Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, AB/HBO/Harris do.
Rating: M. For Mature readers.
CHAPTER 6: Fighting Franklin
"Good answer." Franklin complimented Margot on her decision that evening to accompany him, Russell Edgington and Talbot to New Orleans for dinner the following night. "Betty will swing 'round your place at 11 tomorrow morning to collect you."
"And, what about the evidence you promised?" Margot inquired.
"Evidence?" Franklin muttered to himself, puzzled. "Ah, of course. The dossier will be delivered to you personally by Betty."
"Alrighty then." Margot replied, embarrassed that her detective lingo was lacking. She quickly turned her thoughts to wondering what Russell Edgington's icy assistant was like in person.
"Well, I've got work to do. Sweet dreams, darling." Franklin said, ending the conversation. Hanging up the phone, Franklin leaned back in his desk chair and pondered recent events with this woman. Margot showed remarkable resolve to not surrender herself to him but she was woefully ignorant of the vampire world. A less-experienced vampire would have forced himself upon her by now, probably with disastrous results as he was overcome by her essence. The essence of Margot. Franklin sighed contentedly as thoughts of Margot washed over him. Everything about her was pleasing to him- her beauty, her passion, her intellect, her sass, her physical strength, and her naïveté… He longed to hold her in his arms and feel her heartbeat through his fangs sunk deeply into her flesh.
For centuries, he'd taken whatever and whomever he wanted, without hesitation, but his hunting style had evolved and was now an art. He no longer rushed the process. Instead, he relished the pangs of yearning for his prey. He waited patiently while these women deluded themselves into thinking they could decide their own fate, then he mind-fucked them into believing they wanted to be taken by him. His association with Russell Edgington gave him free range of numerous brothels and plantations but it was the free-spirited fighters like Margot who attracted him.
Clearing Margot from his thoughts, Franklin resumed his work. The dossier would contain nothing more than was publicly known about Edgington's enterprise and the people behind it. Nothing in it would lead to as much as an arrest when Margot disappeared from the world as she knew it. Nothing will stop the series of events that are leading her to my bed.
And out of Michael's arms forever. Fucking amateur Franklin spat aloud. He'd love to kill him once and for all but Margot would not think well of him if he did it. Franklin was fairly confident Margot had permanently broken up with Michael but he had to make sure the situation did not improve. He decided he would pay Michael a visit two evenings hence.
Franklin added finishing touches to the dossier. Surely she has absolutely no fucking idea what an actual dossier looked like. For his own amusement, he added useless facts such as favorite color, meteorologist and talk show host. As he sat there admiring his great satirical work, the door to his study opened and a tall man in his late 20s quietly entered the room. "Have you finished working for the evening?" He asked Franklin in a hushed and respectful voice.
"Good evening, Raymond." Franklin greeted the young man behind him then continued the final inspection of the dossier.
Raymond closed the door behind him and walked toward Franklin, who was still seated at his desk, back turned to him. His eyes roamed over Franklin's strong shoulders, clothed only in a black T-shirt. As he approached Franklin, his gaze traveled down his arms and to the hands that held a document. He caught his breath as he thought about what acts those hands, clean with neatly trimmed nails, had committed over the centuries. "Where will you feed this evening?" Raymond asked with a choked voice betraying his desire. He coughed to clear his throat. When he looked up, he saw that Franklin had turned and was casually regarding him. Raymond could only hold Franklin's blue-eyed gaze briefly before he blushed and lowered his eyes.
Raymond. For the two years they'd known each other, Franklin was intrigued by Raymond's fierce devotion. Unlike most unvaccinated humans, this handsome young man had great potential- everything to live for; yet, he chose to serve vampires in every way humanly possible.
Raymond came into Franklin's life recklessly. The security cameras on Franklin's house in rural Louisiana picked up a car repeatedly passing by the driveway, as well as an individual walking on the unpaved street and occasionally trespassing onto his property. Once Franklin easily determined that the pedestrian was the same individual who owned the car, he decided to observe rather than capture him. The perpetrator, Raymond Horner, carried on like this for weeks, slowly gaining the courage to come closer and closer to Franklin's house.
Raymond began to leave gifts on Franklin's porch each day at sunset. At first, they were laughable- fan letters attached to bottles of synthetic blood. This introductory phase was followed by gifts of small, live animals. Franklin wasn't sure what to think of that (offering animals to a modern-day vampire was an insult), but as long as Raymond was not a bother, he would allow him to continue his bizarre adoration.
After a few weeks of various fan letter, synthetic blood and animal gifts, things took an unexpected turn- the gifts were now of dead animals, still warm and meticulously presented with handwritten poems in praise of vampires. Once these macabre gifts began to appear on his porch, Raymond had Franklin's full attention. How far was Raymond planning to take this game?
Three weeks after the gifts stopped coming, Franklin thought Raymond had moved on in his life. Then, one evening as he woke at sunset, he heard whimpering signs coming from his porch; sounds of a woman struggling. Walking out onto his porch, he discovered a lovely young woman bound in ropes to the railing, wide-eyed with fear and exhausted from fighting to free herself from the ropes. He immediately returned inside and downed a True Blood to control his hunger while he figured out who she was. Once he was back outside on the porch, he glamored the woman and carried her inside where he tethered her to the leg of his desk. A few moments later, she revealed her name and a description of what she had experienced over the past three weeks as Raymond's prisoner. Franklin used his online access to police databases to determine the missing person status on the girl.
Franklin was impressed with Raymond's work. The girl had gone missing without a trace and he'd kept her healthy until the time she would be presented to him. Here's a gift that's the right size and color Franklin thought to himself as he unbound then undressed her. After he fed and disposed of her body, he packed a few items and moved to a nearby motel.
Over the next few days, he observed Raymond's activities around his house via security camera. Raymond was now arriving during the daytime and daring to circle around the house and tend the large, wooded lot surrounding his secluded house… all the boring grounds keeping Franklin was loathe to do.
Then, one sunny afternoon, Raymond really went for it: He walked into Franklin's house (Franklin intentionally left the door unlocked) and left an envelope on the dining room table. That evening, Franklin returned home, read the letter and decided to capture Raymond.
The "capture" of Raymond was easily accomplished. Although Franklin had already figured out where Raymond lived, Raymond's latest letter had provided an address and a proposed meeting place.
"You are pledging your undying loyalty to me?" Franklin asked Raymond, skipping pleasantries as he barged into Raymond's apartment.
"Yes. Master." Raymond responded, eyes lowered.
It was an old-fashioned notion. These days, rarely did a human unconditionally offer him or herself in service to a vampire. Franklin considered Raymond's proposal. He certainly liked the idea of having a servant, but he wasn't about to trust a stranger and he suspected Raymond expected something in return.
Franklin approached Raymond and tilted his chin upward. He spoke harshly. "Look at me."
Raymond sighed in ecstasy as his eyes met Franklin's. He surrendered eagerly to hypnosis. A thorough interrogation ensued, revealing that Raymond was indeed an aspiring fang banger who'd fallen in love with Franklin.
Franklin released Raymond's mind. "Love? Not gonna happen, Raymond. But, as my servant, you will experience the world you've been dreaming about."
That promise of adventure was enough to seal the deal, and for the next two years Raymond proved himself to be a loyal and capable servant. Franklin thought he was ready to be turned and had offered to find him a sponsor. Raymond refused the offer; he treasured what little closeness he had with Franklin.
And, tonight, Raymond was asking if he could partake again in the extent to which Franklin had allowed their physical relationship to progress. Franklin looked at his watch. Feeding on Raymond was an unusual affair, requiring about half an hour to complete. Although he was pressed for time, feeding would make him more presentable to a new client he was meeting later that evening.
Franklin rose from his chair, gathered the papers off his desk and put them into the wall safe. Raymond stood where he was, waiting for Franklin to tell him how he would feed that night. Franklin turned to face Raymond and leaned against the wall. Crossing his arms, he quickly surveyed the room then turned his attention to Raymond.
Raymond quietly spoke "Master," and swallowed nervously. "May I serve you tonight?"
"Wooden stake." Franklin responded.
Shocked, Raymond looked directly at Franklin. "Really?"
"It's in the desk drawer."
Raymond was so startled and excited that he almost could not move to prepare himself for what lay ahead. Franklin was the love of his life, and although Franklin denied him the carnal experience he craved, he granted him other forms of physical interaction. Raymond and Franklin had formed their own "fight club." The rules were simple: No glamour, super-speed or hyper strength. Raymond could pick the venue and fight with the vampire-crippling weapon of Franklin's choice. Tonight, it would be the most danger weapon Raymond had ever been permitted to use – a wooden stake.
Raymond turned his back to Franklin and drew a deep breath. He removed his shirt and moved toward the desk to retrieve the stake. Franklin watched him warily. As Raymond reached for the stake, he trembled with excitement. This was a deadly game he played with Franklin, and the danger of it thrilled him. Pushing aside the equal urge to immediately surrender to Franklin, he grabbed the stake and turned to face him.
They normally sparred outdoors but Raymond was feeling particularly outrageous tonight. Without warning, he lunged at Franklin, left hand striking Franklin's blocking arm downward and right arm thrusting forward with the stake. Franklin caught Raymond's striking arm in mid air.
"Hey!" Raymond protested. "No speed."
As Franklin used human strength to shove Raymond backward, he replied sarcastically "You didn't say 'Go'." He waited for Raymond to attack again, eyes never leaving the deadly stake pointed toward him. Raymond paused for a second to savor the "quality time" he was spending with Franklin, then charged again.
Raymond was more successful this time. He'd managed to scrape Franklin's forearm with the stake, which although not deadly, was painful. Franklin looked at Raymond, whose face was burning with excitement. Gotta hand it to this guy for his sick idea of a good time.
The sparring continued. Franklin mostly parried Raymond's attacks and did not counter attack; he was making a conscious effort to suppress his natural strength and speed as well as stay focused on the deadly stake. He would have to employ the one advantage he had over Raymond in this game- endurance. Raymond continued charging as Franklin kept up his defenses and bided his time.
Raymond put forth a tremendous effort for several minutes. As he began to drop his fatigued arms, Franklin saw the opportunity to attack. As he reached for Raymond's shoulders to tackle him, he felt a searing pain in his left leg. Raymond had tricked him. Franklin growled loudly as they both fell to the floor. It was a terrible wound but it was not mortal. Franklin wasn't about to back down from the challenge and he managed to grasp the stake and pull it out of his leg before Raymond got it. Rising to his feet, he growled at Raymond again, fangs bared.
Franklin regained control of himself and threw the stake across the room, away from Raymond. He then charged and attempted to wrestle Raymond into position for the match-ending bite. Franklin knew Raymond secretly delighted in the struggle before the bite and, despite his bad condition and desire to feed now and heal himself more quickly, he prolonged the contest, engaging Raymond in the wrestling/boxing/judo/no-holds-barred fight of his life.
Franklin nearly had pinned Raymond facedown on the floor when the wall clock chimed the top of the hour. He needed to be underway to his new client. Grabbing Raymond by the hair and yanking his head backward, he whispered in his ear "Play time is over" and bit into his neck.
Moments later, satisfied from feeding on Raymond, Franklin stood up and retrieved his documents from the safe. Looking down at Raymond, he asked "Do we need to go over it again?"
Raymond smiled and said dreamily "Nope." Humming to himself, he began to clean up the messy room as Franklin left.
The next morning, Margot awoke very early to make her escape travel plans for weekend. Despite her excitement about the trip later that day, she had not forgotten the peril of the upcoming weekend.
Betty arrived promptly at 11 in a gray stretch limo. Margot was already waiting downstairs in front of her building. Betty stepped out of the limo and cheerfully greeted Margot. Margot could not help but compliment Betty on the beautiful ivory linen suit she was wearing. Betty smiled and replied "Thank you," and handed Margot a thick binder. "I do believe you'll find everything in order."
Margot thought she detected a note of mischief in Betty's smile but merely excused herself, saying that she would leave the binder with the concierge so they could be underway to the airport without delay. While the driver loaded Margot's garment bag into the trunk and Betty returned to the limo, Margot quickly examined the contents of the binder package as she walked toward the building entrance. On the top was a description of their itinerary for the trip to New Orleans. Flipping rapidly through the rest of the sheets, she noticed the names of her dining companions and some background. The dates listed next to them was incredible… centuries before she was born, these vampires had lived as soldiers, rulers and occasionally as less-honorable stations throughout the world. Tearing her eyes away from this fascinating read, she slipped the binder into a large overnight mail envelope she'd hidden in her purse. It was addressed to her good friend Jinny. She handed the envelope to the concierge and left the lobby to join Betty in the limo.
As the limo pulled away from the curb, Betty and Margot chatted about her building. As they turned to admire the new solar panels, Margot was pleased to see that the express mail deliveryman had just arrived for the daily pickup. She now relaxed a little, content that she'd won one small battle in the war of wits with these vampires. She used the opportunity to give Betty a mischievous smile of her own.
Betty returned Margot's sweet smile, wishing she could tell Margot that the person entering the building was in fact Raymond, Franklin's apprentice, disguised as a deliveryman to retrieve the precious package Margot stupidly believed would guarantee her safety.
To be continued…