Queen of the Night
Jul. 12th, 2013 07:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feredarStory: Queen of the Night
Year: 986 FY
Characters: Tana
Warnings: Vampirism, incestuous fantasizing, forced turning into a vampire, possible brief ableism
Notes: This takes place in the Urban Fantasy AU
Tana had been a Hunter most of her adult life. Truth to tell, she'd been a Hunter in her teens--Kellom had taught her, after all, and he'd started when she was twelve, after he finished his qualifications. For self-defense, he'd said, but that wasn't why she loved it. She didn't love it for the boring, 'protect the masses' reasons. She did love being close to Kellom when he showed her exactly how to aim, how to thrust, the feel and smell of his skin against hers, but that wasn't really it, either. She didn't even love it for the knowledge that she was putting down things that shouldn't be--although that was a plus.
No, she loved the rush that came when she had a thing cornered, when she could stab and twist and watch it suffer.
But she hadn't done that earlier today, when she'd confirmed this was a lair. It would have been easy--blow out a few windows and the upper floor, let the sunlight do it for her. The vampire would've screamed, too, it would have been nice. So what if it was illegal to hunt vampires not marked as active threats? She could totally stage it accidental damage or a paperwork malfunction. And she could afford the lawsuit, if it had family or friends who would bitch about it.
But she hadn't done that. Not today. Because she'd had a better idea.
It woke as soon as the sun went down, and saw her and hissed.
"Like my circle?" she asked, sweetly.
"I follow the rules," it said. "You can't do this to me."
"Ah-ah-ah, no law against trapping you while I do an interview, honey," she said. "Besides, the circle's garlic. Nonfatal, unless you're stupid enough to touch it." It would be a different thing if she'd used blessed objects, those were like radiation--might well burn it from a foot away and could render a lair uninhabitable for days to weeks, depending on how long and how strong the faith of the blesser was. Probably only days in this case, since she was borderline atheist and the user's faith mattered, too. Still, illegal except for vampires who'd committed non-capital crimes.
It still tried to argue with her citation. "I'm not a suspect in any crime. Strict measures for an interview right now are--"
How adorable. "Oh, honey. This isn't a criminal interview. This is for my own information." Tana smiled. "So, how many fledglings do you have?"
It stared at her. "What the hell?"
"Answer the question, or I can accuse you of resisting a routine inspection." She made her eyes as wide as she could. "Of course, then I'll have to take you in, and you'll be in a much less comfortable circle for that interrogation."
"It'll never stick."
"I can afford a reprimand."
It stared at her for a long moment, then muttered. "None. I don't have any fledglings."
"Good," Tana said. "You're untapped. That means whoever you turn next will be stronger."
"Yeah, that won't be anyone," it said. "Turning is not something I'm ever going to do."
"Even a volunteer?"
Its eyes focused on her throat. Given the way her heart was racing, it wasn't hard to figure out why. "The hell are you on?"
"I like the rush, honey," Tana said. "It's why I Hunt. And there's no rule says vampires can't be Hunters. And my family could be kept in the dark, easy enough. The advantages--strength, speed, longevity, beauty...and I can handle the feeding. Small price to pay."
It looked up from her throat and locked eyes with her. "Are you fucking insane?"
"Not at all, honey," Tana said, smiling. "I just know what I want. And I know you can give it to me." She pulled out her papers--she'd done a search as soon as she'd confirmed lair, of course. "You're over two centuries old, no fledglings on record--thank you for confirming, by the way--well-behaved, with a ridiculously easy lair to break into. Might want to work on that. Anyway, my point is, you're perfect for what I want."
"Hell no," it said. "I'm not turning you. Willing or otherwise."
"Pity," Tana said, then put the file away and stood up. "Have fun getting out of the circle. I took the liberty of removing all of your tech from this room. And I installed a psy-shield on the ceiling." She smiled sweetly at him. "You'll waste away in here, and when you finally do break out? You'll commit a crime and I'll get to stake you."
It stared at her, and she could practically see its mind working, trying to get around the shield. "Bitch," it said.
"So what'll it be?"
"You haven't really given me much choice, have you," it said.
"Nope," Tana replied cheerfully.
"How do you know I won't just kill you as soon as you get close?" it said.
She came up to the very edge of the garlic circle, picked up her crossbow, and rested it against his chest. "Touch of a button, sweetheart. Who do you think will be faster?"
The last flicker of hope died in its eyes, and Tana smiled. "Fine," it said. "Break the circle. I'll behave."
She kicked a few pieces of garlic out into the room, a break just wide enough to step through, and, without moving the crossbow, stepped in so her neck was in range. She tilted, presenting the artery, as inviting as she could be.
She felt its fangs slide in and then a dizzying rush, better than Hunting, better than Kellom, almost, and everything turned grey around the edges.
She fell to her knees with it supporting her, and she heard the crossbow clatter and dimly wondered if it would risk snapping her neck now--but apparently she'd scared it enough. Good.
It pulled away from her neck and she felt something cold and hard and wet rest gently against her lips. She opened her mouth and tasted blood, spicy and metallic and syrupy thick, and she pulled the hard object--the vampire's hand, she found, it was feeding her from its wrist--and everything pulled into sharp focus again--sharper than she had ever imagined.
It shoved her away and she turned in the dark cellar, suddenly able to see every pinpointed detail of it.
She threw back her head and laughed, feeling every curl of her hair tumbling, straining to free itself from the braid she had it in for safety. She dug it free with her fingers and felt it tumble loose, and she laughed again, feeling free and light and on top of the world.
Smiling, she turned back to the other vampire, to her progenitor, and picked up the crossbow.
"Wait, what are you--"
She fired before it finished the question. Sluggish from the hour and from having just given her most of its blood, it couldn't dodge. "Like I said." She smiled, though it was already crumbling and couldn't hear her. "My family can't ever know."
Tana shouldered the crossbow, made sure there was no residual blood on her lips, and headed out to take control of the night.
Year: 986 FY
Characters: Tana
Warnings: Vampirism, incestuous fantasizing, forced turning into a vampire, possible brief ableism
Notes: This takes place in the Urban Fantasy AU
Tana had been a Hunter most of her adult life. Truth to tell, she'd been a Hunter in her teens--Kellom had taught her, after all, and he'd started when she was twelve, after he finished his qualifications. For self-defense, he'd said, but that wasn't why she loved it. She didn't love it for the boring, 'protect the masses' reasons. She did love being close to Kellom when he showed her exactly how to aim, how to thrust, the feel and smell of his skin against hers, but that wasn't really it, either. She didn't even love it for the knowledge that she was putting down things that shouldn't be--although that was a plus.
No, she loved the rush that came when she had a thing cornered, when she could stab and twist and watch it suffer.
But she hadn't done that earlier today, when she'd confirmed this was a lair. It would have been easy--blow out a few windows and the upper floor, let the sunlight do it for her. The vampire would've screamed, too, it would have been nice. So what if it was illegal to hunt vampires not marked as active threats? She could totally stage it accidental damage or a paperwork malfunction. And she could afford the lawsuit, if it had family or friends who would bitch about it.
But she hadn't done that. Not today. Because she'd had a better idea.
It woke as soon as the sun went down, and saw her and hissed.
"Like my circle?" she asked, sweetly.
"I follow the rules," it said. "You can't do this to me."
"Ah-ah-ah, no law against trapping you while I do an interview, honey," she said. "Besides, the circle's garlic. Nonfatal, unless you're stupid enough to touch it." It would be a different thing if she'd used blessed objects, those were like radiation--might well burn it from a foot away and could render a lair uninhabitable for days to weeks, depending on how long and how strong the faith of the blesser was. Probably only days in this case, since she was borderline atheist and the user's faith mattered, too. Still, illegal except for vampires who'd committed non-capital crimes.
It still tried to argue with her citation. "I'm not a suspect in any crime. Strict measures for an interview right now are--"
How adorable. "Oh, honey. This isn't a criminal interview. This is for my own information." Tana smiled. "So, how many fledglings do you have?"
It stared at her. "What the hell?"
"Answer the question, or I can accuse you of resisting a routine inspection." She made her eyes as wide as she could. "Of course, then I'll have to take you in, and you'll be in a much less comfortable circle for that interrogation."
"It'll never stick."
"I can afford a reprimand."
It stared at her for a long moment, then muttered. "None. I don't have any fledglings."
"Good," Tana said. "You're untapped. That means whoever you turn next will be stronger."
"Yeah, that won't be anyone," it said. "Turning is not something I'm ever going to do."
"Even a volunteer?"
Its eyes focused on her throat. Given the way her heart was racing, it wasn't hard to figure out why. "The hell are you on?"
"I like the rush, honey," Tana said. "It's why I Hunt. And there's no rule says vampires can't be Hunters. And my family could be kept in the dark, easy enough. The advantages--strength, speed, longevity, beauty...and I can handle the feeding. Small price to pay."
It looked up from her throat and locked eyes with her. "Are you fucking insane?"
"Not at all, honey," Tana said, smiling. "I just know what I want. And I know you can give it to me." She pulled out her papers--she'd done a search as soon as she'd confirmed lair, of course. "You're over two centuries old, no fledglings on record--thank you for confirming, by the way--well-behaved, with a ridiculously easy lair to break into. Might want to work on that. Anyway, my point is, you're perfect for what I want."
"Hell no," it said. "I'm not turning you. Willing or otherwise."
"Pity," Tana said, then put the file away and stood up. "Have fun getting out of the circle. I took the liberty of removing all of your tech from this room. And I installed a psy-shield on the ceiling." She smiled sweetly at him. "You'll waste away in here, and when you finally do break out? You'll commit a crime and I'll get to stake you."
It stared at her, and she could practically see its mind working, trying to get around the shield. "Bitch," it said.
"So what'll it be?"
"You haven't really given me much choice, have you," it said.
"Nope," Tana replied cheerfully.
"How do you know I won't just kill you as soon as you get close?" it said.
She came up to the very edge of the garlic circle, picked up her crossbow, and rested it against his chest. "Touch of a button, sweetheart. Who do you think will be faster?"
The last flicker of hope died in its eyes, and Tana smiled. "Fine," it said. "Break the circle. I'll behave."
She kicked a few pieces of garlic out into the room, a break just wide enough to step through, and, without moving the crossbow, stepped in so her neck was in range. She tilted, presenting the artery, as inviting as she could be.
She felt its fangs slide in and then a dizzying rush, better than Hunting, better than Kellom, almost, and everything turned grey around the edges.
She fell to her knees with it supporting her, and she heard the crossbow clatter and dimly wondered if it would risk snapping her neck now--but apparently she'd scared it enough. Good.
It pulled away from her neck and she felt something cold and hard and wet rest gently against her lips. She opened her mouth and tasted blood, spicy and metallic and syrupy thick, and she pulled the hard object--the vampire's hand, she found, it was feeding her from its wrist--and everything pulled into sharp focus again--sharper than she had ever imagined.
It shoved her away and she turned in the dark cellar, suddenly able to see every pinpointed detail of it.
She threw back her head and laughed, feeling every curl of her hair tumbling, straining to free itself from the braid she had it in for safety. She dug it free with her fingers and felt it tumble loose, and she laughed again, feeling free and light and on top of the world.
Smiling, she turned back to the other vampire, to her progenitor, and picked up the crossbow.
"Wait, what are you--"
She fired before it finished the question. Sluggish from the hour and from having just given her most of its blood, it couldn't dodge. "Like I said." She smiled, though it was already crumbling and couldn't hear her. "My family can't ever know."
Tana shouldered the crossbow, made sure there was no residual blood on her lips, and headed out to take control of the night.