[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

* * *
Theroen and Melissa were not there, but Two knew that they had not gone far.
She could not sense them, but she wasn t trying too hard. They had no reason to leave,
only to keep their presence unknown to this man. She was sure they wanted to watch.
This was her first true moment as a vampire.
They walked along the road that, only minutes ago, Two had traveled in the
opposite direction. They didn t talk. Two was nervous, shuddery, trying hard not to show
it. The thirst was growing in her by the moment. She could smell the blood now, so close
to his skin.
 What was her name? she asked.
 Who?
 The wife that you told me you didn t have. The one you lied about.
The man was momentarily taken aback. He paused in his step, looked at her, eyes
wide. Two glanced back, the playfulness gone from her eyes.
 What was her name?
 Look, I don t know who you think I am. I m Sean...
 I didn t ask who you were. I asked what her name was.
Sean swallowed hard, shoved his tousled brown hair back from his forehead. Two
stepped toward him, touched a stubbly cheek, smiled again.
 It s a simple question, Sean. She moved her lips over his, barely touching,
pressed the tip of her tongue to the center of his upper lip. He opened his mouth
instinctively, and the touch became a kiss, long and damp. She touched below his waist,
and what she found there was rock hard, despite his concerns.
The nerves were gone. They d slipped off as the moment approached, and Two
was cold now. She played her lips about his neck, tasting his salty sweat, not yet bitter
from fear. Sean s hands were limp at his sides, his breath speeding. With one hand she
touched his hair. The other unbuttoned his pants, navigated beyond his boxers, touched
skin to skin. He shivered.
 Were you hard like this when you did it, Sean? Tell me her name.
Sean moaned. Fear? Lust? Two s hand quickened. She smiled, sharp teeth against
his neck.
 Tell me her name, you fucking murdering piece of shit.
 Th...Theresa. Her name was Theresa oh God...
Two pressed her teeth against the flesh, pressed hard, waited for the pulse. She
had been here before, on the receiving end, and found the wait now even more
interminable than it had been then. That instant before release had seemed to her
unbearable, but waiting for the moment when she could take the blood proved worse.
Sean stiffened. His heart pulsed. Two bit down. What began as a cry of passion
became a scream of pain, trailed into a moan somewhere between horror and ecstasy.
Sean sagged. Two followed him to the ground, attached at the neck, lost in the blood.
Ambrosia. Red and throbbing. Tears at her eyes, carving hot little tracks down her
cheeks. The heart stopped, the flow of blood ceased, and Two pulled back, gasping.
Crying. She looked at the body before her, limp organ hanging from open pants, the neck
a still shot from a horror film. She stood, staggered backward, felt her heels bump the
curb, felt her knees trying to buckle.
Two sat down at the side of the road with his seed on her hands and his blood in
her mouth, arms across her knees, head down, sobbing.
* * *
Chapter 4
Life in Shadow
Curbside. Sometime later.
She felt Theroen s hand on her shoulder, heard Melissa sigh beside her, felt a
cloth cleaning her hands. Two made some sound, pressed herself against Theroen,
couldn t stop crying. He ran a hand through her hair, kissed the top of her head.
 Was it what you thought it would be? He asked at last.
 No, she said into his chest, miserable. Theroen waited. At last, Two got herself
somewhat under control, leaning against Theroen, sniffling. Melissa was still holding her
hand.
 What was it then?
 It was horrible. It was beautiful.
She didn t see Melissa glance at Theroen, to exchange with him a tiny smile. Two
looked up.  How can someone so awful contain all of that beauty?
 The blood doesn t care about the vessel. Some vampires are like vigilantes. They
take only from murderers, rapists, and the like. Others take only from sixteen year old
virgins. The truth? It doesn t matter. The blood is the same regardless. Theroen felt Two
loosen her grip on him.
Melissa nodded.  It s why we make our choices the way we do. It s not worth
worrying about. Someone catches my eye, and that s that. I guess Theroen started you off
with this guy because you were already looking for some kind of revenge?
 Yeah. Two was trying not to look at Sean s corpse. Revenge against anyone
seemed the furthest thing from her mind.
 It doesn t matter though, Two. You need to learn that. It s mortal sentiment.
 Sorry. I m still new to this. Two ran a hand across her eyes. The liquid was
pink. She stared at it for a moment, laughed incredulously.
 There is nothing to be sorry for. It is understandable. But as you can see, Two,
you are not human anymore. Theroen stood, glancing toward the body. He reached
down and helped Two to her feet. She followed his glance and grimaced.
 I don t even know why I did... that, she indicated the unbuttoned pants, the
piece of meat hanging out of them.
 Part and parcel of the thirst, Two. It s a desire. A lust. They re tied together,
particularly for those of us lucky enough to retain our sexual capabilities.
 You re a natural, to be honest. Not many new vampires could have pulled off
simultaneously grilling the guy about his wife and keeping him mesmerized at the same
time. Theroen and I were impressed. Melissa leaned down and, with an air of complete
indifference, put the offending item back where it belonged. She hefted the body up on
one shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
 What do we do with that? With him? The expression on Sean s face, a mixture
of horror and pleasure, made Two queasy. She looked away.
 Good question. After a while, maybe ten ... fifteen years, there s not a  that to
deal with. Eventually you won t need that much blood, Melissa said.
 For the Ay Araf and Burilgi vampire strains, that s almost immediate. Their
fledglings stop needing to kill within a week or two. Ashayt vampires ... within a few
months. Eresh vampires take much longer. Melissa still kills sometimes.
 No. I don t. She does. Melissa s voice was quiet.
 My apologies, Melissa.
 S okay. It s weird, Two, but the stronger we get, the less we need. You ll learn
how to control that mesmerism stuff. Then you can keep them from remembering. They
wake up feeling kind of crappy, figure it s the flu... end of story.
 You can purposely do that?
 Oh, sure. One time I was with these two guys and this other girl, and we were all
getting pretty into it, you know? And I was all hot and I started biting without even really
thinking about it, and then the girl started freaking out, because this guy was like dripping
blood on her, but he had his eyes closed and thought she was, you know... just getting off.
So he keeps right on banging away at her, and I...
Theroen cleared his throat.  Melissa, do you have any stories which might
illustrate your point without requiring a detailed description of your various acts of
debauchery?
Melissa tilted her head, thinking.  No.
Two laughed.  It s okay. Sounds sort of fun, before the screaming anyway. But
that only tells me what to do with something alive. Sean has, uh... moved on. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
  • zanotowane.pl
  • doc.pisz.pl
  • pdf.pisz.pl
  • exclamation.htw.pl