Vampire Dream

Chapter 11 - Preparations

I awoke in a room that was familiar yet unfamiliar. However, with multiple experiences like this, I wasn’t caught by surprise. I was alone in this room. It was completely bare except for a bed and a vanity with a swivel chair.

Elveen entered the room and shut the door behind him. He looked at me and smiled.

“Glad to see my little doll is awake. We have much preparation to do before tonight.” As I was still sitting in bed, I pulled the sheets around me. His presence made the room colder by the second.

“Tonight? What’s tonight? And where am I?” He walked towards the bed and leaned on the railing.

“Don’t you recognize it? You’re home. Not in our room because it is being repaired, but we can manage.” His eager smile was unsettling. “And we are having a festival for your return. Many people have been dying to meet you, and I suggest you cooperate or they will try to eat you.” I didn’t understand his intentions. And he was too close for comfort.

“What’s in this for me?” He leaned forward to get as close to me as possible.

“I won’t kill your friends.” He kissed my forehead unexpectedly and walked to the door, opening it. Before leaving, he uttered, “And even better - they won’t kill you.” I could hear his smirk as he slammed the doors shut behind him.

Looking around his exquisite room, I suddenly felt uncomfortable sitting in his bed. I got up, glad to still have my own clothes on, and found a big dress on the vanity.

It was Madame Red’s dress from her wedding banquet.

The bedroom door suddenly opened to reveal a man in a formal black suit. He was old -around 60s to 70s- but I felt uneasy about him.

“Madame, Master Elveen declared that I must help you prepare for tonight,” he uttered.

“That’s okay, Master… er.. sir. I can do it myself.”

“You don’t quite understand, Madame. Do you know what’s going on?” I shook my head in response. The man looked around, out the door, then shut the door and pulled me to the farthest point of my room. “He must not want you to know then. Tonight there is going to be a banquet of vampires. They will all be watching you and assessing whether you truly are the real Josephine or not. We have to make you as convincing of a vampire as possible.”

“I thought I was a vampire. I’m so confused.” I sat on the bed, exasperated.

“You’re only part-vampire. But Master does not want you becoming full vamp so I must disguise you as one instead.”

“Why doesn’t Elveen want me to be a vamp?”

“He does. But the real Master doesn’t.” I was confused but didn’t have the mind to question him further. I could sense dark presences drawing towards us. “You can sense them? There are a lot of them indeed.” I thought about the pros and cons of the situation. I did not want to be Elveen’s prize, but at the same time, I knew that getting close was the only way of getting out.

“So what do we do?”

“I will prepare you. Not to worry. I will be right back.” The man left quickly and quietly. I felt odd about him. The man seemed very familiar and I felt I could trust him, but he also worked for Elveen. I did not like this mixture.

He came back about 5 minutes later with a bucket covered over with red rags. He carried this bucket with ease in one arm and grabbed my wrist with the other hand.

“Quickly, you must follow me. We do not have much time.” Leading me down a hall and to the nearest bathroom, he threw me in with the bucket. The door was locked behind me so I was trapped.

Footsteps drew closer and louder. My instinct was to pound on the door, but my strange, blind trust in him made me sit on the tub and wait. Voices began to ring through the hall.

“It was very kind of Prince Elveen to invite us to this celebration!” Exclaimed the voice of an elderly woman.

“Darling, he doesn’t even know who we are,” retorted an elderly man’s voice. My senses indicated they were not normal. My skin became prickly and my hair stood on end.

“That doesn’t matter dearie, we get to speak to him tonight at the banquet! His supposed fiancee has returned I guess. But if you ask me, I don’t think that’s a reliable claim.”

“As you said, we shall see.” They stopped walking in front of the bathroom door. “I say, what is that delicious smell?”

“Are you just smelling it now? It’s been bothering me ever since we got here. I thought it was the food for tonight.”

“But it’s coming from right here. It’s especially strong.”

“No one’s here… perhaps we could try to get in?” A knock ensued on the door. I stayed silent, afraid of them. My nails contorted in front of my own eyes into sharp talons, and I could feel my teeth sharpening. Senses sharpening, I backed myself into the farthest corner of the room prepared to strike. The knocks increased to the point where the couple was scratching and peeling the door to get in.

“Hello, how may I assist you, lovely couple.” The scratching immediately stopped, their ragged breathing decreasing.

“Hello young fellow, we were just perusing. Touring, if you will. My wife and I meant no harm,” the man said, still panting.

“So, you will indeed be paying for this beautiful one-of-a-kind door that you just destroyed?”

“Absolutely! And if you could keep this between us, I would very much appreciate this. Enrique and I wouldn’t like to upset Prince Elveen on his banquet day.”

“I will be sure to keep this confidential. If you would like any snacks, there are many in the kitchen. The smell is coming from the air vent above the door.” A simultaneous gasp and small silence occurred. “Have a good day.” The couple briskly left. The door was unlocked and the man entered with a concerned look on his face. I realized I was still braced for attack and shook myself off, getting out of the corner.

“We need to do this now before it’s too late.” He fully came into the bathroom with three more buckets - I had no clue how he carried three buckets - and took off his suit jacket, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. “I need you to strip off your clothes and get into the tub with your eyes closed.” I did as he told me, but was suspicious of him since there was no water in the tub.

Suddenly a warm and thick substance was poured onto me slowly. My body began to shiver and I felt sick.

“Please don’t open your eyes,” he said. “I don’t want you to worry. I’m right here with you.” 3 bucket-pours later and the liquid was up to my chest in the tub. My breathing was ragged as the stench of the liquid was getting to me. It smelled very sweet but at the same time ultimately disgusting with a strong consistency of iron. I felt danger at every corner. Immediately I opened my eyes.

Blood. There was blood surrounding me. The thick, gooey liquid was coating my skin and splashing around me as this felon watched with a straight face. Before I could scream, the man covered my mouth with his hand.

“We must be quick. You cannot cause attention to yourself. You will die.” I struggled against his grip, grabbing and biting at his hands, splashing the liquid onto him, but he prevailed. “Listen to me! If anything happens to you, Master Elveen will torture and kill the Master and the human. If you won’t do this for yourself, do it for them.” I stopped. Gabriel was the true master? Gabriel and Kingston didn’t deserve to die. Yet Kingston also didn’t deserve for me to ruin his life. I had to resolve this. I love you, Kingston. I nodded in agreement with the man. He let go of my mouth and proceeded to use the rags to massage the blood into my skin. I couldn’t stop shaking, considering how disgusting this situation truly was.