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DLFG

Black Dahlia

May 25th, 2014
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  1. Deiter Heydrich rolled the skull around in his hands. He ran his palms over the web of fine cracks radiating down from the crown, traced his fingers around its eye-sockets and brushed a thumb against the pair of fangs, still sharp after all their years of disuse, that jutted from the jaw. He had been working towards this moment his whole adult life. His inheritance - gone. His retainers - dead, fled, or sent away. His family name - in ruins, the fragile veneer of respectability they had rebuilt over the centuries swept away by his actions. And so he took a moment to reflect on what he had lost, and what he stood to gain.
  2.  
  3. If it worked.
  4.  
  5. No, he corrected himself. When it worked. It had to.
  6.  
  7. He had dragged an old bathtub down from the upper floors, and within it had begin the apex of his life's work. Hundreds of individual bones, had been unpacked and painstakingly reassembled, each one systematically anointed with fresh blood from the buckets beside him before being placed into position. And now, all that was left was the skull. A thin smile crept over his tired face.
  8.  
  9. "Not long now, my love." He whispered, kissing the smooth cranium. "Soon, everything will be made right again. The mistakes of the past will be swept away, and everything I have ever done will be vindicated."
  10.  
  11. Slowly and with great ceremony, Deiter placed the skull atop the skeleton's neck. Like the others, it stuck fast, like some wired-together museum exhibit. He thought he saw the skeleton shudder - just a small movement, a faint twitch of the phalanges - and stared at it for long seconds before turning away and picking up the first bucket.
  12.  
  13. "Dahlia, ancient queen, dark lady of the night. She who came from beyond, she who brought order and peace to a land riven by war, she who was cast down by the craven elves even as they withered and died under her gaze."
  14.  
  15. Taking care not to spill a drop of the precious fluid onto the floor, Deiter poured the contents of the first bucket into the bathtub. And this time, the skeleton really did move; a ghostly breath hissed through its jaws and, with a soft, ivory rattle, it arched upwards before settling down into the pool of gore swirling around the tub.
  16.  
  17. "Dahlia, one of the midnight triad. Left hand of the bleak old one, he who came from beyond and bestowed upon us the gift of vampirism."
  18.  
  19. Deiter repeated the ceremony with the second bucket. Most of the blood was his, or collected from his family members - bastards and half-breeds, fallen sons and wayward daughters, none of whom would have been missed. The name Heydrich had fallen far despite his ancestors attempts at reparations, but his family's shame had given him the means he needed to bring about its rebirth.
  20.  
  21. "Dahlia, to whom my family pledged themselves for an eternity; in blood and soul, your servants, forevermore. Hear me now!"
  22.  
  23. The third bucket joined the first two in the tub. The Skeleton was up to its midsection in stolen blood and writhing like a woman in the heights of passion. The room began to fill with whispers, just on the edge of hearing; a sound soon joined by distant screams, and threats, and overlying everything, the soft sound of crying.
  24.  
  25. "Hear me, oh great queen! Rise! Rise now, and reclaim your place at the head of the living! Rise! RISE!"
  26.  
  27. The skeleton screamed. The blood had begun to cling to its bones, worming upwards and becoming thick, solid, spinning itself into glistening organs and bands of flayed muscle. It jerked upwards like a puppeteer yanking on the strings of a marionette, the awful, ethereal wailing somehow becoming even more unsettling as vocal chords, then a tongue and lips crawled up and then across its skull. The shadows above squirmed as if they were alive and rushed down to meet it, flowing into its mouth and eye-sockets until they boiled over with thick, black fluid. Deiter's heart hammered in his chest. This was it. The moment he had been waiting for, the moment he had been working towards, the moment he had sacrificed so very much for -
  28.  
  29. The figure in the bathtub collapsed and fell silent. Long, pale limbs hung limply over the sides. Nothing moved, and Deiter's joy turned to dread. Had he done something wrong? The body had successfully reassembled itself, but had he somehow failed to merge the scattered fragments of her soul? He took a hesitant step towards the tub, dreading what might lie within; the image of his living-dead goddess as an empty, hollow shell filled his mind. He reached out a trembling hand towards one of the long, limp legs.
  30.  
  31. It twitched, and was withdrawn into the tub. And then, with a terrible, glacial slowness, the figure within rose into the air. It was tall, almost painfully thin, with smooth limbs that seemed just a little too long. Black hair spilled down the length of its body, swirling around it like a cloak of silk. Its arms were spread out like it had been crucified, and its head was tipped back to stare at the ceiling.
  32.  
  33. "My lady?" Deiter whispered. "Queen Dahlia?"
  34.  
  35. At once, the arms fell slack and the head rolled forwards. It - no, her - face was narrow and fine-boned, with high cheekbones and a tapered nose, but it was the eyes that Deiter couldn't look away from. They were solid black, completely devoid of white or iris, and they stared into him with an intensity that almost caused his bowels to loosen.
  36.  
  37. And then the moment passed, and the figure's eyes softened. She slowly descended, her legs folding beneath her. Deiter approached slowly, watching as she felt around, running her hands back and forth across the cold stone floor.
  38.  
  39. "It has been...so long." She murmured. "So long, in so many places at once, I cannot...this body does not...can you help me?"
  40.  
  41. "Of course." Deiter bowed, then stooped and helped the frail figure up. He led her across the room to where an old soft chair lay and lowered her into it. Then he stepped back, his hands clasped behind his back, waiting for instructions like the dutiful servant he was.
  42.  
  43. For what felt like an age, he watched the vampire as she familiarised herself with her physical body again. She flexed her arms and legs, ran her fingers through her hair and stroked her hands up and down her body. He even saw, just for a moment, a hand vanish between her legs and a faint gasp break the silence. She rose and walked over to the window, starting silently out at the night sky, seemingly lost in thought. Deiter was struck by her disturbing, alien beauty; she was seemingly unconcerned by her nakedness, and illuminated by the moonlight, her deathly white skin almost seemed to glow in the darkness around her.
  44.  
  45. At long last, she spoke.
  46.  
  47. "Heydrich. The last Heydrich. You brought me back."
  48.  
  49. Her voice was soft and, to his surprise, it sounded sad. He had gone through hundreds of records and accounts of her life, and they had all spoke of her fearsome presence and great force of will. He couldn't see that in her right now. She just looked...tired.
  50.  
  51. "I did, my queen. Now, as before and always, I live to serve you."
  52.  
  53. The vampire took her time before replying.
  54.  
  55. "Why?"
  56.  
  57. "Because - because, I had to." Deiter said. He took a step forwards, and when the vampire made no move to halt him, walked over to join her by the window. "Look out. Look at the world. Look at what's become of it since you left."
  58.  
  59. He swept out an arm. Perched atop a rocky bluff, the dilapidated Heydrich castle had an excellent view of the surrounding country. Thick banks of woodland stretched out for miles broken only by the clearings where small hamlets and villages had taken root, or by the large, dark shapes of cities looming on the horizon.
  60.  
  61. "Everything you accomplished has fallen apart. The royals are dead. People call this a kingdom, but it's nothing of the sort. It's a farce! A, a disordered collection of idiotic city-states, bickering and squabbling for power."
  62.  
  63. "Yes." She murmured, reaching out to place a hand against the glass. "They're free, aren't they?" A smile played across her delicate face. "It's beautiful."
  64.  
  65. Deiter just stared, lost for words. Eventually, he forced out a hesitant "Beautiful?"
  66.  
  67. "Beautiful." She repeated. "Tell me, last of the Heydrichs. What do you know of me?"
  68.  
  69. Deiter didn't reply immediately. He knew that Dahlia had been capricious in life, and he wondered if this was some sort of test, or a trick.
  70.  
  71. "You are one of the first vampires." He started. "One of two, partnered with your brother. You were both dying of plague. The elves had unleashed it on themselves in their civil war, but it had spread to their servants. When the bleak old one came out from behind the stars, he found you and..." Deiter faltered for a moment. "Changed you. Elevated you. Turned you into something better than you were."
  72.  
  73. He fell silent then, waiting for a reply, until Dahlia gestured for him to continue. He licked his lips before speaking again.
  74.  
  75. "The old Empire had collapsed. The elvish factions were dead or broken and fleeing, their slaves were running rampant and causing havoc. You gave your kiss to those you found worthy and began restoring order. Wherever you went, you brought peace. Control, Sanity! But the elves wouldn't let anyone rule but themselves. They banded together, slew you and your brother, and banished the bleak old one. They broke the triad and fled beneath the earth with your remains."
  76.  
  77. "Peace." He repeated. "Control. We need that now. We need you." He dropped to one knee, bowing before her. "I need you."
  78.  
  79. "Peace." Dahlia repeated, her voice hollow. "We didn't bring peace. We brought slavery and death. There were purges. Pogroms. My brother and I killed thousands, and for what?" She shrugged her narrow shoulders. "Because we didn't like a particular colour of hair. Because we decided that men shouldn't be below six feet in height. Because we needed to feed, but we needed to convince ourselves that feeding was just a...a happy co-incidence."
  80.  
  81. The silence was deafening. Deiter had always heard stories of such, but had written them off as propaganda created by the elves to justify their destruction of the midnight triad. But if they were right, if he had reanimated one third of the most insane, genocidal ruling bodies the land had ever seen...
  82.  
  83. "What - what are you going to do now?" He whispered. A soft hand fell on his shoulder.
  84.  
  85. "I am going to make amends."
  86.  
  87. He looked up.
  88.  
  89. "All those years, with my mind split into so many pieces...bound into each little bone and kept apart in the hopes that they would never be reassembled...I was aware, you know. I could still sense people. Their loves and hates, their joys and griefs. I did such terrible things, and must make up for that. But not now. Not yet. The world is...not ready, I think. It would not believe that I had changed."
  90.  
  91. Deiter felt a sudden flare of anger. He stood, pushing the vampire's hand away from his shoulder and snarled at her.
  92.  
  93. "So, that's it? I - I threw away everything I had to bring you back. Do you understand?" His voice rose to a shout. "I've lost everyone I love, thrown away everything I own except the clothes on my back and - and this miserable old castle! Everything! And now, now, you're just going to, what? Sit here and cry for the next few centuries? I was going to make you a queen again!"
  94.  
  95. The vampire just stood there, that same, sad smile on her face as he raged at her. And then, without uttering a word, she spread her arms, pulled him in tight against her pale, naked body and embraced him.
  96.  
  97. "Oh, Heydrich. Don't you see? We are broken things, both of us. I lost everything I valued a long time ago, though it took me an age to realise it."
  98.  
  99. He sagged into her, and together, the pair of them slumped slowly to the ground, clinging desperately to one another as the wind gusted through the dark, empty room.
  100.  
  101. "We have ruined ourselves for power. Do you understand?" She whispered into his ear. "But we can fix things. We can fix everything. We just need time. I will need servants. People to go out into the world, to spread rumours and...change opinions. Ensure there are people who will listen to me when I venture out once more."
  102.  
  103. Dahlia licked her lips. "And there are other things I need. The thirst has not abated, but I will not feed from the unwilling again." She partly disentangled herself and looked him in the eye. "Can you do these things for me? Feed me in the eve, and work my will in the morn? You will be rewarded, however way I can. Of that, I promise you."
  104.  
  105. Deiter stared into her dark eyes, trying to find the words to speak. Everything he had done had brought him to this moment. He had dreamed of power beyond imagining, of eternal life and the love and respect of hundreds of thousands of subjects. Dahlia had torn that dream away with a few soft words, exposing it as the hollow, deluded thing it really was. Part of him wanted to throw her offer back in her face out of spite, but has he looked into her deep, black eyes, he felt himself slowly relent.
  106.  
  107. "I am yours." He sighed. "I always have been."
  108.  
  109. "And my servants will always be rewarded." She purred. Deiter felt his head being pushed back, and knew what was about to happen. He closed his eyes as the vampire's soft, cool lips brushed against his neck, and let out a long gasp as she bit through his skin and began to feed. His body fell slack as a rush of heat rushed through him, setting his nerves tingling as she suckled gently at the vein. He was distantly aware of other sensations - something soft and cold probing at his clothes, sliding across his chest, a feeling of movement across his torso - but these sensations were as nothing compared to the intensity of Dahlia's bloody kiss.
  110.  
  111. At long last, the vampire's grip upon his neck slackened, and she drew back with a faint sigh of satisfaction. A spatter of blood stood out starkly upon her lips, and Deiter found he could not help but watch the crimson beads trickle down, gather at her chin and drip slowly onto the curve of her breasts. Aside from the darkness of her eyes and great sheets shadowy hair, it was the only colour on her. Dahlia smiled coyly at him and bowed her head again, lapping at the wound she had left. There was another faint tingle, and it sealed over as if he had never been bitten.
  112.  
  113. He reached for his shirt pocket, intent on retrieving a rag to offer up so his queen might clean herself, but found that his top had been stripped from him. He had been considered handsome once, and the last vestiges of his athletic physique had not quite disappeared. Deiter began to speak, when Dahlia reached out and pressed a finger to his lips.
  114.  
  115. "I told you that my servants would be rewarded, did I not?" She murmured. "For all my sins, there were things I came to love about my past rule. Things which...would do no harm, so long as each participant was willing to give of themselves to me."
  116.  
  117. She took one of his hands and pressed it against the soft mound of her breast. He could feel the cool flesh giving under his fingers, the hard nub of her nipple pushing against his palm, and gently squeezed, at a loss for what to say.
  118.  
  119. "You're cold." He eventually managed. It was like being embraced by a woman carved of marble.
  120.  
  121. "I know." She said. "I'm dead. But oh, how I wish to be warmed."
  122.  
  123. Dahlia unwound herself from him and, taking him by the hand, led him back over to the chair he had placed her in to recover. She moved with more confidence now, perhaps emboldened by her confession and newly claimed purpose, or simply enlivened by the taste of blood. She sat with her legs spread and gestured for him to kneel. Deiter's mind was blank and he obeyed without thinking. He knew that she had once kept great harems of men and women for her use, and in his private moments entertained lurid fantasies of being allowed to serve in one, but had never once seriously thought it might happen.
  124.  
  125. Realising his hesitation, the vampire placed a hand atop his head and guided him closer to her slit. He exhaled, and she shivered at the feeling of his warm breath blowing across her skin, fluids already starting to build on her lower lips. The edge of Deiter's mouth quirked up in a small smile. If she really wished him to serve in this capacity, then who was he to deny her?
  126.  
  127. Shuffling forwards, he placed his hands on her thighs and lapped carefully at her. Her wetness was completely without taste, and he moved in again, alternating between running his tongue up and down her moistening folds and using it to tease her clit. She was completely silent - with no need to breath, there was none of the pants or gasps he might have expected from a normal, lesser woman - but she slid down in the chair and spread her legs wider to give him better access. Her juices were flowing freely now, soaking into the musty old chair, and her body offered no resistance as he slid his tongue deeper into her pussy. Feeling her inner walls contract, he eased off, pulling away from her slit and kissing his way along her inner thighs.
  128.  
  129. "Is everything to your satisfaction, my queen?" He said, looking up at her. The vampire sat in repose, one hand dangling limply, her head lolled back with her eyes closed.
  130.  
  131. "Oh my, yes. Please, continue." Dahlia replied, pushing his face back towards her crotch. It was an instruction, not a request - her voice was stronger and lustier than the sorrowful whisper it had once been, and his heart leapt to see the effect he was having upon her.
  132.  
  133. He dove back in, sliding a finger into her as his tongue flickered back and forth across her clit. A second finger joined the first, thrusting and curling inside her, searching for the spots that would cause her to writhe or murmur in pleasure. He brought her to the edge a second time, laughing softly at the frustrated noise she made when he retreated to lick and kiss around her aching folds, before sliding his tongue back into her. She bucked against his face, spasmed, and came with a thin cry.
  134.  
  135. "That was..." Dahlia sighed, then laughed. "Long, long overdue. I have so missed the pleasures of the flesh." He turned to him a wicked gleam in her dark eyes. "As an appetiser, that was exquisite. The main course?" She gestured towards the hard bulge in his trousers.
  136.  
  137. deiter unbuckled his belt with almost indecent haste. His cock was already hard, a fat bead of precome christening the tip. She stared hungrily at it, then beckoned him forwards. Placing himself against her entrance, Deiter leaned over her, taking her breasts in his hands as he slid into her cool, silken depths. Her pussy was wet and ready for him and he thrust up to the hilt in one smooth motion. It felt divine; he groped and mauled her breasts in his palms as his hot, steely prick throbbed inside her, the heat of his organ contrasting with her deathly chill. Dahlia rolled her head back and let out a long, throaty moan of satisfaction.
  138.  
  139. "Too long." She added, locking her legs around his waist and pulling deeper into her. He grinned and moved up to her nipples, tweaking and rolling them between her fingers as he began thrusting in earnest, her legs slackening to allow him to draw back, then pulling in tighter to help power his movements. Though he had set the pace of their union, he could feel the strength in her limbs, and knew that he had only done so because she had desired it. Her body was a set of contradictions - strong for something that looked so frail, cold and sharp but animated by a warm, passionate animus. It was a strangeness he suspected he would get to know very well in the coming months.
  140.  
  141. Dahlia shifted position, pulling her legs in to stop him from slipping out and pulling herself upright in the chair. She dragged him into an embrace, crushing herself against his chest and kissing him with a desperate, needly passion. He felt her fangs brush against his lips and tasted his own blood in her mouth.
  142.  
  143. "Keep going." She whispered into his ear. Deiter could feel her tightening around him, and guessed her orgasm was close. He could feel his own building.
  144.  
  145. "'m not going to last much longer." He said.
  146.  
  147. "Neither shall I. Together?"
  148.  
  149. The vampire didn't give him a chance to reply. She slouched back into the seat, catching his hands in hers as she ground back against his thrusts. They pushed against one another, their bodies tight and tense, dancing on the edge of ecstacy for as long as they could hold the moment. And then at once, Dahlia clamped her long, pale legs around him as she came, her body jerking upwards as her orgasm ravaged her. Deiter shuddered, gasped, and drove himself forward one last time as he emptied himself into her cold, slick body.
  150.  
  151. Dahlia flopped backwards, a look of utter contentment on her face. Deiter withdrew his softening cock from her and sat down at her feet, resting his head against her thigh. He could see the white of his seed, mixing with the vampire's clear juices, against her greying inner folds. He raised an eyebrow as she dipped two fingers into her pussy, swirling them around and drawing out a long string of his come. Looking up, Deiter watched as her tongue licked out, gathering up the sticky fluid and sucking it into her mouth. The vampire lapped her fingers clean and swallowed, then looked down, smiling faintly.
  152.  
  153. "I feed upon the essence of life." She explained. "Such is most abundantly found in blood, but sexual fluids will suffice."
  154.  
  155. She drew out another string and fed upon it, then pulled her legs in and curled up in the chair, looking down at him.
  156.  
  157. "Centuries ago, your ancestors promised to serve me for an eternity." She said. "That promise was made under duress. Had they not agreed, they would have been exterminated. But I am no longer that person, and I will not keep slaves. If you wish it, I shall release you, and any descendants you might have, from your bonds. You may walk out of here and never look back."
  158.  
  159. Deiter was silent for what felt like a long time. He had given up everything to be here, at the feet of his ancient queen. He had expected to be rewarded with respect, riches, power over other men, and a seat at the right hand of an enchanting woman who would rebuild a scattered world. Looking around, all he saw was a miserable castle halfway to falling apart, a guilt-wracked, alien creature, and a sad, lonely man who had driven away everything good in his life chasing after a dream which had turned out to be a delusion.
  160.  
  161. "I think -" He said, then halted, and looked up at her. She just smiled patiently, waiting for his answer.
  162.  
  163. "I think - "
  164.  
  165. He knew he could start again. He didn't have money, but he still had the books he'd learned the midnight triad's history from, and the scrolls which had taught him the ritual required to bring her back. Many of their original owners had hefty finder's fees for whoever returned them. He could work through a middleman, give him a percentage of the money for his service and silence, and use the rest to travel abroad and start afresh with a new name.
  166.  
  167. But then he looked to her again, and saw the sadness in her eyes; the knowledge that she had done monstrous things and desperately wanted to make amends, but also knew she could not do so alone.
  168.  
  169. "I think...I think my family is as much to blame as you are." He sighed. "We could have said no. We could have died with dignity, instead of bowing our heads in submission. I have as much to make up for as you do. I need to stay. For now, at least."
  170.  
  171. She squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.
  172.  
  173. "Then you shall stay. And, perhaps, when our hands have been washed clean, you will decide to leave and your family's long service will be ended. Tomorrow night, we shall make plans. But tonight, we shall rest a while longer."
  174.  
  175. And together they looked to the window, where the moonlight shone through the window like dawn's first rays.
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