by Rebecca Foxx
“Damn, man,” it whispered, “that is some cold shit right there.”
Colten quickly put the fangs into his pocked and swiveled around to face his detractor. When their eyes met, Colten looked possessed; his eyes had the feel and look of a dark abyss filled to overflowing with pure, unadulterated hatred.
Instantly, his friend backed down and walked over to the body of the vamp and begun the process of disposing of the body.
He had been baptized into the family of hunters. He was finally home and surrounded by other like-minded vengeance-seekers.
Chapter 3 – Blood Pumping
Victory Gym had grown to the point where Victoria needed to expand, so she purchased the section of the strip mall next to her existing facility and began planning. What was once a thrift store would become a dedicated cardio area where the bikes, rowing machines, treadmills, and stair steppers would move. There would be an area for yoga, group sessions, and self-defense classes.
The existing area would be for the weight lifting machines and the free weights. By separating the two categories more efficiently, there would be a distinct division of workout styles and the end result would be less intimidation and more productivity.
Victoria had picked up her business savvy over the previous two centuries and survived a market crash, Enron, and even the housing bubble. She was a survivor and she had an intuition for investments that served her well.
It was a warm Friday morning and Victoria had come into work early to go over the quarterly financials. Hers was the only office on the second floor and it was disguised to look like the entrance to a storage room, but her office gave her a full view of the gym and the customers coming and going.
He walked in that morning with his gear in hand and ready to work out. One of Victoria’s sales staff tried to give him the pitch on membership and Colten interrupted him and explained that he would be paying cash and it would be six months in advance.
There was a bit of trouble, however, when the staff member tried to fill out the membership form and gather what he called “necessary data.”
Colten refused.
Seeing the turmoil and feeling the stress building, Victoria injected herself into the situation in the hopes of finding a solution. Her eyes were trained on Colten as she walked up and introduced herself, and Colten was taken aback by what he perceived to be her exceptional beauty.
“I understand that we have a bit of an issue here?” She asked innocently, her eyebrows raised.
The staff member explained the situation and for moment, she stood silent trying to make a decision. She could smell vampire blood on him that had been intermingled with cheap bar soap; something men did to try to wash off the grime of the day. It put her on alert, but the testosterone flowing from Colten put her at ease and tickled her senses.
“Let’s give this man what he wants and establish the account without an address,” she explained to the staff member and then turned to the large, deliciously handsome man before her.
“I do hope that you’re satisfied with that solution, Mr.?” Her voice trailed off as she extended her hand.
“Taurus,” he said, “Colten Taurus.” He took and shook her hand and his hand swallowed hers.
Colten blushed briefly and if Victoria were able to, she would have blushed as well.
She turned and made her way back to her office and she could feel his gaze burning into the flesh of her backside. Victoria was quite proud of her firm, yet bulbous ass because virtually every man over the course of 200 years who desired to be with her complimented that part of her curvaceous body.
He was indeed watching her and he could feel the heat rising in his body and his heart began to pump faster. It would be a great beginning to his cardio workout. She was by far the most attractive specimen he had laid his eyes on in months and she left him salivating.
The staff member handed Colten his new membership card and without saying a word, Colten made his way to the locker room to change. When there, he sat on the bench in front of an open locker and stared at his feet for a few moments to catch his breath. Slowly and deliberately he changed into his workout clothing and used the lock he brought with him and shut his belongings up tight.
He was on the treadmill, his mind elsewhere within minutes. He had no way of knowing, but he was being watched by Victoria who took a few moments to pleasure herself at the sight of Colten working out.
Chapter 4 – Spot and Stalk
The morning was brisk and a little foggy. The jogging trail around the pond was usually picturesque with well groomed, colorful foliage, and the sounds of birds waking with the sunrise filled the air. Only had few brave souls would use the trail when the fog rolled it.
Visibility was tough and with the trees and the growth of the shrubbery, it bordered on the extremely creepy.
The tiny blonde in her neon pink running outfit with matching shoes had made her second trip around the pond; giving her a grand total of one full mile of distance and was about to start the third leg. Her right leg began to cramp and it stopped her in her tracks.
She grabbed her thigh and applied pressure in the hopes that she would feel relief. Instead, she felt an odd warmth on her hands.
As she was bringing her hands into view, she caught a glimpse of the dark red liquid that then covered her palms. Before she could scream, her throat was ripped wide open and she collapsed in a pool of her own blood.
Anyone stumbling upon the body would instantly assume that it was a vamp who did the damage, however, the instances of vampires being able to tolerate the sun were very rare and required quite a bit of black magic; the kind of magic that had died in the first destructive fire in New Orleans some 100 years previously.
Either they had a copycat on their hands or there was a vamp running around killing for fun and whose magic was more powerful than the hunters had seen in person before.
When the police arrived, so did the hunters; including Colten. He was able to get close and shoot photographs before the police had taped off the area and he put together his own idea as to what had taken place and he believed it to be doubtful that it was a vamp who had created that mayhem, but rather an inexperienced copycat who was sloppy and unable to finish the task.
A vamp would have drained the victim of blood before leaving, however, the blood was still pooling and pouring out of her by the time Colten arrived. It was also exceptionally rare for a vamp to make such a kill without draining blood because it would be overwhelmingly tempting. Colten had convinced himself that it wasn’t a vamp and began packing up his camera and putting his backpack on to leave when he saw a flash out of the corner of his eye that was moving at the speed of light.
It was a hummingbird, his imagination, or that vamp they feared was within striking distance.
Casually and without alerting anyone, Colten made his way to the place where he saw the flash and looked around on the ground to see if there were tracks of any kind, which there weren’t. It was then that he felt his legs go out from underneath him as though he had been hit in the back of the legs with a baseball bat.
By the time he hit the ground, he had unsheathed his blade and was at the ready. He waited for what must have felt like hours to see if the creature would return, but he was disappointed. He lay there alone with all of the commotion surrounding him. There was a faint, but almost recognizable aroma in the air.
The smell was sweet and light, and it had begun to have an effect on him much like he had when he was at the gym in the presence of Victoria; but different. It wasn’t her scent but it was close and the seductive element almost put him to sleep.
He was in the bushes and pretty much out of plain sight and he was fully erect and being engulfed by the desire to have relations right then and there.
His world started spinning in his head and all he could think of was the smell and taste of flesh in his mouth and the warmth of a woman taking him deep inside of her. As he drifted, his imagination took him to the office of Vict
oria where she had him stripped naked on the floor and was riding him with her curvy, full body. He could feel her juices pouring down on his balls and the more he fought it, the lighter his head became.
Suddenly Victoria’s face changed and it was no longer Victoria but someone else. Same hair color, same eye color, same body shape, but it was not Victoria. He began to panic until the face of the beast was in front of his, her eyes ablaze with lust and hunger and as he took her tongue into his mouth, he awakened to the sound of a boot to his side.
“You can’t be here, buddy,” the police officer belted out, “This is a crime scene and you need to go or I’ll run you in.”
Colten stumbled to his feet and walked clumsily in the direction the officer was pointing. It was though he was intoxicated but without the hangover. His head still spun and his mind searched its database to recognize the face of that woman or beast who had kissed him in his dream.
Or, was it a dream?
He regained his composure and went back to his apartment and readied himself for the gym later that day.
First, he would sleep and try to reunite with that woman and then, he would eat and go on a quick stalk to see if he could pick up the trail of whatever it was that killed the runner and knocked him to his knees.
He could still taste the sweet and salty taste in his mouth of his attacker and he could imagine the feel of her breasts pressing against him. He started to fall back into the trance, but successfully fought it off for the rest of that day.
He needed food and sleep before he could do anything else.
How he made it home without causing an accident or being in one himself was nothing short of miraculous. His mind was clouded, his vision blurry at times, and an unquenchable thirst that made his whole face hurt.
Safe in the confines of his own home, he stripped naked and turned on the water in his shower and made it as hot as he could. He had hoped that a hot shower and a good scrubbing would cleanse his mind and body from the madness experienced earlier in the day.
Once in the shower, he looked back over his shoulder and sure enough; there were bruises already developing on the backs of his legs where he was struck and knocked down.
It wasn’t a dream.
It wasn’t his imagination.
It was a rogue vamp that needed to be taken out of the game.
Chapter 5 – Another Perspective
The gym was a hotbed of activity that day. The media had arrived for the ribbon cutting, the Chamber of Commerce was preparing to give Victoria an award for small business growth and development, and all of her employees were looking their best with their matching polo shirts and khaki shorts.
The employee who dealt with Colten the day before was at the front reception desk with his best smile and freshly cut and styled hair. He was the embodiment of androgyny; masculine features with a decidedly feminine voice and body language.
Unlike his performance the previous day, Donnie Radkey was a stellar employee; one of Victoria’s best salespersons and customer service representatives.
Donnie watched the commotion all around him but maintained his smile and positive attitude though he wanted to scream. He saw Victoria and his heart began pounding. He had fallen for her months earlier but was unsure how to handle his emotions and whether or not they were even appropriate.
When Colten had come in the day before, it infuriated Donnie to see, sense, and feel Victoria become attracted to a beast such as Colten. He was less than refined and though he had a fantastic body and warm tones to his voice, he didn’t seem horribly intelligent and Donnie always believed that he was Victoria’s intellectual equal and given the opportunity, he could be her physical equal.
Donnie’s hair stood on end when he thought of Colten and Victoria together and as he had seen before, she always got what she wanted and he could tell that she really wanted Colten. Donnie would deal with Colten and he would ensure that there was nothing left for him for Victoria to love.
Victoria stayed in her office as long as she could and before leaving, she checked and re-checked her make up. She was ready for the cameras; ready for the barrage of questions that would no doubt be posed by the media creatures who had invaded her gym.
She took a deep breath and reminded her that this type of madness was to be expected and when she went into business, there would be no doubt that there would be days such as the one she was facing.
On the very positive side, she would be able to provide more jobs for the community and better serve her existing clients. She opened the door and made her way down the stairs where she was greeted by her public relations consultant and her assistant manager.
They made their way through the sea of well-wishers and Victoria went directly to the podium that was set up for her. She had her prepared notes there already and she looked them over quickly and began her speech.
“I want to thank you all for coming today,” she started and the crowd simmered down. She continued.
“The opening of this expanded facility represents a quantum leap in fitness center design and efficacy; all of which include the perspective of the customer. I want everyone to take a few minutes today and see for yourself how different the experience is and how the flow of the building works to your advantage.
Ultimately, the goal is to make this design the benchmark for other gyms and when we open our next location, you can expect a similar design which will result in a better fitness experience.”
The audience shared their enthusiasm with her by their rousing round of applause. She took that time to look around the room and see the looks on their faces to try and determine whether or not she was getting through to them. It was then that she saw and felt the stares of Donnie focused on her.
He was so intense that she could smell him from where she was standing a good 50 yards away. Their eyes locked for a brief moment and she could feel the icy chills run up and down her spine. Amidst all of the affection he felt for her was something horrifically dark.
She scanned the rest of the room and in the back on the right side stood a welcoming and warm face. It was Colten who had come to see the woman of his odd daydreams and to congratulate her on her new venture and expansion.
A smile washed over her face and her heart quickened. Colten returned the smile and they stood transfixed for a few seconds until the applause died down. From there, she continued her brief speech and made her way to the front of the building where the Chamber of Commerce had a ribbon cutting ceremony prepared. Thankfully to Victoria, it was quick and painless.
Immediately, she searched for Colten in the crowd. She saw Donnie instead; his eyes ablaze and staring off to her left intently. She followed his gaze and it led her to Colten who had been watching her the whole time; obviously oblivious to the fact that he too was being watched.
She made her way over to Colten and when she reached him, she extended a hand and told him how much she appreciated him attending. He smiled and surprised her by embracing her.
That was when the trouble began.
Chapter 6 – Just a Little Dust Up
Colten had no sense whatsoever that he was about to be taken down in a similar fashion as he had been at the jogging trail, however, at the last minute, he saw Donnie just as he was pushing closer to him. The smile on Colten’s face turned from a smile to a twisted and contorted caricature of itself; covered in anger and rage.
Donnie wasn’t expecting to be seen and when he was, he was taken off guard and a little frightened by the look on Colten’s face. He stutter-stepped and hesitated briefly and that was all Colten needed to take him down. Colten used Donnie’s momentum to throw him to the ground and sit on his chest.
Donnie was furious and for a millisecond he revealed his true colors. His fangs protruded and his eyes changed color and Colten knew immediately what he was dealing with. Before either could react, Victoria intercepted and made sure that Donnie found his way to the employee lounge.
One look deep into her eyes reveale
d ageless wisdom and bridled skill and rage. Donnie was far outmatched and like a good submissive, he obeyed and retreated to the lounge.
Fortunately for all involved, most of the guests had no idea what was going on nor had they witnessed the altercation. It had taken place so quickly that it was almost a blur.
After Donnie left, Victoria turned to Colten.
“What in the hell was that all about?” Her question sounded innocent enough, but he was still furious.
“Did you know that you had a damned vampire working for you?” His voice was low and gravelly; the question posed through gritted teeth.
Victoria fought against the urge to be offended but rather she found herself aroused by his sudden burst of testosterone.
“I had no idea, but he will be dealt with accordingly, Colten,” she whispered.