Tainted Love

by Livell James

  It’s the same for the men that sleep with the ladies’ men, and vice versa. This is after all the otherworld, and all kinds of sex goes down here. Just from time to time we have those who stake their claim and don’t want to share them with anyone else, resulting in the random human found drained in the passageways.

  I honestly do think we’re safe coming in this way. But whether we are or not, I can’t show any fear in my facial expressions. The last thing I need is to freak him out before we even get to the Elders.

  I grab Austin by the shirt, trying to avoid skin contact. We walked into the dark hallway, this one narrower than the one I had to go into yesterday. He looks like he’s scared shitless, but trying to be brave with me. The lights get dimmer as we go deeper down the into the passage.

  “Austin, it will be better once we get into the tunnels. We’re only in the small passage leading us down into the otherworld,” I assure him.

  After walking another hundred feet or so, I can see the opening up ahead. I just have to figure out which way to go once we get into the opening. I know that the lairs are on the other side of town on the street level, but the tunnels run right through the middle of the city, and down each side.

  “I think if we take a right here, we’ll just have to walk straight forward. It could be a few miles of walking. I hope you have your walking shoes on,” I tell him, wishing I hadn’t worn these boots this morning.

  “Yeah this is going to suck for you in those boots,” he replies with a laugh, saying just what I was thinking. Thank God they’re my flatter boots, rather than my high heeled ones. Lord knows I’d be walking on my bare feet before we got to my parents’ lair if that were the case.

  The temperature seems to keep dropping the farther we get underground. It also seems to be getting darker, which is kind of odd. I don’t remember it being this dark when I was here before. Maybe a light was out, or one of the openings from above could be blocked. Suddenly I hear voices, people talking. I can’t tell if it’s people of our world or if I’m hearing them from the other side.

  It’s a chant, and I can’t make out the words clearly. The closer we get, the words stop now become clearer. Over and over they keep chanting it. Stop now. Stop now. Stop now. Then I hear it all clear as day. Stop now. Stop now. Stop now. You are in danger. Turn back now! But I have no idea where or from whom the voices are coming from, or what direction, for that matter.

  I turn to Austin. “Do you hear those voices?”

  “What are you talking about, I don’t hear shit but the water dripping from above, and something that sounds like street noise,” he replies.

  So now I know it’s someone from the other side, but who? It sounds like a child. This is really not something that I have heard before. It’s normally a straight forward message from the person, letting me know what their purpose is. Never a chant. Never like they were crying.

  “Dude, it sounds like they’re crying, they’re telling me to stop now, and that we’re in danger,” I tell him and grab him by the arm. Wow. This time, even with the fabric covering his skin, I can feel it. It’s electric and I can’t let go of him. My hand has his arm gripped tight, like a magnet attracted to metal.

  I try to pull way, but it’s forcing me to stay. I move my body closer to his and look him in the eyes. His green eyes have a slight glow to them now.

  “Haley, you have a tight grip there, but I can feel your energy! It’s like you have a current, a power of sorts, and it’s running through my body from your hand,” he tells me before I’m finally able to release my grip on his arm.

  “What the hell was that?” I ask him.

  “I have no idea, but you just had total control over me. I was frozen in place and your eyes hypnotized me,” Austin replied.

  Suddenly the chanting stopped, and I hear the voice loudly say, “Enough! I’m Austin’s grandmother. You must listen, child. You two are in for dangerous paths ahead. You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into, young lady. I tried to scare you back with the chanting. I’m no voice from the other side, and I’m very much alive. I’m telepathic, I knew contacting you would be better than Austin for the time being as he thinks I’m dead. Austin has no idea what lies in his family’s past, or what he is destined to become. You two have much to learn and it shall happen quickly. I’ll stay with you in spirit until you’ve reached your family. Then you must go to the Elders at once. You can’t tell Austin you’ve heard from me until after you’ve met with the Elders and he’s found out the truth. Now get moving.”

  “What the hell are you looking at over there? You’ve just been staring at the wall for at least five minutes. Did you know you do that a lot, Haley?” Austin asks, breaking me from the trance I was in as I listened to the voice claiming to be his grandmother.

  “We need to get moving. The longer we stay still, the more time we give those assholes to catch up,” I tell him without answering his question.

  I swear we’ve been walking for miles when Haley suddenly grabs me by the arm and looks me in the eyes, looking like she’s seen a ghost. I mean, she does talk to them after all, so who’s to say she can’t see them? Once she grabs my arm and our eyes lock, it’s like I can feel her energy, a current running from her hand, throughout my body down to my feet, and back out into her hand. She releases her grip and just stands in front of me, staring at the wall for five minutes, still locked in whatever trance she put me in. All I can do is stare at her while she’s staring at the wall.

  When I’m finally able to speak, I ask her, “What the hell are you staring at?”

  “We have to get moving. The longer we stay still, the more time we give those assholes to catch up,” she tells me, grabbing my shirt and pulling me forward while she takes off speed walking.

  “Haley, what’s going on? Why are we suddenly in a hurry? Did you hear something? Why did you ask me if I heard it?”

  She looks away. “I thought I heard something, but I think my mind is playing tricks on me. I just know we don’t have much time before the brothers find out where we are. They have killer instincts and can hunt us down in a matter of minutes. And, I wasn’t staring at the wall. I was thinking about where we had to go from here,” she says while pulling my shirt even harder. I knew from the look on her face she was lying and there’s something she isn’t telling me. Something she saw or heard.

  While she’s pulling me forward, I take a moment to notice how beautiful she really is and her ass, oh my God! Her ass is amazing. It’s all I can do to not pull her back and wrap her in my arms. I just want one moment with her. To hold her, to kiss her, to grab a handful of that ass.

  I’ve only known her for a few days but it feels like forever. It feels like we’re already a couple and have been dating for years. Which is weird to me—I’ve never felt this way about anyone I’ve dated. Even ones I dated for more than a few months. I feel like there’s a bond. A force between us. When she grabbed me, it was as if I had no more control over my body, my movements. I was her puppet. Like some sort of spell had been put on me and there was no way I could break loose from it.

  “We need to take a right here, I think, and it should only be another mile or so before we reach the city lairs,” Haley said, once again knocking me from my thoughts.

  “Tell me more about this city of lairs you speak of. You said before it was like houses us humans live in, only they’re dens underground?” I inquire.

  “Yes, it’s just like a street in town, only much narrower. The dens line each side of the tunnels going one way, and shops going the other. Shops down here are very different from the ones above us on the streets, however. They run towards vampire needs,” she snorts with a giggle.

  “Vampire needs, huh? I mean, what more does a vampire need other than blood, and a place to sleep during the day?”

  I probably shouldn’t have asked that question—not after hearing the answer she gave.

  “Well, they need condoms, because vampires can still get humans pregnant. Nonmetal ch
ains for the dominate ones, sex toys, that kind of stuff, and that’s just the sex shops. Then there are the feeding bars where live humans come to let them feed. For those looking for something more exotic, they have a blood list, of many animals, and famous humans who make money from selling their blood. It’s somewhat like the beer list in our bars in the city. We won’t discuss the raw meat selections they have available.” She gags a little before she continues.

  “There’s a strip club, and a grocery store where meat and blood can also be bought for in home use. Not all vampires like to feed in pubic, or in the open at all for that matter. You’d be surprised how many of them purchase blood to keep from feeding on the living. Well, I suppose they’re still living, but they donate the blood. The animal blood comes from the slaughter houses after processing the meat for supermarkets. We have many people in the outside world who supply the Other World, Austin. I could go on about the shops and such, but you’ll see it all when we arrive. It is a two or three-mile strip in the tunnels. The Elder’s chambers sit at the end of the strip. It’s the only place the tunnels and passages lead to a dead end,” she finishes before we take the right that opens into the larger tunnel.

  “I guess I’ll just have to see it all for myself. I am glad I have you to show me the ways,” I reply.

  It looks like we’ve just entered an abandon subway without the tracks. The tunnel is very well built, in a perfect arch from bottom to top, with what looks to be concrete blocks, with electrical wires wrapped in conduit runs along the walls, and lights that are lit here and there along the way. I’m surprised from the looks of them that they even work at all. I mean, who would be responsible for changing the bulbs down here anyway? I’m sure once the others took over under here, the city pretty much forgot about it, and leaves it for them to do with as they may. A few open places from the street above, that look to be drainage spillways for rainwater, are how most of the path is lit. There’s a trench along the sides for the water to run off. Thank God today is warmer than yesterday. However, there are still a few patches of ice here and there. We have to be careful not to slip.

  “We should be getting close now, Austin,” she says after we’ve been walking for at least an hour.

  I hear voices getting louder as we walk closer to another opening. The tunnel opens up into a wide space, with cobblestone lining the path running from left to right. In front of us is what I think to be one of the bars Haley mentioned earlier. It’s still somewhat of a tunnel, with higher ceilings, and the walls are square in this part.

  I see bodies moving from place to place, walking the streets, in and out of bars. I’m not sure who’s human and who’s vampire. A couple have had their fangs visible as they’ve passed. I can tell they know I’m the new guy, because I keep getting weird stares, and it may be creeping me out just a bit.

  “Haley, how much farther before we get to your family’s lair? The way everyone’s looking at me is freaking me out a little.”

  “Should only be a few more blocks, and you have nothing to worry about as long as you are with me. Everyone knows who I am, and who my father is. He’ll have them all burned at the stake if they fuck with me. He’s the leader of the coven here in Shreveport. The only power higher than him are the Elders,” Haley assures me.

  “So, he’s the Vampire King of Shreveport?” I ask her.

  “Pretty much, yes,” she says, placing her hand over her mouth to hide her smile.

  Her eyes have even more of a spark to them down here. They seem to be getting bluer the closer we get. I’m starting to think it has something to do with affection that makes her eyes change to such a brilliant shade of blue. Maybe I’m just hoping that when she touched me, she felt some sort of affection. Maybe all these thoughts are just in my head and there really isn’t anything to it. Maybe the feeling I get when she looks at me and touches me, are just me being horny and hoping there’s more to it because of what I feel for her.

  We walk past several more businesses. I hear people moaning and screaming, but not a scared kind of scream. They’re screams of pleasure. Wow. This is like a soundtrack from a porno, and it’s getting louder. As we get closer, there’s a weird alleyway running between the business, and another opening crosses the way in front of us.

  “Is this normal down here, people just having sex in the streets?” I ask.

  “It’s pretty normal, yeah. I said they didn’t like to feed in the streets. I never said they didn’t like to fuck in the streets. Sex is a very open and free thing in the Other World, Austin. Not much is frowned upon in our world when it comes to sexuality. I really wish things in the real world could be the way they are in the Other World. Well, other than the rogue s and the vampires feeding on blood part. I don’t think humans would enjoy the blood and guts part of our world. You’ve been a trooper with all the craziness I’ve thrown at you. You have to now prepare yourself for more,” Haley tells me as we step onto the new path and take a right toward a long string of small doors lining the way. They all have tiny windows with bars covering them in the middle.

  “Are these all lairs, Haley? Do we call them that or do we call the dens? I’ve heard you say both.”

  “They’re known as both—we call ours a lair. Some call their places a den. There’s no right or wrong. My parents’ lair is just ahead on the right,” she tells me as we walk up to the lair—the only one with a porch of sorts in front of it. The door is a nasty black color, and looks like tar.

  Haley puts her hand between the bars on the little window and knocks. The door cracks open and this huge guy is standing on the other side, looking like a modern-day Fabio, with long black hair. All I can do is stare.

  “Austin, this is my dad. Angelus,” she says. Then a beautiful lady steps out from behind him. I can see where Haley gets her looks. “This is my mother, Celina,” Haley continues, looking at me as if I’m supposed to do something.

  I cough under my breath and reach my hand out to her dad, and damn, his hand grips like a vise. Mine looks small in comparison. Then I shake her mom’s hand before we’re invited inside.

  Walking into a vampire’s lair wasn’t something a human does every day. A strange feeling washes over me as the door creaks shut behind us, and even though I know I need to go inside so I can get answers, I can’t help but wonder what the hell I’m doing.

  We finally make it to my parents’ house, and here I am, standing on the porch with a guy who I called a prick just hours ago. He could still be a prick for all I know, but he’s been nothing but a true southern gentleman around me. I reach to knock on the door, glancing over at Austin. He always looks so nervous. Hopefully once we get him some answers and get those Thompson boys off his back, he will get to relax a little, but probably not anytime soon.

  My dad answers the door and Austin’s jaw pretty much drops as he looks up at him. It’s a normal thing when people meet my dad. It’s not every day you meet someone as big as he is, with such long hair. My mom walks out shortly after my dad and I introduce my parents to him and then we all go inside.

  Jonah is sitting at the bar holding a wine glass filled with red liquid.

  “Is that what I think it is in his glass, Haley?” Austin whispers to me.

  I can’t help but laugh. “No, Austin, it’s punch or Kool-Aid, I’m sure. Hell, it could even be wine, but he isn’t feeding yet, so it’s not blood. He’s still dhampir and has so far still leaned toward his human side. My mom has to go aboveground a couple days a month to buy groceries for him.”

  “Oh Haley, he’ll learn all of this soon enough. I can’t imagine how crazy all of this must be for you, Austin,” my mom says before leading us over to sit on the only sofa in the house.

  My parents hardly sit in here, and when they do, they sit at the bar stools where Jonah is now, around the bar. Vampires are restless creatures by habit, other than when they’re sleeping, and even then, they still dream just as they did when they were human. The vampire mind never rests.

  The lair consists
of the room we’re in now, with a very small kitchen and the bar to separate the two. Just off the kitchen is a door that goes into my brother’s room, which is like any normal human bedroom. Another room inside the door next to his is where my old room used to be. There’s still a bed in there, but all of my things are at my apartment. The door on the other side of the living area goes into my parents’ sleeping quarters. I’ve only been allowed in there maybe twice my whole life. I freaked out the first time I walked in to see caskets on each side of the room, with a large bed in the middle. Needless to say, I didn’t ask them why they needed a bed if they sleep in the caskets. I think we can all figure that one out.

  Yeah. Enough about that.

  “Dad, what’s your plan to get Austin in front of the Elders?” I ask him.

  “We need to be leaving here soon. It’ll take us at least an hour to get there. I could flash there faster, but that’s not going to get Austin there any faster,” Dad replies.

  This is true, his human body couldn’t handle the force from the speed during the flash. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure if my body would be able to handle it, either. Even being half vampire, I don’t have the healing powers my parents have to handle that kind of speed. I’m not sure if Jonah does or not, but that will all be found out when the time comes.

  “What do we need to do to prepare for our trip—or, should I say, to prepare him to go before the Elders?” I ask.

  “Oh, this is going to be good,” my brother chimes in.

  “You should probably go to your room, seeing as this has nothing to do with you,” my dad tells him.

  Seeing Jonah and I together, you would never know we were brother and sister. He has Dad’s jet-black hair and brown eyes. He was slender like me up until about a year ago, when he started working out and put on some muscle.