The Vampire's Maiden

The year was 1720, James was young and naive, he had just turned 20, while he hadn’t yet settled down he was the most eligible bachelor in the town of Rosche. Every girl in Rosche had their eye on James and would do just about anything James asked of them, if it meant they might win him over and he would take them as his bride. However, James was bored by the women of Rosche, they were predictable, they flung themselves at him constantly. Sickened by their actions, he tended to steer clear of the towns folk, choosing to remain inside his home where he still lived with his mother and father as the farmed a plot of land on the outskirts of town. A few months after James’ birthday, disaster struck the town of Rosche, when a “mortal distemper” seized the French port city. The disease arrived on a merchant ship called the Grand Saint Antoine, which had picked up infected passengers during a journey to the Middle East. The vessel was quarantined, but its owner—who also happened to be Rosche’s deputy mayor—convinced health officials to let him unload its cargo. Plague-carrying rat fleas soon spread across the city, sparking an epidemic. People were dying by the thousands, and the piles of bodies on the streets grew so large that something had to be done. The Royal family assigned convicts to dispose of the corpses.  James had been walking the streets lately, trying to help those around him as best he could, when he spotted three women. These women were exotic looking, not someone from Rosche, that is for sure. James was intrigued and decided to follow these women and perhaps offer a place to stay given that the town was not fit at the moment. As James approached the women, he began to feel uneasy, but he squashed those feelings, determined to make a good impression.  “Hello ladies, you don’t appear to be from Rosche, what brings you to town? Don’t you know how dangerous it is right now?” James smiled. “Hello,” the redhead said, looking James over. “We are just passing through and discovered the illness, however we are tired and are looking for shelter for the evening.” “Yes, but it doesn’t appear there is an Inn that can accommodate us at this time,” added the blonde woman.  Would you happen to know a place?” Asked the brunette. James was delighted, “Of course, you must stay at my home, my mother and father and I have a farm on the outskirts of town, there is a barn with a loft that will be plenty of room for all three of you to stay as long as you need a place to rest.” He added,”I am James, what are your names?” The redhead spoke, clearly the leader of this little group, “I am Antoinette, my sister, the blonde is Isabel, and this is our cousin, Rebecca.” “We would be most grateful for a place to stay, at least one night, maybe two at most, we need to regain our strength, we are very tired and hungry.” Isabell chimed in.  “Well we have plenty of food and water to share with you, please, follow me, I will take you back to the farm.” Said James. As James led the three women and their horses back to the farm he couldn’t help but notice how pale they looked. They were clearly very exhausted, he could tell by the dark bags under their eyes. However, those traits only seemed to add to their beauty, while with others, that would have made them appear sickly. As they were walking, he could hear the three women chatting excitedly behind him as he walked, although he couldn’t quite make out what they were saying.  “A family...” “What luck, I’m so hungry...” “He is quite charming, might he be worth...” At the mention of himself, his curiosity peaked. He wished he could tell what they were saying about him. Which one was interested in him? It sounded like all three were, but that couldn’t be right, would they end up fighting over which one got him? He wondered if all three of them would be interested in an evening together, but he knew that was just wishful thinking, still he couldn’t help but grin and chuckle as the images of the three women, naked, rolling and writhing around in front of him as he pleasured each of them popped into his mind.  When they arrived at the farm, James quickly took the horses to the stable for some oats, hay and fresh water. When finished tending to the horses, he said, “Follow me ladies, I’ll show you to your loft so you can freshen up before dinner. He led them up the stairs to the loft. He pointed out the blankets for them to make beds in the hay bales. As he turned to leave, Rebecca said in a husky voice, “Thank you James, your kindness is something we must repay,” as she leaned in and gave him a deep kiss, sliding her tongue in between his lips.  As their tongues danced, Isabel coughed, “Excuse me cousin, I think we all owe James our thanks for providing us shelter.” Rebecca steppes back and said, “You are right, my apologies Isabel.” At which point, Isabel stepped up and instead of kissing him on the lips, began kissing him on his neck, pulling his buttoned shirt, to the side, stopping to lick his neck, which sent chills down his spine.  “Enough, dear sister,” scolded Antoinette, but she walked forward and slowly circled James saying, “Perhaps this evening, after lights out you might be willing to come up to the loft where we can repay your kindness and make sure you stay warm on such a cold night?” “James was totally taken aback, “Yes, yes, that would be alright,” he squeaked. With that he turned and went down the ladder and went to the house.  When he got inside his parents were already in the kitchen, putting the final touches on dinner. “We will need to add 3 more spots to the table for dinner tonight Mother,” James said, “There are three travelers who were looking for an Inn, they had no idea the town was infected. I have shown them to the loft.”  James’ mother had a stern look on her face. “James, I do t think I am comfortable having strangers in my home, you have no idea if they carry the infection. I am happy to provide shelter and food, but I would prefer you take it to them in the loft, I do not wish to have them in our home, and you should be keeping your distance too, we don’t need you falling ill.”  James nodded, “Yes mother, I understand, I will take the tray to them.” James knew he would t be able to stay with the women while they ate, so he would need to return later this evening after his parents had gone to bed, sneak out, so they wouldn’t stop him.  When James took the tray of food out to the women, he entered the barn to hear them speaking in muffled voices. “Antoinette, James is perfect, just what we have been searching for all these years. He is clearly strong, old, but not too old, a perfect age, just entered manhood. I think we should consider adding him to our family.” Antoinette shushed the other two, and said, I think I smell food.” James cleated his throat and continued into the barn, “Hello ladies, I have returned with your food, I’m sorry mother would prefer you eat in here.” “It is no problem,” Rebecca responded, “we actually prefer to eat by ourselves, will we still see you later?” She asked grinning. After James promised he would return later in the evening, he went back to the house to eat.  As he sat there eating in silence, he couldn’t believe what he had heard, was one of these women actually interested in becoming his bride?