Chapter 16- The Apostate

Silas opened his palm, and a burning sigil appeared in front of him, becoming a gaping portal in a few moments. We stepped through, finding ourselves back in his cellar. The portal spluttered out of existence as Silas turned around to examine us. "You both look reasonably unhurt, given the circumstances. Well, apart from the cut on Edith's neck, that is." He said, studying us both.

"It's not a cut, it's a puncture wound, well, two puncture wounds, I drank some of her blood to heal myself." I informed him, before looking at Edith who only now noticed the fact it was still there.

"Oh." Silas said quietly, covering his mouth. "I didn't have the two of you pegged as the sort to do that..." He was laughing beneath his concealing hand.

"Excuse me?" Edith and I exclaimed in unison.

"You're aware of the stereotype that vampires usually feed on the same victim multiple times?" He asked, still grinning.

"Yes. That's how Dracula feeds in the novel..." Edith said.

"Well, that's correct, although we don't debilitate our victims over time, and they usually come to us willingly." Silas continued.

"Get to the point, Silas." Edith groaned.

"Fine, point is, our saliva contains a mix of stimulant, anaesthetic, anticoagulant, antiseptic and..." he trailed.

"Silas..." I pressed.

"A mild aphrodesiac... you know, to compel the subject to come back for more." He finally admitted. "Now some vampire couples use this little quirk of our biology for... enhanced experiences. Funny enough our fangs only extend during the three f's, feeding fighting, and, well... number 3. No permanent harmful effects, though, you should be alright, Edith."

Edith was, understandably, looking mildly disgusted and a little unsure of herself. "Ew."

"I'll let you two discuss this in private. Don't be late for dinner though, it'll be ready in a half hour, I'm making cottage pie!" With that, Silas swiftly exited the room.

Edith and I stood in shocked silence for quite a while. "Well... that explains... a lot about that particular experience." She shakily admitted.

"Hmm?" I murmured.

"Well..." she said, "being bitten was... not an unpleasant experience."

"Oh..." I managed. "You're... welcome?"

Neither of us said anything for a while.

"You know if you were wondering just how it felt I could probably...." Edith began, quietly.

"Good idea, let's try it." I answered without hesitation, so quickly, in fact that I shocked even my own concious self.

"You sure?" Edith asked, carefully approaching. "No pressure, just if you were curious and all..."

I pulled down my collar, and tilted my head to better expose my neck. "Of course. Be my guest."

Edith put her hands on my shoulders. "Hold still."

I closed my eyes, and felt her lean on me a little, her warm breath tingling on my exposed flesh. The pinpricks of her fangs, as she pierced the skin, were strangely painless, cold and smooth. Soon, I could feel the cocktail of chemicals take effect as Edith wrapped her lips around the wounds, taking her crimson tithe.

The feeling was indeed pleasant, aside from feeling my heart quicken I had a deep sense of warmth from Edith, accompanied by a gentle fizzing in my veins. I was enjoyably lightheaded, as Edith disengaged the bite, breathing heavily.

She looked up at me, wiping the blood from her mouth, a primal sheen in her eyes. She hadn't let go of my shoulders, rather she was gripping them more tightly. I too was holding her, my arms wrapped around her waist. 

I could hear trembling breaths. They were mine. Edith leaned onto me a little. She pulled herself toward me, and I lowered my head to meet her.

I could feel her breath on my lips, as we hovered for a moment. As I approached, Edith turned her head  suddenly, causing me to gently headbutt her temple. She had practically jumped out of her skin. "Micheal!" She exclaimed.

Micheal was standing in the doorway, mouth hanging open. "What are you doing, Nanny Edith?"

She stammered for a second. "Oh... Doctor Connors needed me to fix his shirt collar, it was all rolled up." Edith then made a show of fixing my shirt up, avoiding the boy's gaze. 

"Can he not dress himself?" Micheal said.

"No, he cannot." Edith told him. I shot her an incredibly offended look. "Head back up to the kitchen, Micheal, Dinner will be ready soon."

Micheal toddled off without any further questions. Once he was out of earshot, Edith turned back to me.

"Well... that was..." she attempted.

"Yes. It was..." I said. "Try again some other time, I feel the moment has passed."

"Of course, we'll give it another go, at some point." She agreed.

"And the biting?" I asked.

"We will never speak of it again, or at least lock the door beforehand." She said.

"Right." I confirmed.

"Right." She echoed.

"Aspen?" She whispered after a moment.

"Hmm?" I murmered, turning to her.

Edith gently kissed me on the cheek. "Thanks for letting me give Silas a piece of my mind. Come on, let's head upstairs.

We headed up into the kitchen where Silas and Micheal were waiting, alongside another unknown figure. It was a woman, wrapped up in burgundy and crimson garb, and festooned with strings of medals and leather belts and satchels. She was twisting a wisp of flame between severely burned fingers, transfixed by the orange glow. 

Her face was harshly defined and gaunt, with short-cropped black hair and heterochromic eyes, one blue, one amber.  "Oh, hello." Edith said, surprised. I said nothing. I could sense an immense amount of psi coming from her. Edith seemed to pick up on it too, stiffening a little.

Silas was making the dinner. Aspen, Edith, this is Helen.

"I didn't know you were having a visitor," I said, feeling uncomfortable at the uncertainty of the encounter.

"Neither did I. Helen simply invited herself." Silas grunted. "We'd best get used to it, Helen simply does as she pleases, don't you?"

"It's lovely to see you too, Silas." Helen said, extinguishing the flame. "So this is what remains of my master? He looks harmless."

"Excuse me?" I yelped.

"Aspen is his own person, Helen, he can't help you." Silas snapped.

"The master is eternal, Silas. Aspen will become like them, in time." Helen cooly refuted.

"Can someone please fucking explain?" I shouted out loud.