Wolshire

Chapter 7

Victoria

London 1856

"Miss!" A small boy shouted for me.

The young children hit a ball, and it now rolled slowly towards me. The cloth-wrapped ball tapped my ankle.

"Here you go." One of the kids nodded his head at me in thanks. I smiled in return, and a little boy tugged on my dress.

"Miss, what are you doing?"

I smiled kindly, "I am reading."

"Reading what?"

"Hard Times by-" I paused, smelling a particular vampire nearby. "Pardon, I am sorry, but I must be leaving."

The young boy looked sad, but his friends pushed him back into the ball game. He would forget soon enough about ever talking to me.

I ran through the streets of London, trying not to run into too many people. I had lost his scent once and would not this time. I ran into a crowd of people, and they drowned out his scent. I charged through the crowd, but I could not find him in the dozens of people. I passed by the clock tower that was not finished yet and the tons of people in mixes of fabrics of semi-dull colors.

"Looking for me, love?" I turned to see an adolescent boy with a top hat, which he'd probably stolen because it did not match his ripped clothes. He had short brown hair and sharp features.

"Listen, David. You are a lone vampire, and that puts all vampires in danger.. You need to join a clan or we will be forced to kill you."

"No, thanks. I'm not interested in your monarchy.

I stepped into the alley where he was leaning against a stone wall. "At least tell me who sired you." I stepped towards him with an outstretched hand. "Please."

David was obviously drunk on blood as he rocked back and forth unsteadily.

"David, we have had to clean up after your meals for the past month since you were bitten. We still do not even know how it happened," I almost mumbled my previous statement, "but if you join the Blood Moon clan, you can still be fed, and you still will have fun. However, if you do not stop, we will be forced to kill you."

He did not respond. He just grabbed a woman passing on the sidewalk and held his fangs against her.

"Stop it now, David!" I took a quick step towards him.

He threw the girl back into the crowd. She was terrified. We would have to clean up that mess, too. He threw his top hat at me, and I caught it by the trimming.

"So are you going to kill me yet or what?" He bowed.

"How dare you. I am going to be a lieutenant in my clan."

"Going to be. That's the important part of that sentence."

I walked over to him and broke his arm. He fell to the ground, groaning and clutching his arm. David looked up at me, and his eyes were blood red.

"Mate, you really do not want to pick a fight with me."

David still tried to punch me, and I caught his hand, twisting it until his arm went limp.

"So are you going to join us or not? Do you really want to die?"

"Bloody hell. You've really got some attitude don't you?" He slurred his words.

"Is that yes?"

He did not respond.

"Get up." I pulled him off the ground. "We are going to the clan."

I fixed both his arms back into place. The moment he was up, he tried to run. I easily sped in front of him.

"You could you have not compiled?" I broke his neck, then pulled the stake out of my boot. "I take no joy in this." I stabbed it into his chest and kept it a few seconds longer than I should.

I pulled the stake out and disposed of it into the Thames. I took a deep breath and walked to the clan's hideout.

Once I was there, I was helped by people indebted to the clan, mostly human. They gave me more expensive clothes that were uncomfortable, but I could not walk up to Ana in these lower-class drapes. I was stripped down to my corset and hopped into a tournure, to shape my dress. I took my one last deep breath as the entire dress was cinched together. I nodded a thank you to the lady who helped me. She smiled at me and retreated with my lower-class dress.

"Victoria Langley, Second Lieutenant," I stepped into the room, catching Ana's attention. "Also entering, Lieutenants Mary Elmebrigge and William Branch."

I turned to see my mortal enemies.

"Lieutenants, welcome." Ana stood and the three of us lowered to the ground immediately. "No, don't do that." She tapped us on the shoulders, and we stood when she did. "I think of you as my closest friends. Victoria, you used to serve me in the French court. Mary, we started this clan together. And William, the most loyal person I've ever met." Am I not loyal in your eyes?

"Thank you, Queen." We said in unison and lowered back onto our knees.

"What did I just say?!" We stood quickly from her temper.

"Ana, I would like to report about David." I began.

"We would actually like to report about that, too, Ana." William and Mary gleamed at me.

I loathed them.

"Ana, I would like to say," I stood and followed her beckoning hand, "I had to kill David. He had no intention of stopping the creation of chaos in London."

"I had hoped he'd come to his senses." I held out the top hat to her, and she threw it to one of the maids. Ana still had a slight French accent. I always tried to change accents as quickly as possible to fit in with my surroundings.

"On the topic of the singleton," William stepped forward, "Victoria failed to mention that David attacked a lady, and she went into the streets, trying to tell anyone that vampires exist. Most people believed her mad, but since Mary and I were in the area, we found her. She told us that there was a dark-haired girl in lower-class garb there. She also had two distinct fang punctures in her neck. We had to wipe her memory of the interaction."

"Thank you for telling me, William. Victoria," she turned quickly towards me, "why did you not deal with this before you came here?" I gulped down my anger. "I am very sorry, Queen Ana de Castillo. Please excuse my insolence."

Later

The three of us walked out together after more instructions from Ana. She gave me the job with the least risks. I was to go shopping for the clan while Mary and William got to fight any werewolves trying to get into London. Ana knew I was the fastest vampire in the whole clan, even topping her. So why would she give me such a trivial task? I kicked the ground from frustration and paced about.

"Maybe if you didn't screw up so much, Victoria, you might be considered to replace William or me." Mary was trying to agitate me.

"Maybe if you were not so ugly, you would get to speak in Parliament when William does. Are you not both Lieutenants?" I snapped back at her.

William grabbed Mary's wrist and shook his head. "If you attack her, you might be kicked out of the clan. We all know who Ana's puppet really is."

"William!" It was Ana. "William and Mary, are you attacking my longest friend? You are easily replaceable, so do not forget your place. You may be a rank above Victoria, but if you don't act like it, you will be sent back to where I found you both! Victoria, I would like to join you in scouting and killing any werewolves we find. Mary and William, we could use new curtains, if you please." Ana took my arm in hers. She spun me around and led us away.