“
Would you care for a drink?” The hideous voice made Rein jump.
It was the captain, again, who had made his way to their table. He stood by and put a goblet on the table, filling it with a white wine. Traith still had the one he had been given before, but he hadn’t taken a drink of it.
Wanting to quench her mounting thirst, she took a drink. She was just beginning to swallow the wine; it was different…
With a sudden whack she felt the glass forced out of her hands. The shatter was so loud that her head rung two times over. Staring ahead, she thought it had been the captain. It wasn’t. Traith was standing over her with a small scratch on the back of his hand from the glass. His eyes were wide. She was staring coldly at the two men. Within a moment’s time, she understood Traith’s actions.
That man had poisoned her drink.
Poisoned me.
“
Harker, you’re so observant,” he began.
Traith flared, his fist locked onto the captain’s shirt. “What in God’s name have you
done
?”
“
You lock me away down there as if it matters. Oh, and did I tell you? There is no need to hide your true self to her anymore. She’ll see in time anyway, do you not agree? Or perhaps she already has. How
is
your lip, Madame Pierson?”
Her body was so cold. Sick. She had tasted the wine. She did not reply to him, her body was in an excessive shock. A chalky residue was left in her mouth.
“
No,” Traith said, his face as angered as a wild animal. “
You—
!”
“
Enough, Harker!” the white-eyed man shouted.
He smiled, and she saw Traith’s hand fall off of his shirt; it almost appeared as if it had fallen through it.
“
Can’t you grasp me, Harker?”
A few ghostly couples turned and watched Traith’s every move, looking very ready to intervene in the situation. She smelled it now: an almond smell arising from the floor. Arsenic? She
had
been poisoned. There was no need for words on her part. No panic. She was losing consciousness. With that little taste, she was still poisoned.
Oh
God…
“
Jackass
,” Traith muttered through gritted teeth.
“
Why such a cruel tongue, Traith?” the captain asked. “I even approached it differently this time for you.” His voice hissed like a snake. “I won’t do anything more. Now it’s all up to
you
. Not too torturous, is it?”
He walked away, and Traith was standing more erect than ever, his eyes lit and flaming. Every time he almost spoke to her, he stopped himself as if she wasn’t there. As if he did not want to. Then his white shirt slipped off his broad shoulder as if something pulled at it. Something had pulled at it. His head twisted and he knocked something from him; something she couldn’t see.
Then she noticed for the first time two reddened scars on his throat.
Her thoughts were affirmed. Mental notes she had been making all along were being stitched together to form a story…
His sharp canines. His mystery. His lies. His reaction to things. His seemingly restricted hunger. His eyes. His pallor. The scars
hole
she’d just seen on his neck. The subject at their wine gathering. The scarlet residue left around the rim of Romanoff’s goblet. What the captain brought up. What complemented werewolves. What was written in Leipzig. “
A fearsome curse on man in books and articles.
” “
Do you think them to be real, Mr. Harker?
” “
Do you, Traith?
”
The
vampire
.
“
Please, Rein,” Traith said with a trembling voice. “Go to your quarters and sleep. I will not leave your side after this, Rein, and I’ll soon explain everything. Everything in complete honesty. Every detail. Forgive me, Rein.” His words ran together in his sorrow, and she was too scared to return words.
Her eyes were becoming so watery that she could barely see. But Traith stood still for a moment to watch her with his gentle face.
“
I truly didn’t want to walk away this time,” he murmured.
He hesitated, watching her eyes close, but then he turned, and she saw rage light his face like a match. He grabbed the wine glass that was set before him and threw it onto the ground next to hers. More glass shattered. Then he sprinted after the captain.
Rein flinched at the sound. She watched the liquid in his glass seep out. Red.
Blood
.
He hadn’t wanted to touch the blood, to drink blood. Hadn’t wanted to be near
her
blood.
Her eyes widened as the red spiraled into the puddle of her white wine. They mixed.
She stood and teetered out of the dining hall. He had been trying to hide so much. She was crying without a sound; her tears fell so quickly, but it was in horrendous fear. She knew what she had seen. She knew what his defect was. She knew she was going to die.
Rein felt her eyes slowly start to droop. She felt tired in a way that she had never felt before, and suddenly she had little control over her body or actions. With quick, nervous, and awkward movements, she staggered out of the dining hall, holding her head and wobbling back and forth, one arm out to keep her balance.
At the entrance, she found she now had to squint to see straight. Her vision was quickly blurring, but no longer due to her tears. She couldn’t see properly. She made Saria out, who had been out by the lounge with Romanoff. Her body was limp on Romanoff’s knees, significantly blue, and Rein could see Romanoff’s shocked expression when he saw her.
She felt her knees buckle underneath her. Tears were streaming fast down her cheeks. He’d gotten Saria, too.
She heard a shout;
Edgar
. The normally submissive man sounded hysterical. He was running toward her. Then she fell to the floor, and she hit her head hard on the ground. She saw blood running down her arm from somewhere. Edgar was looming above her, but she suddenly heard him yell as he was pulled away from above her. She didn’t know where he went.
Somehow, she could still faintly hear and see the crowd gathering. She heard Traith curse above the crowd and barely made out his fanged teeth. It almost sounded like his yell was a whisper.
“
Get
away
from her!”
He looked at her but did not come over, his eyes grieving. She was horror-stricken and gasped for air, but could obtain none. Everything went black. She could still hear Traith through the fuzziness, fighting both verbally and physically with the captain. She barely heard the smashing of fists and yelling that was like whispers.
In her last attempt to inhale what little air she could, which was decreasing rapidly, she heard the ghostly passengers around her quietly hissing.
Hours struck as fast as the lightning outside the ship. The storm had finally come. Thunder sounded, and the ship rocked with violence from the wind and waves. All hallway candles were out. They were all on the floorboards, snuffed out by their fall. Corridors were darker than they had ever been.
The chamber had only a sconce lit on the far side. The dimness made it feel cold and damp, and the porthole was continually washed with saltwater, despite the chamber being above water.
His fist slammed down on the bookcase. He winced. He paced in indecision back and forth next to Carden.
“
Traith,” Carden said from the chamber bedside. “Listen—”
“
He
murdered
them,” he mumbled back through gritted teeth.
Carden stared down.
Traith stopped pacing and stood stiff. His entire body was tense as if enduring pain. “
Poisoned
them,” he stuttered. “And I was able to do nothing. I was right there, and I did nothing.”
“
Do not lie to yourself, Traith.”
“
There is no lying in that!” he yelled, this time without a care of anyone seeing his four pointed teeth. “And not only did they murder the ladies but God knows what they did to the innocent man that came with them!”
“
Try to control your temper,” Carden declared. “We’ll get nowhere if you can’t focus.”
“
Focus?” Traith asked with a caustic laugh. “On what?” A dry swallow ensued. “He
tortured
me with things,” he murmured. “He shattered a vial of blood in front of her. She was given a chamber two doors down from my own stateroom!” He shouted again. “She was staying in the West Hall, Carden! She had a
vampire’s
quarters!”
Both men were silent. Traith sat on the bed in Saria’s chamber, next to Rein’s limp body. Her lips were still red, but her skin was pale. He held out his arm to her. She was as pale as he was. Her skin was clear and soft, where his was scarred. He bit his lip. She was dead—just as dead as he was.
“
She fell,” he said, choking on his words, “and I couldn’t be there to catch her. I let her hit the ground this time.”
Carden watched him with sorrow in his eyes. “Traith—”
“
I fought with him. I fought hard, but there wasn’t anything I could do. We can’t
destroy
him, and I could see that Rein was still awake. God, Carden. She’s dead.”
“
Mon ami
,” Carden began, “Saria is also dead. There is a choice you must face. If you want Rein Pierson to live—”
“
She would not be
living
, Carden!”
“
She is dead, Traith.
Dead
. Understand that. Her freedom is gone anyway. No matter what your human heart wants you to do, she is gone anyway. All you can do is give her a sense of life. I will not deprive Saria of that.”
“
Carden, neither of them would ever want to be cursed beings who have no right to—”
Traith stopped himself when Carden ran to the bedside and grabbed his wrists. His own hands were in fists, and he looked into Carden’s face, biting his lip harder.
“—
who have no right to even exist,” he finished.
“
Calm down, Traith,” he said with angst. “Sometimes you are so much a human it is frightening.”
Traith was silent, staring at Carden, and yanked his fists from his hold. “My mind is emptied of who did this to me or why or how,” he began hoarsely. “I don’t know much as it is. All that I do recall is such misery.”
“
Traith, it is not as much of a curse as you would think,” he interrupted, obviously trying to make light of the situation. “It would be if we were immoral, wicked, but we are not. I know I fell in love with Saria and will bring her back to life under any circumstance. Did you not fall in love with Mademoiselle Pierson?”
“
Yes,” he said softly. “Yes, more than you could ever imagine. She loved me. She ignored everything, Carden. Everything I couldn’t tell her, everything that didn’t make sense. She still tried to win my heart, even after it was already hers. For the first time in so long, someone felt something…” Traith stopped in the middle of his sentence, running his fingers through his hair. “I think I’ve found true love in a matter of days, and now she’s dead.”
“
Did I not tell you those exact things a few days ago? When you left her at the ball?”
“
I know,” he murmured. “I know. But everyone I ever became close to has died. I so, so terribly did not want that to happen to her.” Then his voice grew louder. “And then things happen to me; things that ruin what few good things I can have. I bit her lip, Carden! I took in her blood with no intention to do so, and I enjoyed it! I
hurt
her and couldn’t prevent it because I have
fangs
like a bloody
animal
!”
“
Traith,” Carden said as he backed up, staring at him as he stood, ferocious. Carden grasped his shoulders tightly. “It was not your fault. How often must I tell you?”
Traith panted and sighed with a shake as he looked down at Rein’s pale, slim body. Her cream-colored dress was stained a dark crimson in spots. Blood was streaked down her face from her fall and down her sleeve on one side from how she had fallen. Her gloved hands and corset were even slightly blood-stained. But the lace on her dress and neck looked perfect, and even now she looked like she could’ve been an angel. The murderer must’ve given her a staggering amount; there must’ve been so much poison in her drink to kill her so quickly, from only a sip.
Traith then glanced over at Saria. Her body was unblemished too, with fewer marks than Rein’s.
She
had been caught by Carden when she fell.
“
If we do not bite them, Traith,” Carden whispered, “you can add one more casualty to your list.”
Traith turned his gaze to his friend. His eyes were actually frantic.
“
Traith, please. Do what you know would be best. Rein was not yet ready to die. She will accept it.”
Traith looked off coldly. He shivered at the thought of “what was best.” What kind of monster bit into a human’s throat and drained them of their blood? A monster like
him
. But he couldn’t.