Hope: Battle at the Inn

“Something is wrong here,” Hope said. She stood in front of Michel, who was feeding off of a stray gypsy girl. The two vampires stood a few yards from the entrance to a town that they had not yet stepped foot in.

“What is it?” Michel asked, dropping the gypsy’s dead body to the ground as though she was just an animal.

“I am not sure,” she said looking at him. As she looked back at the entrance, she continued by saying, “But I think something is calling for us.”

“A slayer…?” Michel asked.

“…I’m not sure,” Hope said. “But it would be fun to drink from a Slayer.”

Hope thought back when she had first became a vampire. She had almost been killed after a slayer had attacked both her and Michel. Luckily, she had escaped without being staked in the heart by the human. It was then that she had learned of the threat a slayer brings to vampires.

The two walked into the small town and saw that the streets were full of people wildly dancing and singing. The two vampires looked at one another, and then continued to look for a place to stay for the night.

After leaving her home town, Hope quickly discovered that the cemeteries were too over-run by the gypsy people to stay without drawing unwanted attention. After those uncomfortable nights, Hope and Michel began to sleep in inns or in homes of there victims.

The first Inn that Hope found was full of people who were dressed in odd attire as well as singing and dancing in the bar. She walked up to the inn keeper, and asked for a room. The woman looked at Hope, who was wearing fine clothes, and gave her a key to a room underneath the building.

“Please do not send anyone to tidy up the room,” Hope said.

The woman looked at her and laughed. Then she turned and began to dance with the others. She wore an outfit that appeared to look like a demon would wear, if demon’s actually existed.

“Let’s go, Michel,” Hope said. She walked to the back of the inn, opened a door, and walked down a flight of narrow stairs which lead to a stone hall of doors. Each room had someone staying in it except for the last door on the right. At the end of the hall was a rug which was draped against the wall. Hope stopped for a moment, looking at the rug, and then opened her door and into the room.

Inside of the room was a bed that was cushioned by straw. On top of the straw was a blanket that seemed to have been used by every person in the town before it had been laid over the straw. The two walked into the room, and sat on the straw bed, which was held by tight ropes.

“This is where we are to stay?” Michel asked.

“Just for the night,” Hope said. She put her hand on her lovers face, and saw a flash of light. Her mind showed Hope a glimpse of her husband’s face as she had killed him in the past.

“Are you alright?” Michel asked Hope.

“Of course,” Hope said with tear in her eyes. “I am fine.”

The two lie down, and fell asleep with their backs facing one another. They slept as the sun rose and throughout the day.

As Hope slept, she saw past events that she had lived. She saw herself becoming a vampire, killing her children, and murdering her husband. She could see the fear in her husbands face as she was suddenly making Michel a vampire. Then she saw the vision that she had had of Michel pounding a stake through her heart.

Hope sprung up from where she slept, wide awake. She looked over at Michel and saw that he was still sleeping. She put her hand to her chest, and when she pulled it away, she saw a drop of blood. As she undid her corset, Hope discovered that she had a small gash over her heart. She sat on her bed with her pale breasts fully unclothed, and wondered what had happened.

When Michel awoke, the sun had fully set and Hope was dressed back into the same dress that he had worn the night before. Michel put on his boots and his shirt, and then bound his long hair in a leather band.

“I feel like getting a new dress,” Hope said. “My old one is beginning to stain.”

“We shall get a new gown for you than,” Michel said.

Michel smiled, and tried to kiss Hope. As he moved in, Hope turned her head away, and walked out of the room. She then stopped for a moment to look at the rug that seemed to move slightly, and then stopped. She shook her head, and then walked down the hall and up the stairs.

When the vampires arrived outside of the building, Hope took in a deep breath of the chilled night air. Her lungs felt cool for a moment, and then she began to walk at a quick speed to a dress shop that she had passed on the way into town.

“Do you know as to where you are going?” Michel asked Hope.

“Are you mocking me by asking if I am befuddled?” Hope asked with a smile.

“I didn’t mean anything of the sort, love,” Michel confessed. “I merely meant if you knew where to find such an elegant shop in this paltry commune.”

Hope stopped at the entrance of the dress shop and saw the most beautiful dress she had ever set her eyes upon. As she walked in, she felt like the white and red dress was calling out to her.

“May I help you with something?” An older man who owned the shop asked. He wore a dress jacket and had on black leather boots.

“Actually, I was gazing at this beautiful dress in the window,” Hope said to him, pointing out the dress that she already loved.

“It’s quite beautiful isn’t it?” The man asked her. “I made it for my wife, before she passed on. Now I keep it on display in her memory.”

“How much would you take for it?” Hope asked, pulling out her change purse.

“I’m sorry, but it is not for sale,” he said.

“I think you misunderstood the woman,” Michel said, putting his had on the man’s shoulder. “She asked how much you would sell it to her for.”

“I’d like to ask you both to leave my shop,” the man said, beginning to become nervous. He looked around the shop, and realized that they were the only ones in it.

“It’s all right,” Hope said putting her fingers against the man’s lips. “Don’t be afraid.”

As the man quieted down, Hope’s face mutated into her true vampire form and she put her mouth against his neck. She then sunk her teeth into his soft flesh and began to drink from him. His blood tasted better than she had tasted before, maybe because of his age. She sucked down harder as he began to plead for her to stop. As she took his final drop of blood, she dropped his body to the ground, and looked at the dress.

“Here is your money,” she said dropping a few coins on his lifeless body.

“Will you take it down for me, Michel?” Hope asked.

Michel took the dress out of the window and undressed the wooden stand. He then watched as Hope took off her old dress and put on the new one. She then handed him her old dress, which he dressed the wooden stand into.

“How do I look?” Hope asked spinning around slowly so Michel could gaze at her beauty.

“Perfect,” Michel said.

The vampire pulled Hope closer to him, so they were face to face. He pushed his lips to hers.

“Don’t,” she whispered.

Michel pushed her away from him and screamed, “Why not?”

“What are you doing?” Hope demanded.

“All I ask for is your love…” Michel screamed, showing his vampire face.

“And you have it,” Hope said. “So why must you hurt me so.”

“Why then,” Michel asked. “Why do you pull away from me?”

“Please,” Hope asked. “Can we talk about this later?”

“Now Hope!” Michel yelled. “I have not taken advantage of you in any way! I give you anything you want!”

“…Because, I can’t love you!” Hope yelled.

“What?” Michel asked in a much softer voice.

“I am afraid if I love you, I may loose you,” Hope said, lying to him. She was too afraid of him to tell him the truth.

“You will NEVER loose me Hope,” Michel said.

“Let us go back to the inn,” Hope said.

Michel nodded.

As the two walked back to the inn, a young gypsy girl caught Michel’s eye. She had chestnut colored tresses and had lightly tanned skin. Michel followed the girl into an ally, where he fed off of her, leaving her for dead. Hope watched at the girl struggled to get away as he sucked down hard on her neck. Hope turned her head as he laid her down next to the wall.

“Do you still have a thirst for blood, Michel?” Hope asked.

“Not at the moment,” Michel asked. “Let us go home. I can smell dusk approaching.”

The vampires walked back into the inn, where they were surprised by the inn keeper. She asked for coins as payment for the room, and so Hope gave her a few coins that she had taken from the gypsy. The woman saw blood on the coins, but didn’t even bother asking question. Instead, she put them inside her coin purse.

Hope walked back to the door, walked down the hall, and again stopped and stared at the rug. She walked up to it, and as she pulled it away from the wall, behind it was a narrow door with a cross on it. Hope jumped away from it, but then pulled at the door knob to open the door.

“What are you doing?” Michel asked.

“This is what is drew us here,” Hope said. “We must go in.”

They both walked into the door, which closed as they entered the dark room. Inside was a large tunnel that seemed like a sewer system. The place was damp and cold, which made them feel a little safer than their room. They walked down the deep tunnel, until they came across a large man with a sword.

“Who are you?” The man asked. He sat in a golden thrown, which was covered in a silk blanket. Behind him sat a small blue demonic-like creature.

“I am Michel,” Michel said, “and this is my love, Hope.”

“You were the ones we went up against the slayer? And still live?” The man asked. He spun his head slightly, and showed his vampire face, which was much different than either Hope or Michel had seen before.

Hope nodded her head. She then took a better look around, to discover that there really wasn’t too much to where they stood. The room was filled with about half a foot full of water, which was quite cool.

“Why have you been calling us?” Hope asked.

“You are not quite like other women,” the vampire said to her.

“After you kill your children and husband… You begin to loosen up,” Hope said.

“Order of Aurelius is summoning you,” the vampire answered her question after a moment of silence.

“The ancient vampires are requesting for us?” Hope asked.

“You must go to them if you want your questions answered,” the little blue demon said. “The visions can change.”

“What did it say?” Michel asked.

“I am not sure,” Hope said.

“You can leave through the entrance behind me,” the vampire said.

“Why must we go?” Hope asked.

Suddenly an arrow flew from behind Hope and Michel, landing in the vampire’s chest. The vampire looked down at the wooden shaft of the arrow and then blew up into small pieces of dust.

Hope turned around, and saw a young gypsy girl holding a crossbow and had a wooden stake in her other hand. The girl kicked Hope in the chest, and sent her flying across the room, landing next to the hidden exit. The girl then went after the blue demon, which was quite weak to do anything but try to run. The gypsy girl grabbed the sword that the vampire had left, and stabbed the demon in the neck, leaving it bleeding while she tried to find the vampires.

While the girl had been slaying the demon, Hope and Michel had left through the emergency escape. The small door that was behind the thrown lead them outside, where they only had an hour to find someplace to go before the sun rose.

The two vampires found another inn in the town, and they stayed there for the day. The room was much better than the last inn that they had stayed in, and so Hope and Michel had a better bed to sleep on.

As she slept, Hope began to dream about the past. She could hear her son as she relived killing him, and then killing her two daughters. While Hope killed her daughter, she felt a pain in her chest, and when she looked up, Michel had stabbed her in the chest. Then Hope was standing in the other inn, where the inn keeper was dancing and singing along with the people in the town. She then saw the gypsy girl who had tried to kill them sitting in the corner. Hope abruptly awoke from her dream, sitting up again, and saw Michel lying next to her in the nude.

As Michel awoke, Hope got dressed. The two had damp clothes on from the water the night before, but didn’t care all that much. They walked out of the inn, went to a small shop a few blocks down from the inn, and then went to the first inn that they had stayed at.

The two vampires stood at the entrance of the inn, and looked at each other. Hope looked at Michel, and pressed her lips against his. They finally shared their first romantic kiss since Hope had begun dreaming about her past.

Michel kicked down the door, and watched as the inn keeper and the other people who were staying at the inn were dancing and singing. He took his sword that he had gotten from the shop, and chopped a man’s head off who was sitting next to the door.

People began to scream as Hope and Michel began to kill every person that was in the inn. As they did it, they fed on some of the weaker people. Finally, no one was standing except for the inn keeper.

Hope held her by the neck, and asked, “Did you tell the slayer we were here?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about!” The woman said.

“Don’t make me ask again,” Hope asked. “I will kill your daughter.”

“What?” The woman asked.

“The slayer is your daughter,” Hope said. “Isn’t she.”

The woman looked away from Hope. She then tried to kick Hope, but instead Hope sunk her teeth into the woman neck and sucked blood from the woman’s thin neck. The moment before she died, Michel slashed his hand and fed it to the woman. She tried to fight the blood, but she was drawn to the taste.

“You will become one of us,” Hope said, “and then you can kill your daughter.”

Hope dropped the woman’s body and walked out of the building; Michel following her. The two walked out of the town, and into the moonlight with blood on there hands. As they walked, Hope held Michel’s hand, and had a vision of him killing her. She continued to walk, realizing that she had to find the Order of Aurelius if she wanted her questions answered.

As the two vampires walked away, the old woman in the inn shattered into dust as a stake was driven into her heart by the young gypsy girl. She had tears streaming down her face and only wanted one thing… vengeance.