by Various
I sighed, knowing I would do anything for her even if it meant acting like one of them.
Veronica must hate being under Devon’s spell, locked away in her mind, unable to stop the torment her other half caused. She’d never want to live like that. I couldn’t leave her the way she was, even if it meant destroying her. I realized that after she attacked me. When I looked into her eyes it wasn’t her. I would make Devon pay for the things he did to her.
As my hatred of him grew so did my hunger. My teeth lengthened, and something snaked around in my mind, crawling out of a long buried hole. The more I fed it with my anger of Devon, the more it matured into something. The more I was haunted by the notion of his hands on her pale, lithe body, the more I wanted to rip his ears and eyes out, tear his dick off and eat his liver.
“That’s it! What did you do?” Aria asked.
I shrugged. I got pissed at Devon and something had opened in my mind. My wings itched to be released; my form wanted to reshape into something sinister. My hunger had flared up, but I didn’t feel as if something were going to take me over. I was still in control. I thought about it, taking hold of my hunger, molding it, pushing that and my anger outward. I closed my eyes, hardening the energy, cementing it to me to look as if I were something akin to Veronica and Aria. It was the same process I had used when I had been human, though the energy frequency was different.
I understood now why I couldn’t call up the energy I’d projected when I had been human. I had transcended death and become what I originally yearned for. Now I was something else, and I had to create another mask to make others believe I truly was like them. I laughed happily as I cracked the puzzle, understanding that even though I accepted what I was, I had to pretend to be something else. One always had to have a hidden face.
“Let’s go.”
“Do you think you can hold what you’re projecting?”
“Of course.” I smiled as my eyes inked red because I had found some semblance of the beast in me, and even though it was just an illusion, it was as real as I could make it.
We arrived in front of a house in the Bayou. It was a plantation house that had been there for a century or more. The paint on the columns was chipped; part of the roof sagged under the weight of a tree branch resting on the worn shingles. Shutters hung from rusted nails. The front steps were covered in swamp water. The buzz of bugs and the chirping of birds surrounded the house. In the distance, I heard the splashing of alligators rising and falling as they searched for food in the brackish water. In the swamps, the reptiles were the biggest predators. At least, that was what the humans thought.
We stepped onto the porch, and I let Aria knock on the door, which was surprisingly on its hinges and in good condition. She banged several times before the thing opened. When it did, I almost gasped at the sight, but I caught myself. A half putrefied human stepped aside and let us pass. She was naked from the waist up. One breast sagged with the nipple all but gone. Her other hung from pieces of muscle that had begun to decay. Wisps of blonde hair fell out even as she moved, revealing the white of her skull underneath. She looked on us with one eye hanging out of her socket, the other gone altogether. I tried not to touch her as I passed.
The overwhelming scent of blood hit me as we stepped over the threshold. My mouth watered, the bones in my jaw creaked as more teeth pushed against my gums, but I fought the urge. On the ground floor I was astonished to see how well furnished the house was. The wallpaper was still intact, and pictures of old family members adorned the walls. The hardwood floors were neatly polished and not even warped from the moisture. Electricity sparked through the wires, illuminating a crystal chandelier. A wooden staircase ascended to the second and third floors, inviting weary travelers to find an empty room to sleep in. This would not be a place I would want to rest my head.
Aria caught my awe and disgust as we walked through the hallway into a furnished sitting room, and then into the kitchen. The house was empty except for us and the thing that opened the door.
“What was she…it…back there?”
“She’s what happens when we don’t get enough blood. She’s the walking dead, literally. There’s no consciousness. All she knows is the blood that animated her has bound her here, and she does whatever Malachai wants. He probably doesn’t bother to feed her much. Usually they last longer. She seems pretty fresh. He had a few when we were together, but I hated them. They give me the creeps. They wait like hovering ghosts.” Aria shivered as we got to the kitchen.
She rapped on what seemed to be the pantry door and waited. Her knocks echoed as she pounded on the wood, bouncing lower into a basement or dungeon, and then the door opened. I expected another one of the things that had greeted us before, but this time a mortal in his late twenties unlocked the door and let us pass. He was shorter than me and glared as I stared right back at him. I probed his mind, my power cutting through him like a knife. Memories of him being fucked and fed on entered my thoughts. He loved every minute that the vampires used him. It didn’t matter if he died in a creature’s embrace, he wanted to be used. His ultimate goal was to join the ranks of the undead, but just by piercing his mind I knew his vampiric master would never bring him over. He was too much of a weakling and loved the idea of grandeur too much. He would remain a slave.
As I released my mind from his, he came. I knew then how much of a junkie he really was, getting fixes off what other vampires did to him. I cringed in disgust at the thought of humans actually wanting to be turned.
Granted, when I was human I always thought they were monsters in long, dark capes, beings to be romanticized. I didn’t know the whole truth. The more I learned of what my kindred truly were like, the more I despised them.
We descended a flight of stairs. The lackey led the way. The stairs led down into what used to be a basement or slave quarters. The scent of death lingered heavily in the air. Laughter echoed the further we descended. I heard the moaning and rattling of chains, of bodies slapping together in various stages of fucking. I tried to keep my eyes focused center, but there were so many distractions in the lavish rooms I couldn’t help but peek.
In one room, a vampire in full transformation held a mortal by the throat, digging into her breast with its teeth, gnawing at the soft tissue. When it caught my scent its eyes panned my way, pieces of flesh hung out of its mouth, blood dribbling on the black fur. I averted my eyes and the thing went back to its feast. In another room, further down the hall, I listened to the moans of a man. I glimpsed in and saw a vampire mostly in human form. A woman had her claws shoved in the asshole of a man with her fangs submerged in his neck. Another female vampire behind worked the human’s dick while suckling the other monster’s neck. Waves of ecstasy radiated off the second female vampire. In another room there were no vampires, just a set of women, twins, chained to the wall. They wore nothing more than collars, but they were each mounted on a mechanical contraption. I sniffed and found them to be alive, the scent of old sex lingered in the room, and I caught the sound of some kind of generator. When I looked closer I saw five gyrating poles. Three metal phalluses were attached on the end of the unoccupied ones. I shivered as I thought of the poor souls being fucked to death, locked away with the monsters.
I glanced over at Aria as I saw her eyes lingering on some of the rooms.
“The good old days,” I heard her mutter. She caught my eye and smiled.
“What?”
The junkie looked between the two of us and gathered I was new. “Those are the prep rooms. The Master likes his meat to be ready. Their orgasms give the blood a flavor he enjoys. You must be new. I’ve not seen you before.”
“She’s none of your concern. Now stop doddering and bring us to your Master. Or I’ll tell him how naughty you’ve been and you’ll get nothing. Now go!” Aria barked at him.
The junkie jumped, swearing under his breath and ran on ahead of us down to the end of the hall. He slipped past an oak door and closed it behind him. Mentally I check
ed my shields and found they still held, but to be sure I thought of Devon molesting Veronica again, and how willingly humans like the junkie could give themselves to these creatures. I grew furious, reflecting the emotion outward.
“Careful. Don’t let him think you’re too powerful. Then he’ll want you for his stable. Remember what I said. Don’t look at him more than once.”
I nodded, trying to relax. The door opened on well-oiled hinges. Aria stepped forward on the stone floor, and we were ushered into a large room. I kept my head bowed, casting quick glances to my left and right. Candles lined the walls and were scattered on a lush red rug. The color reminded me of dried blood; if there were any accidents there would be no way to know how much of a mess there would be. The whole room smelled like musk and frankincense. Sofas and chairs were scattered about the room, each housing vampires, and mortals in various stages of undress, some fucking, others just toying with the humans. From a quick mental scan of the victims, each of them was a willing participant. Or maybe they were now, but had been taken hostage once upon a time; now, every one of them was hooked on being dominated, sucked on like a straw.
“Master, they are here to see you,” the junkie said, his voice quivering with fear or anticipation, perhaps both.
“I can see that, Joey. Now run along and tell everyone I am not to be disturbed. This will be the last of my audiences.” His voice was smooth as oil and just as volatile.
The lackey ran out of the room, whooshing past us trying to get out of the path of his master’s wrath. I smirked as he went past. I understood why he was on the bottom of the food chain. Even I could control the boy with just a word. One didn’t even need a mental suggestion.
“Arriana, is that really you?” Malachai asked.
“Of course, love. It’s been a long time.”
“You haven’t changed a bit. Just gotten a bit stronger, I take it. And who is this lovely specimen you have brought me. A gift?”
Malachai got off his throne and came to me. His hands cupped one of my exposed breasts as it sat atop my corset. It was the only one I owned that left my breasts bare and came to a point in the space between my tits. He tweaked the nipple, testing to see how hard it would get. He then slid a clawed finger under my black mini skirt and into me. The entry forced me to look up into his face. My eyes met his as I tried not to be shocked. I was not used to being a sex toy, and the world that I had entered was something new to me. I was the one normally making the decision as to whom I slept with. Being on the other side was not too pleasing.
His eyes were cloudy gray, his face white as a man-made pearl. He had brown hair that fell in waves to just below his chin, too short to put back. His mouth was full, almost like a woman’s, and he had a cleft chin. I could have died in his eyes as he looked at me.
He moved his finger inside of me, pulling me closer to him, causing me to moan. He smiled at the sound, exposing two long teeth. “You liked that didn’t you, little one?”
“Yes,” I replied, and I remembered to look away after I answered him.
He moved his finger again, the sharpness cutting into me as if I had been impaled on a dagger, but I wanted more. After a moment, his hot breath exploded on my neck, as he was about to taste me. Then Aria’s cool hand came around my shoulder, showing her claim on me. Malachai withdrew himself, but I didn’t want him to. I desired him to use me as he would a piece of meat. I craved to be Malachai’s, but with Aria’s hand on my shoulder I snapped out of my daze and now understood why whatever human or vampire that came to him would stay with him forever. He was dangerous, enticing anyone with a hint of his power. I wondered how Aria had not succumbed to him, but I had a feeling she had had to fight to leave him.
“I did not bring her here for you to play with. I found this young one looking for her master, and as a courtesy I brought her to you, so you could reunite the two of them. She’s practically lost without him, aren’t you little one?”
“Yes,” I answered obediently.
“So you didn’t come here to make amends!” Malachai’s voice grew cold and distant.
The back of my brain started to itch, the same feeling I got when I had been human. Something bad was about to happen. I wanted to tell Aria we should leave, but now would not be the time to break the charade. I just swallowed and held my tongue, hoping that whatever I felt was a mistake.
“Make amends? I have nothing to make amends for. What happened between us ended a century ago. I thought you would have let it pass. I came here hoping you could help this poor creature.”
“Bullshit! You came here to get something out of me. This poor creature is not what she says, and if you don’t know that then you’re as stupid as the rest of the meat lovers you covet. No, this one is special. I can tell that about her even now,” he paused and turned his dangerous attention to me.
“So what do you want from me? Tell me and maybe I’ll help you,” he cooed.
His mind pressed against mine like a warm blanket. He would caress me from the inside out and take away all of my fear and pain. I yearned to fall into his wonderful embrace, but there was a reason I had come here. I had to be strong.
I summoned my anger at the thought of Devon and then the thought of Malachai as he allowed the other vampires to ravage the mortals around him. I didn’t understand how he could do that, or why they so wanted to be used by other vampires. Focusing this hatred, I was able to slice away his will from my thoughts.
“Brenna, don’t listen to him.”
The itching in the back of my head grew and even though I had cut his power from my mind, the problem hadn’t been solved. Danger still lurked in the shadows.
I looked up from my feet and stared right at Malachai. A look of shock appeared on his face. He had not assumed I would stare at him, that I would have the will to do it. I didn’t think I had the will to do it either, but I did. I cast off the aura I had been holding onto dearly, letting it shatter so he could see what I truly was, and what I truly wasn’t. Aria took in a breath and waited, as all of the other vampires in the room stopped and stared. I took a step forward toward the throne he sat on, testing his strength more than my own. I knew how powerful I was.
“Aria brought me here so I could find one like you.”
He was surprised I had challenged his power, but after a moment he recovered and tried again to bore his will into mine, to read my thoughts. However, he was not going to hold me this time. Malachai’s mind pushed against my shields like a raging flood on a dam, but I was not budging. I knew with his power he had to be older than Aria by at least a thousand years. I stood my ground, not bending.
“You’re a powerful creature, almost as strong as me, and certainly stronger than Arriana. You have a will of your own. You’d make a lovely addition to my stable. I could use one like you. Maybe someone to argue with. Soon you’d be begging me to ride you, to release you from your tortured mind. Wouldn’t you like that?”
“I don’t think so.” I turned to Aria. “Let’s go. He won’t help us.”
“No one ever turns their back on me!” Malachai screamed behind me.
Before I had time to face him, I’d already been thrown across the room, landing on my side, sliding across the rug. Bones cracked in my back as pain shot from my right side. It was hard to breathe as broken ribs punctured my lung. I turned to Malachai. He was still in human form but his claws extended, and his wings were drawn into his side. I took in a shallow breath, wiping the blood away with my tongue. He smiled at the sight, his forked tongue licking his lips. The itching had stopped in my brain. I was impulsive as ever and never listened to the advice I was given, even if it was otherworldly.
My own claws emerged as well as my wings. I was not afraid of him, or his kind. The other vampires in the room withdrew to the corners, knowing better than to get in the middle of the showdown. I got the sense of amusement from the master of the house. He thought he could bend me like a twig because to him I was a child. I smirked. I would show him what a c
hild could do.
Gathering my strength, I ignored my wound and moved faster than he realized. I swiped with my claws, severing one of his wings. It fell to the floor, leaking blackened blood like a faucet. The thing looked like a piece of cardboard now that it had been disconnected. It flapped by itself and then stopped moving as Malachai shrieked from the pain.
He rushed at me fully transformed, his toe talons grating furrows in the red carpet. I saw him and ducked, taking advantage of the fact that he was off balance from the loss of his wing. He turned and charged again. This time I was not fast enough, and he scraped my arm to the bone, almost amputating it by the shoulder. It still rendered my left arm useless until I could heal it. I screamed in pain and was fueled by anger now more than anything.
I put my head down and tackled him with my good arm. Both of us collapsed on the ground. Before he recovered I got on top of him, planting my weight so he couldn’t move. He struggled and tried to get free, but I held him fast between my legs. As he did I got an idea. I noticed one of the candles nearby and cast my mind out, calling it to me. It was only a small object so I could get it. It tottered across the carpet until it was within reach. I grabbed it and held it close to his face, close enough that several pieces of his fur caught on fire. He yelped in pain and fear. I smiled and brought it to his eye so he could feel the heat. It was already starting to sizzle as the hot wax dripped into his open socket. As this happened, he transformed back to human form under me. It was a good thing, too, because I was running out of strength, not used to fighting another vampire.
“Please, you’ve shown them who has won. I’ve been disgraced. No one has ever bested me. They’re yours, take them. I’m sure that was why Arriana brought you here in the first place, to take over my brood.”
I glanced at Aria and then back at him. I certainly didn’t want the brood of subservient monsters he had under his roof. I just wanted Devon. “I don’t give a fuck about what you’ve got going on here. I just want some information.”