Bambi and the Duke

Garbled sounds of thunder could be heard in the sky. A little girl slept in the closed cell which she had been locked in the empty room with not a bed or blanket being provided for the cold night. Raindrops came through the little window which was barbed in wires that had come to turn red and orange due to rust. Screams were heard from the other side of the rooms which disturbed Vivian’s sleep, her eyes opening to the dim light in the room.

Not remembering when she arrived here, she pushed the blanket away from her body while dragging herself up so that she could sit at the edge of her bed.

The bat clock which was nailed on the wall cried out as it came outside its wooden house before going back inside to tell the time. It was past six and by the way, the colour of the sky changed Vivian could tell that the night was approaching quickly as darkness began to fall on the lands.

Since the time she had discovered her ability of touch and visions, her dreams felt as if they belonged to someone’s memories. It worried her to a great deal. With only a few that were good and most of them filled with gore, she closed her eyes trying to recollect what she had just dreamt but the vision had already disappeared from her mind. Feeling as if it weren’t of any importance as she couldn’t remember it anymore she stared at the sky.

She wondered if Leonard had brought her to the room so that she could sleep. Strange how she didn’t wake up, she must have been really exhausted with the travelling and also in the presence of his relatives. Compared to Henz’ family, the Rune’s mansion where Lord Nicholas lived was much better even with the unknown ghouls that roamed the corridors in the dark. Both the humans as well as the vampires we’re close minded.

She was aware that the future held obstacles which they would have to pass through. It wasn’t something unexpected as Vivian knew with the status Leonard and she held along with the kind they belonged to, people would have objections.

They were dreams, dreams that were loosely based on the subconscious level of her mind yet she couldn’t deny the fact that one particular dream was hard to shake off her mind. The sight of dead Leonard had shaken her and every time he was away, she worried about it. It wasn’t that what she dreamt would come to be true but the fear lingered in her heart as well as mind.

Like Leonard who was attached to Vivian, Vivian was dependant on him emotionally. Their feelings were mutual and ran deeper than any other relationship they had built in the past as they had only each other to trust.

When the door to the room opened, she looked over her shoulder to find Leonard walking inside the room, ”You can sleep more if you want to,” she shook her head. There was a possibility that if she slept more she would have a headache by waking up in the middle of the night, ”I will accompany you during the night,” coming to stand in front of her where she sat on the bed, she closed her eyes like a cat when he touched her face. Rubbing his thumb over her cheek, a gesture which he usually expressed on her.

”I will turn to a vampire if I sleep at odd times,” she joked, and when he didn’t smile she asked, ”What happened?”

”Would you like to be turned into a vampire?” he asked her seriously and she gave it a thought.

”I can’t?” his hand slipped away from her face and he came to sit next to her on the bed. His slacks loosely hung as his feet stretched and crossed.

Vivian waited for him to speak seeing as he was quiet. It wasn’t like she wasn’t aware of the consequences if a human was turned to a vampire. She knew the different outcomes of success and failure rate, after all, she had studied about the different kinds for the council which had educated her thoroughly.

Was he worried that the transformation wouldn’t be successful? If a human couldn’t handle and accept the transformation, the core which would have been in the creation would get corrupted before the person turned devoid of any emotions like a wild animal who was considered unfit to live amongst the society and the council.

She had heard of how Mr Rufus’ lover had passed away a few months ago.

”I think you will pull it through. You aren’t an average human so you should be able to handle the transformation but is that what you want?” Leonard asked her, looking at the girl whom he loved dearly.

Maybe Vivian had forgotten about their past conversations which had taken place years ago when he came to visit his home but he remembered them well. There had been a point when Vivian had told him how she wanted to live her long human life without any regrets and not wanting to extend it. It was because she had met vampires and seen how empty and hollow they were, but all of them were the ones who had shared no soul bond with another person.

”Do you want to give up being human? I am only asking this because I don’t want you to regret it later. Once you turn there might be no turning back to it unless someone has invented a cure for it,” a smile made up her lips, turning herself so that she could face Leonard.

Taking his hand which rested on the bed, she played with his fingers by touching the tips of her fingers to touch his, ”I want to live with you.”

”That you will.”

She shook her head, her blinking two times and said, ”I want to spend my life with you, like this. Not as an old woman,” she slightly pouted which was a rare thing to see for Leonard, ”It would be unfair when you’re still handsome and young while I turn to have grey hair and wrinkled skin. It would make me feel insecure,” her eyes moved to look him in the eye.

A smirk appeared on his face, ”I would have never pegged to think that you were the jealous kind.”

”One can’t help it when all the women keep staring at you,” she looked away from him to see darkness which had made a home in the sky.

”And no matter how many beautiful women look at me, I only have my eyes for you, Vivi,” she didn’t respond to this. Hearing this, blood rushed up to her cheeks, ”If we are going to turn you to a vampire eventually there’s no point waiting for it. When would you want me to turn you?” he asked her.

Vivian wanted to live a full life with Leonard next to her. To spend their coming days together just like this but she hadn’t ever thought about a specific date or day. It was just there in her mind without a plan.

As if realizing what he just said, she asked him with surprise in her voice, ”You will turn me?”

Leonard narrowed his eyes, ”You didn’t think I would let another woman or man touch you,” and he was calling her to be jealous, thought Vivian to herself. Compared to both of them, she could tell that he was the one to feel more jealous, yet at the moment she secretly enjoyed his reaction.

”I didn’t. What about now?” she questioned.

After pondering for a few seconds, Leonard then said, ”Take this night to think about it. If you still plan to turn to a vampire by the time of morning tomorrow. I will turn you to a vampire myself but I need you to consider it before jumping into the excitement.”

It wasn’t that Leonard didn’t want her to turn into one of them. To have her as a vampire with extended years was something he himself was looking forward to. Her humans years wasn’t enough for him. If she picked to stay human, there would come the day where he would have to see her wither away in front of his eyes which he didn’t want.

She was excited to turn to a vampire but there was no telling if she would be excited about this after a few years. They were both young, but he had seen many vampires who were turned to lose interest in life quickly. Wishing how they could have picked to stay human. Though pureblooded vampires were the one who had the ability to turn the humans into vampires, they didn’t possess the ability to turn them into a pureblooded vampire like themselves.

While pureblooded vampires were very much considered alive like the humans, with warmth in their skin and a beating heart. The same didn’t hold with the turned vampires. No matter how successful the transformation was, one always felt the empty hollow as if a piece of their soul had been lost.

As easy it was to sink one’s fangs into the skin, either to draw blood or diffuse their own venom into the person to turn into a vampire, the thought had to be carefully gauged with the positive and negatives that came along with it.

Though Vivian already had a faint idea about it, he wanted her to give it some thought before deciding if she wanted to be turned.