Chapter Five: Karmin Knight
Long Island, Maine. Located in Casco Bay, six miles off the coast of Portland. It is the summer of 1933, and the island is bustling with tourists, for whom everything appeared normal. Most were there to see the sights, and enjoy the beautiful beaches. No one knew that some of the residents of the island were not as they appeared to be.
Summer was their favorite time of year. In summer, their food came to them and this is when they managed to increase their number, if only by one.
The night was warm, and Nikolai drove to the gate of the home of Dimitri’s friend, Karmin Knight. He hit the buzzer at the gate, and after a moment, it came open. Nikolai drove to the front door, got out, and then came around to let Regan out.
“Are you ready, beloved?”
Regan nodded. “Yes.”
Nikolai smiled, and they walked up the front steps and rang the bell. After they waited for what seemed like an eternity, the door opened. There in front of them stood a man with a small frame, grey hair and dark brown eyes.
“Welcome to Knight House. My name is Malcolm, butler to Mistress Knight. Please come in.”
Nikolai looked around the room. “Hello Malcolm. I’m Nikolai, and this is my wife Regan. Mistress Knight is expecting us.”
“I’ll tell her you’ve arrived. If you’ll please wait here,” Malcolm said disappearing deep into the house. Moments later, a woman with striking facial features appeared in the foyer.
“Master Nikolai, Mistress Regan. I’m glad you’ve made it. Dimitri called me and told me to expect you. Please join me by the fire.”
Nikolai and Regan followed the short, blond, violet-eyed woman to her living room. They sat down and Karmin officially introduced herself.
Karmin lit a cigarette. “Welcome to my home, Mr. and Mrs. Thorn. I am Karmin Knight, the Master of Long Island. There aren’t very many of us here, only twenty. I will say, many more than that, and I’d probably have a war on my hands. What brings you my island?”
“If you have spoken to Dimitri, you already know. We are looking for somewhere to belong, mistress.”
“I take it Tristan threw you out.”
Nikolai nodded. “He did.”
Karmin chuckled. “Still true to form I see. You’re welcome to stay here for as long as you like. All I ask is that you feed only when I say. Because the island is so small, not all of us can hunt at the same time. We usually go out in small teams when there are tourists on the island. In winter, we can’t hunt here; we must go all the way to Portland to hunt.”
“I understand mistress. Can you tell me how you know Tristan and Dimitri,” Nikolai asked. He was curious about how long they would be able to stay. How Karmin responded would determine his answer.
Karmin grinned for a moment before she answered. “I was once Tristan’s counselor. He and I had a disagreement, and he threw me out as well.”
“Can you tell me what the disagreement was about?”
“Certainly,” Karmin said. “I made a pass at his beautiful Pasha.”
Nikolai was quite surprised at her answer. He couldn’t imagine that this striking woman that sat in front of him liked women. “You enjoy the company of women, mistress?”
Karmin smiled. “I do. However, your wife is in no danger from me. I have a mate. Her name is Almina. She’s not here right now. When she comes home, I’ll be sure to introduce you.”
“We would like that, mistress. Tell me, how old are you?”
“I’m the same age as Dimitri. I’ll be one hundred sixty this year. The two of you are very young.”
“Yes, I am thirty-seven, and Regan is thirty-two. We have only been in America for ten years.”
“Did you work for Tristan the entire time you were in New York?”
“Most of it, yes.”
“Well, there’s no organized crime in Maine at all. People here are anglers. That’s how they make their money.”
“Angler’s?”
“They fish for a living. I own my own fishing company. Mine was the first, that’s how I’m so wealthy.”
“Where is your company mistress?”
“It’s in Portland.”
“Why do you not live there? I would think you would want to keep an eye on things.”
“That’s Almina’s job. She runs the company for me, while I tell her what a good job she is doing, and reward her.”
“What can we do around here, mistress? I am accustomed to doing something on a daily basis.”
“We can teach you how fish if that’s your choice. If this is what you want to do, you’ll be away from Regan for many days at a time.”
Nikolai looked at Regan. “Would you be okay with that beloved?”
Regan sat the whole time and didn’t say a word. She was listening to Karmin talk, and found herself extremely attracted to her. Regan hadn’t felt anything for any woman other than Jayde. Perhaps this was her powers. She could only nod in agreement.
“Regan will be safe to stay here while I am gone mistress?”
Karmin smiled. “Absolutely.”
Nikolai grinned at the thought of learning something new. “Very well then, I will become a fisherman.”
“If you’re going to make it your profession, you’ll call yourself an angler. But, before you do any work for me, I must know more about the two of you.”
When Nikolai told her the story of where they came from, and how they came to be in America, Karmin was stunned.
“That’s an amazing story Nikolai,” Karmin said, turning her attention to Regan. “Regan, you’ve sat here and not said one thing the entire time you’ve been here. Are you mute child?”
Regan said quietly, “No, mistress.”
“Good. It’s good to know you can talk. I know you were Tristan’s counselor, but what else can you do?”
“Well, I worked in the nursery back in England, and I babysat when we first came to America. I’m a fast learner, mistress.”
“Very well, I recently lost a maid. Malcolm can show you what to do, and how I like it done.”
“Thank you, mistress.”
“You’re welcome. Now, would you like a tour of the house?”
Regan nodded. “We would love one.”
Karmin rang the bell for Malcolm, who stepped into the huge living room. “Yes, mistress?”
“Malcolm, Mr., and Mrs. Thorn are going to stay with us for a while. They’re without a family. They’re friends of a good friend of mine. You’re to show them around the house, and pick out a room for them. Preferably, one close to yours. Mrs. Thorn is going to be our new maid, and you’re to train her.”
“Is there anything else, mistress?”
“I’m going to my room. When Almina comes home, please send her to me.”
“Yes, mistress.”
“Nikolai, Regan, I will see you tomorrow. It’s then I’ll tell you my story. I’m sure you’re curious. Now, please go with Malcolm.”
Malcolm didn’t move from the spot he was in and allowed his mistress to leave the room ahead of them. Nikolai and Regan watched her as she walked down the hall and up the stairs.
“Follow me,” Malcolm said. And the three of them went on a tour of the house.
When Karmin made it to her room, she picked up her book she had been reading, lit a cigarette and immersed herself in her story. About an hour later, the room door came open. Karmin looked up to see her mate, Almina, come in the door.
“Malcolm told me you wanted to see me right away. What is it, love?”
Karmin took the time to admire her woman for a moment before she spoke. It had been two days since she’d seen her. “We have two new vampires amongst us.”
Almina smiled. “Really? This is exciting. Who are they?”
“Nikolai and Regan Thorn. A day ago, Tristan threw them out of his clan, and they ended up here. Dimitri of course called and told me to expect them. You remember me telling you about them don’t you?”
“Yes I do love. What are they like?” Almina asked sitting in the chair across from Karmin.
Karmin lit another cigarette. “Even though they only sat in the living room with me for a few minutes, I could already tell Nikolai is very protective of his wife,” she said blowing out the match and putting in the ashtray. “They are a very handsome couple; they are going to have a hard time keeping others in our family away. Regan is about the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, next to you, love.”
“It’s summer now, so we are able to control ourselves, but when it gets cold…Love, you didn’t tell them what happens to us when it gets cold did you?”
“Of course not. At least not yet. I’ll wait until the late fall to do this. For now, Regan’s going to be our new maid, and Nikolai will go to Portland with you on your next trip so he may learn how to be an angler.”
“He wants to fish?”
“He said he needed something to do, and since that’s what we do, he’s willing to do it. I don’t suspect he’ll stick with it. He’s from royalty. Regan on the other hand will do nicely.”
Almina sat and watched Karmin waiting on her to say something else. Karmin took a puff of her cigarette and gazed at her partner. “Almina, take your clothes off and get in bed. I’ve not seen you in two days. I long to taste you.”
“I smell like the dock.”
“You smell like an ocean breeze. Now Almina.”
“Yes, love.” Almina stood up and did what Karmin said.
Karmin was the dominant in the relationship she shared with Almina. Almina was a short, blue-eyed beauty who was once a tourist on the island. Karmin took one look at the beautiful human, and wanted more than her blood, she wanted her as her lover.
Karmin was good at the game she deemed, ‘Bait, and catch’. In this game, she would lure her potential victim in with friendship and loyalty, and then eventually hook them with her amazing lovemaking skills. This worked well for Karmin in the days before she met Almina. Karmin would find someone she liked, have sex, and offer eternal life after that. In all the time she’d been on the island, she ended up killing everyone. Some were worthy of her love, but most rejected the idea of becoming undead. So she had no choice but to kill them. If she didn’t her secret would be out.
When Karmin met Almina, Almina was unsure of her sexual preference. She was a young woman of twenty-nine years. She had been with both men and women. In the time they lived in, women were supposed to be with men, period. Almina struggled with this because secretly, she liked women better. It wasn’t until she met Karmin that she finally made up her mind.
~~~
“Almina, I want to share something with you. We’ve become close, you and I.”
“What is it Karmin?”
“I’m not human.”
“Not human? What do you mean?”
“I’m one of the undead. I’m vampire. I wish for you to join me. I’ve been lonely these last years and long for a companion. I’ve decided I want that companion to be you.”
“What you’re asking me is not difficult. I, myself have looked for the very same thing that you have. I enjoy the company of men, but it’s the gentle touch of a woman that truly excites me.”
“So you’re saying you’re willing to leave your human life behind and become undead like me.”
“You’re my best friend. I’ll do anything for you. If you can satisfy me, yes. I’ll be with you as your companion for all time.”
Karmin could not believe her luck. In front of her stood a beautiful woman who was willing to die to be with her. Karmin wasted no time. She walked up to Almina, and bit her. She then kissed Almina with Almina’s own blood upon her lips. They shared a night of lovemaking that only the two of them could. When it was over, Almina didn’t return to her lonely human life. Why would she? She had everything she’d always wanted.
“Almina, we’ll be good together, you and I. I’ll never leave you. Together, we will start to grow a family, our family. Before we do, you’ll have to go through a winter. This will tell me if you are truly ready to be with me.”
“What happens in winter, Karmin?”
“Starvation.”
“Why starvation? We should be able to feed when necessary.”
Karmin shook her head. “No. Feeding in winter on this island is bad. There are very few locals here when it is cold, so they are off limits. Unless we can catch the night ferry to Portland, we starve. When we get to Portland, it’s also hard, because we have no place to stay after we’ve fed. The risk that someone will catch us is great. I’ve learned to live with it. But, if we feed off one another, we’ll not go hungry, but we’ll be weak. That’s why spring and summer are so important to us.”
“I understand. I’ll stand by you no matter what. You and you alone have given me the freedom to love whom I wish. I’ll never leave you, Karmin.”
Karmin smiled. “That’s good to know.”
The first winter was harder than Almina thought, but she made it through with Karmin’s guidance and encouragement. The following summer, they went crazy on the tourists. It was that year they added three to their family.
“Almina, I want no other woman to touch you. Our targets this year will be men.”
“You don’t mind if I’m with a man?”
“A man can’t love you as I do so no. I’m not ready to have any other women in the house at this point.”
“As you wish, love.”
It was that year Malcolm and two other men joined Karmin’s tiny family. Now they were five. This went on until they’d reached their current number of twenty.
“Almina, our family is complete. From now on, you, the others, and I will feed in small teams every four days. There are enough of us now that we can make it through winter without a problem. Any one we feed on during the warm months will have to die.”
“As you wish, love.”
~~~
Two weeks after Nikolai and Regan arrived; Nikolai was ready to go out to sea. His first trip was short, only three days.
“Beloved, take care of yourself while I’m gone,” he said to Regan.
“I will be fine as long as you do not drown.”
Nikolai smiled. “I will come back to you, I promise.”
“Good luck beloved. I will miss you.”
“And I you.”
Nikolai kissed Regan as if it were the last time he would ever see her, and walked out of the door. At the same time, Karmin was saying goodbye to Almina. She was picking at Almina’s clothes like a mother getting ready to send their child off to school.
“Almina, have you gotten the other scale fixed yet?”
“Someone will be coming to look at it tonight, love.”
“Be certain it gets fixed. With us down from two to one, our competition may just beat us this season.”
“Yes, love.”
“Now kiss me. I’ll see you soon.”
Almina kissed Karmin right in the same room as Regan. The kiss was reminiscent to how Jayde once kissed her. She didn’t understand why, but she was ridiculously attracted to Karmin.
Almina broke off her kiss. “I love you. I’ll see you soon,” and walked out the door after Nikolai.
After the door closed, Karmin turned to find Regan staring at her. “What is it child, why do look at me this way?”
Regan said nothing. She walked up to Karmin and gently stroked her cheek. Karmin didn’t move, but was curious.
Karmin smiled. “I wasn’t aware that you liked women, Regan.”
“I have only been with one woman in my life. I cared for her very much, but as it turned out, she had me under her spell. I have wanted you ever since I heard you speak the first night we were here. What is your power mistress?”
Karmin shook her head. “I have no powers, Regan.”
Regan stroked Karmin’s cheek again. “Well, why do I want you so badly?”
“I don’t know.”
“You have not moved from my touch. Does this mean you wish to be with me as well?”
Karmin smiled. “You are a beautiful woman Regan. If you want me, I’ll not deny you.”
Regan didn’t hesitate. She pulled Karmin into her arms and kissed her. Karmin, enjoying her touch more than she should have, stopped her.
“We can’t do this here. Someone will see us. Meet me in the pool house in five minutes.”
Five minutes later, Regan was all over Karmin’s body like a woman possessed. She kissed her and pulled at her clothing. She groped at her breasts until they were free from the tight bra she wore. Regan nipped at her breasts causing them to bleed and sucked on them forcefully. Regan didn’t know what had come over her, but suddenly, she was in a place she didn’t think she would ever visit again.
Karmin loved Almina, but Regan’s touch excited her more than she had been in a while. She stroked Regan’s sex with her fingers in an attempt to release her passion. When this happened, she tasted her and found she could not get enough of her. Karmin could actually replace Almina if Regan were willing.
Karmin moved away from Regan’s sex temporarily and asked, “How much do you love him?”
“He is my life, mistress.”
“We’ll be secret lovers then. When Almina and Nikolai go to work, we’ll be together, you and I.”
“I would like that, mistress.”
Karmin whispered. “My name is Karmin.”
They made love to each other that night, and every night their loved ones were gone. When Nikolai returned, he was not happy. He would have expected to smell a man’s scent on her. Perhaps Malcolm’s scent, but definitely not Karmin’s scent. After Nikolai’s return, he took Regan’s hand and promptly pulled her into their room and closed the door.
He was angry, did not yell, but spoke firmly. “Regan, this has got to stop. If you want to be the one I love above all others, you cannot sleep with everyone who asks. It would seem you have turned into my former self. Why can you not have some self control?”
Regan had no real reason, so she just said the first thing that came to her mind. “Because you don’t love me as you did when we were at home.”
Nikolai grabbed her and held her by her arms. “That’s a lie and you know it. It’s not me who’s changed, it’s you. If you can’t hold your pursuers off, you will force me to leave you. I don’t want to leave you. I love you. I only want you to love me the same.”
Regan hung her head and sighed. “Don’t leave me, Nik. I promise I will be faithful to you from now on.”
That was a lie. Even though it was not as often as it had been in the past, Regan still slept with Karmin. Nikolai came home from a long trip and was on his way to his room. When he turned the corner, he saw Karmin leaving his room. She only passed him with a smile on her face and said nothing to him at all. He watched her walk past him in silence. Had he gotten home ten minutes earlier, there is no telling what he may have seen. He was suddenly reminded of why his brother killed himself. Kristopher’s woman cheated on him with another woman. They were only on Karmin’s island for a year when Nikolai couldn’t take it any longer. He walked into his room to find Regan still lying in bed. Regan got up and went to kiss her husband, and he backed away from her.
“Tomorrow we are leaving,” Nikolai said firmly. “I have no idea where we’re going, but I must get you away from her.” Nikolai pulled a suitcase from the closet and went to the dresser.
“Nik, please, don’t do this. I love Maine.”
He turned sharply and glared at Regan. “You love Karmin. Tomorrow we’ll leave, and not look back.”
The following evening, Nikolai walked Regan to the car and put their suitcases in the trunk. He walked quickly back into the house, his anger written clearly across his face. He stormed into the living room where he found Karmin in her usual spot. She was not surprised to see him.
“So, you are leaving us then?”
“Yes we are. Thank you for your hospitality, mistress, but it’s time for us to go.”
Karmin smiled and lit a cigarette. “She loves me you know. She’ll not be happy without me.”
“She’ll eventually forget you. I love her, I killed for her, and I stole her. I’ll be damned if someone steals her away from me.”
“Very well then,” Karmin blew smoke from her mouth. “I release you from my house. You may never see me again, Nikolai Thorn, but Regan will be back because of her feelings for me.”
Nikolai gazed at the arrogant woman sitting in the chair. “I have previously freed her from one who’s just like you. You’ll never see her again Karmin. Now if you will excuse me, we’ll be on our way.”
Nikolai turned and walked out of the door. When he got to the car, Regan was sitting in the passenger seat crying. He had no sympathy for her.
“Oh shut up. She didn’t love you anyway. What you shared was just a fling. I am the only one who loves you, and if we’re to stay together, it’s time you realized that. I’ve put up with your whining. I’ve put up with your cheating. The only reason I have is that I understand your urges and what can happen if you follow up on them. You don’t have too many more chances before we have an open relationship.”
Regan looked at him with tears in her eyes. “An open relationship? What does that mean?”
“It means if you continue to sleep around on me, I’ll begin to do the same.”
“It’s not fair. Because of your powers, you have the upper hand.”
“I know. I didn’t leave Sussex with you on a whim so you could sleep around on me. I left because I love you, couldn’t live without you, and wanted you by my side. But, if you continue to do this, I’ll go back on something I told myself I’d never do. I’ll cheat once again, and be with other women. Is that what you want?”
“You tell me this to punish me.”
“I tell you this because it’s the truth. Make up your mind right now, Regan. If you want to be with Karmin, you can get out of the car right now, I’ll leave you here, and you’ll never see me again. If you choose to come with me, we can begin again.”
Regan looked out of her window at the house she lived in for a year and thought about what Nikolai was offering her.
She didn’t look at him but quietly said, “Start the car.”
“What? I didn’t hear you.”
“Let’s go, Nik.”
“It’s as I thought. No one will ever be as good to you as I am. Do you hear me, Regan? No one.”
Nikolai was so angry with her, he did everything he could to hold onto the love he had for her. He pulled his car away from Karmin’s house, and drove down to the ferry station. It was there he was able to make the last ferry to the mainland. Nikolai drove until just about sunrise. He managed to make it to Massachusetts. Nikolai, knowing they wouldn’t be accepted as husband and wife, found a hotel and checked in alone. He then went back to the car.
“The room number is one ten. It’s a window room on the first floor. I’ve opened the window so you can go in. You’ll rest, and I’ll see you at sunset. We’ll feed and then move on.”
“You are not going to join me?”
“No.”
“Where will you be?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll hide somewhere safe. I’ll be back for you when the sun goes down.”
“Nik, I don’t want to be without you.”
Nikolai still very angry with her ignored her. “Go on. I’ll be fine, and so will you. I’ll see you later.”