I knocked on the wooden door.

"Ye?" Blythe called from within.

"When you're done bathing, open your closet. I've left you some dresses." Now you won't have to wear that ugly alabaster one, I didn't say.

"Gotcha!"

After that, I'll need to teach her how to speak formally. I will not have an uneducated lady in my mansion. Once I'm done with her, she'll forget she was ever a lowly villager.

+++

"Octavia, thank you for the grand feasts and for letting my sleep in a comfortable bed. Really, thank you so much."

I looked up from my vase of roses.

"What's the matter, Blythe? You've thanked me at least fifty times now."

"That's true.. but.." she said as she petted my black cat, who purred in response. "I'm only saying it because I think it's time I leave."

"Nonsense. You've only been here two nights." I poured water into the vase.

"Yes, but I don't want to be a burden to you."

A veil of darkness concealed my face. How dare she, does she really think I gave her all of this for free?

I laughed softly.

"Octavia? What's so funny?" The cat slipped past her hands and ran off into another room.

"Remember how I told you, nothing comes for free?"

I carefully pulled a rose out from the vase. I held the flower gently so that the stem would be beneath my hand.

"Yes... What of it?"

I walked towards her.

"Give me your hand."

She obeyed, but stared at me in confusion. I brushed the stem on her wrist.

"OWE!" She attempted to step away, but I grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Tiny drops of blood became visible.

"Let go of me!" She twisted her hand, and I twisted it back. I turned it so the blood would drip onto the rose.

"What's wrong with you?! Are you insane?" She continued squirming.

"Take a look around you," I tossed the rose on the floor.

The black cat scurried in and licked the petals.

Blythe studied the room. The walls and ceiling were made purely of stone. As an exception, the floor we stood upon was dark wood. The windows were made of stained-glass.

The ambience was cold, dim, and quiet. It was a cloudy morning, not even the birds sang their melodies outside. In fact, they never did. The only type of birds who visited were ravens.

"You're a witch," her voice trembled.

"Far from it."

I lifted her wrist to my lips. The scent of her blood was precisely what I had been searching for. Sweet.

Her eyes widened, but her enlightenment had come much too late. "A vampi-"

She gasped when I licked the cut. Blythe pulled on her arm with the other hand, but to no avail.

The dress she wore was practical. Of course, I'd chosen them all. The style of the collar left her neck completely exposed.

There wasn't enough blood coming from the punctures I'd made with the rose, so I decided to switch to her neck.

My desire was stronger than her will to escape. I linked my arms behind her back. There was no way she'd get away.

"You will be my slave now," I whispered.

Naturally, my canines morphed into fangs. They pierced her flesh and sank into a vein.

I sipped the sweetest blood I'd ever tasted. It was pure. And in a way, forbidden. For never had I fed on the blood of a woman.