Desire

"Blayne Belen, you have brought us a mortal girl. Dissero atque testis."

"Etiam meus Concilium," Blayne said. He began to speak rapidly in the language the clan had used—was it Latin?—and Amanda caught words like "possessio" and "moriar"—possession and death. Also, the word Mársabis seemed to come up a lot, but she couldn't be sure. The jumble of syllables soon became too much for her to remember. After he was finished, there was a collective gasp from the crowd. Murmurs were passed into ears and an excited air settled over the crowd. "Amaclaty, Amaclaty!" they whispered. Blayne laid his hand on her shoulder.

"Let it begin! Laurus!" Blayne cried.

"Laurus!" the clan echoed.

"Galena," Blayne called. "Bring her to regius cella. Alayza will come later to speak with her. Invado obscurum." A young girl who looked about twelve stepped forward. Her red hair was horribly obtrusive and obnoxiously bright in contrast with the darkened room.

"Invado obscurum, Belen. Adveho, Amaclaty," Galena said softly, starting off into the crowd. It parted quickly to let her through. Her hair was like a beacon of light, easy to follow, and Amanda set off after her. Expecting another maze of dark tunnels, she was surprised when Galena led her down a short corridor into another large room lit with flickering torches. Black silk covered the furniture and black roses were strewn across the floor.

"Too unreal," Amanda whispered. Her eyes swept the room again, lingering upon the black flowers.

"Deathroses, Amaclaty," Galena said, holding out a glass of red wine to her.

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?" Amanda asked, accepting the glass.

"Blayne Belen will explain. He is the one who blooded you, and it is his knowledge to share. Be patient."

"You're leaving?" Amanda asked as Galena moved towards the door. Somehow she had depended on the young vampire to stay with her until Blayne returned.

Galena smiled secretively. "You will be glad that I am gone in a few moments, Amaclaty. Be ready for Alayza and Blayne Belen to come to you. Invado obscurum. Go in darkness."

"Invado obscurum," Amanda echoed. Galena smiled again before leaving the room and closing the heavy door behind her. It was only after she had gone that Amanda realized she still held the crystal glass. The red liquid within was thicker than wine should have been... Blood, she realized. The glass was blood. Her grip upon the glass tightened. How could she have forgotten? She was a vampire now. Or at least she would be soon, after the clan did whatever they had to do. Amanda moved to place the glass on a table, but she felt a sharp pain lance through her. Once, twice, three times she felt the waves of pain pulse through her blood. She felt her knees give out the moment before she fell to her hands and knees. The chalice shattered, spilling blood upon the floor, staining the deathroses crimson. With every heartbeat the pain grew worse. She screamed for relief. If someone would just end it, just kill her now, it would be so much better. Just as she felt she could withstand no more, the pain subsided and a hand grasped her shoulder. She drew a few shaky breaths before accepting the new blood being offered to her. She drank the contents of the glass, not really caring what it was as long as it would stop the pain from coming again.

"I am sorry, Amaclaty," the vampire said, helping the girl to her feet. "I had forgotten—we had forgotten—that you are a Mársabis. That your blood would fight Blayne Belen's." Amanda saw that the speaker was a bit older than herself, with Galena's fiery hair. A sister, maybe?

"I'm a what?" Amanda asked, realizing that Mársabis had been spoken again and she had no idea what it meant.

"Blayne Belen will explain later." Why did everyone keep telling her that? What did Blayne know that they did not?

"Who are you again?" Amanda asked the vampire. She had forgotten most of what Blayne had said in the chamber earlier.

"I am Alayza, Galena's cousin." Much to Amanda's surprise, Alayza knelt before her. "A great honor, Amaclaty, to finally meet you." Alayza looked up, and Amanda made the connection the instant before their eyes met. Alayza's blue eyes radiated the same power Blayne's had held the previous night. Raw seduction over venom over desire. Amanda could not resist. Alayza handed Amanda a dress of gossamer black, which she changed into without being asked. After she had dressed, Alayza Flickered before her.

"Quickly, we must finish what Blayne Belen started before the Mársabis blood overtakes his. As I said before, Amaclaty," the red haired vampire said huskily. "It is an honor." Amanda could see Alayza's fangs glittering in the torchlight. One long finger extended to touch Amanda's cheek. It was slight, but enough to make the girl shiver. Whether from terror or something else, however, she did not know.

"A-Alayza, p-p-please... What's g-going on?"

"I have waited a long time for this, Amaclaty. For many years after Anality predicted your coming, I have yearned for this moment." Alayza looked up from the deathrose she had been twirling deftly between her fingers. "Oh, yes. Lity was the best lover I ever had. Let us hope you do not fall far from the proverbial tree, my dear."

"But I don't—" Amanda began. She never finished. Alayza sank her fangs into the half-mortal's neck. Amanda gasped in pain as they collided sharply with her collarbone. The pure force of the impact was enough to send Amanda toppling over backwards. She landed among the deathroses.

"Amaclaty, I will not hurt you," Alayza managed to say, though her voice was breathy and full of urgency and desire. "You must trust me." Amanda nodded, and Alayza kissed her. Later, she could not say why she had done it, but Amanda kissed her back, aroused beyond belief. The vampire seemed not in the least bit surprised that her advances had brought on such passion. Instead, she pressed herself against Amanda with all the more urgency. The final stage of the blooding had begun.

- - -

Many lust-filled moments passed, and quite a while later the two vampires lay among tattered deathroses and discarded clothes. Amanda turned to Alayza with a puzzled expression on her face. "I don't have a sister," she said. Alayza sighed and stood, putting her silk gown back on. Amanda found her own dress which had been discarded among the deathroses some time ago.

"I believe, Amaclaty, that it is time to call forth Blayne Belen." Amanda nodded, and Alayza closed her eyes, calling, "Blayne Belen, ego voco vos!" A moment later he Flickered beside them. Alayza turned to him quietly, and said, "It is time, Belen." He nodded and sat upon the floor, motioning to the girls to join him. The time had indeed come.

"Amanda, I will tell you the story, but you must promise not to interrupt me." Amanda nodded, and Blayne began. "Many years ago, Amaclaty, a young woman came to us. She stumbled upon out fortress quite by accident. You must understand that we were weak then. The faith in the church above us was much stronger, and it weakened us. When Anality arrived, we were in need of everything, including blood. So I, as the Belen, the leader, was the first to drink.

"But something was wrong, I knew that the moment her blood passed my lips. Anality was no ordinary mortal. Not even close. She was a Mársabis. It had been generations since our clan had last met with a Mársabis. It was during the Black Plague, I believe. Because of Erikagana, we were able to thrive, to eventually migrate to the New World, as we called it then. But when she died, we thought that she had been the last of the Mársabis line. And Mársabis blood, you see, is very important. The Mársabis bloodline descends directly from Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Christ.

"So when Anality arrived, we were overjoyed. She weakened the faith in the church above us by setting fire to the altar, and she brought us victims so we could gain strength." A grin played across Blayne's pale features. "She was also one of the best lovers this clan had ever seen. Most of us anyway, myself included. She led us to power, and we multiplied. Some of our clan has Mársabis blood running through their veins, Amaclaty. Your sister was our savior.

"But as Mársabis do, even when blooded, Anality became ill. Within two months of contracting her disease, Lity was bedridden, here in this very room. But what she did for us then was almost more powerful than what she did in good health. She began to tell us of another in the Mársabis line, a baby born of her father and another woman. The baby, she said, was called Amaclaty. Anality told us where to find this child. And advised us to seek her quickly. She died not long afterwards, but not before she told us that this Mársabis would have power greater than her own. She would reign with us, over the land, and for miles darkness would overthrow all light. We could demolish the church above us, Lity said, in a matter of hours after the Mársabis arrived in our fortress.

"As you can imagine, Amaclaty, I kept a constant watch over this child. Over you. I watched you as you grew. When I believed you were ready, I confronted you. You are the last of undiluted Mársabis blood, and it is your destiny to lead us into darkness again." Blayne fell silent at this, and looked expressionlessly at Amanda. The new vampire shook her head. It wasn't possible... Was it?

"Amaclaty," Alayza said softly. "Trust in his words. I made love to your sister many times while she was here with us. I can tell you that your blood is hers. You are truly Anality's sister."

"I trust you," Amaclaty said finally. "Tell me what I have to do."

"You must lead our people to darkness. You must be their hope. You must help us overthrow the church which inhibits us," Blayne told her quietly, anger lurking in his voice.

"Why do you loathe the church so much? And why do you live under it if it hurts you?" Amaclaty asked, thoroughly confused.

"It was written when we of blood lust were created," Alayza explained. "That we shall not reign but live restricted by the Faith in the Church. All clans must live beneath a place of the Faith. We cannot enter the church, or we will die. But if the clan can demolish the faith of the particular congregation, the building itself loses its power, and we can overthrow it, and then we may reign. But the faith in this church has been steadily regaining strength since Anality's death. Mársabis blood makes you resistant to the powers of the church, but also connected to the clan when blooded. It is a powerful thing, the mixture which now runs through your veins."

"So how do we weaken the faith?" Amaclaty asked. Blayne grinned.

"We start drinking," he said. "The church was not ignorant to Anality's coming. They noticed when some of their own began to disappear. But when she died, and we were again weakened, they decided amongst themselves that we had gone, left this place, never again to bother them. If we start preying on them heavily again, the faith will start crumbling."

"So you're telling me that to bring the clan to power, we must weaken the faith of the church. But to weaken the faith, we must bring the clan to power! It's not possible!" Amaclaty shouted, her eyes blazing with anger.

"Anality managed," Blayne snarled, grey eyes cold once again. "She managed that and more!"

"I am not Anality!" Amaclaty roared, springing to her feet. "I'm not ready for this! I'm not some—some—some second savior!"

Blayne stood to face her, and when he spoke, it was not in a shout, but a whisper.

"That's exactly what you are."

Almost out of instinct, Amaclaty tried to hit him, but he grabbed her wrist. His long, pale fingers tightened, leaving no hope for escape. His hatred burned against her flesh. "You are a stupid little whore," he said in that same frightening whisper. "But I can fix that. I can make you the image of your sister." His eyes flashed sinisterly. "And I remember vividly what I did to convince her."

Amaclaty twisted in his grip, but her efforts were in vain. Blayne's gaze still rested on her, and she was surprised to see Alayza had gone. Suddenly she was overcome with a fear stronger than anything she could have imagined. She saw it in his eyes: every horrible thing he had seen in his many years as a vampire, every child he had killed to be fed, every girl he had lured into the dark and had his way with. Amaclaty tried with renewed strength to escape him, but by now he held both of her wrists, and he gripped her so tightly that she could feel his fingernails digging into her skin.

"Don't struggle," he told her, but his voice did not reassure her as it had before. With a cry of desperation, Amaclaty tried once more to free herself, but she could not. He released her wrist just long enough to give her a backhanded slap. This time, the blow was stronger, and reinforced by a black-jeweled ring. Amaclaty fell to her knees, bleeding from a gash just below her eye. She looked up at him, her expression filled with hurt and pain and loathing. She did not move.

"Get up," he ordered. Amaclaty rose slowly, her eyes never leaving his.

"If you want me to save these vampires," she said shakily. "You will never lay a hand on me again."

"Oh really?" Blayne inquired menacingly. "I think you'll be singing quite a different tune when I'm through with you."

"What makes you think anything you do will change my thinking?"

"Because you are your sister's sister," the vampire said simply. Amaclaty opened her mouth to reply, but decided against it. "You are more like Anality than you realize," Blayne continued. "She was convinced after a while, but for the beginning of her time here she did all she could for the clan while cursing my name."

"But you 'convinced' her," Amaclaty spat angrily.

"As I will you, slut. Galena, Karæa, ego voco vos." A moment later Galena appeared, a girl about her age with long black hair standing beside her.

"Yes Belen?" the latter inquired.

"Take her to my chambers. You know what to do." Karæa and Galena nodded. "Invado obscurum, then. You will have compensation for this later."

"Invado obscurum," the girls echoed as Blayne Flickered from view. Before Amaclaty could speak, each girl had a firm hold on one of her wrists, and she felt the static crackle that had preceded her Flicker to the hilltop with Blayne. The next instant she was standing in another underground room, this one darker and more depressing than any she had seen so far. Shackles and chains lined the walls and lethal-looking instruments filled the glass cabinets. Most of them were unfamiliar to her, and that made them all the more dangerous. Better the devil you know...

Amaclaty shut out several thoughts as they formed; she had no wish to dwell on the things Blayne could and would do to her. Instead she turned on Galena and Karæa. "Why do you listen to him?" she wailed. "What's in it for you?"

"Blayne Belen will repay us for our assistance," said Galena coldly.

"But you can't be more than thirteen!" Amaclaty objected, not entirely sure why that made any difference whatsoever. Karæa simply laughed.

"You're forgetting what we are, Amaclaty," she said.

"Explain it to her, Karæa," galena consented softly, laying her hand upon her companion's shoulder. "You know I will repay you tonight." Amaclaty saw the same smile on Galena's face as she had worn before leaving her with Alayza, and the Mársabis knew instantly that Galena's words held more meaning than they seemed to.

"Very well," Karæa said grudgingly. "You are only partly right Amaclaty. We look, and in some respects are, very young. But what you are forgetting is that we are vampires. We are immortal. Well, most of us are, at any rate."

"Most of you?" Amaclaty echoed, thoroughly confused.

"Blayne Belen has told you that Anality bore children while she lived?" Amaclaty nodded. She indeed remembered something of the sort being mentioned. "That was very fortunate for our clan, for while our men are still quite fertile, our women cannot conceive children. Anality's blood, her Mársabis blood, seemed to counteract that particular fault."

"But what does that have to do with immortality?" Amaclaty asked. Karæa put her hand to her forehead as if the whole conversation was giving her a headache.

"Think, Amaclaty!" she said, and though she was trying to control her temper, a note of frustration and anger showed through in her voice. "If the children Anality bore were immortal, they would either remain infants eternally or grow horribly ancient while living forever. The half-bloods age slowly; one year for every seven, I believe. So the youngest are just over two by mortal standards."

"Did you know Anality?"

"Of course. Galena often had the pleasure of her company, being as Alayza and herself were so close. And as I often have the distinct pleasure of Galena's company, I came to know her quite well."

"Did you ever—" Amaclaty began, but Galena cut across her next words.

"Enough," she said firmly. "You have delayed us long enough. Blayne Belen, ego voco vos." A moment later Blayne appeared, looking extremely annoyed.

"What is so urgent that it could not wait until my reappearance, Galena?" he snapped.

"My apologies, Belen, but the need I mentioned to you before has become, ah, more acute, shall we say." Blayne's expression softened.

"Of course, I had forgotten..." He shared a look of understanding with the red-headed vampire before continuing. "May your satisfaction be abundant. Invado obscurum."

"Invado obscurum," the girls echoed, and they Flickered away as if they had never been there at all. Blayne appeared to have forgotten Amaclaty was even in the room. He stared at something she could not see. For several moments he stayed like that, smiling secretively as Galena had.

Suddenly he Flickered behind her and shoved her roughly to her knees. "You will regret it if you move," he told her. Amaclaty saw him searching for something in the many glass cabinets, but he was far enough out of her peripheral vision that she could not tell what he held in his hands. He Flickered back behind her once again, lowering his mouth to her ear.

"Listen closely," he whispered. "What do you hear?"

Amaclaty listened and could hear groans of pleasure echoing in one of the other underground domes and gasped in surprise. "Karæa and Galena! They're lovers!"

"They have been for almost a century by now."

Amaclaty shook her head in disbelief. How was it possible that the two young vampires had been alive for over a century? She tried to imagine them as they were blooded, crying out not in pleasure but pain as they were bitten.

"Who blooded them?" She already knew the answer.

"I did, of course." Blayne had moved from his position behind her and was now pacing the stone floor, still behind her and out of view. Amaclaty opened her mouth to reply, but never got the chance.

Before a syllable passed her lips, she heard a whistle of air and felt the worst pain she could have ever imagined. Agony coursed through her as the silver spurs adorning the end of the leather whip embedded themselves into her flesh. Pain alone took all breathe from her body. A silent scream was called to the heavens as she raised her face upwards and yowled soundlessly, her neck under such strain that the marks from both stages of her blooding reopened, sending rivulets of red down her throat.

But Blayne wasn't finished. Not a second after he drove the shining spikes into her back, he gave a powerful flick of his wrist and pulled back sharply. The barbs tore free, shining with blood, leaving their victim sobbing, and gasping in a crumpled heap on the floor. Blayne waited. One second... Five seconds... Ten seconds... She seemed to calm down, and she was certainly quieter.

"Will you listen to me now?" Blayne asked. "Will you give your word to obey me?" He was expecting total surrender from the wounded vampire. He was sure she would come to his feet, begging, pleading for him not to hurt her anymore, just as her sister had. Instead she looked towards him with an expression of determination.