A/N: Never thought my authorship would take me here. This is my darkest story yet.

Eric pursued the unescorted woman through the dark alleys of the Jewish Quarter with quiet speed. She turned the last corner towards the household of her employers as Eric cut down a shorter street as he had practiced. He waited in the shadows for her beside the stairs he had staked out for weeks, attending the moment when he could take her easily.

Not even a glint of moonlight on his fangs would give him away. His prey was lost in thought. He counted on this. She let out a huff of steam at the sight of the dark window on the third floor, her home, isolated from the warmth of the fire in the main hall, the frigid corner where her cramped arm and numb hand spent long days scratching rows of ink. It was to her good fortune that she could so deftly copy handwriting, her mother had told her when she abandoned her to the company of Josef Ganz and Son.

"What does it matter that you do not know the words?" her mother replied when she claimed her illiteracy should keep her from taking the job. "Be grateful, Vera."

She never heard from her mother afterwards. The family had moved east. They had disposed of their eldest daughter, unmarriageable and frightening, and fled from the disgrace, comforted by the knowledge that she would be kept alive at least in the house of Ganz. Vera despised them them all, her family and benefactors.

Welled up with hatred, Vera scuffed her feet along the bricks lining the last steps to the front door. She hesitated. Eric waited for her to reach into the deep pocket of her overcoat for the key. Instead, she stood still and frowned as though she had forgotten something. Tottering with hunger, Eric emerged carelessly into the triangle of light below the window.

Vera gasped. He grabbed her sooner than he meant to and whisked along the side of the house out into the wider avenues of the city of Prague to the cellar where he lived. He bolted the door behind him and threw her in the straw beside the black box, a stolen coffin, he called his bed.

"Make a noise and I will kill you now," he threatened, his fangs gleaming.

Vera hardly flinched.

"Of course, I would rather take my time," Eric purred. "I have been hunting you for awhile. I want to be satisfied."

He ran a finger along the length of her jaw.

Vera remained silent.

"That's good," he said and bent to kiss her neck. "This will not hurt. Very much."

Vera bit her lip to stifle a scream as Eric took a long draught of blood. He pulled away as she was about to faint.

"Don't do that."

Cradling her head and lapping at his chin, he tried to glamour her to stay conscious.

"You want to be awake," he whispered, though her eyes closed and she went limp. He let her drop. There was no thrill in drinking blood from a resting heart. It had to beat with fear, pumping and gushing till he could choke from the flow.

Eric lit a candle, pulled a book from the pile in the corner, and whiled away the night in disappointment. Shortly before dawn, Vera awoke.

Eric yawned.

"Well, well. Too late now. We will just have to wait until this evening. Are you going to try to escape or can I leave you here unbound?"

"What better place could I go," Vera murmured, taking in her surroundings.

Eric was intrigued by her tone.

"You are not afraid?" he asked. "It will be very dark and lonely as you anticipate the vile things I may do to you."

He crouched closer to her and grinned.

"But if you're good…" he added.

She nodded submissively.

"All the same," Eric said and laced a chain around her ankles.

"And what will you do to me?" Vera ventured.

In an instant his lips were on hers, prying them into a predatory kiss. He intended to leave her breathless and weakened. He waited for her to swoon as simply as she had before. Instead, she pushed against his chest with unexpected force.

Eric smiled.

"Oh good, you are going to fight. Now stay put until the sun goes down."

Vera watched him climb into the box and replace the lid. Any other woman would have cried.