The Vampire's Prey

by Vivian Murdoch

  Memories flood back in, and panic fills me. I jerk my arms forward to block him from advancing, but they won't move. Nothing moves. Turning my head to the side, I see my arms tied up above me to the head post of my bed. It doesn't take a genius to know that's what's happening with my legs as well. My eyes follow Simon's movements as he paces around the bed.

  "I loved you, you know," his voice finally breaks the silence.

  "I loved you too. You're my brother!" I choke out. The pain of this betrayal mingles with Adrian's, and my heart begins to shatter even more. Now, I truly have no one.

  He looms in close and runs the tip of his finger down my arm and stops where the shoulder meets the curve of my breast. Pausing for a second, he meets my gaze before removing his finger, so he can sit at the edge of the bed. My body shifts slightly closer to him as his weight dips the bed.

  "Ahhh. But you could have been so much more. You still can, once you're purified."

  I go still. The only movement is my heart jackhammering in my chest. Purification? My mind zips back to the few times I snuck in and saw what was happening. The screams still sometimes wake me up at night. Once I trained my mind to disassociate, it became a lot easier to sleep. Sometimes though, the nightmares still come.

  As I understand it, once you're purified, you're not mentally fit for much. The Family sends all the children they've purified to special homes, but as of yet, I have seen no proof of either the process succeeding or the children that it “rescued.” For all I know, it's a fairy tale told to wayward members to keep them in line, the chance of redemptions. But, knowing The Family, they very well could render someone unable to do the simplest of tasks.

  "M-more?" I try to sound hopeful, like this is the best idea I have ever heard.

  "Yes my darling. So much more. You see, I was planning on waiting until you came back from this mission, and I was planning to propose to you."

  Ice fills my veins. He was planning what?

  "But you're my brother."

  He scowls and rises. "I'm not your blood brother," he spits out before starting his pacing again.

  As he reaches my ankles, he runs his fingers over the ropes wrapped tightly around them. Pinpricks dot my feet as the circulation becomes more and more constricted. My mind drifts to Adrian. His ropes felt like a warm embrace: safe and secure. These ropes are cold and cruel, biting into my skin. There's no arousal here, only fear and dread. At least with Adrian, he is the devil I know. I have no idea who this devil is in front of me.

  "I can see why he likes these. You can’t fight back when you're spread out in front of me."

  I freeze. How does he know about Adrian and his rope?

  "I don't know what you're talking about."

  "Don't lie to me!" He screams, racing over to the head of the bed. He leans down until his face is a breath away from mine. "You're always lying to me!"

  "When have I ever lied to you?" I go through my memories like flipping through a file-o-dex. No memory comes to mind that warrants this abuse from him.

  Sneering, Simon grips the front of my shirt with his hands and yanks, popping the buttons off and exposing my bra. My breath comes in gasps. Fear races through my body.

  "I've been watching you, you know. Ever since you joined our house," he whispers, sliding the pad of his finger down the slope of my breast, pausing right before he gets to the nipple. "I've watched you touch yourself in the shower, then pretend you weren't putting on a show just for me."

  I squirm, trying to move out from under his touch, the nausea climbing back up my throat. He reaches out and pinches my nipple hard, pinning me to the spot. Yelping, I try to stay still to see if that might actually get him to stop. He smiles and flicks this thumb back and forth. Disgust and unease war within me.

  "You were supposed to be my wife. My pure, innocent, beautiful bride. But then you ruined it completely. You know," he muses, cupping my other breast in his hand, "I could have even overlooked the fact that you masturbated and touched yourself without permission. But a vampire?" He squeezes tightly, sending shards of pain going through me.

  "A fucking fanger? What were you thinking?"

  "I, I didn't. I swear!"

  His hand smacks loudly across my face, sending stars shooting across my eyelids.

  "Is this not good enough for you?" he screams, tugging the ropes even tighter.

  Groaning, I try to pull back, but ropes hold me dangerously still.

  "I know I'm no rope professional, but come on! You got to give me something here. You seemed to like it when he tied you up at those rocks the night before last.”

  His words are punctuated by more rope looping and tightening around my legs. Shards of pain and tingles run through my lower extremities with each twist around my flesh.

  Realization finally hits me. He saw us. Somehow, he saw us. Oh God. He knows everything. I glance back up at Simon. His eyes are intently staring at my exposed cleavage, and nausea rolls through me. Any chance I thought I had flew right out the window with his words. There's no way I can lie now. Wait! Maybe I can! Maybe I can still get out of this alive. It's not like Adrian has any place in my heart anymore—I can convince him of that at least.

  "I didn't enjoy it!" The lie tastes like ash in my mouth. If anything, one touch from Adrian is all I need to be engulfed in flames. Swallowing, I stare up at him, trying to convince him to believe me. "He forced me to do all those things. I went there to befriend him. You know, catch him off guard, so I could kill him."

  Simon's dark chuckle chilled me even more. "Oh my dear, you are so very good at lying. You almost had me convinced.” His hand settles again around my throat before he eases off the bed to grab his phone out of his pocket. Holding it up, he waves it back and forth a few times before putting it back into his pocket. "Seems to me that there are no vampires. None at all.” His grip tightens. "How can that be? Unless you're a little slut who wanted to keep the vamp all to herself. Besides," he mutters, his face turning dark, "You forget that I was there. I saw everything. I saw how your cunt glistened in the moonlight. I heard the moans spilling from your lips. You didn't even sound that turned on when playing with yourself. So don't lie there and tell me you didn't enjoy it. I saw and heard proof.” Simon leans even closer until his breath stirs the hair around my ears. "And never once did I hear you say no."

  Pulling back up, he lets his weight rest more on his arm, so his palm is pushing against my esophagus. Frantic, I thrash around in the ropes, trying anything to break free. I attempt to plead with him, but my words are choked as they try to rise up. Darkness creeps over my vision before he finally shifts.

  "I tried to be nice. I tried to give you a chance. But all you've done is lie and act like I'm an idiot. Well, I'm not.” He digs into his pockets once more and pulls out a knife. With the flick of his wrist, the blade pops out with a sickening snick.

  Frantic, I keep my eyes on him, but my wrists and fingers turn and move about slowly, trying to find some way to wiggle free without him knowing. Simon slides the tip down my sternum, and I hold my breath. This is nothing like the smooth, controlled movements that Adrian used on me. Instead, Simon's movements are jerky and frantic. Closing my eyes, I try my best not to let my mind make more of this than it is. I'm not sliced to ribbons. I'm not bleeding out over the bed. Adrian made his blade dance all over my body without spilling a drop of blood until he went to feed.

  Knowing Simon, his knife isn’t nearly as sharp or well-maintained. Hopefully, it would take a lot more pressure to cut me open. As it is, it feels like it's just skimming the surface of my skin. At the most, it feels abrasive. However, there are no rivulets of blood that I can feel sliding down my skin. For now, it seems like I'm safe.

  With a hard tug, he cuts through the front of my bra, completely exposing me to his depraved gaze. I keep my eyes closed, hoping it will somehow lessen the violation if I don't actually see him. My fingers stretch and flex, but the rope keeps holding firm. At this point, every movement against the ropes bu
rns my skin. There's no way my hands aren't burned and abraded. But, honestly, what would I rather have? My life or perfect hands? Trickles of blood start wetting my skin and the ropes start sliding just a touch more up and down. Progress. Painful progress, but progress.

  I feel his thighs straddle my hips as he climbs on the bed. The added weight tightens the ropes even further. I bite my lower lip to keep from crying out. Our training never prepared us for something like this. The knife inches its way lower, and that's when I realize I'm not actually wearing pants. All that keeps him from ravaging me is my underwear, and based on the trajectory of the knife, they aren't going to protect me much longer. Squeezing my eyes even tighter, I cry out just as he slides the cold metal underneath the waistband.

  "Look. It's over between us. You were right. Okay? He tricked me into wanting him, and I was weak. I prayed, I read the Bible, but he still managed to get through. I don't even know how. After what I saw last night...there's no way I'll ever fall for that monster's tricks again."

  Simon pulls back and laughs so hard that it jostles the bed. "Why do I feel like he could waltz in here right now, and you would be on your hands and knees, just begging to suck him off."

  Tears sting the back of my eyelids. It already hit me that it was over between us, but Simon taunting me is the final nail in the coffin. A hollowness descends over me. At this point, it doesn't even matter what Simon does. When he takes me back home, I'm as good as dead anyway, and any memories of Adrian and I were tainted the moment he killed that girl.

  Still chuckling, Simon starts to saw the knife back and forth across the band of my panties. "How could you have been so foolish? What did you actually think was going to happen? He was going to declare his undying love for you and whisk you off to his castle in the sky?"

  The tears start flowing down. I was indeed foolish, and that's why this hurts so much. I couldn't expect to have him love me this soon, but I was hoping someday it would happen. For once, it seemed plausible. I let myself fall into the foolish lie that I could actually be loved. Well, at least beside someone crazy like Simon.

  "You did, didn't you? You actually thought a monster was capable of love? That's so sad.”

  His fingers brush at my tears, and I yank my face to the side. Big mistake. Simon grips my chin in his hand and forces his lips onto mine. His tongue is slimy as it forces its way past my lips and into my mouth. Pulling back, he grins as he skims his hands down the sides of my waist.

  "You're even more pretty than she was. This time, I'll make sure to enjoy myself. But it was worth it for you to see Adrian's true nature."

  Simon tugs hard where he had been sawing, and I hear and feel the fabric rip from my body. My last layer of protection. As he tugs and pulls my panties, my brain flashes into gear.

  "Prettier than who?"

  He stops and looms over me. "Don't you worry your pretty little head over it. Soon, it won't matter anyways because you'll be my bride physically and in the eyes of our Lord. I have to do this Evie. It's either this or purification, and I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy me a whole lot more than the later."

  Simon's rough fingers paw at my opening. I have to distract myself. What did he mean? As I mull over his words, trying to distance myself from what is doing to my body, I realize how I'm tied up. The crude way he tied me up is eerily similar to how Barbara was tied up. Oh God! How did I not see it? My brain flashes back to last night. The ropes, Adrian, dear Adrian. He is such a perfectionist. The ropes last night were crude and hurried.

  Even at his most frazzled, Adrian would have used a different technique or something easier to constrain her. He would do that over a rushed job. Also, knowing that Simon was watching them that night on the rocks means there was a time when he could have somehow gotten a hold of Adrian's rope.

  As the pieces click together, I hear the dreaded sound of his zipper clicking open. I start struggling in earnest. Adrian may be a lot of things, but he wasn't the killer. I cannot allow my prejudice to keep us apart. But first, I have to deal with Simon. Despite the pain of the ropes, I twist and writhe. Even if I can't get him off me, I might be able to distract him enough for someone to come and help.

  Simon grabs at me, trying to keep me still. The tip of his penis slides against my opening, trying to gain entrance when a loud, piercing noise emits from his phone.

  "Fuck!" He rolls off of me and starts zipping his pants back up. "Don't move. I'll fuck you after I kill your pet monster"

  Simon throws his shirt back on, barrels through the door. Adrian! My will redoubles. Sobbing, I work my wrists back and forth, trying to move against the pain. The blood starts flowing a little more and saturates the ropes. Minutes go by like hours. Gradually, the blood acts as lubrication, and I find that each slide and tug moves me closer and closer to getting out. With a final cry, my wrists pop loose, and I'm free. Working quickly, I tug at the knots holding the ropes about my legs. My fingers work feverishly despite the numbness from being held so long like that. I tug frantically until I'm finally out of them. The moment I swing my legs over to the floor and try to stand, I collapse. Both legs are asleep, and the tingling pain of blood returning is the only thing keeping my mind focused. I lay there, moving my legs about, constantly testing when the numbness and tingling dissipates. I look at the windows and see how quickly sunset is approaching. That's why he rushed out of here. The coward wants to kill him while he's asleep instead of facing him like a man.

  Before leaving, I scour my room, trying to gather anything I can use to protect myself. He's not a vampire, but a stake would still stun him nonetheless. Scooping up three of them, I grab my hunting holster and wrap it around my hip. I race out the door, not even bothering to lock it. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing in there now for me. That part of my life is over.

  Hopefully Adrian can forgive me, and we can move past this. My heart flip flops rapidly. I wouldn't take me back after what I did. Why would he? Shaking my head, I race down the steps and into my car. As I near the vehicle, I am thankful that Simon didn't have the foresight to slash my tires. All the stuff I brought is dumped into the backseat before I climb in to race off to the rescue.

  I spin out onto the road and speed towards Adrian's house. The whole time, I'm praying that I get there in time. My pulse thunders in my ears. I'm going as fast as I can without going so far over the speed limit that I alert the cops, but it still doesn't feel fast enough. As usual, when you're either late or in a hurry, all the slow cars manage to be in front of you. Frustration keeps building as I dodge one car and then the next. It's a good thing I'm driving alone, my language would make a sailor blush.

  14

  Evangeline

  I approach and park a small bit away, so I don't alert Simon, just in case he couldn't get in and is circling the property, looking for a weak point. Grabbing my stuff from the back, I gear up and trudge up towards Adrian's house. My heart sinks as I walk closer to the mansion entrance. As I reach the gate, it sits ajar: not all the way open, but more than halfway. That's definitely not right.

  If I remember correctly, Simon always excelled at computers and technical stuff, that's why he was always an asset on the mission. Walking up to the door, it is still open a crack. Thank goodness. Simon must either be setting a trap for me, or so far in his head about Adrian, he is rushing. It's not like him to be this careless.

  Slipping off my shoes, I lay them next to Adrian's, and a lump lodges in my throat. Just that sight brings back the warm, fuzzy feelings I have for him. Am I too late? Can this be salvaged? I start to walk away when I spot a pair of Mary Janes further over on the floor. They could only belong to Marion. Dear God! What has Simon done to her? My mouth goes dry as I ease my way from the foyer and into the kitchen. Nothing. The only sound is a muffled banging ringing out from a far hallway. Making my way closer, I slide my back against the walls and peer around corners.

  Simon's face is beet red as he punches and prods at a door. I recognize that door. It's Adrian's! At least, tha
t's the room we—. I turn off that avenue of thinking. I need all my wits about me right now. Good news is, if he's still working on that door, then Adrian is still safe. We just have to hold out a little longer until sundown.

  That still doesn't tell me where Marion is. Slipping back, I retrace my steps until I'm back in the kitchen. Think. Where would I stash someone? I mentally roll my eyes. I would never actually stoop to something so crazy. I start to walk out of the kitchen when a bump makes me freeze. Easing around, I lay my hand on a stake, fully prepared to face off with Simon again. When I turn, no one is there.

  Closing my eyes, I listen to the noises. Simon is still fuming and banging away at the door, so it can't be him. Then, I hear it again. The softest thump. I scan the area until I remember the hidden pantry. Reaching out, I push in and wait for the hydraulics to open the panel. There is Marion, her hair is a rumpled mess, and streaks of mascara line her face. Other than that, she seems unharmed. Leaning over, I lay my finger against my lips, and she nods, her eyes wide with fear. She keeps looking all around the room, wild-eyed. Bending down, I ignore my screaming muscles and untie her as quickly as I can. Thankfully, Simon isn't a wizard with rope. His knots are crude and hurried. Smoothing down her hair, I run over a small bump on the side of Marion's head. I wince for her and nod sympathetically. I help her up and give her a tight hug.

  Still silent, I motion for her to leave. She pulls out her phone and mimics dialing 911. Frantic, I shake my head and shoo her towards the entrance. Once she's safely gone, I start my plan to draw Simon away from the door. Though Adrian is strong and capable, he might not stand a chance if he's being ambushed. Reaching for my phone, I send him a quick text. I have no idea if he's going to get it or not. So far, all my intel on vampires is wrong.

  For all I know, he could be sitting in the dark room, watching rom-coms and drinking a Bloody Mary. The notification shows that his phone received it, but that's it. Waiting a few more moments, I will the notification to turn to where he's actually seeing it. No such luck.