Servant of the Undead

by Isabelle Drake

  She zipped up her jacket and folded her arms across her chest, a sold wall of stealth and wickedness. “A man like you, with so much to offer a woman and you think fucking is all I want?”

  He stared out at the night. Rows of white lights blinked back at him. Snow lay heaped in corners, heavy and dense, turning into shadows as the sun set on the slow-moving city. “I don’t care what you want,” he said, watching yet another plow shove its way down the street.

  “You ought to.”

  Rachelle swung into the room, the giant fur wrapped around her body, Bean boots swinging beneath the hem. “You guys aren’t ready?” She glanced between them, hers bright, a fresh coat of red sheen on her eager lips.

  Mattie swept over and shoved Hayden toward the hall, fake laughing. It was all a game. “Get ready, Hayden.” She wrapped her arm around Rachelle’s shoulders, kissed her on top of the head, then took her hand to lead her to the kitchen. “I’ll make us some tea and make sure everything is taken care of out here.”

  The sight of the two of them, hand in hand, narrowed Hayden’s focus to only two things. Getting what he wanted—something fresh to give Bob so he could get that something in return—and what he needed—a way to erase Mattie from of his and Rachelle’s life.

  Chapter Five

  “Well done, researcher.”

  Hayden opened his eyes and watched his breath come out in frigid puffs. The stream of fog hung in the air, evaporating slowly as it drifted upward. Beyond his car’s windshield, moonlight blended into a distant narrow line of snow-heaped trees, stretching across the horizon. The sky was clear, the night still, the air bitter with an icy scent.

  Metallic and sharp as a knife.

  In the seat beside him, someone groaned, low and husky. He forced his eyes to focus as he moved his head.

  Rachelle, wrapped in her fur coat, opened her eyes. “Oh, hey.”

  He nodded, fighting a wave of dizziness and struggling to gain full consciousness

  “Guess I feel asleep.” She rubbed the fogged up window with her mittened hands, her head pivoting to take in the wide, snow-covered field surrounding the small turnout where they were parked. “Are we near the tribe?”

  Obviously, he’d been out too. He grabbed the steering wheel to pull himself upright. “Not sure.”

  Mattie lingered outside, her black boots feet deep down in the white snow, the wind pushing her skirt against her thighs.

  Rachelle dropped her hands, her laughter creating a misty cloud. “You drove us here. How do you not know where we are?”

  Hayden glanced at the backseat. His backpack with his notebook, camera and tablet was there, the bag of food they’d brought and the thermos. The was the last thing he remembered—Mattie giving him directions while they were all drinking the tea she’d made right before they left. He patted his chest pocket. His phone was gone. He reached back, checking his back pocket, feeling for his wallet and noticed his belt was undone, hanging down the back of his pants.

  “What’s wrong?” Rachelle asked.

  “Nothing. Let’s get out.” He shoved open the car door and climbed out, fixing his belt as he stood. A wave of dizziness found him and he grabbed the top of the door, gulping in some of the frigid air as he watched Rachelle move away from the car.

  Mattie trudged over, her boots breaking the quiet with soft thuds. “The effects will wear off once you start moving.”

  He pulled his sweater over his belt. “Seems I’ve already been doing some moving.”

  Her gaze lingered on his hands as she shrugged. “You did a little. I did more.”

  “What was in that tea?” he asked, lowering his voice and moving closer.

  She kicked snow at him. “Pissed that you don’t remember fucking me while your girlfriend was passed out in the next seat?”

  The pang of guilt for getting Rachelle involved with this vile horror show wasn’t surprising so even though that was there, it wasn’t remorse that made him wince. It was the fear of how much worse this shit could get. He looked back at the snow-packed road, then took in the field glowing under the moonlight, the trees in the distance, before turning back to his car with the fogged up windows.

  “Don’t worry Hayden. It’s perfectly safe to drive while under the influence. It doesn’t,” she glanced at his crotch, “impair you. But it does block your memory, so I actually did you a favor.” She leaned in to whisper, “You can thank me later.” Her scent, more of a sensation rather than an actual smell, filled his nostrils, creating a scratch in the back of his throat. Fresh blood, that’s what her scent reminded him of. That bitter iron tang. He swallowed to avoid gagging and backed up.

  Rachelle was spinning in circles, her arms wide, her face toward the sky. “It’s so dark out here. All the stars!” She stopped twirling and focused on Mattie as she stomped through the snow to stand closer to her and Hayden. “Where are we, anyway?”

  Mattie lifted the map and pointed to the top right corner. “We’ll walk up the river, through these trees where the snow isn’t as deep. Then, once we get there, we work our way around this section here.” She pointed to what looked to be dense cluster of pines then slid her finger to the X. After holding it up for a few more seconds, she rolled it up and tucked it into her leather. “No problem. We’ll get there in less than an hour.”

  She wasn’t going to answer the question about where they actually were. If she’d wanted them to know that, she wouldn’t have drugged them with whatever the hell she’d put in the tea. Hayden zipped his coat then propped his foot on the bumper and listened. Nothing. Not a single sound. There was no telling how long they’d been driving or what there was, or wasn’t, nearby. “Just leave the car here?”

  “Like Mattie said. We won’t be gone long. A couple hours, that’s it.” Rachelle spun again, moving so fast that her scarf flew out, waving through the frigid night air like a banner.

  Mattie opened the car door, took Hayden’s bag then held it out for him. “You’ll want this.”

  He dropped the strap across his shoulder. Mattie tugged on it to pull out the thermos. Hayden’s stomach rolled as she tucked the bottle under her arm.

  Rachelle rounded the back of the car and tucked herself between Mattie and Hayden. The three of them stood shoulder to shoulder, searching into the night until Rachelle broke the dense, cold silence. “You really think we’re going to see something out there?”

  “My friend must’ve seen something or else he wouldn’t have made the map. Right?” Mattie broke away, started walking toward the trees.

  Rachelle followed, her shorter legs working harder to get through the snow.

  Filled with dread, Hayden moved forward.

  Once the three of them were shoulder to shoulder again, Rachelle turned to Hayden. He felt the weight of her stare but avoided making eye contact until she grabbed his arm, forcing him to look over. “It’s not anything dangerous, is it? I mean, nothing bad can happen to us, right?”

  Mattie bumped Rachelle’s arm. “Only bad stuff we want to happen.” She glanced over her shoulder and caught Hayden’s gaze. “Right, Hayden?”

  He jerked his gaze away, but out of the corner of his eye he saw her unscrew the top of the thermos. She passed it to Rachelle. She drank. Rachelle passed it to him. Still walking, he looked down into the dark hole.

  “It’ll warm you up,” Rachelle said.

  “Yeah.” Mattie added, leering at him over the top of Rachelle’s head. Wind was pushing snow through the air, and the messy stands of her hair were starting to clump with snow. Flakes were clinging to her lashes and wetting her icy mouth. She pressed her lips together and lifted her chin to look down her nose at him. “You want it. Don’t you?”

  It wasn’t about what he wanted.

  And so he lifted the thermos, put his mouth above the black hole and drank.

  * * *

  The dizziness of coming to was more intense this time. Hayden opened his eyes, strained to focus. There was nothing but blurry lines and faded colors�
��brown, white, and beige. Move, he reminded himself, get it to wear off. He breathed deep and stretched his arms along his sides, flexing his muscles, and sliding his hands downward as he arched his back. In the distance, a chain rattled. He braced his hands and tried to lift himself. Again, the sound of metal on metal, closer this time. Fighting a thickness in his mind, he pushed harder to get himself upright. The reward was a sharp snap to his neck, a shooting pain down his back, and the same sound—louder. He reached up, his fingers curled around a ring circling his neck. He tugged, rough steel cut into his palms and there was more rattling.

  “Rachelle?” He crawled backwards to create slack, sat upright then yelled her name again. His vision was clearing, he saw bare log walls, a window framed with a shabby muslin curtain, and a solid wood door. Blinking to gain more clarity, he struggled to search the small cabin room as he called her name again.

  Nothing.

  He dropped back, closed his eyes, fighting the guilt as he dug back through his memory.

  “She’s fine. Probably having the best time she’s had in a while.” Mattie emerged from a corner, her eyes glowing green. “Except for last night, I mean. That was exceptional, wasn’t it?”

  She sat on the edge of the bed, lantern light from a table casting shadows on her face, and threw back the brown blanket, exposing him. He was naked, his cock partially erect. “Your girlfriend is both curious and enthusiastic. A very, very nice combination.” She ran her cool fingers up his shaft. The muscles of his thighs twitched and more blood flooded to his dick.

  “You’re enthusiastic too.” She looked up. “Lucky for me, I don’t care whether or not you admit it.”

  Hayden gritted his teeth against the want curling through him, heating his cock and reminding him how it felt to thrust into Mattie’s icy body. He turned away, tensed against the sensations. His vision was clearing, but very few memories were coming back.

  Beyond the edge of the bed, in the corner opposite the one where Mattie had been, fire brightened a squat wood stove. Two cast iron pots hung from ceiling hooks. About three feet from the stove was a square table with two wooden chairs. The window was above the table, but there was nothing visible except a smooth blackness—a never-ending night. Mattie continued staring at him, her eyes flickering, mouth softer than usual. And her scent. It was there too, coating Hayden’s skin like a fine mist.

  “You know.” She smiled, moving her gaze back to his eyes. “I think I forgot to thank you. I told you to make it good, give me something worth watching, and you did.” She stroked his balls, causing a shiver to rip upward from his crotch. “I appreciated your effort.”

  The shiver continued upward, into his chest. “I didn’t do it for you.”

  She continued caressing him. “I was part of it, though. Wasn’t I?”

  Hot flames of fierce hunger flared deep. There was no point in denying what she already knew to be true, so he nodded. She opened her mouth, laid her palm across her lips, then licked her hand several times with the full length of her tongue. She jerked her hand up and down, then bent to lick the tip. It was then that he realized he was beginning to crave that icy wetness, the unique chill of her mouth. Her hair brushed his thigh as she worked to make him harder still. Hayden stiffened his spine, fighting the stab of piercing pleasure as every nerve in his body simmered, ready to be ignited.

  She licked, taking her time, sliding her cool tongue around his tight skin. “Lie down and stop fighting me. I’m going to suck the cum out of your cock.”

  He struggled to resist but her hand was curved around his shaft, gliding up and down, the icy heat swirling inside him.

  “I need it.” She paused. “You can either settle back and give it to me, or I’ll shove you back and take it.” Then she stroked him again, the coolness of her hand now so familiar on his skin. “I really do like you.” Looking up at him with her green gaze, she added, “Much better than my last one.”

  The links of the chain rattled as Hayden lay back and stared at the rough wood timbers running across the ceiling. My last one. There had been another man, in this exact spot, being used this exact same way. And maybe another before him. “What happened to him? The last one?”

  She paused, lifted her head. “Do you want to meet him?” She rolled his balls in her palm.

  “He’s here?” His reply came out as a groan.

  Instead of answering, she took in all of him. His tip bumped the back of her throat. His hips jerked. The chain shifted and the collar cut into his skin. Pain radiated to his shoulders as she continued drawing him in and out of her mouth. When he bucked, thrusting himself deeper into her mouth, she pulled away.

  “What you really want to know--if he’s one of us.” She caressed him with her cool fingertips. “The answer is yes. But not all my others wanted to be turned.”

  His dick twitched from the need for release but he managed to ignore it long enough to ask, “You give them a choice?”

  “Of course. We all had the choice. It wouldn’t be right to do something to someone against their will? Right?” She laughed as she slid her hand down to the base of his shaft, squeezed. Her laughter stopped abruptly. “That’s enough talking, Hayden. Shut up while I take what I need.”

  She took him into her mouth, swallowing him deeply. The tension in his groin increased, circled tighter, stole the air from his lungs. He bucked against her mouth, thrusting deeper into her throat. The metal ring around his neck cut the flow air, making him gasp, as the first waves of his dense pleasure rippled through him. The rings of pleasure were cruel, circling his cock, spiraling upward and out, seeping through his body in a mad rush. Mattie continued working to get what she needed while Hayden, lost in the spiteful bliss, braced himself for the evitable. The orgasm came in as black smog. Mattie continued to move her mouth over him, sucking more after each jerk of his cock. She pulled every drop from him, then she moved away, still swallowing his cum as she got to her feet. She swiped the back of her hand across her glistening lips and spoke as if none of that had just happened. “I suppose you want to see Rachelle.”

  Hayden, still waiting for his heart to settle, moved the chain off his shoulder and nodded.

  There was a long beat of silence, then she looked away. “You aren’t going to like what you see.”

  Hayden swallowed hard.

  She got off the bed, went to the stove and kicked it. Sparks flared. She kicked it again. Sparks flashed higher behind the glass. “Also, you really need to start thinking bigger, “ she said. “Try to see what you aren’t even bothering to look at. You’re a thinker. Think.” She crossed to the dresser beside the bed. “I’ll take you to her. But remember, I warned you.” Wood squeaked as she wiggled open a drawer. After the soft rustle of objects, she went back to the bed. “We’ll have to…have to—can you put your ankles together?” She grabbed one of his ankles and yanked it toward the other. “This isn’t going to hurt.”

  The leather straps she bound his legs with were reddish-brown and about an inch thick. It was obvious by the efficient way her fingers worked the straps into knots that she had experience with tethering. Once the straps were secured, she tugged on the binds. “You’ll be able to walk fine. They’re only there to keep you from running.”

  He moved his legs, testing the limits of the binds. “Where would I run to?”

  “You’re crafty, Researcher.” She ran her fingers down his neck. “You might think you could build a dog sled and take off through the woods.”

  “Where are we?”

  “See? That’s what I mean.” She tapped her temple. “You’re always thinking.” Then she pushed herself off the bed, crossed the room to take a loop of keys from a hook. “Why don’t you do us some good and start thinking something useful for a change.” She unlocked the chain from the wall then hooked the padlock on one of the hooks embedded into the wall.

  “You never did tell me what you found out in the library, before I interrupted you.”

  He stood, adjusted the chain so i
t hung down his back, and stepped alongside the bed. The tethers were manageable. “Interrupted? That’s what you’re calling it?”

  She closed the door of the wood stove. “I don’t remember you complaining.”

  If only he’d known.

  But looking back, even if he had, he may have fucked her anyway.

  No. Not maybe.

  “Tell me,” she said. “What did you find out?”

  “You didn’t read my article?”

  She tugged on the bands wrapped around her breasts. “Of course I read it, but I don’t want that shit Bob wants.”

  “Are you seriously asking?” He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled the cover over his thighs and cock. “You know because you’re proof of it.”

  She hung the keys then wiggled the drawer, wood squeaking until it was closed. “Tell me anyway,” she said, perching herself on the table and placing her feet on the seat of the chair.

  He described the tracker he’d read about, Guy Belmont, and how the man followed the tribe into the woods and watched them train those freshly turned how to acquire servants to live off the sex. After she prompted him, he told her about the drawings, and the few details of the sex rituals. She asked for more. “That really is all of it,” he said.

  “No, that’s not all.”

  He shrugged. She was probably right. “I don’t have the book.”

  “You should have taken it because there’s more.” She hopped down, walked to the window, stared out into the blackness. “Belmont is still around.”

  Bob would be thrilled to know that, but Hayden had no intention of looking the guy up. The man would do nothing but make things more complicated and more unbearable. He got up and tugged on the chain. The metal rubbed against floor. “Can you get this off?”