I bent my head back to the drawing. I added Maria on the sofa. She was sprawled, a wound in her neck, a few drops of what was clearly blood visible on her blouse.
The girls were all slumped together, their bodies at unnatural angles, but they didn't lay haphazardly. Instead, they had been carefully arranged in their death, a hand caressing this face, lips pressed against another's neck.
I filled in the details, drawing carefully with the charcoal.
I added shadows in the background, leering faces, smiling evilly, sharp teeth protruding, blood dripping from the occasional fang.
Then, nearly done, I added a thin, thin layer of charcoal over the entire drawing, softening everything behind a layer of mist.
I looked up, and the room was quiet. Maria and the girls were gone, and I vaguely remembered them leaving. Lady Dunn was watching me. I met her gaze.
"It is done," I said. I looked down at the drawing then back at her. "It is horrible."
"May I see?"
I leaned forward, holding out the drawing pad. She took it from me carefully, then turned it to face her. I watched her expression. I thought she would fly into a rage, and so I was surprised when a tear of blood escaped from each eye, slid down each pale cheek, and then fell onto the drawing, two splatters of her blood.
"Oh no!" she said. "I'm sorry."
"No," I said. "You finished it. Let them dry."
She looked up at me.
"I do not know if it is wise for anyone to see this, but it is your choice. They do not fear you, but that could change if they see this."
"Maybe they should fear me," she said. "I will think on it."
I stood for a moment, stretching, and I heard my back pop. "How long?"
"You have been drawing for six hours. It is very late."
"And you sat here the entire time?"
She nodded. "For a vampire, this is not difficult. Time passes differently for us at times."
I moved towards her and knelt, allowing the blanket to fall from my body, and then placed my chain it in her hand. I bowed my head and said, "I am your blood slave, your property. I live for your pleasure."
She tugged once with the chain, very lightly, not enough to direct me, just enough to pull on my lip. Then she reached out and caressed my head.
"You are weary. Collect your sketches and I will bring you to your room."
"You have not tasted me today. I do not require the pleasure."
"Collect your sketches and tools and return them to your room, then return to me here."
"Yes, m'lady."
I pulled away, and she released the chain after a moment's hesitation. I gathered everything, putting the pencils and charcoal away carefully, then carried everything to my room. By the time I returned to her, my drawing was elsewhere, and I did not ask where. I knelt before her.
"Your blood slave has returned, m'lady." I placed my leash back in her hand.
"You do not kiss my feet. Why not?"
"Because I would not presume."
"It is not presuming, but it is not required unless freely offered."
I nodded, and a moment later I bent down and kissed slowly. I don't know why I offered this when it was not required. But I knew she enjoyed it, my act of utter submission. It felt right.
I was, after all, only a blood slave, and it was long past time I acted like one.
She allowed me to kiss her feet for a while before tugging with the chain, drawing me into her lap, forcing me to move slowly, then rolling me onto my back. She arranged me carefully, exquisitely slowly.
"I am your blood slave, m'lady," I told her again.
She lowered her head, and there was no pleasure as she sank her fangs into my neck, and it hurt.
She drank only for a few moments, not as much as she wanted, and not as much as I wanted, and it hurt the entire time, but I clutched at her anyway, listening to her drink from me. But then she began to bath me with her tongue, and I cried out with the pleasure, the evil, dark, disgusting pleasure. She licked me carefully, the wounds closing, and when she was done, I lay across her panting and flushed.
And then she picked me up and slowly carried me upstairs as I clung to her, whispering, "thank you, m'lady, thank you."
* * * *
We reached a new normal. I woke. I ate. I exercised. And I drew.
I finished the self-portrait. I was gaunt, almost hollow, and my eyes glinted. The chain was attached to my lip, and in the reflection of my eyes were fangs, and a fist wrapped in the chain. The lady came to take me to play racquetball, and I gave it to her then.
I played well, earning twelve points. She made me work, and I was exhausted when I was done, but I earned those points; she didn't give them to me.
After dinner, she said she had work to do in her office. I asked permission to stay with her and draw, and she readily granted it. I began working on a series of stark drawings from the night of my subjugation. I didn't complete them, but I did my studies, and it took me four days to produce a series of five pieces.
I present them to her, and she looked at all of them for a very long time.
"What are they called?"
"They are yours to name," I said.
She looked at me sadly. "I cannot."
"Of course you can, they are yours."
"No, you do not understand. It is not that it would be inappropriate. It is that I literally cannot. I look at them, and I try to think what they should be called, and my mind empties of thought. This is one of God's curses on the vampires."
"Will you treat them like a set and not split them?"
She nodded.
"Then call the set Subjugation, and number them one through five. Can you see the order?"
She nodded again, then set them aside.
"There is something we must discuss."
I moved to her and knelt. "I am your blood slave, your property." But she put fingers on my lips.
"We are going out tomorrow evening. We leave shortly before nine and will be out very late. I will partly drain you after dinner then dress you. I will not drain you deeply, but you must appear dull and witless. You have the exhausted appearance already, which displeases me. You must take better care. Are you drawing too much?"
"I always draw too much," I said. "I have not been running in the sun."
"Oh. I'm sorry. Of course. I do not have a solution."
"Sun lamps on the running track, but I don't know how you can obtain and install them without your enemies knowing, and they might be dangerous to you."
"A problem for another day," she said. "You will take more care."
"After tomorrow."
"Yes. After tomorrow. I am going to abuse you tomorrow. I am sorry."
"You enjoy it."
"Part of me does, and it makes me sick."
"I am your blood slave," I stated. "I demand you treat me like it."
"A blood slave does not demand," she said, but she caressed my cheek when she said it.
"You paid a great deal of money for me, m'lady. I am your blood slave. It is what I am, and you are my vampire mistress. That is what you are. Neither of us should fight what we do not control."
"I am afraid, Melissa."
"Do not fear." I looked up. "I am not afraid."
She looked into my face. "No, you are not, but that is because you do not care what happens anymore, and that is my fault."
I looked back down. "I am your blood slave."
She drew me into my arms and drank, taking more than usual, then she carried me to bed.
* * * *
She came to me after dinner. I had insisted on being locked in my room, and I was waiting for her when she arrived, seated quietly on the bed. I had no cosmetics, but I used my own pencils around my eyes, and I arranged my hair to be wild, but not unkempt. And so, by the time she walked in, I was kneeling, waiting for her, and she stopped to stare at me.
"Does my appearance bring you pleasure, m'lady vampire?"
"Your appearance sa
ddens me," she said. "And it is brilliantly done."
"You must not pleasure me when you drain me. You must make it hurt, start to end."
"It is not uncommon for a vampire to offer the pleasures to her blood slave."
"Nevertheless, you should not, because I will remember the pleasure all night. I must instead remember pain, mustn't I?"
"I am sorry."
"I am your blood slave, m'lady vampire. My blood is yours to take."
She crossed to me, then knelt behind me and pulled me backwards painfully before she flashed her fangs into my neck. It hurt, and I gasped, clutching at her arm to avoid falling, but she pulled me against her, holding me tightly, drinking savagely. I whimpered, and I felt adrenalin pumping into my system.
She growled lightly, reaction to my fear, and still she drank.
And then she was licking the wound closed, and it was cool and mildly comforting, but there was no pleasure. She lifted her mouth from my neck, but I continued to clutch at her, whimpering softly. She pushed me from her, and I collapsed in a heap on the floor, still whimpering, slowly growing quiet.
She stepped from the room then returned. "Get up, blood slave." It was harshly said, cutting. I stood, my eyes downcast, but something shimmered, and I looked up, then stared at what she was holding.
I'm not sure anyone could really call it clothing. It was more like a harness, a body harness, made from thin metal chains, and everywhere there were gems. I realized it wouldn't cover me, but would instead highlight everything about my body.
"Can you stand it?" she asked quietly.
I stared for a while longer. "I don't know how to put it on."
"I will dress you."
"Why do you have that?"
"I had it made."
I paused, imagining how I was about to look.
"You are looking forward to seeing me wear this, aren't you?"
"Oh yes," she said. "Can you stand it?"
I nodded. "Does it cover anything?"
"No."
"This is your promise of clothing?"
"I told you that you wouldn't like it."
"You did. No one would call that 'clothing', however." I sighed. "Do you own a camera?"
"No, but one of the maids is a good photographer."
"You will order me to pose for her, and she will take a great many photos, and somehow you will get copies to my tablet."
"Yes," said Lady Dunn. "Stand straight, feet slightly spread, arms held out."
She dressed me in the chains of diamonds and gems. It was a cruel outfit, with clips that attached to my nipples, squeezing them not quite painfully. The chains attached to my ears and to the hoops on my face. They passed between my legs, and there were no gems there, but they rubbed uncomfortably. There were more chains around my legs and arms, but my neck remained unadorned.
I knew, when she was done, rather than disguising my most intimate places, they were highlighted, the eye drawn to my breasts and to the fur between my legs.
"I should have shaved you," she observed.
"No. This gives a wild look, m'lady. It is better. Do the vampires believe we are lovers?"
"They may wonder."
"Are there shoes, or do I walk barefoot?"
"There are shoes. I would put you in them as late as possible."
"They are required for the photos."
She stepped back to me and attached the leash.
"I will be cruel tonight."
"I know."
"It starts now."
"Put away your guilt, but remember your promises. I am your blood slave, Lady Dunn. I am your property. I belong to you, entirely to you, and I live only for your pleasure."
She smiled, and there was a hint of fang, and then she tugged on the leash, drawing me after her.
She took me downstairs, and waiting in the foyer was a pair of shoes. They were very thin and shimmered, clearly a portion of my outfit, and the heels were slender and impossibly tall.
"Put those on then stand there," she said, pointing. "I expect you to be still and assume an artistic pose of submission. Do it. Now!"
I hurried to obey, slipping into the shoes then climbing carefully to my feet, standing where she wanted me. She watched while speaking into her phone, then walked around me, admiring me.
A minute later, the back door opened, and then Zoe, Bonnie's mother, arrived, carrying an expensive camera. She came to a stop and stared at me.
"Zoe," Lady Dunn said, "please photograph my slave. Order her how you wish. I require a great many memories of this moment."
"M'lady?" she asked. She looked at me then turned to the lady. "This is wrong. You have been firm in the past, but this is wrong, m'lady. Is this what you are becoming? If so, you may have my resignation, immediately if you like."
"Zoe," I said. "I have agreed to give m'lady the benefit of the doubt, and she has explained to me. Maybe she uses me horribly, but I choose to believe her stated reason. Please, take the pictures."
"She's a human being, Lady Dunn," Zoe said. "Everyone knows what she did, and she doesn't deserve the way you are treating her. You treat her like property."
"She is property," Lady Dunn said.
"I left a good position to work for you because Maria assured me you treated the members of your household with respect," Zoe said. "She assured me you protected everyone living under your roof." She gestured to me. "Is this what Maria meant?"
Lady Dunn growled at her. "Take the pictures."
Zoe glanced at me.
"Am I beautiful?" I asked her.
"Stunning," she said. "Deeply haunted, and darkly stunning."
"Zoe," I said quietly, "please take the pictures. They were my idea."
"Is it also your idea to be paraded in public like a possession, and not even a particularly well-cared-for one at that?"
Lady Dunn growled again, but Zoe somehow managed to ignore it.
Zoe looked down at her camera, removed the lens cap, and then began taking photos. She moved all around me, and then Lady Dunn began barking orders at me for how I was to stand. I stood, on display, as Zoe's camera clicked, each click a recording of how far I had fallen.
When she was done, Zoe turned back to Lady Dunn. "Blood slave or not, this is wrong."
"There are reasons," Lady Dunn replied.
Zoe turned to me. "Do you believe these reasons?"
I glanced at the vampire, not sure if she wanted me to respond. She nodded briefly. She wasn't going to like my response.
"I believe the stated reasons are convenient," I replied. "I believe the lady gains a great deal of pleasure from how she treats me. However, I also believe my life expectancy is higher in this house that it might have been elsewhere. This-" and I gestured towards the body harness I was wearing, "-may not be that horrible a price to pay."
Zoe studied my expression for several long heartbeats before turning to Lady Dunn.
"She's a human being and shouldn't be treated like this," Zoe said.
"She's a blood slave, and this is how they are treated," Lady Dunn replied.
"Maria assured me you were different from the others," Zoe repeated from earlier. "I find she is wrong. Do you need a written letter of resignation, or will verbal be sufficient?"
Lady Dunn was quiet for a moment, her lips pressed tightly together. "Verbal is sufficient."
"My employment contract gives me up to sixty days to vacate the home you provided. I will do so as soon as I can make other arrangements." She turned on her heel and stalked off. Lady Dunn and I watched her go. I didn't say anything.
The vampire watched her housekeeper walk off, then after the rear door closed, she used the leash to turn me to face her.
"Were you going to apologize?"
I lowered myself to my knees and bowed my head. "I do not know what you feel I did wrong."
"My housekeeper just quit because of you. This was a good position for her."
I didn't say anything.
"Well?" the vampire said aft
er a long pause.
"I am sorry, m'lady," I said quietly. "I do not know what I did wrong." Personally, I didn't understand why anyone would work for her. I presumed she paid them a great deal of money, but I didn't know.
"You sow dissent!"
"If you explain to me what I am doing wrong, m'lady, I will amend my behavior."
She growled at me. I kept my head down, not saying anything. We stayed there for what seemed like a long time until finally she tugged on my leash. "Let's go."
I nodded, and she drew me from the house.
I was surprised to see a long, black limousine waiting for us, the liveried driving standing by the door. She was startled to see me, staring, but she recovered by the time Lady Dunn tugged me to the vehicle. The driver barely had the door open by the time we arrived, and m'lady entered ahead of me, tugging me inside behind her. The door closed, sealing me inside with the vampire.
The partition was closed, for which I was thankful, but the vampire made me sit next to her, and she played with me the entire ride. She didn't mention Zoe again, and soon she was smiling. She particularly enjoyed tugging the chains attached to my nipples, causing me to gasp. I stared ahead, saying nothing, not complaining, not seeing.
I realized she couldn't help it. She couldn't stop touching me. It was as if she were fascinated by me.
"I am that much of an attraction."
"Yes," she said, and when I glanced at her, the fangs were out.
"I live for your pleasure," I said.
She growled, but it was a growl of pleasure, and her touches grew more intimate. I tried to tune them out, hardening my heart even further. It was just my body. She had my body, but she didn't have me, not anymore. I hid my heart from her, and she was a vampire, a demon; she would not find my soul.
We arrived, and the door opened. The lady growled a moment of frustration, then led the way from the vehicle, tugging me cruelly after her. I stepped out of the limousine, my feet first, and she reached in and pulled me gently, all the while tugging on the leash.
"You are exquisite," she said quietly.
"I am yours," I replied. "I could be nothing other."
Then she turned, but she walked slowly in deference to the shoes on my feet, and already they hurt. They would be torture after an hour. I knew the discomfort was intentional and was sure everyone else would know as well.
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