by Cat Thomson
Katie's vampiric lust finally overcame her and she threw her bed covers aside and moved swiftly to stand in front of the soldier. He raised his gun, bewildered by the speed with which Katie had approached him without warning.
"Put the gun down," she said softly.
She pulled her hospital gown up over her head and flung it away from her, then peeled her underwear off.
The soldier now readily acquiesced and no sooner than he had placed his gun on the floor than Katie pulled him forcefully against her. They began to kiss fervently while the soldier's hands explored and savoured her exposed voluptuousness.
The nurse shifted in her seat and Katie turned to look at her, fearing that she would wake up, but the nurse began to snore. Katie turned back to the soldier and placed her mouth intuitively on his neck, and as she kissed it, the full force of her desire for James overpowered her and she bit into the soldier's flesh. A sickening horror rose up within her, but she was unable to restrain herself. The soldier moaned as his hand found its way between her legs and began to caress her there; he slipped his fingers inside her and began to slide them in and out, the roughness of his motion only heightening the inferno of desire raging within her.
As the nurse's loud snoring continued, jarringly juxtaposed against the soft moans of pleasure from the soldier, Katie reached the climax of her lust's fulfilment and her desire gradually abated, and she once again became composed.
***
Katie had escaped without mishap. She had found her clothes neatly folded in the bedside cabinet and had quickly dressed. The soldier had remained standing where they had embraced, staring vacantly at her as she had moved about the room.
There had been another soldier walking the length of the long corridor outside Katie's room and he had only just passed by when she had noiselessly opened the door and peered out. She had quickly shut the door again, but not before noticing a sign indicating where the stairs were, just ahead of the soldier, and she had used her keen dhampir senses to determine when the soldier had passed her room again, on his return journey to the corridor's opposite end. As soon as it had been safe to, Katie had run from her room to the stairs. The security guard downstairs at Reception had been sound asleep, and Katie had taken the keys from his belt and unlocked the main door with ease, before running off into London's eerie streets.
Katie didn't trust Ed enough to return to the shelter and she knew of only two places where James would be sure to find her; the very places Nikolas would also be able to find her: her flat and the mausoleum. But Sharon had told her that her parents had put her belongings in storage and her flat was now being rented to strangers. Katie would have to go to the mausoleum.
She crept slowly and stealthily towards her destination, keeping in the shadows and close to walls, wary, lest she be seen by either soldiers or vampires. The streets were deserted of humans. Sharon had told her there was a strict curfew in place now that a state of emergency had been declared, and no one was allowed out-of-doors after dark, apart from night shift workers, and they had to adhere to strict protocols for their safety because of the vampire risk.
The fresh memory of Katie's liaison with the soldier tormented her. She recalled the horror she had felt when she had bitten into his neck, but what truly disturbed her was that she had actually relished the taste of his blood, the simultaneous sensual gratification of his touch. Katie moved her tongue over her teeth, exploring their outline. She shuddered when her tongue encountered the sharp, pointed tips of her canines. When had they evolved so dramatically? Katie mechanically placed her hand on her chest as she walked; how soon before her heart, too, would be transformed?
***
"Where is she?"
Tom was pinned against the metal tunnel wall, James's demonic face looming before him, his pointed canines menacingly close. He couldn't breathe; James was gripping his throat.
Tom had tripped over what may have been a thin wire at the level of his ankles as he had returned to Collingwood from a routine tunnel check. As he had fallen to the ground, his crucifix had propelled its way through the air, breaking into two halves when it had eventually hit the ground. At that moment, James had appeared from nowhere, and within seconds had dragged him to a remote region of the shelter.
James suddenly let go of Tom and he fell to the floor, where he lay, gasping for air.
"Where has she gone?" The tone of James's voice was composed and quiet, in sharp contrast to the twisted features of his face. He knelt down beside Tom. "You really don't know where Katie is, do you Tom?"
Tom shook his head.
"Find out then; I'll be waiting here."
Tom didn't move; couldn't. He was trembling uncontrollably. This was the first time he had seen a vampire in its full diabolical state.
"Get up, Tom."
Tom struggled to his feet, but fell back to the floor, and James took hold of the back of his shirt and pulled him up so that he dangled in the air, his feet a couple of centimetres above the ground.
"Breathe deeply, Tom. That's it. In. Out. Deeply, Tom."
As Tom tried to mechanically force vast quantities of air into his lungs, he watched James's face slowly revert to its human form and his apprehension, his trembling, began to dissipate. James released his grip on Tom, and he turned and began to walk unsteadily away, back to where the other humans were.
"She will die without me, Tom. Remember that."
***
The walk to the mausoleum had been long and precarious. Many army and police vehicles had been patrolling the streets and Katie had glimpsed the occasional vampire group flitting silently from place to place, too quick to be observed by the human eye. She didn't fear being attacked by a vampire; as a dhampir, her blood was unpalatable. It was Nikolas she feared and all those closely associated with him.
Now that she was back in the familiar cemetery, Katie realised how good it felt to be back out-of-doors after the long months she had spent hiding from Nikolas underground. She breathed in the strong odour of grass and earth. Katie's body tensed; with time, she had come to recognise the scent of a vampire, and that of an unfamiliar one was strong on the light breeze that teased the hair around her face. Her dhampir eyes surveyed her surroundings, scanning the darkness for any sign of the unknown vampire. When she saw nothing, she quickened her pace and continued towards the mausoleum where she could hide from the intruder, out of sight. She easily found the key where James always hid it, in a crevice between a gravestone and the earth, but when she finally reached the mausoleum and opened its door, she remained standing on the threshold. It was evident that the vampire was living there. Katie relocked the door and hurried away in the direction of the catacombs; she would have to sleep there. The sun would soon rise and a vampire's only concern at this late hour of the night was to return swiftly to its sleeping chamber. At least she would feel safer hidden in the catacombs when the unknown vampire returned to the cemetery, and also while the sun was in the sky and humans walked the cemetery's pathways.
Katie descended the stone steps that led to the catacombs' metal-grated gates with their serpent reliefs. She wrapped her fingers around the thick links of the chain that bound the gates shut and prised the links apart with ease, then pulled the chain aside and entered the catacombs. She pulled the gates shut behind her, rearranging the chain and its heavy lock so that it appeared undisturbed, and made her way disdainfully past the rows of slate shelves stacked with coffins, searching for a place to rest. When she found nowhere that the reek of death did not affront her heightened sensibilities, she became resigned to the unpleasantness of her surroundings and slipped between two coffins. She was exhausted.
As she shut her eyes, she considered that she would need to rouse herself before the sun set tonight so that she could leave the cemetery before the unknown vampire awoke from its slumber, for if she had picked up its scent, then it likewise would have picked up her own scent, and would be sure to come looking for her - she being an intruder in its territory.<
br />
***
Katie had still been asleep when the sun had set and had remained sleeping long after it had grown dark in the cemetery. When she eventually awakened, her body was heavy with an inexplicable lethargy, but she somehow roused herself and edged her way distastefully off the shelf where she had slept. She made her way out of the catacombs, into the welcoming darkness of night.
Katie had decided to wait for James near the cemetery entrance and began to make her way there. But the crack of a breaking twig caused her to recall the vampire that had moved into the mausoleum. Her long sleep had dulled her senses and had made her forget her need for vigilance. She stopped walking and sniffed the air; the scent of the vampire she had picked up last night was strongly present. How could she not have noticed it before now! Katie looked around and her eyes met those of a vampire, red and hostile. It came out from behind the overgrowth where it had been standing. Katie put her hand to her mouth as she took a step back, away from the approaching vampire, for it was Charlotte, the blonde female in the video of Nikolas that Tom had shown her the other day. Katie's heart rate began to rise, and both she and Charlotte could clearly hear her heart's frantic beating.
"Why are you out in the dark, when other humans cower behind closed doors, pretty little thing?" said Charlotte.
Suddenly, Katie found herself thrown to the ground with Charlotte straddling her.
"Please!" Katie whimpered and Charlotte laughed, baring her viciously sharp canines.
She began to kiss Katie's face and neck with passionate hunger and longing. Katie was powerless, submissive; she couldn't resist, even if she wanted to, for Charlotte had pinned her arms above her head and was infinitely stronger.
"I wonder," Charlotte mused, "what hell I'd unleash if I were to kill you."
Charlotte began to stroke Katie's neck with her long nails. Katie shook her head from side to side in a frantic effort to deter her, but Charlotte merely let go of one of Katie's arms so that she could hold her head still. She began to bite playfully at Katie's neck, never quite piercing the skin, and Katie began to hit her wildly with her newly freed arm, but in vain. The force of her blows felt as insubstantial to Charlotte as the wintry air that caressed her skin, and Charlotte completely ignored the wildly thrashing arm, and even let go of Katie's other arm. But she continued to hold Katie's head in its fixed position, and thrust her canines into her flesh. Katie would have screamed, had Charlotte not smothered her cry with a hand. But Charlotte immediately withdrew her mouth from Katie's neck.
"Your blood is foul-tasting," she whispered with disdain. "But why am I so surprised; after all, you're a dhampir now."
Suddenly, Charlotte rose high up into the air, before being flung down upon the path, so hard that the heavy thud of her body as it hit the tarmac caused it to crack. James! Katie's heart fluttered in relief at the sight of her lover, but then she saw the unhuman appearance of his face - his red eyes; his canines sharply emphasised by his sneering grin.
James walked over to where Katie lay and looked down at her, and she watched as his facial features changed and he swiftly became beguilingly handsome once again. He held out his hand to her and she took hold of it and lifted herself up from the ground.
"You're weak," he observed as he gently caressed her face.
Katie smiled, her lips slightly apart, and his thumb roved over the points of her canines as though he too hadn't previously noticed their length or sharpness. But Katie became tense again as she recalled Charlotte's presence.
"I saw her in a video of Nikolas at the shelter," she said, pointing at Charlotte. "She's one of Nikolas's coveners; she's been sleeping in the mausoleum, waiting for us to return."
James flew over to Charlotte, but she jumped out of his way.
"I've left Nikolas," said Charlotte.
James lunged for her again, but she was quicker than he, and was now standing on a high branch of a nearby tree.
"How can we believe you?" James asked, sneering.
"Nikolas was my mate, but I have abandoned him."
James laughed. "A vampire does not abandon her mate. She stays with him eternally; that is how it is."
A distinct, red tear rolled down Charlotte's cheek. "A vampire does abandon her mate; when he begins to show an unnatural interest in another creature." Charlotte looked at Katie.
She then fixed her gaze on James, her eyes blazing with intensity as she said, "And a vampire turns his mate; that, too, is how it should be in our world. I was there the night you made her a dhampir."
James looked away.
"I've been living here, in your sleeping chamber, for some time now," said Charlotte. "Nikolas grew tired of waiting for you to return and he stopped coming here each night. Your coveners Daniel and Sarah are with him now."
James observed Charlotte. He knew intuitively that she really had abandoned Nikolas, and her existence was now endangered. He also knew that no vampire could remain isolated for long; vampires lived in packs. But could he trust this creature, who was clearly extremely jealous of Katie?
"You've just attempted to destroy my mate; can I trust you never to do so again?"
"Yes."
Katie's heart became filled with despair when she realised that James was considering taking Charlotte back to the shelter with them.
"James, no!" said Katie.
She squeezed his hand tightly, hoping to somehow dissuade him, but he was unresponsive as he continued to question Charlotte.
"Are you willing to fight against Nikolas and to forego the killing of humans?" he said.
"I want to be the one that destroys Nikolas." Charlotte jumped down from the tree and came to stand close to James. "But I'm not sure that I could restrain myself from the thrill of the hunt. Ever. Why would you expect me to do that?"
As Charlotte said this, her vampire senses enabled her to envision the place that James was considering taking her to, and she threw her head back and laughed.
James turned to Katie. "We must go, Katie," he said.
James and Katie began to walk away, but Charlotte suddenly appeared on the path in front of them.
"No, wait! How could I abstain from my greatest pleasure? I can't imagine my existence without the climax of the hunt," she said.
"We'll hunt together," said James. "I'll show you how. It is possible, and even pleasurable, to hunt without killing. It merely takes self-discipline. Come."
Katie was distraught; what would Charlotte do to her when James wasn't around? She had tried to kill her tonight. But as her fear of Charlotte began to take hold of her, a familiar, distinct voice - James's - spoke to her within her mind.
"It's alright, Katie; everything's going to be alright."
***
Ed, Martin, Alex and Tom had accompanied Katie, past the anti-vampire paraphernalia that now guarded the access points to Collingwood and Grenville, down to the shelter's lower level, where James and Charlotte were waiting.
"I find it doubtful that we can trust this vampire, James," said Ed as he looked contemptuously at Charlotte. "She's Nikolas's mate. We've watched her and Nikolas in demonic action in countless videos."
The lucid purity of Charlotte's light laughter reverberated in the tunnel in response to Ed's words.
"I may have been Nikolas's mate, but I no longer am," she said. "He wanted the dhampir Katie for himself, and even if his motives were merely strategic, his obsession with her became unnatural, and he likely would have eventually destroyed me."
Katie was taken aback by Charlotte's words. She hadn't realised the extent of Nikolas's interest in her and the implications for her.
"James has explained to me what this place is and who you humans are," said Charlotte. "I can assure you that I am now an enemy of Nikolas and probably even more eager than you are to destroy him."
Martin was standing guard with the crucifixes in a cross passage, keenly observing Ed's interrogation of Charlotte, and it felt to him as though every hair on his body stood erect when he heard Char
lotte laugh. He had been holding a crucifix, but he now placed it on the ground and crept into the tunnel where the others were. No sooner than Martin had appeared in the tunnel than Charlotte suddenly moved with supernatural speed to stand before him, and the others watched his face grow pale as she brushed his hair tenderly back from his forehead. But James wasted no time in dragging Charlotte away from Martin, the vehemence behind his action shattering the mesmerising hold Charlotte had had on Martin.
"What the fuck are you doing here, Martin; you should be waiting back there," Ed shouted.
Martin silently retreated back to the cross passage.
"I must apologise for Charlotte's ignorance of etiquette in the presence of humans in the shelter; she has a lot to learn, especially when it comes to keeping her distance," said James.
"But how can we be sure she won't harm us?" Ed asked. "Look at the effect she's just had on Martin, of all people."
"If she attempts to harm any human in any way, I will destroy her," said James.
Charlotte gazed at the humans present. Even with their help, and all their anti-vampire paraphernalia, it would be almost impossible to destroy her former mate, so great was his power. But if she were to do it on her own, she knew she was guaranteed to fail. At least by joining these humans, there was perhaps a slight chance of success.
***
A crescendo of snoring echoed in the incorporeal tunnel as Martin crept along its interminable length on all fours, towards that intangible taste of pleasure he had felt when Charlotte had stroked his hair. He had watched Charlotte and Nikolas via his hidden cameras in the hotel room countless times, and with each viewing, had grown more enraptured by Charlotte. Tonight, finally, he had actually seen her for real; he had felt her caress. He saw the shimmering apparition of Charlotte approaching him from the distant periphery of his sleep, and he stopped crawling and waited for her, a melange of terror and desire flowing through him.
