I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, groaning before jumping out of bed. Bed.. it felt weird to have one after sleeping on damp wooden planks for so long. I couldn't help but grin as I saw myself in the mirror. I looked much better than I had when I woke up on this island a week ago. The color had returned to my face, my malnourished body returning to my full figure. I felt like a person again. I couldn't help but hum as I began getting dressed, this time putting on my waitress outfit for the first time. I'd be working weekends, and although the full outfit wasn't required, I wanted to make a good first impression.
It was a very lewd maid outfit, with a short black skirt that barely covered my ass, and an over the shoulder top that cut low over my modest cleavage. I quickly slipped into my underwear before pulling up the stockings, clipping them into the matching garter belt before putting on the full outfit. I blushed as I turned in the mirror, any sudden movements causing the skirt to flip up and reveal my panties. It felt lewder to wear this than nothing at all. I understood now why Luke had reassured me that I didn't need to wear it.
I debated taking his advice, dressing in the more plain clothes I had received, but shook the thought out of my head. I was starting a new life here. I didn't need to be coddled and cared for like I was broken; I was a free woman once more.
Quickly putting up my blonde hair into a messy ponytail, I pressed open the heavy wooden door to my bedroom, and did my best not to instinctively hide my panties as I trotted down the stairs to the bar below.
"Luke? What are you doing awake?" I called out to the boss. To be honest, it was a miracle he was ever awake with how hard he works himself, but I'd never seen him out so early.
"Ceri..." He looked up at me over his shoulder, his eyes finding mine without once straying to the revealing outfit I had adorned. I might've felt insulted, but he never seemed to have any lust at all. But what I saw in his eyes was the more unusual part. Concern.
"-You must be her!" I shuddered as the words filled the air, so casually dripping with sexual intent, as if the woman was trying to seduce me in the first second of our meeting. She appeared from behind the counter, swirling a wine glass filled with a deep scarlet drink. She had blonde hair, even paler than mine, and skin as white as snow. She wore a simple skin-tight red dress that fell in waves all the way down to her ankles, high heels giving a few extra inches to her otherwise small stature. The neckline swooped low, revealing almost all of her modest chest. She glanced up at me for just a second as she sashayed back to the table Luke was sitting at, each small movement so erotic and alluring that it seemed as if she simply exuded sex itself.
She stopped behind Luke's chair, short enough that she barely even stood over him. Her hand, draped in a white lace glove pressed against his chest as she leaned in close to his neck, marking it with her lips before standing back up. Taking one last swig of her drink, she set it beside Luke on the table. "Be a doll and keep this warm for me, won't you?" Her voice was so powerful, each syllable making you so hungry for the next that I almost found myself wanting to take her drink for her instead.
Luke casually grabbed the glass before pushing his seat away from the table, not even glancing over at us as he headed back behind the bar. "Be gentle with her. You know what she's been through."
I bit my lip. I knew he was just being nice, that he cared for me, but I was my own woman. I didn't need to hold onto my past like that, have everyone care so much about it. I felt my face heat from the embarrassment of it, turning my eyes back to the small woman walking towards me now. And I couldn't stop looking. Her body was just seductive. It was similar to my own, short and slender; We even had similar breasts and hair color. I couldn't help but wonder if I could learn to do that, command attention in such a powerful way.
And then as I tore my eyes away from her body and up to her face, I started to find the features that weren't so... human. Long, pointed ears, bright red eyes, and fangs that shone a crystalline white when she smiled up at me.
"You're... a vampire." I stammered. I had never seen one before, but from all of the tales, she fit them perfectly. Immortal beings, as sexy as they were terrifying. Probably almost as rare as a shifter.
Her smile turned into a wide grin, her tongue running along the underside of her fangs. "Quite right, darling~ Merlou Walzinrys at your service."
She placed a gloved hand on my elbow as she passed me on the staircase, jolting me out of my shock as she led me back upstairs.
Her name sparked a memory in my mind, something Rizen had told me when I first awoke. "You.. you know- Rizen, she said-"
"Shhh.. darling, let's not talk about it out here, yes? Which is your room?" I was hyper aware of her hand on my arm, her touch sending tingles throughout my body, the kind that made me think that if she wasn't wearing a glove, I'd be dripping wet already.
"R..right.." I guided her to my room, opening the wooden door to reveal my humble living space. I stepped inside only to find her standing right outside the doorway, her hand pressed against her stilted hip, her red eyes scanning over the small room. There wasn't much to look at. A single dresser and mirror, and a desk next to my small bed.
"Uh.. um, please, come in." I said awkwardly, sitting down on the edge of my bed as she closed the door behind herself, stepping out of her high heels, her small feet covered by snow white stockings.
"My apologies on not meeting you sooner, darling, but I hope we can quickly make up for lost time. Not that either you or I are short on it though, are we?" She smiled again, her pale pink lips curling as she climbed on top of me, pressing my back down onto the mattress.
"I must say I'm flattered by the form you've taken... but if you didn't hold yourself back, you could be doing so much more. You want to experience this life, don't you?" She tilted my chin up with a finger before tracing it over my lips as she waited for my response.
"You- you.. you don't understand-" My face heated as I struggled to form words before the onslaught of her eroticism. I had always thought myself to prefer men, but with this devilish girl so casually breaking down my mental defenses, I wasn't so sure anymore.
"Oh, darling.. how old do you think I am? I have seen both our kinds hunted to near extinction over the course of my lifetime, from fear or lust, or both-" Her hand caressed my cheek before dropping lower, her painted nails dancing along my neck as her red eyes studied it with salacious intent. I swallowed, paralyzed beneath her, my excitement growing even as I tried to answer. I could feel my nipples chafing my bra, my pussy starting to moisten as she touched me.
"I- I can't... the reason I'm here in the first place is because I trusted someone with that knowledge, and... and-" I hated myself for it. I had told myself over and over again that I wouldn't let this affect me. But tears began to stream down my face. And as I tried to wipe them, I realized then that I wasn't ready. Not to expose my secret, not even for sex. Because although I was aroused by this woman, the suffocating amount of lust she created within me, I found then that I was also terrified. Scarred by what had been done to me before, seeing those men's movements in her actions, even though I didn't want to.
I gently pushed her off of me, shaking as I curled up in a ball, hugging my knees to my chest. Rizen, Luke.. they had both told me to take my time, to not be ashamed. The people I had pushed away for coddling me, for caring too much- Why was I like this?
Merlou sighed, her hand finding her hips once more as I found her gaze once more, tears blurring my vision. "I told Maple I could do this, but you aren't much fun. Whatever. I'll tell her I tried."
She looked over her shoulder as she swung open the door. "Come by once you're ready. Or not. The goddess will offer you protection, but it seems you need more than that." And with that she was gone, leaving me alone in my room, trying to untangle this intricate web of feelings knotted up inside of me.
~~~
Luke could hear Ceri sniffling from the hallway. He bit his lip as he tried to think about what to do. He wasn't exactly the consoling type. But whatever Merlou had told the girl obviously had not been as gentle as he asked. He glanced down the hall to where the vampire was sleeping for the day. He would've kicked her out if he could, so Ceri wouldn't come across her, but he new that wouldn't be possible until the sun went down.
Luke sighed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. This wasn't the time to be worrying about this. Gently, he knocked on the door before letting himself in, seeing the young girl in her waitress outfit sniffling as she desperately tried to wipe away the tears streaming down her cheeks.