"HOLY SHIT!" I jumped, grabbing at my neck with a scream. I heaved, my eyes watering as I fell to my knees, my head spinning like a drunken man dancing under the lamplight. I almost vomited onto the floorboards, the absurd feeling of its fangs sinking into my flesh still vivid.
I died.
I sobbed, far too out of it, to fully recognise my surroundings.
I died.
"Oh dear- Corrine, are you alright!?" A blonde blur of movement approached with hasty yet measured steps. The young master I serve, Nox, approached me with wide eyes, startled. I heaved, still panting.
I died.
I died.
I died I died I died I died I died. Why am I here? Why am I back? What did I do? All because I'm bound within these walls called a home?
"N-nox...please... let me go with you...please...I don't...I don't want to die. I don't want to die!" I clung to him like a lifeline, begging him fervently as I shook at his collar.
"Die? What are you on about!?" He urged me, grabbing my shoulders as he shook me. "Corrine, answer me!"
"I-I..." I stammered, unable to explain it to him. My throat had been torn out by a beastlike vampire. I didn't even know vampires had beasts. I died. Due to that, I died. "I...I got bit by a vampire and..and my throat got torn out! Please, Nox, I swear!"
He sighed, shaking his head. "What are you on about...? Nevermind. No. You are not to leave the house. The world outside is unsafe for...people, like you." He spoke softly, stroking my head. "You must not leave. I shall buy you medicine and return with haste. I promise." He stood up, leaving me as he walked towards the butler. I heard him mutter under his breath. "She can't be... right?"
"W... wait. No, take me with you! Please, I don't care if they stare at me like I'm dirt again, I-I just don't want to die! I'll die if I stay here, I'll die, I'll die!" I ran to him, but he shot me an icy glare that rooted me to the spot. It felt as if my entire body froze, the world turning dark. Everything, turning dark. Everything except his piercing blue eyes, filled with a sternness that petrified me. "Please...?"
"No. I need to go." He sighed, before creating an orb of shadow. It was strange, unnatural, yet it snapped me out of my daze, now floating in front of my eyes.
"Crush this in a bad situation. It'll open a portal, between me and the Manor. So I'll be able to rush over the second you do. Only in serious situations, though. I have important things to deal with today. I'll make it clarify if I'm in a situation where I can't come and the time limit you should need to last."
I nodded shakily, grabbing the orb. It was rather hard to the touch. I'd have to carry around something to break it clearly.
"B-but...still..."
He cut me off with a raised hand, shaking his head before walking away. "I'm sorry, but I must leave. As I said. I have business. Please don't push my limits, as your employer."
I flinched, eyes slightly watering at his words but found myself giving him a final nod. "...I-I'll clean the house, then." My eyes remained downcast as he finally left, his mussed-up blonde hair, clearly uncatered for, swishing with the movement. He was the kindest Noble I've met...so this much was fine. I could handle it. He, along with Demian, the head butler, had finally left.
"...clean the house? Who am I kidding? Cleaning comes later." I slammed the door shut, a stinging sensation within my head causing me to grimace. I needed to figure out a way to survive. A way to survive. No matter what.
I wasn't allowed to run. I knew that much - running wasn't even an option. It was just suicide. The forest around the house was far more sinister than the alleys, infinitely so. Creatures, beasts, things I couldn't even imagine were surrounding me at all times. And the only safe path was a path that locked itself whenever Nox was gone. The only options were to either hide...or find them first and attack them.
I gazed at the clock. 20 minutes before the vampires arrived. 20 minutes before the end of my life. Before I die again. I'm going to die again. I'm going to die, I'm going to...
I paused, taking a deep breath in. The abnormal weight in my chest, the shaking I was experiencing...would this really help me in my current situation? I went into the kitchen, my thoughts still clouded by doubts, the only clarity I had slowly fading as I picked up a fork subconsciously. And before I knew it-
"AH-!"
I had stabbed it into my right hand, the searing pain a welcome feeling as my head started to clear. Heaving, I wipe away my tears and gaze at the injury.
"Fuck."
Vampires. Blood suckers. Thralls. Truly, they're all the same in nature. They're weak in the sun, weak to garlic and silver, and like blood. Wouldn't they sniff me out now? I grumble, gazing at my injured hand and silently cursing myself, as I go over the basic knowledge I knew from reading books.
I could only hope those weaknesses are actually real.
The kitchen was a wide, spacious place- Marbled floors with a table made of white wood centred within, surrounded by cabinets filled with conveniently silver utensils, and cleaning equipment. Sprays, buckets, cloth...sprays...
Sprays. Sprays!
I opened the cabinet below the sink to the far corner of the room, narrowing my eyes as the sun glared at me through the window above it. I took out an unnamed spray bottle, half empty, before undoing its lid and emptying it quickly. 17 minutes.
I tossed the empty spray bottle onto the side, placing the nozzle next to it as I ran through to the pantry, picking up several garlic, before sprinting right back. I dumped them all on top of the table, before grabbing the thickest cutting board we owned, placing it on top, and starting to smack furiously. It took longer than I hoped, due to my lack of strength, and I found myself starting to grow warier as the time ticked. 9 minutes.
8 minutes. 7 minutes. 6 minutes.
Finally, I had small enough chunks of garlic to put into the spray bottle, without needing to worry that the nozzle would get clogged randomly...I hope. I filled it with steaming hot water, hoping the combination would make a potent enough garlic water.
5 minutes.
I grabbed a knife, made of steel, and hid it within my maid's apron pocket, before getting a bucket out, hurriedly filling it with water and dumping the residual garlic in.
3 minutes.
The haul up the stairs was a heavy and slow one. I tried to make sure the knife didn't stab into my thighs so much as I trudged up, groaning as I took the filled bucket with me. All I knew was that they'd come to be within the young master's room. Nox. 1 minute remained. Or about. They could be here any second, or somehow come mere moments later. I didn't waste a second.
Entering Nox's room, His bland lifestyle shone through for a moment, a blessing in disguise. The blandest in the mansion. No lavish decorations, just dark blue walls, and wooden floors...that had not even a gap between them. I dumped the garlic water from the bucket onto the floor, taking the spray bottle and diving behind his blackened curtains that hid the light.
Any second now.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
To-
[ØPƏŊ.]
A terrifying voice rang out from all corners, my heart almost diving into my throat. It echoed across the very caverns of my skull, reaching every part of my being.
Open. Open what? Why? I...I needed to open something? Open... No...I must open. I must open.
I Must Open I Must Open IMustOpenIMustOpenIMustOpenIMustOpenIMUSTIMUSTIMUST!
A sting of pain jolted me out. I hadn't noticed when, but my knife was slowly digging into my sternum. I...was going to open up to my very innards if I didn't snap out of it. I winced, pulling it away as I tried to control my breathing, feeling a panic attack approaching. No. I must stay focused. I must.
And then the roof opened. It wasn't opening to the sun, but a shadow portal in its stead, as if the fabric of reality itself had parted for those who had descended. Two vampires, of opposite genders, descended first, kneeling, as the vampire beast who had previously torn my throat out dived into the stain of garlic water, rolling in it despite its skin burning. Once that was done, it turned, bowing to the portal before melting away, not even leaving a remnant of the foul creature. It had used its body to remove all the garlic.
[P ï ə r r ə . . . ƴ ø ų r § ą ç r ï f ï ç ə , w ï ł ł ɓ ə r ə m ə m ɓ ə r ə ɗ .]
The gentle voice was as sorrowful yet cryptic, my heart slowly coming to a stop as if the weight of her words alone could crush me. Sorrow. Indescribable sorrow. Overwhelming. She mourned for the loss of the beast, something mindless that obeyed her, and only her.
One slender, pale foot descended from the portal, the air trembling as it carried her weight, obeying it, as dark robes fell through along with it. The darkness had bowed, the vampires had knelt, and even the air submitted to the being that was descending in front of me.
Every beat of my heart was a desperate plea, a scream of hatred hurled at myself. Suicide would've been better. In fact, dying the first time, where I couldn't recognise the power of the being in front of me due to my early demise would've been better. I now openly yammered, laughing nervously, yet the sheer pressure she brought about made my voice nothing but static along with the winds pleas for mercy.
As she descended the steps, her blood red hair finally came into view, so low that it reached her waist, her body finally descending. The atmosphere quivered, and I gripped my knife so tightly my palms bled. Her red eyes, so opaque they glowed like a blood moon, scoured at her people, and through the crack in the window, I saw her. I instantly felt any will to fight be siphoned out of me, almost going unconscious at the pressure she emitted.
Otherworldly beauty. Pale skin, without any blemish, and black sclera that emphasised the red in her eyes. Her lips were plump, a peachy pink despite her black attire, almost like a mourning gown. Though, despite this...she was only slightly taller than me. Yet in this moment, she seemed massive. As if the world itself was created to bow to her. I caught myself before I lowered to my knees, my eyes twitching. A feeling new to me beyond the fear rose. Irritation.
She then faced her people, her voice stern.
[Ţ ø ŋ ï g h ţ , Ŋ Ø X W Ï Ł Ł F Ą Ł Ł .]
How...was I meant to fight that? I tried to lift the shadow orb, before relenting into stabbing it with my knife. A loud crack echoed through the room, and Nox's voice blurted out through the misty haze that rose almost imperceptibly.
["No, Corrine, you're fine. There's nothing there. If it's thieves, use the secret back entrance under the table in the kitchen, or the attic exit within my room. I genuinely am being held up here, I can't come immediately. I'll make haste though. Could you last 2 minutes? Thanks."]
The room fell silent, all the vampires looking at me, as the ethereal redhead seemed to hold back a snicker.
[So, a cute little human was watching us! I was wondering what was behind the curtain.]
"....fuck."