I fingered the trigger, contemplating. Not my own death, of course, but more death in general. It tended to surround me on a day to day basis. I shifted a little, tired of waiting for the deciding moment. Who would win or lose. Who would live or die.
I looked across the decrepit old house we were hiding in, catching the eye of a pair of my friends. Jake was the youngest of my little band of friends, barely past his eighteenth year. His brown hair needed a trim and his blue eyes were filled with more fear than usual. He was still getting used to the nightmare that was our lives.
Next to him, keeping an eye out for him, was Tucker. Tucker was tall, with light brown hair and dark brown eyes. As the eldest of us, he usually commanded a certain amount of influence in our group, but he was quite happy to let me be the leader. He had been my first friend when I was introduced to the fanged monsters that had only lived in stories before I was dumped into their larder.
Vampires.
I hadn't quite believed it when I had been told they existed. Now I knew for sure. And I knew that not a single one of them ever hesitated to take what they wanted from us humans. The lesser species, as far as they were concerned.
I frowned as the tip of my gun slowly raised towards a trio, talking before the quarry walked into the trap we had laid. Some young Mistress Vampire that the old Mistress who held me captive wanted dead. I wasn't sure why. Didn't care either.
I was, by no means, trained for a fight. This whole mission was suicide for the fourteen humans in the group. The ten Vampires charged with making sure the trap was set and sprung would probably be fine. Which is partly why I was contemplating.
I could get a bullet into all three. Nothing that would count, or make them permanently dead though. It would really only be a reminder that I hated them with every fiber of my being. And then I would be severely punished, if not killed, for the mutiny.
A hand closed around the muzzle of my gun and shoved it back down. The warning was unnecessary. I didn't want to die. There was only so much risk I would take to make a point. I didn't bother meeting the gaze of the human glaring at me as he kept my gun down. He was one of those insane ones that actually liked the abuse the Vampires put us through.
Instead, I was focused on the corner that Henri and Isaac had claimed. The two of them hated the Vampires like me and were the other third of our dissenting group. Henri was a red head that had arrived only a little before Jake. Isaac was blonde with blue eyes, and I worried greatly for him because I was fairly certain he was suicidal. The last of the group was still with the Mistress Vampire Sophia in France.
Juliette had been kept home, either because she was female or to be leverage on the rest of us. Sophia was a little old fashioned and believed women had no place fighting with anything other than their minds and wits. I didn't care as long as Juliette survived.
The Vampire keeping look out came hissing to his compatriots and we all got ready. The trap was about to be sprung.
Things seemed to blur when the young woman walked in the door. She had brought along some soldiers of her own. Skilled ones. I did my best to actually get a bullet where it was supposed to go, but I was quickly distracted by looking out for my friends. I had promised to protect them just as they had promised to protect me.
When all was said and done, eight of the ten Vampires we had come with were dead. We had some wounded humans, but all of us had made it. The realization of it was jarring. It was almost as if the young Mistress and her soldiers had been intending to keep us all alive.
Which turned out to be exactly right. We were all seated while the young Mistress did some minor interrogation. Then she was issuing orders to take five hostages and let the rest go. I realized I was staring at her when she felt my gaze on her and met my eyes. I had no intention of submissively dropping her gaze however.
She chose me. She then proceeded to choose my four friends, which I couldn't decide to call good luck or bad. I took in a breath and spoke to her. "You can't keep us. We'll find a way to escape." She regarded me for a long moment, then took the zip-strips her soldier handed her. She pulled me to my feet and fastened my wrists behind my back, not cruelly but securely. She didn't make any reaction to my words, making me wonder if she understood French.
We were all loaded into a van and carted away. I licked my lips and became a struggling, cursing irritation. I was determined to take all the focus off of my friends, and being a problem was the fastest way to do that.
The Vampire woman, I thought I had heard her called Katty, didn't react at all to my choice of curses and insults. Though the volume appeared to be getting to her. I grit my teeth and mentally switched over to English, hesitating a little with the secondary language but gaining confidence as I finally seemed to be getting a reaction.
I gasped in surprise when my carrying on got me what I had been aiming for and the Mistress whipped around, snagging the front of my shirt and yanking me towards her. I expected threats and curses. Instead, all I got was a mildly annoyed, 'what's your name?'.
"Max."
"And what is it you hope to accomplish with all this noise?"
A mildly sarcastic response rolled off my tongue before I could really think about it. "Freedom?" It was the truth certainly.
She laughed, and for a moment I forgot all the stories about how she was supposed to be evil. I couldn't quite forget that she was a monster under that human guise however. "Not gonna happen just yet. But you know that. You're intelligent enough to know how a hostage situation goes. Try again?"
I took in a breath to help steady my nerves and fixed her with a look of determination. "Give me to the cruelest of you."
She cocked her head curiously. "Pain fetish?"
I shook my head quickly, wanting to head off that misconception immediately. "No. I just want to spare them from as much as possible." I sensed my friends shifting uncomfortably behind me. But all four of them knew I was going to do this and I wouldn't be persuaded otherwise. They were the only family I had left, and I always put my life on the line before letting them face danger themselves.
The Vampire woman smiled, without fangs, I noticed. "How noble. But I already know who's going where. Little malchik gay is going with Emilio. Blondie is going to Joan and Chris. The big guy is going with Arthur. Red is going to Zach and Sable. And you're coming with me."
In the back, I heard Henri mumble, confused. "Malchik gay?"
"Gay boy." She translated her nickname, nodding behind me to Jake.
Henri snorted. "He's not gay." I winced and I could hear Jake when he shifted uncomfortably. "Are you?" The rest of the ride was spent in blessed silence. I slowly tensed as we arrived at our destination and parked. The Vampires began moving, more of them arriving as the young Mistress started dividing us up. She opened up the side door and started to reach for Isaac when I lunged at her.
"Don't touch him!" I almost had a heart attack when the violence didn't come from her, but from her soldier. He suddenly had his hand wrapped around my throat, squeezing just enough to render me frozen in fear as he calmly breathed out a threat.
"Don't touch her."
The tension abruptly broke when the Mistress cleared her throat. "Easy now." Then she was pulling Isaac out and turning him over to one of her Vampires. Tucker gave it a shot next, being polite and submissive as he pleaded with her to not split us up. To just let us go. She didn't listen to him either.
Finally, we were all split up and being herded to wherever the Vampires would be keeping us. The Mistress kept a tight hold on me as I resisted, trying to get a feel for how much patience she had. So far, it seemed to be quite a bit. She pushed me ahead of her into the apartment on the top floor and I stumbled when I became the center of attention for an old Vampire woman.
"Oh! What a pretty little blood gift. He'll look so gorgeous covered in blood." The words purred in anticipation set my heart to beating fast and froze me with fear. The younger Vampire abruptly yanked me back and right off my feet, throwing me against the wall behind her. Her foot planted between my legs to hinder movement and her fingers tangled in my hair.
Now I couldn't even breathe. My entire body had locked up, rendering me helpless to do anything to protect myself.
"Katty?"
"Sorry mom. Didn't think you would still be here. This one is actually mine." The words were muffled as blood rushed in my ears but it broke me out of my frozen panic. I struggled to start breathing again. I had to get out of here. I didn't want to die. Katty's fingers loosened in my hair and slowly slid through instead, pressing my head against her thigh as she pet me. I abruptly managed to get a breath in and panted harshly.
I blinked as the Vampire woman got ushered out by a male Vampire. I had blacked out for a minute there. But it had banished the fear, leaving only adrenaline and the desire to survive. To run. I yanked away from Katty's hand as she continued to pet me, not at all enjoying the feeling of being reduced to some possession. I glared when another Vampire male came over and squatted down to get a better look at me. Thankfully, neither of them seemed concerned about it.
Katty hauled me back to my feet and into a bedroom. The panic came back. Especially since the male had followed us in here. Katty was going to fuck with my head and let the male fuck with the rest of me. I didn't want that. I wouldn't let it happen without a fight.
I wrenched away from her and only got one step back before the male had his arms wrapped around me. He whispered in my ear, words meant to soothe, but that only served to turn my stomach. I flinched away until Katty had the male help her sit me down in a chair and fasten me there.
"Calm down for a bit. I'll be back in an hour." Her gaze led mine to a clock by the bed and I blinked in confusion. I hadn't been expecting that. Yet, she and the male left, giving me some time to myself.
Honestly, I appreciated the chance to catch my breath. It had been overwhelming to be out of the mansion I had been caged in for eight years. Not to mention flying over an ocean to carry out a suicide mission, being taken hostage, losing my friends, and almost eaten. All in one day.
A day that felt like it had lasted a year. I was exhausted and hungry and thirsty. And worried for my friends. How badly was this going to go for us? I had been hoping we would be kept together, so we could at least comfort each other even if we couldn't come up with a way to escape. So I could throw myself in front of them and take whatever the Vampires chose to dish out.
When she came back it was to inform me that escape was pointless. Also, that I and my friends would be treated well until Sophia, my jailer, decided to come and talk about her grievance. I didn't trust a word of it. But I didn't really have a choice either.
She offered me dinner but I didn't come out of the bedroom to get any. Instead, I drank from the faucet in the bathroom until I couldn't feel the hunger pangs anymore. And looked around the room. There wasn't much in here. The place was set up to accommodate guests but that was the extent of the items on hand.
I climbed into bed and tried to get my brain to stop skittering between terror and thoughts of escape. Both were pointless at this time.
I curled into a ball under the covers and focused on breathing instead. Counting each breath. Each moment I was still alive. Each second I had to myself without some Vampire hungering after my blood or my body or my pain.
The door opened a crack and I shut my eyes tight. The time had come. I braced myself for whatever the Vampire woman would do to me. My ears strained for where she was in the room when the door opened, admitting soft light from the next room. Vampires and their silent steps were impossible to track, but I always found myself trying to anyways.
The sound of the closet opening gave me a reference point. Then I caught the light sound of cloth on cloth. I felt, more than heard, when the Vampire came up to the side of the bed. I didn't dare open my eyes. I couldn't move. I could barely breathe.
I fought not to jump when something settled over me. Then I was fighting not to open my eyes wide with shock as I realized it was a blanket. The Vampire woman took a few moments to arrange the blanket over me, spreading it evenly and down far enough that if I uncurled I would still be covered.
She thought I was cold? And cared enough to do something about it?!
It didn't make sense. Not one bit.
My eyes finally flew open when the door closed and I looked around. She had left. I wasn't sure how to react to all of this. I had been expecting a savage monster ready to rip me a new one for the sins of the Vampire that owned me and instead I had been treated almost civilly.
I swallowed as I relaxed into the pillow and stared into the darkness. It was a good thing I didn't sleep, because I had a lot to think about.