Prophecy of the Undead

by McGier, Fiona

  As he dressed for their date, he took special care in his appearance—choosing a black silk shirt that emphasized his preternaturally blond hair and white skin. If she was a Nubian goddess, he was the epitome of a Russian god— perhaps what one would imagine the Norse gods must have looked like: tall, well-built, fair-haired with surprisingly dark brown eyes. He made sure to choose pants which hugged his body so that even she couldn’t help but notice his powerful thighs and the unmistakable bulge that thinking about her produced against the zipper.

  With a final look at himself in the mirror, he winked and set out on what he hoped would be an eventful and productive evening.

  Chapter Three

  Yuri tapped his finger against the table for the umpteenth time and then looked at his watch yet again.

  She’s already two hours late. I know she’s a dedicated scientist who might have lost track of the time but she hasn’t answered the texts I sent or picked up her phone when I left a message.

  He shook his head at the waitress who stood in front of him with the coffeepot. Instead, he resolutely got up and paid for his coffee on the way out the door.

  I know where she lives. I know where she works also but that is a guarded installation, so it would be easier to see if she is at home. Perhaps she forgot about our date. Or I can wait around outside until she returns home. Either way, I need to feed first.

  Taking a slight detour into a nearby alley, Yuri found a homeless man whose heartbeat he heard as he passed. The man was muttering to himself and so didn’t hear when Yuri crept up behind him to quickly take what he needed. Yuri left the man snoring loudly next to the dumpster he searched in for food. He’d wake up the next day after having dreamed all night of eating everything that he liked in the finest restaurants in the city. Yuri liked to repay what he took in an effort to assuage his conscience and to contribute good karma to an often cold and unfeeling world.

  Yuri found the apartment complex easily and, despite the security protocols, within a few minutes he walked down the hallway towards her apartment. He knocked loudly on the door before trying the handle. To his surprise, it turned in his hand. He opened the door and entered the apartment. He drew in an unaccustomed breath in surprise and anger as he looked around.

  There had been a fight. Quite a violent one by the looks of things. Furniture was thrown around, lamps and glasses were broken. There was blood on one of the pieces of glass. Yuri’s fangs descended as he bent to pick up the object and smell, then taste the evidence.

  It was not her blood.

  Where is she? She must have been set upon by someone, or perhaps more than one person, who snuck into the apartment while she was already in it. Did she enter it to find them here? Either way, she’s gone. No wonder she didn’t make our date tonight. The blood tastes old...quite a few days old. So she has been gone for days? To where?

  He quickly searched her apartment for anything that might give him any clue as to where she might have run to. Then he remembered the boyfriend.

  Of course. She’d have run there first. Now where is her computer? I can break into it and hopefully find an address or phone number for him.

  It didn’t take him long to find what he searched for. With one final look around, he promised the air that he would make someone pay for the damage done to her piece of mind.

  If she’s been harmed, I’ll tear the limbs off of the persons responsible and laugh while they bleed to death.

  A few minutes later, Yuri scaled the side of the building Dan lived in, up to the penthouse. He stood on the balcony watching and listening as Dan made a phone call.

  “Is it done yet?”

  He listened, and then responded in a petulant voice.

  “You said it would be done already. I know you are just waiting until they call you to tell you it’s done. Every minute that she’s still alive is another minute she could find someone to believe her about what’s been going on. That would jeopardize the plan.”

  He listened again and then sighed heavily.

  “Fine. Just let me know when it’s done, alright?”

  Yuri felt the growl start somewhere deep inside of his soul. He watched until the perfidious boyfriend turned his back to the balcony to pour some brandy into a snifter. He didn’t have time to turn around before Yuri sank his teeth into his neck to sip the blood while he delicately sorted through the recent memories.

  Two men were pursuing her. They chased her for days. They found her today. They are driving her to a desolate place so they can kill her. She knows too much. We can’t let her ruin all of these centuries of planning.

  With a start, Yuri broke off the contact to stare at the man who collapsed at his feet.

  Centuries of planning? He’s mortal and too young to have even seen a half a century. What is this all about?

  “Danny-boy? When are you coming back to bed?” Two naked blond women stood in the doorway leading to what apparently was the bedroom. They stared in shock at Yuri standing over the object of their desire.

  Damn.

  Throwing himself across the room, Yuri grabbed a wrist of each of the girls and twisted, forcing them to kneel in front of him.

  “Look at me,” he commanded aloud, while exerting enough mental force to capture their minds but not to destroy them. He created the memory of watching as Dan collapsed while pouring himself the brandy...no one else was in the room.

  He let go of them both, then turned and walked back to the balcony. Determined, he gathered his strength and took a deep breath, then imagined himself riding the night breezes out of the city. And he did.

  A short while later, Yuri stood in the middle of a road in a desolate part of northwestern Illinois. He knew the men who kidnapped Keisha were headed out into the country. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the unique sound of her heartbeat, which had imprinted itself on his memory when they leaned close to one another to talk in the crowded bar. Then he opened his mind and listened to all of the sounds of the night. It was hard to do, with all of the night creatures moving about, rustling leaves, hooting, chirping, feeding, and fighting. He was sweating blood, wiping the red drops off of his forehead repeatedly as he searched for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

  If I have to stand here until the sun rises to scorch me to a cinder, I will. She can’t be dead already. I have to find her. Wait. Is that? Is that...her? Yes. Keep breathing, Keisha. I’m coming.

  He allowed himself to concentrate only on the unique sound. He flew through the night, silent and deadly in his aim.

  He was almost there when her heartbeat sped up. He quickened his pace.

  Chapter Four

  Terrified, Keisha heard the men return and open the gas tank to refill the car.

  “Maybe I should open the trunk and make sure the bitch is still in there?”

  “You idiot. The trunk is still closed. I tied her up myself. Not even Houdini could get out of those knots. I learned how to make them nice and tight in the Navy.”

  “Can’t I open it up and just play with her a little? She’s not going to complain with that gag in her mouth...and who’s she going to tell?”

  “Fine. I’ll finish pouring the gas in and you have a little fun with our guest. Then we’ve gotta get outta here before someone notices the car.”

  “Who? We never saw no cars on the way into or out of town. There’s no one out here to hear her scream.”

  The trunk opened and Keisha closed her eyes, hoping that if she appeared to be still unconscious, they would leave her alone. She felt the tip of a gun against her cheek as it stroked her face.

  “Aw, she’s still out cold. That’s no fun.”

  “Just feel her up then let’s get out of here. I’m getting a weird feeling that we’re being watched...”

  “By who? There’s no one else out in this God-forsaken...what the fuck?”

  Keisha heard a swooshing sound and opened her eyes to see a blur of movement. There was a snarling growl, combined with the yells of real fear, comi
ng from her two tormentors.

  “Kill the bitch!.”

  She felt the gun stuck into her ribs and held her breath, waiting for death. The gun fired. The bullet tore its way through her skin and chest muscles, burned through her lung, and severed arteries as it lodged in her heart. She found it difficult to let out the breath or to breathe in any more air.

  There was the awful sound of breaking bones...then silence.

  Someone leaned over into the trunk and lifted her gently out as if she was as light as a child. She felt herself being laid on the ground and fought to breathe as her blood pulsed out of her through the chest wound, soaking her clothes and making them stick to her. Her rescuer tore through the knots that she was unable to budge. She tried to thank him with her last gasps of air.

  “Tha...thanks.” She choked on her own blood and her head swam.

  “Keisha, look at me,” he commanded in a voice that sounded vaguely familiar, but very distant, as if she was moving far away from him.

  She tried to focus her gaze but merely saw the outlines of a man’s torso, with a face barely visible, topped with white hair that shone in the dim moonlight.

  “I had hoped to spare you this but I have no other choice now. I can’t lose you...I won’t. You must choose right now, before it’s too late. Do you want to live?”

  In her mind she giggled but all that came out of her mouth was a gargling sound.

  “Um, yeah...don’t think...option anymore...”

  “Yes, it is. But if I do this thing, you will be changed. You will be alive, yet not alive. Are you sure you want me to do this?”

  Her head nodded up and down as darkness descended, her vision clouded by the blood that was everywhere now. She drifted off and idly wondered if she was going anywhere or if she was just going to lose consciousness and that would be the end of thought.

  Suddenly her mind was invaded by a tall, blond man with an intense look in his eyes that shone with a black fire in their depths.

  “What are you doing here? I’m busy dying...who are you?”

  “You are dying but not in the way you expect. What I’m doing is ensuring that you will wake up again tomorrow night. What images would you like me to entertain you with as your body dies?”

  She tried to shrug but was unable to move any part of her body. She felt herself being held by strong arms, with the tiny hairs on her neck standing at full attention while the lips on her neck created a drowsy drugged feeling in her mind.

  “How about something erotic?”

  “Like?”

  She was suddenly on a downy-soft bed, naked, with a man’s head between her thighs. His tongue was driving her mad with desire as he alternated between licking her from front to back, and nibbling on her clit gently. When his fingers pulled the hood back and his teeth grazed her clit, she screamed with pleasure as the orgasm crashed through her with the force of a tsunami. She rose up off of the bed with the tightening of her muscles. Then the man loomed before her, spread her thighs uncomfortably wide and his hips surged forward. The pleasure she had just felt multiplied as his massive organ pushed its way into her, stretching her almost beyond comfort. He filled her, then withdrew only to slam into her again and again. It was almost more than she could bear. She screamed as he came, the force of his orgasm making her spasm with an intensity to match his own.

  He growled like a wild animal as he pulsated inside of her. Her muscles clenched around him. Her orgasms were like a roller coaster of pleasure, pushing her up a hill then crashing her down on the other side.

  The last thing she remembered was his voice telling her, “Drink. Drink deeply. Take as much as you can hold. I have emptied you; now, fill yourself with me.”

  I’m already filled with you. Her thoughts were her own but inexplicably she felt his chest move as he chuckled. Everything went black and she drifted off into nothingness.

  Chapter Five

  Keisha opened her eyes to a world filled with pain. Every part of her body ached. Her gut, in particular, was filled with immense agony. She moaned.

  “So, you are finally awake. You will need to go into the bathroom to finish the process.”

  “What process?” She gritted her teeth against the pain grinding in her belly.

  “You will know what you need to do when you get in there. When you are done, take a long hot shower. It will help a lot.”

  Keisha wondered who he was and what was happening, briefly, then a spasm of pain made her realize she needed to be in the bathroom immediately. She pushed herself upright and walked as quickly as her stiff legs would take her, in the direction he had indicated.

  For a while, she wondered if it would ever end. She felt herself being emptied from both ends and it was a very uncomfortable feeling. Once the spasms and the retching stopped, she waited quietly, trying to determine if it was finally over. She flushed the toilet one last time and slowly got up to look at herself in the mirror over the sink.

  I look awful! There were dark circles under her eyes and her skin had a strange pallor. Her eyes were rimmed red and there was dried blood on her face. She looked down and saw blood dried in huge clots all over her clothing. She tried to remember what had happened before she woke up here but her mind was a fuzzy blur. What she did remember was what the man said about a long, hot shower making her feel better.

  Yes, that would feel really good. I feel kind of cold but not sick anymore. I hope he stays out of here while I shower...there’s no lock on the door. Oh well...

  The water heated up quickly once she turned it on, and soon the small room was filled with steam. Keisha quickly stripped and stepped into the shower.

  Ahh, this is wonderful.

  She looked around and found a bottle of shampoo that was floral-scented. Once she rinsed her hair she looked for some soap and the bar she found was creamy and had the same flowery scent. It made her skin feel new and smooth, and she luxuriated in the bubbles and the warmth of the hot water.

  Funny, I’ve got the handle turned all the way up for only hot water but I don’t feel like it’s too hot...it feels great. There’s so much steam in here, I can’t see much of anything.

  She jumped when she heard the door open but the man spoke soothingly, although loudly enough for her to hear over the drumming of the water.

  “I’m putting some fresh towels and a robe here for you. Take all of the time you need. When you are ready, come out and we can talk.”

  About what? She wondered briefly at his words, then went back to enjoying the sensation of hot water pulsing against her skin, the smell of the floral soap, and the delightful sensations she got from stroking her hands along her skin.

  I wonder why I’m so sensitive. It’s like I’ve never been touched before...it never felt this good just to feel my own skin.

  Experimentally she pinched her nipples and shivered with the intense sensations that flooded her body.

  Wow. One minute I think I’m dying...the next minute I can’t wait to touch myself more. He said to take as much time as I need...I don’t think he’ll mind waiting a bit longer...

  She continued to pinch and twist her nipples until one hand trailed lower down of its own accord, heading for the tight curls around her clit. Dreamily she used one finger to swirl around again and again, until—with a gasp—she came, the force of it surprising her. She leaned weakly against the wall of the shower.

  Wow. That’ll get the old heart pumping. She grinned as she felt for her pulse in her neck, wondering if her blood pressure had gone astronomically high. She felt in the usual places but there was nothing. Thinking she was just confused, she felt her wrist as she was taught in medical classes so long ago. Nothing. Becoming alarmed, she moved her fingers up to her inside upper arm, searching for the brachial artery...once again, nothing.

  What the fuck? The heat must be getting to me. Calm down, Keisha, girl. I’ll turn the water off, dry myself, and then find my pulse.

  She followed her own directions. Once she had dried off even her
hair, she wrapped herself in the over-sized, yet fluffy robe—securely tying the belt in order to maintain her modesty in front of the stranger. Then she sat on the closed toilet seat and calmly placed her fingers on her neck in place after place.

  No pulse? That’s not possible. Here I am, thinking I’m alive...I am still thinking, after all. I’m dead? What the fuck is going on here? Who is that man out there?

  Keisha looked around the bathroom for a window. The only one in the room was very high up, close to the ten-foot ceiling. The bathroom fixtures were old-fashioned and, now that she noticed, the bathtub was one of those with the claw feet on the bottom.

  How do I get out of here? If only I could fly up to that window, maybe I could squeeze through it.

  The next instant Keisha screamed as her head hit the ceiling and she found herself looking at the steamed-up window over the tub. The door flew open and the tall blond man ran through the doorway, looking for her.

  “Keisha. Are you alright? Where are you?”

  Keisha closed her eyes with the terror of it all and felt herself free-falling down. The man moved quickly and caught her before she hit the tub.

  He grinned down at her when she opened her eyes, alarm still making their colors swirl rapidly.

  “I told you we need to talk. I hope you can calm down enough to listen to what I have to say.”

  “Wha...what’s going on?” she whispered. “Am I dead?”

  “That’s kind of complicated right now,” he answered as he walked over the side of the tub, then strode toward the door and out of the bathroom—still carrying her as if she was weightless. He deposited her on a comfortable loveseat, put her feet up on the ottoman in front of it, and covered her with an afghan.