Page 9 of Mad Hatter Vampire Prince

“You don’t have clearance. Sasha–” he said looking around me to speak with her. I grabbed him by the throat and dangled him in the air. The other one unsheathed his weapons, timid and unknowing what to do. Sasha unsheathed her own swords behind me.

“Drop him, Kyran!” She said in a cold tone. Well at least she did see me for what I truly was. A threat.

“You’re speaking with me, not her,” I said to the man who tried to pry his own fingers from my steely grip. So weak. So feeble and pathetic. “Your friends need to learn some manners, my little mouse,” I said over my shoulder to Sasha. Oh, how I wanted to break this man’s neck. I crushed my pointed nails into his throat to watch the small streams of blood trickle down my fingers. How I missed the lavish sight of someone grasping with the idea that I might be their death. That dimming gleam of panic that their life might end but the uncertainty of what was to come in the afterlife. “Will it hurt, that’s what you’re wondering isn’t it?” I cooed to the man. His eyes widened as he began to turn pale in the face. He continued to scratch at my hands desperately.

Oh, how these human guards thought they were so strong. Sasha ran at me from behind. There was a trickle of both excitement and betrayal all at once. I twisted and moved out of her way. Those vampires she took out might have been an equal match for her but I would never be such a thing. I drifted like smoke before her eyes and dropped the man behind her. Decidedly I kept him alive. The gates required two people to open them. He was useless to me dead. Either that or I broke through the gates, which I didn’t mind. But I didn’t want to listen to Galador pester at me and ruin my mood after my hot date.

I stood with my hands behind my back as if I had done nothing wrong. The man gasped beside me. I kicked him slightly which propelled him across the ground and into the gate. “Well, open the gate,” ah, and then suddenly I realized why this had all gone wrong. I had to impress the lady after all. “Please.” I added.

His spineless colleague helped him up. Sasha stepped in front of them with swords raised. I could never read her expression. I imagined it went along the lines of ‘I never realized how big and strong he was.’ “Calm down little mouse,” I said gesturing for her to lower the swords. “You’re being slightly dramatic now.” Her eyes narrowed on me. The two men scurried to open the gates. Well at least they followed instruction.

“Now as we were, our date,” I gestured for her to step aside. “Now boys, I know that these little hidey holes can be opened like tiny little windows.” I pointed to the dome panels. “I want one to be opened every night right above here,” I said pointing to the dome that kept out the sun. “But it’s to be kept as our little secret, okay?” I smiled and walked past them. I greeted Sasha with a wider smile as they rolled open the gates.

Lastly, I approached the scaredy cat of the two men who dared to say no to me. “If you tell anyone about this, I will not only kill you but the entirety of your family. I will also kill your bird. If you don’t have a pet bird, I will gift you a pet bird and I will kill it. Wonderful chat,” I said tapping him on the shoulder as he bleached white. I didn’t look back at the other man as his filthy blood ensnared my nose. I wiped my bloody hands on his friend’s metal clothing. My nails scratched along his armor and engrained marks as I wiped the blood clear.

“Come now Darling,” I said posing as a gentleman. I walked past her, adjusting my unscathed leather jacket. Surely but steadily she followed me through the gates afterwards, sheathing her blades again.

“I’ll explain later,” she said to our onlookers. Ah, here goes the humans needing insight again. And there was nothing past the truth of what this was. A simple stroll outside the walls amongst soon to be lovers.

The outside was seemingly refreshing. Not that my body felt such things as temperature change or breeze but the hairs on Sasha’s arms rose which indicated it was colder beyond the walls. Her breathe expelled white mist as she wrapped her arms around herself. I looked at my jacket and then back at her. Perhaps I should make such a grand gesture.

“Don’t even think about offering me your jacket,” she said looking out and beyond. I chuckled as I followed her gaze. She would rather freeze to death than smell like me. How poetic. Her eyes thrilled with amazement. A long windy dirt path was before us. Our kingdom was amongst mountains, a difficult place to reach and with narrow entry points. If anyone decided to attack us, they would be at a disadvantage.

The trees rustled in the cold night and the half-moon shone down on us in blessing. It didn’t look that different from the manufactured one inside the wall. Neither were seemingly spectacular. But I took another look in case I was missing something; because everything the little mouse looked at was in idle wonder.

“Have you never been outside the wall?” I asked as I kept my pace with hers. It wasn’t as slow as it had been inside. Now she was taking long steps. She would kneel down to study certain plants in wonder. She’d rub them and sniff them. Rip some out by their roots and place them in her pocket. I watched her trivially. How could one person find so much excitement in a plant that was half dormant from the cold?

“Only once with my Father,” she said ripping another plant out of the ground. Had others been around I may have had to kill them for mocking her odd behavior. But to me, it was interesting to watch. I couldn’t predict her next move or what she was thinking. A novelty amongst not only my race but humans as well.

“Where is your Father?” I asked. I was still expecting a strongly worded letter from the man who should be concerned that I’ve taken interest in his daughter. Unless he was as loyal to my brother’s throne as most of the boring humans.

“He’s around,” she said. “We’re just waiting for you to permit us all to leave the walls instead of just favoring me.” She didn’t even look at me as she began scouting another noise. Evidently, she was a natural hunter even outside the walls. She leaned her head closer to the ground to listen. I think. I couldn’t understand why she was doing that odd movement. The large scar down her neck bulged and shone under the moonlight as she continued to tilt her head. Oh, how I wondered about that scar and its origin. Its jagged edges made her all so much more beautiful. Brutal and savage just like my darling here.

I could hear the very rodent she was tracking, scampering about for food. “Dear God, Sasha Darling, please don’t try and touch that filthy thing,” I said. She immediately shushed me.

After twenty minutes of trying to track it she looked at me with a hmph. “Help me catch it,” she said.

“Ew, no,” I raised my hand to her. “I’m not touching that filthy beast.”

“Stop being a wimp and just do it,” she said clearly frustrated by her own futile efforts. Diabolical. How could she sincerely ask me to help her catch a rodent? But then another passing thought crossed my mind. As a woman, she’s asking me as the burly man to help her and hunt for her. Ah, yes. I see, well played Sasha, giving me the thumbs up to our childish flirting games. Within a flash of a second, I darted past her and found the filthy furry creature. I darted back with her prize ready to receive my reward.

“Here, my Lady,” I said offering her the filthy rodent by the tail. It was oversized and slightly mutated from God knows what and smelling of some sort of nature abiding disease.

“You killed it!” She said starring at the dead rodent that swayed back and forth from the wind. I dropped it onto the ground in front of her feeling more like a house cat than a rewarded male.

“How dare you? How do you know it didn’t kill itself?” I asked looking down on her as she crouched over the infested creature. She huffed but collected the dead rodent anyway. I grimaced as she touched it.

“Give me your jacket,” she insisted. I raised my hand immediately.

“You are not using my jacket to hold a dead rodent in it!” Had she no shame!

“You don’t even get cold. Now give it to me.” After hesitation she added. “Please.” I stared at her unblinking. The only time I was to receive manners from this diabolical woman was when she wanted to use my jacket as a blanket for a dead rodent. But I was a strong man. A powerful vampire. Such matters didn’t affect me. I took off my jacket and offered it to her as the gift it was. I grimaced and looked away as she collected the rodent in it and tucked it under her arm. She looked up at the sky and began to walk towards the wall.

“We should go. Sunrise will be soon,” she said. I was already aware that sunrise was soon and was willing to let this go on for a few minutes more. Never did I think that she would take my safety into consideration.

“Surely you’re not taking that disgusting thing back in the walls?” I asked as she carried my scrunched jacket under her arm. Her own pocket was stuffed with random assortments of plants. What in God’s name was she going to do with all these things?

She ignored me and continued walking towards the gates, those lovely hips swaying like no one’s business. I had found myself the most unpredictable specimen yet.

“Lucky me,” I grumbled under my breath and surprisingly she did look over her shoulder, if only to make sure that I was following her.

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