by Various
She leaned into me, her eyes half closed. I noticed the slight rocking motion of her body. Resting my fingers on the underside of her chin, I steadied her, drawing her closer. I kept my eyes locked on hers. Her breath came in sweet pants as the last of the cinnamon from the tea clung to it. It made me want to devour all of her. Inches from pressing my lips to hers, something alien invaded my space.
Someone, something, was watching us from the shadows. I had never sensed it before. It was not an apparition pointed out on the frequent ghost tours, nor was it any type of human being. It was an alien energy. I heard a low growl. Ready to pounce, I turned to face whatever it was. I hissed. I saw movement in the shadows. It was quicker than me. My first and last thought was of trying to protect Veronica. Whatever attacked me hit me hard on the side of the head. Pain exploded and my vision darkened. I made out an outline in the dark, and I thought it was Cain. My would-be hero. Before I could call out to him, blackness overtook me.
Part Two
The Tower
Chapter Eight
My name is Veronica.
While we were out enjoying the night, I slowly sank under her spell. We only talked about unimportant things, but even as we discussed them I knew she was the one who could rescue me. When I turned to look at her in the night, I saw how unchangeable she was, how her beauty would be picturesque forever. Brenna showed no fear of the night or the unknown, and was ready to help me, no matter the consequences.
For that, I was grateful.
Suddenly, she turned to investigate a noise, but when I heard the sound, I knew what it was. Who it was. I tried to warn her, but a large, meaty hand clubbed the side of her head, and she crumpled to the ground. The moment the wound opened, I knew what she wasn’t.
It had all been an illusion.
The warm, sweet scent of her blood filled my nostrils, and I knew how human she was, how vulnerable, how easily hurt and killed.
At first, it shattered my image of her; my savior was nothing more than a mere mortal. It made me realize she was like the rest of my kind, tricksters whose every word was a lie. I should have recognized the signs, but I was blinded by my own stupidity. I only saw one of my own who actually cared about me and wasn’t enthralled with tormenting prey. She had a life, and I desperately wanted her to show me how to be warm and somewhat sane. When I caught the perfume of her blood, all of my aspirations shattered.
Turning my attention from her, I gazed into the darkness, knowing immediately who the hand belonged to. My beloved. The one who gave me this cold, undying life.
“Devon, I can smell your putrid breath from here.”
“It’s wonderful to see you again, Ronnie,” he cooed, his smirk branded into his features.
“Let go of me,” I whispered.
He moved forward, stepping over the crumpled form of my companion.
“Not this time,” he purred.
“What do you want?” I hissed. My gums tingled as my teeth ached to descend. I held myself in check, not knowing what to say or do—I only knew I didn’t want to be around him.
Looking deep into my eyes, his mind snaked past my defenses, trying to find where I had been. His power called to my other half, the beast he had birthed, but I was not about to release her from the cage she occupied in my mind. His will demanded I come back and fall under his power once again. I was stronger than before, and he was not going to keep me. I clamped the shields around my mind when he tried moving deeper to get to her. He snarled at this and pushed me away.
I landed hard on the ground, the sidewalk scraping my ass. I was more dazed than hurt as I sat, staring up as he looked down at me with contempt in his eyes. He lowered himself to the ground, cradling Brenna to him as if she were a child.
If no one knew what had transpired between us, some would have thought he was her lover, or her husband, picking her up because she had fainted or had too much to drink—either of which were possible in this strange place. I crawled a few inches forward, reaching out so he would not harm her. He grinned, his teeth growing as he did. He pushed the hair from her neck, positioning it to the side so he would have an easy pathway to where he would bite. His triumphant sneer radiated on his face because he knew it was that easy for him to have her, using her to get to me.
“No—”
He looked up from her throat, just before biting. The hunger in his eyes begged me to follow suit and join him in the ravaging of the mortal at his feet. I bit down on my lip, holding my passions in check as the beast roared from its slumber in my mind. It sensed its master was close.
“You’ve grown soft these past few years. I never would have thought you would want to spare one of them. They’re nothing but meat. You used to tear them apart, drinking them up from the inside out. What happened to you?”
“You made me do that. I never wanted to kill. It’s only when she gets out that happens.”
“Oh, yes. Your other half. The beast you keep locked away. You stalk hospitals drinking from those Death is about to take so you don’t feel so guilty about killing them. You’re a meat-lover, but your hunger is never sated unless you feel the thrill of the hunt rushing through you. Your beast is not something to shun. Embrace it.”
“Why? So I can be like you?”
“Ronnie, we’ve had this conversation before.” Devon sighed.
“Stop calling me that. My name’s Veronica. That’s her name.”
“Yes, my true child is locked behind the walls of your mind. I know she wants to come out. She would do anything for me. The hunger is growing, Ronnie. Soon your control will slip and she’ll come out, the vampire you hate so much. What will you do then? If that happens, you won’t be able to save this one. You know how much we like to play with our food. The fear makes them taste so much better. Just like this one.”
He brought Brenna to his lips again, and then flicked his tongue over the line of her neck, familiarizing himself with the terrain of her skin. A low growl, something akin to a cat’s, echoed in the night. It was lower, more feral than the angriest panther scream. It took me a moment to realize it had erupted from my throat. Every muscle was taut; I wanted to spring at him. The sidewalk was hard beneath my hands, its coolness seeping into my skin, trying to chill my rising temper. My nails scraped the cement and my teeth rested on my bottom lip, long and sharp, ready to tear into flesh. Saliva dripped down the corners of my mouth like strings of torn meat. Absently, I wiped them away.
I moved my hand forward, balancing my weight so I could propel myself into the air.
“Move one more inch, and I’ll tear her throat out,” he warned, caressing Brenna’s neck with his elongated claws.
Brenna’s head flopped to the side like a child’s doll. Her innocence hung in the air. If I destroyed it, I was no better than Devon and he had won.
The last vestiges of his control over me slipped away. I wouldn’t let him provoke me until I let her out. It didn’t matter that he was the one who brought me into a world where there was no light. I stared at Brenna’s prostrate form, wanting to help her because she was willing to help me. Devon was right. The beast in me called out for her blood, but I ignored it and the hunger that raged in both of us. I wouldn’t let Devon ravage her body.
I relaxed, letting my talons become blunt and squared off. My teeth retracted somewhat, but remained tiny pinpoints in case he decided to harm Brenna.
“Let her go!”
He smiled. “But she smells so good. Can’t you pick up the coppery scent of her blood mingling with the vanilla of her skin? It makes my mouth water. Her blood still runs like a molten river, ready to warm us. I know you want her. Your hunger scents the air like human fear.”
I closed my eyes, staying in control. He wasn’t going to tempt me into letting my guard down and the beast take over. I would not give in. I would remain as I was while the beast ravaged my insides. I bit down on my lip, drawing blood, but I kept my focus. “No, damn you, Devon. No more games! What the hell do you want?”
&
nbsp; He studied me before answering. “Isn’t it obvious? I want you. Did you really think you’d get away from me so easily? You’re mine. Always!” He glanced down at Brenna, running his hands over her face.
I watched the rise and fall of her chest. She rested as peacefully as an innocent babe, unaware of the danger around her. I couldn’t wake and warn her of the impending doom. If I did, Devon would kill her.
“If you let her go, I’ll—” I feared no matter what I said he would hunt her down and take her anyway.
“You’ll what?”
I shook my head. Tears formed in my eyes. “M-m-aster. Please.” I couldn’t bring myself to say anymore. Devon knew how much I hated to call him that.
He chuckled. “Since you’re being so cooperative, you can have your fun now with this human. Remember, I’ll be watching. Night, night, Ronnie!” He laughed, and in a blink was out of my sight, though not out of my life.
I thought when I ran away it would be forever. But no, after two hundred years he still couldn’t let me go. It wasn’t good enough, not even after he had killed everything inside me that was human. He wanted to dominate the whole package. However, I was no longer in his possession. I’d grown strong over the last decade. He’d seen this when I shoved him out of my thoughts. I didn’t know what he had in store for me. I could only imagine what went on in his sadistic mind after the horrible things he had done to me and to his victims, playing with them as if they were paper dolls, shredding and tearing their limbs with his razor-like claws. He admitted he’d followed me, and I knew he probably had ever since I’d run away.
Now I had to worry about Brenna. I could break contact with her, or show her what I really was. I could shatter the image she had of me and take the mask off. Maybe it was time I did, time I stopped denying my true nature. I’d been playing human for so long I’d forgotten what it was to be myself. Denying my nature was something I was used to, but I had let my guard down and Devon had found me. I shivered at the thought of what I had been when I was with him. I fought my hunger and stalked those close to death, but there were times I was lost in my own hunger. My beast, Ronnie, as he called it, was the only thing that pleased him. The things they did together now haunted my dreams. So I kept her caged as much as I could. He found fault in everything I did, beating me until the hunger consumed me and my control slipped. He would never draw me back in, not even with images of when he used to hold me and whisper that he loved me. How I cared for him then, but that was centuries ago, before I understood the true meaning of what my life had become.
I sighed, crossing the pavement between Brenna and me. Her weight was nothing to me as I picked her up gently. I tried so hard to fit in with the humans I let my powers run on reserve until I needed them. Well, now was a time I needed them, and my system was still in high gear from facing Devon. Carrying her back to my hotel on Bourbon Street, I shielded myself so no one could detect us. In my room, I laid her down on the bed, arranging her arms so they lay across her heart as if she were a corpse awaiting a funeral.
I smirked at the thought, and then turned to the window. I pulled the cord for the blinds and looked out into the normally warm and pleasant night. It had turned deadly and cold. This was not a sight for me to lounge in. It was a place for me to survive in. The city had just become an unfamiliar hunting ground, and I was the prey. I didn’t know how long Devon had been here or how well he knew the city. I prayed that he was as new to the surrounding area as I was for my own sake and for Brenna’s, but for now I kept watch on the city that never slept, waiting for my little one to waken.
Chapter Nine
My name is Brenna.
When I opened my eyes, almost everything was dark. I tried sitting up, but the pain in my head warped my balance. I felt a small lump on the side of my head. Forcing myself to sit up through the dizzying pain, I found I was in a strange bed in a hotel room. When I listened closely, I heard the hooting drunks and the noise of bands; Bourbon Street was close. I scanned the room and saw an entertainment center and an open suitcase on the floor.
Looking further over, I saw Veronica staring out of the open blinds, the glow from the city lights casting long shadows on her upright form. I waited for her to speak, but when she didn’t, I reached out a psychic tether and tried to move into her mind. I sensed nothing warming within her psyche. She was frigid and held some part of herself in check. It was the thing she kept hidden behind the walls of her mind. It was near the surface. Its emotions were raw. Hungry. It wanted out, but she held it at bay.
There was nothing left of the frightened girl I had met. There was only the coldness of a steel trap, waiting to be sprung. I tried steering deeper to see what else she was feeling, but with the ache in my head and with her walls in place, I couldn’t. Silently, I cursed myself for not being able to focus.
When my weight shifted, she heard the springs on the bed and turned around. The look on her face was alien. The original fullness had been shaved away to reveal descending cheekbones, almost elfin in their angles. Through the purple, her eyes burned red, and her hair floated around her face as if it had a mind of its own. Her skin seemed paler than mine and almost transparent, reflecting the light like polished moonstone. This was her true self.
My gaze slid down her body, settling on her chest. I watched her for two or three minutes before she took in a breath and even that was forced. Something was off about her, like the air parted around her as if she were an intrusion in the space.
This strangeness made me desire her even more. I assumed she wanted to terrify me. It wasn’t working. Veronica was as she always was: an interesting creature in need of help. The more I examined her, the more I saw beneath her façade, discovering the vulnerable girl under the porcelain face.
“At first I thought you were like me,” she whispered. “It would explain so many things, answer so many questions I had about you. You deceived me. You’re not like me at all, and I still don’t understand why you intrigue me so.”
I silenced her with my hand. First I had to know what had attacked me before I could answer whatever questions she had. “What happened?” I asked, crossing the room to meet her. I ached to touch her face to see if it was as smooth as it looked.
“Do you really want to know? Because if I tell you the truth, all masks come off and there is no going back for either of us.”
I nodded, needing to comprehend the great mystery in which she shrouded herself. I traced the outline of her cheekbone with my fingers. Her body temperature had dropped dramatically since earlier that night when she was sun-warmed like a stone. Now she was colder than a dead furnace. It made me want to thaw her. She allowed me to outline her lips with my fingers. I picked up every indentation with the tip of my thumb. She stood patiently as I did this, and when I stopped, she stared into my eyes and raised her hand along my cheek, mirroring my gesture.
“So warm,” she whispered. “I’d almost forgotten what it’s like.”
I smiled when her thumb brushed my lips and then moved down my neck.
“Then let me help you remember.” I pressed my lips against hers, darting my tongue between them.
She moaned, and her hands wrapped around my waist and ran over the tightness of my corset, trying to get to the body underneath. I placed my hands on her hips, moving one to caress the curve of her ass. Her mouth left mine, kissing and nipping my throat. Her tongue circled my pulse point, and then the hardness of her designer fangs pressed against my skin. I breathed in a sigh, but she looked up and backed away from me.
“What’s the matter?” I whispered.
She cocked her head quizzically, studying me. “You still don’t get it, do you?”
“What’s there to understand? You’re a goth chick who’s been fucked up by an ex-boyfriend. You hide behind the vampire image to express yourself better. Just like I’ve done for years.”
She laughed, a dark laughter layered with meaning. I didn’t think I had said anything funny.
“Look and see
what I hide.” Her mouth formed into a snarl, and I saw her perfectly white teeth. Then the impossible happened. Her canines grew longer than the rest of her teeth, and her eyes changed from purple to complete blackness as if a squid had released ink into them and covered the white. I backed up a few steps and sat hard on the bed.
Impossible. It can’t be! She can’t be! But she’s real. My dream, my desire is standing in front of me. My wish for eternity has appeared out of nowhere. She’s real!
I looked up with tears in my eyes. “It’s not possible.”
“It’s more than possible. And you…” She smiled, running the back of her hand along my cheek.
I tried not to flinch beneath her touch, but I couldn’t help it. The primal instinct of flight ran through me as she revealed her true nature. I saw the hurt in her face as sadness touched her eyes.
“I thought you’d be my savior, letting me reveal the story of my past to you. It doesn’t matter now because everything I touch turns to shit. You’re just a human who has no idea what a true vampire is. You cling to an image that has been created by a crazy Irishman. You can’t help me. Just go.” She turned her back on me and seemed to forget I was ever there.
“I’m not leaving! I don’t care what you are. I still want to help you.” I was stubborn. I had always been that way and never listened to anyone. Not even my own instincts that told me to run and hide from the predator. My body was yelling for me to do that, but my mind was whispering something else. I was drawn to her, not because she was a vampire, but because she was in need.
I saw her fists clench, and suddenly my head was yanked to the side and her hand was wrapped in my hair. Her fangs grazed my throat. One of her canines sunk into my neck, sending pain shivering through my skin. My mind tried to latch onto hers, but there was nothing of the woman who was there minutes ago. There was just hunger and pure enjoyment. Whatever she had been hiding was now in control.
