Kingdom of Blood

Chapter two

1.

Isobel was still up, writing yet another thesis for another degree, the wall behind her was full of diplomas and in a box under her couch, she had at least triple the amount of new and old Mds and Ph.D.´s. Her acute ear caught the smallest sound in the room next to her and she went to review her patient. Upon entering the room, she feared that she might attack her and waited for her to wake up. A couple of hours later, the girl began to fidget and finally opened her eyes.

- Where am I? - was the first thing she said as she straightened up on the bed and stare at Isobel

- You are in a private clinic, you were in an accident, how are you feeling? Do you have any pain? - she took a new pair of gloves and put sanitizer on her hands to explain her coldness. 

- I feel good ... What happened? - she trembled on the bed, Isobel started to examine her, she saw her beautiful gray eyes and her freckles and it highlighted, even more, her resemblance to a porcelain doll.

- What is the last thing you remember?

- I... I went to sleep... and a sound woke me up and my mother pushed me into a room I had never seen before… that's it. - the memory of the night startled her, tears grew in her eyes - Who are you?

- Doctor Isobel Blanche, Izzy, for short - she said with a calming voice.  

- My name is Regina, Regina Stocker - Izzy tried to hide her fright when she heard her name, she looked away and started to clean her exam table 

- And my brothers and my parents? Where are they? - concern troubled her eyes.

- I don't know - she didn't really know what had happened to her family but she believed she was the only survivor, and certainly, she prayed for it, or all the vampire hunters would come to get them. - I am sorry miss Stocker

- You can call me Reg, that's what everyone calls me.

- Okay, Reg, - she said returning the smile - Let me try to contact them and see if they can come and pick you up, 

- Okay 

- I need to put a sedative for this head injury to heal okay? 

- Yes - Izzy put a liquid into the IV of Regina. 

Before she went to sleep Regina glanced around the room, which was undoubtedly peculiar, she thought it was like seeing the clash of many eras in one place and in the recognition of the room she saw a man in the door, she turned her gaze to look at him real good before she lost her sight, he was very handsome, his hair was blond and shone like gold in the lamplight, his eyes were blue and contrasted in his skin that was extremely white. 

The black shirt and white dress pants he wore showed off his elegant long and slim body; all of him as a whole was immensely attractive, and at the thought, Regina blushed. Emil felt her eyes on him, but he liked the sensation, he also perceived the change in temperature in her body and the smell of tuberose grew stronger in unison with her blush.

Emil went to see if his beautiful guest was still unconscious. A chill ran down his spine with the memory of the video on his cellphone. Isobel turned around and took him out of the room. She guided him to a small living room and handed him a little cup full of blood that was inside a mini Frigobar, he followed her and they sit on a few lounge chairs, they drank the little cups and for a few minutes, they were in another state of mind, feeling their bodies regain energy, feeling each cell moist and swell a state of pure bliss.

The bliss lasted a few minutes and they just wonder in the nothingness. They looked at each other for a few minutes while the effect passes, pupils dilated, fangs out barely touching their bottom lip, and then Isobel regained her voice. 

- Your... guest... Well, she has not recovered completely, she woke up and she was completely in shock, she does not know what happened, so I gave her a sedative.

- Anaissa sent me this... - Emil passed his phone to Izzy that looked at it in mild panic. - We are in danger

- I need to take her out of here... - he said combing his hair with his fingers. 

- And go where Emil? To your victorian castle? to your duke family that will drink her out in a minute? And... - What if she knows who you are? What if she tries to kill you just hearing your last name? What if she kills you while you sleep? Never forget that she and her family are vampire hunters… 

- I don´t think she knows - said Emil feeling his heart flustered - nothing in the house was relevant, it was just a regular house, a normal one. 

- You cannot be certain of that, they are part of the big families, she definitely knows something

- She did not recognize you 

- She does not know me, no one knows my "condition" - she said with sarcasm - so I am safe, but you are not, please, Duke Emil,  leave, I will keep you posted. 

She left the room with her skin a little warmer now and locked it just as a precaution. Emil knew she was right, so he stood up and went through the glass door that led him into the garden. Izzy looked at him leave from the terrace of her bedroom, she took her phone and dialed the only number she knew by heart, Prince Armand Bathory´s. 

Emil entered his family household, the Rozen Castle, his family were named Dukes eons ago and he and her sister were the current holders of the title. He walked down the main hall and then he heard Anaissa in the living room, he turned and went to see her, Anaissa was dancing to the sound of an ancient waltz, she turned in the middle of the enormous marble floor. Despite her physical eleven years, his twenty-year-old mind desired a certain vampire prince. Emil watched his sister turn, while his archangel voice filled the room.

- Tell me Emil ... - she said with a tired tone, interrupting her dance and singing. 

- Are you going to tell Dad about last night?

- No, I won't tell him until it suits me, - Anaissa deigned to turn to look at him - and I hope you won't say anything either - she said, raising an eyebrow threateningly. - I don't want to hurt you, so don't provoke me.

- As you say ... - he answered crestfallen. 

Emil left the living room, he heard the malevolent and at the same time beautiful song of his sister. 

2.

Melva entered the house feeling a tingle of satisfaction at the memory of Armand's face and attitude. She thought happily that if he didn't punish his little sister, the Bathorys would.

"How I hate that family!" she thought.

She had hated the Bathory for as long as she had to have become a vampire; there was only one person she hated the most, and that was her sister, Morganna DiNozzo.

Melva was younger than Morganna, but she had always seemed the opposite; furthermore, although Melva did not like to admit it, Morganna was much prettier than her. Her soft mahogany hair, her bronzed complexion, and her long but curvy body contrasted with Melva's rust-colored curly hair, her lips were too thick to be pretty, the shape of her face resembled that of a horse; his cold, calculating, yellowish eyes were almost always framed by a stern frown; her waist was rather thick and her hips were too wide.

When they were young, long before they became vampires, customs were different, arranged marriages were the solution for many families, families like theirs.

They had grown up in a lower-middle social class and their parents had seen in the beauty of their daughter Morganna the entrance to the upper-class social circle that they so desired. Therefore, the new dresses, the invitations to all the dances, and in general all the attention that Melva so longed for, were always received by her sister.

Melva should also be the one to marry last, and Morganna had a better chance of marrying a wealthy gentleman. Although she tried not to show it, deep down Melva hated Morganna deeply, and even more so when her sister professed such intense brotherly love for her. For this, Morganna was even willing to give Melva the only horse she owned, the one her parents had bought for the sole purpose that her daughter could go out riding with her suitors.

Melva was accumulating more and more hatred, and that was when they met Diego. As was customary, an invitation for the Vitalli family's daughter's debut had arrived, but only with two tickets.

- No, I said no!

- Mom, please, I'm asking you - Morganna said pleadingly.

- No, understand, those tickets are for you and me, you understand?

- No, I don't understand, - Morganna answered defiantly. - If they are mine, then I can take whoever I want, and I who I want to take is my sister Melva.

Melva was in an armchair in front of the fireplace, where they could not see her, and she was crying with rage.

- You can't take your single sister with you, it could steal the attention of potential suitors who attend.

- That will not happen and you know it well - Morganna replied, causing Melva to bite her lip furiously, suppressing a cry of anger. - It is also her birthday and I want to take her....

- Melva? - Morganna asked surprised to find Melva standing in the hall of the house. - Where were you?

- At the Bathory's house - said Melva when she woke up from her memories.

- I don't like us to frequent them.

- You say it because they do not sympathize with you, instead they love me.

- As you say, by the way, Diego wants to see you… Alone - Morganna told her unable to hide a bitter hint in her voice.

- Thank you, I'll go see you right away - Melva answered, with a hint of smugness in her voice and smiling widely when she saw the hatred reflected in her sister's eyes.

With troubled eyes, a frown, and a hand painfully clinging to his hair, Diego was sitting in a soft armchair in the study, reflecting. He was thinking of that night where he met the "love of his life". That night he had put on a white tailcoat that did not make him stand out much.

He would go to the debutant party, but he did not do it for pleasure, but out of necessity.

He had come to that city in Italy to escape busy Rome. He'd only been a vampire for a few years, but he still knew that if he didn't want to be bothered, he had to attend some events like this one, out of sheer social obligation. And that day he was grateful that they had chosen a night party.

When he got to the dance he found the same old things, young girls demanding his attention, mothers desperate to marry their daughters, and gentlemen interested in doing "business" with him.

Diego had grown up in the bosom of a wealthy family, the DiNozzos, from time immemorial, were of ancestry; so he was no longer self-conscious about people's constant innuendos.

He spent a long time smiling here, waving there, and dancing from time to time; He intended to stay the whole evening, to later excuse himself for a bad cold and thus avoid going to the subsequent meals to which he would surely be invited.

Suddenly he saw her, she was dancing very slowly to the beat of a dance, she was smiling sweetly, and as he got closer he noticed that she was giving off a delicious aroma of sweet orange blossoms. She was the most beautiful creature he had seen in years, he followed her for hours, but when he heard her laugh, he was convinced that he could no longer be apart from her.

- Can I pass? - Melva's voice asked with a soft touch of knuckles, bringing Diego back to the present.

- Go ahead - Diego said with his manly voice.

- Did you want to talk to me? - Melva said with a velvety voice, as she waddled towards him.

- Yes, that's right, take a seat - he said offering a chair in front of him.

- Tell me first of all, how are the Bathorys?

- I have only seen their children - she said looking at him through her long eyelashes, - but they are fine.

Meanwhile, Morganna was outside the studio, she did not like to leave Diego alone with Melva; But when there was no other option, she took over the adjoining room so that he could hear everything they were talking about. "Once you left them alone, do not make the same mistake again" repeated an echo in her tortured mind, returning her to that day. The night that she would regret forever, the same night when she met Diego. 

That night she took great care in his arrangement as she always did to go to parties; she dressed in emerald green and took Melva as a companion, dressed in a red and very haughty tight dress. At the party, Morganna had danced with all the single gentlemen, but only one of them had captured her attention. She knew that he came from a wealthy family, but she thought that even if he had been poor, she would have danced with him.

- Anyway Melva, - she said Diego's voice from the studio, causing Morganna to pay attention, putting her memories aside - I need to ask you a favor.

- Whatever you want Diego.

- I need you to go to the Rozen and ask Ivan for the Key, he will understand, bring it and let no one find out about this. Will you be able to do it?

- Of course, you can count on me.

- Thank you, Melva.

Morganna heard Melva´s steps and what she guessed as a kiss on the lips. That kiss reignite an old memory in Diego, centuries ago, in a ball room, the candle lights glow in the dimmed light, the night was beautiful and fresh, the moonlight came in through the large living room windows. Diego was dancing with Morganna and both had fallen in love. 

At one point in the night, Diego excused himself and went for a walk in the gardens. Meanwhile, Morganna went to the boudoir to prep and Melva took the opportunity to perfume herself with her sister's "Eau du Parfum" and went out in search of Diego.

"I'm so hungry!" Diego thought, leaning against a tree in the garden and closed his eyes, "it was a very bad idea to come without having fed properly."

Melva saw him and worried about him, she with difficulty ran the meters that separated them and took him by the arm.

- Diego, are you okay?

- Oh my love, you shouldn't have come close!

Diego turned around quickly, totally blinded by hunger, with red eyes and enlarged fangs; he bit her on the neck causing her to pass out. The scent of her, that intoxicating scent of sweet orange blossoms, had made him lose control of her, causing him to attack her right there, but before he killed her, a scream tore the air.

- Melvaaaa !!!

"Melva?", Diego straightened up and saw his victim, Melva lay bleeding and unconscious in her arms, and a few meters away was Morganna, seeing him completely terrified. She tried to run to the house, but he was faster and caught up with her, in a single movement he pinned her behind her; she was crying and struggling.

- Monster!! You are a monster! You killed my sister! She - she screamed as she tried to free herself from her.

- No, she's not dead, I swear! It wasn't my intention! I thought it was you! I can fix this!

- Let go! Killer! Monster! I do not believe you at all! - Morganna was crying desolate, her screams were attracting attention.

- Forgive me! ... - Diego said before biting her on the neck to render her unconscious. He took her by the waist, returned to Melva and carried them both without much effort, taking them to his castle. Once inside he placed them in the middle of her huge bed and sat across from them.

"What I do? Damn! What am I supposed to do now? " he thought as he clutched her head in her hands. "If I kill them both, I will lose Morganna, but if I only save her, I run the risk that she will hate me forever for killing her sister." He stood up and made the decision to save them both.

"Whatever awaits me when I wake them up, that will be my penance." He approached Morganna first and gave her a drink of his blood and then did the same with Melva.

- What is this? - He said aloud, seeing an oil on Melva's neck, he lifted it with her fingertip and smelled it. -Orange blossoms? - he said, smelling it - She used her sister's perfume to confuse me.

But it was too late to regret it, Morganna and Melva began to squirm in bed, screaming and crying. Her eyes had turned red and bled from her mouth because their fangs had grown out.

- Calm down - Diego told them in a soothing voice, - just a few more minutes.

- I can´t see! - They shouted in unison, he approached and hugged them by the waist and the two clung to him. - I don't see, I'm blind!

- Calm down - he told them while he stroked their hair, - it's because you´re hungry. Calm beautiful, if you calm down you will be able to see.

Diego kept them hugged until they calmed down, he held them tight while he smelled her hair, "Sweet orange blossoms" he thought, "Hellish smell".

Now centuries away, Morganna entered Diego's study, he got up and hugged her. Diego did not like staying alone in the Castle with neither of them, having them separated, even for short periods of time, made them jealous and tantrums were more constant. Also after the first night, he was with them, he discovered that they were like a complement, one balanced the other, having them separated was like having a puzzle with half of the pieces missing, without the other half you cannot appreciate the picture.

- Diego? - Morganna said, separating herself a little from him - Can we go out to the theater or to the movies? Just you and me, no one else, please - she said, caressing Diego's face.

- Wait until tomorrow - That was precisely what he did not like, one took advantage of the absence of the other to possess a little more of him, a bit more than the other.

- Do you love me? - Morganna asked almost crying.

- More than you can imagine - he answered, looking into her eyes.

- More than Melva? - She asked suspiciously.

Diego sighed and kissed her, putting an end to her jealousy, yes, he loved Morganna, but not more than Melva, he kissed her with affection, with love, but in his mind, he was not kissing her, in his mind, he was kissing Lorelai.