We all lose our heads from time to time (LIZ)

[Elizabeth Moriarty]

(Early Winter 1628: In tides we're the driftwood passing by)

Sometimes the most beautiful of gardens feel like a prison.

Oh, how she was so excited! Elizabeth was going to be celebrating her One-hundredth birthday as a vampire since the night Reynold had created her. After countless of hours hounding the man, Elizabeth was finally given permission to have a party in their garden. For the glorious occasion Elizabeth was given such beautiful clothes trimmed with scrolling floral embroidery that decorated the bodice of her gown that accentuated the solid deep blue of most of the gowns material. She was not excited because of the clothing she had gotten but those who would be at the party; it would be nice to see others as she saw Reynold all the time.

Her hair was worn in loose curls to the shoulders on the sides, with the rest of the hair braided into a high bun at the back of her head. Around her neck donned a pattern of lace that all proper women wore during the time frame and soon Elizabeth looked like a proper woman that had done well within her life. This of course wasn't true as everyone would assume her 'cousin' Reynold had done well, but she was a vision of beauty regardless.

And so the night began like those she had taken part of in various courts around the world. They danced, socialized, danced some more and finally it was time for the woman to open her birthday presents. Most presents tailored to her love of shoes and then her clothing, followed by the occasional trinket from various places around the world.; one person had even given her an exotic bird. Elizabeth took the gifts with such graciousness no matter if she liked them or not and as soon as there was not one left within her sight, Elizabeth demanded they continue to dance. She stood with a wide smile and made her way to the center of the wooden floor, her eyes upon the musicians as she thought of what dance they would do next.

Reynold made his way in front of her in which Elizabeth extended her arm and placed her hand within his. He hadn't danced with her yet and daddies should dance with their daughters. With a smile, Elizabeth found her way into his arms, gathered her skirt into her left hand and waited for the music to start. A few seconds passed by and soon everyone was looking at the musicians or at them. Elizabeth took a step backwards to make eye contact with the musicians but as she did Reynold knelt down in front of the woman. He had forgotten her present he had claimed and soon there was a a ring shoved within her face and a proposal of marriage. All eyes focused on her as she shifted upon her heeled feet, but hers were on the nearest doorway or window out.

"Words have seemed to have been stolen from my very mouth." Elizabeth stepped backwards once again, her skirt still clenched within her left hand. "I will not belong to another and I am certainly not yours. Never in that way." The room was silent, so silent Elizabeth imagined everyone must have heard her. Reynold spoke no words before he stood and left the room, informing everyone the party had ended.

The next night when she awoke, Elizabeth found herself trapped within her coffin. No matter how hard she pressed against the lid, it refused to budge. Elizabeth pounded on the coffin for hours upon hours, certain someone would hear her, but no one came to help her. Was she dreaming? Where was Reynold and why could he not hear her? Soon she was screaming to be released from her confinement and yet no release ever came. Soon the woman was doing everything she could through sobs to try to escape the darkened coffin. Hours passed and finally before dawn Elizabeth was able to push the lid off to see Reynold standing against her bedroom doorway. "Had you not heard me?" Elizabeth remained within her coffin, drying the tears upon her face as she stared at her creator.

"I had, but I think you have failed to hear me." With those few words he left her to retire to his own room before the sun rose. This course of action occurred continuously for one night a week, then two and finally most of her nights during the week were spent within the solitude of her coffin. She hated coffins; they were cramped and dark, refusing to let her see everything she needed to see. When released from them at Reynold's whim, Elizabeth would kill one, two-to half a dozen of his servants out of outrage and hunger. How long could vampires live without getting nourishment?

It was when she killed one of his most beloved servants that she spent the longest length of time within the mahogany colored coffin. Two weeks had flown by and how much had changed in those two weeks.When he permitted her release from the coffin, not only were there new servants to replace all those she had slaughtered, but the red-haired woman was greeted with a "sibling." A woman with brunette curls that licked around a robust and oval shaped face stood beside him, donned in a plum colored dress, like a lost child or an obedient puppy. Emalee.

Elizabeth was instantly filled with jealousy, how could she not be? Here stood another next to him in deep colored silks, while she stood in front of them in a dress that had been ripped and stained in her blood as she scratched at the inside of the coffin in an attempt to escape her prison. Here stood a woman who was prettier than she was, given that Elizabeth had not feed in weeks. Slowly her face contorted into a look of outraged disbelief at the pair of them.. Suddenly Elizabeth sprang into action, her cadaver-thin frame pouncing on the woman who had taken her place next to him. In return Reynold pounced on Elizabeth with predatory ease, pulling her off or Emalee and slamming her back into the coffin.

His tongue lapped over her neck after he threatened to draw the last of her blood for her rude behavior. She was not to attack her sibling and for the attempt against Emalee's life, another night in the coffin would seemingly do her well. Elizabeth remained within the confines of the four walls, accepting her mitigated penalty for her actions.

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She was a lost piece of driftwood that was at the mercy of his tide that changed without warning. When Reynold was in a good mood she would wake up and find her way out of the coffin. If Elizabeth had angered the man, her coffin would be impossible to open until he determined she had learned her lesson. Soon the very thing that saved her life during the day time hours became a prison of torment for the woman.

For the next few months Elizabeth became sub-servant to the man to stay out of the coffin at night. Some nights it was difficult for the woman, being that Emalee and Reynold found them amused at her expense whenever they could be. Some nights Elizabeth wouldn't return to the garden, taking the chance of being caught in the sun. Anything was better than being locked in a prison. On the nights she was well behaved, Reynold assumed that Elizabeth had heard what it was he had been trying to tell her, but she was just biding her time for the right moment.
The right moment to kill her creator.

[Elizabeth Moriarty]

(Autumn 1633: The games people play)

Between Elizabeth exploring the insides of the males within their old town, Reynold and his obsession with cheap whores and Emalee's inability at discretion and proper removal, the town had become almost abandoned by most humans, forcing them to move. Those that remained had become suspicious of the three (as Monsieur Crowley had predicted years prior to the young vampiress) and eventually rumors started to speculate about the women that never seemed to age and had unnatural beauty to the man they resided with that had a temper not to be reckoned with.

Elizabeth hated the new location of their residency, having been given a smaller room than Emalee (which started a fight between the two girls and finally Elizabeth fighting between Emalee and Reynold and a trip into her coffin on their first night in their home) and the fact that they lived on the outskirts of the township. The nearest neighbor was almost two kilometers away and after that neighbor, the next was almost a kilometer away. Getting nourishment was not going to be easy for any of them, which perplexed Elizabeth.

Reynold claimed it was for their own safety, but soon Elizabeth figured out why they lived so far away from any humans and anyone. No one would know what they were doing, that was certainly true, but no one would know what he was doing. Their household servant count had gone down since their relocation as well, which indicated to Elizabeth that Reynold wanted complete control over her and Emalee's life. More so her own, given that Elizabeth loved to spend as much time as she could outside of the garden, making their location impossible to allow her such frivolous privileges.
Elizabeth loathed the man more and more each night.

It was a game of who had the most power and authority, Reynold winning more nights than not due to the circumstances he had set up. He had set up Elizabeth's failure night after night (the first few days of living in their new garden she had acquired a few minor burns from the sun's rays due to her usual carelessness of time) and soon the man who was once loved like a father had become her enemy in every way possible.

Elizabeth had begun to play them back in subtle, yet coy ways. After her first burn acquired to her body, Elizabeth returned the favor to her creator by slipping into his room and leaving the folds of one of his sapphire colored curtains tucked so that during the rise of the golden orb he would understand how his game of control had hurt her. It was well worth the two nights in the coffin when she had been awoken to his howls of pain and the scent of chard flesh.

Then there was the time she had awaken before both Emalee and Reynold to slaughter his minimal amount of staff allowed so that he would be forced to leave the confines of the estate to attain his nourishment. What a sight it was to be had! Elizabeth drenched in blood from head to toe because she had no need to engorge herself with that amount of blood. Certainly she had been known for her ravenous appetite and merciless slaughterings, but the human body held liters of blood within it; one would have appeased Elizabeth just fine.

Reynold never made it back to the family estate in time the following morning. Oh, how it made her absolutely bubbly inside to awaken to her creator not within the estate the following eve! When Reynold had returned to the estate, there was a look of countenance upon his face before he unleashed his wrath upon her. Elizabeth had of course expected it, but what she had not expected was the gaiety of her punishment bestowed upon her by both Reynold and Emalee.

What Reynold mistook for petty jealousy was that of a test of wits by Elizabeth. What course of action riled the man up the most? How long was his "punishment" last for? Where did he hunt when there were no humans within the immediate area? What was his favorite meal?

Eventually his mistake would end up costing him more than it had ever cost Elizabeth.

[Elizabeth Moriarty]

(Autumn 1641: Patience is a Virtue)

Killing her creator had provided to be a difficult task for Elizabeth. As the years of chastisement turned into a decade and then years added on to that, the sensation only grew stronger within her. So much that it was the only feeling or thought she had within being. Some would say it was obsession, but would one dare call finding the opportunity to be free of such cruelty to be an obsession or a mere desire to be released from her confinement of torture? Would one not do anything to break free of the bonds (physical or mental) like she would? Regardless, Elizabeth had the innate urge to rid the world of a weed that burrowed itself within the realm of humanity for all of eternity, but she had not the methodology yet. Elizabeth had been thwarted many of nights in her attempt by her.

Four years prior, Emalee and Reynold had convinced the world (and themselves) that they were mates. The two shared nothing in her opinion, outside of Elizabeth. Emalee loved to pit herself with Reynold when he was upset with her and Reynold aided Emalee when the two women didn't see eye to eye (and they rarely did). The two vampires had wed earlier in the year, confessing their love for the other. In Elizabeth's opinion it was their shared love of torment upon her that the two professed to continue to the world and those that attended their nuptials.

It was difficult to kill someone when another was always around. It had certainly crossed her mind to kill Emalee as well, but she was certain killing one vampire was bad enough; two would bring repercussions. Elizabeth would have to bid her time and patience was not something she had a lot of. After all, it had been years since she had the initial thought of burying her connection with Reynold. Instead, Elizabeth would give the woman back to the woman the very sense she had provided her with all these years. Death would be something Emalee would beg for from the red headed woman, but that option would not be one granted to her.

(Spring 1647: The price of freedom is mere bloodshed)

Spring meant that life was starting anew and had a sense of symbolism for the century old vampires. All the plants that had died from the early autumn days would be replaced with flourishing greenery, destroying the desolate, dark colors that coiled around the family estate. Elizabeth disliked when autumn came because the darkness didn't stay just on the family grounds. Somehow it slipped within the estate and wound itself within the stone walls and its occupants. The most wicked traits rendered its ugly head out during these cold months. While the cold didn't affect them physically, the fact that humans kept themselves within their own homes made hunting not only difficult but scarce for the trio. By the first day of spring the three looked gaunt and in some cases sickly.

Not this spring.
While Reynold and Emalee allowed themselves to grow thinner and in a sense weaker, Elizabeth maintained her strength and weight in blood. While they kept close to the safety of the family grounds, Elizabeth ventured further than the two for two reasons. One was for escape from the duo and the second was to ensure that she would be stronger than they when they took part in their usual spring hunt when there was not one fleck of white on the earth colored grass. If it had not been for Monsieur Crowley and the use of one of his apartments during the autumn and winter months, Elizabeth doubted very much that she would have had the patience to not kill them both by now. Though he knew not the reasons of her constant visitations, he allowed and tolerated her presence. Elizabeth had outwitted them with the unknown help of Monsieur Crowley (which was for his own well-being she had decided last year when she concocted this plan).

This would be the last winter the three of them would be within the same home. While Reynold had allowed her to leave the confines of the family home, Elizabeth was expected to return at his beck and call. Still, she had to wait for the right moment and the right moment was in just a few days. Anticipation made her excited as well as nauseous. If she failed at killing Reynold, he would not fail to kill her. The very thought of her failure had the woman grabbing at her stomach, trying to soothe the knots that embedded themselves within the pit of it.
She would win.
She had to.

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She had returned the night prior to the hunt after thanking Monsieur Crowley and promising to return shortly. Elizabeth told him that she would need his friendship more than ever before before parting his residency and told him to expect her in half a fortnight.

Once Reynold was dead, Elizabeth would waste no time remaining within the township. She had packed as much as she thought she could carry until she reached the safety of the next township to reside for the rest of the evening until she could travel again the following evening. If she survived the first night, from there she would take a coach to Monsieur Crowley and arrive in one piece at his estate. Elizabeth was hopeful the man wouldn't turn her away because vampires were predatory creatures. If they chose to, they could sniff out their desired target for miles. Which meant that Elizabeth would also need to cover her scent; the very reason she chose this time than any other. It rained in the early weeks of spring and muddy water would help cover not only her footsteps but her scent as well.

It had been decided that they would not hunt in pairs, out of fear that the three might draw unneeded attention to themselves or the others. It was the same every year and something Elizabeth had secretly counted upon. Reynold would go for his usual appetite of cheap whores, Emalee drunken men who lost their hands at poker (she claimed that after embellishing her thirst upon someone within that state, it made her feel almost alive again) and Elizabeth would of course stalk her prey on the other side of town, or so they thought.

Once they were within the heart of the township, Emalee took off for the taverns, dressed promiscuously (which only revolted Elizabeth and spoke against the woman's character in her opinion) and Reynold down to the poorer parts of the town. With a graceful spin and a few steps down the muddy make shift roads, Elizabeth portrayed the impression that she was off to enjoy her own hunt for the evening.

Once Reynold was completely focused on attaining nourishment for himself, Elizabeth spun back around and silently stalked her creator. Using the shadows and the bodies of humans to cover her own scent, she stayed close to him, but not close enough to be located by him. When humans were no longer around to be used as a camouflage, Elizabeth traded the ground for rooftops. Her ears were on alert for Emalee, while her eyes were focused on just one. Reynold.

It was when he found his meal and stopped that Elizabeth finally reacted. Unsheathing her small blade and pushing herself off the small rooftop, she landed effortlessly behind him and his whore. With fleeting speed Elizabeth shoved the blade of silver that had been placed within the folds of her skirt into the back of his neck and into the shoulder of his whore. Using all the effort she could muster up, Elizabeth ripped the blade across his neck and into the chest of his meal. Not only had she severed his head from his body with this action, she had severed herself from him finally.

Propping her booted foot against his midsection, Elizabeth withdrew the blade only to have it sear into her own skin from her haste. A howl of pain passed through her lips as she dropped the blade and kicked it from her. The thought of feeding from the dying woman in the alley passed through her mind, but she was coming. Emalee was coming for her.
Elizabeth had been wrong.
They were mates.
She hadn't counted on that.

Making her way back to the rooftops, Elizabeth bounded down the length of the township and back to the family estate. Emalee was quick, but she hadn't fed yet and she was much younger than Elizabeth; giving Elizabeth some advantage over the woman. Freedom was a hefty cost for those involved, but it was well worth the price in her eyes.