The Willing Prey

by Scarlett Sunday

  “I trust you with my life, Tanis.”

  “I would like to take you to see my Starship Zana. It will convince you what I’ve told you is the truth. Come let me kiss you again.”

  “Oh Tanis, I do believe you.”

  “Believe this, my love. I can never hurt you now or let others hurt you. You’re mine because you want to be. Trust in what I’m about to do, and all will be well.” She tilted Diana’s head up and found her vein in her soft searching mouth. She felt its hot blood pounding beneath her teeth. She caressed it with her lips to bring Diana on, then injected her venom. Diana’s strong convulsions subsided into paralysis as she lay in her alien lover’s arms. Trusting her to the last. She kissed Diana and whispered. You are my only love my darling, now and forever. She dressed Diana first, then herself. With the dawn not yet lighting the sky. She strapped Diana into the passenger seat of her car and started her drive to Hatton. What she didn’t see was the large truck without lights, which followed her. Her mind focused on Japan. When I arrive, I’ll seek Darius out. Take Diana’s body and mate with him. I’ll give him every chance. By transferring his sperm and accumulated minds into Diana’s body. So, the mating will be a long one. She felt the excitement course through her body at the thought of giving birth to another of her species. She had been waiting for this moment for millennia without knowing it. Steve will become Darius’s new host. After I’ve mated with him. I’ll start Zana’s beacons to contact any survivors of my people, should they exist? They’ll find us, and only then will Earth be ours…

  “Holy Shit!” The first shock of a rear-end collision brought Tanis’s mind back to reality. She glanced at Diana, then into the rear-view mirror.

  Tanis could see the considerable chrome front of a Mack truck radiator trying to push her off the road. Its lights on full beam were dazzling her. She smashed the windscreen mirror aside and flattened the accelerator to the floor. Diana was still asleep and would be out for some time, long enough for her to deal with the situation. Tanis tilted the driver’s side mirror up to get a better view of the truck. Tanis caught it trying to catch up with her. She eased off the accelerator to let it draw closer, then pulled away again. She continued in this way until she found what she was looking for. A low stone bridge loomed into her vision about a quarter a mile ahead. Situated on a steep corner it was perfect for what she had in mind and would serve her purpose. She accelerated.

  As Tanis approached the bridge coping, she slowed and coasted until the truck had caught up with her. She could see the look of triumph on the driver’s face as he closed. Committed to pushing her off the road he approached her car too fast. She shouted. “Got you, you bastard.” Then sped away.

  The driver didn’t see his danger until too late. Tanis accelerated out of the truck’s way. Then watched as its heavy front wheels and cab slid over the edge of the wall and down. Followed by its jack-knifing body. It fell over the wall as if in slow motion, onto the narrow road below. The trailer crushed the cab with a screech of steel, trapping the driver. As it was almost light, she slid down the bank and wrenched the cab door open.

  The driver sat there looking at her in a daze of disbelief, his legs trapped beneath the dashboard. “Please get me out of here. I’ll tell you everything. It’s going to blow.”

  Tanis smiled at him. “Who sent you, you bastard? Answer me before I call an ambulance.” She noticed the impact had broken the rim of the steering wheel. One of its spokes stuck up from the column like a finger of doom. It pointed straight towards the driver’s heart.

  “It was Joe Mallion. He found out you were fucking the bird from the martial arts dojo and had me wait until you left. The rest you know.”

  Tanis pulled herself into the cab with her right hand. Then placed her left between the driver’s shoulder blades. “Thank Joe Mallion when you see him.” She applied pressure to the driver’s back until his chest rested on the upturned spoke. “You tried to kill me, now it’s time to pay.” She could see the fear in his eyes as she applied more pressure. The driver’s eyes widened, fixed themselves on the end of the spoke. Then watched in fascinated horror as it entered his chest under her constant force. She kept pushing until with a grunt he slumped forward. The spoke buried deep in his heart. She leant closer and whispered into his right cauliflower ear. “So, die all the enemies of Tanis. Joe Mallion will be joining you soon.”

  “You bloody bitch…”

  Tanis laughed, found some matches in the door compartment, lit his fuel-soaked shirt. Then waited until the cab was well alight before climbing back up to the car. She glanced at Diana as she entered. Smiling she kissed her sleeping forehead. What if I am fucking her Joe, we love each other? Your turn will come too my friend and soon. Even if I must take a whipping and a Brutus impalement for it. What Tanis wants, Tanis gets. She drove off to the light of flames and the dull thud of an explosion, which washed the episode from her mind, but not her thirst for vengeance. To the East, the false dawn brightened the sky. It looks like a beautiful day.

  **

  CHAPTER 26.

  Zana and a time of learning

  **

  Secure in Zana, Tanis checked Helga and Amanda’s vital signs. Both well, she readied herself for another tryst with Diana. The whole future of her species depended on this day. The next interlude in the Starship would bond Diana to her forever and to Zana in the short term. She sat on Diana’s bed waiting for her to wake. When Diana’s eyes opened, her hand strayed onto her belt buckle to undo it.

  Diana helped her with it. “Hello Tanis, I feel so alive. What a wonderful dream I had. You were the centre stage again.”

  She smiled. Kissing Diana, she brushed her hair from her face and said. “Okay let’s hear it, Angel.”

  Diana drew Tanis’s hands onto her breasts. “Fondle them while I tell you, Tanis. I dreamt I was watching a huge Viking warrior. Freyja, and a magnificent copper-haired woman with strange amber eyes. Making love on an enormous pile of soft furs in a primitive tent on a remote hillside. The woman, a warrior woman of great beauty, had a strong, commanding presence. I’ve never seen anyone with a complexion like hers. Tara comes close. She radiated so much power. Was she Shani?”

  “She was Shani, the host I found this world with. In her world, she was a General of armies, in this world my gladiator host in Rome. In my Viking life, she was Viking Welland and Freyja’s Chieftain. She the best and strongest of my hosts, lasted longer than any. In battle, she had no equal. The other woman is Freyja, in whose arms you now rest. The Viking is Welland, Welland Taggart’s direct ancestor. We four always made love after a battle to bring us down.”

  “Did you love Shani as you love me, Tanis?”

  “I have never loved any as I love you, Diana. Shani was my host and conscious of me within, Freyja and Viking Welland loved her with a deep passion. She loved them and me.”

  Diana drew Tanis down and kissed her. “I count myself unique my love. I am happy to be your chosen one Tanis.”

  “I believe it was fate, which led me to find you in this life, Diana.”

  “Let me continue with my dream Tanis. Viking Welland and Shani had Freyja hog-tied and helpless between them. As they made penetrating love to her.”

  Tanis smiled at the distant memory. “Go on.” Her hand slid beneath Diana’s sweater onto her breasts.

  Diana’s hand joined hers with a sigh. “You looked as though you were all enjoying it. I felt a little jealous I wasn’t there with them.”

  Her hand, unable to restrain itself cupped one of Diana’s inviting breasts. She began to massage its sensitive nipple until Diana sighed with pleasure. Her left hand worked Diana’s belt, then her jeans off her firm, welcoming thighs. Naked, except for her socks and sweater. Diana opened her body to her searching fingertips. She found Diana’s centre of desire. Lingered there for a moment with her clit in her mouth. Before she entered her warm, inviting tunnel with her hungry tongue. After taking her refreshment, she glanced up and said. “It wasn’t our time to
meet my love.” Diana looked down at her. Her eyes softened as she continued. “My greatest pleasure after a battle was for Freyja and Welland to make love to me. Freyja and Welland were always hungry for Shani’s sexual favours. Knowing she was always ready to fulfil their post-battle desires. Welland, like Freyja, loved her. Freyja, Shani’s captain of archers and Viking Welland were my unsuspecting lovers. Welland was second only to Shani and none dared gainsay she wasn’t the Alfa chieftain. With or without my help. Shani was a brilliant general and always attracted the best fighters to her banner. She could’ve been a mortal Queen in her own right if she’d so wished. She was that strong.”

  “The way you talk about her you must have loved her a little Tanis?” She tweaked Diana’s nipple, which made her cry out. “That felt good my love.”

  “Jealous, are we? No. Diana. I admired Shani’s warrior spirit and loved her differently.”

  “You must have been proud of her Tanis.”

  “I was.” She sensed Shani within. ‘It was a good life my Tanis.’ “Welland met his death by a coward’s poison. Yet, not before he’d produced four lusty sons from a young slave girl, I’d given him as a gift. Welland Taggart exists today because of that union. I exacted a terrible vengeance on Viking Welland’s killers. I cruelly executed them. Freyja wounded a short time afterwards. Forced me to place her in stasis to influence her healing. When the time came for me to leave Denmark. I took Freyja, the young Irish Princess Erin Connor and Aysher the Pindarri. Who was my second in command then? As my future hosts. Also, seven slaves as prey, two females and five males. My hibernation lasted until I came into the world of the Elizabethans. Where I had to, with great reluctance, shed Shani’s body and take on the body of Erin Connor. My next life after Erin began in India. Where I took Aysher the Pindarri as my host, in the guise of Durga the warrior goddess. At the end of that same lifetime. I took Freyja for my host because Aysher had become unstable and posed a danger to my Mantis self. All still exist in me as conscious minds and dream lovers.”

  She didn’t elaborate so Diana prompted her. “As I will also, Tanis?”

  “Yes. But, with a physical difference Diana. Because now I am a Queen. Kathy reminded me of Aysher because she was Pindarri. I found Kathy attractive, because like Aysher she made love with distinction.” She pinched Diana’s nipple again making her wince. “I was cruel to my prisoners, my enemies, and my lovers Diana. I trusted no one and allowed no rebellion. If my slaves became useless to me, I sold them or took them for prey. Most were my lovers. So, easy to assimilate.”

  “Tell me about India. Tanis.”

  “The Indian ideology was full of sexual rituals and human sacrifices at the time. With little law and order, ritual murder was rife in the temples and on the highways. The latter full of Kali’s Stranglers. Thuggies, who thought nothing of robbery and murder. Murdering innocent travellers for their goods.”

  “I’ve read horror stories about the Thuggie stranglers Tanis.”

  “These Thuggees came from a cross-section of India’s religions. In Aysher’s body, I posed as the warrior goddess Durga. An alto ego of the Black Goddess Kali worshipped by the stranglers. I officiated at many human sacrifices after our battles. Also, genetically arranged marriages in Kali’s name. One such sacrifice involved a British General’s daughter we captured called Victoria. Her situation differed because she was a British national. It was our policy to leave the Empire alone. But, Aysher, insane. Wanted to sacrifice Victoria alive to her hungry python. After having first raped her over Kali’s altar stone. I couldn’t allow Aysher’s insanity to take precedence in my life. I made love to Freyja. In the process, I took Freyja’s body for my new host and Aysher’s as prey. In the guise of a British Cavalry officer. I had taken for my prey earlier, to assume his identity and paper. I rescued Victoria. Victoria became attracted to Freyja in her officer’s uniform. She fell in love with Freyja thinking her a man. When I returned Victoria to her father, a little bruised and battered, but safe. Victoria became Freyja’s, and my secret lover. Which proved unfortunate for Victoria.”

  “Why.”

  “She became my first human prey when I woke to this life.”

  “Oh, Tanis.”

  “Her body is gone, Diana. Her mind lives on within mine.”

  “You had to take her as prey then?”

  “Yes. Not too long ago.”

  “Tell me her story Tanis, while you keep doing what you’re doing,”

  “I began to sicken of the senseless killings and cruel sacrifices. Some of the rituals required making love to the young men and women on the altar before sacrificing them. As part of the sacrificial ceremony, Aysher’s Stranglers came from behind and killed them with silken scarves. As they knelt in front of them. Making it easier to kill them they knotted silver coins into the scarves.”

  “Why didn’t you stop Aysher?”

  “Because I too liked what we were doing. Remember, a predator has no feelings for its prey except to placate its hunger. I took many as prey Diana. Most were men, as their minds wouldn’t survive in me. I seized my chance on the night Aysher, and I raped Victoria on the altar stone. I delayed Victoria’s sacrifice and placed her in a dungeon to await execution on the next full Moon. She was an important British prisoner. I convinced my followers the full Moon was an auspicious time. It was then I took the British army officer as prey after I’d taken Freyja as my new host. I cut my hair short to look like a man and used the young officer’s papers to join the General’s division. Freyja became a dashing young captain of cavalry, and no one could tell the difference. It was unfortunate Victoria fell in love with Freyja, thinking her a man.”

  “You have lived some colourful lives, Tanis.”

  “Yes. The local Rajah had Victoria kidnapped when he was on a tiger hunt with Victoria’s father. He wanted an English woman for his harem. When he found out Victoria preferred women for sex. He sold her to Aysher for sacrifice because his pride was hurt. As Charles the British officer, I volunteered to rescue Victoria. Disguised as a beautiful Indian woman. I penetrated Kali’s temple and killed the Rajah when I rescued Victoria. I think Victoria sensed something feminine in Charles when she fell in love with him. Her father had been pestering her to marry one of his young officers. The irony being, Victoria had found her father’s perfect man in Freyja. She never knew an alien presence lived in the host body of Freyja. Until after I’d taken her as prey at the start of this life.” She smiled at the incredulous look Diana gave her, kissed her on her eyes, then on her breasts.

  “Ohhh, Tanis. Why did you have to take Victoria as prey?”

  “I was hungry and still a cruel, predatory Vampire when I woke to this life, Diana. Victoria seduced me into her bed after the officers’ ball in India and took me to her room for sex. She was eighteen, beautiful, and dominant in sex. I couldn’t resist her advances, for I was Tanis. It’s my lasting regret she ended up as my prey. Only because she was too weak in her body to become a warrior woman host like you. She’s listening to us now as we speak, I can sense her laughter and her happiness.”

  “When you take me, Tanis, will I meet her?”

  “Yes. Make love to her too in your body. You’d only have to think her into your arms, Diana. Like me, Victoria liked her sex.”

  “You wouldn’t mind if I did?”

  “No. Because you’ll be my host and I’ll feel your pleasure too.”

  “I’ll look forward to when I’m yours in body and mind then. Tell me more Tanis.”

  “When the General returned to England after losing Victoria. I returned with him as his adjutant. I hid my Starship on his estate and only woke to this life because of the roadworks approaching. I should’ve had two more centuries of sleep. If it hadn’t been for the motorway Diana, I wouldn’t have met you. I can only count my waking as fate. Hungry when I awoke, with only Victoria to hand. Apart from two Indian concubines in stasis. I chose Victoria because she moved me when we had last made love in India. Hungry for Victoria’s youthful
favours and her deep love for Freyja’s body. Confirmed my choice. The rest you know.”

  “How did you fool Victoria into thinking she wasn’t on your Starship?”

  “This looks like your bedroom Diana. With my venom, I can give my victims any illusion. When Victoria awoke. To her mind, she thought she was still in her bedroom in 1823 India, and about to make love to Freyja for the second time. When we made love here for the last time, I took her in orgasm when her blood was up and pumping. Which is the best time for me to feed? Victoria’s body wouldn’t have lived for long out of stasis anyway. Now her mind will live with me until I die.”

  “Tanis. Didn’t you ever feel afraid you would get killed in battle?”

  “No. I was too powerful a being and always chose powerful hosts. I’ve body shields to back me up should I need them. Humans stand no chance against me in battle. My physical strength is more than five times greater than the strongest human male. My armour is not of this world Diana. It may seem unfair, but I’m the predator and humans are my prey. As such, I’ve evolved to gain the advantage. It’s the natural way of things. I considered nothing I did to my prey as cruel before this life. I still don’t. Now I have a choice and a conscience.”

  “Plus, the pheromones and the fatal beauty to go with it.”

  Tanis gave Diana’s breast a squeeze and continued. “Yes. Over-breeding and indiscriminate practices are dangerous, Diana. Not only for your species but for the balance of nature too. I couldn’t survive without my human prey. They couldn’t survive without my species predation on them. All prey species need a predator. The wars they fight with each other, genocide, and disease epidemics, help to keep the balance even. Nature decrees the weak must perish, whether good or evil. With time, there’ll be more of my species here, and the world will become a better place. It won’t be so overcrowded.” She stopped there. Although Diana loves me, she’s still my prey. I must be careful. At least until she’s mine, and Tanaka is dead.