Terribleminds flash fiction challenge
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/08/07/flash-fiction-another-x-meets-y-pop-culture-challenge/
I lean back and check to make sure the right seam on my robin egg blue silk stockings was straight. Perfect. The blue line from the heal on the back of my t-strap dancing shoe marked the start of the seam to where it disappeared under the midnight blue scalloped evening flapper dress. I turn to check the other seam and glimpse the man I had feed on. The man who had been turned by my enemy as little as two months ago.
When I sunk my vampire incisors into the pulsing vein, I tasted his masculinity, his virility. I almost stopped the death exsanguination because of the desire which welled up in me to mate with him. Mannonck had chosen him well. He must have known this man and barely vampire, would arouse the final state I would need to turn into the most powerful level of vampire, even more powerful than Mannonck. I resisted the draw to power and sucked the life out of him.
Turning to stared at the dead man,I wondering why my enemy would want me to become more powerful than him. Then, I realized. How could I be so stupid? He had changed his tactics from trying to kill me to courting me to his tribe. Mannonck, after trying for years and failing to get Dahey to join forces with him, decided a mated female vampire might be able to conquer the 400 year old, twenty-three member strong vampire clan of Dahey Tundar.
Opening the alley door that led to Club Zoe, I returned to the group of acquaintances whom I meet in the lobby of the Hotel du Noir. I needed to blend and this group of young flappers were the perfect disguise for a vampire spy working for MII and who was being tailed by the man who now laid in the alley.
"Marta, where have you been. You missed my favorite song. Dance with me," said Emma, the lovely brunette girl who was engaged to the leader of the little group. She grabbed my hand and drug me to the dance floor. The 1920's open affection for either sex was new for this vampire who was turned fourteen years before Queen Victoria was crowned. My turning happened on my birthday, August 23,1823. I was an orphan on the streets of London after being kicked out of the St. Mark's, nunnery and school for wayward girls.
The music turned from a lively tune to slow jazz which spoke to the sadness within me. Emma pulled me close and we swayed to the rhythm. I closed my eyes and my mind flashed to the one time I meet Monnonck eighty-six years ago.
***
The place to be eighty-six years ago was Amsterdam, at least it was for fun loving Vampires and creatures. I was a past the frenzied stage of constant hunger and the need to try to be semi-human. I'd recently discovered the excitement of undercover spy work.
A ball was being given in honor of the Prince of Norway's visit. My escort and fellow spy and vampire of 120 years was Earl Louis of Monaco. As a couple, we did not blend into the crowd with our six foot height, red hair, hazel eyes, and glowy white complexions. We were a matched set and many thought we were twins, though he was more the father figure to me. He taught me how to survive as a vampire and introduced me to the spy world. However, that's a story for another time.
We were announced:
"Presenting Lady Bjorne and Earl Lois."
All eyes were watching us as we descended the staircase. We look straight ahead while our vampiric senses took in perfume, fast and slow heartbeats, fear and indifference. I sensed at least three other creatures whose heartbeats were too fast to be a humans and the flowing blood without a heartbeat of five to ten vampires. This was not unusual for a ball full of royalty and high class merchants.
Once in the room, we parted and sought out our targets to gather information about a plot to overthrow Queen Victoria's new reign. I greeted a group of girls, but in the middle of introductions, their attentions turned to the next ball entrant. One girl's heart beat quickened and I followed her gaze to a group of men in kilts. When I zeroed in on the leader's blood rhythm, I could tell he was an old vampire. The flow of his blood was the slowest I had ever heard.
"Presenting clan chief, Dahey Tundar and the Tundar Clan."
The clan numbered nine males and two females vampires. I scanned the crowed for Louis, because I wanted to see his reaction to the new guests. My eyes were drawn to figure who was staring directly at me. The blood in my veins quickened at the sight of him. His lithesome height was full of power and his black eyes bore into me. I stood transfixed as he walked towards me.
Another announcement was made.
"Guests please proceed to the dining hall."
The girls around me broke into questions and exclamations; "Dinner now?", "This is unusual!", "How odd?", "Has the prince arrived?", "Dinner always is after hours of dancing!"
They continued in this manner as they proceeded towards the dinning hall.
All of the human beating hearts were leaving the room. The creatures and vampires remained. The black eyed vampire now stood a foot in front of me. I could see that the vampire before me was a native from North America. The high cheekbones and prominent hooked nose made me feel as if he had walked out of a Catlin painting of an Indian chief.
The doors to the dining hall closed. Louis appeared at my side and whispered in my ear, "You are staring at Monnonck ."
At this moment, Monnonck grabbed my arm and yanked me to him, "You are nothing, little rabbit." He let go and strode toward chief Tundar. Standing only inches from the clan chief, he bellowed into Dahey's face, "This is not your territory. You will leave at once,".
Louis grabbed me from around the waist. "We must leave at once. There is no plot to overthrow Queen Victoria here, tonight. I was mistaken in bringing you here." We left through a side door.
When we reached the street, I begged Louis for an explanation as to what Monnonck meant and why I felt drawn to him. He never explained and convinced me that I should never join either Mannanock or Dahey Thundar.
I have been on the run ever since, working cases when I could. Sadly, Montreal would not be a resting place for a few years, but a place to pass through. With the dead body in the alley, I'll be moving on to either Vancouver or perhaps San Francisco.
Note: I'm on vacation and only have my iPad. Please forgive the quality and know that this has not had an line editor.
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