Stained

1 : Out of Depth

Argen

I was in my study reading Latin texts when somebody knocked on the massive oak door. By the smell alone, I could tell that it was my feeder, and she was afraid. Not a first, but very rare given that the twins had been with me for a decade.

With my mind, I opened the heavy door. The smell of lavender shampoo instantly filled the room the moment a tall, leggy blonde stepped in, dispelling the dusty, musky scent of old books and scrolls. She was in her bathrobe, her hair still damp, and her feet bare as they padded across the rich fur carpet. The older of the twins, Ana, appeared to only have stepped out of the shower mere minutes ago.

"My Lord," she curtsied lowly, as befit her nature. A good measure of blond hair slipped out of the lazy bun and pooled down her shoulders in a gentle wave. "You have visitors."

My brothers? Unlikely.

"I'm busy."

"My Lord, you have to see them," she pressed as she straightened her body, inevitably exposing her tender throat. The blood there pulsed erratically, seducing me, pulling the reins of my inner monster. My fangs started to poke through my lips.

Blood.

"Tell them away," I rose from my chair with the feline grace of an ancient.

"But –"

I frowned.

Her heartbeats got louder, faster, as she licked her lips with her pale tongue. "P-Pardon, but I'm afraid I can't do that, my Lord." Her blue eyes were wide with fear as she stepped closer. "Vassals of the elders hold my sister captive and will not release her till you meet them. They are currently in the garden pavilion, waiting for you."

I slammed the hardbound book in my hand against the table. The ground shook with the impact.

Without a moment's hesitation, I wrapped myself in a cloak of darkness, and disappeared from my feeder's sight. The elders of the Court had stepped too far.  I hoped that as I appear before them, they would know that I came not to give respect, but to make them pay dearly for attempting to get what is mine.

"I'm glad that you heeded our summons, Argen Valecci."

The three men in dark suits wore golden pendants that bore the insignia of the Vampiric Court, no doubt, in a show to intimidate me and my brethren. They were huge – larger than my tall frame, but they were mere foot-soldiers way below my station. Young, disposable pawns that would never deserve to warrant my attention. I merely casted them a dispassionate gaze.

"Isabel", I whispered to the mind of the blond woman that they kept in their midst. Unlike her older sister, Isabel was frail and sensitive. She would be sick for days if she ever witnessed the slaughter I intended to deliver.

"My Lord... Save me, please..."

"Close your eyes."

"Yes, my Lord", she answered timidly, and the moment she followed my order, she was showered in a hot spray of blood. The young vampire in front of her as well as the one holding her was shredded, savagely torn apart by a mere thought from me.

"How dare you!"

"Tell the elders to stop pestering me. I am done with all affairs of the Court", I told the lone survivor, the lucky fellow who bared his fangs at me in a feeble attempt of defense.

"You have no rights to defy the orders of the Elders!" he shouted. I smirked at the furious glint in his red eyes. He had to be a newborn, perchance less than a decade old, for him not to know who he was addressing. Did his Maker never tell him?