DARKNESS ~ Book Two in the Fae Series

Chapter 2

Sunset has barely left the evening sky as I awaken.

I listened to the sounds of my home.  Several heartbeats can be heard.  Brownies and the softer ones are the sprites Frost sent.  Six total I hear, one slightly louder and different, my human.  I smile, she hasn't left.

I rise and dress and dark clothes.  I will not make my presence known yet.  The brownies will sense me but knowing Frost he has warned them of my eccentric behavior.

Cloaked in darkness I mist down the halls following her heartbeat.  She's in the kitchen the again.  Warm smells hit me as I recognize cooking food.

Luckily the door is open as I glide just inside the room, slipping into a corner and out of the way.  Even cloaked as I am, my hiding would be revealed should someone walk into me.

She's laughing and speaking with a brownie preparing the food.  I have little interest in what they speak of.  I close my eyes and gather the emotions and warmth to me.  My skin flushes and I am almost floating on the feelings that I absorb.

I moan as my second hunger bites at my throat.

Stillness and quiet  prompts me to open my eyes.  Both the girl and the brownie are froze in place.  Happiness leeches from the room as fear fills it.Oh, No!  My mind panics.  Hunger and their terror  will drive me to uncontrollable acts.

A breeze flutters the window's curtains as I rush from the room.  As much as I'd like to taste her blood I would kill her in such a state.  I must find another source of blood before chancing another meeting with her.

I mist to my cottage near the back of my manor.  Here I had gathered several hobgoblins and red caps.  I keep them heavily guarded with iron bars and spells.  They do not know where they are but it would not matter anyways.  The Wicked Unseelie they are called.  Violent murderers.  Evil yes, but in easy source of raw hate and blood.  They have been my source of blood since I returned.

I knocked, before opening the door with a key.  The iron does not bother me despite my fae heritage.  Maybe it's my vampire side I don't know.

A hobgoblin bows as I enter.

"A feeding my lord?" He questions.

" Yes." I reply walking past him as he nods leaving.  He has learned not to remain.

I enter the room where the red caps stay.  I have three.  They are small dressed in simple pants, boots and a tunic.  Barely as high as my waist they are tiny things compared to me.

I search for the one with the newest blood.  Red caps are unique creatures that continuously bleed from under their caps.  Each of the three I keep lay in special beds I designed.  The blood runs down grooves to be collected.  This is the hobgoblin's job.  They gather and bottle it, sending it through a magic passageway to a storage room at my house.

Ah, there, my senses find the last one bleeding the most.  I stepped over to it.  Blood wells  along it's forehead.  Perpetual sleep keeps it from moving as I leaned down and lick the blood.  Groaning I lean it's head over and bite into it's neck, my fangs break the skin until blood fills my mouth.  I swallow and swallow until I hear it's heartbeat begin to stutter.  I must stop or kill it.  Slowly I retract my fangs, licking the wounds to seal them.  Blood no longer flows at it's forehead.  I have taken too much, but like all red caps it will regenerate more.  That's why they are such a good food source.  If only they had emotions, other than hatred I'd be set.

At shaking my head at my foolish thoughts I back away.  I leave the room swiftly, passing no one.  I quickly stepped outside and reset the magic and iron locks.

Night has fully set.  The moon is high now.

I mist to the house and glide in.  It is silent and dark except in the rooms where the brownies and sprites are at work.  My human seems to be missing.

I search for heartbeat finding it above me.Ah, the bedrooms, she must be asleep.  I drop shadows and climb the stairs to the room she has taken.  Oddly enough it's next to mine.  I listen at the door but can only hear soft breathing.  She's asleep.  I fight the urge to go in, I am aware that a human would be frightened and upset to awake to a stranger in their room.  I am full of emotions and blood.  As at ease as I have been since the humans disappear.  There's no need to enter.

Yet I find my hand turning the knob anyways.  I'm surrounded in shadows, her room is dark.  I can see her face in the moonlight.  Her body is covered by blankets on the bed yet she seems relaxed.  I close the door again.  All is well here.

Now I must seek out answers to Frost's questions.  The night calls to me.