Tempting Offer

Panicking, I face the world around me. I couldn't pinpoint the voice. It spoke again from the gate.

"Pfft. Don't worry mage, I won't spoil your hiding spot." An oh so sweet chuckle fills my ears.

I cautiously approach the gate, It feels different. Pulling me closer, I gulp.

"Who are you?" I choke out.

Another chuckle. "Whatever you want me to be; a savior, a monster, a tool. You just need to do something for me first mage."

My brain is fogging up, the urge to obey, to give in to the sweetness. I bite my inner cheek, it returns some clarity.

"Your name, your purpose, my name is not Mage, don't just act like I know you." I grimace at the gate. "Such temptation isn't something an angel would use."

"An angel?" A disgusted grunt came out. "Why the fuck would I be an angel?! No mage, I'm so much better."

I could practically see the man preening.

"I'm an immortal that even turns knights my way! A being so powerful that the church shakes in its little pope hats! A being so beautiful that even a whore would bend over for free!" A proud growl escapes him. "I am Vlad Dracule, the vampire king, you should be honored to be chosen by me!"

My heartbeat speeds up, nerves on edge. I'm not sure if it's the gate's effects, or fear of his arrogance. If I was a fool I would be subjugated to his whims, but I was not a fool.

I breathed in deeply, trying to regain some control. "If you are so great, why do you need me?" I glare.

He stays silent for a moment.

"I don't need you, I chose you. I've been listening to your whining for close to a decade now. So here's the deal mage.."

"My name is Lily." I grumble.

"I know, why do you care? You don't like your name." I raise my eyebrows at that. "Have you not heard of a mage before? A magic user?"

He continues before I can speak up.

"So.! Give me some of your blood, and I'll free you from your family, and set you up for life, little mage." He then adds, annoyingly. "You may speak now."

I give out an aggregated sigh. Thinking for a moment, that he truly takes me for a fool. Still I have indeed, never heard of mages before now.

I'll have to look in the library for some information.

"I'm not interested in your scam. If you have put up with my 'whining' for so long, surely you would have left the gate by now. You are trapped, and I'm guessing I'm your only way out, right?" I state with a smirk.

"You little..!"

I start walking off before I hear various cursing from the gate. Shaking, and grateful that the pull I felt wasn't that strong. I rush back to my room, confused and frightened.

My clothes and hat are sneakily returned to my chest. I switch to a long white night gown, and attempt to force myself asleep. I refuse to think of the insanity I just heard.

Still the thoughts kept bubbling up. His words a deadly temptation. I could be free from a loveless family, not forced to marry some man I didn't love, and…

I could live not as Lily, but as the man I know I am.

I shook away that devilish thought. No greater sin than going against your birth, your station. I am Lily Anore, illegitimate child of Viscount August Anore. The doll to be sold off at his convenience.

"Uhh." I turn over, my body toward the window.

My heart pounds away any chance of sleep. I switch my thoughts over to Vlad. He had been listening to me for years. Every complaint, every beating, bruises, every tear. He was a vampire, impossible vampires had been extinct for several hundred years.

I sat up in bed, rubbing my face. A glimmer of dreaded thought process on my face. Mind made up, I sought out the gate again.

............….

POV: Vlad

The inky eternal blackness surrounded me, the last of my kin. Indeed, so powerful that the filthy blood mage locked me in the gate for eternity. Supposedly. I smirk. I waited for centuries, finally another blood mage, she, no he, could let me free.

Lily Anore, that cute little mage. I remember the first time, that kid barely able to walk. Crying with a bruised cheek at my gate. I could smell the blood, there was more wounds than visible.

Again and again he visited me. A direct descendant of the one who imprisoned me. The plans I had to torment him when I was free. Splendid.

Those feeling of rage directed at the kid, changed. The little mage, although weak kept trying to win his 'family's' love. It never happened, eventually he gave up. The last straw was when the Viscountess decided to whip away the mage's mistake at just thirteen.

For the first time my fury was directed elsewhere. I thrashed in my prison, clawing my way into nothingness. Desperate to tear apart those monsters who hurt my little mage.

My anger kept growing, along with my frustration. One day around Lily's seventeen year, he mentioned marriage to some low life bastard. I nearly gutted myself by mistake.

I was stuck for so long and finally with a purpose. Yet I couldn't escape this gate.

That was until today. Lily's eighteenth birthday, the year mages awaken their magic. I felt it, it called me, it weakened the veil between the void and Lily.

Finally with a chance, I revealed myself to my mage, only to be rejected! I cursed, and cursed, while my Lily left me again.

So I waited, I would not let him leave me again.

If he gave me another chance.

............….

I turned the corner to the gate, peeking at it briefly. I take in a deep breathe, going over my plan of action. Shaking my head, clear insanity this plan. I could still run away, I don't need him, but…

I felt this familiarity, some strange comfort, while thinking of him. I needed to see this through, if he tried anything funny, I would back off. Never to come here again

I approached the door, the pull returning with an even stronger intensity. I bit my cheek once again, it helped a little.

"Vlad. How can I be sure you won't hurt me, if I let you out?" I spoke calmly, too calmly.

"Little mage!" He screeched, then cleared his throat, embarrassed. "If my word isn't enough for you then…" He pauses for far too long. "I swear on my bloodline, I will not harm you."

I feel his words echo in my mind, and settling in my heart. Magic? It feels so natural, yet puzzling.

"There I will die if I harm you. Does that work for you little mage?" He sounds quite impatient.

"What do I need to do?"

I could hear a purr from him.