Dracula: Vampire Primarch

I waved at the girls to please lower their skirts again.

Molly's lips twitched as she brushed hers down. "Next time, I'll wear the g-string, Master. I think you'll like it a lot. It's so cute!"

I had no idea what that meant, so just nodded at her.

If I was being completely honest with myself, I hadn't yet decided if I would spare them or not. The Thirst was already pulling my gaze to their necks more often than not.

"Master," Hina's soft voice gently lulled those thoughts away as she tapped the Cheerleader's temple beside the little pink candle stuck to her forehead. "You look tired. Would you like a drink?"

"Oh, yes!" Vela nodded enthusiastically. "She's Type-B, Master."

"B Plus," Hina said with a slight edge to her voice. "It's not very rare, Master. I am B Minus. My blood Type is much rarer. I think you will enjoy it."

"That's so unfair," Molly sighed.

"You're lucky," Vela pouted. "At least you're an A Plus, Molly. I'm just common O."

Hina's little smile stretched into a wide smirk.

I looked from one to the other. "Blood Type?"

"Science has changed, too, Master. Blood can now be grouped by its type," Vela said.

"It's sorted by red blood cell type, antibodies, and antigens," Molly said. "There's lots of variations, of course, but some are just more rare than others. Not all vampires agree that there's a different in taste, though."

"Of course there is," Hina said with a subtle snort. "The rarer the blood, the more special it is. It's commonsense."

"More like nonsense, Hina," Molly said. "We've talked about this before."

"You're only saying that because you're just an A Plus."

"That's not true!"

"Yes, it is."

"I'll let Master decide." Molly put her hands on her hips. "And you can apologise to me when he tells you my blood is yummier than yours!"

Hina looked away, pretending disinterest. "Fine."

"Fine!"

"I'm sorry, Master," Vela sighed as I shook my head. "As you can see, it's a sensitive topic."

My memory was still a mess, but I was fairly sure no one had been this eager to have me drink their blood before. At least, not without having their minds dominated first.

I frowned, but nodded. Maybe the world had gotten more civilised. A part of me had always felt that I was more superior to mortals. I had, after all, worked very hard to stop being one.

I'd used magic to create a ritual which let me…

I froze in my chair.

Magic let me…

What did it let me do? It had given me the power I needed to turn myself into a vampire, I was sure of it. Not just that, it had let me evolve that form. To make myself even more powerful than I had ever dreamed I would be.

But how? What did I do to myself?

It felt like it was on the tip of my tongue. Waiting for some word or stray thought to unlock it.

With a frustrated growl, I reached out and took the unconscious Cheerleader by her chin and lifted it up. With a hiss, I prepared to sink my fangs into her neck.

"Wait!" Molly squeaked, pushing her hands between my face and the Cheerleader's throat. "Not yet!"

I blinked at her. "What?"

She pointed. "The candle, Master. We have to light it first."

"Oh!" Vela dug into her bodice and came up with a strange looking device. "I forgot all about that. Please, Master, let us light it."

Was it a Ritual?

I hadn't sensed any magic in any of these girls. None of them felt like witches. And there were no occult symbols on the floor beneath the table.

Had magic also evolved while I was ash?

I leaned back thoughtfully as a memory teased the edge of my consciousness. I had once thought magic could evolve, hadn't I? That Rituals could be adapted.

There was a tickling in the back of my mind. As I was very familiar with this thought and had been working at it.

Testing it.

Probing the limits of magic and pushing them further and further-

Click.

The device in Vela's hand spat flame. A calm little flame like that which sits on a candle. But steadier.

With a gasp, I snatched it out of her hand and stared down at it in shock. What Enchantment had made this thing? To summon fire out of nothing like this? It was a miracle of magic!

"Umm…" Vela looked a little nervous.

Molly rolled her eyes and reached out to prise the device from my fingers. "It's just a lighter, Master. I'll get you a special one, okay?"

I nearly wrestled it back out of her hand but let it go with a glance I hoped would make her remember to keep this promise. I expected to have a magic lighting device by tomorrow.

If not, I would bite her.

I watched Vela click the device and bring the flame back. Molly thought it was a common thing?

What other miracles were common in this new world? I considered leaving at least one of them alive for now. But which one?

Molly seemed to talk too much, but was knowledgeable. And she had promised me a lighter.

Vela was more mature. But a little too hesitant to tell me anything. If I drained her now, I could simply take her lighter. Which would mean both girls weren't very important.

Hina?

Hina was calm and silent. I liked that a lot. But she also didn't seem interested in anything happening around her. Could I count on her to tell me what I needed to know?

Vela held the lighter up to the candle and the three girls let out a happy chirp as the flame danced on top. Tucking the lighter away in her bodice again, Vela nodded to the others and they turned to me.

Took a deep breath.

They were going to chant, obviously. I wondered what kind of Ritual it would be. I held my breath. Now was the time for them to spring their trap if this was their plan. Perhaps they meant to lull me and bind me as a spirit.

Perhaps they'd cleverly hidden their witchcraft from me.

It would explain a lot.

Including why they showed their underwear to me. They'd been trying to confuse me. Keep me befuddled enough that'd I'd fall for their-

"Happy Rezday to you," they sang in an odd tune. I was surprised to find myself thinking they had sweet voices when they sang like this. It made it harder to decide which to leave alive. "Happy Rezday to you. Happy Rezday, Master. Happy Rezday to you!"

"Hip hip," Vela cheered.

"Hooray!"

"Hip hip!"

"Hooray!"

Rezday?

I stared at them, confused. Then my gaze lifted to the banner again.

Happy Resurrection Day.

But that… They'd just shortened Resurrection Day to Rezday to make it fit their rhyme. Clever. I wondered which of them had thought of that.

The three girls were staring back at me, hands clapped in front of their bosoms. Waiting for something from me. What did they want?

"Blow out the candle," Molly urged suddenly, waving a hand at it.

"And don't forget to make a wish," Vela grinned. "You must make a wish!"

Hina nodded. "Yes, of course you have to make a wish while blowing it out."

"And don't tell us what you wish for," Molly cried. "Or it won't come true!"

A wish?

This Ritual was to gift me a wish? Despite not feeling any magic around me, I felt a little surprised by their offering. Wishes were precious things. For them to gift one to me was indeed a sign of their deepest loyalty to me.

I began to think I might keep them all alive after all. After all, loyalty should always be rewarded.

"Thank you," I said at last, leaning down to blow out the little candle. As the smoke drifted away, I imagined my wish floating with it.

My wish to have my powers returned!

Yes, I would have that power in my grasp once again.

And then?

Revenge!

Grinning broadly at the thought, I lowered my head towards the unconscious girl's neck. I was about to sink my fangs into her when another thought occurred to me.

If I truly wanted revenge, I didn't just need to learn about this new world. I would also need assistance in getting supplies I needed if I wanted to regain my powers.

I had no doubt I would need to delve into the secrets of magic, alchemy, and… Other things which made my brain hurt to think about.

That would require coin. And servants.

In short, I needed to build my powerbase. And, to do that, I needed to know what I was working with.

I lifted my gaze to Vela, who was watching eagerly as I prepared to bite the Cheerleader. "How many of you are there?" I asked her. "Renfields, I mean."

"Oh," she looked down at her shoes. "Well. Before we went to retrieve your ashes… We… umm… That is…"

"How many, Vela?"

"Three," she squeaked.

"What?" I lifted my head and stared at her. The anger burned in my belly again. "After 144 years, there's only three of you who remained loyal to me? Three?"

"I'm sorry!" She bounced on her toes nervously, hands trembling in front of her breasts. "But we can recruit! The Association has plenty of potential applicants right now! Molly has been going through them. Haven't you, Molly?"

"That's right!" Molly gulped. "And there's loads of them, Master. Loads. It'll take me a week just to go through them…"

"Three," I sighed, my shoulders slumping. "Was I forgotten so easily?"

"There were more, Master," Hina said. Her voice was soft, but what made me turn to her was the steel in it.

"How many more?"

"Six nights ago, Master, every single Renfield gathered outside the Clan Hall of The Cloaked," she said. "We entered. We took your remains from them by force. Then, those of us who survived fled into the streets. We split up. Everyone carried replicas, so there was no way our enemies knew who to follow."

I grunted.

It wasn't a bad plan. A bit suicidal. But if it worked…

"How many?"

"Three thousand of us went into that Hall, Master," she said, her voice cooling my rage like a torrent of ice water. Her eyes shone with a mix of pride, shame, and loss. "For every thousand who died, one of us survived. It was a steep price. A great sacrifice. The lives of your devoted Renfields for the urn which contained your ash."

"But we would make it again," Vela said, voice cracking. "Truly!"

Then, as I watched in horror, the three girls burst into tears. They'd clearly been holding them in. Watching them clutch each other as their grief burst like a broken dam left me feeling like a monster.

Which, technically I was.

I just suddenly didn't like feeling like one.