Waves of searing agony shooting through her limbs jolted Magdalena awake. In reaction to the pain the vampire within her emerged causing Magdalena's fangs to drop and her eyes to gleam crimson with rage. Forcing down her panicked beast enabled Magdalena to better examine her surroundings.
She was lying on her back across a cold metal table her limbs bound with what felt like damp cords. The pain in her wrists and ankles along with the scent of her own blood led her to believe that her bonds were soaked with holy water. The black dress she was wearing had been ripped to shreds exposing her prominent belly, which now looked distended and gross in the pale green light.
The mixed scents of both fresh and stale animal blood caused Magdalena's stomach to churn and her head to pound. Out of the corner of her eye Magdalena could make out the dim figures of her captors their gaunt starved faces utterly blank.
"Beautiful, are they not?" a raspy voice at Magdalena's side asked.
Ignoring the pain it caused Magdalena snapped her head in Malachi's direction her face fixed in an expression of absolute disgust.
"Silent, submissive, and completely devoid of any will save my own. Everything you certainly are not, dear Magdalena, but I suppose that is what drew me to accept you as my student in the first place. Who would have thought how profitable that decision could become?" Malachi commented lightly skimming his fingers across Magdalena's belly.
"The only profit you have gained is assurance of a safe passage to hell." Magdalena growled fighting not to squirm under his touch.
"Ha! And who will send me? That snarling impotent beast you call a husband? He should be thanking me! It was my teachings that were used to rekindle the life in his long dead seed! Without my guidance none of your brats would've ever been borne. I have waited over eight hundred years to collect my long due payment. It was denied to me when your firstborn died and your second has proved to be too much his father's son to ever obey me. But now finally I will receive my due. This child will be ample compensation."
"Even if I am to die tonight your actions will not go unpunished, Malachi! Do you think my family, the council, or the covens will simply allow you to steal my baby? My child will be retrieved and my husband will take great delight in making you suffer."
Malachi's smile grew vicious and smug, "Such delusions you harbor! The covens forsook you long ago when you decided to bed a vampire and use our teachings to bear his children. As for your vampire council and your family they will all be dealt with in due time. I have at my command a horde of creatures that have all the strengths of a vampire and none of their weaknesses. How long do you think your precious kin will last when their hiding places are raided in daylight and the secrets of their kind are sucked from their veins? The time of the vampires and keeping ourselves huddled in the shadows is over. Your child and the immense power it possesses will ensure that it all comes to pass. But don't worry, Magdalena, you will be remembered for your contributions and I will see to it that the child thinks highly of you."
Magdalena's eyes grew wide with horror as she watched Malachi approach a side table and select a long wicked looking butcher knife. Beside the knife on the table Magdalena could easily see a thick and sharpened stake. The vampire fought to keep herself calm unwilling to give Malachi the satisfaction of hearing her dying howls.
Her thoughts turned to her family and the utter devastation her loss would bring. Against her best efforts tears pricked at the back of her eyelids then swiftly began to flow down her cheeks.
'Lucien, forgive me. Nicholas, I love you so much. Janette, please take care of them.' Magdalena silently bid trying to summon the serenity that she certainly did not feel.
"I can't do it without you, petite soeur." a soft familiar voice cooed in her ear.