Congregation Of Darkness (Full Moon Series Book 2)

by P. Mattern

  Even in the dim light the woman’s pupils were huge as she gazed back at him and nodded. Belatedly Charley remembered that vampires had mesmerizing powers, and realized that he had probably just used his own power to mesmerize a human for the first time.

  The woman was pulling his mouth-and now his fangs, since they were extruded in anticipation of the bite, down toward her creamy neck. Something within Charley quickened ,and with an exquisite rush precisely matched to that of his orgasm within her ,he began to drink her blood. It was the same indescribable soul-satisfying pleasure that he’d experienced when feeding from Buttercup the wetnurse, but the intensity was elevated to a much higher level. And he didn’t want that omnipotent, raging river of pleasure to end.

  At some point alarm bells went off in his head and suddenly he drew back, gasping at the deep puncture wounds he’d inflicted. The woman’s eyes snapped open and she uncomprehendingly reached a hand up to the side of her neck. Charley turned his head to the side, hoping that his fangs would retract before the woman saw them. He could feel her shoving against his chest.

  “Get off you FREAK!” she cried, ”What do you think You’re doing?”

  Charley rolled away from the woman with vampire quickness.”I’m sorry ”,he said, ”You said I could bite you. Look-I’ll give you everything I’ve got, okay?” Charley fumbled with his wallet and held out five one hundred dollar bills to the woman.

  Seeing the money seemed to calm the woman down. Smoothly she stood up and took the proffered bills. Mollified and feeling as though he’d gotten off easy,Charley quickly redressed himself, realizing that he’d spent $500 in approximately 15 minutes and he had to think up something to explain why he wasn’t buying a new Cogpod.

  The girl had gone into the bathroom to clean up. When she came out she had a towel pressed against the side of her neck he’d bitten.

  “Well this was a first,” she commented ,looking him up and down.”I never would have figured you for kinky.”

  This was the difficult part ,Charley told himself, mentally kicking himself in the behind for being so impetuous. The part Cass had endeavored to warn him about, the failed dialectic between his unfeeling primitive animalistic urges and the fact that he was dealing with beings that could be hurt ,injured or even killed by his urges if he didn’t learn-and quickly-how to control them.

  He stuttered, ”I’m sorry-I –I shouldn’t have done that. Are you okay?”

  The woman removed the towel and tilted her face away so that Charley could clearly see the two puncture marks ,each about a1/8 of an inch in diameter. They were red but no longer bleeding ,pink around the edges.

  “How do I look?” the woman asked.

  Charley gulped,”You’re not bleeding anymore, that’s a relief.” Inwardly he was chastising himself,horrified-what had he been thinking? He’d felt like some sort of super vampire stud, powerful and strong enough to take whatever he wanted to satisfy his multiple lusts.

  Now he felt slightly nauseous, and like a damn creep. He was pretty sure that Cass would agree with him too.

  To Charley’s immense relief, pacified by the large amount of money she’d made, the woman was kind.

  “Don’t worry ,I’m not going to call the cops. I’ve been through worse…and it’s been an expensive roll for you ,so I’m willing to call it even.

  “But this is our last date. And if you want MY advice? You are truly one effed up young man. I strongly suggest that you seek professional help.”

  Charley nodded and exited gingerly, half expecting to see Cass standing by his car when he walked back to the small parking lot, but the lot was empty of people and he quickly drove away ,anxious to put his latest ,and most egregious ,social snafu behind him.

  The one loose end that he couldn’t shake out of his head was the immense pleasure biting the woman had given him. There was no doubt in his mind that he was addicted, addicted to the hunt, the act of driving his fangs into the resistant buoyancy of human flesh and violating it, the glorious gush of blood into his mouth that was his reward. As addicted as a crackhead to crack.

  Blood WAS crack, or meth, or opioids to new vampires-he understood that now.

  He had to talk to Lux. He wasn’t at all sure that even his current deep sense of shame would prevent him from doing it again. He needed a safety net.

  ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

  Mitzi was a Scorpio, and , true to her sign, was an excellent secret keeper.

  On her previous birthday Cass had (per her request) given her a top of the line crossbow. Since that time she had honed her archery skills at every opportunity, even venturing into the wooded area adjacent to her backyard to practice when Cass was otherwise occupied, either at the cottage or teaching at the local University.

  Turned out that she was a dead shot.

  She also used her time away from her lover to explore and practice her new,’thrice-bitten’ attributes, which were so extensive that she had difficulty keeping track of them. From what she had discovered so far she had not only impressive long range vision but also excellent night vision. She also had discovered an electrical projection feature that allowed her to set a fire-or even set SOMEONE on fire-from a distance of 15 feet. She also discovered a mesmerization feature that so far she had only used on wild forest animals, freezing them in place for as long as she concentrated her gaze on them.

  Her new repertoire also included enhanced strength and agility. She found that she could climb to the top of the tallest pine in 5 seconds or less. And jump down from there completely unharmed.

  It was heady stuff.

  She had two reasons for not wanting to reveal the extent of her enhanced powers just yet. The first one had to do with Cass. Although she knew how grounded he was in his personhood ,and especially in his manhood ,she felt shy about sharing her new abilities, not wanting them to make him feel lacking or inferior in any sense.

  The second had to do with Charley, who seemed to be having some rather severe adjustment challenges ,as well as growing pains after being twice-bitten. She couldn’t blame him for deciding to completely close the door to his past state of being, and choosing the life of an immortal. But he seemed unprepared for the accompanying bloodlust, which she understood was more pronounced in male vamps than females. Even though she was thrice-bitten she found that daily consumption of the prescreened donated blood that they always had on hand kept any cravings at bay. So for her it was easy. She had never had the notion to hunt humans, or bite anyone ,not even Buttercup. When she drank from her delicious wetnurse she used the reverse osmosis suction method and had never once broken the wetnurse’s skin. The bond she had with Buttercup was a devoted and sacred one. In many ways they had saved each other’s lives more than once.

  And she had grown to really love Buttercup, who sometimes still slept in the bed with her and Cass after a late night feeding ,just as humans often slept with their pets. All in all ,Mitzi couldn’t imagine life without her.

  Well, Mitzi reflected ,it seemed to her that ‘turning’ into a vampire just enhanced whatever personality traits and qualities individuals had displayed when they were completely human. Mitzi had never been a violent person, and she was not unnecessarily violent now. The only time her temper and her vengeance kicked in was when she felt that those she loved were threatened.

  So she knew she would summon all her new powers to annihilate ANYONE who came after her family or extended family-and destroy them if she could.

  Mitzi looked over her head at the canopy of trees ,showing the delicate greens of spring. The sky was filled with whispy clouds, drifting lazily above her. Briefly she bowed her head and said a prayer of thankfulness for everyone and everything around her. She prayed for protection. And wisdom.

  Most of all she prayed that when Adrastos came again, as she knew he would, she would be able to kill him herself.

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The next day Mitzi sat at her kitchen table, sighing with deep satisfaction as she looked around her. Her kitchen was definitely the ‘heart’ of her home, and held many strange and wonderful memories, including the confrontation she’d had with Fress and the twins when they’d confessed to being vampires, the meals they’d all shared including the crepes Charley had made(and his were the best she’d ever tasted),and more recently Cass’s engagement proposal to her. She looked over at her lover, with his reading glasses on ,concentrating on a book he’d borrowed from Doctor Caligare about vampire gestation and birth ,and she felt as though her love for him would burst through her chest. At that exact moment, the baby moved, feeling like a small animal inside of her delivering staccato kicks and making her gasp.

  Instantly Cass was at her side, one arm around her and his free hand on her belly.

  “Everything okay my darling, my betrothed?”

  She smiled up at him with misty eyes.

  “Of course. Cass I’m so happy I don’t know what to do with myself! And I’m having so much fun planning dinner for Lux’s new friend Pierre. Lux said he eats meat so I thought we’d have prime rib-though I should make sure he likes it rare or at least medium…I know none of us prefers overcooked meat anymore.”

  “I’ll check about his preferences-hey the baby is a fighter babe-very strong movement!”

  “I know. In some ways its like when I carried Charley. In other ways it’s very different. This time I get a sense of where all the body parts are and what position the baby is in-I never did that when I carried Charley.”

  “Well ALL vampires are somewhat prescient. We have an enhanced feel for things. And…”

  Cass slid onto the bench Mitzi was sitting on so that he could be closer to her.”AND, well, I think we might be in for a surprise or two. Actually two. I keep getting the feeling we might possibly be having twins.”

  Mitzi, startled, made an exasperated sound.”No way!”

  Cass gave her a look that clearly said he wasn’t so sure about that.

  “Yes way! I have actually discussed this with Herr doctor, Mitzi. He told me after your last checkup that it might be a possibility. For one thing you’re at least 40% bigger than you should be for this stage.Of course they can’t do ultrasound because it will mess with the little ones electrical fields…which reminds me, have we informed the number ONE son yet about your condition?”

  Mitzi shook her head,”I’m probably just eating too much . And “no” on the Charley part too! I just can’t find the right moment. Cass why don’t YOU tell him?”she finished, with a mild pleading tone to her voice.”I want him to know of course ,but I feel like no matter HOW I tell him, or what words I choose, it will come out sounding like an overshare…a GROTESQUE overshare!”

  At that moment Charley burst through the back door. His hair was wildly askew and his clothing disheveled but he seemed to be in good spirits.

  “Hey all” he said, closing the door and dumping a stack of library books onto the table.

  “What’s up?”

  Cass smiled at Charley benignly.

  “There’s some mail on the table in the foyer for you. Oh! And your mom’s pregnant.”

  Mitzi and Cass watched closely as Charley’s eyes widened and he made a burbling noise in his throat. He glanced briefly down at Mitzi’s distended belly, which was starting to take on the dimensions of a Junior sized basket ball.

  Charley ,an ironic look on his face, snorted ,”Perfect. Just perfect. Congratulations.” And then turned abruptly and headed for the upstairs.

  Mitzi and Cass looked at each other. Cass raised his hands .

  “Well that wasn’t so bad. Mitzi he’s a big boy, he’ll assimilate it. Just give him a little time.”

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  Upstairs Charley threw himself on his bed and folded his hands behind his head. He needed some space and also some privacy to process the most recent development in his love life.

  He had finally hooked up with Merilee.

  It had taken him some effort-Merilee had put him off for weeks, telling him he was like a little brother to her, that he was wasting his time ,that there just wasn’t any chemistry between them. Finally Charley had convinced her to have coffee with him.

  She’d agreed, albeit reluctantly, and met him at a popular franchised coffee bar. Charley had made sure that he arrived first, and when she walked in with her confident air and her tousled sunflower curls framing her lovely face, and smiled at him in recognition ,he knew at once that she’d been wrong about the chemistry.

  After all, those adorable peek-a-boo dimples didn’t just show up for anybody.

  After he’d gotten her order and brought two steaming cups to the table. Merilee stuck her tongue out to capture a dollop of whipped cream drizzled with chocolate and caramel.

  “Hmmmmmmm,” she said,”Turtle Sundae Mocha is my absolute favorite. What did you get Charley?”

  Charley responded, ”Ethiopian blend with whip-I don’t like it sweet but I do like it creamy.”.

  Merilee nodded. “A hot beverage is just the thing. I can’t remember a colder spring…I don’t think it even got up to 50 today!”she took another sip of her coffee and shivered involuntarily.

  Charley had moved his chair a bit closer and snaked an arm around her before she could protest.”I have all kinds of body heat, and I believe in sharing when the occasion warrants it.”

  To his complete surprise Merilee didn’t return his arm but settled back into it.

  “Thanks. I finally stopped shivering. You’re a hottie Charley Rabbit! Literally!! ”she said ,taking another sip of her beverage. Lifting her caramel colored eyes to meet his she asked, ”So exactly why am I here again?”

  Charley smiled a secretive, beguiling (he hoped) smile.

  “Because you and I have unfinished business. You keep telling me there’s no chemistry between us….but I’m twice-bitten now and one of my advanced gifts seems to be a healthy dose of prescience. I think you’re into me, Merilee…”

  As she opened her mouth to protest he quickly covered it with his own for a soundly but quickly delivered kiss. One in which his lips melded firmly but comfortably against hers, causing her lips to open just a bit instinctively and involuntarily.

  When he pulled back he thought he saw a look of surprise and disbelief registered for a second on her lovely face. As she was about to speak he made sure that he spoke first.

  “Tell you what, Merilee ,let’s try a little experiment to see if there’s any chemistry. Are you up for that?”

  Merilee turned her face to the side to look at him ,bemused.”Will there be blindfolds involved?”

  Merilee could have sworn that Charley flushed slightly as he answered, ”Not until later ,and only then by the lady’s request. Okay now ,as for the experiment! First ,give me one of your hands.”

  Merilee placed one of her graceful hands in both of his. She had beautiful hands, with long slender artistic fingers and intricately painted nails with tiny gemstones shining at various points.

  Charley immediate turned her hand over and holding it palm up in his left hand began to massage the prominent fleshy portions gently with the thumb and forefinger of his other hand.

  “You know I’ve done a lot of reading since I was turned ,studying some of the most ancient arts ,among them palmistry-both Western and Eastern versions. Both ascertain that there are connections between certain features of the hands, fingers and palms and other parts of the body.

  Are you feeling anything as I’m doing this by the way?”

  Merilees eyes said yes but she chose to challenge him instead of owning up.

  “Not really.” She fibbed, smiling mischievously.

  “Well, bear with me,” Charlie intoned as he continued to massage her hand.”Of course being a vampire I can hear your heartbeat upticking a bit,also your breathing becoming a bit more rapid. And if I’m correct, when I dig in just a bit more firmly to this one fleshy part, you should feel s
ome sensations in your-“

  Merilee jumped slightly, completely wide eyed, and gasping.

  “Charley Rabbit HOW DID YOU DO THAT?”

  Charley smiled a satisfied smile, ”Like I told you ,I study these things. “ Leaning forward more closely toward her he smiled a slightly wicked smile.

  “There’s more…if you’re not convinced yet. But here’s the one caveat-this experiment may result in your first coffee bar climax!” He was waiting for her response ,noting that she’d still allowed her hand to rest in his grasp. For a moment she didn’t speak, then the corners of her beautiful eyes crinkled up and she started to laugh,saying, ”All right! You win! I give! But you know I’m not going to make it easy for you…and even though I know you and Fress are quits I’m always going to feel a little guilty-you know that don’t you?”

  Charley felt relieved as he nodded.”We both will. But it’s undeniable ,this something between us. And I think we owe it to ourselves to explore it. And you don’t have to wonder about my feelings for you Mer-I have loved you as a friend for awhile..we’ve been through some pretty heavy duty experiences together…you must be able to feel that.”

  Merilee looked serious for a moment as she nodded.”I do. And I know you must feel the same emanating from me. But Charley there can’t be any strings. I mean that. You know how I am and I have to be true to myself.” She positioned her body so that she was closer to him, so that with just a slight downward glance he could take in the expanse of her remarkable cleavage and noted with a sense of satisfaction that his eyes were immediately drawn to her.”But if you want to play, we can play.” She finished, in a softer, more breathy voice.

  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

  Maung hurried along the stone corridor flanked by Adrastos’ henchmen. He was somewhat perturbed that his afternoon frolic with a very buxom, huge breasted wetnurse that had features for sexual service had been cut short. Even as ancient as he was Maung was always up to the task, and as Adrastos had been convalescing for a few months he had expanded his dalliances to at least one hour twice daily. He appreciated variety, and with Adrastos and Patreaus bedridden he’d had a few more of the delightful wetnurses to choose from. Even his very favorite, a younger wetnurse named ’Peaches’, had been altered to be able to fill the sexual needs of the sequestered male population at Faquier Hall as well as maintaining her regular wetnursing duties. Adrastos was clever, Maung reflected-he knew how to pacify those who served under him so that there was no dissention and no infighting. With their basic needs more than adequately met,the soldiers were committed to the clever blend of structured yet hedonistic lifestyle that life at the castle provided.