“But why? What makes me so different to any other human?”
His hand reached out and traced the line over my stomach where the claw marks are. “You are the only human to ever survive. You might call it luck but my kind do not see it that way. A hungry lycan is a determined lycan. If he was disturbed by someone opening the loading dock door, he would have killed them too.” William took my hand and placed it onto my stomach, feeling the burn and the pain from the wounds. “There was no store-man Mary, the lycan was not disturbed by anyone. Whatever happened in that alley happened because you wanted it to. You might be just a human but you are a gifted human and the lycan realised that. He attacked you and you stood up to him, he retreated into the shadows only because he feared what was in front of him.”
“Porter...”
“Is a fool but at least he had the sense to prioritise your safety. Do you know why I accepted his request to house you?”
I shook my head, fearing the unknown.
“When I looked at you I could see the lost soul that needed direction. You had no clue about this world, not the true world. Guidance, protection and an education in the real world. This world.” He gestured to the room. “Humans have no idea of the true ability of the mind. What you see, the magic that happens here, it is not magic like a rabbit being pulled from a hat. It is a labyrinth of corridors designed to fool the weak and protect the needy. It is lanterns that light when they know you are truly tired, beds that ready for your arrival.”
“Dreams?”
The look of wistful happiness dropped away as he looked at me, curious to my sudden outburst.
“What did you dream about?”
“Nothing.” I lowered my head, suddenly regretting opening my stupid mouth. His hand trailed along the underside of my jaw, tilting it up to look at him.
“Tell me.”
“No.”
“There are no dreams in this house, there are only visions. They might be of the past, they might be of the future. Whatever it is, it is important. Do not cast it away as nothing, that would be careless. Was it of a death?”
I shook my head as his hand dropped away.
“I am not going to drop it Mary, so it would be best if you avoid all of the nonsense and just tell me. It may be imperative to your safety.”
I let out a pained laugh. “Somehow I think that I'll be fine.”
“How can you be sure of that?”
“Look it doesn't matter, okay? It wasn't of anyone's death so just leave it.” Fleeing to the safety of the bathroom, I turned the lock and rested my head on the door. My mind was weary from this, barely any time had passed and I wanted to give up. I wanted to walk out onto the street and wait for the lycans onslaught.
“Do you think that you can hide in a house that is filled with trickery?”
I shook my head not bothering to lift it, I was so tired. He turned me around to look at him, his worry was obvious. Pressing against the door I could feel the familiar tickle of tears streaming down my cheek.
“It has clearly upset you, I will not stop until I know. This house offers the vision for a reason. Whether it be a warning of what may come, a memory of the past or hope for the future, there is always a reason.” He wiped the tears away and then tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. His fingers trailed over the waves, just like he did in the dream. “Was I in it?”
I nodded even though I didn't want to. He was going to get it out of me, he was going to keep pushing until he extracted every single snip of information.
“Were you there as well?”
“It looked like me.”
William frowned as his hand slipped away from my hair. “What do you mean, it looked like you? Either it was or it wasn't.” He paused “What makes you think it wasn't you?”
“I can't tell you.” I sobbed. “Please don't ask.”
His furrow deepened as he let out an annoyed huff. “Did I hurt you? Did I falter in my protecting you? Tell me damn it!”
I jumped at his anger, instantly his face softened as he realised it wasn't the best time to be getting angry.
“Please tell me.”
“It's not real.” I snapped. “It was just a dream, just a stupid bit of make believe.”
“And I told you that in this house there is no such thing.” He snapped back.
Turning to the door I jiggled the handle, I couldn't unlock it. I was trapped. There was no escaping his interrogation.
“We can stay here all night if that is what you desire Mary.” His voice was cold and calm. “Neither of us have had our dinner but sadly for one of us, there is only one meal in this room.”
I bristled at the threat, he was now trying to intimidate me into telling him. “You would do that?” I turned back to him. “You would really kill me?”
“Tell me and all this suffering will be done.”
“Fine!” I hissed. “It was us, we were married and I was pregnant. Really pregnant.” The anger dropped away, replaced with pure shock. “I was wearing a dress that I found afterwards in a section of the robe that I didn't even know about.” I wiped the tears as the anger flowed. “We were discussing baby names, Ella for a girl and Leonard for a boy.”
His head started to shake with disbelief.
“You said that you didn't want to taint our son with your past. When I looked through your eyes to the woman, I saw me. So tell me, is it a vision of the future or a memory of the past?”
“Future.” He whispered. Pain filled his face as he closed his eyes forcefully, frowning hard.
“Were you a vampire in the vision?”
“How would I know that?” I snapped. “It wasn't as if I was sucking on someone's neck. We were sitting on the lounge while you made gooey faces at the beach ball of a stomach.” The thought of an enormous stomach made me look at my toes, wondering when it was that I was going to get knocked up by the local vampire and how much longer I had until I wouldn't be able to see them any more. When I looked up, he was gone.
“Typical.” I huffed. I tried the door handle again and thankfully it opened. The main door to the corridor was opened which I considered odd, William always shuts the doors. Well, except for the other night but I guess he figured that I wasn't going to roam around after bed time. I quickly scurried to the door, the sound of the clicking tiles were moving faster than normal. He was on the run. I flung the door wide open just as he was pushing the opposite door open, just a few steps and I could cross the corridor. William stepped over the threshold of the room and turned to face me, his cold and lonely face never looked away as he closed the door.
“You can not run forever.” I yelled at the closed door. “One day you are going to have to let it go.” I huffed with the thoughts of only a few seconds ago, all of his efforts to get the information out of me. Now it was his turn. “The clock is ticking on the night William. You will have to go and feed eventually.”
The sound of the tiles filled the empty corridor, I turned in all directions as I watched the shape bulge and warp. “Don't be a coward, I told you what you wanted to hear, get back here and deal with it.” My eyes widened when I heard the front door open and slam shut. I ran back to the bedroom and to the window, lifting the sash. The bastard was walking down the garden path. “Where are you going?” I yelled. “Fine! Runaway, see if I care.”
I slumped onto the chair, pondering the past half an hour. That had not gone as I had expected. Though, I wasn't really sure on what I expected. Did I think he would be overjoyed at the prospect of a life with me? Maybe he couldn't handle the thought that there would be a time where he would have moved on, that he was no longer pained by the loss of his wife and child. But then the question he asked was curious. What difference did it make if I was a vampire and pregnant? Was he worried about spending a life with a human wife and child? Was that how his first wife died, old age? That didn't explain the bassinet. Maybe they hoped for a child but because she was human and he was a vampire, they couldn't conceive. Could a human not be turne
d into a vampire, was that his problem? Knowing that there was another wife and child in his future that he would have to watch grow old and die in his arms. I sighed heavily as I got up to shut the window and the curtains. Slipping back onto the lounge, I closed my eyes and prayed for an end to the nightmare.
Chapter Ten
The smell of something insanely delicious filled me, I fluttered my eyes open to the bedroom. A fire was roaring and beside the chair I had fallen asleep on, a table had appeared. It was small and low, on it was a pizza box and a can of soft drink. I rolled my eyes, he was sulking and it was clear this wasn't going to be a normal night. Just little old me, sitting in my room, eating an unhealthy meal of pizza and soda.
“So it was the poor pizza delivery guy tonight, huh William?”
“Such a tragic loss, wouldn't you agree?”
I stopped eating at the sound of a feminine voice, a figure billowed out of the smoke by the fireplace. So much for the prior warning about guests or the fact that being in my room would be ideal.
“Wouldn't know. Who are you?”
“Eliandra, I came to offer some assistance. Ease the pressure and the tension, it's what I do best.”
“You give massages?”
She laughed as she sauntered around the lounge by the fire place, taking off the cloak and laid it over the back of it. Her figure swanned over, swinging her hips like she was a wanton creature. Clearly she thought she was something. Okay, so she was beautiful but to walk around making it obvious that you think it, not my style personally but I guess it worked for her. Her blonde wavy curls were pulled up high, the dress was tight to hour hourglass figure. It was a high collared dress that had a plunging neckline revealing far too much. All I could think was that they were about to burst out at any moment. The deep red dress hugged her frame to the hips where it split open revealing her taut and tanned leg. Clearly if she had a tan she wasn't a vampire, though I suppose it was possible that she had a spray tan. She sat on the lounge at the other end, crossing a leg over the other. The split fell away, exposing her upper thigh. Eliandra leaned back on the lounge and looked at me, her sultry gaze was rather inappropriate.
“I can give you whatever you want. Tell me what you want.”
“There is nothing that I want from you.” I turned to put the pizza box back onto the table, jumping slightly when I felt her hands on my shoulders.
“Free of charge my darling girl.” Her hands pressed deep into my shoulders, slowly pulling my cardigan away. “So much tension.” She cooed, her breath against my ear.
Haze filled my mind as her hands made contact with my skin, I could feel the cardigan peel away from me. The zip on my back slowly slipped down as she continued to press her thumbs against my shoulders.
“So beautiful.” She whispered as her lips caressed my ear. The hands pulled me back against her, deliriously I stared at the blurry ceiling. I couldn't focus on anything, I couldn't think straight. All I could do was hear the soft whisper in my ear and her hands that were moving to the front of my shoulders. Moving lower as the dress slipped away. She pulled my head back, her hand firm on my neck as the other hand caressed the edge of my bra. Gently tugging on the lace, her breath was hot and heavy against me. “Name your desire my pretty.”
“Eliandra!” A dark deep voice boomed through the room.
She cackled darkly as she got up from the lounge, letting me drop to the cushions. I could barely see, it was a blur as I watched her distorted figure cross the room to another figure. I tried to take stock of my situation, my head was a pained hazy blur, I was unable to focus and the pain was building in my heavy limbs.
“Dahhhling.” She purred. “All I wanted was a little play time. Surely you could grant me that much before you claim her?”
“She is not a piece of meat to be passed around as you see fit. Get out of my house before I have the council come down on you for practising unsafe magic on a human.”
“You used to be such fun.” She cackled again and the sound of the fire whooshing filled the room.
“Wake up.” He whispered as he shook me gently. “Mary blink your eyes hard and focus.”
I did what the voice said, blinking and straining my mind to shake off the haze. “Come on, fight the magic.” He begged.
It felt like I was being tugged on, gripped firmly as the dress fell over my legs, the soft satin slipping away. My body sagged, it felt like I was pressed against something but I could not see anything but a blur of black.
“Porter will have my backside if I lost you to a witch.”
The sound of a strange clicking echoed through my mind, drowning the sounds of the familiar voice begging me to fight. I knew his voice, I had heard it before, but where? The sharp coldness bit at my skin, icy cold. Water started to rise around me as I was placed onto something flat, it was cold like metal. The water lapped at my skin as I listened to the voice. Over and over again he pleaded with Mary to fight, to not let go. He kept calling out for this Mary, who was she? Was I Mary? Where am I? The smell of something sweet filled the air around me. In the darkness I detected the strains of wood groaning and creaking, the sounds of leaves, lots of leaves hitting each other.
“Wake and see it Mary.” He begged. “See what you have created.”
Water sounds trickled as a wet finger traced my cheek. Slowly the water submerged me a little higher, all that I could hear was what passed through the water. The hand trailed under my neck, lifting me free of the water, pulling me hard against something that was soft.
“Please wake up, I am begging you.” I wanted to wake up, I wanted to do what he asked but it was so hard. “Don't leave me Mary.” He whispered.
Chapter Eleven
Something was touching my fingers, water lapped at my body as whatever it was moved the water around. A soft sigh escaped me and suddenly things changed. Whatever it was that was touching my hand gripped it tighter, pulling it free of the water. My eyes fluttered open as I looked up, the glow of candles surrounded my watery bed, a bower of flowers hung from the walls and the ceiling. Not just any flowers, glorious reds and pinks of the fullest and healthiest roses I had ever seen. The leaves were large clumps of green, all I could see was the plant from wall to wall.
“Don't try to move too much.”
My eyes turned to the voice, slowly focusing on him. Blink my mind reminded me. Fight it urged. I blinked hard and purposefully as his grip increased, now two hands held my hand, hope was in his eyes.
“Keep going.”
“Cold.” I croaked out.
“I know.” He cooed. “It is all that I can do for now, keep fighting it, don't let go.”
I blinked again as hard as I could, knowing I could not be free of the cold water until he was satisfied that I was better again.
“Keep going until you know my name.”
Frowning at him I wondered why it was so important to know who he was. What was his name? I blinked again as I searched my mind. I could remember everything just not his name. Mary, that's my name Mary Arnold. Nineteen, works as a cashier and a night fill at a shop a few steps from my flat. My dull little flat with it's old television and tired furniture. But I didn't use the television, not because it was broken and I couldn't afford to replace it, it was because I couldn't afford to run it. Electricity was expensive. Electricity... my eyes widened as I looked at the man. He lived without electricity. No food, no human food. He drank blood, he killed humans. Vampire... hiding me from... something.
What was he hiding me from? Something deadly. A beast that walked on it's hind legs. I remember it, I remember the beast. Walking home after work I heard a snuffling, a gorging chomping sound. I could hear music, the soft strains of a bass beat, a song I didn't recognise. I was at the end of the alley, my foot stepped on the headphones by accident. The sound crunched through the alley, bouncing the sound off the wet brickwork. A soft light shone at the other end of the alley, shining down onto the large dog that was eating something. It was large... too large.
The yellowed light glinted off the fur as it prickled up, a snarl bellowed as the beast lifted it's head to me. Blood oozed out its teeth, dribbling over it's gums and lips. At it's feet was a mess of blood, flesh and bones. Whatever it was, it was beyond recognition but the headphones under my foot indicated that it was once human. The beast stood to me, towering over me. Thick black eyes rippled with anger as it growled. It growled like a dog, looked like a mangled wolf and stood like a man. Lycan my mind hissed but I did not cower nor did I flee. I stood there bravely and waited for it to kill me. There was no reason for my life any more, I did not want to live. I wanted death.
When it swiped me, my hand touched the claw marks that had dragged over my stomach. As I looked at the blood on my fingers, I gazed up to the beast asking it if that was the best he could do. He... yes, I knew it was male before... before Porter told me. Detective Tim Porter. Why was that so familiar? He was the one that brought me to... him. I looked up at the man, the vampire. He was waiting with anticipation, his eyes were filled with optimism. One of his hands let go of the grip he had on my hand, reaching to the side. I turned my head slightly to see through the glass panel, I was in a glass tub filled with frosty water. The vampire lifted his hand and sprinkled something into the water, it dissolved with a fizzle.
“Keep going.” He urged again.
Memories swamped me, returning to the night that the lycan attacked me. I knew he was male, how? I knew him. How did I know him, how did I know he was male? He was still wearing pants, they were ripped at the side, the belt had broken near the buckle. Remnants of his shirt flapped against his chest, it was only the sides of the shirt, the back of it had been ripped away. But there it was, on the front panel of the shirt was the shop logo. I gasped as I looked at the vampire.
“My boss.” I stuttered. “Cam.. Gerard Cameron.”
“I know.” He said softly. “He was identified by Porter after a secondary search of the alley. When they went to question him about the alley and if there was any security cameras, they came across more blood and fur in his office. He had already taken off a few minutes before, that is why you are here.” His hand swirled the water around the side of my body as he put more of the crystals into the water. “My name, think hard Mary. Fight the damage, you are almost there.”
Deadly Beasts (The Curse of the Rose Book 1) Page 7
