I opened my eyes, feeling the softness of my bed beneath me. I lay there for a moment, feeling refreshed, and then it hit me. I sat bolt upright and looked around me.

I was in my apartment, and I was wearing my nightgown. Normally that would hardly bother me, but I had no idea how I got there. The last thing I remember is being in the forest. I must have passed out, but I had no recollection from that time onwards. My clothes were in the washing basket, and my shoes were where I normally left them, placed carefully on the wardrobe floor. I thought about it as hard as I could, and still I drew a blank.

I was feeling insecure, about everything really. The only place I ever felt comfort was at my father’s grave. There is a family cemetery on the edge of the estate where he was buried. I made the long walk in the moonlight, enjoying the fresh smell of the grass, and the fragrant flowers I picked along the way. It is odd how my sense of smell seems to pick up the slightest odours now.

I cleared away the dead flowers from my last visit, and placed the bunch of wild flowers onto his grave. Kneeling before the headstone, my reverie was broken by a voice.

“Where is Van Myers?” Over to my left, a female of middle eastern appearance was standing at the fence of the graveyard.

Shocked at her presence, I said “I don’t know. Who are you?”
She replied calmly “for that, you lose an arm. Now, where is Van Myers?”
The woman was holding a rather large hunting knife in her hand, which she was staring down at menacingly.

Why on Earth this strange woman would think that I knew where Van Myers could be was ludicrous. I was hardly his keeper. I did know that whoever she was, it didn’t seem like she was bluffing. I looked up at the open cemetery gate, and figured I could run towards it and away into the forest. I stood up, but before I had even broken into a run, she was in front of me. She held the knife to my throat, and said “let’s try that again, shall we? We can do this the hard way, or the easy way. It’s your choice. Where can I find Van Myers?”

I wasn’t going to get away from this woman, so I figured I may as well try to cooperate as much as possible. I honestly had no idea where Van Myers was now, and told her as much. She still wasn’t convinced however, and wanting to selfishly save myself, I suggested that he may be at his apartment. She said “take me there.”

What choice did I have? She led me forcefully across the parkland to where her black Porche was parked. She shoved me into the passenger side, and got into the drivers seat. We sat in silence as she drove along the road towards town. I was wracking my brain, trying to figure out how I could forewarn Van Myers. The only way would be if I could get away to a phone box.

I had to try and jump out of the car. Not an easy thing to gather courage for, since the car was travelling quite fast. I waited until she seemed relaxed, then in one movement I released my seat belt catch with one hand, and opened the door with the other hand. I lunged out towards freedom, but the woman had managed to grab my blouse sleeve. Thankfully the material stitching wasn’t strong enough to hold, and it tore off in her hand. I curled up into a ball as I hit the road, and rolled along the bitumen for what seemed forever. Coming to a stop, I looked to where the car was. My captor had braked hard, trying to stop, but the Porche had gone into a spin. Given the few extra seconds, I reached the forest beside the road, and was in the cover of the trees before she could have seen where I went. I crouched down in the underbrush until the car took off towards town again. I began running as fast as I could, being sure to stick to the forest edge. There were a few dingy bars on the edge of town along this road, and I knew I could call Van Myers from a phone there to warn him.

I had several scratches on my arms and legs from my fall, and generally looked grubby. My hair had begun to unravel from the french roll it had been fixed in, and tassels hung around my face. I tried to straighten myself up as best as possible as I approached the front of the bar. As I neared the door, who should I see walking out but Marie! An amazing stroke of luck I thought. She could help me warn Van Myers.

Marie had a young man on her arm, and they were nuzzling each other as they walked along. I guessed from the drum sticks in his back pocket that he was a drummer from the band playing at the bar. Marie looked up and grimaced as she saw me. We had a rather strained relationship, born more out of necessity than anything.

I hurriedly explained to Marie that I needed to contact Van Myers right away, as he was in danger. I added “I need you to take me to his apartment.” Looking at the man hanging off her arm, I said quietly “I’ll explain everything on the way.”

She sighed, whispered into the drummer’s ear, then led me to her motorbike. Hopping on behind her, she said “hang on” then took off at high speed. Over the din of the bike, I managed to yell my story into her ear.

We were a block from Van Myers apartment, when we passed a black Porche parked beside the road. Pointing at it, I said “that’s her car. She’s already here!”

As we pulled up outside the towering apartment block, Marie said “the woman you described sounds like an Assamite assassin.” She handed me a large pistol, and said “here, you’ll be needing this.” I really don’t like any sort of gun, but resigned myself to using it for my own defence. That woman was a nasty piece of work. I could see Marie had an even larger gun under her vest top.

The elevator ride seemed to take forever. Finally reaching Van Myers foyer, we buzzed him, and told him we needed to see him urgently.

Hastily I told him “You need to get out, there is a woman who I think wants to kill you, and I think she’s nearby.” He seemed confused, but my urgency was enough to spur him to action.

As we stood in the entrance foyer, the elevator ‘dinged’, and the doors slid open. The doorman we had seen downstairs staggered out, and fell to the tiled floor in front of us. He had been shot, evident by the blood oozing from a chest wound. I turned and spoke to the others, but I didn’t hear my own voice. It was the same as when I had been in the forest, there was no noise. It seemed the others were experiencing the same thing, and Van Myers signalled that we follow him. We were headed for his bedroom, when the woman appeared before us.

Marie pulled her gun and fired at the woman. A piece of flesh from her shoulder was blasted away, yet it only made her pause for a second. I pulled out the pistol Marie had given me and fired as well. Not being used to the ‘kick’ of a weapon, my shot went somewhere into the ceiling in the corner, missing her completely.

She was concentrating her attention on Van Myers, and produced a curved blade from behind her back. She slashed at Van Myers, but her shoulder wound must have been enough to put her aim off, and she missed him.

Marie stepped towards the woman, shot again at her, and seeing it have no effect, stabbed at her torso. It didn’t seem to slow the woman down any, and Marie must have decided enough was enough, and fled the room. I was stunned that Marie would just leave us both there with that woman. My grip slipped on the heavy gun, and it clanked to the floor. My only defence now was my claws, which I purposefully exposed now. I lunged at the woman, trying to scratch at her. She dove out of the way, and grabbed my shirt as I fell forwards past her. My shirt was completely ripped off me, and as I turned to see where she was, she shimmered and turned partially invisible.

I just couldn’t handle the thought that this woman had supernatural ghost-like abilities, and decided that perhaps Marie’s idea wasn’t so bad after all. I headed for the door, and ran out into the foyer. As I waited for the elevator to reach the floor again, I heard more shots ring out, I hoped from one of Van Myers’ guns.

I raced out of the building, and noticed a dozen or so people casually walking along the street. It was then that I realised my blouse had been ripped from me, and I now stood in the middle of the street with only my bra on.

I must have looked terrified, as a kind young man approached me and put his coat over me. He said “are you OK Miss? Have you been attacked or something? What can I do to help you?” I looked into his kind eyes, and said “please, just take me home. I just want to go home.” I could see he had no idea what was going on, but he at least didn’t ask any further questions of me. He hailed a cab, and I told the driver my address.

The man cradled me gently in his arms against his chest, in a very protective and yet tender embrace. As I lay against him, I could feel his heart beating in his chest, the blood coursing through his veins. It was then that the hunger inside me rose.

It was too powerful an urge to overcome, and I looked up to his neck, tantalisingly close to my face. I stretched upwards, and bit into his neck. His blood flowed freely down my throat - too freely! I tried to stop the bleeding but it kept coming! I tried to lick the wound but I couldn’t stop the bleeding! I licked at him again, and again, trying to heal the wound I had made. It didn’t work, and the man was beginning to sway in his seat, as the blood spread all over the place. Panicking, yelled at the driver “take us to the hospital, quickly. Somethings wrong with him!”

The cab driver looked over his shoulder, and saw the blood all over me and the man. He turned the taxi quickly and headed for the Boston Memorial Hospital nearby. He pulled up at the Emergency doors, and helped me carry the man inside. I screamed at the nurses “quickly, he’s been bit by some sort of animal, and he’s bleeding.” A team of nurses and doctors wheeled him away on a trolley, and I was left standing in the hallway as they worked on him in a room. One of the nurses handed me a clipboard, and ask that I fill out his details for them. I said “I’m only a friend. I can’t help you with this, I’m sorry.”

I ran out to the cab, where the driver was sitting. I said “please, take me home now.” As he drove off, he said “lady, I dunno what you did to that poor man, but the only place you’re going is to the police station!” I couldn’t let him do that, but the back seat was separated from the driver by a cage. As he slowed for a red light, I jumped out of the moving cab, and ran.

I headed for home, but decided to see if I could find Marie at the same bar on the way. It was a long way to walk to my place, and I wanted to make sure she was OK too. I found her sitting on her motorbike outside the bar, looking rather downtrodden. I walked up to her and simply said “take me home.” She nodded over her shoulder for me to get on, and took me back home.

Neither of us knew how Van Myers had fared with the woman after we had left, yet neither of us really wanted to discuss it either. We had both failed when he needed us most, and I vowed that I would try and make it up to him, if he’d survived.

[ The Masquerade ]

Story 2 - “Blood Bond”

[ Van Myers / Grady | Assamite | Marie (Sabbat gathering) (Video) | 32 New Hampshire Way ]
[ Hypnotised | King takes Queen | Black Aura | The List | Anastasie | Michael’s Demise | End Game ]

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