Page 7 of Crimson Mourning

The speed of my hand increased as I purred in his ear. My grip on his shaft tightened, causing his head to press back further into the headrest. He grimaced, but I knew. He was a churn of mixed emotions and ideas, but my touch was undeniable.

“And if I became pregnant," I continued, "your lineage would be secured. A pure vampire heir would write your father's memory on the hearts and minds of every vampire and human alike.

"Together,” I whispered, “nothing would stop us. Not the rival clans, not even the council itself.”

I must have hit on something by the pleasurable moan which escaped from his lips. I knew the thought of having me forever appealed to him. We'd never discussed the topic of having a child, but I lost myself in the moment. I increased the speed of my movements, all but daring him to go for it.

“Turn me, Damon. Make me your belovedforever.”

He leaned back further and let me have my way with him, without saying a word, pressing his mouth shut in ecstasy. I loved moments like this with him. Pure passion and want. Here,Iwas the master.

“You’re such a Minx,” he breathed.

I pressed my advantage. “Turn me, baby. Please? For me?”

What happened next was unforeseen. Before Damon could respond to my pleas, the passenger’s side window exploded in a sea of glass, and a pair of rough hands removed me from the car with such force, I felt something break inside me.

“Damon!”

I couldn’t tell if the scream existed solely in my mind, or if it escaped from my mouth as my head ricocheted off the car door. Pain shot through like a bolt of white-hot lightning, and my body crumpled in half to fit through the opening. My mind collapsed into an ocean of darkness with one thought floating above the waves before I lost consciousness.

This wouldn’t have happened if I was a vampire.

CHAPTER EIGHT

MICHELLE

“What I wouldn’t give to be a vampire,” Julia gushed as she watched from behind the curtain.

My cheeks tightened at the thought. “I know, but everything in due time,” I said in return.

Julia was by all accounts a pretty young woman. She had long, braided, golden hair and copper eyes, with smooth red skin. She was the newest familiar to clan Etrien, the vampires from the east, and had accompanied a few of them to service their impulses.

“How have you lasted this long as a familiar without joining the elite?” She asked as I walked by. “The wait would have driven me insane by now.”

I smirked at the youthful exuberance. “You’ll find out soon enough that vampires have a mind of their own. Now, come help me.”

Whenever vampires came to Crimson’s, it was for one of two reasons. They either were there for official council business or there for the blood bath. Either way, the familiars and attendants they brought with them reported to me upon arrival. I was the most senior familiar around, and so, the most trusted.And time-and-time-again, as I looked into the eyes of this young woman full of hopes and promises, I was reminded of how I was also the mostexperienced.

Julia scampered away from the curtain separating the backstage area from the DJ driving the current frenzy and moved to my side.

“What’s with the gum?” She asked as we walked.

A shudder crawled up my spine, but we continued to travel as we made our way to the kitchen area. The energy in the packed club was near its peak. Familiars and human prisoners from the resistance were on the dance floor, surrounded by blood-thirsty predators. Crimson’s was a place of blood and delight for vamp nation, and the humans in the center of the dance floor would soon graduate and become younglings. These newly turned vampires would be famished from the turn. If blood wasn’t available for them to consume, every nearby human was in danger.

Everything changed in our world when the virus first manifested. There is little known about its beginnings, other than it spread from animals. People who either raised, butchered, or bought them became infected. The reporting from the time didn’t reveal much, and those with any knowledge of the virus's origin have long since passed. The virus itself baffled even the greatest minds in the scientific community. The virus could only be transmitted through the blood of an infected being injected into a non-infected person. It wasn’t airborne. The infected spread it by bite, yet could control who they injected the virus into, and when.

Some had the idea to weaponize the virus but it proved to be counterintuitive. The virus affected the DNA of all infected and changed their diet to largely hematophagous. As humans want to do when faced with pandemics, the government moved thesick near one another in an attempt to limit the spread. It was a foolish strategy and did nothing but make things worse.

The infected never lost their reasoning, and soon realized the advantages they had over the uninfected. Chaos reigned as the governments of the world scrambled to develop a cure in the face of an emerging, superior species.

Vaccines and medicines developed at a rapid rate, yet proved to be ineffective and dangerous, as they caused viral mutations. These mutations were similar in nature and gifted the infected with powers. Increased speed, sight, smell, and strength were among the more common ones noted. Less common ones such as varying degrees of mental telepathy, animal control, and morphing, were also observed. There was another effect of the virus which wasn’t discovered until much later. It effectively halted the degradation of the body, and effectively made the infected immortal. Due to the synergy of the symptoms with the legends of the past, the infected came to be known as vampires. The ones with similar mutations united and vampire nation attacked, conquering and devouring all who opposed them. Eventually, the leaders of the vampires split off from one another and formed clans, of which four remain. Shaye, Etrien, Siles, and Kocyte. A council of three vampire clan leaders was put in place to make world decisions together, with the fourth abstaining until a change occurred. An odd number ensured there would be no ties when it came to council voting.

If a clan leader were killed and replaced, that clan would lose its voting privileges and be replaced by the previously abstaining clan leader on the council. The new clan leader would have to assume the abstaining position. New clan leaders were dangerous, the vampires reasoned. They would not vote on world affairs until they proved themselves capable.

The remaining uninfected humans were either hunted off or became infected themselves. Those who remained, fled tovarious areas to better defend themselves. As time passed, a younger generation of humans began to treat vampirism like the next fad or drug. These young humans rejected the reasoning of their elders and tried to embrace the vampire world. They either became food or familiars. I chose the latter.

“Our masters decide who they want to join the elite, and when,” I instructed Julia.

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