(oh, exiting plan!
Sorry, another SUPER LONG post. Just some reminiscing to refresh our memories! I thought it would be a good idea to recount Elvira’s memories of her turning and of Lord Oron [actual name, Lord Orn’ d Athers].)
Elvira looked across the aisle of the plane to where Nefara slept. Asleep, she seemed almost human. There was no dark, predatory glint from her dark eyes, and she seemed at peace. Elvira closed her eyes. This wasn't the life she wanted for her daughter. She never intended any of this to happen. When she had sacrificed herself, she had wanted Nefara to grow up and live a normal life, not stuck in the boy of a young woman. She had endured years of torture and finally death, but the universe played them a bad card.
Behind them, Aleron was sleeping, or at least in the semblance of sleep. Carden was gazing out the window, watching the sunrise above the sea of clouds. This was one of the first times he had seem a sunrise since his turning.
Elvira was wrapped in her own thoughts and worries. As she fell into her own sleep, she was pulled back into her visions of her past…
~ 1638Eivira found herself in a park garden. There were cultivated flowers and plants, a fountain by a stone bench. Elvira sat down, excited about going home the next day to tell her husband the good news. She wished to be off, but her guards insisted that they travel in the daytime. Night was too dangerous.
She hugged herself, feeling the knife that was cleverly hidden in the folds of her dress. It's warmth was reassuring. Another thing that Oron had promised she carry with her at all times. Her head snapped up as she heard a sound.
A man, fairly tall and lean, stood before her. She jumped up, startled, and scared. She hadn't seen him before.
"May I help you, sir?" she asked, cautiously, her hand automatically going to the knife. She had regretted, dismissing her Kriivida guards, but she really had wanted to be alone, and she never got the opportunity when she was about. They were always there. And the one moment they weren't she wanted them.
"Elvira Athers," he said.
"How do you know my name?" she gasped, mind racing. He moved with a cat-like grace, and his tone was cold. In a horrible second of realization, Elvira gave a little start. Vampire.
Although she had never met one, the Kriivida had taught her enough. She was cornered. She had only one chance. Lunging forward, Elvira lashed out with the dagger. Oh G*d! The man moved so fast!! In a split second, he had moved faster than she could see, and grabbed her wrist, giving a twist.
Elvira screamed as she felt the bone snap. The Solis blade fell from her hands, and the man kicked it careless aside. He wrapped his arms around her, standing behind her. She could feel his cool breath on her skin. "Please..." she whimpered.
"Do you know who I am?"
Elvira thought for a moment. "Gabriel."
Gabriel laughed, as he pulled her hair away from her neck. It had come out of it's bun and fallen around her shoulders. He could feel her shaking. Even in this state, she was beautiful. He could imagine how Oron had fallen for her.
"Do you know what I am going to do?" he said with a silky laugh. She didn't respond, only gave a small whimper of fear.
"Your husband will get your pretty little head in a box," he hissed.
"Please! Don't hurt me!" she cried desperately. Her struggles renewed, but to no avail. Gabriel wanted her to be still, he would get his way.
Elvira felt him smooth her hair away before sinking his deadly fangs into her neck. She stiffened, and started to struggle again, her breath coming in ragged gasps, but struggling hurt. "Please..." she kept whispering. "I'm with child," she said, as grogginess crept over her.
Gabriel froze, as a new thought dawned on him. What would be better revenge than to turn her? Plus she had a child. A perfect weapon to pierce Oron's heart!
He could hear Elvira's heart, weak and faltering. He quickly bit his own wrist, and forced it to Elvira's mouth.
"No..." she protested, struggling again, once she realized what he was trying to do. "I'd rather die."
He plugged her nose, forcing her to open her mouth. Elvira grabbed his wrist then, pulling it to her lips. She dug her teeth in more, forcing more blood into her mouth. "Fight," Gabriel encouraged. "Don't let your heart falter." Only the strongest survived such a transformation. He started to feed again, listening carefully to the sound of her heart. If it stopped too soon, she wouldn't change. “Come now, think of your child,” he whispered to her, as she slumped in his arms. As Gabriel pulled away, he heard her heart stop.
Elvira woke with a start. She found herself in a large bedroom, beautifully decorated with lavish furniture and décor.
Gabriel sat in a chair, watching her, as she climbed from the large king-sized bed. Her hand went to her neck, which was smooth and unbroken. “Ah, you’re awake,” Gabriel said.
Elvira jumped back, moving with suck speed, she stumbled. “You!” she snarled, looking frantically about. “You!”
“Yes, me,” Gabriel said, amused.
“You, you… You killed me.”
“Yet here you are.”
Elvira looked down at herself, the neck of her dress still stained with her own blood. She blanched in horror, as she realized what had happened. “No!!!” she screamed. “No! This can’t be!” She ran, no flitted, to the other side of the room, where she yanked a sword off the mantle of the fireplace. “Get away from me!”
Gabriel walked over to her calmly. “You need to feed. That is the only way to seal the transformation.”
“I said, stay away!”
Gabriel kept talking, as if oblivious to the sword that Elvira held trembling in her hands. “I brought you someone too. I picked him out as best I could. Not much selection these days. But I think he will be good as your first.”
“What?” She backed up, until she was against the wall. Gabriel took another step, and, she plunged the sword through his chest, up to the hilt. Gabriel fell to his knees. Elvira flitted to the door, to find it locked. She turned around, to see Gabriel yank the sword out with a grimace.
“Now that wasn’t very polite,” he said with a wry smile. He walked over to he fireplace, wiped the sword clean on his pant leg and hung it back up. “That was my grandfather’s sword.” Gabriel walked over to what looked like a large closet, and opened it up. “Surprise.”
Elvira saw a young man, probably about mid-twenties, tied up inside. Gabriel pulled him out, and undid his bindings.
“Please,
Moisure! Have mercy!” the man pleaded as soon as he was free.
“Here, Elvira. You need your strength.”
Elvira shook her head. “No… I won’t!”
“Come now, don’t fuss.” Gabriel, pulled him up, and pulled back his head. He quickly opened up a wound in his neck, taking a deep drought, all the while watching Elvira.
Elvira turned her face away, sickened. The room was soon filled with the enticing scent of blood. She was revolted by how much she wanted it. She found herself walking over to Gabriel, who pushed the man into her arms.
“Please, don’t kill me,” the man whispered, too weak to put up a fight. Elvira reveled in the new taste, like nothing before. She was so hungry, as if she had been starving. Even long after his heart had stopped, she drank on, pulling every last drop into her.
Gabriel finally pulled him from her. “I don’t think there is anything left my dear,” he said with a grin. Elvira stood there frozen.
“Dear G*d, what have I done?” she whispered, looking down at her blood-soaked dress. “This can’t be.
No.”
Gabriel put an arm around her. “If it makes you more at ease, this man was going to die anyway. He was a criminal, who had killed a family of five, sentenced to the gallows.”
Elvira nodded at this. It did make her feel better, but of course Gabriel was probably lying. She sat down in one of the large, plush chairs. “Oron…” she whispered. What would he think? “I have to go back.”
“You can’t.”
“I must!”
Gariel looked at her. “He will kill you.”
“He wouldn’t!”
“Don’t you understand? You are a vampire. He hunts us.”
She suddenly got very angry, and shoved Gabriel away from her. Her strength sent him flying across the room. “And that is all
your fault!”
Oron paced. Elvira was supposed to arrive with her convoy earlier that day, but she hadn’t. It was evening, and he paced outside his room, on the balcony. Drawing his sword, he spun around.
“Gabriel.”
Gabriel stood there, leaning against one of the column. “Greetings, Lord Orn’ d Athers,” he said, bowing comically. Lord Oron charged at Gariel, ready to run him through with his Solis sword. Gabriel parried the blow, tossing Oron back.
“Your wife is one strong-hj!” he said with a laugh. At this Oron froze. Gabriel continued. “I have never tasted blood more finer!”
“NOOO!!!” Oron cried, as he swung at Gabriel. Gabriel leapt back just in time, as Oron’s rapier cut through the air. It nicked the front of his jacket, leaving a clean slice through the fabric.
Gabriel frowned. “She is so beautiful, and is even more beautiful as a vampire.” Oron’s intensity, so that Gabriel had to stop talking in order to avoid Oron’s deadly onslaught. Gabriel stumbled, and Oron was on him in a second. He drove the rapier through Gabriel’s left shoulder, pinning him to the marble floor.
“I will kill you slowly, and make you regret you ever touched Elvira.”
“What will you kill your wife like that too?” Gabriel asked, as he flinched from the pain. He screamed, as Oron twisted the blade.
“Think about your family. Your wife and your daughter.”
Oron hesitated for a moment, allowing Gabriel to land a hard kick. Oron flew back, hitting the wall and sliding down. He looked up to see Gabriel standing there, clutching his wounded bleeding shoulder.
“Yes, your wife never had the opportunity to tell you she was carrying a child. A girl, she says,” Gabriel said, lavishing Oron’s anguish. “She told me she was going to name her, Nefara, after your mother too. Would you kill her because of what she is?”
“I would never…” Oron said, tears running down his face.
“Elvira has killed with me, fed with me.” Gabriel taunted.
“She would never!” he cried.
“She lavished the hunt, the fatal strike. She lives for blood.”
“Is this the revenge you wanted?” Oron whispered. “
Are you happy now?”
Gabriel frowned at this. It wasn’t what he expected. What he saw now was a broken man. No longer stood the proud, arrogant, Kriivida lord.
“Yes. Yes I am happy.” Gabriel said, but it sounded false in his ears. When was the last time he had been truly happy?
Gabriel gave one last look at Oron, who made no attempt to get up, and flitted over the railing of the balcony into the night.
Gabriel walked through he door. Elvira was nowhere to be seen. He saw two bodies of young men lying on the floor, drained of blood. Elvira had taken quickly into hunting. She was skillful at luring her victims home and then killing them quietly.
“Elvira?” No answer.
Gabriel searched, making his way down to the stables. Her horse was gone. He swore. Elvira for the last few days had begged Gabriel for her to go and see Oron. He had warned her against it. She was young, naïve and not thinking straight. Now her horse was gone, and she was probably almost to the Kriivida estate. He could feel the sun. It was almost dawn. He would never catch up with her in time before the sun rose. “Damnit Elvira!” Although he had changed her out of spite and revenge, he had started to care for her. It was strange, and pleasant living with another and having company.
Oron knelt before the Council. They had found all Elvira’s guards. Their heads all arrived in a giant box just this morning, mailed to them from a blank address. Gabriel’s signature. They had figured yt that Elvira was changed, as her head was not in the box.
“Lord Orn’ d Athers, General and Member of the High Council, you are hereby ordered to hunt and kill on sight, Lady Elvira Athers of Sendre.”
Oron looked up at this. “What?” he gasped. This wasn’t what he was expecting.
The Council looked down at him. “Lady Elvira Athers knows too much. We warned against this, marrying a human. It poses too much liability and risk. She has too much knowledge of us and must be killed.”
“I beg of you. Put another in charge. Don’t make me kill my wife.”
“May I remind you, Lord Athers, that she is no longer your wife. She is no long human. It is your duty to find her and kill her. Should you fail, you will be stripped of all your wealth and titles. Do your duty to your people.”
“Yes, High Council,” Oron said, bowing low, shielding his tear-streaked face from the onlookers.
Oron galloped at full speed through the dark woods. He could see Elvira up a head, as she ran. In the distance, he could hear the dogs barking, and the men shouting. If anyone was going to kill Elvira it would be him. He would do it to regain his honor.
Elvira had been foolish enough to come onto the Kriivda estate, where she had been detected and a chase had ensued.
Oron aimed his crossbow and closed for a moment as he fired. He saw Elvira stumble and fall, as he fired a second shot. Elvira got to her feet and ran into the woods. He leapt off his horse, and ran after her through the narrow trees. She was trapped. A cliff of solid rock shout up, and would be impossible to climb.
The two bolts stuck out; one from her shoulder, the other from her leg. She was just pulling the last bolt out, her fingers stained with blood, as Oron came into the clearing. Elvira turned to face Oron, her eyes wide and black. Her hair was down, and floated around her face. She wore a deep blue dress, and the embroidered silver glinted in the moonlight. She was backed up against the wall, barely able to stand.
“I came to see you,” she said, looking at him, as she knelt there. She was shaking as she watching Oron approach.
Oron studied her with his eyes. She didn’t sound scared, although he knew she was. She looked exactly the same as she had in life if not breathtaking. She was paler, but that could also be from the darkness and the moon. Her eyes were lightless and black.
Vampiric. “Oron,” she whispered, her voice pleading. He could see her fangs, and shivered. They looked so wrong!
She flinched away from his sword, as he swung it up and pointed it at her chest. The Kriivida heat of it stung. “Is it true?” he asked. He could hear the Guard fast approach. He didn’t have long.
“Is what true?” she asked, standing slowly.
He swallowed. “You, I…we…
Nefara.”
Elvira gave a sad smile. “Something that may never be,” she said, looking away. “But yes. It is true.” She locked her eyes on him. “Do what you must,” she said, looking towards the sound of the braying dogs. “I won’t stop you,” she said, her voice cracking. She closed her eyes, preparing for death.
She opened them in surprise as she heard the sword hit the earth. Then Oron was there, in her arms. He hugged her tightly, kissing her. “I can’t do this!” he whispered. Oron shivered, as he felt the coldness of her hands in his. He tried not to flinch away as he felt the tips of her teeth brush against his skin. All instinct told him to fight her.
“I’m so sorry. For everything… I can’t. Not to you.”
“They will kill you!” Elvria said. She paused. “Come away with me. We can be together. We can go anywhere! To the New World perhaps! There are some Dutch colonies there. We can make a new life!”
Oron stepped back. “I couldn’t. Like you said, it is something that cannot be. For letting you go, I will forfit my life in return.”
“You know how stupid that is! Forget duty and honor! They will kill you! Think of life!”
“I am!” Oron hissed. “And you and your kind take it!”
Elvira looked away, ashamed. “I do what I must to survive. I would not if I could help it! Do you think I wanted this!? That I asked for this!?” she hissed. Oron shuttered. In her anger, she looked more like a vampire than ever. He looked away.
“They will be here within a minute. You must go.” Oron took Elvira’s hand, as he slid off his wedding ring. Elvira started to cry, as he placed the gold band in the palm of her hand. He closed her fingers around it. “Now go.”
Gabriel ran after Elvira. “Wait. Please.”
Elvira turned suddenly on him. “You never listen, do you!?” she snarled, shoving him. “I told you to leave me alone.”
“That square will be filled with Kriivida. You risk your life going to see Oron. Do you really want to see him hanged?”
“That isn’t for you to decide,” Elvira snarled. “Don’t forget, Gabriel, that I hate you with my entire soul. You will regret ever turning me! One day I will be more powerful than you, and you will regret it.”
Gabriel gave a strange smile. “Perhaps. You may come to love me too.”
Elvira made a noise, as she mounted her horse and rode off.
The hanging was to take place a noon, and everyone was there. Elvira hid herself away from the sun, a thick cloak covering her, as she watched from afar.
Even facing death, Oron looked regal and proud. He walked with a confidence that emanated respect. He looked across the crowd; his eyes’ somehow finding her’s for a split second before moving on. As the roll of the drums silenced the noise, Elvira couldn’t turn away. As the lever was pulled, Oron fell, and she could
feel the bones break. She turned then a ran, crying into her sleeve.
It was finally dark, and the square was empty. Elvira stood before the gallows. She clutched the wedding ring that was now strung on a chain around her neck.
Elvira started to attack the gallows. She tore rope from wood, and snapped thick wooden beams in half over her knee. Within twenty minutes, the entire platform and gallows were a heaping pile of wood, iron and rope. Finally, she sank to the floor, breathing her fists into the dirt.
She heard someone approach, but didn’t get up. She didn’t even more when she felt them lay a hand on her shoulder.
“Time to go,” Gabriel said.
Elvira looked up at him. “Where? Where will we go? What is there to live for? Why should I keep living?”
“Live because it is your right,” Gabriel responded.
“Life isn’t a right,” she said.
“Come on. Someone is bound to investigate, well with all the noise you created. We need to go.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” Gabriel gave an exasperated sigh, but his face was soft. As he bent down, she looked at him. “You go what you wanted, didn’t you? Are you happy now?”
Gabriel looked at her his face serious and open, almost regretful. “No. No I am not.”