Hidden in the Night

by Fall, Carly

  However, sometimes fate dropped a nice little surprise in your lap.

  His plans were now moving forward at a faster pace than he had intended because of that surprise. He hobbled across the empty warehouse silently cursing the damn scientists he had hired to extract the youthful hormones from the kids he had kidnapped. Sure, his temper had gotten away from him and he had killed one of the scientists, but the other should have come up with something by now. Or maybe not. He wasn’t a man of the lab, so he didn’t know how the whole thing worked. However, he did possess a finite patience, and he had pretty much used it all up. He wished he had never killed that first scientist. He was down to one, and he always liked to have a backup plan. Dammit.

  But back to fun surprises. He unlocked the door to the office and looked in on his little gift. She sat in a corner shaking as tears ran down her face. Her hands were cuffed and locked to a metal loop in the wall. She looked up at him and horror flashed across her face as he de-cloaked from his Victor Marano facade and let her see his real flesh. A full bred vampire, one of five left on this earth, a member of The Council.

  He knew he was frightening to look at for half-breeds such as this female, and for humans. His long, pasty, white bald head housed two black pits that served as his eyes. His fangs hung over his dark red lips, and he was tall, thin, and bony. He brought a claw up to scratch is face, just for good measure.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered.

  “The Creator has nothing to do with it,” he snapped. He moved into the room and walked toward her. She cringed in the corner, giving small tugs to the handcuffs that held her. He stared down at her, musing over his luck. And luck it had been to find this female vampire.

  One of his older vampire sons had gone at dusk up to the local Apple store to get a new computer. He had seen the female, and watched her for a bit as she helped other customers. He sensed she was a female vampire, but hadn’t been sure. When she approached him to see if he needed help, he had smiled at her and showed his fangs. Her surprise was expected; her running out of the store confirmed the male’s suspicions.

  He had chased her down an alley and caught up with her. Based on the bruises and scratches on the male vampire’s face, she had battled him with all she had, but he had prevailed. He stayed in the alley with her until the store closed, and then it was simply a matter of throwing her over his shoulder and humping her out to his car. And here they were.

  “What is your name, female,” Vlad demanded.

  No answer. She closed her eyes and put her head on her knees.

  “Answer me,” Vlad hissed. She shook her head.

  He reached down and grabbed a fistful of brown hair, yanking her face up so she had to look at him. Her eyes went wide with the pain.

  “Now, I believe you were about to tell me your name,” he said in a low growl.

  “Myla,” she whispered.

  Vlad flashed his fangs at her in what could have passed at as a smile. “Very well, Myla. Not only will you make a wonderful breeder, you will help me find other females of our kind.”

  She said nothing, but tears started to flow over that nasty bruise on her cheek his son had given her. Vlad felt his anger rise. This was exactly what he hated about the new generations of vampires. They had that blasted humanity in them that dulled their vampire impulses and needs. A full-blooded female vampire would never allow tears to fall. It would probably never even cross her mind to cry. She would try to lie and manipulate her way out of the situation.

  He took his anger out on the female with another tug of her hair. “Do you understand me, or has the inter-breeding between the races made you as stupid as humans?”

  She continued to remain silent, and Vlad was a hair's breath shy of ripping her throat out. He closed his dark eyes and clamped down on the anger, remembering that she would further his plans and his destiny of ruler. She was important, his special gift.

  He let go of her hair and gave her head a little pat. “You will draw out other females, or I shall kill you slowly. Very slowly, Myla. I will make you beg for your death."

  That got her attention. Her head snapped up. Her violet eyes wide with fear.

  He watched the girl's shoulders slump as she laid her head back down on her knees. She nodded her head slightly in defeat.

  “Now, let’s hear some addresses, Myla. I want to know where they are. You give me this information, and I won't put you out for the sun.”

  More tears.

  "Have you ever seen one of our kind burn in the sun, Myla?" he asked quietly as he walked away.

  No answer.

  "I have!" he bellowed.

  In a quieter voice, he said, "It's not pretty. First, there's a lot of screaming. It is the scream of pain. Terrible pain. And then the skin begins to blister and melt. The skin actually melts off the bones, Myla. It is gruesome." He walked back over to her. "Would you like to feel what it feels like to have your skin melt off your bones?"

  Victor was lying to her, but didn't care. He had never witnessed a vampire being left for the sun, because that would mean that he would have been exposed as well. He figured she was so scared at this point she wouldn't put it all together. And he had been right.

  She shook her head again and brought her eyes to his.

  “I need a computer,” she said weakly.

  Chapter 10

  It was just after midnight, and as a vampire, Holly knew night was her time and she should be up and around, but she was really tired. The stress of the past three days combined with sleeping in that chair had really done her in. She had watched four episodes of Dallas after Aiden knocked out. She imagined that he had cringed at Little House on the Prairie, was probably okay with Dukes of Hazard, but he would have put his foot down on watching Dallas. She really loved the TV shows from the 70's.

  While watching her Dallas marathon, she began to feel hope. A hope so strong that it scared the hell out of her. She looked at Aiden sleeping a foot or so away from her. He looked different, and she decided that his face looked peaceful, not tormented as it usually did whether he was asleep or awake. Like this, he was beautiful instead of terrifying. His high cheekbones, his strong jaw, his milk chocolate skin, and that mouth that had sent her into orbit. His taste had been all raw male, and just the thought of it made her blood boil and lust race through her body. Resting peacefully, he looked kind, not like he wanted to kill something.

  As she continued to study him, she thought about what he had said. Yes, if he had wanted to take her in for breeding, she would have been picked up by now. He hadn’t been lying about that, she was certain. But what about the rest? Like the Council no longer held control on the Vampire Nation. Aiden’s brother now held the reins. If that were true, she could come out of hiding, she could reconnect with her old friends, possibly even find a mate. Excitement began to swell in her stomach.

  She grabbed her laptop and went upstairs to the living room. The moon swept shadows on the walls, and she wondered what the hell she was doing, what she was believing. Was she really going to take the word of a member of the Dark Forces? A huge male with a bad attitude who had taken over her life? No matter how many times she went over the past couple of days, she couldn't see any reason not to trust his words. If he had wanted her in the breeding program, she would already be there. It was pretty simple. Maybe, just maybe, the rest of what he said was the truth as well. She hoped enough to do something she would have considered stupidity of epic proportions a few months ago.

  She flipped open the computer and got on the old www. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

  When Holly was just coming on one hundred years of age, word had spread that The Council had a grand plan of gathering up all the female vampires for breeding purposes. Holly and her friends decided to drop off the Vampire Nation radar before plans were finalized by The Council and sent the Dark Forces after them. They didn’t want to be on the run when the word came down; they already wanted to be hidden. Before they had broken contact with
each other, they had come up with a code to use if they were to ever reunite. That was before the age of computers, and they had used telephone party lines in those days. Holly was going to assume that most of the female vampires now had Internet access. She scrolled through the chat rooms on Yahoo! for a few minutes.

  And there it was—their special code.

  May the night be kind,

  May the streets bring us back together,

  to one day unite.

  There was one other member who hadn’t used her real name, which was smart. Holly felt tears sting in her eyes, wondering which one of her friends it could be. She went to click on the message.

  The only message said, Are you out there? Yes. Yes, she was. She wasn’t sure what to type, so she kept it simple. I am. Who is this?

  She waited a few minutes to see if there would be a quick response. None. She gently shut her computer and padded down the staircase. She set the computer back on the small table in the corner and got back into bed. She doubted sleep would come because of the excitement running through her. What if she would be able to see her friends again in the very near future?

  She thought of her best friend, Myla. The girl had been so warm and so smart. Quick with her wide smile and her quirky sense of humor, she had been so much fun to be around. Myla had been tall. Well, tall by Holly's standards. Myla was thin, and her short brown hair framed her face in a simple bob. One wouldn’t classify her as a typical beauty, but more of average looks . . . until she smiled. Then her whole face lit up and so did everyone around her. Myla had been her friend for almost her whole life, and it devastated the both of them when it became apparent that they needed to separate and disappear.

  Holly remembered the fun they had shared. They had been roommates in New York for a number of years, and they loved going to the theater and all the wonderful dining experiences the city held. They were always laughing, always having a good time together.

  Surprised to feel her eyelids getting heavy again, Holly finally gave in to sleep.

  Chapter 11

  Aiden woke up three hours later, hunger raging through his system. He looked at the clock and 3:00 a.m. shined back at him. It wasn’t the type of hunger that called for a steak and potato with sour cream either. Yeah, that sounded really good as well, but he needed blood. Fresh blood, not something delivered into his system through a bag.

  He thought about taking Holly’s vein. He could make it so that she would never remember it, but somehow that seemed just wrong on so many levels. She had taken care of him, nursed him, and he wasn't going to take anything from her. He thought of her roommate Sara upstairs. If he took her vein and then wiped her clean, no one would be the wiser.

  Shifting off the bed, he made his way up the stairs. At the top he listened. The house was silent. He opened the door and stepped out into the living room and took a look around the space.

  It was a small area. The couch looked old and worn, but comfortable. A small TV sat in the corner on a table, and a scuffed-up coffee table piled high with neatly ordered magazines slightly bowed under the weight. He stepped over to take a look at the reading material. A Cosmopolitan was on top of the pile, the headline screaming, How to Give Your Man the Orgasm of His Life. He idly wondered if Holly had read that particular article.

  He picked up the Cosmo to see what was underneath. A Journal of Medicine. This was Holly's. The Cosmo belonged to her roommate.

  Turning, he looked at the kitchen. The counters were clear and clean, everything put away in its place. The refrigerator kicked on with a small hiss and bang, and chugged to its full potential. His footsteps were muted by the worn, dirt brown carpet as he made his way to what he assumed was Sara’s room. He passed a bathroom, a hall closet, and the door at the end of the hall was closed.

  He opened the door silently. Sara laid on the bed on her back, naked, spread eagle, the sheet up to her stomach. His eyes went over her body, traveling slowly over her breasts, down her flat stomach, and it did nothing for him. She was attractive enough, but there was no sexual response to her body. His only sexual response in ten years had been to Holly.

  Sara's head lulled to the side exposing her neck, and her long blonde hair was up in a ponytail. If there had ever been an invitation from human to vampire to drink, this was it, and he would gladly R.S.V.P. Her breasts rose and fell with her breath. He silently went over to her, and his mouth actually began to water as his fangs elongated.

  Kneeling next to the bed, he struck her neck quickly. She jerked awake with the puncture, and Aiden put his hand to her head putting her in a light trance.

  Her blood was warm and tasted so different from the whores, junkies, and diseased homeless people he usually drank from. It was clean and pure, and the shock of its power raged through his body. He felt his injuries mending as the blood raced through him, his body becoming more energized.

  Sara moaned softly. He knew that besides the initial shock and pain of the puncture, the process of feeding one of his kind was actually quite pleasant for humans. Sara began to writhe as he drank, her hands going to her breasts and playing with the nipples until they were hard as little stones. A few minutes later, she moaned loudly, her hips undulating off the bed in orgasm.

  When his hunger was sated, he closed the puncture marks and licked the wound so it disappeared. He then scrubbed her memory of the incident and left the room as stealthily has he had gone in.

  He made his way back down the stairs and slid into bed next to Holly. She hadn’t moved. He felt the familiar fatigue that feeding gave him take over, and he slipped into sleep.

  Chapter 12

  Holly stumbled up the stairs dying for a cup of coffee. Yes, it was almost dawn. Yes, she should just be laying down to rest. But it seemed she had become a vampire that had her days and nights mixed up.

  Perfect.

  She put on the coffee maker. Sara had left a note that she was covering for one of her co-workers, so she had gone to the casino already. That it was going to be a long day for her being up before dawn and then working until dusk.

  As she watched the dark liquid drip into pot, she tossed around the idea of staying in the area. She did like Reno. She liked the four seasons, and she loved going to the mountains to play in the snow at night during the winter. Summers were a bit warm, and the days were always too long for her, but as with everything, it eventually ended. She may not even need to find a new job. She had called in sick the day after her great escape with Aiden, and no one had said anything about her patient.

  Maybe that little mind meld or whatever Aiden had done to her supervisor had worked, and the female had erased the medical records. Maybe, just maybe, everything would be okay.

  There was a soft knock on the front door. Startled, Holly jumped. Who could it be at five in the morning? The knock came again. It had to be Sara. Sometimes she forgot her house key and needed to be let in. They really needed to find a spot outside to hide a key. She must have forgotten something for work.

  Holly went to the door and opened it. There stood a male, his eyes boring into her.

  “Holly?” he asked quietly.

  She didn’t say anything. Fear rolled up her back and landed in her gut. How did he know her name? Who was he? When he flashed his fangs, she knew he wasn't anyone she wanted to know.

  She tried to slam the door, but the male pushed his way in. She ran for the kitchen, having every intention of getting a knife. He tackled her, and they landed on the floor, her taking the brunt of the fall. The breath leave her lungs in a whoosh, and the male pinned her to the ground with his weight.

  “Hello, Holly,” he hissed. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  As she struggled to breathe, she felt fangs rake against her shoulder. She continued to struggle even though she felt like she would lose consciousness at any second. She silently cursed Aiden. He had turned her in. The bastard had turned her in. So much for all that "male of his word" bullshit.

  The male on top of her moved slightly, al
lowing breath into her lungs. As she gulped in the air, she tried to get out from under him.

  “You'll make a very nice breeder,” the male hissed, obviously enjoying her struggling. “I hope I get to have a chance with you. It's been a long time since I had any vampire pussy.”

  No. Hell no. She wouldn’t be a breeder. She would rather be dead.

  With renewed purpose, she bucked underneath the male, her hand reaching forward trying to claw her way out from under him. As he reached for her arm, Holly arched her head back, bared her fangs, and struck.

  He screamed in agony, pulled his arm away from her mouth, and with his other hand he grabbed a fist full of her hair and slammed her skull into the floor. Stunned and seeing stars, Holly heard the door to the basement open. This was it. She would be turned over for breeding. She may have had a chance with the one male, a small chance, but there was no chance with two of them. Hell, there wouldn’t be a chance with Aiden alone. She felt the tears sting in her eyes as her body went limp in defeat.

  Suddenly, a deafening roar filled the air, and the weight disappeared off of her. Her head hurt, but she thought perhaps she could make it out the door. She tried to get to her feet, but her head wasn’t having any of that balance stuff she required. She slumped down again to her knees and heard a ripping sound.

  She turned to see Aiden holding the male to his chest so that the male's neck was exposed. Aiden didn’t hesitate as his fangs sank into the flesh, and took out a good chuck of it. He didn’t stop. Her attacker thrashed around, but he was no match for Aiden’s strength. Holly backed up against the wall, her eyes frozen on the bloody violence in front of her.