Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-3293219-20140323001956/@comment-3293219-20140327214500

The Bee and Barb continued as normal, its customers and owner were blissfully unaware of the tragedy that had taken place upstairs or the monster that it had created.

Fat, rich nords continued to laugh and cheer as they grew more rowdy as the ale kept on coming.

Eventually, something was knocked over, making a loud ‘bang,’ that caused one of the inn’s tenants to jump in her bed, seething as she was pulled back down by something. The friction of her restraints burned on their own but mixing with the cuts on her wrists and it was agonising.

What? She looked at the bonds, a leather belt, recycled to make bonds…

“Why am I tied up?”

“Precautions had to be made…” Lucian’s voice answered, causing her to jump out of her skin as she didn’t see him, nor feel his presence. She slowly turned to him, to see him sat in the corner of the room.

“How are you feeling?” The Vampire asked, his tone grew soft as he got up to approach her and prepared to break the news to her. The Dunmer lay, staring at him, heavily confused at her current situation. He stepped around her bed post, pacing back and to as he chose his words carefully. If he got this part wrong, he had lost her forever.

“Weird…” Nepht answered, truthfully. It felt like… Something was missing.

But it wasn’t just that, something was gone inside her but something else had replaced it. It was as if she had changed, since she tried to…

Her eyes began to well up with tears as she looked up at her wrists, they had been healed by something, most likely healing magic. She fell onto the bed and her breath began to break up as she held back the urge to cry in front of her friend.

“You…” She didn’t look at him, her gaze was fixed in front of her as she was too busy trying not to choke on her own tears. “You saved me… Why?”

Lucian looked saddened and he eventually looked away, glancing back at her, meeting her shiny gaze.

“I had to…”

“You didn’t…”

“I couldn’t let you die!”

“I wanted to!”

<p class="MsoNormal">Nepht’s voice killed all other sounds in the room, as if her cries had stopped time, like the thu’um or some other power. She shuddered and hung her head as she began to sob, no longer caring about why she was restrained or even how she was saved. She just hung her head and let the tears roll down her face as she felt more and more defeated.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Nepht…” Lucian whispered as he got up and dragged his chair over to her, taking a seat by her bedside. He had so many questions about her attempt to end her own life but it seemed insensitive to ask, even if his only reason for asking was that he cared.

<p class="MsoNormal">He looked away, wondering if now was the right time…

<p class="MsoNormal">But if he didn’t ask her now, then when? After she loses control and kills someone? She had to know, whilst she still had some of her humanity left…

<p class="MsoNormal">“I…” He began, looking away as he stalled, dreading telling her the news.

<p class="MsoNormal">“You… Weren’t saved through conventional means, there wasn’t time for that as you were losing blood and you were seconds away from death…” He swallowed and looked up at the ceiling; it gave him the strength to go on.

<p class="MsoNormal">“So… What did you do to me?” Nepht asked; hear voice was shaking with fear.

<p class="MsoNormal">Lucian stood up and began to pace around, now that she was strong enough to be left on her own again.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Your body is…

<p class="MsoNormal">Going through an extraordinary transformation…” He began pacing around her as her eyes widened, growing more fearful by the second.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Wh-What am I ‘transforming’ into?”

<p class="MsoNormal">Lucian paused, growing more regretful by the second…

<p class="MsoNormal">''Why did I inflict this on her? She’s…''

<p class="MsoNormal">“Lucian!” She snapped, bringing him back into reality. “What have you done to me?!”

<p class="MsoNormal">“You…

<p class="MsoNormal">Have changed…”

<p class="MsoNormal">He stepped forward as he began to explain himself, “Your heart is beating so slowly, that I doubt that you can even feel it anymore. You’re thirsty, right now but if I offered you a glass of water, you’d look at me as if I was mad…

<p class="MsoNormal">You’re skin is cold and clammy, like you’ve been dead for hours but in fact, you’ve never been so alive!”

<p class="MsoNormal">The Dunmer’s breath increased but her heartbeat didn’t, this was scarily accurate…

<p class="MsoNormal">“You are a vampire…

<p class="MsoNormal">A daughter of Coldharbour…”

<p class="MsoNormal">Nepht paused, questioning whether or not this was reality, whether or not she could believe any of this…

<p class="MsoNormal">“Y-You’re lying…”

<p class="MsoNormal">The Imperial stood on the spot, not even flinching at the accusation as he had already come prepared.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Before I gave you a drink, do you remember?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“The grapejuice? Yeah…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“How did it taste?” He asked, earning himself a look of concern as she started to wonder what he was up to.

<p class="MsoNormal">“W-Wonderful… I-I wanted more at the time…

<p class="MsoNormal">In fact I still do…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“I know you do, because it didn’t taste like any mere tavern swill.

<p class="MsoNormal">It was sweet and full of…

<p class="MsoNormal">Life…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Y-Yeah, it didn’t taste like the Cheydinhal grapejuice…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“That’s because I mixed some blood in it, not enough to take hold of your senses but enough to keep you alive and healthy.” Lucian explained, finding himself growing less confident as he got to the end of his sentence and Nepht zoned out.

<p class="MsoNormal">''Blood? So that’s what it was…''

<p class="MsoNormal">Nepht slowly began to think about it, not the fact that she had drank the life force of another living thing but how…

<p class="MsoNormal">Wonderful it was…

<p class="MsoNormal">She could feel every inch of her blood react to it, pulsing and warming her body. Her chest burned, as if it was glowing, like a campfire had been lit inside and she was basking herself in its warmth…

<p class="MsoNormal">It was a feeling of pleasure, like no other, a feeling that no human could ever experience, she felt a form of joy from it.

<p class="MsoNormal">“It was so…

<p class="MsoNormal">Wonderful…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“That feeling doesn’t last, soon you’ll remember it and begin to crave it and you’ll want to feel it more and more, until eventually you won’t feel anything at all. Eventually, you won’t even feel the benefits of the blood, just the craving for it.” Lucian explained, hoping that she’d heed his words and try to minimalise her exposure to it.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Nepht… I realise that I have brought something terrible upon you and it is something that we will both suffer for but…” The Vampire paused and glanced away, his emotions resurfacing after all these years.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I need you to stick by me… I can help you control this, I can help you adjust and live a life, that most would deem impossible for our kind.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Nepht wasn’t listening, her hands were trembling, her jaw tightened…

<p class="MsoNormal">I want more…

<p class="MsoNormal">“Nepht?”

<p class="MsoNormal">I want to feed…

<p class="MsoNormal">“Nepht!”

<p class="MsoNormal">The Dunmer snapped out of it, looking up at him, seeing the concern on his face as she felt her stomach tie in knots.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Wh-What have you done?” She gasped as she could feel her humanity slipping away; there was nothing she could do to keep these dark thoughts at bay…

<p class="MsoNormal">“I did what I had to, to keep you alive…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“But I didn’t want to live!” Nepht’s cries shook the whole room again, only this time it was a force so powerful that it shook Lucian’s heart, inside his ribcage. He paused and ran his hand across his face, waving his finger at her before standing down and reconsidering before finally going for it again.

<p class="MsoNormal">“You don’t get to make that choice…

<p class="MsoNormal">Not when you have people in your life, who care about you.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Like who?!”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Us!

<p class="MsoNormal">Me… an-and Daniel!” Lucian couldn’t help but sigh, heavily as he dragged his hands down his face, wondering how he got himself into this mess.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Your family…” He added, hoping that she had one or this would majorly backfire.

<p class="MsoNormal">Daniel…

<p class="MsoNormal">Tabith…

<p class="MsoNormal">Mum…

<p class="MsoNormal">Veneficus…

<p class="MsoNormal">“They…” She paused and shuddered as sadness overwhelmed her; it was more powerful than her lust for blood.

<p class="MsoNormal">“They’re better off without me…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Nepht…

<p class="MsoNormal">That’s not true, you know it’s not true, they cared for you and raised you and…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“They only did that, because they had to…

<p class="MsoNormal">I doubt that they wanted to…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Who says that they did?” The Vampire sat down in his chair, placing his boot on the headrest by Nepht’s feet. “Who says that they had to be nice or even raise you at all?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“It wasn’t totally their choice…” She informed him, glancing up at the ceiling as she thought about her father or what little was known about him…

<p class="MsoNormal">“It wasn’t exactly planned…”

<p class="MsoNormal">Lucian nodded, looking away as he got what she meant.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Which is just solid proof that they love you…” He added, getting Nepht’s attention.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I mean…

<p class="MsoNormal">They didn’t plan you but they clearly wanted you, if they kept you for all those years.

<p class="MsoNormal">They were a loving family, right? Openly cared for you, protected you, helped you along the way?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“I… They were just being nice, because…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Because they had to?’

<p class="MsoNormal">Trust me; parents are under no obligation to be ‘nice’ to you.

<p class="MsoNormal">In fact, some of them can be the cruellest people you ever meet, manipulative, brutal…

<p class="MsoNormal">Monstrous…”

<p class="MsoNormal">He glanced away as his own childhood memories resurfaced; he glanced back to her as he didn’t want to change the focus, onto him.

<p class="MsoNormal">“You’re lucky, in so many ways…”

<p class="MsoNormal">Yeah, my father never wanted to meet me, my best friend is dead and everyone I befriend meets some tragic end…

<p class="MsoNormal">   I’m practically blessed…She thought as she curled into a ball, she didn’t have the heart to say it though.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Vampire didn’t know what to do from here; he reached over to her but pulled away as touching her shoulder might only aggravate her.

<p class="MsoNormal">He sighed and slumped back in his chair, deciding that leaving her alone wasn’t a good idea. The two of them sat, in silence, for the rest of the day as The Dunmer thought about the changes that had been made to her body, life and soul…