Of course she didn’t know what she was doing, but she wasn’t about to admit that. “I’m going to help the man I love. Now you can help me or you can get out of my way. Either way I’m going into that room.”
She had no idea what she would do if Martin tried to prevent her from doing what she needed to do. There was no way she would be able to fight against him.
He looked at her, indecision written on his face. Then he slid back the top bolt. “You had better survive this or I’m going to be skinned alive.”
He opened the door, Anna slipped inside, then he pushed it shut again. The sound of the bolts being slammed home made her jump.
In the office, Gavin, Brian and Gabriel saw her enter the room. Gabriel was swearing loudly as he raced out of the room and down the stairs.
“Anna, get out of there,” he screamed as he beat his fists on the door.
Gavin and Brian watched the events unfold, the microphones in the bedroom picking up every sound.
Luke stopped moving and looked at Anna. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said. She could hear the strain in his voice as he struggled to control himself.
“You won’t.” She was impressed that her voice wasn’t shaking.
He walked slowly up to her. “You need to get out of here.”
“No. Gavin thinks my blood will help you. Take it. Please.”
“I need you,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. She tilted her head to one side, but he made no move to bite her. Instead he took hold of her dress with both hands and ripped it open.
Gavin and Brian looked at each other in concern. “If he hurts her, he will never forgive himself,” Brian said. Gavin didn’t comment.
They watched as Luke kissed her, using his hands to push the remains of the ruined dress off her shoulders. Then he put his arms around her and jumped at the wall once more, turning at the last moment so that his back hit the concrete instead of hers.
Gabriel could still be heard pounding on the door, but the two inside the bedroom were showing no sign of being able to hear him.
As Luke kissed and caressed Anna, the gentleness of his touch was in stark contrast to the violence with which he flew her around the room, going from wall to wall, using his own body to protect her. He was holding her too tight and the impact was hurting her, but he could not stop himself.
He tore the rest of her clothes off her, not caring that he was being watched. His mind was so full of his need for her that he couldn’t think about anything else.
The banging on the door ceased as Gabriel gave up and went back to the office. He watched as his cousin made love to his boss, not wanting to see, but unable to look away.
Luke was not gentle, but he wasn’t rough either. He was forceful, taking Anna however he wanted, but she didn’t resist and she didn’t cry out.
When it was over, he sank his fangs into her vein and drank. She slipped her arms around his neck and held him tight. He took enough of her blood to make her drowsy, but not so much it would cause her any harm. The flow of her clean, pure, blood through his system calmed him down and soon both of them were asleep.
Neither woke when Gabriel entered the room and placed a blanket over them.
————————————-∞————————————-
When JD and the rest of the hunters from 14 arrived at the location provided, they had no trouble finding two drunken men sitting on a bench.
JD signalled that Craig, Jonathon, Scott, Jane and Sarah should search the park for vampires while he and Katie examined the men.
Blood trickled down their necks from two puncture wounds. “Bit me,” one of the men slurred. “God damn animal bit me.”
“I think this one is high as well as drunk,” Katie said as she moved the other man’s head around so she could examine his neck.
“I wonder what happened here,” JD said. He had never heard of a vampire leaving its victims alive and in the open. They always either killed them or took them with them so they could hold them captive as a constant source of blood.
‘Except when my team were attacked,’ he thought to himself, but somehow those vampires had left his people with no memory. These two could still remember what had happened to them, though if they ever told anyone they would not be believed.
The rest of the hunters returned, having found no trace of any vampires.
“This was definitely a vampire attack,” Katie said. “So what do we do now?”
“Go home and report back to Sanctuary 7. Maybe they have some idea what’s going on.”
“What should we do with the victims?” Jonathon asked.
“Leave them,” JD said. “They’re both so drunk they will think they imagined it all.”
“I’ll wait here for Sanctuary 1 to arrive,” Craig volunteered. “I’ll let them know that, for once, their services are not needed.”
JD thanked him then led Sarah, Jonathon and Katie to one of the cars. They talked on the way home, but nobody could come up with a reasonable explanation. Nor could anyone from Sanctuary 7.
“Things are getting too complicated,” JD said when he and Sarah were in bed once more. “It used to be so simple. Go out, kill the vampires, save the victims if we can, then head home and celebrate.”
“You’ll work out what is happening,” she told him. “You always do. Now where were we before the alarm went off?”
Soon neither of them were thinking about the mystery of what had happened that night.
————————————-∞————————————-
The next morning, Anna woke up in Luke’s bed. He had awoken sometime during the night and carried her to his room. The tainted blood was out of his system and he felt normal once more.
Anna rolled over and winced. She hurt all over. Luke was nowhere to be seen, which made her worry. She decided to get up and go and look for him.
When she pulled back the covers and looked down at her body, she winced again. She was covered in bruises. Luke had done his best to protect her and, other than the bruising and sore muscles, she was alright, but she still didn’t look good. She dared not think about how Luke was going to react when he saw what he had done to her.
His dressing gown was hung on the back of the bedroom door and she put it on before leaving the room. There was no sign of her clothes anywhere.
Luke’s room was on the top floor. She went down both flights of stairs and, hearing voices coming from the dining room, headed straight there.
None of the vampires living in the house ate breakfast, but they still met each morning for tea or coffee. Since Anna had started staying over most Saturday nights, the pantry and fridge had been filled with basic food supplies. Someone had put a bowl and spoon on the table for her, as well as a carton of milk and a variety of cereals.
“How are you feeling?” Helen asked as soon as Anna walked into the room.
“Fine,” she lied. “Where’s Luke?”
Helen smiled at the concerned look on Anna’s face. “He’s with Gavin. Don’t worry, he has completely recovered. They may be a while though, so have some breakfast.”
“What you did was very brave,” Martin said as she tipped cereal into her bowl.
“Or very stupid,” Gabriel said. He poured a mug of coffee from the jug, added sugar and passed it across to her. “You could have been seriously hurt. Don’t ever do anything like that again.”
Anna could not help smiling. “You sound like you care.”
“I do,” he said. “About Luke. If he had hurt you it would have devastated him. You need to start thinking about what is best for him instead of just reacting. Vampires are dangerous, especially when they are not in control of themselves.”
“She was thinking about what was best for him,” a voice sounded behind her. She turned around as Gavin walked into the room, Luke following behind. “She will always do what he needs and to hell with the consequences. Get used to it.”
Luke sat down beside her and took her ha
nd. “Are you alright?”
She nodded her head. She couldn’t bring herself to verbally lie to him.
Gabriel passed a mug of coffee over to Luke, then addressed Anna. “You are not going to work today. I’ll let everyone know you’re sick and that Luke is taking the day off to look after you.”
“Don’t I get a say in this?” she asked.
“No,” Luke and Gabriel both said at the same time.
“Alright. But I’ll need to go home so I can log on later.”
“One of us will go and get your laptop,” Luke said. Then he blushed. “You’ll also need some clothes. I’m afraid I completely ruined the ones you were wearing.”
Anna wasn’t bothered about her dress. It hadn’t been one of her favourites and what did some material matter compared to Luke’s well-being?
What did bother her, though, was the topic of conversation as she ate. She hadn’t given any thought to the cameras in the basement bedroom when she had entered and she felt a little uncomfortable being around people who had watched her have sex, especially when she found out Gabriel was one of them.
“When you put a little venom in a human, you can alter their memories,” she said to Luke. “Does it work on vampires as well?”
Luke knew why she was asking. “Unfortunately not. Not even lesser vampires.”
Gabriel also knew what was bothering her. “What I saw is not something I ever want to think or talk about again. I promise nobody at work will know anything and I’ll never bring it up with anyone. I’m planning on doing my best to forget about it.”
“Thank you,” Anna said, but she wasn’t entirely sure she trusted him.
“You look exhausted,” Luke said when she had finished eating and was drinking the last of her coffee. “Why don’t you go back to bed. I’ll come and join you shortly.”
“Good idea,” she said, stood up and kissed him on the cheek. Before leaving the room, she paused and asked a question. “Do you know exactly what was wrong with the blood of the man you drank from?”
“Drugs of some kind,” Luke said. “We’re not sure exactly what sort. Why do you ask?”
She bent down and whispered in his ear. “Maybe we can do it again sometime.” Then she left the room.
He was so surprised by her comment that he froze, his hand holding his mug half way to his mouth. He didn’t turn around and look at her.
She didn’t know that both Gavin and Gabriel had been close enough to hear what she had said and they watched Luke closely, their eyes filled with amusement.
“Did I...did she just...” Luke couldn’t articulate what he was thinking. “Excuse me,” he said and ran out of the room. He could hear the laughter follow him up the stairs.
Anna was just opening his bedroom door when he reached her. “Did you just say what I think you just said?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied. They entered his room and Luke made sure the door was firmly closed behind him.
“You enjoyed that?” He could not believe that she could be serious. He had practically attacked her.
“Yes,” she said as she turned to look at him. “You’re always so gentle with me, as though you’re afraid you’re going to break me or something. I’m not saying I want it rough, but it would be nice if you were a bit less controlled sometimes. I’m not fragile you know.”
“You are compared to me,” Luke pointed out. “I’m scared if I’m not gentle I’m going to hurt you.” He sat down on the bed and Anna sat down beside him.
“And I want you to stop worrying about that. Relax and let yourself go. Lose yourself in me like you did last night. Besides, you were practically flying around the room and that felt really good.”
Luke smiled, placed one hand on Anna’s cheek and kissed her. He gently pushed her back on the bed and deepened the kiss.
She responded and he moved one hand into her hair while the other one looked for the belt on his dressing gown. He easily undid it and as he opened it up to reveal her naked body underneath, he worked his way down her neck to her throat. He didn’t bite her. Instead he pulled away so he could take his own clothes off.
As soon as his eyes saw her bruises, he leaped backward off the bed.
“Jesus Christ,” he exclaimed.
Anna sat up. “It looks a lot worse than it is,” she said. “I’m alright. Honestly.”
“You are not alright,” he said. He had gone white. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
He left the room, shut the door, then leaned back against it, breathing hard.
Gabriel walked past, heading to his own room.
“What’s wrong?” he asked in concern. He had never seen his cousin look so shaken.
“I hurt her. Badly. Her body is covered in bruises.”
Gabriel didn’t react the way Luke expected. “I’m not surprised after how rough you were with her.” He placed one hand on Luke’s shoulder and squeezed. “Relax. It’s only bruising. It will soon heal. If you’re that concerned, speed up the process.”
Luke looked up at him. “That’s dangerous. You know there’s a very fine line between giving her enough venom to cure her and so much that she turns.”
“You can control yourself. You have done it before. The injuries are minor so she won’t need that much.”
“Gavin will never allow me to do it.”
“Then ask for forgiveness not permission.”
Luke watched as Gabriel walked away. One of the rules of the house was never to give a human enough venom to cure them of their injuries unless Gavin gave permission or it was the only way to save their life. Under other circumstances, Luke would never dream of breaking it, but this was concerning Anna and her needs came first, no matter what.
He took one more deep breath then went back into the room.
“I’m alright,” she said again.
Luke returned to the bed and took her hand. “No, you’re not, but I know a way to help you. My venom will fix you, if I give you enough, but if I give you too much, you will turn.”
Anna laid back. “I trust you,” she said and moved her head to one side, exposing her neck.
Why isn’t Anna dead
“You’ve done what?” Gavin yelled. Luke and Anna were in his office, holding hands. Luke hadn’t needed to tell Gavin what he had done; there was no way he would find out, but it felt wrong to not do so.
Anna flinched at the vehemence in Gavin’s voice and he took a deep breath to calm down.
“Sorry,” he said in a much gentler tone. “Please forgive me. I’m not used to Luke disobeying rules.” He turned his attention to Luke. “Why didn’t you ask my permission?”
“Would you have given it?”
Gavin pondered the question. “Probably not,” he eventually said. “It was a very risky thing to do. Or were you thinking about accidentally turning her.”
“God no,” Luke said immediately. “I would never do that to Anna.” It was not something they had talked about, but they would have to one day. Luke was immortal and he didn’t think he could bear to watch Anna age and die. “Not unless I had her permission. And yours.”
Gavin grunted. He was under no illusion that Luke would turn Anna, if that was what they both wanted, with or without his permission.
“At least you told me,” he said. “But come and see me first next time.”
“No,” Luke said. “I don’t want to have to disobey you if you ever refuse to give your approval for anything I want to do with or to Anna.”
Gavin didn’t like what Luke had said, but he appreciated his honesty.
“There is another reason we are here,” Anna said. “It’s about my brother. He’s the only family I have left and I hate not being able to talk to him about what’s going on in my life. I would like your permission to tell him everything and bring him here to meet you all. He can be trusted.” She had told all of Luke’s family about the tragic event that had left her an orphan.
“And if I say no?”
“Then I won’t sa
y anything to him.”
Gavin chose to believe her. This wasn’t about her relationship with Luke so both of them should be able to act and think rationally.
“Let me think about it,” he said. “This should really be discussed with the family. I’ll talk to them tonight and let you know the decision in the morning.”
————————————-∞————————————-
Saturday arrived and just after breakfast, Craig told Natalie that he had to go out for a while later that afternoon. Had he lived, it would have been his brother’s birthday and he wanted to visit his grave. It was something he needed to do alone. Natalie had never met Kirren and Craig was a little concerned that she wouldn’t understand why he didn’t want to take her with him.
He needn’t have worried. Natalie assured him that she had no issues with him going alone. Craig blamed his parents for his brother’s suicide and had not spoken to them since before the funeral. As a result, Natalie had never met any member of his real family. But she was a part of his hunter family, which to him was more important, so she saw no need to try to immerse herself in a life that no longer existed for Craig.
When he parked his car in the car park, there were no other cars in sight. It was a cloudy day and rain was threatening, so he wasn’t surprised that there were no other visitors to the graveyard.
He went straight to Kirren’s grave and sat down beside it. He didn’t visit often, but when he did he talked a lot, telling his brother all that had been happening in his life. Today was no exception. He was there for nearly an hour before he wished his brother a happy birthday then said goodbye.
Going to the graveyard always made Craig depressed and he almost ignored the sound of crying as he returned to his car. He had his own concerns and didn’t really want to become involved with anyone else’s.
Something about the crying, however, seemed familiar, so he took a detour to see who it was.
Too late he realised that he was almost at the place where Simon was buried. Everyone at 14 still felt his loss and Craig had never plucked up the courage to visit his grave.
Jane sat beside it, weeping. Her short brown hair had fallen forward, hiding her face, but Craig didn’t need to see more than her profile to recognise her.
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