Beside him a woman groaned.
Rachelle, wrapped tightly in her fur coat. She opened her eyes and looked around. “Oh, hey.”
“Hey, you.” He reached over and took her hand. It was cool, but not cold. “Were you asleep?”
“Guess so.”
A quick rap on the window made Hayden jump.
Mattie lingered outside, her booted feet deep down into the snow. “You guys, come on out here.”
Rachelle squeezed his hand. “Where are we?”
“I’m not sure.”
She laughed. “You drove us here.”
Hayden looked at Mattie, but she was turned away, scanning the tree line, the map dangling in one hand, her body outlined in shadow. He turned to Rachelle, but she wasn’t looking at him. She too was scanning the tree line, her gaze moving along with Mattie’s.
The sky was clear, the night quiet. It smelled cold. The only sign of life was the soft clouds of mist that formed from their breaths.
Hayden twisted and looked in the backseat. His backpack was there, the bag of food they’d brought and the thermos. Probably empty now. That was the last thing he remembered—drinking the tea while Mattie gave him directions. After that there was nothing. Now he was parked on the side of some road out in the middle of nowhere. They could be twenty minutes from the city or two hours. He glanced at the gas tank. It was about half full, but if he blacked out driving he could have blacked out stopping for gas. He reached into his pocket, looking for his wallet and noticed his belt was undone and hanging down the back of his pants.
“What’s wrong?” Rachelle asked, her eyebrows pulling together.
He shrugged. “Nothing. Let’s get out.” He shoved open the car door and rolled out, fixing his belt as he stood. A wave of dizziness found him and he grabbed the top of the door to steady himself.
Mattie moved over. “It’ll wear off once you start moving.”
“Seems to me I’ve already been doing some moving.”
“You did a little. I did more.”
Rachelle spun in a circle. “So where are we, anyway?”
Mattie lifted the map and pointed to the top right corner. “This is the camp. So we need to walk up the river, then we’ll see it.”
Hayden leaned on his car. “Just leave the car here?”
“We won’t be gone long.” Rachelle looked around the deserted area. “Is this even a real road?”
Ignoring Rachelle’s question, Mattie opened the car door and grabbed Hayden’s bag then held it out for him. “You’ll want this.”
Hayden took it and pulled the strap across his shoulder. Mattie grabbed the thermos and tucked it under her arm.
Rachelle rounded the back of the car. “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 rolled the paper up, tucked it into her coat pocket and started walking toward the trees.
Rachelle followed, her shorter legs working harder to get through the snow. “It’s not anything dangerous, is it? I mean, nothing bad can happen to us, right?”
Mattie bumped shoulders with Rachelle. “Only the bad stuff we want to happen will happen.” She glanced over her shoulder and caught Hayden’s gaze. “Right, Hayden?”
“That true, Hayden?”
Hayden ignored Mattie’s stare. “I’ll keep you safe, Rachelle.”
“What about me?” Mattie asked, trying to look innocent.
“You’re on your own.”
She laughed.
They walked on in near silence, the rise and fall of their booted feet the only noise breaking the deathly quiet of the clear night air. It was cold, but not bitter. Finally, they reached the edge of the line of tress. The snow was less deep, and they were able to walk more quickly. Mattie stayed in front, Rachelle second, Hayden last.
When Mattie unscrewed the top of the thermos, he watched Rachelle take several long drinks of the tea. When she offered it to him he took it and drank too. The warm liquid settled in his stomach.
* * * * *
The dizziness was more intense this time. Hayden breathed deeply, hoping the air would clear his head. Then he remembered what she’d said—movement. He pulled in another long breath and placed his arms by his sides. Somewhere in the back of his consciousness a chain rattled. He ignored the sound and tried to lift himself. Again, the sound came. He pushed harder but the only reward was a sharp snap to his neck and a shooting pain down his back.
He reached up and found a heavy, cold ring circling his neck. A chain was attached.
He grabbed the metal ring and tugged, the rough, stiff steel cut into his palms. “Rachelle?” He crawled back to create slack in the chain so he could sit upright and then he yelled again. The darkness didn’t answer. He yelled again and again. The third time his anguish and fear seeped out in his voice and the sound circled him, making rings of fear that surrounded him like smoke.
“She’s fine, trust me. And probably having the best time she’s had in a while.” Mattie moved into the room from a corner, her eyes glowing green. “Except for last night, I mean. That was exceptional, wasn’t it? Having her lick your balls. I bet that was delicious. For her and for you.”
She sat on the edge of the bed, the light from a lantern on a small dresser beside the bed casting shadows on her face, and tossed back the rough brown quilt covering him. He was naked beneath it, his cock was partially erect. “She’s quite curious and very enthusiastic about sex.” Mattie ran her cool fingers up his shaft, caressing him lightly. “You are too.”
Hayden gritted his teeth against the warmth curling through him, heating his cock and reminding him how good it felt to thrust inside her lifeless body. He clenched his jaw and looked away.
Beyond the edge of the bed, a fire was burning in a squat wood stove. Two battered pots hung above. About three feet from the stove was a square table with two chairs. A window was above it, but there was nothing visible outside except blackness—a dark night that coated everything and never ended. The wind was gone and silence surrounded them, wherever they were. Mattie was staring at him, her eyes flickering bright and dark green, her mouth was softer than usual.
“You know.” She smiled, moving her gaze back to his eyes. “I think I forgot to thank you.”
He shrugged.
“I told you to make it good, you know, give me something worth watching, and you did. I appreciated your effort.”
Last night, with Rachelle. “I didn’t do it for you,” he said, ignoring the carnal want starting to spread throughout his body as he began remembering the lust that had consumed him.
“I was part of it, though. Wasn’t I?”
Hot flames of fierce sexual hunger flared deep inside. There was no point in denying what she already knew to be true. He nodded. She touched him, squeezed his shaft and then jerked her hand up and down, bringing more blood to his dick. She bent down and licked the tip. He sucked in a sharp breath and stiffened his spine, trying to fight the stab of piercing pleasure.
It was wrong. Everything about Mattie and him was wrong, but he’d never felt anything like it. Every nerve ending in his body was simmering, ready to be ignited and taken over by the surreal electricity.
She licked him again, taking her time, swirling her tongue smoothly across his tight skin. “Lay down. I’m going to suck the cum out of your cock.”
He resisted, even though her hand was still curved around his shaft, gliding slowly up and down, gently pulling him, and making him harder.
“I need it. You can either settle back and give it to me, or I’ll shove you back and take it.”
Hayden wanted to fight. He thought about the way his mouth felt, pressed to her cold lifeless neck. He thought about her constant threats, the chain around his neck. But she stroked him, gently, the coolness of her hand making the heat under her fingertips feel even hotter.
She licked him, then ran her tongue around his shaft, making his skin s
lick. “I really do like you.” Looking up at him with her green gaze, she added, “I like you much better than my last one.”
Hayden lay back and stared at the rough wood timbers that ran across the top of the cabin. He took a deep breath. “What happened to him?”
She licked him again, and again, then squeezed as she glided her hand up and down. “Do you want to meet him?”
“He’s here?”
Instead of answering, she parted her lips and took in all of him. His cock bumped the back of her throat. His hips jerked. The chain around his neck shifted and cut into his bones. Pain shot across his shoulders, but she continued sliding his shaft in and out of her mouth. He bucked, thrusting himself deeper into her mouth.
Suddenly, she stopped and pulled away. “What you really want to know is, is he one of us.” She caressed his firm wet skin with her fingers. “The answer is yes. But not all my others wanted to be turned.”
He pulled in a sharp steadying breath as the tension in his body spiraled tighter. “You give them a choice?”
“Of course. We all had the choice.” She slid her hand down to the base of his shaft, squeezed. “That’s enough talking, Hayden. Now be quiet while I make you come.”
Choice. The idea drifted up like fog. Choice was something he hadn’t considered. But she took him into her mouth again, swallowing him deeply as she swirled his tongue around his hard shaft. So the thought drifted to the back of his mind, and his consciousness filled with shades of green, the new colors of sex.
The tension in his groin tightened quickly, circled tighter, and stole the air from his lungs. He bucked against her mouth, trying to get even deeper into her throat. The heavy metal ring cut off the flow of blood coursing through his neck. Instinctively, he gasped for air, but the first waves of his release were already on him, taking control of his body. The rings of pleasure were cruel, circling his cock, squeezing the cum from his shaft. Mattie’s mouth continued to move over him, sucking every last bit.
Finally, he was able to shift up and break the pressure on his neck. Heavy blood pulsed upward.
Mattie moved away and ran the back of her hand across her lips. “I suppose you want to see Rachelle.”
Hayden shifted himself as upright as the chain would allow and nodded.
She got off the bed and crossed to the wood stove. She kicked it lightly with her booted foot. Sparks flared. She kicked it again. Sparks flashed higher behind the glass. “You really need to start thinking bigger, Hayden. Try to see what you aren’t even bothering to look at. You’re a thinker. Think.”
“Take me to her.”
She stared at the burning wood, her body unaffected by the heat of the flames dancing behind the thick glass. The top of the stove was flat, probably to be used for cooking. But she didn’t eat, did she? The heat was for him, her effort to make him comfortable.
“I’ll take you to her. But remember, I warned you.” She crossed the room to the dresser beside the bed. Wood squeaked as she wiggled a drawer open. After soft rustle of objects, she turned and came toward him. “We’ll have to…have to—can you put your ankles together?” She grabbed one of his ankles and tugged it toward the other. “This isn’t going to hurt.”
The soft 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, she had experience with tethering. Once the straps were secured around his ankles, 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. You might think you could build a dog sled and take off through the woods.”
“Where are we?”
“See? That’s what I mean. You’re always thinking.” She pushed herself off the bed. “Why don’t you do us some good and start thinking something useful.”
“What would that be?”
“You never did tell me what you found out in the library, before I interrupted you.”
He got up and tried walking alongside the bed. The tethers were manageable. “Interrupted? That’s what you’re calling it?”
“I don’t remember you complaining.”
It was true, so he didn’t say anything. If only he’d known. But looking back, even if he had known, would he have done it anyway?
“Tell me, what did you find out?”
He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled the cover over his legs and groin. “Are you serious? You know because you’re proof of it.”
She wiggled the drawer, the wood squeaking until it was closed. “Tell me anyway.”
He described the tracker he’d read about, and how the man followed the tribe into the woods and watched them train those freshly turned how to live off the sex. When she prompted him, he told her about the drawings, the details of the sex rituals, but she kept asking for more. “That really is all of it,” he said once he’d told her everything he could remember. “Was there something in particular you were hoping for?”
She got up and walked to the window and looked out into the black night.
“What were you hoping for?” he asked.
“What happens next?”
How could he possibly know that?
Hayden grabbed the chain and tugged. The dull sound of metal rubbing against wood made her look over.
“Can you take this off?” he asked.
She took a key off the mantel and freed the bolt locking the end of the chain to the bed. “The chain stays on.”
Hayden got to his feet, naked, and thankful for the radiant heat from the stove. “I don’t know what’s next. I haven’t the slightest idea.”
“I wanted to know—”
A rap on the door stopped her. She shoved Hayden back onto the bed and then pulled the door open just enough to look out into the bleak night.
“Matthew wants you,” a rough voice said through the narrow opening.
Her reply was sharp. “I told him we were coming.”
“I’m just doing what I’m told, Mattie.” The voice came more quietly. “He told me to tell you, so here I am, telling you.”
“We’re coming, Oscar. Tell him that.” She pushed the door closed and turned.
“Who’s Matthew?”
“He wants to meet you.”
“I thought we were going to Rachelle.”
“We are.” She went to the closet, opened the door, and then pulled out a fur cloak. She threw it at him. “Put this on. She ran her gaze up and down his naked body. “Unless you’d rather go naked. Which I’m totally okay with.”
Hayden threw the cloak over his shoulders and then lifted the chain over it. The rough animal hide rubbed his skin.
He noticed her wrapping a cloak around herself and asked why she bothered.
“Over time, the ice is bad for the skin.”
Visions of gray frostbitten skin flashed in Hayden’s mind. He didn’t want to ask any more.
Mattie stood by the open door. “Give me the end of the chain.”
“You’re not serious?”
“You want the others to know you’re mine. Trust me on that.”
He handed her the end. His boots were by the door and he stepped into them. She waited while he lifted the tethers, stepped into his boots, laced and tied them. She’d left enough slack in the knots for him to drop the loops down to his ankles.
They moved out into the night.
The snow wasn’t as deep as it had been in the city, and the leather straps binding his legs were long enough to allow him to walk easily enough. Running would have been a whole other matter.
Tall pines sheltered the area, circling the clearing. Hayden spotted five more cabins. Two of them smaller, the other three about the same size at Mattie’s. Hazy lights, probably from candles or lanterns, came from the windows. A line of smoke came up from each one.
“You been here long?”
&nb
sp; She cast him a look.
“How many are here?” he asked, feeling the first chill of snow clinging to the hair on his bare legs.
“If you had better eyesight you could count them yourself.”
“They’re watching us?” he asked, trying to ignore the cold creeping up his calves.
“You can’t feel their eyes on you?” she asked, nodding to one of the cabins they passed.
“No.”
“I guess that’s good, because if you could it might, well…”—she laughed lightly—“bother you.”
He looked back over his shoulder, trying to see something seeing him. “Bother me?”
“More like scare the shit out of you.”
He stopped searching. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” She swung the chain. “They see you’re mine though, so they’re staying inside like good boys and girls.”
They left that clearing and crossed through a cluster of trees and came into a smaller circle of three cabins. No candlelight glowed in the windows. No gentle lines of smoke came up from one of the chimneys.
“These ones are out,” Mattie said.
The endless row of tall pines ran behind all the cottages. The entire camp seemed to be circled by the enormous trees. The long branches were covered with snow, rays of the moonlight skimming across them. The setting was beautiful and the place appeared to be well-cared for. It couldn’t exist without anyone knowing. A scout camp? A retreat location for businesses? Might someone come to check on the cabins?
Not likely, considering the fierce weather.
Hayden kept up as best he could, the tether binding his legs occasionally twisting and catching in the snow. The chain swung from his neck, a weight to remind him to behave.
They came to an opening between some bushes, a spot where someone had shoveled a path. “One last thing,” she said, pausing beneath the low branches. “When we get there, I do all the talking. Got it?”
Servicing the Undead Page 5