Vampires Rule~~~~ Slave Rp

{Randomly jumping in}


Azeel got shoved ruffly into the line of slaves that all the vampires were picking from. He glared at the guard that had shoved him back. Turning his attention forward and putting on a mindless expression, he stood still like all the others in line. Twenty minutes later, he felt like he was going to fall flat on his face from locking his knees. And as cruel fate would have, he did.
 
Bram admitted silent defeat to himself. He could never produce this music. He could never imitate the splendorous notes that spilled from her bow and flowed from her fingertips. His music was harsh, clean and in perfect order. Anything he could play sounded uniform as it was meant to be. But what Kiki could do, he never could. His furrowed brow relaxed and the twitch in his face was no where to be seen. He wanted to lounge in the seat as he had before, listen to this music and praise her for such beautiful perfection she created. But with Nikolaus standing beside him, he could nothing. He had to remain unmoving, still to her sway. It grew harder for him to do just that when she changed the tone into another song, the tempo tragically woeful and yet comforting. His knees felt ready to give out, an unnatural urge to bow to this woman in his heart.


Nikolaus however didn't so much as blink at the flawless music. Occasionally he did raise a brow or made a wave with his hand. He didn't seem bored with what he heard, but rather impatient. "Will she be done soon?" his mind called to Bram's thoughts. "There is the matter of discussing with her privately."


Bram nearly slapped him for the impudence. Instead he turned to him with a cocked brow and look in his eyes. "You have no sense in taste," he replied back. "Let her finish her master piece. Even so, I'm having second thoughts of you 'taking her off my hands' as you say."


"It's all a fluke in musical talent,"
Nikolaus said silently with his mind. "You'll get bored of her soon enough. Just let me have a chat with her and she'll be gone tonight."


 
Kiki finished the piece with an exit as great as the entrance. She waited for the echo to go silent before looking up from the instrument. She wasn't sure if she should say something or wait for a reaction. Nikolaus seemed... Utterly unimpressed. She hadn't seen his facial expression change once in the duration of her playtime, except a couple raises of his brow or nods of his head when the tempo changed. She looked at Bram, who seemed almost sickly. Like he wanted to let some odd emotion out and yet was doing everything in his power to restrain it.
 
“Well. That was… charming,” Nioklaus said following with a yawn. “The middle felt a little tiring. What do you think, Bram?”


Bram stroked his goatee for a bit, still memorizing the ending in his head. “Any words I could say wouldn’t come close to fully praising this masterpiece. Everything, from beginning to end, was absolutely perfect.” His fingertips started to itch to go closer to Kiki, maybe pat her on the head and maybe even smile. But he remained still by Nikolaus’s side. “And I also believe you have no true appreciation for the arts, Nikolaus.”


“I gave my criticisms well enough,” Nikolaus replied with his blue eyes rolling. “But that’s all said and done. I’ve heard what she has to offer me. However, I would like to ask her a few more questions, privately~” He eyed Bram with a look that said ‘go away’ and started to tap his foot impatiently.


Bram narrowed his eyes and nodded. “I’ll leave you two be for a moment,” he muttered, turning to Kiki once more. “Answer anything he has to ask of you. I’ll be back for further discussion. Bram turned and left the music room, closing the door behind him. In the corner of his eye, he saw Joanna coming down the halls. He walked right in front of her, stopping her from pushing her dish cart. “I want you to go in the music room and ask our guest to leave in a few moments,” he whispered to her. “I don’t want him in my home longer than needed. There are few things I must do myself at the moment.”


Inside the room, Nikolaus waited for the door to close and then turned to Kiki with a smirk on his face. “It was a lie, you know. Your playing is beautiful,” he claimed, walking to her. “Though it isn’t what I’m really looking for. First I must know, how do you enjoy living here, my sweet? Having a tyrant like that old Bram must put a strain on your little heart.”
 
Kiki's heart dropped when Nikolaus spoke ill of her talent. Was it that bad? Sure, she'd been improvising and playing from the heart, but Bram always seemed to enjoy it. Maybe Nikolaus had different tastes... Then Bram applauded her performance and praised her, saying Nikolaus didn't fully appreciate it. Bram soon left Kiki alone with this stranger, telling her to tell him anything he wanted to know. She watched her Master leave, then Nikolaus spoke up, asking if Bram was too much of a tyrant for her heart to handle.


Kiki was at first unsure how to answer. Sure, he was cruel. He killed off his slaves with little to no reason, or made the other slaves do it for him. But when she played for him, it was like he became a totally different person. He was kind, generous, and always asking to hear more of her music. It's like the tunes soothed him. Kiki had to think of what she meant to say. "He can be harsh," she said simply. "But he's not pure evil." A smile hinted at the corners of her mouth, and she tried hard to keep it at bay.
 
"Oh my dear, he is indeed pure evil," Nikolaus sighed as he patted her shoulder. "Once your talent starts to fail or you run out of those little notes in your head, he'll rip out your throat and leave you for the wolves like he does everyone else. You won't live long enough to see your 21st birthday." He dipped down and tilted her chin up, smirking at the tiniest smile dotting her lips. "But I, however, care much more for my slaves. The fawn over me and I adorn them with the finest things left to this godforsaken world. I give them things to stay beautiful and if they ever stop looking as such, I... well, I let them free, if you understand. But special ones like you get treated even better."


His fingers traced from her cheek to her throat along her pulsing vein and then down to her collar bone. He licked his lips as he rubbed the bone softly. "I can make your life so easy, my dear," he whispered into her ear. "You'll never have to strain your hands cleaning my home, or work your fingers to the bone playing a silly instrument. I only ask of one favor of you. It's an easy favor, you human females have been doing it for thousands of years." His hand then dipped further down along her sternum to her midsection. "My last girl was unfortunately retired a week ago, and I find my bed so cold in the day. It's the easy life, my dear... what do you say, hmm? Don't you want to come home with me, kitten?"
 
Kiki shuddered when he touched her neck. Something about this guy was starting to make her uneasy. He seemed different than he had before. It seemed like as soon as Bram left the room, Nikolaus changed into someone else. Someone that Kiki couldn't get comfortable with. Then he mentioned how cold his bed was, and that his last girl 'retired'. As he touched her midsection, Kiki realized what Nikolaus was after. She didn't know how to respond. The offer, at first, she had to admit was tempting. Surely the exchange of such favors for a life of luxury was something that was easily achievable and would be a dream for almost any slave girl.


But then she realized what that entailed. It meant she would be bound to this man as more than just a simple housekeeper. And as soon as her beauty faded, she would be as useless as any other. She would be thrown out like trash. Wasn't that what she wanted though? To escape to the outside world? It was her dream as long as she could remember. To be free of the tyranny of the Vampires and to live on her own. But she'd been thinking about that more and more the last week or so. What could she possibly have if she was out on her own, fending for herself? She'd have no shelter, since a human female was meant to be enslaved, not to own property. She would probably die of disease, or hunger, or thirst. No matter what, once she was kicked out, she would die quickly.


Then she thought about the differences between the two men. Bram, who was cold and distraught and crazy and ravenous. Nikolaus, who would treat her like a princess so long as she kept him happy in bed. But then, there was also the other side of Bram to think about. The side that emerged when she played and who seemed almost loving.


Kiki couldn't answer Nikolaus. She had no idea what to say. But why? To most, the choice would be obvious. Any other human girl would jump into Nikolaus's arms and practically beg to go home with him. But something kept her from saying yes. And she couldn't for the life of her figure out what that was.
 
Nikolaus was beginning to grow impatient with her. Most girls hopped right on the offer, lavished him with all sorts of affections when the opportunity was given. So why did this girl take so long? “I don’t have all night to wait for your answer, my sweet. It is a fairly simple question after. Unless….Perhaps you need a little more convincing, hm?” he asked her with a sly smile. “I’m sure Bram wouldn’t mind if I took you for a little test drive?”


He grabbed the front of her dress and pulled her towards him, the fangs in his smile growing longer. He turned and shoved Kiki to the wall, knocking down the cello and stepping on the bow. He then grabbed her thin wrists and held them over her head with one hand, licking his lips. “You don’t have a heavy price to pay my dear,” he said leaning down to run his tongue along her neck. “I’ll dress you in gold and laces, feed you the finest cuisine and pamper you as you should be. All I ask is for your body in my bed.” He forced his knee between her legs and moved his mouth closer to the pulsing vein in her neck. Scraping his teeth along her flesh, he nicked at her skin and chuckled. “Well? Do you have an answer now, or do I need to convince you a little more~?”
 
Kiki let out a small cry when he pushed her into the wall. No wonder she had felt so uneasy around him- he was the real monster here. The cello made a very loud crash as it hit the ground, and she flinched when he stepped on the bow. He was acting like more of an animal than a person, and she glared at him. She would never submit herself to this. Housework for the rest of her life would be better than being around this man for even a moment longer. She pushed her arms against his hands, but of course a human girl's strength could never match that of a Vampire. She winced when she felt his fangs nick her skin, hoping he wouldn't press further. "Yes," she said finally. "I made a decision. And I choose to remain here. I see now who the real monster is. You're more of an animal than you let on, Nikolaus." She continued to try to wrench her arms free, knowing it was useless but hoping the struggle would convince him that she wasn't budging.
 
Nikolaus threw his head back and laughed. “An animal, you say? I beg to differ, my sweet rose,” he growled in her ear. His hand then came up and wrapped around her throat. He squeezed tightly for a moment, feeling the panic blood rush through her veins. “You say I’m an animal, but do you see how you live here? You’re treated like a dog, doing your master’s bidding, licking up the scraps he gives you, whining at the sight of his raised hand. Then you’re locked away for the day, not even allowed to see your precious sunlight. I offer you the lap of luxury, to run from being a mutt in his control, and you say no?”


Sneering at her, he threw her to the ground and laughed further. “You humans are dumber than you let on,” he chuckled, twisting his foot to further break the bow. “You’ll be begging to come with me in a week, just you wait. And to prove my point, let’s see what Bram thinks of you when your talent is skewed.” Raising his foot he stepped down on her wrist, putting down more pressure by the second. “Do you still want to stay here?”
 
Kiki winced. How could he possibly think that this aggression would win her over? If anything, it only made her more wary and less willing. How has no one passed by to hear the racket coming from this room? She'd been truly abandoned with this monster who'd first broken her instrument and now would break her as well. She hated to think of what would happen if she could no longer play, but she hated to think more of what would happen if she went to live with this person who was willing to break her wrists just for speaking her mind.
 
Nikolaus came close to breaking her wrist, a crazed smile on his face and a chuckle between his teeth. Then a strong hand came to his shoulder and pulled him backwards. He turned to snarl at the intruder to find it being Joanna. “Sir, I’ll ask you to stop harassing this poor child,” she said with a cold, stern look on her face. “And that you may leave this home immediately.”


He scoffed at her and brushed her hand off his shoulder. “Who are you to tell me of my goings and leavings, you old wench?” he asked with clear irritation in his voice.


Joanna clenched her teeth and sighed. “It is not my word I pass to you, Sir. It is the word of my Master. He wishes for you to leave. Now.”


“And if I refuse, my dear?”


“Then you break the will of my Master, and he is not a kind creature to be disobeyed. You know this from seeing other slaves beaten by his hand. Do you wish to be treated as a lowly human as well?” She grabbed the back of his coat and forcefully pointed him to the door. “Now. LEAVE.”


“You pathetic little… All right,” he sighed with a drop of his shoulders. “I guess even my old friend won’t let me play with his toys anymore. It’s a sad, sad pity.” He flipped his hair and then looked to Kiki. “Ciao, my sweet. Maybe next time you’ll consider my offer, hmm?” He left the room waving his hand and laughing.


Joanna waited until he was out of earshot before heaving a sigh and bending down to Kiki. “Kiki, I’m so very sorry I couldn’t come in any sooner. Bram told me to wait for a few moments and… I didn’t think this was happening to you in here. Did he harm you? Did he touch you?” she pleaded as she touched the bruising footprint on her wrist.
 
Kiki couldn't express how relieved she was when Joanna came in and asked Nikolaus to leave. He practically glared at the two females as he followed the command, obviously more scared of Bram than interested in Kiki. Kiki sat up, rubbing her wrist where a large, dark bruise was already forming. A moment more and it would have broken. She stood up off the floor, trying to brush the wrinkles out of her dress with her hands. "I'm okay," she said. She wished that she hadn't been left alone with that man at all, much less for such an extended time, but she knew Joanna was only following orders. "And he tried, but I told him off, hence the attempt to break my arm..." Kiki added on grumpily. How rude of a visitor to toy with someone else's slaves. Kiki let out a sigh and gave Joanna a half smile to show her she was alright.
 
"I've never seen him act so... spitefully cruel," Joanna said looking to the door. "He's taken slaves from Bram before but never has he been so abusive. Bram never minded before, but when he sees this bruise... Well, I think he might have one less friend in this whole bleak world." Joanna gently took Kiki's good hand and led her to the hall. "Come, we'll have Ophelia give it a look over to make sure nothing has been fractured. No need to endure an injury like this."


As she led Kiki away, Nikolaus watched them from the corner at the end of the hall. He growled at the two of them softly, then shrugged his shoulders. "Probably not a virgin anyway," he mumbled as he started to walk away. But in his turn, he was stopped by the sudden appearance of Bram. If Nikolaus's dead heart could beat it would have jumped right from his chest. "Bram! Bram, old friend, you scared me to death," he laughed nervously as he patted his shoulder. "About my chat with your little cellist. I don't I have very much interest in her. She's a bit of a prude if you know what I mean."


Bram's frown didn't move once. "I see..." he noted with a nod. "I apologize if she isn't all you wanted. Perhaps I could interest you in something else?"


Nikolaus looked at him in surprise. "I don't know, I don't you have any other girls that caught my eye."


"Not my slaves, you dolt," Bram replied. "I'm speaking of decorative art."


"Oh... well, that won't make me warm in the nightfall, but I suppose I can have a look. What do you happen to have?"


Bram's mouth twitched in a slight smile as he lead Nikolaus down the hall. "Here we have several old world paintings from the great master's themselves. Delicate and yet bold in image."


"Ho-hum, dear friend. You know that all of us creatures have some masterpiece or another. Yours just happen to be nicer. Besides, these paintings are just sooo dreary. A damper in my home."


"Hmm, of course," Bram nodded as they walked to the pedestals. "How about a lovely vase from the Ming dynasty. Many have been shattered in the war, so securing these pieces were an exercise of patience."


Nikolaus laugh and smirked at the other vampire. "You don't come to my home often enough, Bram. The walls rock so hard from my 'activities' that these would break in hours."


"Ah, I haven't taken that into consideration. How about something a little more sturdy?" he said showing his hand to a large standing suit of medieval armor. The suit was posed in a action stance, short sword pointed forward. "It's is an early piece that took many years to piece together. It is quite valuable to me. As penance for your distaste in my slave, let this be a gift from me to you."


This time Nikolaus was intrigued, stepping close to the armor to inspect the pieces. "Impressive, dear Bram. I haven't seen a piece like this in so long. Then again, how do I know this isn't just a fake?"


Bram put a hefty hand on the blonde's shoulder and leaned to his ear. "Here, my friend. Have a closer look," he rumbled in his ear. He then forced Nikolaus to turn around, picked him up and impaled him on the angled blade. The steel pierced through his chest dangerously close to his heart, and tar colored blood gurgled from Nikolaus's pale lips. He struggled painfully against Bram, only to be pushed further down the blade. Finally, Nikolaus was left gasping, silently whimpering and choking on his blood. Bram held him by his arms, a quietly furious face staring down at him. He moved closer to Nikolaus's ear and whispered, "Don't think I haven't seen what you've done in your mind, Nikolaus. I can see every perverse thought you've had for her since you laid eyes on her. I know what you did in that room alone with her." His clawed hands dug deep in the muscle, making the blonde cry out.


"If you ever...EVER come into my home again and try to do what you did, I won't miss your heart next time."


Amongst the guttural sound of his blood spilling on his outfit, Nikolaus chuckled at Bram. "I... won't try next time... I'll do it. I won't be stopped. And your pretty... little cellist will pay dearly," the blonde seethed through his teeth.


Bram snarled and pulled the vampire from his impalement, dropping him on the ground. "Get out of my house. NOW!" he roared at Nikolaus. Still the blonde kept sneering, even as he did struggle to get up.


He saluted Bram with a wink. "Just you wait and see, old friend. I'll be back... just to spite you." He waved him off and hobbled away, leaving out the massive front door."
 
Kiki allowed herself to be led away by Joanna. Her arm was certainly sore, but she was keeping it to herself. She hated to hear others complain, and never allowed herself to do so in turn. She hoped that she would never see Nikolaus again, but since he was a friend of Bram who he apparently frequently traded slaves with, she figured she'd see more of him in the future. She stayed close to Joanna as they searched for Ophelia. Kiki occasionally glanced down at her wrist, becoming more and more upset each time as her wrist swelled. She hoped it wouldn't affect her music. It would heal eventually either way and she'd play perfectly just like before. But it was the healing time that worried her. She hoped Bram wouldn't be upset. Maybe she could hide it from him? Wear long sleeves to hide it away and try her hardest to continue playing as before. She would at least have a short time to recover, since the fall broke a few of the strings on the cello and cracked it's neck. It would need to be repaired or replaced.


((Oh man your huge post makes mine look dinky haha.))
 
Joanna saw Kiki worrying over her swelling wrist, she patted her back. “Don’t worry about that, my dear. I’m sure Master Bram will let you rest your arm. He can’t punish anyone for something they didn’t do themselves. Especially since it was Nikolaus who caused the injury.” She opened the door to the kitchen, but found that Ophelia was nowhere to be found. Instead of searching for her, Joanna set Kiki down on a stool and fetched ice from the cold box. Packing it all up in a leather pack, she gently patted it down on her purpling arm. “This isn’t the first time Nikolaus threatened a slave. Most of them give in to his demands and go with him. In the end, I wonder if his promises of gold and lace are really all that,” she pondered.


“They’re all lies, you realize.”


Joanna looked up from tending her wrist and saw Ophelia come into the doorway. Her smock was bloodied as well as her hands. She went to the sink to rinse the blood and continued, “I hear stories from his home. That he does give you everything you could want for a romp in the bed. But that isn’t all he does.” She sat the smock aside and came to Kiki, lifting the ice pack on her arm and tsking softly. “He drinks from them, enough to make the girls too weak to even get up,” she claims as she takes gauze from the cupboard. “Then he chains them to his bed, slowly starving them and supping from them each night. Eventually, when you’re pale, sickly and unable to fulfill his disgusting acts, he’ll ‘retire’ you. He’d throw the girls in the woods and leave them to be picked off by the creatures out there.” Ophelia started to wrap Kiki’s hand and wrist, shaking her head. “He made me the same offer years ago, and I almost went. If I hadn’t heard that story, I might’ve been dead long ago.”
 
Kiki jumped at the chill that went through her arm from the ice, but a moment later it cooled down and relaxed her wrist, making the pain seem to freeze away. Ophelia walked in and explained what really happened at Nikolaus's home, and Kiki was more disgusted than ever. Of course only a monster like that could just let his slaves waste away and then toss them to the animals like they were nothing. She was suddenly happier than ever knowing that she made the right choice. She would have been dead soon enough had she chosen to go with Nikolaus. "That's terrible..." Kiki said quietly as Ophelia wrapped her wrist. Hopefully the uncomfortable swelling would subside some more, since she could barely move her wrist from it at the moment. She couldn't help but wonder who of Nikolaus's slaves survived in order to tell Ophelia that story?


"It all seemed so perfect." she said. It was really just a letdown. "Disappointing to find out that's what he was really after." Her face warmed, reddened from the embarrassment. She couldn't even hold her own against him, and if it wasn't for Joanna she'd be worthless at this point. What could Nikolaus have possibly seen in her? She never thought of herself as pretty, and it was more than obvious that he wasn't interested her because of her talents with the cello.
 
"If only Master Bram were to see his behavior," Joanna said thoughtfully. "He despises other vampires who... well, to put it in basic terms, simply prostitute slaves. It's a statement of their lack of control, he once told me. If he were to have seen what I had, he would've certainly lashed out."


Ophelia scoffed and held up her smock. "Where did you think all of this black blood came from? I'm sure he had a little run in with that pompous man-whore. With how much blood I had to clean up, I'm sure that he's hobbling home right now. Maybe he's even crawling." She snorted a laugh and tossed the smock to Kiki. "Though it should've been you cleaning that up, missy. You're the one who's causing all the trouble."


"Ophelia! You would blame her for what he did?" Joanna exclaimed in shock. "She's no match for a vampire's strength."


"I'm not saying that it's her fault. But I'm not saying there isn't something special to her that makes these creatures act like their true beastly selves. But, what do I know?" she asked throwing up her hands. "For now, take her to her room and pick up on any chores she might have, Joanna. There's no room for lame workers."


She glared at the other woman before taking Kiki by her good hand. "She is right you know. That arm needs a few days rest," she said as they left the kitchen to go to the bedrooms. "I'll be sure to bring you your dinner in a while. Is there anything I can do for you in the meantime?"
 
Kiki was kind of shocked to hear that the blood Ophelia was drenched in was probably from Nikolaus. Bram was that upset, that he would turn against a friend and make such a bloody mess of him? Kiki tried to hide a smile. Maybe he did somewhat care for his slaves, after all. Well, at least enough that he didn't want them turned into whores.


She felt bad that Joanna would have to pick up her chores. As if everyone here didn't already have enough on their plate. But the two women were right, Kiki wouldn't be much help in this condition, anyway. She would try to be back out there tomorrow, at least to lend a hand ((no pun intended.)). Kiki started following Joanna up to the hall where her bedroom was. "No," she answered with a small smile. "You've already helped me enough today." She tried to stifle a yawn, the whole ordeal had utterly worn her out.


As the two of them walked, Kiki thought about what Ophelia said. That there was something about her thag drove the two Vampires to act strangely. Something that almost drove them mad. She shook her head. There wasn't anything terribly special about her, and she had no idea what the woman could have been talking about. She was sure she was just seeing things. As far as Kiki was concerned, she was just like any other slave.
 
"Just rest yourself easy and I'll be back in a short while with your dinner, dear," Joanna said as she opened the door to her bedroom. "There might be a little something extra just for you on your plate." She smiled and let her in her room before closing the door, then going back to the kitchen. When she returned, Ophelia already had been preparing for tonight's meal. "I see we're having chicken tonight."


"Mm," Ophelia nodded as she chopped vegetables. "The beef is starting to run low, so I'm trying to space out its use. Why, were you looking for something special?"


Joanna started to look through the cupboards. "Actually I am. Do you happen to have anything sweet lying around? Something along the lines of dessert?"


"Dessert? Since when do you have a sweet tooth? Or is it for... It is, isn't it? Dammit Joanna, you spoil that girl rotten like every you do to every injured slave." Ophelia slammed down her knife and looked at the other woman with her hand on her hip.


"It isn't spoiling if you're just making them comfortable," Joanna replied as she opened the ice box. To her surprise, she found a half of a cheesecake in it. "Where did this come from?"


"The cheese cake? That's from that girl Sheila. She can't keep the weight on her bones, so she made that. Had to throttle her for using up the ingredients without asking," Ophelia claimed as she looked over her shoulder. "Looks decent enough."


"Then I'll be taking a bit of it," Joanna smiled. "Sheila won't mind after all." So she cut a bit of the cheese cake and took the food that Ophelia already cooked to arrange it on a nice china plate. Satisfied with her little set up, she took the plate back to Kiki's room. But as she came closer to the door, she was shocked to find her master standing in front of it. He was looking more tired than usual, barefoot on the cold tile and in a fresh white blouse. In his hand, he was holding something rather large and heavy. "Master? What brings you from your room?" she asked in her quiet monotone voice, laced with a hint of curiosity. "It is so close to morning after all."


"Simply checking up on a slave of mine, Joanna," Bram said still looking at the door. "I'm not here to punish anyone, if that is what's on your mind."


"Oh... well, if you do not mind, Master, I must take this to Kiki. She must be famished after... playing so extensively," Joanna mumbled looking at her plate.


Bram looked to the food and raised a brow at the dessert. "I will take in myself," he said picking the plate from her with his free hand. "You have the others to feed, and no time to waste." Joanna stood still for a moment until he snapped her another look. She apologized and bowed to him before leaving down the hall. He waited until she was out of sight before setting down the heavy black case in his other hand, and gently knocked on the door.
 
It was only a few moments before Kiki heard a knock at the door. Wow, when Joanna said she would try to hurry back, she MEANT it! It had only been about 15 minutes... Kiki smiled to herself and crossed the room to the large, ornate door, quickly opening it and opened her mouth to greet Joanna.


But instead, Bram was standing there, dinner in his hands. It smelled great and looked lovely and... Was that cheesecake?? She was so stunned to have seen dessert for the first time that for a short moment Kiki didn't know what to say. Finally she tore her eyes away from it to look up to Bram. He looked very... Crisp. Cleanly. Beside him was something very large. "Master Bram?" Kiki asked confusedly. She figured the Vampire would be locked away somewhere, playing music or torturing a slave. She never expected him to be standing at her door with food and... Whatever this large object was.
 
"Joanna had other things to attend to," he said handing her the plate of food. "I took it upon myself to deliver your dinner so she may not wasted time." He invited himself in her room and closed the door behind him. "I apologize if I am intruding, but I know of the incident between you and Nikolaus. His lack of interest in your musical talent should've warranted more of my attention. Now he's injured you and destroyed one of my prized instruments. And an attack on my home and my servants is an attack on me. Rest assure, I dealt with him in the most... appropriate way." Bram sat the case down and looked around her room briefly. Chills ran to his spine from the old memories rushing back. Been a long time since he last went in a slave's room.


"This room is nothing to what you really deserve. Remind me to upgrade you to something better. But, that is not the reason I came. I would like to have a look at your arm and the damage Nikolaus has done," he said holding out his hand. "If you do not mind it, of course. If you are to be out of commission, I should at least know for how long."
 
Kiki stepped aside as Bram invited himself in. She would have been more offended by it, but it was his home, after all. She just happened to be residing here. He reminded her of the incident earlier which she would love to forget, and her cheeks turned pink. It was terribly embarrassing, what had happened earlier that day. But she was more blushing because of Bram's concern about her, rather than from today's incident. Bram said he dealt with it appropriately, but Kiki had seen the blood covering Ophelia's clothing and knew he was putting this punishment 'gently'. Kiki wondered what really happened between Bram and Nikolaus after he'd left the room earlier, but she didn't speak up about it.


Bram set the case down and told Kiki to remind him to upgrade her to a better room. She looked around. What was wrong with this one? There was a room better than this? She would love to see it, especially since this bedroom was a million times nicer than what the slave house had gotten her accustomed to. She may be locked in here, but at least she had windows. That was a huge improvement, at least.


Finally he asked to see her arm. She had changed into a long sleeved dress when she first came into the room, wanting to hide the damaged wrist so no one would notice it. She didn't really want to look at it, either, but she rolled up her right sleeve carefully to reveal it. It was big, and she hoped that her wrist wasn't sprained, but she knew very little about injuries other than how to clean and bandage them. She didn't know how long her arm would take to heal, but apparently Bram would know by looking at it. After getting the sleeve rolled up, she held out her arm for him to see, looking away from the nasty bruises.
 
His grasp of her hand was surprisingly gently as he took her wrapped arm. Carefully he unwrapped the gauze, revealing the unsightly growing bruise. It was a deep purple, tainting her paled skin. He was familiar with this injury, having done it himself many times. But that was to floor scrubbing maids who talked back to him. This was different, a punishment he didn't cause and one that wasn't even rightly given. She did nothing wrong to his friend, but reject his lewd request.


"Of course he would attack the most vital part of your skill," he muttered, rubbing his thumbs over the bruise. "It looks to be only on the surface, but he could have fractured something. Say something if it the pain is too much to bear." He began to press down on the bone, seeking hairline fractures. "Do not try to be brave with me, Kiki. Tell me anything you feel you must say." His large hands smoothed along her arm, waiting for her to reply.
 
Kiki looked at the bruise. It seemed to have stopped growing, or at least slowed down quite a bit. Well, of course Nikolaus had attacked that part of her. He'd wanted to make her useless to Bram so that she would feel she had no other choice than to go with him. He apparently didn't understand that humans could heal, too, they just took longer periods of time...


Bram started prodding around to see if there were any fractures, Kiki winced only once or twice, pointing out that it hurt more in those spots. It didn't seem to be as bad as it looked, so maybe it would heal quickly and she could just get on with life as usual.
 

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