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Anna would say that the past month or so had been quite eventful: It’d been one full month since she was contracted to slay a vampire who’d been spotted in her area. It’d been less than a month since Anna was kidnapped by said vampire, whisked away to Transylvania to be sacrificed as a gift for Lord Ybbob’s lover, Esmeralda. It’d also been less than a month since Anna subsequently botched her attempt to slay said lover and Lord Ybbob. It’d been a few weeks since the tension in their lavish castle dissipated enough to have short conversation with anyone, one week since the three of them had addressed the whole murder thing, and four days since Ybbob even gave her an apology for kidnapping her. In all honesty, it was a little backhanded - “I’m sorry for kidnapping you after that football game because even though you seduced my wife, I was just trying to bring variety to our routine and should’ve just stuck to what we know because then you wouldn’t be here.” - but Anna took it regardless.
Like she’d say, eventful month.
She’s yet to try and return to the US, but she’s made herself comfortable with this new routine she’d established while living in their castle. It was definitely a very strange routine indeed, but with the circumstances given, it was one she chose nonetheless. She gets to chill with a very beautiful vampire woman and her lover, and she’ll never complain about it.
Being a vampire slayer has its perks she supposes; no one questions when you seem to drop off the face of the earth. No one’s contacted her to see how her job has gone and she’s yet to receive any more potential listings. From her six-month stint as an amateur vampire slayer, perhaps no one checks in until she’s finished a job? She never really noticed, usually the jobs she’d been on had been partnered, making quick work and and even quicker pay. This was her second time doing a job by herself, and getting herself kidnapped - to a completely different continent nonetheless - was not part of her plan in the slightest. It made doing much of anything outside the castle a hassle, regardless of how picturesque the place was. Being so far out of the way of any nearby towns, it didn’t even make sense to attempt leaving. She’d made the best of it, for what it’s worth.
The day-to-day in the house was usually very slow: The mornings usually started sometime in the late afternoon to limit what little sunlight could come through the curtained windows, with most of the time spent awake lounging around, reading, or generally doing their own thing separate and apart from each other.
Their nights were even slower: When it drew closer - which was sometime around five in the morning - sometimes they’d fall asleep in a big pile on the large king-size bed in the master bedroom. The frequency had increased in the past two weeks, and Anna always liked the feeling of being squeezed in between them. Their cool bodies seemed to fight for purchase and estate on her warm limbs - no doubt a symptom of their long-dead bodies no longer producing the heat her living body still did. It made her heart flutter in ways she wrestled within her head.
Yes, despite being the one who kidnapped her, there was a charm to Ybbob that Anna couldn’t deny. There was a thoughtfulness in presenting her as a gift for his wife - even though she rightfully didn’t agree with it - and the fumbling of his “tough guy” exterior after her sudden flirting was quite entertaining. Yes, Esmeralda was one of the most beautiful women she’d ever met in her whole life, and there wasn’t a single thing Anna had said to the older woman that wasn’t true. But she grappled with the fact that these were her marks, who she should see as nothing more than unnatural monsters she needed to exterminate. These thoughts made it harder for her to appreciate the serene nature of her predicament - something straight out of fanfiction. The way the vampires’ features soften out, their closeness to her giving her a feeling of protection, as if she wasn’t the one that they should be protected from.
It was a weird little life that they lived, but it was theirs. It was nice that they seemed to have gotten past the hiccups of avoiding each other when everyone was awake. In those first few days, when it became obvious that Anna wasn’t going anywhere, the tension in the air was palpable, the memory of when she’d tried to kill them being all too fresh.
…Ok, that was being a bit too generous. When she initially staked Esmeralda, Anna had missed her heart by about two inches, which..y’know..wasn’t great. She immediately panicked, pulled it out, and tried again, only to be immediately intercepted by Esmeralda. In the midst of their cat fight, Anna felt a hot pinch in her shoulder, blacked out, and when she came to - now chained by her foot to a nearby column - the two vampires were fully engaged in a full-blown lover’s spat.
“I still don’t understand why we can’t just kill her!” “I don’t want them anymore when I get attached Ybbob!” “That’s fine! I can have her! I can get you a boy like you normally do!” “You will do no such thing!! I want to learn more about her! She makes me want to discover more about myself!” “Yeah she definitely wants to discover something about you…” “I don’t like your tone.” “And I don’t like how you don’t like the gift I got you! Do you know how hard it was to play American football??” “I never asked you to do that Bobby and you know it!!” “THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT OF A GIFT!”
Anna ended up being their chained-up mediator at the end of the day, and after getting to a point where both parties had cooled down enough for civil discussion, Ybbob - with heavy reluctance - freed her from the chain with the accepted tradeoff being getting rid of all her hunter gear. She had sulked and whined the entire time, but she did it.
…
“Even my phone??” Anna said. “You wouldn’t keep me here without my phone??”
“Especially the phone! You might call those hunter friends to finish us off.” Ybbob snapped back.
“Ybbob, let her keep the one thing!”
“My love,” he started slowly, “I feel like you’re not grasping the severity of this whole…” He wordlessly gesticulated for a moment, “Situation.”
Before long, they had spiraled into another argument, although it was much less tense than before.
Anna did get to keep her phone by the way. Small victories.
…
They all managed to keep themselves entertained during the days: Anna usually explored the castle’s many rooms and halls. From the catacombs where they first met, to the large and foreboding keep, she’d barely seen half of what the space has to offer. Often, she’d get spooked by their servant, Drow, appearing in places she knows he wasn’t in before.
He didn’t look the type, but Ybbob could usually be found holed up reading up on whatever news piqued his interest at the moment, which still happened to be American football from the time he’d kidnapped Anna. He had procured many medical books to try and better understand CTE.
Esmeralda, despite her mysterious manner, had a much more public mannerism - although she indulged in it much more infrequently than the other two. Frequenting an activity she most loved before she was turned, she often flew to nearby countries to enjoy their populous cities at night; either to go shopping, people-watch, or enjoy a meal. Although, if the meal also involved feeding on a person, she’d never tell.
Anna always wished to join her on her little trips. She’d often come back carrying bags upon bags upon bags, and there was always an air of satisfaction about her after returning. And perhaps she imagined herself being carried by a beautiful vampire woman to various European countries, but who wouldn’t? It was a fantasy straight from the romance novels she loved so much. Anna assumed she must be quite strong, not only from all the bags she’d carry, but also from the stamina it takes to fly back and forth. Today happened one of those days when Esmeralda was getting ready for one of those trips when Anna managed to ask her about joining her on her trip out.
Now, realistically, she knows the answer is probably no: distance to travel depending on where they’d go, inability to speak the language, travel sickness; there are endless possibilities. She’d prepped herself for some excuse for why she couldn’t come.
However, Anna’s best skill had always been being persistent. It’s how she managed to get Ybbob so flustered, and she’d be damned if she wasn’t gonna use it.
“Come with me into town?” said Esmeralda as Anna searched for a parasol that matched nicely with the vampire’s outfit. “What, trying to outsmart me and escape? I thought we were bonding.” She plastered a faux wounded look on her face.
Anna ignored that last comment. “I was just thinking you might like some…company. Y’know, like a girls’ trip.”
“Ooh, putting the moves on me, I see.”
And I thought I was the flirt-master. “It doesn’t have to be like that if you don’t want it to..” She felt her cheeks growing hot.
“As lovely as that sounds, I usually fly to whatever city strikes my fancy, how are you planning to accompany me?”
“Oh, uhh…can you not, like, carry me over there?” I must sound like a major prick.
The vampire gave a small laugh, “There’s a reason I usually have Ybbob do the more heavy lifting.”
Anna stared at the lithe body of the woman in front of her. Honestly, I guess that tracks. “What if I took the train? Trains go all over.”
“Do you even speak Romanian?”
“...Come with me on the train?”
Esmeralda shot her a look.
“Okay, so my plan isn’t that well thought out.” Anna conceded. Dammit.
“Why do you want to come with me so badly? I thought you were entertaining yourself exploring all the rooms in the castle?” Esmeralda smoothed out the front of the dress she picked out. Looking at herself in the full-length mirror, she was met only with the clothes she wore.
“I miss when you’re here,” Anna stated simply. “There’s only so many silent reading clubs and weird Drow pop-ups I can take. I wanna see some sights.”
Esmeralda let out a soft sigh. Though it no longer beat, it warmed Esmeralda’s heart to have someone care about your interests like that. Goodness knows how long it's been since Ybbob actually took note of where she went and what she did until Anna showed up. She grew silent for a bit as she readjusted the cuff of her sleeve, when suddenly, an idea crossed Esmeralda’s face.
She had asked Anna to get ready and meet her outside. Having traded her shorts for jeans and throwing on a jacket just in case it was cold outside (thank goodness they let her keep the spare clothes in the bag she kept her hunting gear in), Anna met Esmeralda outside, where Drow met the pair with a waiting vehicle. Anna stared in confusion.
“Since it doesn’t make the most sense to travel out of the country, I thought we could go on a more local trip.” Esmeralda said. “So I have Drow ready to drive us to town.” As they approached, he opened the door for them, like the very lanky gentleman he’s known to be.
Anna gasped. It was such a sweet compromise to her request. “That’s really kind of you Esme!”
Mission accomplished.
As they got closer, a question formed on Anna’s lips.
“Since when do you have a car?” she asked as she helped Esmeralda inside.
“It’s My Car Madame!” Drow screeched out from behind the open door. That didn’t necessarily answer her question - in fact, it brought more to the forefront - but Esmeralda was now inside, and Drow began to help Anna inside too.
It was quite a roomy car, and amidst talking about what they were going to do in town - which was going to Sephora to pick up some items - Anna was glued to the window, enamored by the scenery. Though a part of her briefly wondered if this was her hunter instincts kicking in, mentally mapping out the area the way she was taught during her training.
Drow let them off about five minutes away from their destination; Anna insisted on walking a bit of the way there to take in everything, and who was Esmeralda to deny her? He promised to be back by the time the sun fully set.
This is how she found herself walking with Esmeralda to the Sephora in Braşov, about a 40 minute drive from the castle. It was strange to Anna: sure, she’d only been a vampire hunter for a few short months at this point, yet it dawned on her that always assumed that vampires couldn’t be outside in the daytime. Granted, Esmeralda was using her parasol and it was reasonably close to sunset anyway at 5pm, but still. Perhaps this would be something to bring up to her hunter supervisors.
If you ever go back, a thought quickly flashed in her mind’s eye.
Esmeralda caught her eyes as they walked, and Anna looked away quickly. It gave the vampire a laugh as they made their way closer to the store.
It was cooler inside than out, making Anna grateful for bringing a jacket after all, and she followed Esmeralda as she walked the aisles with purpose. She saw many cheerful associates milling about the store, no doubt assisting customers as they shopped.
Esmeralda was very efficient, finding the shade wanted - a Dior rouge in a dusty rose gold shade - before stopping for a bit in the lipstick section.
“Which one do you like more?” Esmeralda had swatched two tones on both her hands, one was a deeper wine red, and the other was a more classic red color.
Anna took her hands, switching their positions to either side of Esmeralda’s face every couple of seconds as she contemplated her options.
“It really is not that serious, Anna” Esmeralda said after what felt like 2 straight minutes of Anna weighing her options.
“It is to me. I wanna help you pick a color that matches you,” Anna said, absentmindedly. “I wish you could see how beautiful it makes you look.” she said softly.
The comment left Esmeralda with a confused look on her face, which soon was similarly worn by Anna. “Did I say something wrong?” she asked sheepishly.
“No, no darling, I just..”Esmeralda started. She pursed her lips in thought. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Y’know, back at the house, when you were smoothing out your dress?”
“Yes?” Esmeralda drawled.
“And it was..y’know…just the dress?” Anna said softly.
A realization dawned on Esmeralda. She looked over her shoulder; the store was still decently busy and customers and employees were still milling about.
“Ask me once we finish up, okay?”
Anna got the hint. “Yeah, sure.”
“...I still need you to pick a color.”
“Right, right..” Anna said, snapping back into concentration mode. After another 60 seconds of debate, she settled on the darker red. Anna looked at the product information while Esmeralda flitted through the boxes to find an undamaged one.
It was a Givenchy Matte Lipstick, which promised total coverage, long lasting comfort, and 12 hours of wear on its box.
I wonder how many kisses she could give me before it wears off. Anna thought to herself, before immediately shutting the thought down. What was she thinking?? Just then, an employee came up to the pair, slightly startling Anna. She asked them a question in a language that Anna couldn’t understand. Esmeralda responded in an affirmative tone, and the employee walked off.
“What did she say?”
“She thought we might need a bag, so she’ll be back with one in a second.” responded Esmeralda. As if on cue, the employee came right back with a bag to put their two items in. Esme thanked her as the employee returned to wandering until it seemed another customer may be in need of assistance. They began to walk away when Anna said she didn’t need anything from the section, but not before Anna caught the price of the lipstick.
210.
Her initial shock gave way to reprocessing; she automatically put it into USD as she’s so accustomed. Anna wasn’t very accustomed to Romanian currency - or Romanian anything in general - so just based on what she’d expect to pay in the States, she guessed it was somewhere in the $40 range. Another question began to form about their excursion, but she had to tear herself away from her mental math as she realized Esmeralda had walked further into another aisle and rushed to catch up.
The pair wandered into the perfume aisle and perused for a little, when a bottle caught Anna’s eye. A peachy liquid with a “JC” logo caused her to lag behind a little.
“Ah, Jimmy Choo!” Esmeralda said enthusiastically. “Did you want to try it?”
“Mmmm, I don’t know, I don’t wanna take away from your shopping.” Anna tossed her a glance.
“Anna, darling, this trip is just as much for you as it is for me,” the vampire reassured her. “If you want it, you should get it.” She got a tester paper for Anna to smell the fragrance, and Anna obliged.
It was rich and fruity, but not too strong. It was a mix of peach and mandarin and vanilla that was absolutely mesmerizing.
She loved it.
After a beat, she agreed, and Esmeralda picked up both a small bottle and travel spray size.
“I only wanted the little one, that’s gonna last me a while,” said Anna.
“Don’t worry darling, it’s for me, so I can keep you when I go out.” Esmeralda replied, a blue-ish tint coloring her cheeks. Anna made a mental note of it, to add to her now growing list of new vampire information.
Definitely not because it made her melt inside that Esmeralda wanted something to remind her of Anna, definitely not.
Esmeralda eventually picked a small golden Dior bottle. She sprayed some on a tester paper so Anna could get a sense of what it smelled like. It was quite floral, she got a lot of jasmine, but it wasn’t heavy at all. There was an elegant air about it, definitely a fragrance for Esmeralda. As the older woman put the box in the shopping bag, Anna caught a glance at the price tag: lei844?! Yikes. She didn’t even want to know how that converted back to USD.
After confirming they got everything they wanted in the store, the pair made their way to the counter. Esmeralda and the cashier spoke about the purchase and experience in Romanian, which Anna silently nodded along to in that way when you don’t know what’s being said but you’re being polite and trying your best. She glanced over at the total on the screen to see the total for all five of their major purchases: lei1883.63. The cashier put all the face care items in a small bag, gave it to Anna, then placed the perfumes in their own separate bags that she handed to Esmeralda before waving them goodbye.
“Yikes, I forget just how expensive things are.” Anna said as they left the building and headed back to the castle.
“It’s never a bother, sweetheart,” Esmeralda responded. It was a quarter to six, and twinklings of the night sky were beginning to shine; it was always a surprise realizing just how much time you can spend in a store.
“Drow won’t be back for another 15 minutes, do you want to get a pastry over there?” Esmeralda pointed to a small bakery two stores over from the Sephora.
Anna was getting a bit peckish, and as they both walked over, Esmeralda told her all about the different treats they offered, including a hollow cake pastry that can be filled with different custards and topped with nuts or cinnamon that Anna HAD to try.
Esmeralda ordered for both of them - a cake with cinnamon sugar, and a small hot chocolate for her girlfriend exclusively - and Anna was delighted at how good it was. She watched as Esmeralda enjoyed her pastry, making a mental note that vampires can consume things other than blood to her now growing list of Vampire Facts.
A quick check-in with the time told them to head out to meet Drow, so they got two small bags to store their remaining desserts and left amid the cooling air.
“Say, since we’re outta the store now..” Anna started as they walked hand in hand to the street where Drow waited patiently for their return.
“Yes, let’s talk about that now,” Esmeralda said, a coy smile forming on her lips.
“Okay, so like, first off, I don’t normally say those things just out loud. ” Anna started. “At least, I don’t make a conscious effort to just..say things. Y’know how it gets when you’re not, like…all there in the, uh, moment. Um…gosh how do you say words?” Her brain was swirling with all the unfiltered thoughts she’d collected throughout the day; the things she wanted to say, the things she wanted to ask. The word salad was stuck in her head and jammed in her throat all at once. Speak you fool!
“Look,” she finally managed to get out after a few beats, “what I’m trying to get at is that you are..so fashionable and beautiful and it seems like a unique cruelty that you can’t even see that when you look in a mirror. On account of the whole..vampire thing.”
Her face felt ready to melt off despite the absence of the sun.
Esmeralda gave a soft laugh. They’d reached the vehicle by this point, and Anna once again helped her inside.
“Did You Enjoy Yourself, My Lady?” Drow asked in his trademark screeching voice.
Esmeralda gave Anna a playfully quizzical look. Well, did you? it seemed to ask.
“Yeah, we had a nice time.” Anna answered after a beat. She and Esmeralda settled into their seats, as the latter began searching through the Sephora bag.
Pulling out the rouge, Anna was shocked when she opened the compact…
Maybe she shouldn’t have been as stunned as she was, having spent so much time with these thirsty vampires and their antics should really lessen the charm she feels about these supernatural creatures. But it's a reflection! A reflection! She couldn’t even blame her lack of experience on this one, it was something that came up in training, like…ALL the time. Anna couldn’t count just how much media had depicted them this way, not even to mention the mirror back at the castle.
And yet here she was, sitting next to a vampire trying to get both of them visible in the compact’s tiny mirror. The vehicle being in motion didn’t really help her situation either.
“How.” Anna said flatly. It wasn’t a question.
“Most mirrors are coated with silver, which doesn’t take too kindly to vampires,” Esmeralda explained, still fiddling with the compact, “and it’s such a hassle to get all the mirrors changed out at home. About a century ago, it seems they began to stop doing that and every now and again when I went out, I’d see myself.”
Anna leaned on Esmeralda’s shoulder so the older woman wouldn’t have to struggle to fit both of them in the mirror anymore. She gets to see Esmeralda’s face pretty much everyday, and yet seeing both of their faces in the small mirror..it felt different and new. She didn’t see the bloodthirsty-creature-of-the-night that’d she’d been training to rid the world of. Instead, all she saw was the most beautiful woman that she got to build a relationship with, reflected in the small, compact, metallic surface. Her supernatural romance books paled in comparison to what she felt right now. It was a warmth that started in her chest and spread out, across to her fingers, up her throat, rumbling in her ears.
She gave the vampire a peck on the cheek.
Anna couldn’t help smiling, the warm buzz having finally settled across her cheeks. “I feel like I’m learning so much from this little trip.”
The rest of the trip home consisted of Esmeralda telling Anna the story of seeing her reflection for the first time in 200 years. The 40 minutes sped by as they laughed and chatted. Drow helped both of them out of the car before going to park it. The two headed up the winding sprawl to the castle.
“Can I ask you another question?” Anna said as they headed to the castle doors.
“Of course.” Esmeralda smiled.
“I noticed that you used a card to pay…do you have a bank account?” Anna asked.
“Of course, how could I afford to do all this travelling?”
“I dunno, I guess I never really considered vampires would..y’know..have those.”
“Well it helps when you can watch the system be built from the ground up, dear.”
Anna’s eyes widened at that. “Really?”
“Oh, yes!” Esmeralda laughed a little. “Ybbob was deeply upset when they sent the gold reserves to Moscow when that Great War happened! There was this very nice golden brooch I got him and to this day they still have it.” They had a little laugh about it. Anna could already imagine what type of argument they’d gotten over it.
“Y’know,” Anna started, “I’ve been hunting for, like, half a year or so, and our little trip out is making me realize…I have a lot of misconceptions about vampires.”
She had turned to face Esmeralda, who’d only now realized they’ve been holding hands since coming out of the car. Their eyes locked, pale blue eyes meeting rich hazel ones. The blue tint found itself spreading across Esmeralda’s face again.
“Well then, you’re very lucky to know two who are willing to teach you..” Esmeralda replied, giving the woman a sly smile.
Drow opened the large, heavy doors from the inside for the two women, and giddy from the joys and spoils of their excursion, they stepped inside from the cooling dusk air.