The Lord and his Queen

Chapter 5: The Towers Mystery

Ronan closed the door behind our shaking bodies as we stepped in and I was genuinely shocked as to what lay behind that door. The large wooden door with iron hinges had held centuries of mystery and behind it was merely what appeared to be a semi normal living room. 

There was a large fire pit in the center surrounded by a rounded set of couches for seating. The whole thing while enclosed in stone walls seemed very modern. With a wet bar, television, and cozy looking throw pillows and blankets with sheer drapes separating different sections of the room. It honestly looked like an old Arabian style harem had crossed with a modern bachelor pad. In the center starting on one side of the fire pit was a spiral staircase that appeared to be what moved up and down in the tower. I wondered how many levels there were. Looking over at Lucinda she looked incredibly disappointed. 

“This is it. The Tower of Darken is simply my home.” he said as he waved his arm to the room. “You seem disappointed, miss?” Ronan looked at Lucinda with the same face as me. As we watched her journal fell from her hand and hit the floor with a thud.

“My family has studied the anomaly of this place for generations. My grandfather died in here. Centuries of studies on this tower have yielded nothing but more and more questions, and it's nothing but a man cave?!” tears fell from her face in her frustration. She merely stood there shaking.

“Who was your grandfather?” he stepped up to her lifting her chin so her teary eyes were looking right into his. He had a look of genuine remorse on his face.

“Gyrus Fanille. He was a historian. But this place is not dangerous is it?” Ronan closed his eyes and walked away from her to a shelf full of books. 

“My home can be very dangerous unfortunately. But anyone who perishes here is not forgotten.” as he spoke he pulled a book from the shelf. “I do remember your grandfather. He was a kind man, very intuitive. Unfortunately when dealing with my kind of secret sacrifices are made. Even if they are not by my hand.” He walked over to Lucinda and handed her the book. It was a leather bound journal with a name engraved in the cover wrapped in leather cord.

“This will be one of the hardest things to grasp ladies but given the circumstances I am hoping you will be open minded. Monsters are real. Vampires, succubi, ghouls, djinn and many others. We are all real.” i stared at him with my eyes wide as he spoke but to be honest it was easier to believe now after everything had happened then it would have been three days ago. 

“When you say we...Ronan...what exactly are you? Her grandfather died a long time ago.” I said wrapping my arms around Lucinda who was now crying so hard into the cover of the journal that she was shaking, no sound left her mouth.

“I am a vampire.” I started to feel dizzy. This was already too much and we hadn't even been here ten minutes.

“You monster…” I heard Lucinda whisper between my arms. She pushed away from me and screamed at Ronan through sobs. “YOU MONSTER!!” She dropped the journal and Lunged at Ronan, grabbing him by the throat. He did not move to stop her however. Her weak hands seemed to have no effect on him whatsoever so he allowed himself to fall to his knees while she continued to try to strangle him to no avail. Eventually her sadness took over again and she crumpled into his chest. By this point even i was beginning to tear up. Watching my new best friend be so heartbroken was killing me inside. Ronan wrapped his arms around her comfortingly and he whispered in her ear. I did not want to intrude so i stooped down and picked up the journals. I didn't open them wanting that to be her honor but i did dust them off. In a few moments Lucinda seemed to wrap her arms around Ronan and they sat there in a tight embrace for a few long seconds before he helped her up. 

“Kashus!” Ronan shouted up the stairs and the burly guy who had escorted me to the dorm came down. 

“Yes my lord?” he asked with a deep bow.

“Please escort Miss Fanille back to her dorm and help her rest. Do not be seen and keep her safe.” Kashus nodded and led her out. I handed him the journals and looked at Ronan. There was a slight tinge in my stomach knowing I was now very possibly alone with a vampire. 

“Is Kashus….like you?” I said wrapping my arms around myself insecurely.

“He is a vampire if that's what you're asking.” Ronan gestured to the couch for me to sit but I stayed put, shaking slightly. “I swore no harm would come to you did I not?” he wasn't wrong so I gingerly moved around him and sat. Ronan went to the bar and poured me what looked like a glass of water. He set in in front of me but sat on the other side of the couch. 

“You must have more questions Sarafynah. I won't hold back the truth from you but I can promise it only gets more difficult to grasp from here.” I swallowed and my throat was dry so I took a deep drink of the water. It didn't help.

“What happened to Lucinda's Grandfather?”

“He was killed by a succubus. The same one that attacked you. I did not build this tower, it was built by the creature that created me.” he stood and held his hand out for me. I reached out and took it, his hand feeling far warmer than mine. He led me to the staircase and up to the next floor. I watched as we continued and saw it was covered floor to ceiling in paintings of all kinds.

“You weren't bitten by another vampire? How does that even work?” I looked at the paintings and noticed several of them containing a creature similar to the one that had attacked me. The face was always different but the body was that of a naked woman with sallow skin and long black hair. It had wings and a tail like a scorpion. In every image she seemed to be depicted with a long sharp tongue piercing the chest of women she seemed to be seducing. 

“There are only a few succubi in the world and when they are killed they are reborn just like anything else. However unlike most humans and lesser demons, they will be reborn with a different face. They feed with the barb in their tongues and the stinger tail is not an injector but rather an extractor. It is used to extract the victims memories. I understand it is forbidden for them to use it though. As to why I am unsure.” I listened to his explanation closely and was suddenly fascinated more than scared. I looked around at the other paintings, many of them depicted him next to different people. Some were students I had seen here. I saw him with Kashus, Seamus, and a few teachers including the headmaster and the librarian. 

“So...succubi can create vampires as well as other vampires? do ...do you drink blood?” I looked at him warily. He stood very close behind me and I was suddenly very aware of my back to the wall and the fact that I was wearing a tank top with a very exposed neck.