4. Eric
Eric sat, staring at Ira’s surgery idle eyed, as the doctor moved about the room like a sun drenched sloth. Ira had been a doctor in his early pre-vampire life, and he had kept his surgery in keeping of the late 1800’s. From the white tiles on the walls to the brusque and uncomfortable leather green stools in the waiting area. Next to the clinical shine of the stainless steel cart and the precise glass vials filled with dark red blood, the room looked at odds with itself.
Ira was the chief doctor for the Belmont family, as he had been for the past several hundred years. He was also the botanist, architect, painter, sartorialist… he was a man of many interests, and with the luxury of eternal life, he’d had plenty of time to indulge in them, filling his mind with an impressive expanse of knowledge, not just of things human, but things vampire too.
He was also of a class of vampires that now took time for granted, as he had all the time in the world to himself. He moved at a pace that was lackadaisical, reminiscent of a shadow crawling across a wide garden on a long summer afternoon.
Eric watched the man, while squeezing his fingers around the hard edge of the leather clad stool. Unlike many of the other vampires at Castle Belmont, Eric did have an air of patience about him, something he had learned while growing up underneath his maliciously stubborn father. If kept too long from simple pleasures like blood or sex, vampires would quickly become short and agitated.
Ira didn’t tolerate impatience, and any one who dared to push him, quickly found themselves on the end of his sharp tongue. He took no time in reminding anyone who cared to complain, that the service he was providing to them was a benefit, not a luxury, and he could withdraw it anytime he wished.
Eric had never complained, unlike others he was grateful for the service that Ira provided. Over the last few years Eric’s taste for the hunt had dissipated, replaced only by the ever constant and irremovable thirst for blood. He’d tried to wean himself from the dark nectar, but found it next to impossible. Reducing his usual intake by even the barest fraction brought out splitting headaches and agonizing lethargy across his whole body. He hadn’t hunted a real person in almost three years, and even then, he’d done so with much reluctance. He’d been traveling across Europe on business for the family when the supply in their caravan had been damaged in a storm. There were always networks, always places a well known vampire like a Belmont could go to get blood, but even in the deadest remote of ancient Europe, Eric was loathe to find he had reached an impasse. He’d resorted to taking to a small village, and in the dead of the night, he abducted a young girl. Perhaps only twenty. He’d tried to take just enough to keep him going, just enough to let her live. In his mind he knew that she had died however, even though he hadn’t stuck around to see the outcome.
Since then he’d been especially careful to keep stocks of blood, and he was paramount in helping Ira develop the blood stores within the castle. A special wing had been constructed underground, which was climate controlled, and protected by a number of backup generators. Blood of all types was kept, although if Eric was honest with himself he could never taste the difference. The key difference was the person, younger was better. But not too young. An adult in their prime was best, and he had a preference for women, but everyone was different.
His dependency on blood was another tome of walking shame for him. Every meal was a disappointment. An essential and invigorating disappointment.
“You seem on edge today Master Belmont.” Ira pottered about gathering supplies, casting a wry smile in Eric’s direction.
Eric steeled his jaw, took a deep breath and tried to remind himself that patience was important with Ira. Normally he could bare to wait, even when the shadows within him were screaming out for sustenance. Today however, his patience was almost non-existent. He craved something even greater than blood, and if he hadn’t have been scared he might do something stupid with Claire in blood thirst, he would have skipped this meal altogether.
He wanted the girl, and he wanted her badly. He wanted her so badly that it surprised him. He was Eric Belmont. The immortal bachelor, the heir to the Belmont empire. He didn’t have time for girls, and he certainly didn’t have time for love. There had been times in the past, decades ago, when he thought he might have loved slaves, but it had always just turned out to be deep rooted lust.
Slaves were just things at the end of the day, and things always got broken in Castle Belmont, especially with a brother like Wraith running around. Eric wasted no time getting upset over it, he’d long since accepted it as a fact of life. He’d find a new slave, drink from her for a while and he’d come home one day to find her dead or broken, after Wraith had had his wicked way with her.
Eric had never understood the young lunatic he was forced to call a brother. Eric never saw sense in torture, never saw pleasure in mindless murder. These were the things his brother thrived upon however, and he had murdered so many of Eric’s slaves on purpose, just to get a rise out of him. There might have been a time when it had worked, but it had been a long time since Eric could remember his brother’s escapades really getting to him. He didn’t hold any ill will against his brother, ultimately he knew that it wasn’t his fault. He just wished there was something he could to change him.
He’d barely had Claire twenty four hours, and already he could feel something changing within him, a change that was greater than any he had known in his three hundred years. It scared him, and it excited him at the same time.
He wanted Claire. He wanted her all to himself. To be away from her for even just a few minutes felt like pain. As soon as he was done with Ira, he’d take an extra supply of blood for the weekend, and he’d hole himself up in the room with his new obsession. His mind was hell bent one thing, and that was delivering as much pleasure to her as possible over the next few days. Even if the act hadn’t served the purpose of making their inevitable mating more effective, he would have partaken in it gladly. He cast his mind over the bath they had shared just some time ago, groaning inwardly as his cock grew in his pants. He thought about the softness of her nipple, the firmness of her ass. How pale and beautiful her skin was. How her pussy had felt when he had cupped it in his hand.
His cock turned to steel, pushing against the tight fabric of his charcoal jeans. He shifted in the seat, leather squeaking beneath him as he did so.
“And you’re usually so much more chatty.”
Eric looked up to see that Ira was standing in front of him. He’d been in such deep thought over Claire, he’d completely forgot he was in the room. In front of Ira was the stainless steel cart, on which was Eric’s dose for the morning.
“Two pints. Renal, duagenarian. This is a really good one.” Ira took a small shot glass from off the counter and supped at it. Eric blinked hard, breathing his frustration out. Ira had a penchant for flourish. Sometimes he wish the man would just speak normally. Blood from the kidneys of a twenty year old. That’s all his blather had meant. He smiled at the doctor politely, taking a pint from off the counter, and finished it quickly.
“My, someone is hungry.” Ira stared at him wide eyed. Eric ignored the comment, grabbed the second pint and drank from the glass deeply. He set the glass back on the metal cart and wiped his hand across the back of his mouth. He glanced at Ira, and saw the man was staring down at him with squinting suspicion.
“What are you up to today? It’s not like you to be in a rush, and I know rush when I see it.”
“Nothing.” Eric stood up, stretching his stiff body in his clothes. “I just have things that I need to do. Stuff for the family. You know what’s it like.”
Ira nodded his head as if he did know. “Heir of Belmont, transformative times, succession of power to a younger and more powerful vampire… lots to do I suppose.” Ira spoke in long and rambling sentences, which were hard to keep up with for those unfamiliar with his cadence. To Eric, it was nothing too hard, he’d kept the company of the man for several decades now.
“Yes, well.” Eric started for the door. “I have to be off now.”
“Very busy it would seem.” Ira said with curious remark.
Eric stopped, recalling the last words he had shared with Claire. The delicious and enticing words that had his cock on end nearly all morning. He turned back to Ira, the man that had more knowledge than any other in Castle Belmont, and he cleared his throat.
“Ira. I was wondering. You know when a vampire is with a breeder?”
“Human?”
“Yes. It’s known that arousal should be at peak levels before consummation…”
“Yes, in order to fully make sure the breeder is ready.” Ira recited the words as if reading from an old medical book.
“Well. What about…” Eric almost flushed in the cheeks at the absurdity of the question. “What about anal sex? Would that disturb the readiness or…”
He faded off, hoping that the bulk of the brief question had been significant enough.
A curious smile spread across Ira’s face and he shook his head.
“What are you up to up there Master Belmont? I do wonder sometimes… but no. To answer your question, I don’t believe that would have any adverse effect on the breeding process. In fact, I think it would work quite on the contrary, in heightening the breeder’s arousal.”
Eric’s eyes widened in excitement. “Really?”
“Oh yes. I remember reading an entry in the Belmont family archives. The diary of Belladonna Vandark.”
“Belladonna? She’s not of our line.” Eric’s ears turned at the name. Belladonna Vandark. Her name was an infamous one. While most vampires knew a generous amount of sexual deviancy, Belladonna Vandark was on a whole other level.
“No, you’re right. But there was a time in the early 1900’s when I was an archivist for their family. When I left I still had a lot of their affects in my possession for one reason or another. It sat in storage for years but I decided to put in the Belmont archives. I have let Belladonna known, but she seems to care little.”
“She probably hardly remembers.” Eric laughed. It had been many years since he had met the woman, and she was barely a name on his radar, but he knew that she had grown reclusive and distant to the vampire world in last century.
“She found herself a male breeder, and she had quite the penchant for anal sex, documenting it thoroughly in her journal.”
“I bet.” Eric quipped. “But thanks… that’s all I need to know.”
“Anything I need to know?” Ira rocked onto his tiptoes, holding his arms behind him, neck craned out.
“Nothing as of yet doctor. Thanks for the blood.”
“Anytime Eric. Anytime.”
Eric turned to leave before stopping once more. “And doctor. Could you send up three days worth of supply to my room?”
Ira’s eyebrows raised slowly. “We really are busy hm… but yes. I can’t see why not. I’ll have one of the servants leave it in your personal cooler.”
Eric nodded and flew from the room quickly.
*
There was a reason for Eric keeping Claire’s presence at the castle secret. Breeders like Claire were rare, and for him to find one, it was something of a treasure. The political climate in Castle Belmont had always been testy. Their line was one of the most powerful, and one of the most respected families on the occidental side of the vampire world. His father, Atticus Belmont, was the current head of the family crest, but his time was coming to an end and he was preparing to hand over the reigns.
There had been many decades of subterfuge, conspiracy and collusion to try and manipulate the passing of power, but Atticus had done a good job of keeping order within the castle. Things were set to pass to Eric. There were several brothers and uncles, and even aunts, that would like to take the throne, but Atticus had managed to satiate their power for thirst by giving them power in far and distant places. It was a brilliant strategy that had worked for the most part. The only vampires left in the Castle itself were the ones suspected to have no ulterior motives, no desire to usurp or scramble desperately for power when the chance presented itself.
Eric knew better. As much as he and his father had tried to clean the castle of filth, it was always wise to watch one’s back. Eric’s claim for inheritance was already a strong one. He was the oldest heir, he was respected and he was powerful. His younger brother for the most part accepted this, but his brother Wraith was a problem, as he was in all facets of life. Eric knew that Wraith would accept the passing of power, but he knew that he was also conspiring to overthrow him as soon as he could.
With the ability to produce an heir, Eric had a distinct advantage over his brother and sisters, who as of yet, had no means to reproduce themselves. Before claiming her, Claire would be fair game to any vampire who wanted her. This is why it was important for Eric to mate and turn her as fast as possible. After the initial mating, he would be bonded to her and he could turn her. Turning her before that would negate her breeding ability. Upon turning Claire would be a fertile vampire, an extreme rarity, and one that would be respected by every vampire in the world. It would bring power, and it would bring advantage.
However great the political advantages of having an heir, they were the last on the list of Eric’s motivations for taking Claire. Eric couldn’t care less about securing his inheritance of the throne. His first and greatest motivation had been just to have an heir, a child was what he had wanted more than anything in the world. But even this had slipped now, pushed under the ebb and flow of the pure carnal desire that he felt for Claire and the desire he felt to keep her safe.
He rushed back to his room with great haste, and when he got there, he was terrified to see that Claire was gone.
“Claire?”
Eric walked about the room quickly, his eyes scanning in every direction.
“Claire, it’s Eric. Where are you?”
The lack of response stirred torment in Eric’s chest. He stood for a moment, listening, clenching his fists in angst, squeezing his nails into the palms of his hands.
He cast his eyes all around the room, from the bed in front of him to the study on the right and back to the bathroom on the left.
The bathroom.
He had told her the hairdryer was in there. He noticed she’d removed the lingerie from the box on the chaise lounge. Just the thought of seeing her in it got him hard again. He stalked across room to the en suite, and pushed the door open.
He saw the bodies of the three naked girls in the tub and turned from the scene immediately, pushing his hand into the bridge of his nose.
Wraith.
That cretinous bastard. The last time he had seen him was just before he’d left for the city, to collect Claire. He’d passed Wraith in a corridor in the original part of the Castle.
“In a hurry brother? I’ve left a surprise for you in your wing. You’ll find it. I’m sure.”
He’d cackled with brazen inanity as Eric had pushed past him. He was used to his brother’s games, but there had been no time to pay him any attention. This must have been the surprise that Wraith had mentioned. Three young women, dead in his personal bathroom. Murdered simply for the pleasure of entertaining Wraith briefly. Eric’s body shook with rage. He knew instantly what had happened. Claire must have found the bodies, and she must have assumed that they were Eric’s. Why wouldn’t she? They were in his bathroom after all.
She must have run. She was obviously somewhere in the castle. Eric knew that it was impossible for her to escape, there was no way out of the castle on foot, so she must be inside it somewhere, hiding. Blood thundered through his temples as he stood, chest heaving, contemplating how to find her.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. There was a connection between them, no matter how faint. If he could tune everything out and focus on her, there was a possibility he might be able to find her.
He drew another deep breath, tasting the air of the castle. Dust, varnish, wood, leather. These were all things that were a permanence in the air of Belmont. He sought past that, looking further. There was a trace of her on the air, a trace of her delicious floral sent, singed with fright. He could almost taste her fear, the way she had felt when she had seen the bodies.
She had left the room in a hurry, turned down the corridor and headed in the direction of the South East staircase. Eric ran, following the scent quickly. It was then that the second sight hit him. He froze in the corridor, steadying himself against a stone wall with his hand as his eyes glazed over.
He saw the bodies, he felt her fear. She had turned quickly and ran. She ran the length of the corridor, until she came to the staircase.
No. Eric begged in his mind, even though he knew he was only watching a trace of something that had already been.
She took the stairs, she ran quickly and quietly, all the way to the bottom, until she reached the twelfth floor. His floor. Wraith’s floor.
No.
He heard the sound of a door opening, and then the vision faded away.
Eric ran at once, moving down the corridor with great speed. Claire had wondered onto one of the most dangerous floors in the Castle, the floor of his twisted and insane brother, Wraith. If Wraith found Claire before Eric did, it wouldn’t be long until she was dead.
Eric turned at the stairs, launching down the flight in one swift jump. He kicked his foot off the wall on the landing and launched in the opposite direction down the next flight, moving like this until he was at the bottom.
He could sense her completely now. She had turned right down the corridor, heading in the direction of the library. She wasn’t alone however. Wraith was in there too.
*
As soon as Eric threw open the great doors of the library, he saw his brother standing naked, Claire doubled over in front of him, her lingerie ripped to shreds. Upon hearing the doors Wraith looked over his shoulder with an expression of fury etched on his face, indignant that someone would dare disturb his playtime.
To Claire, everything that happened in those next three seconds, was an imperceptible blur of noise and movement.
To Eric however, he movement was swift and keen preciseness. He launched from the door to his brother’s place with inhuman speed. Wraith turned to meet his brother, matching his speed. The fury that had been on his face had slipped to fear, and immediately he could sense that some line had been crossed. Wraith threw his arms up to block his brother’s attack, but he wasn’t fast enough to match the rage that was driving Eric forward.
Eric launched up into the air, turning his body forward as he did so, until he was above Wraith with his hands pointed down at him. He seized him by the jaw and held tight. Eric continued to soar through the library, his body turning as he did so, until he was upright once more. At the end of his first revolution he let his brother’s head slip from his grasp, launching his body across the remainder of the library until it crashed into the windows at the far end of the room.
Claire stood dazed. Just one moment ago Wraith had been behind her, his cold hands groping at her body. He had been mere seconds from raping her. Now he was in front of her, at the far end of the library in a twisted heap on the ground. Between them was Eric, standing on a table looking down at his brother.
Wraith flung himself to his feet. To Claire this was another blur of movement, to Eric he saw every part of the motion.
“Come to play brother?! Finally!” A wild smile spread across Wraith’s face, eager that Eric had finally risen to his challenge.
Eric had no time for games anymore. Wraith had come this close to taking away the one thing in the world that was important to him. Wraith wanted some long drawn out fight, some dramatic dance where bodies would be heaved through pillars of stone and dust. Eric didn’t care for it. He could have thrown him harder and launched him through the windows into the pure daylight. He could have ignited the fool and ended it once and for all. He hadn’t however.
“Come on Eric!” Wraith’s eyes shrunk to pin pricks. The whites were large and fevered. “Fight me!”
Wraith launched himself at Eric, anticipating that this was all just some roughhousing. Eric intercepted Wraith by the throat, driving back through the air to the window once more. His body crunched against the glass. Eric moved with his full strength and speed, using the full capacity of his power that he rarely showed to anyone. It took Wraith by surprise, and his eyes were shrunk in fear now.
“Hark brother!” Wraith writhed under Eric’s grasp, his hand uncomfortably tight on his throat. “She’s just a slave! Relax!”
Eric tightened his grip further, just seconds away from feeling the trachea of his brother’s throat collapse in his fingers.
“No.” His voice was low and wild.
Wraith tried to wriggle free, but his brother’s strength was too much. “Enough! You can have her! It was just a joke!”
“If you ever touch her again, I’ll stake you myself.”
Wraith laughed at the words at first, but then his face turned ghostly white, seeing that his brother was not joking.
Eric held Wraith like that for a few seconds more, unable to relax at the idea of him being in the same room with Claire. Finally he relented and lowered him back down, taking a step back.
Wraith straightened himself out, cockiness flooding back into his face now that he was a free.
“Not worth killing anyway.” Wraith spat. “Much more fun to torture girls like that.”
In a split second Eric grabbed a chair beside him, slammed it onto the floor and thrust Wraith up against the wall once more with a splintered leg held against his chest.
“This is your last warning. I will stake you myself. If you ever touch, talk, or think about her again, I will kill you. Is that understood?”
Wraith’s whole body shook under Eric’s grasp.
“Is that understood?”
“Yes!” He snarled reluctantly. “Now get off me!”
Eric dropped the stake, and with a twisting motion he launched his brother back through the air of the library, towards the main doors. Wraith landed on his feet with ease, staring back at his brother skittishly.
“Leave.”
“This is my floor!”
“Leave.”
He pushed the word out of his throat with the whispered fire of rage. Wraith sensed he was mere seconds from final death and tore from the library, roaring in frustration as fled down the corridor.
Eric took a few breaths to steady his fury, and then his eyes were back on Claire, who stood cowering in the corner, her arms twisted in front of her naked body. He was in front of her in a second, holding the discarded bath robe that had been dropped onto the floor. He held the robe out and Claire snatched it from his hand, jumping away from him as she covered her body.
“Please! Just let me go! Please! Don’t kill me!”
“My dearest Claire.” He placed a hand on her waist and another on the side of her face, brushing his lips softly across her forehead. “I will protect you with my life.”
“I saw the bodies,” She stammered, “I saw what you did!”
“That was my brother’s doing.” He pushed reassurance from the depth of his chest, soothing her fear. Slowly but surely her breath calmed, until she could look up at him once more.
“No, but - it was, your -”
“Wraith has often been a thorn in my side. I told you that I don’t hunt anymore, and that was the truth. You have nothing to fear.”
A glimpse of hope seemed to spark in her eyes again, if only for the barest of seconds. Eric could use his full intention on her if he wanted, he could turn her into a slobbering drone that said yes whenever he wanted. He didn’t want that though. He wanted her, and if he wanted to gain her trust he had to do it the hard way.
“Promise it to me.” She said, breath shaking. “Promise me that it wasn’t you.”
Eric spoke immediately without hesitation. “I promise you. Now promise me something.”
Claire turned her head in curiosity.
“Promise me that you believe me.”
Claire’s eyes looked down, then back up at Eric, and then around the library. She weighed his words with deep consideration. After what felt like an eternity, she finally spoke.
“Look into my eyes and tell me it wasn’t you.” She said.
Eric did as she said. Claire swallowed at his words.
“I believe you.” She said.
“Really?”
“Yes. I can tell. Just looking at you. You’re fierce, for sure. You’re strong… but you’re different. You’re not him. You’re not your brother. He’s… he’s ghastly.”
“Agreed.” Eric laughed briefly and his smiled faded. “I apologize for our rocky start. Come.” He offered his hand out for Claire to take it. She looked at it, hesitating. “I’ll have Ira clean up the mess. I’ll take you back to safety.”
“I can’t - I can’t go back there-” She stammered.
“I wouldn’t dream of it my love. That was but one of my many rooms. I have another, on the opposite corner of the castle. It’s even nicer actually. A little modern for my tastes, but I think you will like it. Will you come?”
Her eyes had been in the distance, looking at something out of sight, probably playing back the dark images of the bodies. He placed a finger on her chin and pulled at it for her to look at him.
She did, and a slight smile crossed her lips.
“Will you come? I promise this is the last horror you will see here. Everything else…”
He brushed his hand down her neck, skirting the circumference of her breast. “Everything else will be pleasure.”
Claire swallowed.
“Did you find out?”
Eric turned his head in confusion.
“…about the thing that we talked about.” Claire spoke abashed, color filling her cheeks. Eric realized what she meant immediately.
“Ah.” A smile spread across his face. “Yes I did. And yes. It should be perfectly fine.” He held his hand out once more.
“Come. We have all that to look forward to and more. I promise, you won’t regret it.”
She placed her hand in his. Eric breathed a sigh of relief. She was his once again. He walked her out of the library, back toward the staircase, back to the ninth floor.
As they went he bit his lip in anticipation. He had her all to himself again, and he wouldn’t be letting her go anytime soon.