“Are you okay? I’m sorry,” he said.
“Shut up,” she said “Oh my God, shut up and don’t stop.”
And then, as dawn finally broke into the room through the thin lines of the blinds, he continued to let that energy out. He felt her fingernails digging into his back and his sides and it just spurred him on. She may have come again, but he wasn’t sure. Something about this girl was pushing him to his limits; thought and reasons were long gone as he was inside of her.
When he came, he thought it was probably the most defenseless he had ever been in his life. She continued to work against him until his body collapsed beside her, totally spent.
Afterwards, they both shivered against one another. She kissed him lightly on the mouth and then rested her head on his chest. She placed her hand on his hip and then lay very still against him.
It was then that Saul realized that he was in some serious trouble. Some very serious trouble indeed.
5
The creature stalked through the dusk, weaving through trees and stepping lightly onto the foliage on the ground. There was blood on its face and hands. The rich smell of it filled his nostrils and he could still taste some from his earlier meal, still clinging to his tongue. It walked to the edge of a copse of trees and stood motionlessly, looking out to the tiny clearing within the trees.
A cabin sat there, unremarkable in every way. But the creature could smell several scents coming off of it even from this distance. It smelled the stale scent of his enemy—a smell very much like its own, only slightly sharper. On top of this smell, it could also detect the smell of sex. It chuffed at this. He could smell the human reek of sex but the smell of his enemy easily obliterated it.
The creature stood there for an hour and a half, just staring at the small cabin. It stood there until night fell and then it returned to where it had come from, deeper in the woods of the small town of Red Creek. It didn’t originate from these woods; no, it came from a dark place across the sea, some godforsaken little hole in a jungle that humanity hadn’t been able to venture into and ruin just yet. It had only been in Red Creek for two days and it had already grown to hate the place. How his enemy, Saul Benton, and his wretched little clan had managed to survive out here for this long was beyond its comprehension.
But soon enough, it knew it would be able to leave, to return to its dark undiscovered region until it was his clan’s time to feed again. First, though, it had a job to do. It shouldn’t take long. He was just waiting for a go-ahead from those in charge.
It crept through the forest, almost stopping on one occasion to pounce upon a deer that had traipsed by to the east. The creature ignored the deer. It had already fed quite well and could go without another meal for a few days. Besides—it had enjoyed human blood very recently. The blood of a deer would be like piss in comparison.
It walked further into the dark forests. The smell of Saul Benton was still with it, but it was fainter now, like some stagnant scent on a breeze. It eventually came to a large outcropping of rock that sat embedded into the forest floor. It went to the right side of this rock face and found the small crevice that led further into the ground.
It was a tight fit, but the creature’s body squeezed in easily enough. It took in the earthy smells calling to him from below. It crawled ahead, deeper into the earth. Its eyes grew accustomed to the darkness quickly. He could even see the faint glistening trails of red ahead of him from where he had dragged the bodies down here.
It eventually made it to the area where the passage thinned out. It stood in a large chamber of sorts, almost a cavern. To its right, huddled in the corner like a pile of rags, was the newest body. The creature had nearly taken all of the blood from it. The body’s face stared upwards. It was the pale face of Jason Eastman; his face was frozen forever, wide-eyed with fear.
The creature sat down on the rock floor and waited. It would sit there all night, waiting for the day to arrive. Here in the cave, it was hard to tell the difference between the two but, like Saul, it had a very good internal system that could easily separate day from night.
The creature looked to its left and saw a second body. Taking this body had nearly been an impulse. It had taken this man just before paying Jason Eastman a visit. This man’s expression was blank, as he had not had time to register the horror he was seeing before the creature had twisted his neck and sank its teeth into his flesh.
The broken neck made the head of Lester Dobbs stare off slightly to the right. His eyes looked tired. When the creature had sucked his blood down, it had tasted a strong dose of several types of alcohol. It had been rather sweet and surprisingly filling.
The creature sat there with the two bodies and waited. The smell of the earth filled his senses but he could still smell Saul Benton under it all. It made sure that the smell of his enemy was always present, always at the center.
Because when it got the okay to do so, it would be time to act. And the quicker he could get to Saul, the better.
In the dark, the vampire known as Leibald looked at the bodies it had taken recently and grinned.
CHAPTER FIVE
1
Nikki dozed for only a few hours before the chiming of her cell phone’s alarm clock blared out from Saul’s living room. She stirred against him, amazed for about the hundredth time in the last few hours when she realized again just how massive he was. Her head was on his chest and when she peered up to him, she saw that her alarm had broken his sleep, too.
“Sorry,” she said. “Work.”
“That alarm is annoying,” Saul said, sleepily. His hand found the small of her back and caressed her lightly.
“I know,” she said, stretching against him.
She rolled over and faced him. It was the first time since she had come into his cabin swinging her fists at him that she had actually looked in his eyes. Saul smiled at her. The gaze was nice. Warming.
“Can I use your shower?” she asked.
“Sure.”
“I’d ask you to join me,” she said, “but I already want you again and I have to be at work in an hour.”
Saul smiled and realized that he was more than up for another round with her. His hand, until then lightly grazing along the small of her back, trailed down to her naked rear where he grabbed with just enough force to get the point across.
“Don’t try to start something,” Nikki said with a smile, nuzzling against his chest. She made a light purring sound. With a sigh, she rolled out of bed.
Saul watched her as she walked into the living room, towards the shrill noise of the alarm. She’d apparently stripped her clothes off in there last night because she was nude as she left the room. He watched her go with great interest, studying the shapes of her body. She was almost too skinny—he guessed maybe just over one hundred pounds. Her breasts were small but fit her frame well. Her legs were the sort that gave the illusion that they were long but were really average. They appeared long due to the way Nikki carried herself. Currently, she was walking in a way that let Saul know that she was well aware that he was watching her go.
When she was out of sight, Saul heard her let out a light curse and then the alarm stopped. The cabin was tiny so it was easy for her to deduce where the shower was. Saul had purposefully not told her where it was. If she came back into the room to ask him where it was, he was going to pull her back into bed. She could be a few minutes late for work.
He listened to the shower come on two rooms further down and imagined her stepping under the water, lathering her chest and stomach with his soap. It was almost enough to make him get out and join her.
Calm down, he told himself. You can’t get carried away. You’re acting like you’ve been crushing on this girl forever. This could get complicated. If you were smart, you’d tell her not to come back ever again the moment she gets out of the shower.
But he then thought about the way she had looked at him moments ago, their eyes locking as if he were a normal man that she wanted as a lover
. It was new to him and he had liked it more than he should have.
Saul listened to the water cascading down and stared at the ceiling.
“Damn,” he said, knowing that he had some tough decisions ahead of him.
2
Nikki had been gone for at least half an hour before Saul finally got out of bed. He walked into his kitchen, fried up a few eggs and was halfway through breakfast when he sensed the other presence in the cabin with him. He recognized it right away, only there was something different about it now—something sinister. He swiveled his chair and saw the dark figure standing in the center of the living room.
“Benali,” he said. “Back so soon?”
“You’re a fool to be making light of this visit,” Benali said. “I assume you know why I’m here.”
“Yes,” Saul said. “I have a good idea. But I was not breaking any of The Guard’s rules.”
“This is true. So long as you conduct your sexual relations with this human with the utmost discretion and do not harm her, no rules are broken. That does not alter the fact that you have had numerous other issues as of late.”
“About that,” Saul said, standing to face Benali. He walked towards the entity, leaving no more than three feet between them. Saul meant to do it as an act of bravery but he could tell that Benali was not impressed. If Benali chose to do so, he could likely kill Saul without much effort.
“Yes?” Benali said.
“What happened to Nikki’s friend, Jason Eastman?”
Benali’s faceless composure nearly hid the doubt that flared through his body. But Saul knew it was there; he sensed it in the slight hesitation of Benali’s answer. “I don’t know. But The Guard is looking into it.”
“Do you have any initial thoughts?” Saul asked. “Does it make you any more certain that there might be a rival family in Red Creek? Could someone be trying to draw me out for some reason?”
“I’d say that there’s a good chance that rogue parties are involved.”
“Other vampires?”
“That would be my guess, yes.”
Saul said nothing to this. The implications of this were enormous. If there was a rogue family in Red Creek, what was their purpose? And if they were indeed here, why would they kill Jason Eastman?
“I don’t think you have any need to worry,” Benali said. “If there is indeed a rogue tribe here in Red Creek, they would be committing treason if they interfered with your life here in any way.”
“Let me get this straight then,” Saul said. He didn’t even try to hide the anger in his voice. “If I have sex with a woman, you’re on me in a heartbeat. But there might be a rogue family in this small town, and you can’t locate them?”
“It’s not as easy as that,” Benali said. “I have other suspicions, but none that I can share with you at the moment. These are things The Guard needs to discuss first.”
With an aggravated grunt, Saul stepped away from Benali and returned to his eggs on the kitchen table. “Well thanks for the help. I feel much better now.”
Benali stood motionless in the living room, a living, breathing shadow in human form. “Saul, this girl…does she know what you are?”
Saul didn’t even skip a beat when he lied. “No,” he answered.
It was the first time he had ever lied to a member of The Guard. Being caught in a lie with The Guard could generate terrible repercussions, but Saul didn’t care in that moment. If Benali was keeping secrets from him about Jason Eastman’s fate, then he didn’t see why he couldn’t have some secrets of his own.
“Please,” Benali said. “Keep it discreet.”
Saul only nodded. He forked eggs into his mouth until he felt the heavy presence of The Guard’s representative disappear from behind him. When he turned and found the living room empty, he let out a loud curse.
Only eight more years before he would be able to feed and hopefully be reunited with his sister. Eight short years…why was all of this happening now?
This made him think of Nikki. He wondered if he should do the right thing and end things with her. It was just too much of a risk. But he knew that by ending things with a human that knew his true identity, he left far too many loose ends. He didn’t know Nikki well enough to know how she’d handle such a rejection.
Of course, if she did go around Red Creek saying that he was a vampire, the town would probably just think of it as another silly rumor about the Benton family. So what did he care?
Saul placed his dish in the sink and headed back to bed where it took him a very long time to fall asleep.
3
The hours at work seemed to float by on a cloud. Nikki was glad that Lily was having one of her more oblivious days. Nikki was having trouble focusing on much of anything. She would start cleaning the windows and vacuuming the lobby floor of the B&B only to have her mind trace backward to last night.
Nikki felt guilty because she knew that her thoughts should have been on Jason. Hell, she really shouldn’t even have been at work today. But she figured working would take her mind off of everything. If she was being honest with herself, that was the primary reason she had slipped into Saul’s bed last night. She had wanted to forget about Jason and what had happened to him.
But then something had happened—there had been some weird connection between her and Saul there in the dark. It had been something more than just the melding of their bodies or the need to shed off stress through sex – something deeper. She wasn’t dumb enough to think that it was love or anything close, but some sort of internal… clicking together.
Nikki couldn’t place her finger on it, but there was something in Saul’s brown eyes that was otherworldly; it was almost like some sort of electricity wired deep in his body, blooming out through his eyes. Whatever that force was, she felt like it had latched on to her last night.
Her workday neared its end before Nikki quite knew it had even begun. She started putting everything away and did her best to sidestep Lily, avoiding a rambling conversation about Jason, no doubt. Although the murder was the talk of the town, no one had really known that Nikki was friends with him so she managed to sidestep that awkwardness so far.
Nikki stepped outside shortly after five o’clock. At first, she had no doubts in her mind that she would leave the Red Creek B&B and head directly to Saul’s cabin. But then she thought that it might do her some good to go to her apartment and deal with whatever odd feelings were still tumbling through her in regards to Jason. Besides, when it came to Saul, she liked what they had going. They had not exchanged numbers, nor had they agreed on another time to meet. They’d had sex — amazing sex, at that — and there was a very cool sort of vibe between them. She didn’t want to ruin that by heading to his house whenever she started to feel lonely.
Nikki checked the door to make sure it was locked, as Lily had left early. She did that a lot. Lily usually just farted around town, doing nothing in particular. Nikki didn’t care; it was kind of cool having the B&B to herself on some days.
Nikki walked down the porch and into the gravel lot towards her car. She made it halfway to her car before she saw the dark shape come barreling out of the trees to her right. She had no idea what the shape was, not even after it collided with her and knocked the breath from her. She was knocked backwards, rebounding from her car hard.
She tried to scream but could draw in no breath. The thing was now on top of her, pressing down on her and shoving her hard into the gravel. She fought against the weight of what she now gathered to be a person dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt and dark gray sweatpants. If the strength of this individual was any indication, it was a man. But there was a smell coming off of him that was terrible. It was like road kill in the summer, rolling out of the person’s mouth and into her face in hot waves of breath.
She felt the man pin her left arm to the ground, scratching the back of her hand on the gravel. She tried to pull it away but the man’s grip on her wrist was like that of a vice. She felt her breath slowly
coming back to her and the first thing she did was whimper in pain. The blow to her back against the car had knocked the air out of her and hurt like a bitch and now her left hand was being ground into gravel.
The man on top of her said nothing. He fought rather easily against her, now searching for her right hand to also presumably pin to the ground. She swung her right arm madly to try to prevent him from getting it. She screamed as loud as she could, feeling a pain in her chest and back.
Then, out of sheer instinct, Nikki grabbed Lily’s keychain in her right hand, holding it like a small knife. She felt the key to the B&B’s front door, long and metallic against her palm. She let it slide out a bit and then moved her right hand down onto the man as he groped for her wrist.
He caught her hand too late, only partially blocking her attack; Lily’s key had already sunk into the side of his neck. The man screamed a guttural howl, more of anger than pain. Still, he let up just enough for Nikki to slide out from under him. As she did she slashed out again with the keys, catching him in the face that was still mostly hidden beneath the hood of the sweatshirt.
She then opened her car door and fell inside. She reached out for the door and managed to pull it closed just before the man’s arm could stop her. She slammed the lock down and shoved her keys into the ignition. As she did, she caught a glimpse of the man’s face in her peripheral vision.
But that couldn’t be right…that made no sense. It didn’t look like a man at all. It looked like a demon, some monster straight from hell. Nikki began to shake as her car roared to life and reached down to throw the car into drive.
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