by Sam Crescent
Marianna watched the man go. He’d been visiting her for several weeks inside the café, and every time he did the same thing. The mystery man ordered coffee, sat in the same seat, and watched her. She’d noticed he watched her from the second night he arrived. No one turned up to sit with him, and the women who approached turned away without looking back.
“I don’t like that man,” Donald said, wrapping his arm around her waist.
She pushed his hands away feeling nervous. Recently he’d started to touch or brush past her in ways she didn’t feel appropriate. Marianna was thankful for everything he’d done to help her since her parents died, but she worked hard. There was nothing else she owed him. The money he paid her was enough to get by. She didn’t want to be his waitress forever. There was a life out there that she hoped to live.
Staying in this café would kill her. She just knew it would.
“Why are you being like that?” he asked.
Wrapping her arms around herself she turned toward him. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t you like my touches?” He caressed her cheek.
It took every ounce of willpower she possessed not to vomit. His touch repulsed her.
“You’re married.”
He let out a sigh. “You’re right.” Donald looked around the room and nodded. “You did a good job tonight, Mari. You may go home.”
She hated the way he shortened her name. Choosing not to argue with him, she collected her coat and bag from the back room before making her way out into the night air. The chill of the winter was a welcome relief from the heat of the café. Donald liked to keep the heaters on full blast. Sometimes they were too strong for her to handle, and the café made it hard for her to breathe. She liked the fresh air a lot more than the cold.
Thrusting her hands into the pockets of her jacket Marianna made her way toward her small apartment. Her place contained a bed, bathroom, and small kitchen. It wasn’t much, but it was home. The small bit of money she had once possessed was taken to pay for her parents funeral bills.
Sadness filled her whenever she thought about her parents. They had been a loving couple, and Marianna had loved spending her time with them. They’d been encouraging and sweet to her at all times. She was their daughter, but she knew families were not always so devoted to each other.
Passing several dark alleys Marianna was too lost to her thoughts.
“Look what we have here,” a man said, stepping in front of Marianna. She stopped and took a step back only to be stopped by another hard body. Arms surrounded her stopping her from moving.
“What do you think, Frank? A nice little morsel for us to enjoy,” the guy behind her said.
“Let me go!” She struggled against the hands that held her when another man came into view.
“I always wanted a sweet little red-head for myself.”
Fighting with all of her might, Marianna was no match for the men’s strength. There were three men and only one of her.
She kept trying to get them to release her as they dragged her into the darkened alleyway.
“Let me go!” Marianna let out a scream hoping something would startle the men to leave her alone. Nothing happened. The three men laughed and threw her against the wall. Her head hit the brick wall stunning her.
They pawed at her body tearing the clothing she wore from her flesh. There was nothing she could do. When her senses came back to her she tried to grab her clothing to cover her body.
“She’s got nice, ripe tits.”
“I can’t wait to feel how tight her little cunt is going to be. Look she’s a natural red-head.”
Their words washed over her making her disgusted.
One of the men fumbled with their pants. She cried out and screamed as his hardened cock appeared.
“I believe the lady said no,” a man said.
Marianna recognised the voice immediately. The man lurking in the shadows lit a cigarette. He looked relaxed as if the sight before him he’d witnessed a million times before.
“Please, help me,” she said.
He didn’t turn to her. The man who’d gotten his cock out tucked himself away and faced her customer. When the men turned away she tried her best to arrange her clothes back into place. Her hands were shaking, and she couldn’t function around the fear.
“Who the fuck are you? This is our woman for the night and possibly the weekend.”
Marianna couldn’t stop the vomit coming up. Curling over, she spewed everything she’d eaten onto the uneven floor.
“The lady doesn’t want to be with you. I think you should leave her be,” her customer said. His voice didn’t change. The boredom was clear in his tone.
“Why don’t you fuck off and leave us to it?”
She couldn’t listen to this anymore. Going with her gut she got to her feet and tried to make a dash for the exit. One of them grabbed her hair and slammed her against the wall. Her head hit the brick wall once more.
Touching the spot on the head that hit the wall she came away with blood on her fingers.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” her customer said.
Everything else happened so fast. She gasped as the sound of squealing men and torn flesh echoed down the dark alleyway. Marianna covered her ears to try to hide from the sound.
The three bodies fell in a heap around her, and her customer, with blood covering his lips and bottom half of his face, stared down at her. The sight was too much for her to handle. Before she could stop herself, everything went black.
Chapter Two
Augustus wiped his face on the dead man’s shirt. He hated making mess with his supper, and the bastards had it coming for attacking Marianna. The look on their faces and the fear in her eyes was too much for him to deal with. Everyone who hurt her would die.
Throwing the last body to the ground, he moved toward his woman.
Marianna was passed out on the floor next to the place where she threw up. Once his face was no longer covered in blood, Augustus lifted the woman into his arms. He curled her against his side.
“What am I going to do with you?” He moved out of the alley. The police would be by soon to investigate the killing. He doubted the three men would be missed, and there was no way he or his kind would be implicated.
Sticking to the back streets, Augustus made the journey as quickly as possible with Marianna in his arms. She didn’t wake up, but he didn’t want to risk it if she did waken.
His front door opened the instant he got to the bottom of the steps.
“Where have you been?” Gregory, his human friend, asked. Gregory folded his arms waiting for an explanation.
He kept a human in order to keep other uninvited vampires out. Once he purchased a house, he put the deeds in Gregory’s name and made sure the man invited him in. The bonus with Gregory was that he was a good friend rather than being a mere necessity.
“This is the woman I’ve been telling you about.”
Gregory was his friend, not his lover. The human needed him in order to survive. After that first night together, Gregory wanted to know everything. They needed each other. Gregory needed him for his blood while Augustus needed him for companionship. Their relationship had deepened over time to the point where Augustus occasional drank from Gregory but not much.
“I thought you were only thinking of taking on another friend? Not actually doing it.”
“Gregory, she wouldn’t be my friend. She’d be my woman to do with as I pleased. Now, go and prepare the woman’s room.”
His friend glared at him but did as he was bid.
Augustus closed the door behind him. Marianna gasped and settled into his arms. She remained asleep. He used the time to himself to look down into her pale face. Her lips were lovely and plump. Augustus couldn’t stop thinking about how good her lips would look wrapped around his cock. The image of the red of her lips against his pale skin taunted him. He thrust the image away and concentrated on making sure she was okay. There was bl
ood along her hair line, and bruising was already starting to form. He didn’t like the look of the discoloured skin on her flesh.
Marianna was pale and pure. Rage rolled over him like a disease threatening to spread.
“I suggest you calm down before you squash and hurt her,” Gregory said, appearing at the top of the steps.
“I thought I told you to get her room ready?” Augustus growled the words even though he knew deep in his heart Gregory spoke the truth. If he didn’t get his rage under control soon he’d hurt the gentle woman in his arms easily.
“First, I’m not your fucking slave. I’m your friend. And second, your blood helps me to speed up my actions. Cleaning or preparing her room doesn’t take long.” Gregory folded his arms. “I take it the men who did this to her are dead?”
“They were low-life scum.” Augustus walked up stairs and handed her over to his friend. “You should carry her. I need to control myself.”
“You’re over three hundred years old, and you still get pissed off like the rest of us.” Gregory took her and walked down toward the woman’s room. He followed behind the human while also listening to Marianna for any other signs of distress.
His kind was graced with excellent hearing, and he was listening for any signs of trauma or internal bleeding. All he heard was the careful beats of her heart.
“You really care about this one, don’t you?” Gregory asked, placing her gently on the bed. She was naked as the bastards had torn at her uniform. “Be careful, Augustus. Your eyes have changed colour.”
He shook his head trying to clear the rage from inside. The sight of her bruised body and torn clothing was making it impossible for him to concentrate.
“Grab a shirt or something to dress her in.”
Gregory did as he asked without arguing. In no time at all they had her dressed in a shirt, and his friend was cleaning the blood from the various cuts over her body and face.
If Augustus got that close to her, he wouldn’t be able to resist her blood. Marianna was pure, and her blood would become an addiction. A first taste wouldn’t be enough to sustain him. He’d need more and always crave more until he killed Marianna with his thirst for her blood.
The thought of killing her filled him with regret.
“Do you want to tell me what happened?” Gregory asked.
“A bunch of guys were stalking her down the street she was walking. She was completely oblivious to the dangers surrounding her. Marianna was no match for the three men. They tried to rape her. I stopped it before it got too bad.” He needed to stop talking. If he kept talking about it, he’d lose it.
“She must really mean a lot to you to be getting this reaction from you. Your eyes have changed colour, and your fangs are back. It’s kind of scary. If she wakes up, you’ll freak her out.”
He took on Gregory’s warning. Taking a step back he gave himself time to calm down.
“Do you need my blood?” Gregory asked.
His friend didn’t mind feeding him. Augustus’s relationship with Gregory surprised even him. He’d found the young man many years ago on the brink of death. Augustus’s blood kept him alive. Their friendship meant everything to Augustus. Gregory didn’t seem to mind about the vampire elements inside him.
Augustus shook his head. “No. I need to get out of here before she wakes up,” he said.
“If she wakes up without you here in a strange house with a strange man she’ll freak out. Marianna needs you.”
“Right now she needs to live, and I’m not in control. I’ll be back within the hour.”
****
Gregory watched his friend disappear. Augustus looked totally lost in anger and hunger. He’d never seen his vampire friend like this. Turning back to the woman on the bed, Gregory washed the blood from her hair. She was still asleep, which he was thankful for. He couldn’t handle a screaming woman in his hands right now.
She let out a sigh and turned her head away from him. Augustus over the past few weeks kept disappearing at the beginning of the night. When he returned, Augustus would talk about the woman he’d been watching. Marianna was not a mystery to Gregory.
His friend was quite the artist, and when Augustus was trapped for the morning down in the basement he spent a great deal of time drawing. Her picture decorated the four walls down below. Gregory was shocked by the actual likeness of the pictures.
Augustus had got the colour of her hair perfect and the paleness of her skin. Rinsing out the cloth, Gregory left to grab some Band-Aids to place over the worst of the damage.
Again she didn’t wake when he placed them on her gently.
Once he finished he moved to the kitchen to make himself a drink and some food. He returned to her side with a book and waited for her to wake up.
Every once in a while he glanced over at her and wondered what it was that drew Augustus to her. He’d never known Augustus to be so infatuated with a woman. Augustus was known for loving many women but never staying around. What was it about Marianna that kept him enthralled?
Her red hair danced like fire around her face. The hair covering her pussy was also red. He’d caught a glimpse of it while he’d been dressing her, but that couldn’t be the only thing pulling Augustus in.
The only other thing he saw was her shape. The woman had a good pair of tits on her. He’d love to feel those mounds in his hands as he rode her hard with his cock.
The hours passed, and Gregory kept checking over his patient. She’d curled up into a ball with her hands underneath her head. Marianna looked like a lost little girl.
Augustus still hadn’t returned. He didn’t allow himself to worry. Augustus didn’t get to being over three hundred years old by stupidity.
“How is she?” Augustus asked, entering.
“I didn’t hear you come in,” Gregory said, putting his book down.
Almost as if Marianna heard his voice her eyes opened. She let out a moan, and she jerked up in the bed.
“What’s going on? What happened to me? Why does everything hurt?” Her eyes were filled with tears as she stared at Augustus.
“You’re going to need her to calm down before you talk to her.”
Marianna was hyperventilating on the bed. Her chest rose and fell with every quick indrawn breath. She looked petrified.
Augustus perched on the bed. Marianna shuffled back.
“Calm down,” Augustus said.
She relaxed. He saw her shoulders slump, but she didn’t make a move.
“Look into my eyes.”
Gregory watched him work his magic.
She looked into Augustus’s eyes.
“You’re not afraid. You’re totally relaxed because nothing is going to hurt you.”
After a time he saw her relax even as the tears fell from her eyes.
“Why did you bring me here?” she asked.
Gregory moved in closer to watch.
“You were attacked, Marianna.”
She frowned seconds before her eyes opened wider. “Those men in the street attacked me. They slammed me against the brick wall and tore at my clothing. They were going to … they were going to … rape me.” Shame crossed over her face as she lowered her head.
“Don’t do that to yourself,” Gregory said. He reached out to touch her chin. Marianna didn’t flinch away. He made her look at him. Her eyes were still filled with tears. “The bastards who did that to you are the ones to blame.”
“I never saw them coming. I was walking home, and then they were there, and I couldn’t get away. I begged and begged.” She pulled out of his grip. He was surprised when she wrapped her arms around Augustus. Most humans were scared of the vampire as they sensed the danger he posed. “You were there. I saw you. You saved me.”
He saw his friend’s eyes close as he inhaled her scent. Gregory recalled Augustus once telling him she smelled like rich, dark chocolate.
“Do you want me to give you guys some privacy?” Gregory asked.
“Would you mind getti
ng Marianna some food? She hasn’t eaten, and I don’t want her to become ill through lack of nutrition.”
Gregory nodded and left. He turned one last time to see Marianna curled up in Augustus’s lap. Tears were falling from her eyes as huge body-shaking sobs escaped her.
He felt so sorry for her. Closing the door he made his way back down to the kitchen. He didn’t know what she liked but tried to think of something she’d be able to eat. Sandwiches were the easiest solution to his problem. As he made some food he kept hoping to hear something.
There was something about Marianna. She was beautiful and pure from what Augustus told him. What was it about her that pulled at his heart-strings? He didn’t know her, and yet there was a part of him that wanted to do everything to protect her.
Shaking his head, he made her some food and pushed all his thoughts to the back of his mind. She wasn’t his responsibility. Augustus had been the one to find her, and Augustus would most likely be the one to claim her.
Chapter Three
Marianna held onto her customer. She couldn’t remember his name, but at that moment she didn’t care. He’d been there when she needed him the most. If he hadn’t turned up to protect her, Marianna didn’t even want to consider the possibilities of what could have happened to her.
He stroked her hair and offered her soothing noises that worked.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Augustus.”
“What?” Marianna pulled away to stare into his eyes.
“My name is Augustus.”
She smiled. “It’s a very old name.”
“I’m an old soul.”
He stroked down the side of her face. She closed her eyes relishing the touch of his fingers on her body. “You’re so soft and delicate. I had no choice but to kill the men who did this to you.”
Augustus touched the bandage on top of her head. She winced at the pain.
“You killed the men who hurt me?” she asked, shocked. Panic rose up inside her, which was soon replaced because she had to relax.
The man in front of her let out a sigh. “This is not going to be easy.”
“What’s not going to be easy?” She rubbed her head and in doing so removed the bandage covering her cut. A scab hadn’t even been given the chance to form.