Thanks for the words of encouragement from a reviewer. Learning to post chapters has been interesting. Also, I realize it's proper to mention that the universe of the Carpathians is the exclusive property of Ms. Feehan. I hope she won't mind me playing in that universe a little and even inviting a few of her characters to join me for a short while.

Chapter 2

Deborah awoke on a cold, hard surface. Her throat ached where the creature had bitten her and a burning sensation extended from her throat through her chest to her stomach. Memories of the attack rushed over her. What was that thing that walked like a man?

She sat up and looked around. Though she was in darkness, she could see the outlines of barrels and boxes. She struggled to her feet, almost fainting from weakness, and stumbled forward until she encountered a hard surface of a wall. Feeling her way along the wall, she came to a door. She grabbed the handle and turned it. It would not turn! She tried again frantically trying to get the door open. It was locked. She was trapped. She slumped down beside the wall as despair flooded her.

She felt his presence before she heard him. A surge of fear knotted in her stomach. She crawled toward the barrels hoping she could hide behind them. The rational part of her mind knew there would be no hiding from this creature.

She hunted around for anything to use as a weapon. Her hands closed around a length of wood. It wasn't much of a weapon, but it was all she had. Then the door opened and she saw him, his eyes glowing red. Cold fear spread through her body.

"Good evening, my dear," he said, in a voice that was low and almost sensual.

"Please let me go." She hated the pleading in her voice and knew that her fear pleased him.

"I'm afraid not, my love. You are mine now. I've waited a long time for you."

She brandished her weapon and he laughed. "You think to fight me my dear.?"

He stalked her across the room, moving too fast for her to react, and tore the broom from her hands. Then he was on her, tearing the rags of her dress from her body, then her petticoats and, finally, her under things. She fought but he was incredibly strong. He threw her onto the floor and fell on top of her. She screamed as he forced her legs apart and again as he thrust into her. He pounded into her with no consideration for her pain.

She could hardly breathe for the pain, praying that he would just kill her. The agony was unending, burning and tearing. There was more pain at her neck, then greedy slurping as her fed on her, pounding into her body in a frenzy.

She felt herself slipping into an alternate consciousness and began to experience memories that were not her own. A young boy played with other boys, learned to change his shape as he grew, and became a hunter of creatures like the one attacking her, finally becoming one of the creatures he had hunted. She felt pity for the boy who had become such a monster.

She came back to herself, her body aching and burning. The burning in her throat told her that he had forced her to drink his blood again. The pain forced a moan through her clenched teeth, though she tried to hold it in.

"My dear. " The voice was in her head, making her feel as though cold snakes crawled inside her. She held very still.

"I know you can hear me, my dear. You will soon be like me. We only need to exchange blood once more and we will be together for eternity." Hot tears of despair burned her eyes. How could she get away from this monster?

"Rest, my love." It was a cursed when he said it. "I must hunt so that I can provide for you."

Provide for her? He would hunt some poor man or woman and take their blood. She heard the door close and the latch thrown. Praying to God to let her die, she wished she could move so she could kill herself before he returned, but she was helpless. Images of his life flashed through her mind. How she knew it was his life, she had no idea, but she also knew these memories were her only hope. When she could fight the weakness no longer, she sank into a nightmare filled with images of killing innocents, of depravity.

She woke some time later. There was no sense of time anymore but she thought it was late afternoon. She was terribly thirsty and painfully sore. The cold packed earth of the floor had chilled her body causing her to shiver violently. She rolled painfully to her side and searched for the remnants of her clothing. She found the remains of her dress and wrapped herself in the fabric, hoping for some protection from the awful cold. She lay back, concentrating on the memories she had received from Alphonse.

She examined one memory of a fight in which a tall man thrust his hand into the chest of a monster much like Alphonse and ripped the heart out, flung it aside, only to watch it try to return to its owner. She watched as the man pulled lightning from the sky and used it to incinerate the heart and then the monster. She studied the images, working past the misery of her body.

When Alphonse returned, flush with his kill, he raped her again and again through the long night. Deborah's mind took her outside of herself, into a hidden compartment of her consciousness, insulating her from the abuse of her body. She began to search for a solution to her situation. It was nearly dawn when he left her, locking the door behind him. She knew this would be her last day as a human and she began to plan.

He had demonstrated he could read her mind just before he took her from the forest. He could also project his mind into hers. Now she had a space in her mind he could not enter, a place where she could hide her intentions. Let him believe she was no threat to him. His arrogance would keep him from digging deeper than the surface, she hoped.

A cold resolve filled her, something deep inside her awakening. She was different from other people. She had always had a sense of others, knowing who to trust and who was deceitful. And there was always something powerful just out of her reach. Something was uncoiling inside her, a sense of tremendous heat, trying to get out. She explored this sensation, reaching for it, ready to embrace it as lethargy overtook her and she slept, unable to move.