Katerina Vlad

Chapter One: The Awakening

She was lying in the mud. Her body shook from pain as she attempted to crawl to harden ground. Her arms failed her and she landed face first in the mud. With what was left of her strength, she was able to turn her body. Now lying on her right side, she surveyed the damage done to her.

Her dress, once yellow and flowing, was now caked with mud and torn up the front, exposing her body. Her lacy white panties were gone, along with the matching bra. With her left hand, she slipped it passed her naked thighs to the mound of her womanly innocence. A single touch brought froth intense pain that she fell to her back.

She had been raped. Tears caressed her cheeks, leaving streaks down her face. She tried to pull her dress over her body, but found more pain as her hand brushed against her right breast. Two gagging wounds stared back her from just above her nipple, bleeding heavily. Her memory was coming back.

She was at a club, waiting on her blind date. She sat at the bar, playing with one of her dark honey ringlets, watching the door. An hour passed, and no one came up to her saying "I'm Alex." She felt stupid sitting at a bar, waiting on a guy who probably blew her off.

"Hello." A deep male's voice whispered into her ear. She turned in her seat. The man was at least six foot seven and decked out in all black leather. His hair was cut short, but fell in his eyes and was so black that it shined blue. His eyes were intense and bottomless as well as colorless. His features seemed to be cut from cold stone, sharp and hard.

"Are you Alex?" She squeaked. Her green eyes were glued onto his. There was strangeness about this man that she could not place.

"Yes," A smile played along his lips, "I am." He stepped closer to her. His breath was ice on her. Her skin became thick with goose bumps the moment he touched her. His hands, big and strong, clamped onto her upper arms. Quickly, he pulled her from her barstool and pressed her to his body.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" She hissed as Alex dragged her away from the bar. He did this with ease for her five foot three and one hundred and thirty pound frame gave no resistance. The crowd of people didn't notice them as Alex pulled her to a room marked "private".

Alex flung her to the floor as he shut the door. The only light in the room was from the red light bulb placed in the center of the ceiling. She tried to stand, but he simply knocked her down with one hand. He smiled, watching her struggled on the floor before him. Slowly, he removed his trench coat. His broad shoulders and chest stretched the black t-shirt to its limit. His leather pants were loose around his legs, but she could see large bulge in the crotch.

"Alex." She pleaded, "Why are you doing this? Kate said you were a sweet guy."

He laughed as he kneeled down. Catching the heel of her sandal, he pulled her to him. "I'm not really Alex, bitch. I like that name though. You can scream it to me as I'm fucking you." With that he ripped open her dress, exposing her body.

"No!" She screamed as she tried to crawl away. Again, with her feet, he pulled her to him. As he held her hands with his left hand, Alex tore her white lacy panties off her. He lowered his face to her trimmed mound. He sniffed her like a dog.

"A virgin." He said as he raised his face to hers. "Not for long." With those words, he shoved two fingers into her pussy. She screamed. He laughed. He repeated the attack again and again, watching the pain in her face. His hand moved from between her legs to her white lacy bra. With one quick tug, her breasts were bare.

"Hmm. Beautiful breasts. Nice body. I'm going to have fun with you." He moved his hand to the front of his pants. He unbuttoned the fly and unzipped the zipper. Slowly, he withdrew his penis from its hiding place. It was thick and throbbing, sticking straight out from his body. He placed his sex against her pussy.

"Please. Don't." She whispered. He only smiled. With one shove, his entire penis was within her body. She screamed as blood flowed from the wounded maidenhead. Alex continued his assault on her, ramming himself harder every time she screamed.

"Shut up, bitch!" He slapped her across the face. "This room is soundproof. No one is going to help you." Tears welled in her eyes as she became silent. Alex was right, no one could save her.

Alex slipped his spent penis out of her and stood. She could only lay there in pain and blood. Her body shook from the experience and she was still bleeding, worse than before. Alex, smiling, put his penis back into his pants. He looked down at her, watching her fear and pain.

His arm shot down and his long fingers wrapped around her neck. Alex lifted her off the floor. She kicked at him and beat her small fists against his arm. Her attempt to hurt him was useless and he laughed at her.

"Now." He bought her close to him. Her eyes widen as two sharp teeth extended from his normal carnie teeth. "You die." With his free hand, Alex grabbed her right breast. He sank his teeth into the creamy flesh. Blood poured out of her body as Alex savagely drank. She passed out.

She screamed into the night sky. She closed her eyes, trying to block the images from her mind. She couldn't stop the pain. She wanted to die and was dying. Blood slipped out the multiple wounds of her body. She didn't care; she waited for death to claim her.

She felt herself being lifted out of the mud. Her pain-filled eyes opened to a pair of green eyes, framed with dark brown hair gazing at her. A hand, strong and gentle, brushed the mud off her face.

"I hope I am not too late." She heard him whispered. His voice was soft and soothing. She watched him bring his left wrist to his mouth. Blood, unnaturally dark, flowed from his self-inflicted wound. He brushed the wound against her lips, the blood glistered. "Drink." He whispered as his wrist gently urged her mouth open. "Drink my blood. It's the only thing that can help you. Please drink." His eyes pleaded. Slowly, she allowed her mouth to open. The pain in her body subsided as the first drops of blood hit her tongue.

"Good girl." He whispered as she began to suckling his wrist. He drew her body closer to his. He held her tight to him as he rocked her in his arms. She dropped his wrist from her mouth and snuggled against his chest. She fell asleep. With his left arm freed, he picked her up. Slowly, he stood from the mud and carried her away from her would-be grave.

Days Later

She awoke to the feel of satin beneath her body. With a start, she shot up to sitting position. She was in the middle of a large four post bed of dark oak, draped in black satin. She pushed the comforter off to look down at her body. She was dressed in a long sleeve, black silk sleep shirt and silk panties that matched. She could not feel or see any mud on her body. Slowly, she unbuttoned the top button of the shirt to look at the wounds. In the place of the two gagging holes, there were two faded scars on her breast. Her hair, curly and clean, fell across her face as her hand slipped between her thighs. No pain.

"Good evening." A male's voice floated into her ears. She grabbed the comforter and pulled it across her body. He was sitting at the dark oak desk. His dark brown hair rippled down his shoulders to the middle of his chest as he stood. He wore black silk sleep pants, not doubt the match to the shirt, and a black ribbed tank top. His skin was pale, but healthy looking. He walked to the end of the bed and no farther. He leaned against a pole, waiting for her to speak.

"Thank you for getting me out of the mud and cleaning me up. I…I don't even know your name." She said. She knew she could trust him, but she didn't even know him.

"You are very welcome, miss. My name is Hayden." He said as he sat on the bed. His lean upper-body bent over his knees as he held his head in his hands. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you before Draven…"

"Who?" She crawled out from under the comforter. She continued to crawl to Hayden. The closer she crawled to him, the more she saw. The angular planes of his face were deep and swallow. There were dark rings around his eyes. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy. Faints lines of tears ran down his cheeks. Hayden had been crying, hard.

"Draven or Alex, it doesn't matter what name you call him; he is a murderer." Hayden's head hung lower, "If I got there in time, I could have saved your mortal life. I would not have had to change you." Another tear fell from his eye. She was confused.

"I don't under…" She stopped talking. Slowly, her hand found her mouth. Her fingers felt two sharp teeth extending from her first two carnie teeth. She jumped from the bed and ran to the small mirror on the desk. She has fangs!

"Yes." Hayden said, lifting himself off the bed. "There are such things as vampires. I am a vampire. Draven is a vampire. Now, you are a vampire. You're scared and confused. I have been in this situation before. I am going to be here for you." He was standing behind her. He was a good foot than her. She torn herself from the mirror and collapsed on his chest.

"Go ahead and cry. If you want, you can hit me. It helps sometimes if you can hit something." Hayden wrapped his arms around her small body. He felt every shiver her body made as tears flowed freely from her eyes. He picked her up into his arms and sat down in the chair. She curled herself to his chest. Once she was all cried out, she looked around the desk. Her eyes fell on a photo in a silver picture frame. It was Hayden, wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans, standing on the beach. In front of him, a red hair woman with a blue short, tank top dress. They looked happy together.

"Her name was Chloe." His voice was soft and sad. "She was the love of my life. The only mortal that knew I was a vampire. In all my eighty-five years, of this undead life, I never met a purer soul. Chloe and I were together for five years and we were planning our wedding when she…" Hayden stopped. She watched his face turned from sad to undying hate.

"Draven killed her. He entered our house without our knowing and waited. He took her by surprised as she came home from work. Just like he did to you, he did to her, but more.

"I was in a business meeting, across town, when Chloe cried out to me. I drove as fast as I could to her. Vampires can not really fly though I wish I could that day. When I finally got to the house, it was too late. Draven drained her body of blood, and then he ripped out her heart." His voice cracked. She wiped the tears from his cheeks. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him close to her.

"The police and medical team were already there. They tried to stop me from going to her, but they failed. At least, she looked peaceful. That was four years ago." He whispered, allowing his head to rest on her shoulder. They held each other in silence, two victims of Draven.

"I'm going to kill Draven." She said as she crawled out of Hayden's lap. She walked to the large floor-to-ceiling windows, watching the rain slam against the glass panels. "I am going to find that son of a bitch. I am going to rip off his head, de-flesh it and put his skull on my mantel." Her lips curled into a wicked smile, her fangs slipped down farther. Hayden walked beneath her.

"You need a plan to kill Draven. You can't walk up on him. That is where I come in." Hayden whispered into her ear. He turned away from her and walked back to the desk. Without turning around, she knew he was opening the drawers and rustling papers. Her hearing was very keen, due to her vampirism.

"The club you were at, I own it. Now, I am going to make you a business deal." He found the paper that he was looking for. With a pen, he signed his name on a dotted line. "I want you to be a partner in the club. I am giving you total power of the club and profits. You can do anything to the club you want, even rename it." She was standing by his side, looking down at the contract in disbelief. "I will help you run the club until you can do everything required on your own. With this, you can mentor all vampire activity in this city. This club is a hot spot for our kind. I guess because a vampire owns it."

"You are serious." She said, bluntly. He nodded his head as he handed her the pen. Slowly, she took the pen from his hand. She looked at him once more, and then she signed the contract.

"Tomorrow, we will go to my lawyer and get this legal. After that, I will show you the club. Your purse with all you belongings are in the office. After lunch, we will go to your apartment…is this you real name?" Hayden looked at her name, almost in shock.

"Yes. I had my last name legally changed when I was eighteen years old. I believe this name gave me an exotic flare." She giggled, showing her fangs to Hayden. "Now, I match my name quite well."

"You really do," Hayden cupped her chin. "Katerina Vlad."