by Folsom, Tina
“Watch out, Ursula, one day you’ll pay for this.”
“Not tonight, vampire.”
Because tonight, a customer was waiting for her. And he wanted his merchandise unblemished. After all, he was paying a high price for it.
Ursula had overheard the guards talking about the amounts of money that changed hands, and she’d been shocked. At the same time, it had made her aware of just how valuable each of the women they held was. And that they couldn’t afford to lose one. It gave her some leverage.
Ursula turned and walked ahead of him, refraining from touching her cheek to soothe the pain. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of letting him know that her flesh still stung from his violent slap. She had too much pride for that. Yes, even after three years, she hadn’t let go of it yet. It was what kept her going, what fueled her defiance.
“The blue room,” Dirk ordered behind her.
She turned the corner and headed for the room at the very end, passing a small window that would have provided light during the day, had it not been painted black from the inside. As she entered the familiar room, she allowed her eyes to roam. It was a corner room. There were two windows, one overlooking the main road, the other the side alley that culminated in a dead end. Both windows were small and hung with heavy velvet curtains.
In contrast to the sparse bedroom that Ursula lived in, this room was furnished rather lavishly. Two large sofas upholstered with the same velvet as the drapes dominated the room. A small washstand was tucked away in one corner, a supply of towels and soaps stacked next to it. A shelving unit occupied one interior wall, providing visual as well as audio entertainment should the customers wish this distraction. Many didn’t.
When she heard the door shut behind her and the key turn in the lock, she reluctantly looked at the man who sat on one of the sofas.
“Sir,” Dirk said behind her. “May I present your dinner and entertainment for tonight.”
Then he gave her a shove into the other vampire’s direction and hissed behind her, “Play nice, Ursula. You know I’m watching.”
As if she could ever forget that.
The stranger patted the place next to him with his palm.
“Since this is your first time, I’d like to reiterate the rules,” Dirk interrupted.
The customer raised an eyebrow, but said nothing and simply continued to run his eyes over her body. His fangs peeked from between his lips, and she knew they had extended fully. He was trying to act civil, when underneath that calm exterior, she could sense his impatience, his hunger for a special treat only few were privy to.
“You may choose where to drink from her. But you may not have sex with her.”
“But—”
His protest was instantly cut off. “I said no sex. You’re here for a taste of her blood, not her pussy.” After giving him a stern look, Dirk continued, “You will stop when I tell you to. No exception. Her blood is potent. If you take too much, there’s no telling what will happen.”
The vampire narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”
Dirk took a step closer. “I mean that you’ll become delirious if you take too much. Like an overdose. Understood?”
He nodded in response.
“Go ahead,” Dirk ordered, tossing her a sideways glance.
Ursula steeled herself for what was to come as she took the few steps to the couch and stopped in front of the man. Leeches, she called them. Because that was what they came here for. To feed off the girls imprisoned in this godforsaken place.
Raising his eyelids, the strange vampire looked straight at her. There was a coldness in his look that chilled her. But she suppressed the shiver that ran down her spine. The goose bumps on her skin, however, she couldn’t prevent. A lascivious smile curved his lips when he noticed them.
“I take the neck,” he said.
Figured! Most of them did. They loved digging their dirty fangs into her neck while they pulled her against their vile bodies, pressing their hardening dicks against her like rutting animals. Few drank from her wrist, and those who did, eventually moved on to other areas of her body, losing control over their actions as her blood drugged them.
It was the reason why a guard was in the room at all times, forcing the leech to dislodge his fangs should it become evident that things were getting out of control. The guards were there for the girls’ safety, but in Dirk’s case, Ursula knew he took particular pleasure in the act of watching her.
A firm tug on her hand made her lose her balance and land on the sofa. Before she could straighten, the leech was already on her, his strong body holding her down as the sofa cushioned her back.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed that Dirk had taken a seat on the sofa opposite, his legs spread wide, one hand already resting on his crotch. The other unhooked the walkie-talkie from his belt and set it next to him on the couch. It appeared that he would already start fondling his dick during the show he’d come to watch, only to finish himself off afterwards.
Disgusted, she closed her eyes and clamped her jaw shut. She would get through this, just like all the other nights. She simply had to block everything around her out. Think of a better place, a safer place.
A rough hand brushed her long black hair away from her neck, then jerked her head to the side. The leech’s hot breath invaded her senses as his head came closer and his mouth connected with her vulnerable skin. Instinctively, she shuddered. A grunt came over the vampire’s lips just before he pierced her skin, sinking his fangs into her.
The pain was only momentary. The humiliation lasted longer. It was only the start. As he fed off her, greedily drinking her blood, gulping it down like a man who’d just run a marathon, she felt the ripples go through her body again. Slowly, they traveled from her neck down to her torso, crawling toward her breasts. Her nipples were already chafing against her T-shirt, and the zipper of the vampire’s leather jacket pressed painfully against her sensitive flesh. When the tingling sensation reached her breasts, it combined with the pain and sent a hot flame shooting through her body.
She cried out, unable to keep her jaw clamped together any longer. A groan from the leech was the answer, before she felt his hand wander over her upper body, fondling, grabbing, squeezing. She knew Dirk wouldn’t stop him as long as he didn’t try to stick his dick inside her, because he enjoyed watching her discomfort, almost as if he could see the shame that flooded her.
Shame, because the vampire’s actions aroused her.
She knew it wasn’t natural, simply a byproduct of the feeding, and there was nothing she could do about it; nevertheless, she was ashamed at the way her body reacted. The way her pelvis tilted toward him, how her sex rubbed itself against his hardening dick, how her nipples sought the teeth of his jacket’s zipper to find relief. Relief her captors had been denying her for three years.
With every pull on her vein, more sensations flooded her body, igniting a need in her that grew to monumental proportions. It was like this every time. It made her writhe underneath every leech she’d ever had, rub herself up against the strangers who violated her body in this way, who took from her what she was unwilling to give.
But as much as she struggled, just as she did now, her fists beating against him at the same time as the rest of her body pushed against him with an altogether different motive, she knew she wouldn’t win tonight’s battle. The vampires were always stronger, their bodies hard and heavy, their hold on her unbreakable, and their fangs lodged so deeply in her neck that she dared not turn her head for fear of having her throat ripped out.
Even as tears welled up in her eyes, she panted like a bitch in heat, her moans mixing with those of the vampire feeding off her.
Dear God, let it be over, she prayed.
But just like every night, nobody was coming to her rescue. Just as nobody was helping the other girls who shared her lot. Even now, she could hear similar noises coming from the room next door, only louder and as it appeared, more violent. She felt a kindr
ed spirit to the other women, knew what they were going through, and her heart wept for them, because it was unable to weep for herself. No, she couldn’t allow self-pity, or she would lose her resolve and her strength.
The leech’s hands started to become less focused, veering off their aim, the way a drunk’s movements eventually became uncoordinated. Soon, he’d let go of her. Soon, her ordeal would be over.
A crackling from the walkie-talkie suddenly broke through Ursula’s consciousness. Then a voice came through.
“Red room, I need help. Now! The client is going apeshit on the girl! Reinforcements now!”
Dirk jumped from his couch, cursing. “Shit! On my way.”
He ran toward the door and unlocked it, when a scream came from the other end of the hallway where the red room was located.
“Fuck!”
Then the door was slammed shut and Dirk was gone.
Ursula waited a couple of seconds, listening intently, but there was no other sound at the door; he hadn’t locked the room on his way out.
Was this her chance?
3
Ursula tried to shift ever so carefully underneath the large vampire, testing at the same time, how responsive his movements were. She took one of his arms and lifted it, noticing how willingly he let himself be guided by her.
“Oh, yeah,” she moaned, “more, take more.”
He needed to drink more of her blood so she could overwhelm him. She’d seen the effects of her blood on several other leeches. When the guard hadn’t intervened in time, or more often when the leech was new and unaccustomed to her blood, he’d passed out like a drunk. She hoped to make this particular leech succumb in the same way.
But it had to happen fast. Dirk wouldn’t stay away forever, and whatever was going on in the red room would eventually be resolved. Then he’d return, and her chance of escape would vanish in a flash.
In an effort to urge the vampire on to take more of her blood, she pressed her pelvis against him and clamped her hand over his ass, squeezing hard. She knew enough about vampires by now to know that their sexual drive was intimately connected to their drive to feed. The more she turned him on, the harder he would suck on her vein, the more blood he’d take. And the more she could drug him.
Why her blood and that of the other girls did that to them, she didn’t know. And at this moment, she didn’t care. All she cared about right now was how fast she could drug him.
“That’s good, more!” she encouraged him and heard him groan in response.
His hand came up as if he wanted to stroke her face, but it fell limply onto the sofa cushion instead.
Another scream from down the hall sent a shock through her body. Then she heard footsteps in the corridor. No!
Please let it not be Dirk!
She held her breath, but to her relief the footsteps went past the room and grew fainter again. It was now or never. Once another guard was helping in the red room, Dirk wouldn’t be needed any longer and would return.
Suddenly, she felt the vampire go slack. As carefully as she could, she took hold of his head and eased it away from her, careful not to be injured by his fangs. But she wouldn’t have had to worry: his fangs had already retracted. However, he’d passed out before he could lick her wound, which continued to bleed. Had he licked it, his saliva would have sealed it, stopping the bleeding.
Using all her remaining strength—and it wasn’t much since she could already feel the effects of the blood loss—she rolled him to the side so she could slide out from underneath him. Breathing hard, she sat up, but she had no time to catch her breath. Dirk would be here any second.
Getting up, her knees nearly buckled, but with sheer willpower, she soldiered on, one hand pressed against the bleeding incisions of the vampire’s fangs, the other stretched out in front of her to lend her more balance. Knowing that there was no escape through the two windows, because she would break her neck jumping from the fourth floor, she stumbled to the door and yanked it open.
The hallway was empty. Closing the door behind her, she ran back the way she’d walked earlier. There was only one way out from this floor, because she would never make it through the lower floors, which seemed to contain the reception area as well as living quarters for the vampires who ran this operation.
There was a fire escape. She’d noticed it one night when one of the vampires had opened the blackened window at the end of the corridor where it made a bend to the right. It was her only chance.
She ran for it, stumbling several times until she reached it. Frantically, she tried to push the lower portion of the old sash window up, but it didn’t move. Panic surged through her. Had they nailed it shut? She jerked on it again, this time more violently. Her breath deserted her and she dropped her head.
Why? Why? she cursed inwardly and slammed her small fist against the frame.
Then her eyes fell on the metal mechanism on top of the frame. The window was latched. It was one of those old latches from decades ago that simply held the window shut with a small lever one pushed from one side to the other; no key was needed.
Throwing a look over her shoulder, she quickly unlatched the window, then pushed it up. Cool night air drifted into the sticky corridor, making her shiver instantly. Her gaze fell onto the metal platform that was built outside the small window. The fire escape hung from it.
With haste, she squeezed through the open window and set her feet onto the platform, testing whether it would hold her. It bent under her weight, making her glance at the bolts that secured it to the building. It was too dark to see much, but she would bet that the metal was rusty.
Grabbing the handrail, she took her first hesitant step, then another one. Then she set a foot on the metal ladder, descending one story, then another. At the second floor, she stopped. The ladder came to an end. Panicked she surveyed the platform, then discovered a stack of metal that appeared as if it was a ladder that had been gathered up. She kicked her foot against it, but it didn’t move. Shouldn’t it go all the way down to the ground?
Gingerly, she stepped on it, putting more weight onto what appeared to be the bottom step. Her hand grabbed the rail next to her, and underneath her fingers she felt a hook. She pulled on it.
All hell broke loose. The ladder released instantly, coming down with a loud thump, taking her with it as her feet continued resting on the last step. The freefall made adrenaline race through her veins, but seconds later she came to a dead stop, jerking her body forward. A metal rod snapped, slicing into her upper arm. Pain radiated through her, and she slammed her hand over the wound, trying to soothe the pain away.
But there was no time to lose now. The vampires would have heard the noise and would investigate.
Blindly, she ran out of the alley and into the next street. She didn’t know where she was. When she and the other girls had been brought to this place it had been night, and they had been herded from a dark windowless truck into the building without getting a chance at seeing their surroundings. She didn’t even know what city she was in.
Passing by a sign for an import/export company, she dashed into the next street, running as fast as she could. The streets were deserted, as if the area wasn’t frequented by humans. Somewhere in the distance she heard cars, but still she saw nobody.
As she ran, she tried to take in her surroundings and make mental notes of street signs and buildings she passed.
Her lungs burned from exhaustion, her arm hurt from its encounter with the metal rod, and she could still feel blood trickling down her neck. If she couldn’t close those wounds soon, she’d bleed out. She had to find help. At the same time she had to get away as far as possible from her captors, because they were like bloodhounds. They would smell her blood and be able to track her down.
Turning into the next street, she didn’t slow her furious sprint. She was running on empty, and she knew it. But she wouldn’t give up. She’d come this far, and freedom was just around the next corner. She couldn’t let it slip th
rough her fingers. Not when she was so close.
Before her eyes, everything became blurred, and she realized instantly that the blood loss was robbing her of her remaining strength. She stumbled, then caught herself. Her hands got hold of something soft. Thick fabric. Her fingers clawed at it, then hands pulled her up.
“What the fuck?” a male voice cursed.
“Help me,” she begged. “They’re after me. They’re hunting me.”
“Leave me alone,” the stranger ordered and held her away at arm’s length.
She lifted her head and looked at him for the first time. He was young, barely older than herself. Attractive too, if she could even make that kind of judgment in her foggy state of mind. His hair was dark and somewhat ruffled, his eyes piercing, his lips full and red.
Despite his words, he hadn’t let go of her arms, supporting her weight which would have made her knees buckle otherwise.
Looking straight into his stunning blue eyes, she pleaded again, “Help me, please, I’ll give you anything you want. Just get me out of here. To the next police station. Please!”
She needed help. Not just for herself, but also for the other girls. They had promised each other that whoever managed to escape would send help for the others.
His eyes narrowed a fraction as his forehead creased. His nostrils flared. “What’s going on?”
“They’re hunting me. You have to help me.”
Suddenly his hands clamped tighter around her upper arms, and the pain in her wound intensified.
“Who’s hunting you?” he hissed.
She couldn’t tell him the truth, because the truth was too fantastic. He wouldn’t believe her, he’d think she was some crazy junkie if she told him about the vampires. Still, she needed his assistance. “Please help me! I’ll do anything.”
He looked at her intensely, his eyes boring into her, almost as if he was trying to determine whether she was drunk or crazy, or both.
“Please. Do you have a car?”
She noticed his eyes briefly wander to a dark minivan parked at the side of the road. “Why?”