For The Last Christmas-A The Vampire’s Bride Christmas Bonus

Zaira sat crouched in front of the high walls that surrounded the old manor. According to some very reliable sources, this particular vampire had chosen the most obvious of clichés and decided to reside in an old castle that scared the crap out of even the most badass hunters.
Zaira contemplated going in guns blazing since her spies had informed her that only a single vampire inhabited the manor, but then she looked up at the darkening sky and knew that she was at a disadvantage. Even though it was only around one in the afternoon, dark clouds had gathered in the sky out of nowhere, and it kept getting darker by the minute. Soon, there wouldn’t be any difference between day and night.
It’s gonna be a white Christmas this year, Zaira thought to herself as she looked away from the sky and took out a gun from her thigh holster. Single vampire or not, once it was lights out, she would be no match for it. As a hunter, she had to be prepared for any kind of situation. She had several blades of varying sizes hidden all over her body, even a couple stakes, but her favourite was her gun. It was easy to handle and worked faster than the blades or stakes.
“Now or never,” she muttered under her breath as she pushed open the rusty iron gates, cringing at the scraping noise it made on a stone hidden under the thick layer of snow.
Vampire hearing is extremely sharp. It doesn’t matter how far they are inside the manor, they would have definitely heard that scraping noise, Zaira thought as she hurried inside the manor grounds and crossed the little driveway to the fountain right before the manor entrance. She ducked behind it. The fountain didn’t have any water, but there was plenty of snow inside it to cover up the dried, rotting leaves that had fallen from the giant trees around it. A lone fairy with a pitcher in hand stood at its centre, but no water fell. The statue now had dark patches all over its wings as well as the rest of the body, and the surrounding trees now stood like huge dark skeletons covered in a thin skin of white snow, and looking at them made a shudder run down Zaira’s spine.
Holding the gun in preparation for a shot, she unlocked the safety and made a dash for the entrance. Reaching the huge iron doors with its intricate designs, she shoved it open to find it unlocked. Confident that the vampire inside would be taken by surprise, she rushed inside… only to slump forward and drop to the ground. Something connected with the back of her head, rendering her unconscious.

*****

“Was this really necessary, Son?” a heavily accented voice asked the black-haired man as he carried the hunter inside and dumped her on a chair.
Ignoring his father’s dissatisfaction, he proceeded to remove every ounce of metal he could find on her body, along with another gun he found strapped to her boots. Making sure he’d removed them all—thank God she didn’t hide weapons in her underwear—Dorian tied her hands behind her back and left her on the chair while removing the weapons from near her proximity.
Dorian turned to his father, the copper-haired vampire with pale blue eyes a shade lighter than his own. He looked no older than him on the surface, but Gregory Vermont was over a thousand years old, recognizable only by his thick accent of a language long forgotten. “What are you going to do now? She knows this location, which means others might come in after her.”
Gregory climbed down the ladder he had used to place a star on top of the ten-foot Christmas tree. He had managed to dig it up from somewhere Dorian had no idea about. His father had suddenly decided that he was no longer interested in living in this new, changing world and wanted to go to sleep for a while, but before he did that, he wanted to throw a traditional Christmas party which included no blood but plenty of food that he had cooked up himself. Since Dorian was the only member of his family, Gregory had called him in to celebrate his last Christmas with his son before he went to sleep.
Now it looked like it wouldn’t be just the two of them this year.
“Oh, I’m sure no one will find me even if they dig up the whole place.” He shot a secret grin at his son as they heard the woman groan, her consciousness returning.
Gregory was a foot shorter than Dorian, making him almost the same height as the woman on the chair who was now glaring daggers at them with her vibrant green eyes. Like most hunters, she wore black leather pants and jacket paired with a dark green turtleneck sweater to keep away the cold. Her short black hair was in a ponytail on top of her head. Gregory took a seat on the chair next to her. A smile was on his face even as the woman bore holes in him with her glare. “Hello, little one. My name is Gregory Valmont, and this is my son, Dorian. What’s your name?”
Zaria frowned at the friendliness of the vampire but decided that since they have revealed their names, just her first name wouldn’t cause problems. “Zaira,” she said gruffly, wincing at the ache in the back of her head.
“Oh, dear! I’m extremely sorry for my son’s behaviour. He seems to have left his manners outside the manor,” Gregory told her as his son stood behind him looking bored, his eyes never leaving her face.
She took the opportunity to look around the room. The outside might be in ruins, but this hall was well furnished and modern-looking. There was even a huge Christmas tree decorated with little glass orbs of several colours that held burning candles next to a fireplace. One thing Zaira noticed was that the room was lit only by candles. There was no sign of electricity as far as her eyes could travel. A little further from the tree sat a table with steaming food on it. She gulped, then squared her shoulders.
“Alright, get on with it!” she spat out, knowing what was coming next.
“Huh?” Gregory looked at her, genuinely confused. Dorian, on the other hand, looked interested.
“You’re going to drain me dry aren’t you?” she said. “That’s why you have me tied up devoid of weapons. Go ahead, suckers! Make it quick! I’m tired of all the niceties.”
Both vampires burst out laughing, and Zaira simply stared at their gorgeous faces as Gregory wiped tears from the corner of his eyes and Dorian just looked plain amused. “What?” she asked once their laughter had subsided.
“You must be a new hunter, Zaira,” Dorian spoke for the first time. His voice was husky yet so beautiful that it made her want to sigh. “We don’t drink blood from humans anymore. We have blood banks for that.”
She frowned. “But the hunters—”
“There are still an odd few who drink from humans, provided that they are willing,” Gregory answered. “And then there are the rogues who have lost their ability to think and are drowned in bloodlust. Hunters are appointed to take care of those who escape even the toughest of vampire security and keep killing humans in their madness. How long have you been a hunter, child?”
Zaira felt heat creep up her cheeks at Gregory’s inquiry. “Two months.”
“You’re still in training, kid.” Dorian smirked as her brows creased in a frown at the word ‘kid.’ “Each hunter has to undergo a base training of two years before they’re allowed into the field. Thank your gods it was only us and not a blood-crazed vampire you encountered today.”
“Dorian is right, you need to be careful. We work with the Hunter’s Union to bring down such vampires. If you don’t believe us, you can ask Fabian,” Gregory said.
“You know Fabian?” Zaira was shocked that Gregory knew the leader of their unit. Oh, the embarrassment she would be facing once they let her go!
“Of course.” Gregory smiled. “Every vampire in the vicinity knows the head of the Hunter’s Unit in their region.”
“I see…” Zaira hung her head in embarrassment. Not only had she invaded a vampire’s home without permission, but she was also about to shoot two innocent men… err… vampires. “I’m sorry,” she said in a small voice.
“Now, now! Let’s not get upset today. It’s Christmas, after all.” Gregory came over and untied the rope from her hand. “I’ve made a huge meal, anyway. Would you like to stay for dinner?”
Zaira thought about going home to her Hunter’s colony, along with only Fabian and a few hunters in town, but decided against it. Everyone had gone back home to their families. The only reason she couldn’t go was because she had waited to go out ‘till the last moment and a landslide had blocked the road out of town.
“Okay.”
Zaira stayed with the Valmonts to celebrate Christmas and was surprised that she was having fun with the vampires. Gregory turned out to be a great cook, and Dorian was a great dancer. He even opened up enough to have a real conversation with her. Through their conversation, she also learned that the vampires now have a new king, Erick Stayton, and that his bride, Queen Alina Stayton, had once been human. Zaira was astounded to know so much about the vampire kingdom. Previously, she had been shocked to know that vampires existed, having encountered one in an alley behind a club, drinking from a woman who seemed to be lost in bliss.
Fear made her join the Hunter’s Union, but today, she found out that the world wasn’t only black and white. There were good vampires too.
“What’s this sleep you’re talking about?” she asked when Gregory mentioned that it was time for him to sleep.
“A stage where I lie down somewhere safe and will myself to fall asleep for a long time. My body and brain shut down and turn into a statue-like state where I’d be staying for a long time until my mind decided it has had enough sleep and it’s time to wake up.” Gregory explained. “I’ve been awake for over a thousand years. I think it’s time to take a short break.”
“How long will you be asleep?” she asked, suddenly feeling sad that she might not see Gregory again.
“It varies from vampire to vampire. No vampire had ever slept less than a decade, though,” Gregory said with a small smile. “I’ll miss this world, but I no longer feel like walking in it. Maybe a few decades’ sleep will alter that.”
“It’s time, Father,” Dorian told him at midnight and stood up to give his father a hug.
“It was nice meeting you, Zaira. It’s unfortunate that we might never meet again.” Gregory pulled her into an affectionate hug that reminded Zaira of her father. “I wish you’d found me sooner. It wouldn’t have been as lonely being here then.”
After their goodbyes, Gregory exited through a door at the back of the room, and when she tried to follow, Dorian stopped her.
“A vampire’s resting place is supposed to be a secret, so no one can get that information out of us and decide to kill him while he’s out,” Dorian explained as he cleared away the dishes and handed Zaira a box of leftovers. “You can heat it up later.”
“Thank you,” she said as Dorian proceeded to hand her the weapons he had hidden away. “It was nice meeting you, Dorian, both of you.” She put each weapon in their respective places and then turned to leave.
“Same here,” said the black-haired vampire whose beautiful face was now permanently etched in her mind.
Little did she knew that this wasn’t the last time she would see this dashing vampire and that when Gregory rose from his slumber after four centuries, she’d be there right beside her husband—Gregory’s son—to welcome him into the new world.



The End