“I guess she’ll need to wear someone’s clothing until we can find some clothes of her own,” Charlotte said to Nick. He prepared to get a clean shirt from his dresser for her to wear; but the woman added, “You can grab one of my pairs of shorts and a shirt, Nick.”
Doing as she said, the voran walked into what used to be his bedroom. With both Charlotte and Nicola using the bed each day, moving in their suitcases and clothing, and only using the bed for himself once a week, it was slowly becoming their room instead of his. Pulling the intended clothing from Charlotte’s pile on his dresser, since there was no more room left in his dresser even after moving what he could of his clothing into the closet; Nick returned to the main bathroom hearing the water still running.
To his surprise, the door was unlocked and inside Charlotte had taken off her shirt and pants to avoid getting them wet. Sami was already naked in the tub and appeared more asleep than awake.
The brunette looked at him as he entered and sighed, “You might have to help after all. I can’t keep her awake and I’m not sure I can clean her up let alone get her dressed afterward.”
“I’ll ask Kate to help,” he stated trying to escape.
Charlotte turned on him in annoyance and ordered, “She’s your responsibility. I’ll clean her. I just need you to help move her or keep her awake. Would more of your blood do it?”
“I doubt it. Nicola’s remained more awake after sex, but blood doesn’t usually keep her from giving in to the sun much later.”
Nick didn’t bother to change what he wore and simply did his best to help Charlotte. Looking at her clinically like a doctor or nurse was the best he could do, while the dark haired woman scrubbed at the vampire’s skin. By the time they were done and standing Sami up to dry her with a towel, it looked like someone had died in the bathtub. The water was reddish brown and that was just from her skin and short, pixie cut, blonde hair.
Charlotte managed to dress the girl, who was nearly limp in his arms. As he picked her up to carry her to the bedroom, Nick once more thought of a parent needing to carry their child to bed. Placed under the covers on the side that Nicola wasn’t using, neither vampire seemed to notice the other, though Sami rolled onto her side to get comfortable immediately.
Leaving the two to rest, Charlotte pulled him after her into the bathroom while she dressed and said, “We should run down to the thrift store and pick her up some clothing while it is still daylight. She has nothing and is too small to wear much of my clothes. Nicola is closer in size, but doesn’t have a lot here yet.”
“You can guess her size?” the man said knowing nothing of women’s clothing save that he understood nothing of their use of numbers and sizes.
Grinning at him as she realized just how out of water he was with not only the young girl, but the other two women he already had staying with him; Charlotte nodded and replied, “Yes, I can figure it out. She’s petite, but my shorts nearly fit her correctly. I won’t buy the place out, but I can get her started until we find out what size she normally wears from her.”
Glad that he wasn’t alone in taking care of the girl, Nick nodded and waited for Charlotte to pull on her shoes, so they could leave. She surprised him as she asked, “Are you going to ship her off to Marek’s?”
Nick walked with her into the living room and said to the others, “We’re going to the thrift shop for Sami. If for some reason they both wake up, don’t let Nicola kill her.”
They laughed, but the voran was partially serious. A vampire could do unexpected things; though saying they might kill each other probably was expected. Wanting to avoid having Nicola attacking the younger girl because she was surprised to find the new vampire next to her was just common sense; he supposed.
His life seemed to just be getting more complicated by the day.
Sami woke to a feeling of being poked. Rubbing her eyes as she rolled to see what was making her uncomfortable, the girl started as she looked at a pretty, mostly naked, blonde haired girl barely older looking than herself. As a guess, Sami thought that this young woman was not much different in size from her with petite breasts pointed at her as the pale blonde sat on her legs with only a lace bottom covering her.
“And who are you to be sharing my bed?” Nicola asked appearing mostly amused and curious.
Rolling from her stomach to sit cross legged in front the bare woman, Sami looked to her gray eyes and summoned a smile even as her eyes quickly moved to look at her surroundings. The girl was trying to remember where she was and how she had come to be here.
“I’m Sami,” the younger girl started as her mind tried to recall what had happened. “I was kidnapped by vampires, I think. At least, that is what Nick said.”
Her fingers went to her teeth suddenly as she recalled being told that she was a vampire as well. Fangs slightly long extended beyond her old human teeth. Noticing a mirror, the young girl continued to talk as she looked at herself in the mirror. Baring her teeth, Sami noted the change to her smile. Years of braces had straightened them and they were very white from trying to make them look good after those years of silver on her teeth. Now she doubted any dentist could fix the two strange fangs pricking her lips and tongue.
“He said that the other vampires left me to die, but I must have gotten some of their blood in me first.” The top she was wearing was very cute; but since it was just the other girl in the room, Sami dared take off the top to see the lingering bite marks on her skin. Her wrists and forearms near the veins, her neck and even her left breast had been bitten. Looking at her skin in the mirror most of those marks had nearly healed leaving darker pink dots on her flesh. Her forehead furrowed and the other blonde stood to walk over to see what she was looking at in the mirror.
“So you woke up today as a vampire?” Nicola asked in genuine concern.
“I’m not sure when I became a vampire,” the young girl said shaking her head. “It was night and suddenly other men were attacking the vampires. The one who had been sucking on me pulled me into a dark basement filled with old furniture. When all the screaming began, I was near some broken chairs or something. I vaguely remember trying to hide under them then I fell a long way and only remember darkness until Nick found me and saved me.”
Nicola smiled as her fingers checked the back of the girl’s head examining her for a broken skull that might have healed since her fall. She had died, whether from the fall or blood loss, and Nicola wasn’t sure which. While it didn’t matter, the vampire was curious. The skull was smooth beneath the hair and Sami didn’t balk at her attention. Fingers moved to the neck and upper spine while amazingly finding nothing that had been broken.
Nicola asked, “How far was the fall?”
“I’m not sure,” the younger girl replied and turned to face her as the attention stopped. “The ceiling of the stone room we were in was at least ten feet high, maybe more. He put me on his back and actually jumped all the way up into the shaft; then he climbed up maybe fifteen more.”
Nicola nodded before moving to sit on the edge of the bed. “That was a big fall. I’m surprised that nothing was broken.”
Sami sat beside her looking at the shirt in her hands wondering where it had come from, not too mention where she was. “They say that people can survive pretty big falls by going limp. I don’t even remember falling.
“Where am I anyway?” she asked taking in the bedroom. Suitcases were open along the wall with a curtained window. Sami could tell that it was getting darker outside already as well. The dresser had women’s clothing on top, but the blue color and comforter, as well as the clothes she could see in the closet all made her think that it was a man’s room with few women’s touches aside from the clothing everywhere and a couple bottles of perfume in front of men’s cologne.
“Nick’s apartment, you don’t remember coming here?”
“They wrapped me up in a big sweatshirt, put socks on my feet... and we got in a black car. That’s about the last I remember, but I’m clean and I
wasn’t before getting in the car. Do you think he washed me?” she asked turning a bit red. While Nick was a man, the girl almost felt like he was her guardian angel saving her from death in the dark room and even stopping those other people from killing her probably, since they hated vampires.
“Knowing how Nick is around women and girls, he probably made Charlotte do it. She’s caring enough to be talked into helping someone like you.”
“Like me?” Sami wondered what the other woman meant.
“Someone in need, even if you are a vampire, Charlotte is very caring. Her brother was going to be a doctor, but she’s actually more nurturing. Maybe it’s a mother wolf thing,” the vampire waved her hand as she tried to figure out her dark haired sister’s motivations.
Changing topics, Nicola asked, “Did he say anything about taking you to Marek’s?”
Brow furrowing in thought, the little blonde shook her head. “If he did, I missed it.”
Nicola suddenly brightened and said, “Good, it will be like having a little sister here with me. I haven’t had one of those around in a long time.
“Besides I don’t want you becoming like the new girls staying there,” Nicola stated without expanding on her annoyance at Lenora and to a lesser extent Vicki.
Sniffing at the younger girl, Nicola nodded and said, “Well. You still smell clean, but I could use a shower.” Standing up and stripping off the last of her clothing, Nicola kicked it onto the floor near her suitcase before turning to the younger girl. Brushing her left breast and nipple, the vampire added, “If you want to join me fine, but otherwise you may want to put Charlotte’s shirt back on again. Nick still has Logan and Kate staying with him. While werewolves might strip in front of each other under a full moon, we vampires tend to have a little more reserve.”
As she laughed at the very concept she was professing, Nicola wandered into the master bath and turned on the shower leaving Sami to shake her head. The young girl found that she wasn’t exactly put off by the vampire. In fact, Sami wished that she had as much poise and confidence.
Standing to put on the top that hung long and was a thin enough material to perhaps reveal more of the teenager’s figure than she might normally, Sami tried to process the changes to her life in the past few days. Barely past the age when running around naked as a child annoyed her mother, but just into the age of trying to attract boys with skirts too short and tops too low for her mother’s taste; the girl had been run into by the young man with the odd white eyes that made her fears all disappear in a glance.
She hadn’t been able to move and when he told her to come, the teenage girl came despite knowing not to go with strangers in their cars. He had seemed to like her and Sami couldn’t resist him as he and another vampire had decided to bite her wrists for a taste. Then they had moved to the veins of her forearms before tearing her shirt and bra off of her. They had bitten her neck and breasts. When the second vampire had unbuttoned her pants and found bare flesh, he had suggested stripping her jeans from the girl as well.
The first vampire had pushed him away. It was one thing to share the girl’s blood, but he was planning to save her flower for himself. The two had argued and even fought a bit, but with enough others to feed upon the second vampire had given her up with relatively little fight. When the sun had come up, they slept after ordering the humans to stay in the basement.
She couldn’t resist and sat with the others in the darkness, half naked, dehydrated and low on blood. One of the other victims resisted the orders by toppling over dead, but it was dark and Sami could barely see the man as he died only a few feet away from her. Whimpering could be heard from a few of the others then. They had been ordered to stay and be quiet, but crying softly hadn’t been disallowed.
The sun fell and the vampires became active. Many left looking for new victims, but as the night lengthened many of them returned. One came back complaining that he had been attacked with a couple other vampires; but Sami barely paid attention to them. She was tired and hadn’t slept in over a day. They had been told to sit and the girl hadn’t been able to sleep that way, though a few others had managed to snore during the day.
When her master came to her to feed his hand played inside of her pants. She was disgusted, but couldn’t resist and some of it felt good; which surprised Sami despite how she was being treated. He hadn’t finished her off, but the blood loss was coming close to killing the girl anyway. She could feel her life being drained away with each bite. If he had other plans for the girl’s virginity, it would have to be soon if he wished to do it to her while still alive.
The first screams in the distance barely registered. Screaming had been part of her existence since coming to the building with the vampire. Some of them liked their victims to scream. The basement room was closed off and almost impossible for the sound to carry outside, so they could scream to their hearts’ delight.
When the basement door was thrown open, the vampires tried to fight, but whatever was attacking them proved stronger. Her master started to pull her towards the abandoned furniture, much of which was broken and ruined; but he and a couple others realized that they were in danger. Even a good plaything like the girl could be replaced, so at the front of the wicker stacks he abandoned her leaving the girl to die or not depending on fate.
As she had told Nicola, the girl had managed to follow only to fall down through the shaft beneath the furniture. Their escape hole had served the vampires well, but their toy was left to die; only she didn’t stay dead. The blood they had shed and wasted above had fallen through the shaft’s open grate getting into her wounds. The fifteen year old had woken to darkness but managed to hide within the garbage. Just another thing discarded down the shaft left to rot.
The tears came and her chest tightened as Sami could feel the despair she had felt, the utter abandonment and violation that had been wreaked upon her and the ending of her old life. She had seen some of the movies, some that her parents hadn’t wanted her to see with her friends but they had snuck out to see anyway. A vampire couldn’t return to their old human life. She was dead and returning just risked her killing those she knew when the hunger overcame her humanity. A monster and killer, the new vampire was effectively dead to her family.
Wrapped in a towel, Nicola knelt at her side where she had slumped to the floor. The older vampire drew the girl’s head to her breast stroking her short, blonde hair trying to comfort her.
“Oh, Sami,” Nicola said quietly feeling her heart break for the girl.
Chapter 20- Little Sister
Shopping with Charlotte had taken longer than he had planned. The sun was already dipping behind the western buildings casting long shadows by the time they were driving home. While the woman hadn’t bought out the store, she had certainly spent more time than he would have thought trying to find clothes for the girl.
Like a fostered child, they weren’t supposed to be keeping her for long, so they didn’t need to worry over every possible need or to dote on the girl. Unlike such a child, he was planning to pawn her off on the coven and that meant someone would have to dress her and keep her clothed. Since she was his responsibility as the one who had both found and saved her from the pit, Nick knew that it fell to him. Sami wasn’t Marek’s responsibility, though the head vampire took on a certain amount of a fatherly role over the ones in his coven as eldest and leader. No, she was sponsored by him and was too young to even have a job before he had found her.
Sami was little more than a child, especially compared to someone over a century old like the voran.
“You’re worrying, aren’t you?” Charlotte asked looking at the side of his face. “Sami hits a little closer to home?”
Giving a brief smile to the brunette before taking her hand in his on the center console, Nick shook his head, “How close can it hit? She’s a child and I can’t imagine what a girl suddenly turned into a vampire would be thinking. No, I do worry over where she’ll go. Giving her to Marek is a good plan on pap
er, but it’s like we have a chance to help raise her. She’s fifteen and in some ways fully grown, but in other ways she is just a child who needs to learn what to become.”
“Can’t Marek and Audrey teach her like they taught the others?”
“Teaching adults how to cope, especially when they all decided to become vampires of their own volition, is different from teaching a fifteen year old girl who suddenly woke up a vampire with her old life destroyed and gone in a blink,” Nick replied with a sigh. Only Marek and Jake knew what it was like to be turned against their will, and they were like Nick, over a century old and men. They didn’t know what modern day, little girls, even teenage girls, were like and how fragile they might be.
He wasn’t saying that he did, but maybe Charlotte was correct. This hit home more than he at first thought. Marek had caused him to change as well against his will in a fit of hunger. He didn’t want Sami to go through those changes alone. Marek had him and he had Vivian. Both men had come full grown into the changes of their lives and still there were those growing pains, as men not children.
“You’re doing it again.”
Nodding in response, as he watched the road ahead of him, Nick replied, “She’s fifteen and has a family... had a family. I didn’t have a chance to check the data bases for missing people. She’s going to want to go home, but do we dare let her?
“Sami can’t go to normal school, but she’s only fifteen and still needs to learn about the world. Does a vampire need a diploma?” the last was asked sarcastically.
Charlotte watched him as he watched the road and wanted to answer the questions, but no one could know how loose a leash to give until something bad happens or they got used to the leash. “If you could somehow convince her family to give you... or Marek guardianship, it might make things a little easier. Her family wouldn’t have to look for her or fear that she’s dead, even if she kind of is.
Standing Before Monsters (Vorans and Vampires) Page 27