“That’s very matter-of-fact.”
“No point in sugarcoating it,” I said, as nonchalantly as I could, remembering something from a long time ago.
When I was a runaway, I met another girl at a bus stop. She told me her name and we talked about where we were from. She’d run away from her traditional parents who tried to keep her from making “unapproved” friends or learning about “unapproved” subjects. A trucker offered us a ride to the next stop and I refused. She, however, accepted the offer and that was the last I had seen of her.
But the last I heard of her was a few weeks later when they found her mutilated body in a ditch. It was in the newspapers all over town. They’d caught the killer on camera near a truck stop... the very same trucker who had tried to give me a ride. I recognized his face immediately and it sent chills down my spine. That could have been me if I also took that ride. Why had I refused?
The fear I felt now was very similar to what I felt then, mixed in with a hundred other fears beside and a helpless, growing resentment.
The light turned on again. Jason was kneeling at my side with a strange expression on his face. Abruptly, he turned stood and turned away. “I... I’m sorry.”
I didn’t dare move.
His hands clenched. “You’re just so...” A glimmer of something flashed in his eyes then vanished. “I can see why you’re good at your job.”
I scowled back, no longer able to hide my anger. “I didn’t ask to be this way.”
“We rarely do.”
“If you wanted to bite me, all you have to do is use that love spell, right?” I said bitterly. “No need to scare me half to death.”
“Love spell? Oh, you mean the Charm Powder,” he said with a laugh. “No, I can’t stand that stuff. And it doesn’t work in the dark. It’s really just something that makes you... impressionable for a brief window of time. But it also has an effect on us too, so I’d rather not bother.”
“Good to know,” I said drily. “Now, can you leave?”
“Sorry. Goodbye,” and with that, he turned on a heel and left, the door shutting behind him.
***
Chapter 10: Moving Day
I was too wired to sleep, so I played games on my phone for a few hours, plugging it into the power strip when it ran low. The play relaxed me, though a sense of uneasiness lingered.
Late afternoon turned to evening outside the window and eventually I heard a knock. “Come in,” I said.
Claire and Jason entered and behind them was another man, pale-skinned with long, jet-black hair. He wore a black suit and tie and a pair of sunglasses hung around his neck. “This is Roloth,” Claire explained. “He’s here to finish the move. In a few hours, we’ll be out of your hair and you can call your friends in the morning. Roloth, this is Anna.”
Roloth approached me and flashed a quick, dazzling smile, a smile with pointy teeth.
“A pleasure to meet you, Anna.” He took my hand and knelt, briefly touching his lips to the back of my hand. My heart jumped. “I wish only that we could have met in... more peaceful and private times.”
Claire rolled her eyes. “All right, enough of the jaw-flapping. Hurry up and move that desk.”
“Is that any way to treat a friend who’s helping you move?” Roloth said with a pout, but he stood willingly, grabbed a box of books and departed.
In the meantime, Jason and Claire busied themselves in the room, removing clothes and toiletries. When Roloth returned, he stopped in front of the iron-caged mirror and his face darkened. “This is that other thing you wanted me to take, right? Why haven’t you gotten rid of it already?” His eyes flicked to me briefly.
“And do what exactly.... leave it in a junkyard?” Claire snorted.
“Better than putting it in a room with a mortal,” Roloth retorted.
Claire shrugged. “She was only here for a day.”
“Um, is there something I’m missing?” I asked timidly. Claire pursed her lips.
“I suspect there is a great deal you are missing, dear one,” Roloth said with a laugh. “But suffice to say that there are things beyond the thresholds of the world which it is better for mere mortals to avoid. Iron bars discourage, but they do not block.”
“Just get it out of here and into the truck,” said Claire flatly.
“Very well,” He lifted it with one hand, sprinkling the ground with black flakes. Tucking it under one arm, he bowed to me and departed.
***
“Yes, he’s quite dramatic,” Claire said with a sigh. “He’s at least five hundred years old and maybe more. Remembers the way this country was like when the Europeans first found it, a bit different perspective than us. But we need him or someone with a true vampire’s strength and he is the best we could have gotten on such short notice. And he’s an old friend of the family’s.”
“True vampire?”
“Yes. Jason can’t lift that mirror and storing it magically is... dangerous. Likewise with my books. However...” Claire looked around. “That chair you’re sitting in is another matter. In fact, there’s no way we can fit it out the door physically.”
She withdrew a piece of chalk from her pocket and bent down. She circled around me with the chair then elongated it into a spiral. Within the tines of the spiral she scribed strange characters. Many, many characters, precisely and mechanically. I shifted uncomfortably.
After what seemed like an eternity of chalk strokes and weaving, she straightened. “That should do it. Sorry, but we’re going to move the chair now. If you wouldn’t mind waiting over there,” She pointed to the corner.
I didn’t need a second warning. Magic would be here soon, my instincts screamed as I leaped out of the chair.
Claire fished around in her pocket again, this time coming out with a strange pink powder which she casually tossed on the chair. “Om-bala-mitsu,” she called and the chair trembled. The tines of the spiral glowed blue and the entire armchair began to sink into the floor with a soft squelch. Ripples spread from it as if the floor beneath it had liquefied.
Within a few minutes the chair had completely sunk below the circle. “All right. Jason might as well get those clothes in there too.”
He nodded and tossed them in a single bundle into the circle, where they fell without a trace.
Roloth returned and his eyes fell on the circle. “Oh hey. I’m almost done with the books.”
“Good timing. Get the desk too, will you?” asked Claire. “Careful, don’t step in it.”
He rolled his eyes. “What neophyte do you take me for?” He threw it in and it too quickly vanished. “Pretty cool, eh?” he asked me.
Claire sighed. “Another hour should do it.”
***
Chapter 11: Goodbyes
The hour passed quickly, though uncomfortably as it seemed that the other vampire, Roloth, was watching me closely while trying to remain unnoticed. But pass it did and finally the room stood empty of everything, except for Claire, carrying a paper bag, the two vampires, and me with my purse.
Claire glanced around the room, satisfied. “And it’s only midnight. Perfect. You two get down to the truck.” Jason and Roloth departed.
She turned to me, setting a brown bag in front of me. “The spells on this room will dissipate in one hour. I apologize for leaving you here until then, but we can’t take any chances. Please take these sandwiches until then and this cushion. ”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
“Again, I’m sorry we had to involve you in all this,” Claire said apologetically. “With luck, this will be the last time we have to trouble you.”
Jason poked his head back in the door. “Take care, and only kill the assholes if you can,”
I laughed, although I felt uneasy and oddly sad. “Fair enough. You take care of yourselves too.”
They departed together and the door shut again. Silence reigned once more, except this time it felt even more poignant in the bare unfurnished room.
I settled mysel
f on the cushion, cross-legged, and opened the bag. Inside were plastic-wrapped sandwiches and a yellow envelope. Opening the envelope, I withdrew a signed note that read, “For your troubles. Take care!” There was a stack of hundred dollar bills included inside.
I swallowed as I counted the money. Two months groceries and rent, assuming I didn’t spend it all in one place. And I was tempted to, as I realized abruptly that I wanted nothing so much as to get the hell out of town.
I looked out at the window and relaxed against the wall. Soon, very soon.
***
A knock came at the window. I thought I had imagined it at first, but then it came again... a persistent rapping noise. I rose, stretching my legs.
I moved to the window and parted the curtains. The street was empty below.
A familiar voice came from above, low and menacing. “I’ve come for you, my cloistered Princess.”
I jerked back in surprise, but it was too late. The scent of roses filled my nostrils and I reflexively looked up to see a dark figure, eyes piercing my heart.
I smiled up at him, certain that I had been rescued from something terrible. “Roloth,” I whispered lovingly. “You have returned.”
“How could I not?” he said. “Pray, this cursed window divides us.” He placed one hand on each side of the window pane and strained. With a loud creak, the whole wooden window ripped off the frame in a shower of dirty plaster. Contemptuously, he threw the window to the floor with a crash.
He then leaped inside and embraced me. “You have no idea how much I’ve searched for you.”
“Searched for me?” I echoed against him, intrigued but not alarmed.
He released me and pierced me with his steady, hungry gaze. “Yes. I’ll explain everything soon, my dear. We must go before you are found.”
He scooped me off my feet and held me tenderly against him. I wrapped my arms around his neck.
Roloth hopped into the gap in the wall, jolting me slightly. Even so, I felt secure and solid in his arms.
In a great gust of wind, he jumped from the broken windowsill and I clung tightly as we flew over the street and onto the rooftop of the opposite building.
The wind nipped us as he ran and jumped amidst the rooftops. Briefly, I looked up at the crescent moon, then back at his face. He turned to look at me and smiled, and his teeth gleamed in the moonlight. Silently, I longed for the moment to last forever.
At last we reached the bay with rows of ruined warehouses lounging around a three-dock wharf. He landed in the window of a two-story warehouse and set me down on the floor. My shoes crunched on broken glass and I looked up at him inquisitively.
“We must make sure you are not found,” he explained. “Or all will be lost. Moreover...” he leaned closer. “Your closeness fills me with a fire I’d long forgotten. We shall not go further tonight.”
He inhaled deeply of my hair and I caught a whiff of him too... and flinched. He smelled of dust and spores and something old. He wore faint, but spicy cologne. Beneath it, something rotted.
He seemed to sense my nervousness. “Are you frightened, my beautiful Siren? Do not worry. Unlike the others, I know your true value.”
I felt disoriented, like there was something I was forgetting, “My... value?”
“Enough talk.” he walked me back, arms encircling me. “There will be time for that later,” he whispered in my ear. “Tonight, know only that I am your Lord and I claim you.”
His fangs were inches from my neck and I cried out involuntarily. My mind raced and for the first time, I realized the danger I’d put myself in. It must be wearing off; some tiny part of my mind spoke. Do something! He’ll kill you!
But there was nothing I could do. He had me and he would do what he pleased. And despite knowing this, I still adored him.
As he spoke, his breath caressed my neck. “Do not fear, darling. You are more than a meal,” he whispered. “I shall make you a beautiful memory.”
He pushed me backwards and over onto a crate. Sinking on top of me, he pinned my arms and leaned down ruthlessly. His cold, hungry lips met mine and melded together. His hands wandered up and down my body and I shivered with arousal despite myself. It felt perfect, but also terrible.
Savagely, he tore open my blouse and yanked down my bra. He seized my breasts in a vice-grip, making me cry out again and struggle helplessly in his iron grip. He laughed and squeezed again. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
Roloth’s hands trailed down to my legs, reaching one hand up my skirt and pulling off my panties. I froze, motionless, torn still between arousal and fear. The voice in the back of my head was screaming at me to move or do something. Anything! But I pushed it aside with a practiced mental shrug. There was nothing to do, I told it. He might be a predator; if so, I could be nothing else, but be his prey.
Nothing else, but prey, I told the voice and at last I achieved a sort of calm as he brought his head to my thigh -- and plunged into me. Another cry seeped from my lips as his fangs pierced skin and muscle, a pain deeper than anything I’d ever felt before, along with a rush like nothing else I’d ever felt. I kicked my free leg out, in agony and ecstasy.
He withdrew quickly and sunk his teeth into my side. I moaned again and my hands jerked in spasms.
His teeth roamed all over my body, piercing and splitting me open. Blood flowed forth and my body shuddered with every new wound. I was dying, I thought. He would kill me.
At last, he stared deeply into my eyes as my vision swam. I could no longer even lift my hand to stop him and he sunk deeply into my neck.
I felt a presence within me or was I the presence within Him? Feverishly, I saw visions of fields and valleys and ancient cities, mixed with scenes of my own past of mothers and school and boyfriends. They swarmed my mind like floating clouds.
How small and petty my memories looked beside HIS, I thought and gradually they grew smaller and less frequent. I saw a tower worked of bone and black metal that stretched to the heavens; then a great stepped pyramid adorned in gold. For only a moment, I saw the house I grew up in on, then a sprawling city surrounded by waves.
My being was subsuming into HIS and I found that I did not care.
No one would miss me, I thought. No one needed this tiny, worthless existence. Being a part of HIM, I thought, was worth so much more than being me.
He would remember me, I said to myself as consciousness fled away. That would be enough.
***
Chapter 12: A New Peril
It was dark and my head hurt. I was sitting on uneven ground. I couldn’t move my hands.
I realized it was dark because my eyes were shut.
I opened them, slowly. The light shot into my skull and I winced painfully.
Slowly, the picture became clearer. It was daytime, but the room was covered in shadow. I was in a warehouse. I was alone.
Alone? My eyes flew open and I looked around frantically. No one else was in the room. I breathed a sigh of relief.
I looked up at my wrists. They were tied to a vertical beam. My head swam and I closed my eyes again until the worst of it passed.
I had been captured by another vampire.
This was starting to get old, I thought in frustration. I had thought my ordeal in Jason’s room would be the end of it, but it seemed things only got worse. For one thing, my shirt was still open and in tatters, some of the buttons were gone and my underwear lay in a shredded mess next to me.
Well, enough was enough. I had had it with sticking around and waiting for people to release me. I took a deep breath to calm myself; now was no time for my emotions to get the better of me.
I looked around for something of use, something anywhere. There was a door across the room and a large frosted window to my right that seemed like it overlooked the rest of the warehouse. Behind me was the window that Roloth and I had entered. None of the exits were within reach.
My eyes fell on my purse, lying by my feet next to the bag Claire had given m
e.
I reached out a leg and hooked it closer, then bent over, fishing for the flap with my teeth. My head spun as I bobbed for it, finally snagging one edge of the leather in my mouth. I flicked my head and the flap fell open.
My phone was still inside, I saw with a flash of relief. I just had to get it somehow.
I twisted my wrists. My hands were handcuffed together and the chain led behind the narrow beam. I could slide them up and down, but not far enough to reach the phone.
I put the opened purse between my knees, then slid down until my shoulder blades touched the stained concrete ground. Hiking my knees up, I barely managed to grab the purse in my shaking right hand. I fumbled around desperately, finally managing to snag the phone inside and drop the rest. I twisted my head to the side of the beam and looked up at the phone, flipping it on.
It read four twenty-nine P.M. Fifty percent battery life. Most importantly: four bars reception. I laughed, suddenly deliriously giddy.
With trembling hands, I turned on the GPS and waited for it to find me, straining my ears for Roloth and praying that he would not return soon.
The GPS icon blinked on and off, on and off. Then the blue triangle appeared. I noted down my location, then speed-dialed Tony.
My heart pounded as one ring passed, then another. Then, a click. “Anna!” he exclaimed. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I croaked. I sounded hideous, I thought in disgust.
“What? Are you okay? Where are you?”
I cleared my throat. “I’m fine. I’m at the corner of Tin mill and M Yard. Warehouse 2nd floor.”
“On my way!” his voice faded on the last word. Was he about to hang up?
“Wait!” I yelled, suddenly panicked. “There’s going be a vampire here soon, an old one.”
“Got it.” Then a click, followed by a dial tone.
I sighed and hung up, carefully opening my purse with my knees and dropping my phone back in. Then, I kicked it back to about where it was before. That would have to do.
Siren Nights (Series Part 1) (The Lure) Page 5