Basic Chapter Overview: Ellia finally 'pops', but though a turn of events, she becomes a vampire.
Links for chapters 1 & 2
1@
http://www.writingforums.com/critiqu...apter-1-a.html
2@
http://www.writingforums.com/critiqu...apter-2-a.html
Chapter 3: If It Is A Damsel I Be, It Is One In Distress
+++ At the convention, 21 days later +++
The convention was here, though it should more rightly be called a
convergence. Here were now over two hundred vampires swarming around
the castle, she continued to run into them whenever she ran errands.
"Comrade, will you get some big roast out of the freezer? It's at the
end of the hall and the roasts are in the very back."
Ellia nodded, her voice lost from the pressure of all the vampires.
Why is everything you need in this place always in the back of
wherever it happens to live? She was half-jogging, half-walking to the
freezer when she came to the heavy metal door. Frigid air belched out
and bit her skin. The clang of the shutting door echoed in the room of
chained carcasses creaking slowly back and forth.
She hurried to the back as quickly as she could, the goose bumps on
her skin getting almost unbearably tight. Finally she reached the end
and grabbed and armful of roast, stinging her flesh. Finally she was
back out of the freezer and raced back into the kitchen, which made
her skin crawl.
Ellia sincerely hoped, as she stirred the clam chowder, that Master
Valder did not require that she attend dinner tonight. She would die!
All those stares, all this talk, it was eating her alive!
As the Vampires piled up over the last two weeks or so, Ellia had
worked harder and harder, while eating less and less, having dropped
around twenty pounds. What a fabulous diet vampires are, she thought
sarcastically. If only I could go back to high school now. I wouldn't
have had any reason to leave it if I had looked like this.
She poured the pot out into a larger one, attended by Nick's swift and
sure hands, and pitched in with the bread making, which she had found
out, was what she was best suited to. [show a scene for the bread
earlier] Mix and kneed, then roll, cover with oil and a cloth and then
slip them into the oven. Nothing hard about it she thought.
Tobin was letting a pot of stew boil over, so she ran over to save it.
"You have to pay attention, comrade!" Elane called from the sink as
Ellia stirred it three times quickly.
"I sorry." He bowed his head.
Oh, there was so much to do! It seemed like she did half of the easy
bread making, rye, pumpernickel, wheat, and sometimes even vanilla
cake, but Nick usually did the icing. Rita was a kamikaze girl, a blur
diving into projects in the kitchen, saving everyone, while Elane
barked orders and washed pots, because no one else could get them
perfectly clean as quickly.
Work, work, work. But not like bees, or even ants, they weren't that
organized. It was a careful act where people came within inches of
each other, and yet did not hit each other. This was Hell Week, and
they were little humans scurrying around for their very lives. It
didn't matter how tired or scared they felt, they had to have
everything right for the next four days, no exceptions. There would be
no rest.
Sonya had fallen asleep in the apron room, too tired to go up the
stair to the room. Just a few more hours and Ellia could take her
precious thirty-minute break. It was so hectic; she was so warm.
No rest for the living, at least not for us humans. The vampires are
living the perfect life of luxury out there and we are even shorter
staffed than usual! There are only nineteen of us, when there are
usually at least twenty-five. There was no time to rest now. It seemed
as if the kitchen was usually pretty booming, but now it was just
unbelievable.
But as she got into the rhythm of making the bread, all of the panic
left her, and the pressure and the fear, and the sense of time. She
was smiling fully and running around the room, and gathering
ingredients, and kneading dough. She only heard the instructions for
bread and cake as she ran around the room, all of the other noises had
fallen away, and there was nothing to interrupt her tranquil ness.
She didn't think, her mind was blank; she simply captured the order
and did the repetitive actions. She was completely calm in the
frenzied, diligent work. She ran back to the freezer unthinking when
Elane called for more beef. Running back with it as it stung her
hands. But the pinpricks seemed so far away, like she was looking at
the discomfort of another person.
All of it seemed so natural suddenly, and she began to anticipate the
needs of the kitchen, every once in a while walking back over to Tobin
to touch his shoulder, reminding him to stir. Ellia was in the zone,
and it was comfortable numbness, the lack of thought. You saw or heard
what was needed, and you did it if you could, it was as simple as
that.
Then there was a tap on her shoulder and she was snatched out of that
comfortable nothingness. It was Nick.
"Master Valder wants you at dinner tonight; there is a dress on your
bed. Go run and get changed."
Ellia frowned and nodded, handing the dough to Nick. She ran to her
room and changed, pinning her hair back and started to walk to the
dining hall. The green dress was obviously not Elane's because it was
snug to her body. It looked a bit like it could have been Sonya's
though. She had a lot of pretty clothing. It didn't seem like it would
be too useful to her because she never seemed to wear it, but there
was tons of it hanging up in her closet.
As she walked down the hall, she literally bumped into a Vampire. She
was utterly surprised. She could always feel when they were near, but
the pressure on her chest was blessedly absent, and her voice had
returned. She had 'popped' as the humans called it. Eventually you
couldn't fear them all the time and the 'pressure' went away.
She bowed to him, more than a little startled. "I'm very sorry Master."
"Oh, you are a pretty little thing. I am Master Clover, you must be
the Ellia we have all heard so much about." His accent was a bit
thick, but she could still understand him, and his voice was quite
pretty, it had a bit of a silver quality to it. "You are prettier than
they give you credit for."
"Thank you." She wasn't really sure what she should think of him. Was
he flirting, or just being weird like vampires often were?
"Walk with me, will you?" He smiled handsomely and tilted his head to
the side, like a dog waiting for a bone.
"Sure." She was fairly certain that he was hitting on her, but she
couldn't figure out how to politely decline; vampires were nothing if
not quick tempered.
Like a gentleman he offered his arm, and with some doubts, she wrapped
hers around it.
In what seemed like much too long, they were at the dinner affair, and
she was sitting next to Master Valder, with Master Clover on her
immediate left. The top of the T where she sat was longer by four
tables, and there were now three stems, so it now resembles a capital
E, with the three line disproportionately long.
The vampires just stared at her, most of them hostilely. Fear squeezed
her, not because they were vampires, but because 200 people looked
genuinely angry to see her.
Ellia looked down as toasts were given in Russian, French, Spanish,
and finally, English. She drank the sticky sweet wine, but it only
dried her mouth.
Master Clover put his hand on her arm about halfway through the meal.
"You do look so wonderfully pretty in that dress damsel."
For a moment, Ellia's mind was blank, but she scrabbled for words,
knowing that he would want her to speak, and the last thing she wanted
was another vampire staring at her. When she spoke, it seemed as if
all of the formality had finally stuck to her properly. "If it is a
damsel I be, I am sure not to be one in distress."
He laughed slightly. "I do love the wit of that. Do be sure to keep
talking, it seems not the least bit forced."
"But does it not reek of imitation to Shakespeare?"
"It does in a slight bit, but you speak so beautifully."
"I doubt that such is true, with all respect. Would it not be better
to talk of things other than myself? Say about yourself if it would
please you." Ellia truly wished that she could be anywhere other than
she was, and where this whole bit was going. She did not want to end
up in this vampire's bed, but she rightfully saw no way to get out of
this man's game, now that he had called it as such. The flowery words
slipped from her tongue as nectar, but she hated the taste of them.
They were hollow, echoing for their own sake.
"Oh it is so wonderful of you to ask. I am a son of Charlemagne's
lineage. A noble family tree, if I may be so graced as to mention it…"
Master Clover droned on in his over the top language about things that
might, or might not, be true. Regardless of their factual accuracy,
they were bland and she cared not a whit about what he said. He was
mainly talking to himself, to hear himself talk. The quality of his
voice was pretty, that much was true, but it held no real thought, no
insight, no purpose.
She nodded every once in a while when it seemed appropriate and
focused mainly on her food. Eating peas with a knife did not come
naturally. Eventually she managed to eat the things, but it seemed
that it would just be easier to use a fork.
Ellia felt guilty when she saw Sonya serving the steak. Someone must
have woke her so that she could help serve. As she served Ellia, she
was frowning. The girl wanted to join these tables so bad, and not as
Ellia did, but as a Madam in her own right. Ellia looked down at her
plate, ashamed that she was here while the others were working so
hard.
The steak was pink and juicy, wonderfully tender, but she kept having
to remind herself it had to be cut very small. Master Clover tapped
her on the shoulder, startled, she turned, somehow managing to cut her
hand with her knife.
"Ouch!" Ellia her hand up to her mouth, covering the long gash. She
had helped sharpen those knives herself, and they weren't dull. [show
this earlier] When she looked up, the entire dinner hall was looking
at her with those eyes, with that look of hunger that had nothing to
do with food. Oh crap. She thought, silently panicking as she waited
for something else to go wrong.
And right then, at the absolute worst moment, Sonya came in, looking
pale and young. As half the vampires slowly turned in their chairs,
Ellia managed to scream. "Run Sonya!"
The blonde's eyes were wide, then the shock of recognition hit her,
and she dropped the tray, running back to the kitchen. Half of them
chased Sonya, who knew what she was doing, the kitchen had a door that
locked from the inside, for just such an occasion. Not that it would
stop them for long, but a chance was better than nothing. One or two
vampires would calm down after just a few moments, but this huge mass
would just reinforce the frenzy for hours, maybe even days.
Ellia was left alone and scared. Because she didn't run, the vampires
didn't chase her. Their eyes were all upon her, with a desperate need.
She sat there, somehow invisibly glued to the spot. A greater and
swifter movement by the vampires answered every move she made. She
moved her hand and they got out of their chairs. She pushed her chair
back and they encircled her. She stood and it seemed like they all
lunged for her at the same moment.
The next thing Ellia knew, she was on the floor, covered with the dark
heat of their bodies. They bit into her flesh, they bit into one
another. The floor was instantly transformed into roses lost on the
sea. She was covered with warm stickiness, some of it hers, some of it
theirs. The tablecloth dripped, and the wall was splattered. And the
pain was immense as she felt the teeth rip into her back and sides.
The goblets fell off the table and crashed onto the group, shards of
glass showered them, and the frenzy grew more pressing. She curled
into a ball, her eyes open wide, her whole body shaking, careful to
keep her neck covered and her legs up under herself.
There was snapping and yelping somewhere outside of the pile. Two men
fought each other, reduced to purely animal instinct. Someone else's
blood ran down Ellia's neck, dripped off her chin and pooled in front
of her face.
The numbers began to dissipate as the unseen hand of the Alpha Male
pulled the pile off her. They struggled and scratched at each other
and the unseen hands, which flung them aside. They scraped among
themselves after they had been separated from the pile. Usually high
class and regal, they were reduced to pathetically vulgar animals.
She didn't trust whoever it was. They could just as likely be pulling
the others off so that they could get to her themselves. As the pile
got lighter, she scrunched into her defensive ball even more.
There was a hand on her shoulder, covered in blood. She hazarded a
look at it, and only saw the ring on it. Gold with a blue-jeweled
center, drying blood in all the crevasses. She looked back to the
ground, she didn't recognize it. Strong hands pulled her off the
floor, causing pain to stab once more through the bites. The unseen
man carried her into a different room, locking a sturdy door. Ellia
looked up, finally swallowing.
It was Master Valder, standing there, just looking at her. "I imagine
that we'll need to get Sonya a new dress to be fair."
He spoke so calmly, and yet he had been bitten into also. His arms
were ragged messes, and scratches ran across his face arms and chest,
his jacket lost in the fight. Ellia looked down on herself and noticed
the bites, grimacing as the adrenaline started to die. Her sides were
bloody and ached something fierce, bits of green cloth mixed in the
gnarled flesh.
She tore her eyes away from the blood that was flowing slower than it
should have. Regardless, the bleeding needed to stop. "Do you have
some cloth?" She asked desperately, even as she watched, the blood was
starting to flow more quickly.
Master Valder ripped strips off his shirt and handed them to Ellia,
who held them desperately to her sides, the bleeding wasn't staunched
enough though. Master Valder was starting to get that look in his eyes
again. He threw her the rest of the shirt, which she tied tight around
herself and finally the blood was starting to clot.
"Maybe you should go." Ellia said weakly. "Maybe you should send Sonya
and Elane in to help me."
That look in his eyes, Master Valder left without a word. Five or ten
minutes later, Sonya and Elane appeared.
"I'm sorry you guys. I really didn't mean to do all of this."
Everything was starting to go dark around the edge, like the world was
shrinking.
"Rest comrade. Speak later." The last thing Ellia saw was Elane's frowning face.
+++
The next morning, Ellia woke with a start and sat bolt upright. She
screamed, her scabs ripped open. Elane's head came up; she had fallen
asleep next to the bed. "Rest comrade, you'll only hurt yourself if
you move too much."
Ellia laid back down, that was an understatement. At least they don't
expect me to work today after all that. "That about the kitchen?
Aren't they even further short staffed?"
"Don't worry comrade. Most of the vampires felt very ashamed about
losing themselves, and are eating more simply, and in their rooms. I
feel, comrade, as if there are too many people in the kitchen for
once."
It annoyed Ellia for a moment that she couldn't see Elane's face. As
she drifted back into sleep, she wondered what her face looked like.
The next few days, perhaps as much as a week or so passed much the
same. She would wake a little bit, someone would spoon her some broth
and force her to drink a glass of water. Then she would drift back
off. Some one changed her bandages, and fairly often, because it
seemed like the knots were different every time she woke. Or maybe she
just slept for a long time.
One day, she was very groggy and half-asleep when she heard to people talking.
"It just isn't natural. She's healing much too fast. It's been what? Two weeks? Those scabs are almost gone!"
"You heard about what happened didn't you? They bled all over her.
She's not strictly human anymore."
"She's no damned vampire either! If she was, she'd be up and walking
now. She's a freak, that's what she is. Anyone that says otherwise is
just stupid."
"She's not a freak! I bet you wouldn't say that to her face."
"Of course not! Anyone pampered and looked out for by a vampire isn't
going to hear a bad word out of my mouth. What is she to him anyway? A
pet, a toy, something nice to look at?"
The door opened, and the distinctive voice of Elane rang sharply
around the room. "Comrades, both of you stop it! Would you talk about
your friends like that?"
One of them mumbled something and the other slapped them for it.
