Chapter Four - Margins

Dracula ran his finger gently along the scar marring the left side of Meier's upper chest.

"He missed everything vital. He even threaded his stroke between the muscles with minimal damage," Meier admitted. "The only part that didn't heal completely was the skin."

Dracula smiled, pleased with the skill of his son, before releasing the collar to permit Meier to cover the scar again. "So, D targets only those vampires who aren't following the Rule."

"He targets those vampires the humans are willing to pay bounties for," Meier corrected carefully.

"It is the same thing. I warned them, that fate was surging in the humans' favor. Mutual, peaceful co-existence or inexorable extinction are the only two possibilities." Dracula looked deep into his own memories. "There was a time when the humans held an intriguing concept - Mutual Assured Destruction. It was a way to maintain an uneasy truce between more or less balanced forces. Unfortunately, as vampires need humans to feed upon - and the humans know it - MAD has never applied to this situation."

Meier knew of the synthetic blood that vampires had developed, as a way to eliminate their dependency upon dangerously unpredictable humans for food. He'd tasted it. While it would serve him nutritionally, the stuff was vile. As with all vampires, imagining an immortal life feeding upon nothing but synthetic blood was a pretty convincing vision of hell to be avoided at all costs. Even in their decline, the vampires would never seek to kill off all humans, if for no other reason than to avoid relying on the nasty synthetic blood for food.

Meier's gaze fell upon Charlotte, again. Then, there was this. He'd never thought of Charlotte as 'food'. He loved her and wanted to be with her. Perhaps they were too close to each other at the top of their respective food chains - humans and vampires. Except for the vampires' need for human blood, weren't they really two separate species of intelligent life that could communicate, and interact with each other - fall in love with each other? Meier rued the prejudice that ran through both his and Charlotte's people on the planet below, that had made their desperate attempt to come here the only alternative. If not for that...

Charlotte would never have been caught up in Carmilla's mad attempt to resurrect herself. Charlotte's blood would not have been drained from her to invigorate ancient vampire bones. Charlotte would not have died.

If only...

If only the surface had been like here - the City of the Night. If only Meier and Charlotte had been able to come here, where their love would have been understood, before she'd died.

Dracula continued. "Vampires have pushed humanity into the corner. It is not at all surprising that humanity turns, snarls, and pushes back. There will come a time when the vampires that prey on humans too much are gone. D will see to that. At that point, it is in the humans' hands. Will they press him, and themselves, to rid the world entirely of vampires? Will D have become such a mindless killing machine to kill vampires who have done nothing against the Rule? Or, will a shred of mercy show itself, permitting a co-existence between humans and vampires to develop on the surface below? Will some humans see the value in vampires, realize that - except for our need for their blood - there is no logical reason we cannot exist together, that is - if the savage element among the vampires is fully eliminated. You, yourself, know that bloodlust can be sublimated. We need human blood to survive. We do not need human life to do so. That is the different between our blood-thirst, here, which is a natural part of vampire physiology, and the bloodlust found on the surface below, which is not."

Meier felt the beginning of a glimmer of understanding, almost as if he caught a glimpse of the corner of some grand master plan, before Ramica entered the room.

"Your pardon, my lord, but there is an urgent matter requiring your attention."

"What is it?"

"A matter of those auctions - one affecting this House," Ramica replied, darting a glance toward Meier.

Dracula waved an airy hand toward the other vampire. "You make speak plainly before him."

"Very well, my lord. There is to be an illegal auction this cycle. It is rumored that House Cravenleigh is in such dire need that there will be humans available this auction."

"Mesnard can take care of it, if you will inform..."

"There is one further matter," Ramica interrupted softly.

Dracula lifted an elegant eyebrow in a 'go ahead' gesture.

"The Tribute you released five years ago is one of the humans to be auctioned."

Dracula closed his eyes. He could see her in his memory. Carefully dressed in white, as if for a wedding, or her own funeral; her dark hair softly pulled back from her face to cascade in waves just skimming past her high cheekbones to curl with innocent artifice just below her breasts; a lively spark of intellect and curiosity warring with the wariness in her eyes when he'd met her - oh, yes, he remembered the Tribute he'd released.

He knew she was often to be found prowling the barren hillside guarding the approach to his castle from the wilderness side. He'd told his people to let her be when they'd first reported her. He knew she was no threat to him or any who dwelled in his castle.

He regretted that he leaned so heavily into his aura when he visited her family, so heavily that the girl had fallen so deeply under his spell, but it had been necessary. He had to release her, and her house, from the burden of Tribute - and as such a thing had never happened before, he had to do it himself. To maintain the mystique of an encounter with 'the Lord of All Vampires' he had to thrall everyone who was there. Her close proximity to him, her preparations to leave her family forever and go with him, and the romantic nature that had developed around the Tribute Day Ceremony itself, only served to bespell the poor human girl thoroughly into a state of being 'in love' with him. He was chagrined that his attempt to release her from the senseless fate of being a many-times-over redundant Tribute had only woven a new, different useless fate for her. If there had been some way to undo the effect his aura had had on her, he would have done it, to free her from her torment.

"Samantha," he sighed heavily. "They've taken her? Are you certain?"

"Yes. The sentries have not seen her for the past two days. She is being 'advertised' as a most desirable 'acquisition' - a Tribute human groomed for House Dracula that has never been blooded. The amount of money she is expected to bring is enough to buy and sell some of the lesser Houses."

Dracula raised a weary-seeming hand to his brow. "What a mess! So, if Mesnard goes in with the City Guards, it will most likely stop the auction, but Samantha will be spirited away, undoubtedly to be part of whatever auctions they manage to put together that we never find out about," he surmised.

"Yes, my lord."

"Very well. Tell me where this infernal auction is to take place."

"No, my lord."

Meier turned his head sharply at Ramica's denial, wondering how Dracula would take it.

"No?"

"No. You must not be troubled by such sordid happenings, my lord. If it is your will, I shall take care of this myself. House Dracula doesn't need to trouble its lord to look after its own."

Dracula smiled. "And you consider this released Tribute human as part of House Dracula?"

Ramica bristled, but held her tongue.

"Very well, I will leave it in your hands. But," Dracula considered Meier closely, "take this one with you."

"I don't need...!"

Dracula stood, swept across the room and laid an affectionate hand upon Ramica's cheek. "You are quite skilled, my dear, and your concern for the appearances of our House touches me. Still, if a roomful of of vampires should become - upset - that you are ruining their business venture, I would like for you to have more than just the Guard at your side. Especially as I can tell you plan to enter the auction without them."

"How - how did you...?"

Dracula smiled down at her. "I just know how you are, my hot-headed dear. I've become rather fond of you." The Vampire Lord looked up, over her head, and matched gazes with the City's newly-arrived vampire. "Go with Ramica. Keep her safe, and bring her safely back to me."

Dracula was satisfied that the young vampire did as he commanded and left the room with Ramica. It would not do for Meier to waste his life brooding over Charlotte, any more than it suited Samantha to waste her life brooding over him.

"Emotions, human and vampire, have always caused problems, I'm afraid," he said aloud, twisting Charlotte's ringlets around a gentle finger.

Author's Notes

I've struggled for quite a while with this chapter. I've been more or less happy with this part of it for a long time, but the second part was too weak. So, I finally decided to split them into two separate chapters. I hate writing weak work, but I don't think there's any way I can get around it (so sorry for my lack of skill!) so I'll just isolate that part that doesn't satisfy me into its own chapter, and hope it doesn't bother you too much. I apologize for the long wait for this chapter.

Next chapter teaser – Chapter Five – Crosses

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