Her Vampire Master

The heavy dampness in the air weighed down on the intensity of the situation as I scanned my eyes across the clearing. Shadows moved across the branches, and it took everything I had not to fire my gun at them. I could still feel the gun’s handle digging into the side of my hip. Where I would usually feel more at ease with the constant reminder that I was armed, on this occasion, it would do little to help me. “You’re ready,” Gabriel said, appearing next to me with his usual charming smile. “I better be,” I huffed, Just being near the looming castle was putting me on edge - and Gabriel breathing down my neck was one less distraction that I didn’t need, The memories haunted me. The day we first met, and the day that my whole world shifted. Nothing had ever been the same. Flashes of image forced itself to the front of my mind. The splashes of blood, the smell of Metalic odour filling the house, and my father’s body laying on the ground with two holes drilled into the side of his neck. The police had no clue what caused it, and had decided that he must have been murdered with a pair of kitchen tongs. Then Gabriel came along and told me about everything that bumped in the night. Things of nightmares. Now, we were outside his castle; his lair. And I was about to walk right in. “You’re thinking about it again, aren’t you?” He warned. “How can I not?” I demanded. “I still see it every time I close my eyes. How can I not think about what it is I’m doing this for?” Gabriel sighed, sweeping back his thick black hair out of his face. “Listen, you just need to get close to them. Gain their trust until he has you alone, and then, kill him. Just like we practiced.” Killing Valerian wasn’t the issue. I could still imagine both Valerian and his son, Lord Luther Darian, staring down at my father as they drained him of his blood. “Look, I know the plan,” I snapped. “Now, stop harping on about it.” I stood up to leave and make my way to the castle, but was stopped not three paces in. ”Forgetting something?” Gabriel asked, raising an eyebrow. He looked down at my hip, and I rolled my eyes. “Oh. Right. No guns,” I pouted and handed him the only weapon I had. “How is it that I’m meant to kill him, but if I can’t take my only weapon?” ”Use your imagination,” he replied, smirking. “In a castle filled with objects, I am sure something can be used.” I released a sigh and turned mmmy back on him, once again aiming for the front door. I had no idea what it was I was going to say when I got there, but I was certain it wouldn’t be the best lie I could probably come up with. “Just stick to the plan!” He called out. Right, then plan. I sighed and banged on the heavy door. It took mere moments before the wooden frame opened with a creak and a large guard stepped into the doorway. “Yes?” The guard was at least a good two foot taller than me, and his pale features made his appearance look all the more daunting. I swallowed hard, holding my nerve. Stick to the plan, Gabriel had said. That’s be helpful if I could remember what it was. Get in, gain their trust. I would’ve needed a reason to knock on the door in the first place, but I hadn’t thought of that. I figured, which now seemed to be wrongly, that I would simply say something clever. “Uh… I - I’m sorry,” I stuttered, rubbing my arms to fight back the cold night air. “I - I was with my friends, and they left me… I have nowhere else to go. Do you have a bed I could— I have no way to get home… at least, not until the morning…” He looked at me, studying my face, and the goosebumps covering my arms. I shuddered under his gaze, which I hoped looked like a shiver from the cold. “Wait one moment, I’ll ask the boss.” I nodded my thanks and waited. It wasn’t the best lie I could have come up with, but at least it might have got me through the door. I brace myself to be turned away, shaking up another lie to get in. The door opened again, and took another look at me with scrutiny. “What’s your name?” He asked. “Ava Williams,” I replied. “My name is Ava Williams.” ”All right, Miss Williams. You may stay the night, but please, during the night - close and lock the doors and do not roam the halls after dark.” I stood there uncertain for a moment. I couldn’t believe my luck. The lie got me in. I breathed a sigh of relief and followed the guard inside. I gazed around at the hall, filled with paintings and marble floors and windows that - upon closer inspection - was merely painted on. I guess that made sense - if the buffy episoodes were anything to go by. In reality though, it was a lot more messy to kill a Vamp, than turning into dust. The guard took me down the hall, and the first corner on the left - past three bathrooms and what seemed to be the storage room. They really wanted me out of the way, which suited me just fine. “This is you,” he stated, swinging open the door. As I stepped inside, I was relieved to find it not looking as gothic as I expected, but ore neutral - and thankfully, even had a window. ”Thank you,” I said in.a whisper. The guard walked away and I closed the door behind him. Now, the hard part of the mission. How was I going to stay past morning? The flickering candle on my nightstand cast shifting shadows across the room, like wraiths haunting the edges of my consciousness. The dim, wavering light did little to dispel the memories that clung to my thoughts like a shroud, memories that had forged my life into an unyielding blade of vengeance. The room, once a sanctuary filled with the warmth of family, now resembled a sepulcher—a shrine to the life I had lost. I closed my eyes, hoping to block out the haunting images. After dozing and jolting awake a few times, I finally fell into a light sleep, and the faces of the Damian’s looked back at me, laughing.