Here it was: the snake's strike. He wrapped himself around my small, mousy frame as though he were a constrictor, and I knew his intentions. It seemed the worst was inevitable. Here I was, locked in, entirely alone with this jerk, with no way of escape.
The scent of his sour sweat assaulted my senses. Dusty's harsh hands roamed over me, squeezing, rubbing- I tried to wiggle from his grasp, but like any other pesky serpent, it only caused him to tighten. He squished my lips into my teeth with his own. He probably thought he was kissing me. It didn't even feel like a kiss; it felt like he'd fallen lip-first onto my face without warning.
I did my best to cry out my objection while keeping my mouth tightly sealed. No easy task. I tried shoving him as hard as I could. It was no use. I was so close to him that I couldn't lock my elbows straight to put any firm distance between us.
He put his hands on either side of my waist and tossed me across the room. My body landed on a soft surface. A couch? I didn't have time to check, because he was there fumbling with the button on my jeans and I had to focus on thwarting his efforts.
"Stop! Please, stop!" I screamed.
"Shut up already! You might as well enjoy it!" he yelled back.
"No!" I didn't even notice the tear that slid down my cheek until it touched my lips and I tasted it.
The button gave, and he started to jerk my jeans from my waist.
Then something happened. The fear faded as anger grew, taking it's place. I wasn't having this. I would not be a victim.
I had never in my life punched anyone before, but it had to be done. I balled up my fist and let it fly straight into Dusty's eye.
"Ow!" he shouted, holding his face. "Shit, that hurt."
He left me to search our sinister abode and finally stopped inside a doorway off to the side of the large kitchen I'd only just noticed.
"You bitch. It's already turning black!" He yelled.
I had a moment of satisfaction. The punch did exactly what I meant it to do: make him stop. I was lucky for that. The black eye was just a bonus feature. I buttoned my jeans and grabbed the first thing I could find to hit him with if he tried again. It was a fern in a small, thick, brown clay pot. That plant was my lifeline at that moment.
Awful noises erupted from the room Dusty was in, and when things began to fly out and into the wall, I knew he was throwing an uber hissy fit. Things broke, cracked, shampoo exploded and splashed on the wall and floor. I just stood there with my fern.
Finally the fit was over and everything was still. Dusty came out of the bathroom.
"You better get used to this arrangement fast, because Im not going to let you get away with this again," he demanded, pointing at the purpling ring around his eye. "I can't even look at you right now."
He retreated to some other room. I was relieved, but still waited at least ten minutes before calming enough to set the fern down, then planted myself on the couch, head in hands.
All was quiet, save for the low snore that floated through the living quarters. With Dusty sleeping, now was my chance to inspect my new surroundings.
The kitchen was fully stocked and was easily the largest room. It even had a stove in it, something we didn't have in the firsty bleeder living quarters. The top was smooth, the buttons below to set the temperature of the top, exactly like those in the main kitchen in my old compound. I had no idea how to use it.
The bathroom was a mess with conditioner spilled on the floor and the toothpaste floating in the toilet, but otherwise it looked the same as my old one. I did not clean it. I had no intentions of using the room. No way was I going to risk being naked in the same house with Dusty, not for any reason. It didn't even matter how long I would be there, my mind was set.
Instead of four bedrooms, there was only one large bedroom, which I briefly peeked into. Of all the rooms, this was the most uninviting, with Dusty laying on his back across the bed, mouth wide, snoring at the ceiling. A morbidly empty crib rested to the right of the bed, designed for taunting more than for actual use. They want us to stare at a crib night after night, knowing that putting a baby in it was our only purpose, then they take it away in such a short time...so we can stare at an empty one again and hope to refill it. It turned my stomach.
So help me that crib will remain empty, I thought.
The living room was nothing remarkable. Designed the same way all other compound living rooms are: with a couch, chair, book shelf, and television pod. The only thing missing was my grandma's rickety rocking chair. My heart wrenched as I stared at the spot where she would be sitting, rocking and knitting away. I curled up on the couch with the blanket she knitted for me that I'd been quick enough to grab, and let the tears flow without shame.
•••
My feet pounded against the ground and my breath came ragged from my burning lungs. They were gaining close, I could tell from their moans. I chanced a glance back only to see them, the strips of rotten skin and tattered clothes hanging; eyes clouded over, dangling from their sockets, or gone altogether; open wounds infested with maggots and old blood. I wasted too much time looking, tumbled over a legless deader crawling on the ground, and they closed in. My heart was in my throat, blocking my airway. I wouldn't even be able to scream while they ate me alive! They were so close, but an odd noise interrupted them. They flickered. The noise came again and they disappeared completely, only to be replaced by the room I already hated.
It was just a dream, I told my pounding heart, though I couldn't recall falling asleep.
The noise came again. There was an unmistakable sound of shattering glass, and I sprang from the couch in high attention. For a moment, I thought Dusty had woken and started breaking things again, but when he rushed into the room wearing a look of confusion that mirrored my own, I knew something was up. There was a scraping as if metal rubbing against metal. I realized it was coming from the window an instant before I spotted the strange silver claws spreading the safety (prison) bars apart.
"What the-" Dusty had noticed it as well.
I peered into the darkness. There behind the great claws, in full command of their intent was-
"Hector!" I yelped in excitement. Help had arrived, just as he'd promised.
"Hi," he said with his famous sparkling grin that I welcomed completely.
The claws screeched and clanked while they separated their target.
"Am I ever glad to see you!" I shouted over the mechanical racket.
"I got lucky. This thing was just lying around," he shouted, indicating the claw tool.
"You've got to be kidding me," Dusty grumbled. Apparently, he did not share my happiness. He was as angry as a guy that was about to have another man move in on his woman, but I wasn't ever his woman.
"You'll go into the sun for this." He vowed to Hector.
"You going to put me in the sun, big man?" Hector mocked. He finished his task, and maneuvered the metal contraption through the window before he passed through himself. Despite the nocturnal existence of his kind, he seemed to radiate light with his white skin and honeyed hair. He was a vision of hope to me, but apparently everyone in the room didn't feel the same. Standing before us, he must have seemed much more intimidating than he had been outside, because Dusty's bravery waned.
"T-they will." He stammered, meaning -I guessed - the other superiors. I glared at him with disgust. Not such the macho man now, was he?
"Did he touch you?" Hector asked, ignoring the pathetic firsty.
"He tried, but no."
"You give him that shiner?"
I nodded my head proudly.
"Good girl." He said with an equally proud smile and a slight raise of his brow that seemed to indicate he was somewhat impressed. "We better go, we won't have much time before-"
"You're not going anywhere with her. She's my mate." Dusty found his nerve. A good case of the shakes weren't enough to weaken his cruel demeanor when he thought his property was being snatched away.
"Your mate? Have you enjoyed the taste of her kiss or the warmth of her embrace? I have," He bragged. "And I can promise you, it is as good as you dreamed. It's damn incredible actually, and since she was fully willing, that kind of makes her my mate, mate. So back off. You do not want to mess with a vampire's lover!" His voice rose to booming. He allowed his fangs to show in a menacing snarl as he rounded on the edgy firsty. Dusty flinched violently and fell against the wall in a cower.
"P-please, don't d-drain me." He managed losing all machoness.
I could almost have felt sorry for him, but I wouldn't. He had almost raped me only hours before.
Hector just snorted in a way that said Dusty wasn't worth his time. He left the coward on the floor and took my hand.
"We have to go. They'll notice me gone soon."