Licking her lips clean of her wards' sweet iron essence, Vivienne watched as the young woman left in the BMW. One issue resolved, the French born woman gathered up her disguise that turned her into the Raven and headed to her blood red Lamborghini.

The engine on the sports car fired up and made a lovely purr, not a single sound out of place for the machine. Her cold blue eyes looked at the clock on the HUD and estimated she had at least another ten hours before sunrise. She backed the car from her garage and headed down the small road towards the main Virginia Beach boardwalk.

Intent on settling the issue she began the prior evening with Ken, Vivienne mentally considered one task, camera footage. Oddities on the hotel camera footage had the potential to cause too much interest.  Casey would appear alone and making out with no one, Ken's jewelry would appear to float, and scream out of nowhere were too much to ignore.

-Figure out the rest after you've seen what's truly happened.-  With an annoyed grunt, Vivienne pressed harder on the accelerator. Roaring to life, the little red machine increased to an almost breakneck speed, Vivienne’s eyesight and reactions adjusting perfectly to control the beastly vehicle.

When the vampire saw the red and blue lights flip on and pursue her, she glanced down at the speedometer where it had registered just over one hundred miles per hour. Knowing her car had a unique style and a personalized plate, Vivienne slowed down and pulled to the side of the road and waited for the police officer to approach the window. Vivienne thought of two words of truth that she’d gained over time -Sex sells. – Preparing herself, the beautiful doctor left her hair in a mess and made sure that her long black locks fell gracefully over the curvature of her breasts. Forcing blood to her lips she made them deep red and plump enough to want to be kissed. Adding a glossy look she licked her lips, and knew the hint of feminine prowess would help control this outcome long before the officer arrived.

With her image in place for the officer, Vivienne quickly adjusted the mirrors slightly. It wouldn’t be immediately obvious but they were angled slightly away from her non-existent reflection. The last thing she did was flip on the stereo and found a station playing a simple song from the past by a band named Cheap Trick, its title, 'I want you to want me.' The music was barely above a whisper, yet enough to plant the idea further in the human mind of a possible sexual encounter. Right on cue, having set the stage the best she could in the circumstances, Vivienne looked directly into the officer’s face with her steadfast blue eyes that seemed to sparkle with the moonlight above.

Clearing his throat, the officer attempted to sound intimidating, just to end up stumbling over his words. “Ca-I-um, Hello Ma’am. Your, your license please?” Vivienne handed the officer her information along with a card denoting that she was in fact Dr. Moreau and offered her hand to shake. “Very pleased to meet you, Officer..” Her French accent, silky and smooth in the attempt to further entice the officer now at her window.

“O-Officer Glen Martin.” He offered one of his hands in return, the other one pointing to his shiny nameplate.

Clasping his hand gently but firmly enough so he couldn’t break free, Vivienne turned the handshake into a quick feeding. She bit down into the visible veins on Glen’s hand and fed long enough to see the glazed look in the officer’s eyes then retracted her needle like fangs. She then blew on his hand to close the wound and remove the last few seconds from his memory. The quick thinking vampiress then let the officer's hand slip, and he stumbled backwards just enough to end up in on-coming traffic. Seeing the drowsy and pleasant look still in Glen’s eyes, Vivienne jumped from her seat and pulled the officer from the middle of the road before leaning him against her car. “There, there officer. We cannot have you walking in the street, shall we?” She purred.

After blinking a few times and shaking his head Glen managed to speak, “I suddenly got dizzy there. Thank you very much for the a-assistance ma’am.” Glen rubbed his eyes with one hand and gathered his wits about him the best he could given the irresistible vampire close to him. “I am in your debt, Dr. Moreau.. If I can still think. I-um, let me make sure you aren’t wanted for anything, please step to the back of your vehicle and wait.”

“You are so kind to guide me safely, Officer Martin.” She cooed. Smiling, Vivienne guided the officer to his patrol car, then walked to her own. Watching and listening to him speak to his dispatcher, Vivienne took a few extra seconds to fluff her hair to look a little more natural, and still accent her breasts through the tight top she was wearing.

She entwined her fingers to her hands as the officer re-approached, “I initially had you on radar doing over one-hundred twenty miles per hour on this road, doctor. However, given that you just basically saved my life, I am going to let this go with a warning and a handshake for not letting me get run over when I had that dizzy spell.”

“One-hundred twenty?” Vivienne covered her mouth in feigned shock. “Me.. oh.. my officer. I must have been reading the needle wrong again. I assure you I will be more careful next time.” The black haired doctor sold the lie with an alluring smile, adding in a few nervous finger snaps for effect.

“Yes, well. Please slow down, Doctor. I wouldn’t like it if you got hurt.” He spoke softly, “I have your card here; is there a chance you can take the time and see what caused that dizzy spell a few seconds ago?” Making the question an obvious attempt at a date.

“I am a cardiologist, my new friend. I work at night really. You can call the hospital with the number on the card and tell them that I sent you. They will point you in the right direction with the dizziness. If it comes to the point where it becomes an issue with your heart, I will certainly take you on as a patient.”

Shortly after, Vivienne found herself back in her car and once again racing down the road to the hotel in question. The minutes passed easily and she pulled up into the half circle where the guests could unload their vehicle and get registered. Looking up at the sign, the vampire uttered the name of the hotel. “Ocean Lilly, spa and resort. Sounds like the place Drake and his ilk would stay.”

A woman with a perfect blend of Korean and European descent came out to greet the vampire. Vivienne instantly locked onto the woman’s jet black and pink streaked hair, naturally tanned skin, and down to her inquisitive brown eyes partly hidden behind a small round pair of glasses. An unnatural shiver raced through Vivienne as she noticed the woman's lips parting as though she were going to speak. Plump and red, they formed the hint of the number three at the top with the dent in the center highlighting the curves itself.

“Welcome to the Ocean Lilly.” Catching the scent of lilies, the vampire breathed deep and listened further. “I am Faye, and here to help you in any way to get you checked in.”

“Vivienne. So glad to meet you, Faye.” The vampire nearly stuttered as she responded in the same breath. The doctor couldn’t figure out why, but she was unable to stop looking at the human woman before her. She could see every little curve of her bones, the sensual and well developed shape of her hips, her graceful and elegant neck pulsing with pure and delicious blood, the subtle “V” shape of the lady’s face and well-placed rounded nose. Vivienne kept glancing at Faye's brown eyes that seemed to sparkle for her, up to her well-groomed eyebrows, and finally back to every strand of black and pink hair she could absorb.

It dawned on Vivienne that she finally knew what was happening to her. Staying far back from human involvement had protected her from this turmoil for over three thousand years. She’d heard the stories, read the plays such as Romeo and Juliet, overheard conversations and even seen versions of it in movies and television. Never believing that it was possible until now.

The vampire noted that emotions were what pushed younglings for those first five years or so, then they seemed to grow tame. Vivienne herself hadn’t felt the stirring of any real emotional connection until this very moment. Her insides seemed to twist and ache in a good way, She was feeling it for the first time in her life and un-life.

Love.

Faye sardonically rolled her brown eyes in disdain as she rattled off her typical lines about her parents' hotel that to her were only barely adequate to call a ‘resort or spa’. The hotel had one small room that counted as a spa, filled with salt water and scented with lavender. Thinking about the resort part of the hotel made the black haired beauty snort lightly, as the only part of it being close to a resort was the large glass doors for the rooms that allowed guests to see the sun rise. Knowing that the hotel was a fancy illusion, Faye kept greeting guests as the respectful and dutiful daughter she was. Her parents loved the hotel and planned for her to take over, but that wasn’t her dream. The Korean woman loved cybersecurity the most, followed by an interest in networking.

The security system of the hotel was the Korean woman's shining triumph. State of the art cameras, a small server farm, multiple monitors, and backup to the cloud all at her fingertips. She’d even set up the firewalls and intrusion protection so her mother and father didn’t have to make large cash drops at the bank, instead relying on transfers via credit card, app or phone. Hiding herself away in the central room that she’d designed to monitor the hotel, Faye kept herself out of the sight of most tourists. Behind the door of her room she could play games, hangout with online friends, create scripts, even monitor the hotel cameras, all while avoiding the rude comments from tourists or even listening to them make fun of her race by sounding fake Korean. The key to her freedom was literally locked in a boxed room.

Until two minutes ago when she spoke to the entrancing woman before her.

Faye stopped walking and stood nearly frozen. She tried to speak once the soft and cultured voice tickled her senses, “U-ah..” She stammered and swallowed hard before pushing up her glasses over her eyes a bit more. “Good to, wait..um, is that a French accent?” She asked while trying to unfreeze her body to just shake hands with the vision before her. Feeling her feet first, the Korean woman took an excited step forward. That step closer to Vivienne let her eyes fully focus on the vampire, where she was immediately taken in by the depth of the sea pulsing from the soft blue eyes penetrating her. Although Faye wanted to look away from the beauty before her out of habit, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Shaking and fidgeting all over, the black-pink haired woman freed her frozen hand and scratched at her temple, unable to concentrate on anything else.

Standing in front of this well formed, exotic woman shaped much like an Olympic swimmer, was exactly where this quiet boxed away lady felt she needed to be. Faye wasn’t thinking about her monitors or friends. Her gaze was dreamily moving down Vivienne’s long locks of black hair covering her breasts, and catching herself in a hesitant breath wanting to kiss between the heart shaped gap in her blouse. Her body didn’t give any warnings to the stonelike appearance Vivienne’s skin had, rather it drew her closer to the vampiress.

Vivienne spoke, sending another wave of shivers up and down Faye’s shaking form. “You have a good ear. My..” The Korean didn’t register the stutter from the vampire, “.. I am indeed from southern France, yes. That was years ago. Some things are hard to erase, even with all the time.. in the world…” She gave out an involuntary little laugh as she trailed off, which only made the hostess want to get closer to the woman. Faye’s feet complied with the deep desire building within her, and took a step closer to the charming woman before her. This act forced her so close to Vivienne that she could feel the warmth and breath coming from the vampire. Her heart beat so heavily it jolted her frame and caused her body to keep shivering wildly, as if a cold wind had passed by. This close to the vampire it wasn’t Vivienne’s lips that Faye was drawn to but the elegant gap between them, hiding the secret of a desperate kiss. Thoughts of twisting and curling with the vampire's hidden tongue made her mind scream at her - kiss her you fool!- Yet she was still frozen, locked this close and unable to just lean forward to bring that embrace to the pair.

“I-I like to think..I am..” Faye breathed heavily forcing her breath to pierce the alluring gap in Vivienne’s lips. -Please god lady, just lean into me- her mind again pleaded in silence. “..observant. It is, I .. um, what I, I do best.” She sighed as she managed to eek out something.

Allowing Faye to get dangerously close to her, Vivienne tasted the aromatic and delicious breath that was forced between her lips. Vivienne felt her knees twitch as she took that sexually charged heat into her own body. Her fangs clicked into place. Part of her wanted to take the Korean beauty to a private place and end the confusing feelings that were ripping through her dead body. The doctor gazed longingly into the observant and impassioned brown eyes, noticing that the hostess was enamored as well. Vivienne heard the fluttering and pounding of Faye’s heart, flushing her body in a glorious nervous maroon that allowed the vampire to regain control of herself. -You nearly lost your...No, I couldn’t have done it..why is my stomach hurting?- Vivienne quickly questioned herself. The breath still lingered inside Vivienne’s body, its sexual and enticing energy using precious blood to flood heat to the vampire in ways she’d never experienced. The desire filled her body like she’d never thought possible and didn’t know if she could or want to truly control.

Vivienne reached up with her hand, gently cupping Faye’s cheek. She’d considered taking a much-needed step back, but her body refused to listen and let the simple touch linger much longer than any stranger should have allowed. “W-What are you observing right now, Faye?” Vivienne’s voice regained her confidence the longer her hand remained in place. “I assure you, in so many ways you cannot be observing what you think you are. I am confused and don’t want to break this tenuous trance we are in. I find I cannot move.”

Faye leaned her head into the cool palm that caressed her cheek. “I am observing that you haven’t moved any more than I have in the last few minutes. I have observed that you have a very intoxicating scent coming from that toned body of yours. Almost like you are in some way betraying yourself of something. My body has betrayed me as I lean into your cool touch even more. The prickle down my spine tells me I should be afraid of your rock hard and icy touch, but I don’t care. I don’t want to break this, how did you put it? Tenuous trance, yes. II..” Faye’s breath catches lightly before she can continue, “I see the sparkle in your heavenly aqua eyes, and taste the sweet iron breath on my tongue. So, I am wondering what it would be like to kiss you. Here and now.”

“That would be unwise.”

“Mmm, why is that?”

Looking in Faye’s soulful brown eyes made Vivienne give a confession. “I don’t think I could lie to you if I wanted to.” Vivienne tugged on her lip with the tip of her fang for a moment, “The short version is that if you kiss me, You will be bound to me until I release you.” the vampire paused to a very strange string pulling in her chest. “Do..you want..” She breathes in another deliberate and unstable whiff of the woman she’s confused by. “..to be charmed for life, because I don’t think I could let you free of the entrapment it would cause.” “So I am helpless?”

“Faye.” -Another heavy breath!- Losing a touch of willpower to Faye’s warm and carnal sigh, the anxious vampire’s eyes rolled and fluttered for a moment before she was able to regain her thoughts. “I-I, You don’t know how true that statement is.” Vivienne felt the strings tighten around her heart and turn into iron, ending her confusion once and for all. “Y-you have free will right now.” Her speech failed her as her voice cracked for a moment. “I-you we? No, Um, You should really take a step back and make that decision to kiss me.”

Faye felt that something was off with the woman gently holding her cheek. Her hand itself was a warning. The first touch that nearly sent the hostess to her knees, ice cold. A second later that very same palm was hot as fire against her olive skin. “What if I want to be reckless and just take the chance?”

“You are right, mon amour.” Vivienne hesitated a moment, bathing in the simple feeling that she’d never experienced before. “I-I am trapped here by your presence.. I c-can’t explain what is happening, I have never felt this way before. Faye..I-never, emotions..” She took a useless dead sigh to gain her speech, “..I can’t say that I would be a very good companion.” Standing there with Vivienne’s hand on her cheek, Faye realized that in any other instance she would have walked away without a thought or care in the world. Walked back to her little box, the box that let her be who she wanted. She wasn’t Faye Park, the good daughter, listening to whatever her parents told her. Cyberlilly was who existed in the box. Comfortably entrenched within the virtual world, she had quite a following of peers that played games with her, asked her for help with problems and even confided secrets. As Cyberlilly, she always received offers from the men and women to date long distance or even occasionally meet and spend long weekends as a couple. Dating and relationships had never been a priority to Cyberlilly, choosing instead to remain alone and in her box. Faye Park existed only to be a good daughter, to please her parents.

“Sounds like we are more alike than you want to admit. I have not been a good companion in my past. Simply put, I don’t get along with most people and I stay hidden away in a room that I designed to hide from everyone. I-I double as s-security and our IT department. I greet people just to help my parents keep costs down in a tourist town.” Faye closed her eyes for a moment, focusing on the slender hand still on her cheek. “Mm, until now, I have been awkward in everything I do or say in person.”

“The irony.” Vivienne mused as she watched Faye’s eyes slide shut. Letting the moment guide her, Vivienne’s index finger did little circles on the olive cheek in her hand. “I-I don’t want to let this moment pass. I-we, cannot keep standing here all night. We will have to move at some point.” She felt a little ache in her chest that she didn’t like. “If you allow me to come inside, you will have the chance to gather your thoughts.”

Faye’s knees buckled the moment Vivienne started caressing her cheek. The sensation of falling halted by an equally gentle embrace by the vampire at her waist and the small of her back, bringing them closer to the kiss that had been discussed seconds before. The black-pink haired woman knew immediately that she didn’t want the intoxicating moment to ever end. Being held tightly in Vivienne’s hug, Faye didn’t want to face the inevitable, barely able to get the words out. “W-What.. happens if-if.. we go inside and we d-decide that we are ships that have passed in the night?”

A very painful knot started to form inside Vivienne’s chest, just as she noted the song “Crazy For You” by Madonna over the resort’s speakers, its lyrics intervening in the encounter at the perfect moment.

“..I walk over to where you are

Eye to eye, we need no words at all

Slowly now we begin to move

Every breath, I’m deeper into you

Soon we two are standing still in time

If you read my mind you’ll see

I’m crazy for you

Touch me once and you’ll know it's true

I never wanted anyone like this

It's all brand new..”

“W-what a reference, Faye. I-imagine that it means this was never meant to be. Let’s hope this wasn’t a fluke but an honest attraction.” Her hand pulled slowly away from Faye’s cheek, nearly stopping as the girl placed her own hand over Vivienne’s wrist. “I know, Faye. I don’t want to either.” Reluctantly, the vampire pulled away from the small hug the two were in, taking a step back and ensuring that the enthralling kiss would not trap the woman.

Twirling a piece of her pink highlights, Faye kept smiling at Vivienne. “You are more than welcome inside; I assume you are registered?” Faye hopefully asked as she took a step back and then headed through the double sliding doors to the front desk.

The foyer set the tone for the hotel immediately. The walls were painted blue and white and covered in black and white pictures of the 1960s, containing various surfers and tourists tanning themselves. Round with wood and topped with granite, the front desk had the trappings of a typical tourist town. Little cardboard pop-ups with various leaflets pointing out things like the lighthouse and First Landing State Park. Beyond that, the desk had a small computer terminal and a copier to get guests checked in and charged for services.

“I am not a guest, Faye. I am actually looking for some information about a band that is staying here. Can you assist me with that?”

Faye kept quiet as she reached the desk and hopped over it in the effort to make it look like it was an everyday occurrence. Catching her foot on the lip of the granite the pink haired lady fell on her face then lay on the floor, both embarrassed and holding her nose. “Ouch. That was.. Well, stupid.”

Vivienne didn’t laugh or react to what Faye had done. She’d long figured out that humans did wildly crazy things to show off or be silly. The vampire was fairly certain that the hostess was trying to show off, and failed in the process. Vivienne sniffed the air and knew instantly that her new beau wasn’t bleeding. “I can imagine that didn’t feel good. Are you bleeding?”

“No, I am not bleeding. My pride is a bit injured, but I am fine.” Faye sighed and pulled herself up from the tiled floor and wiped her nose just to be sure and looked back into the blue eyes peering right back at her.

Once again, their eyes locked onto each other and the silence said it all.

“I-I think it is s-safe to say outside was not a fluke. I still want to kiss you.”

“Mon Amour. I-I would not suggest that ki-kiss all the same, right now. I have to agree with you though, I no longer think this.. whatever is going on, is a fluke.”

Vivienne’s ache in her chest dimmed the moment she admitted what she was feeling. Typically emotions this intense would bring the beast within to the surface where she’d fight for control. This was much different. The vampire still knew she was in love and let herself express it the best she could, given her inexperience. She walked to the edge of the smooth desk and leaned on it with her arms. “I would like to take advantage of the distance that this desk affords us for the time being.” Vivienne fluttered her eyelids as she breathed in Faye’s scent once more. The vampire had to restrain herself from tearing the desk into splinters. “I want nothing more than to tackle you to the ground and give you that kiss and not come up for breath for a very long time.”

Faye blinked first, allowing the couple to finally think about more than just kissing each other. “I-whew.” Wiping the sweat from her forehead after the idea of being kissed by Vivienne, Faye tried to focus on the vampire's words. “Y-you m-mentioned that you wanted my help with something?” The hostess felt her heart pounding in her chest as she kept replaying the tackling kiss in her mind.

“I know the Flying Cannibals are staying here. When are they expected back, do you know?”

“What in the world do you want with those degenerates? They have caused nothing but misery here in the hotel for the last week. I mean we have their cards on file to charge them for all the damages, but we will be closed while that happens. Our suites are a mess.” Faye expressed in half rage and half disgust with the group of musicians. “My parents are up there right now asking them to keep the noise down because we have a building full at the moment.”

“They didn’t play tonight?”

“Apparently not. I am not even going to ask why. I just want them gone.”

“How long have your parents been gone, Faye?”

“Probably twenty minutes or so? My mother was going to head up there on her own, but my dad has a funny feeling about the group, so he went with her.”

“Faye. I know we have been doing a little dance with our feelings in the last, what ten minutes at most? I also know that this will sound odd. Do you trust me? More like can you trust me?”

“I-I want to?” Faye’s voice got a little crackle in it for the first time since meeting the entrancing woman before her. “Yes. I – I can trust you. Is there something wrong, you have to tell me.”

“Please, go to your little room and scan the cameras and see if you can find your parents. No matter what, for the good of both our future, you stay safe and out of any possible harm’s way. I will be back shortly. I have some business to attend to. It will be an hour at the most. Can you hold out that long, mon amour?”

“You have said that phrase a few times now. I confess to not knowing French. I think I know what it means, though I would enjoy hearing it confirmed from you.”

“My love.”

Faye’s cheeks washed over in crimson, her lips quivered and her eyes started to form tears. Her mind and body revealed its truth to Vivienne that the Korean woman felt the exact same way.

“M-mon amour.” Faye managed to eke out and kept looking at the crystal blue eyes, committing them to memory just in case this was the last time she would see and feel the legendary love at first sight.

Vivienne gave a little wink and smiled before bowing to her new girlfriend. “Until I return. Heed what I said. Stay hidden, find your parents.”

Faye locked the doors behind Vivienne as she left, and sprinted to her safe room to watch and scan the cameras. “Come on mom and dad, where are you?”

Casey pulled into the parking lot at the community college, and far enough away that no one could have seen it was her in the BMW driving on a supposedly injured knee. The auburn lady opened the trunk of the car and took inventory of the items she’d be using as soon as Vivienne called, then closed it. “Time to face the music. I have no doubt Brian will be up there ready to scream and yell, given the near fifty texts I haven’t answered.” Casey muttered to herself.

Gathering her crutches she fake hobbled up to the guard and flashed her ID, then made her way to her dorm door. Digging her keys out for the lock, she looked surprised when the door opened and Brian scooped the swimmer into his arms and swung her inside like crossing a marriage threshold. Casey smiled and managed to flick the door shut as she rolled her eyes with the obvious over the top greeting.

“Hi there Brian. I get the feeling you may have missed me.” the auburn woman cooed.

“You stopped answering texts or your phone, so I had to make an appearance. Your roommate let me in and went out with friends. I took the liberty of making us something to eat.” He smiled looking down at her round face, before giving her a very wild and tongue filled kiss. Casey hungrily returned the affectionate and possessive kiss, her breathing became labored as they held their lips in place and did a quiet slick dance with their tongues.

Catching her breath and faking a bit of pain from her knee being bent, Casey fluttered her eyelids to her boyfriend. “Careful, I do have a couple injuries that you are not taking care of.”

The big man adjusted his hold on Casey to ensure that the damaged knee wasn’t being jolted around. He then carried the swimmer into her room, laying her gently on her bed. “Leave it to me. I will make sure you are well cared for.”

“Is that so, Brian?” Casey asked with her hungry voice.

“Oh, I know that sound, my dear.” He paused for a moment, “It is so. What use am I, if I can’t take care of you while you’re hurt?” Brian then placed the young student on her bed and scratched his black goatee for a moment. “Do you need a pillow under that knee, Casey? I can get the one from the sofa and prop it up.” He pointed with his thumb behind him to where dinner was cooling. “..Or I can bring a plate of the spaghetti that I made.”

“No need for the pillow, Brian.” Casey turned and looked at her boyfriend, a mischievous and gorgeous twinkle coming from her twin hazel eyes.

“That is twice now, Casey. Either you are in a very loving mood, or you are trying to get me to not be as anxious about you being gone for two days.”

Casey lets out a little pouty purr from her chest. “Was it really two days? You missed me that much in only forty-eight hours? Brian, I think you like me or something.”

Her change into a thrall caused Casey to experience what was going on between the couple in much the way she’d been with Vivienne. She could tell just by looking at her boyfriend that he was excited to have her back. His eyes gave a deeper meaning beyond love and lust, and there was a hidden need in the gaze he gave her. She could see the hues that made up his tanned complexion and within those tones denoting his excitement. She spotted his lips twitching just before he spoke.

“I love you. I know you don’t like that word, as you have not said it to me in the two years that we’ve been dating. You have expressed it in many other ways, so I am not overly concerned about hearing the words.”

“You would be surprised on how I feel on the subject, given the last forty-eight hours.” She opened her arms and beckoned him to come to her. “Please, Brian. I will be fine. I want you here with me.”

He tilted his head and raised one eyebrow. “Are you sure, I don’t want your knee to get angry with me.”

“Dr. Moreau made sure it was in place and only healing. You will not make it angry, I promise.”

He crawled onto the double bed and stretched out beside Casey, his six foot long form nearly taking up the entire length of the bed. He started running his fingers through the long auburn hair. “So, tell me what happened for the last two days.”

Laying in the partial darkness of her room, Casey closed her eyes the moment Brian started running his fingers in her hair. Before becoming a ward the sensation always calmed her and made her excited enough that she wanted to become bound to the huge man. This time was a little different. Each little rise and fall of her locks in his fingers sent a tingle from her head to her feet. A tingle that didn’t exist until this moment. “Mmm, Brian. Why is it you know exactly where to touch me?” Casey purred and leaned into his stroking hand. “Do you really want to talk now? Because I am losing my ability to think straight with each passing moment.”

Brian shook his head and pulled Casey on top of him, kissing her once before rolling her back onto the bed. He paused for a moment and looked back at his lover's bandaged knee. “Are you sure? I mean your knee.”

Casey opened her eyes and looked up at her boyfriend. “Dr. Moreau told me I have to keep bending it as much as I can, but to be careful not to put weight on it.” She purred and pulled the big man back into a kiss. “So, yes I am very sure.” The ward lightly giggled.

Convinced, he leaned down and pressed his lips to Casey’s. With their lips pressed firmly together, she darted her tongue out to meet his own anxious one. Twisting and flipping in a heated dance, she felt the fire of passion emanate from Brian into her. Typically she would close her eyes and let the sensations of his lips and facial hair tickle her into a fevered sexual pace. This time was different. She’d become a ward, a thrall to a vampire and wanted to experience this like she experienced her new senses just hours before at Vivienne’s house.

Casey started with sight. By leaving her eyes open to watch her gentle giant, she could absorb every part of the impending moment. What she didn’t expect to see was the luminous violet glow that seemed to jump from his muscular form. She’d seen a gray glow of death around Vivienne, but his soft aura that permeated him told her all that she needed to know almost immediately. He was there and deeply connected to her and desired the romantic encounter as if his life depended on it.

-Quit trying to analyze this, Casey!- Her mind chastised her, and her chocolatey eyes slid shut.

All of her senses started working as one the moment she allowed her body to take over. The rush of heat pulsed from her heart, beating down through her torso and into her arms and legs. Pulsing energy though her arms, Casey’s slender hands tugged and pulled her lover’s shirt free of his muscular form. Her fingernails enjoyed his tight skin first, raking lightly from his back to his shoulders and finally to his bare and powerful arms. She felt his hungry growl deep within his bare chest the moment her fingers actually started pressing against the muscles in his arms. The difference this time was in how she felt the tight and stringy round bands that made his biceps. Plump and powerful, Casey noted every line and contour that she’d never felt before. “Mmmggmm.” She let spill from her lips into his ears with a whisper. “Make use of these arms, please..” She trailed off, and nibbled his ear for a moment.

Arching her back to thrust her chest into his hard body, Brian once again leaned back on his knees a moment and smiled. “I hope this isn’t a new shirt.”

“It's not even mine.” Casey urged while sensually biting her bottom lip and watching the violet tones start pulsing around his well formed body. “I just want to see those arms in action.” She squirmed in anticipation. He leaned his massive form over her swimmers body once again, a mischievous grin on his visage. Reaching to the ‘V’ collar of her blouse, Casey wiggled her hips under the pressure of his legs and watched as she saw in depth as his entire upper torso’s strength was dedicated to tearing the pink shirt away.. She heard the tears of the cotton and the ripping sound much like a zipper just as the blouse gave way, and right behind it the snapping of metal as the underwire from her bra snapped exposing her large breasts.

A new sensation of air rushing over her nipples in a swirl made her mind spin and her back arch up waiting for the next thing she hoped Brian would do. Her hungry eyes scanned his body again, causing her to breathe in deeply at the sheer volume of curves and squares his body formed in the half lit room. Noticing the hesitation on his face, the ward curled her finger towards him and pointed to the black skirt that she’d been given that very morning. “No need to stop now. You know you want to do it.” She giggled as she scanned down from his upper body to the strain that was now imprinted in his jeans. “Unless…” Casey offered as she leaned up and tugged lightly at his covered waist, exposing his heady sexual scent to tease her nose. Taking another breath as yet a second flash fire travels her spine, “I can tear those off if you want me to.”

“I don’t have another set of jeans here in your dorm, Casey. You .. you seem different.” He scratched his goatee for a moment.

-Oh my god, Casey!- Her mind not only had his sexual heat just behind his pants, but that simple scratch let loose just a whiff of his herbal peach shampoo.

“I just missed you, Brian. I know I was short with you before, but please don’t stop. Let’s just forget about the questions and enjoy each other.” She found herself in the odd position of almost begging her boyfriend to have sex with her.

-No, bring this back. Get him back over you, let your lips kiss his hard pecs.-

Blowing kisses from her elbowed position, She watched him finally give in and he took the time to unbutton his jeans, kicking them and his briefs to the side of the bed where her tattered blouse rested. Her eyes went wide and admired the man she’d chosen two years before, as he teased her by kissing his way up her legs. Falling back in a huff of desire, Casey’s legs sent another wave of white hot flickers for her senses to deal with. He’d done this before, Casey almost expected this sensuality right up until the moment the two connected. Her body felt the depth of his hot breath going over her bare legs so that when the kiss behind the breath landed, the feeling penetrated her energetic nerves and deep into the muscle itself. A liquid fire of pleasure she’d never felt before. It didn’t move, it lingered. No matter how she flexed, each kiss left behind more and more heat in her thick thigh. She tried in vain to push the feeling lower down her calves for relief from the sensation that was now clouding her vision and mind. The heat just wouldn’t move. He kept kissing right to the top of her leg, then switched sides where the exact same thing happened. Penetrating and unrelenting, the fire stayed in both her legs.

The swimmer clinched and twisted her pillow until it started to tear in her unnaturally strong grip. Finding herself nearly crippled with the sensations that had changed in herself, Casey stopped caring about the depth of what was happening. The roaring fires in her legs and pulsing lava in her nerves gave way to a sexual desire that was deeper than she’d ever experienced. It was the first time in her sexually charged life that she felt a real connection to another person, this wonderful man now helping her wiggle out of her skirt and panties. The heavy chested woman never thought that the change into a ward would ignite the passion she sought in so many others, yet never found, until right now.

Pinned in her own body from the raging inferno at the site of each kiss that Brian gave her as he trailed up her body, Casey sought some form of relief from her overwhelming sensations. Finding that her hands would respond through the hotspots, the ward clutched and twisted her fingers pulling on the thick comforter until she heard the tears and felt the cotton being pulled out. She swished her head both directions on her tattered pillow, turning her hair into an auburn nest with her blonde highlights as little wispy beacons that floated lightly in the heavy musky air. Neither of the two prior actions released any of the trapped lava torching her nerves. Casey resigned to use her voice to get the purring feeling from her chest and throat, hoping that it would let some of the furious fire expel from her body. Flipping her head back and readying her sexual moan from her chest, Brian closed his lips over her ample breast and nipple, using his teeth once to gently tug at the hard point.

Just like a volcano gathers all its pressure in a small dome before the explosion of lava is thrown in the air, Casey did much the same. A simple action with Brian’s lips sent the rest of the fiery shockwave through her nerves, first tingling her nerves then the jolting fire. Arching her back and involuntary constricting her tummy, the wave released and spread the points of fire that were trapped in place. Its primeval sensation finally gave her the chance to move once her body and it crashed back onto the bed. Freeing Brian from her ample chest, Casey pulled her man into a molten kiss. Her arms clutched to his neck. Her legs wrapped around his waist and guided him deeply inside her, starting the rhythm that melted their bodies into one, seeking that peak that her body desired.

Laying contently in Brian’s arms, Casey watched as the purple glow faded from Brian’s form. Her body spent and her desire filled, she thought about the intensity of their sexual ritual. The ward knew her body had changed for the better the moment she connected herself to Vivienne. She had spent the better part of an hour just explaining the small changes she could express at the time. Whatever else might have been part of the ‘ward package’ the blonde didn’t expect that even her nerves would have changed.

Taking a deep and relaxing breath, the ward didn’t expect to delineate the different ways her body would interpret being aroused. Sex had always been a full body experience, where she felt the sheer release at the end. This time didn’t have a way to truly measure how sedated she’d become after her orgasm. It wasn’t just all of her muscles going taut and expelling her arousal, they did them one at a time in a constant motion that let the fire burn from her body over a longer period of time allowing the wave of euphoria of her orgasm to smoothly consume the energy, rather than just suddenly stop and leave her jerking on the bed.

Like many other firsts today, Casey felt an unusual pang in her chest as she sleepily turned to face Brian.

-You have to tell him. Tell him you love him and tell him you’ve cheated on him, Rivers.-

Watching as Brian slept peacefully, Casey slid her long fingers through his matted sweaty hair. He moved closer to her and his leg draped over hers as she thought about the way she treated him just that very morning versus the intimate moment they’d just shared.

“Sorry about this morning, I wasn’t nice at all.” she whispered lightly.

Brian opened his eyes and warily looked at his girlfriend, “Huh?”

“I said I was harsh to you this morning and I am sorry for it.”

He leaned into her fingers as they stroked his hair. “That whole, I will do what I want…thing.

That wasn’t anything I was ready for.”

Casey recalled the entire conversation and wanted to take it all back at this point. “You were screaming..my headache..” She paused for a moment, giving her mind time to catch up. “..whatever. You were worried, I was bitching..still, I am sorry.”

“You want the truth?” Brian inquired.

“Yes.”

“Since you started obsessing over that band, you’ve been distant. Until tonight, I mean.” Brian sighed and gave Casey a quick kiss.

“Don’t worry about it. I don’t like them anymore, I even removed their music earlier.” She slid her hand across his cheek and through his goatee scratching it lightly. “I am happy here.”

“There’s got to be more than this. You have always been easy..” Brian pauses and smiles and watches as Casey gets a sour look on her face for a moment. “...I meant it like easy to understand.”

“I’m sure that is what you meant. Given how you had me in your spell five minutes after I limped in the door. Here we are still naked.”

Ignoring the comment, Brian pushed, “Just say what you want to say Casey, you have always been very vocal.”

Casey closed her chocolatey eyes and drew in a deep breath. “Yes, there is more.” She pulled her hand to her face, rubbing her temples a moment. “Being with Vivienne…Dr Moreau, all day, I learned something about myself and realized I needed to be a little more responsible.” “Her name is Vivienne?” Brian perked his eyebrow.

Casey got wide eyed and a smile on her face, “Yes. Isn’t it exotic sounding? It is French.”

“You seemed to almost glow saying her name, what is it you want me to know, Casey?”

The swimmer blinked a few times, getting her mistress out of her mind. “I want you to know that I can finally admit it.” Her hand reached out to place Brian’s hand over her heart. “I want you to know I love you.”

Brian blinked a few times, the shock of the words crossing over his face. “I have waited two years for you to say it.” He reached up to his girlfriend's hair, stroking it gently.

Shrugging her shoulders, “I wanted to be sure, I didn’t even admit it to myself until I saw you asleep just now.”

Brian let his hand slide from the long auburn-blonde locks to his girlfriend's cheek and gave her another hungry intimate kiss. “I don’t know what I did to change your mind, but I will take it.” His wide chest gave a pleasing purr.

Casey fluttered her eyes and took a deep breath in after the quick kiss. “You don’t?” She wiggled closer to him, running her nails up and down his thigh. “I opened my door and was suddenly in your arms, I saw the look in your eyes, and it calmed me.” She felt him stir under the blankets as her nails raced up to his hips. “I only mentioned my knee, and you didn’t hesitate to make sure I wasn’t in any pain.” Leaning up as she felt him stiffen, Casey pressed her lips to his in an impassioned French kiss. “You made dinner, you..” The ward struggled to catch her breath as their kiss parted, “..my knee..” Taking her leg and curving it over his waist, she felt his hips shift just enough so that he was nestled within her. A quick and molten gasp flew from her lips. “..I love you Brian.”

Casey seemed to lose track of time as she awoke to her phone ringing. The ward had been expecting this call and knew exactly who it was calling her. Leaning up from Brian’s chest from where she’d been comfortably sleeping with his semi-hard sex still nestled within her, the ward wiggled free and reached for the phone. “Hey there, Viv.” Standing up and walking to the corner of the room, she looked down and saw her crumpled jeans on the floor, recalling her thoughts from earlier in the day. “Right, it's time. Getting dressed now and I will be there as fast as I can.”

Brian sat up and slid to lean against the headboard. “Where are you going?”

She snapped on a bra and turned to her lover and lost her breath a moment seeing his strong chest. “I just have something to do for Vivienne.”

Curious Brian perked his eyebrow, “What do you have to do? I mean you are hurt.”

Buttoning her jeans and pulling her top on, she hobbled back to the bed, giving her boyfriend a quick kiss. “I can’t really go into it.” She sat down and put on her shoes, thinking a little deeper on an answer. “I sort of have an NDA when it comes to Vivienne. I can’t say much more than that.”

He folded his arms over his wide chest and smiled. “So, I have traded one obsession for another with you?”

Flipping her hair up and tying it into a ponytail she giggled a bit, “What do you mean?”

“Casey. I know how wild you are.”

“Meaning?”

Brian’s smile disappeared as he got a solemn look in his green eyes. “You’ve had other lovers, Casey. You didn’t really try to hide it.”

-There it is, out in the open.- She thought to herself. “No, I didn’t.”

“Is Vivienne another lover?”

She shook her head, “No, it isn’t like that at all. Vivienne is special to me, but that is all I can say.” Going from the chair to the bed again, “Brian.” She took his hand and placed it over her chest. “I love you, here and now.” She pauses, “Please, give me the chance to explain later. Stay here and I will be back as soon as I can.”

“You are really leaving?” He pulled his hand away from Casey’s chest.

“I have to.”

“Fine. I’ll stay, I don’t understand why I am, but I will stay put.” Brian sighed and leaned to give Casey a kiss.

Quickly returning Brian’s fevered kiss, The ward grabbed her phone and winked as she hobbled out of her room to the dorm door. “Stay just like that, Brian.” She giggled and quietly closed the door behind her.

Drake and the rest of the band were in the upstairs rooms, connected by makeshift doors that they’d torn from the walls to make the suites into one room. Using the band's charm with music, Drake’s troupe started a huge party with the fans that had fallen in love with them. They provided all the alcohol and drugs that the fans needed to relax and open up to the night stalkers all around. Sex provided the easiest avenue for the vampires to feed upon their fans. Knowing that during the act, blood is forced faster and faster in the frenzy, the feeders waited for the pinnacle before biting into their victims. Callous and hateful at times, the troupe members let the precious life liquid spray crimson on the walls and floor as they punctured as many holes as possible with their vile fangs. Once drained of their precious fluid, the vampires didn’t grant the mercy of turning their food into ash, but rather let them rot in a stack of putrid bodies in one of the bathrooms.

Drake looked the part of the standard rock and roll lead singer. Long stringy hair, a near magical voice, and tattoos of various devils and symbols trailing down his arms. Sitting bare chested so that all of his piercings were visible, wearing only a set of black tight leather pants and holding a bottle of rum mixed with blood, the leader barely listened to his progeny. “Dude, Drake this is boring as fuck.” One of his younger vampires walked up and sat beside him. “I want to hunt. I am tired of being walled up in this shithole that I can tear apart on a whim.” The vampire reached through the drywall and snapped the beam behind it. “See? Hunters should hunt, don’t you think?”

Casting an uncaring glance over, Drake responded. “Ken never returned. Why do you think that is my friend?” Drake’s tone was dry yet inquisitive to the younger vampire. “There has been a sunrise and he didn’t have anywhere but here to come back to. He was as controlled and under my command as you are. I gave him permission to stay within a few blocks of the hotel and yet he’s not here.”

“Ken was prone to being a bit liberal with his instruction. I only want to feed on the beach a bit and come back up here in the blessed dark.”

“No, and quit asking. Perhaps one of the guests in the hotel or a fan could use a bit of personal attention from a member of the band. Drain one of them, and eat them all you like. Just leave me enough bodies to make the cover of the burning building convincing.

“Fine. I don’t have much of a choice, do I? Fuck’n poser.” The younger vampire flitted off into the distance. Waiting a few seconds, Drake finally heard the sounds of a woman a few rooms over streaming and begging for her life as the youngling tore into its dinner like the leader had taught it. “Music to my ears.” Looking over at the twin bodies of the two owners of the hotel, the vile singer spoke to the corpses. “You, see? I told you it didn’t matter if I kept the music or screaming down. No one is going to be left to report this. You two worry too much. I think you both are much happier in your present state.” Laughing maniacally, the elder vampire licked his lips clear of the blood he’d drained from them both, leaving the two ashen and gray, discarded among the rubble.

The lead vampire knew that the spectacle within this hotel would draw attention to the one he’d been sent to find. A cold dead shiver went down his spine thinking about the idea of meeting the horror that he knew as the “Raven”. That shiver turned into a nervous twitch in Drake’s hands, forcing him to take another sip from the bottle to calm his nerves. Letting himself feel the effects of the rum, Drake desperately tried to remove the nightmare of meeting the powerful creature. Meeting her only one other time, the one thing he recalled with clarity were her eyes. A crystalline ice blue gaze that drove fear deeper than the reaper itself could produce, flashed continuously from his memory.

He’d only met the vampiress one other time before, hundreds of years prior when the troupes all gathered to discuss how to proceed in the future, setting up the rules for “the veil.” The name of the illusion was ingenious and right under humanity's nose. Human’s had become too aware of what they considered supernatural and had begun to turn the tide in their favor to eliminate vampires from the world. Knowing that vampires needed to pull away from cities, the leaders decided that “the veil” would start after two generations had passed. Once memories faded to history, vampires would move back and not over hunt, not draw undue attention to themselves, destroy any evidence of vampirism or make it look like an accident. History proved that there were always challenges to the illusion, such as the Spanish Flu, bird flu and a myriad of other illnesses, all in response to humanity learning about vampirism in small pockets.

Drake once again turned to face the two corpses, “I am amazed at how simple it is to fool you. All I had to do was flash my smile and wink. You let me into your hotel.” He laughed at another silly thought, “Your kind even created a game around us based on a masquerade, if you only knew how close you really were.” He tossed the bottle of blood-rum at the corpses and waited for the inevitable. “I have cast the dice, let’s see what you do now. Crazy bitch.”

Drake wasn’t exactly excited to meet this “Raven” again, given that the first meeting resulted in all of the oldest vampires other than herself, getting killed. The troupes had just resolved to enact the “veil” and come up with the various penalties for breaking it. Trying to shake off the memory of how quickly she destroyed vampires hundreds of years older than him, he cupped his hand over his temples and recalled her opinion on the matter. That opinion left blood on the walls, pooling on the floor and various left over bits of every near ancient vampire there was. The carnage lasted only a few minutes at best. He had watched as the Raven handled three and four vampires at a time, along with every thrall that had the courage to defend their master. Drake recalled her visage of fangs dripping with pieces of flesh still embedded and blood dripping slowly from her lips, when she spoke to the remaining members. “This is what you get for trying to decide my fate. This council has no power over me and I will decide for myself if I wish to participate in your veil.” Two things happened in that moment, Drake became the leader of the Flying Cannibals and they all learned what fear truly was.

Vivienne stood quietly on the beach watching the Ocean Lilly as she waited patiently for her ward to arrive. She’d seen all of the lights dim in the building and the doors locked so that no one else could enter, denoting the start of the events that would likely result in the occupants being consumed. The ancient vampire had seen it often enough in her past to realize that this was just another vampire coverup that would shock the coastal city. Many times in her tenure in Virginia Beach, Vivienne had to warn off a few straggling vampires that passed through and left a small scary wake in that path. She’d taken the visage of the Raven many times, ending the intrusions into her territory. Time and again, she would send a package with just parts of the vampires and a black feather, to warn the troupe in question to stay away from her city. “Just one more thing that drew them here, Vivienne. Careless yet again.” She muttered to herself, as she turned to see her sedan with Casey come to a quiet stop. The vampiress only grinned when her ward almost danced her way to her, completely armed top to bottom.

“Hey, Viv.”

“Good evening, Casey. You made it here just on time.” She points to the building. “The Flying Cannibals have started the takeover. Notice that the power is mostly out, the doors are guarded by vampires and locked.”

“Yep, I see it now.” She loaded a bolt into the crossbow. “Are you going to show me how to use this, Viv?”

“Look at that, you already figured out how to load it. The rest is just as easy.”

“I don’t think loading a crossbow is a big deal. Hitting something is another matter.”

“I designed it to be just as easy to use.” Vivienne walked behind her ward and pulled close to her cold body. “The idea is to be steady and fast. Your opponents will be faster than you, so you have to anticipate their moves.”

The ward melted into her mistress' touch and pushed herself into Vivienne. “Okay, so how do I use this thing properly?”

Vivienne reached under Casey’s arms and moved the blonde’s arms to the right position. “Make sure that the stock here is firmly in your shoulder, it will keep you steady. With both eyes on your target, aim down the shaft of the bolt and the two sights.”

“I see the sights now.” She pushed her neck closer to Vivienne.

The master vampire smiled to herself as she felt her ward push herself closer to be fed upon. “Casey, Trust what you have there. Let’s not take a chance and test fire that here.” Vivienne pointed back to the hotel, “I assure you that what is going on inside is taking most of their time, however sounds out of the ordinary will draw attention and need to tell you the plan.”

“Won’t they hear us?”

Vivienne placed her finger over her lips and sat down in the sand, pulling Casey into her lap.

Cradling her ward against one of her solid cold shoulders, Vivienne unveiled the plan in the sand. “Your primary goal is to find Faye.” Vivienne’s blue eyes warmed over with saying the name.

Casey heard the slight variation in Vivienne’s careful tone and quickly looked up to her mistress’s eyes, catching the red flashover on the rim of her beautiful eyes. “Really, Viv? I have only been gone a few hours.” The ward slowly whispered directly into the vampire's ear.

“Please focus. We have a very long time to discuss your surprise.” Vivienne stops writing in the sand and takes her ward’s better plan of whispering in her ear. “Do not enter through the front glass doors, use that fire entrance on the side that you can see from here. If I am right, the alarm will be disabled so that the others can feed without alerting bystanders.”

“Okay, side entrance.”

“Once you get inside, do not take any unnecessary chances. If you suspect anything, shoot. Faye told me she built a small room to hide from everyone, so it could be difficult to find. Get her to the car and wait for me.”

“What If she isn’t there?”

“Go floor to floor, wiping out every Cannibal you see. Faye is my priority. I will be coming in from the roof. If we have to, we meet in the middle.”

“Is that it?”

“I suspect that the building is going to go up in flames at some point. It is how the veil works for the others. They will need to cover this up.”

“Silly question here, If you knew that the Cannibals would do this, why did you let Faye go back in there?”

“She doesn’t know what I am or they are. It’s my mistake really. I didn’t think clearly when I asked her to go back in and find her parents. She told me that they went up to Drake's room to ask him to keep the party and noise down. I thought it was better that she be hidden somewhere the others wouldn’t think to find her.” Vivienne shook her head as a blood rimmed tear started forming. “I hope that I didn’t cost her everything. Ju-just find her, Casey.”

“Count on it, Vivienne.” Casey smiled at her mistress and once again pushed her neck close to the vampire's lips.

Smelling the alluring scent of her wards blood pulsing from her neck, the ancient vampire felt her fangs slide down, locking in solidly so the two of them heard it. “What a wonderfully delightful perk of having a ward.” Vivienne whispered as her fangs trailed along Casey’s neck.

“Viv. Leave the scars.”

“Is there any particular reason for me to do so?” Vivienne finds her mark and waits. “Mmhmm, a fun reminder to myself.” Casey sputtered as she felt her mistress' points break her flesh and start feeding.

Drake had brought the Flying Cannibals to this part of the beach for the week, by the request of an elder vampire within the council. Lately the council had been dealing with a huge break in the veil and the results were not going well for the vampires within the break. Drake had seen firsthand how some of the battles were going and graciously volunteered to come out here to get away from the fighting. Only after the troupe was on the road and driving towards the beach, did the singer open the letter given to him by the elder vampire, Franco Tarsy.

Recalling the contents of the letter, Drake once again muttered to himself like he did at first. “Fuck. I knew this was too good to be true.” He pulled on his stringy black hair for a moment. “You know, had I known you wanted me to find her before I started bringing the troupe out here, I would have told you to get fucked.” He took a breath and looked over his bored progeny and smiled.

When the Cannibals reached the city, Drake could tell from the lack of missing person leaflets and how the police casually patrolled, the place was ripe to pick clean. The concerts provided even more opportunity for the troupe to feed and be well nourished for the next part of Drake’s plan, which was to capture the Raven. “You said bring her, so I am.” The singer whispered and sat up in his makeshift throne. “Alright, we have made an absolute mess of things here, haven’t we Cannibals!” He heard the others start howling in agreement. “Alright, get all the blood you can, I suspect we will have company soon.”

“Dude, what the fuck are you talking about? We leave tonight, let's just burn this place now and get the fuck out of here.”

“We have one more thing to do and it's for the council.”

“You always say fuck the council. Why are we..”

Drake held up his hand to his ear. “Did you hear that? Sounds like the fire door just ripped open. Get someone down there, now!”

The singer listened closely as a few of his vampires reached the broken entrance. “Drake, we have..oh fuck me…” Was the last thing beyond the sound what he thought was a bow of some kind being fired.

“What is going on down there? I thought for sure she’d come in directly like she did before.”

Drake jumped as he heard screams of his troupe coming from a closer room. Grabbing a long wooden stake the size of a two-by-four, the scared leader stood up from his bloody chair. A moment later the singer almost lost his nerve as he watched the body parts of his younger vampires splatter against what was left of the walls in his room. When one of his newest younglings' head rolled to a stop at his feet, his other older companions looked at him.

“What the hell is going on Drake? What didn’t you tell us, you prick?”

“I have to bring the Raven back to the council.”

The four older members of the band stared at their leader in disbelief. “I thought that was a horror story to keep us in line.” One of the band members mentioned.

“No, she’s very real.” He managed to state as another two fledglings cried out from the distance. Drake forced his fear down in the attempt to regain some control of the situation. “Thralls and younglings, back off and wait for my signal. Do not try and take this creature down, you can’t.” The screams continued and Drake turned to his second in command who was about as old as he was. “You have the holy water I asked for?”

Knowing that music kept her focused, Casey put in one of her earbuds and started playing a song by R.E.M called “End of the word as we know it.” Walking to the fire door, the ward pulled on the steel until the locks buckled and allowed her to enter. She’d taken ten steps into the hallway when two vampires came around a corner in a blur. Raising the crossbow, she aimed as she was taught and the big dart hit one square in the chest dropping her like a stone. Stunned by the sudden loss of his companion, the other vampire started screaming, “Drake! We have, Oh fuck me..” was all the vampire managed to say before another bolt hit him in the chest as well. Casey walked up to the twin corpses, “Viv, that is two down. Want me to just leave them with the bolts in their chests?”

“Cut off their heads and burn them before removing the bolts.”

Lacking any true means to behead the twin vampires, the ward resolved to just burn the two and pull the bolts as the bodies burned. Igniting the girl vampire's clothing, Casey stood by as the flames consumed the clothing as kindling and the flesh of the undead creature caught fire, burning blue-gray as the flesh fell off. What she didn’t expect was the horrific scream the young vampire let out as its flesh and bones were reduced to ash. Pulling out her phone and turning up the music in her ear, Casey drowned out the begging and pleading the girl vampire screeched while also coughing up the blueish blood from her victims.

“You didn’t behead her did you, Casey.” still amazed she could hear her mistress through the commotion of going on in the hotel, the charmed ward answered. “No, I lacked any means to do it. I am waiting until its heart burns before I remove the bolt. Will that work?”

“Yes. Beheading them is the best way to prevent my brethren from regenerating, other than unrecoverable damage. It also keeps them from screaming like she is. Fortunately, this works to our advantage. Fear is always a great motivator.”

“I am looking at two piles of ash here Viv, it is a little creepy.” Casey reflected as she pulled the fire door closed to keep the illusion that the building was safe. “Confused is more like it. Like, why am I not sitting here crying that I killed two people?”

“Casey. Clear your thoughts. Find Faye, you are a hunter among hunters. You will succeed.”

The ward’s mind cleared of all doubt and felt her resolve turn to iron. “Yes. I will find Faye, I will succeed.” Making her way to the lobby, Casey found the area empty. The ward had seen the other vampires there earlier so she knew that the two guarding the door had to be close by. Turning just as her peripheral vision noticed what appeared to be a cold breath, the vampire materialized and knocked the crossbow from Casey’s hand, and in the second swing sent the ward through the front desk with a punch to her gut. Seeing the other vampire jump on top of what remained of the wooden structure, Casey fought back the pain from her ribs and back and grabbed a thick piece of wood as the vampire jumped at her. Once more, her aim hit true, and the wood shard from the desk dropped the creature like the others in the hallway. Exposing his fangs, the remaining youngling crept over to the blonde, picking her up by the roots of her hair. “Stupid little girl.” He clamped his other hand around her neck. “Drake, I have this bitch down here. Smells like a ward of some kind, what do you want me to do with her?”

“I have much bigger problems up here.” Drake squawked to his underling. “Do what you want, just make sure she can’t do anything else.”

He turned and saw Casey’s luscious brown eyes and started unbuckling his pants. “I have a great idea for you.”

Frantically, she reached for another scrap of the desk, pulling it free while the vampire was busy getting his pants off. Casey’s music changed and she heard the older lyrics of Bon Jovi as he announced in her ear “Shot through the heart and you’re to blame, you give love a bad name.” Jamming the stake squarely in his skinny chest, she hit the floor in a hard thump. Crawling over to her crossbow she sat on the floor a moment to assess how hurt she was. Feeling her ribs slowly setting in place, the wounded ward stood back up with a small wince and burned the other two corpses, this time relishing the bloody screams the two let out as they laid locked in place becoming ash.

Vivienne waited until Casey reached the fire door before she shifted into her raven bird form and flew to the top of the hotel. Seamlessly the ancient vampire took her normal shape and donned the persona of the Raven. Her malevolent eyes watched the two unsuspecting guardians as she made sure her outfit was in place. A jumpsuit made of supple black leather clung tightly to her undead form, leaving her hands and feet exposed. She’d affixed black and blood covered feathers over the leather so that when she moved, the floating tufts would provide another distraction for her victims to focus on before her wicked talons tore into their flesh. Pulling the final part of the ensemble together, her delicate hands tied the masquerade looking feathered mask to her face and adjusted the curved and vile black beak so that its prominence was second to her rage filled cobalt eyes.

Extending her nails on both her feet and fingers, The Raven flexed her claws and walked over to the twin vampiric guards. -Click..Click..Click..Click- Turning to face the eerie tapping coming from behind them, the twin vampires gasped in terror as each was lifted from their feet and held in the air by their throats. Desperately clawing at the Raven’s hands, the vampires tried to break free to no avail. Pulling one to her extended fangs, the inky clad creature drained one of the guards and wiggled her fingers free of the ash it turned into. Licking her lips free of the vampiric blood, the feathered woman closed her hand tightly over the second vampire's throat, stopping him from screaming. Feeling that his claws had no effect on the beaked visage that held him, he concentrated a moment and felt himself slip free of the steel grip he’d been held in as his form went into gas and floated away from his captor.

Shaking her head and watching the small cloud float away from her, she started to count to herself and walked until she’d counted down to zero. The Raven knew that younglings couldn’t maintain that form without extreme use of blood and that typically every vampire used their gas ability in small doses. -Click..Click..Click..Click- echoed over the roof once more as she approached the young vampire as it rematerialized at her feet. It gazed wearily up at the blurred creature towering over him. “You, you aren’t fucking real..god..god damned horror stor….” was the last thing the fledgling said before the Raven’s claws decimated the corpse into rotting unrecoverable pieces. Reaching down, she picked up the beast's head and walked with it to the door leading down into the hotel.

Walking clear of the last stair and into the top-level hallway, The Raven took in her surroundings. Disaster didn’t begin to cover the description of the hotel. Doors were torn from their frames and layed in pieces all over the blood-soaked carpet. Summer pictures meant to convey relaxation by the surf and sun were now covered in flecks of dried blood, rotting flesh and bone. Underlying the entire grizzly scene was the persistent scent of death and undead. Finally, she heard screaming coming from every direction that was both in satisfaction of a kill and panic from the fans being fed upon for food.

Sniffing the air close to the hallway, a newborn vampire stopped feeding on her meal and followed the alluring scent of her mate. She was only a few days old, yet bonded to the guy she could smell just outside of her room. Canting her head, a moment in thought and wiping her lips free of blood, a thought occurred to her. -Jaime is supposed to be guarding the top floor.- Intrigued, she bolted to the hallway and came face to face with the Raven, holding the head of her beloved. Dropping to her knees and crying blood the new vampire started screaming at the loss of her companion. “Ja–Jamie..” She choked out before letting her claws extend in fury. “Monster!” She screamed, the blood-filled tears leaving a crimson trail down her ashen cheeks.

Vivienne simply looked to the right where the little young vampiress was now crouched after screaming from the loss of her companion. The Raven didn’t wait for the panicked little girl to attack, but rather started swinging the disembodied head at the new vampire. Using the head as a battering ram, The Raven kept hitting the small vampire until the skull of her lover cracked open, flinging his brains all over her own beaten features. Discarding the shattered remains of ‘Jaime’, the blue eyes stared down at the slowly recovering new vampire.

Tearing the fledgling apart with her wicked talons, Vivienne calmly and softly commanded her ward. “Casey. Clear your thoughts. Find Faye, you are a hunter among hunters. You will succeed.” Picking up a few of the new vampire’s chunks the Raven hurled them along with the girl’s head towards the center hotel room.

Pivoting right, the inky ancient vampire walked into the room where the fledgling came from. Looking up from their tattered and torn human food, four more undead snarled at The Raven with their fangs bare and hungry.

Slowly standing up, the fledgling group nodded to each other as they spread out around the small room. Pushing out his burly chest, one spoke to the feathered woman covered in vampire parts. “I can’t wait to see what lays behind all those feathers and leather. The other three will feed off your naked corpse as I fuck you into your true death.” He sucked in blood from his lip and through his teeth. He nodded once to the others who crouched awaiting the coordinated command. “However, you are gorgeous, your blue eyes alone would be hard for me to consume, so I will give you a chance to beg us…” He pointed to the other three. “..we are the new order from these so called cannibals. I will graciously allow you to join us, the Flying Jays.”

Blinking her red-rimmed blue eyes a couple times, Vivienne didn’t move a muscle or say a word in response to the leader’s demands. Letting the seconds pass between the five in silence, The Raven saw the burly vampire’s pupil dilate. Talons and her body in a blur, the ancient vampire had one of the crouched ‘Jays’ drained and a pile of ash before the other three felt the air rush between them. Two of the three remaining sprung into the air from opposite attacking corners. Her claws extended, Vivienne jumped into the air, latched onto the ceiling and watched as the two vampires collided into each other. Pushing herself from the wood beams, she forced herself down on the two dazed vampires landing directly on their heads, popping them like water balloons. She dug into the squirming undead bodies and plucked an eyeball from each of their heads before stomping forward, to meet the leader.

Covered in a new layer of blood and viscera, Vivienne watched as the anger flared up in the leader’s eyes and chest, having witnessed the decimation of his beloved companions. Balling up his fists the big vampire drew back to punch, and stopped cold the moment he was lifted from the floor by his midsection. Taking obvious great pleasure in clawing her way through the big man’s abdomen, she pushed harder and into his body cavity itself until she reached his dead heart and tore everything out at the same time, spilling his organs all over the dirty floor, leaving his non-beating muscle in her hand. Dropping the carcass of the fading ‘leader’ to the floor, Vivienne started eating the heart in her hand. She’d taken two bites of the muscle before looking back to the quivering vampire. Shaking her head in dissatisfaction, she bit down on his heart and held it prisoner in her fangs before picking up his body and slinging it like a frisbee through the walls. Multiple vampires looked up through the new holes and started backing away as Vivienne finished snacking.

“What the fuck, Drake? You hid this bullshit from us?” The vampire pointed to the body parts still flying through the walls and splattering on the floor. “If you haven’t noticed, she’s coming. Can the four of us handle her with you? You are one of the oldest living, we are half your age. Certainly, we can kill her without a problem, even if…” The sub leader of the troupe was cut off with another barrage of vampire parts bulleted through the walls. “..if the younglings fucking can’t do it.”

Drake shot a disapproving look at his subordinate. “I was not asked to kill..” The leader paused for a moment as he heard the two women talking to each other. “..er, kill Viv.” Wiggling his eyebrows, he kept talking. “I was asked to bring her in so the others can talk to her. I want Viv immobile, not dead.”

“How do you plan to trap this..Viv woman, Drake?”

“If you have the fucking holy water I asked for, then that should cause enough damage that it will stun her long enough for the four of us to get her through the heart with a stake.” The singer shrugged and flashed his blood stained fangs. “Keep the plan simple, we can adjust from that.” Two vampires from the troupe came crashing through the walls of Drake’s throne room, spreading undead flesh all over the room.

Gazing over to their leader, the four sub-leaders of the Flying Cannibals frowned in disbelief at Drake. One spoke up, “You are delusional, Drake. That ‘thing’ is turning the entire band into sprays of crimson mist. Let’s do the smart thing and get the fuck out of here.”

Another leader walked a step closer to Drake, “Or, foreign concept, actually try and talk to her and see how that works.”

Drake had enough of his subordinates questioning his commands. “All of you, do what I told you to do, now.”

They all spoke in unison, frozen in place. “Your plan, your action.”

Gleefully, Drake watched the burning anger reflect in the red rims of their eyes. “Good, at least you all know who is in control, right? Spread out like I told you.” He points at the one lieutenant, “You have the holy water. When she comes in, you cover her in it.” Pointing to the other three, “When she is stunned you hold her and I will stake her.” Looking at his four close friends and leaders, “Are we clear?”

Speaking in unison once more, “Yes, Drake. We are crystal clear. Your plan, Your action. Water, pounce, stake. Do not kill.”

“See, I knew you would see it my way, you ungrateful fucks.” He nodded once and the four were freed from the hold Drake had on them.

“I hate you, fucker.” One spat blood on the floor towards Drake and headed to his position.

Dragging herself from the comfort of the carpeted floor, Casey stood up and stumble walked around the lobby, still waiting for her new metabolic form to repair the damage from the punch the vampire gave her moments before. Stepping on one of the small pamphlets that the hotel used to hold guest keycards, she caught a glimpse of the little piece of paper and shook her head in disbelief. -Why didn’t you think of this before?- She thought to herself as she picked up the holder and finally gazed over the map imprinted for guests to use. Looking over the basic map, Casey aligned where she was in relation to the lobby. Quickly ruling out the hallway she entered from and all of the guest rooms, the map left three locations that were possible locations to where Faye could be hiding out.

“Let’s think about this a bit, Rivers.” She quietly muttered as she thought to scan around for more vampires. “These two look like they could only be small utility closets or housekeeping items. That leaves, this one.” Tapping on the empty space on the map that was large enough to be a room, she memorized her route and shoved the map in her pocket.

Walking from the lobby and going down the opposite hallway from the fire-door, Casey made her way to the empty spot on the map. A sense of dread washed over the ward as she noticed that the door to the unmarked room had been shattered in the middle, with the shards still clinging to the frame and hinges. Raising the crossbow, Casey peered inside and caught a vampire licking blood from the floor. The lost creature turned its long-haired head up the moment it caught the scent of the living. “..Hunger..” Is all the tiny vampire girl uttered before a bolt pierced its heart. Casey shivered a moment and reloaded her weapon. “You… you can’t be older than…Oh god. Vivienne, I have to kill a child here.”

“Focus on your task, Casey. Not all of my brethren have what you would consider decency.” The angelic french accent enforced gently to her ward. “You are honestly saving the child from an eternity that it doesn’t understand. You aren’t killing, you are granting mercy, my ward.”

Dragging the small and unmoving corpse from the bloody floor and into the hallway, Casey obeyed the words from Vivienne that echoed in her head. -Granting mercy, my wardMumbling a tiny prayer she learned as a child, Casey completed the horrific task and reduced the youngling into ash. Tears welled up and fell across the young swimmer's cheeks, leaving a small trail of mascara behind. Her mind had been clear and so free just moments ago, freely enjoying the moments of both serving her mistress and removing the blood suckers that drained the life from the hotel, one bite at a time. A single child changed it all for the ward. That wasn’t anything but pure anguish in her eyes, Rivers.- Her mind went foggy for a moment, causing her to lean back against a wall. “Viv..I-I..I can’t think. I had to kill..”

“You didn’t kill a child, Casey. You freed an innocent from prison.” Vivienne’s voice coaxed and forced Casey’s mind into soft submission. “Clear your mind, my ward. Keep the single focus, keep yourself alive and healthy.”

Wiping the black trailed tears from her cheeks, the ward sniffled a few more times and pushed herself from the wall, her mind once again locked on task. “Okay. I got it, Viv. I will deal with it later.”

Having the time to investigate the room, it became obvious to Casey that this should be where Faye should be. One section of the room had been dedicated to the overall health of the hotel, monitoring the fire suppression system, the cameras on every floor quietly observing the hallways, the doors with alarms and finally the small restaurant located at the rear of the main floor. Away from the technical and business side of the room, Casey could easily tell that it was a living and breathing space. Pictures surrounded a small twin bed with peach sheets and a black comforter. Stuffed animals strewn all over the floor, with some covered in blood. Casey caught glimpses of what appeared to be programming manuals and a broken laptop with the name “Cyberlily” with a vampire claw mark going through it and the lid itself. Walking over and looking closely at the line of pictures, the ward finally knew what Faye looked like. “I can see what you like about her, Viv.” She paused for a short breath, “Bad news though. Her room is a wreck, nothing is working and there is blood all over the place.”

“I see.” Vivienne’s voice dark and gravelly, sent a primordial shiver of fear along Casey’s spine.

“I-I will head up to you, Viv.” Casey sputtered after what seemed like a dreadful long silence between them.

Chewing and swallowing the last vestiges of the heart, the feathered woman licked her fingers clear of the plasma that had coagulated. Watching as the flock of vampires slowly stood and faced The Raven, she took a quick count of the troupe members in this first room. At least fifteen.- her mind slowly told her. Just about to take her first step into the conjoined rooms, the Raven’s ward called to her. She clicked her talons hard enough to tear the cheap carpet away, once more allowing the tips to click in slow rhythm. -Click…Click…Click… Click- “I see.”

The two words caused the younglings to hesitate and look between themselves. A few wiped their mouths and started taking steps back into their leader's central room. Taking charge of the young pack, one of the more senior members of the band started waving his fellow younglings to break their trance and circle around him. “She is one, we are many. Let’s work tog-...” He stopped speaking the moment the clicking stopped and the black visage turned into mist.

The Raven floated her inky mist into the center of the room and gathered on the ceiling like a small tempest. Watching as the vampires looked up at her unnatural and thunderous cloud she reformed her body, talons first and dropped into the mass of undead. Her feet tore into a pair tearing them into bluish meat chunks as she landed. Her hands reached out to grasp another two, bashing them until they too were nothing but blood-soaked debris. Quietly she sniffed each of the four corpses and shook her head. Howling in rage from the scent of blood and their lost companions, the remaining pack all attacked The Raven.

Stepping out of the two bodies that she’d ripped and splattered into chunks moments before, the ancient vampire caught the first youngling as it sprang towards her. Wickedly her claws tore the face from the vampire, removing its lower jaw and plucking out its eyes in a single swipe. Sniffing the twitching vampire, she shook her head again and dropped it to the floor.

Taking a step forward the Raven crushed its skull, sending its brains between her toes. Relentlessly tearing the carpet to make sure her blood caked claws clicked on the cement floor, the predatory birdlike woman effortlessly shrugged off each wave of attackers as she moved through the room. Claws flashed time and again, sending bits of bone and flesh rocketing into Drake’s main chamber. Carefully sniffing each blast of crimson mist after every swing, The Raven kept shaking her head. Upon reaching the last two young defenders, her claws swung upwards into their throats and held each one in the air, squirming like worms on a hook trying to escape. Bringing the first to her nose, she breathed in deeply and once more shook her head. Her fangs penetrated his neck and drained the corpse quickly turning it to dust. Red eyes glaring and her fangs oozing with thick maroon blood, she quietly sniffed the last of the pack. A tight growl rumbled in her chest the moment she registered Faye’s scent on the vampire. “You’re the one.” She whispered into the terrified vampire's ear. “Where. Is. She?” Lacking the ability to speak, the remaining young vampire merely pointed into Drake’s room. Keeping her claw firmly in his throat, she dropped her arm and dragged the squirming undead with her into the adjoining room.

Drake sat uneasily on his tiny throne the moment the hotel went dead silent. No clicking, no screaming, no sounds of his troupe partying or even bickering among themselves. He motioned to one of his lieutenants and he just looked back to his leader, confused.

“Go out in the hallway and see what is going on.”

“Drake, stick to your god-damned plan, asshole.” the sub-leader waited for a moment. “That thing is just out there and waiting for us. You think it got quiet because the younglings won? You are more stu..” A snap from the band leader stopped the older vampire’s outburst.

Seconds of silence slipped by like an eternity before the first -Click- echoed from the hallway followed by the crunching noises of drywall and splintering wood from the unhinged doors. The Raven’s slender and dark form appeared in the doorway just after the slight disturbances.

-Click, Crunch..Click, Crunch- The Raven took a couple more steps into the makeshift throne room. Calmly, she raised the squirming vampire from the rubble and picked away the skin on his head until she saw the tiny hole in its skull. Poking her claw through the natural little hole, she peeled away the bone in tiny bits until its thick crimson blood oozed down the sides of his head. Glancing down at her captive that had just intensified his kicking and clawing, she dug the hand already in his throat just a little deeper and squeezed until the crack in his neck echoed in the chamber. Moments later his feeble attacks stopped and the Raven looked back to Drake for a second. “Where is she Drake?” The ancient one spoke calmly and picked more of her captive’s skull open, exposing its dead gray brain.

A large vial of holy water splattered against the Raven’s form causing the vampire on her claw to hiss and burn, while at the same time running harmlessly down her own form. “Thank you, I sometimes enjoy my meals..cooked.” She raised the helpless vampire to her lips, suctioning the blood and brains from its skull before throwing the husk with blinding speed in the direction the holy water came from.

Changing quickly to his gaseous form and back again, the lieutenant avoided being smashed in the face by the rocketing body. He nodded to Drake and the other three older vampires in the room and followed his leader’s command. The sub-leader sprang low, feet leading his attack with the aim of knocking the small bird-woman from her taloned feet. Coordinating their attack, the other three lept into action at the same time, one aiming for her head, the other two for her arms.

Flying towards his target, the vampire aiming for the Raven’s head heard a heavy twang and felt the sting of heavy wood pierce his chest, causing him to thud on the floor. Two of the other three hesitated and it cost them all. Still sliding for her legs, the first attacker realized too late the folly of his attack. He watched as she raised her razorlike talon just as his leg was about to sweep her leg. Quickly trying to avoid what was about to happen, his hands dug into the cement floor trying to stop his momentum. A blur of motion and the talon stomped down, crushing the lieutenant's leg and stopping his attack. The other two still intent on grappling The Raven’s arms were quickly grabbed by the face and smashed into each other before they could react. Brains and blood rained over the blue-black feather covered suit The Raven wore. “Holy water? That is a weapon of a true believer, Drake.” She lifts one of the two shaking vampiric bodies in her palm, draining the sub-leader until his dust sprinkles like pepper to the floor. “Did you honestly think water blessed..” She sniffs her outfit and shakes her head. “..by a Christian priest would do anything?” One hand now free, she casually reaches through the other lieutenant’s ribcage and pulls his heart from his chest, dropping the undead corpse on the floor. “Silly boy, I predate the coming of this..Yahweh.”

Looking down at the last remaining sub-leader, The Raven caught the glimpse of black and pink hair from the corner where it attacked from. -Faye!- Vivienne’s mind raced as she dropped her fanatical illusion of the raven. Quickly snapping her fingers, she motioned to her ward. “Cas..Casey, see if she…”

“On it, Viv.” The auburn ward ran over to the woman half buried in rubble. “She’s breathing, Vivienne.” Casey started yanking the debris away in the effort to unpin the Korean woman.

Pulling her mask free, Vivienne’s blue eyes started glowing with a blood and fire mixture. “You.” She knelt down and sniffed the air, confirming Faye’s blood scent emanating from the struggling vampire captured under her foot.

Seizing the chance to strike Vivienne, Drake sprinted across the room with his thick wooden makeshift stake held high. Vivienne felt the air move and yanked the last lieutenant from the floor holding him up as a shield from the incoming attack. Drake watched in disbelief as the stake impaled his last remaining ally and left him completely alone.

Rage finally boiled over in Vivienne, removing her calm exterior. Starting with an ominous and primal growl that echoed in the small chamber, the mental block holding the visceral aspect of her vampiric nature broke free of its cage.-Discarded and forgotten. Look at her.-

She cast a wild look to the rubble as another whiff of Faye’s blood flooded her senses. She pounced on the last of Drake’s lieutenants, hungrily feasting without any forethought of her demeanor. Clawing his body to shreds, the beast controlling the ancient vampire dismissed the blood springing from his undead corpse, in favor of every meaty organ that it could consume. Crawling around to keep her secondary prey in her vision, Vivienne kept breaking pieces off, crunching his bones as she dug her face into the corpse, pulling apart tendon by tendon, slurping vein and artery alike. -Feed. Consume. Destroy.- The ancient vampire felt and heard the beast taunt and pressed for her to relinquish control. Crushing the stake to remove it from her meal, her claws plucked the last organ from the quivering corpse. Squeezing the tender meat caused the blood within to stream through the air. Plasma crimson rain poured down the vampiress body and combined with the bone and scraps of intestine stuck to her face, removed the near angelic look she once had. -Yes, use me.- Her beast urged and purred deep within her, pleased.

Drake watched as the horror before him scratched the cement under her talons. “C-c-can…I-I …Just want to t-t-talk.” He replayed the scene in his head from years past, where The Raven acted tactful and made it a clear warning. He knew this was much different. No longer a warning, this was retribution. Turning to look at the ward clearing off the body he begged. “P-please..help me..”

Casey turned away from Faye for a moment and saw how her mistress looked. Her crystal blue eyes, replaced with a void like intensity that radiated from the deep maroon ring almost pulsing from her hungry glare. “Vivienne?” Casey squeaked and caught herself after registering the horror her mistress had become. Unable to bear the idea that the woman crouched and covered in body parts was who she devoted herself to, the ward thought only of her mission. -Nothing else matters, just Faye.- She pulled Faye’s body clear of the clutter on the floor right when the music of her iPhone changed to a soft piano rendition of the very song she’d accidentally thought of.

Soft and soothing, the dulcet tones plucked at Vivienne’s ears. Listening as the tempo picked up and the music reached her heart, Vivienne knew the song. She could hear the words singing in her dark mind, bringing her back, slowly closing the cage. -Nothing else matters. She matters. Faye, matters.-

Watching the ancient vampire closely, Drake knew that the gorgeous French woman before him was in the middle of battling the empty space that all of their brethren had. Blinking and shaking his head, Drake cleared the heated thoughts of running his maroon stained hands through her long black hair and over her well-shaped hips. -Her eyes, Drake. She is deadly and frozen.- Two things happened once his mind cleared. First the singer grabbed a small remote and pressed its black button, causing the building to shake hard enough that more of the walls collapsed under the stress. Next, the band leader ripped part of his ‘throne’ and raised his arm to impale Vivienne..

-Twang!-

Barely audible and a second too late, Drake registered the sound of Casey’s crossbow and turned just in time to feel the bolt penetrate his heart. The powerless vampire dropped the stake he possessed, and it clattered harmlessly on the floor.

Vivienne turned to look at her ward, “Thank you Casey.” She blinks her dazzling blue eyes then continues, “We will discuss this later, my ward. Right now we are against the clock.” Turning to Drake, Vivienne click-walks to the frozen leader. “You are all that is left of your precious troupe, Drake.” Removing the jewelry that she’d taken from Ken she drops the trinkets one at a time on the floor making her point. “I warned you years ago not to look for me, that I hold my own council.”

“Viv, I have her free and this looks really bad. I don’t know what to do.” Casey muttered just before she witnessed her mistress bolt over in a blur.

“We have to get her out of here now, Casey.” Vivienne looks up to her ward, her blue eyes forming tears of blood from the corners. “W..” her voice crumbled and her lip quivered uncontrollably. “..We have to leave now. I..” She scoops Fay into her arms, her bloody tears streaking down her ashen cheeks. “Faye, N..no, we haven’t had the chan..chance yet. Hang on, please.” Vivienne felt the Korean woman shift in her arms and let out a weak groan. Leaning down, the ancient one gave the woman she’d fallen in love with a smeared and bloody kiss then looked up at Drake. “You.”

Bolting over to Drake, Vivienne shifted Fay in her arms to cradle the woman, then punched into the vampire's spine, squeezing it and breaking it like a crab shell. Feeling him go limp in her arms she looked to Casey fast. “I have to get Faye home and this building is coming down. Let’s get out of here.”

“You go, I have an idea.”

“Casey?”

“Viv, trust me. You get Faye home, save her. I will be fine.” Casey hung the keys to the sedan on one of Vivienne’s fingers. “I promise. I have an idea.”

Quickly sniffing the air and feeling the rising heat on her talons, Vivienne didn’t take the time to argue with her ward. Spinning on her heels, the vampiress raced in a blue blur for the stairs and onto the roof, carrying Faye and dragging Drake by his broken spine. Bursting the metal door off its hinges, Vivienne felt the winter air once more on her face and blowing her long onyx hair.

Two small hops and she was looking down over the edge of the fifteen-story building as it burned. Noting the far-off sound of sirens, Vivienne didn’t take the time to analyze the situation and jumped from the roof. The leap vaulted the vampire far enough that she cleared the building and landed with a hard thump, causing the asphalt to crack and spindle outwards like spider webs. Racing to the car, Vivienne placed Faye in the back seat and tossed Drake across the driver's side and into the passenger seat, before speeding off into the distance.

Casey stood frozen as she watched her mistress take off in a blur out of Drake’s room carrying her injured companion and the band leader as if it was a normal thing. It took a beam from overhead crashing on the floor doused in fire to shake the ward from thinking of her mistress’s crystalline and lustrous blue eyes. -The plan!- Casey reflected in her mind for a brief moment and took off down the hallway towards the stairs. She reached the door and pulled it open and stopped. “Oh, forgot!” She exclaimed to no one. “Alright, slow down Rivers. You need a phone.” Taking a few seconds to rifle through the myriad of discarded and bloody phones, Casey found a working one and bounded down the stairs until she reached the fifth floor.

She pressed the button on the side of the phone and watched as it auto dialed, and the operator came over clearly. “911 Emergency response, how can I help you?” Casey did the best she could to sound panicked, “Y..yes I am .. I think it’s called Ocean Lilly something?

I..” She screamed loudly then went back to the phone. “..Oh my god, oh my god…”

“Ma’am? Talk to me, can you get somewhere safe?”

“That wall!” She breathed heavily into the phone, “Burning and nearly fell on me.”

“Ma’am focus on my voice, we can calmly get you out. I assure you EMS is on the way; we know the building is on fire.”

Casey looked down the stairwell of the five flights. -Alright, Rivers. It’s all or none.- The ward leapt off over the rail and free fell to the lower floor screaming the entire time. Once the auburn haired woman landed and absorbed the impact the best she could, she crushed the phone ending the conversation with the emergency operator. “Just like screaming for a rollercoaster. Now then, let’s see what we can do now.”

Looking around and finding debris already forming in the stairwell, she picked up pieces of the cement blocks and crushed them into powder, rubbing it in her frayed hair and all over her face giving her the look of a withered survivor. “Shit.” She felt the crossbow and the various stakes she had made on her person. “Sorry, Viv. These have to go.”

Opening the door from the stairwell into the main lobby she quickly sprinted to a hotspot engulfed in flame, and tossed the weapons. “Eh, It was fun while it lasted.” grabbing a small charred beam Casey pinned herself back in the stairwell. “A little of this in the hair and on the skin..” She smiled while covering herself in soot, “Now we need one more thing.” Looking up, the ward went up one flight of stairs, pulled out one of the metal railings and started banging on the floor with all her strength. As she heard the sirens of the fire department show up, the floor gave way from the burning and beating, dropping her back to the main floor, covering her in shards of rebar and concrete that shattered. She bit on her lower lip a moment and looked at her mostly unmarred skin. “Almost. Okay, this is going to hurt.” She half laughs and starts hitting herself with a chunk of broken rock to create injuries. Tasting her own blood, the ward stopped and tossed the rock on the ground and laid down. “Okay, come get me.”

Vivienne had the gas pedal pressed to the floor and the sedan’s engine straining under the speed that the vampire pushed it in the effort to get to her home. She weaved in and out of traffic, moving with her enhanced reaction well over one hundred miles per hour. “I heard everything you and your bandmates discussed. Even your stupid plan.” She swerved to avoid a small truck. “So, deliver your message. You mentioned that the others wanted to meet with me? I thought I made it clear that I don’t want anything to do with some council or perception of vampire command structure.” She looked over to the motionless vampire for a moment as she turned onto the long stretch of road towards her home.

Drake’s eyes raged over with blood pooling in their rims. “You know if I could move, I would dig my fangs right in your neck and end this whole charade. Fuck you. I am not saying a word unless you take this fucking stake out.”

“You said it before. You were sent to find me, enough with the threats that you and I both know you cannot fulfill. Deliver your message.”

“Will you let me live?”

“You know the answer to that, Drake. I gave you your chance to live. You even came out here to my city and made yourself a nuisance. You got my attention in the worst way possible.” Vivienne turned onto Midnight Crescent lane. “No. You die, it is that simple. If for no other reason, that I find you disgusting to be in presence of.” She pulled into the garage for her home and grabbed the band leader by the hair, dragging him out of the vehicle, then lifting Faye from the backseat. “What you tell me will decide if all the other members of the council die as well.”

Vivienne glanced down at Faye, quickly assessing her wounds. She raced inside her house, to her unused kitchen, tossing Drake like a sack of potatoes into a far corner. Placing Faye on the huge table, she yanked away the bloody rags that Faye had on and felt over the length of her body. “It is a miracle that you have made it this long.” She gave a worried yet admirable smile. “You have a strong will to survive, my dear.”

Drake started cackling in the background. “At least I die knowing I fucked you over. We both lost tonight, Raven.”

Knowing that the wounds on her Korean lady were too numerous, Vivienne sprinted out of the room, returning with a bag of blood and a large needle. The doctor started the transfusion, squeezing the blood into Faye’s arm. “That should give you enough blood for the time being.”

“Nothing you can do, bitch. I did that on purpose, you morose cunt.”

Ignoring the taunts from the band leader, Vivienne watched the blood start pouring out of Faye as if a sprinkler had started. She leaned down and heard Faye’s heart slowly beating. “There we go, hang in there. I hate to do this, my love. I have to know though.” Vivienne raised her hand to use the needle and noticed that her normally dead steady hand was shaking.

“Fear is a bitch isn’t it..Viv..” Drake kept laughing. “Let me just add this. I. Liked. Her. Blood. Even took it right from her cunt. She was really sweet. I can still taste it. She even came for me.”

The ancient vampire brought her hand down and looked for a moment, toning out the diabolical laugh of her prisoner. -This is not fear. You know what this is. Unlike the other careless mistakes over the last few days, this takes precision. So stop shaking.- Her will taking control of her body, Vivienne’s hand stopped its twitching. Up and down, the needle swung and hit Faye squarely in the chest. Pointed and true, the needle pierced the Korean woman’s skin and into her barely beating heart. Depressing the plunger, Vivienne had to wait a split second before Faye’s eyes flashed open.

Seizing the moment, Vivienne cupped Faye’s cheeks in her cold dead hands. Her blue eyes welling up with blood, “Faye, I only have moments. The epinephrine has a very short span. I am so sorry I left you. I never meant…” She shook away the bloody tears. “I don’t have the time to save you.” She ran her hands over Faye’s shoulders and back to her cheeks. “I got there too late, my love. I can’t patch you up and make you whole again.” Her French accent breaks a moment. “I have to do something drastic. While you still have precious blood in your body, I need to know if you want to live..my darling. No matter the cost. If I do this, you and I will be connected forever. I never wanted this for you..It's the only thing I have left.”

Spitting up blood trying to breathe, Faye coughed out a few words and shook her head up and down. “Y-yes. The chance to..” blood flowed from her lips, “...be with…” She weakly whispered, fluttering her eyes a moment. “..love..you..” Faye kept nodding and trying to focus -Keep breathing.- Her mind openly screamed. Knowing that her body was broken and bleeding, Faye kept breathing the best she could, the only thing that kept the door of death at bay, a set of luminous crystal blue eyes.

Vivienne laid her head on Faye’s chest and listened to Faye’s heart beating. The soft and gentle sound of her life slipping away. Pressing her hand on her chest one final time she turned Faye so that the weak pulse in her neck was exposed. “If there was any other option, Faye.” She wiped away her crimson tears, locked her fangs in place and plunged them deep and true into the artery, drawing out what was necessary.

-Oh, my!- Vivienne internally shouted as she swallowed the first pull of Faye’s force into her. Something was there, something more than human nourishment. More than giving her body the means to function. -Vivienne. You can taste love.- She pulled the second mouthful and held it on her tongue, once more the plasma radiated with more than just what she’d come to expect. There was the sweet and sticky iron flavor that everyone had, then there was the sensation of melting chocolate on her tongue. Seconds ticking away, Vivienne struggled with the taste that suddenly clouded her mind. -Rejuvenating, immortal.- Coming to her in a rush, the taste on her tongue certainly seemed pure and almost as if she’d ripped open a newly discovered fruit and become doused in its juices. -Ponder it later!- Holding the arterial fluid safely in her lips, leaned over and kissed Faye, biting her own lip. The mixture of the dead and living flowed like thin syrup between the two women.

The shadow of death loomed in Faye’s mind. The ever-present idea of peace clouding her will to keep breathing. She felt pressure, her Vivienne kissing her. Breathing as deep as she could, Faye pressed back into the kiss with all the strength she could find. -If this is it..let me make this perfect.- She begged her mind enough, so her broken arms moved to embrace the woman she loved. -Blood?- Her mind raced, feeling the thick rusty liquid being pushed down her throat. -Keep Bre…- Faye drew her last breath, her mind satisfied with the one tender moment she shared with -Her Vivienne.- The breath slowly pushed from her lungs, the blood stopped pulsing from her wounds and her arms crashed to the table.

Dead.