She removed the remainder of her clothes and put on a nightgown. She poured cold water into a basin to wash her face, her arms, and chest. The water was freezing, but she figured she deserved a cold bath after all she had done. She crawled into bed after remembering to pull a tapestry over the open window to block out the shining moon and the coming winter sun.
Vincent walked downstairs into one of the large parlors and found Jessenda holding and comforting Tessa. Helena was sitting to one side, holding Tessa's hand, and Lucia stood behind them, patting Tessa's shoulder. Even though hundreds of years separated the girls in age and they shared the same man, they usually were not jealous of one another; they regarded each other as sisters.
"I don't know why I got so angry," Tessa explained to the others.
"Do not worry about it," Jessenda comforted. "A little jealousy is only natural."
"When Helena first arrived," Lucia said, "I was so jealous of her I tried to lock her outside until the sun rose."
"Master beat her good for that one!" Helena joked. "But she survived," she said, stroking Tessa's hand.
"But," Jessenda interrupted, "we make our lives work by not inciting jealousy between each other. That little trollop seeks to divide us, to destroy us one by one and drive us away from Master."
"What are we to do?" Tessa asked hopelessly. Jessenda shushed Tessa and rocked her.
The girls stopped speaking when Vincent entered the room. Tessa took a deep breath and stood to face her lord. The others sat close together on the settee without making a sound. She walked toward him and curtsied in submission. He took her chin in his hands. Despite her rigid exterior, he could feel her tremble with fear. The silence was excruciating. She wished he had already beaten her and gotten it over with.
"Did you attempt to bite my daughter?" he asked.
"What?" she asked confused. She had expected a swift beating, so the question shocked her.
"Did you bite my daughter?" he asked again, more slowly. "Do you not clearly understand the implications of what would happen if you killed her or, worse, turned her into a creature like you?"
Tessa realized that Vincent must have seen the marks on Victoria's neck. "I did not bite her, my lord," she said. "I saw the marks when I was helping her undress." Perhaps the fight with Victoria was worth it after all. Perhaps she could still help turn Vincent against the lying wanton.
Vincent heard the smugness in Tessa's voice. He could not tell if she was telling the truth or not. For some reason, either way, she was trying to turn him against Victoria, which only made him angrier with Tessa. He swiftly backhanded her across the face. Tessa shrieked with shock and pain. The other three winced in sympathy; they had all received such a blow at some point in their lives. Vincent tightly gripped Tessa's arm and led her down the hallway to a long dark staircase. They came to a rarely used wooden door. Vincent removed a key from his pocket to unlock it.
"No, please, my lord," Tessa begged.
He ignored her pleas and pushed the door open, dragging her behind him into the dark. The other three, who had been silently following their master, stopped at the door and would go no further. They only listened to the screams from the subterranean vault.
The stairs led to an old torture chamber. The room smelled of dried blood, rusting chains, and dead rats. The room was completely dark, but Vincent maneuvered the room with ease. He dragged her past several medieval torture devices, including a rack, an iron maiden, and a wall of leather whips. When they finally arrived at the back of the room, there was a row of cages. Vincent unlocked one and pulled her inside. Against the far wall, there were irons used for restraint. Vincent locked her hands in the irons, exited the cage, and locked the door. When he walked away, the fear Tessa felt turned to sheer terror.
"No! My lord! Please!" she yelled to his indifferent back. "Please! Please don't leave me here! Vincent!" She screamed and cried, hoping to get him to change his mind. She futilely struggled against the chains, twisting and straining to free herself.
The other women let their imaginations run wild with fear at the unimaginable tortures Vincent was subjecting their friend, their sister, to. When he appeared out of the darkness in front of them, they scattered like cockroaches away from his icy gaze. He locked the door and the sounds of Tessa's screams away. It was not easy to punish Tessa in such a harsh way, and he knew the others were terrified of him as well. It needed to be done, however. Just that morning, Jessenda tried to turn him against Victoria. Now, Tessa had physically attacked her. The women were feeling threatened by his daughter, but he did not know why. They all understood why he had to take a human mate – all their futures depended on it. There were far more real threats to their existence than his daughter. He had to quell any rebellion before they did any permanent harm. He returned to the parlor and looked for the girls. They were nowhere to be seen.
"Helena," he gently called.
She meekly appeared before him. "Yes, my lord?" she asked, not looking him the face.
"Tessa will be unavailable to attend my daughter for a few days. Will you take over her duties?" he asked.
"Of course, my lord. Should I check on her now?"
"No, I believe she has retired for the night."
"Very well. Is there anything else you require, sir?" She was afraid he was going to want some conjugal company even though she was in no mood to be near him.
"No," he calmly said. "I think I will go hunting. Are you or the other girls hungry?"
"I don't believe so, sir," she answered. "I suppose I will just work on Miss Victoria's laundry."
"That sounds good," he said. He placed his hand on her jaw and bent down, giving her a very soft and soothing kiss on her lips. She calmed down enough to return his affections. He ran his fingers down her neck and followed the chain she wore down to a small, red, rose charm that dangled just above her cleavage. He kissed her harder and began to grope her, but she put a hand on his chest and pulled herself away. She was still much too shaken. He looked down at her, but she could not look him in the eye. He finally gave a resigned sigh. "Good night, Helena," he whispered as he headed toward the front door.
"What are we to do?" Helena asked.
"Nothing, for now," Jessenda answered, entering the room. "Things are quite tense. We will have to wait."
"What about Tessa?"
"What about her? She was foolish enough to outright attack Master's daughter. She has always been too impetuous. A few days of hunger will do her good." Jessenda's coolness regarding Tessa's punishment worried Helena.
"I wonder if we should go forth with our plan," Helena thought aloud. "Maybe we should just forget it before we all end up in that hole."
"Don't tell me you are backing out now," Jessenda warned, closing in on her. "What I am doing, I do for all of us. We will show Vincent that we are not as useless as he has come to believe."
"It seems to me that the only person around here who feels useless is you," Helena snapped. "Why can't you just be content with your position? You had Master to yourself for nearly three hundred years before Tessa was brought in. He did not cast you out when he took in Hannah, despite her requests to that effect. Now that she is gone, you are once again his head mistress and companion. Victoria could never take that from you."
"What Victoria threatens is far more than just my relationship with Master. She threatens not only our way of life, but also our entire race. She is nothing but a half-breed. By diluting our blood, Master thinks he is creating something superior, but he is just breeding us into extinction. What I do is for all purebloods. I cannot stop the plan anyway. Xavier and the wolves have gone into hiding. I cannot contact them."
"If the master finds out that you were with Xavier, that you gave yourself to him," Helena said, "I cannot even imagine what he would do to you. Tessa's punishment will seem like a holiday compared to the pain you will suffer."
"If he has not found out by now, he won't," Jessenda replied.
Helena sighed and left J
essenda alone with her rationales. Helena knew Jessenda was far wiser than the rest of them put together, but she could not help worrying about alienating Tessa. Or, if Master caught them and they angered him further, he certainly would choose his daughter over them. Unlike Victoria, they were expendable and replaceable. In the meantime, she feared at what else, in addition to hunger, Tessa would be suffering in her solitude.
Tessa eventually stopped screaming. She rested her head against the damp, black wall and tried to breathe. The moldy air penetrated her nose and filled her lungs. She already felt weak. She rubbed her cheek where Vincent had struck her and winced. She heard the scampering of a few rats over the remains of human bones in another part of her cell. She kneeled down and swept away years of dust, cobwebs, and rotten hay to clear a place for her to sit. She sat with her back against the wall and put her head on her knees. She was just beginning to calm down when one of the largest and most daring rats snuck up and bit her left foot in an attempt to get a taste of the meal he thought he would undoubtedly be enjoying in a few days.
Tessa screamed in pain and the rat scurried away. She held her foot in her hand. She did not bleed, but without any sustenance, she would not be able to heal. She heard the rat sneak back into the cell to try his luck again. He knew his dinner did not have to be fully dead for him to have a little snack. She held completely still and waited for him to strike. The rat opened his mouth for a nibble when she snatched him up and sucked him dry before he was even able to blink. She threw his desiccated carcass in the direction of the other rats as a warning for them to keep away from her. Her foot and cheek healed, but she was still tired.
She regretted lashing out at Victoria the way she did, but only because of the strain it put on her and Vincent's relationship. She relished the idea of pushing Victoria out a window and watching her slam into the ground below. She laughed aloud at the thought of it. She knew Vincent would not leave her down in the cell to rot forever. He would return to her, so she comforted herself with images of him holding her in his strong, muscular arms and reconciling with a day of passionate lovemaking as opposed to the mundane sex they usually had simply for his own release. Calmed, she leaned her head against the murky wall and waited for her master to deliver her.
4
Ethan watched Victoria disappear down the path into the fading light. She looked so regal upon her horse with her expensive clothes and delicate mannerisms. He looked on until she was completely gone from his view and the full moon began to rise. He went back to the house to put out the fires and close it up before returning to the parish house he shared with the priest. As he closed the window and looked around the empty house, he decided there was no reason to put off telling his decision to Father James. The conversation would be unpleasant no matter when they had it. Better to get it over with.
Ethan was relieved to see that Father James was alone in the small church when he arrived.
Father James was putting hymnals into their places and generally straightening things up when he saw the young man he loved like a son.
"Evening, my son," he greeted. "'Tis awfully late to just be getting in. I hope Victoria makes it home before dark."
"She left a little while ago. I just took my time getting here."
Ethan had a peculiar grin on his face that made the priest wonder exactly how the two young people had spent their afternoon. Ethan was his hope for the future. People, especially in his parish, were losing faith. The devil and his demons were too real while God was far more abstract. The people wanted action, they wanted a savior immediately; they did not have the faith to rely on God's patience.
Young men like Ethan gave him hope that he was still reaching the hearts of some.
Father James did not approve of Ethan's friendship with Victoria. She was not to be trusted and was already leading Ethan astray. Ever since her return, Ethan spent less and less time on his studies and more and more time in confession. Father James realized that as a young man, Ethan was bound to have urges and desires, but the boy should focus more on God to help him squelch such thoughts; Victoria fanned them. Father James feared, though, if he tried to drive them apart, he would only drive them together. So for the most he kept his personal feelings to himself and tried to counsel Ethan only from scripture.
"You look as though you need to confess something," Father James observed. "I was afraid you would when I saw her walk in this morning. You do know that when I tell you to 'sin no more' you are supposed to stop doing the thing I just absolved you from, not go and do it over and over so I can just keep absolving you."
"Yes, I know. I have tried, but I need to talk to you about more than my…my feral desires."
"I don't think I want to know!" Father James said, more in jest, but partly out of disappointment that Ethan did not realize he had to remove the temptation from his midst if he could not control himself.
"Don't be upset, it's not all bad," Ethan said. "Part of it is…actually…well, it's wonderful."
The smile fell from the priest's face. He did not like Ethan's dreamy expression and worried that his greatest fear had come true.
"Oh, my boy," he pleaded. "Please, don't tell me…don't say you…she did not seduce you, did she?"
"No!" Ethan yelled, both out of embarrassment and shock. "How could you think that of me!"
"Oh, thank God!" Father James sighed. "It's just the way you're acting. I thought the worst!" He slumped down on a step in front of the pulpit and rubbed his forehead with his hands. "Oh, my boy. I am an old man; you should not scare me like that."
Ethan sat down next to the priest and put an arm around his shoulders. "Father," he said, "I need you to listen to me."
Ethan paused, trying to figure out the best way to continue. He folded his hands in his lap and cleared his throat. "I love Victoria," he finally said. The priest moaned only a little on the outside, but on the inside he screamed in gut-wrenching pain. "Just let me continue before you get too upset," Ethan pleaded. "I know I shouldn't, believe me. I have been suppressing it for years. I love the Church and I wanted to follow in your footsteps. You are like a real father to me, and I know I am a disappointment to you. I cannot devote myself to God while I still have feelings for Victoria. God deserves all my mind, body, heart, and soul, and I cannot give that to him. He deserves better."
"You are better!" Father James finally blurted out, grabbing Ethan's collar. "Tell her to leave you alone. Go away to Rome where you will forget about her in time."
"I don't want to forget her, Father," Ethan said, pushing the priest's hand away. "I have asked her to marry me, and I plan to leave the Church within the week."
Father James's face turned red and he quickly stood. "No!" he demanded. "I will not allow it!"
"I don't think it's your choice," Ethan with a chuckle. The situation wasn't funny; he was only trying to calm the old man down.
"It is my choice because I will not sanctify such a union in my church!" Father James yelled.
"What?" Ethan asked, standing. "Why?"
"She is not who you think she is!" he blurted out. "She is an evil being and I will not allow you to defile yourself with her."
"You're daft!" Ethan said. "How could you say such a thing about her? She is the kindest, gentlest woman I know. She would not harm a bug. How dare you say she is evil!"
"I don't mean it that way," Father James tried to explain. "I mean she is literally evil, a seed of the devil himself." Ethan was so shocked he almost laughed.
"Really? A child of Satan?" Ethan mockingly asked. "How is that even possible?" Ethan prodded, humoring the crazy man.
"Not a child of Satan, but a child of one of his sons. I have had my suspicions for quite a while. She is not natural."
"This is ridiculous," Ethan said. "I am not even going to listen to your ravings any further." Ethan headed toward the door.
"Ethan, listen to me," Father James continued, following him. "There are forces more powerful than you or I at work in this village;
we both know this. It was an unholy monster that took your father. And even on this night, I can feel the wolves in our very midst." Father James rubbed his hands together and his eyes darted about nervously.
Ethan looked out the church door at the moonlit night and recalled the howls that frightened him as a child. "No wolves have entered this village in over two hundred years," he said. "Besides, what do the wolves have to do with Victoria?"
"They have everything to do with her!" Father James yelled. "The wolves and the undead that prey on the living are of the same seed, and so is Victoria!"
Ethan was incensed. "You're mad," he said. "I will not sit here and allow you to slander a good, God-fearing woman. She is as fair as any angel. She is kinder than any saint. She is truer to me than any other person I have ever known."
"Don't walk away from me, Ethan," Father James warned. "I was there the night her mother miraculously healed her Aunt Danielle. How she suddenly appeared with that healing tea with no explanation for how she got it. The next day Hannah married that man in the woods whom no one had ever seen or met, not even her own parents. Victoria is a callicantzari! She cannot be in the sun; she is a creature of the night, of darkness, of evil. She is a partaker of the table of demons through her unnatural father and the carnal sins of her mother."
"That is not true," Ethan firmly said. "If it is, what part do you play in this unholy act? You have faithfully given her Communion at Mass. She crosses with holy water. You have given her absolution!" he yelled. "Did you not absolve her of her sins? Tell her to pray Hail Mary? Bless her?"
"I cannot explain her sacrilegious actions…," Father James said.
"Her sacrilegious actions?" Ethan interrupted.
The Vampire's Daughter Page 5
