CHAPTER THREE

STEPHAN***

Stephan had never been so elated. 

His plan was going so well, he had dreamt of this day for hundreds years in his tiny dark prison cell.

He had once been the truest vampire.

Other vampires had abandoned their cause and tried to live like mortals, most of them had started to live without blood, others were joining mortals to do business and make money from it but Only him had been a true vampire.

He hunted down humans and kept them for food and as slaves.

He has been unstoppable, not until that stupid vampire, Alex came.

Alex had fought him, defeated him and humiliated him publicly before locking him up for hundreds of years.

But now, he was free.

And he was going to pay Alex back.

*

He could see Alex's house from a distance as he slowly cat walked towards it.

He was going to set it ablaze and watch with satisfaction.

Stephan kicked open the wooden door, and marched into the room. It was dim in here, lit only by a few torches along the walls. There was a large  king sized bed, on which lay two bodies—an adult and a child. 

Stephan could smell the death in the air, the illness hanging over the room.

He approached, expecting to see Alex crying over his wife and child.

But was shocked to discover only the wife and child there.

He was curious.

Alex had evaded him once again.

Maybe Alex didn't care for his family as much as he thought he would.

Now he would still have to find Alex.

But then he relaxed. He realized that, with his wife and daughter lying here, deathly ill, Alex would come soon,come here, right to him, and he could kill him then. 

He looked at Lucy and Aya, and could tell right away that one was long dead and the other was deathly ill, and hadn’t long to live. He smiled more widely. 

He hadn't expected to kill off Aya, too. 

He didn't know vampires could have children.

That was a bonus.

But he could also see that, for now at least, the girl was still alive. That annoyed him.

 He loved the idea of all the suffering she must have gone through. 

But he loved even more the idea of both of them dead. And now was time to finish this off.

Stephan approached the bed. she didn’t react, and clearly, she was unconscious. It would almost be too easy to kill her. So Stephan decided he would do it slowly, That way he could tell Alex how his daughter cried for him in her death.

Stephan walked around to her side of the bed, and as he did, he suddenly stopped in his tracks as he heard a vicious snarl. He looked down.

Standing there, facing him, was a big German Shepherd. 

Before Stephan could react, the Dog suddenly lunged, landing with all fours on Stephan’s chest, and sinking its sharp fangs into Stephan's throat.

The animal was much faster than Stephan had anticipated, and Stephan screamed out in pain, as the sharp fangs cut into his throat, sending blood everywhere

The Dog would not let go. Stephan grabbed and pulled, trying to extract it, but no matter which way he tugged, it simply refused to open its jaws. Blood sprayed everywhere, as the pain grew deeper and deeper for Stephan.

Finally, Stephan jammed his fingers into the Dog's mouth, feeling the pain as it tore through his flesh, and pried open the jaws. He then took the animal by its jaw, spun it around, and threw it across the room. It landed into the wall with a thud, and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Stephan, in a rage, walked across the room to finish it off.

But before he could reach it, he was distracted by a voice.

"Leave my Dog alone.”

Stephan spun in his tracks, and stared at the bed. He could not believe it.

There, sitting propped up, was Aya.

 She raised her neck as much as she could, and scowled back at Stephan, defiant.

Stephan grinned. He turned and marched right for her.

"You are a bratty little girl, aren't you?" he asked. "Well, you're going to pay for that. Now I’m going to kill you, just as I killed your mother."

To Stephan’s surprise, the girl did not retreat in fear, or hide under the covers, or try to run or even squirm. Instead, to his shock, she didn't even look afraid. She sat up even more, and scowled back at him.

"I'm not afraid of you," she snapped back. "And you couldn’t kill me if you tried."

Stephan stopped in his tracks, shocked at her audacity, her fearlessness. He burst into laughter, leaning back with a deep belly laugh. He liked this one. She had spirit. In fact, if he ever had a daughter, he would want her to be just like this. Fearless in the face of her own death.

"I like your style," Stephan answered. "Just for that, as a favor, I will kill you quickly.” Stephan took several steps towards her, reaching out his hands, ready to suffocate her.

But as he approached, he suddenly felt a searing pain slicing through his finger.

He screamed out in pain, and looked down, and was shocked to see that the girl had been hiding a small, silver dagger underneath the covers. As he approached, she’d somehow managed to slice off his index finger.

Stephan screamed in horror and shock, as he looked down to see himself now missing an index finger, blood gushing everywhere. He reached up and grabbed a corner of the sheet, staunched the blood, then reached back with his other hand, and backhanded the little girl so hard that it knocked her back onto her pillow, unconscious, and sent her little knife flying across the room.

Now Stephan was furious. He couldn't believe she’d managed to hurt him. Now, she would pay for that. No more mister nice guy. Now he would not kill her quickly. Rather, he would torture her all night long.

Stephan came in, this time, to strangle her for good. He reached out, his hand just inches away, when suddenly, he heard a thud, and felt a terrible pain on the back of his head.

Stephan staggered and crashed into the end table, then turned around to see what it was.

He was shocked. Standing there was an old woman, dressed in some old woman's outfit, holding a candelabra, covered in blood. Stephan's blood. She had just whacked Stephan hard on the back of the head, hard enough to send him stumbling. And it hurt like hell.

"Whoever you are, you're going to suffer for that," Stephan snarled.

But to Stephan’s surprise, she wasn't scared, either. Rather, she was defiant, too.

"My name is Matilda, and I will pay for nothing," she answered.

Stephan suddenly let out a roar of fury, and jumped up and kicked her with both feet on her chest, sending her flying back across the room, and crashing into the far wall, unconscious.

Clearly, this woman, Matilda, whoever she was, was related to Alex—the only one that he had trusted to watch over his daughter. A stupid idea, leaving a human to watch over vampires.

But a good idea was forming in Stephan's mind. If this Matilda was that important to them, then what better way to make Alex pay, than to go after her?

Stephan marched slowly across the room, his eyes fixating on Matilda’s throat. Stephan could use another slave to do his bidding. And as he looked at her throat, he licked his lips, and realized he was hungry, and would like nothing more than to feed.

Stephan marched across the room, picked up her limp body, and without hesitating, plunged his sharp fangs deep into her throat. She screamed out as he did, suddenly conscious, but Stephan held her writhing body tight, sucking in deeper and deeper.

He felt her entire life stealing out from her, as she was being slowly, darkly, turned.

It had been centuries since Stephan had turned a human, and the feeling was thrilling. He would make this one in his own image, a true vampire slave, and would turn Alex's own loved one against him.