The Blackbloods

From the window of the study, I detect someone wandering through the forest in the direction of the manor. Judging by the way they walk aimlessly; they must be lost. Observing closely, they appear to be a young girl no more than fifteen and human. Perfect, I’ve been running low on food lately.

            I make my way to the main hall and hide in the shadows. When the door opens, I see the little girl peeking inside before stepping in. Her eyes marvel at the interior of my manor. As she admires the decorations, I slowly come out of hiding.

            “Who dares trespass on my manor?” I question. She quickly turns around to face me and beams.

            “Hello there! Sorry, I didn’t mean to barge into your home. I somehow ended up in this forest and noticed this mansion in the distance. I thought it would be a good idea to check it out. What’s your name? I’m Honour.” She replied while smiling like an imbecile. She is very… social. My eyes narrow. How is she so bright and calm? I sense no fear nor any negative emotions from her.

            “I am Faery Blackblood. I am the head of this household.”

            “It’s so nice to meet you! You have a lovely mansion. Though it’s very dark in here. Why is that?”   

            “You have entered the great Vamphire Manor. Do you understand the position you’re in? I can kill you in an instant and no one would help you.” I threaten. However, Honour seems to completely ignore my comment.

            “Oh, so you’re a vampire? Wait, are you the only one in this mansion? I don’t see any servants around here. That must be so lonely.”

            “Did you not hear what I said before?” I am becoming impatient with her bubbly personality. But yet again, she ignores my threat.

            “I know! How about you and I become friends? Then you won’t be so lonely anymore.” She squeals. Running towards me and wrapping her arms around mine. By now, my patience is at its end. I forcefully grab her chin and bring her face close to mine.

            “You are testing my patience, human. I was going to give you a chance to beg for your life, but now I think I’ll just kill you.” I hiss.

            “Hey! I just told you my name is Honour! It would be nice if you could call me by my name.” Honour simply complains, ignoring my threats yet again. I groan, letting go of her chin and pushing her away.

            “That’s enough. You are too brainless to even bother with. You probably have a foul taste anyways.”

            “Hey, where are you going? I thought we were gonna become friends. Oh! How about I tell you about myself first. As you know, I’m Honour. I’m fifteen and my favourite colour is pastel pink. I don’t like homework, but I do like anything that’s cute.” She clutches onto my arm again. And of course, she is still smiling.

            “You are such an odd child. Choosing to stick around me. Even telling me about yourself.” My eyebrow twitches as I attempt to pull away from her.

            “I like to think of myself as unique. So, what about you? I told you about myself it’s only fair you tell me about yourself.” Honour continues to pester. Her hands latch onto my arm and continuously shake it. She annoys me to no end, so I snap.

            “You wish to know my interests? I like to torture ignorant intruders such as yourself until they beg for death. I enjoy sucking every last ounce of blood out of a person’s body while they can only struggle to survive.” Honour’s smile falls, and yet she doesn’t back away from me.

            “Even though you aren’t the kindest person, you’re still a living being. I don’t want you to feel alone.” Her eyes shine with determination. Mine widen for a fraction of a second. A chuckle leaves my mouth which quickly turns into crazed laughter.

            “You’re quite interesting for a human. Very well, I shall allow you stay in my manor. Welcome, Honour.”  I say with a thin smile.

            Over the next few days, Honour and I become more acquainted with each other. Spending time giving her a tour around the manor, introducing myself more, and playing games such as chess. Apparently, she likes sharp objects, especially knives. Honour can be quite intriguing.

            As night falls on the third day, Honour and I sit in the library reading when I sense another presence outside of the manor. I head towards the window to peer outside. Approaching the manor is a man in a black cloak covering him from his shoulders down. A silver insignia in the shape of the sun hooked on the collar of his cloak. His hands hold onto a crossbow.

            “Faery, what’s going on?” Honour asks.

            “Hide, and don’t come out until I personally come for you.” My grave tone causes Honour to tense.

            “Why? Is someone out there?” Her hands bunch up the sleeves of her shirt.

            “A treasure hoarder. One trained to deal with vampires it would appear.” I answer. Honour then begins to panic. “Find somewhere to hide or you’ll get in my way.”

            Leaving the library, I slowly walk to the main hall to greet our intruder. Along the way, I dismount a saber that was displayed on the wall. As I neared the main hall, I stop at the end of the hallway and push myself up against the wall. Peering around the corner, I see the treasure hoarder carefully stepping towards the stairs, crossbow loaded and ready. It appears he is alone, and I sense no other presence around the manor. After confirming he is indeed alone, I reveal myself to the hoarder.

            “Welcome to Vamphire Manor. Now kindly show yourself out.” I glare at the man. At the sound of my voice, he snaps in my direction. Surprisingly, he lowers his weapon before sending me a cheeky grin.

            “There you are, vampire. You wouldn’t mind leading me to the library, would you?” He asks in a mockingly polite manner. I frown, before leaping onto the banister and launching myself at him. He quickly jumps back to dodge, pulling a odd ball out of his pocket. The hoarder throws it towards me. Upon impact, the ball bursts open spraying me with a liquid. I let out a scream as my skin begins to burn. A holy water bomb. Clever invention.

            The man quickly runs past me while I’m distracted by the holy water. He heads down the hallway from which I appeared. Taking a second more to recover from the holy water, I dart down the hallway, chasing after him.

            Running down the hall, I see the hoarder throwing open doors trying to find the library. When he reaches the door to the library, I hear a scream. Honour must have tried hiding in there. As soon as I reach the doorway, I take a second to analyze the situation. Honour is cowering at the far end of the library. The treasure hoarder is aiming his crossbow at her in the middle of the room. I slash my saber at him, but he dodges at the last second.

            “Honour, get out of here!” I shout, pointing my saber towards the hoarder. Honour takes this chance to run out of the room. Only then do I notice one of my books in the hoarder’s satchel.

            “Why have you come for that book? You do realize that this is a suicide mission.” I question.

            “I am being paid good money to retrieve this here book. The vampire hunters need this book to figure out you vampires’ biggest weaknesses. Besides, I’m more than skilled enough to escape from you alive.” He states arrogantly.

            The treasure hoarder and I stand off across from each other. Waiting for the other to make a move first. Suddenly, the hoarder lifts his crossbow and fires a stake at me. I quickly slice the stake in half and launch myself at him, saber ready to cut him to pieces. However, before I can land a hit, he pulls the book up to block my attack. My eyes widen and I rapidly stop my attack and jump back. The hoarder smirks and throws another holy water bomb at me. This time I am prepared to evade, but in doing so, it gives the hoarder a small window to get a head start down the hallway.

            The hoarder attempts to take shots at me as he runs towards the entrance. None of the stakes manage to hit me, but I applaud his attempt. Reaching the main hall, I notice Honour running around trying to find a safe place. Unfortunately, the hoarder also notices Honour. He jumps over the banister and rushes towards her. The treasure hoarder managed to trap Honour in his arms, holding a dagger to her throat.

            “Let me walk out of this place with the book or she dies.” He threatens. The main hall falls under silence only for a few moments.

            “Then kill her.”

            Using the hoarder’s surprise to my advantage, I rush at them and pierce my saber through their chests. Honour and the treasure hoarder’s eyes widen in shock. The metallic scent of blood fills my nose, and I cannot help but lick my lips. Pulling my saber out of their bodies, I pull Honour of his grip and throw her behind me.

            “I’ll take my book back now.” I whisper maniacally into the hoarder’s ear.

            “You’re… You’re a monster! An abomination! You stabbed your friend!” He struggled to yell as blood started spilling from his mouth.

            “Sometimes to stab your enemy you must stab your friend.” I lift my saber and sever his head.

            His body slumps down to the ground. Blood pooling on the floor. I let out a sigh before turning around to face Honour.

            “How could you? I thought we were friends.” Honour choked out. Her entire body struggling to let her look me in the eyes.

            “So, you wished for me to die? If he escaped with that book, I would be dead within days. You’re my friend, aren’t you? Don’t you want me to live? But you should be aware that everything in this manor comes before anyone and anything.” I reply, watching as she feebly clutches the wound on her chest. Her breath uneven. Suddenly, a great idea popped into my head causing me to smirk. “Although, I can’t have you dying on me. After all, it would become dreadfully boring around the manor without you. And you did say you wanted to be my friend, right?”

            For the first time, I could see fear in her eyes. Walking up to her, I place my hand on her mouth and slowly sink my fangs into her neck. Honour’s muffled cries and screams are the only sound heard throughout the manor. I can feel her tears falling onto my hand. Feeling her fangs forming underneath my hand, I can’t help but grin. When I finally pull away, I get a chance to see her newly red irises and tear-stained face.

            “From this day forward your name shall be Haze Blackblood. It would appear your wish came true. We can be friends, forever.”

 

 

 

End Notes

• The Blackblood Clan was an extremely prominent vampire clan that was almost entirely wiped out during The Crown War
• Faery is female (I feel the need to clarify this as many people mistake her for a male)
• Faery has never and will never see Honour as a friend. She simply uses the term against her
• Honour believed that she was changing Faery’s personality for the better
• Fun fact: my version of vampires can step underneath the sun for a certain amount of time each day