Beating Hearts

by Lucretia Stanhope

  “Where are we? What have you done to me? Where is Nick?” she asked.

  “One thing at a time, dearest. We are at my place. I haven't even started to do anything to you yet, and don't worry about Nick, he has been handled,” Warren said, and watched how the lie affected her.

  She felt her stomach tighten and retched, with nothing coming up. “Nick,” she said softly, and failed to fight back a sob.

  “Come on, let's wake you up some. It's hardly any fun with you like this,” he said, and pulled her to her feet.

  She felt her legs turn to rubber as she stood, fighting for balance. “Is Nick?”

  “Kate, Nick is the least of your worries right now.” He tightened his grip on her arm, and walked out, dragging her from the room.

  She tried to struggle, but she didn't have the strength, and wasn't sure she had the will as her mind fought to understand how Nick could really be gone. “Where are we going?”

  “Outside, the fresh air will wake you up, and I like to eat under the stars.”

  She knew what he meant and wasn't even sure she cared. Maybe he would make it quick, that would be best. Once they walked out of the house, she noticed it was in a forest area, isolated. Screaming would probably not help, and would probably make him all too happy. The cold air hit her bare legs and she realized she was only wearing her sleep shirt. She shivered.

  “Your little heart is racing, Kate. What scares you most?”

  “You are a monster.”

  “I am. Is that what scares you? Monsters? I can make you into a monster too.”

  “Just you, Warren. Is that what you want to hear? You scare me.”

  He smiled and listened to her heart racing. “I'm glad you understand me.”

  “What happened that made you so evil?” she asked, hoping to distract him, while she tried to gather her wits. She didn't want to give up. There had to be a way out of there, away from him.

  “Why did you come to my club, Kate?”

  “The people, I couldn't stand thinking about what you were doing to the people.”

  “That's sweet.”

  She looked around the yard, there was forest on all sides. She wondered if she could make it to the forest, if she could get away. Her mind told her no, she knew he could out run her, even at her very best, but her heart said try, try anything.

  He watched her, looking at the fire that he could still see burning behind her eyes. It made him hungry. He pulled one of her hands up to his mouth and smiled as she tried to pull it back. “I am going to hurt you. Probably very badly. I am going to like it. Perhaps you will as well.”

  She felt herself heave again and tried again to pull away from his grip.

  His hand tightened on her arm.

  “I will never like anything about you.” Her mind raced, run, hit, something, she needed to act.

  “Ever since the first taste I have been thinking about you.”

  She looked away, tears filling her eyes again.

  “I can't stop thinking about tearing you to pieces. I want to rip you apart, just to make sure I get every last drop,” he said, and caught her as her knees buckled. “Easy, dear.”

  “Do it then. Do your worst.”

  “Oh no, no, as much as I would like to, this isn't going to be rushed. Did you think you were clever sneaking into my club with Paul? I really want to know, what did you want, Kate?”

  “Paul?”

  “I handled Paul myself. He was true to you, even as he took his last breath. You seem to be leaving quite the trail of dead vampires everywhere you go.”

  “You're next,” she said, suddenly feeling angrier than afraid. She pulled hard against his grip and didn't get any payback. She pulled again even harder, as hard as she could, but she could not budge his fingers, they were pressed crushingly deep. She reached around with her other arm and smacked his face.

  He took her other arm, and pulled it to his mouth. “I'm going to mark you now. Are you ready to be mine forever, Kate?”

  “No, please, no,” she begged, struggling again to break free. She kicked him with everything she had, but he didn't even flinch. “Please Warren don't. Please god stop.”

  “You are alone with me, no one, not even your god is going to help you now.”

  She cried and kicked and pulled.

  He felt her fear and desperation in the air, and saw her fire and hate as she looked at him. That made him smile at her as he sank his teeth into her wrist.

  She heard herself scream as she felt a fiery surge of pain and the same sharp burning pull as he drank.

  He usually didn't feed from anyone pure, as they had much more value to him for sale. He enjoyed the sweetness, but even more than that, he loved the fact that he had been the only one to taste her. He drank deeply until he felt her starting to get weak. “Stay with me Kate.” He stopped drinking and smacked her face.

  Her eyes fluttered open. “Don't touch me,” she whispered. “Monster, I hate you.”

  “You are so full of life.” He put his arm around her waist as she started to slip. “Come, let’s see how much we can nurture your hate.”

  He took a few steps toward the house, but felt she wouldn't make it. Since he wanted her awake enough to know she was being marked, he saved her the effort, carried her back inside and laid her down on the bed.

  He watched her laying there a moment and contemplated draining her, but decided that alive she would serve as a big distraction to Nick. A distraction that would give him enough of an edge to end this age old loose end of his.

  He reached down and patted her face hard. “Are you with me, Kate?”

  Her eyes fluttered a little.

  “Wake up,” he said, and watched as her eyes slowly tried to open. “Come now, dear, I wouldn't want you to miss this.”

  He sat down on the bed beside her, held her right hand, and looked at the wound left from his bite. He bit it again, wanting another small taste.

  Her eyes shot opened at the pain of his teeth going into the same wound. She pulled against his grip and he let her go.

  “Kate, do try and sit up,” he said, and raised her with one hand.

  “Please, stop,” she said. “It hurts, I feel dizzy.”

  He bit deep into his own wrist, and watched as the blood formed into a drop. He turned his wrist over hers and let it drip onto her. His gaze focused on the reaction when his blood sealed the bite on her wrist.

  She screamed and pulled her arm into herself, hiding it from him.

  He yanked it back, he never marked anything before, and wanted to watch. He stared, fascinated as the wound turned a nasty shade of purple, and small purple lines seemed to spider out from the bite.

  She squirmed a little, and made some sounds of discomfort.

  He figured his bite had taken effect and now she was feeling the blackness of his saliva.

  Too bad, he thought.

  He watched it a moment longer before he walked out. He frowned, wishing she had been up to watch the pretty pain spread on her wrist.

  There was still a little time before dawn, so he headed back to the club.

  He stood outside, his head cocked to the side, and listened to the deafening silence. Nick had been here, wasn't now, but had been. There was a bloody hand print on the door. He walked over and opened it. His eyes flashed black.

  That son of a bitch, he thought.

  He pulled out his phone and arranged to have the mess cleaned up while he slept. A few more calls and he had someone due to open the place the next night, not that he expected any business. His humans were gone, and it wouldn't take long for it to spread around that a room full of vampires died at his club.

  He returned to his home, and smiled as he felt Kate at least trying to move around. He was still fuming about the scene at his club, and decided she would be a good release for some irritation before the sun came up.

  K ate woke feeling very tired, but more than that she was in pain. She looked down at her wrist where the pain was coming fro
m and gasped. There were two small punctures, her mind flashed back to the bite, and then she focused again on the marks. They looked infected, it looked like something in his bite was spreading. It was purple and angry and burned. It was a distracting burning.

  He said he was going to mark her. Nick told her that would hurt badly and make her ill.

  She sat up and tried to rise, but the pain made her nauseous and dizzy, so she rested back into the bed and let the ache take her off to sleep again.

  When her eyes opened again, she was still in pain. She had no idea how long she slept, but she tried to sit up. She felt hot and dizzy and the room spun, but she hung on. If it was daylight, she might be able to get out of there.

  She stood and took a few steps to the door before she fell on the floor. She tried to catch herself, but as she did the pain in her wrist seemed to spread to her whole body and she cried out. She started to crawl toward the door, it seemed to her like she was only moving an inch every hour. Her face was covered in sweat and her whole body trembled as she drifted in and out with the effort.

  She had just about reached the door when she had a strange sensation. Someone was moving, she could hear them breathing, getting closer. Something inside of her wanted to go to them in an urgent way. She allowed herself to imagine it was Nick.

  It must be Nick, she reasoned, he is the only person she ever wanted to be near like that.

  She gave an extra effort as she felt them nearing and tried to pull herself up. After some effort, she managed to get up and open the door.

  When she looked in the hallway and she saw Warren, her heart sank and her mind reeled. She sensed him coming, had been drawn to him, to that monster.

  She started to weep. He was inside of her, in her blood. He really did mark her and it connected them to each other.

  She crept out of the room, leaning against the wall and started in the opposite direction. She could sense he was still there, moving with her, but not getting closer. Even as part of her fought with everything to get away, another part in the back of her mind wanted to turn around and stay there with him.

  She tried to run at that thought, to get away from the pulling, and ended up falling again. She desperately tried dragging herself up.

  “Now what is this all about?” he said. “Were you trying for a daring escape?” He reached down and pulled her up. He could feel how hot she was, how weakened she was from fighting off the infection of his mark.

  “Don't touch me,” she said, and pulled back, falling down again.

  He looked down at her and his eyes flashed black as he remembered the state of his club. The mess Nick left was going to cost him so much, and she was going to pay for that.

  She felt him on her. Felt his hands pinning her down. She screamed as his fangs tore into her waist. She could feel him twisting and biting, ripping at her skin. The pain and the darkness threatened to take her away. “Please, stop,” she begged, and pushed at him with everything she had. “Please, please, stop.”

  He pulled his head up and looked at her with his black eyes while he wiped his mouth. Slowly he stood up and gathered her in his arms. He walked with her, down the hall and back to the bed and sat her down.

  She laid back and waited for the spinning to stop. “Are you changing me?”

  “It had crossed my mind. Did you want to be changed?” He looked again at the mess he made of her waist, and clicked his tongue against his teeth.

  “No, I feel different,” she said, with her eyes still closed. “I can feel you.”

  He smiled. “Yes, I imagine you can.” He wondered since he had been drawn to eat her, what was she drawn to do to him. “Are you drawn to drink from me dear?”

  “I don't know,” she said, and started to tremble.

  “This is going to hurt again.” He bit down on his wrist allowing the blood to gather a bit, before he turned it to drip on her new wound.

  She cried out. “It burns,” she said, and gripped the bed.

  He watched as his blood fixed the torn skin, closing the wound, stopping the bleeding. Like before, there were purple tendrils spreading out from the spot. He considered turning her again. He wondered if that would end the raging craving, or make it worse, make it forever. He already wanted to bite her again.

  He watched her a moment longer until she was overcome with pain, and drifted to another place, then he got up and walked to his room.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  K ate heard her name being called. It seemed far away. She felt so tired that she struggled to even open her eyes. She could feel a hand touch her, sit her up. Her eyes cracked, but as soon as she saw the dark little room she closed them again. It hadn't been a bad dream, she was there, there with Warren, and that meant the rest of the dream was real too.

  She opened her eyes fully to see Warren sitting right beside her.

  “I have a gift,” he said, and smiled down at her.

  “Keep it,” she said, trying to sound hateful, but barely whispering.

  “Don't be rude. We will have company tonight, so I brought you something more appropriate to wear,” he said, and started to unbutton her shirt.

  “Nick?”

  Warren smiled at her. “He does seem drawn to you, dear.”

  She found the strength to sit up, and rested a hand on the bed for support. He slipped a white, gauzy dress over her head, and gave her a hand to stand. There wasn't much to the dress, it had thin straps and was cut deep to her waist at the neck line. The skirt part fell all the way to the floor. He held her hands, and stepped back looking at her.

  “Now, that is much better.”

  She pulled her hands from his and stepped back toward the bed, sitting back down. “I'm thirsty.”

  He reached over to the small table and handed her a glass of water. “I do wish we had more time, there is so much more pain and pleasure we could have explored. Regrettably, it seems Nick is getting impatient.” He looked at her and thought of all the ways he could cause her pain. That brought a smile to his face.

  She took a sip of the water and felt herself relax. She knew if Nick was coming the nightmare would be over soon.

  “What is Nick to you, Kate?” he asked, perplexed by how much she seemed to care about him.

  “Nick is my, he is my love,” she said, and curled a little at the pain in her side. She looked down at her waist, at the big purple bruised bite.

  “Your lover?” Could all of this merely be about a human lover? Disgusting.

  “It hurts, so bad, can't you…”

  He laughed. “You want me to end your pain? I can give you relief in one of two ways.”

  “Two?” she asked through clenched teeth.

  “I can kill you or turn you. Of course, since it is up to me, there is a third option, to do nothing, I like that one better. Mercy I am afraid, is lacking from my heart.”

  She sat up against the wall and leaned her head back. “Don't turn me, please,” she said, and opened her eyes, she needed to get away from him. Her body was failing to do what her heart wanted.

  He bit into his arm and held it out to her. “Are you drawn to that, now? Does it smell tempting, alluring?”

  She closed her eyes, it did feel tempting. She felt instinctively pulled to it.

  He watched, not sure if he was excited or amused, as she reached for his arm, and then pushed it away, turning her head.

  “I don't want to be like you.”

  He wondered what such a fireball of a human would be like as a vampire and edged closer. “Final offer, Kate.”

  She felt herself lean forward a little and drew his arm to her mouth, again. Her eyes filled with tears as she pushed him away.

  “No?” he said, and pushed her back down. “I am going to need to take a little more from you, so I have the strength to fight your lover.”

  She couldn't bear the thought of him biting her again, but at the same time she felt herself leaning toward him. “Don't, please. I don't have any more to give,” she begged, and b
acked to the corner of the bed. The pain at her waist was threatening to make her pass out.

  “Oh, but you do.” He edged closer to her and started to lean into her neck.

  She scrambled back more, falling off the bed, and struggled trying to get to her feet. She started to drag herself away.

  He rolled her over and she could see he was on the floor with her.

  “Please, don't. Please, I can't take anymore,” she pleaded weakly, kicking her feet at him.

  He grabbed her ankles and pulled her closer. “You can, you can take much more than you imagine.”

  When she felt his teeth sink into her ankle, she screamed.

  He didn't suck, he just stopped and looked at her face, watching the pain. He pulled her down more and bit into her calf.

  “Warren!” she shouted.

  She felt his hands on her, touching her thigh, spreading her legs. She tried to close her legs, and pull away, but her strength was gone. She could feel his cold breath on her leg. She was already feeling so much pain that when his fangs sunk into her thigh, her whole body quaked. “Please, don't,” she whispered. She wondered why she wasn't blacking out or drifting away. Could it be she was getting used to his bite?

  He stopped again and slid up a little more to the part of her stomach exposed from the dress, and bit into her soft skin again. She twisted and pushed at his head.

  “I can't decide what I like best, your response to the bite, or the feeling of you slipping away when I feed.” He watched her chest heave as she drew in a deep breath, and then he pushed the dress to the side a little, revealing the tender skin of one of her breasts and bit her again.

  She pushed against him with all she had, but it wasn't much.

  He felt it wasn't enough to warrant another fun bite, so he sank back down to her thigh, where he could feed and bit her again in the same spot. He drank deeply, drank until he felt her pulse slow down to a dangerously slow rate.

  It took a great deal of personal strength for him to stop, and pull back. “Beyond delicious.” He closed the new wound as he had done with the others, then stood and walked out, leaving her on the floor.

  N ick walked to the club door and waited for the new doorman to open it.