The Lonely Vampiress

Chapter 2

The picture is of the teenager, Scarlett

***

It was nearly an hour and a half before Nissa heard the bell ring. She had just finished up contacting some of her few remaining acquaintances in the human world to try and acquire some food for the prisoners. Using superspeed, Nissa was outside the cell in a matter of moments. Sebastian was sitting up in bed. His daughter was by his side, though she was yawning widely. "I am glad to see you are awake, but I fear your daughter grows weary. I will leave you both to rest, and will come again a few hours before dusk to let you out. That's a little over fourteen hours from now." She turned, walking from the room. As soon as she was gone, Scarlett curled in bed beside her father, and they both quickly fell asleep.

The hours passed rather quickly, but Nissa was quickly growing impatient. Earlier than she had promised, she found herself in front of the humans' cell. As quietly as she could, she unlocked the cell door. Not bothering to close it behind her, moved silently to where Sebastian and Scarlett lay sleeping. She gently picked him up, and, without waking either of the two, carried him from the room. Closing and locking the door behind her, she brought Sebastian into what served as her living room. After placing him on her couch, she gently shook him awake. He opened his eyes groggily at first, though they shot open as soon as he spotted her. "What are — where are we?"

She smirked. "This is my living room. You are lying on my couch."

He quickly sat up, his voice wavering slightly as he spoke. "W-why have you brought me out here?"

"Because I wanted to talk."

"Nothing else?" He asked, rubbing his neck where the bite marks still showed.

"No, and I apologize for that. My delivery of blood had not yet arrived, and my animalistic side was starting to take control."

Sebastian looked at her curiously. "Your... delivery of blood?"

"Yes. I have blood delivered to my home on a weekly basis from nearby blood banks. Foolish humans believe I have a blood deficiency problem." She laughed softly, smiling. "But the delivery was late this week, and I had already gone a few days without blood when you arrived. I don't enjoy feeding, but I need blood to stay sane, not to mention alive. I hope you understand."

"I think I do." It was silent for a time, before he spoke again. "Can you... promise me something?" He looked at her apprehensively, as though afraid of her response.

"Depends. What is it you want me to promise?"

"That if you ever need to," he gulped, "feed again, and don't have your delivery, that you'll use me and not my daughter. I don't want her to ever have to endure what I did last night."

She smiled genuinely at him for the first time. "I don't make promises lightly, but I can promise you that. Your daughter won't come to any harm. Speaking of, she's sleeping peacefully in your shared cell at the moment. She's alright. I didn't do anything to her."

He visibly relaxed for the first time. "Thank God."

It was silent for a minute or so. Then she sat beside him on the couch and said, "May I ask you something?"

Sebastian looked at her curiously. "Sure. What is it?"

"Do you think me a monster?" Her brow was furrowed, and she seemed genuinely concerned.

He was slightly taken aback, but answered, "No, I don't think you're a monster."

But through her advanced hearing, she could tell he was lying. "I know you do. I drank your blood and forced your daughter to watch. You almost died at my hand, and from your screams I know I certainly caused you pain. And now I am keeping both you here, as my prisoners, away from those who love you most. How could I be anything but a monster in your eyes?"

He paused, seeing her distress. "That's... half true. I think you can be monstrous at times. But others, like right now, and when you were talking about your mother, you can be rather kind."

She looked away, blushing slightly. "I haven't met someone like you since before I came to this place, before I secluded myself from society."

He looked her in the eyes. "Why do you live out here all alone? Aren't you lonely?"

Nissa smiled slightly, but it was a sad smile that didn't reach her eyes. "At times. Well, most times really. I live out here by myself so I don't do what I did to you last night. It is in my nature to be cruel and sadistic, though I don't want to be. Too many people have been hurt at my hands..." She trailed off, and a short silence ensued.

Sebastian turned and looked out the nearby window. It had to be nearing four in the afternoon, and the bright green leaves danced with the wind on the trees. "Am I ever going home?" He whispered softly, more to himself than to her.

"I don't know, little one. By law, you know my secret, so you must either be killed," he winced, "or kept as my prisoner. The same can be said for your daughter as well."

He gazed at her nervously, as though expecting her to do it right then and there. "Is this... always true?"

She considered. "Well, I have made exceptions throughout my many years, but it has always ended badly for the humans I let go. Every one of them has always been discovered and killed. It's one of the many other reasons I now live in seclusion."

"That's vampire law, right?" She nodded. "Are there many vampires out there?"

Nissa chuckled softly. "Many more than you realize. There's usually one vampire amongst every hundred humans, so we make up about 1% of the global population. Thus, if one human we feed from gets away and tells the world, or worse yet, posts a video somewhere, it would create worldwide chaos, the likes of which have never been seen before."

He whispered, "Many, many people would die, wouldn't they?"

"Yes, and vampires wouldn't hesitate to take over the world. Humans would no longer have a place among society, and would serve only as mere playthings to vampire kind. Rebellion wouldn't be tolerated, and any interlopers would merely be turned, thus eliminating the threat they posed."

"Are there, like in the movies, humans who hunt vampires?"

She nodded, and said, "Yes, there is a group of humans that has been active for generations, who call themselves the Hunters. They don't take prisoners, and don't show mercy to those unlucky few of us who are caught in their grasp."

"Have you ever —"

"Been attacked by them? Many times. But the Hunters usually go after easy targets — you know, newly turned vampires, yearlings, halflings, and such — but they rarely go after those of us old enough to put up a good fight." Just then, her advanced hearing detected the crackle of breaking stone, and the squeal of hinges. The gates were opening. Nissa leaped to her feet. "We need to get you into your cell. Now."

Her voice was calm and level, but held a deadly urgency to it that Sebastian didn't dare argue with. "What's going on?" He got to his feet too, and she wasted no time taking him into her arms. She ran with him at superspeed until she reached the cell. She quickly unlocked it, and put him inside.

Scarlett was awake, but a glare from Nissa was all that was needed to silence her. "The Hunters are here. A scout must have followed you, and has just returned with reinforcements." She laughed, murmuring, "No wonder my blood wasn't delivered."

Moving quickly and wasting little time, she shut and locked the cell. "I will leave the key to your cell on top of the table here by the door. If the hunters defeat me, and I don't return in three hours' time, ring that bell and they will come. It was nice talking to you while it lasted, Sebastian." She then turned, leaving the cell.