Raquel shouted a greeting to everyone, her quieter friend came along in her wake saying hello with a more subtle nod or a wave.
Tomas was perched on the edge of the well chatting to a plain redheaded girl called Jacqueline. Raquel sat down on the well on the other side of the boy from Jacqueline. While far from the best looking girl in the village, Raquel had a womanly figure she wasn’t afraid to show off. She was also very forward in her manner with the boys. Jacqueline was soon forgotten and when she moved away to seek more company Raquel had Tomas all to herself.
Gabriella sat a short distance away from the rest of the crowd and her best friend on a low wall at the edge of the small plot of garden in front of the chapel. She watched her friend at work admiring the other girl’s confidence. Gabriella had never been very good around boys. Most of the time it didn’t bother her. She wasn’t really interested in them. She didn’t care about the stories the other girls used to tell about what they did with them. But as time wore on and Gabriella became the oldest girl in the village to yet have lay with a man the other girls started to tease her. That was why she had gone off with Randolph to D’Silva’s barn that time. And that was why she had been disappointed at his inability to take her.
Raquel was a piece of work. She had once told Gabriella that if she couldn’t catch the eye of someone well placed to wed she might make her way to the city or one of the larger towns and seek employment in one of the better brothels. She said that she might as well get paid for doing something she enjoyed. Hearing the boys talk about her Gabriella knew that Raquel was definitely good at it, at least by village standards. She was definitely eager to practice her skills at every opportunity.
“Mind if I sit here?”
Stefan stood over her. He was dressed in a pair of basic trousers and a thin shirt. The top few buttons on his shirt had been left open showing off a body that was tanned and muscular from long days spent working in the fields surrounding the village. His blonde hair, bleached by the same sun that had tanned his body, glowed in the moonlight. He flashed her the smile that had melted the resolve of so many of the village girls.
Gabriella realised he was waiting on her to answer. “Err, oh yes, of course,” she eventually managed to say.
Stefan graciously avoided drawing attention to Gabriella’s nervousness. He sat down on the wall a little bit closer than Gabriella found entirely comfortable. His leg was in near constant contact with her own and he kept finding reasons to brush his hands against her leg or arm. When a warm gust of wind caught her hair and pulled it across he was quick to bring his hand up to brush it back for her. His fingers lingered in her tresses slowly stroking her hair down until he brought his hand back to his lap by trailing it down from her hair along her shoulder and arm.
They talked for a while, Stefan doing most of the actual talking and Gabriella offering shy responses whenever Stefan attempted to draw her in.
After a while Raquel and Tomas got up and started to move off. Her friend led Tomas by the hand. As the pair passed by where Gabriella and Stefan were sitting Raquel grinned and gave her a wink. Gabriella’s only response was to blush. That set Raquel giggling and she set off again drawing Tomas along behind.
Shortly after that the other kids at the well started dispersing. Some moved off in pairs to continue their flirtations with a bit more privacy. Others went off home alone. Gabriella would have preferred to head for home herself, but she couldn’t find a way to tell Stefan that. Besides he was flirting outrageously with her and would surely be able to perform. She had to loose her virginity some time. At least it would stop the others from teasing her. So she let Stefan think that he had succeeded in seducing her. When he suggested they go somewhere more private themselves she went along with him.
He led her out of the square around the well and followed the path that went past the front of the chapel on the way to the edge of the village. Stefan removed the lantern from a hook on the gates of the chapel to light their way. The street they were following grew gradually less well kept as they travelled along it. By the time they reached the open gateway that marked the edge of the residential part of the village they were a fair distance from any of the houses ant the street was nothing more than a smooth earth track. The track split off into a number of tributaries made by the farmers or people who worked on the farms moving into and out of the village wearing the grass down.
Without hesitation Stefan led her off down one of the tracks. The surrounding area seemed very dark when they put the meagre village lighting behind them. Gabriella found herself closing up to Stefan less from an actual desire to be close to him than the comfort of the light he carried.
Gabriella recognised where they were heading because of her prior experience with Randolph. D’Silva’s barn was a favoured location for this sort of thing. It was close enough to the village proper to be easily accessible but distant enough that there was little risk of them being discovered.
Like most of the farm buildings that were scattered around it was kept locked. But another reason the kids favoured this spot was that there was another way in. All of the kids who had reached that age where they were interested in the other kids or had caught the interest of one of the older ones knew about the loose boarding in the wall.
Gabriella was aware enough to guess that a lot of the adults knew about it as well, as well as knowing what the kids got up to in there. After all they had to have done the same thing themselves when they were younger. But as they got older they could do those sorts of things in the privacy of their own homes. A couple of the older village girls, Raquel being one, had enjoyed themselves in some villager’s bed. But for most of the kids the only way they could get privacy was by sneaking into places like Mr D’Silva’s barn.
Stefan stood aside holding the loose boards open so that Gabriella could enter. She hesitated only slightly before moving inside. How bad could it be, really? She knew that it would hurt at first but then, by all accounts it should feel really nice. Maybe after she tried it she would be more interested in trying it regularly.
The inside of the barn was shrouded in darkness. Gabriella’s pulse pounded in her ears with the anticipation. Just about the time Stefan came in carrying the lantern she realised it wasn’t only her pulse she could hear pounding.
In the midst of an errant pile of straw Tomas lay on top of Raquel. He froze when the light fell over him. Immediately he rolled from atop Gabriella’s friend and she got her first look at a boy at the heights of arousal, Randolph hadn’t managed it even for a moment. He was rapidly loosing his arousal himself in his embarrassment. Not helped any by Stefan’s sharp laughter. Gabriella wasn’t all that impressed, in fact she felt her gaze being drawn to the sight of her friend lying there instead.
Tomas grabbed up a pile of clothes and hurried past the new arrivals without looking at either of them. He stumbled on the edge of the barn on his way out and Stefan laughed at him again on his way down.
Raquel seemed much less concerned about redeeming any modesty. She slowly gathered up her own clothing, not trying to hide her nakedness from Stefan or Gabriella. Gabriella didn’t know if her friend was aware that she was studying her just as much, if not more than, Stefan.
On her own way out Raquel stopped just before them, with her free hand she reached down and grabbed the front of Stefan’s trousers. “He’s ready for you,” she told Gabriella with a smile, and then she was outside and the boards were closed leaving Stefan and Gabriella apparently alone.
Gabriella had a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach and further down there after seeing her friends naked body but she was still little more than slightly curious to find out what it would be like to be with Stefan. He on the other hands was almost gagging for it. He was hurriedly getting out of his clothes having hung the lantern on a hook on the wall of the barn next to a small selection of farming implements.
He was quickly naked. Gabriella took her second look at a man in a full state of arousal. Still there was n
othing of attraction there. Truth be told he looked pretty stupid with that thing just sticking out there like that. By the way he was standing he was obviously proud of it, Gabriella had to bite back a laugh. She supposed it had to stick out like that to get inside but to be proud of it? Her mirth vanished when she realised it was supposed to go inside her. Suddenly she was more than a little scared. Still the girls said it only hurt at first and it would quickly pass.
Gabriella started to remove her own clothing. She must have been going too slowly for the impatient Stefan. He got her on to her back on the floor of the barn and roughly started pulling her clothes aside. He didn’t bother getting her fully nude. Simply exposing her breasts was enough for him. Then he lifted her skirts and pulled her underwear down to her ankles. She heard the thin material tear in protest to his action.
And then he was on top of her. Adjusting himself so that he was inside of her. Gabriella screwed her face up but didn’t cry out. Stefan slammed his body in to her over and over, and though the pain went away the wince didn’t leave Gabriella’s face.
She didn’t make a sound throughout the whole ordeal. And ordeal was how she thought of it. She got no pleasure from having this sweaty lump of meat lying on top of her. No matter how many times he went about thrusting that stupid thing in and out of her.
Stefan made all sorts of noises, grunts and heavy breathing, that seemed entirely fitting considering the setting, and still Gabriella didn‘t utter a sound. Her detached participation in the event didn’t deter Stefan from his enjoyment any.
Gabriella was glad she didn’t have to put up with it for very long. Stefan was finished in what seemed to be a pretty short time, with no frame of reference Gabriella couldn’t be sure. But it seemed only a matter of minutes before his grunting increased and he stopped thrusting on top of her. Instead he started twitching and then he rolled off of her.
They lay there a few minutes, Stefan panting to get his breath back. Without a word to her he gathered up and got back into his clothes.
“I’ll leave you the lantern,” Stefan said. The only words he spoke to her before shifting the loose boards out of the way and vanishing into the dark.
“What a gentleman.”
Gabriella started at the voice. She sat up and started pulling her clothes over herself to cover her modesty, though if the person that the voice belonged to had been here the whole time there wasn’t much to be gained by it. She wrapped her shawl about her shoulders as the voice continued.
“Don’t worry about that,” the voice was soft, female, and came from the shadows deeper into the barn. “Your friend seemed to enjoy himself but I don’t believe you got quite as much from that experience as he did.”
The speaker stepped up out of the shadows. She was a young woman, just a few years older than Gabriella, and she was gorgeous. Gabriella guessed she was new in town, had the other woman been plain Gabriella could have expected to not remember her but there was no way she would forget someone like that. She had to be the wife of some rich merchant, possibly nobility. Gabriella found it easier to believe that someone from one of those stations would be found in a barn on the edge of town late at night, than it was to imagine her some commoner or vagrant who could be expected to seek shelter somewhere like this. Her clothes, while ruffled, were a cut above the common dress.
“I . . . Uh . . .”
“Shush,” the stranger said continuing to approach. “There’s no need to be embarrassed. I watched your friends and then you. That boy you were with didn’t have a clue about how to pleasure a woman.”
Gabriella had no idea what to say to that.
“Why don’t you let me finish what he started, a pretty young thing like you shouldn’t be left,” she paused and winked, “high and dry.”
Gabriella started to recoil when the woman first laid hands on her. She couldn’t say she hadn’t thought about other women. Seeing Raquel naked had reawakened those immoral thoughts. But she went to church every week, she knew such things weren’t just wrong they were sins. God could forgive much but this . . ?
When she looked into the strangers eyes all her doubts fled away. She wanted this. And to have someone like that want to do it with her.
"And there is so much more I could offer you besides."
The exquisite stranger was stepping towards her. Mid-stride the strangers face transformed. No longer a vision of beauty it was now the face of a creature spawned from hell, come to drag her back down with it as payment for her sinful thoughts.
"Spend eternity with me."
Gabriella didn't answer the creature. Instead she turned and fled the barn running out into the night as fast as she could run.
Chapter Fifteen
Sore and aching Gabriella forced her tired muscles to unknot as she stood. She dropped the disgusting sheet she had been forced to sleep in. Being a vampire the soreness was rapidly chased away by her activity. She picked up the clothes she had put on clean yesterday and had been forced to use as a pillow. After crawling through the space on top of the conveyor belt in order to get in here, and then spending the daylight hours in a bundle on the floor, they were a mess. But she looked down at herself and saw that she wasn't in any better condition. She couldn't wander around the nest naked in any case. Only Francesca could manage that without being molested.
So Gabriella got dressed. She was glad that there was no way for her to see her reflection in here, she must look a real state. She fought to keep from crying again. It was bad enough that she would be seen like this at all. If they could tell she had been crying as well she would be finished. Even with Francesca behind her she would have lost the respect of the lot of them.
Feeling terribly dirty and unattractive she climbed onto the belt and crawled out through the flaps. Things were not as she had left them. On the end of the conveyor belt sat a crumpled carrier bag. Gabriella looked warily around the room and cautiously approached the bag. She opened it and marvelled at the contents. Inside was a set of clean clothes, no underwear but she had gone without often enough before. There was also a towel, a bar of soap and a large yellow sponge. Not that they would be much use without water. She stepped forwards to a position where she could get changed and her feet brushed against something under the belt. Gabriella knelt down. What she had touched had been a bucket of water. Beside it were two large, water-cooler sized, bottles also filled with water. Whoever her mysterious benefactor might be they seemed to have thought of everything.
Gabriella stripped out of her ruined things right there. She tossed them away into the room she had left, all except her boots. There were no shoes just a skirt and a blouse in her gift bag.
To begin with she used the sponge and the bucket of water to try and get rid of most of the muck. Then she moved on to using the soap as well. She dipped her hair in the bucket to get the worst of the mess out and rinsed her whole body by pouring the entire contents of one of the coolers over her head and letting the cleansing liquid wash over her body. A dirty sludge puddle formed at her feet.
She had to use some more of the water out of the last cooler to fully rinse herself of the filth, but then she was done and she set about drying off on the towel provided for her. She got dressed in the skirt and blouse which were almost a perfect fit. She used the last of the water to clean off her boots and then finally she was ready to face the world.
Fulton remained closeted up with Francesca throughout the whole of the day. They rested only briefly in all that time. Finally when it was just past sundown Francesca invited him to go out with her on a hunt.
This would be the best opportunity for him to leave Francesca and return to his solitary existence. The rucksack he had had with his bike had been fetched up and Francesca had left it at the foot of the bed while she sorted herself out in another room. His shirt had been torn in the midst of their escapades but his jacket was intact. His trousers had somehow managed to survive as well, but they were designed to protect him from a fall from a motorcycle.
&
nbsp; Fulton got changed into a pair of blue jeans and a T-shirt. He decided to pull on a baseball cap as well since he couldn't be bothered to do anything with his hair. Instead of his black motorbike boots he pulled on a pair of, once white, trainers that were now a sort of grey.
When he was dressed he took a brief look around the bedroom. Francesca had told him to remain here until she was ready to show him around. Apart from the bed there was very little in the way of furniture in the room with him. Only a small chest and a single wicker chair with a high back that fanned out like a peacock’s tail. A velvet cushion rested on the seat to make it more comfortable.
Fulton knelt beside the chest. It was locked but the key remained in the locking mechanism. Fulton looked around the room guiltily. He turned the key and lifted the lid open. He gasped and coughed involuntarily to clear his throat. But he let his eyes study the contents and felt a glow of arousal spreading.
Inside the chest was a prodigious collection of, what were called in polite circles, marital aids. Big ones, little ones, bendable and rigid ones, there were even a couple of spiky looking things that Fulton couldn't really imagine would be any fun at all, he certainly wouldn’t have like to have them inserted into him.
He heard footsteps outside and shut the lid quickly. Wincing at the bang it made.
Francesca left Fulton alone in the bedroom after leaving him his gear. She had no doubt that Xavier had checked through his stuff. Now Francesca, in an almost transparent night-gown, dismissed the vampires she had had making sure she and her new playmate would not be disturbed.
Even before they had made it all the way down the metal steps Xavier was there rushing up past them. Without acknowledging him as he ran up towards her, she turned and stepped back into her private chambers. Xavier followed her inside and into the room where she and Gabriella kept all their clothes and makeup.
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