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Despite his line of employment, it was unusual for Merch to wander so close to vampire territory. Usually he preferred hunting down stray vampires causing terror in human villages. Quick. Easy. Low risk. But a letter as intriguing as the one he had received, was too much temptation to ignore. He hadn’t been sure what to make of it first, let alone how it had even found its way to him. Its contents were laid out in long, rambling sentences of fanciful prose. Unmistakably the writings of someone who was born rich, never having to work a day in their life, choosing to refer to himself only as “Lord R.” Other than that, he only knew that this was a commission of sorts, and that he was expected in an abandoned old house a stone’s throw away from vampire territory’s seemingly endless walls by cover of night.
A full moon graced the night’s sky, bathing the land in faint silver light. True to the words in the letter, he found the ramshackle little house this Lord R. had spoken of. Merch wasn’t a fool though. He made sure to have a dagger ready in his hand before coming anywhere near that place. With plenty of caution, he approached the door. It swung open with a drawn out creak. The inside was no different from its exterior. The many holes in the roof allowed the missing floor boards and collapsed furnishings to be clearly seen. His eyes quickly scanned the room only to halt at a figure sitting in the opposite corner. Two eyes, red as blood, stared back at him from beneath the cover of a drawn hood on their cloak.
“Mister Merch, I presume?” The man’s voice spoke in an accent that matched the letter he had received.
“And you’re… Lord R.” He replied.
The figure smiled, letting his ivory fangs shine in the moonlight, as he pushed his hood back just a little to let silver locks peak out. “Forgive me for not approaching you more directly. You have to understand that what I mean to ask of you is of a most delicate nature.”
Merch took a step further inside, still not letting his guard waver. “I hope you don’t mind me saying that people like you are usually my target, not my employer.”
He made an amused sound. Almost like he had to fight himself not to cackle with laughter. “I should hope not. It would be a sad fact for the hunter academy if its hunters performed the bidding of vampires.”
“Well, let me cut to the chase then. Who do you want dead?” He asked bluntly.
Again that self-satisfied little laugh, less reserved this time. “There’s a great number of people I should like to see disposed of, but alas, that is not why I have summoned you. I’m rather more in the market for a… kidnapping.”
“If you’re gonna ask me to hunt you down a tasty little human to snack on, I should warn you, that’s outside of my usual duties and will cost you extr-”
“Not human, a vampire.” The vampiric nobleman interrupted.
Silence hung in the stale air of the cabin for a moment before the hunter nodded. “Now we’re talking.”
“I won’t bore you with too many of the details, but suffice it to say there is a fledgling of mine who has in recent months caused me a spot of bother and needs to be brought home where they belong.”
A runaway fledgling, classic story. “Any idea where I’d find them?”
“They were a mer before becoming a vampire. They haven’t been seen in vampire territory according to my little bats recently, so I would presume they’ve returned to the mer settlement not far from here.”
Easy enough. This was building up to be a pretty routine job even if the contractor wasn’t. “Any name you can give me so I know I have the right guy?”
“Mara. Mara Thalasso.”
Suddenly, it clicked in his head, and he too began to giggle.
“Something amuses you?” The vampire inquired.
He quickly regained his composure. “Let’s just say me and Mara aren’t strangers.”
“Nothing that would prevent you from completing your mission, I hope?”
He shook his head. “Nope.”
“Excellent, then- wait. Just one more thing.” He once again snatched up the hunter’s careful attention “As a vampire, Mara has retained their siren song. I’m sure you’re familiar with all the dangers of a vampire, but let me warn you that the siren-vampire combination can make for a rather foul surprise. I speak from experience…”
Merch shrugged. “I’m sure it’s nothing I can’t handle with the necessary precautions. Speaking of which, and I hope you understand as a rich man yourself, that specialized work like this means I’ll be charging more than my normal rate.”
His slender fingers waved his concern away. “Money is no object. What matters is that Mara is returned to me alive. And above all, I place a high price on… discretion, do you understand?”
Merch smiled. “You mean, paying me extra not to tell the council that you broke the treaty by turning a mer?”
Aloys returned the smile. “You have a sharp mind. Had you been born in another age in different circumstances that mind might have taken you to high places. We could’ve used people like you at the war table instead of…” He stopped himself. “But none of that matters anymore. Not much longer, anyway”
The hunter brought them back to the business at hand. “So do we have a deal?”
Aloys nodded. “We have a deal, mister Merch.”
- · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
Clack. Clack. Clack.
The unmistakable sound of lightly heeled boots echoed against the walls of the throne room. Mara tensed at the sound, slow, steady, strong. Before they even turned around she could smell the faint scent of death that clung to the intruder.
“Hi there!” Kore greeted, either oblivious to or uncaring of the death that clung to the unknown visitor. Mara wouldn’t put either past them. Still, years worth of training had Mara tensing up for a fight at the first unexpected sound.
“Hello.” The figure greeted with a false sense of cheer, and Mara froze. Shit. They knew that voice…. That was- “My name’s Merch. And I heard there was a certain fugitive I could find around here somewhere. Mind pointing me in their direction?”
Everything came rushing back to Mara all at once. The Captain shuddering in fear, the blood soaked decks of the ships they had left to fend for themselves, the maniacal laughter echoing out into the wine-red night. Merch was here, and they were after her. She should run, she knew she should, but Laz’s words echoed in their mind, “What do you think would’ve happened if Kore was alone for the past year?”
Even though she was dead and gone, Mara still saw the truth in those words. She couldn’t leave them to fight off the world alone again. If Kore’s strength was in the people they surrounded them with, then Mara would be a sword in their arsenal, and swords don’t run off at the first sign of trouble. Mara took a deep breath, pulling their sword out of its sheath, and turned around to face the rest of the throne room.
“-don’t know about any fugitives. But we have plenty of food if you need some-” Mara tuned back into Kore’s conversation with the bounty hunter.
“Kore,” Mara spoke, cutting Kore off while trying to keep a level tone, “You should go.”
They watched as the confusion etched into their sibling’s face softened to understanding, fear, and a bit of disbelief.
“Mara, you didn’t…” they breathed.
Before Mara could respond with some semblance of an excuse, the hunter spoke with the saccharine voice of a predator inches from its prey, “So you’re the Mara I’ve been hearing so much about. You’ve really made a name for yourself in the last few months. How many villages have you terrorized since you got fangs?”
Mara didn’t have anything to say to that. They knew what they had done was something most people couldn’t understand, but they had needed it. They needed to know they could be a monster and still be okay. They needed to destroy and maim and kill. They needed that excuse to not hold back, to be more than just the carefully crafted weapon they were born to be. They needed to feel their power overwhelm and consume them so they could rise like a phoenix from the ashes and overcome the terror that had been inflicted on them again and again and again. They weren’t the scared little mermaid that had died in an ancient cell to a monster who saw an opportunity and took advantage of them. No, they were the monster now.
“I stopped counting after fifty.” They answered honestly, fighting to avoid searching Kore’s face for any emotion.
The man chuckled. “Well, if you’re just going to admit it, then there’s no reason for me to not ask nicely first.” He paused for dramatic effect, leaning forward ever so slightly in what could almost be a bow, if it wasn’t so guarded and mocking, “Please come with me to answer for your crimes.”
Mara felt a growled “Fuck you” start to rise in their throat, but before they could get the words out, Kore jumped in, literally and figuratively.
“No!” They spoke with the power of a ruler, and the walls shuddered in response. “Mara is both my sibling and my subject. By the rules of the Mer kingdom, sanctioned by the treaty from the Great War, we will deal with their crimes according to our own laws and regulations.”
“Ah, ah, ah” the hunter tsk’d in response, “As a vampire, Mara actually falls under Prince Asher’s jurisdiction. And as you can see here,” he unrolled a scroll with hastily scribbled signatures across it, “I already have permission to apprehend the fugitive by any means necessary. So if you won’t surrender them willingly…” his eyes glinted with something dangerous and before Mara could even conceptualize moving, they had already shoved Kore out of the way, taking a blade in the side of their chest for their efforts.
“Mara!” Kore screamed at the sight of blood. Bett er her than them. Mara really didn’t want to have to fight off this asshole and their own bloodlust at the same time.
“It’s fine Kore, just go!” They yelled back as they brought their own blade out to strike at the intruder. They saw Kore’s hesitation as they dodged another attack, so they risked giving away more information to just make sure Kore would move. “You need to get out of here.” Red eyes locked with silver, “Find us some backup.”
That admission of weakness, that proof that Mara had changed, had learned, had seen how strong Kore was now and believed in their capabilities both as a leader and a member of their family, was enough to send them running out the door and diving into the water before Merch could get farther than a few steps.
“Saving the ruler, how selfless.” The mercenary mocked.
Mara scoffed. “My selflessness died in a cell a year ago. I’m not going back.”
“Prince Asher locked you in a cell?” Merch asked condescendingly, as if he didn’t know what Mara had already pieced together.
“No. If Asher wanted me back, he’d have come for me himself. He wouldn’t bother with paperwork when he knows I’d come willingly.” Something that looked almost impressed washed across Merch’s face as he got another thrust to strike Mara’s right arm. They hissed as they continued, “So tell me, how much did Aloys pay you to try to bring me in?”
“You’re smarter than he said you’d be.” Mara could almost make out a smile behind the danger lacing his voice. “But apparently not smart enough.” He barked as he wrapped a leg around Mara’s, tipping them just off balance enough to dip them into the burning brightness of the sunlight. Their mind was overcome with white-hot burning pain for a moment, before they felt something like a needle poke into the sensitive skin of their neck and everything began to fade.
“Shhh, shhh, there you go.” The mercenary chided as he lowered the siren to the ground slowly.
They tried to hum a tune, hoping if they could just get a grasp on the man in front of them, just enough to slow him down a little bit, then maybe Kore would get back in time to help.
“Hold my hand ooh baby it’s a long way down to the bottom of the river”
They sang softly as the man started to walk away.
“Hold my hand” they sang as he got a bundle of ropes from the bag he had set down just inside of the entrance to the throne room.
“Ooh baby it’s a long way down” they projected as he turned to walk back towards them
“A long way down.” they cried as they noticed the wax covering his ears.
They could barely register the feeling of fabric shoved in their mouth and secured there with rope as the world faded away into darkness.
- · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
When they came to, they felt as though their body was swaying side to side gently like a leaf clinging to a branch in the breeze. It took them a few more moments to shake off their drowsiness enough to realise they were being carried on someone’s shoulder. They fought off the fog that lay heavy on their mind, trying to remember how they had ended up here. Their body tensed as they realised whose shoulder they were on. Merch. Suddenly it all came back. How he had knocked on their door, looking for them. Kore, they thought as they desperately hoped their sibling was safe and sound. They tried to look up to see where they were. It was a dense forest, gnarled oaks rising up to form a thick canopy. It didn’t take much guesswork to realise where this path led. They’d been here a few times before.
Merch noticed his catch was wriggling about more than usual. “Ahhh, you’re finally awake, little mermaid. Or I guess I should say little bat? Not that it matters much.”
The cloth still tied in their mouth prevented them from giving any kind of answer.
“Anyway, your timing couldn’t be more perfect! We were just about to reach our final destination.”
Dread settled over them as they watched the earth beneath them turn into a solid path. From the edges of their vision they could see the walls of two towers which they passed through. They forced their eyes shut again. That haunted castle was the last thing they wanted to see right now. It took all their courage just to step inside last time. This time they didn’t even have a choice.
As their captor passed through a door the subtle sounds of the breeze, birds singing, and gravel crunching underfoot was cut off as it closed again. A brief silence hung in the air before his footsteps resumed, echoing all the way down.
At the bottom, Merch opened another door only to find a grand ballroom behind it. “My my Mara, you’ve managed to piss off some very wealthy people by the looks of it. You just can’t stay out of trouble, can you?”
Go fuck yourself.
He lifted them off his shoulder and sat them with their back against the base of a pillar. “Now don’t you go running off anywhere while I go find my employer, alright?”
The only response they could give was to stare fiery daggers directly into his eyes. His forced smile didn’t waver at the sight of it. Without another word he disappeared down a side door in search of his paycheck. Mara wished that being away from both of them would give them a moment of respite. It didn’t. They only dreaded what was to come. Their eyes scanned the room for anything that could prove a means of escape, but no luck. They could never make it up the staircase quick enough to outrun both the hunter and their sire. Turning into a bat did cross their mind, but the exposure to sunlight had temporarily disabled that ability. All they could do was sit and wait for the inevitable.
Soon enough footsteps came into earshot from behind the same door Merch had gone into. The cheerful hunter returned, a heavy pouch clinking with coins in his hand. “Well Mara, I’m afraid I have to say goodbye once more. I wish I could say ‘until next time’, but I wouldn’t be so sure of that.” His voice dripped with self-satisfaction. And just like that, he had left their life once more.
After Merch had disappeared upstairs, another pair of footsteps echoed out. Mara’s stomach churned. They turned their back towards the door and forced their eyes shut, hoping they wouldn't have to see him at least. Once again the door opened, and a familiar voice spoke.
“So it really is you-” Mara’s heart sank. They wished they could be brave in this moment, but all they felt was fear as their body trembled against the pillar. “You’ve no idea how much worry your little escapade caused us, Loreley-”
Loreley? Had he confused them with someone else? It seemed almost impossible.
Slow footsteps marched closer to them. Even if they couldn’t see him, their heart raced nonetheless, shallow breaths straining through cloth.
Aloys crouched down behind their back. “And this time, I’m not taking any chances.”
Suddenly cold steel bit into the soft flesh of their throat, leaving a deep, gushing wound to spill their blood onto their clothes and the floor. They couldn’t even scream with the gag still stuck firmly in their mouth.
“You should’ve killed me when you had the chance, such a waste~”
They collapsed onto their side, gasping around what little air they could still force down their slowly draining throat, finally catching a glimpse of their sire’s wicked smile. Just as soon as they had made eye contact, it abruptly turned to a look of genuine concern. “Loreley… y-you’re hurt-”
The knife he had used clattered to the ground. “Oh my, what are you even doing out of bed? Mother will be furious if she catches you out and about in a state like this.”
The loss of blood didn’t help to make sense of his insane ramblings.
He tried lifting them up into an embrace. Despite the blood loss already making them weak, they tensed at the feeling of being pressed to his chest, his mouth whispering little words of comfort into their ear that had quite the opposite effect. “It’s alright Lorey, big brother is here. I won’t leave you alone. We’ll get you tucked into bed all nice and warm and I’ll take good care of you myself.”
Even Mara’s weakened state wasn’t enough to suppress the shudder that ran down their spine. As the world faded and blurred before their eyes, Mara found themself hoping, despite everything, that maybe this time they wouldn’t have to wake up again, hungry in a cold cell. And for the second time, Mara Thalasso died on the cold unforgiving floor of Rothmore Castle in the arms of their tormentor.