Greetings once again. This is a story about a woman and her vampire, but it's not a vampire story. It's not a love story, but it is a story about love, and the power it has to heal, and to destroy. It contains explicit sexual acts between females, among other people. It contains scenes of graphic violence and rape. If you are not of legal age to read this type of story, or if this isn't your cup of tea then please leave now.
Though inspired by true events, all characters and events herein are entirely of my own imagination and any resemblance to any actual person, or actual event is entirely coincidental; I'll leave it to you to decide what's fact and what's fiction.I'd like to thank everyone who has written to me so far. Thank you so very much for your support and kind words.
Comments, questions, concerns, and criticism are greatly appreciated. Enjoy.
Chapter 3
I just ran. Down the stairs, across the hall and away from my former girlfriend. I didn't even slow down to open the door, I just kicked the bar. The warmth of the day hit me as soon as I got outside, though I didn't remember it being such a warm morning. Nor did I remember it being so bright. I instinctively shut my eyes to block it all out, and fell down the stairs. Fucking great. I'm bleeding, blinded, and now clumsy. It's funny how everyone looks at you when you do something stupid like that, in yet not a single one of them offers to help. Even when I pulled my hand away from my neck, blood dripping off my finger tips, no one seemed to care.
I stood up and looked at the few faces hanging around.
They all were standing a good fifteen feet away, but I heard what they were saying about me in those hushed whispers. "Look, the dyke tripped," and "stupid whore, falling over herself," and "oh look, little baby's bleeding." Nice. I picked up my shit and made my way to the Stanley-Andrews Center, the only place with a big enough first-aid kit. I walked with my head down, trying to ignore everything I was hearing along the way, and to keep the sun out of my face.
I opened the door as was immediately met by relief. The shades were drawn and the place was relatively empty. Plus, the blood saturating my hand started to coagulate. Good, my bleeding was slowing down, but that also meant that if I dared move my hand away that it would open back up. I had to turn my head slowly as well, the sticky, dried blood pulled on my skin. I spotted what I needed hanging on the wall behind the pool tables.
I set my texts and notebooks on the bench and pulled my savior to me. I hadn't had it open more than two seconds when I heard Henry cry out, "Holy shit, Charlie, what the fuck happened to you?" Damn it, I cursed at myself after pissing my pants. I looked up at him and shrugged. "What the hell girl? You've got blood all over you." He knelt down next to me a gave me a once over. "Let me look at it."
"No!" I shouted, turning away from him. His hand recoiled, but his expression got even more worrisome. "I've got this, alright? I... um... tripped on my way out of my last class," I lied, trying to avoid his caring, inquisitive look. "I guess a I landed weird and hit a rock or something. It's not as bad as it looks." I kept digging in the box. Why can't people put shit in the right places? "You need to get some fluids in you," he stammered getting up. "I'm going to get you some water. Don't move until I get back."
Yeah sure, I thought, like I'm going to risk him finding out about this. I could see right through his plan. As soon as I was distracted by the cup, he'd take a peek. Finally, I found the scissors, gauze, iodine, and peroxide. Setting the kit were I used to be sitting, I snuck away into the lady's room. Henry might be pissed, but I'm sure he'd figure out where I went.
I dampened my free hand and let the moisture drip off onto my wound. After a few seconds the water dissolved the dried blood enough for me to safely take my hand away. I leaned over the sink to get a better look. What I saw horrified me. Nadia wasn't as careful this time. My shoulder/neck look like it had been ravished by a hungry dog. The cuts were clean, but they were deep. Plus, there were several smaller lacerations from her other teeth biting down so hard. I could see small chunks of tissue stuck on my hand . It was still bleeding slightly, but not nearly as bad.
Ignoring the nauseating visage and odor, I went to work. Carefully, I cut the gauze strip into a few smaller pieces and set the rest aside. I opened up the iodine and hydrogen peroxide, dabbing some on the bandages. This was really going to hurt. I held my breath and put the first strip over the wound. "Ow!" I could feel the peroxide bubbling under my skin. Though it hurt like hell, I took comfort in that it was working. After several minutes, I pulled it off my neck. Shit.
It started bleeding deeply again.
I tried again.
The pain coursed through me even harder. I about fell to my knees, but managed to hold the bandage in place. Instead of taking it away I simply added another on top of that one. A shot of pleasure echoed through me. Shit, shit! It hurt like a mother fucker, but it felt so good. "No, god damn it," I swore through my gritting teeth, "this will not feel... so...
so..." The pressure I put on the now-bloody rags caused another shot into my pussy. Somehow I managed to prop myself up on the counter. I dared to look into the mirror. My eyes weren't that of pain, but glossed over with lust. My hair dangled loosely, giving me that sexy wild child look. No, I need to fix this, I said to myself. I peeled the darkening rag from my shoulder and nearly threw-up. Another couple chunks of fresh skin and tissue were stuck to the wad. Maybe I was wrong, this is much worse than it looks.
Bad. This was very bad. The blood drained from my face. I wasn't this white when I came in here. My fingertips tingled and my stomach knotted up. Hy pulse was slowing down, my breathing was getting harder to control. My eyes were getting heavy. Must be all these damned silvery spots floating around.
"Do you need some help?" Nadia asked calmly from behind me. Had I not been feeling like this I would have beat the crap out of her, or at least slapped her across the face. Instead, I just nodded. I could feel her moving behind me even though a five foot gap separated us. As she stood behind me, I locked eyes with her reflection. She was completely lost in her blood lust. I felt her arms snake around my middle. Her sharp intakes of air left me feeling weak, but if whatever it was she was about to do would help me, then she can have it.
The air passing between us was cold. Even though her body was all over me, I felt... vulnerable, uncovered, like that cold feeling after a hot shower. It was sexy as hell what she was doing to me, but it lacked that wanton lust. Something about this was different. I watched her in the mirror. Her eyes were closed, her head swayed to a song that I couldn't hear. Suddenly, her hands and face were on my neck. I jerked up. It wasn't frightening, just caught me off guard. Her hands ever-so-lightly caressed my neck while she nuzzled against my wound. Nadia licked up the remnants of the coagulated blood, sighing and moaning. I did too. And then, everything felt warm again. The air flowed around and through us as if we sat in front of a fireplace. How could she go from so savage to so caring in that short span of time? She ran her tongue over her teeth marks. I about orgasmed right there, but she stopped and backed off. "How do you feel?" she asked after a minute.
I opened my eyes and looked at my shoulder. The wound had stopped bleeding, and was even partially closed. The smaller cuts were gone. My skin was completely clean. I looked back at her, stunned. "How did you do that?"
"I told you, we're bound," she said in that beautiful voice. "I can clean and heal your wounds if you let me. You shoved me away on the stairs so I never had the chance."
I ran my finger tips over where I felt her tongue gliding. Even my fingers were clean. "But what did you do?"
"Will you walk with me?" she asked meekly. She came closer, but her steps were hindered by trepidation, as if she thought I'd punch her or something. "Maybe play some pool?"
I saw a silhouette move against the wall leading into the restroom. I'm sure that was Henry pacing. "Sure. "
She smiled. I noticed that there was not a drop of blood marring her teeth. She picked up the bloody rags and dumped them in the garbage before grabbing my hand and leading me out. We turned the corner, and, before we made our grand entrance, I knew to whom that silhouette belonged. Shit. This was going to be interesting.
******************** Travis stood against the wall, his arms folded over his chest and a foot propped up. Though his head was down he called out to me as soon as we turned the corner. "Charlie?" he said lightly, picking his head up. "What's going on? You feeling all right?"
I looked at Nadia then back to him. "Yeah. Why?"
"Because Henry's so overjoyed to see you he's crying." He pushed himself from the wall.
I turned to see my second favorite troll sitting where I left the first-aid box, his face in his hands. "What the hell happened?"
I couldn't help but notice that he gave Nadia no mind. "I ran out of the Strahern Building and fell," I said, trying to hide my unease at telling him my half-truth of an answer. "I tumbled down the steps, got laughed at, and I think hit a rock or something. It was bleeding pretty bad for a second."
Travis gave my neck and shoulders a good once-over. His brow furrowed when he found my wounds. In that older brother thing he does, he pulled the collar of my shirt aside to examine it closer. I let out a groan when one of his fingers brushed against the soft tissue. Immediately he stepped back. I don't know if that look was horror, fear, confusion, shock or some weird combination of them all. Another moan escaped me when the soft material hit me snapped back into place.
My ex's brother went pale. "A rock did that? Bullshit." He kept backing up until his knees hit the bench behind him, sending him into a much needed seat. "That's bullshit, Charlie, and you know it." His chest heaved in an unstable breath. "Tell me the truth. For christ sake, your even paler than you were in class."
Nadia squeezed my hand, my heart skipped a beat. I chanced a look back at Henry, but he was still sobbing in his hands. I turned back to the other troll, pausing a second to look Nadia in the eye. Her pupils were slightly widened, but pleading. I didn't know if that meant to spill it or keep my mouth shut. What was I going to say? "Travis, this is Nadia, my vampire/rapist?" Not likely.
"I told you the truth, Travis," I said with false confidence.
"Henry said your neck was gushing blood," Travis countered, looking over at him. "All of the gauze, iodine, and peroxide is gone. What freaking artery did that 'rock' hit?"
"I-I-I didn't hit an artery," I stammered.
"Charlie, I'm in the medical program. I've never seen any one look that white and still be alive. And with the way Henry was talking, you should be dead right now."
My stomach turned. He's right. Why wasn't I dead? I snapped my gaze to Nadia who just kept looking like she had no idea what we were talking about. As if knowing the questions running through my mind, she loosened her grip and lifted her shoulder. That pissed me off. Had I not suddenly felt weak I would have kicked her ass. My knees went out from under me. I lurched forward. Travis sprung up from his seat, but Nadia caught me in a motion that was so fast I couldn't follow it. Or was that the blood loss? "Charlie!"
my troll shouted as I flopped backward. Nadia supported most of my weight, but Travis picked up my legs. "Let's lay her down on the bench," he said to Nadia. "Henry get over here, she's fainting."
I felt my other troll immediately sobered up and come running. My eyes were closed from the dizziness, but I knew by now we had more than few curious onlookers. When my head hit the cushion it felt as though my legs were floating. I heard so many voices. They were talking in hushed whispers, they were worried about me. Why? There's nothing wrong with me, I'm fine.
Everything about me was fantastic, except this damn shiver. Why was I so cold? "Hey, what's your name, say something to her," one of the trolls ordered. That's not very nice. Bad troll. "Oh great, she's going into shock. Henry get her some water." I licked my lips at the idea of going for a swim.
"But I'm not wearing my swimsuit," I protested, opening my eyes. I couldn't fight off the giggle my stupid comment brought on. Why is there a grayish-black border around my vision? And the sparkles are back. Wait, it's not my birthday.
"I know it's not your birthday, Charlie," the mean troll said. I picked my head up to look at him. My feet were resting on his shoulders, my knees bent. "Damn it, she's going loopy on us." He put his hand against the non-wounded side of my neck, then my forehead. "Her pulse is weak, and even from here I can tell her blood pressure is almost non-existant. Her body temperature's dropping. We've got to get her to the medical ward."
"No!" I shouted in protest, despite my now-dry throat. "No scary doctors and their needles. They creep me out."
The dark, spiky haired troll set my feet on the armrest. He pressed his hand to his forehead, arguing with himself. I whimpered when whoever was stroking my hair stopped. I watched him pace for a few seconds, my vision still clouded with those silver specks. If I squinted just right, I could make those sparkles dance even faster. Cool.
"Let me take her," the dark haired angel said. She stood between me and the angry troll. Where did the other one go? "I can help her."
"Who are you anyway?" Travis asked belligerently.
"I'm a friend of Charlene's. I helped get the bleeding to stop just a few minutes ago." Nadia answered softly. "I can help, but only if we get her out of here." The dark angel knelt back beside me, stroking my cold cheek. "She needs fluids."
"Henry! Where's that fucking water?" Why the bad words? He's only trying to help.
"Here," the other, blonde troll said as he handed the glass over. It had a bendy straw sticking out from the top. Yay, my favorite.
The mean troll squatted beside me. "Here, Charlie, take a sip." He put the tip in my mouth. I gave him a look like he caught me with my hand in the cookie jar. He gestured. I looked him over again, making sure it was alright before I took a sip. It felt weird drinking like this, but it felt so good. Once I was done I mumbled something about being under twenty-one. "Yeah, you're underage, but keep drinking, you'll feel better."
"Let me take her home. To my place." It was my dark angel, pleading again. The other troll made a noise in protest. "I know what to do, you don't, little man." What was she hissing for? Travis got up and continued his pacing. He looked at me, tears welling in his eyes. "Would you look at her? She needs medical attention."
"She needs my help. Give me one hour, in my house, and she'll be like it never happened." I smiled at the prospect of feeling all better.
"Yes, Charlene, make you feel all better," she said in a motherly, caring tone, crouching beside me. "But I can't carry you by myself. I need the help of one of your trolls." I heard her voice, but didn't see her lips move. How did she do that? Sweat! I know a ventriloquist.
"I want to see the puppets," I said, feeling goofy all over. Another giggle escaped. My throat burned again, but I asked anyway, "Can we go see the puppets at the angel's house? Can we please?" Great, now I'm five.
Travis looked up, as if asking for some divine assistance. He stopped pacing and looked to me, then Nadia, then to Henry. Good cause watching him was making me dizzy. "I... I... I don't know what to do." With a tear in his eye he looked to Nadia. "We need to get her some help."
"Then let me help her." I felt a tingle on my neck as she stood back up. Her voice was just over a whisper, "Let me help her."
"Alright," Travis sighed, almost relieved. "Henry, help me carry her." The other troll came into view. Together the trolls lifted me into the air. I looked around the room, something looked off. Where did the audience go? "Where's your car?"
"Right out front," she said, picking up my glass of water. Where did they find a glass cup in this building? I don't know, but I wanted it. My throat burned again. My head bobbed back and forth from the rough movements of the cave trolls. Nadia moved with a grace so smooth she seemed to be floating. Not fair.
"It's ok, Candy Cane,"
Travis said, I think more to himself than me. "You're going to be ok. I know, it's not fair, but if you trust her then we'll be fine."
"Travis," I rasped, opening my eyes once again, "I had a really amazing dream. And she was there, and he was there, and..." my dry throat cut off the rest of the sentence.
"Yeah, I was there, and you had a pulse of twenty-six and a temperature under ninety-five degrees," he said in a humored panic. I tried to giggle, but my throat dried up the sound. "Don't try to talk, Charlie, but stay awake. Stay awake until we get there." Yay, we're off to see the puppet show! "Charlie, please don't try to talk until we get your fluids back up."
The heat was the first indicator that we were outside. It hit me like a freaking freight train. Then came the overbearing light. My eyes shut out of instinct, and even through my eyelids it was still blinding. I tried to cry out from the agony of it, but nothing came out. My pulse started to race. The instinct to survive set in and I started thrashing. "Charlie, calm down, we're almost there," Henry said as I kicked him repeatedly. "Ow! Damn it woman, which one is yours?"
"The black Mercury with the tinted windows," Nadia answered completely calm. How the hell could she be calm in this blistering sun? "The door's unlocked."
I don't know how much more of this I could take. It was like the air was extinguishing their cigarettes against my body, even under my clothes. All I could see was a white fire burning behind my eyelids. "Get in with her," I heard Nadia order with an eerily soothing calm. Her voice was like silk against my ears. For the briefest moment, the agony dissipated.
The coolness of her car relaxed me immediately. I heard all the doors click shut, the light of the day faded with the echos in my head.
Travis put his hand to my head, wiping away the copious sweat from my brow.
"Oh god, she's burning up," he exclaimed, worried. "Get the A/C going."
"She's fine," Nadia reassured him. "Turning on the air will only cause her to go into shock."
I cracked my eyes open. The girl had a pretty sweet ride. All of the leather and lining was in good shape especially for being a 2004 model, I guessed. "She's not fine," Travis protested, leaning forward. I heard the straw in my water glass clink when she handed it to him. "She went from freezing to burning up in no time flat. You said you knew what you were doing."
"Give her the water. She needs to drink." Nadia kept driving calmly, like I wasn't dying in her backseat. I tried to watch her, but the light coming from the windshield changed that plan. I opened my mouth to accept the proffered straw. Oh that sweet liquid salvation. I slammed my head back into the troll's lap when he dared to take it away.
"Ow! Alright, I'm sorry," he said, lowering the glass back down. "Where we going exactly?"
"North Lawn Street," Nadia said evenly.
"Are you nuts, or just want to get shot?" Travis snapped, darting upward. I squealed as I fell from his legs. Can't they save the argument for when we get there? "Sorry, Charlie," he apologized quickly, reseting me. "Here. Take a sip."
"We'll be fine," the girl said. "Just sit back and stay quiet. It's because of you that she looks the way she does."
What? "Excuse me?"
"You heard me. If you hadn't said anything, we'd be playing pool right now instead of trying to save her life." WHAT! "The calmer you are, the calmer she'll be. That's how part of this works." Yeah, that's helpful. How the fuck am I supposed to stay calm now? Find a happy place, find a happy place...
Travis moved to say something, but Nadia threw a hand up and made a shushing noise. The bad troll sat back with a humph. Henry, on the other hand, looked about as white as I felt and hasn't said more than two words since I went into the bathroom. We made a sharp left turn and his expression went even more shocked.
North Lawn Street. This isn't the area of town you would want your car to break down after dark. There isn't a day goes by that there isn't a shooting or dead body found. Most of the gangs live in this part of town, and they all used this street as the unofficial border for their turfs. Some of the buildings had bullet holes that could probably date back thirty years, right about time these particular projects went to shit. If it wasn't for turf, it was for drugs. If it wasn't for drugs, it was for protection. If it wasn't for protection, it was for blood.
If it wasn't for blood, it was for fun.
On top of the daily dose of gang violence, as of late there was a rash of disappearances from this area. Most, the police included, just chalked it up to the gangs, but others, such as me and Tiffany, thought it was something else. We guessed that it was either runaways or a serial killer, or both. I remember reading somewhere about the rise in teen runaways over the last ten years. It was nothing out of the unusual for a town this size, and then suddenly, three years ago the number spiked then plateaued. What made it even more worrisome was the seemingly lack of care on the parents' parts. And what had my skin crawling, other than the severe cold, was the fact that most were last seen either on or around North Lawn Street.
The sun was hidden behind one of those tall trees lining the back of the neighborhood. I looked up when the car bumped over the curb. The garage door opened automatically. Travis tried to force me back down, saying something about me being too weak. I ignored him and sat up. Though Henry gripped my legs tighter, I somehow managed to wiggle myself free. No sooner had my head came over my feet that my head swayed and those damn sparkles got bigger. I fell. Then everything went dark
To be continued...