Eternal Nights

At first bite

Roxanna began to stir to the sound of running water and stinging pain in her neck. Her eyes shot open as her hand investigated the pain in her neck. It felt sticky and hurt to the touch as she felt the four puncture wounds. She was bitten. Am I a vampire now? She thought as she lifted her body into a sitting position feeling a blanket fall away from her body. She found herself lying mostly nude, aside from her b*a and panties, on an unfamiliar bed. What exactly happened? She retraced the events in her head. She left her house for work. The vampire king showed up to watch her performance like he had for the past few months. He talked to her saying that he made a decision regarding her and how he owned her. He charmed her and carried her out into the snow where she fell unconscious from the cold. Then she woke up here with bite marks in her neck.

“Good, it seems like you survived,” Raforian said, coming from the direction of the running water. Roxanna blinked her eyes, opening them to see the vampire had closed the distance between them.

The girl instinctively tried to cover herself with the blanket once more, earning a head tilt in response from the vampire. “What did you do to me? Why am I here? What’s going on? Am I still human? Where are my clothes?” A spitfire of questions escaped Roxanna’s lips. This was a dangerous situation to be in. She knew that if she irritated the vampire she could be dead in a matter of seconds, but she needed answers.

“Curious… very well. I suppose I never fully explained before, and I owe you that at least. If you are referring to earlier in the tavern, it was a simple charm to make you behave. If you’re referring to the bite, it was merely a precaution so that if you did perish from the cold you could still serve your purpose to me,” Raforian leaned in close, tracing the wound with his fingertips causing Roxanna to wince at the pain, before continuing, “though I must say I get the feeling that you will become quite the addiction in that regard,” Roxanna jolted away from the vampire at those words. He appeared irritated, but didn’t seem to react beyond the expression upon his face, “what else? Ah yes,” he continued, “As I stated I have made a decision regarding you. I’ve found myself rather mesmerized by your singing. Initially my plan was merely to keep you around so I could have your voice to myself, but then I got a taste of you, and now I’ve decided everything that you are is mine. Your experience here solely depends on you. Obey me and I will give you the life you never even dreamed possible, resist and you will quickly discover how cruel I can truly be. Either way, I will get what I want in the end,” the vampire then brushed some stray hairs from her face, watching her reaction.

Roxanna struggled to collect her thoughts. Fate had always been cruel to her but this was too much to take in. She was fully aware that Raforian could easily see the fear plastered on her face. His face was expectant, almost daring her to try to flee or fight back, but she lowered her head instead, curls spilling over her shoulders, “you… you didn’t answer my last two questions,” she said, still trying to process the situation.

Raforian let out a chuckle, “for the time being, yes you are still human. However, it seems like I was a bit too impatient when I brought you home and you were exposed to the elements. I removed your clothes as they were drenched with ice and snow. On that topic, at this point I’d rather you not fall ill, as I have decided that from now on you are going to be my main source of blood. For now, no more questions. I have drawn a bath for you, something I have never done for anyone, and I expect you to be grateful. Follow me,” the vampire began walking towards a doorway. Roxanna was about to obey when she remembered that underneath the blanket she was nearly n***d. She wrapped the thick cloth tighter around her frame. The vampire stopped, not turning around and said, “I thought I told you to follow.”

“Please… I…” Roxanna attempted to beg for some sort of decency for her body. Before she could come up with the words to say, she could feel the blanket being aggressively torn from her body as the vampire towered over her once more. She watched as he reached behind her head, snatching her hair and pulling her forward causing her to let out a yelp of pain.

“I told you already, every part of you belongs to me. When I tell you to come, you come. Are we clear or shall I continue the lesson?” Raforian growled from gritted teeth. Roxanna squirmed in his grasp, continuing to whimper. He tightened his grip before asking once more, “I said, are we clear?”

“Y-yes,” Roxanna barely able to blurt out from the pain. Suddenly, he let go and tossed her over his shoulder, carrying her to the bath. Raforian then tore off her undergarments, destroying them with his claws, before placing her on her feet before the tub.

“Get in,” the vampire ordered.

Roxanna quickly obeyed fearing what he would do if she had resisted him further. She kept her eyes on the vampire king as he stood arms crossed glaring at her. The bath was filled with herbs and bubbles easing her pain and relaxing her body. The water smelled and felt unlike anything she ever experienced; the water was perfectly warm as she laid in the massive tub that could have easily been considered a small pool. She wanted to enjoy this. She wanted to disappear into the heat and bubbles and dream of a life where she could experience something like this every day. But fear would not allow her to relax like she wanted as Raforian kept his gaze locked upon her. She scrubbed her neck where the bite wound was turning the water slightly pink. The bite still hurt to the touch but felt as though it somehow closed. She then scrubbed the rest of her body and ran her fingers through her wet, golden curls. She sat in the water for just a few moments longer before muttering, “I think I’m ready to get out. Is there a towel I could use?”

“Yes, here you are,” Raforian said, picking up a folded towel beside him and walking over to the tub. He extended his hand to her, offering to help her out. She accepted it, once again not wanting to face his wrath. Though his face and body language were hard to read, his tone seemed more gentle than it had been not too long ago. She reached for the towel and wrapped it around herself. She leaned over the tub and began to squeeze out her locks. She then dried off the rest of her body.

She was about to ask the vampire if there was anything for her to wear or where to put the towel when she realized that she was completely alone in the bathroom. She glanced around to be sure she was alone, finally getting a decent look at her surroundings. The bathroom was massive and beautiful. White and gold tile covered the floor. The tub was made of some sort of iridescent material with some sort of fountain as its water source. The walls were painted a dark red and a crystalline chandelier hung on the ceiling. An ornate gold and black dressing screen stood in a corner of the room drawing her eyes to an area squared off with smooth pebbles on the ground and some sort of strange lever on the wall. The other furniture shared a similar aesthetic. It was unlike anything she had ever imagined. She stood there bewildered for a moment before remembering that she was trapped within the walls of what she assumed to be Castle Von Esteré.

She creeped to the door, glancing into the room. Her eyes immediately locked onto the vampire sitting on the edge of the oversized bed silhouetted by a roaring fireplace.

“Did you enjoy exploring the bath?” Raforian asked, glancing up at the girl.

“Y… Yes,” Roxanna said, the slight hope she had of finding a way to escape now diminished.

“Tsk,” he snickered, “whatever happened to you calling me your king?” He patted the bed next to him, telling her to sit down beside him.

Roxanna took a breath and walked over, “forgive me, my king,” she said as she sat down, leaving a small space between her and the vampire.

“I have a small gift for you,” Raforian said, handing her a box from next to him. Roxanna opened it revealing a beautiful burgundy gown with silver embroidered flowers on the neck, sleeves and around the bottom of the dress. Roxanna couldn’t help but drop her jaw in awe as she had never seen a dress as beautiful as this before. “Well?” Raforian said.

“Thank you. It’s beautiful,” she said, lifting it from the box.

Raforian sighed, “are you going to try it on or are you going to continue sitting here in the towel? Not that I care too much either way.”

Roxanna put the dress over her head before removing the towel. She stood up straightening the fabric. Her eyes were drawn to a mirror in the room and she walked over to look at herself. The top of the dress sat loosely off her shoulders, showing off her neck and collar, the dress was fleece lined and flared out slightly at her hips. The sleeves were long and formed a “v” just past her wrists. She looked beautiful and she felt like a princess. She couldn’t help but twirl and smile at herself in the mirror.

Her momentary excitement and joy were quickly broken when two cold, dead hands were placed on her shoulders and a whisper spoke in her ear, “I’m glad to see you enjoying your gift,” Roxanna froze, noticing that she could only see her reflection in the mirror. She turned her face towards the vampire. Raforian drew his hand across her body to caress her cheek, before continuing, “you do look lovely, even though it’s merely just a nightgown.”

“This…. This is a nightgown?” Roxanna asked, shocked that something so pretty was just for sleeping in.

Raforian seemed amused by her reaction, “but of course. I may be King, and at the end of the day you’re nothing more than a servant, but I am fully aware of everything I plan on doing to you,” he said as he ran his fingers down her neck tracing over the veins below the skin, “besides, unless you give me a reason to be I have no intention of being cruel. It’s only fair for what I plan on taking from you that I compensate for it. After all, I’m nothing if not an honorable vampire.”

Roxanna closed her eyes, but didn’t try to move away from the vampire's touch. Her breath was slightly ragged and shallow. Suddenly, she felt her body being lifted up. She looked at the vampire, his eyes red with bloodlust, as he carried her towards the bed. He was uncaring of the struggle in his arms as he tossed her onto the mattress. She quickly tried to scurry away but then found herself pinned down.

“Now, now, there’s no use in fighting me. You could never overpower me. You could never outrun me. Face it, little songbird, you’re mine,” Raforian drew closer to Roxanna’s neck.

“Help, please help!” Roxanna shouted, feebly attempting to escape from the vampire’s hold. This only seemed to amuse the vampire.

“Tell me,” Raforian laughed, “who exactly do you think is brave or dumb enough to attempt to help you? I will tell you this once. The more you resist the more pain you will be in. If you fight back, you’ll only hurt yourself. I have no qualms either way, but you belong to me now. I will get what I want,” he said as his fangs pierced into her skin.

A pained cry escaped Roxanna’s body. The pain was indescribable. She felt cold and hot at the same time as all she could hear was the sound of her own heartbeat. It felt as though death was claiming her as she continued to attempt to move away from Raforian’s fangs, causing them to tear through her flesh and muscle. She cried out once more, listening to the sound of her attempted breaths as the vampire clung tightly to her small, weak frame. Though he only fed for a few moments it felt like an eternity. Eventually her body refused to struggle anymore and she started to go limp expecting death to claim her at any moment. Then she felt the vampires hold on her neck release. She weakly opened her eyes, surprised to believe that she was still alive.

Raforian’s long, bloodied hair fell over her like a sheet covering a corpse. Her breath was shallow and her eyes almost begging him to take her life, but he wanted her to stay human for now. She was truly a creature of light; radiant as the sun that he had avoided for so long and yet he found himself drawn to her. But then he remembered something, a fleeting interaction from the past, when he met the girl for the first time.

It was a little over 10 years ago. To his annoyance, a female vampire spawn broke the rules and was relentlessly hunting in the streets. Raforian had no care about spawn feeding on stupid humans who wandered out at night, but she seemed to rush out as soon as dusk began to fall, a time that he assured the human population that they would be under his protection. This was something he normally wouldn’t care about, as he had no real care for the humans within Wolfborough, but what he did care about was his rules being broken and in such excess. He began his hunt for the disobedient woman, following the scent of fresh blood on her to the merchant district. He then saw two humans, a mother and child.

The mother didn’t seem to notice as the vampire spawn caught the attention of the little girl and beckoned her closer. Raforian snickered to himself, thinking that if these humans have such little self preservation he might as well use them as a distraction to kill the spawn. The child only took a few steps before the mother noticed what was happening, quickly dropping the basket she was carrying and dashed towards the girl throwing her body over her daughter’s just in time as the spawn was forced to change targets to the mother. Raforian stepped into action, quickly moving to tear off the spawns head and tossing it to the side.

He stood over the mother and child. The mother gasped for air as her throat was slashed open from the attack. There was no saving her, but the child was most likely fine, physically at least. He lifted the soon to be corpse away, revealing the girl. Her eyes followed her mother’s body, a look of shock and fear plain on her face. Raforian watched as the girl wobbled to her feet to get a closer look at the now corpse of her mother. The girl took him by surprise when she asked him if her mother was gone, when he confirmed that she was, the girl kneeled down beside the corpse and started apologizing and saying goodbye. It was the reaction of someone who not only had seen death before, but understood it. When the girl stood up once more she was drenched in her mother’s blood, practically a beacon for any vampire. The expression on the girl's face was broken, drenched in a slime of mucus and tears, but then extended her hand asking for help getting home. She did this despite knowing that she had just watched one of his creations murder her mother when she was the original target. As a child in this village he knew that she would have been taught to fear him, and been told to avoid him at all costs. It was almost as though she knew this was her only way of getting home safely. Despite himself, he took the child’s hand, leading her to the safety of her home.

Years later Raforian learned of a mystery girl who sang in the tavern at night. At first, this didn’t interest him at all, but learned that both humans and vampires would travel just to hear her song. He found himself astounded that the mystery girl was the same that he chose to spare years ago. He was even more surprised that he himself was drawn to her song like a ship following a siren call. Then he found himself coming to the Hot Snow tavern night after night to see if the Little Nightingale was performing that evening. When he entered the tavern the first time to listen, he was expecting her to flee or stop performing all together, but she never did. He found it irritating that a mere human seemed to hold so much power over him for such a fragile creature. He could have easily killed her or turned her, but then he decided that if this dark enchantress was so determined to lure him in, the only option was to obey the call and claim her for himself. No, she was far from a creature of light. She truly could only belong to the night.

Raforian snapped from his memories of the girl he had pinned below him. She still seemed slightly hazy, but she was coming out of it fairly quickly. For now he would allow her to rest. He wrapped an arm under her, beginning to place her more comfortably in the bed, when he was surprised to feel her arm around his shoulder. He was fully aware that it was an attempt to steady herself, and aware of how much she feared him, yet she was clinging to him in this moment. Raforian was surprised that he found this small action to be so adorable, so pure, so wholeheartedly trusting. Then he realized the true danger of the situation; he was falling for her and quickly.

Raforian pulled the blanket back and lowered Roxanna back down onto the bed. He lingered a moment as Roxanna removed her arm. The vampire king had no need for sleep and yet wanted nothing more than to crawl into that bed with the little songbird. He watched as she curled up and her eyes fought for just a moment to stay open before drifting shut.

Raforian let out a sigh, “rest well, Roxanna,” as he pulled the blanket over her, “I have nothing but time to make you mine.”