by Cooper Flynn
“It’s time you started thinking about your future. You aren’t human anymore, and you can’t fight humanity’s battles,” she said.
“Connor thinks he found the perfect weapon, but I am puzzled why he has not granted you greater power. After all, what is the sense of creating you if he leaves you so weak?” Gabriel turned to gesture at Katerina. “As soon as I made her, I began making her as powerful as I could.”
Kenzi’s mind had frozen after Gabriel’s question, and her faze reflected her shock.
Gabriel laughed at her expression. “Ahh, I see! Connor never told you that he was the one who turned you, did he? I admit, I was content to let you die. When I heard sounds of pursuit, I assumed it was your back-up team. Imagine my surprise when I saw my old friend Connor following my trail. I watched him let you sip from his blood before he continued his chase, never dreaming I was so close. I’d never thought of turning a hunter, but once I did it was simplicity itself to find Katerina.”
“I went out to find Gabriel, determined to kill him for what I thought he did to you,” Katerina explained. “Instead, he gave me a new life.” She looked up to him and took his hand, kissing the palm tenderly.
Kenzi couldn’t face Gabriel’s mocking smile and turned away, her mind reeling. She couldn’t begin to understand what she was feeling.
“Why do you want me?” Kenzi finally asked, more to change the topic than from genuine curiosity.
“I work in mysterious ways,” Gabriel answered.
“I want you with us, Kenzi,” Katerina pleaded. “You can be part of our family, exploring life and pleasure in a way you never could before. You can’t imagine living with no limits; no inhibitions.”
“No inhibitions?” Kenzi asked, her eyes turning back to Katerina.
Katerina smiled, and again something turned in Kenzi’s stomach. “I do what feels good and I don’t have to worry about anyone else judging me. I have no nagging guilt holding me back. You can live like this, too.”
“You nothing more than a tool of the virus, like some syphilitic fool,” Kenzi spat.
Gabriel’s face lost its cool amusement. “There is no virus! This is a spiritual transformation, your scientists try to explain it, and they invent a story. I am not a disease!” He spun and left the room, Katerina following close behind. She shot a worried look to Kenzi before she followed him out the door.
Kenzi was left to contemplate her captivity and a growing realization that her greatest danger was not her captors, but her growing hunger. She had already been blood-deprived for several days when she was taken. With every passing hour, she felt a rising desperation. Gabriel had seen no need to torture her, because her own hunger would soon provide a torment that would break her faster than anything he could do.
Chapter Sixteen
Sleep offered little reprieve. Kenzi’s body began to scream for sustenance, and when she woke, the demands grew more insistent. She was rocking herself on the floor of her prison when her captors returned. They brought a young women, stunningly beautiful, with them. Her raven-black hair was darker than anything provided by nature, and her pale features and dark eye-shadow announced her fetish. She wore a red corset over a black leather mini-skirt and knee-high black boots.
“We brought a guest,” Gabriel announced. “And she is here of her own free will, aren’t you, dear?”
“Yes,” the woman said, and aware of the slight quaver in her voice she raised her chin defiantly.
“Amelia wants to join us,” Katerina announced and stroked the other woman’s black hair affectionately.
“You don’t want this,” Kenzi warned, wishing she could protect her.
“Yes, I do, and I know the risks,” she said with greater confidence.
Kenzi looked quizzically to Gabriel and Katerina, who stood to either side.
“There is always the chance that she won’t survive the transformation, but she is a brave one,” Gabriel said softly. Kenzi recognized the dark amusement in his tone.
“Oh no, run, please run!” Kenzi begged the girl.
The dark-haired Goth sneered back at Kenzi. “I know what I want, and I will do anything to get it.”
The two vampires embraced the young woman, guiding her back to one of the plush couches that lined the room. They sat her gently between them and Gabriel took her face gently in his hands.
“Are you ready?” He asked gently. The girl answered with a nod.
They began by stroking her arms and legs softly. Amelia leaned back and sighed blissfully. Katerina slipped to her knees and coaxed the boots from the girl’s feet. She ran a hand up her thigh, drawing another quiet sigh.
Gabriel reached behind to untie the corset, eventually making it loose enough to reach down and caress her breasts. Amelia reached as though to touch Gabriel’s face, but he intercepted her wrist and guided her hand back down, murmuring something into her ear.
Kenzi watched, transfixed by the seduction, and unable to turn away. Soon there would be blood, the blood she craved. The horror was inflamed by her awareness of her own weakness.
There was something about the way Gabriel and Katerina were nuzzling about the girl, and the way Amelia was arching her back to meet the hands and mouths of her seducers that made the scene more heartbreaking for Kenzi. The girl was going to her death with eager depravity. Kenzi had no doubt Gabriel would leave her drained and lifeless.
Katerina now kissed Amelia’s thigh through the black fishnets, and nipped a bit of the fabric between her teeth. The material tore easily. Gabriel’s hands roamed everywhere, reaching down to toy with a now-exposed nipple and then pulling up the skirt to trace a finger along his victim’s sex. Katerina gently stroked the legs before her, finally pulling them apart. Kenzi saw Katerina’s eyes meet Gabriel’s with a sickening grin of what Kenzi could only describe as pure wickedness.
As Amelia began to writhe in pleasure, Gabriel leaned back, his long fangs exposed. Katerina kissed her way up to the woman’s inner thigh and found her spot. As Gabriel plunged down to her throat, Katerina sank her teeth in the exposed flesh before her. Amelia screamed, but Kenzi couldn’t determine how much in pain, and how much from pleasure. Now she could turn away from the wet sounds of feeding.
When the sounds stopped she faced her captors again. Amelia was pale and unmoving
“You never had any intention of turning her, did you?” Kenzi accused Gabriel, who stood over the body wiping his bloodstained lips. Beside him Katerina made no effort about the red smear around her mouth, or the thin trails of blood flowing in tiny streams down her chest and between her breasts. Kenzi forced herself to look away.
“She has no skills we need. I want to create a new army of our kind, to act as wardens and keepers of the human population. We will need to be in smaller numbers if there are to be enough humans to keep us fed. I will bring over only the best among them. You could be one.” Gabriel expression was one of pure arrogance in the complete certainty of his plan.
“You are a nothing more than a psychopath, leading other psychopaths. I know it is still possible to have a conscience, and to destroy monsters like you!” Even as Kenzi spoke, she felt faint as the smell of the blood nearly caused to collapse with hunger.
“You’ve been listening to that fool Connor,” Gabriel laughed. “He can’t accept the gift he has received. Don’t follow his idiocy. Those kinds of ‘morals’ have been invented by the weak to shackle the strong. Enjoy your power! Take what you wish from the long life ahead of you! It is time we stopped hiding and took control of the human herd, for their benefit and ours.”
“Their benefit? That’s ridiculous,” said Kenzi scornfully.
Gabriel spread his hands. “Yes, their benefit. Doesn’t a herd of sheep benefit from the protection of the shepherd?”
“You are no shepherd; you’re the wolf,” Kenzi accused.
Gabriel stood quietly for a moment and then grinned, his fangs exposed. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. But it would be more convenient if the herd
knew its place.”
Kenzi glared at him silently and began to wonder what would happen if Gabriel gave up trying to persuade her. Gabriel wasn’t long in revealing his next step.
“Just for fun, let’s test this morality of yours,” he said and gestured to Katerina, who stepped into the hall.
“I feel guilty for eating in front of a guest; maybe I can offer you something more to your liking.” As he spoke, Katerina returned, carrying an unconscious Joshua Pike.
“No, no, no,” Kenzi whispered.
Joshua had not been captured easily. His face and bare chest displayed bruises that spoke of a struggle, and had suffered a cut to own eyebrow that had bled copiously. Katerina half-carried, half-dragged him to the door of the cage without apparent strain. Gabriel met her at the door and watched Kenzi begin to shift her posture.
“Please don’t try anything, your friend will die long before you reach us,” he said casually.
The door opened and Joshua was dropped at her feet, pushing a moan from his lips. Kenzi looked at him without moving, the hunger screaming in her.
“This will be a fun test. How long can you go without feeding from him? I recommend doing it quickly, before he wakes up. It will be kinder that way.” Gabriel’s smirk made a mockery of his concerned words.
Kenzi looked at her former lover, comrade, and friend prostrate before her and wanted to weep. Sooner or later she would lose her herself as her primal nature took over, and Joshua would die with her teeth in his throat. Gabriel and Katerina turned to go, ignoring Kenzi’s screams.
Chapter Seventeen
Kenzi remained huddled in the corner of her prison, her arms wrapped around her knees. Joshua lay unconscious by the door, breathing evenly. Closing her eyes didn’t help; in her mind she could see the pulse throbbing in his neck, and in the silence she could hear the blood rushing through his arteries.
Would it be more merciful to take him as he slept? She could make it pleasurable; she knew that technique. Sooner or later she would feed from him, and she’d never been able to stop herself from killing before. The longer she resisted, the worse it would be for him. Once the hunger drove her mad she would take him violently, and he would die in terror and pain. Kenzi stared at Joshua and considered how she would kill him.
But what if she waited? Maybe Connor would find her, and save her from the decision. Kenzi visualized Connor smashing through the door and ripping the cage apart. She could picture the lean muscles rippling as he forced his way to her. They would fight their way free of this place, and make it back to their hideaway bloodied but triumphant. Afterwards he would hold her in the darkness of their bed and begin to stroke her body as the excitement of battle turned into the celebration of victory and life….
“Kenzi?” Joshua croaked, barely conscious.
Her thoughts were ripped away from her pleasant imagining, and plunged back into her raging hunger.
“I’m here, Joshua.” She spoke softly, as though trying to comfort him without moving nearer.
Joshua groaned and rolled to his back. “They found me. Why am I still alive?”
Kenzi sat silently for a moment before she answered, debating what to say. Honesty won out.
“They want to force me to feed from you. They think if I kill you, I’ll become one of them,” she said simply.
Joshua sat up and studied his former lover. “You told me that you didn’t have to kill when you fed.”
“That’s right, but it takes training and I haven’t exactly mastered it yet.” Kenzi explained.
“So you have killed as a vampire?” Joshua asked.
“No, I’ve had a mentor helping me with that,” Kenzi answered.
“You think you won’t be able to help yourself?” Joshua leaned his head back against the bars as he asked. His throat was revealed, and Kenzi had to look away as a surge of the bloodlust raced through her.
“That’s what I’m afraid of, and what they’re counting on.” Kenzi closed her eyes for a moment to calm herself.
“Where are we anyway?” Kenzi asked to change the subject.
“We’re in an old funeral home. I followed you here when I saw Kat and Gabriel take you out of the club.” Joshua answered.
“So you see what he did to Kat?”
“Yeah, I saw it. I didn’t want to believe it, but I saw it. I guess she’s not trying to do the vegetarian thing or whatever you’re doing, is she?” Joshua joked.
“It’s all about who turns you, I think; that and your own desire to hold onto to your humanity. Kat seems to have embraced what she’s become.” Kenzi suppressed a shudder as she remembered Katerina’s eyes as she fed on the young man in the club. The memory of their blood-soaked mouths meeting in an obscene kiss rose unbidden to her mind, and stubbornly stayed.
“You followed us here? Did you report in to Center?” Kenzi asked hopefully.
“I reported in as we entered Brooklyn, but I didn’t get a chance to report the address before I was found. I no sooner climbed off my motorcycle than someone hit me over the head.” Joshua reported.
The surge of hope ebbed from Kenzi’s heart, and was replaced with sick dread.
“If it helps at all, I believe you are trying to fight them. I told the Director what you said. She thought it was some kind of trick, but I guess this proves everything.” Joshua met Kenzi’s eyes and the sincerity almost moved her to tears.
“You know I would never willingly hurt you?” Kenzi asked quietly.
Joshua smiled. “I know that, you mean a lot to me too.”
Kenzi’s eyes filled. “I hate this, but I don’t think I can stop it. I can try to make it as pleasurable as I can.”
“Let’s not rush into anything here!” Joshua said with a sad laugh. “I can think of a lot of ways I’d rather spend my last minutes with you.”
“Really? Even now you’re going to flirt?” Kenzi said, trying to match Joshua’s tone. “We did have a lot of fun together didn’t we?”
“Do you remember the night we first did it? I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.” Joshua grinned as he spoke.
“You were the first boy I ever saw naked, and I couldn’t figure out why I never noticed that big dick of yours through your pants before!” Kenzi laughed.
Joshua covered his face. “God, I couldn’t even figure out what I was supposed to do with it. They didn’t spend any time on sex education at school, did they?”
Kenzi grinned back at him. “I’d say you were a quick student, even if it was practically over before it started.”
“What can I say? Seeing your body for the first time nearly made me come on the spot,” Joshua said.
“I thought you did come on the spot,” Kenzi retorted.
“Hey, I got it in first!” Joshua protested.
“And you did a great job every time after that,” Kenzi assured him.
They sat in silence for a time, lost in their memories. Kenzi thought to all of the times she had lusted for him with teenaged angst. Their encounters had been stolen, against the rules and all the sweeter because of it. Every time his body had covered hers she felt the savage thrill of something primal. Each time he entered her, his touch had been electric. Sex had never been so exciting since, but maybe with Connor….
Kenzi shook herself and found Joshua staring at her.
“Maybe this is your big test, to see if you can feed from me without killing,” he said.
“I don’t want to try,” she protested.
“Answer me this; will you be more or less likely to be in control if you wait?”
The hunger roared in her again as Kenzi considered the question. Even thinking of his blood on her lips made her resolve weaken to the point of collapse.
“The longer I wait the harder it will be,” she answered.
“Then I think we need to do it,” Joshua said and began to crawl to her.
“Wait!” Kenzi cried, nearly panicked.
“It won’t get any easier,” Joshua said. “I trust you; I
know you can do this.” He gently reached out and raised her face to his.
Kenzi could feel the heat of his body as he neared. The smell of him became overwhelming, the sweet, musky scent almost broke her restraint. She had noticed that her captors had left her with the obsidian necklace, which was not likely to be an effective weapon against them. She caressed it as Joshua reached her, his face inches from her own.
“How do we do this?” Joshua’s eyes held doubt, and a little fear.
Kenzi eased him back, until his back was against the bars.
“I’ll be gentle,” she promised with a smile.