I stood stark still staring at the luxurious four poster bed with its trestle roof and spiral posts , deep burgundy quilt coverings with intricate half turtle dove designs in gold and silver thread , you just knew underneath there would be 800 hundred thread count sheets and hell maybe even Egyptian cotton , it was the kind of bed you stop to look at in the furniture shop but quickly keeping walking when you see the price , but all that didn't really matter to me right now .

I may as well have been staring at a butchers bloody block

Any second I would be shoved onto that bed and then…

I waited , and I waited and then I waited some more , but nothing came

Shaking like a leaf I slowly worked up the courage to begin turning around and face the thing that had purchased me like a pack of Cheetos , but when I did the slowest 180 of my life I found myself looking at the back of the door and nothing else , I quickly darted my head round the room so fast I may have given myself whip lash , maybe it liked to jump out on its meal , but no , I really was alone

I did what seemed most pertinent , I collapsed right there on the rich shag carpeting , its quality definitely saved me bruised knees , I just couldn't take this anymore , I had been in a state of cat like readiness , abject terror , or foreboding doom for close to …., Christ I did not even know anymore , had the sun risen and set while I had been in that awful place , could this still be the same night I was wrenched away from my safe little home , it felt like it couldn't but I had no way to tell .

What I did know was I was bone weary , I know that's a term we've all used and I may have as well in the past after a double shift , but no this was different , I was tired and aching down to my skeleton . Bone . Weary .

Sat there on my bare butt , carpet thread tickling my who-ha I pondered my next move , why had it left me here alone ? . If this was some sort of weird game it was a very strange thing to do , not that I had much knowledge of how Vampires thought but up till now what I had witnessed seemed to suggest direct and affirmative action , no tip toeing through the tulips for these bad boys , A to B to ripping you to shreds , that was it .

So I really was at a loss

My head had begun to nod involuntary with little bouts of micro-sleep that had started to creep up on me , I lurched back just about in time to stop me face planting into the carpet , I shook myself and franticly rubbed my eyes , I needed to take stock of my situation .

Other than the dreaded but unquestionably beautiful bed , there was a few other pieces of furniture in what I consider to have been a decent sized room , it was slightly larger than the master bed room back at the farm , that had used to be grans room but after she passed I had moved in , it had actually helped as part of the grieving proses as it allowed me to feel close to her and I didn't mind at all her lavender scent hung in the air for many months after , it calmed me .

As if from beyond the grave , thoughts of Gran actually calmed me a little now , I was still in cat , rocking chair , territory but I could think a bit clearer , back to taking stock , two bed side cabinets on either side of the bed , one bare , one with a brass lamp with a green blown glass shade , I could use that for a club if I wrapped the cord around the base to keep it out of the way , ok , moving on

Chest of drawers , nothing on the top , I needed to move and look further . Sheer willpower got my legs to support me as I teetered for a second before finding my footing , I kicked off the stupid big Croc's . I felt a brief shudder as my bare feet touched the carpet , damn this was a soft floor I could sleep on this thing , focus Sookie ! .

Quietly creeping over to the chest of drawers I confirmed one by one that they were all empty , they also had that wood and pine oil smell that only comes from unused drawers that have not had time to soak up the fabric smells , so this was a new set up by the looks of things , the Bed side tables and the chest of drawers , plus on the far end of the room a vanity stand plus chair all matched , so I bet they all came as set , and a pretty darn expensive set as well , this looked like a show piece from better homes and gardens.

That was it , that's what this room felt like , it had that unlived feeling you get with a new house . No stamp was on it just a blank slate , other than the hissing door I was led in through , on the far end of the room was another door , I had spied it earlier but wanted to make my investigations in here first , big girl panties Sookie , Big girl panties , actually ANY panties would be nice about now

Gingerly I approached the possible mystery door of doom , was it a way out ? . No , that just wasn't possible , not after all this , and besides unless it led to some stairs I would still be underground , gripping the cut crystal handle I took three or four deep breaths , like a new soon to be mamma getting ready to push .

The door swung open with ease , not even a creak

Inside was a sumptuous looking bathroom suite that would have taken me at least at a conservative estimate four years to earn enough to pay for . Top quality all round , off white cream ceramic bathtub plus washbasin with a Spanish tile floor , as soon as I stepped on it I knew it was heated , the sudden rush of warmth almost made me jump

Just behind the door was a toilet and Jesus H , a bidet with gold fittings , I did not think I had ever been this close to a bidet before , I only knew what it was from films .

The en suite was the same as the bedroom , decent sized and furnished with what appeared to be a bottomless budget , along the far tiled wall there was a glass shelving unit that just sort of hung there In an elegant magic trick , I couldn't even see how it was attached . On the three shelves were just about every type of soap and cream and moisturiser you could imagine , make up bags filled with everything a girl would need for a Saturday night on the town , combs brushes , basically imagine the hair and beauty isle in any major department store and this was it in microcosm

And do you know what , to top it all off on the very top shelf at the end nearest the bath tub , I shit you not

Was a rubber duck , a little plastic rubber ducky with a bright red beak

I couldn't stop it , it was like a torrent , I started laughing and howling like a mad women , if I had seen me in the street acting like I was now I would have crossed over the road pronto .

Tears streamed my face and it must have taken about a good ten minutes before the chuckling stopped and now I was just crying again , please god , don't let me go crazy now , not now I thought

I needed to sit down again before I fell down , and as nice as the terracotta colour tiles were with their seeping heat , I knew they would not be as comfortable as the shag carpet to fall on

I picked up the stack of criminally fluffy towels off the closed toilet seat and unceremoniously plonked myself down on the throne

From my porcelain easy chair I finished my inspection and took some finer details , all the products on the shelves were new , I could see many items were still in there packaging , a few toothbrushes occupied a stand on the middle shelf and they were all still in there neat little plastic cases ,next to them was what I gathered was an electric tooth brush complete with base station with LED readout , it looked like something out of star trek to me .

What the hell was going on ? . Did Vampires need all this stuff , did they brush their teeth , fangs or whatever ? .

I allowed me eyes to keep wandering till they zeroed in on the spotless gold tap and fixtures on the generous sized bath tub , a clouded style shower partition Concertinaed out of the wall , it was half way pulled but I could see you could extended it all the way out when you took a shower , a shower , gods a shower would be nice .

I lifted my arm to smell myself and no word of a lie I actually balked from my own body odour , I smelled like crap , no scratch that , that was an insult to crap , I smelt even worse

Vomit and sweat and oh god urine all vied for most disgusting Sookie scent , I felt a sticky sheen down both my legs and realised with unbelievable shame that at some point I had wet myself , I wasn't even aware I had done it , maybe in my cell back in the hell hole I'm not sure , but I had .

My minging hospital gown had soaked up all these delightful body secretions and now I had become aware of them they smelt noxious to me , and on top of everything I still bore a healthy dose of stinging disinfectant , the resulting mix was rank beyond words .

My mind was made up , I know it sounds stupid given the situation I was in but when you boiled it down I was after all a women , and a women can put up with a lot of shit , they have to , but stinking like goat feces is not one of them .

To try and still that nagging voice in the back of my head I quickly ventured back out into the bedroom and approached one side of the bed

It took a lot of effort and I grunted like a pig to do it but after a few minutes I had managed to drag one of the bedside cabinets to force up against the door I was led in through , I wasn't kidding myself that it would keep a hungry vampire out but it would give me precious warning and if nothing else it made me feel better about getting naked .

Back in the bathroom I shucked of the putrid hospital gown and tossed it into a corner in disgust , I wasn't going to pick up after myself , id spent my entire life being clean but I would be damned if I was going to tidy up the bathroom of my killer .

I placed a towel down on the floor so I could get out of the shower once done without cracking my head open , pulling the partition out I stepped in and fiddled with the nobs until the spray started , testing it with my hand to access the temperature first , I stepped under the jet

Now if I was a poet , some Dickensian poet or a reader of maybe Shakespeare or T.S Elliot , I may have been able to string together some eloquent and powerful discourse , to try and describe just how good that shower felt

But I'm not , so let's just say if you wrapped up every orgasm I've ever had , and there haven't been that many mores the pity , along with every first bite of still oven warm homemade apple pie with cinnamon dusting still settling on the crusty moist pastry , and then threw in every first sip of icy sweet tea on a hot summers day after working up an honest sweat in the garden .

You would still only be half way to getting just how good it felt

I had harvested a crop of different soaps and shampoo's and shower gels before getting in and put them within easy reach , after spending a few minutes just standing under that delicious hot spray I began to scrub and lather and wipe every square inch of flesh right down to the balls of my feet .

I snagged my god damn ear tag a few times but even that pain would not rob of the first moment of shear solace I've had in two long days and nights

I didn't stop until I was just about a prune , after I got out I smeared on a generous coating of coca body butter and rubbed it in slow and steady , the smell was heavenly .

I felt so soft and smelled so good I was actually getting off on it a bit

I had been about to wrap a towel around me when I spied the fluffy bathrobe hanging on the back of the door , fingering it I confirmed it seemed to be made of the same fuzzy and ridiculously soft material the towels were crafted from , it would be huge on me probably dragging after me as I went but that just kind of increased its appeal .

When I slipped it on over my shoulder I damn well near had another golden moment , kittens aren't this soft

Shuffling back out into the bedroom I was sort of a little high I think , but what I saw brought me crashing back down .

The bedside table had been replaced to its former position and sitting on the bed was a covered tray

How it had managed to get in , move the cabinet back , deliver the tray and then get out again was a mystery to me , I didn't know whether to be impressed or horrified , so I settled on being a little bit of both .

Approaching the bed with a quivering gait , I eyed the silver domed covered tray with anxious concern , what was it ? . Some new horrible thing I would have to deal with

Swallowing the lump in my throat I griped the domes top handle and pinched my face in an expression of foreboding , I'm not sure what I thought would happen , maybe a rabid weasel would pop out and go for my throat or something .

I decided quick was best , like a band aid . I whisked the lid away and I swear I actually used it for a shield for a second , but I needn't have bothered , when the smell hit me , it felt like my stomach that had long been dormant with the terrors of the last 48 hrs. , erupted into life with a roar that would have put Krakatoa to shame

Steam rose in little tendrils from a tender succulent looking steak , it was rare I could tell as a little blood had mixed in with the pepper sauce , on the side was a baked potato with sour cream and butter still melting in dollops , next to that were sautéed green beans garnished with shallots.

I never knew why I reacted like I did , and I still don't

I started to cry

Not the hot stinging fearful , shameful , hopeless tears of late but just honest to goodness happy tears the likes of which I can't put into words , maybe you've had a similar experience maybe not but if you haven't I just can't verbalise it , and you wouldn't understand anyway .

Then I almost dived onto the tray , I cut jagged pieces of meat off quickly and nearly rabidly , I smeared Sour cream on them before shoving them in my mouth with all the grace and finesse of the Cookie monster , I spotted the can of diet coke and cracked that open , glugging it down the coke had to wash passed the still masticating food in my mouth , the tastes all mixed together but I just didn't care , my body had given the green light and it was go ,go ,go .

I don't think I would have been physically able to stop even if I had a mind to even try , which I didn't

I mixed and matched different combo's to go with the meat but no one food went into my mouth alone , soon and what must have been some sort of record I was scrapping the plate with the side of my fork and popping the juice in my mouth before it dripped off , I slugged the last of the Coke and I was done , I was taken by surprise by the not so lady like belch that slipped out before I could feel it coming , I also couldn't contain the giggle as my hand shot to my mouth as if I could stop the gastric eruption with the tips of my fingers .

I felt like a bloated mamma possum but in the best possible way , I was suddenly glad I wasn't wearing anything under the robe as I'm sure it would have been uncomfortably tight

Sated as I was , I now had the wits I suppose to actually look with greater attention at the tray , next to the little salt and pepper pots something shiny and metallic glinted in the light , I frowned as I picked up a brand new looking pair of needle nose pliers , on the tip however unlike other pliers of this sort I had seen was almost like a levered cutting edge , did Vampires think that humans would use these to eat , it looked like it belonged on a dentist tray

The other shoe dropped

I picked up the tray and moved it over to one of the bed side cabinets and scurried back into the bathroom , wiping the mirror free of steamy water I cocked my head to look at the ugly yellow tag that hung there , I could for the first time see it had letters as well as the barcode I knew it had

P.S

'' Prime stock '' I mumbled to myself , my eyes narrowed and righteous indignation boiled up in me , lifting the plier device to my head I carefully got in-between my ear and the metal bar that had been shoved through my poor lobe .

SNIP

I'm not going to say it was painless but when the tag fell into the sink with a clatter the sense of relief was almost palatable , I gently massaged the hole it had left and let out a little sigh , God that felt nice.

A quick inspection of one of the shelf units turned up a little antiseptic cream and even better a box of water proof plasters , I made quick work of my first aid and then shuffled back to the bedroom , I think all that food and the fluffy gown plus just how exhausted I was all kind of ganged up on me at the same time , I barely made it to the bed and crawled under the cover still wearing the robe

I had told myself before sleep wasn't an option but now it had shifted gears on me , not sleeping wasn't an option now , I felt my eyes flutter closed with a mind of their own and I was out for the count