Yes: Sofia's Tale

Jessica thinks over the offer. She is too intrigued to say no. Luckily she was hunting solo that evening. She takes Sofia's hand, fascinated.

"Why don't you go back into the club there and bring out some food while I call my driver out here" Sofia suggests, wiping the blood from her chin with a handkerchief.

Jessica emerges from the club holding the hands of two attractive, enthralled blonde women. "French tourists, I think" Jessica says mischievously. Sofia is leaning against a black SUV that had pulled into the alley.

"Let's drive" Sofia says to Jessica, and winks.

Jessica sits in the back of the SUV with Sofia and the humans, driving through the bustling streets of Rio. The windows are tinted, obscuring any view from the street. The French tourists snore softly in the cabin, telltale bite marks and blood streaks their necks. Sofia begins her tale.

Báthory Erzsébet, who you call Elizabeth, was very human once. She was a noblewoman in sixteenth century Hungary. Her blood-soaked rampage through her subjects is infamous now. Tales of her bathing in the blood of virgins to stay young form the basis for many tawdry horror stories even today. She has become a cheap monster from the mists of the past.

What has been forgotten, (in part due to active suppression by Erzsébet minions), is how her (human) story ended. The history books tell you that she was arrested by the Church and locked away to die. This story was created by Erzsébet because it suited her desire to stay hidden, feasting on humanity for centuries.

What history has forgotten is that Erzsébet was a skilled magician, maybe the most skilled ever. The stories tell you that she shed blood out of mere vanity, as a cosmetic. This is nonsense. She alone in her time recognized the true ritual power of human blood, of human sacrifice. By harnessing that power, she was able to transform into what she is now. Unaging. Immortal. She had to burn through thousands of innocents to perfect her methods, to recreate the rituals that she had pieced together from multiple incomplete sources.

In 1584, I was a young girl, the daughter of a minor nobleman, rich in title but not much else. I was sent to Erzsébet's keep to be educated. I was dazzled by her. She was the most breathtaking woman I have ever seen. Beautiful, confident, strong. I was under her spell...and this was while she was still human. After several weeks, she took me into her bed. Young girls rotated in and out of bed with us night to night, but I was the constant. I felt special. I was in love.

Eventually, Erzsébet grew to trust me. She started to show me her "experiments". I'll never forget the first time we bathed in blood together. I knew it was wrong - but we were of noble blood and they were just peasant girls - I was captivated. We made love in that tub, absorbing the essence of the several drained virgins hanging above us. Erzsébet was so sure of herself, of what she was doing.

Her blood magic was getting stronger. Eventually, after several more years, she perfected the ritual she had been laboring towards. I wasn't present for her final ritual, but she emerged ... transformed. She had become an immortal. Thinking about that first night, watching her fangs sink into all those girls, draining them, it still gets me aroused.

A few day later, she shared her gift with me. I was her first offspring. I drank her blood, and she exsanguinated me. I awoke the next night changed. Immortal. Thirsty. (Not unlike your experience, I imagine.)

Over the next centuries, Erzsébet and I tore through Central Europe. We drained countless numbers. Every night was a feast. Wartime was the best, when we could hunt in the open. I still fondly remember our rampage through Paris during the revolution.
I had a daughter...

Sofia looks off out the car window, and Jessica sees a tear form in the corner of her eye. She wipes it away, and continues. Jessica doesn't inquire further.

I loved Erzsébet. I still do. But she is so controlling. So cruel. Erzsébet had a certain affection for me, but she didn't love me. I learned that, slowly. She doesn't love anything except for herself, and blood. And this killed me little by little every day.

Finally, in the 1880s, I had had enough. Enough of being a servant to Erzsébet but never an equal, a companion. I left for South America, hoping the distance would help me forget about Erzsébet and my spurned affections. I haven't seen Erzsébet since.

Jessica sits silently, absorbing what she has been told.

"Do you think she'll come for me?" Jessica asks nervously.

"I don't know, child" Sofia answers. "She let me go, but I don't know if that generalizes."

Sofia, reading the anxiety on Jessica's face, leans in to kiss her. Jessica closes her eyes and kisses back. Sofia's mouth is delicious. They pull into a garage in a massive estate in an affluent part of the city. "Come, Jessica, I want you to meet my children" Sofia says, taking Jessica's hand.