Her Lethal Seductress

An attack

“Future turns to destinies, the accidents of the present!”

Kat Kyle

It was the winter of 1870 in Western Australia. Scarlet met Albert after their release from the Convict Establishment. Instead of settling in the slums of Swan River settlements, they travelled towards Coolgardie as Albert was planning to join the gold rush.

He was certain that as a free settler the timing was just right for him to strike gold. He had managed to create friendships in jail and worked out his route across the Darling Scarp with whatever little equipment he could get his hands on. Scarlet had laid low in the jail and learnt to keep herself safe.

She was more of a loner. She had realised something more about herself while watching her jail mates. But she wasn’t ready to think about it yet. It was not only frowned upon in their society but was also illegal. So she had accepted the lonely way of life.

While travelling through the Darling ranges, they were attacked by two bushrangers. Albert fought while Scarlet observed, hidden. The bushrangers let them go once they realised that the couple were paupers. They took whatever equipment and money Albert had on him before they left.

Albert decided to work at the stone quarry at nearby Jarrahdale before pressing further into the outback in search of gold. After the looting, they needed some money before they joined the gold rush.

Both joined work at the quarry and started living together in a settlement next to the Jarrah forest. Albert had been sent to the penal colony for falling in love with a Lord’s wife.

He really loved his woman, so he was unwilling to sleep around. The arrangement of living together suited them perfectly.

Their hut was the farthest of the houses and closest to the woods. They had quite a few wild animals come over to visit them. Her less than impressive performance in the fight with the bushrangers prompted Albert to train her in swordsmanship.

He procured 2 steel sabers by saving up enough and using his connections. He was an enterprising young man.

“How do you know so much about sword fighting?” One night after their fight practice, Scarlet asked over dinner. They had been together for over a year now.

“My old man and my grandpa were both knights. They trained me themselves. It used to be our playtime together, the training.” His eyes glazed over as he remembered life from the other side of the world.

He had become her best friend. She felt his sadness but could do nothing. She too missed her family. She had sent them a letter via post but hadn’t received any reply for over 6 moons. As they sat chatting about the good old days from their homeland they heard a horrible screech outside. It was definitely from a wild animal.

It was something that they had never heard before. It raised the hair on their neck. They were used to stumbling across new animals every other day. Before visiting this land they had never come across a roo or a dingo or a wombat, so they braced themselves to discover the animal behind that hair-raising screech.

Nothing had prepared them for what they faced that night. They followed the voice into the jungle with their sabers, unsheathed in their hands.

As they stepped into the dark denser part of the woods, a man sprang out of the bush and attacked them. The man was nothing like they had ever seen before. He was some kind of a superhuman creature with red wild-looking eyes. He was pale as death and as fast as lightning.

They did not stand a chance. He was attracted to Scarlet and came closer to kiss her. He moved in, fast and fluid, closing the distance between them in seconds. She was transfixed. As he bent to kiss the nape of her neck, Albert attacked him from behind with his saber raised above his head. He turned around as if he had eyes in the back of his head, his eyes redder in anger and kissed Albert at the side of his neck. Albert did not even have time to react or complete the intended swing with his sword.

Scarlet was frozen in horror as she saw two canines from his mouth dig into Albert’s neck. She saw the life drain out of Albert’s eyes and the saber slip from his fingers. The last words he said was, “Run Scarlet. This is a bloodsucker!”

Within seconds her best friend was no more.

She looked at the attacker in loathing, “why did you do that?”

He smirked, “I was thirsty, darling. I wanted to taste your blood. It smells sweet.” He lifted his face up and sniffed the air.

She had goosebumps all over her body. She was preparing to run but froze in dread when she saw Albert's pale dead body on the forest floor. Sudden despair filled her and she collapsed on her knees on the forest floor.

Her saber lay next to her. What was the use of that damn weapon? It couldn’t save the life of her best friend, the only person in this world who knew her and understood her?

The attacker edged towards her, “how amusing. I don’t feel like killing you. Maybe I should just make you my bitch.”

She spat at him, “stay away from me you filthy bloodsucker!”

“Or what?” His lips were close to hers as he crouched in front of her. He kissed her and she gagged.

He moved away from her and looked angrily into her blue eyes. “What a waste of such a pretty face! You are sapphic. I am in a good mood today so I will not kill you. I am going to show you what being with a man feels like!” He snarled.

She saw his long canines soiled with Albert’s blood. He pinned her hands on her side with his icy cold hands. He bent down and latched his mouth to the nape of her neck. She felt her body go into heated arousal.

He sneered against her sensitive skin and whispered in her left ear, “this does feel great, doesn’t it?” He continued to suck against her skin. She was paralysed with God knows what. She did not feel fear, instead, she felt repulsion, but couldn’t move even if she tried to.

He laughed at her feeble attempt. “You are my prey, b***h. I have my own ways of hunting.” He pulled her dress up and stroked her thigh.

She yelped and tried to get away from him.

His eyes darkened, “you are a bloody virgin! I can smell it. What were you doing with this spineless worm?” He looked at Albert.

The words about her best friend pulled her out of her trance. In one swift motion, she picked up her saber using her free hand and with all her strength pierced it into his chest.

He screeched in anger and dug his canines into the side of her neck. She screamed in pain as his canines dug deeper into her. They released a burning sensation into her blood which slowly travelled throughout her body. She wasn’t sure if she was dead and burning in hell or if she was alive and dreaming.

She heard someone in her head. “I am your friend, child. Give me control over your body.”

This time she let go and let the owner of the voice take over. She only wanted relief from this burning.

The voice chanted something in a foreign language. A shot of energy travelled through her burning body.

She could feel every single thing but as if from a distance. Her body got up, pulled the sword out of his chest and in a single bold stroke decapitated the bloodsucker.

The voice started chanting. It spoke through her and the dead vampire caught fire.

As the vampire's body got engulfed in flames and the air filled with the horrid smell of burning blood, the voice left and Scarlet collapsed with a sudden loss of strength.

Writhing in burning pain she lay on the dry floor for God knows how many hours. She wanted to know who the voice in her head was. But she had no strength left. She wanted the pain to go away. Alone in the woods next to Albert’s lifeless body, she lay waiting for death to embrace her.

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