“Mmm. Hmm.” He walks closer.
Dammit. So much for sneaky. Sorry, Dalton. I turn back and put the spyglass where I found it.
The man stops within arm’s reach, but doesn’t make a move to grab me.
“So, umm… is there a manager here or should I come back later?” I ask, trying to ooze as much innocence as possible.
Another minute of him just staring at me is even creepier than that wolf rug.
“What?” I ask. “Why are you staring at me like that?”
He points at the door. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to walk with me down the hall, and do as you’re told for a little while. I’m sure there’s no need to get the police involved.”
I lean back. This guy’s vibes are way off. “Umm. That’s okay. You can go ahead and call the cops if you want.”
“Hmm.” The man rubs his thin mustache. “Perhaps I phrased that a little wrong. Let me try again.” He reaches around behind his back and pulls out an enormous handgun. “You’re going to go down the hall, and do as you’re told for a little while.”
I shift my eyes to the right, glaring in terror at the large multi-panel window showering this room in daylight. I’m plain old me again, and not even being millimeters from peeing myself is doing anything to let my powers out. If this guy kills me in daylight, I’m going to stay dead. A brief argument breaks out in my head debating if it’s better to be dead or raped. I’m sure that’s how this is going to wind up for me. Of course, if he’s going to take me to the basement… my powers will kick in.
At least I don’t have to act. I am shaking in fear. “Okay. Please don’t shoot me.”
The man grasps the back of my neck with his left hand. His hold is firm, but not painful. He pushes me along, his gun still out. We go down the longer stretch of corridor about halfway before he steers me to a door on the right. It’s got a typical push-bar type mechanism, so I shove it open before my face makes contact, revealing stairs.
Yes! Basement.
Shit! There’s daylight.
“Down,” says the man.
Shaking, I creep down the stairs to the landing. It ends at a corner where a hallway branches off to the left away from an open doorway on the right. He twists his hand at my neck, making me turn right into a small room with cinder block walls and a narrow basement style window near the ceiling. Dammit! I can’t get away from that stupid effing ball of burning crap!
I stop short at the sight waiting for me next to the window. Remember how I said I was an inch from wetting myself before? Yeah… if I still had the ability to pee, my pants would totally be soaked now. The wall in front of me is covered in handcuffs, chains, leashes, and all sorts of kinky crap hung on a pegboard.
“Please don’t do this,” I say, shivering. “I’m only fifteen.”
He shoves me forward to the table and pushes me down, bent over it. Sure, I’ve had my butt grabbed at school a couple times, and the occasional jackass snapping my bra, but this is going way beyond my worst nightmare. I’d like to say I keep a brave face on, but I turn into a sniveling, begging wreck.
Without a word, the man holds me down, cheek mushed into the table, and wrestles me into handcuffs, locking my arms behind my back. I scream and kick, but since I’m only as strong as I was in life, he overpowers me with ease. Pocket by pocket, he searches me, stealing my iPhone but ignoring my wallet and keys. I keep wriggling and trying to kick him, but he brushes my attacks aside. After tossing my phone in a box by the sinister pegboard of kink, he grabs a set of leg irons.
“No!” I scream, thrashing even harder. “Please don’t!”
He gathers my feet together while I do my best impression of a manic salmon on dry land. After pinning my legs to his side under one arm, he clamps the restraints around my ankles one after the other.
Freaked more than I’ve ever been, I burst into tears, begging him to let me go and forget he saw me. Like some kind of Frankenstein monster, he shows no reaction at all to my tears. I curl up on the table, shaking, somewhat stunned that he made no move to take any of my clothes off. Odder still, he didn’t even grope me while checking my pockets.
He stuffs the enormous handgun into a holster mounted sideways at the back of his belt, then grabs me by the arm. I whimper as he drags me to my feet.
“What are you gonna do to me?”
“Just do as you’re told and you’ll go home later in one piece.” He pauses a moment, looking me over, especially my butt. “Hmm. You’re kinda skinny.” He plucks a length of chain from another peg and pulls it uncomfortably tight around my waist before padlocking the cuffs to it, pinning my hands to the small of my back.
“Ouch. Is that really necessary?”
The man shoves me out into the hallway, the chain connecting my ankles almost tripping me from the pace he’s trying to get me to walk.
“Hey, stop pushing!”
He drags me into the hall, still saturated with goddamned sunlight from a basement window at the far end. Three jail cells line each side. Holy shit! They have an actual freakin’ dungeon. What the hell is wrong with these people? If I wasn’t already dead, I’d probably have passed out from terror by now.
The first cell on the left contains an unconscious guy in his early twenties in a lime green tank top and green camo pants as well as a young woman with light brown hair. She’s also cuffed hand and foot, and is having about twice the panic attack I am. My captor opens the cell door and gives me a shove inside. I stumble forward, tripping when the cuff digs into the front of my right ankle. My knees slam into the concrete floor in time with the guy slamming the cell door.
Ow.
I sink back to sit, but can’t get my hands around to rub my sore knees. My one conscious cellmate looks to be about eighteen or nineteen. Aside from chains, she’s wearing an Evanescence T-shirt and a black skirt. Her flip-flops lay over by the wall, leaving her barefoot.
She stares at me, shaking as bad as I am. “What are they gonna do with us?”
I glance at the unconscious guy. They cuffed his arms behind his back as well, but didn’t bother chaining his legs. Guess they figure he’s in no shape to run away. Of course, the presence of a guy in here lessens my worry of sexual assault. Well, then again, these people might be equal opportunity freaks. But, no… Dalton said something about ‘refreshments.’ Oh, damn. That thug mistook me for a mortal.
“Shit,” I mutter, and curl forward to rest my forehead atop my knees. “We’re the snacks.”
That means they’re going to keep us here until the sun goes down and the place fills up with vampires.
“What?” asks the girl.
“I gotta get outta here,” I mutter.
Grunting, I twist my hands around, trying to fight the cuffs. Damn Dad and his skinny frame. We all have tiny wrists and normal-sized hands. No way am I getting out of these right now. I can’t even slip them around my butt because of the extra chain digging into my stomach.
“Don’t bother. They’re cop issue,” says the other girl. “We’re screwed. They got cops on the payroll.”
Since I know I’m being held captive as a vampire snack and not for something sexual, I go from scared to pissed off. No wonder they’re just kidnapping people. We can make mortals forget almost anything. It doesn’t matter what they do to people before, especially since, as Dalton said, about half of them won’t survive. After a long few minutes of futile struggling, I wobble upright and pull myself to a seat on the bench next to her. They didn’t put a belly chain on her, but another set of handcuffs connect the ones she’s wearing to a ring on the wall.
Dammit. Unless something miraculously blots out the sunlight coming in the windows before dark, I’m going to be in a heap of trouble. What are the other vampires going to do when they realize I’m not a mortal? If they’re old enough, they’re going to read my mind and know exactly why I came here. Yeah, right. If. I’m not even a month old in vampire terms. Probably the babyest baby vamp within hundreds of miles.
They’re going to know that I came in here to steal that spyglass back, and they’re not going to be happy about it.
The Vampire’s Pantry
18
Never in my life have I been arrested. I even made it through high school without even a single detention. Came close once, but lawyer-mom got me off on a technicality. So, yeah. This sucks.
Really, though. This isn’t ‘arrested’ as much as kidnapped.
And the whole being chained up thing? Ugh. It’s both infuriating and embarrassing. Okay, maybe not as embarrassing as me turning into a crybaby while that guy manhandled me, but still. I’d rather be seen running around naked than fully dressed and chained up like a death row inmate. Still mortifying, but people react to nudity with ‘Oh my God what happened to you,’ and they react to handcuffs with ‘Oh shit, what did you do?’
Having no other option than waiting, I sit there and seethe while tapping my foot.
Stephanie, the other girl locked in here with me, is nineteen, came here looking for a job and got tricked into the same downstairs room. She lives with her boyfriend in a crappy apartment, has a cat named Fido, likes death metal, has no opinion on coffee but thinks Starbucks is simultaneously evil and a positive force for society. She also loves Chinese food, hasn’t had Indian in over a year, doesn’t trust shellfish but adores salmon, and can’t cook to save her life. Her first pet was a dog named Dog, which she got as a seven-year-old. Her boyfriend, Alfie, is an amazing cook with a fondness for blueberry muffins. Went to school for it. Works in a restaurant making a reasonable living, but she hates his hours. He’s also got a lot of back hair.
And this girl doesn’t stop talking.
Okay, I get it, she’s nervous, but geez!
“You don’t say much, do you?” asks Stephanie. “What are you trying to do some Buddhist monk shit and make the cuffs pop open?”
“No. Just waiting.”
She tilts her head at me while tugging at the chain tethering her to the wall. “What for?”
“A narrow moment of opportunity.”
“Huh?”
I close my eyes and hope. Being an Innocent, I should ‘come online’ faster than the vampires who live here. With any luck, that will let me get the hell out before any of them find me.
“What’cha mean, opportunity?” Stephanie tries to stand up, but the chain tethering her to the wall yanks her back to a seat. “Hey! Lemme outta here,” she yells. “I gotta use the toilet.”
It occurs to me at that moment that these cells don’t have toilets. Wonder if that’s because the owners don’t expect to keep people for long or they couldn’t get the plumbing permits. Also, it kinda makes sense now why the doors aren’t locked. They want people to walk in. Guess it’s kinda like a roach motel for idiots. Steel biting into my wrists calls me an idiot.
All things considered, I probably couldn’t have talked my way out of here. But if I’d been more aware of my surroundings, that guy might not have caught me off guard. In hindsight, I figure I probably set off a motion-sensing alarm or maybe the door had a buzzer on it. Since I made zero noise, it had to be something like that. Or maybe a security camera.
My cell phone rings in the distance.
Shit. Dad. He’s worrying. At least, that’s probably him. It could be Hunter, Ashley, or Michelle too. Argh. My innate need to answer a ringing phone clashes with my being chained up in a locked cell. Despite being unable to get to my phone, it drives me nuts not to answer it.
Once the ringing goes quiet, I stop struggling to escape, heaving a hard sigh that blows hair off my face. For a moment, I sulk in silence. Wasting my whole day here hadn’t been even at the bottom of my list of stuff to do. I can’t help but fidget at the cuffs as my mind roams back to feeding from Michelle. She had the mother of all orgasms right there on her feet in front of everyone, and she’s even less likely than I am to take Ashley up on any offer of getting romantic. Chelle’s as straight as straight gets. Why the heck did she get off on me biting her? And Mom… her reaction went completely in the other direction. Nothing at all sexual about it. She felt free.
I shift my jaw back and forth.
“Dammit! I gotta piss!” shouts Stephanie, struggling at the cuffs holding her to the wall.
“Guess this kidnapping doesn’t come with bathroom breaks,” I mutter. “We should’ve upgraded our reservations to first class.”
Desire. Insight hits me like a hand grenade. If someone’s willing to be bitten, and isn’t under the effect of a mental fog, the experience must unlock whatever they want most. Michelle’s lived sans-boyfriend for over a year. Outwardly, she’s been all about studying and schoolwork, and trying to score an internship at a law firm. Chelle said she isn’t worried about a relationship until after her career is on track, but inside, she’s gotta be horny as hell. Oh wow… That’s really awkward to think about my friend like that. And Mom… she seems so happy all the time, but does she secretly hate her life, or only want a break?
Ugh. I’m too wound up for deep thoughts right now, but I’m also pretty much stuck.
The phone starts ringing again. I shuffle over to the cell door and grab it behind my back, protesting being denied access to my lifeline. Vampire compulsion has nothing on Apple. I don’t bother shouting for anyone to let me out since I know it won’t help. Once the phone goes quiet again, I spend a few minutes squirming and pulling at the cuffs, but it’s futile. Defeated, I flop back on the bench and scowl at the wall.
Stephanie bounces, making me bounce too.
“Must you?” I ask.
“I really gotta go.”
Eyes closed, I lean my head back and rest it against the cold cinder blocks. It feels like I’ve been locked up for hours already but the light in the hallway doesn’t look much weaker yet.
At footsteps outside, Stephanie resumes shout-begging for a bathroom break, but no one walks into view.
“Dammit, come on. I’m gonna piss all over the place.”
“Try not to get any on me, huh?” I ask. “Not my fault they’re being pricks.”
She yanks on the tether holding her to the wall. “I can’t exactly go far.”
“Hold it?”
“I’m trying!”
Time creeps by at a geologic pace. The dude on the ground is breathing, but he doesn’t make a sound, or move.
“What’s his damage?” I ask.
“No idea. He was here before me.”
Heavy footfalls come down the stairs. A moment later, the same giant dude who threw me in here appears outside our cell. He unlocks the door and points at me. “Sit still.”
I press myself against the wall, acting timid while he unlocks the second set of cuffs holding Stephanie to the ring, and picks her up over his shoulder like a giant bag of dog food. He steps out of the cell, locks the door, and carries her off. For a little while, I enjoy the wonderful break from my cellmate’s near-endless ramble about her life.
Eventually, the guy carries Stephanie back, though he doesn’t re-secure her to the wall, merely sets her on her feet inside the cell and locks the door again before tromping off.
She shuffles over and sits down, her face flustered and red. “The creep didn’t take the cuffs off.”
“Did you really expect him to?” I ask.
“Are they gonna kill us or make us forget?” she asks.
I glance over at her. “Make us forget?”
“You know, vampires?” She scrunches up her nose and uses her knee to rub at an itch. “I heard this place has them. That’s why I wanted to work here.”
“Really? You believe that stuff?”
She shrugs. “I dunno. Why else would they kidnap us if we’re not gonna be food. I mean, maybe they’re gonna sell us overseas as like sex slaves or something.”
“You’ve been watching too many movies. That stuff doesn’t really happen.”
Stephanie leans closer and whispers, “That’s what they want you to believe.”
For an agonizing period
of irritating chatter and deep gut-piercing fear, I sit there in chains, unable to get away from her babbling. The potential wrath of an entire pack of vampires loyal to Zarkhov starts not to seem like a bad thing, if only because it would be an escape from Stephanie’s endless talking. Though, if his office is any indication, this dude’s gotta be a nut job… and on that thought, I go back to being sick to my stomach with dread.
Eventually, I notice the daylight weakening out in the hall. The sight offers hope and gets my heart beating faster. I am extremely sick of being locked up. While my ultimate goal now is getting the hell out of here before any vampires realize I set foot in the place, if I run into the dude who put me here, I may do something mean to him. Like break a bone or give him a mental compulsion to pull that gun of his on a cop.
Wait, no. That’ll get him killed. I just want him to experience prison time.
I could force him to go pick a fistfight with a cop. Nah. Too complicated, plus it could get some cop hurt. I’ll just snap the guy’s leg like a toothpick. Normally, violence makes me cringe, but after the scare that dude gave me, he deserves something.
“It’s almost dark,” says Stephanie. “I wonder if Alfie’s called the police yet since I’m missing.”
“I’d call him to ask for you, but I can’t reach my phone.”
My stare fixed on the floor in the hall, I fidget with anticipation as the rectangle of sunlight slides off to the left at an agonizing pace. A sliver of it remains in sight when the sudden onrush of enhanced senses comes over me.
Yes!
Snarling, I pull at my arms and break the chain between the handcuff rings, which, once I have my hands in front of me, I easily snap like cheap plastic toys. I yank the belly chain off and hurl it at the wall before ripping the cuffs off my legs.
“Holy shit!” yells Stephanie. “You’re one of them! You’re effing eyes are glowing red.”
“I’m mildly annoyed,” I mutter.
“Why did they lock you up?”
I glance at her. “Because they didn’t realize I’m ‘one of them.’”
A Beginner's Guide to Fangs (Vampire Innocent Book 2) Page 23