Pilot chapter: Emily
 

In the Old World, the creatures of the night were solitary, reclusive sorts that lurked in their castles and catacombs until dusk, when they lifted the lids of their sepulchers and flew off for the hunt.

The new generation of vampire was slightly more prone to...mingle.

When night fell on the city, a place on the edge of town opened up for ‘members only’. The inside boasted a deafening beat, a myriad of heady drinks, and a host of young, fanged dancers. Some were passing through the city and wanted to reacquaint themselves with a friend or catch up on the news. Others, Like Adele, her brother Adrian and his mate Joseph, were residents and regulars, thriving on the drink and dance to break the monotony of leading humans into dark alleyways.
“It’s just not fun anymore,” Adrian complained, “all you have to do is wink and beckon with a finger and they practically trip over themselves to be slaughtered. No thrill, no challenge at all.”
“If it means not going hungry, fine with me.” Joseph remarked between drinks.
“Yeah, but you just say that because you don’t know what it was like. I sired you about…turn of the twentieth century, right? So you’ve seen the 1920s, and that was a good time, but it’s got nothing on the seventeenths. Hey sis, you remember that?”
Adele peered over her glass and smiled. “The Victorian Age? How could I forget? It was the best time to be a vampire.”
“Cities were dark at night,” Adrian recalled, “maybe a street lamp here or there. Around here, night is so illuminated I think I’ll burn up from exposure.”
“The hunt had a better flavor to it,” Adele added, “here, even the most conspicuous vampire is treated like ‘one of the crowd’, rushing to and fro on the streets. It used to be that the humans sensed you watching them, their hairs bristled and their eyes widened and their blood ran cold. Even if they screamed, no one was around to help them.”
“And now help is just an arms length away.” Adrian lamented. Then, out of the blue, he remarked, “The hookers in this century suck too.”
“Yes,” Adele sighed, “I rather miss the corsets and bloomers. They had more…class. Left more to the imagination, made it more enticing to ravish them a little before taking a bite.”
“And they weren’t addicted to heroin.” Adrian reminded her.
“By the gods no. Ugh, it does horrible things to the taste. Really, the standards of prostitutes have declined over the centuries. I don’t dare think about what’s to become of the profession.”
Joseph rolled his eyes and was about to get himself another drink when two newcomers caught his eye.
“Isn’t that Vlad?”
The red heads swerved around and saw Vladamir, which was a rare occurrence in and of itself, leading a young woman in a high collared, long sleeved white dress.
“What the hell? Did Vlad sire her and not tell anyone? Hey sis, did you hear about this?”
“Not a word.”
“Even if he sired her, he doesn’t seem to care about her. He just left her there and walked off.”
Adele studied the lost girl in the conservative dress. Something about it reminded her of proper young innocents in dark alleyways.
“It’s not right to leave a lady alone in strange company,” she said to her companions, “I shall go remedy that. Don’t wait up for me, brother.”
“Play nice.”

Adele edged through the crowds towards the woman in white. She was vacantly watching the dancers, unsure of what to do or who to talk to. Instruction was apparently one of Vladamirs’ weaker suits.
“Hello there,” Adele said amiably, touching her on the shoulder, “who might you be?”
She was effectively startled but regained composure and said, “Emily. Of the Drakemoor clan.”
“Adele Melanthe. So tell me, lady Drakemoor, how did you end up involved with Vladamir?”
She shrugged. “I had little to do with it. My family made a deal with the Drakemoors to give up their first-borns in exchange for material wealth and business success.”
Adele chuckled. What a way to go.
“Making you the stoic Vladamirs’…mate?”
“Headache and part-time student, nothing more,” she corrected, “he changed me to keep up the bargain but he has no intention of keeping me.”
“What a pity,” Adele chided, “he doesn’t see what a pretty wife he could have if he wanted.”
“It doesn’t bother me,” Emily said with a shy smile, “I don’t really like men too much anyway, certainly not Vladamir.”
“Too true. Men are rather useless creatures. What brings you here, Emily?”
“I was brought here so that my teacher could forget about me for an evening. His excuse was that he wanted me to ‘meet other vampires in the city’, but now that I’m here and quite exposed I would like to crawl into a ditch and die.”
“Oh?” How exposed can you feel when you’re completely covered? I haven’t confronted such modesty for nigh on a century.” Adele traced the edge of the collar and buttons with her finger. Emily took a step back.
“I feel rather unwelcome, I confess. That is exposure enough for me.”
“Darling,” Adele’s green eyes glinted as she advanced, “I am very glad to have you here. You’re always welcome with me.”
“That’s very kind,” Emily said nervously, glancing around Adele with quick, brown eyes, “but I’m afraid I’m a bit uncomfortable in crowded settings. I think I’ll find my teacher and be off.”
“Oh, yes of course,” she said, taking one of Emily’s hands and bringing it to her mouth, “it’s much better to be in a private location, don’t you think?”
Emily snatched her hand away and gave a smile, though not a convincing one.
“Actually, I was thinking of being off…alone. But thank you for the offer; you are most kind, lady Melanthe.”
“I’m sure I could convince you otherwise,” Adele said with a feral grin, “I have both talent and experience in making people see things my way.”
Emily grew firm.
“I said no. Thank you, but no. I need to find Vladamir, excuse me.”
But Adele stepped in front of her, with a mocking smile. “Excuse me,” Emily said again, “I’m not yours to toy with. I belong…” she stopped midsentence and gasped, “I belong to…”
“The Drakemoor clan, yes,” Adele snapped, turning to leave, “I understand, you’re their servant and property now and you don’t want to get in trouble.”
It was then Adele gave a haughty glance over her shoulder, and saw Emily, on her knees, sobbing hysterically.




I think the actual story will be told from Adele's PoV, but still, this was the orginal late night writing session that sparked the whole idea.

I fail DX