Blood Martinis: The Gypsy Vampire's Curse

Ch. 13 ... In Waves

In late afternoon, Kate awoke with her head spinning and nausea setting in. She ran to the bathroom and wretched over the bowl, but nothing came up.

“You alright in there,”Vincent asked, after knocking.

She couldn't respond, as she felt like she was choking on the air.

“I'm going for breakfast then, will I bring you back someone?”he asked, again to no response.“I'll bring you back someone.”

“Bring me a cat,”she finally said.

“A what now?”he asked.

“I don't know,”she roared,“something not human, with blood in it.”

“Is that what you ate last night?”he asked.“No wonder you're sick.”

Brianna wore headphones this time around, connected to her phone, and listened to tunes while doling out the blood treats. It was a day early for another feed, but something had piqued her curiosity. As she approached Conor's cage, she nonchalantly pulled one bud out of her ear. She didn't say anything, threw the blood bag in, and went to move on. Then paused when she realised her tactic hadn't garnered a response.

“How are you?”she asked him.

He didn't respond.

“Fine, play coy,”she said and actually started to walk away.

“What do you want from me?”he asked.

“I don't want anything from you,”she snapped.

“You do,”he said.“If you didn't, you would have left you ear bud in.”

She didn't know what to say to this, so kept quiet.

“Could we be friends now? With you as you are, and me how I am?”he asked.

“I would think so,”she said. And then thought about it,“Maybe.”

“Would your husband allow that?”he asked.

“How'd you know I have a…”she started to ask, but he cut her off.

“The whole town was at the festival you threw, and I have really good hearing,”he said.“Also, Kilian mentioned it.”

“How long have you been in here?”she asked.

“Two years,”he said.

“Why do they keep you in here?”she asked.

“Why does anyone with power imprison anyone else?”he asked.

“It's profitable,”she said, almost under her breath.

Conor laughed upon hearing this.“You're not as simple as you seem,”he said.

She frowned at him.

“You're right,”he said.“It is profitable, I'm sure. They feed us so that we stay ready to run or… move. Then every once in a while, others come in here. Some werewolves, some pixies, some other creatures. They pick us out, set up an obstacle course out in the garden, tie us to a post or bring us to the shed.”

“What for?”she asked.

“The obstacle course is to train them to hunt us,”he said.“At times it's used for sport, and other times survival training, I'm sure.”

“You're dangerous,”she said.

“Some of us,”he agreed.

“The posts are so they can train them how to kill us. No one comes back from that,”he said.“I only know about it because they sometimes do it at the same time as the hunt.”

“You've come back from that?”she asked.

“More times than I can count,”he said.

“You must be very dangerous,”she said.

“I just know how to hide,”he said.

“Then why haven't you escaped?”she asked.

“Because the Blackburns know how to find me,”he said.

“What is the shed for?”she asked.

He bit his lip and looked back at his shoes. She thought he seemed ashamed of something, and after what she had witnessed in there she thought she had an idea of what that might be.“Not a lot of us have shoes,”he pointed out.“After a few months of being put on the obstacle courses, they usually wear out, but you need them to run.”

She wasn't sure where he was going with this, so she just listened.

“Some creatures have a desire to… try out something new… something taboo,”he continued. “Vampires are very taboo.”

“What do you mean?”she asked.

“Why do you take me into the shed, and I'll show you,”he said.

“I shouldn't,”she said quickly.

“You can use the collared pole that Kilian showed you,”he said.“I won't be able to reach you then, you'll be entirely in control. Besides, you should know what you're a part of.”

He was tempting her, and she knew it. She did want to know what she had been dragged into, and she wasn't entirely sure yet that it was something she supported. Maybe this would help her figure it out.

“Go on now,”he said.“It's okay.”

She brought the blood bags still in her arms into the shed, and set them down on a workbench. This room always seemed dark and dreary. If she was going to bring him in here, she was going to need to let some light in so she wouldn't so easily be caught off guard. After locating a whole drawer of candles and matches, she lit the room up like an eerie cathedral, and grabbed the pole and the cage keys. Gingerly, she walked back out to him.

“Slide the looped end through these bars, so when you open the gate you'll be able to walk me out,”he instructed.

“You seem used to this,”she joked, but he didn't smirk. So instead she obeyed, paying careful attention to not leave him wiggle room when tightening the loop around his neck. She opened the cage door, and he led her into the shed like a dog walking its owner.

“Sometimes, when one of them wants to know what one of us is like… what we would be like… they bring us in here,”he said. He led her over to a low lying marble slab with straps chained to it, sat on top of it, and did one around his own neck. The chain it was attached to had about three feet of give, so he laid down still partially perched up by his elbows, and splayed his arms out.“You can let go now,”he said, staring into her eyes, then looking at each of his wrists.“Strap them. I won't bite.”Now he smirked.

Brianna wanted to take the loop off his neck, leave his wrists unbound, straddle and kiss him. Everything about him oozed s*x appeal, and she wondered why she hadn't noticed him more back in her school days. Maybe if she had, neither of them would have been in this mess. It took everything in her to go against her instincts, but she knew – or thought she knew – that he was dangerous too. Not just sexy. Not yet letting go of the pole, she strapped his arms, and then removed the loop around his elegantly long neck.

“What kind of things do they do to you?”she asked.

“It differs,”he said.“Some just want to talk, or maybe they lose their nerve once they get in here. Are you losing your nerve?”

“I don't know,”she admitted, sheepishly.

“In here, you can do whatever you want to me,”he said.

“So, you don't want to talk?”she asked.

“Do you?”he asked.

“What do you want me to do?”she asked.

“The question is- what do you want to do?”he asked.

Brianna moved closer to him. So close, she could feel the heat off his body, juxtaposed by the coldness of the marble on her legs. She put a hand on his hip, using it for leverage to help her mount him, then gently pressed herself into his groin before moving in for a kiss, but he pulled back.“Just remember,”he said,“no teeth.”Then he laid himself down completely, submitting to her will.

At that she pulled him, with both hands, closer. She wanted him deeply, and wasn't sure she had ever been this attracted to someone. Maybe not even Bennet. She clumsily pulled down his black Under Armour track pants, revealing his hard member between her legs and gave it a couple of strokes.

“Well don't just play with it,”he said, insinuating. So she moved down, unsure of what she was doing, but wanting to try to pleasure him. She gave it a kiss at first, then pulled away looking at it. It was smoother than she imagined they were. When herself and Bennet had slept together, she had been so upset she hadn't had a chance to really take in what was happening. She moved in closer to it, and licked it gently. It tasted of salt, but somehow it felt really right on her tongue. She slipped her whole mouth down around it, letting it into her so far it reached the back of her throat. In and out, she moved, with her lips moist and her tongue savouring this delicious treat. She so desperately wanted it inside her, that this wasn't enough. Pulling down her the knickers she had on under her baby doll dress, she slid two fingers down inside herself. Opening herself up, and then straddling him again. She gripped him like it was a joystick, and moved it around trying to locate where it needed to go in. Before it did, she looked into his eyes. It felt like they pierced her soul, seeing all of the desire and intensity she felt in this moment. She was entranced. She pushed herself quickly down on him, thrusting it inside of her. Greedily she bounced up and down, increasing the speed of the revolutions until she could hold on to herself no longer. Crying out in ecstasy, she tried to keep going until he finished too, but the feeling was too intense. She needed to stop moving, so with him slid inside her, she undid his wrists, and let him roll on top of her. He continued, thrusting himself inside of her, while her momentum rebuilt itself, and finally they came together. For a single moment, everything was bliss.

He rolled off of her onto his back, took a deep breath, and said,“that's why I have these shoes.”

“What?”she asked, still in a daze.

“These shoes. There are clients who come here, to take what you did from me. They think we've grown attached, and so Kilian brings me runners and jogging pants,”he said, sharply.

Brianna was starting to get what he was putting down, and she suddenly felt incredibly gross.

“Are they all woman?”she asked.

He grimaced before answering,“No.”

“I'm sorry,”she said.

“Then let me go.”

The phone rang. It was the hotel landline, so Kate wasn't sure if she should pick it up. After all, she didn't remember them paying for this room or even having a key to it.

BUZZ BUZZ, BUZZ BUZZ…

BUZZ BUZZ, BUZZ BUZZ…

Maybe it's Vincent? She thought.

BUZZ BUZZ, BUZZ BUZZ…

BUZZ BUZZ, BUZZ BUZZ…

She wanted to let it go, but whoever it was seemed insistent.

BUZZ BUZZ, BUZZ BUZZ…

BUZZ…“Hello?”she said, picking it up and putting it to her ear.

“Vincent?”the female voice asked.

“No,”Kate said.

“Is he there? Please, quick. I need to speak to him,”she said.

The voice was hushed and yet panicked.“No, he isn't.”

“Tell him its Bladin,”she said, before hanging up.

Kate put the phone down, confused, and walked over to the window.

“Honey, I'm home,”Vincent joked as he walked in, followed by a blonde woman walking a beagle on a lead. Kate was now sitting at the hotel room's little desk, staring out the window.“Look, I managed two for one,”he said.“Isn't that right, Angelica?”

“So where's this puppy of yours?”the woman, Angelica, asked.

“I don't have one,”Vincent said, shrugging her off.

“But you said you had one just like Trixie,”she said.

“I lied,”he said, flippantly.“Sit down on the bed.”

“What? No,”she said.“I think it's time for us to go. Come on Trixie!”

Vincent grabbed her by the jaw and forced her to look into his eyes.“Sit down on the bed,”he commanded again. So, Angelica sat down.

“How do you do that?”Kate asked.

“Compel them?”he asked.“I don't know. You want something, and so they do.”

“That's what Kilian kept trying to do to me,”she said, not really to him.

“Here, take this,”Vincent said, taking the lead from Angelica and handing it to Kate.“Unless the blonde is more to your preference tonight?”

“No, this will do fine,”she said.“Any booze?”

“Just the bottles in the mini frig,”he said.

She walked over and opened it, expecting one shot spirits, but finding a few pint bottles of beer and a naggin of whiskey instead.

“Here, I got you this too,”Vincent said. Reaching into a plastic bag and handing her a switch blade.“I couldn't stand the idea of watching you drink from that,”he said, pointing the knife at the dog and then to the ice bucket on the tv stand.

She took it, thanking him, and grabbed the ice bucket. Picking the dog up, she set her on the table by the window along with the bucket, pet her a bit, and then stabbed into the side of her neck with the blade. “It's okay, honey,”she cooed, holding it around the arms with its neck whipping over the bucket as it tried to free itself. When it stopped moving, and enough blood had drained into the bucket, she walked it into the bathroom and set the bloody thing in the tub. Coming back out, she mixed the spirits with the beer into the blood, figuring it was all going down into the same place, and poured herself a glass. “Bottoms up,”she said to Vincent, who then sank his teeth into the young blonde's neck.

It's starting to become like Rocky Horror Picture Show in this joint, Kate thought. She watched as Vincent seemed to drain the colour right out of poor Angelica. At the point she started turning porcelain, Kate had already guzzled down most of the booze hound blood, and was ready to go downstairs.“You're not going to kill her, right?”she asked.

“Of course not,”he said, pulling himself away and licking his lips.“She's fine,”he said.“See, sitting up all by herself.”

“How do we get rid of her?”she asked.

“She'll go on her own, as soon as I tell her to. Not quite ready for that yet though,”he said, while eyeing Angelica up and down.“Why don't you go on ahead of me, and I'll clean up here.”

“Yeah, no problem,”she said, already starting the feel the buzz.“Oh, by the way, someone named Jaden called.”

“No idea,”he said, thinking about it.

“Yeah, well, she seemed to know you,”Kate said, then went out the door.