Paris, 1794, Ch. 5: The Massacre

[Sofia's POV]

Thekla and Sofia follow Delphine into the massive basement's main central room. Sofia's mouth begins to water before she even enters: she can smell the cattle. Fresh humans. Not the leftovers that they'd all been nibbling at for days.

She enters to see Elizabeth sitting on a couch, and what she assumes to be prostitutes on either side of her, one with their breasts already out. There are another three whores on another couch. They are wearing awfully thick makeup and way too many layers, in the style of the time, but for the most part are young and healthy looking. Some of them could even be called beautiful. Elizabeth smiles at Sofia. Sofia closes her eyes and a deep breath: it is taking some will power to not tear into the humans immediately.

"Jean, that will be all" Elizabeth says to their human valet, who promptly bows and leaves the room. Sofia hears the click of the lock in the door.

Delphine and Thekla have moved to sit on the couch next to the other three whores. Sofia can see the primal hunger in their eyes. They won't be able to hold back for long.

"I thought we were laying low, Elizabeth?" Sofia says exasperatedly.

Elizabeth doesn't answer, but bites her wrist and holds it to the human on her left. The human begins to drink eagerly. She must have compelled them Sofia thinks.

"This isn't a party. We are giving them the gift. We need numbers" Elizabeth says. "No, Sofia, they aren't compelled. They chose my blood and eternal life". Elizabeth moves her wrist to the girl on her right. The girl grips Elizabeth's arm with both hands, her eyes closed as she sucks at Elizabeth's wrist.

I've never seen Elizabeth give her gift so casually Sofia thinks suspiciously.

"Children, feed them" Elizabeth says. Thekla and Delphine bite into their wrists, holding them to the humans mouths. The humans enthusiastically drink the vampiric blood. Sofia walks to the last unattended human, offering her wrist to the prostitute. The girl tentatively licks the blood and then begins to suck. Sofia had forgotten how arousing it was too be fed on.

All five humans have ingested the vampiresses' blood. The red fluid stains their lips and chins.

"Ladies, welcome to our dark sisterhood" Elizabeth says officiously. She winks at the the other vampiresses. "To complete your transformation, repeat after me: abracadabra".

The humans recite the meaningless incantation as Elizabeth laughs callously. This game is twisted, even for Elizabeth Sofia thinks.

"There, ladies, can you feel the change?" Elizabeth asks, her mellifluous tone betraying none of her true sadism. The prostitutes exchange confused looks, clearly not feeling any changes other than the mild euphoric effects of consuming vampire blood. Sofia looks to see Delphine panting, her eyes fixed to the jugular of the human next to her.

"Children...I wasn't completely honest with our guests on the... process" Elizabeth says, chuckling, as the whores' eyes begin to widen in fear. "Why don't you show them?"

In the back of an eye, Delphine grabs the human next to her and tears open her dress. She bites deeply into the girl's breast as the girl shrieks.

"Drain them, children" Elizabeth says as the room devolves into chaos. The terrified shrieks of the girls echo off the stone walls as the vampiresses express a bloodlust compounded over days of restraint. Thekla straddles a whore, holding her head back and viciously feeding from her exposed throat. Elizabeth, ever composed, kneels with a human in the floor, sipping from her shoulder while kneeling behind her. Elizabeth holds the girl in place by her breasts, feeding slowly while not taking her eyes off of the carnage around her. One of the whores claws at the door to escape, but can't, it's blocked from the outside. She slumps against the heavy door, crying. (Of course a vampiress would have no issue breaking the door down.)

Sofia throws the last human to the floor, and straddles her waist. The smell of the bloodletting in the air has excited Sofia into a frenzy. She roughly pushes the screaming whore's head to the side and strikes, sinking her fangs into the girl's carotid artery. Hot blood spurts into Sofia's mouth. I haven't fed like this, given in to the thrill of the kill in so long Sofia thinks, even though they have only been "fasting" for less than a week.

Delphine and Thekla move to the girl backed against the door. Thekla pins her to the door, biting into her throat as she cries. Delphine tears her dress, and bites into her exposed breast. Elizabeth drops the girl kneeling before, and joins her children at the door, feeding from the girl's wrist, but clearly pacing herself.

After a few moments, the screams die down to sobs and whimpers, and then silence, the only sounds being the vampiresses' rapacious gulping. The five whores are strewn about the room, exsanguinated. All in all, the massacre took only a few minutes. Sofia lies on the stone floor, eyes closed, licking the last blood from her lips. Amazing she thinks, I feel so much better.

The four vampiresses make love, their bodies slick with the whores' blood. Sofia comes several times, and for the first night in a week, is happy. Afterwards, Thekla and Delphine drift off to sleep, drunk on blood.

Jessica helps Elizabeth move the prostitutes' limp bodies to another room, laying them on a mattress. Great, five more mouths to feed Sofia thinks, unsure of the strategy here.

Elizabeth begins to bind the bodies in heavy chains, gagging them with balls of cloth in their mouths covered by leather straps, and hooding them.

"What are you doing?" Sofia asks, confused.

"Have you ever seen a vampire starved of blood?" Elizabeth asks. Sofia is unsure where this is going.

"A few days without blood, and a vampire is basically a mindless animal. Thoughtless. Impulsive. They'll attack and drain anything that moves. They'll do anything to make the pain and the hunger go away" Elizabeth explains.

Sofia begins to understand Elizabeth's plan, but is shocked with how casually she'd **** her own kind. If she can do it to them, why not us? Sofia thinks, shuddering.

"We'll starve these ones" Elizabeth continues, stroking a corpse's leg. "Then, when they are completely insane, we'll set them loose. A political rally is planned for in four nights time. A large herd of republicans for them to tear through. Our Rachel will have **** but to reveal herself."

Sofia is horrified, but also aroused by Elizabeth's raw power.

"When that bitch surfaces, we'll be watching" Elizabeth says laughing.