Vampiric Interdiction

[6] The Dreaded Question

Author Notes: Props to whoever can guess what movie Villahr and Karolinna were watching in this chapter. xD

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Very few times had Villahr actually seen Karolinna cry; that was one of the few things she just did not do. This rule held strong mainly in front of those who hardly knew her, but especially before those who knew her the best. She took it as a sign of weakness and frailty, and made a point never to let anyone witness these times of fragility.

Reliance was increasingly hard to come by, now more than ever, and there is no such thing as too careful anymore. Many saw Karolinna as anything but cautious, but she had her ways of knowing when something was dodgy. Despite the impression others took from her, she was aware exactly when to get out of certain situations. Though she resembled a bull in a china shop and did make it a habit of knocking things over, sending them toppling to the floor with a loud crash on impact, her steps were planned, not accidental.

Someone thought to be an ally could easily turn around and thrust a cutlass right through her internals, all because of her failure to hide vulnerability. She could not and would not, let that happen, and so this was a big part of the reason she acted as she did.

Karolinna lifted her hand up to grip Villahr’s shoulder, the other one placed firmly around his waist as they sat against the headboard of her bed. Her long talons, protruding from her fingers as if sensing the body in attack mode, clicked against each other as she tightened her clutch on the handsome Vici’s middle. This was not a state she entered into routinely and so she couldn’t even keep her fears a secret from herself. Her mind was immediate to go into red-alert before she realized something was corrupt within her; like a biological alarm system.

The liquid-velvet red curtains billowed out at each post where they were tied off, and other than a few candles they had lit to relax the atmosphere, the room was completely black.

The clock on the wall had chimed loudly not but a moment earlier, announcing it was three hours past sun-down, but Karolinna wouldn’t have even noticed if not for Villahr pointing out the time. He announced that he probably should be getting some sleep because he had a great number of infradai to complete in the morning, but Karolinna convinced him otherwise. He agreed to stay a short while longer, but before he knew it, seconds had turned to minutes and minutes had become hours.

The thud of the male’s heart sounded loudly in Karolinna’s ear, and she let herself become lost in the healthy beating in order to calm herself. The resonance of the organ pumping blood avidly through his body was slow and steady and Karolinna breathed a quick sigh of relief. With such a highly sedated gait, if a human doctor were to examine him they would surely assume they would soon be declaring his demise, but for Vicio this pace was completely normal.

Unlike vampires, Vicio never had been nor will know the likeness of being mortal. The demons of the night were once human themselves, before life was taken from them and they became forced to hunt down the very species of which they once were a part. But Vicio people could never know what it is like. Within their bodies pumped ichor more than eighty times stronger than the anthropoid beings they inhabited the region with and even greater in quantity.

Karolinna pressed herself closer to Villahr’s body, relishing in the warmth and absence of it’s past chilling finish. If his heart were to beat any faster that would be great cause of trepidation, and it would surely kill him, so she was pleased to note that it had slowed substantially. Forty times a minute was respectable; sixty, distressing; and anything above eighty, justification for prompt medical assistance.

“I’m sorry, Kar,” Villahr piped up softly, breaking the silence between them. They hadn’t spoken for hours. Usually when they did this they were both completely plastered, empty bottles of Chilla in their tightly clenched fists, but this time it was for serenity.