by Amy Mah
Slightly dizzily, and in a red blur, Amy let go of his hand, belched and sighed out loud as she dropped to her knees.
“Wow! I’ve found something better than chocolate!”
Her vision was suddenly sharper than normal, and colors seemed to be different: more vivid and kind of pinkish as she watched him slowly stumble backwards. The surprise at what had happened, however, changed to disappointment as Amy saw him pull a gun out. Rapists always used knives, didn’t they? It was an unwritten rule, along with having a dominant mother.
This bum had clearly not read the rulebook, mind you, Amy thought. She was a little impressed that he still had a working hand to hold the gun with, and her next thought was to wonder if vampires were bulletproof. Was it only silver bullets that could harm us, or was that just werewolves?
The chance to find out if lead was dangerous if taken internally was lost as a man that Amy had failed to see standing behind the rapist leaned forward and snapped his neck.
She looked down at the now very dead rapist then looked up at the stranger; was he also a vampire? He was definitely a well-dressed businessman in a three-piece suit, so lawyer or vampire or perhaps both. If he wasn’t a vampire, then he really should book an appointment with a good dentist and buy a nail file, Amy thought. Either way, he was the sort of businessman who could make a real killing in the city.
What should I do? What should I say? Before needing to worry if she should thank him or scream, he spoke.
“Are you a Masochist?”
Wondering what her religious views could possibly have to do with him just appearing from thin air and killing a man, all Amy could do was tell the truth as best as she could.
“Err-No, I am a Buddhist. Well, kind of-err. Like, not the vegetarian sort.”
For some reason, this stopped him, and Amy could see an eye twitch as he was trying to think of a reply. Then he went adult on her.
“Just what were you doing, letting a meal treat you like that? Didn’t your parents ever tell you not to play with your food? Waste not, want not; now finish him up before he starts to congeal. There are vampires around the world killing each other for a meal like that. Well? What are you waiting for?”
Amy’s head was swimming so much that it should have been wearing a bikini, and her eyes were telling her that the world had turned a very nice shade of pink in color.
“Just because you are feral (and that means wild if that helps), you should not leave a meal to cool down. It is bad for your digestion.”
Amy wanted to say, “thank you, that is so kind of you to explain,” in a sarcastic way, but she did not get the chance as he just pushed her head down towards the very dead-looking corpse. Not that she had seen many corpses to know the normal look; this was her first one.
Amy did not wish to be this close to this guy when he was alive, let alone now when he was lying about breaking several city hygiene laws littering the sidewalk. As she turned to point this out to her pompous rescuer, to her embarrassment, her tummy rumbled. She found that her mouth was again full of far more teeth than was normal for a girl her age.
It must have been the smell of blood that was doing strange things to her body; if he had still been alive, he would have been more than a little surprised at the way Amy really wanted his body. This feeling was nothing like what raw steak could do for her. Without any control, her fangs took it upon themselves to clamp tightly around his neck. As soon as the blood touched her lips, she was lost in a red mist, like when you start to drink when you’re really thirsty. You know that you will only stop when the glass is empty or the bubbles go down the wrong way and you end up being sick…err, or is that just me?
Anyway, after some unknown amount of time, the businessman tried to pull Amy off, saying that she had had enough, so she slashed out at him with fully extended claws that no longer needed baseball moves and growls to activate them, making a very neat, red cut across his chest. This automatic reflex surprised him as much as it did her; I don’t normally have urges to rip heads off of businessmen. Then her surprise turned to pain; he said something she did not catch then and slapped her so hard that she banged her head on the nearby wall and must have been knocked unconscious as the world went dark.
As she slowly came to, Amy felt a chill, and her whole head hurt. The ground was cold and damp and not so much ground as a large flat roof. No longer with a red haze, her eyes tried to focus. She knew the reason for feeling cold when she saw the neat little pile of clothes that should have been on her body doing the job of keeping her warm that were instead creating an interesting work of art at the feet of the businessman.
She got to her feet and reached out to grab her things, hugging them close to her chest and forcing herself to ask the obvious question:
“What did you do to me?”
It did not help that he smiled as he looked at the way Amy was attempting (and failing) to hide as much as of her body as she could behind jeans and a top.
“Do? My dear, I can DO whatever I wish to DO to you!”
At this point, Amy’s claws began to extend, and even though the red haze had retreated, she could remember the feeling of power that the blood had given her. It was still there in the background, ready to be called upon.
“Being male means that one does not have to be nice: well-mannered, yes; well-dressed, yes, but nice? No; any bits of nice vanish as soon as the fangs come out.”
At this, she could not hold back. “Well, I also have sharp teeth!”
In a flash, Amy was fully armed, and if she could not bite him then she knew her claws could tear him apart. If they could open the post-office-delivery-man-proof packets my aunties sent me from Asia, then they could open anything.
She knew she looked like something from a horror movie, that something that usually appeared on the screen just before the screaming started. Amy was fully armed and deadly, and that would have been a lot more impressive if he had not smiled and slapped her.
“Ouch!”
It really hurt, and it also knocked her off her feet so that she landed back on the ground in a heap. She didn’t like the way he was smiling; if sharks had a smiling contest, then this guy would win gold in it. Amy had thought that her teeth were impressive, but his no longer fit in his mouth. All she could think of was a school trip to a museum and seeing a sabre-toothed cat jumping on a stone-age man.
“If little Hell Cats bare their teeth to their elders and betters, then they better have good dental insurance or learn to eat all their meals through a straw in the future; didn’t your mother ever teach you how to talk to your betters?”
At this point it probably would have been best to keep silent, but Amy’s mouth didn’t listen to this sensible advice.
“Keep my mom out of this! My parents are both dead; if not, you would be the one with broken teeth after my dad sorted you out!”
He flashed the smile again. Crap! That sabre-toothed cat would have wet itself before attacking something with these teeth.
“I am sure that would have been the case, but by being dead they are no longer your owners or protectors; who owns you now?”
Amy ignored him.
“And just what were they doing leaving you hunting all alone at your age?”
OMG! He is going to start monologue-ing at me again! Amy thought to herself.
“Where are the manners they should have taught you? They should have informed you that there is no equality of the sexes with our species; bear that in mind before you insult a male again.”
“You should also know full well that I would be looking for marks of family ownership, family brands and the like that should still be visible even on a renegade like you. To suggest that I would need to take advantage of you while unconscious must be your idea of a sick joke, and yes, I do know it is your way of getting back at me for hitting you, so I will let it pass this time. Why are you not at home bouncing about the halls in a skimpy nightdress, which is all females ever do?”
The same strange
smile crossed his face again like someone listening to an internal joke. Just what was the point of this one-sided conversation?
“I think in your case, however, the standard, see-though nightdress of the female vampire would perhaps be a waste of money.”
He sounded far more pissed off by Amy’s comments than her actions in trying to claw him to death earlier. I was the naked one, yet here he was lecturing me like I was late handing in my homework and it would be my fault, not his, if I didn’t get into college.
To make matters worse, Amy could feel her face redden due to his comments, so she held her clothes tighter to her chest, thinking, No matter how disappointing a bust I may have, it is still mine and not for public display. Besides, she did not like the funny look he was giving her as one of his eyes started to twitch. Should I tell him about his eye? Well, having a guy keep winking at me while I shivered naked in front of him was not, and I repeat, NOT the sort of evening I had planned.
It was bad enough having to stand naked on a roof, err…… did I mention that? Looking behind him, Amy could see that they were at least five floors off the ground. Standing naked on top of a roof meant that she was now frigging cold as well as mega embarrassed. Another problem was that due to the cold air finding places to chill that she normally kept covered, she had just had a call from her bladder reminding her of the fact that blood is a liquid, and she had just drank an awful lot of it.
Okay, okay; perhaps she could put up with a monologue-ing and a winking weirdo in a business suit, but why the heck was he now singing at me? Not that it is real singing: more like a humming or purring like a cat. Oh, crap! If he starts singing songs from Broadway shows, I am going to be sick over the chorus.
He then put a hand out and tilted her head to one side, gently brushing her hair away with his other. As he moved closer, he radiated strength, no longer old but mature and extremely powerful. He also smelled very nice: a combination of hot chocolate, log fires, baking bread, and fresh coffee brewing.
Amy had never been that in tune with her inner vamp; she called it her “inner vamp” as she had always felt she had an invisible friend: not so much someone to play with when you are 6, but instead a presence inside of her. As soon as she bit into the rapist, the inner vamp appeared in Amy’s mind. She thought it was like having a friend that for years you were only on texting terms with, then suddenly she would turn up on your doorstep with a suitcase in hand and full intentions of moving in. I know they say one’s body is like a temple, but this temple had suddenly gotten squatters; this squatter was a bossy little slut that was making it very clear to me that to resist him was not an option as far as she was concerned.
He moved his head closer, and Amy could feel his tongue on her neck. Again, the voice of her inner vamp warned her not to move; Amy instinctively knew that he was going to bite, but when the bite came, it was so gentle that she could hardly feel him penetrate her. It was so different from the voice of her smutty inner vamp, who silently screamed at Amy that she wanted to feel him penetrate her somewhere else. Unbelievably, it felt good: so good that Amy let out an involuntary sigh. Her arms then dropped to her sides, letting the clothes fall where they wished around her feet. He was right about never needing to force himself on me; all he had to do was ask, and I would be his body and soul. No, he did not even need to ask; it would be more like me begging him to take me.
The bite lasted only a second, and then he walked away, deep in thought, leaving Amy just standing and staring down at her feet. With disappointment, she looked back up and quietly said (more to herself than to the stranger), “I need to go to the bathroom.”
He turned and looked her up and down then pointed across the roof. “Go over there out of sight, and for pity’s sake, get dressed.”
Grabbing her things, Amy ran to where he pointed, quickly relived herself and started to dress. She noticed that her hands were trembling. In fact, her whole body was trembling at the thought of walking back to him. She hoped that it was just fear that was making her tremble, but deep down, she could feel that her inner vamp was angry: not at the stranger but instead at what had not happened.
Amy had read all the romantic, trashy novels that described vampires as being cool, sexy and dangerous, but she couldn’t remember where in the heck it said that female vampires acted like ally cats when in the company of a male vampire? No wonder there was no equality of the sexes with vampires. How could there be when all a male had to do was lick your neck and you wanted to have his children? Or at least practice very hard at trying to have his children.
Walking back to where he was still standing, she knew that there was no point in thinking of trying to run away. It was hard enough to stop herself from skipping back to him like a five-year-old.
Upon reaching him, Amy resisted the urge to take her clothes back off and throw herself at his feet. Instead, she stood a few feet away with her head lowered, having a silent argument with her inner self on the best time and place to lose one’s virginity. He was now looking at her in a different way, as if seeing her anew. The way he looked made Amy feel far more naked than she had before when she actually had been naked.
“My, my; you are a strange one, my little Hell Cat. Who would have believed it? So young to be a renegade. People would think you a turnling if not for your fangs and odd smell. You are in fact all wrong; no wonder you smelled so odd down in the ally. You smelled of rotting meat and lily of the valley, and I so hate lily of the valley. Just how long have you been on a human-blood-free diet? Remarkable! You should have rotted away long ago; no normal vampire can survive long sucking on bits of dead cow. Am I right in assuming that was your first real human blood meal tonight?”
She swallowed, trying hard not to ask why he talked in statements. Amy answered, “Yes.”
“Well, forget about trying to rot away again; your body now knows what it needs, and it will never again be satisfied with mere lumps of raw cow.”
“So what am I to do with you? You clearly should not be walking around by yourself. I thought you were some runaway or perhaps a deranged female staying away from your betters because you like female company more than male company, but you are in fact as young as you look, and far too young to be out of a nest and on your own.”
“And the scent your body is giving off right now means you have very normal female needs,” he continued. “You will soon discover that your blood meal has awoken certain urges. Do try and control them, as it is not very becoming in a female to want to give herself to any passing male.”
“Yes, as I said, you will soon start to feel more like a vampire than the meat you so like living with. The movies humans make about sex-starved female vampires: well, they are nearly true unless you are controlled by your family. When in heat, you will want to lift your tail to any passing tomcat of a male vampire. It’s all in the blood memory, you see.”
“We are an old race, and in the past, females had a hunting area to feed and breed, which they protected from other females with fang and claw. Male vampires controlled a very large hunting ground that covered the areas of six or more females, and they would protect the females and either kill any other male who dared to enter the area or be killed himself and have his area taken over by the new dominant male.”
“This way, females only ever met the best and strongest of males to mate with. The urges you currently have are quite normal; your smell, as I said, is-well, do try and control yourself. I may be male, but I am not that desperate, so let’s talk about what I should do with you in other ways.”
Amy could feel her face redden, but more than that, she could feel that she was losing control, and not from being sick of being lectured to on a rooftop. No, something odd was going on, and his constant talking was not doing anything to help. She felt like she should get some popcorn and a Coke because it seemed as though she was watching a movie of herself. Her mind was pushed to one side. She was still standing there in front of him, but she looked different.
She cou
ld not place why she thought she looked different. It was a silly thought; I look as normal as ever. My coat of short fur is neat, well-groomed and of a nice black and red coloring. I am young and strong and in good condition to breed, but just why is the male in front of me ignoring me? I am in perfect condition; couldn’t he see how my wings trembled with my need for him?
“Your blood did not taste like I expected; you must be from some strange barbaric nest that threw you out to die due to your abnormalities. Your blood is little too old to be normal: a throwback of some sort, which perhaps could account for being able to live without blood for so long. It is unheard of; just how you have lasted so long without rotting away is beyond me. There are lots of unanswered questions: no master, no family, no brands or other ownership marking, very odd blood. Why, it would be a kindness to kill you right now to put you out of your misery. Would you like me to put you out of your misery, little Hell Cat?”
Amy mentally put the popcorn down, took control and looked up at him. Was he now threatening her? Confusion was turning to anger; she wanted to lash out at the world in general and at him in particular. Something was wrong. I don’t like being frightened, but I do angry even less well. The world was pink-looking and not doing what it should be doing. It was wrong. Amy was wrong, and he was wrong, and she could barely keep her claws sheathed as she let rip.
“Stop trying to freak me out, you weirdo! Shut up with the talking. Do you get some sort of kick out of messing with my mind? Stop messing with my minds! We can’t think straight. You are no better than the man you killed that was attacking me!”
“Stripping me naked when unconscious just to see girly vamp marks? Crap! Like you couldn’t have asked!? You are just another pervert! And for God’s sake, stop flapping those silly black bat wings up and down! I know they are not real but just more mind tricks, as I can see it’s an illusion, as one just passed through the wall!”