by P. S. Power
“Blaine, Rebeca can produce an analgesic from her mouth, it has coagulants too, if she's willing to do it, I think it will help with the pain. This looks like it's over now, but people may be watching. Police, or the people of those guys that attacked you, so we need to leave the wounds for a while, which means no shifting for the time being.”
Blaine looked at Rebeca who had moved to just a few inches from his face. For her, Kate knew, it was in preparation for action, for an Alede it was just good conversational distance. He moved a little closer and let the woman kiss him gently, first on the mouth, slowly working over each gash and swollen bit of flesh on the outside, then she kissed him, tongue clearly going into his mouth, search for any wound there that she could possibly reach. After a few minutes, she started kissing the wounds on his face, going over the worst ones first, then the others, finally hitting the bruises.
She pulled his shirt loose and licked his chest, moving down his stomach until she reached his waist, where she stopped.
“Um, I'm sorry, but if you have any wounds lower than that...” Looking down she saw that he had an erection, and pulled back slightly, but didn't jump away.
“Not really, they mainly got my face and the left side and Kate already healed the broken ribs. This is great though! I can hardly feel anything now. Thanks Rebeca.” He buttoned his shirt up, seeing that they were done, and not wanting to push his luck. Nikki looked at the other Vampire girl, almost as if in awe.
Reaching out she put a hand gently on Rebeca's arm and then moved back slowly as if trying not to spook her.
“Great job! Really good... I'm proud of you.” Nikki said this with real warmth in her voice. No one asked what this was about, but Rebeca, taking a very Human looking large breath explained anyway.
“When I was, before I was a Vampire, I was taken prisoner by two men that kept me in the woods, in a hole in the ground. Literally just a dirt hole, for about two years. I don't really know how long exactly, it could have been longer. They raped me daily... more than daily, the whole time. If you can imagine it, they did it to me. I was almost dead by the time I managed to escape. I burrowed through the ground with my hands, it ripped off most of my fingernails. I was covered with blood and dirt, naked. I ran through the woods, the men chasing me. I was weak. They'd barely fed me the whole time and I must have been down to about eighty pounds. Just skin and bones. I kept going, but they caught me and were raping me again, putting things in my, in my ass, sticks and branches, nothing smooth or anything you'd actually want in there. They were trying to make me beg for their dicks. It was a game to them. They'd hurt me, so much... and then tell me that if I begged for them to do something else they would, I just had to beg. Eventually I would, just to end the pain, then they'd laugh and call me a whore.” She looked around the room, putting obvious effort into keeping her head high.
“That's when He came. He killed them both, draining them. Then he asked me if I wanted to live. I told him yes, figuring he was going to rape me too, because he looked wild. Huge, a giant, worse than the men that had... done all that to me. He explained about the coagulants in his saliva and the pain killers. He did this for me, what I just did for you, even though he didn't know me and I'd probably die anyway. He had to... do a lot more, than I did here, just to save me. I was bleeding out... rectally, I guess I was dying really. Then he nursed me back to health. I don't know how old he was, but he never slept and went out during the day, so old. He brought me food, animals and roots at first, and he built a fire and showed me how to cook it myself when I could manage it, how to make a fire and how to survive in the wilds. Later he came with new clothes and canned food from a store. I don't know how he got it. When I was strong enough, he turned me and sent me to Claire. He never gave a name. I asked, but he'd always just shake his head at me.” She went quiet then.
Nikki sat, unmoving.
The older Vampire, shook her dark pony tail behind her and didn't break her gaze on Rebeca who had finally looked down as if ashamed.
“I... I didn't know that. I knew something bad had happened to you and that it was bad enough that Claire wouldn't let anyone order you to have sex, but I didn't know. I'm sorry I let David tease you so much now. Well, if we ever get to go back home. I'll make sure he doesn't, at least not about sex. You're still on your own about everything else. Take teasing away totally and he won't have anything left to say.”
Rebeca gave her a weak smile and mouthed “thank you” so softly that Kate couldn't hear it so she figured that no sound had actually been produced at all. Instead of carrying on this conversation, which they could go back to any time Rebeca wanted as far as she was concerned, she asked why they might not be allowed to go back home.
Nikki sighed, “Well, you know George Penbroke, right?” Glancing around she saw that Kate did, but the others had no clue who he was. “Uh, he's the nephew of the Mages' world leader, and the father of Zack and Kaitlyn's boss at the embassy at Underwood. Bit of a prick, to tell the truth. He wanted to spy on Zack and his daughter, so he kidnapped me and used magic to turn me into an agent for him. Against my will.”
She paused and didn't say anything for almost a minute, collecting either her thoughts or courage. Finally she continued.
“Zack found out and fixed it, but still. I was like that for a long time, basically going through the motions and doing his bidding. Unable to not be his spy. I had to do everything he said, without question. I couldn't help it. Luckily he didn't get too creepy about it, but it... I felt pretty badly about the whole thing. I waited, until everyone kind of forgot about it, then I, we, kind of kidnapped and tortured him for about a week. So, you know, there's a bit of an uproar now.”
Chapter five
Don raised an eyebrow at that.
“Isn't kind of torture like saying 'a little bit pregnant'? How do you kind of torture a person? Please, explain that one, I'd actually like to know.” He looked at the women skeptically, then at Kate, giving her an expression that she took to mean something like “what did you bring us here?” Not that she'd brought them, but she understood the sentiment.
The thin, pale brunette woman seemed to realize that her story had better be pretty good, it seemed. After all, her food supply was on the line if Don didn't like what she said.
"Well, I started by watching him. I knew where he lived, since he used to make me go there regularly to report to him. So, one night Rebeca and I sort of knocked him out when he was going to his car. After dark. No one saw us or anything. Then we stuffed him in the back of it. Luckily he's rich enough that he has a sedan. Those have a lot of room in the back." She watched Don so carefully that it seemed almost like she was waiting for a physical attack. He didn't look away either, which could be hard to do when a Vampire was involved.
Taking another large breath, she went on.
"Then, because we're both incredibly sweet gals, we left his car in long term parking at the airport, so no one would steal it. After that it was simple enough. We'd borrowed one of Claire's cars, to run some errands in, and then borrowed Zack's old house. In the old Vampire room in the basement. It's actually pretty nice. I did some renovating first."
Don did not seem to think that was enough of an explanation, and he tilted his head at her, making her bow her head a bit, in shame.
"Anyway, the Vampire room has new sound proofing. I added it myself. Also a new solid hardwood door, so I actually added value to the property. Plus it makes a pretty good cell."
Kate nodded to keep her going, but that didn't seem like enough, which had Don, clearing his throat like an old man hoping to book passage to Lesser Shia.
"Go on. So far I don't like the sound of it, but... It doesn't sound like torture. Just assault and kidnapping."
The Vampire smiled at him, trying suddenly to be a bit more charming.
"Right. Well, we put in a special chair, one that mainly supported his weight, but had a hole in it that emptied into a bucket. The work on that is top notch. It wasn't just shoddily knocked togethe
r. I built it lovingly and especially for him. So, really, it was a gift. It worked really well too. Take my word for it, we're talking high value construction. George didn't get so much as a splinter in his hind quarters from it."
Don nodded, "And?"
“Then we surrounded him with television screens and played non-stop recordings of 'Mr. Rogers Neighborhood' for six days and nights. The volume up just loud enough that he couldn't sleep. A siren went off randomly, and if his head bobbed too much, to make sure he stayed awake. It took two of us to watch him and we couldn't be there during the day, obviously, so we set up a little water bottle thing like a hamster would have? It had Strawberry Kiwi flavored Koolaid in it the whole time. Mainly because that's the one that smells worst to me.”
Then, at the end of a full week, they let him go.
They'd expected a backlash, and got it, but they hadn't expected George to finger Nikki immediately. After all the guy had to have enough enemies that it could be someone else, right?
“The mistake there turned out to be leaving him among the living. They looked at us hardest, because Zack keeps trying to keep everyone alive. They even figured that if we acted like that, Zack must have ordered it. Because, you know, Vampires are all blood sucking monsters incapable of restraint. The Mages almost declared war on Zack personally for it, so I confessed to having acted alone.”
The Mages of course, insisted on checking this story out, using their truth telling compulsion, which forced her to out Rebeca as an accomplice. The Mages were all calling for their heads, since George Penbroke, prick or not, had a lot of high powered political friends amongst his own kind.
“They'd have killed us too, if a couple of people hadn't stood up for us.” Nikki left that hanging, prompting Kate to guess, the others stayed silent, letting her do the guessing, since they didn't even know who the players might be.
“Um, Zack and... Lisa?” She hazarded, not knowing if Lisa would let them get away with that or not. The man was her father after all and her mother had died when she was really young, so George had been her only parent almost her entire life.
“You'd think, right? But no. Zack couldn't say much, since they all still kind of thought he may have ordered it. Lisa... Well, I know she thought it was deserved and told me she was happy we hadn't hurt him, but I don't think she really feels happy about the whole thing. Still, she didn't call for our deaths either. It was Eloise Penbroke and Troy.” She grinned at Kate's shocked expression, though the others just looked at them.
“I wasn't there, but Lisa told me that Troy came in and told the whole Mage council that if they killed us over this, he'd go to war with them himself.” She shook with laughter at this image. “Not much of a threat right? One young Human guy against tens of thousands of Mages? But then their phones started ringing and like, a dozen leaders from around the world called and told them that they'd be most displeased, to the point of war, if they harmed Troy. Even the Demons called.”
Troy told her later that he'd burned through every favor and bit of blackmail he had to get that to happen, and warned her not to do anything like that again, at least until he could build things back up. She spread her hands and smiled at them.
“Troy. Can you believe it? I mean, not that Troy isn't cool and all, but he went all out, for us. We're not even lovers or anything. But he went in there, into a room filled with people, any one of whom could have taken him out personally at any time, or ordered it done, and made them let us go. I'm already in hoc to Rebeca here for her help. I hate to think about what I actually owe Troy for all this. But still, it was totally worth it, whatever that turns out to be.”
The other Vampire looked at her blankly.
“You owe me nothing. Not for this.” Soft and velvety, her voice commanded everyone's attention. “He raped your mind. I know it happens in Vampire culture and that it can be ordered by the Mages' leadership in certain cases, but he didn't go through channels, and you hadn't wronged him or anyone else he knew. He took you and used you how he wished and didn't let you go. If Mr. Hartley hadn't found out about it and saved you, he'd be using you still. That you were willing to stop at what little we did amazed me. I would have killed him for you if you wanted, even if it meant my death. I still would, except that now it would probably start a war.” She stopped and looked down.
Nikki quickly hugged the other woman and let go almost immediately, without saying anything.
Blaine looked up and smiled, painlessly or so it seemed.
“Good to know. Note to self: Make friends with Troy.”
Don looked at both women and told them that he'd help however he could, which got everyone else to nod. Britney had moved next to Don and Kate, sitting between them, a hand on each in what to any Alede would be a clear sign of ownership of them both, or at least calling dibs, Kate realized. Blaine didn't say anything about it though, but looked at his sister a bit forlornly.
Nikki looked at Don hard then and asked what they owed him for his services.
“We're not rich or powerful and kind of in hiding, but we'll pay what you ask, if we can.” She didn't look at Don though, she had turned to Kate, since Claire had put her in charge, she understood. Vampire politics.
Oh, yay, she thought.
“OK. Well, just with the current grouping here, I think that Don's going to need a lot of sex soon, probably within a few days. Britney and I can do a lot of that, obviously, but Nikki, if you could play back up? Really we need a fourth too, if it's as bad as it is with Zack, but we can hold out that way for a while, if that's all right with you Nik?” The Vampire looked at Don closely and saw him blush and look away. She nodded, giving the back of his head a smile.
“As for you Rebeca...” Kate's mind whirled, spinning in place not able to think of anything at all that didn't involve sex. Damn being an Alede! She froze, not knowing what to say, Rebeca started to cringe, realizing what had happened inside the other girl's head, at least a bit. Don came up with something though, his voice embarrassed.
“Well, Blaine's going to need some help for a few days. Not too big a deal I guess, but someone should look out after him? And after that, if you're still here, well, we could use some help keeping our dorm room clean. It's not horrible, but it could be tidier. Is that all right? I don't want to insult you, but I'd make sure you stayed fed anyway. If that's too much work for it, we could think of something else...”
Everyone else in the room laughed at that and didn't stop for several minutes. When it died down someone would start to speak and the laughter would start again. Finally Kate had to lock down her emotions like Zack had shown her how to do just to be able to speak. It was the first time the thing with emotions had actually worked for her.
“Don... She'd have to drain, what, two or three people per day?” Nikki nodded telling her that was about right. “Drain that many people each day, that means killing them, to have as much energy as you can give her in a few minutes. If you didn't feed them, she and Nikki would probably have to spend most of the night going out and getting blood from people in little drips here and there just to stay alive, not collecting anything like the energy they have right now. It's nearly as bad for the Alede, and takes a lot more partners to fill us up, even if we did the equivalent of draining someone. Really, short of giant orgies, you can't harvest that kind of energy each day.”
She moved to put an arm around him.
“In cash, if you had it Nikki, what would you say that kind of feeding would be worth to you each day?”
The dark haired Vampire thought for a moment before saying anything.
“About ten to fifteen gold each day, which would be about ten thousand dollars right now. That's why I'd gladly blow you a couple times each day, or fuck you, or let you have my ass if you want it. It's a much better return for us than what we'd get at home, getting a few ounces of blood from each donor. Having to pay them or suck them off for it each time. It's a blessing when you can find one willing to trade blood for drugs. I learned to m
ake amphetamines just for that. Not crystal though, that's too harsh and makes the blood taste bad.”
Rebeca looked at Kate too, avoiding Don's eyes entirely.
“At home, until Zack learned to do this feeding thing, Claire tried to give me the ones that just wanted money or drugs. When they couldn't be found, more than once, she traded herself in my place...”
Nikki spun in her chair and stared, “Seriously? Wow... That would be like... I don't really think I can explain it. Given our society, that would be a lot like a princess taking over for a whore and still giving the whore the money. No offense Rebeca, you're the least whorish young Vampire I know.”
Blaine put a hand out toward the woman, but didn't touch her, Rebeca put her hand on his arm briefly then moved away.
“All that, and so bad that an Ambassador takes your place, and you still helped me? Thank you. I, that... Well, if it ever comes up, I'll take your place instead. Just ask and I'll do it. All right? Whenever you want.”
Britney and Kate both teared up at that. The Vampires couldn't, but Rebeca thanked him for his offer. Don tilted his head and asked why the Alede and Vampires didn't team up.
“I mean, if so many people want sex, and are willing to trade blood for it, can't they do both at the same time? Kate told me that the energy from sex is always there anyway, so even if the Vampire's doing it, that energy still comes out, right? Or, is that a stupid idea.”
Kaitlyn shrugged, “Betty, she's a younger Vampire and the Succubus Maria did that at a club once. Betty told me that she thought she could get used to it, that it worked really well for her. Of course she actually did all the guys, since Zack would have freaked if Maria had spent the evening fucking and sucking all comers. Maria did the girls though.”
Britney looked up, “I don't know that name. Maria. Is that another one of his wives or something? I thought he was pretty free with who they had sex with. It's one of the reasons why all the Alede think he's so cool, he doesn't insist that his people have sex only with him.” She seemed baffled by this.
