Finally, Richie is making an appearance!

Between Dusk and Dawn

Chapter 3: Bloodlust

"What do you know about the Geckos?" The culebra snapped and his fingers travelled up her stomach towards the gentle swell of her breasts.

"I know them," She bit out in a wavering voice, not sure where this would take her, but unable to bear more of his touch. "They want me." She lied. "Richard – … and Seth, they are your Lords. They want me."

He laughed into her neck, taking his time to lick the dried blood off. The wound had not healed yet, so it hurt. Kate endured it, feeling sick to her stomach when he bit down softly. Life and death; this was a crossroad.

"Yes, I will take you, princess. So I can have a good taste later on and my reward."

"They will reward you." She whispered, but in truth, she wasn't so sure.

They were Lords now? What would they do to her, should she return? Richie; she had spat in his face in the moment of her death. She had literally wished him hell. And Seth, they had parted ways long before then. He had ditched her as soon as things had gotten complicated. What did they care about her? Both, so she had gathered, she had tried to kill while being possessed. What if they found out about her changes – the sweet blood, her new sense, her unusual fast healing – and decided she was a threat? Or worse, not Kate, but Amaru still controlling this body? They would kill her.

And still, … like the idiot she was, she hoped for their protection. She was twisted like that. Unable to let her stupid ideas of faith and humanity go, even when the world had spat in her face.

As the culebra shut her in the back of the trunk, she wondered about her choice. God Almighty, what had she done?

She must have lost consciousness because she woke in a strange place without any idea what had happened between then and now. Someone had handcuffed her to a metal pipe direct in line to a closed door. The walls were made of stone; no windows. This place wasn't familiar, but then again, what did she know about the Gecko brothers anymore? She'd only stayed at their place long enough to wake up and run away with one of Seth's guns. This could be their lair, or another prison. The culebra could have lied.

In the end, it didn't matter. She was chained to a wall, her cursed blood everywhere, and culebras roamed these halls. No matter what lord they served, they would be hungry for her.

Time passed, maybe two hours, or just two minutes. Fatigue warped time, she wasn't sure if she had lost consciousness at some point and woken up again. The sound of a male's voice pulled her out the trance. At first it sounded far off, but drew nearer. Someone was approaching.

"I know how you like them, my Lord. And her blood is sweet, I tell you. Like nothing you have tasted before." There was a pause, but Kate could not hear anyone responding. "I could have bought her to him, but I didn't. Come, see."

The door opened. She recognized him well before he did. How could she not? A lifetime ago a face like his had had her swooning. Now, her feelings ran much deeper. Darker.

"Kate." Once again he had her cowering on the floor, covered in her own blood. The joke was on her.

"Richie." She replied, and thanked her voice for not betraying her true feelings.

Then Richie's gaze travelled from her face to the red centre of her wound. His beast emerged at once, changing his handsome face into a devil's mask. A deep growl erupted from his chest, and all pretend fell away; his steely composure gone. Kate braced herself for the inevitable – already she felt his fangs pierce her tender flesh – but, inexplicably, he turned from her and faced the culebra who had brought her.

"Do you like her?" The smaller man inquired, his voice thin with trepidation.

"Oh, I do." Richie said, his voice flat. "But do you know what I like even more?" Slowly, he approached him.

"Another one?"

In an instant, Richie had him pinned against the wall, the man's feet dangling in mid-air like a puppet's. "To see you die for touching her." And with that he ripped the man's head right off. Like a madman, he snarled at the burning remains until nothing remained.

Even with all evidence gone, Kate could not find breathe. There had been no time to prepare for such an unspeakable act of raw violence. He had ripped his head off. Again, she tried to grasp for air because even if he didn't need to breathe, she had to; but her mouth closed around nothing.

"Kate." Richie said, but it only caused it to get worse. Then she felt his hands on her – the very hands who had just ripped a man's head off – and she lost it. After that, only darkness.

She woke to sound of muffled voices, alone in a room decorated in dark, rich colours. She recognized the place and it was like five months ago all over again. She felt too weak to get up, though, and resignation made it easy to just lie there and wait for something to happen. The door opened, and Kate, without opening her eyes, sensed his approach. It was as if she was fine-tuned to his presence, her body tingling all over.

Dear God, this was almost too much to bear.

"I know you are awake." Richie said. As usual, his voice gave nothing away. Kate opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. Even without looking at him she knew where he stood, how many meters separated them and that it they not were not nearly enough space between them.

"Say something." He ordered and it made her laugh. It sounded ugly and forced. When she finally spoke, her voice was small, but steady.

"Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. Ezekiel 36:31." Her whole focus was on the empty marble table at the end of the room.

Richie didn't seem to like her reciting bible verses, because next thing she knew Richie in her face, his long fingers locked around her wrist, his other hand on her chin, forcing her gaze to meet his.

His grip felt cold. Brutal. Unfamiliar.

"Stop wasting our time." He spat. "Where have you been? What happened?"

Kate turned her head, forcing his grip to lessen up. Richie had that way of looking into her soul, and she did not want him to see. He would not like what he would find, and neither would she.

"Tell me, Kate." She focused on his command, not on the shivers that raced down her spine. If it took only words to get rid of him, she was ready to deliver. Kate cleared her throat.

"I was doing fine." Richie laughed a cold, cruel laugh.

He let her go then, and Kate sat up. She didn't want him so close; she drew in her knees. And she kept inching back, even if her muscles protested. "Where is Seth."

"Not here talking to you Kate. Answer my questions."

She watched him pace the room from out of the corner of her eye. "Around." She replied, but his scowl made her reconsider her words. "Trying to forget."

How could she ever want to return to this place? She hated it. Like nothing else, she wished to spat the truth in his face. Instead, she stared at her knees, noting that her jeans were ripped, bloody. She needed to change. Her blood would attract more culebra she could not fight in the state she was in. And she knew Richie would not let her run. Her heartbeat picked up speed even though there was no fight left in her. God she was just so exhausted, when would this ever stop?

"Nothing will harm you here." Richie said, catching her utterly off guard. Kate looked up, and was momentarily taken aback how close he was. Just a moment ago he had stood near the door. Culebra, it whispered in her head; she could not trust him anymore than the others.

Disconcerted by his behaviour, she was driven by the need to stand on her own legs. She stretched them, and scooted forward until her feet touched the ground. Even this small movement hurt. "Sure." She mumbled, partly to distract him, partly to distract herself from the pain. His words meant nothing, she told herself. She was foolish to believe that he meant them.

Her legs would barely support her when she tried to stand up; Kate swayed on her knees. Richie moved towards her, but she flinched back and he stopped short. If she had looked close enough she could have seen a look of hurt cross his features. She hadn't, though. She musn't.

"Tell Seth-…, " She struggled for words, unsure why she had mentioned him at all, "tell him nothing. Don't tell him I was here."

"Oh, I will not tell Seth anything." Kate looked up in alarm. As always, his expression was unreadable. How could someone so cruel have such an angelic face? Then his words caught up to her. What did he mean by it - was Seth okay? Had they fought again? As if he sensed her alarm, Richie clarified. "You can tell him yourself, Kate."

"I'm not staying."

"Oh, yes, you are." Richie retorted, his tone cruel.

For the first time Kate looked at him, really looked at him. Immediately, his intense stare bore into her, making her truly believe that he could look right through her and into her soul. She could barely stand it, how could he?

Kate grit her teeth, willing herself not to look away. "You cannot make me stay."

"I can, Katie-cakes." His words burned like acid on her skin. He was a bastard. And she would not be trapped ever again.

Like in answer to her vow, her eyes fell on the gun holster draped around a leather armchair. She didn't let herself pause another second, it would give him just the time to stop her, and leaped. Just as her fingers settled around the handle of the gun, Richie got hold of her wrist. None too gently, he shoved her against the wall, one arm pinned above her head, the gun trapped between their bodies.

His face was a mask. "Don't make me angry, Kate."

"I already have." She hissed, her breath coming in short gasps. Anger, even in the light of her utter powerlessness, made things seem so much clearer. "Whatever you want from me, you have no right to take it. Let me go."

"You will stay here." He declared, his face a cruel mask. She'd seen that look before. This was the calm before the storm. He was angry, all right. On a logical level Kate new she should be worried. Right now, though, she was blinded by her own emotions. Seeing him again, being forced to remember it all – it was torture. She had run to forget it all. She couldn't stand this place. She couldn't stand to be here any second longer. Not when her heart felt like splintering in thousand pieces if she did.

"Fuck you!" She spat, desperation clouding her mind. With new vigour, she struggled against his bruising grip. "You cannot command me. You have no right, you hear me! You took it all already. I have nothing left to give you, Richard Gecko."

As if burned, he let her go. Kate almost fell over. Breathing hard she leaned against the wall, her head and heart throbbing painfully.

"I just saved you." Richie whispered, "Show some gratitude."

"You did nothing for me." She spat, again not meeting his eyes. "I will go now, and you will not follow me."

Kate picked up the gun, from where it had fallen in their struggle, and released the safety catch.

"And You will tell them to let me go." There was no need to exemplify, they both knew whom she meant. All the culebras outside were his to command, and once they got a whiff of her dried blood, she would be in a whole lot trouble. Richie was not stupid, he must know so too. So, why then, did he not let her go?

"Why do they carve you blood, Kate?"

Again, she forced herself to meet his stare, because there was no easy way to broach this subject. "And you?" She asked, her tone icy. God, it was almost unbearable to hold his stare.

Her eyes fixed on his face, she saw his expression change. A mix of regret and satisfaction twisted his face into a weird mask.

"It calls to me." Richie admitted. He came closer, circling her. Kate couldn't move. "So sweet…" He titled his head, and a smile suddenly playing on his lips. "But to me, you've always been sweet, Kate. So innocent, so determined. But something has changed, hasn't it? Your blood, it is different."

"S-stop." She stuttered. "I am not innocent." Richie continued his prowl, drawing closer with every step he took. Kate backed up against the wall, so he could not circle her any longer. She felt like an animal, trapped in a net that was slowly being pulled in. Panic pushed her heartbeat faster. And just as her shoulders met the solid barrier behind her, she remembered her gun.

Richie raised a dark eyebrow at the barrel it pointed at his torso.

"I'll shoot." She promised in a shaky voice.

"And I won't care." Richie bit out. "This is not a stake gun, Katie-cakes."

Suddenly, Kate realised that she was trapped with him. Not with Richie, the criminal that had once kidnapped her family, but with Richie the culebra, who wanted a taste of her addictive blood. Why hadn't she seen this coming? Nothing but a gun in her hands was stopping him from ripping her throat open right now.

"You won't hurt me." She voice was weak. It sounded like a question to her own ears, or worse, like a child's plea.

"No, I won't." Richie said, gently. "I'll make it feel good…"

Uhoh.

What's he gonna do?

Review, and I'll post the next chapter. Don't review and it make take a while till I find the confidence to upload more.

Now, for Richie's reaction: What are your thoughts on that? In his own way, he showed that he cared, right? He isn't the type to show his emotions, at least not his true feelings, so it's not easy to write good dialogue with him in the mix. You have to read between the lines. Did you?