The Vampire's Handmaiden

Deliverance

After I was burned at the stake, the others recovered my body and had me chained in the one room which Aleias resides in. It was on the far west wing of the mansion, completely off limits to everyone, including me. That was until he had me sit there like a lamp collecting dust. He would come in every now and then in the darkest hours of the night and stand over me and just watch me. I could not move, barely breathing and my thirst was uncontrollable that even a drop of blood would salivate me.

He would bend over with a cross blade and cut his wrist ever so slightly and drop his blood near the floor hoping I would lick it like a dog. Never giving him the satisfaction, he continued this for months as I lay parched feeling as if death was more humane than this. I started to heal slowly, starting with my legs and by the eleventh month I was already healed up to my abdomen. This surprised Aleias and the others. I had not fed nor did I succumb to my own hunger and yet I was healing normally. After a year and some months my neck was fully healed but my face and arms were still badly burned. I was now able to walk but still chained and weak, all I did was look outside the windows for hours on end. Then on the highest moon of the year a strange thing happened. Aleias brought a talisman necklace that he refused to say where and he got it. Placing it around me it burned my skin causing me to cry out in pain. Suddenly pulling me to the moon the talisman glistened at its touch and I was unable to feel the burning sensation. Instead I looked up at my arms and they were completely healed. I touched my face and it felt normal- and I felt human. I was no longer craving blood. I wanted to eat food. I looked up at the moon touching the talisman and for the first time in eleven years I wept. Tears, real tears streamed down my cheek as I laughed in disbelief. Aleias was in shock, looking over at me like he had seen something foreign.

As he tried to take the necklace off me it burned him, and I gripped it tightly not allowing him to take it back. He grew angry, grabbing me and trying again, as it burned through his palms unable to move from my chest. Throwing me to the floor he stormed off leaving me in the room alone. I held onto the talisman for dear life and cried as I watched the moon. After three days it turned out its effects wore off. I returned as the demon I was cursed as, which delighted Aleias. However, the talisman refused to come off which confused even me. On the day when the sun rose early, Aleias unchained me and took me to meet with someone- probably the same person that has been giving him insight and certain abilities. As I met with this woman she was older, more enticing and beautiful. Her bosom lay bare as she wore a talisman similar to the one on my neck. She approached me weary, but confidently touching the talisman. She grabbed it without it burning her and looked up at me.

"You said this girl was the first you made, correct?" She asked, her voice sultry and husky.

Aleias agreed, "Yes, this is she."

She looked over at me with a raised eyebrow, then back over to him.

"This girl still maintains her human soul it seems."

Both Aleias and I stare at her in disbelief.

"How is that possible? I watched her die!" He exclaimed.

She waved her hand at him, "My lord, the talisman does not lie. I told you that I foresaw one of you being able to walk amongst humans as their own. This is the girl. She maintains her soul."

He looked over at me in complete disarray. Grabbing the woman she stood completely still, keeping her eyes on him.

"I told you this my Lord, that whatever this is that you are is not black and white. Magic is never black and white. Every deal you make there will be consequences. What happened to you was a consequence from a deal gone wrong. As with her." She explained.

He cursed under his breath then looked back at me.

"So? What does this mean for her?" He asked, fixing his cuff links.