?Catherine's Pov?

  For the time being, Bella has not spoken to me since yesterday evening. Not a sound escaped from my hollowed halls. Of Bella's voice humming an exasperating tune. Her feet stomped down my stairs leaving me with an ear-piercing hemicrania soon after. For the first time since I once allowed her to stay in the castle, I miss her annoyances. I miss her happy noises. I miss her being a pest. Even if it was just a day of silence; just one day I cannot stand.

  How can one fathom? A strange girl who has brought me much pain in my skull, and more grey hairs can cause my heart to hurt so? Perhaps this is the reason I have allowed her to live so long. Longer than other servants I have kept. Bella is different. Most of the young maidens I have crossed were quiet as mice. Squeaking out a word or two at dinner. Nothing more. However, Bella was the exception. If I allowed it, Bella would go on for hours into the night. Not shutting her trap about everything and anything she desired. Hell, if something popped into her mind, she would speak it no matter the context. The only thing I enjoyed in her company was the fact she was well-read. She can conjure any conversation passed on the pretenses of something she read. Inquiring any question she had to be answered. Some I was able to answer, others I told her to dig her nose in another book again. Through the night, I wondered if I was too harsh to Bella. Perhaps my transparency through my ill intentions towards the young girl has shown its true colours. My own colours. I feel sick with the thought of why I originally brought her here.

  To have my way? To devour every inch of her body? Her senses, her veins, her lifeline? Her blood. To hearken her soft moan of ecstasy compared to the utter scream of despair as I carnaged her small frame.

  "Stop it..." I spoke in a whisper to myself. My body lay to rot in my bed. The soft red silk of my bed linings felt like sharp knives. As my bare calves glided over my bed. It touched like my bed scraped the skin off my body. I lurched my spine, hanging my feet off the edge of the bed. Allowing my ankles to rest, pointing my toes to the wooden floor. I straightened my back with every feeling of my spine crack and shake. I yawned cracking my jaw open. The pain I suffer ever so often I arise does cause for concern. Evidently, I propose that it is because I have not eaten all night. I usually allow myself to partake in a drink every few hours before sleep but not last night. I was far too much in pain from my injuries to drink the supple crimson, more or less I drank another crimson of colour. To become a drunken fool in my chambers. I may have been too drunk to remember what details had occurred in the daylight, but I do remember the look of disappointment in Bella's eyes. The utter shock of the sight of me injured as though I was a wounded animal in need of her care. However, how could she fix this? Fix hundreds of years of cracks and destruction I have or yet to cause with my presence. Me, merely existing has scholars baffled. Though, if they knew the truth they would be in terror as the likes of the townspeople below.

  My feet finally accepted their fate falling to the floor. I do not feel hot or cold temperatures the same as the living. The living? Is that what I'm calling them now? Last century I named them food. The other people. Now I give them life? I hear their heartbeats. Feel their pain. Nor I cannot feel my own. That does sound a little disingenuous does it no? That I think the one thing that floods my brain daily, the pure endeavour of getting my hands on a crisp, lively body. Is a noun such as the living?

  "I have not a stitch to wear!" I growled examining the contents of my armoire. Must there be a stitch of clothing that is not black or red?! I am predictable! A pity! Even the more finer things of my days, I have grown tiresome. Most of the more colourful clothing has either been burned in the castle fire in 1700 or I have torn it to shreds in pure rage. Rage over memories I will never get back. My grief has not left me since that night. That unholy night. I lost everything. My children, my love, my sanity. Most importantly, my right to die alongside them.

  Not a piece of clothing appealed to me. How though, a creame coloured dress jumped out before me. Intricate black lace sewn on the shoulders to the very bottom. I initially imagined this dress was worn when I was once pregnant. For it was two sizes too big in every area of my torso. Now, I ponder if I have been gluttonous before I was changed. Perhaps this sickness I have succumbed to has made me more thin. More pleasing to the human eye. To be lured to my hands, to my lips. To be suckled on by my teeth.

  I have no use for mirrors any longer, it's common practice for myself since birth to look at myself before I leave my bed chambers. Since recently, dare I say 'recently' but almost 900 years ago. I can only see my cloth. My clothing was not changed, I did. I could only see the way my body curved in the dress. No more corsets that slowed me down in strides, no more powdered wigs with the uncomfortable itch and redness after long wear. Just my natural hair. Everything natural these years, though, the modern age has become more natural since my time in high society.

  I unlocked my door to see my 'medicine' I called it, to sit on a metal tray before me on the ground. Bella may think she's the smartest girl in the castle, but if she only popped the top of the glass pitcher she would smell something familiar as she would have smelt in her father's doctorate. The copper metal smell of the drink of my life. My demon in a bottle. Blood.

  It's blood you shrew girl.

  I was quite surprised, to say the least. Most days she has stayed here, no matter the squabble we were entangled in, Bella would still serve me every morning. Not a word would escape her lips until I spoke. Her heartbeat would be rather slow, as though she wanted me to bring up our issues instead of her. I found it strange. She wasn't here. No good morning Catherine. Or Valeria if she was truly angry. Not a single solitary sound. I grew worrisome if in fact she finally left me alone. I disregarded the tray hopping over it to run down the stairs. I took a swift right to the kitchen.

  "Vadoma! Vadoma!"

  "Ce Valeria! No need to shout! Ce s-a ?ntamplat?!" She stood up from the fire she prepared as she dragged a cauldron above it.

  "Where is Bella Donna? Unde este ea?"

  "She is upstairs Valeria. Did she not bring breakfast for you this morn?" She questioned as she rolled her sleeves to her elbows.

  "Yes she did, but she wasn't there to deliver for me."

  "Well...Valeria...you did...um how you say in English...enerveaz?-o?"

  "Enerveaz? -o? How did I piss her off?! I am the only one allowed to be angry here!"

  "On the contrary Valeria. You cannot control Bella's emotions. As far as I know. If you can control minds you would stitch my mouth shut."

  "Hmph. You keep it up with the vampire stories and I might." An eyebrow raised as my body shaped the door frame.

  "You were hurt, I understand. However, you cannot take your pain out on a girl who has not wronged you. Her head was above water she almost got out."

  "She almost drowned Vad! I could not watch it! I had to take it upon myself to rescue her!"

  "No, in fact, you did not! You wanted to be her saviour. Instead, you became her enemy! I heard what you have said to her. You angered her. I would be too if I was said I was property."

  "That you are. But go on." I huffed stretching out my hands to see my injuries were subsiding slowly.

  "Ha! In a sense, but she is not. You have given her too much freedom and leniency. Most of the girls you bring up here to castle have died by this time. Why have you not had her yet?" Vadoma scoffed unwrapping a paper lining with meat, tossing it into the pot.

  "Maybe I don't want to kill her yet. I have not decided. Why must you bring up the others so frequently? I have given you and your mother work for hundreds of years. The Vivda family. A long line of gypsy women with great powers throughout time. Killed out by the witch trials? Now look, Vadoma Vivda. The oldest gypsy witch. How long have you been 20 hm? One, two, three hundred years? Have you told Bell about your children? How they are all either the same age or older than their mother? Some dead? How you are on your what? 6th husband? No? I would not pass judgment Vadoma. You and I very much the same." I took a step forward to Vadoma who turned red as her dress.

  "You speak nothing of me to Bella! We are not the same Catherine Valeria! My family and my magic is tiny compared to your destruction! I bring this up since I am the mule who cleans after you! I am the one who drags bodies down mountain! I am the one who finds new fucks for you! I grow attached and all you do is fuck and eat, by the time I have grown a fondness for them, they are hollow and sucked dry."

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  "Does not seem to me that you are fond of Bella? Why is that?"

  "Because I have grown attached to every girl I bring up here and have learned better. She brought herself up here. So if that is the case, you can drag her limb hollow body down the mountainside yourself. She is upstairs. She does not want to be disturbed."

  "Fine, if that is what you wish, but I am not catering to her emotions every slightest inconvenience." I left the kitchen marching through the dining room, unlocking the undercroft. The cement stairs were dimly lit by a few candles. I wish for the day I can allow a worker in here to add more candle fixtures. Every year I walk these stairs I find it more hard to manage the flight. Not in age, hell no. It is how narrow these stairs have become over the decades. Chips and cracks in the grey, the wood sinking in on itself. This whole damn castle will go to shambles if I do not get Vadoma to hire someone.

  Nonetheless, I do not think upon myself, that no man would dare venture up here rightfully acknowledging I am lurking through these halls I call my grave. A tomb of my own bricks. The cocoon of my guilt. Regardless, I can always persuade Vadoma's imbecile husband to come see the damage. Surprisingly, an old vampire like myself does not frighten him. Upsetting his wife is more frightening so I have heard.

  My hand tore open the cellar sliding door. Now my fun began. My stress about this Bella issue may be resolved. Hopefully. If not, I might have to kill her sooner than later. To my dismay, I have recently found out that even after death, or shall I say limbo, even vampires develop greys from stress.

  ?───? ??? ?───?

  I have turned soft. Gluttonous dare I say, in my 'human' life I dove into the more finer things of luxury. Even after that night, I seem to delve into leisurely activities. I have grown soft in other areas as well, not just mentally, but physically as well. A slight roundness in my stomach area which made corsets unbearable, and pillowy in my thighs that were not the issue. I found them enjoyable at least. It reminded me of Bella. Bella's little perfect frame. Her supple sand-coloured skin hugged her body with no effort. She is shaped like the hourglass in my study. I have seen her naked on numerous accounts. She might have thought I sleep through the day, that I do, but the smallest noise can awake me from my sleep abruptly. Birds chirping, grass flowing in the breeze, Bella's body splashes in the lake. It's an echo. Ringing throughout my ears. I would watch her through a crack in the drapes. I did find it strange, I would watch her from afar. Hell, if she was so damn comfortable parading around my garden nude, then she would not have an issue about me watching.

  I had my fun, in my undercroft. I made my way up the stairs, to the dining room. I stepped barefoot everywhere, it was my damn home. My castle. I felt a sharp sting in my foot. It was unknown to me. It began in the biggest toe, shooting up to my ankle. I peer down to see if it was nothing. It was a line. A red line slowly formed, but no blood. Soon it will come. Obviously from a chip in the stairs. To everyone's disbelief; vampires bleed. I hope. I have never met others except....no. I will not speak upon him. Not now. I vowed I would never utter him. Acknowledge his mere existence. His voice haunts me in my dreams. Resounds throughout the west wing where our eyes locked. On top of my daughter's blood fleeting body.

  I dwelled on the darkest parts of my past. It's all I can remember, should I say, the only part I allow myself to remember. The most fondest, enjoyable memories tore my soul. Rightfully to know these sweet memories will never come back to me.

  I came into the main living room, it seemed to be approaching nightfall. The window curtains were cracked, not showing any orange or yellow hues. It was black. The shade I have grown so fondly accustomed to. My sleep schedule will surely be fucked, but my castle is in shambles as is. Vadoma is spitful. Bella refuses to speak to me. I must make amends. In one way or another. Vadoma has left for the day, she leaves before night unless told otherwise. Costs me more, so to forgive her I will do it tomorrow. Bella is another story, I cannot simply barge into her room and force her to accept my apology. I must remember my interactions in my human life. To speak to her as though she was kin. Softly, and carefully for not to upset her more than I supposedly had.

  I climbed the stairs, turning left to Bella's door. I pushed the wood to find only her cat, what did she call it? Ah yes, Roman. Curled in a fluff of a ball in his own fur. His eyes widened to greet me but he spat out a hiss retreating under her bed. She wasn't there and now I angered the bloody cat too. I thought it was strange due to the hour, but it was not out of character. Surely she was upstairs in the library. I left her room to turn to the attic stairs. Until I heard it. The splash of water, not a giggle but a muffled sound in Bella's voice. The bathroom door was not shut. I only let my nails weave through the threshold. I could hear it, hear her. Bella's heartbeat grew garish. Chopping in and out. It did sound familiar but not from Bell herself. I have heard it elsewhere. I did not want to disturb her for it was the bathroom nevertheless but I was curious about what I found. Something that would make anyone shriek in either embarrassment or shock.

  In this century I do believe they call it self-pollution? A term I only heard from another maiden I had before Bella. It seems the church sees self-pleasuring yourself in or out of wedlock is a form of abuse to you and god. I see no harm, I had to resist the urge to go over to assist Bella. She looks like an oil painting, her body slumped in the tub with enough water to cover her torso and her hips. Deep enough to her neck. Her brown wild curls were tamed in a braid as it was draped over her shoulder. Her plump breasts broke the water's surface with droplets of water scurrying down back to the slow waves of the tub. Her rosed nipples glistened with the shine of candles surrounding the side of the tub. Bella's grasp held firm on the tub as her other hand dipped under the water waves to her abyss. The water clouded with soap not allowing me to see her technique. Not because my way does not help the urge but for curiosity's sake. Even so, I could use it the next time she falls asleep when my urges are too hard to bear.

  The muffled noises I heard were her soft moans hidden behind a bitten bottom lip. The sounds of water sloshing leaving droplets on the floor grew as did so her grip on the tub's edge. Her heartbeat pounded in my ears like a drum. I was hyper with excitement to see the most pleasurable moment on any woman's face. To reach the point of no return. The thing I most craved from anyone yet never beg for. Adorement. Adoring herself wasn't enough for me. I needed her now. Not a way a bloodthirsty wolf needs a lamb, but in pure desire. I wanted Bella to share the same pleasurable look with me. Any time of the day, anywhere in this castle. I wanted to bring her down to her knees and make her heartbeat soar like it is now. Her orgasm to be mine, as mine would be hers.

  Ba-dum, Ba-dum, Ba-dum....Ba-dum...Ba...Dum...Ba...Dum

  "Oh god-..." She let out a whisper as her hand loosened dropping it in the water. Her breath was heavy. Her body slumped lower as her head dipped quickly under water coming back up. Her cheeks reddened as she wiped water from her eyes. Her heart settled to its normal pace I am used to. I stretched my knee out only for me to hit my cut foot on the door frame.

  "Ow! Shit!" I turned in the hall sucking air through my teeth.

  "Catherine!?" Bella's voice rasped out exhaling beads of water out.

  Shit! Fuck! Run!

  I bolted back to my room. I never used my 'enhanced' skills in the castle but if I was to be caught Bella would have been more angry if I spied on her. Who would have known? Someone before who never ran a day in her life could run as fast as the wind blew. Amazing. I locked my bedroom door standing behind it like a small child. In fear. No, I do not fear Bella but in fear, I have been discovered. I sighed a breath of relief without the sound of being followed behind. It was dead silent once again. Humanity has been restored. Or so I think.

  A knock startled me on the door. I considered millions of things I could do. Pretend I was sleeping? No. Read? No. I had to swallow my pride and take accountability for my actions.

  "Yes?" I choked out.

  "If you need to go in the bathroom Valeria, you can." Bella's voice was lower in tune.

  "Um-...no I think I'll be fine Bell."

  "Fine." I heard her heels scuff the carpet turning away from my door. I had to speak to her, it was the human thing to do. "Bella?" I swung the door open.

  "Whatever is it?" Bella's body turned in a white cotton linen wrapped under her arms. Most of her hair was dry except for the tail end of her braid.

  "I'm...sorry."

  "Sorry? Sorry for what?"

  "For calling you my servant."

  "Well that's what I am, am I not?"

  "Yes...I mean no! I-...oh damn you! Just take my apology and go back to normal."

  "Not until you apologize for what you actually said." Her arms crossed over her wet linen shaping the shape of her damp body.

  "Fuck! Fine! I am sorry I called you my property. I was injured and took my pain out on you. Happy?" The lump in my throat dissolved as my words ran out.

  "Yes. Very."

  "Goddamnit, it is like pulling teeth with you I swear."

  "Life is more fun that way, Catherine."

  "Haha! No. It is like you pulling out my hair, strand by strand with your antics. You seem to have more fun around here than I do." I choked out before realizing what I just confessed to. I knew this would not be the last I heard of it. She will think I am some pervert. Creep even.

  "Well, Valeria. Life is not a spectator sport. Unless you like to watch? Hm?" She giggled adjusting the linen around her chest.

  "Go, I do not need you to soak my hall rugs."

  "I bet that's not the only thing soaked in these halls huh Catherine?" Bella turned as her body trotted down the hallway.

  "Urgh, you are an insufferable tease, are you aware?" I chuckled as I leaned my forehead against the wood of the door frame. Bella stopped before her door, her head cocked over her shoulder. "I thought you liked that part of me, Catherine? To tease?"

  "Ha, you think so? Go dress yourself before I do something you will regret."

  "You think I would regret it? You are deeply mistaken." She turned the door handle ushering her body through the threshold. Girls. I cannot live with them, nor can I live without them. Bella is just one girl I cannot get ahold of. It is quite peculiar. From the surface, we tease each other relentlessly. She obviously thinks nothing of it; taunting me with every move she made of her body. Creating the right amount of noise to disturb me as if she were a clock. Notifying me with every toe touch to each stair. Depending on her mood, how heavy her body would weigh out on the wood. I am beginning to enjoy our little game. Cat and mouse sort to speak. Deep down, I do believe I am the Cat in my domain. However, I soon realized I was not the strong feline. I am the rabid sickly mouse. Searching for cheese that had a pulse.