The sound of cloth ripping filled the air, and I looked through Lucretious’ eyes to see that he’d ripped her satin gown all the way down the front with no effort at all. And she was naked. I looked down at her because I had no choice. Her skin was flawless white, more pale than she should have been. Her breasts were well formed and perky and I had a moment of jealousy wishing mine were perfect like hers. Even set against her white, white skin her nipples were too pale to be healthy.
Without preamble, no explanation, no assurances to her safety, Lucretious bit into the flesh around the right nipple. Perdita gasped. Maybe it hurt, but not by much that I could tell. She arched her back, pressing her breast into his face, and he latched on with his lips, sucking at her nipple and the puncture marks he’d made. Perdita moaned so loud she was almost yelling. The taste of blood filled my mouth as with before and I liked it. I knew I wasn’t in my own body. I knew I wasn’t really drinking this woman’s blood, but the idea that I could ever like the taste of blood was almost too much.
Without removing his lips from Perdita’s breast, Lucretious removed his pants and rose up over her body, positioning himself. When he entered her, it was with such force that I was sure he’d broken her, but if Perdita was hurt I couldn’t tell. She cried out, but not in pain. I tried not to watch or feel. I tried not to hear, but I was experiencing through someone else’s body and there was nothing I could do to shut off the sensations. I felt my own arousal rise up, and it wasn’t long before I was teetering on the edge of pleasure. Lucretious growled in frustration as he pumped his hips faster and faster, trying to achieve the climax that my parasitical mind had brought on too early. But, when Perdita screamed as she came, Lucretious stopped fighting and we both flew over the edge together into a place I never knew I could go.
My eyes flew open as I came and I looked up into Pierce’s amused eyes. Had I been talking in my sleep?
Oh god I hope not!
My hand went over my mouth automatically, partly from embarrassment and mostly to keep from moaning out loud. My body shuddered as the waves of pleasure crashed over me. I felt Pierce’s hand slip into the waistband of my jeans. I clenched my teeth together to keep from making noise and let him touch me until I couldn’t keep from giggling because it tickled a little bit.
Pierce kissed me hard on the lips, before he asked, “Good dream?”
I laughed, because it was a little funny.
It took a moment for me to recover enough to sit up as Pierce set a plate of steak and potato chips in front of me. I cut a piece off the corner and stuck it in my mouth. It was good, salty as usual, but tender and I realized I was starving.
Did I skip lunch, too? Probably.
“You gave Petrice some?” I asked as he flipped through the channels. It seemed we did more channel flipping than actual TV watching. Like a true man, he never let me have the remote. I don’t understand the allure of channel surfing. He left it on a channel long enough to get me into a show, then changed it when they’re about to explain something important. Not cool.
I ignored the TV, mostly because it would only make me irritated and grumpy, and concentrated on eating. I saved the nasty chips for last, chewing and swallowing the steak and trying not to remember that dream or the taste of blood in my mouth. I put my plate down and stood up to stretch, hoping to get the blood flowing, hoping to come out of the post-orgasm stupor enough that I didn’t choke on my food. I never had dreams like that, and while I wasn’t freaked out, I was confused. Why was I dreaming about vampires and sex?
“What’s wrong?” Pierce asked. “Something wrong with the meat?”
I shook my head. “Nope,” I answered. “Just out of it.” He handed me his beer. “That’s not going to help.”
Pierce shrugged and took it back, took a large gulp and set it back on the floor. We watched TV the rest of the evening. I napped off and on and he flipped channels until it was time for me to leave if I wanted to make it home by curfew. Suddenly, I hated my life all over again.
“Baby, I have to go.”
“I know.”
Fortunately, it wasn’t raining anymore so Pierce and I stood shivering against my car for a moment as he held me.
“Can I get a goodbye kiss?” I asked, expecting his normal chicken peck goodbye. He surprised me by tipping my head up with his finger under my chin and slowly closing the space between our lips. He gazed lovingly into my eyes before he sealed with a kiss the unspoken promise that I would be okay. His lips were warm, even in the cold of early January, and they sent shafts of desire through my body, an emotion that couldn’t yet be realized. He kissed me with a fervor that I hadn’t felt in a long time. It was nothing like the kiss in my dream. Where that kiss had been mostly lust, what I got from Pierce was how much he loved me.
My heart raced and I could no longer tell that I was cold. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer until his weight had me pinned against the car.
If this keeps up, I won’t make it home on time.
I laughed softly, and Pierce mistook it for being turned on. I didn’t care. He had one hand cupping the side of my face and the other pressed against the car window.
My skin began to crawl and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
No! Not now!
The intensity of those ghostly eyes overtook me within seconds, stronger and heavier than they had ever been. I’d been mistaken before. I didn’t pass out. I wanted to, but I couldn’t. Whoever it was, they were inside my head and they wouldn’t let me. I gasped in pain, grasping my head in both my hands and effectively breaking the kiss.
“LeKrista?”
I sank to the ground and Pierce followed me, his hands on my head, his voice in my ears, trying to calm me. But I couldn’t be calmed, because suddenly there were gruesome images flashing in front of my eyes and I guess I finally did pass out.
A man smiled down at me, and as his lips parted I saw the sharp fangs of a vampire, slightly curved inward. Deadly. He came toward me, and as he did, his mouth opened wider until I could see his throat. I felt his lips close over my neck and his fangs, warm and smooth against my flesh just before they bit into my neck, puncturing the artery. My blood flowed as his lips pulled it from my body.
I panicked, suddenly coming awake, the taste of that blood on the back of my tongue once again.
“No!” I shrieked. “Get it off me!”
And just like that, the images and sensations were all gone, but my mind and body as one couldn’t handle it. I felt my body go slack and Pierce’s arms were there to catch me.
When I came to, I’d thrown up. His jacket and jeans were covered and my mouth tasted like gross. I sat up, leaned over and threw up once more.
“Get her some water.” Pierce’s deep voice washed over me and I suddenly realized how cold I was. I spat on the ground, trying to rid my mouth of the gross. I almost threw up again. Perhaps my willpower is that strong, or maybe my stomach was finally empty. Either way, nothing came up when I gagged. Finally, there was a glass in my hand. I tipped it up, filled my mouth, swished, and spit it out. I rinsed and repeated until the glass was empty, then handed it back to Pierce.
That was when I realized how many people were around - Petrice, Gable, and the neighbors on the right - and that there were tears on my face. I didn’t bother with the tears. My hand went straight to my neck feeling for blood and puncture marks. No marks, and my hand came away clean. I still wasn’t convinced.
“Is she okay?” Petrice asked in a shaky voice.
“What happened?” The neighbor man demanded to know.
“Oh, my god,” I whispered. “Oh, my god.” It was all I could think to say as the panic set in once again.
“Staci, are you okay?” I looked up into Pierce’s eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“Someone’s watching me, Pierce. Someone’s following me. I can feel their eyes on me all the time. They’re coming for me, Pierce!” I was talking way too fast and my voice kept rising. Pierce grabb
ed my face and made me look him in the eye.
“Calm down, Staci. Take a breath and calm down.”
I breathed in and out and looked into his comforting amber eyes until I felt my heart settle. This was my Pierce, the embodiment of peace and calm. He'd always had that effect on me. My heart rate returned to normal.
“You’re okay,” Pierce said. “Come on.” He pulled me to my feet and helped me brush the mud from my jeans. “I’ll drive you home.”
“What about my car?” I asked.
“Gable can follow us.”
I nodded. “I threw up on you.”
“A couple times. Are you okay?” He bent a little to look into my eyes.
I nodded, mentally ticking off a check list to make sure there was nothing wrong with me. I came up with nothing, except that I was being stalked by a vampire.
That’s ridiculous. Isn’t it?
I felt myself beginning to panic once more, and closed my eyes against it, taking deep breaths to tamp it back down. I squeezed Pierce's hand until his calm washed over me. I felt dirty, like I’d done something wrong.
“Staci?”
“I just want to get home,” I assured Pierce. “I’m sorry I threw up on you.”
That sexy smile finally made a comeback, even if it was only a few watts. “Any time, love.”
I smiled back, but I knew it was lackluster. Pierce brushed a tear from my cheek and kissed the top of my head. “Bet you won’t kiss my mouth,” I joked. I got a stern look for that then a firm kiss on the lips. Dang it, if I didn’t love this man! I waited for Pierce to change clothes, and we climbed into his rattling Suburban. We rode half the way in silence and I stared out the window, trying to keep my mind off those dangerous fangs.
“How long has this been going on?” Pierce finally asked when we were about ten minutes from my home.
“I don’t know,” I answered softly. “A couple months I guess.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I looked at Pierce and he didn’t look hurt. Confused maybe.
“I don’t know.”
“Do we need to call the police?”
I laughed. “And say what? ‘Excuse me officer, but I think someone is following me. No, I haven’t seen anyone, but I can feel their eyes watching me.' Are you kidding? They’d give me a one way trip to the crazy house. No, thank you. I may be a lot of things, but mentally disturbed isn’t one of them.”
“Are you okay now?” His voice rang with concern. I reached out and grabbed his hand, fully aware that I was once again gripping it a little harder than necessary.
“I will be.”
I was relieved when we pulled up to my home. Gable parked my car beside the house and handed me the keys as we switched places. Pierce gave me one more kiss before I climbed out of the truck and he waited until I was inside before he left. All I could think about was getting a shower. I felt filthy, sleazy, and violated and just wanted to get clean. I chose not to tell my aunt and uncle I was home and went straight to my room and locked the doors. I avoided the mirror as I let the water run in the shower. I stripped out of my muddy, wet clothes and turned to the mirror with my eyes closed.
One, two, do it now or you never will.
I popped my eyes open and tilted my head to the side to get a good look at my neck. I half expected there to be fang marks marring the flesh, but there was nothing but smooth, tan skin and the faint blue outline of the vein that had been violated in my...
What was I supposed to call what had happened? A vision? God, I hoped not. A flashback? No, because it had never actually happened, and I knew it wasn’t a dream. Somehow, I knew that. I decided to stick with panic attack, because it was the only thing that sounded remotely close.
I let my hair down and stepped into the steaming shower. I didn’t even care that the water was too hot. So I would come out the color of a tanned tomato. At least I would feel clean.
My phone rang thirty minutes later. I dried my hand and my face and stuck my head out of shower to answer. “Hello?”
“Hey, Stace,” Pierce replied and his voice sent shivers of calm through me.
“You made it home?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.
There was an edge of worry in his voice when he said, “Yeah, I’m home. You doing alright?”
I smiled so he would hear it in my voice and answered, “Yeah. I’m in the shower. I’ll call you back when I’m done.”
“Alright.” He didn’t mention the extra shower. “I’m going to get another shower too. If I don’t answer, I’ll call you back.”
I’d developed a migraine in the shower now that the adrenaline had worn off, and my throat was sore and raw. No wonder everyone had come running.
It took a while to get dressed. I was sleepy and lethargic, but I still needed to call Pierce back. I was laying in the bed when I finally called him. I had the lights out and my dog Bermides sleeping next to me. He had too much fur to sleep in the bed, but I didn’t want to be alone.
“Feel better?” Pierce asked when he answered the phone.
“No,” I answered honestly. “Not really.”
“What happened, love? You said ‘get it off me’.”
“Please. Can we talk about it in the morning? In the daylight?”
“Of course, Staci. I won’t keep you up. Get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
We hung up and I curled up and went to sleep, hugging my dog for comfort.
The eyes glowed red, bright enough to light the room, and the fangs were at least three inches long. His face was twisted and distorted with anger and hunger, and it was coming dangerously close to my own. The smile plastered across his face held no humor, only hatred.
And he was calling my name.
“LeKrista.”
I shook my head and tried to run, but my body just wouldn’t obey.
“LeKrista, come to me.”
I couldn’t find my voice to deny him, but it wouldn’t have done any good. He was on top of me, his mouth already at my throat. He kissed along my throat to my neck, to the vein he’d already claimed as his own. I whimpered because I couldn’t beg and felt his breath on my neck. He caressed my skin with his porcelain white fangs before he plunged them into my neck.
But he didn’t plunge them. He took his time. I felt the fangs penetrate the vein and keep going. I thought they would never stop digging through my neck until he’d skewered me completely.
I felt the pull of his lips, felt my blood drain, and my head spin. At some point, I lost consciousness. All the better. If I was going to die, I didn’t want to be awake for it. But I didn’t die. When I woke up the next morning, after having my blood drained, I wasn’t dead. I was one of them.
I came awake with a start. My heart beat a rhythm against my rib cage and my head felt like it would split open. I pressed my hands to both sides of my neck. I was whole, no punctures, but I was terrified.
I reached down to turn on the bedside lamp and looked around frantically, squinting against the pain that the light caused. The room was empty except for me and Bermides, but there was no way I was going to get to sleep now without pain killers, so I got up gingerly and went to the kitchen using walls and doorknobs to help steady myself.
I turned the lights on as I went. I popped three Tylenol and swallowed them with a glass of water.
“Hey, Kris.” My little brother Dante walked in.
I hate that name but my family has no regard for my feelings and insists it’s a fine nickname. I have no desire to be referred to by a boy's name.
“Hey.” His not-quite-six-foot-three frame towered over me when he gave me his characteristic sideways hug, not quite touching me with anything but his hand and his side, like he was afraid to catch something.
“Headache?” he asked, his way of sympathizing.
I nodded and wished I hadn’t. My brain felt like it was rattling around in my skull. I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes and rested my elbows on the counter until the throbbing felt less l
ike my brain would explode.
“You alright?” Dante asked. I wasn’t sure if he was uncertain of what to do or ready to run for the phone in case I needed an ambulance.
“No,” I answered him, and he waited. “I’ll be fine.” I picked my head up and offered something that was supposed to be a smile, but his concerned frown proved that I hadn’t quite made it.
I waved a dismissive hand at him and crossed to my favorite spot at the breakfast table. Then I realized the blinds were open. The extra effort of standing actually made my head begin to throb again, but I closed the blinds anyway, explaining to my brother, “I had a panic attack today. Don’t know why. Don’t think I’ve ever actually had one before, either. It had a bad effect on my brain.” I purposefully left out the crazy vision thing. He would be way too interested in that for his own good. I finally took a seat and lowered my head back into my hands.
“You want me to rub your shoulders?” he asked.
“Sure,” I agreed. The massage felt good, but it only seemed to aggravate an already painful situation, and I had to make him stop. “Thanks for trying. I’m just going to try to go back to bed,” but that was honestly the last thing I wanted. I went back to my room anyway, but I left the lamp on, lying down in the bed next to my dog and curling up on my side.
“What’s wrong with me, pup?” I stroked my dog’s head, combing his long, fluffy fur away from his eyes so I could see them. He rolled over onto his back so I could scratch his belly, and I appeased him. Slowly, so slowly that I didn’t even notice it was happening, I began to drift into sleep.
I was looking at myself in an ornate, gothic style mirror. The black framing made the paleness of my skin stand out.
Lucretious. That one name brought with it the realization that I wasn’t looking at myself. I was looking at him through his eyes, and as soon as I realized it, I knew he could feel me there inside his head. He didn’t say anything, he seemed to already know I was there, but he leaned into the mirror and growled. A tingle ran up my arms and spine to the base of my neck. I shuddered and my head ticked to the side and he was gone.
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