Rick’s heightened sense of hearing picked up the gentle sobbing of a woman. Jerking his head from Lilith’s grasp he desperately searched the darkness for the source of the sound expecting to find Evangeline battered and beaten in the clutches of these monsters. Instead, he found Kate, his old friend—soiled and tattered, leaning against Thomas who, it was obvious to Rick, was in much worse condition. The vampire’s lifeless heart was breaking when he thought of the pain these two must have endured—and all because of him. No more…he told himself, I’ll do whatever it takes to prevent anyone else from suffering on my account but, first—where is Eva? The vampire struggled to rise to a kneeling position, searching every inch of the room for the one person who would make all of his suffering worthwhile—but he didn’t see her—anywhere.
A husky laugh, the evil it contained sending a chill down Rick’s spine, reached his ears. “Oh—I’m so sorry, my pet, but the she-wolf—your little lady-love—isn’t here right now—not that I didn’t try.” Lilith said, glaring at Roman. “And since my dogs failed to actually capture the Wolf Mother I had to get you here somehow. You see I wasn’t sure if your old friends over there…” she said indicating Thomas and Kate, “…would be enough bait, so I’m afraid I had my associates tell you a little white lie. I thought if you assumed that we had your lady you would come to us of your own free will but you would’ve come anyway, right—for them? You’re like that, vampire, aren’t you? The selfless priest still lives within you and he would sacrifice himself for any one of his friends—even if they’re too stupid to realize it.”
Thomas, arms wrapped gently around Kate in an attempt to console her, tried desperately to get Rick’s attention. He kept repeating one word over and over again, “Why?” until Rick turned his head slightly in the couple’s direction. Thomas mouthed the word again, “Why?”
“The demon’s right, Thomas—I had to come. I couldn’t allow any of you to suffer…” but his words ended abruptly as Lilith grabbed a handful of Rick’s hair, jerking his head backwards. With an open fist she slapped him across the face, “Enough of this blabbering! You need to learn your place, priest. You’ll look when I allow it—and you’ll speak when I allow it!”
Rick’s eyes blazed with fury as he stared at Lilith then, much to her surprise, he began to smile, “Demon—do what you want with me, it doesn’t matter anymore. I’m already broken—I can fall no further,” he whispered through gritted teeth.
“No? Well we’ll just see about that.” Lilith said as she released Rick’s head with a thrust of her hand. She walked across the room, her three inch stilettos clicking against the granite floor. Reaching the reception desk she yanked open the top left drawer with such force that the handle broke off, falling to the ground. The golem, in an attempt to escape Lilith’s wrath, rolled her chair to the opposite end of the desk.
Lilith ripped out the drawer, carrying it over to where Rick was still kneeling on the cold, hard granite. Dropping it to the floor, Lilith bent down and began rummaging through the drawer’s contents. Finally she found what she was looking for. Extracting a demonic device consisting of a leather strap with a fork-like metal piece attached to each end, she leaned towards Rick, feral eyes flashing.
“Do you know what this is, priest?”
Rick’s eyes remain focused on the floor refusing to acknowledge the demon’s presence. “Hmm, ignoring me won’t help you. Still no answer—well then, let’s see if your friends know any more than you do?” Lilith muttered in disgust, turning her attention to Thomas and Kate. She stood up, letting the device dangle from her fingers as she said, “I’m sure you two will appreciate the irony involved here. This is what’s known as a Heretic’s Key, a lovely device your…” she said turning back to Rick, “… precious church developed during the time of the Inquisition. It proved most useful—then and now. Roman —grab him!” she ordered.
“Leave him alone you bitch!” Kate screamed but her words fell upon deaf ears. She lunged forward but Thomas grabbed her before she could do anything. Pulling her body back against him he whispered, “Shh, Kate, not now—not like this. It’s not the right time to make a move. Hold on, baby—just hold on. When the time is right we’ll do what we can for him—I promise.”
Lilith once again reached inside the contents of the broken drawer. This time she withdrew a long piece of leather and tossed it to the hound, “Take those chains off of him and bind his hands behind him.”
Roman removed the chains with a ‘snap’ from the vampire’s hands and feet and yanked Rick upwards to a standing position. He pulled Rick’s arms behind his back making it impossible for the vampire to move when the leather strap was tied tightly in place. Rick remained compliant, accepting his fate as Lilith moved to stand in front of him. “You brought this upon yourself,” she told him as she stroked his handsome face for one brief moment. Then, placing the prongs of one fork upright against Rick’s chest, the demon applied pressure to the device causing the sharp points of the weapon to tear through the vampire’s shirt and puncture the alabaster flesh. Rick grimaced in pain as a small pool of blood gathered around the metal prongs, staining the leather fabric.
Lilith then took the other end of the weapon and lodged that fork under Rick’s chin, repeating the same process. Tilting the vampire’s head back, she wrapped the leather strip dangling from the fork around his neck, cinching it tightly.
“Nooo!” Kate screamed in horror as she stared at her friend, his neck inhumanely extended upwards and blood dripping from his chin. Rick struggled to remain calm, fighting to hold his head up so as not to drive the prongs of the fork any further into his skin.
With all eyes focused on the vampire, no-one was aware that Robert, once again in human form, had re-entered the room. The demon hound let out a maniacal laugh when he saw what had transpired.
“What a marvelous contraption.” he said, enjoying every second of the vampire’s pain and discomfort, “Wherever did you get it?” Not waiting for a response, his yellow eyes traveled from Rick back to Kate and Thomas who were still huddled together in the corner. For a brief moment fear flashed in Thomas’ eyes as the hound approached, but he disguised it quickly, not wanting to show any sign of weakness to their captors. “I saw that, human, that tiny flicker of fear. It’s one of the greatest flaws of your kind. Mistress…” Robert said as he turned back to Lilith, “…since my brother, Roman, has delivered your prize these two are no longer necessary. My wolves…” he said, indicating a handful of the beasts that had followed him back into the reception area, “… are hungry and our captives would make a satisfying meal.”
“Not so fast, dog. They belong to Lu. He and he alone will decide when they are no longer useful. Besides, we still have to get the rest of that blasted Winwood crowd here. We might need them as bait again.”
Robert glared at Thomas for a moment before stomping over to his chair and the unfinished cigar waiting there. The famished werewolves milled around a little while longer, eyeing Thomas hungrily since he was injured and weak. One or two of the starving beasts got a little too close to their prey earning them a reprimand from their sire. Robert growled, telling the beasts to back off, so they sauntered back down the steps and over to the pit to honker down and wait for another opportunity.
Lilith continued to circle Rick’s struggling form, “Not so handsome now, are we my pet?” Lilith purred, “I wish this wasn’t necessary but you must learn who’s in charge here. Now—allow me to explain something to you. The fork at your chest I’ve positioned directly above your heart. One wrong move and it will plunge deeper and deeper until— poof—you turn into ash. The other is strictly for torture—it provides maximum pain and discomfort. How long do you think you can hold your head back before you’re so tired that it just falls right onto the prong of my little toy? Oh, this is just too delicious. But—I’m not that heartless. No really…” she said when she caught Kate’s hate filled glare, “
…when he learns to obey I’ll remove the devise but not a moment sooner. Put him with the others!” she ordered.
Roman pulled Rick to the left, dragging him over to where Thomas and Kate were huddled together. He shoved the vampire roughly, causing Rick to slam into Kate. The jostling pushed all of the prongs a little deeper into his flesh.
“Ssss,” Rick hissed in pain but refused to cry out.
“Oh my god, Rick—Thomas…” Kate cried as she reached for the vampire, “…can you stand?”
“I don’t—know…” Thomas told her as he struggled to get up, “…but I’ll sure as hell try”.
“Please Thomas—we have to help him.”
Using the wall behind him for support, Thomas was finally able to stand. His ribs were killing him but one look at the priest and Thomas forgot about his own pain. “I’m here, Kate—give him to me.”
Kate carefully guided the struggling man over towards Thomas where he used one hand to lift the vampire’s chin slightly, easing the pressure under Rick’s neck while his other hand supported the back of the vampire’s head.
“I gotcha ya, buddy. I gotcha.”
Kate gently pushed the sweat drenched hair away from Rick’s face while dabbing at the blood under his chin with the sleeve of her dress. His expression was wracked with pain as the strain of trying to keep the prongs from embedding deeper into his flesh was too much to bear—even for him. It had been too long since he’d last fed and he was growing weaker by the minute.
Seeing the pain in his eyes, Kate’s whipped around to scream at Lilith, “You filthy bitch—can’t you take this damn thing off of him? What did he ever do to you to deserve such torture?”
Lilith just smiled, enjoying the pain and suffering of all three of her captives just a little too much. “It’s not what he’s done, it’s what he stands for—or stood for, that is. He was a priest, a servant of the Light, condemning all of my kind to the darkness. Well, my handsome pet, who has the upper hand now? Where is the Light when you need His help the most? Oh, right, He’s turned His back on you since you’re no longer human. Fickle, very fickle. A master like that certainly isn’t worth my time.”
“Don’t listen to her, Rick, just focus on me and Thomas.”
“Dude, don’t move.” Thomas pleaded with Rick as the vampire tried to shift his body to a less painful position. “Just try to relax—that’s it. Jezus, you’re one tough man.”
“I’m—nnot- a—man…” Rick said through gritted teeth, “…and she’s right, I’m—a—mmonster and I’m—damned for—all—eternity. As long as I’m alive my friends will suffer. That’s, ahh…”he cried out as a stabbing pain shot through his head, “… why I came here. I won’t let anyone else give their life for me so, please—just let me go, Thomas. The sooner the demon’s weapon destroys me—the better for all concerned.”
“Sorry, pal but we disagree with you. We’re sticking to you like glue until we can figure a way outta this mess so you may as well save your strength and stop talking—right, Kate?”
“Yes, we’ll do all we can to help you, Rick,” she whispered. “Anyone that knows you would. We just need to come up with a plan.”
Rick once again struggled to speak but the blood was now flowing freely from his wounds making him weaker still. As he forced the words out through clenched teeth spittle, tinged pink, dripped from his lips. “Don’t—be—fools, you two. You—have no—idea—what you’re dealing with. You don’t stand a chance. They—will—kill—you.”
“Man, they’re going to kill us anyway, or make a damn good try of it. Mr. Stinky over there…” Thomas said, nodding towards Robert, “…made that perfectly clear. So, the way I see it, we have nothing to lose by helping you and I’d rather go down fighting then sit here and wait placidly for the end to arrive.”
“Shhh, both of you—we need to stop talking. We don’t want to draw anymore unwanted attention from the goon squad. The longer they ignore us the better our chances of coming up with a workable plan.”
Thomas nodded in agreement while Rick, his face smeared with blood, closed his eyes. He focused all his thoughts on Evangeline in a vain attempt to block out the pain. She was the one he’d really come to save although he would never have left Thomas and Kate to suffer at the hands of these fiends. His heart was filled with regret when he realized Eva would never know what he’d done or how he really felt about her. Everything had happened so quickly since the first day they’d met and he never even realized he was falling in love with her.
He never thought he’d ever feel this way about a woman. His priestly vows forbid him to act on his feelings for Adrianna and that was hard enough. But his desire for Addie was nothing compared to the intense feelings he had for Eva. And now that he was no longer a priest, he still wouldn’t get the chance to act on them—to let this woman know how much she meant to him—how much he needed her—longed for her—wanted her. His life was going to end in this dungeon of death. Oh Lord, have I not suffered enough? When will you allow it all to end and finally give me some peace? his tortured mind wondered as a single tear of blood fell from his lashes onto his cheek. Then another thought occurred to him. What good did the power of the vampire ever do for me—or anyone else? If I had to become a monster there had to be a reason for it, he thought bitterly but then Thomas’ words forced their way into his troubled mind. “I’d rather go down fighting then sit here and wait for the end to arrive.”
A strange resolve suddenly took hold of Rick. The cold certainty of it flowed through his veins like ice water. Thomas was right. If I have to go down, I’m going to go down fighting. If I can get Thomas and Kate out of here alive then all of my suffering will have been worth it.
The vampire opened his eyes, struggling to see exactly where his enemies were situated—and what they were doing. He couldn’t see any of the newborn werewolves but he could hear them rustling and growling down in the cavern. The two hellhounds paced restlessly as they watched the news from around the world on the wall of televisions. Lilith was sitting in a chair flipping through a Rolling Stone magazine, dampening her finger with a serpentine tongue as she turned each page. Finally, in frustration, she tossed the magazine aside and leaped out of the chair.
“Shit! Where is he?” she shouted to no-one in particular as she kicked the magazine across the room. The hounds turned, watching as Lilith marched towards the reception desk and the receptionist who was still answering phones. She placed both hands on the top of the polished wood, leaning in towards the golem cowering there.
“Where-is-your-boss you worthless creature? The sooner Lu gets here the sooner I can take my prize and go home!”
“I, I ddon’t know. Do you want me to call him?” asked the golem.
“No!” Lilith slammed her well manicured fist, knuckles down, against the desktop causing it to crack under the force of the blow. The golem jumped from her chair and retreated to the wall of televisions. “Damn it, I can’t take it another minute. I’m trapped in this hell hole with nothing but worthless humans, smelly dogs and an animated answering machine. I need to get out of here!” Lilith ranted. She took a deep breath, fighting to regain her composer. She stood tall, rubbing the palms of her hands down the sides of her designer dress. “There—that’s a little better,” she said then turned to the hounds, “Robert, Roman—come here.” At their approach, Lilith strolled over to a group of chairs and retrieved her Gucci handbag, shoving it tightly under her arm. “We’re going for a little stroll. I need to talk to Lu and if the bastard won’t come to us then we—will go to him.”
“But mistress…”Robert said, looking confused and a little distressed, “…what about the vampire—the humans—who will watch them?”
“Watch them—what do you expect them to do? The vampire’s bound and the other two—well, they’re human, need I say more? Okay, okay…” she said when the hound continued to stare blan
kly at her, “…just to ease your mind we’ll put your pups to work. The newborns can keep an eye on our friends until we return. Will that satisfy you Robert?”
“Yes mistress.”
“Good, toss the prisoners down into the cavern so the Minotaur can keep a close watch on your wolves. If one of them so much as sniffs at my prize I want it reduced to a pile of blood and guts—got it?”
“Yes mistress.” Robert turned to Rick and the others. “Move!” he ordered, a sinister smile appearing on his face as he grabbed Rick and shoved him towards the stairs causing the prongs to stab his tender flesh once again.
“Stop it, you bastard—we’ll take him.” Kate shouted as rushed to help Rick. Thomas followed slowly behind her, his own injuries slowing him down. Robert, furious at Kate’s intervention, took a step towards her only to be stopped by Lilith’s angry voice.
“Robert—you can play with them later. Just get them situated so we can leave.”
“Down the steps!” the hound ordered, shoving the slow moving Thomas after Kate and Rick. Once they were inside the enormous cavern, Robert guided the group towards an area near the pit. It was damp and dark, the only illumination coming from a torch protruding from the stone wall but it was close enough to the Minotaur so there was no chance of the werewolves tearing the captives apart after they’d gone. “Watch them…” Robert said to the mangy wolves, “… and nothing more. The first one that touches them will answer to me.” As the newborns cowered in fear, the hound turned and ran back up the stairs where Lilith and Roman waited impatiently.
“Can we go now?”Lilith whined as she yanked open the steel entry door nearly ripping it off its hinges in the process. She exited the room with the dramatic flair only she could accomplish with the hellhounds close on her heels. Once they’d gone, the werewolves grew braver. They’d been beaten and starved for far too long so that even Robert’s threats weren’t enough to keep them at bay when the hound wasn’t around. A few of them broke from the pack and, attracted by the scent of fresh blood, began inching their way towards the trio.
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