The Last Vampire

by Tanja Neise

  Olivia Morgan

  I had often imagined what it would be like to be taken by a man. I’d spent several nights wondering whether sex really was what was commonly called the icing on the cake of life. But I’d never have thought it’d be so wonderful.

  Robert was so tender that it drove tears of happiness into my eyes. Every inch of my body vibrated in joyful anticipation of the final step. But he shook his head in disapproval as I tried to pull him into me.

  “Slowly,” he whispered, with that deep voice that set my blood on fire a little more.

  His mouth wandered from my mouth to my neck. Carefully, he nibbled at it. I could no longer suppress a moan, and clung desperately to him as the throbbing between my thighs continued to increase. His lips explored every inch of my skin, wandering further and further down. They caressed my belly. Meanwhile, Robert pushed one hand up my leg. Further and further, until he reached the centre of my desire. His fingers gently brushed over my sensitive flesh. Then his mouth conquered the terrain and my senses faded. I moaned, screamed and clung to him.

  “Oh Livvy, you’re so beautiful,” he murmured, and bridged the last gap, pushing himself into me. It only hurt for a fraction of a second. I forgot, and captured the beauty of the moment, feeling more alive than ever before.

  The tenderness with which he made love to me lifted me up again, aroused me. His hands devoutly skimmed over my breasts, playing with my nipples. The feeling he evoked in me drove me to the peak of lust. It took my innermost being, and then the first orgasm of my life overpowered me.

  Robert, who kept calling my name and kissing me as if I were the centre of his being, came shortly after me.

  Exhausted, he lay next to me and held me in his arms. His lips pressed on my crown. I felt like I was on a deserted island. There was no one else but us.

  “Thank you!” His rough voice penetrated every pore of my body. I looked at him, irritated. “For what?”

  “For that very special gift.” The honesty in his eyes was beguiling. Only then did I realise what I had done. I’d had sex for the first time in my life, and with my boss. What would happen now? Would he lose interest in me?

  When someone suddenly hammered vigorously on the apartment door, I came back to reality with a groan. This was slowly becoming the norm. As soon as we got closer, we were interrupted. Though this time it wasn’t a real interruption. Nevertheless, I didn’t want to be disturbed. I would’ve preferred to exclude the whole world and would’ve stayed with Robert forever, here, in my tiny apartment. Just the two of us, for a very long time.

  “What ...?” Robert grouchily released himself from my mouth, however; then he looked at me again, affectionately, before trying to fathom out who was disturbing us right here in this wonderful moment. Hastily, he pulled on his trousers as he walked to the door.

  I stayed back, confused, with burning lips that demanded to be kissed again, and a body that was buzzing and yet pleasantly satisfied. Slowly, I awoke from the trance, dressed myself and followed him into the hallway.

  “Aha, I understand, but where did you get these insights from, Dark?” Robert was on the phone, walking up and down like a wildcat in captivity. His face seemed so serious that I immediately realised how fragile that little bit of pleasure between us was.

  And once again it was that guy, Dark! One might think he was a jealous lover. He always called at the right time and distracted Robert from me with important information. Nevertheless, I was grateful that he’d waited until I’d lost my head and given Robert Tensington everything, just as he’d requested. Was I in love, like I’d never been before? Just the thought of what we’d done caused another wild pulsation in my body.

  Robert Tensington

  The moment I heard the loud knocking on the door, I already suspected that something else had happened. Nevertheless, I could hardly control my frustration, and almost ripped the door off its hinges when I opened it. Liv and I were always being disturbed. I’d reached my goal this time. My whole body was tingling with energy, so much so, that it demanded that I claim this young woman again for myself. But I had to be patient. There’d be another time and many more after that. I wouldn’t release little Miss Morgan so quickly.

  Spencer looked me in the eye, silently, and handed over the phone without any further comment before hurrying back down the stairs to the car. The man knew me well, and secretly paid me a certain level of respect since Spencer had recognised the danger I, his boss, was posing and yet he remained loyal to me. I carefully closed the door and only then accepted the call.

  “Dark, I guess.” Sarcasm, which was not appropriate, dripped from every syllable as I spoke, but it was inevitable. I was too self-absorbed to be able to ponder why I was being stopped by Dark yet again.

  “Yes, sir, you’ve guessed correctly.”

  “What’s going on,” I asked, dangerously quiet. My voice was more like a growl.

  “I have a problem here. Sally’s been kidnapped.” Dark's words shook my brain and immediately put me in a state of emergency. Where was the ice-cold analyst who never lost his temper? Dark was becoming an ever-increasing mystery to me. I hoped that I hadn’t been wrong about the man. Something connected him with this manager. Only what? Actually, all employees had to disclose their relationships with each other, but I would eat my hat if there wasn't something like that behind it. Or did he perhaps love the woman? She was clearly a human being. That hadn’t gone undetected, even with my ailing sense of smell.

  “Aha, I understand, but where did you get this information from, Dark?” I’d noticed that Liv had come over to me and I didn't want to upset her unnecessarily, which is why I was speaking very vaguely.

  “One of her sons saw it. He was woken up by a noise and then looked out of the window. A darkly-dressed figure, dainty, not very tall, was holding a gun to Sally's head and pulling her into a car. The description would fit the woman who attacked me in the Centrodynamics building.”

  I stopped short. “And why did the boy call you of all people?” There was a moment of silence – Dark was obviously hesitating.

  “Dark?” I pressed him, impatiently.

  “She’s my sister, actually my half-sister,” the pain in his voice was almost palpable. “She isn’t one of us, she feeds me and I think we were observed earlier when I was drinking from her.”

  “What? Why didn't you tell me about this? Who saw it?” This couldn't be true! First, the announcement that Sally was my security chief's sister, and then this. Why did she work as a cleaner at all? Dark definitely had a very lucrative job. All the vampires who worked for me were royally paid and held all the important posts. Accordingly, there was no reason for a relative to work as a cleaner. Were the women in Seattle all keen on cleaning at Centrodynamics?

  “To be honest, I don't know. It was a woman, that's all my sister was able to recognise.”

  “And why didn't you get a look at her?” There had to be someone who’d be able to describe her.

  “She shot me from behind with a stun gun. It must’ve been the full load, otherwise the thing wouldn't have been able to harm me.”

  I let out a long “Okay,” and pulled my free hand over my face in shock. This was definitely news that curbed my desire for Liv – at least for now. No one was allowed to know that there were others besides the vampire we were holding in the company building. Mankind assumed that the entire species had been exterminated, and wondered why and how any of them could survive. But now there was a woman who was obviously one of the people who had broken into Centrodynamics here in Seattle today, and she was walking around kidnapping people. “Dark, we'll meet at my loft in an hour. Bring your nephews.” We had to get the boys out of the danger zone before they were used as leverage, too. I was absolutely sure that Sally was exactly that for her kidnappers – leverage.

  When I’d finished talking, I slowly turned to Liv, who’d been standing still next to me, waiting. Her scent rose into my nose and I would’ve loved to have pulled her into my arm
s again, locked her lips with mine and protected her from the cruelties of the world. But that wasn’t possible, I would have to tell her the damn truth, even at the risk of tearing her heart apart. I knew by now how attached she was to Dark's sister.

  “You seem so serious. Is what happened so bad?” she asked me, gently, and put her small hand on my forearm. I looked deep into her eyes but didn’t answer immediately, causing her to let me go. “You can leave if you wish, I understand.”

  A sarcastic snort escaped from my mouth before I started talking. “It’s not that simple. Liv, you don't seriously believe that I’ve changed my mind after those wonderful hours? You’re coming with me. There are complications.”

  “Complications?”

  Carefully, I wrapped my arms around her so that she had to put her head back into the nape of her neck to look me in the eyes. To my delight, she didn’t try to free herself by trying to push me away. She felt so damn good beneath my hands. I took a deep breath and let the bombshell drop. “Sally’s been kidnapped.”

  Horrified, she flinched. “What? But ...”

  “My best man is on the case.”

  “Dark!” Did she know he was in charge of security and that he was related to Sally?

  “Yes, he's good and he'll find her.” I drew Liv a little closer to me, graciously, and I noted that she was confidently putting her head to my chest. A slight tremor ran through her body. “Sally’s related to Dark. Did you know that?”

  “No, I didn't know.” She seemed genuinely surprised and I wondered why she didn't know anything about Dark, after all, the two women were friends. “Do you know who kidnapped her?” Olivia was tense, like the tendon of a bow shortly before it was shot, which I couldn’t blame her for in this situation.

  “We don't know that yet, but we'll find out, and then we'll get her back – alive!” I fervently hoped that I wasn’t promising too much now. For Liv, for Sally and for Dark, too.

  Anne Rumsfield

  It had been so easy, almost too easy. The older woman had come home in a poby and when she came to a stop in front of her door to open the lock with a fingerprint, I attacked. Mercilessly, the way I had it drilled into me during my training. Everything went exactly according to plan – a plan which I’d put together in a hurry. The many years of planning I’d done for this mission were now making an impact and were proving more useful to me than all the stuff I’d learned at school.

  The stun gun was set in such a way that it would simply weaken the woman, so that she wouldn’t suffer any permanent damage. She was just a chess piece that was being carefully moved around. It was important to avoid collateral damage. At least, that’s what I had to attempt. I’d already killed several people during my missions and learned to deal with the subsequent emptiness in my brain. These days, I no longer hesitated, like I did the first time. Nevertheless, it was certainly not an activity I enjoyed.

  Sally Michaels was a wiry person but even grown men had no chance against me. The short scream had died away, and as no one was about to rush to the woman's aid, I got her to my car, undiscovered.

  It had been easy to track her down; I’d done this kind of thing hundreds of times before. I just had to wait until she’d left the company building. A photo was quickly taken. Using the facial recognition software, I’d quickly found out her name and where she lived. Her name was Sally Michaels and she had two sons.

  There was no way that I wanted to hurt the children. That’s why I took the risk and intercepted the woman in front of the house, instead of choosing the safe option and waiting for her in her own apartment. The area was not quite as run-down as I’d first thought. The residents kept the pavements here clean, and there was no smell of faeces like in most other neighbourhoods. The houses were all in good condition, and not much of Seattle’s decay was to be seen. When I’d read that the woman was a cleaner at Centrodynamics, I’d automatically assumed that she was a destitute lady. Far from it! How could someone with such a meagre salary afford such a place? That only led me to one conclusion: she was being supported by the bloodsucker.

  Before doing this small thing, I’d gone through every possibility. As far as the guy I’d caught gnawing at the lady earlier was concerned, I wanted to catch him alive and at some point he would need food. And voila – Sally would be the link. I decided not to do anything to her, at least not for the time being. I knew the sense of smell of such an individual was strong and sooner or later he’d find this Mrs Michaels. And I already had the perfect place for the next encounter.

  There were some questions I couldn’t find an answer to despite the chances I had to investigate. What did they have in common? She’d been married and her husband had died two years ago – an accident at work. The good fellow had worked in the fire department and one of those rancid buildings in this even more rancid city had collapsed on him. So it couldn't be love, and in any case, the vampire was quite a few years younger than Sally. He could almost have been her son. Maybe it was sex? It was supposed to be hot and passionate with one of those creatures. You got almost all the answers on the net, but one more question remained unanswered. Why hadn't the woman been immunised with the serum? How had she been able to avoid it? And, if she’d succeeded, were there any more people who hadn’t been vaccinated?

  I was always thinking about solving these puzzles. I loved secrets, and the fact that it was about a vampire was yet another incentive. A challenge that I gladly accepted.

  Smiling, I turned into the street where the old industrial building was located. Tonight I would finally begin the game of my life. I’d been waiting so long for this that – I was surprised to notice – even my pulse was accelerating a little.

  Olivia Morgan

  Robert had indicated that I was in danger as well. He also needed someone to take care of Sally's boys while he and Dark went looking for my friend. How could I have said no?

  Never before in my life had I packed so quickly. I didn't own much anyway, but I also planned on coming back. Some clothes, some photos of my parents – what else should I pack? There was nothing that was so important that I couldn't do without it for a short time. So, I packed very lightly. I took a last, melancholic look into the bedroom; I’d even made my bed, everything looked neat – just as it should be. Resolutely, I took a deep breath and closed the door before I went to my visitor, who was really so much more than that.

  “Done,” I said, to Robert, and entered the living room with the small suitcase in my hand. It had never been particularly nice here, but in his presence the room had an even uglier feel to it. He seemed completely out of place, like he didn't belong here, as he was definitely in a completely different league. We didn't go together, I concluded, sadly. Sure, there was this tremendous attraction, but it couldn't last. Someday he would get tired of me and then dispose of me quicker than I could handle. I didn't want to risk him breaking my heart. I wouldn't let it come to that, even if my lips were still burning from our passionate encounter and were longing for it to happen again.

  Smiling, he stood up and came over to me. “Give me the suitcase, I’ll carry it.” The tenderness in his voice exposed my thoughts as lies. Or was that not the case? I was being torn back and forth, wanting to believe in a future with this charismatic man. But for how long would it work between us?

  Wait a minute! What was I even thinking here? So far, nothing had happened that would have indicated anything in that direction. Only sex, and a few promises that shouldn't necessarily be taken at face value, in view of the passion that was seething between us. And I, dummy, was worried about the future in the arms of one of the richest men in the world. Oh man, the effect of all the romantic movies I’d consumed was slowly rearing its head. My brain must have been disintegrating. The guy wanted sex, he’d never talked about the future; only my idiotic, little-girl heart was reading more into it. I didn't regret having slept with him. No, never. However, I also didn’t want to get lost in a dream that would never come true.

  I resolutely p
ushed the scenarios in my brain aside and handed him the luggage. Although I closed myself to him and put on a poker face, he didn't fall for the mask.

  His eyes looked sceptically into mine. “Remember exactly where we were when we stopped,” he said. This sentence, the memory, the hope for more – a slight tremor ran through my body. The subsequent chaste kiss he gave me was more of a promise than any word he could have said. Then I stood there alone; he had turned away and had marched off towards the front door.

  Out of breath, I ran after him, turned off the lights and locked the door behind me. I was curious as to what his loft would look like, and grateful that at least Sally's boys would be there. Thus, for the time being, I was also spared the decision of how far I wanted to open my heart to Robert.

  * * *

  The tension between us was tangible, and during the whole drive my heart was beating in a wild staccato rhythm. Robert was a businessman again and had completely discarded his soft side and was hammering on the holographic keyboard of his computer. The technology he used was the best on the market. He controlled the different pages with his eyes, and in the meantime, he phoned Dark, whom he had on a permanent line. So far, there was no news from Sally. The fear for my friend was crippling me, and when the car finally stopped in front of the skyscraper with Robert's loft on the top floor, I got out with my knees wobbling. I eagerly sucked the air into my lungs, happy to have finally escaped the confinement of the car.

  “Come on, Liv. Dark’s already upstairs and the boys will be happy to see you. I want you to be safe as soon as possible. Out here I can't guarantee that.” He gently pushed me into the house entrance and we passed an infinite number of security gates. Why was he worried about me?