The Tale of the Vampire Bride (16 page)

“What do you want?”

“You are my sister,” Ariana said. Her eyes sparkled like jewels and I wondered if my eyes glittered as hers did. “Do you not want to dance and play with me?”

“You are not my sister,” I said tersely. “My sister’s name was May and she is dead. You killed her.”

“Oh, yes, I did, did I not?” She laughed softly then said, “But I am dead and your sister. So it is very much the same, is it not?”

“No, it is not. You are not my sister.”

“I am your sister by blood. Vlad’s blood.” She laughed gaily and kissed my cheek with her very red lips. She twirled about, her long skirts flaring out about her legs, her fingers tracing delicate designs in the air. “We are sisters forever.”

“Get away from me!”

Ariana just giggled girlishly and whirled around me. As quickly as she had appeared, she vanished.

Deeply disturbed and quite angry, I walked on, much more slowly now. I could see so very clearly every line and detail of the walls, floors and all the tattered furnishings.

My wanderings finally led me into a cavernous chamber. Dust coated the floor and to my wonderment, as I walked I left not a trace of my passing. Beyond tattered curtains, the night sky, dark as velvet, called to me.

Slipping onto the ancient balcony, I felt the wind caress my vampire flesh. The night felt different to me now. It was so peaceful, so silent. The stars shone so brightly that my gaze was drawn upwards. The moon was hidden behind the softness of dark gray clouds and I sorely missed its tranquil celestial beauty.

The night comforted my soul, soothing away my anxiety. I lowered myself down and sat by the railing, feeling the soft kisses of the wind on my flesh.

Tipping my head back, I watched the lazy flight of the night clouds across the panorama of burning stars. I felt who I had once been dying within me. Like a voice echoing in a vast dark cavern slowly fading into eternity, Lady Glynis Wright of England was also fading. I felt it so strongly it moved me to tears.

There was no real innocence left in this body anymore. Vlad had stolen my virginity with a violence I had never conceived of and had taken my blood with a foul, obscene lust.

I shuddered at the memory.

Vlad had ripped away my family and, in the end, my very humanity. The childish dreams I had held so dear of a romantic, illicit, adventurous life were now dead. Gone like Father and May. Dead to this strange, horrible, wondrous new world in which I now dwelt.

Soft whispers floated in the wind, soft and beguiling. I cocked my head to listen, tears glimmering on my cheeks. Sensing that something or someone was watching me I slowly stood. Peering over the edge of the crumbling railing, I beheld the dark forms of a pack of wolves sitting far below. Their bright, glowing eyes gazed up at me. A large gray beast suddenly howled long and strong and one by one, the other wolves joined in until their dark music filled the night.

“They welcome you. You are now a creature of the night.”

I turned around to see Cneajna emerging from the blackness of the room behind us.

“I have been searching for you, Glynis. You have been gone for some time. The sun rises soon.”

“I have not been here that long, have I?”

“Consumed in your dark thoughts, were you? Then time passed you quickly.” She moved past me to the railing, her movements slow and sensuous. “How do you feel now? Hungry?”

“No. Dead.”

“Then all is as it should be.”

Cneajna was so beautiful she made me feel like an ugly little girl. Her lips were full and well-defined, her nose narrow and authoritative, and her sapphire eyes large and radiant. Staring into her face and truly taking in her features for the first time, I realized that this woman must have crossed over into the vampire world at a much older age than the other two Brides or me. Though she appeared very youthful, the maturity of an older woman was drawn into the delicate lines of her face.

“I was older than you,” she answered my unspoken question. “I was thirty-two years old. I did not have any children. My womb remained empty throughout my married life. That is why Vlad gives me the care of his Brides. To allow me children in this world where I did not have any in the mortal world.”

“I have a mother,” I stated.

Cneajna’s jaw set, but she did not respond. She raised her head to breathe in the scents of the night.

I stared down at the wolves for a long moment. “We are like them. We are a pack of predators seeking out the weak.”

Cneajna stood quite close to me. Her eyes did not rest on the wolves though, but on me. With a fine hand, she touched my shoulder. “Yes, we are.”

“Why am I not hungry?”

“He has dulled the power of the hunger.”

“So I will be ravenous when I do feed?”

“Yes.”

“When am I to feed?”

“Soon. Tomorrow night, I think.”

“If I refuse?”

“You will go slowly mad until the hunger consumes you. Then you will feed.”

“I see.” I pondered her words. “Then I will go mad.”

Cneajna grabbed hold of my arm. “Do not defy Vlad. He will destroy you if he desires.”

“I wish he would!”

“Perhaps that would be best.” Elina emerged from doorway, dark and threatening.

“Elina,” Cneajna said in a low, warning voice. “Our time is at an end. We should go down to the chapel soon.”

“Because of you we did not feed tonight,” Elina said to me. Her eyes flashed fiercely and her teeth snapped together.

“Silence, Elina!”

I felt Cneajna’s power rush past me and over Elina. The dark haired Bride shivered and bowed her head.

“I will not feed. I will not!” I stomped my foot.

“You are such a weakling. I cannot understand why he wanted you.” Elina sneered at me, her pretty face twisting into a mask of loathing.

“I wish he had not wanted me. I wish it with all my heart!”

Elina began to retort but Cneajna gave her such a fierce look she dared not continue. She shrank back a few steps.

“Come, Glynis.” Cneajna grasped hold of my hand. With a piercing look at Elina, she led me away from the balcony and the glory of the night.

Pondering all that had happened, I let Cneajna guide me through the gloomy castle. The heartbeats of the gypsy servants were faint. Evidently they did not enter the crumbling corridors of this wing of the decrepit castle. Perhaps it was the coming of the day, but I felt tired and dazed. The pulsing, growing need that I had tasted earlier that night frightened me more than any shadow filled room.

When we entered the chapel, Vlad was waiting for us. Ariana was clinging to him and rubbing her face against his long, dark tresses. At his feet lay the remains of the coffin he had given me. His dark brows knitted together over his stormy green eyes.

“Why did you do this?”

“I am not dead,” I answered.

“Where will you sleep?” He raised an eyebrow. “On the floor like a dog?”

“With me. There is room.” Cneajna pulled me toward her tomb.

“Cneajna,” Vlad purred, his long hand catching hold of her slender neck as she tried to pass by him.

Her eyes slid toward him. “Yes, my Master.”

“Beware.” A menacing smile graced his thick lips beneath his heavy mustache. “I do not like to be defied.”

As his hand released her, Cneajna pulled me along, escaping the scathing sneer of our Master.

We entered the blond Bride’s tomb, which was far more beautiful in design than those of the other Brides. A large coffin lay on the floor, its heavy lid drawn back. Cneajna released my hand as she sealed the door. The candles burning in their holders along the walls were beginning to waver, casting flickering shadows about the tomb.

“Come, lay down.” She lowered herself into the coffin, sliding to one side. “Come lay down. You must sleep.”

Feeling awkward, I hesitantly climbed into the coffin. Lying down next to Cneajna felt so odd. I felt so small and helpless even though I knew I was neither one of those things anymore.

Solemnly, Cneajna reached up one hand to pull the lid over us.

“Please, do not,” I pleaded.

She seemed about to ignore my request, but lowered her hand. “Very well.”

I lay on my back, my hands folded over my stomach, staring up at the flickering light undulating across the ceiling. Cneajna rested on her side, one hand tucked under her golden head. I could feel her staring at me and it unnerved me immensely. I could not even begin to imagine what thoughts were floating through the vampire’s mind.

Cneajna lifted herself up on one elbow and stared down at me. “You are my daughter now. I will care for you as your mother would have. I will do your hair and give you many beautiful dresses. I have many jewels and I will share them with you. I will teach you our ways. The way to dance, to fly, to hunt, and to serve our husband. I will care for you, my sweetest child, I promise.

I stared up at the lovely woman with the sparkling sapphire eyes, ruby lips and hair of spun gold. Cneajna was by far the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, but also one of the most deadly. I could see the absolute horrible longing in her eyes and the terrible desperation within her to have the family she had been denied in her mortal life. I could feel her pain pouring out of her and her need to be my vampire mother. But this vampire world had not claimed my soul yet.

“I have a mother,” I said shortly, deliberately shutting my eyes to avoid her wounded expression. “I do not need another.”

There was a horrible silence. I could feel Cneajna’s anger beating down on me.

“Very well,” she finally whispered.

I could feel her lay back down beside me, the long golden tresses falling around us like a blanket. Then there was a loud scraping noise and the coffin lid shut over us.

“You will learn to love the darkness,” Cneajna whispered tersely to cut off my protest. “And you will learn to love us.”

Chapter 9

The Journal of Lady Glynis Wright Continued

I awoke burning with the hunger.

My screams rang through the crumbling remains of the chapel and the long corridor beyond. Prince Vlad emerged from the darkness into the torchlight and stood over me. A dark smile formed under his thick mustache and within the depths of his green eyes glimmered red fires.

Wolves entered the chapel, their long nails clicking across the stone floor. The pack leader bowed his head to Vlad, and Vlad tipped his head in acknowledgment of this homage.

Elina appeared in the doorway of Cneajna's tomb as Ariana joined her.

“The hunger,” Ariana said softly.

“The madness,” Elina corrected.

Prince Vlad smiled as I sat at his feet, tearing at my hair, screaming, only seeing, but not comprehending all that was around me. Cneajna stood over me, long claw marks raked across her face and neck. Slowly, she moved to stand before me at Vlad’s side.

In my terror, I briefly remembered tearing at her face before escaping her coffin.

She gazed down at me, then said, “It has begun.”

Vlad’s smile broadened as his wives gathered around me. I scampered and fled into the chapel. He followed and found me huddled in the corner of the room. I was violently shaking beneath the tangled mass of my hair.

“My love?”

I spun about and hissed at him threateningly. My aquamarine eyes felt wide and they burned as I raged at him. My nails were long and sharp, like rapiers, and I felt the deadly points of my fangs against my lips.

Vlad laughed with utter delight. “You are becoming.”

Throwing back my head, I shrieked with the pain of the hunger.

Drawing a knife from his belt, Vlad drew the edge against his wrist. “Come, little one. Come and have a little taste of the coming feast.”

The dark droplets of blood caught my gaze and with feverish yearning, I reached out to him. My tongue snaked out from beneath my glistening fangs and licked the blood running from his fingers. My rabid mind only hungered as my mouth fastened to the wound and I drank. Vlad stroked my red tresses gently with his other hand as I fed. I could not feel anything beyond the desperate need to drink.

“Just a simple taste to hold off the madness,” he whispered to me.

It grows harder and harder to write my story. To realize that there was never any hope of escape from this madness only fuels my anger and resolve.

After Vlad fed me his blood, I fell into a stupor. Vlad lifted me into his arms and carried me to the chamber of the Brides.

The world was fluid, spinning around, shadows and light dancing about me. All I could hear was the sluggish beating of my pounding heart in my ears and the soft whispering voices of the shadows. I tasted blood on my lips and tongue and it was so sweet, so delicious.

All the images around me were disfigured, as if I was peering at the world through a crystal goblet. As the Brides of Dracula shifted about me, their hands moving over me and about my face, I became aware of their presence.