by P. A. Rose
I could remember that it was easy; I was faster, stronger, and more aggressive. In those 30 seconds I smashed and tore their limbs apart and scattered them about the park, and they now covered the grass in fresh warm blood. It felt fantastic. I wiped my hand across my face gathering up the blood splattered across it and sucked my fingers dry. The blood was coppery in my throat at first and then sweet as it slipped down the back of my throat. Its energy kicked in, and I shuddered with a renewed strength in my vampire blood. I didn’t need to think of what to do, an animal instinct had taken over, it was uncontrollable.
Tony was still alive, and as he crawled away the flesh on his neck was beating vigorously, offering bounty to me. I wanted more and felt the urge to feed. The image of her again, that beautiful vampire woman, was calling to me.
“Feed.”
I dropped down to my knees and grabbed hold of his leg dragging him back, as he was screaming and kicking in a futile gesture of survival. I parried the kicks and pulled him closer, and wrenched his head backand exposed the sweet spot of his open neck and gave into my urges. The blood pumped in filling my vampire body with power and quenching its thirst. As I fed her image continued to beckon me, as it had done in the research centre, and I sucked harder draining his body of life. He struggled with arms and legs kicking violently around and screamed to no effect, as I emptied him of life force. Her calling was stronger than ever after the killing. I knew I must see her again.
CHAPTER 10
It was an uneventful journey to the centre as I clung to the sides of the pavement. I pulled my coat closed to conceal the blood on my shirt, and I dropped my eyes to the floor so no one could see their mutation. Once on the major roads I ran as fast as my new power would let me. I wanted to get back as quickly as possible before my power ran out. I wiped the blood off my face and conceal the other blood covering my clothes. By the time, I arrived I was in control of the mutation and appeared normal to the security guards at the gates.
The guard remembered me and nodded as I approached.
“Need to call my Dad again,” I said.
He dialled through and handed the phone over.
“Who is it?” Dad said.
“It’s me, Jonathan, I need to come in,” I said.
“Why?”
“I have been in another fight.”
“They beat you up again?” he asked.
I couldn’t answer properly with the guard listening.
“No, other way round.”
There was a long pause, and I waited.
“Did you take the needles?” Dad asked.
“Yes.”
“Wait there,” he responded, and the phone went dead.
He came to the front gates dressed in his normal lab coat and jeans and signed me through. He was in a strange mood, a mix between excited school boy and concerned father. His research had worked better than he expected, but his son was a murderer and currently a vampire. We hurried through the main white marbled lobby, around the desk and through to the corridor directly behind it, and down the endless white corridors to the lift. Soon as I entered the base Subject X was calling to me.
“Welcome back my darling.”
“Come to me now.”
The image of her as a beautiful goddess, raven hair flowing and sky bright eyes dazzling replayed over and over again in mind. I could almost feel the ghostly tentacles sweeping desire across my body, but I found with my new powers I was able to resist and block it out if I wanted. Once in the lift, I explained I took the needles, as the vampire had shown them to me. Also, he had given away their secret in the lift when I left last time. I explained the events of the night in the park, and enjoyed re-living the memories of killing the gang, but was angry that Barry had escaped. All the time I was aware Subject X was listening in and re-living my memories with me, step by step, commenting on and praising my moves and style.
We walked into the basement and the two security guards approached us carrying their guns.
“He isn’t allowed down here Sir,” they bellowed out as we walked in.
Instinct took over, and I flashed across to them quickly. In seconds, they were disarmed and out cold on the floor. I kicked open the office door next to my Dad’s and dragged them through cuffing them to the radiator.
I walked back to the corridor and my Dad was frozen on the spot staring at me.
“What!” I asked.
“That was amazing,” he said.
“Dad, what did you expect?”
He just shrugged his shoulders and ushered me into his room with the tinted mirror. I quickly sat down, and he pulled out some empty needles from the cupboard.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Samples, you are our first test case.”
“I am not a test case, I am your son,” I responded indignantly.
Once sat down I noticed ten more red needles sitting on the side.
“How many of these needles have you made?” I asked, pointing at them.
“That’s it. After you took the last ones, which was our first batch. This is our latest run. We need to test now, but I guess you have done that for us.”
He came at me again with the empty needle looking for samples.
“Give me your arm Jonathan,” Dad asked as I backed off as he approached.
“No,” I responded. “This research is wrong Dad. She is wrong. It can’t be allowed to continue.”
He looked at me in surprise and asked, “Why?”
“I killed people tonight Dad, without remorse, without any thought, it was too easy. This power, this research has to be destroyed. We have to kill her,” I shouted and pointed at the mirror.
Subject X’s voice in my head completely stopped. Dad looked at me dumbfounded.
“It’s the only way,” I stated again.
“No this is my work, you can’t!”
“I can, and I will, this isn’t up for debate now leave,” I said.
“No,” he responded and stood up right and looked down at me exerting all his years of being my father.
“GO,” I screamed and snarled at him with my best vampire face.
His face changed from one trying to exert authority to one of fear, his eyebrows recoiled upwards, eyes stretched wide, and his mouth was pulled back. He walked quickly out of the room and straight for the lift. I ran past him and blocked his path.
”No alarms just leave quickly,” I said staring straight into his eyes.
He nodded his head meekly and jumped into the waiting lift. I walked back to the security guards and took a gun and a pass for the prison. There were two settings on the gun, human and vampire, I switched it to vampire and walked back to the prison door. Her voice in my head was gone.
I opened the door to the prison and levelled the gun ready. There was no hiding. She stood in the middle of the room facing me fully naked and smiling. I smiled at her and took a cautious step inside. Her tousled raven hair was blowing, her lips red and body glistening with warmth.
“My darling you have returned to me,” she said softly and out loud.
“You know what I want,” I responded pulling the gun up to my eye to take aim.
“Yes,” she smiled and stretched her arms out, “you are here for your reward.”
The vampire formula in my blood stream was too strong for her psychic abilities, yet I still lowered the gun and it dropped clattering to the floor.
“Yes,” I respond, voice shaking, allowing my true emotions to become apparent.
“I will make you a proper vampire one day, but first I shall make you a man.”
She walked over slowly giving me time to soaking in her beauty, and stood face to face with me. She leaned forward her seduction red lips millimetres away from mine, her sky eyes dazzling and the heat from her warming my face. Her hand glided down my arm sending a tingling sensation racing up it, and I breathed in sharply trying to control myself. Her fingers slid across the palm of my hand and held it gently. She turned and led m
e back to her bed. I followed on without thought, with a thumping heart and the heat of my desire ignited.
“I will take care of everything,” she whispered sweetly in my ear as she laid me down on her bed.
She straddled over me and pulled down my trousers. She then grabbed my hands and placed them onto her warm glistening body.
“Relax and enjoy,” she said, and began to gyrating slowly and writhe around on top of me.
I ran my hands all over her hot firm body. I was surprised her body was hot as was expecting it to be icy cold, but it wasn’t just warm, it was hotter than it should be, and the heat was electrifying in contact with my skin, sending its heat seeping into my body as I made contact with her. I was barely able to believe what was happening. This was not how I imagined my first time. I didn’t imagine it would be just after I had killed 5 people and then be in a prison cell with a vampire. I had hoped it would have been with Scarlett, but we never got that far. I looked up at Thorn, and her dark tousled hair was blowing backwards again, her cheeks flushed and her lips where full and bloody red. The mist began pouring around the room as she continued to writhe on top of me hair blowing, her head tossing backwards, body arching, and soft moaning purring out of her. I felt lost in time with her, completely abandoned to her pleasure. She started to move faster and with more vigour, picking up the speed and power with every thrust with her body boiling like a furnace. She slowed closing her eyes, clenching her mouth shut and I felt a shudder running through her and my moment arrived. I tensed up, and her eyes opened changing to blood red and fangs appeared as she sucked in the air. I tried to sink back into the bed to escape, but she bolted down at me, moving my head to one side and biting into my neck. Her body pumped from fangs to hips as she started draining me, top to bottom, and I experienced pleasure and pain at the same time.
She didn’t take much and sat back up looking down at me with blood running from her mouth. The blood dripped off her chin and ran down her chest taking the path of least resistance, and channelling into the valley between her breasts. The mist and the breeze were gone, and her face changed back to normal apart from the blood dripping from her chin, which slowly soaked in leaving no trace. The blood on her chest slowly absorbed behind the line running down to her naval, catching up with the droplets and sinking in, and leaving her skin clean and glowing.
“Enjoy darling.”
“Yes, but I thought you were going to kill me.”
“No, not yet. When it’s time for you to become proper vampire. I need to make you a man first.”
She jumped off and pulled on her black combat trousers and vest top.
“I am not a man now?”
“Ha ha, it’s more than just sex. You will find out.”
I sat there in silence for a moment thinking what to do next. I swung out of the bed and pulled my trousers back up.
“What is your name,” I asked.
“Thorn.”
“Thorn?”
“If you touch me, you bleed,” she smiled.
“Your name?”
“Jonathan Harker,” I responded.
She laughed, ”It is very funny,” she said as she finished lacing up her boots.
“Yes I know. What does it mean?”
She looked around at me and smiled.
“Nothing, there was no Dracula, it’s just a story. Your name is a funny coincidence.”
I wasn’t sure if I was disappointed, I was under some romantic belief I had a great destiny and heritage. Never mind there was enough happening not worry about it, I thought.
I stood up and looked in the mirror realising that all the bruises around my face had disappeared, and I also felt different and looked a little different. It was my clothes they were tighter than before. The trousers were now higher up from my shoes and my feet were pinching the ends. I studied my reflection more closely. It was true I had grown. I was bigger, and I felt strong than before. I guessed it was some residual effect of the formula after it had worn off. I realised that at some point walking into her cell the formula had worn off. I was a human again, and I felt uncertain about my decisions.
“We leave now,” she stated and headed through the door.
I ran after her.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Take the needles and destroy the research,” she added.
I did as I was commanded shoving the needles into a bag, and then sprayed the equipment with the machine gun ripping through it creating sparks, and causing glass and metal to fly. Thorn found some combustible fluid and poured it all over the lab and the surrounding offices. I realised what she intended to do.
“The guards?” I asked. “And,” she responded.
“We must take them out,” I pleaded with her, not wanting any more blood on my hands tonight.
“Okay this time, but you will learn,” she answered, looking at me annoyed.
She grabbed the guards over her shoulders, and I threw a lighted match into the lab, and we left.
The fire began to catch quickly, and the flames were dancing around the edges of the door frame from my father’s office, as we got into the lift and it ascended. We reached the top and as the lift doors opened Thorn threw the two guards on her shoulders into the paths of an oncoming posse of soldiers. They tumbled to the floor, and Thorn jumped through the gap, punched and kicked those trying to regain their feet. Knocking them down and out, blood breaking across their faces and spitting out their mouths as the force of her blows connected with their feeble human bodies. I followed on with the gun pointing keeping them flat against the floors and walls, making sure they stayed down. We sprinted down the hallways flicking the pass at the security boxes to open them, and I pointed the gun back to force the guards down. The hall ways were alive to the sounds of the fire alarms ringing and red lights spinning around flashing their red beams across the walls, and bouncing off the glass in the offices. At the main lobby, a group of five guards waited guns levelled and aimed as we arrived. The lobby had two big glass doors at the front and an enclosed desk area in the middle where the receptionist normally sat. We were coming down the main hall and either side to the main lobby were two further hallways, forming a t-junction into the lobby with the desk in the centre and front doors opposite.
“Follow my instructions,” she shouted.
The bullets fired as they sighted us and she grabbed the back of my jacket and slid me along the floor behind the enclosed desk, and she skidded along beside me on her stomach taking cover. Bullets bounced along down the corridor behind us as the guards tried to halt our escape.
“Shoot the lights,” she pushed into my mind, with the image of the lights above the guards. I leaned back and arched the gun over the top of the desk area, aimed up and fired off the bullets in a reckless spray causing the lobby to descend into darkness, and the metal and glass above the guards heads to rain down.
“Stop,” she said in my mind.
The guards covered their heads and eyes, and Thorn crouched back from the desk and leapt over it and into the rain of the glowing of sparks, metal and glass. There was a crack of bones and screams in between the sounds of the remaining failing metal and glass showering like hailstones across the white marbled lobby floor.
“Out,” she shouted into my mind, and I bolted around the side jumping across bodies of broken men and out into the night.
Lights were flashing and alarms wailing, and guards in army uniforms swarmed in from every direction as spotlights swung around trying to highlight us.
“Hunters,” Thorn shouted and pulled me to the ground.
Two men dressed in grey combat overalls and black army boots and were running at us, with rifles pointed in our direction. One of them stopped and threw something from his hand.
“UV grenade. Shoot them,” she shouted.
Thorn ran around the corner and I started firing the machine gun. The bullets were aimlessly, but it slowed them down forcing them to take cover behind walls and pillars which formed
the entrance shelter at the front of the building. The grenade landed next to me, and UV light sparked out in a huge sphere, lighting up the entire area. I looked around for Thorn, but she had escaped from the UV light already. I shot at the light trying to hide our position and protect Thorn from the harmful UV light, but I missed. I suddenly received images from Thorn; gun into shoulder, look down barrel through target point, brace for impact and fire in bursts. The light exploded as the bullets impacted and we were back into the safety of darkness. Bullets from the Hunters rained over my head, and I fired back following the instructions from Thorn. I stood and fired in burst, and behind them a dark shape dropped from the roof, and ran behind sweeping the first one off his feet and sending the Hunter flying through the air. The other one turned from seeing his partner flying over head, but he was too late and was clothes lined by Thorn running in a blur of legs and arms. The last Hunter catapulted backwards slamming into the side of the building, and bouncing backwards leaving a splattering of blood marking the impact, as the first guard landed across the barbed wire electric fence. His body shook as the electricity found a circuit through his body causing him to shake and smoke rose from his flesh. The spasming muscles in pulled the trigger and bullets fired off in wild bursts across the campus, and the other guards dived for cover from their unknown assailant.