Order 4: Mind Games and a Bet
I felt a pressure on my arms. Opening eyelids heavy with sleep, I saw red eyes, eyes everywhere. Looking again, I saw that it was only Alucard. Only Alucard??? Am I crazy?!
"What the hell?!" I yelled, struggling to escape from the vice-like grip Alucard had on my wrists.
"You won't get away until I say so, Master," he whispered teasingly. The vampire was above me, his body covering mine. His knee was between my legs, forcing them apart, making me extremely uncomfortable at the contact. "I couldn't let an opportunity like this pass by, could I?"
I glared up into his smug face. "You will release me this instant!" I growled. I cannot let him know that this is scaring the crap out of me. Keep control. Stay calm.
"You are already assuming some of my master's mannerisms." His face was at my throat, his lips lightly caressing the sensitive skin. The act sent shivers down my spine. Arching my neck, I could feel a moan about to escape. I forced it down biting my lip in the process. I hope to God that it doesn't bleed. That's just what I need: Alucard frenching me and feeding off of me at the same time.
As soon as I finished the thought, he was lightly licking my neck up to and along my jaw. His other hand was grazing my leg, starting at the knee and working his way up my thigh. I shivered involuntarily.
This cannot be happening! I screamed in my head. It's only a dream!
I fought against him, harder this time, to free myself from the crazed vampire's grasp on my wrists. "Get. The fuck. Off. Me!!!" I yelled putting everything I had into it.
He let me squirm beneath him until I eventually tired myself out. "Why would I do such a thing? Your reactions are far from boring." He was whispering in my ear again, taunting, teasing me.
"Look me in the face and say that, you skinny bastard." I was breathing hard. How could I let him manipulate me so easily?
He chuckled. Looking me in the eyes, he grinned. It was humorless, feral. By this time his hand was at my hip. Pulling my hip closer to himself, he murmured, "You bring me as much amusement as Integra does." :But you amuse me in a different manner.:
I could feel my eyes widening, my nostrils flaring. I struggled against his iron grip, desperation lending me the strength I would need. I kicked and pulled. I bucked my hips to get any leverage that I could. This only succeeded in making Alucard's grin wider and my entire body started to ache from the exertion of trying to get away. Stop it! I screamed mentally. Stopitstopitstopitstopit!!!!
Alucard laughed, his deep-throated voice echoing in the darkness. There was a menacing and sadistic quality to it that only made my stomach sink into my toes. "That won't work. You should know that my strength far surpasses yours."
I relaxed, seemingly defeated. Just breathe, get yourself under control. What would Integra do? I put on my mask of indifference, trying to hide the fear of being trapped rising within me. "No," I replied. "It won't."
At that moment, I leaned back into the pillows as far as my position would allow and smacked Alucard in the forehead with mine. Note to self: Don't headbutt anyone ever again, especially not a vampire.
This was apparently not what the vampire had been expecting. Alucard moved away a little, which was more than enough for me to squirm out from under him.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!?!?"
Alucard was now laying on his side, gazing amusedly at me. He smiled, one of his fangs overlapping his lower lip. "The real question is 'What's wrong with you?' I was just following the direction your dreams were heading."
* * * * * * * * * * *
I awoke with a start. I could feel the cold sweat covering me, causing my pajamas to stick to me. 'What's wrong with me?' I thought to myself, worriedly. 'I was just following the direction your dreams were heading?!?' What in God's name was he babbling on about? If he was talking about sex, then he's got serious issues.
Shaking from the nightmare, I got up from the four-poster bed and went to the table where I had left a glass of water the evening before. Laying the palm of my hand on the table for balance, I picked up the glass of water and started to drink from it. I was shaking so badly that the water was hitting me in the nose.
I was still gulping the water like a dehydrated dog when I heard a deep, amused voice coming from the darkness. "Couldn't sleep, master?"
I spit out the contents of my mouth all over the table in surprise. Damn him.
Coughing from the little bit of water that had trickled down my windpipe, I turned toward the voice. "You know very well that I couldn't sleep," I told him, annoyed and my voice a little raspy from the water going down the wrong way. "What the hell were you thinking? You just met me and you feel like you know me well enough to pull that kind of crap? For a person who's over five hundred years old, you sure don't act much like an adult."
Alucard stepped into the moonlight streaming through the windows. As usual, he had that near-maddening smirk playing on his lips.
"Don't you have something better to do? Like teaching Ceres something? Like how to accept what she is?" I asked him, my eyes narrowed. "And I'm not your master... I'm starting to think that the only reason you're doing this is to see reactions on Integra's face that either-" I paused for a moment to raise my index finger, " -she wouldn't normally have, or, " I raised my middle finger, "she just wouldn't show at all."
The deep chuckling I received in response was not unexpected. "Maybe," was the only reply.
I looked at him, unbelieving. "'Maybe,'" I repeated. "That is all that you have to say to me?" Getting no response, I threw up my hands and 'huffed', giving in for the moment.
"Fine," I said, still angry. "I feel I must state the obvious: I am going to change." I drank some more of the water to try and calm my nerves. It didn't work.
"Because of that lovely dream you so kindly influenced, I will not be able to sleep anytime in the near future," I spat at him, unintentionally digging my nails into the wood of the table and realizing that he had pissed me off to the point that I was speaking a little more formal than was usual for me. "I might as well do something useful such as practice my shooting. I do not want to look the fool by being a horrible shot, considering how good Integra actually is."
I started over to the closet to pick out one if the many suits, dismissively ignoring the annoying vampire. Pulling out a beige one, I went to lay it on the bed. It was then that I realized that Alucard was still standing near the windows.
"You're still here? I figured you were smart enough to take the hint," I said, still going about what I was doing. I went to the dresser and pulled out a pressed shirt, a sapphire blue tie, socks, and undergarments. Taking them over to the bed, I laid them down next to the suit.
"You know," I said absently, the anger having subsided a little, "I can't really say that I understand what Ceres' problem is. She can suck peoples' blood without killing them. She doesn't even have to act like you do, if that's really what bothers her. Hell, going nucking futz is healthy sometimes." I paused, sighing.
"I'm surprised," Alucard said after a long silence, startling me, "that a human would feel that way about being a monster." He said that last with such vehemence and sarcasm it made me inwardly cringe.
"Why shouldn't I?" I asked him. "I feel that I am an open-minded and logical individual. Just because Ceres isn't human anymore, it doesn't mean that she has to stop being the person she was before." I stopped, smiling to myself and laughed. "Being a monster is all in the head. It's a conscious decision." But I quickly sobered.
"Besides, its just funny to have a vampire suck on a blood-filled IV bag like a Capri Sun fruit-flavored drink," I added with a straight face.
"I can see how that would be amusing to you." He laughed. I could feel him brushing the image of him sipping on a blood-filled Capri Sun in my mind. :You are very strange, even for a human.:
"My friends tell me that all the time. At least I keep you thinking. It's different from just killing all the time, isn't it?"
The vampire just looked at me, smiling.
Well, I thought to myself. A real smile on his face for once. "And I'll take you calling me 'strange' as a complement," I told him.
Turning around, I started towards the bathroom to see if I had soap, shampoo, a loofah, and a brush in the bathroom.
"Are you sure that your face won't crack and fall off from doing that?" I asked him, trying hard not to laugh. "After all, we wouldn't want to ruin your good looks."
"Good-looking?" The smile turned into a full-fanged grin. "You think I'm good-looking?"
I turned toward the bathroom, hoping he would go away so I could have a moment's privacy. "You aren't hideous to look at," I told him absently, looking for a towel. Noticing the large bath towel near the luxuriously huge bathtub as well as the shampoo, soap, loofah, and brush, I started running the water.
As I turned away from the tub, I realized that Alucard was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. He was also blocking my only means of escape.
I narrowed my eyes. "Are you going to let me take a bath in peace, or are you going to be your usual annoying self and watch me whenever you feel like it?" I asked him, slightly annoyed. "Honestly, I would prefer the former."
"Yes," was all the answer I received.
Walking up to him, I put myself into his personal space. We were so close that our noses were almost touching. Time to turn the tables for once. "Do you think that you can act like a decent person for once and not spy on me in any way from when I strip down for a bath to when I am done putting on my clothes again? I know it may be a bit much to ask for, but consider it a challenge." I smirked. "Do you think you're vampire enough to do that?"
The smile lost its humor, which was replaced by something I couldn't identify. "And what would I get if I did this?" he asked me. His eyes were glittering, as if he were contemplating something I really didn't want to know anything about.
"Say what?" I asked stupidly. "I don't think I heard you right."
"Oh, but I think you did," Alucard said. I don't think I like where this is heading...
"No, Alucard, you reeeeally don't want to do this," I warned him. "I play dirty."
He bared his fangs at me. "Is that a threat?" he asked dangerously.
My answering smile did not reach my eyes. "Think of it as a promise."
"I was right to say that you were amusing!" He drew away at this, his eyes lighting up in a way that told me that he was excited. Really excited. "Terms?"
"Simple. You are not to use any means at your disposal to spy on my person for the time that I undress, bathe, or dress after my bath. This includes supernatural and mundane methods."
"If I win, I get to do with you as I wish for one full night."
This is starting to sound like one of those porn fanfics I was reading a coupla days ago. "If I win, you have to do whatever I wish for a night." I could feel the predatorial grin spreading across my face. Just like the Cheshire Cat. I was putting my hair up in a ponytail as this was going on. When I was finished I held out my hand and said, " Deal. Let's shake on it."
Alucard reached forward and grasped my hand caressing my palm with his index finger. "Deal."
I gave him a strange look but didn't comment. Releasing his hand, I started to take off my top. "You'd better leave now," I sneered at him.
He didn't move at first. The vampire kept standing there until I had finished unbuttoning my top and was about to open it when he faded into the wall. :This is going to be very amusing!: I heard in my mind.
I just laughed, even if it was just a little nervous sounding.
I really don't want to contemplate what would happen if he won, I thought worriedly, sobering quickly. If it involves something that's going to screw things up for Integra, I am so going to Hell.
I finished undressing and went over to the running water to see if it was warm enough. Finding that it was, I stopped up the drain and put a little bubble bath in. After letting the water run for a minute or two and the bubbles build up to where I wanted them, I got in the comfortably large bathtub to scrub the sweat from the unexpected dream from my body...
I felt a pressure on my arms. Opening eyelids heavy with sleep, I saw red eyes, eyes everywhere. Looking again, I saw that it was only Alucard. Only Alucard??? Am I crazy?!
"What the hell?!" I yelled, struggling to escape from the vice-like grip Alucard had on my wrists.
"You won't get away until I say so, Master," he whispered teasingly. The vampire was above me, his body covering mine. His knee was between my legs, forcing them apart, making me extremely uncomfortable at the contact. "I couldn't let an opportunity like this pass by, could I?"
I glared up into his smug face. "You will release me this instant!" I growled. I cannot let him know that this is scaring the crap out of me. Keep control. Stay calm.
"You are already assuming some of my master's mannerisms." His face was at my throat, his lips lightly caressing the sensitive skin. The act sent shivers down my spine. Arching my neck, I could feel a moan about to escape. I forced it down biting my lip in the process. I hope to God that it doesn't bleed. That's just what I need: Alucard frenching me and feeding off of me at the same time.
As soon as I finished the thought, he was lightly licking my neck up to and along my jaw. His other hand was grazing my leg, starting at the knee and working his way up my thigh. I shivered involuntarily.
This cannot be happening! I screamed in my head. It's only a dream!
I fought against him, harder this time, to free myself from the crazed vampire's grasp on my wrists. "Get. The fuck. Off. Me!!!" I yelled putting everything I had into it.
He let me squirm beneath him until I eventually tired myself out. "Why would I do such a thing? Your reactions are far from boring." He was whispering in my ear again, taunting, teasing me.
"Look me in the face and say that, you skinny bastard." I was breathing hard. How could I let him manipulate me so easily?
He chuckled. Looking me in the eyes, he grinned. It was humorless, feral. By this time his hand was at my hip. Pulling my hip closer to himself, he murmured, "You bring me as much amusement as Integra does." :But you amuse me in a different manner.:
I could feel my eyes widening, my nostrils flaring. I struggled against his iron grip, desperation lending me the strength I would need. I kicked and pulled. I bucked my hips to get any leverage that I could. This only succeeded in making Alucard's grin wider and my entire body started to ache from the exertion of trying to get away. Stop it! I screamed mentally. Stopitstopitstopitstopit!!!!
Alucard laughed, his deep-throated voice echoing in the darkness. There was a menacing and sadistic quality to it that only made my stomach sink into my toes. "That won't work. You should know that my strength far surpasses yours."
I relaxed, seemingly defeated. Just breathe, get yourself under control. What would Integra do? I put on my mask of indifference, trying to hide the fear of being trapped rising within me. "No," I replied. "It won't."
At that moment, I leaned back into the pillows as far as my position would allow and smacked Alucard in the forehead with mine. Note to self: Don't headbutt anyone ever again, especially not a vampire.
This was apparently not what the vampire had been expecting. Alucard moved away a little, which was more than enough for me to squirm out from under him.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!?!?"
Alucard was now laying on his side, gazing amusedly at me. He smiled, one of his fangs overlapping his lower lip. "The real question is 'What's wrong with you?' I was just following the direction your dreams were heading."
* * * * * * * * * * *
I awoke with a start. I could feel the cold sweat covering me, causing my pajamas to stick to me. 'What's wrong with me?' I thought to myself, worriedly. 'I was just following the direction your dreams were heading?!?' What in God's name was he babbling on about? If he was talking about sex, then he's got serious issues.
Shaking from the nightmare, I got up from the four-poster bed and went to the table where I had left a glass of water the evening before. Laying the palm of my hand on the table for balance, I picked up the glass of water and started to drink from it. I was shaking so badly that the water was hitting me in the nose.
I was still gulping the water like a dehydrated dog when I heard a deep, amused voice coming from the darkness. "Couldn't sleep, master?"
I spit out the contents of my mouth all over the table in surprise. Damn him.
Coughing from the little bit of water that had trickled down my windpipe, I turned toward the voice. "You know very well that I couldn't sleep," I told him, annoyed and my voice a little raspy from the water going down the wrong way. "What the hell were you thinking? You just met me and you feel like you know me well enough to pull that kind of crap? For a person who's over five hundred years old, you sure don't act much like an adult."
Alucard stepped into the moonlight streaming through the windows. As usual, he had that near-maddening smirk playing on his lips.
"Don't you have something better to do? Like teaching Ceres something? Like how to accept what she is?" I asked him, my eyes narrowed. "And I'm not your master... I'm starting to think that the only reason you're doing this is to see reactions on Integra's face that either-" I paused for a moment to raise my index finger, " -she wouldn't normally have, or, " I raised my middle finger, "she just wouldn't show at all."
The deep chuckling I received in response was not unexpected. "Maybe," was the only reply.
I looked at him, unbelieving. "'Maybe,'" I repeated. "That is all that you have to say to me?" Getting no response, I threw up my hands and 'huffed', giving in for the moment.
"Fine," I said, still angry. "I feel I must state the obvious: I am going to change." I drank some more of the water to try and calm my nerves. It didn't work.
"Because of that lovely dream you so kindly influenced, I will not be able to sleep anytime in the near future," I spat at him, unintentionally digging my nails into the wood of the table and realizing that he had pissed me off to the point that I was speaking a little more formal than was usual for me. "I might as well do something useful such as practice my shooting. I do not want to look the fool by being a horrible shot, considering how good Integra actually is."
I started over to the closet to pick out one if the many suits, dismissively ignoring the annoying vampire. Pulling out a beige one, I went to lay it on the bed. It was then that I realized that Alucard was still standing near the windows.
"You're still here? I figured you were smart enough to take the hint," I said, still going about what I was doing. I went to the dresser and pulled out a pressed shirt, a sapphire blue tie, socks, and undergarments. Taking them over to the bed, I laid them down next to the suit.
"You know," I said absently, the anger having subsided a little, "I can't really say that I understand what Ceres' problem is. She can suck peoples' blood without killing them. She doesn't even have to act like you do, if that's really what bothers her. Hell, going nucking futz is healthy sometimes." I paused, sighing.
"I'm surprised," Alucard said after a long silence, startling me, "that a human would feel that way about being a monster." He said that last with such vehemence and sarcasm it made me inwardly cringe.
"Why shouldn't I?" I asked him. "I feel that I am an open-minded and logical individual. Just because Ceres isn't human anymore, it doesn't mean that she has to stop being the person she was before." I stopped, smiling to myself and laughed. "Being a monster is all in the head. It's a conscious decision." But I quickly sobered.
"Besides, its just funny to have a vampire suck on a blood-filled IV bag like a Capri Sun fruit-flavored drink," I added with a straight face.
"I can see how that would be amusing to you." He laughed. I could feel him brushing the image of him sipping on a blood-filled Capri Sun in my mind. :You are very strange, even for a human.:
"My friends tell me that all the time. At least I keep you thinking. It's different from just killing all the time, isn't it?"
The vampire just looked at me, smiling.
Well, I thought to myself. A real smile on his face for once. "And I'll take you calling me 'strange' as a complement," I told him.
Turning around, I started towards the bathroom to see if I had soap, shampoo, a loofah, and a brush in the bathroom.
"Are you sure that your face won't crack and fall off from doing that?" I asked him, trying hard not to laugh. "After all, we wouldn't want to ruin your good looks."
"Good-looking?" The smile turned into a full-fanged grin. "You think I'm good-looking?"
I turned toward the bathroom, hoping he would go away so I could have a moment's privacy. "You aren't hideous to look at," I told him absently, looking for a towel. Noticing the large bath towel near the luxuriously huge bathtub as well as the shampoo, soap, loofah, and brush, I started running the water.
As I turned away from the tub, I realized that Alucard was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. He was also blocking my only means of escape.
I narrowed my eyes. "Are you going to let me take a bath in peace, or are you going to be your usual annoying self and watch me whenever you feel like it?" I asked him, slightly annoyed. "Honestly, I would prefer the former."
"Yes," was all the answer I received.
Walking up to him, I put myself into his personal space. We were so close that our noses were almost touching. Time to turn the tables for once. "Do you think that you can act like a decent person for once and not spy on me in any way from when I strip down for a bath to when I am done putting on my clothes again? I know it may be a bit much to ask for, but consider it a challenge." I smirked. "Do you think you're vampire enough to do that?"
The smile lost its humor, which was replaced by something I couldn't identify. "And what would I get if I did this?" he asked me. His eyes were glittering, as if he were contemplating something I really didn't want to know anything about.
"Say what?" I asked stupidly. "I don't think I heard you right."
"Oh, but I think you did," Alucard said. I don't think I like where this is heading...
"No, Alucard, you reeeeally don't want to do this," I warned him. "I play dirty."
He bared his fangs at me. "Is that a threat?" he asked dangerously.
My answering smile did not reach my eyes. "Think of it as a promise."
"I was right to say that you were amusing!" He drew away at this, his eyes lighting up in a way that told me that he was excited. Really excited. "Terms?"
"Simple. You are not to use any means at your disposal to spy on my person for the time that I undress, bathe, or dress after my bath. This includes supernatural and mundane methods."
"If I win, I get to do with you as I wish for one full night."
This is starting to sound like one of those porn fanfics I was reading a coupla days ago. "If I win, you have to do whatever I wish for a night." I could feel the predatorial grin spreading across my face. Just like the Cheshire Cat. I was putting my hair up in a ponytail as this was going on. When I was finished I held out my hand and said, " Deal. Let's shake on it."
Alucard reached forward and grasped my hand caressing my palm with his index finger. "Deal."
I gave him a strange look but didn't comment. Releasing his hand, I started to take off my top. "You'd better leave now," I sneered at him.
He didn't move at first. The vampire kept standing there until I had finished unbuttoning my top and was about to open it when he faded into the wall. :This is going to be very amusing!: I heard in my mind.
I just laughed, even if it was just a little nervous sounding.
I really don't want to contemplate what would happen if he won, I thought worriedly, sobering quickly. If it involves something that's going to screw things up for Integra, I am so going to Hell.
I finished undressing and went over to the running water to see if it was warm enough. Finding that it was, I stopped up the drain and put a little bubble bath in. After letting the water run for a minute or two and the bubbles build up to where I wanted them, I got in the comfortably large bathtub to scrub the sweat from the unexpected dream from my body...