Paris, 1794 Ch. 9: A Painful Revelation

[Sofia's POV]

Sofia watches as Rachel's turns slowly, her sword swinging in wide arcs to keep the animals at a distance. They snarl and hiss at her, fangs bared. I am going to enjoy tearing her apart Sofia thinks. She'll pay for my Katalin. Slowly, the vampiresses advance: Elizabeth, Thekla, Delphine and Sofia form an outer circle around Rachel and the animals, blocking any avenue of escape. Sofia relishes the increasing look of panic in Rachel's eyes. She's trapped like a dog, and she knows it Sofia smirks.

Elizabeth snaps, and the animals come to her side, kneeling next to her. Sofia doesn't quite understand the control she exerts over them. The vampiresses close ranks slightly, the noose tightening around the vampire huntress.

"Rachel. It's been so long. Welcome to Paris!" Elizabeth taunts. Why does she do this? Why is she stalling? Let's kill her Sofia thinks impatiently. Rachel spits at Elizabeth's feet, causing Elizabeth to chuckle. "Wow. How many dead here? Fifteen? Twenty? You aren't doing a very good job, hunter" Elizabeth crows. Sofia finds herself slightly frightened by Rachel's steely demeanor. She hasn't even so much as flinched Sofia notes. Thekla and Delphine laugh, enjoying this game of cat and mouse. Sofia is too angry to even smile.

"Elizabeth...she took my sister...let me drain her" Delphine begs.

"No. She belongs to Sofia. And only Sofia" Elizabeth answers, causing Delphine to frown, stepping back. Rachel is dangerous, and Delphine is still young and stupid Sofia thinks.

Sofia steps forward, glaring at Rachel. Rachel turns from Elizabeth, meeting Sofia's gaze head on. Sofia is taken aback, detecting just as much pure hatred in Rachel as in herself. Rachel swings her blade widely, causing Sofia to jump back. Sofia was startled by Rachel's agility. Dangerous, this one she thinks. Rachel, swings again, but a bit too widely this time, and looses her footing ever so slightly. Sofia dodges easily. She's angry, she'll make mistakes.

Rachel swings a final time, and Sofia darts behind her with inhuman speed, knocking the blade from her hand. Rachel is formidable...for a human Sofia thinks to herself. Sofia grabs Rachel from behind, holding her by the throat, her other arm wrapped across Rachel, pinning Rachel's arms across her chest. Rachel struggles, but is no match for Sofia's vampiric strength.

"Deadly hiding in the shadows, Rachel" Sofia spits, her fangs extending, "but not so fearsome in the open are you, murderer?"

"Murderer? Murderer??" Rachel asks in disbelief. Rachel starts to laugh heartily, enraging Sofia even further. Rachel doesn't need to make the implicit explicit.

Goodbye, bitch Sofia thinks, bending to bite Rachel. Her fangs brush against the flesh of Rachel's neck, scratching but not driving in. I want to make this last Sofia thinks, taking her time.

"If you kill me, you'll never find Katalin" Rachel says calmly, not a hint of fear in her tone. "She's still alive, you know."

Sofia feels as if a bull has run straight into her stomach. Her head spins, and she wants to vomit. She suddenly feels unsteady on her feet. Her grip loosens on Rachel and she takes a step back. She gradually recovers her poise.

"It's not true. You lie" she snarls at Rachel.

"How do you think I've managed to live for so, so long, Sofia?" Rachel asks, slowly bending for her sword. Sofia kicks it away.

"You're lying!" Sofia screams, her fists shaking. Elizabeth and the other vampiresses look on troubledly. Sofia lunges at Rachel. Rachel, moving with surprising speed of her own, reaches into her cloak. Sofia sees something glinting in her hand, but not a knife. Rachel whips around, just as Sofia is almost on her, throws a glittery powder in Sofia's face.

Szzz szzzz zszzssss

Sofia screams. Her entire face is burning. She blinks, clawing at her skin. Silver powder she thinks, that sneaky cunt. Sofia stumbles forward, blinded.

"Grab her" she hears Elizabeth yell, but Rachel had the opening she needed. Sofia hears the sword lifted from the stones, it singing as it swings through the air, and Delphine shrieking in pain. Sofia hears Rachel's rapid footfalls on the stone. She is running much faster than a typical human. Thekla, stunned at first, races to make up the lost distance. Sofia's vision returns, blurry but intact. Sofia sees Rachel dive off of the embankment into the River Seine below. Thekla and Elizabeth peer down at the black water.

But Rachel has disappeared.

As the vampiresses walk back to their lair, Sofia thinks back to Seville. 1647. When she lost Katalin. Or thought she did. She can't be sure anymore.

Seville was wracked by a recurrence of the dreaded plague. Disgusting, Sofia remembers, but a perfect hunting ground. So many were dying, who'd notice a few more?

Sofia still remembers the night clearly. She was feeding on a prostitute with Katalin, her daughter.

Katalin wasn't Sofia's biological daughter, of course, she was more. Sofia had turned Katalin, then an innocent young maiden, back in Hungary. Sofia had found her when Sofia and Elizabeth were tearing through a village together. Sofia was instantly drawn to her. Her youth, her beauty.

Katalin, despite her transformation, was still kind and pure of heart. A vampire, of course, who preyed on humans. But she lacked the cruelty and sadism of Elizabeth. She lacked my cruelty, too Sofia thinks wistfully.

Sofia can still taste the whore's blood on her lips. Her last meal with Katalin.

They fed that night, like most nights, believing in their own invincibility. Oblivious to the danger around them. The blood was all that mattered.

Sofia remembers the sharp pain in her leg. A crossbow bolt. Dropping the whore, she and Katalin looked around the alley, fangs bared, but saw nothing. A second bolt, out of the darkness, pierced Katalin's chest. She didn't even scream Sofia remembers. She just fell to the ground silently, not moving.

Sofia had been sure that the bolt had pierced her heart.

Another bolt whizzed past Sofia's ear, ricocheting off the stone wall. She knew it was Rachel. She debated her next move. With a bolt in her leg, she was no match for Rachel. She ran, limping, down a side alley. Saving herself. Abandoning Katalin.

Sofia knew these streets well. She could hear Rachel pursuing her, but after enough twists and turns, Rachel lost her trail.

The next night, Sofia and Elizabeth went back to find Katalin's body, but it was gone.

Enraged, Sofia stomps into the vampiresses' lair. Her face is healed by this point, just some minor irritation, but she is angrier than ever. I need to eat. Several humans are chained to the wall. She goes up to one at random, a young girl, and yanks her head to the side, sinking her fangs into the girl's neck. The girl screams into her gag as Sofia bites down harder. Sofia drinks with abandon, her throat undulating as she swallows the girl's blood. Within thirty seconds, the girl has passed out. After a minute, she's exsanguinated.

Sofia leans against the drained woman, eyes closed. She had hoped gorging on blood would calm her tempestuous feelings, but she was wrong. All that she feels is smoldering anger. Sofia feels a cool hand on her shoulder.

"Sofia. It's alright. We'll find Rachel and kill her" Elizabeth says, trying to comfort her daughter. Sofia is momentarily taken aback by the display of genuine warmth and concern from Elizabeth. It has been a long time since she's seen that side of Elizabeth.

"And what about Katalin?" Sofia asks, **** back a sob.

"We'll find her, too" Elizabeth answers, pressing her body against Sofia's back. The pressure feels good. Elizabeth kisses Sofia's shoulder. "I promise, Sofia. But there is nothing we can do now, it is almost sunrise."

Sofia sighs and nods. Elizabeth is right. Even if we had her trail, we couldn't track her now.

"Thekla, Delphine...could you please leave me with Sofia?" Elizabeth asks (but really commands).

"But we're hungr--" Thekla begins, but Elizabeth shoots her a look that makes Thekla crumple. She and Delphine quickly scurry from the chamber, to the next room, closing the door behind them.

"Sofia, child. Let me make you feel better. At least for now, until we can move against Rachel" Elizabeth says, sliding her arms around Sofia's torso. Sofia is not really in the mood, but the intimate contact with Elizabeth is seductive. She feels herself melting in Elizabeth's embrace. Sofia leans her head back onto Elizabeth's shoulder, and Elizabeth begins to brush her lips along the sides of Sofia's long neck. She knows how to get me going Sofia thinks, smiling. Elizabeth slides her arm up Sofia's tummy, pulling her tight to her, and cups her breast. Sofia sighs. Against her expectations, she feels herself becoming aroused and - at least for the moment - pushing Katalin to the back of her mind.

Elizabeth's other hand crawls down Sofia's stomach, and slides between her legs, through her dress. Elizabeth gentle strokes Sofia's sex through the cloth with her middle finger, tracing Sofia's slit as Sofia begins to moan quietly. Sofia bows her legs a bit to give Elizabeth access, and Elizabeth starts to suck hard on Sofia's neck.

"That it, child. Just relax and enjoy" Elizabeth coos. "Just focus on the sensations." Elizabeth reaches down with her right hand, lifting Sofia's skirt, and her left hand goes under, touching Sofia's naked sex. Sofia's mouth forms a silent 'o' when Elizabeth's fingers start trace along her lips, teasing her. Elizabeth gently pinches Sofia's lips together, sliding them over Sofia's clit. It is driving Sofia wild.

Sofia turns to face Elizabeth. The vampires start to kiss. Sofia wants this to happen, she wants to feel close to Elizabeth again. Despite this, she starts to cry. Elizabeth holds Sofia close, gently swaying with her.

"Shhh, shhh. It will be okay" Elizabeth coos. Sofia relaxes a bit, and resumes kissing Elizabeth. Elizabeth kneels on the floor, looking up at Sofia. Lifting Sofia's dress above her hips, she begins to kiss her mound. Sofia closes her eyes, letting it happen. She reaches down, holding Elizabeth's hands, as Elizabeth licks her sex. As Elizabeth's tongue runs over her sex, she begins to forget, at least for the moment. Elizabeth softly tugs on Sofia's hands, pulling her to the floor. Sofia lays on her back while Elizabeth kneels between her legs. Elizabeth kisses Sofia's thighs, and massages Sofia's clit with her thumb. She works her index and middle fingers into Sofia, pumping them in and out, bending to suck on Sofia's clit. Sofia writhes on the floor, ecstatic. She tugs on Elizabeth's hand.

"I want to kiss you" Sofia moans. Elizabeth lays next to Sofia on the floor, and kisses Sofia's neck, her hand moving between Sofia's legs. Sofia's head turns, and the vampires kiss slowly and heavily, as Elizabeth's fingers work over Sofia's aching pussy.

"I love you" Sofia murmurs, her breath becoming short as Elizabeth expertly manipulates her sex.

"I love you too, child" Elizabeth says affectionately. She moves her fingers faster and faster as Sofia gasps. Sofia climaxes, her legs snapping shut on Elizabeth's hand as wave after wave of pleasure wracks her body.

Sofia and Elizabeth lay together on the floor, holding each other, silently. Her climaxes past, Sofia's anger and anxiety have returned. Elizabeth hugs Sofia close.

"Don't fret, Sofia. We'll find her. We'll kill her" Elizabeth promises. Sofia isn't so sure.