Vampire Reborn

By Scarsky

After being embroiled in a scuffle with deadly vampire hunters, Ella and James find themselves caught in a bind when they're captured by vampires with their own agenda.

Unwitting guests to a large vampire clan, they're forced to adapt to their new vampire lives where they discover a world filled with strange lore, customs, and traditions. As they gain new understanding of themselves, their ties to a deeper conspiracy set them at odds with other vampires. As outsiders, they face discrimination and even outright hostility as the conflict pushes them to the breaking point, forced to go on the run once more.

Will they survive the world of vampires?

If you enjoy Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga and Vampire Diaries, you will enjoy the Vampire Regalia series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scarsky
• Release date: Apr 27, 2019
• ISBN: 9789811413353

Scarsky

Hello, I'm Scarsky!I’m a fiction author who enjoys writing romance, fantasy, and contemporary stories. It's my sincere wish that these books of mine will leave you, my beloved reader, with heartwarming, beautiful memories that'll stay with you long after the last page has been turned. I currently reside in sunny Singapore with my lovely puppy dog, Nicky.Be sure to keep an eye out for my newest books!www.scarsky.com

Book preview

Chapter 1

Ella’s patience has been worn thin over the past few days. She’s been waiting and waiting for something to happen, expecting one of her captors to question her or to do some posturing at least. They’ve left quite the impression, swooping in to save James and herself from the hunters at Salisbury Cathedral, even going so far as to help patch them up. However, since she’s woken up in this small and ancient room, she’s seen neither hide nor hair from them – or James for that matter. Not since the both of them were transported here by van. If the vampires do visit her, it must be during nighttime when she’s asleep. Every morning, food and water have been left for her, always just within reach. And once, even a cup of old, unpalatable blood.

They’ve tied her to a sturdy metal chair that’s secured to the floor. It’s reinforced by something that she cannot break, despite her unnatural vampire strength. And, besides an ornamented Victorian wooden table and a few chairs, the room is empty and disused, left to rot for so long that the walls have cracked. Even the silver wallpaper has peeled to ribbons. She’s been left to fester for so long with nothing to do that she’s already gone over the entire room with the attention of a fine comb, so much so that she remembers it even when she closes her eyes. The room reminds her of herself – alone and forgotten. It’s a thought that makes her snort bitterly.

She stares at the lone glass of water on the table and slumps till her dark brown hair spills forward. Her observations of her surroundings have gotten old very quickly. It no longer amuses her. There’s nothing particularly interesting about a few chips on a desk, after all. But she’s clinging to them all the same. Anything to distract from her hurtful memories. Every time she closes her eyes, she sees the terrible night when she was turned, and feels the fear and the pain that had consumed her. She sees how quickly and terribly she’d fallen apart, and the horror she had felt when she realized what she was - a vampire, a monster. That dark reality follows her everywhere. The life of Ella Fillery, the human, had to end for Ella Fillery, the vampire, to survive. All of the sacrifices she had to make, the hard-won battles with James at her side, the running and hiding from hunters, and the journey toward the truth, were they all worth it? It haunts her to know where her need for answers has landed them.

But that leads to her real concern - James isn’t by her side. His absence makes her paranoid and afraid. She remembers the cathedral, and her stomach twists every time she thinks about the smell of James’ blood and the sight of him slumped and unresponsive. She remembers waking up in the van and seeing him, but could it have been a dream? Had he truly been saved? These thoughts swirl in her mind like a cyclone, driving her up the wall. It’s a downward spiral that just makes her even more frustrated. If she could only see him once more…

She struggles against the ties at her wrists for a moment but soon sinks down, defeated. Her vain attempts to escape hadn’t worked in the last few days, so why would they work now? She tries to temper herself, but she’s lonely and half-mad. She’s goddamn tired of having to wait and play the good little hostage. How long will they leave her like this? What kind of punishment is this, even? With indignation burning inside, her melancholy soon transforms into rage.

If you want to kill me, just do it! she yells. She doesn’t care about the wrath of her vampire captors anymore. If you’ve got questions, just ask them! Please do the decent thing of treating me like a person and not a piece of furniture, will you?

She’s breathless with frustration, but for the first time, she gets a response through the wooden door.

The little bastard really does know how to sing, a familiar voice says mockingly. It’s the man from the cathedral, she realizes with a start. He’s the man who’d taken her. She can’t help but hiss as she struggles against her restraints. She’s wasted away for days like a bird in a cage, left alone like the worst kind of prisoner, and now she has to suffer insults as well. She’s tried to do the right thing by keeping quiet for James’ sake, but to know that all she’s done had been in vain feels terribly unfair.

There’s a sigh past the door. Do shut your mouth, Cesare, says a woman with a no-nonsense tone. We must greet our guest. We’re their hosts, after all.

The gruff man chortles, and Ella’s anger comes to a halt. Could this be it? Are they finally going to reveal what they want from her or even to ask her questions? She struggles to restrain her anger as the doorknob turns.

Yes, Lady Sandrine.

Finally, she’s not alone in the room. She sees the man, Cesare, first. He’s a tall and bulky brown-haired man with tan skin. He appears weathered and worn, like he’s lived through wars and famine, and being vampires, well, it’s not strictly impossible. Cesare seems to be fashioned from a time long past, with long hair that reaches his collarbone, and a peasant top that she’s seen in period dramas. His eyes glint a familiar brown-red, and his smirk reminds her all too much of James. Shaking her head to dislodge the comparison, she turns to the female vampire, Sandrine.

She stands willowy and tall, an elegant, pale-skinned creature with a dark pixie cut. Her facial features are severe, her eyes sharp, and she appears far more modern than her companion in her black leather duster with a navy jumpsuit beneath. Unlike her male companion, Sandrine stands with clear dignity and confidence, looking unweathered by time. If Ella ever gets out of this room, she believes that the two of them will get on swimmingly. She can tell just by looking at the woman that she’s a leader. Noticing her gaze, Sandrine raises a pointed brow.

The two vampires take a seat and she waits. The air’s thick for a moment, charged with unspoken words on both sides. Ella wants to lash out in anger, demanding answers as to why they’ve detained her like this. She has no idea what the vampires are after, however, and so she holds her tongue. The two vampires look at each other for a moment, and she can tell that they’re weighing their words.

Finally, the woman speaks. My name’s Sandrine, and I’m the leader of the Canterbury clan. This is Cesare, my second-in-command. You must be wondering why you’re here, she says plainly.

Ella rolls her eyes. Sandrine’s almost as bad as James was the first time she met him, wasting time with pandering words. But, at the very least, she got one good nugget of information. They’re in Canterbury, a city that could rival Salisbury in its fairytale-like appearance.

You could say that, Ella replies scathingly.

Cesare smiles so wide she can see his fangs.

The little bastard has fire, he says teasingly, and Ella glares. Bloody hell, it’s only been a few minutes, but these two vampires have already stirred her anger. For all their talk, they’ve done nothing to become better hosts – just the opposite, in fact.

Don’t call me that, she hisses, gripping her wrist ties so hard she may actually break them.

The man scoffs and raises a brow in confusion. What, bastard? It’s what you are.

Something in Ella breaks, and her canines elongate. They just keep needling her, demanding that she sit still and quiet as they walk all over her. Quite frankly, she owes them nothing but her resentment, and she’s had enough of being sidelined and talked down to like a doddering idiot. She can no longer deal in false niceties. No more kid gloves.

I’m hardly a bastard, she says sharply, and then it’s all spilling out. I’ve waited in captivity for days as your unwilling prisoner, tied up, not knowing if my partner is even alive. I thought you’d forgotten about me. I almost wish you had, since all you’ve done is insult me since I got here, even when you’re the ones in the wrong. I don’t want your pandering, or to be called a love child like it’s still the goddamn eighteen-hundreds. We’re all adults here, so get to the bloody point. Tell me what you want from me! she yells, her frustration at its peak.

The two vampires appear stricken, and the sight makes Ella want to laugh. What, do they expect her to just sit here, looking pretty and silent as a doll? To just let all of her anger go like a good little prisoner?

But Cesare just shakes his head, looking disappointed, as if she’s the one in the wrong. He laughs bitterly. You really don’t know anything, do you?

Ella bristles. She’s about to open her mouth again, but Sandrine has had enough, and she silences them both by slamming her hands against the wood, the sound thundering around the small room.

The antagonism’s unnecessary, both of you, the dark-haired vampire says pointedly, and Ella can’t help but feel strangely chastised. Sandrine sighs as she rubs her temple. But that does clear up some of your confusion. What do we want? Why are you here? If you need to ask, you really don’t know anything about our world, do you, Miss…?

Ella almost feels like being a brat and refusing to answer the woman, but she wants to see where this is going. Fillery. Ella Fillery, she answers, relenting. "And no, I don’t know anything about your world."

Sandrine closes her eyes and breathes out. Her body slumps slightly, and Ella has never seen such a strong figure look so cowed. So, the attacks and why you were bitten… don’t you know anything?

Ella furrows her brows, confused. What, they’re asking her? Suddenly, this whole kidnapping thing makes sense. Bullocks, she curses. All that time she and James spent searching for older vampires, hoping that they’d have their much-needed answers, but now it seems those vampires have been doing the same. Whatever’s going on, it seems that everyone’s in the dark, and these vampires must have hoped that the newborns, lost and left alone with abilities they can’t control, would know more about their own purpose. Must have thought that they were in on some kind of secret-outing conspiracy, but in the end, it’s all for naught. She sighs. They’ve all been so stupid.

No. Both James and I, we don’t know any more than you do. I mean, there’s only so much one can gather after being bitten and abandoned, left with no clue of who did it. She laughs without humor. "It took me weeks to figure out what I’d become, and believe me, my awakening wasn’t pretty. I nearly killed so many innocent people. I’m assuming that’s why the attacks are as bad as they are. None of us newborns had much control in the beginning. And, if left unchecked, things are likely to get a whole lot worse."

Sandrine nods, and Cesare looks as if he’s figured something out, though he remains silent.

We’ve been following leads, hoping that one of you newborns would know something, Sandrine says with a frown. Yet, it seems we’re all blind here, pawns in a much larger game of someone else’s devising. It doesn’t bode well, she mutters to herself.

The dark-haired vampire shakes her head and straightens. Once again, Ella can’t help noting