Palazzo Il Bicchiere

It was hard to believe she was free as she stood on the curb in front of a tall stop sign at the corner of Hamilton and Main. There were a few other people milling about the side street as she stared up at the dormitory across the street from her. It was move-in weekend at Harper's University, causing there to be crowds of people on the campus. Despite the crowds, she stood very much alone with a single overnight bag in her hand and a backpack over her shoulder.

Free.

The word seemed so forbidden, sinful and rebellious, but it was something that she had wanted her entire life. She had never tasted true freedom until she had murdered the monster that had controlled her entire existence, the vampire Marius Markus.

Unlike other eighteen year old girls, Magdalene Markus had a unique family background, though she did not believe there was anything special about her. She was a half breed vampire; the daughter of one of the most notorious and frightening vampires in the Mid-West and a witch. Magdalene felt her life story was rather boring, and she never realized how important it was. She didn't like to think about it. In her eyes, her existence was just a memory of pain and violence, something she didn't want to think about or hold close to her.

Her mother had been a young hunting witch, Elizabeth, who met Marius Markus and fell in love with him. Because vampires are considered demons of the night it is often hard to believe that they, like humans or magical mortals, can also fall in love. It was especially hard to believe that a vampire such as Markus would be capable of such an emotion as love. Whether he loved Magdalene's mother, or simply lusted after her, Magdalene didn't really care—nor did she really want to know. She couldn't believe that her father could ever love anyone but himself, and her childhood was proof of that.

Magdalene's mother died giving birth to her. Markus didn't seem sorrowful at the lost of Elizabeth, nor was he troubled with his daughter's existence. He named her Magdalene, despite Elizabeth's objection to the name before her death. Markus never paid much attention to his daughter; somehow after her birth, the truth of Elizabeth's heritage was revealed which caused Markus to hold a deep disgust for his daughter. He loathed her and as she grew older he expressed his anger with constant abuse.

He hated her because she was a witch, another reason why Magdalene was sure he never loved her mother. To Markus, witches were the greatest enemy to vampires, more dangerous than humans, werewolves, or any other magical creatures. Witches hunted vampires and were the only ones usually successful at killing them. Very few humans achieved 'vampire hunter' status simply because magic was a helpful, almost necessary, aid in destroying a demonic, dangerous vampire. Witches had plagued vampires for all time, constantly trying to rid the world of them. In most countries there was some kind of war being fought between witch and vampire clans that mortals were completely unaware of. It was as if two separate realities were residing on the same plan, co-existing, but only one reality was aware of the other. Magdalene was convinced that it was Markus' hatred for witches that kept her alive for the last eighteen years. He could use her as a punching back to relieve his aggression towards them.

Now, Magdalene was no ordinary witch, obviously because she was part vampire, and she was no ordinary vampire because she was half witch. It is important to understand what vampires were like to understand Magdalene's condition.

Vampires of the time, despite fictional stories like Dracula, were not horrid immortal night creatures that took the form of bats; rather, they were creatures that required blood to survive because their bodies did not produce enough. A vampire did not need to kill to survive, he or she simply needed to drink blood to keep healthy, but there are always extremist and Markus was one of them. He often killed his prey, draining them completely of their blood. Vampires could be killed, but only with a stake through the heart or by not receiving enough blood in their system, but that was rare and almost unheard of.

Vampires also could go into the daylight. They preferred not to because of their poor complexion, and they avoided fire at all costs. They could be splashed with Holy Water—nothing would happen to them; a crucifix would not frighten them and they thought garlic was rather tasty. They also had some form of physical magical powers, involving the mind ,that were tied to their emotions. They could be telekinetic, telepathic, empathic, conjure objects, and in some very rare cases, they had premonitions. It depended on the vampire, their parentage and clan, as to what physical powers they had. Markus, being from one of the longest lines of powerful vampires in the country was capable of telekinesis, telepathy and conjuring.

It's interesting to note that witches were also capable of the same types of physical powers, though it was rare. Magdalene did not know anything about her mother's history or bloodline and was unaware of her true potential as a witch. In fact, because she was raised in her father's home, Palazzo il Bicchiere, she knew very little about being a witch.

Magdalene, being half witch, did not inherit all of the vampire qualities from her father. She did require blood in small proportions and she usually took it into her system through an IV because she did not grow fangs with her thirst. Magdalene hated the fact that she had to drink or pump blood into her system to stay alive. She hated that she had to steal blood from blood banks, or from another human, to stay alive. She wished that there was some way to cure her disease.

Magdalene was not immortal, but was capable of self healing, a distinct vampiric trait. Despite the depressing notion, she hoped on many occasions that her father would kill her so that the abuse would stop. But he never seemed to lose control that much. He always managed to leave Magdalene well enough alive so that she could self heal and take another round.

Growing up in her father's house had not been a pleasant experience for Magdalene, and after eighteen years of taking her Father's crap, her temper finally broke. Markus had been in the middle of one of his rages, this time because he had no blood in almost three days, and he was taking it out on Magdalene. It was while he was yelling over her, holding her down in front of him, pulling her head back by the hair, that she realized she was better than him. She was not something he could walk over and she wasn't going to let him anymore—more importantly she wasn't going to let him take her blood.

Markus had only taken his daughter's blood once before, when she was about ten. The experience was painful and traumatizing to Magdalene. Despite his abuse, her father never let any other vampire take her blood. Magdalene was sure it had to do with blood laws, but did not know the reason that Markus was so protective of her blood. He stressed to guest in his house and members of his clan that she was off limits. She was not a free food source. But Markus had no problem taking her blood if he truly needed it.

It took barely a second for Magdalene to conjure a wood stake in her hand and shove it through her father's body. Markus pulled back from her neck with a scream of pain and anger, throwing Magdalene away from him like a rag doll. Magdalene watched with horror, and some happiness, as her father's body began to convulse and twitch. A fire erupted over his heart, where the stake was sticking out of him, and slowly his body began to burn. It turned to ash and fell in a pile before Magdalene. Markus' screams echoed in her ears as she stared at the lifeless pile of ash in complete shock. It felt too easy….how could she suddenly be free?

Everything that had happened in the last eighteen years didn't seem to matter anymore to Magdalene. This was the start of something new—her life would be amazing from here on out, and she vowed to herself that she would be nothing but happy.