by Jessica Snow
The strange man had bitten the necks of Annabelle and Daisy, appearing to drink their blood, leaving them both pale and trembling. For some reason that McKenzie was extra thankful for, he had not bitten her. Perhaps he planned to save her for later. Shortly thereafter, he had thrown the three girls into separate cells.
It was not long after that when the screams started. While listening to them, it took very little time for McKenzie to figure out that poor Daisy and Annabelle were being tortured, and that this time, she was next on the list.
I’m going to die, she thought with despair.
No, you won’t. There was that damn voice again. She had almost definitely identified it as feminine, but that was all she could figure out about it.
Just ignore it, she told herself. I’m going insane. Besides, why should she listen to the voice? It never bothered to answer her questions anyway.
Don’t ignore me, McKenzie.
Shut up!
There was a short pause. That’s not a nice thing to say to your only friend right now.
McKenzie felt a jolt of surprise as she realized the voice had actually responded to her.
Can you hear me? she asked in wonder.
Of course, I can, the voice responded with amusement.
McKenzie scowled. Why haven’t you answered before then?
Because there wasn’t a reason to before now.
McKenzie disagreed. Whatever was talking in her head should have told her from the start it could hear her so she wouldn’t have thought she was going crazy. But would that have really mattered? What if this voice was still only a figment of McKenzie’s imagination, and she was just having a conversation with her own voice in her head?
And just who are you if I might ask?
Your protector.
McKenzie let out a derisive snort. Seeing as how she was locked in a madman’s basement while her former friends were being tortured, the voice was sure doing a fine job of keeping her safe. Some job you’re doing protecting me.
There was a wolf on your trail. I sent him away.
A wolf on her trail? What the hell was the voice talking about?
And there was another who was looking for you, someone important. I sent him away too. Things would not have gone well for you if either of them had found you.
Why would a wolf and a random person be looking for McKenzie? The voice made no sense. You’re not my protector, McKenzie thought stubbornly. You’re not even real.
Oh, I am very real. I also made that man forget that he had not drunk from you yet.
McKenzie crossed her arms. "Fine, prove how real you are," she growled to the room at large. "Show yourself."
There was a moment a silence and then another pained scream tore through the room next to her.
I can’t yet, the voice said finally.
"Thanks for proving my point, now please go away and stop talking to me."
Intent on ignoring the voice from there on out, McKenzie closed her eyes as another scream went off. Then she popped them back open a second later when she heard feet shifting across the floor.
She glanced around the room, but could not see more than a foot in front of her. Something furry brushed past her leg, causing her to let out a yelp. She looked down and gasped in surprise at the white cat staring up at her.
"What the—Rosie?"
The cat seemed to eye her with amusement. In the flesh.
Now McKenzie knew for a fact that she was going crazy. She was hallucinating about the Headley house pet mind-talking inside of her head!
"Just great," McKenzie whimpered. "Not only am I being held by some maniac cannibal that drinks blood, I am also having visions of my cat using telepathy to communicate with me."
Rosie stretched out her small body, appearing to yawn. That creature in the room over there is no cannibal.
"Oh really? Then what the hell is he?"
He’s a vampire.
McKenzie let out a loud, hyena-like laugh. The insanity would never stop. "I don’t believe in vampires."
But they exist. Werewolves, vampires, witches and more. Demons as well, though they have been banished. There was a great war between the races once upon a time, and only a few survived it.
"Nice stories," Kat muttered. "But I don’t believe any of it." How could she? The cat had sounded as if it had been reciting a fairy tale. More evidence that she was losing her mind.
You are special, McKenzie.
"Oh, I am special alright," McKenzie muttered. "The kind that needs to be tied into a strait-jacket." There was a glimmer of hope in all of this. If McKenzie was going insane, perhaps this was all just some sort of delusion, some dream that she would finally wake up from.
Rosie pawed at her leg. You are more special than you know, and the time is fast approaching when you will find out.
McKenzie flicked a fingernail at the cat’s face. "Piss off, you’re just a hallucination." Then she closed her eyes, willing the unwanted image away.
You can’t get rid of me. I’m still here, McKenzie.
Suddenly, the screams stopped, filling McKenzie’s cell with ominous silence. Then she heard the sound of booted footsteps approaching outside the cell.
Oh no, McKenzie thought with growing terror.
She popped her eyes open. Rosie was gone. She was as good as dead.
Do not worry, McKenzie. I will not let him hurt you.
The sound of keys jingled in the keyhole.
You will escape here. There was a note of supreme confidence in Rosie’s words.
Desperation filled McKenzie. How? she asked.
You will know when the time comes. Then Rosie’s voice was gone.
The door swung open a moment later, and there Cole was with a diabolical grin on his face.
"Hey little darling," he greeted her cheerfully. "It’s your turn."
Chapter 29
Lori’s fake breasts bounced in Kevin’s face while her even faker shrieks of pleasure assaulted his ears. She sounded like the track to a bad porn video as she rode the hard body beneath her like a cowgirl. Still, Lori’s over-the-top screeching did little to prevent Kevin from feeling the fire that was building in his loins and the explosive nut that was imminent.
He reached up and held onto the silicone bags for dear life as Lori swiveled her lithe body on his cock and cried out like she was in labor.
Shut up already, Kevin winced at a particularly ear-splitting shriek even as his toes curled up with pleasure.
For some reason, lately, Lori had taken to pretending to overly enjoy the sex that had become routine and boring for the couple. Maybe it was because Kevin was always pressuring her to get him off and always asking how he stacked up to her past boyfriends. Maybe it was her way of assuring him that he was adequate. Or maybe the porn-star routine was just her trying to get him off and out of her as fast as possible.
Whatever the case, sex with his ex, Kat, had never been this way. It had always been fun and exciting, never boring. But his friends always teased him, and he had gotten tired of it. Lori had been a convenient out, and now he could brag about fucking the local girl with supermodel boobs. If only...doing so was enjoyable anymore.
In the beginning, when Kevin had left Kat for the skinny vixen riding him, the sex had been blazing hot. But it had become apparent after the novelty wore off that they had very little in common besides sex.
"Fuck me harder baby," Lori groaned, tossing her head back, exposing a neck that Kevin had long grown tired of kissing. She contoured everything: face, neck, cleavage and the taste of her foundation made him want to vomit.
Kevin thrust his powerful hips upwards in response, squeezing her stiff nipples with his fingers. Given the fact Lori’s breasts were fake, she probably did not feel a thing.
"Oh yeah, just like that baby!" Lori screamed as Kevin pumped furiously into her. "Your big dick feels so good!"
Kevin held back from rolling his eyes as his thighs slapped up against her ass, his breath quickening. Inste
ad, he closed them and found his mind wandering back to Kat, her warm, soft body against his as he thrust into her hungrily.
That did it. The burning in his stomach was rising to a crescendo, making Kevin feel like he was surfing a tidal wave. Higher and higher the feeling went until he felt like every hair on his body stood on end. He gasped once when it hit, his eyes rolling back into his head, his toes curling so hard that he felt them cramp. Then it was over, and as usual, he was left with a feeling of disappointment. If he could make the sensation of an orgasm last forever, he would. Instead, he had to come right back down and face reality.
Angry eyes glared down at him. "What the hell? Did you just go inside of me, Kevin? I thought I told you to warn me when you were about to cum!"
Ignoring her question, Kevin glanced over at the nightstand next to his bed in search for his Newport cigarettes. He needed a smoke badly. The problem was, he hated the Newport brand. They were cheap and tasted like pure skunk ass.
When he was with Kat, she would always make sure that he got the good stuff, but since being with Lori, who was demanding and extra high maintenance in the money department, he had been forced to downgrade.
Kat would have never let me go without the good shit, Kevin thought wistfully.
He felt a hard tap on his chest. "Hey dipshit, I’m talking to you!"
Kevin tore his gaze away from the nightstand and raised a hand defensively. "Lori, chill. I have a condom on for Christ’s sake." He had no idea why she went from acting like she enjoyed sex to acting super bitchy. But that was women for you. They did not make any sense. Who knew why they did anything.
"Oh yeah?" Lori demanded, still mounted on his fast-shrinking jimmy. "Then tell me why I feel your hot goo inside of me, huh?"
"You’re just imagining things."
Lori rolled off Kevin’s body and to the side and pointed at it.
Kevin looked down at himself, not seeing anything wrong as he pulled the condom off. "See right here it’s totally filled with...shit..." There was a large hole in the top of the condom.
Lori angrily crossed her arms over her fake breasts. "You were saying?"
Disgusted at being wrong, Kevin tossed the soiled thing in the wastebasket next to the bed. "I don’t see what the big deal is anyway. You’re on the pill."
Lori snorted and shook her head. "I just knew you would say that."
"Well it’s true, isn’t it? Are you or are you not on the pill?"
Lori jumped out of the bed and walked over to the bathroom connected to the bedroom. "That’s not the point, Kevin. It’s just the principle of having respect for me." She went inside and closed the door, and seconds later, Kevin heard running water.
Kevin scowled at the door angrily. Easy from the day they first got together, Lori was now finding ways to bitch about anything. She pretended to enjoy the sex, then proceeded to complain about the smallest little thing Kevin did. Go figure. He was sure half her bitchiness was sexual frustration. But if she wanted to cum, why didn’t she just finger herself while he fucked her? It wasn’t like he should be expected to do the work, he was busy getting down!
A minute later, she opened the door and came out garbed in a white bathrobe. "It’s bad enough I nearly get killed by your ex and you did nothing about it."
Kevin sighed. "We’ve already been over this a million times, Lori. Kat has a nasty temper. Besides, I’m the one she almost killed, you just ended up with a few bruises."
Lori placed her hands on her hips and glared. "So? I have a temper too. That doesn’t give me the right to go around choking people and nearly killing them simply because my ex left me for someone hotter."
Lori never failed to get in shots at Kat. Always calling her names and making sure Kevin knew that she was a major upgrade. Kevin may have agreed on the chubby part, but in the looks department, Kat had fake-tittied, nose-job-at-seventeen Lori beat. He knew better to say anything, though.
Looking to avoid an argument, Kevin rolled over in the bed and reached for his cigarettes. Before he could grab them, Lori knocked them off the nightstand onto the floor.
"What the hell did you do that for?" Kevin demanded.
"Because I want you to actually pay attention to me instead of sucking on your stupid cancer sticks and pretending to listen to what I have to say," Lori snapped.
Kevin held back a nasty reply, propped himself up on his elbow, and assumed his most tolerable expression. "Okay, your highness. You have my undivided attention."
Lori stared at him for a moment, looking like she wanted to bitch at him some more, before saying, "I need eight-hundred bucks."
Kevin gaped in disbelief. "You shitting me? What the fuck for?"
"A handbag," she replied flippantly.
Was she serious? Kevin barely had enough money to keep her hair and nails done. Lori’s demands were getting more out of control every day. Kat had never been this needy. She had always made sure Kevin was taken care of before she was.
"After what you just did to me, and what happened with your ex the other week, I totally deserve it."
"You can’t be serious."
"I am dead serious."
Looking at her stone-faced expression, Kevin sighed. "Okay, I’ll get it for you."
Lori quickly dropped her angry scowl and jumped up and down with excitement. "Oh, thank you, Kevin—
Kevin held up a finger. "If you can give me one good reason why you need it."
Lori paused in her jumping jacks, a frown coming over her face. "Because all my friends at work have one."
Kevin almost laughed in her face. That was the kind of response he’d expect a teenager to say. "So, if all your friends go jump off a fifty-story building, would you do it?
Lori rolled her eyes. "Of course not."
"Well, then I rest my case. You don’t need the bag."
There was a long haul of silence. "You know what? You really are starting to piss me the hell off!" Lori snapped.
Ditto, Kevin thought as he glanced at his cigarettes that lay at Lori’s feet. He really wanted that smoke.
Instead of further fanning the flames, Kevin said, "Look, Lori, I simply can’t afford it. Hell, I can barely afford to pay for all your beauty treatments. I have too many bills to pay."
Lori shook her head with disgust. "You know what, Kevin? I see why your ex left you. Because you’re a broke-ass, sorry-ass loser. Besides your good looks, I don’t know what I ever saw in you."
Kevin’s next words left his lips before he could stop them. "And I don’t know what I ever saw you in except some easy pussy."
Lori turned white in the face with shock. "Hey, fuck you asshole."
Shit. He fucked up. Now he would be lucky to have sex once a month. Kevin rolled out of bed and reached for his girlfriend. Lori, I’m sorry—"
Lori slapped his hands away. "Fuck off!" Snarling with anger, she began stomping on his pack of precious cigarettes, grinding them to tobacco dust. Then she rushed around the room, gathering her scattered clothing. Not bothering to put them on, she stomped out of the bedroom, sobbing. Several seconds later, before Kevin could give chase, he heard the front door to his apartment open and slam shut.
"Shit," he muttered, bending down to check his pack of cigarettes. None had survived. Every cigarette was crushed and unusable. "Bitch."
He went over to his dresser and pulled on some old boxer shorts and then went around the house in search for a cigarette. He finally found one in a kitchen drawer. A light and a few tokes later, he was sitting at his kitchen table, lamenting over what was probably a breakup.
"Fuck her," he grumbled angrily. "She was a gold digger anyway."
Though he hated to admit it, he was starting to miss his old, caring girlfriend Kat more and more each day. Why did he get worked up over her being chubby anyway? After being with a skinny broad, he could honestly say he wasn’t missing much.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. It was probably Lori coming back to apologize. Maybe sex with him was tha
t good after all. Kevin’s sour expression brightened like a light bulb at the prospect.
He reluctantly put out his cigarette and went over to answer the door.
"Look, Lori, I’m sorry about what I said. We were both just fired up—" Kevin paused to look around. No one was there.
That’s strange, he thought.
After a moment, he shrugged and was about to close the door when he noticed a white paper taped to it. Curious, he snatched it off and read it. Then his face turned white.
This is just my Goddamn luck, he thought disgustedly.
The white document was an eviction notice.
Elizabeth came awake, naked in her bed, coughing and hacking, spitting bits of fur out of her mouth. "Jesus," she cried in irritation as she spit out several large strands of brown hairs. "What fur ball crawled into my mouth and died?"
She glanced over to the right side of the rumpled bed and froze. The studly hunk that she had brought home last night was gone.
"So much for the amazing sex," she groaned miserably.
Had she been that bad in bed? She could not be sure. The guy had definitely acted as if he enjoyed it, ravaging her body like it was his last supper. He’d even approached her at the club and put the heat on her. He had been scorching hot too. Washboard abs, dirty-blonde hair and calves to die for.
What Elizabeth had really liked about him, though, was his gorgeous eyes. They were a light green with specks of gold in them.
But back to the sex. It was mind-blowing. Whoever the guy was, he really knew how to work it. All of it. He had been a complete animal in bed. Totally wild. Elizabeth had never experienced such feral pleasures.
What was his name again?
For the life of her, Elizabeth couldn’t remember it.
After a moment, she rolled out of bed, forgetting about the unexplained hairs that had found their way into her mouth, and stretched out her sore limbs.
She yawned and glanced around her small apartment bedroom, noting the simple furniture. The room consisted of her queen size bed, a small brown desk that was used for her laptop and a few stuffed animals. That was it.
Suddenly, a sense of loneliness descended upon her while looking at her humble abode. For once, she found herself wanting more out of life than just going out to party every weekend and screwing any hot guy that paid her an ounce of attention. She wanted a steady relationship, a man to call her own who would treat her nice and buy her nice things.
