Lady Cassandra- A Self Portrait

Cassandra closed her eyes. She breathed in the crisp winter air, filling her lungs. As she breathed in, the wind became tinged with the scent of bitterness and metallic. The smell of death. When she opened her eyes again, they were no longer dark blue; they no longer resembled a stormy ocean, but they glowed an impossibly red color. A burst of life surged throughout Cassandra’s body. She could feel a strangeness overcome her as she drained her victim, who had now fallen limp under her iron grasp. She could feel a unique power in her veins, in her bones, and throughout her very essence as a frenzy took over, burning out whatever humanity she had left inside of her. When clarity finally returned and there was no more blood in her victim's body, Cassandra unclenched her jaw from their artery and stood up. With a loud thud, she dropped the corpse at her feet. She was drenched in blood.

Cassandra wiped her face with her hands and licked up as much of the dripping blood around her mouth as she could with her tongue. She looked up at the moon that now glowed bright red, much like her eye's sudden change in appearance; the moon's change also marked her complete transition into becoming a newborn vampire. As she stood there, she looked up and stared into the night sky, trying to regain her senses after the bloodlust. In the distance, she could see a colony of bats flying. The bat's wings were illuminated by the red glow of the moon, and as they drew closer, it was clear they were flying to where Cassandra stood in the woods. 

A calming, feminine voice rang through Cassandra’s mind then, almost maternal. That's when she recognized another sensation. It was like a bolt of electricity that sent shock waves all over Cassandra's body. She could feel something that wasn’t there before: connection.

“Welcome our newest sister, Lady Cassandra!” The voice proclaimed proudly. It echoed inside her mind. The friendly voice came from the largest bat in the group. It flapped its wings excitedly above her head, immediately rallying the other bats. The rest of the colony all roared in approval, telepathically welcoming Cassandra into their dark family. As they celebrated, Cassandra smiled. She knew the fun was only about to begin…

-A self-portrait I decided to paint to welcome in the new year! I’ll be turning 30 this February so I thought it would be clever to make 29 year old me into a vampire. Because she doesn’t have to turn 30, she gets to turn into a lady of darkness this year instead 😭

Digitally painted in Procreate.