Valentine

Valentine hadn’t always been this way, they think. They were something else before, and something else even before that, but now they’re this and that’s all there is to say on the matter. Before they were this, however, they wanted more than just the one goal they’ve recently tunnel focused onto. They wanted riches and finery and pleasures beyond imagination, and one day a man came along and promised it all. Valentine fell hard and fast, despite the other vampires…unpleasantries. The wedding night came quick and the party was extravagant, even more so than what was usually expected of Valentine’s parties, but as the guests left and the sun began to rise, the groom was nowhere to be found. Valentine went searching and found more than they bargained for on the veranda, a stake through the heart for their trouble and worry. As they crumbled into dust, confused and dazed, something peculiar happened. A single fang dropped from their mouth and rolled away beneath a cabinet, an anchor that wouldn’t let their spirit slip entirely away into the restful dead. The mornings rays wouldn’t let their soul reform, but as night descended again, they awoke on the balcony—less corporeal than before. Not that they noticed. Rage building, fury stoked, they stalked through the mansion in search of their betrothed and found them in the salon, holding a meeting. A bunch of wealthy vampires, people Valentine knew and trusted, blithely discussing how to divy up their assets! Their wealth! Amongst themselves! Something snapped in them then, and where the gathering hadn’t noticed Valentine before then, they certainly took notice when every door in the château blasted open and Valentine hovered, eyes aglow in the entryway. The groom, bless his undead heart, had the sense to look surprised as Valentine tore his head from his shoulders. She was too busy eviscerating the backstabbing bastard to catch the rest of the attendants as they fled the mansion and once the blood rage left her, she took a look at the papers they’d left on the table. They detailed her and countless others murders. Was this a scheme? She had known many of the people in the salon, how far down did this go? After retrieving their tether, the fang from before, and placing it in a locket around their neck, Valentine set off to uncover the truth and unravel the mystery behind their murder plot.