Sebastian dropped down from one of the taller factory roofs to his mansion's balcony. I screamed as the ground rushed up as us, clutching my veil so it would not fly away. He landed easily enough; for a few moments Sebastian's grip tightened over me as the impact shook my body, then he relaxed. Using the veil to wipe the tears from my eyes I could only wait in fear as Sebastian walked over to the balcony doors, flung them open with one hand, and marched through without closing them behind us. As my eyes adjusted in the darkness, I saw that once again I was in Sebastian's bedchamber. Stalking over to the bed Sebastian dropped me down on the mattress and then turned his back on me. My hands shaking, I pulled my gloves off and looked at the bandages on my hands. How many more would be added after tonight?

I knew what would happen now. It was unavoidable. Curling up into a fetal position, my arms wrapped over my chest and lying on my side, I stared off into space and waited for my punishment. Don't cry out Ria, I thought, and don't beg for anything. Don't beg for mercy, because he will not show it. Strange, the thoughts flying through my mind. Just two nights back I had first been taken by this beast, my body and my mind savagely raped. I had been afraid of what had happened then, and now I was more than fearful. I was terrified. The sound of Sebastian's heavy cape hitting the floor brought me back to the present.

Taking off his skullcap and running his claws through his black hair, Sebastian gave me a sideways glance. "It was not easy to track you down, I shall have you know. More than anything else it was rather difficult, you staying with the crowds and on the busy avenues. But once you had gone off on your own then it had been easy to reclaim you, Ria. Did you know," Sebastian gave a smirk as his took off his chest plate and dropped it on the carpet with a dull thump, "how close you were to the gondola to the Lower City?"

Now he would gloat above everything else, adding insult to the soon-to-be injuries he would inflict upon my body again. "No. Just how close was I?"

"Oh, if only you had run a little faster," the vampire snickered as he took off his leg guards, "around the corner and then up the plaza square, you would have reached it." Sebastian gave me a little smile. "But then I reached you first and brought you back home." His leg guards followed the chest plate to the ground. In the deep gloom he calmly walked over to a single candlestick and lit it; the brightness hurt my eyes for a few brief moments. Pulling his tunic over his chest, revealing his pale flesh in the candle's light, Sebastian tossed it aside and turned back to me, now clad only in his pants.

"Home? This is not my home," I countered. "This is only a prison for me, even if iron bars and shackles are not on display here." I rolled over onto my other side as to not look at him. "My home is in the Lower City."

I felt the bed dip behind me as Sebastian crawled across the mattress towards me. "It was your home," he corrected me. Sebastian calmly unlaced my boots and dropped them onto the carpeted floor. The vampire then pressed himself up against my back and wrapped his arms around me, caressing my breasts with his hands. I vainly tried to pull away from him but all Sebastian did was draw me right back to him. "I told you what would happen, little Ria, if you did not listen to me. Now receive your punishment and learn from it."

It was no use. No matter what I had told myself beforehand about not crying, refusing to beg...it was all a show of courage that I did not have within me. I began to break down and cry as Sebastian roughly groped me, his cold lips kissing the nape of my neck. "Please don't do this! I promise I won't run away just please don't do this." Tears rolled down my cheeks as I sobbed my heart out, not wanting to go through with this punishment. "You can rip out my eyes, destroy my mind but please do not do this to me!" Sebastian's hands stopped moving over my body; I could feel him pause. Could it be possible then, would he actually listen to me?

"Tear out your eyes? Why would I do such a horrible thing?" he sneered. "They are beautiful to look at, much like the rest of you. And your mind is much too tender a thing to destroy, little Ria." Caressing my face with one claw Sebastian brought the talons into my hair and began to stroke it. His grip on me lightened for a few brief moments and I thought that Sebastian would stop in his punishment. I tried to slither away but with lightning speed the vampire had seized me by my waist and flipped me over to face him, one hand still wrapped up in my short hair. He quickly leaned over and raced a claw over the soles of my feet, enjoying the feeling of my flesh against his own. I cried out as he dug one of his talons into my skin. Sebastian bared his fangs, enjoying the new terror that crossed my face. "You are so beautiful, little Ria. My comfort and my unwilling lover. But you are still wilful and I cannot have you running outside in Meridian like that again. You are much too precious to me."

Sebastian leaned forwards and kissed me full on the lips. I tried to pull away but with Sebastian holding the back of my head I could do nothing. He forcefully opened my mouth and entwined his tongue with my own. I thought I could taste blood from where his fangs were cutting me...or was it the blood of a previous victim? I gave a strangled moan and flailed my arms around but all the vampire did was grab my hands in his own, once again employing his great strength to bring me under control. When he pulled away I saw once again the lust in his eyes. Greyish-blue eyes trailed over my clothed body with deliberate slowness until finally Sebastian's eyes met my own. I whimpered and twisted my head to the side as he tried to wipe the tears from my cheeks. "I loathe you," my voice was only a mere whisper as I spoke those words, and even then I only half-felt what I said.

"Believe what you will, Ria. Believe what you will." Sebastian ran his hands quickly down my thighs and pulled up my skirt, touching my bare skin underneath. A choked cry came out of me and I closed my eyes to no longer see the monster before me. Sebastian's touch was the same as last time: cold, rough and without feeling. His claws ran over the bandages that covered my legs, and with a few quick tugs, stripped them off of me. Sebastian deliberately touched the wounds that he had made with his talons, eliciting short cries of pain from me.

"Stop it," I shrieked out at him without warning, sitting up quickly and kicking out at him. Catching my leg easily in one hand Sebastian threw me back down onto the bed with subdued strength. He straddled me quickly, both hands pressing up against my shoulders and pinning me to the mattress as Sebastian lorded over me. I sucked the air quickly into my lungs, my chest heaving with the sudden effort I had made in an attempt to break free.

"So you are finally deciding to fight back unlike last time? This is so unlike you, little Ria. I actually enjoy it." I tried to kick out at him once more but Sebastian pinned my legs with his own. Taking his left hand off of my shoulder the sadistic being trailed a sharp claw over my cheekbone and down my neck. The collar of my dress stopped him from going any further but with the barest trace of emotion Sebastian sliced through the cloth with ease. I tried to cover my exposed chest with my hands but he only batted them away with a slight trace of annoyance. Sebastian caught my eyes with his, the craving now more apparent than ever before. But it was not the same when Sebastian had raped me the first time. He had not been in control of his emotions, but now, now he seemed to look at me with a cold lust. "Ria," the lord of the Industrial Quarter whispered my name in the bedchamber with an intimacy that I found revolting.

Releasing me from his embrace Sebastian pulled me up beside him. I was still crying, but now the tears were becoming less and less. When Sebastian tried to take off the top of my dress I resisted. He quickly grabbed my right breast in his hand, taking the nipple between his thumb and forefinger, and twisted cruelly on it. I gave a high-pitched yelp. "Do not even try it Ria. I have not yet even begun my ministrations upon your body." I had no choice but to let Sebastian take the ruined shirt off of me. I did not want any more pain. The bandages that covered my midriff, shoulders, back and my hands were quickly taken off and thrown aside as well. Already I could see that the larger scars were healing over, the ugly bruises that had been a disgusting purple now turning to a light yellow. Now there would be new ones to cover the older ones, I thought dejectedly. Sebastian ran his hands quickly over my arms, down my breasts and over my stomach, scratching my skin the whole time. Pricking over my older wounds the vampire seemed to find a great delight in watching the pain flash across my eyes.

"You could make it so much easier, Ria," he suggested. I knew I could but I would not. With a rush of energy I once again I tried to crawl away from him, backing up from Sebastian until my back pressed up against the headboard. Sebastian easily grabbed me by the ankles and yanked me back towards him, once again running his hands up under my skirt and over my thighs. Grasping the fine material in his fists, Sebastian easily tore it down the middle, then did the same with my undergarment. I was breathing deeply but quickly, grasping the sheets in shaking hands and waiting for him to enter me, to feel the pain once again and the humiliation that came with it.

Sebastian draped himself over me. I could feel his muscles, coiled and tense, like a snake ready to strike at the mouse. Through the material of his pants I could feel his erection pressed up along my outer thigh. Grasping one of my hands in his own Sebastian brought it down to his manhood, rubbing my palm over his crotch. I recoiled from the very touch; sickness washed over me. Sebastian only pressed himself up harder against me, forcing me to touch him.

"What is the matter, Ria? I thought by now you would enjoy it," Sebastian cruelly hissed in my ear. Bringing my right hand up to his lips Sebastian kissed the wounds and licked the ends of my fingers with a tenderness I found alarming. His tongue felt rough, like a cat's. Suddenly a flash of pain raced across my hand and I screamed in the stillness of the room. Sebastian had dug his fangs into my skin, drinking the blood that flowed over my hand. It was in vain, I knew, but I tried to pull away. The fangs ripped at my flesh and caused only more blood to flow, more tears to wet my face. Suddenly the vampire let go and dropped my bleeding and throbbing hand. I couldn't even feel my hand anymore; the pain was too much for my body to register. Grabbing one of the bandages on the bed Sebastian wrapped it over my bloodied hand, tying it tightly and without tenderness.

"Did that hurt, little Ria? How much did it hurt?" he questioned as my blood, looking more black than red, slid down the side of his mouth. Sebastian licked it away languidly. "Your blood is not as sweet as I thought it would be. But maybe if I bite just up here," a cold laugh echoed around the room as the vampire touched the spot on my shoulder where he had originally fed the first time. I tried to shake my head in protest but the world swam in front of me. Too weak to do anything, too weak to move, I the mouse could only wait for the snake to make its move. Growling in his throat Sebastian sucked at the edge of my collarbone, his cold lips giving kisses along my skin. Moaning softly, I was finally beginning to feel the agonizing pain in my right hand. Once again I felt a prickling sensation on my shoulder; Sebastian was drinking more of my blood. The vampire's hands roamed over my body, grabbing my breasts and squeezing them or dropping down to my womanhood and teasing the flesh down there.

"Please stop," I begged, my voice nothing more than a whisper.

Rising from his feeding, ebony lips now coated in a sheen of red blood, Sebastian gave only a lecherous smile. "But Ria, it is not over yet." His voice spoke of a dark promise. Licking at my wound, cleaning up the last traces of blood, this monster pushed himself off of me and slowly undid the drawstrings of his pants. My eyelids fluttered. Open, close. There was no strength left in my body; I closed my eyes, the lids feeling heavy. Images now came into my mind purely by touch. I felt Sebastian rub his hands, now no longer cold, up my thighs and pull them open. I was too weak to resist like last time.

Still growling, Sebastian grasped me by my shoulders and brought me close to him. With all of the blood I had lost it was if I had no form; my strength had ebbed away from me completely. Sebastian pressed the tip of his manhood up against my opening. I could feel his claws raking along my back, cutting open the old wounds and gouging new ones into my flesh. I did not even have enough spirit to cry out. I gasped as the vampire rammed himself into me, grinding his hips against my own as Sebastian pushed himself as deeply as he could inside of me. Pulling himself out until only the tip of him remained inside, Sebastian crashed into me again roughly. At the same time he dug his claws into me; I could feel warm blood trickle down my back. Sebastian began to roar out loudly as he continued punishing me, drawing lifeblood from my shoulders, licking and sucking it down greedily as the vampire derived his pleasure from me.

Then Sebastian suddenly pulled himself out of me. Silence fell down in the bedchamber as he slowly let go of me, placing me back down gently. "Ria?" His voice, quiet and demanding an answer. "Ria? Speak to me."

His voice was more insistent now. Sebastian shook me and with great difficultly I opened one eye. The vampire's face was hazy; black spots clouded my vision. "Pain-" I thought for a moment I saw anxiety in Sebastian's emotionless eyes, then I blacked out again. In the darkness I could feel Sebastian getting off the bed, hear his footsteps retreating. I moaned softly as the new wounds became apparent; everything below my waist felt like it was on fire. A door opened...a hand touched my face.

"Ria," I could hear Sebastian speaking to me, his voice sounding far away. Struggling I opened my eyes a crack, watching him through my eyelashes. "Stay with me here. Do not try to move." Move? I wanted to laugh. How could I move? With all the blood I had lost, with the punishment he had inflicted upon me, how was I even able to move. Something cold touched my wounds, making me shiver. "This salve will help with the healing, Ria. Let me apply it to you."

I could do nothing as Sebastian rubbed the medicine over my form and once again wrapped the inflicted wounds in linen bandages. Picking up my damaged right hand Sebastian peeled off the blood-soaked bandage. "It hurts," I whimpered as the vampire coated my hand with the medicine. "It hurts so much."

"Stop crying," he answered tersely, blinking quickly. Ripping a strip of linen, the sound deafening to my ears, Sebastian gently wound it around the deep puncture wounds. "Your hand will take longer to heal Ria, but it will heal all the same. Just do not try and use it too much." In my weakened state, unable to move, Sebastian moved me over to the right side of the bed and lay down beside me. He drew the covers over both of us, resting my head against his shoulder. "Will you run away now, little Ria?"

With an obvious effort I shook me head. "No." I did not want this punishment to happen to me again. I did not want to feel what I was feeling now even again. Truth was, I was confused by everything that was happening. Maybe I had already lost my mind and I did not know it. I would have cried but there were no tears left within me.

"You are so precious to me, Ria. I do not want to harm you ever again, but you have to start listening to me from now on." Sebastian brushed a strand of my light coloured hair from my eyes and began to massage my scalp.

"What has," I breathed in and out laboriously, "happened to Lutee?"

Sebastian's hand stopped. "Lutee? I did not hurt her...much." He caught the look I was giving him. "Oh, not to worry. She did not receive the punishment you did. Lutee would not be strong enough for even one feeding or-"

"So you'll feed from me now," I gasped out weakly.

"No, little Ria, you misunderstand. Your strength needs to come back to you, so sleep my beloved."

If I had had the strength I would have lashed out at Sebastian once more. Called me his beloved; he was a beast! I only mumbled something to him as the vampire kissed me on the forehead and closed his eyes. Before I drifted off into sleep the last thing I saw was the candle, the wax melted and the wick almost spent. Was I like this candle? Was my life going to end soon; if not then what new horrors would befall me? But I would honour the promise I had made to Sebastian. I would not run away again.