Deadly Beasts (The Curse of the Rose Book 1)

by T. M. Watkins

  “You are certainly full of questions today.” He grinned.

  I shrugged as I pulled the ice cream out of the box, the ice was melting creating an awful mess. He had brought in a large plastic tub to contain the water which was helpful otherwise there would be water everywhere.

  “When the first of the lycans victims was found thousands of years ago, the elders were in a panic, expecting the humans to lay blame with us. We were still in the shadows when it came to the majority of the humans, only the high ranking officials knew of us. Essentially it was a case of those who needed to know did and no one else. The elders sat down with their human contacts and ensured them that it was not us that made the frightful mess, we do not ingest a human like the lycans do, we drink their blood and leave the body in tact. The humans understood this and were fearful for their future as a species. To have one breed of being feed upon them is one thing, two of them could end in their demise. The elders knew it was for our own benefit that the human race was kept going. In the long term we can not feast upon anything else, short term we can utilise whatever animal we happen upon. Essentially we have to feed upon a human to sustain our life but we have adapted to use animals as well. The lycans however can eat whatever creature they want and do not need one particular creature as their life long sustenance. They refused to entertain the idea of not feeding upon the humans and refused to meet with the elders to discuss the future. Both the human contacts and the elders agreed that the lycans were a breed of creature that was difficult to deal with and if they were not prepared to meet with them and agree to a treaty then they would be considered a threat to the greater good of this world.”

  He stood from the seat and wandered to the fireplace, running his finger along the mantle as if he were checking for dust. I was enthralled as I ate the ice cream, hanging on his every word. It was sad, I could sit here all day and listen to him.

  “They agreed that the lycans were to be dealt with swiftly and all of them were to be removed when they were identified. The humans mounted their attack upon the known lycans, the vampires were of little use to them during the daylight hours but still we offered our protection as best we could. It was our own treaty of sorts, we would protect a human that had become endangered as a result of coming into contact with a lycan. In return the humans would keep us a secret provided we kept to our rules of the hunt. One human every few days unless you are a protector caring for a human, then every day is permitted so that the protected human is kept safe from the hungry vampire.”

  William returned to the seat, taking the long slow walk around the furniture as he spoke.

  “It is an odd arrangement to say the least, protect one human but in doing so the lust for blood increases and so does the amount of humans that are killed to feed the vampire. But nonetheless, the human contacts agreed to it, knowing that the human that would be protected wouldn't be with the vampire for too long. So the humans went on their little attack, a fair amount of the lycans were killed in those days. The world was less populated back then so it was quite surprising that a killing spree like that had gone relatively unnoticed. Of course with less of them in the world, and their own family members missing, those that were not killed had figured out that they were in danger. They blamed the vampires for it, insisting that we had warped the humans mind for our own purpose. The humans were not fooled by their words, they understood the gravity of the situation and have continued to this day, hunting and removing the lycans.”

  He shifted in his seat, clearing his throat as he watched me eat the ice cream. No, I wasn't trying to be seductive by pulling the spoon out of my mouth slowly with the look of lust in my eyes. Not at all. The bastard was ignoring me anyway, so it didn't matter.

  “Do you know how many lycans there are?”

  “No.” He grinned a little deeper. “You seem to like that flavour.”

  “Mint choc chip? Yep, it's pretty awesome. Want some?”

  He swiftly shook his head, the grin was gone and in it's place was panic.

  “Just a little bit.” I held out the spoon.

  “Violently ill.” He paled.

  I wiped the majority of the ice cream off the spoon and put the tub onto the table, turning back to him.

  “Teeny bit on the tongue?”

  Again he shook his head, fear was setting in. I moved closer, getting up onto my knees.

  “Come on.” I teased as I leaned in. “Just a little bit, right on the tip. What would happen if you kissed a human that had food in their mouth?”

  He frowned at me, I knew what he wanted to say, I wouldn't kiss a human but it was preposterous. His wife was human, surely he kissed her. I wiped a dribble onto my finger tip, putting the spoon into my mouth to eat the rest of it. With my finger laced with ice cream held out, he reluctantly took it. And sucked on it. Ok, so clearly I hadn't thought this through. It was the hottest thing that I had ever seen. My finger in his mouth, crazy hot. I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to feel the feelings that I felt in the visions only for real instead of in my mind. He looked up to me, pure heated desire radiated in his gaze as he slowly dragged my finger out of his mouth. Such a tease. But that's all he was. Just a tease. No kiss, no pushing me to the lounge to inflict his need upon me. Just him muttering that he had to go and feed otherwise I'd be the victim, then he'd be in trouble. I jumped when the door slammed shut, sitting back onto the lounge with a sad huff. My life sucked.

  Chapter Fifteen

  William found a calendar for me, the gesture was a kind one so that I could mark my days in jail off or keep a record of how long I had been here. Seven weeks. It was incredibly boring, I had read all of the books he had brought out of his den for me, gone into the room and found more. He also brought a note book for me after I was muttering about my book. Apparently it was an amusing thought and provided I claimed it was a work of fiction, the elders would have no issue with it's release. Except that I had no intention of releasing it, I was only joking around when I said I was going to write it. Now there was a space cleared in the den for me, among the piles of books there was another desk. Chapter four, well I was thinking of calling it, keep your mouth shut because vampires have really great hearing. William's moods changed frequently. One minute he'd be pleasant company, sociable and happy the next he'd be scowling at me, dark and brooding as he went and hid somewhere in this illusion of a house.

  Sadly I sighed as I crossed off yet another day, the night was rising fast and William was out somewhere being the murderer and the thief. Tomorrow was Christmas, I figured that Porter was probably taking a couple of days break so there would be no coming to get me for a few more days. I was beginning to think he had forgotten about me. Maybe he was dead as I had feared. Maybe I was a file on someone’s desk, forgotten about. That would be my luck, the world was blinded to the little orphan stuck in a vampires house. The longer I stayed here the more people died. William was a once a week feeder, with age came the ability to go for longer without feeding. But my presence in his life was creating a turmoil with his blood lust. There was no issue with him attacking me, it just made him feed more frequently. Trudging back into the bedroom, I flopped onto the lounge wishing for some kind of entertainment, something to amuse me. I should have learned by now to be careful what I wished for. My backside was barely on the lounge before William was walking in with the craziest grin on his face.

  “Come and see what I got.”

  With two hands he dragged me off the lounge and into the parlour. I was a little stunned as I looked upon the giant tree sitting beside the piano. It was trimmed with red and gold baubles, some were matte, some glittered in the candle light and some were a shiny gloss that reflected the light. At the very top was an angel, her dress was cream with gold trims, the golden wings glistened.

  “It's pretty. Do vampires celebrate Christmas?”

  “Why wouldn't we?”

  I shrugged, feeling a little odd. This was something that I wasn't used to, though the past seven weeks was somethi
ng I wasn't used to.

  “Did you celebrate Christmas at the orphanage?”

  “No.” I said abruptly.

  “Oh.” He hummed. “You aren't going to start crying, are you?”

  I rolled my eyes at him, scoffing. “I am more than a ball of tears, you know.”

  Looking at him I realised that he was probably reliving the nightmare of the second visit from the bitch. Porter couldn't come soon enough.

  “Sorry, I know. I am a ball of tears and bitchiness.”

  “It's understandable, you are trapped within these walls, you yearn to be free of this place but you can not see an end to it. There is light at the end of the tunnel, I know it seems that you have waited a long time for Porter to catch the lycan and return for you but understand that it does take time. When a lycan knows they are being hunted, they are extremely careful as to where the go and who they see. He will be making life difficult for Porter, I can assure you. His department has good resources and he has capable men and women working for him, they will get him as soon as they can.”

  I nodded quietly, finding a bit of snow on one of the branches, the smell of pine filled the air around me.

  “I miss the snow.”

  “Really?” He said dryly.

  “Yeah.” I sighed.

  William took a deep breath as he closed his eyes, shaking his head. “I am a fool but alright.”

  My eyes lit up with pure delight.

  “Dinner first though, I have to go and uh..” He cleared his throat. “You know.”

  “It can wait, just a few minutes and then you can go out.” I batted my eyelids with a pout until he caved and gave me what I wanted.

  My excitement couldn't be settled, I had scampered up the stairs to find a jacket and some woollen items. William shook his head with a slight grin as he pulled the beanie down tighter, then led me to the utility room because the back yard was a safer option than the front yard. Snow was falling lightly over the ground, thick with frosty delight. He never saw me coming, walking out the door and onto what was once the grassed area, I stalked him in the snow. When he realised he turned, his balance was off centred as I pushed him to the ground.

  “Snow angels!” I flopped onto the snow beside his head, giggling as I looked at him upside down.

  “You are crazy.” He sighed happily.

  As I swished my arms through the thick powder I ensured that I gave it a good flick, putting snow on his face. He sputtered and before I knew it he had picked up a pile of snow and dumped it on me, laughing as he did it. When he got up and walked back to the door, I threw a snow ball at him. The snow splattered over the back of his jacket, spreading over his shoulders and down his back. I cackled hard as he turned trying to feign his disapproving and menacing vampire but he couldn't stop the smile. Casually he walked back onto the snowy grass and clumped a ball. I shrieked and got up off the ground, scampering through the thick snow as best I could. My foot got stuck and I lost my balance, ending up falling backwards. It didn't help that Williams efforts of helping me was giving me a push as payback for doing it to him. Only problem was, he didn't count on me trying to re-balance myself by grabbing his hand. It ended up that he fell with me, or rather, on me. So after the shrieks and the giggles, I was left with a vampire on me in a very compromising position. He lifted himself off me, I wished I could wrap my legs around him and not let him move. His mood had shifted as he helped me to my feet, play time was over.

  I ate my turkey dinner in my room, not wanting to walk through the house alone. It still gave me the creeps even after seven weeks of living here. William said that he had business to attend to but I knew that he was out searching for his dinner. Bringing the tree in and decorating it all on his own, it had exerted a fair amount of energy. Even though I knew he had already fed tonight and brought my dinner back with him, I knew he was out there having seconds. It was a terrible thought, yet again someone was going to die. I hated living with the constant reminder of death. Even though William wasn't here, the turn down service still happened, my dinner dishes disappeared, all while I was getting ready for bed. The warmth in the room was pleasant, it would make for a good sleep tonight provided I didn't have another vision.

  As I sat on the edge of the bed, the blue light flickered in the lantern and something outside my door went bump. The bump giggled. I rolled my eyes as I looked to the door, was it possible for vampires to get drunk? I got up from the bed and opened the door, yes, vampires can get drunk. Chapter five, what to do when the local vampire knocks on your door completely blitzed. My instinct would say, don't open the door but I knew that I should just deal with whatever he wants rather than him strutting in as he pleased.

  “Are you drunk?”

  “Vampires do not consume alcohol pretty Mary.”

  He moved closer as I backed away, he was in a good mood but I knew the risks involved. Drunk, vampire, uncontrollable. “We can however, drink from a drunk human and get the same benefits.”

  William fumbled on the inside of his jacket as he searched for something. “Look what I found.”

  He pulled out a headband with something on a long spring and proceeded to put it on me.

  “There.” He grinned. “Oh you naughty thing Mary, standing under the mistletoe.”

  Oh crud balls. “You're drunk, go to bed before you do something you'll regret.”

  “And you're a tease.” He moved closer. “Just one.”

  His fingers trailed over my jaw as I pressed against the door. The dark blue eyes were bloodshot, lingering over me as his fingers moved to cup my jaw below the ear.

  “One little kiss.”

  “Go to bed William, you're drunk and you are letting all my warm air out.”

  He was supposed to go to his own room, he was supposed to go and sleep it off. Did he do that? No. He wrapped his arm around my waist and moved me off the door, kicking it shut with his foot. It was so sudden and fast, I didn't know it happened until I was hard against the wall behind the door with William pressed onto my body. His kiss was deep and passionate, everything I had hoped for a first kiss. Except that he was drunk. He pressed against me, lifting my legs around his waist as his hands moved up my thighs. I lost myself in the moment, forgetting about the reality of the situation. Wrapping my arms over his shoulders, I laced my fingers into the soft hair on the back of his head. I gasped hard for air as he kissed over my jaw and onto my neck. His hand moved higher, pulling the sleeve over my shoulder to kiss it. I took the stupid headband off, tossing it to the ground.

  “Okay.” I breathed, regretting what I was about to say. “You've had your kiss now go to bed.”

  His eyes lit up with a devilish glint, a cheeky smirk crossed his face. It had to be the cutest thing I had ever seen. Damn it, this wasn't fair. William let my legs down and stepped away from me, loosening his tie. The jacket was tossed to the ground as he sauntered to the bed, flicking the shoes off along with the tie. As he sat on the edge of the bed he looked expectantly at me. This was bad, he was drunk. He didn't want me, he said so. I had to get out of this somehow. Taking a deep breath, I prayed he would fall for the act.

  “I'm going to freshen up, you lay down and wait for me.”

  “Okay.” He grinned. “On the sheets or under? Naked or dressed?”

  “Under and dressed would be more fun.”

  Then I won't have to deal with a naked man in my bed.

  “Alright.”

  I walked into the bathroom and shut the door, pressing my ear to it. Waiting. Praying he didn't take too long to fall asleep. Luckily for me, it wasn't too long before he was out of it, snoring on my bed. I tiptoed across the room, thankfully he was under the sheets. Why? Well that was because he ignored my request to remain dressed. All of his clothes were on the floor. I grabbed a blanket and set out for the parlour.

  Settling onto the lounge, I curled the blanket tight against my body. I didn't want to think about the kiss but it was hard not to. It was so needful and passionate, I wanted to be
g for another. But I wasn't going to.

  Chapter Sixteen

  It was Christmas morning, or rather afternoon for those that lived in the outside world. This was a vampire's version of the morning, waking to dark curtains that hid the afternoon sun. I had been awake for some time. The tree taunted me with the memories of the past, the Christmases of yesteryear. It was the one time of the year where the children of the orphanage were made to go to church, to pray and confess our sins. Meanwhile the director of the orphanage would sit there with his smarmy grin, pretending he wasn't the biggest sinner in the church. Everyone thought it was so wonderful, the children of the orphanage would come and sing for them, a carol for the churchgoers with the hope that they would open the purses to pay for our Christmas lunch. They donated, they offered, they gave. But we never received.

  I sat by the fire wrapped in the blanket as I leaned against the lounge, remembering the past and wishing that I could forget it. The tears welled in my eyes as I stared into the fire.

  “Mary?” His panicked voice called out.

  It sounded like he was at the top of the stairs, searching for me. Quickly I wiped the tears but it was too late, he was standing at the door.

  “Uh, I woke in your...”

  I nodded and looked back to the fire.

  “Did we?”

  “No. We did not.”

  He moved closer, looking rather dishevelled, he was only wearing his shirt and pants.

  “But I was...” He frowned. “Did you remove my clothes?”

  “No, you did. I told you to lay down with your clothes on, you ignored me.”

  “Were we going to?”

  I huffed as I laughed, shaking my head. “You might have wanted to but I wasn't prepared to while you were drunk. I tried to stop you, I told you to go to bed. You were the one that ignored me.”

  William stooped beside me, casting a serious gaze over me. “If we didn't then why are you crying or are you crying because we didn't?”