Her Vampire Rebel

by Zenia, Zara

  Bella: Hey, are you busy tonight?

  Yeah, I’m working. On break at the moment. What’s up?

  Bella: Well damn. Was hoping you’d come to Club Toxic and be like my moral support. I’m doing a scene with Augustus… EEK! :D

  I smile. She’d been telling him she was ready for the past week. He must have finally believed her. Sorry. You’ll do great. Have a good time!

  Bella: Thanks! I’ll try. Really nervous though. Hey, have you talked to James?

  No. Not since last week.

  Bella: :( He came in on Saturday and asked about you, but didn’t speak to anyone else, just me and Augustus. Apparently, he had a few drinks and after talking to us, he left. I know he was hoping you would be there. I told him you are being stubborn, and you are! You like the guy! You should be with him! Clearly, he cares about you!

  :( You know why I can’t, Bell.

  Bella: I know what you think, but Care, you have a life, a guy who’s really into you & Marvin is in another state! You should talk to him!

  I have to go. Another group session. Good luck tonight! :)

  Bella: You’re avoiding, but fine. Go work, but don’t think I’m going to let this drop! :)

  I really wish you would. It’s hard enough resisting him without you being on his side! :(

  Bella: I’m not on his side dork! There is no ‘side’! I just know you really like him and you being afraid of Marvin shouldn’t keep you from being with James!

  But what if he hurts James? How could I live with myself? What if by being with me, I put him in danger?

  Bella: James is a big boy. He can take care of himself, Care. Why don’t you ask him what he thinks?

  I really gotta go. We’ll discuss this tomorrow.

  Sighing, I put my phone away. Maybe Bella is right. Maybe I should tell James everything. With that thought, I head back out to work. Both groups go well, and as I pass through the reception area, Linda waves at me.

  “Hey, Carolyn, this came for you.” She holds up a big flower box.

  “Really? Who’s it from?” I ask heading over to her.

  “The delivery guy didn’t know. Looks like a secret admirer.” She grins. “Open them up. Let’s take a look.”

  Hesitantly, I pull the ribbon on the box, thinking maybe they are from James. I lift the lid and inside is a dozen roses—all of them dead. Not just a little dead, but really, really dead. Tucked in between the brittle stems is a large card that says, “FOUND YOU!” I drop the box and start shaking.

  “Well that sucks. Who would send you something like that?” Linda asks.

  I shake my head and pull out my phone, hitting Bella’s number.

  “What’s up? Did you get off work early? Are you coming by the club?” she asks.

  “N-n-n-no. He found me,” I whisper.

  “What? Why are you whispering? I’m at the club. I can’t hear you!”

  “Marvin… he found me. Sent me dead roses. Here. Just now. He knows where I am, Bella!” I say, freaking out.

  “Fuck. You have to call James! ... I’m about ten minutes from doing the scene with Augustus, Care, damn it! But fine, I’ll come! Please though, for the love of God, call James. He’s a big guy, bigger than Marvin—”

  “But Marvin is crazy! I don’t want James in danger too!”

  “Care, for crying out loud! He already told you to let him know if things escalate! You know that means he can protect you! Just call him—”

  “Give me the phone, love,” I hear Augustus take the phone from her. “Miss Carolyn, I’m not sure what is going on, but if you need protection, James can help you, and if he won’t, come here to Club Toxic, you will be under our protection here.”

  I frown. “Okay. I… I’ll call him,” I say softly. “Tell Bella to stay with you. No sense putting her in Marvin’s sphere, I guess. I’ll… I’ll call James, and if I can’t reach him, I’ll come to the club.”

  “Good, now say goodbye to Bella. We are off to play.”

  “Bye!” Bella calls into the phone, and then it’s silence.

  “So who’s Marvin?” Linda asks.

  I blink at her. “My ex. I left California to get away from him.”

  “Honey, it looks like he’s tracked you down. Listen to your friend… call that James guy.”

  I nod. “I… will you get rid of those and tell Dr. Benford that I had to leave early?”

  Linda nods and says, “Yes… you be careful now. You got a restraining order out on this guy?”

  “Yes—here and in California.”

  “Then maybe we should keep these as evidence. I’ll take care of it, just in case, sweetie. Go on now. Call that young man of yours and get out of here.”

  Shivering, I head over to my desk and grab my things. “Thanks, Linda.” It’s already dark out as I head out to my Blazer, and once I’m in, I lock the doors and pull up James’ number. My finger hovers over the button for a moment, but finally, I hit the call button.

  “Pet? Thank goodness! Where have you been?” he asks.

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper into the phone, tears streaming down my cheeks.

  “What’s the matter? Where are you?”

  I gulp. “Work.” I sniffle. “He found me. Marvin found me. I’m going to have to leave. I’m going to have to run from Tucson and my friends and you and school and everything, and I’m scared he’s going to kill me this time—”

  “Carolyn, where are you right this minute? Are you safe?”

  I nod. “Yes. I’m in my car.”

  “Can you drive?”

  Sniffling, I say, “I think so.”

  “Good. Come to me. We need to talk, and you will tell me everything.”

  “Okay.” I turn the car on. “Will you stay on the phone with me, sir?”

  “Yes, pet. Just put it on speaker, so you can drive. I’ll stay on the phone until you get here.”

  “Thank you, sir.” I sniff and pull out of the parking lot. “Sir? I need directions.”

  He chuckles and gives them to me.

  “Thank you, sir.” I take a steadying breath. “I’m sorry I didn’t answer any of your messages. I was trying to protect you.”

  “We’ll discuss that as well, but not until you get here, and I know you are safe.”

  “Yes, sir,” I agree. “Bella said you went to the club on Saturday.”

  “I did. I did not stay long.”

  “Why?” I ask.

  He sighs. “You were not there.”

  “Oh.” I bite my lip. “You… you know where I live. You could have come over, sir.”

  “Pet, you were avoiding me. As much as it hurts that you were, if not seeing me was what you needed, then I did not wish to intrude upon you.”

  “I would have let you in, sir. So many times, I wanted to text you or call you back… I just…” I trail off as I pull into his drive and his gate opens.

  “Come inside, pet. We will talk about all of it.”

  “Yes, sir.” I turn the Blazer off and go to the door where he’s waiting, but as soon as I see his face, I burst into tears.

  He pulls me to him and picks me up, carrying me into the house. He sits down on the couch with me in his arms. I bury my face into his neck and cry for several minutes. Finally, I lift my face and look at him. “I’m sorry, sir.”

  “It’s okay, pet. Now, I’m going to set you down on the couch and get you some water and then you are going to tell me everything.”

  “Yes, sir.” I nod as he lifts me off his lap and sets me on the couch.

  He goes over to the kitchen but stays in my line of sight, grabs a bottle of water and comes back to me. “Now, start at the beginning. I want to know everything, and I mean everything, pet.”

  I take a sip of the water and then put the cap back on. “I met Marvin about seven years ago now. He was rich, not that I cared about that, but he was, is still, I guess. He was charming when we met. We started dating. Slowly, he began to isolate me from my friends, my family, well, my aunt, she was t
he only family I had left at the time. After about six months, he discovered BDSM. At least he made it seem like it was new to him. He took me to a club in LA.” I smile thinking about the club. “I liked the club. I decided to learn everything I could about it. He told me I was his sub, and he was my dom, and he could do whatever he wanted to me. I really tried to be a sub for him. I gave him safe words, but he never abided by them. He only used it as an excuse to beat me. I wasn’t allowed to have friends over, but he’d have his over. They’d ask about my… my bruises, and he’d laugh, saying it was all part of our BDSM play, and I enjoyed it.” I sniffle and take another sip of water.

  “Finally, I tried to leave. Bella was the only friend I had left, mostly because I had told him that I wasn’t in contact with her anymore, but I was. The morning I planned to leave, he beat me so bad, he broke my arm in three places, my leg in two and tried to strangle me. He left me on the floor of our living room, dying, while he went God knows where. Bella found me. She was supposed to meet me that morning to get me out, but he got to me first. Later, I figured out that he’d cloned my phone and could read all my messages with her. He knew I was leaving him.”

  I chance a glance at James and his hands are curled into fists, and there is something dangerous in his eyes. I shift uncomfortably but continue. “In all we were together for two years. That morning, Bella took me to the hospital and made me file a report for attempted murder. I had to go to court and testify against him. In the end, he got off with six months’ probation and no jail time. I took out a restraining order against him. I moved in with Bella for a while, but he kept finding me. I moved about every six months because he kept finding me, getting a hold of my unlisted number, stalking me all over LA. Finally, about seven months ago, Bella said she was moving here. I decided to follow her. I left everything but my clothes and a few personal items behind and moved here, legally changed my name, started a new life.” I expel a breath. “Then the day after I met you, he called me. And you know the rest, up until… well.”

  “Yes,” he says, gently, more gently than I would have thought with the look in his eyes. “Did he contact you after I left you that morning?”

  I shake my head. “No. I got scared. I know it sounds stupid, but I had a dream that he hurt you, then killed you, and I—” I break off, tears streaming down my cheeks. After a minute, I continue, “I couldn’t let that happen. I thought if I stayed away, didn’t contact you, you’d be safe.”

  He frowns. “Oh, pet, it is not me you need worry about. We’ll talk about that in a moment. Tell me what happened today that had you coming back to me?”

  “I went to work. I’ve been feeling awful not being with you, so it wasn’t a great day to start with. I finished working with groups and talked to Bella for a bit, she wanted me to go to the club. She’s doing a scene. She told me I should stop worrying about Marvin and live my life for me and call you.” I smile. “I was going to, sir. I just wanted to finish work first, so I could explain… but… as I was heading through reception, Linda, she’s the receptionist on duty tonight, she called me over. A delivery had come for me. I was excited. I thought… I thought maybe it was from you.”

  “If I had known that would excite you, pet, I would have sent you something. Now, what was the delivery?”

  “Dead roses with a note saying, Found You. I called Bella, and she told me to call you, then Augustus told me to call you and said… well he offered me protection at the club if you declined, sir.”

  James frowns. “Pet, you have my protection. You have since we met. I am glad you have a safe place to go if you need it, and I can’t get to you, but we’ll save that for later too. I have my own confessions to make.”

  I blink up at him. “You do?”

  He takes my hands. “Please, hear me out, pet, and know I will never harm you. Ever.”

  “Okay?”

  He purses his lips, as if trying to decide where to start. “How old do you think I am?”

  I frown and blink up at him again, unsure why he’s asking this. “I don’t know, sir. You don’t look too much older than me. Thirty?”

  He smiles. “I’m two hundred and eighty-nine. I was born in 1731. In Boston. I was thirty-four when the first part of the revolution started. I was a blacksmith and silversmith. I fought on the colonists’ side, and in 1770, in what is now called the Boston Massacre, I was captured by a British officer by the name of Lord Nathan Pettigrew. I thought I was a dead man, and after what happened next, I wished I had died in the massacre.”

  I frown. Is this some kind of delusion? Is he playing a role?

  “I can see you do not yet believe me, pet, but please, let me finish, and I will give you proof of what I am saying. Can you do that?”

  I nod.

  “You see, he did not just capture me, he also captured my fiancée Mary and her parents. He’d watched me for some time, he’d said, and he knew that I was attached to her and her family. He waited for the perfect time to capture me. He… killed her parents in front of us both and put Mary in thrall. It was in that moment, as another man held me back, that I figured out what he was. A predator, a vampire. He had his way with Mary and ripped her throat out. I thought my fate would be the same.”

  I gasp, my hand flying to my mouth, and his words sink in. Did he just say… he’s a vampire? I look at him, my eyes wide.

  “Please, pet, do not be nervous. I will never hurt you. I have never killed a human, except in war.” He looks at me with such tenderness that I have to nod.

  “Okay, go on,” I whisper, my heart racing with nervousness.

  “He did kill me over the course of the next few nights. He fed me his blood and turned me, so I did not die. I think he must have thought that since he turned me, I would be accepting of him as my sire, that I would do his bidding. I suppose that is what normally occurs, but I was so filled with rage when I woke and saw Mary’s body broken on the floor near me. He and another vampire were sitting nearby discussing their plans for me, and I just flew at him with a strength I have never known before. I ripped his head from his shoulders.”

  I gasp again. Holy fuck! He squeezes my fingers gently in his hand, and I look up at him. “Okay,” I whisper, “is there more?”

  “Yes. You see, the other man, Aubrey ran and encouraged the other vampires who were pledged, turned I mean, by Nathan to come after me. I am afraid I killed them all as well. All of them except Aubrey, who ran.”

  “Why are you telling me this?” I whisper.

  “For two reasons, pet. One, so you will know the lengths I will go to in order to protect you. Two, because you need to know. I cannot keep this secret from you if we are to continue on together. I want no secrets between us. I have weighed this in my head for some time now, and if you do not wish to be with me, I can take the memories of me from your mind, but I do hope you can find it in you to accept me, to be with me.”

  I swallow hard and look up into his eyes. “Can… I need some time. I need to… I can’t do this right now, I… I need to go.” I stand up abruptly and start backing out of his room. “Please, let me… I just… I need some time.” Whirling around, I head to the door. Fumbling with my keys, I finally find the right one as I walk out, hurry to the Blazer, shove the key in the lock and open the door.

  “Carolyn…” he calls out to me, and I can see a sadness in his eyes.

  I shake my head and climb behind the wheel. My gaze connects with his as I back out of the drive. A glance in the rearview tells me he’s opened the gate. Confusion engulfs me as I head for my apartment. How can he be a vampire? Is this real? Can there really be vampires?

  I pull through the gated entrance into the complex. I’d chosen this place specifically to keep me safe from Marvin, but now I have to wonder if there are other predators out there. Predators who might be after more than just power over me.

  “Does Bella know?” I wonder out loud as I sit in my locked SUV. I pick up my phone to text her, but then shove it back in my purse. I can’t ask he
r that. I can’t ask her if she knows James is a vampire. I would sound crazy! And besides, how would she even know? Maybe it’s all a delusion anyway… I expel a breath and climb out of my car.

  Paranoid, I hurry up to my apartment. As I unlock the door and head in, my phone beeps with a text. Hesitantly, I pull it out and see it’s from James.

  I know you need time to digest this, but please, stay safe. If you feel Marvin is nearby, please come to me. I won’t harm you, Carolyn. I could never harm you.

  I want to answer him, but fear of what he says he is stops me. Instead, I set my phone down on the coffee table and wrap myself in a blanket. Putting the tv on, I binge watch a treasure hunting show until I fall asleep, so I don’t have to think about it.

  * * *

  Two weeks later, I’m still unsure of what to do about James. I’ve spent countless hours on the internet researching, but there just isn’t anything online about vampires that seems to claim they are real. I did look up the name he gave me, Lord Nathan Pettigrew. He had been a British officer in the Revolutionary War, and though he hadn’t been caught, he was tried for treason in the British courts. All of his titles and lands were removed from his family line. He hadn’t left behind any immediate family though. Could all of this be part of James’ delusion? How would I know if what he’d told me is real?

  I’ll have to ask him to prove it. That thought, however, has my heart racing. What if I go and see him, and he decides to bite me? To eat me? I blanch at that thought as I head to class.

  My phone beeps. I know it’s a text, and I figure it’s another from James, but as I pull it out of my pocket, I see it’s from an unknown number. Whipping my head around, I take in the beautiful sunny day and all the people around me, but I’m looking for one person in particular. Marvin.

  Fuck! I changed my number! How did he get it again?

  I click the text.

  You can’t hide from me. I’m everywhere, bitch!

  Shaking, I hurry into the building and call Bella.

  “Hey, girl, what’s up?”

  “He’s got my number again!” I hiss into the phone, keeping my eyes on the door and my back to the wall so no one can come up behind me.