Pain. All I seemed to be able to think about. Even closing my eyes to block out the sight, I saw red behind my closed eyes. Agony screamed around inside me, making me feel so helpless and so stupid. My screams were useless. All they did was made the bad guys laugh. The chains around my wrists and ankles rattled and clinked together as I struggled uselessly.
"I'm bored now."
I opened my eyes. Trinity, the bitch who'd been sticking pointy pieces of wood in me for the last three hours, seemed to have tired of the game now. She twirled the sharp wooden stick in her fingers, as if debating what to do with it. She jammed it into my left breast. I bit my lip on the scream building up. Why give them the satisfaction.
Trinity's head tilted. "I should probably kill you now. Any last words?"
I took my time over this, or made it look like I was trying to think of something deep and meaningful. "How bout you're a heartless bitch and you belong in the wastelands of hell?"
Trinity shrugged. "I've been called worse." She moved over to a small silver table, the kind room service in hotels used. Instead of trays of nicely cooked food, there were sticks of wood, all sizes, some sharpened, some broken off and splintered. Also, needles filled with silver nitrate. Vampire torture instruments.
Her hand hovered over them, as if trying to be really careful about what she used to kill me. I felt like spitting in her face. But I didn't. The first time I had done that, was what had started her off, sticking those things into my flesh.
Blood stained my skirt; my black corset had been ripped off and was ruined. My skin had changed from marble to a darker stained red, bright red in parts where the blood still flowed.
There was a knock on the heavy wooden door of the basement prison I was chained up in. One of Trinity's guards stuck their head round. "We've got problems. Some damned Daybreakers are absolutely insisting on talking to you."
"Kill them," Trinity said without looking up, a nail pressed to her mouth, as if it were really hard to decide what to kill me with.
"It's Hannah Snow, Jez Redfern and Delos Redfern."
That got Trinity's attention. "The leader and the Wild Powers? Ooh, fun!"
I wasn't sure what she meant by that, and I shuddered to think as she hurried up the stairs, the guard followed. Neither of them locked the door, but it didn't seem necessary since I couldn't go anywhere, and the keys were on a hook beside the door, way out of my reach.
My head fell back against the brick wall. I could feel tears coursing down my cheeks. Part of me was silently wishing for death, I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take. Part of me was silently screaming for help. I wasn't screaming out loud because it seemed pointless.
Why wasn't someone coming? In the movies someone always came to save the person in peril? What had happened to Zeke? I didn't even know if he was dead or alive. Did he know where I was? Was he looking for me? I damn well hoped he was if he was alive!
"Someone get me out of here," I whispered.
As if in answer to my prayer, three people did a lousy job of sneaking subtly into the room just then. I could instantly tell they weren't here to hurt me, I didn't know why. The leader of the three girls was tall, and dressed in black, dark haired, like Trinity. But there was a - nobility - about her that Trinity lacked. She was just a bitch.
"Sometimes bad guys can be such idiots," a girl with mix coloured hair and eyes said with disgust, taking the keys.
"Uh - who are you people?" I asked finally.
A short girl with bouncy strawberry blond hair smiled. "Don't worry, we're the good guys."
"I kind of figured that. How did you get down here?"
The girl grinned. "The bad guys love to brag about it when they get to kill someone for breaking the law. We have our sources that tell us where they keep their prisoners."
"Plus, we have a few distractions up front," the tall girl said gesturing vaguely, with a grim smile.
They undid my chains, and the strawberry blonde gave me her jacket, which I was quite happy to slip into to cover the fact that I had no top on. They helped me up the stairs and back down a dark tunnel, leading to a white limo waiting. I heard yelling and swearing. I could see flashes of something blue and sizzling and figures in black running. It seemed there was a fight going on.
They pulled me into their limo, the minx coloured girl getting in the driver's seat. "Nissa drive," the black haired girl said.
"By the way, I'm Winnie and that's Keller," the strawberry blonde said. I managed a faint smile. My head was starting to swim. I felt like I was going to pass out. The limo screeched off into the centre of the fight, stopping briefly as three more people jumped in. All I heard was a few names, but after that I didn't hear anything, or see anything, or feel.
And I was grateful.
* * *
I felt something trickling down my throat. Sweet and salty at the same time, with certain qualities I'd never be able to describe. Life giving and rich and wonderful, my eyes opened and my mouth fixed on the wrist the blood was coming from. This was one of the things blood was good for.
It wasn't until I'd taken my fill that I realised who the blood belonged to. A smiling face met mine, and dark murky green eyes, shining dimly. Long stringy dark hair framing the handsome face and wonderful lips I just couldn't stop kissing.
The link of the soulmate connection made it all the more wonderful and magical as spars flew, and the hypnotic white light suffused around our minds, linking us, merging our minds like drops of water running together.
Zeke pulled back, slightly breathless, weird for vampires, since we don't have breath. "How do you feel?" His fingers ran through my hair, stroking gently as he spoke.
I smiled. "I feel much better now." I sat up, finding myself in a comfortable bed in a large richly decorated room. "Where are we?"
He looked a little embarrassed and almost ashamed. "Daybreak Headquarters."
Why was that so bad? He'd explained to be about the three Circles, Midnight, Twilight and Daybreak, and what was going on in the Night World at the moment about the prophecies about the end of the world, and for once, it seemed like the good guys were wining so far. And if that were true, then maybe it didn't seem like being here was such a bad idea.
"Oh." I slid out the bed and headed over to a door I assumed was the bathroom, and to my luck, it was. The main doors to the room were large and double. This door was single. To my luck, it was.
I took a long hot shower feeling better and better. And I felt really good as I went downstairs. The Dark side of life had always seemed so enticing to me. It still was, but now I was aware of the dangers as well. I wasn't exactly going to suddenly revert to bright and shiny, I could still sort of blend in with the not-so-dark bits.
But how was I going to do that? I didn't have everything worked out yet, but I had eternity to do it, and I had my soulmate to do it with. And of course, there were two definitions of "do it" to think about too.
I headed downstairs to a cosy living room full of people and soft music and lightning. I could see the team who had rescued me there, and also the three people who had dived into the car at the last minute.
Zeke was there, looking a little uncomfortable. I joined him, snuggling close to him in the large armchair he sat in, and the frown disappeared from his face instantly.
"So what are you two going to do now?" Hannah asked after everyone had been introduced.
Zeke shrugged. "It's up to you Seraphin," he said.
I'd been thinking about this a lot lately. There was a whole world out there for us to explore. It wasn't *all* bad, and not all good either. I was confused. "I don't know," I admitted finally. It seemed there were endless possibilities.
"You can stay as long as you like," Hannah offered. "We're always looking for new recruits."
My dark eyebrows raised a little, and I met Zeke's eyes and knew he was thinking the same thing. We weren't exactly daybreak material.
"We're not really..." I trailed off, gesturing vaguely, not sure how to say what I meant.
"Don't worry about it," Jez, the Wild Power said dismissively. Her eyes met mine, and I realised, looking over at her and her soulmate Morgead, they were maybe a little like Zeke and myself. Happy to help out, but still wild at heart.
"It's not like you have to change completely just to think you please everyone," Thea said.
"Maybe we'll just sort of be - like on retainer or something," I suggested. "There's still things I need to learn about."
"It's your decision." Hannah sounded a little disappointed. But her expression said she knew she couldn't win them all.
"We should go now," Zeke said, standing up and pulling me to my feet. We said goodbye to the Daybreakers, knowing they would contact us if they needed us. They seemed to have plenty going on, and I wasn't ready to be tied down with all the responsibility they had yet.
Zeke was smiling a little. "What?" I asked suspiciously.
He grinned. "Come see."
He pulled me out front to the mansion's driveway, where a shiny black classic motorcycle. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say. "You bought a bike?"
"I wanted to get something...different. This was Morgead's idea, he said they were more fun than fast cars."
I studied it. I'd never been on a motorbike before. Maybe one of the things I had to learn to get used to. "How long was I out?"
"Two days, in and out," he said. I didn't say anything. I refused to think about it, it was over now. Why look back when you could look forward?
Zeke pulled out keys and climbed on. He looked at me. Something about him seemed incredibly sexy just then, sitting on that classically designed black bike, dressed in dark clothing, profiled against the moonlight. "You coming or what?"
I hesitated a moment, before hopping on the back and wrapping my arms around his waste. He took off then. The wind slamming against my face, blowing my hair back like a pennant. The feeling was wonderful, electric.
I had never been happier. The night twinkled around us, dark and beautiful, reminding me of how I was...a new respect for the good guys, but still wild at heart underneath.
The End.
"I'm bored now."
I opened my eyes. Trinity, the bitch who'd been sticking pointy pieces of wood in me for the last three hours, seemed to have tired of the game now. She twirled the sharp wooden stick in her fingers, as if debating what to do with it. She jammed it into my left breast. I bit my lip on the scream building up. Why give them the satisfaction.
Trinity's head tilted. "I should probably kill you now. Any last words?"
I took my time over this, or made it look like I was trying to think of something deep and meaningful. "How bout you're a heartless bitch and you belong in the wastelands of hell?"
Trinity shrugged. "I've been called worse." She moved over to a small silver table, the kind room service in hotels used. Instead of trays of nicely cooked food, there were sticks of wood, all sizes, some sharpened, some broken off and splintered. Also, needles filled with silver nitrate. Vampire torture instruments.
Her hand hovered over them, as if trying to be really careful about what she used to kill me. I felt like spitting in her face. But I didn't. The first time I had done that, was what had started her off, sticking those things into my flesh.
Blood stained my skirt; my black corset had been ripped off and was ruined. My skin had changed from marble to a darker stained red, bright red in parts where the blood still flowed.
There was a knock on the heavy wooden door of the basement prison I was chained up in. One of Trinity's guards stuck their head round. "We've got problems. Some damned Daybreakers are absolutely insisting on talking to you."
"Kill them," Trinity said without looking up, a nail pressed to her mouth, as if it were really hard to decide what to kill me with.
"It's Hannah Snow, Jez Redfern and Delos Redfern."
That got Trinity's attention. "The leader and the Wild Powers? Ooh, fun!"
I wasn't sure what she meant by that, and I shuddered to think as she hurried up the stairs, the guard followed. Neither of them locked the door, but it didn't seem necessary since I couldn't go anywhere, and the keys were on a hook beside the door, way out of my reach.
My head fell back against the brick wall. I could feel tears coursing down my cheeks. Part of me was silently wishing for death, I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take. Part of me was silently screaming for help. I wasn't screaming out loud because it seemed pointless.
Why wasn't someone coming? In the movies someone always came to save the person in peril? What had happened to Zeke? I didn't even know if he was dead or alive. Did he know where I was? Was he looking for me? I damn well hoped he was if he was alive!
"Someone get me out of here," I whispered.
As if in answer to my prayer, three people did a lousy job of sneaking subtly into the room just then. I could instantly tell they weren't here to hurt me, I didn't know why. The leader of the three girls was tall, and dressed in black, dark haired, like Trinity. But there was a - nobility - about her that Trinity lacked. She was just a bitch.
"Sometimes bad guys can be such idiots," a girl with mix coloured hair and eyes said with disgust, taking the keys.
"Uh - who are you people?" I asked finally.
A short girl with bouncy strawberry blond hair smiled. "Don't worry, we're the good guys."
"I kind of figured that. How did you get down here?"
The girl grinned. "The bad guys love to brag about it when they get to kill someone for breaking the law. We have our sources that tell us where they keep their prisoners."
"Plus, we have a few distractions up front," the tall girl said gesturing vaguely, with a grim smile.
They undid my chains, and the strawberry blonde gave me her jacket, which I was quite happy to slip into to cover the fact that I had no top on. They helped me up the stairs and back down a dark tunnel, leading to a white limo waiting. I heard yelling and swearing. I could see flashes of something blue and sizzling and figures in black running. It seemed there was a fight going on.
They pulled me into their limo, the minx coloured girl getting in the driver's seat. "Nissa drive," the black haired girl said.
"By the way, I'm Winnie and that's Keller," the strawberry blonde said. I managed a faint smile. My head was starting to swim. I felt like I was going to pass out. The limo screeched off into the centre of the fight, stopping briefly as three more people jumped in. All I heard was a few names, but after that I didn't hear anything, or see anything, or feel.
And I was grateful.
* * *
I felt something trickling down my throat. Sweet and salty at the same time, with certain qualities I'd never be able to describe. Life giving and rich and wonderful, my eyes opened and my mouth fixed on the wrist the blood was coming from. This was one of the things blood was good for.
It wasn't until I'd taken my fill that I realised who the blood belonged to. A smiling face met mine, and dark murky green eyes, shining dimly. Long stringy dark hair framing the handsome face and wonderful lips I just couldn't stop kissing.
The link of the soulmate connection made it all the more wonderful and magical as spars flew, and the hypnotic white light suffused around our minds, linking us, merging our minds like drops of water running together.
Zeke pulled back, slightly breathless, weird for vampires, since we don't have breath. "How do you feel?" His fingers ran through my hair, stroking gently as he spoke.
I smiled. "I feel much better now." I sat up, finding myself in a comfortable bed in a large richly decorated room. "Where are we?"
He looked a little embarrassed and almost ashamed. "Daybreak Headquarters."
Why was that so bad? He'd explained to be about the three Circles, Midnight, Twilight and Daybreak, and what was going on in the Night World at the moment about the prophecies about the end of the world, and for once, it seemed like the good guys were wining so far. And if that were true, then maybe it didn't seem like being here was such a bad idea.
"Oh." I slid out the bed and headed over to a door I assumed was the bathroom, and to my luck, it was. The main doors to the room were large and double. This door was single. To my luck, it was.
I took a long hot shower feeling better and better. And I felt really good as I went downstairs. The Dark side of life had always seemed so enticing to me. It still was, but now I was aware of the dangers as well. I wasn't exactly going to suddenly revert to bright and shiny, I could still sort of blend in with the not-so-dark bits.
But how was I going to do that? I didn't have everything worked out yet, but I had eternity to do it, and I had my soulmate to do it with. And of course, there were two definitions of "do it" to think about too.
I headed downstairs to a cosy living room full of people and soft music and lightning. I could see the team who had rescued me there, and also the three people who had dived into the car at the last minute.
Zeke was there, looking a little uncomfortable. I joined him, snuggling close to him in the large armchair he sat in, and the frown disappeared from his face instantly.
"So what are you two going to do now?" Hannah asked after everyone had been introduced.
Zeke shrugged. "It's up to you Seraphin," he said.
I'd been thinking about this a lot lately. There was a whole world out there for us to explore. It wasn't *all* bad, and not all good either. I was confused. "I don't know," I admitted finally. It seemed there were endless possibilities.
"You can stay as long as you like," Hannah offered. "We're always looking for new recruits."
My dark eyebrows raised a little, and I met Zeke's eyes and knew he was thinking the same thing. We weren't exactly daybreak material.
"We're not really..." I trailed off, gesturing vaguely, not sure how to say what I meant.
"Don't worry about it," Jez, the Wild Power said dismissively. Her eyes met mine, and I realised, looking over at her and her soulmate Morgead, they were maybe a little like Zeke and myself. Happy to help out, but still wild at heart.
"It's not like you have to change completely just to think you please everyone," Thea said.
"Maybe we'll just sort of be - like on retainer or something," I suggested. "There's still things I need to learn about."
"It's your decision." Hannah sounded a little disappointed. But her expression said she knew she couldn't win them all.
"We should go now," Zeke said, standing up and pulling me to my feet. We said goodbye to the Daybreakers, knowing they would contact us if they needed us. They seemed to have plenty going on, and I wasn't ready to be tied down with all the responsibility they had yet.
Zeke was smiling a little. "What?" I asked suspiciously.
He grinned. "Come see."
He pulled me out front to the mansion's driveway, where a shiny black classic motorcycle. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say. "You bought a bike?"
"I wanted to get something...different. This was Morgead's idea, he said they were more fun than fast cars."
I studied it. I'd never been on a motorbike before. Maybe one of the things I had to learn to get used to. "How long was I out?"
"Two days, in and out," he said. I didn't say anything. I refused to think about it, it was over now. Why look back when you could look forward?
Zeke pulled out keys and climbed on. He looked at me. Something about him seemed incredibly sexy just then, sitting on that classically designed black bike, dressed in dark clothing, profiled against the moonlight. "You coming or what?"
I hesitated a moment, before hopping on the back and wrapping my arms around his waste. He took off then. The wind slamming against my face, blowing my hair back like a pennant. The feeling was wonderful, electric.
I had never been happier. The night twinkled around us, dark and beautiful, reminding me of how I was...a new respect for the good guys, but still wild at heart underneath.
The End.