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Dear Sir,

I asked Mr. Booth how best to write to you, but his advice only led to greater confusion. He says I should write from the heart, but that is something I'm afraid is not presently possible. I have already admitted my shortcomings to Mr. Booth, and while he says it would make no difference to you, my conscience dictates that I seek your personal reassurance about this.

Two years ago,I was clinically diagnosed of being emotionally distant and having acute difficulty in expressing emotions as a result of severe trauma.

In my case, the condition hinders me from sufficiently expressing the appropriate sentiments in situations that other people are commonly unable to be apathetic to. Perhaps more worryingly, the condition makes it challenging for me to establish any kind of emotional relationship with another person.

My doctor says my childhood trauma is likely caused by the times Bethany, my mother, have insisted on taking me with her to work. She is what is most politely referred to as an adult film actress, and my earliest memory of this was when I was approximately five or six years of age.

According to Dr. Cortez, this condition only requires a cure if its side effects prove excessively detrimental. She further notesthat therapy is usually most effective in cases where treatment is sought.

Please advise if you still prefer to proceed with the arrangements outlined by Mr. Booth on your behalf.

Sincerely,

Rhapsody

Milady,

It's interesting that in your first letter you have expressed no concern about my nature. As it appears you have fully dispensed with all reasonable doubts about my nature, I shall proceed accordingly.

To start with, and to prevent any future misunderstandings,I am - as you know - a vampire.

In many ways, it may as well be referred to as a condition in the sense that her ladyship also has a condition. Conditions are not synonymous, however, to handicaps, and I hope her ladyship understands this.

In any case, I digress. Myconditionas a vampire requires me to drink blood. The manner of consumption, however, is immaterial; I can consume it straight from a living source or purchase a blood bag and pour it in a wine glass. The quantity we need to consume is also inversely proportionate to our age; the older we are, the less we need, and as your guardian have no doubt informed you, I am much, much older than Sir Isaac.

Vampires have longer lifespans than humans, and demons live even longer than vampires. As I was sired by a demon, I havebore witness to the passing of centuries, but the downside to this is that being half-demon means I have no soul to call my own.

It is for this reason I am in need of a heartkeeper, and for reasons known only to fate, you have been born to this world to share your soul with me.

No person can be physically coerced into being a heartkeeper. It must be a union freely entered into by both entities, and it is one that is meant to last for eternity. It is also a ritual as old as time, over which no human laws hold sway.

If you say yes to being my heartkeeper, you will live for as long as I do, and though you will not possess the same powers that I am born to, heartkeeping will forbid me to feed you words of outright dishonesty. Moreover, you shall also be the one person in this world that I can never physically raise a hand against.

All of this sums up my entire knowledge of heartkeeping. I wish there was more I can share with you, but most ancient texts containing sacred knowledge of heartkeeping have long been burned by demons. It is in Hell's interests that the rituals of heartkeeping be buried in history, for without it half-demons such as I eventually succumb to the mad, inextinguishable lure to do evil.

I know it is much to ask, but you are my only hope. If you consent to being my heartkeeper, I give you my vow to cherish and protect you, and whatever you desire that I have in my power to grant, you shall have.

I know your mother's treatment has left you with invisible scars that have yet to heal. Her insistence that you call her by her name, for instance, makes you feel that you have no place tobelong to, no person to claim as yours. Be my heartkeeper, and I am yours to command...forever.

And so I end this letter in a similar way as you did yours. With all the knowledge you possess now, do you still wish to be my heartkeeper?

Yours to command,

A vampire from the kingdom of Chalys

Dear Sir,

As I am not in the habit of prevaricating, I would like to thank you for the forthright manner in which you answered my letter, and I further take this opportunity to confirm my assent to your proposal.

If you would still have me, I shall be honored to be your heartkeeper and from hereon swear to devote my life in performing my duties to the best of my abilities.

Sincerely,

Rhapsody

Milady,