Breakfast at Esmerelda's
Creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek
A stream of candlelight poured into the poorly lit room from the open door, stirring the half conscious body strapped to the chair in the far corner of the room. Pressed against a vanity dresser, the slayer looked almost pathetic with large dark patches under her eyes, barely congealed scratches and finger shaped bruises painting her face and - the magnum opus of this cacophony of defeat- four large scars of puncture wounds on her neck, a symbol of her helplessness against her enemy’s will. Her head fell low, swaying slightly with the gentle rise and fall of her chest. Her body may be weak but her resolve was more than strong, it was defiant. As soft that defiance might be.
The vampire’s eyes gazed over her, checking for any other signs of injury or illness. Afterall she couldn't feed from a diseased crop or she would grow ill as well. The sudden emergence of the other alerted Anna from her drowsy state, a sixth sense spiking and sending shivers down her spine. Esmerelda could see her chest hitch as the helpless slayer attempted- and failed- to steady her pulse and fake sleep.
“I know you're awake, little kitten .” Her voice was soft and melodic, almost caring in its flutey tones yet with a bitter sting of aggression. The slayer raised her head slightly in response, barely enough to glare at her capture.
“Don't look at me like that,” the vampire tutted. “I've come bearing gifts.” she grinned, raising a small breakfast tray laden with food: a platter piled high with Mititei ( traditional romanian sausages), a leafy salad, romanian flatbread and a large slice of apricot tart as well as a large glass of a thick purply-red smoothie of some kind. Even from across the room, the smell of the food was mouthwatering. Anna's head perked up only slightly at the scent of the food, the action resulting in little more than disclosing her hunger. In truth it had only been ten or so hours since she ate last but to the wounded girl, aching and afraid, it had felt like weeks. Even the promise of food seemed to cripple all sense of loathing she held for the creature that stood before her, at least temporarily. The creature of the night sauntered in silently, her movements as fluid as water over stone. She glided through the beam of sunlight that sliced the room like a knife as if it was nothing to her. Then , when she had reached the foot of the chair where Anna hung, she soundlessly placed the tray on the table and hooked her finger under the girl's chin, pushing their eyes to meet. Fiery fury seemed to electrify the air between them. Once again the long claws of the older wrapped around the jaw of the younger, pulling her face up whilst lowering her own face downwards. The intensity of their eyes never once breaking, Anna felt the cold breathless air of her captur press against her hot breath as they were mere inches from each other. Perhaps if she had not extended her neck to its greatest ability she would have closed the gap one way or another. For now, she glared and - as nonchalantly as she could attempt- scoffed in the immortal’s face.
“What do you want now, huh. Come to leer? Taunt me with food and watch me starve?”
The vampire snarled, a great toothy grin of the predatory persuasion.
“Not at all, kitten; I've come to feed you. I can't have my new toy dieing without my permission now,can i?”
Anna’s grin dropped. What was she playing at? Surely she didn't care, right? And what did she mean by toy? Was that all her existence reduced to now, a mere plaything for an undying creature to use and abuse as she saw fit? Clearly the confusion in her head had spread to her face as she saw Esmerelda chuckle a hearty laugh.
“It's finally sunk in, hasn't it? You're mine. You will forever be mine for the rest of your pathetic life, trapped here in this castle, far from any love you have ever known or craved.” the perverse grin on her face swelled to an unnatural size, the curve of her lips extending far further than should be possible for any human. “We're going to be spending a lot of time together, little kitten.”
“Fuck off.” Anna sneered.
“Feisty one, aren't you?” she chucked before dropping the slayer's face, causing it to bounce with the removal of the force it was placed under. Wordlessly she unclipped the small legs of the tray and slid it over the slayer's legs before kneeling down in front of her, making them both eye level.
“Now, do you want to eat it yourself or do you want me to feed you?”
Anna stared into the cold ruby eyes of the creature before her, searching for sincerity or atleast a sense of trickery. She seemed genuine in her request, she was giving her a choice and expected that choice to be obeyed. Something felt off.
“It's a trap, isn't it.”
“Not at all.” Esmerelda seemed to answer with a sincerity and bluntness it almost persuaded her against her better judgement
“You've poisoned the food or something, haven't you.”
“Now why would I do that? I already told you I want you alive. I have no use for a corpse.”
Anna was so taken aback by such direct words from such a lying, deceitful mouth that it felt wrong when she nodded and conceded to letting herself be fed the meal prepared for her. She shifted back in her seat, making herself as comfortable as she could under such circumstances. The restraints were tight and dug into her wrist when she moved them, her arms felt numb from the lack of Blood pumping to them and she was fairly certain she couldn't have lifted a spoon is she tried. Luckily she didn't have to.
Slowly and methodically, upon being given permission to, Esmerelda began to slice the sausages and place the pieces into the flatbread making a sort of half sandwich. She scooped the greens onto the fork with the knife and raised it into the air at level with the girl's mouth.
“Open Wide.” The vampire's grin was large, toothy and (though clearly fake) laced with subtle traces of enjoyment.
Anna's eyes darted from fork to Esmerelda then back to the fork. Swiftly, she turned her head to the side, clamping her eyes shut.
“I'm not eating that!”
“It's kale!” The vampire's voice was sharp and biting “It's not poison!”
“Exactly, it's kale! Y'know who eats that? Fucking popeye!! There's no way in hell I'll eat that!” She pouted
“It's rich in iron, you little shit, you need it to get your blood back! Or do you want to die of blood loss?!”
Suspiciously the slayer opened one of her eyes, peering towards Esmerelda. The smug smile on her face was gone, replaced with a mild irritation and impatience. She was not going to win this fight, Anna knew that, but if that vampire bitch wanted a struggle, she was going to get a struggle.
The vampire's eyes narrowed as a small smirk emerged on Anna's lips.
“Open Up.” it was more of a growl, unlike the tone she used in their previous meetings. This was something fresh, more animalistic perhaps; a frustrated Apex hunter lashing out at an unkillable prey. It seemed that it wasn't just the hunter who was going to be toyed with. This kitten had claws.
Anna locked eyes with the bloodsucker with determination, a challenge, displaying an obvious message: “make me”
The two now grinned in unison, a malevolent grin which had every right to curdle the others blood, the elder of the two baring her fangs wide and the younger with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
____________________________________
“Wait a minute,” she said through a mouthful of food. “If you're a vampire, how come you walked through the light beam in the middle of the room?”
Esmerelda chuckled. “I'm not some sort of wicked demon. I don't explode whenever I touch light, that's just one of those silly superstitions vampire hunters promote to make children feel safe in bed at night.”
“So why don't you go out at day time?”
“We do.” The vampire stated, growing more comfortable in the slayer's presence. “ but we're better adapted for the night time so we're nocturnal for the most part.”
“Huh. What else have people got wrong?”
“Oooooooh lots of things. Most facts people know about vampires are either superstition or due to other diseases we are credited for.”
“Ok, so mirrors?”
“Those worked for the most part until the 1950's when they stopped producing silver backed mirrors. You know I've never been so relieved for a human invention in my life! I could finally see how I looked without looking in windows or rivers. It made doing my makeup so much easier.”
“Wait, you could see your reflection in the windows?”
“Oh yes~ it is not that the reflection Is missing in the mirror. It was that the silver backing of the mirror absorbs evil and impurities so did not reflect the image back. It is a common misconception.”
“OK,” Anna said, chewing with increasing perplexity. “So what about garlic?”
“ah now there's where it gets tricky. Eating garlic , whilst it leaves a disgusting smell on your breath, actually doesn't ward off vampires. It's the garlic flower that does that. The garlic itself actually thins the blood and makes it easier to kill. That superstition was spread by us so it was easier to kill people.”
“So why does garlic flower work?”
“Because it stinks! Would you like to eat a meal which is so pungent you need to hold your nose as you bite in? Of course it repels us!”
Anna swallowed the meal with a gulp. It didn't taste disgusting but she could see what Esmerelda was saying, had it not smelled delicious she probably would have been prompted to starve.
“What about the thing where you can't enter unless being invited?”
“ Well, first of all that's just called being polite. Secondly it's not a rule that is integrated into us but rather a custom. It comes with living in a clan for the first segment of immortal life. If you live with hundreds of other vampires you very often want your own space so are required to ask to be invited in if you want to go into other's spaces. It's common courtesy.”
“I wouldn't expect the woman who had her guest tied to a chair to care about common courtesy.” the slayer looked on at her captor with a mischievous grin.
“This is only until I can trust you. When I am comfortable that you probably won't kill me, I'll allow you to roam around at your leisure. This arrangement is necessary to ensure you don't try and fail to kill me as soon as you step out of the door.”
“Why worry, it's clear you're not dead so my tactic didn't work.”
“No it did not, however it did still hurt. My chest still aches where you stabbed me.” She shone fake puppy dog eyes at the slayer, rubbing her chest above her heart with her hand melodramatically. Anna rolled her eyes.
“And My neck still aches where you bit me!”
“Well, kitten, I'd expect it does. It's been less than 24 hours. It should heal soon enough.” The vampire smirked.
“Why are you calling me kitten? I have a name.”
“Would you rather I call you my chew toy?”
Anna's face burned red.
“I'm not yours..” She mumbled. The vampire’s eyes narrowed as she grinned wider. She lent in, wrapping her elongated talons underneath the hunter's chin And pressed her lips to her ear.
“You are now~”