Blood Rider

The ride to Lucien’s manor was both a rare treat and an unpleasant ordeal. Lee thought driving at extreme speeds through the city in an ancient automobile would be a blast. The luxury of travelling in a vehicle, opposed to tracing or horses was quite amusing. Although Eric wouldn’t let her drive. He had a way of ruining a good mood.

It was one thing to be drawn to this man, but to hear him try and lure her with the benefits of being initiated was getting a little tiresome. Talk about being tied to a man and making it really, really awkward at the break-up stage. Thankfully, his recruitment tactics damped her automatic sensual awareness of him. Not her awareness of him physically, but at least the deep shiver of pleasure she usually had in the presence of such an aged male.

“The system works, Lee. It has worked for more than three thousand years. The bond helps the initiated have protection so he can grow in strength. The rules and punishments are easier to enforce as well and ensure there are no abuses within the system.”

-Ah, rules and punishment. That sounds like our scene.-

Lee smirked and looked out the window a moment so he would not see her amusement.

“So what? I suppose one of your fledglings would be weak and need that sort of thing. I get it. But I’m clanless. My rider chose me. And we have a full merging. What benefit would there be for me? Why, none.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You can call the demon within you a rider, but it is all the same essence. It didn’t choose you. Someone likely accidentally turned you and you simply don’ remember the fact. The benefit is to be one of the Clan, as you should have been from your turning. Money, resources and other services. Even willing donors, those who wish to be initiated or to serve or just like the rush we give them. And most of all to make sure others don’t think you will be at risk for starting your own line. Protection.”

“Overrated. Don’t need it. I work for the Council and that suits me fine.”

“You work for them because they own you.”

Lee glanced at him, his curls being ruffled by the open window, his features so classically… arrogant. “They do not own me.”

But of course, they did. Was she not marked and registered? Did she not have to abide by their rules?

-We chose to stay with them when we needed their protection. They could not keep us if we chose to leave.-

I’d like to see you explain that to our Handler.

-Time is on our side. Nothing stays the same.-

“I did my own research, lovely. And you were in an insane asylum for years. When you got out the Council took you in, did they not? They provided you with all the training you needed, housing, food and whatever. Coddled you. And then when you were ready to serve enrolled you to their cause. You know nothing else.”

She narrowed her eyes and choked back a ‘how dare you’. How much did he know about the asylum, where so many died, where so many wished they had died? She still felt bruised and broken from the memory of it. The thought Eric knew about it almost made her homicidal. Although launching herself at him while he was driving at extreme speeds over rough terrain would definitely give the impression she was a loon.

“And that would be different from being a fledgling in a Clan? Oh, wait, different because you dole out information, training, as they ‘mature’ and in the interim they’re slaves. Then, as they slowly climb that vampire ladder, assuming they don’t break the infinite amount of laws the Elders have spent eons developing, well they’re still tied to the one that made them, and the one that made that one and so on. The Council has no problems taking in all races, no problems grooming a clanless vampire. Because a clanless vampire is an asset. No built-in loyalties to conflict with. They even harbour those that have been disowned by the Clan; where otherwise they would be fair game. It made my life more focused, and yes, protected. And they reaped that investment. I choose how to work for them and am not bound to them forever. A bond to a Clan lasts forever, working for the Council doesn’t.”

She let out a slow breath and waited for his response. He flicked her a puzzled look. “I don’t understand, Lee. I just don’t. You rarely even associate with your kind, except to kill them. How can you live through the centuries like that? With no stability, no anchor and nothing staying the same as everything around you decays?”

An unexpected tactic on his part. Clan vampires were so very… clannish. She didn’t get it really. No more than she got a werewolves desire to belong to a pack. Lee felt no need to belong. Only curiosity. Okay, maybe some yearnings lately, but she didn‘t need contact with her kind to function. She did fine by herself. “You seem to be under the impression I thrive on company. I do not. I’m a born and bred loner, true to form and proud of it. The Council has plenty of vampires and I’m good friends with just enough of them, the sort of friends that watch your back and you can see every couple of decades without them feeling all neglected. So while the offer may appeal to me a few centuries from now, when I get all lonesome like, it just has nothing to offer right now.”

“What of a companion to pass the time with?”

She glanced at him, gauging his seriousness, which seemed to be lukewarm. More inquisitive. They had some instinctual passion and that was fun, but there was nothing to create an enduring relationship. It was just that Clan vampires put a lot of importance in finding someone to make a permanent bond with. Permanent being for a century or so. “Sorry. I prefer the casual thing.”

In fact, she didn’t just prefer it, she demanded it. Not of the Clan meant very little options for a relationship among her own kind. Which meant she was far less promiscuous than vampires tended to be. Far more wary of any desire for intimacy beyond that of some good healthy passion and lust.

Before she had left the Council training facilities she had been reluctant, wary and even anxious of associating with her kind. She wasn’t sure if it was the fear of the unknown, or she had even then been wary of her own nature and exposure to others with similar inclinations. It had taken her a long time to just tentatively enter their Quarter, instead of just doing what needed to be done in the rest of the city. She had been raised with humans and so it wasn’t surprising she felt uncomfortable surrounded by her kind, who were so blatantly different in beliefs and customs.

He pulled into a long country lane that was shrouded with thick woods, eventually revealing an impressive estate. The houses in the city used to be those two stories high, look-alike ones where your neighbour was literally within reach. From the Old Days of cramming as many people as possible in small lots, but served now for clusters of secure blocks. Although most of those suburb type neighbourhoods had been destroyed long ago, with not even ruins to show for it, some had been secured into small gang areas or walled into Town.

This house was beyond a house, it was an estate. It was impressive in the way that made her just instinctively know she would feel uncomfortable from the mere presence of the place like it was judging her for not sitting straight or wiping her feet. The second story had a balcony around the top, all around the top, and thin columns supporting it lined the front. The lawn was extensive, which made sense as they had made their way to outside of the city, to areas with acreages. There was quite a bit of land, but most of it was hidden from view by the forest he had surrounding the place. It was beautiful and isolated.

“He rattles around this place all by himself?” Lee asked getting out of the car.

“He is the Master of our line and deserves his comforts. But no, we have others here to keep him company and make sure he does not stray.”

“Well,” she said running her eyes over the place. “For an asylum, it is a damn good one.”

“Lucien prefers if you don’t call him insane. He is irrational as any other bleeder; time has not tempered it, or his addiction to it. If anything I believe the spirits he consumed has solidified his insanity. So be gentle with him. You might not get what you need.”

He didn’t know precisely what she needed, but since they made their little bargain he likely thought he was getting the better deal. He was probably right, but still, it wasn’t every day she met the Master of a line. The Clan way of saying regional top of the pyramid. It made her wonder just a little at Eric’s social standing, given he had been able to arrange such a meet and greet.

“I find the fact your Sire is a bleeder to be moderately amusing, Eric. As no doubt, you’re but one of many products of his deep thirst.”

He gave her a wry smile. “Every line had a beginning. And in ours, Lucien wasn’t as he is.”

As Eric knocked on the door she smoothed her hands over her breeches, immediately regretting her casual clothes. Not that it mattered. She never knew what appropriate clothes were and had absolutely no fashion sense. Tia had informed her of this on more than one occasion. Apparently, her fashion apathy led to some questionable colour combinations, which in her defence was more comfort thinking rather than visually appealing. The only time she added some decent flare was to go to the opera or a more conservative club. Today she wore her black dyed leathers and a deep purple tailored top. Purple dye was quite expensive so that had to mean the shirt was stylish… right? Her muddy stomp around boots were likely not appropriate, but she worked for a living and they were what they were.

A young vampire opened the door and swept his gaze across them, giving a nod of acknowledgement to Eric. He was young in the sense of physical age, looking maybe eighteen, but he pulsed with a deep vibrant energy of someone older than Lee. He was in fact pretty; with rich green eyes, waist-length blond hair and a slim build. Even though he was aged, he wasn’t a master and her rider had no response to him, not even an awareness of sexual energy. Their auras collided and she felt the brush of pressure in her head, but it was a passing touch as though their riders didn’t feel any sort of antagonism or flexing of mental muscles.

“Christian, this is Lee,” Eric said, as they stepped inside.

The foyer was stunning. It was hard to find aesthetically appealing architecture these days, more the pity she thought since at one time it was art and now it was all functionality. The room had a vaulted ceiling with a fresco painted on it and two staircases running up the sides to the second-floor balcony. She found the fresco particularly stunning. It was a classical design depicting the Nevernever. And in the Realm Beyond the Veil it illustrated the battle between the Court of Eternal Darkness and the Court of Everlasting Light; to which any human would see as the battle between hell and heaven. That wasn’t the case at all, since the Court of Everlasting Light was the realm of fairies and they were far from the good as demons. Or at least that is what her witch friend, Justina, was always telling her. Witches could weave a good story. The only demons Lee knew lived in vampires. She had no clue what the hell fairies were or if they even existed outside of stories, although Justina insisted they did. That being said, witches also smoked some pretty interesting substances while weaving their stories.

Christian frowned at her but it smoothed out into a polite, tight, smile. He held back thankfully, but she could see he was resisting warning her. Clan bred were so territorial, they were not quite sure how to react to a vampire that wasn’t. And even if she was, she wasn’t about to carve out territory by attacking a vampire stronger than her.

He led them further into the house and they passed a few vampires lurking in order to make their presence known. It seemed Lucian surrounded himself with extremely pretty guards, not at all the goon types and all of slim builds with delicate features. She dearly hoped he wasn’t of the mind that believed one should only choose to turn those deemed beautiful enough. Beauty may be nice, but it did nothing for long term survival, besides over time the rider made sure the host was appealing to its prey, which didn’t always mean astonishingly gorgeous, but certainly enhanced a person’s best features. In all likelihood he thought they were courtiers in his court, rather than slick guards to keep him in line.

He waved them into the library making a soft comment to Eric that Lucian was in a good mood today, almost lucid. She entered the library and was stunned. She was an avid reader, liking to increase her knowledge by consuming books on philosophy, physics and new technologies. Then adding in poetry, great books and trash books for flare. Lucian, if he read all the books in his massive library, out did her by a few thousand. It was a circular design, with two tiers, the second tier had a balcony and a ladder connected the two floors. It even smelt like a library, that sort of musty old books smell she loved when she went to the Rutherford Archives in University City.

It was only after her eyes roamed the shelves that she settled on Lucien and then she couldn’t look away if she tried. He exuded power and power had changed him. He was slim, but with wiry muscles and flawless ivory skin. His hair was completely white, not from age, but from changes he rider enforced and with the palest grey eyes. He was exquisite as only a vampire could manage, but also like he had been carved from marble. He wore pale grey trousers and a white shirt, which simply enhanced the bleached out colors of his features.

He languished in a plushy chair and immediately she wanted pounce on him and rip his throat out. She would twist his thin neck, gouge out a chunk of that pale flesh and let the blood run down him in a lovely contrast. She immediately stilled, running her tongue over her sharp teeth.

Her rider liked this one, not for passion, but rather for violence. It was worse than the response she had to Eric and she had to make her hands into tight fists to overwhelm the extreme aggression. With the desire to bleed him came confusing emotions of anger and anxiety.

He stood up with a perplexed expression as he approached. “Eric? I have not seen you at court for decades, my friend.”

“Remember my visit a few days ago?” Eric asked. “We talked about meeting this young woman, Lee, in trade for finding a rogue maker.”

Each step towards her and her demon swelled; her aura bulked up in power as though preparing for a duel. He looked at her with those pale eyes that seemed to darken as he studied her.

It was like something about those eyes triggered something deep within her. She couldn’t say what it was, only that it was within that gnawing, aching broken place within her. When she looked something broke within her just a bit more and with that a migraine slammed into her like a tidal wave. Exploded into her with a piercing, shooting pain and throbbing everywhere else. She actually staggered slightly from the strength of the assault. He could have been the one to cause it, for all she knew about Master vamps. It was not like she was immune to their mind games. She took a step back but eyes never left him. Her demon essence swelled, prickling over her skin.

-Feed. Feed. Feed-

It was overpowering, the migraine raged, her hunger swelled. She hungered with a primal urgency. She took two rapid steps forward and stared at him, trying to get control. And then he tilted his neck in a sign of submission that shot to the core of her instincts.

-Kill him. Drink him dry. For what he did to us.-

She grabbed him by the neck yanked him forward, her arm wrapping around his back and then licked his neck to numb it. It was bizarre and surreal but he didn’t even resist her, which should have enabled her to calm her irrational rage. He froze and then she sank her teeth in. The power was euphoric and the migraine evaporated as fast as it had hit. His blood was rich like a fine aged wine. A hand tried to pull her away and she shook it off with a sharp growl. The blood flowed down his neck, warm and full of life.

“Stop it now, Lee. Or I will hurt you,” Eric said harshly into her ear. She pulled herself together raised her head. A haze seemed to lift and the rage dimmed slightly having been satiated slightly from the feeding.

She pulled away slightly, resisting the urge to rip into him again, refusing to lick the wound. Let him bleed. She stepped back, wiping the corner of her mouth.

-So good, so tasty.-

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. Honestly. I couldn’t resist,” she said, flatly, still staring at the man as though she were a cat and he an injured mouse. This had to be a breach of Clan vampire protocol.

Oddly enough Lucian shrugged, not looking phased at all. “You’re exerting your dominance over me. Demon to demon. Marking me as lower and not worthy. An insult to be sure, but this one I must tolerate.” He chuckled, his eyes dancing with something indefinable, likely madness. “Mate or hate. That is the way of it. That leaves us hate.”

“That makes no sense, you’re a Master,” she said. “Not food.”

Lee’s eyes flicked to Eric suddenly feeling embarrassed. It was like doing something outrageously inappropriate in public, but in this case she could just have signed her own death warrant.

“What do you mean?” he asked with a little puzzled frown.

“You’re an Elder Master, why would I feel the need to dominate over what is older and stronger than me?”

“Did I say that?” he asked. “Why would I say that?”

While he didn’t seem to be the least bit offended Eric was seething and his aura was pulsing with power, while hers was still bulked up with aggression as well.

-Kill him, while he is wounded!-

Shut the hell up already!

“I really am sorry,” she said, her voice shaky. “This is a bad idea. Something about him, Eric, is triggering a really violent instinct in me. I apologize.”

“You apologize?” Eric said harshly. “And that is sufficient for attacking the Master of our line in his own home? I trusted you Lee and this is how you repay me? You force fed from him! I don’t know how I can make that sin go over well.”

Lucian laughed and stepped up to her and tapped her lightly on the cheek. She flinched at the unwanted touch. “Oh, forgive the poor child, Eric. I didn’t resist. I would have offered her my blood freely anyway. The child is in the Council and starved. If you want to initiate her to the Clan as you wish to then it is only right I offer her what I offer all in our Clan.”

He took her hand and she wanted to pull it away because she was repulsed by him and his very touch. “My blood taken by force or offered will strengthen her, protect her, and connect her to us. It is good. Do not punish the poor child. She has no bonds. She is driven by instinct alone. When she encounters a Master of equal strength to herself she will either see mate potential or enemy. Until she mates. It is different for the bonded.”

He was right his blood would connect them for a little while. It made her want to throw up. She pulled her hand away from him and discretely wiped it on her leg.

Lucian wandered back to his chair and sat down as though she had not aggressively bit him, without any enhancements, and he hadn’t even found it painful.

Eric glared at me. “Are you feeling in your right mind?”

“Yeah, I think so. As long as he doesn’t get too close to me.”

Lee exhaled sharply to calm her irritation. She sat down across from Lucien and said, “Eric you can go now.”

“I don’t think so, lovely. You just attacked my Sire. And you don’t even know why. We don’t know enough of clanless to know how they… interact. And if that is your reaction, then I think I should stay.”

“Go. The deal was I get to speak with him, alone.”

She hoped she wasn’t going to attack the man again, but now that she was well fed all that aggression had simmered down to a hard loathing with less need for violence.

“Go on, boy, we can chat later,” Lucian said. “Bring a six pack and some cheese chippies.”

Eric sighed. “I’ll be right outside the door,” he grumbled. “I’m warning you, Lee, I hear any sounds of a scuffle you’re out of here and will not be coming back. Then you and I will have words.”

She laughed darkly. Words didn’t usually kill but she suspected his would be the killing sort.

When she heard the door close she just came out and asked. “So, do you speak to your rider?”

Might as well get down to it. She wasn’t coming back here again whether Eric ever let her or not.

“I’m not sure what you are referring to,” he said blandly. But he had narrowed his eyes, while giving her an assessing look, as though she would say he was a lunatic to think he could.

“Hey, I’m not a shrink, Lucian. Everyone knows you’re a nutter and surely you know it yourself. So many fragments of humans are in you that there truly is no you left, at least not one you can be sure it is you. I don’t care about that. You understand?”

He looked outraged for a moment, but that melted into petulance. Bleeders were moody, nothing like conflicting personalities to make someone a little unpredictable. She got that. Charlie made her temperamental enough. He waved a hand for her to continue.

Why not go all out? The man was a loon and would likely forget anything she said.

“I hear my rider. It speaks to me,” she said. “I have told very few this and I have encountered no other vampire who can.”

“Does it?” he said lightly, leaning back.

“Why does it speak to me?”

“Most would say it is impossible and that you were insane when you were turned. Or a bleeder for far too long.”

“But you and me, we know different. I want to know why.”

“So many whys. My fact is this; I was bitten by a born vampire. Like you that made me Master class from the moment I turned. Those with a deeper merging connect with their demons on a different level. It is not known, because unless you are bitten by a born vampire, this connection will not develop for a millennium and even then it would be not quite the same. Or so I believe.”

“Born vampires?”

“Born vampires, when they were around, could mate with another born vampire and have offspring. The turned cannot because the merging is never complete as it should be, so the changes to one are different than the changes to another, and we are infertile. Mostly. Usually.”

“I’m not a born vampire, I’m clanless.”

“Indeed,” he said and laughed loudly. “And what does that make you? With no Clan loyalties and heritage? Unpredictable, and all gained is based on the strength of your demon essence. People fear the clanless will start breeding their own line, but of course most clanless are weak. Accidentally turned or spawn evicted for a law broken. Not needed nor wanted. Not mature enough to turn others. Not you of course, you’re a threat to the system. I should kill you for that I suppose since this is my territory you play in, but I will not, because it isn’t my right. Not in this.” He paused dramatically and then narrowed his eyes. “You’re familiar to me. Have we met before?”

“Unlikely. You’re not giving me any information I don’t already have. I understand this merging of mine is rare. Do you know of a way to dim the rider’s communication?” She wasn’t about to ask him about separation.

“One way,” he said, his expression going as flat as his slate eyes. “Complete the merging and your rider will be you and you it, no separation. As it should be.”

Lee shivered. She wasn’t sure that would be good. Sure it would shut the bugger up, but would it be her afterwards, truly? What would happen to her and to it? How would they change and would she lose control over herself, who she really was? Would Charlie then consume her?

Yet he said ‘complete the merging’ like it was incomplete as it was. Perhaps because her turn was unusual it was also defective. Did he sense something deeply wrong or fractured with her as she did with him? She sagged back into her chair. Maybe Eric had been right after all. Maybe her maker had attacked her and turned her, leaving her for dead and she had instead survived never knowing who had turned her. A maker who had fouled up the process to begin with.

-He lies. Do not believe him, Lee. He always lies.-

“Ah, I see it makes you nervous. But there is no other way. You cannot deny what is within. A part of yourself.”

“How is it done?”

“What?” he asked giving her a puzzled look. Bleeder bugged the hell out of her, god only knows what his carriers were babbling about in regards to her.

“The full merging.”

“Ah. I can’t show you. Not you.”

“Why not?”

“Because I can’t, dove. It wouldn’t be right. You want to know you have to talk to the head of our branch. The head honcho.”

“I thought he was mad.”

“Not mad, dove. He is uncontrollable. He will talk to you. I will take you to him. It will be good. I can see that clearly. It’s the only way.”

“Great,” she said, not exactly enthusiastic about it but maybe it was for the best. He would know after all. All this time she had never met another like her and this had to be why. He had to know if there was a way to fix the damage done. If she could manage not to freak herself out about it. “You said most of the clanless don’t have my strength because of the rider is immature. What would happen if the rider bonds with someone that’s weak of will, weaker than them, and they were strong enough to supersede their mind? And they’re not bonded to their Sire?”

“Can’t happen. Cause they cannot bond well with such candidates. But you would get uncontrollable feeders. And the stronger they get, the worse they would become. Our demons thrive in energy and experiences but they have no self-control. But a demon, choosing, instead of the Clan choosing, looks for a suitable bond mate, not just what is offered. It is why not every turn takes. Offers are not always accepted.”

Yet, it seemed it was exactly the opposite.

“So a usual occurrence then. Would they, if more than one was created, group together like the clans?”

“No, they would be lone predators. And no bonding from master to newly created either. In this case, the demon would be the master; its needs overpowering any resistance. They would act aggressively to each other, seeing them as competition in their territory or competition to their demons. We don‘t play well as it is, dove, without having no control over our appetites.”

“Wonderful,” she muttered, because these rogue riders were grouping. There were several of these riders in complete control of their hosts and randomly feeding. And there was no way to separate them. But just in case she asked, “And these ones, since their merging is unbalanced, could we evict the demon from them? If they are fledglings?”

“Again, you should ask the Lord Master. Ask him to make me whole again. It hurts too much.”

“Not sure even he can work that one,” she said softly.

Another mad one. Or not mad, uncontrollable. Great. She stood up.

Then thinking of one more question to ask such an aged vampire she asked, “And could the rider merge with a human without vampire assistance. Come through on their own? Maybe trying to claim more of this realm?”

He laughed, too loud and too strained to be comfortable laughter. “The veil cannot be crossed by demons on their own. Just as it is for all beings beyond the Veil. That is why they fight their eternal battle in the Nevernever. It can’t be done. And if it could, we would be swamped with them already.”

“But with a willing host?”

“No. A demon, of any sort, can only overpower a host in the form of possession and even that is temporary. And we don’t have that type of demon anyway. The turning ritual is needed to create a true merging.”

At least that was good news. The thought of riders just taking humans as they chose was a bit frightening. So there had to be a Sire to these bleeders, which made some sort of sense since clearly they were grouping.

“Then how are there clanless?”

His eyes glittered and he grinned. “Such a question from you. They are accidentally turned of course. Particular circumstances and a particular host.”

Lee scowled at him. She didn’t remember being turned. Didn’t remember a Sire. But she remembered so very little of that time. If she accidentally turned, then she could hardly blame Charlie. She would have to blame the Sire.

“Thank you for taking the time to speak with me. It was a great help.” But it wasn’t. Quite a bit of effort for so little a return.

“Ah, anything for you, dove. I would have liked it better had your demon liked mine, but they have a different hierarchy than ours. We should get along. It didn’t go so well the last time we met, I admit, but I did what I could.” He was trailing off into a mumble but she heard him.

She doubted he noticed the sudden intensity of her gaze or the boiling rage of her rider. “When did we meet?” she asked lightly.

He gave her a puzzled frown and his eyes sharpened into a glitter of power. “I’ll arrange the meeting with the Lord Master. I’m sure the encounter will be enlightening. Eric will contact you.”

She gave him a short bow, because the Clans were all about protocols extinct centuries. What she really wanted to do was choke him. Charlie was causing a surge of heated anger in her and she didn’t know the cause of her aggressiveness. She really wasn’t liking the fact she may have met Lucien before, during her blank years and Charlie was reacting to that. Lucien looked ghostly fey to her and just off center of sane to be frustrating. That was no reason to want to kill him. She clenched her fists knowing the interview was over and it was best she leave before she gave into her homicidal urges.