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CHAPTER 9

They dismounted Victor in the grand castle lawn and clasped each other tightly in slient acceptance of their sorrowful circumstnces. As Brandon gazed into Jacquelines moon shaped eyes he knew that she was no longer the sweet innocent thing that had fallen in to his life last year. She had spilled innocent blood and drank deeply to sustain her own life. Staines on her soul that would never clean. Now she was a woman. A creature of the night. A bride to be. Brandon sighed and lifted her playfully into his arms. She giggled as he carried her up the path.

"I'm actually rather excited about meeting your parents." She scratched her head. I don't remember anything from the party."

Brandon frowned "well you didnt really meet them properly so i guess this is your first time. meeting my dad, i mean. i mean, my parents." he flustered as he put her down.

she sighed and hugged him tightly before he reached for the large door knocker. brandon held her back and kissed her hair softly, pulling away to knock on the oak door.

his sister answered the door and smiled, hugging her brother and courtsied to jacqueline, then hugged her too. "its so good to see you again!" she exclaimed.

"i need to see my father, if i may." brandon spoke gruffly and his sister led them into the house and showed brandon to an oh too familiar door. "daddys in his hole again.... jacqueline, come with me, we have to fit your wedding dress and arrange flowers. youre getting married the day after tomorrow."


Brandon winced a smile as Jacqueline was gentley pulled into another room and pounced upon by a variety of tailors asking all sorts of questions. He knocked three times on the heavy oak door and it swung open almost immedietly. He entered carefully as he could not see his father sitting in his usual chair. There had always been an eerie air to this room, he guessed thats why his father liked it. Suddenly, Brandon was pounced upon by a familiar figure thrusting a glass of whiskey into his hand.

"Brandon my boy, oh do come in and take a seat. this is such a happy occasion. I never thought i would live to see the day you married, and especially not to such a fine woman as that" They both sat down on a worn sofa and down their drinks.

As the count hastily refilled their glasses, Brandon tentatively whispered "I have something to ask you father. About what happened between you and Jacqueline..." He trailed off and downed another drink.

"well..." his father began, swirling whiskey around in his glass. "jacqueline came in and sat down." he smirked. "it was only polite to give her wine. its not my fault if she drank a bit too much and lost control of herself. i will admit, i had a few drinks myself, maybe more than usual for the occasion, and got into it a bit, but she urged all along." his father chuckled and downed his whiskey. brandon gritted his teeth and slammed his glass on a side table and stood up abruptly. "you liar! you b*****d! you hurt an innocent child! you molested her! you probably raped her! she did nothing to you! and now shes been changed forever because of you!" brandon screamed at his father, who merely sat there, quite amused by the spectical his son was making of himself. "you want the truth, brandon?" he said calmly. "the cold blunt truth? thats what you want?... well, i did everything youve stated. she didnt do a thing to me. but she was so sweet... so decadent.... i couldnt resist." he smirked.

jacqueline stood patiently while her clothes were carefully stripped from her and the dress was gently laid at her feet, and she was guided into it by his sister. "excuse me?" she said softly, looking to his sister at her right. "whats your name?" she looked at jacqueline and smiled. "im natalie.... now hold up your arms so we can make the bodice fit." she held up her arms, sighing softly as they slid the silk up her naked body.


"those scars on your kneck are really deep. who are they from? Brandon? He used to be quite the man around here. He lured people home every other night, he did. He broke records! Never thought he would decide to save any young girl. he must have really fallin for you."

Meanwhile, an all out barroom brawl was ragin between the father and son. The whiskey bottle smashed across the counts cheek. A hard thud hits brandons ribs. They share blow after blow until theyre both battered and bloody. They fall to the floor in another flurry and the count pins Brandon's tired arms. Brandons eyes flashed with anger as he failed to move beneath his fathers powerful grip. The count leaned forward, laughing, as he applied yet more force. Brandons arms strained in their sockets as he screamed to get free.


jacqueline turned her head as she heard a slight noise. "what was that...?" she asked quietly, wishing she could turn, but couldnt with the people around her. "probably just daddy and brandon fighting again." said natalie, sinching the bodice on her back. "goodness, darling, youre so thin! the rest of us had to where gurtels to even wear the dress flatteringly." brandons mother chimed in. "can you breathe, dear?" jacqueline nodded. "natalie, you were asking about these scars?" she touched her neck cautiously as brandons sister nodded. "your father did that... brandon stopped him from killing me." his sister nodded slower, kind of glumly now. "i see.... well, we have some adjustments, since youre kind of short, and so thin, so you can take off the dress now," natalie said as she slipped the dress down, "and ill show you whats old, new, borrowed, and blue." she smiled.


The count began pounding Brandons bloodied face until his body went limp. He held Brandon aloft by the lapels and watched his laboured breathing. he laughed manically as he spoke "Your still just a little boy. Helpless and weak. Unable to protect yourself, nevermind your woman" He licked Brandons dripping cheek and jumped to his feet to clean himself up and, more importantly, to fetch a new bottle of whiskey.

natalie took jacqueline into a small room and took out a box. "well, something old is your necklace that brandon gave you." she smiled, gesturing toward jacquelines neck. "something new is a gift from my mother and me." she pulled a small wrapped box out and handed it to her. jacqueline carfully peeled back the paper and opened the box, revealing two shiney pearl earrings.

jacqueline smiled and hugged her soon-to-be sister-in-law. "thank you!" she beamed. "now."

natalie began to speak again. "something borrowed is the dress.... and i also bought you something blue.... its brandons favorite color, and i think hell enjoy this very much." she smirked and pulled out a medium blue shaded set of lingerie.

jacqueline gasped and blushed, starting to laugh. "alright." she said quickly. "can i go see brandon?"

natalie nodded and took jacqueline to the room they left brandon at. "watch out for daddy. i need to go help with tailoring." she nodded and went inside, feeling a little scared at such silence.

she went down the stairs and found brandon lying face down on the floor. she gasped and rushed to him, kneeling down beside her loves head and pulling his head into her lap. "brandon?" her voice was frantic at the sight of his blood. "brandon?!" tears strewn her pink cheeks as she stroked his hair and face, pulling out a hankerchief and wiping at a cut on his forehead.

"don't worry about him, he'll 'live'" a voice from behind them said laughing. sure enough, the words had barely left his mouth when the bleeding stopped and Brandon's wounds began to seal themselves up. The counts nose had also stopped bleeding and he was casually changing his shirt to a clean one. Jacqueline marched up to him and slapped him hard accross the face.

"why did you do that to him you b*****d?!" She slapped him again even harder.

"Brandon always gets a little emotional at family events such as weddings, and more than often, brings his violent side out. He's a little boy who has grown too big for his boots. I was merely putting him back in his place."

"I don't believe you! Brandon wouldn't just hurt someone for no reason." She raised her hand to slap him a third time but he caught her wrist and suddenly his entire demeanor changed.

"I'll accept that i was due those two blows. One for accidently upsetting you while you prepare for your wedding. The other, for getting a little carried away when we first met. However, if you raise hour hand to me like that again then ill snap your wrist clean in two." He applied a little force and she knew at once he wasn't lying.

jacqueline quietly controled her breathing as her face grew hot with anger and sudden fear. her arm became slightly limp and her fingers gently curled toward her palm. he let go of her, and her arm fell to her side.

"i believe your dress will be finished being altered soon, and i assume my daughter is now searching for you to do something about flowers. brandon will awake later, his anger tires him out." his father walked over to a sofa and sat down with more whiskey.

jacqueline stood in front of the mirror again as they made sure her dress fit perfectly. natalie was showing her flower combinations and she wasnt really paying too much attention. she nodded and shook her head as colors barely registered in her distracted mind.

Time passed quickly, which was probably a good thing. The dress was taking hours to make and she had way too much on her mind.

"could you please check on, Brandon?" Jacqueline asked again for the umpteenth time.

Natalie laughed, "he's still sleeping like a baby. i'm sure he will come see you as soon as he wakes. You don't need to worry about him, at least not while he sleeps. Besides, i think we are done with the measurements so you can go up and see him yourself before dinner, if you like?"

Jacqueline climbed the stairs to the bedrooms distractedly while servants busied themselves downstairs with the dinner preparations. The doorbell rang loudly. Natalie opened the door almost immediately and she recognised the voices to be George and his wife Lydia.

"its george and lydia!" natalie called from below, and jacqueline waved half-heartedly and she continued down the open corridor. she turned left and opened the second door. brandon lay quietly on the bed, not covered by any blankets. jacqueline sighed and sat beside him, kissing his head and stroking his hair.

"he's so peaceful..." she barely whispered to herself and laid down alongside him. his face had been blank, but brandon inhaled the scent of his love and smiled in a way. she buried her face in his neck and hugged him, and to jacqueline's great, and rather frightened-surprise, his arms quickly curled around her.

"are you awake, brandon?" he nodded and kissed her forehead.

They chatted about Jacquelines day and the wedding preparations. Yet again they both side stepped the events with the count. That man seemed to create a black void of emotion. Brandon stared out the wndow to the thick forest surrounding his old home.

"I think something big is going down. I can feel it in the air. I can hear the trees whispering. They're rushing this wedding way too much. there is only one set of conditions that would lead them to do so. My father and his consul are expecting a war and they expect most of our bloodline to die. He's trying to force us to produce an heir. If my assumptions are right then we won't be the only 'happy' couple to be getting married in the next couple of days." Brandon slammed his hands against the window ledge. it had finally clicked. only now he felt like he knew a whole lot less.

jacqueline sat down beside the window, noticing the stalking silence around the house, and how frightening it suddenly seemed. her hand slipped to her stomach slowly and she repeated absently, "an heir..."

brandon noticed her silence and looked down her with contrition.
"im sorry if i worried you or scared you, jacqueline." he knelt down in front of her and took her hands, kissing them softly. "please dont be afraid. please smile. im here, always and forever, and i will forever protect you, all right?"

jacqueline met his worried gaze and smiled, bending down and kissing his forehead.

"This is so exciting. I can't believe im finally going to be a father. And with a perfect bride as well. What more could I want from life?" He clasped her tightly and kissed her tenderly. "I promise I'll give you as best a life as i can. you'll never want for anything ever again."

She laughed and toyed with his shirt collar, "I'll want for you."

"Me, you can have in abundance! When do you want to tell my parents? Tonight? I think tonight. After dinner? If it is OK with you?" he was talking excitedly at a hundread miles a hour.

"Calm down, dear. Yes we can tell them tonight." He grasped her tightly as he thanked her. Brandon seemed so happy.

she laughed. "youre not a father yet," jacqueline laughed at him for a moment as he came to this realization. "we'll be married the day after tomorrow, brandon, you can be excited about THAT then, all right?" she smiled and kissed him. "i think its time we get downstairs, unless you would like to stay up here longer?"