by Cassie Black
"Atticus and Julius are going to bring that woman here today, and they are going to do what they have to do to get her with child, because if they don't, she will be taken by another vampire. My sons have tried long and hard to learn how to do this without damaging the woman too much. I cannot say the same for the other vampires out there. If they were to get their hands on her, she would die in agony within a very short period of time. Here she at least has a chance of surviving. Her child will naturally be fetched with her, and she will become part of our family, just as Annie and Stephanie have, whether her mother survives or not."
"We are monsters, Millie, and we are very aware of that. But we also want to survive as a species, and many would say we have that right."
I said nothing, digesting this new information. I looked at its source and wondered if he was telling the truth. It sounded plausible to me.
"And there are those of us who will always try to be less of a monster," he added, smiling ruefully.
There was a knock on the door then, and Annie opened it slightly and stuck her head around it.
"Sorry to interrupt, Dad, but breakfast is ready, and it's going to get cold if Millie doesn't eat it soon."
"Thanks, Annie," Titus smiled at her, affection in his eyes.
"Should I come with you?" I asked her, suddenly hungry.
"No, honey, I'll bring it here."
"Why don't you and Steph come and join us?" Titus suggested.
"OK, I'll need to get her off the computer. She's shopping online for baby clothes."
"Steph likes to shop," Titus whispered to me as if he were imparting a great and significant secret, and he winked. I grinned back at him in spite of myself.
Annie returned shortly with bacon and eggs and toast, and Steph came bounding into the room like an excited puppy behind her. She stopped talking as soon as she saw me, and looked nervous, as if she'd been caught doing something naughty. I shook my head at her and gave her a tight smile, and she squealed in delight, and started describing all her numerous online purchases. Titus leaned back in his chair and watched her, an indulgent smile curling his lips.
I zoned her out while I ate breakfast, refusing the coffee that Annie offered. For some reason it turned my stomach. I watched as the two women interacted with the vampire, marvelling at the informality of their conversation. After a while I felt my eyelids start to droop.
"Annie, I think Millie is falling asleep," I heard Titus' deep voice saying softly.
"I'll tuck her in bed," I heard Annie whisper. "It's the pregnancy, isn't it?"
"Yes. Your mother was the same when she carried the boys, even from very early on. She'll feel a lot better this afternoon." He paused for a few moments. "If you run into Atticus, let me know. I need to talk to him."
Annie came over to me and gently helped me to my feet. I felt so tired, as if my whole body just wanted to sink into the ground and take me with it. I stumbled along behind her, barely conscious. I stood swaying, my eyes already closed, as she helped me out of my jeans, and guided me in the direction of the bed. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
XV
I dreamt I was stuck in a sinkhole with my arms trapped at my sides. There was only enough room to breathe. Eventually I heard two voices above me, but also from far away, the way it is in dreams that never make any sense. I tried to call out to them to help me, but the rocks that gripped me tightened every time I tried to take a deep enough breath to be able to shout out. I gave up eventually and just allowed myself to exist, suspended in that rocky fist while the voices hummed above.
"You're going to need to be careful with this one. She has fire in her. She reminds me of your mother. If you don't treat her well, Atticus, you could end up losing her too."
"What happened, Father? You always refused to tell us."
"I was too ashamed. I still am, and it's unbelievably difficult for me to speak to anyone of this, to admit my guilt, but I am worried that if I don't warn you history could repeat itself." There was the briefest of pauses.
"Your mother killed herself when she realised she couldn't escape me. First she tried to kill me, but as you know that is an almost impossible achievement for a human. It was a stark warning, but I disregarded it, and assumed it was the hormones generated by her pregnancy that had caused her to take such drastic action. She was carrying our third child, a child that I had forced upon her in my relentless pursuit of sons."
"How did she die?"
"She stabbed herself in her lower belly, over and over again. By the time we discovered what she had done, she was beyond the help of even such a fine surgeon as Andronicus. The last thing she said to me was I could have loved you. I held her in my arms as the life left her and I cried, not for my unborn son, but for the beautiful woman I had killed."
"I realised just how much I had lost when she died. And I knew that it was my fault. Instead of jealously guarding her, and bullying her, and raping her, I should have given her a measure of freedom. But I was so obsessed with her and her body and her smell and her femaleness. Don't do that, son. You did what you had to do to get that child in her belly, and you will help your brother do the same with the new woman, but don't do it again. Let her say no to you, and she might love you for it."
The voices faded then, and the rocks opened up, creating a warm cave with little plump chickens dancing on the walls. I woke up then, and looked around me at the empty bedroom, and wondered if the dream had been just that, a dream, or if it had been something more real. Definitely not the chickens, I giggled to myself, and hauled myself out of bed and into the bathroom, where I combed out the rats nest that my hair had formed itself into, and washed my face. I looked at myself in the mirror and got a nasty shock. My skin was paler than usual, and I had dark circles under my eyes despite all the sleeping I'd been doing. Pregnancy must not agree with me, I thought, for the first time admitting that it might be true. I could be pregnant, and growing a child. A baby vampire. Jesus.
I carefully considered everything that Titus had told me earlier. It certainly put a new spin on things, but for me it wasn't enough. I would continue to make the best of the situation I found myself in, because that's who I was. But this had all been forced on me, and I knew without a doubt that if I got the chance, I would leave.
In a heartbeat.
XVI
My stomach growled, and I realised that I was hungry. That explained the chickens, then. I found my jeans draped over the back of a chair in Atticus' bedroom and pulled them on. Then I made for the door, and tried the handle, feeling absurdly pleased when I found that it was unlocked. There was a beautifully furnished sitting room on the other side of the door, with a huge leather couch that just cried out to be bounced on. I resisted with some difficulty and made my way to the door on the opposite side of the room, which also opened under my hand.
There was a stone walled passage beyond this, and I could smell cooking and hear voices so I made my way towards them, noting the beauty of the house and the well appointed furniture. It all looked incredibly old, but tasteful and well cared for.
I found Annie and another woman in the kitchen, preparing dinner. Annie smiled when she saw me, and indicated a wooden bench that ran the length of a blocky kitchen table. I sat, and the woman with her introduced herself as "Mary the housekeeper" and proceeded to offer me a cup of tea and some chicken curry, which was currently simmering in a pot on the stove. I said a grateful yes to both, and spent the next twenty minutes eating an early dinner and drinking three cups of tea, which they dispensed from an enormous old teapot. When I'd finished the entire plate, Annie offered to give me a tour of the house. I eagerly accepted, and she dragged through passages and massive rooms and hallways, explaining the history of the place as she went. I listened with half an ear while I tried to get my bearings in what seemed like a complete and utter rabbit warren. I was just standing in a large hall trying to figure out where any of the rooms were in relation to this one, when a large door at one end of
the room burst open, and Julius and Atticus strode in.
Julius carried a limp body wrapped in a large leather coat, naked legs poking out one end of the coat and loads of red hair out the other. Atticus walked behind him, his expression harsh and stony. He wore a black leather coat similar to the one ensconcing the redhead, and carried two large pump action shotguns. There was a large rip in the front of the coat, revealing a bloodstained shirt.
He saw us and smiled grimly.
"We may need Andronicus, Annie."
"I'll get hold of him," she said, and disappeared through a seemingly random door.
"She's starting to wake up," said Julius as he passed me.
"Do you need some help? I've done loads of first aid courses, and she might feel a bit better if I'm there when she wakes up," I suggested. I felt awful for this poor woman, who had been dragged, kicking and screaming from the looks of things, into this nightmare. Reluctant as I was to get involved, I still felt that I owed it to her to help in any way I could.
Atticus looked at me, surprised, and then he grinned.
"Thanks, Millie, we would really appreciate that." I smiled back briefly, and followed them down a passage to a familiar looking metal door. Atticus leaned past Julius and activated the security pad, and the metal door opened automatically. I hesitated briefly, unsure if I wanted to voluntarily step into that basement again, but the thought of the terror the woman would probably feel when she woke up hardened my resolve. The door closed behind us.
Julius strode straight to the bedroom and lay his burden gently on the bed. She stirred slightly and one side of the coat fell open. She was completely naked beneath it, and blood spattered her skin. Julius stood back and watched her, frowning heavily. He had a large tear in the front of his shirt, and an ugly looking wound beneath that still oozed blood.
I went and sat next to the woman on the bed, and took one of her hands in my own. She stirred again, but her eyes remained closed.
"What happened?" I asked in a low voice, glancing up at Atticus, who stood next to Julius with his hand on his shoulder.
"She'd already been taken by the Arnold clan. They had her in one of their safe houses, naked and bound to a bed. When we arrived, they were just about to start." A muscle twitched in Julius' cheek and he clenched his teeth. Atticus patted his shoulder. "She's safe now, Julius. We got to her in time."
"And we shot ten kinds of crap out of those bastards," Julius said, his voice low and harsh and quivering with rage.
"That we did, brother." Atticus grinned wickedly. "Gave them a bit of a nasty shock, actually."
I watched the woman's eyes flutter and smiled grimly to myself. Serve them right, I thought. I wished someone had done the same for me.
"What's her name?"
"Jen," said Julius shortly, not moving his gaze from the woman on the bed.
XVII
As if she had heard him say her name, her eyes opened and she half sat up. I watched her expression change from confused to terrified, as she recalled the events of the past few hours. I tightened my grip on her hand, and stared intently into her eyes.
"Jen," I said urgently. "Look at me." Her eyes fluttered around the room but settled on my face. "You're safe now," I told her, gripping her hand even more tightly, anchoring her to the reality of the here and now. My mother had always been prone to panic attacks, and I had learned early on how to help her cope with them.
Jen stared at me for a few seconds and then looked behind me to Atticus and Julius, and then she clutched my hand back and burst into tears, huge racking sobs jerking through her body. I leaned forward and put my other arm around her shoulders, holding her tightly against me in a hug. She cried and cried, tears running down her face and staining the front of my shirt. I half turned at one stage and waved Atticus and Julius out, mouthing Annie and hoping they'd figure out what I wanted.
After a while the sobs subsided. Jen lifted her head from my chest and tried to smile. I smiled back.
"Right," I said, in my best business-like tone. "Hot shower. Cup of tea. TV. In that order. Let's go."
I stood and pulled her to her feet. The coat fell away from her, and she looked down at her nakedness and almost started crying again.
"We're not thinking about that now," I told her firmly. "We can dwell on the what-almost-happened later, but right now we need to get you cleaned up and fed and calm, so when Julius and Atticus bring your little girl here, you can reassure her and be her mom. 'Kay?"
"OK," she whispered, but she stood up straight and let me lead her to the shower. I turned the taps on and waited until the water was nice and hot, and then I pushed her under it. She shivered as the heat hit her skin, and then she sighed, opened her eyes, and started soaping herself down. I left her to go and remove the coat and try and strip the top layer of bedding from the bed, but Annie had beaten me to it. I was really quite grateful to see her.
"They need to fetch her daughter," I said in a low voice.
"The boys have left to do that already."
"Gosh," I said. "I hope they changed first." Annie chuckled.
"They did. Do you need anything else?"
"Tea, and lots of it. Two chicken curry dinners."
"Two?" she asked, grinning.
"Yes, two," I sighed. "I'm still hungry." Annie chuckled again, and finished making up the bed.
I went back to the bathroom, where Jen had finished her shower and was drying herself. I hauled out a terrycloth robe from the cupboard in the corner, and handed it to her wordlessly. She slipped her arms into the sleeves and fastened it around her waist, and then she curled a towel around her wet hair.
"Better?" I asked.
"Yes. Thank you."
"Come on then." We went to the bedroom, and stretched out side by side on the bed, and I turned the TV on. We debated the potential advantages of the various programs on offer, and finally settled for a well known, and extremely funny sitcom. Annie walked in a short while later with a large tray. She placed it on the bedside table, briefly introduced herself to Jen, who reciprocated, and then she left.
"She seems nice," Jen said while we divided up the contents of the tray.
"She's OK. And so's her daughter, Steph, although she's a bit loopy too."
"Who were the two guys who rescued me and brought me here?" she asked, trying not to appear too curious. Ha! I thought, little does she know that one of them is going to be a sure thing for her. I wondered if I had made a mistake coming down here to talk to her. What I had to say would probably frighten her more than not knowing anything.
"The dark one is Julius, and the one with blonde hair is Atticus."
"They were so fast. They just came in and shot those things to pieces. Are they OK? I think they might have been hurt. Those things had knives."
"Oh, they'll be fine," I said dryly.
"What were those things?"
"Vampires," I said laconically, wondering how she'd react.
"I thought they might be. They had fangs and black eyes and these enormous..."
"Yes, I know," I said, marvelling at how easily she had accepted a bizarre explanation, that also just so happened to be true.
"Why me?"
"Because you smell right," I told her. She looked puzzled, so I launched into an explanation of the whole vampire and human woman business. I explained about vampire law, and the protection that pregnancy offered.
"Does it hurt?" she wanted to know. I knew exactly what she meant.
"What do you think? And they have spikes."
"What?" she squealed.
"I know, right? They only come out after orgasm, so if you lie dead still for thirty minutes they go down again, and then they can withdraw." I was actually quite stunned by the matter-of-fact way in which I was telling her all of these things. But what stunned me even more was the matter-of-fact way in which she accepted them.
"So let me get this straight. My smell attracts vampires. The only way I can protect myself from them is to try and fall pre
gnant with one."
"Got it in one."
She said nothing for a few minutes, and I thought she was going to reject the whole mad situation, as any sane person would, and run screaming for the hills. But apparently Jen was not sane.
"Do you know of any vampires who could help me out here?"
"Really?"
"You didn't see those things. I would do anything not to ever go through that again. They were all going to rape me. And they were really big."
"That's a vampire thing. They're all like that."
"Really? How can that fit inside any woman?"
"Carefully," I said, remembering with a wince.
"You?"
"Yeah. Atticus."
"Are those two vampires?"
"They are. And they didn't kill me." That was the best endorsement those two could hope for from me under the circumstances.
"Do you think Julius would help me? I mean, to conceive."
"Julius would be delighted to help you," I told her dryly. If only he could hear this conversation, I thought. He would be grinning from ear to ear.
"Would you stay with me while he does it?"
"Er, no."
"Please?"
"Seriously? You want me to be there while you have sex with a vampire? Atticus will be there already - they kind of help each other out. Immoral support," I laughed at my own joke.
"They won't hurt me if you're there," she said with conviction. I wondered where she got that crazy theory from. They had certainly hurt me.
"It's going to hurt either way," I told her. Wrong thing to say. She burst into tears again, and I felt like an absolute rat.
"Fine, I'll be there. I'll even hold your hand. But I'm not watching."
"Thank you," she sighed, sniffing.
I had mixed feelings about getting involved now. It had seemed like the right thing to do, to make it easier for her. But now I would have to experience the brutality of vampire sex again, though fortunately not first hand. I was dwelling on this when the bedroom door opened and Julius walked in carrying a small blonde child. Steph came in behind him, carrying a bag and looking as if all her Christmases had come at once.