SV02-06. Slave to a Vampire

by Katrina Kahler

  Vesper pursed his lips. “You know I cannot do that. We need you.”

  “How do you know I can do anything? How do you know?”

  “I was told,” Vesper said simply, and turned his back.

  Antony snarled and yanked as hard as he could against the chains. “Don’t you dare walk away from me!” he roared, and the bolts holding the chains shifted in the stones. He pulled harder, turning to use what little strength he had left to become free. Vesper ordered someone to control him, but Antony fought against the voice in his mind, drowned out by the crying of his victims. The bolts loosened and the chain began to give way.

  “Stop him!”

  “I don’t want to see them anymore!” He tugged harder as two cloaked forms appeared in the light.

  “See what?” one of them, a woman, asked. “Antony, what do you see?”

  Though she sounded disinterested, there was an undertone of curiosity, and Antony paused in his struggles. “I see the dead,” he whispered. “I see what you made me see! I see my victims!”

  The two exchanged a look and Antony froze.

  “You are not showing me this?”

  They shook their heads as one, and Vesper cackled behind them, clapping his hands. “Marvelous! That is what you can do then, oh well done, Antony, well done indeed. You will do wonders in our fight against evil.”

  “I will do no such thing,” he argued. The two vampires moved in closer when he tugged at the chains again. Mind racing, he shifted inwards once more, giving the chains some slack, and the two vampires followed, ready to grab him if need be. He moved even closer and drew them in as Vesper continued to go on and on about his plans for using Antony.

  Using him to hunt down the same as he, just as they used him when he was a man and cared nothing for the protection of his family. Amidst his fight with the chains, he found the face of his wife in the crowded room of the dead. He made her appear and now he would use her as his strength, use them all. He drained their blood, he took a bit of each victim into him and as he closed his eyes, he felt them still, writhing inside, needing to burst forth.

  The two vampires stood within reach and just as they prepared to snag him, Antony snarled and attacked. He snatched the woman by the cloak and dragged her in. Before she could even scream, his fangs buried in her neck and he drained her in moments, so starved he did not pause once. When she moaned and her body went limp, he tossed her aside. The man, too stunned to try and save her, hissed and leapt at Antony. But with the new blood coursing through his veins, the woman’s power joining with his, all Antony had to do was stare at the other vampire and command him to stop. Mid-step, the vampire paused, eyes wild as he fought to move.

  “What are you doing? Attack him!” Vesper yelled from across the room.

  “Oh I think not,” Antony said fiercely. “Come to me.”

  The other vampire had no choice but to obey, and his feet moved him right into Antony’s waiting arms. His lips moved over words too quiet to hear, pleading to be spared, but Antony was not in a forgiving mood. Not this night. With Vesper watching, Antony lowered his head and drained the second vampire. The amount of power in one being astounded him, and he dragged the man even closer, gulping the blood greedily until it ran down his chin and there was nothing left. The husk of a body sank to the floor, and Antony only had to pull slightly before the bolts in the wall came loose.

  Vesper cursed and ran for the door, but Antony would not allow him to escape so easily.

  Antony focused his mind solely on Vesper’s and the man skidded to a stop, mere steps from freedom. “You wish to escape the monster you created?” he called out as he approached, the chains dragging behind him across the stones. “Why Vesper, is this not what you wanted?”

  “Antony, please,” he begged, words shaky. “Please, I only followed orders.”

  “Followed orders to torture me,” he seethed.

  “We did not know what you saw! Please, forgive me, please, let me live and I will tell the Order you are ready to fight for us, to have a life back.”

  Antony moved around the man until he faced him and let his tongue press against a fang until he pierced the skin. Vesper watched, terrified, his whole body quaking where he stood, as he listened to what Antony said next. “I think I should show you something first.”

  Antony’s ability to make someone see something, was just the start. Once he drained the woman, he knew how strong his mind truly was and he entered Vesper’s thoughts, digging deep into the recesses to see what frightened him the most. What haunted Vesper in his dreams and during the waking hours? This ability was even more fascinating than Antony could have ever imagined, allowing him to experience and heighten whatever Vesper felt. So much power, and this was only the beginning. He pulled on the memories of all those Vesper had killed and tortured at the Order’s command. All the innocents he had locked away until they died from terror or their wounds in a dank cell, alone. Vesper whimpered, as one by one those beings appeared out of the darkness and surrounded him.

  “No…no, you’re all dead! You can’t be here!”

  “They’ve come for you, Vesper,” Antony whispered in his ear. “It is time you face judgement.”

  Vesper shook his head violently, but his feet would not allow him to move. Antony smirked as the man screamed, the people pressing in against him, smothering him even though there was truly nothing there, but air. Fear. That’s all it was. His greatest fear come to life. Vesper sank to the stones, covering his head and screaming over and over again as Antony stepped around him. He broke off the chains, leaving the manacles around his wrists, and kicking open the prison door.

  “Who else wishes to be judged?” he mused and moved into the corridor bringing the nightmares with him.

  ***

  The Master settled against his cot as night crept ever closer. He had murdered so many that night, drained them dry until he was full, then sliced open their throats to let them bleed to death on the floor, but he could not kill them all. Several remained and swore one day they would find him and destroy everything he had.

  Except now he had an army under his control. “Come to me,” he whispered to the night. “Come to me and face the beast you created in all his glory.” Tomorrow night they would make the last leg in their trip and greet the ship waiting just off shore.

  Then everything would change and this new world would crumble and fall to his command. Every last soul would be his, forever.

  Chapter 7

  The sun was low when Catherine heard the voices entering the camp. She knew Kendi was bringing the other vampires from the monastery, but if the sun was still in the sky it could not be them. She peered out, wincing at the afternoon light streaming through the trees, and frowned when she saw Mary and a few other former slaves from the island, girls who worked in the house. Catherine thought they were all gone, away from the plantation, and yet there they stood speaking to Liam.

  “What are you doing here?” she called out of her tent, and the voices ceased. “Mary, Liam, might I have a word?”

  She paced across her tent as they entered, and Liam frowned. “Catherine?”

  “Why are you here?” she asked, turning to Mary. “And where did they come from?”

  Mary smiled and hugged Catherine tightly to her. “Kendi said he was bringing the rest of the vampires with him to the camp, but when he said how far away it was, I knew it would slow them down so I offered to walk here.”

  “Alone? With no protection?”

  “There were five of us and all armed,” she said. “Oh stop worrying, Catherine, we made it, didn’t we?”

  Catherine frowned. “You might not have and where did the other girls come from? I thought everyone was gone from the plantation?”

  “A few didn’t have anywhere to go, so they came with the rest of the vampires to the monastery after you left,” she explained. “I told them what has been happening and they decided to journey with us, and then continue to St. Augustine.”

 
“They’ll be safe here,” Liam said, as Catherine turned away. “Won’t they?”

  The sun finally set and Catherine’s body relaxed knowing it was safe to exit the tent. She sucked in a lungful of air and froze. “No,” she hissed and her head shot up. “No! Tula!”

  But it was too late. How they had managed to stay out of the sunlight for the whole day, she did not know, but the camp erupted in chaos as the Master’s vampires attacked. She yelled for Liam to stay there and protect the others before she took off into the fray, all of Tula’s lessons rushing forward in her mind as she drew her dagger and sword.

  They were outnumbered, but she knew Kendi and the others could not be far away. If they could hold, they might make it until he arrived—

  A heavy body slammed into the side of her and she tumbled to the ground hard, but rolled right back to her feet, whipping around with a snarl to face her attacker. The vampire smirked, flashing his fangs as he crept forward.

  “The Master would like you to come with me,” he called out. “Without a fight.”

  “And why would I do that?” she snapped. Across the camp, Tula roared as he charged a line of vampires, and she worried for him, needing to aid him, but when she took a step in that direction, the vampire blocked her way. “I will not go to your Master!” she growled.

  “Then I will drag you to him,” the vampire promised.

  Catherine took another step and he blocked her again. “If you do not call off this attack,” she hissed, “I will kill you.”

  The vampire barked a laugh. “You? You are nothing, but a flimsy child in our world.”

  “Is that right? Then how do I know what your Master’s true name is?” she asked quietly, watching the vampire’s face darken. “How do I know everything about his past that he would not even tell you? I see it now, the trust you think he has in you, but he never trusted you.” She bluffed, but it held the vampire’s attention. “In fact, he plans on disposing of you as soon as you reach your end destination. Too much of a loose end, a failure.”

  “I have never failed him,” the vampire snarled.

  Catherine closed her eyes for a moment and reached out, brushing against his mind. “Desmond. You did fail. You nearly gave the Master’s secret away, did you not? And you spoiled his last few meals before he even had a taste. Do you think he will trust a man who cannot even control his own urges?”

  Desmond roared and took a step forward, but did not charge, not yet.

  “Scared to attack me are you? Afraid you’ll damage me beyond repair and upset your Master?”

  “Do not mock me, woman! I will have you for my Master. He will not mind if you must heal for several days before he can use you!” Desmond charged forward in a blur of speed and Catherine sidestepped him at the last second, but he clipped her shoulder and sent her staggering backwards.

  She barely brought her sword up in time to block his, and shoved him back with a yell. Their blades came together in a whirlwind of speed, fighting to break the other, as they went back and forth through the camp. She drove her dagger up towards his heart but Desmond shifted and grabbed her hand, twisting her wrist until it broke and she screamed. The dagger fell to the ground useless, and he pushed her away. Catherine held her arm close to her chest and snarled, letting her rage fuel her. She had to think of Bastian. If she were captured, his fate was sealed. There might be no way out from there.

  “You will lose,” Desmond mocked as he crept closer. “You will lose your lover just as you will lose your sanity. You will become nothing more than a puppet in the Master’s army.”

  Yelling, she went after him, sword aimed for his neck, but he cackled and easily beat back her attacks, until he drove her to the ground and his sword was pointed at her throat.

  “Give up and come quietly,” he told her. He kicked the sword from her hand and pressed the tip of his own sword until it pierced her skin. “Well?”

  She stared around the camp at the destruction caused by the attack, the dead vampires on the ground, several of them Bastian’s. If she went, she could keep the rest of them safe… maybe giving them a chance to escape.

  Catherine…

  She froze at the sound of her name on the breeze, and glanced around.

  Catherine…you must not…give in…please…

  “Bastian,” she whispered and felt the faintest caress of his hand against her cheek.

  You must fight! Kill them all!

  “Get up!” Desmond demanded. “You are beaten, come with us now and we may spare the rest of them.”

  Catherine glared at him and smiled. A cackle escaped her lips, dark and filled with the promise of violence. Desmond flinched at the sound and for a moment, it even frightened her, but she was tired of being pushed around, tired of being ordered what to do. First she was taken from her homeland and sold into slavery. She watched as those around her were attacked and murdered by a woman who wanted revenge for a love that did not even exist. And then Catherine herself was murdered and brought back to life as a vampire, only to be ordered around by her true love, something that resulted in his capture. And once again, she was pinned by a monster being told what to do.

  She would not be ordered around by anyone, not again.

  “Stop your laughing, woman, get to your feet!”

  Catherine moved so fast Desmond did not even see it, his sword point digging into the ground instead of her skin. “No,” she snarled and before he could react, punched her fist through his chest. The sword fell from his limp hand and he glared at her as she gripped his heart in her fist.

  He hissed as he struggled to be free, but she did not let him go and pushed him backwards until he hit a tree.

  “Your Master will see you in the afterlife,” she swore, and with a wicked grin, yanked his heart free from his chest. Desmond’s dead body crumpled to the ground as she held his heart in her hand. Using her fist, she crushed it into dust and shook it out across the ground, but as she turned she realized killing Desmond did not end the fight.

  The other vampires fought on, and screams followed by Liam’s angered roar met her ears. She sprinted for the tent, but another vampire waylaid her, wrapping his arms tightly around her body, nearly crushing her. She kicked out, but his grip was too strong. Catherine cursed as the vampire took off for the edge of the camp, when suddenly he dropped her and his body disappeared. A hand appeared in her face and she glanced up to see Kendi.

  “Impeccable timing,” she grumbled as he hoisted her to her feet. She winced at her broken wrist, still healing, and glanced around. “Where did they come from?”

  There were more vampires swarming those who attacked and she knew they had not all come from the monastery or the island. Kendi shrugged. “We needed aid so I found aid.”

  “You turned them all?” she yelled.

  “Only the willing,” he said quickly. “Where is Tula?”

  Catherine whipped around, searching for the man, and relaxed when she saw him still standing, several dead bodies at his feet. She pointed, and Kendi rushed to him. Whimpers came from the tent and Catherine sprinted to it, but the second she was inside and found the two other vampires kneeling over the dead, heads hanging, she knew she was too late.

  “We are sorry, Catherine,” Bethany, the woman whispered. “We are too late.”

  Catherine walked towards the bodies to find Mary dead, eyes wide open and throat ripped out completely. Two other girls were dead beside her, but it was the next sight that sent her crashing to her knees.

  “No…no, Liam! No!”

  His body was torn to shreds as if he were attacked by a beast instead of a vampire out for blood. His throat was gone, nothing but gore, and his hand rested on what remained of his abdomen. She pulled his body to her and held it tightly in her arms. Her baby brother was dead…but she could turn him. She bit her wrist, ready to do just that, until Tula appeared at her side and stilled her with a touch to her shoulder.

  “It will not work,” he told her sadly.

  “It w
orked for me,” she muttered and pressed her bleeding wrist to her brother’s mouth. “It must work for him too. I cannot let him die!”

  But the blood merely spilled down the sides of his mouth. There was no way for him to swallow and she could not feel his presence, not anymore. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she pressed harder, needing him to open his eyes, needing to hear his teasing and his laughter again.

  “Come on,” she hissed, pressing harder and when the wound closed at her wrist, she ripped it open again. “Liam, please, please don’t leave me. Please!”

  Bethany reached out and gently tried to pull Liam’s body away, but Catherine snarled at her and wrapped her arms even tighter around him, until Tula and Kendi stepped in. They forcefully removed her arms, even as she fought to hold on, screaming and kicking out at them. They pulled her from the tent and something inside of her shattered, breaking into a hundred pieces that she would never again be able to put back together. She screamed and the rest of the camp screamed with her, as she pierced their minds in her fit of rage and despair.

  Tula cursed and covered his ears, yelling at her, but she did not hear, could not. The world would know her pain and if the Master laid a hand on Bastian again, she would tear him to pieces. She stalked through the camp, hands clenched at her sides as she found her sword and dagger. There were still vampires running from the attack, rushing back to their Master.

  She would ensure they never made it. Bloodlust took hold deep within her and she sprinted into the darkness. Footsteps raced behind her, but she did not slow, not until those trying to escape appeared before her. She leered and moved even faster. They barely had a chance to turn and face her before she was on them. Her sword plunged home into one vampire’s chest, and she twisted mercilessly until the vampire screamed in agony, falling limp to the ground. With the dagger in hand, she sped past the other two, slicing through their throats and doubling back to remove their heads. Blood covered her body. She licked it from her lips and whipped around to find the last one, watching in stunned horror until her gaze narrowed on him. He yelled and took off, but she was faster.