Vampire Born

Rogues

“Good morning.”  I say.

“Good morning.”  He says sounding strange.

“Is everything all right?”  I ask worried.

“Yes.  I just came to see how you are feeling this morning.”

“Fine.  I luckily haven’t felt my fangs poke out even once.”

“That’s great.”

“Yeah.”  I smile.  “Thank you for your help with that last night.”

“Anytime.”  He smiles “I still can’t believe last night was your first scent of human.”  He says.

“It was definitely an interesting experience.”  I say.

“I’m sure.”  He chuckles.  “Well, I’ll leave you now to get dressed.”  He says.  I nod.  “Come find me when you’re done?”  He questions.

“I will.”  I reply.  He smiles and leaves.  I walk back over to my closet with a smile on my face.  I pick out an outfit and get dressed.  I go back into the bathroom, fix my hair, and put on some makeup.  After I am finished, I go to Marius’s office to see if he is there.  The door is open and there he sits behind his desk.  He looks up from whatever he is looking at and his face lights up.  My face lights up in return.  “May I come in?”

“Of course.  From now on if the door is closed or open, don’t hesitate, just come right in.  Okay?”  He says.  I nod and walk in.  For the first time I really begin to look at his office.  He has two levels to his office.  I have never noticed the other level.  He has a spiral staircase behind the door.  The second level is all bookshelves from floor to ceiling with sliding ladders on either side.  There is a window covering the back wall and a door in the front directly above the first level door.  The first level has a leather sofa and several glass cases.  In the cases are different artifacts.  He has more artifacts and a lot of pictures hanging up.  “Well, how do you like it?”  He says.

“It’s amazing!  I never really noticed anything about your office.  There’s so much room.”  I say.

“I’m glad you approve.”  Marius smiles.

“How could anyone not approve?”  I question.  He shrugs.  “Exactly.”  I say with a chuckle.  Marius chuckles too.

“You can go up and look.  I think you’ll enjoy the window.”  He says.  I smile and ascend the stairs.  The floor is a gorgeous wood floor.  I walk along one side examining the books as I go.  When I reach the window, I see that it is a bay window with a cushioned bench.  The view is amazing.  The window faces the west where our little lake is.  “You should see the sunset from there.”  Marius states.

“I’ll bet it’s amazing.”  I say.  I then notice that on either side of the window above the bench on the wall are sconces.  “Do you sit here and read often?”  I ask.

“Every chance I get.  I’ve actually been thinking lately of putting something like it in the library.”

“That would be amazing.”

“Good.  Then it’s settled.”  He says.  I smile.  I make my way along the other side once again examining the books.  I reach the stairs and descend them.

“This office is amazing!”  I exclaim.

“Glad you approve of it.”  Marius smiles.  I smile too.  “Rose is awake.”

“I’ll go start breakfast then.”  I say leaving.  I head to the kitchen.  I open the fridge and pull out three blood bags.  I drain them into a saucepan and turn the stove on to heat the blood.

“Good morning.”  Rose says behind me.

“Good morning.”  I say stirring the blood.

“How long have you been up?”

“Not long.”  I say honestly.  I turn off the stove and pour the blood into three separate heated cups.  “Breakfast is ready.  I have to take his to him.”  I say grabbing his mug.  I walk to Marius’s office.

“Come in.”  He says before I can knock.  When I walk in, he is using his disguise.  He lets his disguise down.  I smile.  I hear footsteps coming this direction and my smile fades because Marius has to put his disguise back up.  I go to his desk and set down his mug just as Rose comes walking up to the door.  “Yes, Rose?”

“Someone’s coming.  I don’t recognize him or his scent.”  She says.

“I’ll check it out.”  Marius says standing.

“Don’t forget your blood…sir.”  I say hesitating on the end of that sentence.  Marius nods and grabs his mug.  He leaves his office and I take Rose back to the kitchen with me.  Rose cleans the saucepan for me while I wipe off the stove.

“Ladies, I’d like you to come meet someone.”  Marius hollers.  We walk into the living room and there stands a man next to Marius.  I then realize Marius’s disguise is down.

“Where did our master go?”  Rose asks.

“Your disguise, sir.”  I say.

“I know, Dahlia.”  Marius says.

“How do you know her name?”

“I am the one you call master, Rose.”  Marius says and goes on to explain about his disguise.  “I never liked being called ‘master.’  Please from now on call me Marius.”

“Wow!  What a story!”  Rose says bewildered.  “You knew about this, Dahlia?”

“Yes, Rose.  I’ve known since the day the wolves came to inquire about the meeting.”  I say.  “He made me promise not to say anything until he told you the truth.”

“I’m so glad you told me, Marius.  So who’s your friend?”  Rose asks.

“Ladies, this is my brother Lysander.”

“Nice to meet you, Lysander.”

“Nice indeed.”  Rose whispers.  I get the feeling that Rose thinks he’s cute.

“So what brings you here, brother?”  Marius wonders.

“I’ve come to ask for Dahlia’s help in planning your party.”

“You know about me?”  I question shocked.

“Marius has only been writing about you for the past three years.”  Lysander replies.

“I see.”  I say looking at Marius who has a shy smile on his face.  “So, what kind of party do you need help planning?”  I ask looking at Lysander.

“Lysander!”  Marius says in a threatening tone.  Lysander looks at Marius and they share a secret look that says Marius doesn’t want him saying something.

“Oh, it’s just my brother’s birthday in a month.”  Lysander replies.

“Really?!”  I ask looking at Marius.  “Why didn’t I know when your birthday was sooner?  Like years ago?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”  He says looking down in shame.

“Well, we’ll just have to plan without you and whatever we say goes.”  I threaten.

“Just no pink.”

“You get no say.”  I say.  “It’s your punishment for not sharing your birthday sooner.”

“How old will you be?”  Rose asks.

“Old.”  Marius replies and I suspect he’s hiding something from us, but I shrug it off.  I get to help plan a party.

“So, Lysander, how many people are we talking about?”  I ask.

“At least a hundred.  Lord know my brother knows a lot of people.”  Lysander replies.  “Of course, we’ll have to have it outside, so, we’ll need lights and tables.”

“Don’t forget a dance floor.”  Rose says.

“Can’t forget that.”  Lysander smiles.  Rose smiles in return.  Marius groans as we continue to make plans in front of him.

By the evening round of blood, we have a list of guests, party decorations, a chef for the blood up keep, and a name for a DJ.  As I make the evening round, Rose, Lysander, and Marius go out onto the patio to enjoy the twilight of the evening.  I take the tray out to join them.  We sit and enjoy our blood.  I can’t help but think how much has happened in the past month and a half since I found out the truth.  It’s been two months since my birthday and all has been confusing.  We finish our blood and Rose helps me with the dishes.  After we finish the dishes, I go into the library and grab a book.  Tonight I decide to read Wicked Girls.  I curl up on the leather couch and am soon warped into the verse of the book.  A tap on my shoulder causes me to jump.  I turn around to see Marius standing above me.

“Didn’t mean to frighten you.”  He smiles with a chuckle in his eyes.

“It’s okay.  What can I do for you?”  I ask.

“The rest of us are going down to the pool.  We thought we’d ask you to join us.”

“I’ll be right down.”  I smile.  Marius brushes my cheek where my dimple is and then leaves.  I put a bookmark in my book and head down to the pool.  Rose and Lysander look cozy in the hot tub while whispering to each other.  I go to the locker room and change into my bathing suit.  Marius is doing laps in the pool when I emerge from the locker room.  I get into the pool and do some laps myself.  Then Marius sweeps me into his arms and we start dancing in the water.  I can’t help but smile as we waltz in the pool.  I notice Rose and Lysander watching us and whispering.  After a few minutes of waltzing, I decide to get out because if I stay my feelings may spill out.  I go upstairs and grab my book from the library before going up to my room.  I take a shower to wash off the chlorine then I braid my hair and crawl into bed.  I open my book and get lost once more in the verse.  I finally decide to put my book down and try to sleep.  I drift off into a peaceful sleep.

~

This afternoon the other two wolf packs will be arriving.  I prepare breakfast and blood for the one pack and the four vampires in the house.  After breakfast, I start prepping for the arrival of the other two packs.  I make sure the house is spotless and then start preparing for the big meal ahead.  I peel and quarter thirty pounds of potatoes.  I peel twenty pounds of carrots.  I start slightly cooking two hundred fifty steaks in batches.  I glaze the carrots with eight pounds of brown sugar and twelve pounds of butter.  I make three gallons of cream gravy both brown and white.  I sauté forty pounds of onions and mushrooms combined for those wolves that like that on their steak.  I make fourteen different desserts each in huge quantities.  The desserts to choose from are blueberry crisp, raspberry crisp, apple crisp, marble cake, pound cake, chocolate cake, vanilla cake, tiramisu, chocolate chip cheesecake, raspberry cheesecake, plain cheesecake, strawberry rhubarb, blueberry pie, and chocolate pie.  The pound cake and plain cheesecake they can put toppings on like raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, or chocolate or caramel sauce.  Everything is set out for the wolves just as the other two packs arrive.  Rose and I disappear then to the downstairs levels.  We start by playing a few games of bowling.  Then we go to the tennis courts and play a couple sets of that.  After that we decide to go swimming.  We both keep an ear out for the sound of wolves leaving.  Finally, around eight in the evening, Marius comes to find us.

“The wolves are getting ready to leave.”  He informs us.

“Thanks, Marius.”  I say.  He leaves the pool room.  Rose and I get out.  We shower in the locker room and then go upstairs to find the place deserted.  What little food is left gets dumped down the disposal.  All the dishes we used, except for the serving dishes, get thrown away because they’re plastic.  Rose helps me clean up.  While cleaning, I come across two envelopes.  One says ‘Rose’ and the other says ‘Dahlia.’  I hand Rose the one with her name on it.  I open mine.  Inside is a letter.  I open the letter.

        “Dearest Dahlia,

Thank you so much for all you’ve done for us.  I hope you’ll accept this small compensation as our way of saying thank you.

                                Yours Truly,

                                Gerard”

I open the envelope further and inside is some cash.  I pull out the money and count it.  There’s a million Euro there.  They consider that small?!  Rose finds me and tells me she had half a million in her envelope.

“I can understand why there was more in your envelope.  You did more than I did.”  Rose says.

“Yeah, but I still feel awkward about it.”

“Don’t!  You deserve it.”  Rose smiles.

“Thanks.”  I smile.  “I’m going to go put this in my safe.”  I say.

“Good idea.”  Rose says.  Over the years people have left compensation for the cooks and my mother always made sure Rose and I got the envelope with the compensation in it.  That’s how I was able to buy the tickets for Logan and my mother.  I open my safe in my room.  There’s a healthy stash of cash in there already.  Probably close to three million Euro.  Now close to four with the new compensation.  I decide to go ahead and count it while I’m here.  Luckily my safe is in the floor so, I sit down and start counting.  By the time I’m done, I’m shocked at how much I have in there.  Five million six hundred fifty-three thousand four hundred twenty-one Euro.  I could go on a nice trip with that kind of money or eventually go into the real world and go shopping.

As I cover up my safe, I sense I’m not alone.  I turn to see Marius standing in my doorway.  It’s so nice that he no longer has to use his disguise.

“Hi.”  I say with a smile.  “Won’t you please come in.”

“Hi.”  He smiles back as he enters my room.  “Your food was a hit.”

“Apparently enough for a small compensation from the Dublin pack.”  I say.

“Really?!  That’s great!”  He exclaims.

“Yes, and totally unnecessary.”  I say.

“Oh please.  You deserve any praise you can get.”  Marius says without hesitation.

“Oh really?  And why’s that?”

“I’ll tell you later.  Rose is looking for us.”  I hear Rose calling for us.  I get up and Marius and I go to find her.  She and Lysander are in the living room looking out the front window.

“What’s wrong?”  I ask.

“We have visitors.”  Rose says.  I look out the window to see a group of rogue vampires who are so blood thirsty that their eyes are red.  I wonder how they got past the town without going hog wild on it.  Unless they were somehow smart enough to completely bypass the town.  As I watch them approach, I can’t help but to feel pity for them.  To be driven to such a state takes extremes.  I don’t know what caused these vampires to be driven rogue, but I know I want to help them.  I hear the front door open and see Marius step outside.  He goes towards the rogue vampires and begins to talk to them.  I can’t hear what is being said, but before I know it, Marius is motioning for me to come out there.  I hesitantly make my way out to Marius and the rogue vampires.

“Dahlia, I’d like you meet Robert, Gertrude, Jane, and Dmitri.  They are good friends of mine who were unlucky enough to turn rogue.  They are here seeking help and we are going to provide it.”  Marius says.  “First, we are going to give them some blood.  Then we are going to let them stay here until they recover their true vampiric state.  They still have most of their true nature.  That’s why they avoided town, but they still need help.”

“Understandable.”  I say.

“Good.  So, will you please go make a fresh pot of blood for everyone and see to it that we have two rooms ready for them.”

“Of course, Marius.”  I say.  Then I think about what he said.  “Only two rooms?”  I question.

“Yes.  One for Gertrude and Dmitri and one for Jane and Robert.  The two couples are mated.”  Marius says in my ear.

“Oh.”  I go back into the house and go straight to the kitchen.  I get out eight packets of blood and the pan for heating the blood.  I heat the blood and pour it into eight heated mugs.  When I take them out to the living room, the others are all gathered there already.  I hand out the mugs and watch as the rogue vampires start to gulp it down before remembering their manners.

“Thank you, Miss Dahlia, for fixing that for us.”  One of them says.

“You’re welcome, Miss…”

“Gertrude.  Just Gertrude.”  She smiles.

“I’ll go see to your rooms.”  I say.

“Oh, please, Miss Dahlia.  Enjoy your blood first.”  One of the gentlemen says.

“Yes, Miss Dahlia.  Blood should not go to waste.”  The other man says.

“Very well.”  I sit back down.  We all sit in silence as we drink our blood.  The rogue vampires finish first, of course, and continue to just sit there watching the four of us in the house drink ours.  It’s really uncomfortable.  Once we are all done, I take the mugs to the kitchen and wash them and the pan.  Rose comes in with me to dry.

“Those rogues don’t say much.”

“Neither did we at that moment.”  I say.  “Maybe tomorrow will be different.”

“Maybe.  Their eyes creep me out.”  Rose says.

“They don’t bother me.  What I want to know is what made them turn rogue.”

“It must have been something really bad.”

“But not bad enough because they aren’t full rogue.  If they were full rogue, they wouldn’t have been smart enough to avoid town and they wouldn’t be able to speak as coherently as they do.”  I say.

“True.”  Rose puts the pan away and I drain the water.  I go up to the second floor where the bedrooms start and get two rooms ready for our guests.  I make sure their bathrooms have fresh towels, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.  As I leave the bathroom of the second room, Marius is standing in the doorway of the room.

“Is something wrong?”  I ask.

“I realized that I sounded like the master type in front of my friends.  I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t take it that way at all.  You were simply instructing.  Nothing masterly about that.  I promise.”  I say with a reassuring smile.

“Thank you for the vote of confidence.”  He says with defeat in his voice.  I step forward, but the other female, Jane, appears behind Marius.

“Hemi, Robert and I were wondering if you still have that pool in your lower level.”  She says with a nobility air about her.  She also called him Hemi.  Must be a nickname they have for Marius.

“I do, Jane.  I’m sure your suits are still down there in the closet too.”

“Actually, I think we cleaned that out a few years ago.”  I say.

“Oh.  Well, that’s alright.  We don’t have to go swimming.”  Jane says.

“Well, wait.  You’re about my size and Robert is about Marius’s size.  So, why don’t you borrow one of our suits for each of you?”  I suggest.

“That’s a great idea, Dahlia.”  Marius says.

“You would do that for us?”

“Why not?”  I say.  “And I have plenty of swimsuits that if Gertrude wants to go swimming too she can borrow one as well.”

“Same goes for me as far as Dmitri is concerned.”

“Thank you both so much.”  Jane leaves then.  I go to my room and lay out all my swimsuits so they can decide which one they want to wear for themselves.  I go downstairs to find Gertrude and Jane.  They are in the living room talking to the two gentlemen and Marius.

“Ah, Miss Dahlia.  Thank you for your splendid idea!”

“Please, sir, just call me Dahlia.”

“And call me Robert.”  He smiles.  They all have this nobility air about them.  Sometimes Marius acts that way too, but not as much these four do.  Gertrude and Jane follow me to my room and they each pick a swimsuit.

“Thank you, Dahlia.  We are obliged to you.”  Gertrude smiles.

“Think nothing of it.  I’ll be bringing down fresh blood in about half an hour.  Just so you know.”

“Thank you, dear.”  Jane says.

“You’re welcome.”  I leave them and go to the library with my sketchbook and start sketching random objects.

After sketching for a while, I go into the kitchen and heat more blood.  I take four down to the pool and let the rogues know it’s there before I go find Marius.  I deliver his to him in his study where he’s working on something for the business he’s part of.  Maybe one day he’ll tell me exactly what it is he does.  I go find Rose and Lysander and give them their blood and then go sit out on the patio watching the sunset.

After the sun has set and my blood is gone, I go inside.  I go to the kitchen and there’s Gertrude and Jane staring at the sink.

“I’ll take care of those for you.”  I say talking about the mugs in their hands.

“We’d like to help.”

“But we don’t know how.”  Jane says.

“It’s okay.  It’s kind of my thing.”

“Are you Hemi’s servant?”  Gertrude asks.

“No.  I’m his acquaintance who just happens to know how to do household chores.”

“Wait.  You’re the young girl whose mother also used to live here.”  Jane realizes.

“That’s me.”

“Your mother used to call him master yet you call him by his first name.”  Gertrude recalls.

“Yes, because he’s instructed me not to call him that anymore.  He never liked it in the first place.”

“What happened to your mother?”  Jane wonders.

“She’s travelling the world with my stepfather.  Marius let her go a month or so ago on my birthday at my request.”  I reply.

“How delightful.”  Gertrude smiles.  I notice that their eyes are already starting to change color.

“If I may.  You’re already improving.”  I say.

“What do you mean?”  Jane asks.

“Your eyes are already starting to change colors.”  I reply.

“That’s excellent news.”  Jane smiles.  I smile in return.  “You must wonder what caused us to turn rogue.”

“Honestly, yes.  But it’s also none of my business.”

“You’re having to help so I’d say you have a right to know.”  Gertrude says.  “Let’s get the men and sit in the living room.”  Jane goes to get Robert and Dmitri while Gertrude takes my arm and leads me to the living room.  The five of us sit down and Robert and Dmitri each take their mates’ hands.  “Where to begin?”  Gertrude says.  “We are all over five hundred years old.  Dmitri is an earl and Robert is a viscount.  Jane and I grew up as young ladies.  Our father was a baron.”  Gertrude says.

“Wait.  You and Jane are sisters?”  I say.

“Yes.  I know it doesn’t look like it, but it’s true.”  Jane says.

“Sorry for interrupting.  Please continue, Gertrude.”

“Of course.  So, growing up in that environment it was expected that we marry status because we were born of status.  Before I met Dmitri, there was this gentleman.  An earl named James.  He wanted so badly to have me for his own that nothing would stand in his way.  But then I met Dmitri and Jane met Robert.  We were both engaged to our men in a fortnight.  James was furious.  Vowed to have his revenge.  At mine and Dmitri’s engagement party, he sought out his revenge.  He had always been a strange character and that night we found out why.  He was a vampire.  He turned the four of us.  At first, we rebelled against what we’d become which we finally realized was letting him win.  Then we met Hemi.  He showed us how to control our thirst and use animal blood instead.  That’s our backstory.  Now as to how we became rogue.  James found us after all these years.  As our sire, he tried to force us to kill ourselves.  The only way out was to rogue.”  Gertrude says leaning into Dmitri in defeat.

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay.  We’ve been rogue for only a year now and he’s now dust because he wasn’t mated when the time came.”  Jane says.

“So, now you can go back to normal.”  I say in an understanding tone.

“Exactly.  And Hemi found us and told us he’d help us.  He said that he had a couple girls here but that they’d be helpful.  When he said girls, I pictured young things, but you and Rose aren’t the young I was thinking.  You’re both elegant ladies.”  Robert says.

“Thank you, Robert.  And anything you need while you’re here, just let me know.”  I say with an encouraging smile.

“Thank you, Dahlia.”  Dmitri says.  I show them to their rooms and they all settle in for the night.  I go back down to the kitchen and finally wash the mugs and pan.  Once that’s done, I go up to my room.  When I get up there, Marius is standing by my door.

“Did I forget something?”

“No.  I just wanted to talk.”

“Well, then please come in.”  I say.  Marius follows me into my room closing the door behind him.  “Feel free to sit anywhere.”  I say.  He goes to my bed and promptly sits on it.  He pats the spot next to him.  I go over and sit down.  “So, what’s on your mind, Marius?”

“I know you heard their story.”  I nod.  “Now, I want you to hear a bit of mine.  In 1337, I was given the title of duke.  I was already a vampire, but I well managed myself enough that no one suspected me.  I looked after other vampires who were struggling, but I also fit into regular society.  In 1512, I started my own chain of clothing stores.  I now own and run over one thousand vampire only clothing stores.”  Marius says.

“Wow!”  Is all I can think to say to the partial story of his upbringing.  “So, you must be like a millionaire.”

“More like billionaire.”  He smiles.  I stare wide-eyed.  “I hope you won’t think differently of me now.”

“Not at all.  You’ll still be my…you’ll still be Marius.  Or should I call you Hemi?”

“No.  I like when you call me Marius.  It sounds really nice coming from your lips.”  He says then makes a face as if he’s said too much.

“I think Hemi has a nice ring to it, too, but Marius suits you more coming from me.”  I say with a smile.  He smiles in return.  We sit in silence for a few minutes before Marius gets up and heads for the door.

“Goodnight, Dahlia.”

“Goodnight, Marius.”  I say.  He leaves.  I get changed into pajamas and crawl into bed.  I spray my pillow lightly with lavender scent and start to fall asleep when I hear a noise downstairs.  I get out of bed and go down to investigate.  When I get down there, Jane is sleepwalking and keeps bumping into things.  I go over to her and gently shake her.  Her eyes slowly open.

“What happened?”

“You were sleepwalking.”

“Oh dear.  Not again.  I used to sleepwalk as a child, but ever since becoming a vampire, I haven’t.  Now as a rogue, I’ve been doing it again.”

“I have just the thing to help you.”  I say.  I rush upstairs, grab my lavender oils, and rush back downstairs.  “Sprinkle this on your pillow and it will put you in a calming sleep.  Promise.”  I say.

“Thank you, but are you sure it will work?”

“I’m sure.  I used to sleepwalk too.  Then I started using lavender scented stuff every night and I haven’t sleepwalked since I was twelve.”  I reply.

“Well great.  Thank you.”  She says and goes back upstairs.  I go back up to my room and lay down.  I fall asleep almost instantly and luckily sleep through the night.