Dr. Cain shook his head. “Not until you can acknowledge that it was you, not your dead brother, who assaulted those people.”
“It wasn’t me, you asshole! I told you, he possesses me. He’s been telling me to do horrible things for months now.”
“Your condition is not uncommon in your kind, Mercy. But I can assure you, it is also a well-known condition in humans. It is not unlike others who suffer from your condition to hear voices that tell them to do horrible things.”
“He’s not just a voice in my head… he literally possesses me.”
“In order to get better, Mercy, you’ll first need to recognize the difference between what is real and what are your delusions.”
“You’re not going to let me out of here, are you?”
“Only when we can be sure the issue has been resolved.”
“Well, you can’t leave me in this damned straitjacket.”
Dr. Cain shrugged. “You’re a vampire. It won’t kill you.”
“Look, Doc. Can I just call you Doc? It might not kill me. But have you ever seen a vampire go into a rage? Get me angry enough, and I can assure you this jacket won’t hold me. And the last thing you want is a vampire on a rage in your nuthouse.”
“It’s an asylum, Mercy. The term ‘nuthouse’ is offensive.”
“If it walks like a nut, cracks like a nut… it’s probably a nut.”
“Is that a self-diagnosis?”
“No.” I said matter-of-factly. “I’m not crazy.”
“Very well, Mercy. We can let you out of the jacket and out of this room, but you’ll have to wear a device to ensure you aren’t a danger to the rest of the patients.”
“A device? Look, if I’m in prison to a device, I’m not a patient. I’m a fucking inmate.”
“Call it whatever you want,” Dr. Cain said. “But you’re going to have to wear the device.”
“What sort of device?”
Dr. Cain walked over to a set of drawers and retrieved something that resembled a dog collar. “This is a sunlight collar. It’s controlled remotely. If you ever get out of hand, all we have to do is turn it on and it will release artificial sunlight directly onto your skin.”
I rolled my eyes. “You realize what sunlight will do to me, right?”
“I do.”
“It’s torture. That’s what this thing is. How is that humane?”
“You have to be human before being humane is a concern,” Dr. Cain said.
“That’s so speciesist,” I quipped.
“It’s what?”
“Speciesist. It’s like being racist, but not treating other species as equals.”
“Well you aren’t equals,” Dr. Cain said.
“Damn right we aren’t. We’re superior to humans in every way.”
“Typical vampire arrogance.”
“Whatever.”
“Well, it’s your choice. Stay strapped in here until you rage. And then, I can assure you, that the strobe you saw before will seem like child’s play. We have sunlight lamps all over the facility. You won’t get far. Or, wear the collar and feel free to roam around the common areas at your leisure. It’s up to you, really.”
“Fine. Give me the fucking collar.”
Dr. Cain put the device around my neck and, with a key, locked it in the back. It was a metal collar—even if I went into a rage, I probably couldn’t break the thing off. These Vilokan shrinks clearly knew what they were doing.
“Okay,” Dr. Cain said. “Now we just have to test it to be sure it works.”
“Like hell you do!” I said. “Sunlight leaves scars. I’ll be damned if…”
Dr. Cain couldn’t hold in his laughter. “I was just joking, Mercy.”
“Stick to head-shrinking, asshole. Leave the jokes to the comics.”
“I’m really looking forward to this, Mercy. You’re going to be a delight to work with.”
I rolled my eyes. I stepped up to the doctor. He helped me out of my straightjacket. Big mistake. I quickly pivoted, grabbed him by the tie, and pulled him close. “The pleasure is going to be all mine,” I whispered in his ear.
Dr. Cain smirked. “Your allure won’t work on me, Mercy. Nice try, though.”
“What? How the hell?” I’d never met a single person able to resist my allure in all my years. Only non-humans—magical creatures, which I’d only rarely encountered—were immune to it. But Dr. Cain was clearly human. I could hear his heartbeat. I couldn’t smell his blood. But the air was so filled with the smell of bleach and cleaning supplies, that wasn’t surprising. The only thing I could figure was that he’d been warded somehow. Not a surprise, I suppose. Considering that the man’s job was to psychoanalyze magical creatures, including vampires, it made sense he’d know all the precautions to take.
Dr. Cain just smiled wide. “I’ve been doing this a while, Mercy. I know all the standard tricks. And you can be assured, I’m prepared. And if you try your tricks on any of the nurses, just remember what that collar around your neck can do.”
I huffed. “I haven’t forgotten.”
“Your best chance of leaving here sooner rather than later is to cooperate, Mercy. Embrace the program. Perhaps it will help. Unfortunately, treating vampires and other magical creatures is a bit more difficult than treating humans. Most medications aren’t particularly effective. But psychoanalysis is, I can assure you. It behooves you to cooperate.”
“What about meals?”
“We have blood bags prepared.”
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” I said. “Souls leave the blood when blood leaves the body. You realize it’s souls, not the blood itself we crave.”
“And according to my records you were turned in 1891, correct?”
I nodded. “Yeah, so?”
“You’ve accumulated plenty of ‘souls’ to get you by for quite some time. The blood bags will take the edge off your hunger pangs if they strike.”
I sighed. Drinking bagged blood was sort of like drinking a Diet Coke. It might taste a little sweet, even a little like blood, but there’s no sugar in there. It doesn’t really satisfy a genuine sugar craving. Yes, it might take the edge off for a little while. Your body might be “tricked” into think it’s processing sugar by the artificial sweeteners within it, but once your body adjusts and realizes it didn’t get the sugar it thought it was getting, the craving will return with a vengeance. Yes, I didn’t need blood to survive. Starvation doesn’t kill vampires. But once those cravings kicked in, those blood bags would give me little more than a few minutes of solace. I’d have to keep them on hand constantly to prevent myself from going in a frenzy, especially if there were other humans in the place, like Dr. Cain. No sunlight collar would prevent me from feeding if the frenzy kicked in.
Someone knocked three times on the door.
“Come in,” Dr. Cain said.
A young red-headed female opened the door, dressed in scrubs.
“This is Nurse Rutherford,” Dr. Cain said. “She’ll show you to your room and help acquaint you with our various amenities.”
“You have amenities? Color me excited,” I said sarcastically.
“Come this way, Miss Brown,” Nurse Rutherford said.
“Just call me Mercy,” I said. “My last name reminds me of my father.”
Dr. Cain retrieved a pen from his pocket and wrote something in my folder.
“Yes, Doc. I have daddy issues.”
Dr. Cain smiled. “That’s something we can work with.”
“My father tried to kill me. Had my heart cut out of my chest. I think having a few daddy issues is natural and healthy.”
“Be that as it may,” Dr. Cain said, “it’s something to talk about. I’ll see you tomorrow, Mercy.”
Chapter Seven
How in the world did I end up here? Somehow when I’d bitten Brian, whatever demonic residue I took weakened me enough that Edwin was able to take control over my body. I remembered Ramon catching me. Annabelle and Hailey were there. Surely Annabel
le was the one responsible. But Ramon was there… and there was no way Annabelle and Hailey would take me if Ramon didn’t go along with it. After all the times I’d covered for him through the decades after he went around the city dismembering people, I had to admit it chapped my ass a little to think he’d agreed to this… arrangement. I hadn’t lost my mind; Edwin temporarily took control. I was clearly back in charge now. Lesson learned—no more biting boys who’d had encounters with demons. Of course, figuring out how to avoid that was another thing altogether. Still, it was an issue to figure out, not a valid pretense for sticking me in the loony bin.
Nurse Rutherford led me around the place. It was an old building, but clearly had a “hospital” vibe to it. Long hallways with rooms on either side. The whole place was arranged like a wheel, each hallway its spikes, a nursing station at the hub. Rutherford showed me to my room—pretty much a standard hospital room. Certainly better than the room I’d had at the sanatorium—the last “hospital” I’d been committed to when I was a human. They’d come a long way in terms of facilities like these since the 1890s. I actually had a television set in my room. The walls were painted a cream color with pink highlights. Ugh, I hated pink. But this was just temporary. I could put up with it for a few nights until I figured out how I was going to get out of this place. At the end of one of the hallways was a more expansive room.
“This is the common area,” Rutherford explained. “Mostly for recreation. We encourage you to socialize with the other residents. Though if it becomes an issue, social privileges can be revoked.”
I nodded while biting my tongue. I had a big mouth—a trait reinforced by the fact that, for years, I was pretty much in charge of every situation I’d ever been in. Aside from Nico, before he met the true death, no one had any authority or power over me at all. And even Nico treated me, for the most part, like an equal in spite of being several centuries older than me. Staying in a place like this, wearing this damned sunlight collar, having to “behave” myself—it was strange and uncomfortable. I decided it best not to do too much talking. If I was going to bust my way out of here—an idea I was already committed to, even though I had no idea how I’d pull it off—my chances were better if they thought I was being a cooperative, nice little vamp.
There was a small area with cafeteria seats—the sort you might see in a school. Long, rectangle, foldable tables with hard plastic round seats. “Meals are three times a day. Seven in the morning, noon, and five in the evening. Of course, like all the creatures here who have unique dietary requirements, a custom meal will be prepared for you.”
“A custom meal, huh?”
“Shakes, Miss Brown.”
“Again, it’s Mercy. And shakes? Blood shakes?”
“We can’t allow you to feed directly from real humans, Mercy,” Rutherford said.
“That’s what I do… Vampires don’t drink fucking shakes.”
“You’ll adjust in time,” Rutherford said. “We’ve cared for many vampires here in the past, though you’re the only one in residence presently.”
I nodded. “What else do I need to know?”
“You are free to spend your time as you’d like. Group therapy sessions will be conducted here in the commons every morning after breakfast. Your appointments with Doctor Cain are scheduled each day after lunch.”
“Where do I go for those?”
“Doctor Cain will meet you in your room.”
“Alright,” I said, taking a deep breath before brushing her away. “No, you skedaddle. I’ll be fine on my own.”
Rutherford smirked. “If you need anything, you know where the nurses’ station is located.”
I nodded. As she turned, I hissed and bore my fangs. She turned back to me. I quickly adjusted my expression to something more pleasant: a closed-mouth smile and wide doe eyes.
I looked around the commons. Truth be told, I didn’t even know some of these creatures existed. You’d think, being something of a magical creature myself, I’d have encountered most everything over the course of nearly a century and a half of existence. I tried to use my scant knowledge of myth and legend to identify what I could. Though in every instance, none of the creatures were quite what I expected. There was a bald-headed man, a gut protruding through his hospital gown. His face was scruffy, and two wings protruded through holes cut in the back of his gown. Must be a fairy, I thought.
There were two human-animal hybrids hovering over a ping-pong table. One had a horse-like body, just as you’d expect from a centaur, with a human torso. His hair was spiked in a lime-green mohawk and his torso was covered in tattoos. The other creature on the opposite side of the table, though, was exactly his opposite—a human body and a mule’s head. If he wasn’t a centaur, what was he? An equisapien, perhaps? He was wearing tight-fitting jeans—for a man with the face of a donkey, he sure had a nice ass—and a tucked-in plaid shirt.
The one who most caught my attention, though, wasn’t such an exotic creature. In fact, while he might have been the best-looking man I’d ever seen in my life, there was nothing about him that would prevent him from intermingling with human society. His hair was long and white, his face youthful and perfectly proportioned. He lounged in a chair facing a window, his legs crossed. A stiletto dangled from one of his feet, and as I got closer I noticed his nails were painted cherry red. As I listened, though, I didn’t hear a heart in the man’s chest. He, or perhaps she would be more appropriate, wasn’t human.
As I approached, I noticed she was humming a tune. Usually when people hum it’s rather annoying, a poor imitation of some kind of popular song. Whoever this creature was, her song drew me in. The tune was unlike anything I’d ever heard, smooth like jazz, but calming, peaceful, and still melodic. I moved closer, wanting to hear more… It was like the song drew me in. I was almost in a trance.
“What’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?” I asked.
The next thing I knew, the creature moved like lightning, faster than even I could react, and plunged the heel of one of her stilettos right into my chest.
My shock at what happened was only eclipsed by the horror that befell this beautiful creature’s face.
I cleared my throat. “That doesn’t work on me,” I said. “But you aren’t the first to try.”
The creature took two steps back, stumbling over her own feet as she tried to replace her stiletto on her foot.
“The name’s Mercy,” I said, extending a hand. “I’m a vampire, but based on the way you came at me just now, I’m figuring you already knew that.”
“Nyx…” the creature said through a hushed voice.
I looked over my shoulder. “I don’t think anyone saw that staking attempt just now. I won’t tell anyone if you won’t.”
Nyx nodded twice in rapid succession.
“So how about we start over, shall we? What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?”
“Thank you…”
I cocked my head curiously. “For what?”
“For calling me a girl. The people here, they keep calling me he… His problem… His delusion… His whatever…”
I shrugged. “It’s not cool to mis-gender people. I may be from another time, and as much as I struggle like most of my kind to keep up with the latest trends, I know the difference. You look amazing, girl!”
“Thanks. You too.”
“So, what are you exactly? And why did you come after me like that?”
“I’m a Neck.”
I scrunched my brow. “I don’t know what that is…”
“The Neck… a water elemental. We are shapeshifters.”
“And with an affinity for music, it seems.”
Nyx nodded. “It’s how we lure our prey…”
“Your prey?”
“We take on the form that most appeals to the humans we hunt, then we draw them in with music… Our meals come to us.”
“Well, how about that,” I said. “You and me have something in common. We both hunt
humans.”
Nyx shrugged. “But I can’t shift anymore… The reason for that, it will explain why I tried to stake you just now.”
“I’m listening,” I said, still enthralled by Nyx’s beauty, more than a little curious about her story.
“I didn’t believe vampires existed… until…”
“Until one came after you?” I asked.
“Until I… unwittingly tried to target one myself.”
“Oh shit,” I said. “I bet that didn’t turn out well.”
“I assumed this form. It was what who I thought a person would find most appealing… It’s something the Neck know by instinct. I lured her in with a song, and I tried to lead her into my underwater lair where I typically feast…”
“Then she turned on you?”
Nyx nodded. “Bit me. Fangs pierced my neck. She backed up almost immediately and ran. You see, I don’t have blood. My body is filled with pure water… but after the vampire left, I couldn’t shift again. I was stuck in this body.”
“But you’re not a man.”
“The Neck don’t have a gender. We’re elementals. But I always felt more drawn to the female form. When I took the form of a beautiful maiden, lured handsome men into my domain, I never felt more… myself. But this form, this body…”
“You’re still quite beautiful.”
Nyx nodded. “But I don’t feel beautiful… not unless I allow myself to enjoy… feminine things.”
“Totally cool,” I said. “Is that seriously why they locked you up here?”
Nyx laughed. “No, but Doctor Cain suggested I suffer from gender dysphoria. Never heard of that before. Still, sounds dirty. How can I, who belong to a species where gender is not a thing at all, be judged according to social constructions of gender in the human world?”
“That’s a good question,” I said. “Doctor Cain has me all mixed up, too. I’m pretty sure he thinks I have multiple personality disorder.”
Nyx rolled her eyes. “Well, do you?”
I shook my head. “When you staked me just a minute ago, it didn’t do anything to me because I don’t have a heart. My body was vivified by witchcraft, a kind of necromancy. My heart’s essence, what keeps me alive even as a vampire, was fed to my brother. He went to hell—long story—and I went to get him out of hell, and now he possesses me. The kid’s got an awful temper, and after my own hunt went awry, he took over for a minute and created quite a scene in the French Quarter.”
Bloody Mad: A Dark Urban Fantasy Story (The Legacy of a Vampire Witch Book 2) Page 4