A Vial of Life(3)

I realized that all this time, he’d been holding himself back. Perhaps, being the consummate gentleman that he was, Hans had wanted me to make the first move all along. He’d known that I was at his mercy and he hadn’t wanted me to feel obliged to accept his advance.

That morning as he held me close to him, he asked me if I’d like to move permanently into his room. And so began our love affair. I shared his bed every night for the next two months. If I had fallen for him before, I was lost in him now. Being the unworldly teenage girl that I was, he became my life. I doted on him, and on the odd occasion when he left the castle, I watched the hours go by in misery.

It felt like every moment I spent with him, every affection he freely lavished upon me, was healing my broken heart. My heart felt full in a way I’d never thought it could again after the loss of my family.

I could never forget one evening, Hans asked me what he was to me. I felt shy, and wasn’t sure what to say at first. He was my world. My life. He owned everything that I had—the clothes on my back, the food that I ate. And I realized that I wouldn’t want it any other way. I wanted to be his. His forever. I barely saw anyone from the outside world. And I didn’t care. He’d become all that I needed, all that I wanted.

I’d expressed myself that evening in stumbling words, hoping that he would understand what I meant. From the look in his eyes, he did. He kissed my lips tenderly and held me closer. “Then stay with me,” he’d whispered into my ear. “Be mine.”

And so I did.

At least, until fate tore us apart.

It happened one Sunday evening, six months after I first moved into Hans’ bedroom. Soon after the sun set, there was a knock at the door. Hans and I had been sitting together in the living room. I couldn’t miss the way his face tensed up. In my years of living with him, the middle-aged maid had been his only visitor.

Hans told me to wait in the room while he went to see who it was. But as he left, I couldn’t help but peer through the crack of the door.

Hans opened the front door, and I could just about see who was standing in front of him—a tall, slender Chinese woman with short-cropped hair. Strangely, her complexion was only slightly darker than Hans’. She wore a cloak draped around her shoulders, and two robed men stood behind her with their hoods pulled down so low over their faces, I could barely make out their features.

Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined what happened next.

Hans whirled around, his eyes wide with panic as he caught sight of me peering around the door. “Run, Julie!” he hissed.

I barely had time to move before the woman and two men leapt forward and grabbed Hans. Wrestling him to the ground, the three strangers overpowered him. A crack pierced the air as one of the men forced Hans’ head to one side and disjointed his neck. I screamed, my whole body shaking as I rushed forward. They’d broken his neck. They’d killed him.

Before I could reach them, the two men had already hauled Hans’ body off the floor and raced out through the door. They moved with such speed, speed that I’d never witnessed before in man nor animal. They were almost a blur to me.

The woman, still standing by the doorway, set her focus on me even as the two men dashed off into the dark woods carrying my beloved.

“Y-You killed him!” I gasped.

She approached me and gripped the back of my neck. Her hands were so cold, like Hans’.

“And who are you exactly?” she asked.

“Who are you?” I screamed.

“Ah, it seems Hans found a lover to fill his lonely heart. How sweet. Well, fear not. Your man is not dead, only paralyzed. Do you wish to be reunited with him?”

“Take me to him!” I breathed, barely daring to believe her words.

“Come with me,” she said, sliding one hand down my arm and gripping it. I was expecting her to lead me out of the door, but instead she held the back of my neck. She bared her teeth, fangs protruding. Her head shot down to my neck and I barely had a chance to cry out before her fangs sank deep into my flesh.

I wasn’t sure exactly what happened next. It was just a blur in my memory. Perhaps I even passed out from the shock. All I knew was that when I woke up, I was somewhere very different. Somewhere cold and damp. And my insides felt like someone had doused them in acid. They burned so badly, I was convinced I was dying. The next hours were spent in agony until finally, as I looked into the cracked mirror in one corner of the dingy chamber, I found myself staring back at a monster.

Either Satan had possessed me, or I’d gone mad.

The woman came back and informed me that I was now a vampire, just like herself. She handed me a pitcher of blood and told me to drink it—which I did without question, hungrily, despite its bitter taste. She told me that I’d been brought to a coven in a different part of China. The vampire led me out of the dark room and along a narrow corridor. We entered another room, where I found Hans sitting in one corner. Then the woman left me. Hans sprang up and, realizing what I’d become, he staggered back, a devastated look in his eyes.