimmering pool of water. I could almost smell the grass, but it was not the landscape that caught my attention. Oh no, for there I saw her, this creature, this being, this goddess, this woman who took my breath away. Often times when I performed this ritual I was bemused by the potential mates it displayed before me, but with her I only wondered why it had not shown her to me before.

She sat submerged in water up to the top of her chest. The curves of her breasts were just visible before they disappeared beneath the cruel liquid, which provided a shield to my lust filled gaze. Her skin was pale and milky, glistening under the bright stars. Her hair was long and as golden as the sun, making me think of something forbidden that should not be touched. It became heavier and thicker as it touched the water, and splayed around her bare neck. She stretched out her fingers, and I was mesmerized as I watched them dance through the water. She seemed to be everything I needed and more, and I stood there transfixed, wondering how such a woman could exist.

As I stared at her I came to know other things about her as well. I could sense the loneliness within her, as well as the despair. Sadness was draped around her like a shroud and in this way I knew we shared a common bond. Her eyes were as blue as sapphires, but they were touched by sorrow. Her soft, sensual lips were pensive, and although she was young I knew that she had been through things that had hardened her to the reality of the world. She was in need of a protector, a guide, a mentor. All these things I could be, and more. My throat tightened as she shifted her body under the water, swimming around the lake. She arched her neck back and the rising curve of her breasts broke the waves, although she twisted her body just before she exposed all of herself, almost as though she knew that I was watching, as though she was teasing me.

Oh, she was coy and coaxing, and my lips twitched into a smile as I anticipated her playfulness. She could indeed bring life to this dreary castle and perhaps reignite the fire of my own empty heart. I had been searching for what seemed like an eternity, and it was almost unbelievable to think that my search could be over now. But if not her, then who? If not now, then when? She was the only one to have captured my heart with such suddenness. If I doubted this now then it would only be due to fear, and I was not the type of man to be ruled by any such thing. She was the one. I could feel it in my fangs and my bones.

I left the pedestal and returned to the water. I bent down and grazed the surface with my finger, as though I was caressing her skin. The water broke and ripples marred the image of her perfect form for a moment, but then it returned to her again.

There was only one thought that ran through my mind; I must have her, no matter the cost. I closed my eyes and spread my arms. I looked inside myself and the instinct within me twitched. There was a burst of brimstone and the scent of ash filled the air as I turned into a bat. I spread my wings and then dove into the water, feeling the cold crash through me as I submerged myself. The sensation only lasted for a moment though as I then broke through into the other world. The air was sweeter, and for a moment I was overwhelmed by the scent of fresh grass and tall trees, as well as the hunter’s instinct within me that twitched at the sense of prey nearby.

But then I saw her properly, and seeing her in the flesh was far more overwhelming than seeing her in the blurry image of my pool. I perched on the branch of a tree, obscured by the leaves as I watched her elegantly swim around the lake, her long white arms breaking out of the water, her feet kicking up waves as she swam. Desire swelled in my cold, ancient heart as I thought about the parts of her body the water was hiding, the gentle curves and the warm heaven of her femininity. I caught her scent in the air and I knew that this had not been a mistake. She was the one, and now it was only a matter of time before she was mine.

Chapter Two

Willow

I looked to the stars in the heavens. I looked to the moon, just as mother always taught me. When I was younger she used to say that if I ever had any problems I could just look to the moon, and then I would be shown an answer. But the moon was silent for me. I had been asking her for guidance night after night, year upon year, and yet still she had not given me an answer as to why I was cursed and why I could not shift like the rest of my people. It was a hallowed tradition, a defining characteristic that everyone was proud of, at least everyone who could shift.

Then there was me, poor Willow who had been waiting and waiting. I had to watch and stare and pretend to be happy for my friends who claimed the wolf within them. Every time there was a ceremony to welcome these wolves there was also someone taking me aside to tell me that eventually my time would come, that it was just a matter of the passing days and wolves emerged at different times for different people.

How I wished it was that easy to be content with things though. As I grew older I had to watch my friends and peers be welcomed into the hunting packs as they surged across the world at night, the moon granting them refuge. I prayed and begged and pleaded. I ate bitter remedies and performed ancient rituals in the hope that it would bring forth the wolf inside, but still there was nothing. Year on year passed as I grew older, turning from a girl into a woman, yet still I did not become a wolf.

And now that I had reached my twentieth birthday it was time that I gave up and accepted that this was just the way things were. I was never going to be able to change into a wolf. I was never going to howl with the others or run with the others or know what it was like to feel the wind through my fur. For some reason the moon had not taken a shine to me, and she had not blessed me with her gift. It was a sobering thought though, and not one that I had ever wanted to accept.

I had no idea what it was going to mean for my future. There were stories of other people through the years who had not been granted the ability to shift. Some of them remained with the pack and helped out in other ways, while others left, sometimes of their own accord, but more often than not exiled by those who did not want some pretender living in a pack of wolves. I feared that my fate would be the latter. It was already clear that I was not wanted. My friends had slowly turned into enemies, growing farther apart when they realized that I would not become a wolf like them.

It was hardest to accept from Brandon. In childhood he was sweet, and for a long time I cherished the memories we created together, but somewhere through the years his heart had changed. No longer was he a compassionate man, but one whose heart was as sharp as a spear, and he was not afraid to wield it. He looked at me cruelly, teasing me for what I lacked, sneering at me because I was clearly not one of them.

All this from a man I thought would be my mate one day. He had moved on though, and perhaps it was time for me to move on as well. There were new pastures out there to explore, and I might have been able to find something out there that I could not at home. I could not shake the feeling that there was no future for me. When Brandon became Alpha he would likely exile me anyway, so why delay the inevitable? If he did allow me to stay then I would be made to look like a fool. I would be ridiculed and shamed for something that I could not help, and unless the moon suddenly decided to change her mind about me then I would always remain the same.