Velhari

Happy Halloween! I hope you enjoy this little spin-off based on A Weapon's Melody Chapter 28 in which the two protagonists dress up for Halloween as vampire huntress and vampire. This is not canon and just a bit of fun, meaning there are no real spoilers for A Weapon's Melody here.

The night was dark and stormy, the rain prattled down onto Anne Engelhardt as she made her way up the hill towards the imposing yet beautiful manor. Rumours had brought her here. Rumours about a vampire influencing the poor townsfolk, enthralling them to do her every bidding. A renowned huntress like Anne couldn’t let such an opportunity pass. Anne “Angelheart” would rid the world of another beast tonight, just as she had done so many times before.

She readied her crossbow and pushed the massive wooden doors open. “VALEFOR! Show yourself!”

“I am here, there is no need to shout.” Lady Melody Valefor was dressed in elegant leather hunting garments. She had anticipated the arrival of the vampire huntress and had prepared herself.

“Tonight, you will pay for what you have done to the townspeople!” Anne fired her crossbow, but the bolt was easily dodged by the physically far superior vampire.

“What I have done to them? They serve me of their own free will.”

“Lies!” Anne attempted to reload. A futile act as Lady Melody knocked the crossbow across the entry hall with one swift movement after jumping down from the mezzanine.

“Your kind never listens… you will end up like the others.” The vampire sounded quite saddened. “And you are so cute too.”

“Don’t even try.”

“Try what? I am merely observing the truth.”

Anne scoffed. “Just defend yourself.” She drew her rapier, as did Melody.

Blades clashed. The vampire was a formidable foe. Every movement was elegant, beautiful, potentially deadly and so alluring…

Anne attempted to go on the offensive but failed again and again. Lady Melody forced her to parry one swift blow after another. Normally this was easy, why wasn't it now?

Swing by swing, the fight turned to a dance.

Another step, another swing, Anne fell into the vampire’s arms but pulled herself away to attack again. This wasn’t supposed to feel this complicated, at the very least this was stimulating. In more ways than one.

Pushed against a wall, the huntress caught herself staring at the flowing form of the vampire before her, but it was too late. Her rapier clattered to the floor. She had been disarmed.

“You are mine now.” Melody pressed her blade against Anne’s throat, who merely let out a pained whimper.

Anne stared at the ceiling above the bed. She had been disarmed and disrobed. She wasn’t quite sure what happened, but she had certainly enjoyed discovering that Lady Melody wasn’t just skilful with a rapier but also her fingers and tongue.

She wanted to believe that she hadn't given in so easily. The eyes of the vampire staring into her own… Melody had dropped her rapier almost immediately after Anne lost the fight. There was a kiss, a confession. The vampire seemed to speak the truth when she told Anne that she found her highly attractive. Then there was the question…

One night of indulgence wouldn’t hurt. If the vampire tried anything, Anne was certainly capable enough to take her out, especially in such a vulnerable position.

But she didn’t.

“You are awake.” The vampire was sitting at a small table, turned away from the bed, fiddling with her hair and some clothes.

Anne just grunted.

“If you still want to kill me, your weapons are over there.”

The huntress glanced at the corner Melody had pointed to. Her weapons were indeed carefully placed on a small dresser. “What did you do to me?”

“Nothing. I just took the chance to have one last wonderful night before the inevitable. Don’t worry, I didn’t even try to turn you.”

Anne reached up to touch her neck. Melody spoke the truth. She had done nothing. This was all Anne giving in to her deepest desires.

All the other vampires, every single one she had killed in cold blood, they were all men. Anne didn’t care for them. This time was different, this time her foe was someone so alluring and beautiful.

“But why?”

“Because I am lonely. Yes, I have my staff but none of them are my type. You though…” Melody sighed. “If anyone were to kill me, it should have been you.”

“I can’t go back.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was hired to kill you but I don’t want that anymore. I can’t just go back, they will find out.”

“Then stay.”

“And become your dinner?”

“No. Not my dinner, the townsfolk and I have a deal for that. You could be my consort.”

Anne nearly choked on her own breath. “Your consort?”

“Yes. This castle can get quite lonely despite, well…” Melody gestured to someone else on the bed. A cat.

Anne hesitated but carefully reached over to pet the cat. “I see. Yes, the company of a cat is amazing but I think I understand… does she have a name?”

“Tiny. Her name is Tiny.”

“Hello Tiny. That loneliness… I have only ever worked alone, travelling from town to town.”

“No family waiting for you?”

“No, not that they would have cared anyway. I don’t know why I am even considering your offer.”

“Because if I wanted to kill you or anything like that, I already had that chance. If you still want to kill me, I won’t stop you.”

“Or… I could indulge you. I am sitting on your bed, naked and staring at your very nice butt. You also have a cat who seems to at least tolerate me. That’s better than, well, everything out there. Just… don’t bite me, okay?”

“I won’t. I must admit that it would be nice to keep you around for longer and give you the gift of night one day, but not unless you truly want it.”

Anne tilted her head slightly. “You didn’t choose to be a vampire, did you?”

“No, this was forced on me.”

“I am so sorry… I never really… cared about the ones I killed.”

“It’s alright, I understand. At least the demons who unwittingly brought this curse into the world have been somewhat caring.”

“The church would be rather unhappy about that. Not that I need to care about their opinion anymore.” Anne finally stood up and slowly walked over to Melody. After a moment of hesitation, she put her arms around the vampire. “I will stay. Just as you said, if anyone were to kill me, it should be you. But something tells me it won’t come to that.”

It didn’t come to that. Instead, Melody woke up Anne with a kiss.

“Good evening, love.”

Anne stirred and returned the kiss before yawning. “Hello.”

“Do you remember what night it is?”

“How could I forget our anniversary?”

Melody giggled. Laughing was not something she was used to until Anne had come into her life, but everything seemed so much more beautiful now. “The staff is preparing dinner right now.”

“Then I should get up and get dressed.”

“If Tiny lets you.”

“If Tiny lets me.” Anne sighed playfully.

Melody rolled out of bed and draped a dressing gown over her naked body before peeking out of the between by pushing the thick curtains aside ever so slightly. “A storm is coming in."

“Just like that day... Can we dance again?”

The vampire nodded. “Of course, but without the weapons.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t want to risk harming you. I couldn’t bear…”

“I couldn’t either.”

“Maybe the gift of night… no, that is not a thought for now. First, we feast, then we dance, then we can think of the future.”

Melody turned back to face Anne. “But I love thinking about the future with you, with my… hm… maybe my wife?”

“We can’t get married though, the church would never allow it.”

“Who cares about the church? We have our own higher power who can approve of us.”

“A marriage before the demons?”

“Yes, I am certain they would agree to that. We can just ask, the worst that can happen is that they say no. They have approved of our relationship so far, I don’t expect anything bad.”

“True. Hold on. You just asked me to marry you.”

“I did. Surprised it took you this long to realize.” Melody grinned.

Anne laughed. “Just a year ago, I wanted to kill you. Yes. Yes, I want to marry you, Lady Melody Valefor. And on that day, I want to receive the gift of night too. I want eternity with you.”

“And I with you, my love.”

Anne struggled to pull herself out from under the large cat keeping her in bed and failed. With a smile on her lips, Melody returned to the bed to kiss her future wife.

After a long passionate moment, Anne slowly pulled away. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”