Chapter I: Demons

A small dark shadow, a shadow within the shadows, appeared on the castle tower.

"Is it her?" asked Ilinca, her voice betraying her excitement.

Daciana didn't reply immediately. She watched as the tiny figure crossed the tower, climbed to the top of the battlement, spread its arms wide – and leapt. The figure fell, its nightgown flapping frantically. It fell past the base of the tower, and into the Earth's deep rift below.

"Yes, it is her. It is Mirela," Daciana finally replied, as the tiny shadow halted halfway down the cliff, reversing its violent plunge and rising on the air currents.

"And tonight is the night!" said Ilinca, with an evil fire in her eyes. Daciana did not reply, but Ilinca needed to hear it. "This is the night, Daciana?"

Daciana regarded her sister. She beat her wings twice, so the two would remain level. Ilinca, her sister. So like Anna, and yet so different. Did she ever think of Anna? Did she even remember her? It had been so long, but Daciana could never forget...

Daciana and Ilinca were not like Mirela. Daciana and Ilinca were ancient, an evil from a time before anyone had thought to count time. They were true sisters, born of the same mother. They were once a human family, but so very long ago that names, if they even had any, were long forgotten. In times long past, faces would come to Daciana's mind from those ancient days, but not for a thousand years or more that she could remember.

Daciana was glad those times were faded from memory. Human life had been brutal. There had been constant cold, and hunger, and pain. Kindness, compassion, and sympathy were concepts unknown to the people of those days. The life of a hell demon was a definite improvement.

Although so many memories were lost, Daciana would never forget the night she was stolen. She had been so afraid, taken from her family, her tribe, her protectors. They were brutal, yes, but they were all she had. Then she was beyond their reach, out in the dark, held by strange hands, carried away from anything she knew or understood. Daciana had been terrified, and would have cried out if anyone had allowed her to do so.

Daciana did not know who or what had stolen her, but given the brutality of her own family and tribe she knew they meant her no good. She didn't see anything in the darkness of night until they stopped, releasing her within a circle under the bright light of the moon. Only then did the horror of the creatures that had taken her truly become apparent to Daciana. She only glimpsed them for a moment before they attacked her, biting at her neck and chest and arms, biting and tearing at each other as well, spattering her eyes and mouth with their own blood. It was too much for her to bear and Daciana fainted.

When she awoke the creatures were gone. To this day Daciana did not know why they had not finished her. Did they mean to sire a new demon into this world? Were they simply interrupted, possibly by something larger and more frightening than they themselves?

Whatever the reason, the circle of hell-spawned demons was gone and Daciana was alone. She stood, and for the first time realized she was no longer cold. She was not hungry. Childhood injuries that previously had nearly crippled her with constant pain were healed, gone forever.

But she was alone. Daciana did not yet know that she was a demon, forever condemned to walk this Earth. She thought what had happened to her was a miracle, and all she could think was to share it with her younger sister. Her sister, who she had loved and protected as she could from the indiscriminate cruelty of the others.

Daciana hid until night, finding the daylight too intense for her demon eyes and skin. Then when night fell she crept back to her home, and found her way to her sister's side. Ilinca startled awake, and made to cry out until Daciana persuaded her who she was. Ilinca was happy to follow her, especially with promises of an end to her cold and hunger. Daciana led her back to the clearing in the wood, under the bright moon, and they waited for the miracle to be repeated.

Except there was no miracle. Ilinca remained hungry, and very cold being out nearly naked in the night. Daciana held her, and cried for her, but she had no warmth to share with her sister. And as Daciana waited, a strange feeling came over her. It was like a hunger, or a thirst, and yet not the same at all. She looked at Ilinca in her arms, and though a part of her loved her and wanted to protect her, those feelings were suppressed as a madness took over. Daciana fell on her sister, tearing at her throat with her teeth. Ilinca was only a small girl, no match for her older sister's demon strength.

When Daciana regained control of her mind, Ilinca was near death. Overcome with remorse, Daciana cried over her little sister. She had lost so much blood, and her wounds were so terrible there seemed nothing Daciana could do. There was no way to feed her, no way to give her strength. In her remorse she grabbed up a sharp stone from the ground, and used it to slice at the skin of her own breast. As she bled she held Ilinca to her, asking Ilinca to take strength from her blood, as Daciana had taken Ilinca's strength from her. Ilinca drank, but was too weak to continue and soon died in Daciana's arms.

Daciana screamed, and cried, and rocked her dead sister in her arms for hours. So total was her grief that she didn't notice when Ilinca stirred, and opened her eyes. Indeed, Daciana knew nothing except her own torment until she heard her sister say, "There is no cold."

As complete as her grief had been, Daciana's joy filled her twice over. She laughed, and held her sister so tight that had Ilinca needed breath she might have been killed all over again! The sisters hid together throughout the day, waiting until night to make their escape from their accursed human home forever.

Except Ilinca had other plans. As much as Daciana had loved her, she too had loved another. Their youngest sister, Anna, had been Ilinca's favourite. Ever since she was born five winters earlier, Ilinca had played little mother to baby Anna. She could not leave without her.

And so together the sisters returned once more to their family, to steal another child. Daciana was beginning to realize; this was not a life that anyone should wish on others. However Ilinca was desperate, and so Daciana helped her. This time Daciana knew better what she had to do, and the experience was much less traumatic for everyone. The following evening the three sisters disappeared into the night, leaving their family behind forever. Rarely to think of them, and even more rarely to care. The three grew into young womanhood, and remained there forever after.

Their names were not Daciana and Ilinca in those days. Daciana could not remember either of their names, they had changed so many times throughout the ages, but she had never cared enough to even ask if Ilinca remembered. Of course, Anna had always been Anna, and if she had been alive today she would certainly still be Anna.

That was uncounted millennia ago. Back then, there were many demons walking the Earth and the three sisters would run into them frequently. When this happened they would flee and hide, for these demons were vicious, cruel, and horrible. But the ancient evils died out, slowly over the long ages. At some point, the three sisters simply stopped seeing them anywhere. Daciana was glad of this. As savage and brutal as humans could be, the ancient evils were worse. They killed mercilessly, without thought, caring for nothing but their own selfish and immediate fulfillment. The vampires came much later, Daciana did not know from where, although the sisters kept a distance just as they always had from the ancient evils.

Keeping a distance from humans, however, was far more difficult. All three sisters were fascinated by humans, even after they had run from their own family. At some point human life began to improve, and they became less brutal toward each other. As civilisation spread, the three sisters became ever more curious, always remaining outside, but close enough to watch. Occasionally they would steal a human they found attractive, or just to feed, but mostly they just watched.

And the humans were vaguely aware of the sisters. They were given many names, and they were responsible for many legends. They were known as the Fates, Furies, Harpies, Sirens, Wyrd Sisters. Sometimes the legends they inspired were wildly inaccurate. However, three things were always true: they were always beautiful, they were always sisters, and they were always three.

Always three. Daciana wanted to weep and scream and tear at her own flesh just thinking about it, over three centuries later. Having to watch from afar, helpless, as Anna was dragged from them. Anna screaming as the sun burned into her eyes and skin, but the mob would not let her go. Having to hold Ilinca back as she screamed and lashed out, knowing she would lose two sisters if Ilinca flew to their sister's aid. Then seeing Anna beaten with rocks, her bones smashed, her body thrown into a fire and burned.

What had Anna done to deserve this? Only what she needed to survive, nothing more. Never anything more. Sweet Anna, her baby sister. Daciana made sure no one present lived through another night, but Anna was still dead.

Daciana continued on with Ilinca, but to call it living would have been a mockery. They were meant to be three, but were only two. They continued with a hole in their hearts, for there was nothing else they could do, and they mourned for over fifty years. Fifty years of weeping and wailing, high above the countryside, inspired legends that are still repeated even today.

And then one day they saw her; Mirela, circling her castle, alone. She looked so young. A vampire, a young member of a young race. She flew with all the confidence that only the most inexperienced can possess. They attempted to remain unseen, but Mirela must have sensed something for she turned in midflight and looked directly at them.

Ilinca and Daciana turned and fled instinctively, and Mirela gave chase. With their powerful wings, they could have easily outdistanced the vampire. However, subconsciously they knew that they needed her. They had been two for too long. Their grief had to end.

Mirela was never the little sister that Ilinca and Daciana had hoped for. But then, in their hearts they knew no one would ever truly replace Anna. Certainly Daciana knew; that was something she would have never wanted anyway.

In many ways life with the vampire was highly unsatisfactory. They were three, but it was never clear three what. It was easy for Ilinca and Daciana to think of Mirela as a little sister. She was so young, and ignorant of the ways of the world. And yet she spurned their ideas, and laughed at their advice.

Mirela did not think of the ancient Furies as sisters at all. She was sworn to another vampire, the Count Vladimir Dodrescu. Vampires naturally form Master-Servant relationships, and Dodrescu was Mirela's Master. Mirela naturally assumed that Ilinca and Daciana would accept Dodrescu as their Master, and as she was his First, they should accept her as their Mistress. Then she renamed them, giving them the names they now possess, names she could pronounce easily.

Ilinca and Daciana agreed to everything. They both knew that they needed Mirela, to make them whole and to keep them sane. If that meant calling her Mistress and following her commands, then so be it.

And so they had lived by the arrangement for close to three hundred years. Until tonight...

 "Yes, this is the night," Daciana finally agreed. "Tonight, Mirela dies."

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A/N: That's it, the end of chapter I! In chapter II you meet two of the most evil, uncaring fiends this world has ever produced: Count Dodrescu, and Lilian's boss Mr. Dilworth!