Why Lorie? Part I

Chapter 24: Drogo Plots His Revenge

Drogo had plenty of time alone to contemplate the situation.  Apparently, Nicolae and Peter had decided to take Josette and Lorie on a truly extensive tour of Vienna.  While they were gone, Drogo went upstairs and entered Josette's room.  He reveled in the lingering scent of her perfume as he stepped into her large closet.  Drogo began examining Josette's various belongings.  The satin nightgown she had worn the previous night immediately caught his eye.  He smiled wryly as he picked it up, feeling the soft, slippery texture of the material between his fingers.

"She certainly looked good in this," he thought with a sly grin.

After placing the nightgown in the exact same spot where he found it, Drogo meandered into Josette's bathroom.  The fragrance of lilac permeated the air even more powerfully there.  Drogo riffled through Josette's various lotions and perfumes, occasionally opening a bottle and sniffing it.

He then returned to the bedroom and plopped down on her bed.  He ran his hands over the satin coverlet thinking about their time together underneath those covers.  Drogo couldn't help but sigh - was he doing the right thing?  After all, his plan involved a completely innocent woman... Josette had no idea about Drogo's previous life as a young man living on the outskirts of Berlin.  He didn't like thinking about his existence as a human because it brought back too many unpleasant memories, the worst of which was his last night with Sophie.

Sophie had been a beautiful young German woman that Drogo began courting during his final summer as a human, back in 1899.  When Viktor changed him into a vampire, he cruelly locked him in the same room with her without any possibility of escape.  Unable to control his blood lust, Drogo ended up feeding on Sophie, thus killing her.  It was the one thing he would never forget... nor forgive.  Over the eleven years that passed since that fateful night, Drogo had constantly tried to figure out a way to get even with Viktor, but there wasn't anything that would make his father suffer equally enough... until Josette came along.

Now, Drogo had the perfect chance to get even.  He would seduce her and make her fall in love with him instead.  And then... he had several options.  Unfortunately, none of them involved a happy ending for Josette.  Drogo sighed again.  To his chagrin, the more time he spent around Josette, the more he liked her... against his will. This obviously presented him with a conundrum.  How could he implicate her, knowing perfectly well where his actions would lead?  It was cruel and heartless. 

Drogo snorted at the thought - he was a vampire after all... shouldn't he be both of those things by definition?  He certainly had no qualms about feeding on human blood - something he had proven to his maker during his first few years as a vampire.  In Berlin, Drogo had originally been a callous killing machine.  To him, had humans served only two purposes:  to satisfy his hunger and to gratify his sexual appetites.  Once they fulfilled those roles, Drogo had no more use for them.  He killed them and discarded their bodies.

Since his move to Vienna, Drogo began to change his attitude toward the human species.  He realized that he could also use them as a safe haven away from home.  He therefore decided to spare a few beauties and mesmerize them into becoming his obedient followers.  When Drogo felt endangered by Viktor for any reason, he took refuge with one of his paramours.  Each one was strategically located in a separate area of Vienna.  He kept their existence a secret from his brothers and father, and only spent the entire night with one of them as a last resort.  Other than that, Drogo still followed Viktor's creed.  He only drank human blood. Viktor looked down on Nicolae for his efforts to feed on animals instead of humans.  Drogo agreed with his maker:  the mere notion of drinking the blood of a rat or a squirrel made him nauseous.

Originally, Drogo had had absolutely no control over his lust for blood - the sight and smell of it immediately awoke the beast within him.  Now, after eleven years, he was able to suppress his cravings to a certain extent.  He just didn't want to, especially when feeding involved a tumble in the sheets first.  Drogo used his vampiric charisma to quickly conjure his victims into willingly submitting to him.  The fact that he was forever young and attractive made things easier.  When he first met Josette, Drogo manipulated her into instantly liking him.  It was a fun game, with the added advantage that it aggravated Viktor.  But how far was Drogo willing to go?  The previous night, he got dangerously close to changing into his vampiric form.  While he was exploring Josette's body, he felt his fangs descend and had to immediately pull away from her.  Luckily, she had no idea what had happened and his secret remained safe... for the time being.

Drogo knew that playing this game of seduction could backfire.  He had no intention of bringing his plan to fruition until the day Josette married Viktor.  Meanwhile, there were many factors he had to consider.  As far as he knew, Viktor had promised Josette to keep his distance until after their wedding.  But what if he changed his mind?  If, on a whim, Viktor transformed her sooner, Drogo's plan would disintegrate. 

And then there was Lorie... Drogo liked the cheeky little thing.  What would happen to her if she were left motherless?  Drogo groaned as he considered this additional complication.  He would most likely have to do away with Lorie too.... The question was, could he do it? Could he ruthlessly kill a little girl that had already somehow managed to get under his skin?

All of these contradictory thoughts began to frustrate him.  What if he wasn't able to carry out his plan anymore due to his confusion?  He couldn't allow his feelings to interfere.  No... Drogo needed to stay focused on his end goal.  He also needed things to continue the way they were.  Josette had to remain human and clueless about their vampirism until her wedding day.  Then, he could finally execute his plan and satisfy his thirst for the ultimate revenge.