Story Projects

I open the door to Caroline’s bed chamber. She’s sound asleep, lying on her left side facing me. Her black hair is scattered all over her face. She’s in her black transparent nightgown I gave her yesterday as a gift for our wedding anniversary. I head to the left of the room, where a wide tall window is. The sky is bleeding a dark orange as the sun begins to rise out of the horizon.

Caroline’s mumbling makes me slightly turn my head to the right to listen in on what she’s saying. She’s speaking absolute gibberish. It’s quite adorable seeing her do this, so I wait a few minutes before waking her.

“Time to wake up,” I say, quiet enough it won’t scare her out of her sleep. She stops mumbling right as I sit beside her. “Caroline,” I whisper.

Her eyelids reveal her glowing red eyes at a crawling pace. She looks at me, then a small smile smears on her face. I take out a vial of blood mixed with wine out of my pocket and unscrew the lid.

“Good...” she says, taking a quick glance at the window, “morning Zaros. I smell sweet blood.”

“I mixed it with wine.” Her thirst for blood has her eyes on the vial bearing her fangs at me. “I won’t give you this until you control yourself.”

“Sorry.” I rub her right cheek, stimulating more of a smile.

She sits up towards me, throwing her hair out of her face. I put the bottle up to her nose to see her reaction. Her nostrils flare out, but her mouth stays closed. I dab the blood on my finger and rub it on her wet tongue. She clamps her lips down and begins gently sucking my finger.

“This concoction is delicious,” she says.

“Here’s the rest.” She downs the drink in one gulp. “Do you remember what today is?” As she savors the blood rubbing her tongue inside her mouth, her eye color turns a brownish orange.

“Yeah, it’s princess Audrey’s 18th birthday. I really don’t want to go to the royal party. Can I just stay here and mess around with the maids or ride the horses?”

“You could, but Luna really wants you to come along and be with us.” She hops out of bed and walks past me. At first, I keep my eyes on the bed, then look at her. “Why don’t you want to go?”

“I’m still not used to being around people. There are too many smells. I don’t know how Luna can do it.” I stand behind her and wrap my hands around her waist.

“She has the same problems as you, but she hides it well. It’ll be good practice for you to be around your kind. In time you’ll learn how to handle it.”

“Alright... I’ll come, but I’m doing this for you, not for Audrey.”

“I’m okay with that.”

She strips naked then looks back at me over her right shoulder. The sun bleeds over the horizon, making her skin radiate brown for a moment. She walks past me, rubbing her fingers across my stomach, then warps to the other end of the room. On the wall, there’s a bell she rings, sending handmaids into her room.

I exit out into the hallway through the door I came in. The candles on the walls ignite from my presence. I eyeball the third door on the right, which houses Luna, my second wife. Before I can touch the knob to open the door, she cracks it open.

“Morning, Zaros,” she says, opening the door further. “Is Caroline coming to the party?”

“She is.”

“Yippee,” she yells, hugging and jumping on me. I somewhat share her joy, but I’m not going to jump like a rabbit. “I promise I’ll keep a close watch on her.”

“I believe you.” I give her a kiss, but one isn’t enough as she comes with multiple kisses.

“Hey, after we attend this child’s celebration, how about you, Caroline, and I get together and spread our wings.”

“Just say sex.” She grins with a bit of chuckling behind it.

“But, I like being indirect by telling you what I want.” I grip her throat gently with one hand and rub the fang scars near her collarbone with my thumb.

“I’ll be back to get you two. Dawn your beautiful jewelry. I’d like to see my wives outshine all the human women.” I promptly exit the room, leaving her lustful desire teased and unanswered.

“You didn’t give me an answer! Zaros!”

I head into my chamber to get dressed for the celebration. My servants await me with all the clothing I’m going to wear.

While they dress me, two maids, ranging in significant height differences, enter my room. The short woman holds a pillow with three other perfume bottles on top of it.

“Good morning, my lord. Which perfume would you like to have?” The tall one says. I can smell the distinctive smell of each bottle even though they haven’t squeezed it.

“That one,” I say, pointing at the middle bottle. “I like the smell of peach mixed with vanilla.” Both of the women look at each other with wide eyes and open mouths.

“How did you know the mixture? We just acquired it today,” the tall one says.

“I have a good nose.” I wink at them, hoping it’ll kill their curiosity on how I know. She grabs the middle bottle off the pillow and sprays my body with the delightful scent. “That’ll be enough.”

“Yes, my lord.” She bows her head, but I stop her halfway into it. Her body freezes as she looks down at the ground. My servants continue to attend to my outfit as I kinda toy with this tall woman. “Do you need something, lord?” Her skin is soft, and I can feel the blood rushing in her veins.

“No. You may go.”

She sighs as she finishes her bowing and walks out of the room with the shorter maid. The final piece of my attire is my thin saber. I take it out of my servant’s hand to strap it on myself. Touching the handle with my gloves doesn’t feel comforting, but I don’t feel the need to remove my gloves.

“Leave me,” I say.

When the door closes, my mind turns to Luna, Caroline, and the mass of people they’ll be around. I head to a chest at the foot of my bed and unlock it using an unbinding spell only I can open. Inside it is a polished wooden box that holds unique breathing masks to filter out blood in the air. I take them out and examine the elegant craftsmanship that took me months to forge. Both masks are made of diamonds that are infused with my crystal-like blood.

After I test them on myself to double-check their effectiveness, I head for Luna’s room. Her door is opened, and she’s not in it, so I move on to Caroline’s room. I hear their laughing chatter as I come closer to the door. They sparkle in the sunlight with the amount of jewelry on them. Luna wears silver while Caroline is adorned in gold. I see necklaces, earrings, tiaras, rings, and arm bracelets.

“Zaros,” they say in unison. Caroline motions the maids out of the room with her hand. I hide the box behind my back.

“Aren’t we beautiful?” Luna says, holding her arms out. Caroline does the same thing, but her arms are closer to her body.

“My wealth and treasures have made you all dazzling,” I say. Luna gives me a comforting tight hug. She smells like roses mixed with lavender. I look over her head to see why Coraline hasn’t come to me yet. She’s smiling but looks like she’s keeping to herself as she holds her arms. “Come here, my love.” I stick out my hand to her. She grabs it and joins our circle of hugs. “I have a gift for you two.” Luna moves off of me, so I can reveal the box to them. Caroline takes it over to the bed, and Luna follows her.

“Whoa,” Caroline says, viewing the masks. She picks one up and caresses it with her thumbs. “What are these?”

“Put it over your mouth.” Luna takes her’s out and smells it. Caroline does the same thing and then puts it on her mouth. Immediately she looks to the door to her right.

“I can’t smell them anymore.”

“Really?” Luna says, putting on the mask. She walks up to the door, sniffing the air loudly. “Zaros! How is this possible?”

“I’m over 300 years old. I know a lot of things. Telling you the science how it’s done would take a long time. Plus, your young vampire minds are short in attention.” They both mumble, agreeing I’m right. “Only wear them when you absolutely can’t take it.”

“Thank you so much,” Caroline says in a weeping way.

“Zaros,” Luna says, grinning while slightly laughing. “This is amazing. Thank you.”

We ride in a carriage through the busy city to Audrey’s palace. It seems like everyone is celebrating her with songs, dancing, and decorative flowers more heavenly than in the previous years of her life. I check on my wives’ conditions to see their body responses to the tightly-packed people roaming the streets. Caroline glances at every single person who passes the open window while touching her teeth. Luna is leaning against the door with her eyes closed with her hands in her lap. Our driver makes the horses increase their speed as we move up the hill nearing the palace. The thick smell of blood thins out, making my wives loosen up their tense bodies.

“Oh, are we almost there?” Caroline says, looking out the window.

“No, I think we still got some distance to go,” Luna says, looking out her side. Seeing their heads out the window reminds me of Audrey when she was six, viewing the landscape with awe.

“What are you smiling about?” Caroline whispers, sitting next to me.

“I was thinking about Audrey when she was little,” I say. Luna looks at me, then sits next to us.

“This day must be special for you, too, right? From what you told us, you kinda raised that child,” Luna says.

“I did. It was a terrible experience, but it got worse when Audrey was a teen. Humans and their puberty is strange.” They both start laughing hard.

“Remember those days, Caroline?” All Caroline does is laugh harder. I’m so confused as to why it’s funny, so I just ignore them.

Our carriage pulls up to the front door of the palace. Audrey’s servants open the right door, and Luna steps out first. Caroline is second then I follow behind her. Thereupon the second floor, I spot Audrey through the window. She waves with both hands, then moves away from the window. My wives and I enter the hallway filled with people conversing, eating snacks, and drinking. Audrey runs towards the grand staircase on the second floor as fast as her thick dress will allow her. I track her pathway to the steps, but it gets blocked by two royal guards standing in front of me.

“General Zaros,” they say together and give me a quick salute.

“Zaros!” Audrey shouts, maneuvering past people and shoving the guards to get to me.

“Hello, child,” I say, catching her in my arms. “Happy birthday, your highness.”

“Thank you so much!” She breaks away from me and then looks at my wives with a smile. “Are these your wives you’ve hidden well from me?”

“Yes. This is Caroline and Luna.”

“Wow, you two look so beautiful.”

“Thank you, your highness,” Caroline and Luna say in unison.

“May I take your husband for a moment?” Caroline and Luna look at me as if they’re looking for my permission. I stare at them, forcing a decision from one of them.

“Sure,” Luna says, holding Caroline’s left arm. “Caroline and I will go chat someone’s ear off.”

Audrey takes my hand and yanks me away from them. We walk up the stairs all the way to the second floor’s railing. I watch my wives mingle with a few mature-looking women. One woman touches Luna’s jewelry on her arm, examining it with her old eyes. Luna speaks to her with a noticeable fake smile, but I don’t think the woman knows it. She’s genuinely enjoying her conversation about whatever, judging by her laughter.

“So, did you give me anything for my birthday?” Audrey says, leaning over the rail with me.

“You know I never do.”

“I know, but I was hoping you would this time.” The softness in the voice makes me look at her. “I’m only this age once, and I can only bask in its glory for one full day. I’d like to make it memorable.”

“Is my presence not enough for you, child?” She looks at me with inverted brows and a frown.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, looking down at the crowd. “I should be. You’ve been coming to my birthdays since I was six.” She lays her head on the rail, with her hands under her chin. “What was I thinking? That was stupid of me to say. Forgive me.” I have a hard time understanding the disappointment she’s putting on herself.

“Audrey.”

“Yes?” She turns her eyes to me.

“Take my saber.” I unbuckle it off my left hip then present it. “Here’s your gift.”

“Zaros, I can’t. It’s fine.” I press the handle against her arm. “I can’t accept this. For as long as I can remember, you’ve always had this by your side. You never let me use it or even touch it. Why are you giving me your most prized possession?”

“You said it yourself. You wanted this day to be memorable. Plus, holding on to the memories of this saber gets stressful sometimes.”

“Why’s that?”

“I’ll tell you later. Happy birthday Audrey. Bask in the glory.” Audrey blinks a few times while wiping her eyes. She grasps my saber with her fingers and holds it out flat.

“Zaros,” she says, doing short laughs with teary eyes. A few tears fall down her cheeks, but I soak them up with my gloves. “I’ll cherish it with the utmost care and respect.”

“Good girl.”

I look down to see what my wives are doing. Luna catches me watching her and redirects Caroline’s attention to me. They both give lovely grins, then return their attention back to the women. Their masks are in their hands and close to their stomachs.

“I have something far great than holding on to an antique,” I say.

“Lucky vampire,” Audrey says.