The Nameless: Chapters 7-12

CHAPTER 7

I somehow pulled myself into a semi-crouch position against a wall. If I was going die, it was going to be on my own terms and with a promise of vengeance. I felt around for something and smiled sadly when I found it. I pulled Lorian into my lap. “Lorian? Lorian?” I shouted into his ear. “Yesssssssssss.” He hissed. “Promise me something.” “Wh-aaaaaaaaaaat.” “Kill the son of a bitch who set this up!” I said, then sliced open my wrist on a sharp broken brick on the wall behind me. I hissed myself as the pain hit me. I felt rather than saw the blood well to the surface. I held my wrist over his mouth and after the first few drops trickled into his mouth he turned away. “Drink.” I commanded. “Nooooooo!” he growled. “Do it Lorian. You must survive!” I growled right back at him, smearing my wrist over his mouth. This time he latched on. He sank his fangs into the open cut, the pain piercing my dulled senses for a second before the Ecstasy-like venom naturally found in vampire’s fangs kicked in. I sighed, stroking his hair and letting myself drift in the feelings. I finally felt his powerful gulping stop and his body practically flew up. His shirt was still missing and I could see color returning to his skin, tingeing it a pale, pale pink, a semblance of living human tissue. As my body slumped over to the floor and my consciousness began to fade, I saw the wound in his back begin to heal, the flesh pressing from the inside out, then pulling together, becoming perfect, not even a hint of a scar to be seen. He screamed as the wound healed and he stood, the muscles of his back taut as he growled like a great cat. I finally passsed out, the world gone black. I thought there would be no wakening, that I would be allowed to pass on to whatever waited when one dies. But that was not to be. When I did finally awake, it was to persistent beeps and low voices. “Ah, hell.” I groaned and opened my eyes. I looked down and found myself covered in wires. Apparently I was still among the living. “Shit.” I muttered to myself. “How are you feeling?” I looked up to find Lorian and another vampire there. Lorian looked worried, but healthy again. “Do I need to repeat myself? Spell it out? Ok then, S-H-I-T.” I tried to sit up and pull off the wires, but Lorian grabbed my hands, stopping me. “Well, you’ve suffered major blood loss, due in large part to me, a concussion, a broken wrist, and several cuts and bruises.” He said. “So it’s completely reasonable that you feel, as you so accurately put it, like shit.” Suddenly tears began pouring unbidden from my eyes. “What’s wrong little one?” “N-nothing. I th-think it’s just that everything’s sinking in.” He nodded in understanding. I sniffed and composed myself as well as I could. “Who’ that?” I said, nodding towards the other man. “This is Amin. He’s who saved us both. Nuri has betrayed the entire vampire nation by trying to kill you. Do you remember the ancient pact between the vampires and the Chronicler? Where we swore never to cause harm to the Chronicler?” I nodded. “They set the building on fire, Lauren. Nuri tried to kill you. He has brought the wrath of the vampires down on himself and those he’s working for. And the unsettling part is we believe he’s working under the orders of another vampire. Amin managed to help me drag you out of the building. Even with the power of your blood, I was still weak, healed of the wound but weak. Amin was the one who pulled us to safety.” “Then I thank you, Amin, for my life and for Lorian’s.” Amin simply placed his hand over his heart and gave a small bow. “You’re very welcome, Mistress Chronicler.” I smiled. His voice was deep and rich, holding traces of a southern accent. “When were you turned, Amin?” I asked bluntly. “Almost two hundred years ago, Chronicler.” He didn’t even blink. “Were you a slave, Amin.” “Yes.” “I believe I’ve read your accounts. I was surprised when I realized that you had waited so long to write of your changing. Most wait only a few years. Yours was written fairly recently.” I recalled. “Yes, Chronicler. I slept for many years after being changed. My master was killed soon after my changing. When I decided to rejoin the world, I learned that it was no longer illegal for former slaves to be taught to read and write. So I learned as quickly as I could.” I nodded in understanding. He left and I thought about what he said. Many fledgling vampires chose to hibernate for a few years after being turned, especially if abandoned by their masters. Sometimes if they could not accept their dark gift, as most called vampirism, they even went into the fire. I was suddenly glad that Amin had survived, because otherwise, Lorian and I might not have. “Sleep, little Mistress. With the blood loss you will be quite weak. Everything will be all right.” I nodded and began to drift off, then snapped back when awakened by the thought of something. “Lorian?” he turned back to me. “Yes?” “How did they find us?” “When you used the credit cards. Apparently one of Nuri’s familiars worked in the police department and was watching for purchases. They simply watched the hotel by helicopter and when you went into the diner, Nuri was dropped off and led you to the clinic where we were to be killed. They just didn’t count on Kylos or his assistant Amin. Nuri killed Kylos, but he’d been wired and Amin had been listening the entire time. When he heard you scream, he waited until Nuri left and rescued us. The fire had been set to slowly burn from the upper stories until it reached the basement where it would have begun to rage out of control. Since we were trapped and Nuri figured his plan was perfect, he didn’t leave anyone as guard for his little scheme.” I grinned. Lorian was completely outraged and ranting. It was something I had never seen him do, he was always so calm and unflappable. I did my best not to laugh, but as he continued to grumble, it poured out of me in a fit of giggles. He looked stunned. “May I ask what seems to have struck you as so funny, my dear Chronicler?” “I’m sorry,” I crowed, “ but Lorian, you’re ranting. They went to so much trouble to try and kill a glorified librarian. And not even a very good one!” I was laughing so hard that I was crying. “Good lord woman. All this stress has finally caused you to lose your mind.” I stopped laughing immediately. “I can assure you that I’m quite sane Lorian. Saner than I should be after the events of the last few days.” I said, my voice acid. “I let you drink from me, I pulled a bullet from you, because I knew that if I were killed, you would wreak vengeance for me, but also because of what I’ve taught you. You are the only other person able to train the next Chronicler.”

CHAPTER 8

"I beg your pardon?" Lorian looked at me in shock. "Yes." I said, looking him directly in the eyes. "If I fail, if I fall, there is no one. Do you hear me? No one!" My face suddenly crumpled and my weakened body was wracked with shuddering sobs. "Shhh...it'll be ok, little mistress." Lorian said, climbing into the bed behind me and massaging my neck and shoulders. "And even if you had drained me and I had awakened as a vampire, for the first few years I would be too consumed with blood lust to be able to concentrate on being the Chronicler. That was why humans were chosen in the first place. No blood lust." By this time, Lorian's head had come to rest on my shoulder, his lips pressed lightly against my neck. I immediately jerked away, making the heart monitor skip a beat. "I am no one's blood doll. I let you drink from me once, it will not happen again!" I said venomously. He jerked away as though my words burned him. "I-I never..."He began, so upset that he seemed like a young boy, barely able to speak. Then he drew himself up. "Forgive me, Chronicler. I only meant to provide comfort, nothing more." He said stiffly, then walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. "Dammit!" I whispered to myself, pounding my fists uselessly against the mattress. "Damn, damn, double damn." Came a mocking voice from the window. Nuri stood there, then was beside my bed before I could open my mouth to scream. "Uh-uh-uh." He tisked, wagging his finger at me. I leaned back against the bed, eyes wide with shock. Nuri grinned and grabbed my arm, dragging me up, allowing the IVs and sensors to rip away. "Shit!" I breathed as the IVs ripped open the skin, blood running down my arm. Nuri's eyes turned feral, his head dipped low and his tongue licked its way up the line of flowing blood. When he reached the source, he dipped his tongue into the small wound. I was too frightened to make a sound. Me, the Chronicler, who'd lived among vampires my entire life, trusted them to protect me and keep me from harm. Yet here was one that wished me harm because I was the Chronicler. He saw the look in my eyes and smirked. "The great Chronicler, my, my. And here I was disappointed that I had to destroy such a sexy little bitch." He sneered at me. He finally pulled me away from the bed, dragging me towards the window. I finally recovered my wits long enough to scream. "No! Lorian!" I tried to grab onto the bed rails. Nuri slapped me, hard, and I almost let go. "Slut!" he yelled, changing position and grabbing me by my hair. I screamed again. Nuri pulled me through the window just as Lorian and Amin appeared in the doorway. Nuri looked at them and grinned, jumping from the ledge, still holding me in his grasp. "Shiiiiiiiiiiiiit!" I screamed as we fell. I gripped his shoulder. "Aww...I didnt know you cared." I slapped him. Nuri landed a bit more gracefully than Lorian had, but my lungs still felt almost crushed in my chest. A limousine pulled up right next to us and the door opened. Nuri threw me inside, climbed in himself and it sped off. I looked out the tinted back window in time to see Lorian and Amin skid out of the hospital doors. I pounded on the windows twice before I was thrown across the vehicle and into the opposite seat, my head snapping back and then forward again. Instant migraine-like pain shot through me and I groaned. I slowly opened my eyes to find two pairs of eyes staring at me. Nuri sat there, his usual look of malice on his face. I'm sure that at one time he had been handsome, but years of anger had twisted his features into a death-like grimace. The other pair of eyes belonged to a young woman. She had coal-black hair, cut short around her face. Blood red lipstick slicked her lips and black kohl lined her eyes in large circles, making her look like a bad caricature of a vampire. When she shifted to where I could see her eyes I gasped. They were not human eyes. They were slitted like a snakes, the irises blood red. Then she blinked, her eyes closing sideways! "You're not human!" I shrieked. She grinned, twin fangs showing, dripping a pale blue liquid. "Anti-coagulant!" I gasped. "Very good, my dear. I was told you were brilliant. I'm happy to say you haven't disappointed me." I was instantly pissed at her tone. "Oh, well I'm ever so bloody well happy to hear it." I said sarcastically. She was beside me so fast I hadn't even seen her shift in her seat. She held my wrist in a vise-like grip, crushing the barely-healed bones, her other hand hovering over my wrist. Instead of nails, her fingers ended in inch-long talons, dripping pale blue anti-coagulant venom. I started at them, my mind going back to the wound that had killed Kylos. "You! You killed him, you killed Kylos!" I screamed and my anger made me strong enough to be able to yank my hand out of her grasp and slap her across the face.

CHAPTER 9

She growled at me and returned my slap with on of her own, her talons raking down my cheek. "Uppity bitch!" she screeched at me. "Inhuman slut!" I shouted back. "Ladies, ladies! That's enough, there's enough of me to go around." He said, preening. "SHUT UP, NURI!" We both shouted at him. He jerked me away from the creature. "Madia, you know Master doesn't want her harmed." He said. "I wouldnt have hurt her...much." She said, looking at me like she wanted to tear my heart out and devour it in front of my dying eyes. "You will not hurt her at all, my pet." Came an eerie voice from nowhere. I looked around for the source and finally found it, an intercom set into the panel of the minibar. "Yes master." The woman-creature said meekly, but her eyes still burned with hatred. "Oh joy. I'm going to be ripped apart by this she-bitch next time I even look at her strangely." I thought. "We're almost to the airstrip, master." "Very good. I'll see you when you arrive." Then the line went dead, buzzing for a moment before Nuri reached over and clicked off the intercom. Madia looked over at me and shifted in her seat, as if uncomfortable all of a sudden. "What is this power you hold over our Master, bitch?" she said softly. "I haven't the slightest idea. And that's Miss Bitch to you." I said smugly. Madia growled the sound rumbling up from deep in her throat. Knowing that she wasn't allowed to hurt me gave me enough confidence to smile smugly. "You wont be smiling for long, slut." She shrieked at me. "Quite the harpy tonight, aren't you Madia?" said Nuri. "Be silent, you sniveling pipsqueak of a useless excuse for a blood fiend." "Temper, temper." He said, baring his own fangs. Madia attacked him, her bared fangs dripping anti-coagulant, talons tight against his throat. I jumped to the other seat, afraid of being caught in the fight. Unlike them, I wouldn't heal as quickly. "Oh, baby, you know what it does to me when you get rough." He said, sliding his fingers up the hem of her skirt, grabbing her thighs, his fingers moving higher. And it was quite obvious what he was feeling, the bulge in the front of his pants drawing clear attention to his aroused state. "Mmmm...Oh, baby." She moaned, grinding against him and leaning down to stick her tongue in his mouth. "Gods," I thought, "I'm gonna be sick."She ripped away his shirt, revealing a nice chest and a set of abs most women would kill to see on their men. "Dammmmmn..." I thought, slightly aroused myself. But I made myself sound disgusted when I said, "Ahem, do you mind? Can't you at least wait until we get on the plane and you can get a room?? Madia looked up at me and grinned. "What's the matter, honey? Can't stand to watch a couple get it on? A lily-white virgin such as yourself must have years of experience in voyeurism. Where's your sense of adventure? Or is it that you'd like to join in yourself? It has been some time since we've had a threesome, and a virgin would be an interesting experience for both of us, don't you think baby?" She said, leaning over and running her hands suggestively over his chest and down to his erection, caressing it through the leather pants. I rolled my eyes and did my best not to gag. "Not interested." "Awww..come on, little one. We both know what you need is a nice, rough, uncomplicated fuck." Purred Nuri, reaching up and caressing Madia's breasts roughly. "Not interested." I repeated, looking out the window. They continued their groping and make-out session until we reached the airstrip. Standing there, prepared for takeoff, was a private Lear Jet. "Shit!" I breathed. "You seem to really like that word, my dear." Said Nuri, sitting upright and shrugging his shirt back on, leaving it unbuttoned. Suddenly the back seat began to fill with a smoky haze. As I began to pass out, I could hear Nuri and Madia laughing evilly. "Damn I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time passing out lately." I thought upon waking. Why was I in pain? I slowly opened my eyes to find myself strapped into a large, semi-reclined chair.

CHAPTER 10

A pair of strange eyes were fixed on me, and hands were running over my body, as though checking for broken bones. I heard screaming from somewhere and moved my head to try and find the source. "He told you she was not to be harmed!" a deep voice shouted. "Please, I did not know her intentions." That was Nuri's voice. "What?" I choked out, my throat parched and sore. "Madia decided to try and skin you while the gas had you knocked out." I looked down and saw blood covering my hospital gown. Well, that would explain the pain. From one vampire's chronicles I had learned exactly what it took to skin a human being. It was painful to the human, messy and quite an endurance trial to the vampire to remove the skin in one piece. "What-what are they doing to her?" I asked. "What she tried to do to you." I realized what was wrong with his eyes. They were dead eyes. No emotion, just simply dark intelligence. I began tearing at the straps that held me down. "No, let me out-I-have to-to stop them." I shouted. He looked at me in shock, the eyes going wide. Then thoughtful. "Interesting." He said, then did as I asked, loosing the straps. I stumbled to my feet, ran a few yards, fell, got to my feet and opened the door, flinging it wide. Three men stood there, one standing over Madia with a knife. "No!" I screamed, rushing towards them. The men, Nuri and two others I didnt know looked at me as though I were deranged. Madia looked up at me, fear in her eyes. "No! No! Dont hurt her. She's not to blame. I provoked her! Its my fault, dont hurt her." I pushed at the vampire with the knife, then stood in front of the blade myself when he didn't move, not flinching even when he held the knifepoint against my chest over my heart. I felt Madia's hand grasp my wrist. "What do you think you are doing?" She hissed weakly. "The right thing." I whispered. Nuri and the vampire beside him growled at me and began to walk towards me. With the metal table behind me, there was nowhere else to go and the vampire holding the knife to my chest still hadnt moved. "Enough!" came a shout from behind us, from the cabin I'd come from. All three vampires gasped and moved away from me, eyes downcast, submissive. There stood the vampire that had released me. Suddenly I recognized that voice. "Shit," I whispered, my knees going weak. As I started to fall, he was beside me, holding me up. "Master, please, we wouldn't have hurt the wench, but she tried to interfere," stated the vampire holding the knife. "You mean hurt her like this?" he said icily, running his finger along my chest, bringing up a small runnel of blood. The vampire paled and his mouth gaped open and shut like a fish. "But Master..." started the vampire...but he never finished. In the next second, his throat was torn out, the dead eyed vampire standing there, his hand covered in blood, holding a handful of flesh. I began gagging and dropped to my knees, my head against the cool, stainless steel floor. "Put Madia in a cell." The voice said, then someone picked me up off the ground. I looked into those dead eyes and was quite surprised to see concern there. I realized that he wasnt a bad looking man...vampire. His skin was dusky, hair to his shoulders, a dark, oaken brown. From my place in his arms, I could tell that his body was hard, lean and muscular. I have never met a fat vampire. It was as if during the change all things nonessential in the body were expelled, including excess fat, and in females, if pregnant when turned, the fetus was aborted. A dead creature cannot create life. My thoughts returned me to looking into his eyes, pale icy blue orbs, a golden ring around the iris. He shook me and for a few minutes the world spun. "Oh, God." I breathed, closing my eyes as waves of nausea washed over me. I felt myself being carried along, then laid on a soft bed. When I was finally able to open my eyes without gagging, I looked around to find myself in the private cabin in a king-sized bed, the bedding in shades of black, midnight purple and midnight blue satin. "Cauchemar I presume?" He held a glass to my lips. "Drink. Youre dehydrated." I sipped and almost choked at the bitter taste. "What is that?" "Water and laudanum so that you'll rest. It's several hours before we reach our destination." He turned his head and I could see a streak of silver in his hair. "And indeed, I am called Cauchemar by some, Master by many." The laudanum had begun to kick in and my eyes began to flutter close. Three times in two days, had to be a record for being knocked out. "Wonderful," I remembered saying sarcastically, before I was gone. This time, however, I dreamed. Nightmares filled my mind. Blood, dark red and rich, spilled across white marble; women's limbs, sprawled against black satin, dotted with vampire bite marks, blood dolls. Women and men, in garb of the 1700s, dancing in an enormous ballroom, mirrored walls filled with flashes of color from the brightly colored outfits, faces covered by masks. One of the famed Carnival Masquerades. Screams filled the room, and the crowd parted to reveal Cauchemar bent over the neck of a woman in pale pink, rivers of blood flowing down the front, the stain growing larger until Cauchemar ripped his head back, showing fangs dripping blood. Panic ensued, then the room was filled with vampires, rending, tearing at their victims. The great doors were locked, no one escaped the rampage. Cauchemar himself finished off the last victim, a young girl who's ball this had been, her presentation to society, her come-out. He walked to her, she stood there, trapped by two vampires, held tight. She shook with fear, tears running unheeded down her face, staining her white ballgown, already spattered with blood. Even her blond hair, half pulled out of its elegant coiffure, was soaked in the blood of others, perhaps even the blood of her own family. As he walked towards her she began shrieking in fear. He held a finger to his lips and she was instantly silent, eyes wide with fright. The other vampires laughed. Cauchemar took the girls wrist, crushing it and she began to scream in earnest. He ripped her gown away, then her undergarments. He threw her to the ground, then unfastened his pants and thrust his penis into her. She screamed, biting and clawing at him as he continued pumping into her, blood staining her thighs. He grunted once, expelled his dead seed into her, then snapped her neck. The other vampires made disappointed sounds, but Cauchemar silenced them. "Barricade the doors and burn it to the ground." He re-fastened his pants and walked away as the flames started to crackle and the smell of roasting flesh filled the air. The scene changed again. Cauchemar was stalking someone. The young man carried a large stack of books, a librarian. Why did he look so familiar? Judging by the style of clothes the young man wore, it was the late 1700s. "Hello Mr. Tavington," Cauchemar greeted the young man. "Why, Lord Covington! What a surprise, I didn't expect you back in town for several more weeks." Tavington turned and began arranging the books on a shelf. "Indeed I had not expected to be returning to London so soon, but a thought occurred to me on the way to Lady Ashford's party and I decided to return and run my idea by you. It would be very lucrative, my young friend." Cauchemar said, his eyes lighting up as he saw the thoughtful look come into Tavington's eyes. Cauchemar grinned. "Very well, my lord, Jeremy Tavington at your service."

CHAPTER 11

I awoke instantly. Gasping for breath I looked into he darkness around me. A sound had me turning. Laying in the bed beside me was Cauchemar, shirt off, one arm slung over his eyes, the other across my breasts. I quickly moved his hand, then pushed aside the covers. I was no longer in the paper hospital gown, but in a long sleeved ankle length peach colored sleeping gown. “Where do you think you’re going?” came Cauchemar’s voice. “Nowhere,” I said truthfully. “Good.” He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back down beside him, then climbed on top of me, kissing me along the deep collar of the gown and using his tongue to lick under the fabric and between my breasts. Sensations flooded through me: fear, disgust, anger, and desire. His hands were roaming over my body, pulling the dress up to my hips as I fought to get loose from his grasp. He put one hand on my chest, using his weight there to press me into the mattress. I stopped struggling, fear making me freeze. The other hand he used to slide up my thigh, my body quivering, then freezing as he slid a finger inside me. He groaned. “So they were right. You are still pure.” He said, pulling his finger out and then rocking it back in, pain and desire rocketing through me hard enough to make my hands clench in the folds of his shirt where I had been uselessly trying to hold him off. My stomach muscles clenched as well, causing me to gnash my teeth. Cauchemar felt my reaction and grinned evilly, watching my face as he continued to use his finger on my sensitive flesh, rocking it back and forth inside me. Then he slid two fingers in and I cried out. “No! Please! Don’t!” Tears poured from my eyes. Cauchemar thrust them in one final time and then withdrew to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. I could hear him groaning and the sound of flesh on flesh, filled me with shame and embarrassment as I realized what he was doing. I turned to my side and covered my face with my hands and wept. Finally he returned, holding a cloth. He gently wiped down my thighs and pulled my gown down. “I long ago assured your family that as long as they worked for me that they would not come to harm by my hands or those I control.” He said. A sudden flash in my mind brought back the last day. “You must watch Nuri, he’s going to betray you.” I said looking him dead in his eyes, not flinching. “Do I seem blind to you?” he asked harshly. “Not at all.” I replied. “But he did try to burn me alive, and when that failed, he made sure to provoke Madia on the way to the airstrip, and when he was attempting to skin her and I stopped them, he made no move to stop the vampire with the knife.” I said softly. “He said that Lorian had killed you rather than let him take you and seemed rather joyful to find you alive when we located you at the hospital." “Oh, I’m sure he was joyful to find me alive, more excuses to pull me around by my hair and throw me down more stairs.” I said bitterly. Cauchemar’s eyebrows rose, and he got up and began to pace the small room. “We have arrived, my lord. We will be landing in a moment.” Came a voice over the loudspeaker. “Thank you, Jason.” Cauchemar responded automatically. I sat up in the bed and Cauchemar gave me his hand to help me up. I was a little sore from his earlier invasion, but I gritted my teeth and made myself walk normally. As we stepped off the plane, my mouth dropped open in shock. There stood the villa that had been my father’s retreat when I had almost been kidnapped when I was seventeen, off in the distance. “Welcome home, Cara mia.” Cauchemar whispered. I thought perhaps that he was speaking to Madia, but a look showed that no one was around us. Instead his eyes were fastened on me. I stared at him blankly, then nearly panicked when he picked me up and carried me down the stairs. A limousine pulled up at the bottom of the stairs and the chauffeur opened the door. Cauchemar practically threw me onto the seat and I quickly scooted to the other side, against the door. He climbed in and the door shut behind him. He reached over and poured a drink, then handed it to me. “Drink, it’ll help calm your nerves.” “I’m not so sure I have nerves left to calm.” I said, slumping against the seat, but drinking the alcohol anyways. Cauchemar grinned, then pulled me into his lap. He leaned over and kissed me, thrusting his tongue into my mouth and fondling my breasts. I fought him, punching, slapping and kicking at him. “Mmm. Good scotch. I’ve been wanting to do that since I laid eyes on you. I’m afraid I’m tired of you hitting me, however.” He said, his face becoming grim. “And I’m damn tired of being manhandles by every damn male vampire in sight, first Nuri, and now you.” I said, pissed off now. “Nuri put his hands on you?” His voice was deadly calm. “Nothing like you’ve done, before or now, but being fondled and dragged across a room by my hair certainly isn’t my idea of fun.” I said, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning back against the seat. “Lorian,” I prayed, “Please hurry! Please find me!” I closed my eyes and next thing I knew the car was stopped.

CHAPTER 12

“We have arrived.” Cauchemar said, unnecessarily. The villa seemed even bigger than it had then, but even with present company, it still seemed like home. The summer I spent at the villa was the beginning of my training as Chronicler. We had spent the next three years traveling around Italy. I had trained with him, cataloguing the vampire library, helping to discern words and letters that his eyes could no longer see, keeping track of each vampire’s visits. That last year was the happiest I had ever seen my father since the death of my mother when I was a small child. While flying in a private plane over Sicily on his way to Egypt the engines failed and the plane crashed with no survivors. The vampires had given me a short time to grieve, but there was still much for me to learn for me to become the Vampire Chronicler. “Why did you begin the chronicling of each vampire’s stories?” I asked. He didn’t answer me. “Show her to the green bedroom.” I turned to see Madia standing there, her face a careful mask, her wounds having healed already. She nodded, then took my arm and began to lead me away. “And it was because I wanted my story to be told.” “Then why haven’t you begun telling it?” I asked, leaning against Madia’s restraining hand to hear his response. “My dear, I have been telling it since you’re grandfather’s grandfather came into my employ.” He laughed bitterly. Madia finally was able to lead me to a room, the green room was right, everywhere were shades of green from the pale, misty sheer bed curtains to deep hunter green velvet draperies. Even the attached bathroom was done in shades of green. The bathtub was an enormous thing, large enough to accommodate four people, done in green marble. As was the sink and floor, all in different hues. I looked around in amazement at the upholstered walls, mahogany trimmed windows, french doors leading to a stone balcony. “The place was remodeled and redecorated last spring.” Said Madia, eyeing me strangely. She walked over to a mahogany armoire and threw it open, revealing a collection of my clothes, as well as tons of new ones that I had never even seen before. “What? But how?” “The Master. When the humans tried to kidnap you, he sent a small army of his own familiars to recover a collection of your things. Those things that hadn’t been destroyed by the anti-vamp league or the sprinkler system when it was triggered by the first blast.” “But the journals!” I cried, “if the anti-vamps got ahold of that information, all the vampires, especially the old ones, are in danger!” “Don’t worry, Little One, they’re safe. As soon as the initial blast went off, all of the vampires were alerted, they’re safe, they’re hiding places safeguarded. Even the Master moved to a private location.” “Why are you being so nice to me?” I asked, suspicious now. “You stopped them from skinning me alive. I am a Naja. I am as immmortal as the vampires themselves. And being skinned alive is not my idea of a fun way to spend the rest of my existence.” She shuddered. “Cauchemar is the one who made them stop. I can’t, couldn’t overpower a vampire.” I said. “No. He stopped them because you tried to stop them. He would have allowed them to do whatever they wished.” She seemed rather pissed about that. She grabbed my arm and I jumped. “You must get away from him. He’s dangerous and he has no conscience. I have been his companion for two millenia, and I know him. He cares for nothing and no one. He has no love. He has no heart. He has desired to possess you since he saw you those many years ago.” “And you have spoken too much, Madia!” came a voice from the doorway. We both jumped guiltily. There stood Cauchemar. “No master, no! I only said those things because I want her gone!” I somehow knew that she hadn’t. She knelt before him, nuzzling at his thighs and groin. “Please master, send her away so that we can be together, just like we've always been, just you and me, forever. She’s human. She’ll die on you. Whether you tire of her or not, she’ll leave you!” Madia screamed as she was dragged away by two vampires. He began to swear in a language I had never heard before. I raised an eyebrow at him and he snarled at me. “I should have let them skin her.” He said coldly. I walked up to him and slapped him hard as I could. He looked at me in shock, anger changing his eyes from icy blue to golden yellow, cat’s eyes. “Uh-oh,” I thought in the second before I found myself laying on the bed, his fangs flashing as they came down upon my neck.