The Pink Daggers
Chapter Seven
Annabella
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
By the time night fell again, Harry and I had gotten very little sleep. When we weren't going at it like rabbits we were holding each other and talking about nothing. The conversations between people in post coital positions are always interesting. We talked about his job and what he had been doing for the past year or so. We talked about me, helping to rebuild George's shop. But mostly we talked about us and us being together. Before I knew it we were making plans for the future, where we could live, places to visit. It felt like the past years apart never happened, like we had been in a relationship for this whole time.
I was upset when Harry had to get up to report in for work. I wanted to stay with him for days, in his bed, resting. But no such luck. As he started to move away from me I moaned, "Can't you just forget about work?"
All I saw was Harry's naked backside as he stood up, "I wish I could. I'm expected to look over the Brandon case with the other Aurors tonight. I'm already putting them out buy only being available to work at night."
I moved over and curled up in the warm spot he left on the bed, "What am I suppose to do while you're gone?"
"I don't know, continue looking sexy?" Harry laughed.
"Don't say shit like that, it makes me want you to stay even more."
Harry jumped back into bed with his jeans now on and wrapped his arms around me, "I promise to be as quick as I possibly can be. Besides, you could use this time to meet with Mary again and talk about the job she has for you. I'll see her for a few at check-in, I'll tell her to swing by tonight."
I wrapped my hands around his bare back and locked my fingers so he would have to fight me to leave, "That's fine but if I have my way you're going to be late for check-in."
"I don't think so." Harry said then wiggled his way down my body and under my arms. Sneaky bugger.
Sadly Harry still left me. The prospect of lying in bed all night was tempting but if Perfect Mary was stopping by then I needed to get up. I busied myself by finishing my unpacking and trying to make my room more presentable which was easy considering I didn't own anything. I turned the desk into a makeup station and the closet was full of clothes, that was about it. Harry really needed to do more with the place, it was too empty.
I had the crazy thought of cleaning up Harry's room but was spared the task by a knock on the front door. "I'll be right there Mary." I shouted as I pulled a pair of jeans up under Harry's Weird Sister's T-shirt I had slipped on. Bare ass against jean material always felt nice.
I reached for the door handle and started talking before I even got it opened, "I can't believe you got here so soon, Harry only left a half an hour ago."
With the door open I smiled and looked up expecting to see Mary and her long black hair. Instead I saw a tall man with short curly black hair. He was in rags, smelled of old rum and tequila and hadn't shaved in weeks. When he smiled he was missing several teeth but his long fangs stood out, covered in blood stains. I panicked and tried to back up to close the door but he was too quick for me. He pushed me into the apartment and slammed the door behind him.
When he pushed me I stumbled over my bare feet and landed on my ass. I tried to scoot away from him as he continued to get closer and closer to me. "What do you want? How did you get in here?
He ran a hand through his greasy hair and smiled at me again, "So, you are the new Queen. I heard rumors but I didn't think they were true. You're pretty enough that's for sure."
"I don't know what you're talking about but I think you have the wrong place."
The man smiled, "You don't know who I am do you? I'm your sire, I can smell my blood in you."
My breath escaped me and bile ran into my mouth, "Brandon?"
He spat on the floor, "I hate that muggle name, but yeah that's what I'm going by these days."
"What do you want with me?"
"Well you see, I meant to kill you. I knew something was special about you the first time I bit you. You were destine to be turned which could only mean one thing, you were either a sister or a prophet. So I wanted to kill you to avoid bringing another fucking Pink Dagger in this world. But as the Queen, well...no wonder you survived. You are more protected than even you know, there is no way I can kill you. But there are ways to stop you from gaining power." Brandon said as he leaned down and looked me in the eyes.
Without warning he pulled out his wand and stunned me. I have been stunned before but it's a pain that you can never get used to. It's so quick and sudden that you have no control over how your body reacts. I could tell that he was moving me around so that he could pick me up but I didn't feel a thing he was doing. I watched in pain as he lifted me and tossed me over his shoulder like I was a rag doll. My body refused to function as he walked me out the door and down the hallway. Once in the lobby I had a brief glimpse of Sally the receptionist all slumped over the counter and motionless before we made it out in the cool night air.
Now that he was out of the wards placed around La Chambre du Sang to prevent apparition he spun around and took me with him. The whirling feeling of apparition on top of being stunned made my inners churn. By the time I was tossed down on a hard, wet stone floor I thought I was going to vomit. Lucky for him I didn't because he was dragging me around again. By this time the stunning spell was worn down enough that I could move. I kicked and screamed as he yanked me up by the wrists and put heavy chains on them then locked me to two large loops attached to the wall.
"Wiggle all you want my Queen but you are not getting out of here." Brandon said as he placed the lock to my chains in his pants pocket.
"I'm not a fucking Queen! You have the wrong person!" I yelled at him as I fought.
"Well you don't talk like one, that's for sure." He said as he started to walk away from me.
"Don't leave damn it! Tell me what the fuck is going on!"
This time he ignored me then walked off into the shadows where I could no longer see him. I fought to break the chains for several minutes before I wore myself out. When I finally stopped I took a moment to observe my surroundings. A single black candle was floating about five feet in front of me that lit up what appeared to be an old sewer or drainage center. The walls were red brick and covered in years of grime, mold and spider webs. The floor was covered in puddles and a rat was chewing on something by a large pillar that seemed to barely hold the place up. It was like a catacomb without the dead bodies, but I'm sure if left here long enough I could solve that problem.
I knew one thing for certain, nobody would ever find me down here. I was terrified beyond belief. One moment I was happily walking around Harry's apartment the next I'm standing on a cold stone floor without shoes. My fingers were becoming numb as all the blood drained from them because of being chained above my head. Great, just great. Now my fingers are going dry up and fall off or something. I was going to wither and die before anyone found me. Would anyone find me? I could just see Harry coming home and me not being there. Would he think I left him over last night? Surely he would look for me...wouldn't he?
The sound of footsteps on the wet floor took me out of my wondering state. I looked around frantically to see if it was Brandon again but it was too dark in the shadows to see. When the figure emerged I was surprised to see it was a woman. She was a short chubby girl with long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. She was smiling, showing off her rosy cheeks as her long black eyelashes fluttered when she winked. Her overly pale skin was a stunning contrast to the blood red, renaissance style gown she had on. She walked towards me with an elegant grace, an old world charm unexpected from someone who looked like her. Somehow I could tell that she was just like me, a vampire but much older than I by a wide margin.
"Hello Ms. Weasley. I am Annabella Bruce, but you may call me Anna." Her thick Scottish accent didn't suite her. "I do apologize for the chains but we can't have you running away. But I think we can make you a little more comfortable." Anna said as she raised a wand and made the chain lengths expand, allowing me to lower my arms to my sides.
I winced as the blood flowed down my arms and started to tingle, it hurt. "What do you want with me?"
"Well that's a tricky question. You see my fledgling, Brandon as you know him has been having a little too much fun lately turning wizards. I have told him to stay away from females, the last thing I need is another sister on my hands. Of course he didn't mean to turn you but now I am placed in an odd situation, what to do with you. Not only are you a sister but you are the Queen, I didn't think I'd live to see your return honestly."
"Look, I'm not a Queen. I'm not even a sister, I hardly even know anything about the Pink Daggers. You have the wrong person." What is wrong with these people?
"Oh, so you haven't met the sisters yet? Well, what do you know I get to teach you a little something." Anna said happily then pulled her wand out again. She conjured up a chair and sat down in front of me, the chair between her legs like a man would. Her beefy thighs showing as her dress rode up. "Let's see...where to start. Well, vampires believe in one thing above everything...destiny. If you were turned into a vampire then it was meant to be from the moment of your birth. All wizards are born with a predetermined path set forth by a prophet. The Pink Daggers are a group whose goal it is to stop the creation of new vampires. It is a crime to turn someone against their will no matter if it was their destiny or not. But many of us believe that when we turn someone we are just helping give fate a little push."
"So I was supposed to become a vampire?" This sounded like a load of crock to me.
"Yes you were but your destiny goes beyond that. All members of the Pink Daggers are predetermined. A Prophet decides who the next member of the sisterhood will be and it becomes evident once a female vampire goes through her transition. You have the make and build of a Pink Dagger, lean, strong, beautiful. The Queen is the chosen one, the one that the original creator of the Pink Daggers designed to rule the whole race of vampires. She can be resurrected whenever a Prophet sees the need for her. But you see the Queen is dangerous for us non-Dagger followers because she can stop us at will, kill us even. It's like living in a world of christens and being an atheist, they would like nothing more than to rid those who don't believe in the Pink Daggers. So you see, when I look at you I feel like I have the power to control fate chained to my wall. If I kill you then I won't have to worry about my own death. However a Prophet could just bring forth a new Queen but not if I prevent the turning of females."
"How do you know this queen is me?"
"Cause I can smell it in your blood. You will see, as you get used to your new form you will start to smell the blood in all of those around you. You see your blood smells just like the blood of the last Queen, which I remember well because I killed her." Anna said with a slight smirk on her face.
Who was this woman in front of me, what type of power did she have? "You killed the last Queen? Then why are you keeping me alive if you think I'm the new Queen?"
Anna laughed, "Mainly because I'm curious to see who you may turn into. The Queen hasn't always been a good leader. There was a few Queen's throughout history that didn't believe in the Pink Daggers and tried to have them disbanded but were ultimately killed by a sister. I feel a shadow of darkness in you, you seem to hold a lot of anger. Once you talk to the Pink Daggers you may not like what they have to say. I'm tempted to let you go and just keep my eye on you for awhile."
I couldn't explain it but this woman fascinated me. I didn't even realize that I was no longer in a state of panic, I had calmed down and barely even noticed my chains anymore. "So I still have a choice as to whether or not I want to join the Pink Daggers? I thought you said it was all fate or something..."
"The sisterhood will try to make you believe that it was your destiny to lead them and that you have no choice but frankly that all depends on you."
"So what, the Daggers are good and your people are bad?"
Anna looked offended at that question, "It's not always about good verses bad or right and wrong Ms. Weasley. It's not so clear cut. My people and I have been forced to live in darkness and hide from the vampire community by the sisterhood. They see us as bad because we don't follow them, we see them as bad for forcing us to do as they say. It's all a matter of perspective."
"If you weren't bad then you wouldn't have kidnapped me and chained me to a wall."
Anna laughed again then stood up, "Perhaps you're right but we have learned to be a cautious people." She undid my chains with her wand then took a hold of my upper arm, "I think I will let you go for now, to think about this conversation. But don't get to comfy, Brandon will come looking for you again soon. Go talk with the sisterhood and see what you believe in. But know this before I send you home, if you don't choose to lead the Daggers you will need protection, something I can give you. If you do choose to lead, I will hunt you down until I kill you. You can make me a friend or an enemy, it's your choice."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Anna let go of me, "Until we meet again Ms. Weasley."
The moment she let me go I apparated back to Harry's building. When I landed by the front steps I fell to my knees in relief. I thought I was going to be trapped on the wet stone floor for the rest of my life. How lucky am I, they let me go. When I got my senses back I ran into La Chambre du Sang so fast that you would have thought I was on fire. Sally greeted me and checked me in, she seemed to be perfectly fine from her attack, in fact she didn't seem to remember anything at all.
I ran up the steps, down the hall and into Harry's room. I was grateful that he wasn't home yet. I went into the bathroom, turned on the shower then sat on the toilet as the water warmed up. I was going to wash the night off of me and try to forget the terror I just went through. When Harry got home I would decide if I'm going to tell him what happened or not. I had a lot to think about thanks to Anna. I don't know if I believed half of what she said but it was worth looking into. I needed to hear what Mary had to say about the Daggers themselves. All I know is my life is about to change again and this time I get to choose how.
Authors Note: I just wanted to pause in the story to say thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing I really appreciate it! :) This chapter officially ends the part I wrote last year when I first posted this story. I have been working on the upcoming chapters and I'm happy to say that I really like where I'm going with the story. I hope to have future chapters up as soon as I can. Thanks again!
Silver
