A Vampire’s Diary Denise
A Vampire’s Diary
Denise
I watched them discover her last night, slumped like a rag doll in a heap of silk brocade, her lovely face frozen in the same expression of shock she wore when I first stepped out of the shadows. My second conquest. Denise.
The coroner arrived after the officers, that great artifact of a doctor.
I smiled in amusement as he lifted her limp wrist, as he checked for a pulse that ceased beating hours ago.
He only shook his head, covered her with a shroud, and whispered his concerns to Sergeant Wesley.
Wesley was excited, though he hid it behind his stoic expression.
I’ve given him something new, beyond chasing slaves after curfew and corralling belligerent drunks. Something novel. And I’ve only just begun.
Sally was an easier conquest than Denise, by comparison, but Denise’s naivete made her fertile ground for my manipulations.
Most gently bred girls are innocent, sheltered as they are from the world’s wickedness.
I’d been priming her for months, plying her with my impeccable manners, with flattery and sincere compliments.
She was an accomplished pianist with a lovely alto voice.
We spoke often of our favorite composers.
She admired my knowledge of music and grew to trust me—enough to confess her deepest secret: She had a lover.
A young man her family would never approve of.
A grocer’s son. With some coaxing, I learned his name.
I offered to pass her letters to him, and his to her.
The rest was pitiably easy. I sent a note to her, copying his untidy scrawl.
Bade her meet him near his home on Judith Street.
A young woman’s romantic fantasies are an apt playground for seduction.
She was most surprised to see me there, instead, but her trust in me was implicit.
All it took was a lie. He’d fallen ill, and could not meet her, but I would carry whatever message she wished to his sickbed.
She embraced me in gratitude, and this was when I pulled her into the shadows to complete my grim, but necessary, task.
Soon, all my work, my patience, will be rewarded.
I already have my next conquest planned.
Young, sweet Marjorie, whose husband recently expired from dropsy.
She’s in need of a listening ear. Gentle company.
Yes, Marjorie will be next. But I will give it the time it requires.
These things must be planned. Must be carefully designed.