by Laura Hysell
I hesitated before nodding ascent and pressing the five on the elevator. The doors closed and I felt the elevator move upward. That many vampires guarding one location meant that was probably the exit. The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Two vampires stood waiting for me, and I quickly pushed a random button on the elevator to get it moving again. The elevator stopped again on the twelfth floor, but this door was also guarded by two vampires.
“Damn it,” I mumbled as I pushed the twenty-five, knowing I had lost the game getting into the elevator in the first place.
The elevator rose to the top floor and stopped. The doors opened, and thankfully no vampires were waiting for me. I stepped into the hallway, taking note of the distinct difference. The floor was marble and expensive looking, with cream walls covered in artwork. An ancient marble statue of a naked woman stood in the corner to my left, right across from a painting depicting men on a boat in rough seas. The plaque below titled the painting as “Storm of the Sea of Galilee”. I stared at the painting, knowing it was probably extremely expensive. Henri wouldn’t have just any painting hanging on his walls.
The corridor went further to the right, but to the left was a set of ornately carved wooden double doors. Henri was beyond those doors, and I could feel him pulling me toward him. I sighed in defeat and walked forward, toward Henri.
Chapter 3
The double doors were beautiful, and I marveled at the detail as I drew closer. They depicted an elaborate ocean scene, with rough waters and small boats heading toward a distant shore. I gripped the golden handles and pulled both doors open simultaneously. The doors opened easily despite their massive size, revealing a vast, open room.
I stepped into the room and looked around. The marble floor and cream walls continued, but a plush red carpet led across the middle of the room to a raised golden throne. Seated on the throne was Henri, his legs casually draped across one arm of the massive throne. A smaller throne was beside his, also done in gold and filled with plush, red cushions. Henri definitely had a thing for gold and red, I thought idly as I began making my way across the room.
Head held high, I kept my face toward Henri even as my eyes darted around the room. Henri’s guards, dressed alike in designer black suits with guns on their sides, took up key places around the room. These men each had and a distinct air of danger to them, but it was the other vampires that had me on high alert. There were men and women, dressed in clothes from every era possible, staring at me hungrily with black eyes. They wore no visible weapons, but then again, vampires didn’t need weapons. The knife burned on my thigh, pulsing stronger with each step I took. I quickly lost count of the vampires in the room, and focused on the one vampire I needed to keep me alive. Henri.
There were three steps leading up to the thrones, and I stopped just before the first one and looked directly at Henri. He was wearing a lightweight white shirt, unbuttoned to reveal his chiseled abs, and black slacks. His feet were bare, and he kicked one foot idly as he lounged on a pile of pillows on the throne. He smiled at me, his eyes their beautiful, piercing blue. His blond hair just brushed his shoulders. This was the Henri of my dreams: confident, gorgeous, and powerful.
“Ah, Isabella, come sit upon your throne,” Henri said casually, waving an arm toward the smaller throne. His words and demeanor may have been casual, but I felt the undercurrent of caution sweep across my mind. He was worried, which made me downright terrified.
I smiled and nodded, playing along as I mounted the stairs and took my seat at his side, dropping the backpack beside the throne. The pillows surrounded me, sucking me down uncomfortably. Henri glanced at me warningly, and I immediately leaned back in imitation of him, with my feet kicked up on the arm of the throne. He nodded slightly and turned his attention back forward. A woman with long, brown hair braided past her waist, wearing a beige corset on the outside of her blue dress, stepped forward. The woman had what looked like burn marks across her arms and up one side of her neck. I could only surmise they had happened while she had been human.
“Master,” she began, with a low bow toward Henri, “we are pleased at your return.”
Henri nodded and waved an arm toward her. She walked across the red carpet and dropped to her knees at the edge of the steps. Several other vampires followed suit, lining up behind the woman in similar fashion. On the right side of the room, a group stood near a door, unmoving. At the forefront of this group, was a man with spiked black hair wearing head to toe black leather. The men and women surrounding him were dressed similarly, looking like a biker gang in their leather ensembles. If the situation hadn’t been so terrifying, I might have laughed.
“Careful,” Henri whispered the warning softly in my mind, his voice so quiet I barely heard it. Not that I needed the warning.
I looked back toward the group kneeling before the stairs, but I kept an eye on the biker group. They still hadn’t moved, even though most of the other vampires in the room had kneeled before the dais. A few other men and women moved toward the biker group, showing their allegiance, while others stood where they were.
“Geoffrey, why do you stand back?” Henri called suddenly, and a vamp across the room jerked his head in Henri’s direction.
The vampire named Geoffrey was dressed in a nice gray suit, and would have looked at home in a bank or office. He was plain of features, with brown hair and a face that was neither ugly nor handsome. He appeared nervous, his eyes darting from Henri to the biker vamp, and back to Henri again. His mouth moved silently, and I smiled as I realized he was counting. Accountant, perhaps? After a moment, he seemed to make up his mind and walked quietly toward Henri to kneel like a good little minion.
Henri nodded and watched as several more vampires who had been standing back moved toward the dais as well. A few others moved toward the biker group though, and I heard Henri’s angry intake of breath. “Sylvia!”
A woman dressed in a long gray pencil skirt and sweater stopped walking and looked sharply at Henri. She had been walking steadily toward the biker gang, but seemed angrier with every step. “What?” she snapped at Henri as she whipped her angular face toward his. The woman looked older than most of the vamps, with her auburn hair pulled back in a severe bun.
“Come to me,” Henri ordered.
Sylvia crossed her arms and glared at Henri. “Why should I? You leave us to starve up here for months. Garrett brought us food. Garrett brought us comforts. What do you bring us? A human whore who is off limits!” she shouted, pointing in my direction.
“That is my queen you speak of,” Henri responded calmly. “And if Garrett hadn’t killed Marcus, you wouldn’t have been sitting here starving. Marcus was left as my second in command for a reason.”
“We were hungry.”
“You were greedy!” Henri shouted back, and several of the vampires cowered visibly in fear as his voice echoed ominously through the room. “You killed the entire stock! You think slaves are easily replaced? Willing donors take time to cultivate. But the moment I leave, you drain the humans to death and whine about not having enough to eat. Then, you kill Marcus!”
“Marcus wouldn’t let us get more! We were starving!” Sylvia responded, and a few other vampires echoed her sentiment.
Henri stood suddenly, and the closest vampires shied away. “You disobey me, kill the one I leave in charge, then you dare take up arms against me!” Henri shouted, and the room suddenly grew dark. Henri’s power surged throughout the vast chamber as he conjured a storm across the room. Dark clouds rolled across the ceiling, illuminated by flashes of lightning. Thunder rumbled ominously, shaking the building. Several of the vampires cowered in fear, making themselves as small as possible. Not all though, I noticed.
The leader of the biker group, who I presumed was Garrett, stood still with his arms crossed. The vamps around him tried to echo his brave front, but not all of them were as daring as their leader with the spiked black hair. Many faces looked worriedly at the lightning flashing across the ceiling. The knife on my side
pulsed suddenly, and I pulled my gun out just as one of the vampires raced toward me. I shot the man in the chest and watched as the blessed bullets turned the man to ash.
Pandemonium broke loose. I surged to my feet as vampires rushed the dais, some surrounding Henri, others seeking to attack. The knife pulsed and pulled at me, pointing toward danger. I stopped thinking and started reacting, moving in tune to the thrum of the knife. I didn’t think about aiming as vampires sought to reach me, I just shot. The monsters drew closer, and I climbed onto my smaller throne so I could see above the crowd. Lightning flashed repeatedly, lighting the room. From my perch on the dais, I could see a distinct group of leather-clad men and women fleeing in quick succession.
After a few short minutes, the room suddenly cleared of clouds and lightning, and returned to normal. Henri stood like me, atop his throne, surrounded by vampires forming a protective barrier around him. Several of Henri’s guards started to chase after the fleeing biker gang, but Henri called them back. I looked down at the group of vamps surrounding my small throne, protecting me. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, and I had to stifle the urge to shoot them all in the back. There were far too many for me to kill.
“Well, that was exciting,” someone said from behind me. I turned toward the familiar voice in surprise. The man was dressed like a 1930’s gangster, with an unlit cigar in his mouth. The last time I’d seen him was when Sarah had captured me. The gangster vamp grinned at me and took the cigar out of his teeth. “Nice to see you again.”
“Thomas?” I asked, and he nodded in response.
“Isabella,” Henri said, and I turned away from the mobster. “You can put the gun away, my dear.”
I looked down at the gun still in my hand and sighed before holstering it. Shooting at the remaining vamps would only get me killed, or possibly turned into one of them. I shuddered at the thought and stepped down from the throne, ignoring the outstretched arms of vampires offering me assistance. Trusting vampires was not something I was willing to do any more. It had proven time and time again to be a bad idea. It might take me a while, but I learned from my mistakes.
Henri stepped down from his throne as well and everyone backed up. He held his hand out to me, silently summoning me. I snagged my backpack, throwing it across one shoulder, before I cautiously stepped toward him, placing my hand in his outstretched palm. His fingers curled around my hand as he pulled me toward him, twirling me around until I was tucked under his arm. He snaked an arm around my waist and pulled my body in close.
His thoughts tickled at my mind. “Play along, my sweet. The danger isn’t over yet,” he whispered, and I curled my body against his, pretending I was happy to be there.
“My queen and I shall retire for the evening. Take Sylvia to level three,” Henri ordered, and I craned my neck around to see Sylvia held between two of Henri’s guards. I didn’t know what level three was, but from the look on Sylvia’s face, I guessed it wasn’t pleasant.
“Master, our food?” someone asked.
Henri glared at the speaker, anger radiating from him. Several vamps backed away in fear. “You destroyed your food supply! Who’s to say you won’t destroy more?”
“Master, we will obey your command,” a woman responded, and several others muttered in agreement.
“See Leon on the eighth floor. He brought a small selection in, but you must share until we can increase our stock. Anyone who kills from our current supply will join Sylvia on level three. Is that understood?” Henri added menacingly, his eyes turning from blue to black as he glared down at the vampires. He didn’t wait for their muttered agreements as he pulled me with him, dragging me along toward a door behind the throne.
Henri held me close as we walked through the doorway. The hallway he led me down matched everything else I had seen since getting off the elevator. The door closed behind us, shutting out most of the vampires. The only ones around were those dressed in suits, who stood as silent guards. A pair followed us as we walked down the corridor, past an elevator, to another set of doors. Henri led me through these, closing it behind us until we were alone together.
The room we were in reminded me of Henri’s apartment at the hotel, only larger. The living room was large with four plush couches facing a central glass coffee table. Each couch was full of pillows in varying designs of golds and reds. Henri kept his hand firmly around my waist as he led me through the living room and to the first set of doors on the right. He yanked it open and pushed me in.
I gagged at the smell, and tried to back out, but Henri pushed me forward. The smell of death permeated the air, and I covered my mouth in a desperate attempt to block out the terrible stench. He flicked on the lights, showing me the cause of the overwhelming odor. Five dead women were scattered around the room like discarded toys, their naked bodies bloated and decaying. Chains shackled them to various fixtures throughout the room and dried blood covered the floor.
“What the hell?” I muttered, keeping a hand over my mouth as I looked at Henri. The smell alone was enough to churn my stomach.
“These were my concubines,” Henri responded, anger clear on his face.
“Concubines? You mean your whores?”
Henri snarled at me and I backed up into the wall. “These women were here willingly. I did not pay them money to be here. They chose. They were my harem, if you will. I fed them, and they fed me. Do you see this room? They wanted for nothing! Jewels, money, food, clothing, was all theirs. They asked, and I provided. If they wished to leave, they could. I am not a cruel master. I did not do this to them!”
Henri’s anger was palpable as he stalked around the room in fury. “This is what happens when others are in charge. Do you not understand, Isabella?” I shook my head, because I truly had no idea what he was referring to. I’d never seen this side of Henri before, and it scared me. “I left, to stop Petrivian. This is his doing, even if not directly. You seek to defy me, yet I am on your side. I sense you pulling away from me. I have told you before that I am the key to destroying him. You don’t understand, but you will. Look around you. This is what will happen to the world if Petrivian takes over. Vampires will do what they want, with no concern about the consequences. Always, we have strived to be invisible. We were legends to be feared; stories to be told in the dark of night. Petrivian and his followers will bring us to light, and he will destroy the world.”
I swallowed hard and backed out of the room, but this time Henri let me. The sight of the dead women was going to give me nightmares, and I doubted the stench would leave my nose any time soon. Henri stalked after me, slamming the door loudly behind him. He passed by me and opened the front door, shouting orders to the vampires in the hallway. I retreated to one of the couches and watched as several men rushed to do Henri’s bidding. Within minutes, the bodies had been removed and a cleaning crew had been tasked with fixing the room.
Henri moved toward me and pulled me to my feet, tugging me along behind him again. He led me to another door and yanked it open. This room was spacious with a single king sized bed in the center. “You can have this room, if you like,” Henri said before closing the door and leading me down a narrow hallway to the next room. “Or this room,” he said, opening it up to reveal another identical room.
We walked further and he opened another door on the opposite side of the hall, revealing a spacious bathroom. I didn’t have time to examine it though, as he led me on and opened the next bedroom door. “Or room number three,” he said, offering the last room to me. It was identical to the others, but had a bank of windows. They were blacked out to block the sunlight, yet still offer a view.
I walked to the window and immediately looked out. The view revealed forest and mountains as far as the eye could see. I had no idea where we were, but snow covered almost everything. The room was large, with a four-poster king bed in the center, a spacious walk-in closet and a dresser.
“I suppose this room will do,” I stated as I slipped the backpack off and kicked it into
the corner of the room.
“You don’t need your gun any more. Leave it here,” Henri commanded. I hesitated, but removed the gun and placed it on the dresser. Now was probably not the best time to blatantly disobey the him.
“Where’s your room?”
Henri snatched my hand, leading me back through the living room and toward the room the five women had been in. I tried to pull against him, but his grip was firm as he led me past the room that was now being cleaned. The smell of bleach and chemicals burned my nose as we walked past the room to yet another door I hadn’t noticed before. The door blended into the wall, and opened when Henri pressed his hand against a flat metal plate.
Henri tugged me behind him into his bedroom. The room was gigantic, and much more than just a simple bedroom. I wasn’t sure if it was a bedroom, torture chamber, or vampire kitchen. Henri released my arm and let me wander around the room.
There was a large bed along the right side of the room, next to an enormous walk-in closet filled with designer suits. Blacked-out windows filled one wall, revealing a different view below, of what looked like a city. I walked through the room and stopped before a wall that held chains mounted from the ceiling. Shelves lined the adjoining wall, full of various torture devices that reminded me too much of Sarah for my liking. I walked past these and stopped at an odd table that took up the other half of the room.
The table looked like a massage table, with a place to rest your head while you were on your stomach. At first glance, that’s what I thought it was. Closer examination revealed leather straps to hold a person down and holes where wrists would be. Dried blood coated the table, and I realized the purpose of the table was likely to drain a human of blood.
“I take it you like to eat in your bedroom?” I sneered, nodding toward the table.
Henri grinned, either not noticing my angry tone or choosing to ignore it. “Sometimes I have multiple guests, and I do like to entertain.”
