After the Creator was brought to her end, no vampire was safe from those that would choose to hunt them. It was at this time I looked into the history of the illustrious leader. She alone had the most prophecies written about her, yet the one she feared the most was the one she would do nothing about and it happened only a few nights ago.

I came just in time to honor the burial of Antigone, yes I was one of the few who had the knowledge of her true name, don’t let the lesser vampires tell you her name was Victoria, it was merely a name she chose to be more modern. We buried her in her garden and marked her grave; I found her mother’s marker in the center of the garden among a pile of ash and stuck it in the ground next to hers.

I chose to stay in the house to keep those that would loot away. Every night I found something new to delight my senses. Original texts, hundreds of years old were in here library, paintings from great masters and some less known hung on her walls. Her private chambers were adorned with paintings by Alexander, the selfish traitor who wanted an end to a life he could no longer paint, more like he never became famous enough for his liking. I even found some poetry written by Howard, no doubt written for Nickolas but played off for Antigone.

Then one night I found this journal written in Antigone’s own hand. She wrote her own story, I no longer needed to search for answers she gave them all to me, complete with all her thoughts on even me. The last chapter is all that remains unfinished, but I shall do my best to fill in the pieces when the time comes.

Please set aside any other ideas you have of Antigone and let her own words guide you through her life.


Signed,

Victor Reese

I can still remember the screams of the person I first bit. I was merely a babe and did not want the milk from the nursemaid, I wanted blood. She slapped my little cheek and switched the side I was nursing on. I left the other one alone and sucked happily on the unharmed teat. Even at that age I knew I had to hide my true desire.

Funny that I can remember my first drink of blood at such a young age, but the memory of my mother’s face continues to fade from my mind. My mother was a woman of great strength who guided and protected me curing my young years. Children teased me for having no father, but she stood strong, clasping my hand tight in the market. With proud eyes she would sit in her stall selling our herbs. I vowed always to have my mother’s strength.

Even though people feared me, they knew my mother grew the best herbs, but being seen buying a whore, as they commonly called her because of me, could brand you a sinner too. Instead of buying outright, they would come by late at night and purchase them with a cloak of darkness covering them.

One day, when I was twelve, as my mother and I sat at our stall in the market tying herbs together to dry, a man stopped by our booth. He was a stranger, or he would not have stopped. His clothing was indeed strange to our land. He looked over our wares, holding a sprig of rosemary he held my eyes and dropped a coin in my mother’s hand.

“Sir, you have paid too much.” My mother attempted to hand the coin back but he held up his hand insisting she keep it.

“Madam, keep this coin you are keeping something rare and precious indeed.” He continued to hold my gaze then tipped his hat adding, “A child of my master is a great thing to behold.” Then he left twirling the rosemary between his fingers.

“Do you know that man, momma?” My curiosity was indeed peaked. Did he know my mysterious father?

“Antigone, I myself cannot remember all the events that lead to your arrival.” She went back to tying herbs avoiding my question yet again. I was not going to take it this time. I grabbed the herbs from her hands and threw them on the ground.

“I want to know!” I believe I yelled loud enough for everyone in town to hear but my mother told me later I only whispered.

“Then I guess I will tell you.” She bent down and picked the herbs up off the ground before she started talking again. “A man, dressed similar to the one we just saw, came into town and stopped by my stall. Back then it could get quite crowded here, but he waited until he was the only one left. He plied me with such words that I closed early and invited him to dinner. Since momma and poppa died I’d been keeping the house alone. He ate plenty and talked sweet. I don’t remember much after that, feelings mostly. I awoke the next morning and I just knew I was with child.”

She played with a few strands of my hair with a wistful look on her face. “The only other thing I was left with were these scars.” I watched as she tipped her head to the side. Two scars were all that were there, but seeing these made me slightly embarrassed as well as hungry for blood. My mother caught my expression. “Oh it’s time for your special stew again.” She could always tell when the need arose in me. She did not understand it, I know this now, but she never thought less of me for it.

I loved to watch her cook, she always hummed. As I said before, I can’t remember her face as well, but I can remember her humming perfectly. The stew she made had meat and potatoes but my serving had cows blood mixed into the stew. I ate as I would any other time, keeping the urge to lift my bowl and gulp the blood down. This particular night, as I was finishing my stew, there came a knock on the door. My mother answered and brought in a small bundle with a note attached. Her family was poor, but her father had taught her to read. She read the paper and her face paled. I asked her what it said, she only shook her head.

“It seems someone wants us to raise this child.” She beamed and put the sleeping child in my arms. I found that note years later it did not ask us to raise the girl, it had read:

‘A gift for the daughter of my master, may this innocent child’s blood make you strong and make you understand who you really are.’

The thought of feeding on children always repulsed me and later in my life I helped formulate a law to keep vampires from feeding on them too often.

We named the little girl Miriam and she brought more love into our household. The towns stares became more intense as they watched us with little Miriam. She helped a great deal the older she got and she too knew of my special strew. I soon reached my eighteenth year and we started to notice new developments that made me different from the others in my family.

“Nene,” Miriam called out to me using the name that she, as a baby, nicknamed me. “Your teeth are pointy like a wolf.”

I laughed along with her cheerful giggle an put my hand to my mouth to understand better what she was talking about. My front teeth felt normal but the ones just off to the side, they felt longer and sharper then any of my other teeth. They always had been longer and sharper, but they felt even more so now. Frightened I looked into the surface we used as a mirror and opened my mouth. Sure enough, my teeth looked like the teeth of a wolf as Miriam said. I looked at my mother but she continued to smile and knit; if my mother would not let this new development bother her then neither would I. I smiled less in public though; I did not want to give people more to gossip about.

I began to feel urges too, urges to use my teeth to bite into things. I was bringing a rabbit to my mother for stew one day and could not resist the urge to puncture the neck of the poor creature and suck the blood. I was too ashamed to go home so I fled into the woods. Hours later my mother found me and seeing the rabbit’s mangle body nearby did not as me anything.

“I guess making your special stew will need to increase.” Was all she said before taking my hand and leading me home. We walked in silence but she held my hand tightly to comfort me. Neither one of us spoke of the incident to Miriam but later she told me that mother told her a few years down the line, after she took sick. She wanted Miriam to be able to help and protect me and to do that she needed to know all.

Soon the villagers became hostile to me and my mother. A new religious group came to town and convinced everyone that my mother did evil things to have a child like me, that she must have slept with the devil himself to create a blood thirsty monster. I did not understand the term ‘devil’ but everyone seemed quite afraid. I also did not understand how the town came to know of my thirst for blood, but I did know that it was finally time for our little family to move on.

We had not good-byes to say, my mother and I, so we watched Miriam’s good-bye to her one school aged friend. The young girl glared at me and made me wonder just how close Miriam and this other girl were and what kind of secrets they shared.

We moved several times while I was between eighteen and twenty-two. We settled, finally, in a small village in North Romania, the people there feared our family, but let us be and some even traded with us. We settle again and none too soon, for momma took sick after one week in this new village.

It was not long after we noticed that I was not changing, that I never got ill, that I never lost a tooth, though Miriam, only ten, had lost one of her adult teeth already. I felt ashamed that I should be so lucky while she lie dying.

“My daughter, you were given a special gift, do not fret over it.” She told me to comfort me one evening.

“What good is this gift if you are no longer with me, I will truly be alone.” The end was closer everyday and I feared to be alone.

“You will only be alone if you choose to be. As long as you breathe, promise me you will care for others so you are not alone.”

Those were the last words she spoke to me. I promised her then watched her drift off to sleep. I made sure her chest still rose and fell evenly before leaving the room to go about my chores.

The next morning I brought a broth to my mother, but she lay still in her bed. Miriam and I buried her in our flower garden and lamented our loss. She was my greatest friend, and as I look back now, she was the only one who loved me despite everything about me that told her she shouldn’t.

My mother had taught me herbology well and soon the villagers knew, despite my unusual teeth and dark red hair, that I had herbs and remedies for almost any ailment.

After five years, Miriam and I moved on again. Vowing to put a new marker in a garden no matter where we ended up. The reason for our move; I had not looked like I aged a day.. Other girls around my age showed signs of getting on with years. Many had loose skin and graying hair. Eyes turned to me and my still red hair and smooth skin and voices cried witch. It was time to move.

We managed to make our way into a foreign land to the north to settle. True to our word we planted a marker in our new garden, planting all of momma’s favorite flowers around it. I always put a marker in all my gardens for her, she is always nearby and I never feel alone with it there.

Leaving the village Momma died in was not only because of my looks and unchanging nature but I needed to protect Miriam, and we had to leave in order to do that. She collected wild flowers every day and dressed our house with them; she felt it made our two room shanty more bearable. One day the flowers stopped coming and Miriam barely left my side when we were in town, but at home she avoided me like I had the plague.

One day, as I fixed a draught for a woman about to give birth, I ran out of rose petals. I begged Miriam to go collect a few since I knew a few grew wild where she’d been collecting before. Reluctantly she obliged. She’d only been gone a couple of minutes when I glanced up and saw two strange men turn down the path Miriam herself turned down only a few minutes before. Curious and slightly worried I set out and followed them.

Soon I heard voices, Miriam’s begging them to leave her be, and that it was not her fault the devil woman helped raise her, she was young what choice did she have?

“You are not so young.” One of the men laughed and noticed him groping her newly developing breasts. “Looks to me you’d make a fine wife.”

The other man cackled. “Though who would have you with a devil for a sister?”

“Not only that, but you’re not virtuous anymore.” The men laughed and started to hold her to the ground. Enraged I flew at them from my hiding spot easily tossing the men aside as if they weighed no more then my dish towel. I reached my hand out to Miriam but was knocked away by the larger of the two.

“Wait your turn devil.” He seemed not the least bit fazed that I, only seconds before, had tossed him aside easily. I got back up and grabbed him by the neck, holding him tightly. The other man must have recovered during this time because I heard Miriam scream. I could not clearly remember all that happened next but when I came around, Miriam sat weeping against a tree; the men’s dead bodies lay out in front of me. My mouth felt hot and a sweet taste lingered. My lips felt moist so I wiped it with my hand, aghast when blood covered the back of my hand. I looked back at the men; two puncture wounds were on each neck, just like the rabbit.

“It’s time to move,” I told Miriam but she did not look at me. I didn’t blame her, I left hoping she would follow, she returned before sundown and packed her belongings quietly. We left the village that night under the cover of darkness. When we reached the North a kind old lady let us live in her house, she said she was moving in with her daughter for her last days.

A couple months passed and I started to notice small changes in Miriam. When she could not stand the smell of certain foods I knew, she was expecting a child. I sat her down one night and talked to her, demanding more then the one word responses I had been getting.

“What good is there to tell?” She wanted to know. “It’s your fault I’m this way. Those men told me you called to them and told them to do those things to me.”

“You believe them?” I asked unable to believe what I just heard. “Why would I do that to you, and then do what I did to them?”

“Because you are sick and have a twisted mind. Momma knew that about you. She warned me about it before she died.”

“How dare you!” I shouted at her slapping her across her cheek. I thought about bringing up the note that came attached to her. How would she feel if she knew she was meant to be food but, until that point, I had never laid an angry hand on her.

She merely sat smirking at me, refusing to speak anymore that night. A couple months passed before we would speak again.

“Nene,” When she started with her nickname for me, I knew she wanted to let her words be forgiving. “I’m scared.”

“I’ve seen many women give birth and end up perfectly alright in the end.” I wanted to hold her in comfort but did not know if she’d let me touch her.

She shook her head. “I’m not afraid of the birthing, I’m afraid of how the child will be.” She kept her eyes from mine, but I knew what she meant.

“Your child will not be like me. Though momma raised you as if you were hers, you were a foundling that we cared for as an infant.” A look of relief crossed her face. “Besides those men were evil, but would I e able to kill the devil? Especially if he was my father like so many claim he is.” Miriam relaxed and smiled brightly, it was a smile I missed seeing for so many months.

Things seemed to get better between us and for her. She even began to venture into the town nearby on her own. She told curious eyes that her husband died. She began to insist doing the shopping alone, she even went so far as to try to keep me from setting up a market stall. I knew she may have let the past drop but she would never let it repeat.

Soon her belly became full and plenty round. Her dark hair and walnut eyes shone brightly everywhere she went, being with child agreed with her, I did not know of the secret she carried with her at the time, her secret that would cause my world to crash for a time.

When the birthing time came, Miriam was calm and took my draught and let me deliver the baby on my own. Bringing that baby girl into the world was one of the only true, pure pleasures I’d ever known. She had hair soft as down sparsely covering her head and when she opened her eyes, the bright blue was almost startling. I cleaned the blood off of her and wrapped her tight. I made sure I had two helpings of my stew the night before so that the smell of the blood would not cause the urge to rise within me.

I set about cleaning Miriam and making sure her health held out.

“Thank you,” she murmured.

“Of course, you are my sister, I will always look out for you and yours, I promise you that.”

“I am glad to hear you say that.” She smiled then fell asleep. I should have known something was going on, she did not ask to see the baby as most new mothers did.

I woke early in the morning to the cries of the infant. I held the girl close and fixed a fire before taking her to her mother whom I gave the room with the door for many months now.

Her bed was empty, not even the blankets remained. Worried at first I ran outside scouring the land. Was she feverish, did she run away? I had not answers and a screaming hungry child at my breast. How was I going to feed this child. I needed to think, I made a makeshift bottle and poured the remainder of the milk into it hoping the girl would take it in her mouth. It was luck that day I got her to eat, but would I always be that lucky? Babies needed mother’s milk to grow strong. I waited all day for Miriam to return and when she did not I made my way into town willing to pay a woman to feed the baby girl.

It was beginning to get dark and the tiny girl was crying for food. I knocked on several doors but many hissed at me and slammed their doors. I did not understand, I barely came to town, whey did these people call me devil to my face?

I knocked on the last door and begged the woman to help the child, I don’t know why, but a change came over her initial harsh face.

“I believe in the next town over a woman lost her baby, but is still producing milk.” She smiled and held her hand for me to wait a moment. She came back with more milk. I thanked her sincerely, feeding the girl quickly.

I left for the other town the next morning, moving faster then I ever knew I could. It was almost like I was floating. I made excellent time and arrived to see many people in the streets. I began to let my eyes wander over the women present searching for this woman.

I found her easily, and stepped over to her.

“Hello,” I started keeping my lips down so not to show my teeth and frighten the woman. “I am in need of a wet nurse for the child, her mother died during the birth.” The woman agreed and said she would live with me until the baby was weaned. I traveled with her as she packed a bag and said good-bye to her family. As we headed out of town a strange sensation passed over me causing me to turn my head and look behind me.

Standing next to a strange man was Miriam smiling broadly hanging on the man’s arm. She saw me out of the corner of her eye and turned away embarrassed, her cheeks were bright pink. I did nothing but turn and leave, the strange feeling did not go away until early the next morning.

The nursemaid was a great help, but also kept me up on local gossip as she would go home once a week to be with her family. Through her I found that Miriam had been seeing this young man in town and he proposed. Nobody in his town knew she was with child and when she arrived without the child, he did not question her. The nursemaid did not tell me that, I found it out on my own later.

I only ran into Miriam one more time in my life. I was walking with her grand-daughter on a breezy night.

“Nene?” I instantly knew the old woman standing in front of me was Miriam, her saying my nickname only made her more real. She was hunched over, a cataract in one eye giving it a cloudy appearance. “Forgive me for running from you.” She then looked at the little girl next to me with questioning eyes. I smiled at her answering her unasked question.

“Where’s your momma child?” Miriam looked around, I knew, hoping to get a glimpse of the daughter she abandoned.

“She’s in the clouds.” She whispered pointing to the sky.

Miriam’s eyes filled with tears, she tried to conceal them but could not.

“Mother?” a male voice called out and then showed up next to Miriam. “Mother, don’t run off like that.” The man noticed me and the girl. “I’m sorry to be so rude, my name is Stewart.” He took my gloved hand in his and kissed the back of it. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.” He paused, waiting for me to say my name.

“Antigone.” I volunteered.

“Antigone?” he rolled the name on his tongue as if he was pondering something. “Mother didn’t’ you have a sister by the name Antigone?” he asked Miriam.

“Yes,” she answered.

“A strange coincidence would you say? How do you know this woman?” He asked full of curiosity now.

I could see Miriam struggle for an answer so I chimed in. “My daughter ran off, your kindly mother kept her company until I could find her again. Come along Dierdra, we’ve wasted enough of this woman’s time.” I smiled warmly at her and began to walk away but still I overheard.

“Did you see her teeth mother?” I am scared for that so-called daughter of hers.”

“Son, hold your tongue, the woman cannot help how God made her.”

I let all old quarrels between us drift from my mind at that moment. I forgave her completely for her leaving and anything else she might have done to cause me pain in my past. That was the last time I heard or saw her. I learned later that she died not long after that encounter. It saddened me, but tears would not fall, another one of my many changes, I could feel sadness but there were never any tears, not even for the woman who was my sister. Later I would show my sadness in a different manner, wishing I could cry those tears long dried.

The nursemaid stayed on as long as needed and returned home for good. I missed her chats, but it was getting harder to conceal my bloody secret from her, and if she found out, I know she would have found some way of taking my only connection to Miriam and my mother away.

I named her Claudette and she was a joy to have around. She was like Momma, she knew about me, but did not bring it forward, she only loved me, and I loved her.

We moved only a couple times, and not because anyone feared me, Claudette was calming to everyone. We moved because people got suspicious about our relationship, since I never looked older. She was my daughter, then my younger sister, then my younger sister closer in age. It was in the third village we lived in when she made an announcement.

“I want to be wed, Antigone.”

Her admission startled me, but really came as no surprise. I told her I knew she would want to be a wife and mother and I would be sorry to see her go, since one day I would have to part with her. So we set about arranging a marriage, though no guy I found suitable would have a girl with no father and little dowry. One man did step forward that I found more suitable then others, a poor farmer that needed a wife and extra help, and the little dowry she brought didn’t hurt him either.

The wedding was small, but Claudette looked beautiful and happy. It wasn’t long until she was with child. I doted on her something awful and visited her much. One day I visited to see Claudette bearing a large bruise on her cheek.

“What happened?” I asked.

“It’s nothing. But Peter has asked that you only visit once a week, for Sunday dinner.”

“Did he do this to you?” I asked feeling my blood boil and my rage flaring; the urge for blood began to rise.

Claudette saw the look in my eyes and sat me down. “He is a good man, but is concerned about his home. You distract me from my chores while you are here and he likes a clean house and a good supper. You are still welcome on Sunday’s and when anything arises with the baby, you will be called.” Something was hidden in her eyes, I knew there was more but I did not push the subject.

I calmed and finished my visit, helping so that Peter would not know I stayed the entire day again. I still feared that he hit Claudette, and wondered what was hidden in her eyes, but I believed Claudette and kept my anger inside.

The months passed and I only visited on Sundays for Supper. I was alone during the week with no one to keep company with, just me and my herbs. I found out the effects they had on me and started the knowledge not knowing how I would use this later.

Then one night came a knock on my door from Peter. “Claudette has gone into labor, come now!” I disliked the way he ordered me, but it was Claudette so I went quickly. When I arrived I could hear her screams of pain, I grabbed a knife and stuck it under the bed to cut the pain, then went about my duties, Peter on the other side of the door.

As I set about preparing for the birth I saw large bruises everywhere on Claudette. I knew Peter was hitting her, I saw the evidence. I would take my revenge someday, I had no idea it would be that night.

Hours passed and still the babe did not come, if I did not see anything soon I would begin to fear. Eventually a head moved to the opening and Claudette managed to push the child mostly out, I pulled the child the rest of the way. I started to wrap the child, but the smell of the blood was overwhelming. There was so much and I was not as prepared for this birth as I should have been and the urge rose and my mouth yearned to drink. The blood continued to flow; I put the baby girl in her mother’s arms and started trying to stop the blood.

“Antigone, stop.” Her weak voice called. “I know you cannot help me, it is my time.” I moved and took hold of her free hand. “Promise me you will care for my daughter and husband.” She looked at me sternly. “This is not his fault.” She leaned forward and handed the baby back to me. “Call her Dierdra, promise me.”

I nodded, tears never gracing my cheeks, only once ever did they again, but it is much too soon to tell of that. I held Dierdra until Claudette breathed her last breath then I took her daughter out to meet her father.

“You have a daughter,” My voice was flat as I handed the girl over to Peter.

He smiled only briefly at the girl then looked back at me. “Claudette?” He questioned. I could only shake my head. In his anger he flew at me, I did not fault him this anger, I too felt it but it was pointless to fling myself around in rage. He looked down at the girl in his arms and forced her back to me. “Take her, I have no need for a daughter, I need a wife who can give me a son.” He opened the door and waited for us to leave.

I was leaving when I heard a scream coming from the bedroom. Only seconds later Peter was barring my way.

“You did this to her!” He screamed at me waving a knife back and forth. I held on to Dierdra and tried to pas shim, but was quicker and stabbed me in my side. I gasped out in pain and could feel him taking the baby from my arms. “There have always been rumors that you have a strange fondness for blood, but your own sister?” He kicked the knife in further as I fell to the ground gasping. I was going to join my mother and sisters finally; at least I thought I would.

I gasped again and looked around; I could hear a shovel digging in the dirt. I was no longer in front of the house. I stood up and brushed myself off looking at the area of the wound, there was no mark on the skin only a tear in the cloth.

“You bastard,” I growled at Peter. “How dare you blame me for what you did to your own wife?”

Peter whirled around and let out a startled scream. “How… how… you were dead.”

I moved closer and grabbed his neck. He was clawing at my hands for freedom but I only held tighter. “You beat her.” He shook his head wildly and tried to speak. I loosened my grip; I wanted to hear him plead for his meager life.

“I never hurt her, I would never hurt her.”

Angered by his words, I slapped his face leaving a large red mark. “I saw her with a similar bruise not long ago.”

‘I opened the door too soon, I swear to you. I loved your sister.”

Still I did not believe him and grabbed his neck again forcing his head sideways. “She was covered in bruises tonight you bastard!” I did not give him a chance to respond before I plunged my teeth into his neck and began to drink his blood. His ear splitting screams nothing more than a tickle in my ear.

I dumped his body in the grave meant for me and went inside to get Dierdra. I would need to find another we nurse, but first I would have to take her somewhere else, somewhere safe.

Would my life be constant moving, losing a sister and friend only to raise another? It might have been if only…

I finally settled in a cold town far away from the memory of Claudette and of what I did to Peter. A local woman had lost her entire family including her child in a fire; she came to live with us to help with Dierdra, never questioning why I was unable to produce milk. I told her it was a family trait; my own mother was unable to nurse me. She did not ask about the father either, though I saw the questioning looks in her eyes.

Since she never left us, I had to be sneaker eating my stew, though I’m sure she was curious why I always made the same stew once a week and was particular about which dish was mine. After two years I thought I could trust her with my secret.

“I know you wonder about my stew and why I’m particular about it.” I addressed her one Sunday night while eating the stew. “Since I can remember I get cravings for blood and on Sunday’s my bowl of stew has blood from a cow in the broth.”

Her eyes enlarged and she stood quickly. “You are the cow plague!” It was true, my desire had gotten stronger and I was finding I needed more cows’ blood, even though I went three months without blood after I killed Peter. I had not yet put the connection together.

“Vampire!” she yelled at me, it was the first time I would hear that term, but would not be the last. She scrambled towards the door grabbing Dierdra as she headed out.

“Leave the girl!” I screamed at her.

“She is not safe with you, Vampire.” She started to run out the door but I caught her and grabbed the child, putting her back inside. “Help somebody, Vampire!” the wet nurse, all these years and I cannot recall her name, was screaming as she ran.

Scared, I ran after her, again that floating feeling came over me, and soon I had aught up with her. “Come back, I will not hurt you.” The woman kicked at me and spit in my face.

“I will never live with an evil like you.”

My anger boiled and her neck looked gleaming white in the moonlight. Before I could stop myself, I was biting her neck and drinking her blood, but how it made me feel. I felt alive for the first time in months. I dropped her dead body and wiped my mouth, Dierdra and I needed to move on.

I was afraid of what I did. That woman had been a friend for the past two years and I easily took her life. I looked at little Dierdra and wondered if the urge overtook me if I would take her little life too. I knew I could not let that happen so when I chose the next place I chose a large town where there might be some people no one would notice if they went missing, cow’s blood, it seemed, was not going to quench my desire any longer.

We wandered for months and finally ended up in Paris where I managed to find a place to live in the low end. No one wanted my herbal recipes; I was one of many, so I took work as a maid to one of the wealthy nobles. The nanny to their children was kind enough to watch Dierdra while I worked. I looked at all the tapestries and other things that showed their wealth with envy. I’d never owned anything just because it was pretty.
That was much of our lives; eventually Dierdra started lessons and would help me with the end of my shift, at this time we worked for a new noble. After we finished we would move to our tiny quarters inside this new noble’s house.

“Momma,” She was the only one to call me that, even when she was past the age to call me that. “When can we move out of this house and into one of our own?” By this time many nobles wanted their servants to live in a servants quarters, it made them appear wealthier. We could not move into our own house, but it was time to move along, Dierdra was getting older and the mother/daughter routine was no longer working. Other servants were asking questions.

One night we simply grabbed our belongings and a few that was not ours and moved on. We only took small things that no one would notice, a spoon or a knife.

We begged entrance into another house on the opposite end of the city and set ourselves up as sisters. Only a few months passed before Dierdra was ready to move on again.

“Antigone,” Dierdra asked one night. I asked her to stop calling me ‘Momma’ in case others were around. “I don’t like this house, can we leave?”

I shook my head, the house was comfortable and we were treated decently there, it was much too soon to move again. “Is there a reason?” I knew if she had a good reason I would move to please her, I loved making Dierdra happy since she made me happy. There was something about her I could not place, something in the way she was that made me know I would always love her.

“There is no reason,” She said quickly and kept her eyes averted from mine. I made sure she had eaten then went for one of my walks in which Dierdra was not welcome. Usually she and I walked together, but twice a year I went out along, to feed, so that I would not harm my dear Dierdra.

When I came back, Dierdra was crying softly in the corner of the room, when she saw me she stopped and smiled. “Have a good dessert?” she playfully called my feedings. She knew I only went for people that would not be missed, people that lived on the streets. It involved some hunting so sometimes I was gone for hours.

A couple months passed and Dierdra changed physically, though still always cheerful. I knew what had come over her and I was furious with myself for letting it happen again.

“A man took advantage of you, now you are with child.” I whispered vehemently.

Dierdra looked at her hands. “The missus and master have not been able to produce an heir; I am doing the ultimate duty as a servant.”

“Is that what he told you before having his way with you?” I demanded to know.

“She told me it was my duty.” She continued to look at her hands. “The missus made and her husband mate, she guided him into me and held me in place to not disturb the process.”

“Is this why you asked to leave those months ago?”

She nodded. “It was to happen that night while you were out. I did my duty, but it hurt, that was why I was crying when you came back.”

“We are leaving!” I shouted throwing things into a sack getting ready to move on yet again.

“Antigone,” she grabbed my arm and held it still. “Momma,” She said looking into my eyes. “They will hunt us if we leave; they know I am with child already.”

I looked at this girl, the one I always thought of as a daughter, never a sister like the others and nodded. “We will stay until the child is born, then we will leave this city and move to another.”

She nodded in agreement. “Thank you Momma, for keeping your rage at bay for me.”

The next sixth months passed, I refused to leave Dierdra alone again ad I would not take her on the hunt with me, so I made due with the rats in the cellar, they sufficed and held me days at a time, it was a good thing there were plenty.

The night of the birth approached and several times I felt that strange sensation that I felt long ago when I last saw Miriam as a young girl. I thought nothing and continued to prepare Dierdra.

I was not allowed to be in the room while she gave birth, the master feared me though the missus eyed me suspiciously from time to time. I waited at the far end of the hall, the master waited outside the door impatiently for any news. I felt that strange feeling in the pit of my stomach and looked around. A strange man stood staring at me through the window. I moved closer but then heard cries from the room Dierdra was in, the child was born. I smiled and clapped my hands, now Dierdra and I could move on to another place.

“Momma!” Dierdra’s startled cry rang out. I ran towards the door, the master stepped in front of me and knocked me over. I was not expecting that. As I lay on the floor I was able to make out the voices on the other side.

“I can’t have you trying to take her back.” The missus said. Another girl, Dierdra had a daughter.

“My sister and I are leaving, I swear to you.”

“Your sister? That vampire? Yes I’ve always known you see I am part of a group that hunts such abominations and I needed an heir to pass my legacy to, so you see why now.” I heard no more voices, but another cry of pain from Dierdra. I stood and flung the man aside knocking down the door. It was too late, Dierdra was dead and worse her neck was slit and the woman was attempting to sever her head. She looked up at me.

“You never can be too sure.” She said with a haughty laugh.

“We never did anything to you, why did you do this to us?”

“Your kind is kin to the devil and must be weeded out.” She snarled holding the crying girl close to her bosom.

“Dierdra was nothing like me, she was a beautiful child. Why did you do this to her?” My rage hit a new high and I could feel my urge boiling into an aggression I’d never felt before.

“She kept company with a vampire; she knew you for what you were and did nothing. She is partly to blame for all the death you caused.” I would have lunged at her then, but men from out of no where grabbed my arms and held me. If I fed normally, I could have thrown them off, but I only had eaten rates, the effect blood had on me was knowledge come to late.

“This girl will be a savior to humans; I will make sure of that.” She quickly took leave of the house leaving me alone with the men. My anger was too much and when I felt one of the men loosen their grip, I flung him off and grabbed the other by the neck, the other man and the master charged at me but I smacked them away and quickly bit into the man I held at the neck. The blood tasted so sweet that I believe I drank every drop. My mouth covered in blood I turned on the other two who were beginning to flee. I managed to catch up with the man I called master and took him out swiftly but the other used the time to make his way into the night. I charged after him only to stumble over his body. I looked around and saw the strange man from the window.

“I hope you don’t mind that I took him out.” He politely said. “But it seemed he might get away and I did not want you to hunt everywhere for your revenge.”

I looked down at the dead mans neck, there were two puncture wounds, just like I would leave. Shocked I looked at the man to see him smiling with teeth like my own.

“Have you never met one of your own kind?” He smiled at me; the surprise must have registered completely on my face. “No wonder you were acting like the help. Poor dear doesn’t know you are one of the rulers of this world.” He moved closer and took hold of my arm. “Who would be so cruel to make you and leave you clueless about your own kind?”

I shook my head, too stunned to speak. Eventually I managed to say two sentences to the man. “My revenge is not over, I must find the woman.” And “I was born.”

The man shook his head. “I’ve been after that slayer for some time now, she’s a tricky one.” He looked out towards the distance. “As for being born, of course, when we all turn we are born into this new life of wonder.”

I shook my head, he did not understand and I did not have time to explain. “Thank you, but I must find that woman and child.”

“You won’t find her now, she’s good as hiding. She and I have been having a cat and mouse game between us.”

“I want that baby!” I started wandering in any direction my feet would go.

“Well yes, baby’s blood is delicious, but we can find others.” I gagged at the thought of consuming a child’s blood, the note Miriam came with flashed briefly in my mind. The man was right; I would not find her that night. I had lost my only connection to my sister and all my daughters, my only connection to the love my mother showed. What would become of me now, I wondered that night, for the first, but not the last time.

“My name is Victor Reese, and I have had the honor of being made by our great Master.” He bragged, he always bragged about being created by this elusive man, the man I would discover was my own father. He took my arm and guided me into the house. “Look the owners have gone and disappeared. What will happen to all of their property?” He laughed at his own amusement and catching my perplexed look set about explaining. “If we are to live for centuries we will need money to do so, we should not have to squeak out meager wages like humans. Usually we go for older people who will be dead soon anyway, but what is done is done, I say we make the best of it.” I watched as he began to take stock of all of my previous employer’s luxuries. He looked back at me, a startled gag coming from his mouth. “We have to get you some new clothes; you can’t e considered a higher being in those rags.”

I took offense as I looked down at my best dress now stained with blood. Sure a few holes appeared over the years but I felt I did a fair job of patching them. My hair was covered with a rag, the color offended too many people I was told. I placed my hand on my head and tore the rag off, shaking out my long red tresses. I looked at all the finery left behind and thought, why would I have all that was theirs. I spent my time cleaning and they were gone, taking my one love from this world with them. I fingered a candelabra close by and turned to look a Victor. He was dressed in the fashionable manner for men of the day. “I should find a better dress.” I giggled. “And what money I can get from selling some of these items I will use to find Dierdra’s daughter.”

“What is your obsession with that child? We can find others.” He stressed again.

“The mother of the child, Dierdra, was my daughter!” I turned on him angry. “Feeding off of children is a sick practice, you should feel ashamed.”

Victor looked at me; it was his turn to be perplexed. “Your daughter? Feel ashamed? You are not like other vampires I’ve met. Feeling emotions is not something we usually suffer, and we don’t have children. Well except for our illustrious Master. Were you made after you had your daughter?”

I stare him down. “I told you I was not made. And she technically wasn’t my daughter, but I loved her like she was.”

He nodded his head as if he understood, Victor always hand an air of confidence believing he knew and understood all. Frankly I’m surprised he’s lived as long as he has. “You took her from her mother after killing her.”

“I did not kill her mother!” I screamed. “I love her as a sister; she herself was my own sister’s daughter.”

“Amazing,” Victor started. “You have been raising your nieces. I still don’t understand who would have made you and left you alone to figure things out on your own. It is cruel. Do you remember what the person who bit you looked like?”

“Who bit me?” I repeated. “I was not bit. Are you saying you bit and lived, turned into someone like me?” I was confused, I knew my mother was bit, but she was normal dying a normal death and she never craved blood.

“Tell me your story for I think you are unlike any I’ve met before.” He took a seat on one of the many couches I cleaned over the months. I took a seat next to him soaking in the comfort of the couch.

“Like I keep telling you, I was born this way. I’ve felt the urge for blood since I was young. I drank cows blood to tide the cravings and did not take a human life until my early twenties, and that was many years ago. I’ve been caring for my sister and her descendents all these years, Dierdra was my pride and joy. Such a bright light, such a joy, but now she is gone. I will have my revenge!”

Victor sat gaping at me. “I’ve known of natural born vampires, two have come forward to claim their birthright, to rule over all vampires, but we have kept them at bay because of the rumors of a third child of the Master, a daughter. Old Benjamin said he met her once but she was too young then, are you her?”

“A man visited my mother rand me at the market once, and called me a child of his master but he left after…” he interrupted me and finished my statement “… buying rosemary. My wonder it is you!” He took both my hands. “Do you not understand how important you are to vampire kind? You and your brothers will lead us to our finest hour, you will lead us into an age of pure darkness when we shall be free to be ourselves.”

He eyed me again suspiciously. “How long before tonight had you tasted human blood?”

“Several months, but I did not wish to leave Dierdra alone with these… people.” I hung my head. For all I did, for the precautions I took, I still failed her in the end; she still died because of me, because of what I am.

“What have you been feeding on then?” He asked bringing me back to the now, his eyes already aghast at what my answer could be. I was about to answer but he stopped me. “No, never mind, I don’t’ think I want to know. I don’t’ want to lose my own supper.”

We tore through the house choosing fine gowns for me to wear. It was great fun, but the thought of revenge was not purged from my mind. Over the next few years, Victor took me under his wing and showed me many things. I shared with him the knowledge of the effects different herbs had on me. I had him try some buy they had no effect on him. I found myself using some of my concoctions to dull the yearning to get Dierdra’s child back. Everyday I seemed further away from my goal.

I began to hunt once a week with hopes of finding any knowledge of her whereabouts, Victor laughed at my efforts but he enjoyed having me as a student and did not upset me much. Later I discovered he hoped to have some pull with the counsel and I fear it was the only reason he helped me those many years.

Fifteen years flew by and I was no longer living in squalor. Victor and I found a house to my liking and I took everyone insides life, except the children. I rand them out. Victor despised my soft spot but I assured him that children needed to live to make more food and someone had to tell of our evil nature.

“I do believe I finally changed your heart in the right direction.” Victor told me one evening when I threw a child out a window. He did not see the landing and the child run safely off. I merely nodded and looked at all the dead bodies at my feet. “You have not talked about Dierdra’s daughter in many months, it is good that you forget about that part of your life, you have a more important role. It also seems that you are beginning to kill for pleasure and not just on your hunt for revenge now.”

“You have shown me the life I was missing out on, but I still miss having children around.” The first part was a lie, but I said it to keep Victor appeased.

Victor nodded all knowing. “Of course, but you can have children.” I looked at him perplexed. “You can make vampires of your own; they will be your children now.”

“Fifteen years together and you are now telling me of this?” I smirked but was excited at the prospect of making my own children that could never die. I would not have to bear the loss of children dying any longer. He explained how, I cannot write the procedure down here, it is against vampire law to have the turning ritual in words. I immediately wanted to try.

“Antigone, don’t rush into making a child. You must find someone worth your time and energy. Someone who wants to be immortal.” I nodded knowing I would start my search immediately. I only made four children of any real importance, but I sired several, my first child, what that poor creature went through, what they still go through. The pain I caused by making a mess of the turning ritual. The poor pitiful creature that goes everywhere with me and stays locked in the basement. That memory is better left only on paper, for no one to know the horror.

After a couple more years I was stronger then Victor and ready to take my place alongside my brothers to rule over vampire kind, or so I thought. Victor would not be the one to travel with me, he grew tired of only me for a companion and found other women, those he could turn, have some power over. I can’t say I missed his pompous nature, and perhaps from a position of power would be able to find Dierdra’s daughter, who would not longer be a child.

“It’s time you traveled to meet your brothers.” Victor told me one afternoon. “Benjamin will be here in a day or two to accompany you.”

“Not you?”

“I have other business that needs looking after, business that keeps me here.”

The next couple of days, Victor distanced himself from me, not even approaching me until the day Benjamin arrived. It was a cold day to start a journey, my trunks were packed, Victor had me make my own servant to look after me and help me in the years to come. A dark coach approached shades drawn tight. I couldn’t help but picture an old man when I thought of Benjamin, he was old when I was a child. When he stepped out of the coach, it jolted me to see the man exactly as he was all those years ago. Of course, vampires did not age in appearance, but it still took me by surprise.

“Ah, the child.” He called me taking my hands.

“Antigone” I insisted.

“Of course, Antigone.” He kissed the backs of my hands and gazed at me. “We’ve waited a long time for you to understand your inheritance and join us.”

I dipped my head. “I only needed a proper instructor.” We both looked towards Victor.

“I was perfectly happy to oblige.” His eyes gleamed in that special way that indicated he wanted something. Benjamin ignored him and turned back to me. “Come Antigone, we have much to discuss.”

We boarded the carriage and pulled the curtains tight. “It will help with the cold and sunlight bothers my eyes.” We sat in silence for a time. I could feel his eyes on me as we sat in the jostling carriage.

Finally, he spoke. “Do you remember the gift I gave you? That baby girl?” I nodded not telling him I did not use her the way he would have liked. “Victor told me you let her live.”

“When did you talk to Victor?” Benjamin arrived but then we left shortly after, there was no time for discussions.

“My dear, Victor and I have been communicating the past couple of days.” When he saw my confusion he tapped his head. “You will learn too.”

I nodded wondering why Victor did not tell me about this form of communication.

“He also informed me that you were raising human children when he met you. That you lost one and are out for revenge. He knows you still seek her, Antigone.”

“She is Dierdra’s daughter, I will find her again!” I spoke with the casual manner Victor told me to use always, ‘Never give your feelings away. Most do not have to worry about such things but since you feel you must hide it.’ Those words floated in and out of my head on several occasions over the hundreds of years I have lived.
Benjamin sighed. “There are things I must tell you Antigone, but I fear now is too soon.”

Avoiding his penetrating gaze I lifted the curtain closest to me and watched the scenery pass. “Then don’t tell me. I am sleepy anyway; this carriage ride is making me tired.”

“Of course, do as you wish.” I could tell that my attitude upset him, that he was not used to bowing to the whims of others. It was then I began to understand my role a little more to vampire kind. I was their queen.

That evening we stopped by a tavern to find some food. We sat at a far table and watched the people choosing our food carefully. Before I could pick out a human to drain of their blood, my eyes fell on a man sitting in another corner of the tavern. There was a whore on his lap, his hands running up and down her body caressing her.

“Disgusting display of human behavior.” Benjamin whispered to me when he saw what I was looking at. “I am glad I do not feel the need to act that way. I’m surprised the Master himself was able to pull if off to produce natural heirs.” He looked at me. “A filthy habit.”

I nodded and made it appear that I was searching again but my eyes darted back to the man. His tongue was flicking the woman’s ears, his lips found her mouth and I inhaled sharply. I could feel Benjamin’s eyes on me but did not care. I continued to watch this man with the whore. Eventually they stood to leave, I found myself following, curious to what would happen next. I followed them into the alley and watched all that transpired next. I felt my body tingle in a way I never felt before. When they finished, the whore walked away, but the man turned towards me. Slowly he approached me, my heard beating faster. He stopped in front of me, his dark eyes holding mine.

“Did you enjoy the show?” He asked barely above a whisper. “I saw you watching me. What’s a woman of your status doing here?” Every time he spoke my body tingled, something about his voice entranced me.

“Who are you?” I managed to speak.

“I am the painter, Alexander. Didn’t you know who I was when you followed me?”

I shook my head. He was about to say something else when Benjamin’s voice cut through the air. “Love, I found something finally. Such a poor selection tonight.” He stood next to me glaring at Alexander.

Alexander held my eyes and bowed, leaving me with Benjamin. He guided me to the people he chose, they were being held by our coach driver. “Take your pick.” He waved his hand at the people. I do not remember which I chose; all I could think about was the painter.

We boarded the carriage again and continued our journey. I wanted to remember Alexander and not talk, but Benjamin decided he needed to talk to me.

“Antigone, I can’t help but notice how different you are from the rest of vampire kind, you are different, even from your brothers. Maybe from your years of neglect from us or perhaps because you are a natural female vampire. There are things you need to know. I was a seer before I was turned and after you father changed me, the visions only became more clear. I’ve been seeing events dealing with you frequently lately.”

I did not act surprised, I did not pay much attention, Alexander, and thoughts of him swam through my head.

“Antigone you must listen.” I turned my head sighing that I must give up my day dreams. “You will lead our kind through a prosperous time, but I am worried about this line of humans you have raised. I see only danger for you and your kind from them. The one you lost.” I could not help but glare at him for saying I lost her. “Excuse me, the one taken from you. She is being raised by people who do not like us. It can only lead to danger. I’m afraid we may have to kill the descendent in order to survive.”

I could feel my eyes bore into Benjamin’s hardened brown eyes. “No one will touch Dierdra’s child, I will get her back and she will be no threat when she discovers how I loved her mother.”

“She is hardly a child herself.” Benjamin started again. “One day you will face Dierdra’s descendant and you will have to kill her to save yourself, no hesitating for she will not hesitate killing you. You will have to kill her to save yourself and the rest of your kind.”

I rolled my eyes and sat back against the coach wall. “What else do you see concerning me?”

“Much, I will tell you more later. I am only deeply concerned about this issue with Dierdra’s descendent at the moment. You must be wary of her.”

I tuned him out again and let my thoughts drift back to Alexander. The next morning, while Benjamin slept I took a chance and jumped out of the coach. Turning around and walking back to the town. He never came after me but told me later that if I were willing to do that then I needed to grow a bit more before I took charge. I’m glad I was not the one who had to tell y brothers they had to wait yet again.

I’ve seen his book of prophecies concerning me. He is about as clear as the seer Nostradamus, so many have come true now that I look back, but none of his are worded well enough to stop anything before it happened.

Several more times he has tried to instill fear in me searing that the prophecy could still come true despite….again it is too soon.

The roads were dark when I found my way back to the city. I found the tavern and barged inside. Many eyes turned to me, a well dressed woman entering alone. I scoured the room not seeing Alexander anywhere. The whore he had been with that night sat laughing on another man’s lap. Ignoring the taunts, jeers and come-hithers' from the men, I strode over to the woman. “I need to see you.” I stared at her.

The laughing woman looked at me. “I don’t service women.” She turned back continuing to laugh which angered me.

“I need to talk with you about your business.” Again her head turned in my direction.

“Thinking of joining the ranks?” Her eyebrows rose as she slid off the man’s lap. She told them she would be back amid groans of protest. The man she had been sitting on spoke. “I’ll pay you triple if you come back with her.” He sneered in my direction. I kept my eyes on the girl and guided her to the alley where she serviced Alexander the night before. “So what, your man leave you for another woman and now you need employment?”

I shook my head, suddenly embarrassed. “I want to know where I can find Alexander.” My voice wavered only slightly.

“So you can take my best customer? I don’t think I will.” She turned to leave but I grabbed her arm before she could get away.

“You will tell me!”

She laughed. “What you gonna give me in return?”

“Your life!” Frustrated I showed my teeth and managed to stifle her cries with my hand. “I will let you live if you tell me where I can find him.”

The fear in her eyes charged me and I thought nothing of snapping her neck after she told me where to find Alexander. I left her body in the alley and made my way through the streets thinking it was a rash decision to kill the whore, I should have let her live long enough to walk me to his place.

Eventually I found the place and was a bit disappointed by the appearance. Alexander seemed to me that he should be in a grand house. I did not know at that moment that though only the wealthy could afford such decorative items, craftsmen were paid barely above the cost of materials to make their art, and were only paid after the commission was complete.

Too scared to move forward, I only stood in the street looking up at his building.

“Lost?” a familiar voice whispered in my ear. I still do not know how, to this day, he snuck up on me then. One thing Victor made sure to teach me was to feel the approach of others. I turned to face the man I’d been looking for, but I could not speak, something about him tired my tongue.

“What brings you down this way?” he spoke louder and in a different tone I noticed others on the street nearby. I believed this banter was for the sake of those around us.

“I wish to have a painting done.” I hope I sounded dignified and convincing to the strangers.

“Would you care to see a sampling of my work to see if I am indeed the painter you wish to commission?” He held his arm out towards the door and put the other behind me, guiding me inside.

I stepped inside his shabby quarters and gasped at the condition. I had grown accustomed to my luxuries, for his house was a dump to me then, but thinking on it now I would have found the three room flat very fancy compared to all my other rooms I had in the past.

A large workroom with a few chairs was the first room we came into. There were a couple windows and a few easels set up with cloth thrown over the canvases. Paint seemed to be everywhere but really was probably on the cloth and the floor around the easels. The chairs were wood with small padding, nothing like I was used to lately.

I could feel him pull my arms through the workshop and through the area that served as the kitchen. A fireplace that looked as if a fire had never been built in it sat with a single pot unused.

“I am popular and eat at other houses often.” Alexander answered my unasked question. He continued to guide me through until we reached the backroom. A bed was in the corner but there was no other furniture. “This is where I keep all the paintings of my women.” He smiled as he watched me look around the room. There were small, medium and large paintings of women from all walks of life. Some where fully clothed sitting on one of the chairs in the workshop, a few were completely undressed lounging on the bed from this room.

“Have you to all these women what you did last night to that whore?”

He laughed before he responded. “No, I love women, they intrigue me and what could be more beautiful to look at? If you look, the whore from last night is no where to be found. Though some women are nude I did not sleep with them save two.”

I wondered which two when something caught my eye. I moved closer, the woman looking back at me had two piercing green eyes and long auburn hair. “I don’t understand.”

“Something about you intrigued me, I stayed up to work on this but I was hoping I would run into you again so that I could complete my work.” He moved closer to me. “Will you let me finish?”

I was speechless, to have a man lavish attention in this manner, I ate it up and nodded. He picked up the canvas and moved back through the kitchen. I followed him timidly; unsure of what would happen next. He pulled one of the chairs closer and had me sit.

“Now you will have to sit still, will you be able to handle that?” He asked a playful smile on his lips.

I nodded and he made a disappointed noise. I could hear the laughter in his voice. “You moved.” He chuckled and asked if I was ready, when I sat motionless he smiled and turned to the canvas.

Hours later he put his brush down and nodded. “I think that will do.” He turned to me and held his arms out. “Now we should get you home.” I shook my head.

“I don’t live in town.”

“Then we should get you back to where you are staying. Your… husband… must be worried about you by now.”

I laughed at the though of Benjamin being my husband. “That man is only a traveling companion and I left him out on the road to come back here.” I gazed in his eyes hoping he would invite me to stay.

He was quiet as if pondering something. “You didn’t just come to see paintings after all, did you?”

I shook my head and continued to hold his eyes. He stepped forward and placed his hand behind my head pulling me closer he pressed his lips to my own. I pulled back slightly startled. In my sixty years I’d never felt that sensation before, it was almost as intoxicating as biting through flesh. I was instantly afraid I would never get the feeling again. I was afraid that he would see my teeth and figure out what took many only seconds to realize when they saw them the first time. I covered my mouth and tried to turn and flee. Alexander managed to grab hold of me before I could leave.

“I thought that was what you wanted.” He said his voice suddenly afraid; with my status he could be ruined. It’s what he was thinking I knew, but of course he did not know how I achieved my status and that I could ruin no ones reputation. I turned back and spoke keeping my mouth as small as I could.

“I’ve just never…”

“Been kissed?” He asked.

I shook my head as he moved closer and kissed me again. My lips tingled with what could only be excitement. His tongue flickered out of his mouth and across my lips. It was as if my body knew the response, opening my lips to receive his tongue. His hands started to wander my body like they wandered the whore’s body the night before. He pressed himself closer to my body, I could feel him, and then I felt something pressing into my hip. I pulled away and gasped, I knew what I felt, and I was not that ignorant to the male body. Claudette had told me what went on between a man and a woman, but I’d never experienced any of these feelings.

“Wait.” I started. “I…”

“Do not worry. I won’t do anything you don’t want me to. Just tell me when you want to stop.” He moved towards me again. This time I did not stop him or move away. We ended up back in the room adorned with women’s faces lying on his bed together. I was in awe of his man that gave me a feeling I never had before. I knew then that I would do everything in my power to get him to want to be with me as a vampire.

*****

The door to the flat Alexander and I shared slammed open ad then closed again. I jumped from the bed, I’d grown accustomed to living in his rooms, and I did not want to find something more suitable for fear of Alexander finding out my secret before I was ready to tell him. We had not grown tired of each other in the year we’d spent together. I knew of his straying but I could not fault him that when I was keeping a secret from him as well.

“What’s wrong?” I asked quickly from across the room.

“Everybody wants a painting by a famous ‘name’ and I…” he laughed “do not have a name they are familiar with. But I can make new paintings. They all want art done by some one who can not create more art, someone dead!” He threw himself onto a chair and dropped his head in his hands.

Finally! I thought. Alexander had given me an opening in which to make the proposal that had been on my lips for the last few months.

“I can help make your work famous and desired.” I could tell when Alexander looked at me that there was a glint in my eye, for the first time fear spread on his face.

“You going to strangle me with your bare hands.” He laughed trying to get me to laugh as well, hoping that the glint I knew was there was only a joke. He stopped laughing when I did not join him and he fixed my unflinching gaze. “You aren’t serious are you?”

I laughed and I could see the tension melt from his frame. “I do not have to strangle you.” I smiled. “There is another way I can make you dead to the world, but keep you alive at the same time.”

Alexander looked at me, my full smile shown for the first time in year. His eyes fell on my teeth and he looked confused. “You don’t mean the rumors about you are true?”

“Rumors?” I questioned him.

“Well yes, I hear them on the street; you are a creature of the night. You live off of blood.” I couldn’t believe that heart of yours carried evil inside.

“I don’t live off of blood; you have seen me eat a meal. But sometimes yes, blood is a most refreshing drink.” I was past trying to hide, if he was going to run now he was not the man I thought he was and I would simply take his blood so that a part of him would be with me always.

He gasped slightly at me, but then sat back his chair thinking. “I would be dead, people would want my art, yet I could stay with you.”

I nodded holding my smile.

“Is there something I have to do before you can turn me?” He asked quickly standing and moving to my side grabbing hold of my hands.

“There is nothing, if you are ready we can do it now or would you rather in public so that people can see your dead body?”

Without talking we moved into the street where there were sure to be people walking by at some point. I preformed the ceremony, making sure nobody saw the final steps that would ensure Alexander rising again. I told him he would have to lie dead for awhile for others to believe. I also convinced him that when he was turned he would have to come back and pretend to be a relative of his so that he could sell his artwork.

I moved quickly away and watched the scene unfold. When the cart to haul his dead body came and went I followed quietly. I watched them bury him and rushed to the fresh grave quickly and pushed the dirt aside. He opened his eyes and looked at me anew, “Everything is so different!” He exclaimed as he rose.

We took each other and held tightly kissing under the moonlight. “Now let’s find a better place to call our own.” I whispered holding him tight. I felt that I was finally happy. I had a mate, someone to be with me always. Someone who could not die, I felt complete. It was only a matter of time before things would fall apart, it was this lesson that Alexander taught me later.

After the burial we lived together as if in a dream world. He portrayed his cousin wonderfully and managed to sell all of his artwork, except the painting of me. Soon it became apparent that it was time to move on, not only were the townspeople starting to show their disdain and fear of me, but Alexander could not create new works of art in a city where they thought all his art was sold. I also spoke of Dierdra’s descendent to Alexander and he agreed to search for her with me. We packed all of our possessions into a cart and decided to move on, the day that we were to leave I was in for a frightening surprise.

“Antigone!” a male voice screamed from the open door. The voice was unfamiliar to me, I ran into the other room to confront the man. Standing before me was an older looking gentleman dressed head to toe in frilly clothes that were not of this time.

“Who are you?” I questioned him. Before he answered or gave me a chance to move, he flew at me, clasping his hand around my throat and pushing me up against the wall, lifting me a foot from the ground.

“Why are you wasting your time here? We have been waiting for you, to complete us and I find you here playing house with a pitiful man unworthy of someone of your stature.”

Angered by his treatment of me and his disdainful remarks about Alexander I managed to pull the man’s hand from my neck, shoving him across the room. “You are one of my brothers?” I asked unafraid of him now. “Who are you to come into my home and demand anything from me? I did not ask to be part of any faction, did not ask to be looked to as a leader. I have found what I wanted and I will ask that you leave me.”

The man attempted to storm at me again but Alexander had come back inside to retrieve me so that we might leave. Seeing the stranger, he flew at him knocking him into the wall inches from myself. “Are you okay Antigone?” Before I could answer, my brother threw himself backwards knocking Alexander to the floor.

“You are nothing to me, I will not hesitate to have you locked away little one.” He advanced towards Alexander and managed to grab his flailing arms holding them tight he lifted him from the ground and moved towards the door. “If you desire this one Antigone, we can bring him with us; he will make a useful drone to our pack.”

“I do not care about your or your plight; I only wish to be allowed to live my life.” Grabbing my brother’s arm I pulled him off of Alexander and twisted him around to face me. I was treated as a mere woman all too frequently in my life, I am afraid at this point I was unprepared for a fight with a vampire many years my senior. Honestly it is fuzzy as to how Alexander and I managed to break free, but I remember running through the streets and into the fields to hide as we watched Alexander’s studio and our cart burn in the night.

It was many days before we reached another suitable city to call our home. We lived off a few creatures we managed to find in the fields, Alexander’s thirst for blood amazed me, and it seemed he always needed so much more than I did. We meandered into the city at night and took stock of where it would be best for us to find a place. Having grown accustomed to luxury with Victor I immediately started searching the vast villas owned by wealthy merchants around. Alexander, unknowing of the superiority of vampires looked for a vacated shack we could fix up for ourselves.

We set about setting up our new home as our own, acquiring the supplies for Alexander to ply his trade. I managed to fix the one room shack into a bearable residence with a touch of hominess that I was stunned that I was capable of doing. We resumed our life of simple pleasure. During the day we played the respectful citizen and neighbor, at night we toured the streets finding those appropriate for our feasts and of course there was the pleasure we took with each other. It seemed to intensify each night and was at the most intense the nights Alexander took more blood.

During the days I often found myself at the market taking in the people, observing who would fit into our nightly walks. It did not take me long before I was wandering into the part of town occupied by the wealthy merchants. I strolled along hiding any amazement I might feel for their grandiose homes. It did not take me long until I found one that caught my fancy, I was pulled by it, and I needed to live there.

I took to walking past the house daily taking in the activities, later I would come to realize that I had this routine for a little over five years. I would follow the servants from the house, to the market and back to the house to determine the routine of the house. From what I could see the house was only occupied by the rich merchant and his wife, both were fat beyond belief, it was apparent that they let their greed get the best of them. Memories of Dierdra and I working in a house similar flooded back into my head along with thoughts that if I lived in a house like that again I would be able to use the vast resources inside in my search for Dierdra’s child.

“Alexander...” I started one morning I consumed my morning meal, I did note that Alexander’s food sat completely untouched. “Don’t you wish for something grander than this?”

“That is what I am trying to build for us by painting and selling them my love.” His face remained sullen, something was on his mind, I should have asked but I was too obsessed with owning that house.

“Alexander, there is a house not too far inside of town; I’ve been watching the man who lives there. The house would be perfect, and it would be an easy acquisition, they hardly keep any servants and there are no children to worry about…”

“Antigone, you cannot be thinking what it is you are thinking? Drinking blood from an undesirable is one thing, but to go after the wealthy? That will only get us caught, feared and hunted.”

“It is the way of our kind; Victor opened my eyes to that. We live longer, should we not have all the luxuries?”

There was no convincing him, he merely turned away from me and walked to his easel where his painting supplies sat. Annoyed at his lack of desire for the same things as me I went out for my daily walk. When I reached the market I noticed the woman I learned was the servant at the villa I most wanted. I walked behind her, making sure to keep my steps light and my shadow unseen. The bundles she was carrying I could tell were a burden to her and when she dropped one I saw an opportunity and I took it. “Let me help.” I called out, coming out of the shadows to her side quickly.

“Thank you.” her voice was barely above a whisper. We chatted, or I should say, I chatted some as we walked back to the house. I mostly talked about the weather and the exuberant price of fish at the market that day. When we reached the door she moved to take the package from my arms. “Oh I insist, let me help you inside with that.” I followed her into the servant’s quarters and into the kitchen where she deposited the packages.

“Thank you for your help, would you like a cup of ale for your troubles?” The young woman was sweet and when I really looked at her face I noted that Alexander would probably have painted a portrait of her.

“Please.” I spoke looking at the door I felt would lead to the main part of the house, the part in which I would find the master and his fat wife. With the woman’s back turned I walked out the door and took in the sights of the painted tapestries and exquisite rugs. The inside was truly as beautiful as the outside. The windows were large and many were painted to make a colorful display as the sun shone inside. A sigh of contentment escaped my lips.

“Miss?” I heard a voice come from behind me. The portly master of the house himself was coming towards me.

“I was just admiring the wonderful delights of your house.” I smiled politely assessing if he would be any real danger. “It will do wonderfully for me and my companion.” I could feel my smile become twisted.

“I think it is time, miss, that you leave from where you came and never return.” He turned to escort me out and that is the moment I jumped on him sinking my teeth into his thick neck. It was the largest man I had ever drank from before and I admit I had some difficulties draining him, not to mention the fattening taste of his blood almost made me gag, it was too rich for my tastes. The slight scream that escaped his lips before he died altered the pretty little maid who let me inside. She rushed into the room where I was and seeing her master dead on the ground screeched. In one quick step I was at her side, as tempting as it was to break her neck, for such a small, meek woman her scream was most annoying. I knew Alexander would get some delight from her; I dragged her to a chair, forced her to sit and knocked her unconscious.

I did not have time to tie her up as her screams altered the fat woman that lived there. I could not stomach the thought of drinking the blood from her plump neck, when she was within reach I merely reached out and broke her neck. It too early for other servants to come running. I would release them later, if they left the city immediately and without any problems for Alexander and I. Before leaving I tied up the young maid so Alexander’s present could not escape.

Pleased with myself I ran back to the shack where Alexander sat in the same position I left him in that morning. “Alexander, come with me, I wish to show you something. I think you will be most pleased.” I pulled his arm and we moved through the streets, the smile on my face was large and I was excited to show off the power of our kind. We deserved the house.

“Antigone, what is this?” He asked me, not expecting an answer he already knew what to expect. I pulled him inside, over the bodies of the old owners, we would clean up later, and showed him the young woman, now awake, and I saved for him.

“For you darling, to paint, to drink, to do whatever it is you wish.”

Alexander took in the mess around him and turned towards me, anger apparent in his eyes. “Antigone! You killed these people for their house?” He was outraged, I did not understand.

“We deserve to live here, why should we live like peasants when we can have whatever we want with no one to stop us.”

“It’s not right, that’s why!”

“So we should live in poverty our entire lives, however long we live?” Victor’s teachings held onto me deep, but the desire to find the missing child with the wealth this house would provide was a stronger pull.

“I cannot live like this anymore.” Alexander ran his hands through his hair.

“What do you mean?” My heart leapt with fear, I knew what was going to happen before it did but he was my first love, my first successful turn, I was attached beyond any measure.

His eyes wandered to the woman struggling against her binds, fearful of what she saw, fearful of what would happen to her. “Antigone, I cannot, I just cannot be with you any longer. I thought this was what I wanted, I thought I could but I feel all my creativity has been drained. You have been so obsessed with this house, with obtaining this house, I know you have, that you have not noticed I have not created one new piece of art since we came here.”

“You have only been like this a short while, give it more time, learn to live and it will come back.” I pointed to the girl. “Paint her, drink from her, the creativity will come back I promise.”

“Do what you must to me, but I cannot abide taking homes from people. Killing for a house Antigone, I did not believe you would even go that far again. I thought I was enough for you, that living with me was enough.” Grabbing the woman’s binds her pulled them off of her and as soothingly as he could tried to assure her that he would not harm him and would not let me either. “Let her go Antigone.” I watched as the maid ran from the house, tears streaming from her eyes. I stared at this man that I gave up my destiny for, this man that made me feel like I never had before and did something I would never do again, I pleaded with him.

“What about our plans? The search for Dierdra’s child? Selling your art? Our future plans, all of them? Can you easily just throw those away?”

“Five years Antigone, five years have gone by, you have not once searched or made an effort to search for that child!” He yelled at me. He stood there, I think he was prepared for me to destroy him, I think he wanted it then as much as he did later but I could not bring myself too. The rage inside me was pulling at me, demanding my body that I end his existence but I loved him and could not do it; I did not want to lose him for an eternity. I turned and left him standing inside the villa. I do not know what happened to him until the time he came back into my life, I thought he changed, thought he came to terms with who he was but that was not to be the case…

After Alexander left me, I searched for him. I wanted to show him I could change, I wanted to prove that I could be the girl he fell in love with in the beginning. I knew that was not really true, I’d changed too much for that, but I wanted to believe it could be true and wanted him back. I was addicted just as much to love as to the blood I needed to live at this point. I’d never been alone. However, I was unable to find him, he did not want to be found and I had taught him how to hide well. When I realized I would not be able to find him madness followed.

Now that I was alone, I threw myself into the search for Dierdra’s child. In my head I knew she would no longer be a child, in my heart I could only see a young girl. My ways still in tact, I traveled, killing the wealthy to live in their homes. I lied to myself again about why; this time I convinced myself that I was using the means from the homes to fund my search for the girl.

I became careless with my killing. I would throw elaborate parties with my new found wealth and nibble the people that came to call.

One night, after one of these parties, I perused the sleeping bodies deciding which would be my dinner for the night. I had just decided on a young man who spoke eloquently with me most of the evening. He was enticing; his blood seemed to call to me. I will never know if that young man’s blood was as enticing as his conversation though. A loud crash woke most of the unconscious revelers.

“We know you are here devil.” A shout from across the expanse of my house called. “Show yourself so we might send you where you belong.”

I could feel the rage boiling inside of me, I was completely careless, I threw myself towards my attackers. The fight was a complete blur, necks were broken, throats were ripped open and many others were knocked unconscious on the floor.

Once the ordeal was over I looked down at my dress and the mess on the floor in front of me. It was time, once again, to move on. I swept through the throngs of bodies ensuring that if they were not dead already they soon were.

I heard a moan across the room from where I was and within a few short strides I was leaning over the body of a young woman who lay broken under a bloody corpse. She had a gash on her forehead and I have to admit, her blood had an enticing aroma to it, I wanted to taste it, to let it flow through my body and give me power. I lifted her by her neck and held her so that her face would see and register what was about to happen to her.

At first glance she looked vaguely familiar but it wasn't until her eyes flew open that I recognized the eyes of my dear Dierdra looking at me in terror. “Dierdra?” I mumbled. I knew it couldn't be my dear one, the one I loved so much like a daughter, but the eyes.

Voices coming from outside the house forced me to remember where I was and what was going on. I relaxed my grip on her neck but did not release her. She was injured, I knew that much from the fight that just ensued. I was not going to lose this family connection again.

“In here,” the young woman yelled.

I was hurt that she would yell for help. I was had already convinced myself that because she was from Dierdra's line that she would instantly take to me and would want to come away with me. As soon as she realized I wasn't going to hurt her, she struggled all the more and started to yell out to the others to come and rescue her. Quickly, I grabbed a strip of clothing from one of the bodies nearby and somehow managed to wrap it around her mouth one handed. I threw her over my shoulder and made my way to my escape route I had plotted out months before.

I managed to reach my safe house despite the struggling girl I carried over my shoulder. Once there I tied the girl to the chair, she fought the entire time.

“I am not going to hurt you,” I calmed my voice and backed away from her leaving her for a few minutes to get cleaned up hoping that the sight of me without blood dripping from my lips would help put her at ease.

When I returned, the young woman's chair was knocked on the side and she appeared to be attempting to move along the floor towards the door.

“You won't get far that way.” I chuckled slightly and set the chair, with her still tied to it, back upright. She took this opportunity to spit in my face. “You will regret that.”

“Are you going to save me to feast upon later?” She flung the words vehemently at me, I believe she hoped by showing courage I would take pity on her.

“No my darling. You will regret treating me with such disdain when we are acquainted and living side by side.”

“There were rumors of people turned into devils to serve as companions for your kind. I would rather die and will take my own life if you turn me into such a creature.” It really was quite cute her determination to keep up the appearance that she wasn't frightened. I could tell it was quite the opposite.

“I would not dream of turning you, though I would have done to save your ancestor. I would not have taken her mortal life unless she asked.”

“You know nothing of my family.” She shouted. I suppose I had struck a nerve.

“You are too young to be the child that was taken so I am going to guess you were told the story of your grandmother perhaps great-grandmother and how she was raised by a devil?” I could feel my eyes becoming moist at remembering. “Did they also tell you how those that took you from us also killed your mother?”

“My mother told me you killed grand mama.” I could sense her mother's words fighting with mine in her head, I hoped mine would win.

I sat across from the young one and recalled the night of her mother's birth. She listened to the entire story without interjecting anything that countered my story though I could tell she wanted to in a few spots. She was silent when the story finished so I took the opportunity to let her know I was going out to get food.

I wandered the market with a hood pulled over my face. I changed into rags so that I would not stand out as much. I only grabbed essential ingredients to make a stew. I hoped I would remember how to cook, it had been so long since I had consumed anything but human blood to live.

I returned and the girl, her name was still unknown to me at this point, was slumped in the chair sleeping. I quietly moved around the shelter preparing the food. Once it was over the fire I grabbed the medical supplies I had also gotten while I was out. A healing ointment and fairly clean rags.

I started to gently dab her wound with warm water to clean it, this must have woken her up. She sat straight up and tried to keep her head as far away from me as possible.

“I am only trying to help.” I held out the bowl of water and rags I had, showing her my intentions.

She relaxed a bit and with hesitation, allowed me to clean the gash on her forehead. The smell of her blood was intoxicating, but it had not been long since I feasted and I knew I could hold my monster at bay. Not only that but the thought of consuming my dear Dierdra's granddaughter caused me to be ill in my stomach.

“What is your name child?” I asked her as I grabbed the ointment and spread it over her wound.

She winced but kept her demeanor strong. “I am called Selene.”

“After the moon goddess.” I stated, it was a strong and popular name for the time. She did not respond, only braced herself for more ointment.

“The wound is not deep.” I moved away and stirred the stew, checking the windows.

“They will find me.”

“I will not lose you without a fight.” I responded without turning my attention from what I was doing. “You come from a line of women that were daughters and sisters to me, sadly never beyond sister.”

“Do you have family?” I questioned changing the subject.

“My husband led the charge, one of the first your teeth claimed.” The venom in her voice was back.

“Children?”

“I would not tell you if I did, they are better away from you.” Try as she might to avoid my question she answered it unknowing.

“Daughters?”

Selene did not respond to that question and I knew that the answer was yes. “I hope that when you realize I am not the monster you all believe, you will bring your girls to live with us.” I had found Dierdra's descendant, I knew I could keep my rage in check. I knew that I could go back to feeding on the blood of animals if it meant I could keep my family close.

The days passed. We moved further away from the city but Selene did not seem to mind. I believe she thought the further we moved the farther away from her daughters we would be.

I could see her strength returning, but I left her binds looser during the days. It surprised me none when she freed herself from her bonds and attacked me with a knife. She cut me but did not do much damage.

“Selene, I mean you no harm. I do not understand why you feel you must attack me.”
I held my arm out so she could watch as my skin healed. She was quiet again for some time after that.
Weeks then months wore on and I was able to completely leave her unbound. She helped with the cooking. True to my internal promise, I stopped feasting on humans, well for what could be considered human. I still fed on beggars and the unwanted but kept myself content most of the time with cow or horse blood.

“Selene, I believe it is time we discussed bringing your daughters to live here.” I brought up one evening. It had been close to a year that we lived under the same roof together and it had been nine months since she last attacked me. I felt that she came to trust me, depend on me, even possible love me.

“Antigone do you think you are ready to care for three of us?” She questioned. I could sense some hesitation in her voice, but her eyes were in earnest.

“We will bring the girls and move north to Britannia.” It was the furthest I could imagine to move away from our pasts.

She shuddered slightly but her words were warm. “We should start by preparing provisions.” She went to the cupboard and started to take inventory of what we had and what we needed and spouted off to me what I would need to pick up from the market that day. Despite her being unbound during the day, even when I left she remained unbound. I did not take her to the market with me, that would change in Britannia.

I grabbed the basket and hugged Selene. “I am so happy that you have come around.” I left for the market, even know I torture myself about what I saw when I returned only hours later.

Selene had not lit any candles anticipating my return. It was unusual to see the house so dark, my senses instantly flared. I listened to the sounds, it was quite. I saw nothing either, it was not until I took a deep breath that I knew anything was wrong. The air smelled thick with the metallic smell of blood.

“No!” I shouted and ran towards the house, dropping the basket along the path. I threw open the door, literally off the hinges. My eyes adjusted almost instantly to find Selene lying slumped against the cold fireplace, blood pooled around her.

I moved closer to examine her and noticed the deep slits in her wrist and the knife nearby. My sadness cannot be described in words, I would have slit my wrists at that moment if I thought it would take me away from this pain. I laid my head in her lap and let the tears flow thinking back to all our days together. She seemed fine until this morning when I mentioned her daughters.

It struck me as I lay in the darkness, the smell of her blood filling my nostrils. She was being complacent and going along with me to keep me away from her daughters. Hoping I would forget about her children and be content with her.

Days passed, I hardly moved, I could not bring myself to care about my own body or mind. I had lost my family, again. Loving my mortal children was becoming too hard. I lost them all so young, so tragically. Even loving my immortal children was difficult, after all Alexander left me too.

Perhaps it was time to meet my immortal family. My brothers who were like me and who were waiting for me to rule over vampire kind. Wiping my eyes and lifting my head from Selene's rotting corpse for the first time in what was possibly a week, I surprised myself with the quickness I was able to use in snatching up a rat to suck dry.

The taste of the blood made me gag, but it still warmed me and gave me enough strength to hunt properly. I would need it to search for my brothers, to explain my absence and to ensure that I was supreme ruler over all. That decision was made later after I met my brothers, but it was the only way it could have been done, even know looking back at everything. I was made to be the Queen, the ultimate Creator.