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Minutes felt like hours as the burning thirst for blood swept through Rose's body. She pushed herself up from the ground and stumbled. Her legs were weak, and she almost collapsed. Rose used what little strength remained in her body and crept up on the unsuspecting couple in the alley.
She quickly subdued the man by grabbing his head and wrenching it to the right until she heard the bones in his neck snapping. Rose then sank her fangs into his throat and quickly drank him dry of blood. He collapsed in front of the young girl, startling her.
Rose saw the stunned look on the girl, who was about to shriek. She quickly put her hand over the girl's mouth to muffle her scream. "Shhh...," Rose put her finger up to her own lips to show her to be silent. "I won't hurt you. My name is Scarlette." She whispered, "I will take my hand off your mouth if you promise not to yell." The young woman nodded, even though Rose's appearance scared the hell out of her. "Good girl. What's your name, sweetie?"
"Virginia, but everyone calls me Ginny," said the shy young girl, quivering in fear as she clenched her skirts. Rose could see she was utterly petrified. Tears dripped down the side of Ginny's rosy cheeks.
"How old are you, Ginny, and why are you out here?" questioned Rose. She dried her tears and patted Ginny on the head like a mother would a small child to soothe the young girl.
Ginny sniffled, trying to stop her tears."I'm eighteen, and my parents are both dead." The look of fright on the girl's face spoke volumes; if Rose had to guess, she was much younger than eighteen. The girl was lying about her age. Probably because she was threatened with violence by the person selling her body to others.
Rose thought to herself, things had not changed. 'Women and young girls were still being taken advantage of and used during the most vulnerable times in their lives. Having their bodies traded for another's pleasure and profit.' Rose had seen this many times over the centuries.
It enraged her senses. She knew the young girl sitting with her would never escape this hopeless life. Ginny would eventually be left to die, unloved and unwanted. She would unmercifully suffer a horrific ending from sexual disease or a beating gone too far. A quick death was preferable to leaving her in this world. "Ginny, let's get up. You're shaking, the ground is cold. Perhaps we need to get out of here, Okay?" said Rose.
The young woman nodded in agreement and stood up with Rose. She turned to ask what happened to the man when Rose broke the girl's neck in a flash. She sank back to the grimy pavement with Ginny's body. "Sorry, sweetie, I do this for the best," Rose whispered to Ginny. The girl's eyes were wide with shock, and her heartbeat weakened with each passing second.
She was dying while looking back into the gentle eyes of her killer. Rose's fangs lengthened. She bit into the delicate flesh of Ginny's neck and emptied the girl of her life and blood. Afterward, Rose sat with Ginny's head in her lap, smoothing her dirty blonde hair from her face. It was a tragedy to take her life like this. It tainted Rose's soul with guilt. "Why did life have to be so vicious to such a beautiful person?" mumbled Rose as she held the dead girl's body in her arms.
A man's squeaky voice interrupted Rose's thoughts. He called out in a cottony accent at the alley's edge. "Ginny, where are you, lass? Come on and hurry along now. We ain't got all night. Others are waiting for your skilled mouth, girl." Rose lifted her head in disgust at what she had just heard to see a dirty, skinny middle-aged man dressed in a filthy second-hand suit. Rose knew it had to be Ginny's pimp.
"Sir, I think she's sick. I found her on the ground like this," Rose said in a worried voice. She was enticing the man to come closer. Rose would have her fill of blood tonight. She would quench her blood thirst and administer justice at the same time.
"What happened? What did you do to my Ginny?" The man asked in an accusing tone. The dirty man walked aggressively closer to Rose. He adjusted his hat to take a better look at the girl in Rose's arms.
Ginny's eyes looked cold and dead when the pimp saw her. Before he knew happened, Rose had pushed him to the ground and was straddled on top of him. She had bitten into the front of his neck. Rose tore out the pimp's throat. He couldn't scream for help, and she drained away his lousy life even if the man's blood tasted foul. She had the satisfaction of knowing he could never harm another woman.
Rose's face, hands, and clothing were covered in sticky crimson liquid. She quickly undressed Ginny and changed into her dress. She was wiping the blood off of her hands on her old clothes. Rose went through all the pockets of the bodies in the alley. Collecting any money or valuables they had, she quickly exited as fast as possible.
Christopher's sword had damaged her, and she was still in pain. Rose decided it was best to seek shelter and rest for the night. She needed to recuperate and allow the wound on her side to heal.
~~~
Calais France, Chateau Sang de la Nuit
December 26, 1894
The time was well past midnight, and Count Dante Le Chevalier De Sang sat reading correspondence in his favorite Louis the XV gilt wood armchair. He had felt restless and could not get settled since the early evening.
"Maybe I need to feed?" Dante muttered, tossing the documents on his desk. "Girl!" He snapped his fingers and pointed for the young servant in the room to come forward. "What do they call you?" He asked.
The girl was a new blood servant to the chateau. She approached the man and bowed her head, "My Name is Natalie, your Grace." she said timidly to Dante. The woman could tell he was in a sour mood.
"Kneel here and give me your hand, Natalie," he commanded. The servant did as he requested, and Dante grabbed her arm and felt her pulse, then placed the wrist in his mouth. His fangs had grown long, and he drove them forcefully into her tender flesh with no regard for the pain he caused her. It would be rude for Natalie to make a sound while a vampire is eating. even lead to her death if she complained or reacted incorrectly. The servant was there for his pleasure and was compensated well for her services. It was enough that her family could live a life better than most.
She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming. The counts fangs made a burning sensation the deeper they went. Natalie struggled to stay conscious as the Count drank she felt light headed.
The Count's heart rate increased as if he were being chased after he finished feeding. There was a sudden pang in his chest and a searing fire in his abdomen. After that, anger and sadness overtook him. He felt a myriad of sensations and emotions from what seemed like another being, but he could not understand why he was experiencing these disturbances.
"Giselle!" Dante's voice echoed across the room as he shouted for his subordinate. His study door opened, and a tall, lean, dark-haired young woman with amber eyes and pale skin presented before him. She moved like she was gracefully floating across the floor. It was clear the lady was not a human. Giselle was Dante's second in charge of his chateau. "Yes, Master, how may I serve you this evening?"
"What have you done? Did you poison me?" His eyebrow arched as Dante asked with malice in his voice. He wondered if the staff had given him something that was causing the strange sensations. The Count felt as if he were hallucinating.
Giselle shook her head, and her voice sounded troubled. "No, Master. Why would you ask that?"
"I'm not well, and my heart feels like it's about to burst," said Dante to his subordinate.
Giselle pointed out a reddish-orange spot on Dante's white dress shirt. "Master, what is that? Are you bleeding?"
"What? Wait, n-no, I don't think so. He reached up and touched his chest, where Giselle had seen the spot. He felt the pendant and chain under the shirt. With a sudden shift in his attitude, he said in a low tone to Giselle and Natalie, "You may both leave" The two women stood for a moment with quizzical looks on their faces. Dante's jaw ticked. "Are you both going to stand there staring all night? I know I did not stutter! GET OUT!!!!" Dante yelled at the servants. They ran from the study and slammed the door behind them.
The Count walked over to the glass on the wall. He unbuttoned his shirt to see the stone in the pendant was no longer black. "This can't be. That stone went dark many centuries ago." Dante mumbled, but now the gem was suddenly a vibrant red-orange and glowing. The charm was warm to the touch, almost like it was alive. The last time he saw the stone had color was in 1189.