Beginnings

Lucullus remembered all too clearly the first time he had seen her. She was blood splattered, her fangs and nails crimson as they had pulled her from Arimesn’s body. The vampires face twisted in a snarl, black hair in wild streaks. To say the least the moment left an impression on him. He remembered yelling a command at the others to hold her.  There was a backlash of resistance from her mind as he enclosed it. It was always more difficult with immortals their mind was usually more complex, more established.  But what shook him most was her mind itself. He recalled thinking there was ice where he expected to find fire, she had a different sort of way of burning, it was intriguing.  The thought was momentary however as she slipped into a puppet state and there was the more pressing matter of deciding whether or not to kill her. Maybe it was the brief insight into her mind, triggering his curiosity that made him decided to let her live for the moment or perhaps  the fact that she had just murdered one of the highest ranking members of the Order, receiving only a few scratches in the process, (the blood covering her belonging mostly to her  recent victim.) He also took in into account that Arimesn had probably deserved his fate, Lucullus had never liked him anyway. Nate and Daminus released her and the vampire simply stood, her fury bound, expression vacant she obediently followed Lucullus from the room.

On deciding that he would question the vampire personally, Lucullus first had her marked. Ink appeared head bowed he greeted Lucullus. Pulling a chair up next to were the vampire was sitting, ink enclosed his palm over Sorenson’s wrist and close his eyes, opening them a moment later revealing the Orders mark, vivid against the vampire pale skin.

“It is done.” The mark looked flawless and Lucullus nodded at Ink signalling he should leave. Lucullus then enclosed his own hand over the mark embedding his own spell there. He insured the vampire was securely bound ordering her to be chained down before he released his control over her. He left her then, she would wake in a hour or two.

 

 

†

 

 

Sorenson woke with the feeling that someone had driven a stake through her skull, grimacing she tried to move. The pain faded rapidly and her senses were momentarily overwhelmed with taking in  her surroundings, the last foggy memories, one face standing out more sharply amongst the blood, and sudden awareness that she was chained.  Sorenson lost all control. She was hardly aware the inhuman scream was her own. A blind panic smothered her she pulled futilely on the metal links around her wrists and ankles, ripping through the skin. Her blood ran over the metal surface of the chair she was bound to which in turn was bolted in place to the floor. At that moment Lucullus entered the room, his expression one of horror when he saw the vampires’ state.  When Sorenson saw him she whimpered and began sobbing uncontrollably, vulnerable as a child, blood slipped unbidden over her cheeks.  Lucullus could only stare, he had sensed no madness in her mind yet gone was the pride he seen both in the tilt of her jaw and the structure of her consciousness. Perhaps he had over looked something he had not dug any deeper than the surface of her mind. She screamed out as he moved towards her. The sound froze his blood it was animal, desperate.  Her screams intensified the closer he came.

 “NNoo NNo.. PLEASE PLEASE..”   The vampire’s eyes were unfocused as though she was not truly seeing what was before her.

“I’m not going to hurt you, calm yourself!”  But Lucullus may as well have not spoken. He touched his fingers tips to the point at the back of her neck, this time not taking over her mind but connecting his awareness to hers. He was assaulted by a wave of sheer terror, feeling the emotion as his own. Years of practice allowed he to disconnect himself somewhat from the onslaught and he began to focus on her thoughts. They jumped to his mind as images twisting and distorting. These were human memories, Lucullus struggled to make sense of them. The face of her sire, the glinting of a curved blade, ropes tied so tight they cut into her wrists, the walls soaked in blood, a man’s body mutilated in the corner. Pain saturated each memory until Lucullus could bear no more. He broke the connection, staggering away from her. Ignoring her screams Lucullus grabbed her sleeve suddenly pushing it past her elbow, tilling her arm out. Scars crisscrossed over every inch of her skin. He pulled her dark material of her shirt away, exposing her back. He pressed his hand over his face cringing away from the sight. Vampires did not scar, this had been done to her while she was still human. He dared not think of how she had lived through it. Disregarding the danger he was placing himself in, he began unlocking her chains. As soon as she was free Sorenson fled toward the nearest wall, sinking down by it burying her face in her hands. Lucullus sank to the floor next to her.

“I’m sorry, If I had known ...”  He was unsure if she had heard him. She was silent her body trembling slightly. After a moment she seemed to collected herself, turning slowing she faced Lucullus with a stare so cold it frightened him more than her screaming had. He knows, he knows, He’s seen me weak. It was all Sorenson could think about. The only thing stopping her from ripping out his heart and wipe that look of pity from his face, was the fact that others may come and chain her again.

“What is it you want from me?” Her voice was surprisingly steady.

“Let’s start with the easy questions then. What is your name?”

“Sorenson.” Lucullus breathed a sigh of relief, he had assumed she was going to be stubborn and withhold even that much.

“Do you know why your here?”

“No, but I’m guessing I pissed off someone in the higher order by killing the wrong person.”  Her arrogance assured Lucullus she was more herself.

“I’m afraid it’s worse than that that. Arimesn was the head of the London branch and friends with some very powerful people who would see you dead.”

“I do not fear death.”

“But you fear pain, am I correct.”  The Vampires jaw tensed, he was not completely right. It was not pain itself she feared, only the inability to prevent it.

“Why did you do it, why Arimesn?”

“He had some information I wanted.” She spoke as though it were a simple matter. Lucullus had known Arimesn better than he would have liked to, in his early days with the order he was captured and tortured for days before they had found him. Arimesn had not revealed the information he had been entrusted with by the order. The man had been obsessed with honour, it was one of the reasons he had risen so far.

“So you got frustrated when you could not get what you wanted from him and killed him?

“No I got what I wanted and then, I got thirsty.”

“You’re lying.”

Sorenson considered him for a moment with those cold eyes.  She was the perfect archetype of her kind. The intensity of her gaze, the black hair that fell to her waist and the paleness of her skin from avoiding the sunlight all her long life. It was not that sunlight would kill her as some humans believed, she was simply nocturnal by nature and sunlight weaken her, making her no stronger than an average human, a state which most vampires tended to avoid.

“You haven’t told me who you are?” The question caught Lucullus off guard, but there was no reason why he should not tell her.

“My name is Lucullus. I deal with people for the Higher Order, so I guess you could say I work in public relations.” He grinned at his own joke.

 “Well Luc, can I call you Luc?” When he didn’t answer she continued any why “Let me ask you something, you seem like an intelligent lapdog.  Where do you think I learned my skill from?” The question was almost a challenge to disbelieve her.

Lucullus gritted his teeth at the insult but he was not easily angered, he felt more frightened as suddenly he did believe her, as he stood Sorenson pretended to pout.

“Aw, leaving so soon?  This was just beginning to get interesting.” Lucullus smile at her.

“Don’t worry I’ll be back.” 

 

Lucullus spent the next few hours in debate with a council of executive members of the Order. A decision had to be reached on the new leadership. The other members were in agreement That Sorenson should be put to death. Lucullus had filled them in on what he had learned of the vampire, neglecting to inform them of her scars or the memories he’d seen. He put forward his own opinion.

“She could be useful to us. If she could get information from Arimesn, think of the possibilities if we could harness her for our purposes.” Keresis stared at him incredulous.

“She murdered Arimesn, what makes you think, even if she is useful that she would cooperate with us? She unpredictable Lucullus that’s all there is to it.”

“I’ve already had her marked and bound by it. If you offer her the choice between working for us or death I think she’ll see things our way.”

The debate raged on until a vote was called for. It was close with only one council member swaying the vote in Sorenson’s favour. Lucullus was pleased, and more so when the vote for a new leader resulted in six votes to two in favour of his nomine. Cale would make a fine leader he had a sharp mind and retained the respect of everyone in the room.

 

Lucullus returned to the vampire with his proposal in the form of a contract she could sign if she agreed.  She was still sitting on in the same place he had left her. Lucullus was carrying a glass of water in his hand as he sat before her.

“I don’t drink water luc.”

“What do you take me for?” He laughed dipping a cloth into the water and went to dab away the dried blood on her face. Sorenson slapped his hand away. Lucullus stared at her for a moment raising his hand in a gesture of surrender. She grabbed the cloth from him and cleaned the blood away herself. Her wrists were already beginning to heal.

“So, am I to die?”

“Well that’s really up to you now.”  He handed her the contract, “Read this and make your decision.”

When she’d completed reading the document her face did not betray her surprise, her expression was carefully schooled to one of indifference.

“You want me to work for the Higher Order?” It was the last thing she had expected.

“It’s that or death.”

“And I get all this, a house of my choosing in London and whatever money I need?”

“It’s all there in the contract.”

The Vampire looked thoughtful for a moment pursing her lips.

“Okay Lucullus I’ll sign your contract.”

 

Since that day Lucullus had formed a somewhat precarious relationship with the vampire. He imagined he was one of a very few who knew of her past, which created a unique tension between them.  He was well aware that his status with the higher order was the possibly the only reason she hadn’t tried to slaughter him the moment she had a chance, knowing what he knew about her.

Lucullus understood the mind, it what he most prided himself on. He understood how people thought, how they reasoned, he could usually predict with relative ease how an individual would react in a given situation, but Sorrensen continued to perplex him.  For that very reason he enjoyed the challenge her company presented. It was one of his favourite games to see exactly how far he could push her buttons.

Admittedly Sorrenson was an intensely elegant creature, like all vampire’s, but his attraction to her when beyond her physical presence. In the past this had lead to one or two encounters which were  not exactly in keeping with their strictly professional relationship.