The Vampire on Golden Street

WARNING: MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY. MENTIONS OF MURDER, BLOOD, AND OTHER CRIMES ARE STRICTLY FICTIONAL AND FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES. CONTAINS LANGUAGE MEANT FOR ADULTS. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

The year is 1723. The winters have been quite cruel for some, but for others, it never phases them. They thrive in the cold, and finds comfort, and food, in the dark quite fine. But the cold was coming to an end, and flowers were starting to bud beneath the snow, as well as Mother Nature regaining her colors. The women are in their prettiest dresses, adorned with pearls and gems from their lifestyles, pompous and pristine, leading to perfection and power. The Countess Georgia was dressed in her most expensive garments, a chiffon seashell white silk dress from Japan garnished with pearls and diamonds, ribbons of a mint and Kelly green, which corresponded with her colorful displays of her massive garden. Bursts of blues from the baby's breath to the double tiger lily plants, there was one area in particular that caught her eyes: Roses. The scent of a rose is supposed to keep vampires at bay, the thorns are said to trap vampires in their graves, and even the petals are said to damage a vampire. Wild Dogroses are also commonly used, and they were placed in another segment of the garden, riddled underneath each plant it was nearby. Blackthorn was in the west wing of the garden, intertwined with other rose bushes. The Romanians kept it sewn in their clothing to prevent attacks, and was said to be very powerful. The vicious attacks of these creatures were unimaginable, draining entire bodies of every drop of blood they could, or missing bodies of loved ones here and there.

No one has seen the fair skinned Helena Bordeaux in weeks. Her beautiful hair a rosey ginger color, eyes of emerald, cheeks were adorned with dimples and her laughter was the liveliest of all her house. She was the heiress of the Count's mansion and all his fortune, and she was missing. In another part of the town, in the cold depths of the sewers, smelling of the dead and human excrements, Helena was thrown to the ground in front of a callused vampire named Cleo. She had her goons seek out Helena personally for the ransom her father had accounted for her. Helena looked up at the woman, tears dragging her makeup down her face and her sniveling pleas were met with a stiff hand in front of her crying face.

"Cease your infernal yapping, you ungrateful child of filth and misery," Cleo softly placed her tallowed fingers on the girl's face, making Helena shiver in fear. Her fingers traced her face, her claws following and piercing her cheek, casually budding droplets of blood, making the room hustle to silence and sniffs. She continued. "Do you know what it's like to have to live in the darkness and in the shadows while your families boast your greed about the streets in the sunlight?" Cleo slowly circled the poor girl, unaware of the heinous crimes her lineage was capable of, or whatever she had done to deserve this. "My name is Cleo Valentine, but you may call me Cleo. Here with me are my two sons, Alucard and Mason. Do you know what we are child?" she was now face to face with Helena, beads of sweat running down her terrorized face. Her cold sweat dripped onto the blood beads made earlier and the den of beasts sniffed and exhaled delightedly.

"You are vampires," she answered sheepishly, the cold wind piercing her voice box with a raspy overtone, breathing brokenly while she glanced around, noticing the hungry stares she was attracting, getting more and more scared by the minute. Cleo hissed at the room, and all fell silent, no questions or gripes made. She was the ruler here. And she was unpredictable. It is a known fact that vampires feed on humans, and have been for as long as they have been discovered to exist among humans. "Do you know why you are here?" Cleo queried. She lifted Helena up off of her knees by her finger on Helena's delicate chin, her nail pricking her and causing more blood beads. Her sons were getting restless, as if Cleo was teasing them with their food. Helena shivered as Cleo placed a surprisingly gentle hand on her hair, stroking it softly. "Child, we are of no harm for you. We are aware of your status, your well being in a seemingly big castle look alike. Heiress to a fortune that is larger than any youth in your class could possess," she placed her hand around her neck, admiring it a bit, then realized Helena wasn't such a harmless little girl after all. Silver adorned her neck, and Cleo had not realized it. Helena was still scared, not aware of the protection she was wearing.

Cleo backed away from her, singed skin sizzling as she had accidentally came in contact with the silver by pure accident. She hissed and her sons lunged for her, making sure their mother was alright. Helena was confused, but since she now knew silver was a threat to these monsters, she had finally had a chance to escape or try to convince them to keep her alive. She had to think about it quickly, as Cleo was not in a particularly good mood. Helena chose to convince the vampires of her importance. "I can get you whatever you need, however you need it. My family has money and we have the resources you need to excel. Please, let me go and I will wholeheartedly help you." Helena held her head slightly down as to not stare into their eyes, internally panicking but she was being honest. She wanted to survive and she wanted to change their lives as well, as they had somehow gotten her empathy for their struggled lives. Cleo scoffed. "What, you think I was born yesterday, child?" Cleo was in her face suddenly, the wind shortly following after her, blowing both of their hair together. "Look me in my eyes and say it again." Helena looked into her eyes, repeating the proposal.

"If you spare me, I will help you climb the ranks of society in this court and you will have the resources you need to live as you please, so long as I survive as well as my family and friends. In exchange, I will get you whatever you need for the time being, just please return me safely to my home and my father-" Cleo placed a finger over her mouth, smiling. "You are such a beautiful and generous girl. What, if I may ask, is in exchange for this?" Cleo looked at her, interested. Her sons were looking at Helena, studying her breathing, her heartbeats; one slip up and Helena can say goodbye to the deal and her life in the same moment. Helena spoke up a bit. "If you protect our family, I will personally grant you whatever you please from the upper class. I can be of use, please..." shivering yet sincere, Helena was crying a bit while pleading to be spared. Cleo looked at her and was satisfied with the offer.

"On one condition," Cleo pondered. "Anything you ask," Helena stated. Cleo smiled slowly and in a grisly way. "If I can kill your father, and you inherit his fortune, then the deal starts." Helena was shocked at the offer, but if this was to spare her, she had practically no other choice. She cried. "Can I give you anything else instead? I don't want him to die-" Cleo got angry yet stayed silent, clutching Helena by her throat. "Either that dirty grime stain of a bastard dies and you have what you want, or, fuck your deal and we can eat and do it our way." Helena was being held by her face again, this time in a harsher way, more so like Cleo's hands were made of steel now and not at all forgiving. She had to choose between her father's life and hers. The memories of her father being loving, laughing, every birthday...she needed further answers as to what he had done to deserve this heinous woman to want his death so badly. "Why do you want to kill him, and not anyone else that has higher funds than him? We aren't the richest, but the King_" Cleo backhanded Helena, causing her to hit the cobblestone behind her. The wind got knocked from her body. Cleo clacked towards her calmly. "Because," the clacks were slow and steady, "he ruined my life personally. You don't know it yet, but he was my husband to be, and we were looking to raise a family. Twin boys. Then, he met Alisa. At first, he said he was working late, but then the abuse started when he no longer wanted to be a part of our union anymore. He told me I was worthless. I was nothing, and that i deserved death for not letting him pursue his dreams. I was an elite. He crumbled my reputation, before he met his mistress, your whore of a mother, and he took almost everything from me. To make matters worse, your father left me to raise our sons alone, knowing what I was going to be after he left me in that cave. You heard it correctly. Six months pregnant, tossed in a cave by your father's lackies to keep my babies and his foulness under the rug. He wanted to erase me. But then, I met another peculiar being, the one who saved me and my boys that cold bitter winter. A vampire, an Original, by the name of Dracula."

She picked Helena off the floor, her frail body bent a little but still alive and bruising, her legs trembling as she attempted to stay standing. Cleo continued. "He was such a kind and generous man, that Dracula. Gave me strength and power I had never imagined before. I can fly, shift my shape, and do as I please, so long as I avoid the sun," Cleo frowned noticeably at Helena's necklace, "and Silver. Holy buildings aren't really an issue, as long as I get an invite from a Priest, but that won't happen because they know what we are, how we schedule things." Cleo picked Helena up, and beckoned her sons to grab a blanket to warm Helena. Helena was fading in and out of consciousness, but Cleo wanted her delivered alive. Helena's flame colored red hair was so vibrant against her paler skin tone, beautiful like a doll she used to play with when she was younger and human.

Helena woke up in a warm bed, somehow, spared from the vampires. Which seemed very unusual because vampires never spared humans to her knowledge. She heard the door open, and in came a familiar face; Cleo. She shuffled the covers up to her neck, silver still hugging her veins as they had before her kidnapping. "Why did you spare me?" she asked outright, voice trembling. Cleo smiled. "For your protection, of course. But you didn't tell me your decision. Your father, or you," Cleo set the tea and the sandwiches down for her to eat whenever she felt the need to. She also had a first aid kit, which again, was showing more confusion. Then, she remembered the deal she had to make in order to spare herself. Helena shot a look at her as an idea surfaced from her brain.

"I can make the judgement if I pry it our of him as to why he did what he did to you. Does he remember you?" Cleo was listening, a frown gathering slowly across her face. Helena scrambled an answer to prevent possible injury. "When I hear his answer and it infuriates me, even if it does not match yours, I will have my decision. You can wait until I say the go ahead for either of us. Deal?" She held her hand out, determined to please this woman, surprised when Cleo took her hand and kissed it gently. Helena was flustered a bit, both out of fear and out of curiosity. Cleo spoke up. "Will you keep your word? Because you know I will kill you all if you lie to me," she gripped her wrist a bit tighter, her gloved hands still a bit gentle, although the threat was true. "I swear to God," Helena was blushing for some odd reason, as she had partially pleased Cleo even slightly. She can still live yet. "When will this plan surface?" Cleo asked, back to gentle.

"There is a masquerade ball, but everyone knows my hair and how I walk, so I will need to get back home the week before it can happen, that way you can all come in masks. As long as I am protected, I will talk to my father in his study, and we will see what the target will be." Helena knew the risks of letting vampires in on invite, however she was in slight denial that her father was as monstrous as she was told. And so, that evening, it unfolded. Helena was released back to her family, her mother announced to the papers that she had returned. The usual questions like where was she, was she hurt, they called the doctor to make sure she wasn't riddled with any disease. Then, after all the caring was over with, her father called her into his study alone. At this point, the ball was tonight and he was helping her pick out a dress to her liking. Helena went with a beautiful emerald green dress, pearled at the seams and sapphires riddled in there as well accentuating her porcelain skin, doused in the subtle scents of rose and chamomile. Her mask was black with shimmers of emerald and the gems were matched according to the dress she wore. She looked like a proper doll.

The night went like any other aristocratic house party: drinks, foods of all varieties, and lots of men and women attending. Her father was dressed in a sharp suit, garnished with a corsage of roses and wolfsbane. Clever man, but not clever enough. Helena had silver around her neck as usual, and was signaled from outside to provide entrance for the plans to unfold. There were 5 vampires in total: Cleo, of course, her sons, and 2 other women she had never met. Cleo assured her she had them handled, and that the target was not Helena. They were then invited in, grins smudging their faces in a viscous manner. Then, the dancing started. That is when Helena asked where her father had gone off to, and her mother confirmed he was in his study. She clacked down the hall to her father's domain when she was met with Cleo in the hallway, awaiting by the door for her. She nodded and beckoned her silently to ask her father of his crimes. Vampires were known for uncovering desires, truths; anything they were looking for, really.

Helena walked in, seeing her father intently writing something down, and when he heard her, he smiled very candidly. Helena's heart ached. This man was not evil, he was not capable of any of Cleo's lies. But she had to know for sure. "Father, I have a few questions to ask of you if you don't mind me asking them," she sat slowly in the chair across his massive desk, the plushy chair making creaks and her dress sounding like a wind chime when she sat. "Ask away, my very special girl," he held her hands tenderly, as a father would a daughter he never wanted to lose again. Her heart ached more. Her thoughts were doubling back, as she was now not even sure if he would be happy. But-alas, Helena had to be out with it-"Have you ever loved another woman before mother?" His face curled in confusion.

"Whatever do you mean sweetheart?" he asked, head tilted, his face slowly curling into a frown.

"Have you ever had another woman other than mother?" Helena studied her father, and he seemed to have connected the dots.

He looked down, as if searching his memories. Then, his whole demeanor shifted. "What are you getting at, you wretched girl?" he said increasingly angry. Helena hesitated, as she knew her father's anger. But she did not expect this reaction to such a simple answer. She asked again, irritated.

"Did you love a woman named Cleo before you met mother-" Helena's head snapped to the left as her father struck her, making her fall onto the floor. Hard. There was blood coming from her mouth as he stood over her. "I never loved another woman other than your mother. Some whore named Cleo wanted to trap me for children when she knew I was never going to marry her, stupid bitch kept coming around. I dumped that disgusting slut in a cave after I had her beat half to death, and I wanted to abort her bastard children with her. She was never destined to be with a man like me, not the likes of her kind. Lowly whores don't deserve luxury such as your mother. And if you mention any of this to that beautiful woman you call mother, I will have you share her fate too." Helena, still holding her mouth, snapped to look up at him. He confirmed everything. Helena had heard enough. "Well, thanks to the likes of her, I see the likes of you and I no longer feel a burden on my shoulders for the deals I have made with her." Helena opened the door to reveal all 5 vampires, lead by Cleo. Helena's father had seemingly seen a ghost, as Cleo held him by the throat in an instant.

"Oh look, the big bad powerful scary man has an issue with potty training. At this old of an age darling? How-" she slammed his head into the desk-"pathetic and weak of you. If anyone is a whore, it was you. You had 2 families at once, and yet failed both." Cleo let him lift himself, and he proceeded to beg. "I'm sorry, my love. My one true love," he started to grovel. "Please...spare me so we can become a family again," his hands were outreached to an unimpressed Cleo, who looked disgusted by this display of bargaining. She looked to the other vampires, as if that was the signal, and they all latched to him, sinking their long fangs into his neck and wrists, while Helena looked at Cleo, who was crying silently as her subordinates drained her father of his blood.

Helena walked to Cleo, being watched intently by everyone. Her father's eyes were in shock, opened wider than she had ever seen them. She told her father one last thing before she turned away: "I am Helena Bordeaux, first and only heir of House Bordeaux. I will take it from here, as you have failed to succeed in your miserable affairs. I will do much better than you ever had imagined in that tiny little brain of yours." When his life was drained from his eyes, Helena looked to Cleo for betrayal, but was met with a forehead kiss instead. "Now it is our turn to return the favor and keep our promise. We will protect the rest of your family, and we will stay hidden in the shadows. You have done well, Helena."

Cleo turned to exit, the vampires dropping her father's corpse as they seemingly teleported quickly to Cleo's side. Cleo stopped walking. "Oh, and dear, may I get one more thing?" Helena perked up, Cleo now suddenly in her face. "I never planned to keep you around, but you betrayed your father for me. And although I cannot trust you as a human, you will be essential to my vampire ranks." Helena's eyes widened as she refused. And with that, she snatched Helena by the nape of her neck, and proceeded to turn her into a vampire.

Helena flopped to the floor, wriggling in pain as her blood began to seep out of the bite, while the screams of the ball guests below them being slaughtered by the rest of her clan. Cleo walked out, her bodyguards in tow, to take over the aristocratic parties as intended from the start. The flames of the garden smelled of the flowers that were planted there. The night fell silent as the halls of the ball were riddled with bloody streaks of dragged bodies, struggling humans, hungry vampires, and even pools of blood all throughout the house. Helena was awakening into her new self, now adorning a more vibrant red hair, flawless skin, impeccable eyesight, and an overwhelming thirst for blood.