Michelle gasped in horror and before Alex could react, she was jerked away from her friend and flung to the ground as Michelle was set upon by the unknown vampire Alex had spotted earlier. He jabbed a syringe into her neck, pressed the plunger and pulled the needle. Suddenly, the vampire was vaulted across the room from a kick to the chest by Dante, who caught Michelle’s woozy form and eased her down gently beside Alex. It all happened in such a blur, and Alex had barely had time to think
“Fitting justice for a vampire who hates his own kind,” Vincent spat.
Michelle shook her head dizzily. She seemed mostly unhurt, but Alex noticed a trickle of blood had begun to seep from the small puncture wound. She looked up at Dante, who had also noticed the damage.
“Not to worry,” Dante assured her. “Nothing compared to a vampire bite. She’s a tougher girl than that.”
Alex tried to let his words reassure her, but the look on his face betrayed his worry. Dante reached down to wipe away the blood and suddenly he jerked his arm back and screeched. He held his injured hand in the other, the flesh of the finger that had touched the blood seeming to dissolve as if by acid. Alex and Michelle, her senses recovered, screamed his name in unison, but it was Michelle who was the quick thinker. Dante’s finger still had her blood on it, and without a moment’s hesitation she placed her mouth over it to wash away the blood. At once Dante’s screaming stopped. Michelle looked at the damage to his finger, and it was bad. A horrific burn with white flesh peeling away. Alex turned away from the gruesomeness of it.
Dante stroked Michelle’s cheek. “Thank you, my beautiful saviour.”
She returned the gesture with a small, trembling smile.
Dante rose and glared at Vincent, all sweetness evaporated. Alex had never seen him look so dangerous. Even though she was sure she was in no danger, she backed away a few steps, instinct taking over.
“What did you do to her?” Dante asked, very slowly.
”Exorcized her,” explained Vincent, without emotion.
“What? What do you mean?”
“I call it VB, or Vincent’s Bitter.” Vincent gestured nonchalantly, as if this were all merely a subject of somewhat interesting conversation. “A concoction of ours usually reserved for those of our kind for whom the death penalty has been decreed. Once injected with this, a vampire’s organs are dissolved to shreds, whereupon they bleed to death from the inside. Bodily fluids tend to pour out of every orifice until nothing is left,” he finished with mild delight. “In a human the substance is harmless, but remains, coursing forever through their veins. This effectively makes feeding on them impossible for the rest of their lives.”
“No!” screamed Michelle, burying her face in her hands. Julian looked down and chuckled, looking quite pleased about this whole exchange. Alex put her arms around Michelle to comfort her.
“Why?” Dante breathed. “Why would you do this?”
Vincent shook his head in mock pity. “You never learn, Dante. This is your punishment for the cosy life you have lived. You hide behind the one law you agree with—that it is not illegal not to kill—just so you can feel better about being a vampire. Humans are not our friends, they are food. You have no human now, and so you must live as one of us. You will learn!”
Dante screamed as his fangs lowered. “See this! I am already one of you, though I never chose this life.”
“You are a pathetic excuse for a vampire.” Vincent was growing visibly angry now, and his voice sliced the air. “You feed off only your captive, yet hunt and kill your own kind when they prey on humans.”
“You would have us slaughter them all! They are being hunted for sport, not food. We need them to survive.”
“So you take it upon yourself to dispense justice with no trial? No evidence? How nice.”
“I might as well. You are doing fuck all about it!” Dante shook in fury and the room grew eerily silent.
When Vincent spoke again, it was barely above a whisper. “Repeat that.”
“You heard me. You are no king.” Dante spat out the words as if they tasted truly foul.
After a minute’s silence, Vincent gathered himself. “You are lucky that your past deeds have counted for you. You have come out of this hardly damaged. Your female blood sack is free of you,” Vincent said, gesturing to the sobbing form of Michelle. “Something you always wanted. All you have to do is commit to me and to follow our ways.”
A door opened to the right of the three thrones and a young girl was shoved inside the room where she fell to the ground. Alex thought she looked to be no more than eight or nine years old. She scrambled quickly to her feet but was grabbed from behind by Raul, who half dragged her towards Dante.
Dante looked at the girl and then to Vincent. “What is this?”
“Turn her or drain her,” Vincent said. “Your choice, but either way she dies tonight.”
The girl was terrified, crying and whimpering against Raul’s grip.
“It’s time you proved you are one of us,” Raul smiled. “Not so tough now, are you?”
He shoved the girl towards Dante’s feet. She tried to crawl away but was kicked violently back towards Dante. Dante leapt and planted his fist straight into Raul’s face. Raul fell back, blood spewing from his shattered nose. Raul made to retaliate but the king put up a hand.
“She’s just a child!” Dante screamed at Vincent.
“Please…don’t hurt me! I didn’t do anything wrong!” she called.
“You really shouldn’t walk off with strangers,” Julian cooed down to
