In the Service of Vampires [ Solumn Laughter and Ezralora ]

[Solumn Laughter]

Her parents had thought themselves blessed when their daughter had been chosen to be turned. With their only child chosen one would have thought that they’d been on Cloud 9. For the most part, humans were ‘free’, if one could consider themselves free when they were required to give a portion of their blood every few months, having to be sanctioned to travel without a vampire escort, or being heavily policed by the vampires who now oversaw society ‘free’. Their existence was finite, though, and it was fairly rare for humans to be chosen any longer to transition. In her own short life, Mila knew of less than twenty people in her small town who had been chosen in all those years, whisked away in the dead of night to be prepared in the nearby city for their transformation into an immortal creature of the night.

Mila wondered if her parents would be as proud of her if they knew what kind of vampire she’d been chosen to be turned into. Though, with her having been chosen she doubted they really cared much as for the rest of their lives they would live in luxury compared to the majority of the humans in their town. Still, she wondered if they had known what type of vampire she was to be made into, or if they’d cared. After all, before she'd been taken and after she'd been chosen, the Vampire Magistrate had met with them in private. There was a very real possibility they'd known and still let her go to the fate the vampires had in store for her.

While humans could be owned and traded if they bartered their lives with that of vampires--there had been many a human thinking to get a better lot in life and sell themselves into the service of a vampire--there was only one vampire bloodline that was created for the sole purpose of serving their kin. The Servus Bloodline was a bloodline that could never fully cross the threshold from life to death and become a truly undead creature as all other vampires were. Instead, their blood held them somewhere between life and death, gaining only a portion of vampiric abilities and maintaining many of their human weaknesses if to a lesser extent. They were weak but not as weak or slow as a human, able to regenerate but another vampire might recover from in minutes might take their kind a day. Most importantly was the blood tie that they would be forced to form that served a two fold purpose, since they were between life and death kept them anchored enough to death as to never age, but most importantly it ensured that the vampire they were bound to could exert their control over them with a little effort and focus.

All of this knowledge and the fact that her blood was now even more nourishing to other vampires had been bestowed upon Mila after she’d survived the turning, a painful process which she learned usually would end up with a dead human rather than a changed vampire. Her own turning had been an awful thing which had made her feel like she was freezing and burning to death all at once, for hours. They hadn’t prepared her for it, they hadn’t told her what bloodline she’d been chosen for or that only one in every eight survived. There had especially been no warning that she was now, in every sense, a slave to whomever would bind her to them. Apparently some humans had killed themselves rather than find themselves in an eternal servitude, so they’d stopped preparing anyone for what would lie ahead.

Shivering at the memory of her own transformation and the cold all around her, Mila attempted to close her eyes and not think too hard about her surroundings. It wasn’t easy, though, as she heard the newest girl, a Servus Vampire as well, begin to cry in the holding room next to her. Mila had done much the same only a week ago when the true horror of what had happened to her had sunk in. After all, here she was in a government sanctioned 'vendor' of Servus vampires, be sold off like some puppy in a window. And that really was what she felt like, though she imagined a dog felt far less humiliated.

The cells were made of some sort of white concrete that she had been told was reinforced so her kind would be incapable of breaking it. A metal table which she was laying on was the only furniture in the cell, heavily welded hooks lined both below on the bench and above into the concrete, allowing for a Servus to be bound down for inspection by a patron should the need arise. The front on the cells were glass, heavily reinforced and she had been told it was unbreakable but also knew that if she tried to touch it the collar around her neck would send electrical current enough to make her fall back. Needless to say she’d only made that mistake once. There was no privacy and there was no escape. Both the facility itself and metallic rings around her neck and legs ensured that.

She’d already been prepared by the vampires that owned the facility, let out for brief moments to be cleaned, given the opportunity to relieve herself (though she found she rarely needed to but for perhaps once a day) and dressed, though she really wouldn’t have called what they had her in as clothes. The white corset that lifted already large breasts high on her chest while still leaving her nipples bare and cold. She had wondered at why they’d chosen white for her when the other two Servus she’d seen were in different colors but had found out it was a color coding system listing her as both a virgin and never bound to a ‘master’ vampire. Even the small g-string she wore was white. The white made her skin which she had once thought pale glow with its own soft tan that would one day fade. Her brunette hair had been braided back leaving nothing for her to hide behind. She wore no other clothing.

There was a small ringing sound and Mila opened her eyes, considering for a moment ignoring it but remembering she’d just be zapped from the collar and forced up. She sighed, standing up and moving to present herself in front of the window. There was a buyer coming and the owner wanted them all ready to present themselves.

“Up front all of you, hands behind your back,” the owner’s voice through the speaker.

She did hesitated, looking at the camera that had a perfect view of her cell and glared defiance for only half a heartbeat, she could feel the tingle start at her neck, a soft vibration at first which warned of the pain to come. Sighing and shaking her head, she put her hands behind her back and felt the two metal rings around her wrists magnetize and the two rings locked together with surprising force holding her arms there.

“Good, I expect your best behavior.”

She knew what would happen then, the vampire who had come would be led through, the owner pointing out any outstanding feature of those he held and the vampire in question would inspect each one with critical eyes before choosing. There hadn’t been many in the time she’d been here, and when one of the few visitors had shown interest in her and she’d been taken out of her cell, she’d seen why. Beside each of their cells was a small LED screen with each girl’s age since being turned, who had previously bonded with them (if any), and how much they cost. Even with Mila’s limited understanding of funds in the vampire realm, she knew the prices were a small fortune.

Still, there had been been enough vampires coming through with their critical eyes looking over her in a way that said they were imagining her without the minuscule clothing she was forced to wear and she didn’t know if she could take another vampire looking her over like she was even less than the human she had once been, which to some extent she was. Her green eyes closed, attempting to block out the sounds around her, waiting for whoever this next person was to pick or leave, or both.

 

[Ezralora]

Lady Cassandra Helena von Sanguinar Tepes had lived a long life. Though that was the common thing that bonded most of the higher vampires, long life Cassandra had, lived a very long life. She had seen her race, be hunted as monsters, pursued by vile mobs with fire, and weapons to get the monster that had killed whomever's son, or wife. She had watched her people get burnt, beaten, stabbed and torn apart across time and had remained in the shadows. She had watched as her kind slowly fell back into folklore, and become ways for parents to keep their children to stay away from this place, or not to stay out after dark. It was... simpler as no one would accept the fact that creatures superior to them roamed the face of this earth. That, she noted, was their downfall.

It has been more of a vile spat than a war, as others would grow to call it. She remembered being called to action by her brethren to aid in their cause, to make the world theirs for once and control it. Vampires, were very old fashioned when it came to combat, whilst the humans sat and played with their guns, and bombs they brandished a more elegant weapon. Yes it might have appeared a poor move, what was the saying. Never bring a knife to a gun fight, well obviously they hadn't considered that Vampires could move faster than their bullets could hit them. It went on, one side gained the upper hand, another side gained the upper hand. It was interesting to say the least, until the day the war ended. The day, she and two other of the more powerful vampire clans joined forces and in the span of one night slaughtered the last resistance that had formed for them. Oddly enough it was there she met an old rival of her families, what was it... Lilana Hellsing? She smiled to herself at the memory of poor Lilana screaming as Cassandra herself pierced her to an inverted crucifix as a message to any who sought rebellion that this was the fate that awaited them. She had gained a nickname from her war 'buddies' that day, Lady Bloodfall, it was cute really.

That spat was years ago though, and now the world was seemingly a better place. Global warming was a thing of the past, and food was of little issue due to the drastic drop in population. Now the vampires played, Lords, Ladies, Kings and Queens of the world around them. She, had been awarded a large portion of land, a castle to call her own, servants, guards and enough subordinates in her clan to make her own small army. Being a war hero had it's perks, she had to admit. She was also given a point of office for running the country that this had formally been, not the top spot... but it brought enough respect. The top spot was with one of the other clans. You would have to be blind to not acknowledge that tensions were slowly rising, greed normally came with peace skulking in its shadow.

Cassandra sighed, as she was pulled out of her day dream of the glory days, as her driver turned to her, a large man wearing a blank mask over his face. "We're here Lady Tepes." He slipped out of the car with unusual grace, and opened the door for his Lady.

Cassandra, got out of the car, her long fire red hair, trailing down her back, having a wavy texture to it as if there were a danger to being set alight for touching it if it weren't for the single long streak of white that ran down the left front part of her hair. Her pale skin, glowed partially in the moonlight, and her blue gem like eyes took in the building. She was wearing a beautiful black and deep red dress, that fitted her fame perfectly, and a cloak around her, fastened by the broach of her clan, a metal pin of a spike running through a fanged skull. Cassandra herself was beautiful, breathtaking some had say. Her features looked delicate, and soft, as if the merest touch would shatter them. Yet there was always a lingering coldness in her eyes that set people away from her.

Letting out a sigh, she brushed the only white locks of hair behind her slightly pointed ear to mingle with the rest of her fire red mane. "Let's get this over with." She muttered, and walked into the building. She had, had Servus before but the last one... was disappointing and seemed to have caught the attention of another Lord so she sadly parted with her, in exchange for a favour and now sought a new one. She half listened as the seller spoke his usual spiel about where he got them, how good they were, who was what. Quickly she brought up her hand, to silence him as she looked at one that had caught the fire haired vampire's attention. A young looking brunette. She approached, though it looked more like a glide as she read the information on display. "This is interesting..." She muttered, and her gaze flicked to Mila. "How much for this one?" She enquired, preferring to ask then actually read it, her blue eyes staring directly into the young Servus', which she may notice her pupils weren't rounded but were slitted, giving away her inhuman species. There was something about her, that seemed interesting, she could tell from the colours that she was a virgin, perhaps that had enticed the vampire. She then smirked and spoke to her, once she could get a better look. "What are your thoughts on Vampires?" She asked, whilst walking around Mila, taking her in from all angles, as her dress and cloak trailed on the ground around her, the soft fabric that was almost like water, ran briefly over her feet.

 

[Solumn Laughter]

Of course, it wasn't the first time she'd seen a well-to-do high up vampire walk through the doors and into the room where she and the other Servus Vampires were held, their cells making them visible to each and every vampire that stepped through. She hadn't been here long, but perhaps once a night, a few times twice a night, people would walk through. Mila had started to learn to dread the footfalls leading to the room they were in and the inevitable impassive faces that fell behind the sound. Each time she could feel her stomach tighten in something between excitement and fear and she had hated herself for both emotions. Excited at the idea of being chosen and taken away from this place to begin the next stage of her life, and perhaps the last stage of her life, even if it was in servitude. But there certainly was just as much fear as excitement, as she had believed she'd no longer have to serve and now that's all that seemed to lay before her.

Still, as the woman stepped through, and the male vampire that had been speaking through the intercom appeared at her side guiding her, Mila found her eyes flicking to her as she approached. Her green eyes met blue ones as she couldn't help but find her gaze sliding over the red haired vampire who looked so delicate. There seemed little warmth in the female's eyes, though, as she noticed the female hold up her hand to silence the proprietor's explanations of each Servus's origin and history. Their eyes had met, and it seemed this fiery vampire's eyes had not left as she approached Mila and the cell she was held within. The proprietor had noticed the interest as well, and was quickly moving to drop the thick glass that held Mila back. Attached to a keychain were several sets of slim card like objects that had small buttons on them, and Mila knew from seeing him touch them only once before to use against another Servus that they were what controlled the restraints that kept Mila's arms behind her back and allowed them to shock her and the other Servus.

The female was reading the information listed next to Mila's cell before asking the proprietor how much. "She is quite new, Lady Trepes, just blooded into her new role just a week ago. Twelve thousand crowns would have to be the lowest I could see us parting with her for." Even now the amount of money that was stated made Mila's head spin, but she wasn't really allowed to think on it too much as the proprietor place a hand on her back as he had her take several steps forward and out of her cell in order for this new woman to look her over. Mila felt her cheeks flush as she found the woman's gaze once more meeting hers, and now Mila noticed the way her eyes resembled something more like a cat's and nothing like a humans, reminding Mila that she was no longer going to be surrounded by humans but by these creatures of the night.

Eyes widening, Mila found that she didn't know how to react to the question now posed to her. Truth be told, she hadn't expected a question to be asked to her. Previously the proprietor had spoken to the vampires that came and went, and none had tried to speak with her or any of the others that she could remember. "I... um..." Mila took a breath. She could see the anxious look in the proprietor's eyes as well, though it was probably for a different reason than her own. Mila wasn't quite sure if this was a trick or not, nor did she know how she should answer as who knew what answer would result in a different outcome. In the end she decided on the truth as she felt herself shiver feeling the woman's gaze over her. "Part of me has always hated vampires for the lives humans have to live. I've always both idolized and hated your kind, wanting the power to change the world I live in. I'd once believed that without humans vampires would have nothing, but then I was chosen to be turned and I'd wanted that power even to my own surprise. At the moment, though, I rather dislike a kind species that can only see others as food."

It had seemed to Mila that her punishment for wanting to become a vampire, even after growing up hating and preaching with her friends that the vampires needed them so they should not have to walk in fear at night, was to have become this creature that had no choice but to fall in service of a vampire. But then, hadn't part of her also been angry when she'd seen her friends taken to the luxury as humans to serve that of a lesser vampire or two to appear again dazed but happy from their experience while she'd been left unscathed? Now she knew they'd been 'saving her' for her new life, apparently chosen even before she'd known they'd chosen her to become a vampire. At the time, not realizing that Servus vampires were something that existed, she'd been insanely jealous to a point she hadn't spoken with several of the men and women who'd been taken for weeks after.

Cheeks burning at the memory, Mila added, "There's always been part of me drawn to your kind, though, despite my rational thoughts of distrust or dislike."

 

[Ezralora]

Cassandra would continue to circle around her as she listened to her answer. The owner of these certainly was like any other as they were barely wearing anything. She came to a stop in front of her, as her green eyes continued to stare into Mila, noting how her cheeks were turning red and a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She seemed like such an innocent one this newly blooded Servus. The higher vampire was clearly paying more attention to her than the owner as she rested her hands in front of her chest. She did admit that she had come to just get a new servant for herself, as the other one had turned out to be less than acceptable, and now lay stuck on a pike in her garden.

Clan Tepes was a powerful clan and at its head was herself. They resided within a great Castle Helena, and owned probably the third largest amount of land in the country. Her clan was one of the eldest, to much younger vampire lords and walked along the face of the planet. They were pompous and young and seemed to merely to bask in their immortality without fully understanding what it meant. They would barely last a century, one did not rise in power or live well by being foolish and boasting to all those around. Yet Cassandra had to admit it was fairly amusing at times, but if she were to buy this new blood. She would in all rights and reason be considered a member of Clan Tepes, and represent them, even if she were a mere servant.

"Clive." She called to her driver, who was most likely another servant for her. The masked vampire walked towards her with his hands neatly placed behind his back, and his dark suit emasculate as well as his posture. The mask still upon his face, one half of it was blue, and the other half was a gun grey. "You call m'Lady." He said with a bow, as he lowered himself awaiting a command.

"Clive would you get the agreed upon amount for the purchase for me." She spoke distinctly and with an air of her word was law, and to be honest it was a few mere steps from that being true anyway. She watched as Clive headed away, and Cassandra smiled at the owner, "Twelve thousand crowns." She repeated, and looked over Mila, and for the first time cast her glance visibly at the other two in the room. Not that she hadn't looked at them before. She heard Clive come back in with a large chest, as the male carried it and slammed it onto the ground. "Well.." Lady Tepes said as she moved towards the chest and opened it, revealing the contents of the chest, the glow of gold coins shining onto the roof. "I believe this should be more than enough to cover the cost of her." She pointed towards Mila, the one who both had respect and feared vampires. "And the other two..." She added, and briefly sized up the chest. "Around twenty eight thousand crowns if we had counted correctly is that to your satisfaction?" From the brief glance at the others information she could make a wager at how much they would cost compared to his newest stock. "If not then i still wish to take Mila..." She spoke her name slowly, as if savouring fine wine. She knew she was perhaps being a little greedy but her fellow Clansmen would enjoy the new additions and find a use for them.

Cassandra walked towards Mila and gave a soft smile as she placed her hands beneath her cloak and glanced at the owner. "I wish to bring her under my service here, and now." She said as she glanced over at the chest, either way it was enough to pay for this one. Taking her left hand she raked her nails across her right wrist, so that blood began to seep out of it, dripping the precious nectar onto the ground in small splatters, and stared directly into Mila's eyes, she assumed she hadn't drank blood at the moment. "Once you drink my blood, you will become one of Clan Tepes, and my personal servant and do as i ask, to the best of your ability. Once you drink you will represent the clan, and are forbidden from divulging secrets i tell you to anyone without my permission. Once you you drink my blood, you are mine by right." She finished, as her crimson blood continue to pool out of her wrist wasting it onto the ground, as she held it out for Mila to drink from, a small glint in her green eyes.