On to the story...
~*~
Nicole cried out as the pointed toe of Mistress Jeshickah's boot landed on her ribs again. It was followed by an audible crack. Nicole had lost count of how many times that had happened. "You are mine," the vampire growled. She lashed out again. This time she caught Nicole in her broken arm. The girl passed out from the pain
~*~
Alexia was out of breath when she and Eric met up with Fritz wandering the halls. She skidded to a hault before him and bowed her head respectively. "Master," she intoned.
"Gabriel has sent me to find you. He and Vitaliy are waiting in our rooms and require your assistance."
She nodded and followed him. Eric spun on his heel and left, presumably to find Jaguar. "What did you find?" Fritz asked.
"Nothing of importance, master. Eric was showing me around so that I might better serve you in our visit here," she answered, refusing to drop her character in case someone overheard them.
Fritz nodded and opened a nearly invisible door. The panelling matched the walls almost perfectly. The only thing that ditinguished it as a door was the brass handle. Alexia preceeded him into the room. As soon as the door was closed behind them, Vitaliy jumped to his feet. "Where is she?"
"You don't want to hear this V," she answered.
What is it? Gabriel asked silently. His black eyes caught her golden gaze.
Not here, she thought, knowing full well that he would be able to hear her. Gabriel took her by the arm and pulled her into the bedchamber that he had taken. He sat on the bed, and she curled up with her head in his lap. "It's bad."
He rubbed her back gently. "How bad?"
"She's locked in a cage. I think her arm is broken, and she's real beat up. There was blood on her clothes"
Vitaliy must have been listening just outside the door because he burst in. "Where is she?" He demanded.
Gabriel shook his head. "We have to think about this V. What happens if we run into Jeshickah? How do we get Nicole out? What do we do once we've got her? If we just take her and run, Jeshickah is going to come after her and probably kill her. Also remember that someone is going to have to heal her, where do we take her?"
"We kill Jeshickah, break into the cage, and I take her to SingleEarth. If the bitch is dead, then she can't come and try to kill Nicole. It's simple Gabriel."
"It's not that simple."
"Why not?"
"Nothing is ever simple," Alexia said. "Something always goes wrong."
"You're optomistic," Vitaliy replied dryly. He sulked back into the other room.
"So what are we going to do?" She asked Gabriel.
"Kill Jeshickah, free Nicole, and have Vitaliy take her to SingleEarth?" He offered.
Alexia couldn't come up with a better plan, but it still seemed too easy. Gabriel was now laying beside her, and she had her head on his shoulder. He leaned down to kiss her briefly. She returned the kiss. Even though they had only been at this charade for a few hours, she needed to know that he thought more of her than just a stupid human. You know I love you, he reminded her.
"I love you too," she said in-between kisses.
Their moment was interrupted by a furious vampire storming into the room. "What the hell are you doing letting your little pet have free roam of Midnight? I know you have better sense than that Gabriel!" Jeshickah roared.
Gabriel jumped. "What the hell are you doing in my rooms?" He roared back.
"Aww, did I interrupt a touching moment? How sweet," Jeshickah's voice dripped in sarcasm. "You need to teach that little bitch slave of yours some manners. I found her lurking in my cage. If I see her again, I will kill her. I don't care what you say."
Gabriel was on his feet. Alexia huddled on the bed and remembered to keep her eyes on the blankets. She knew that Jeshickah was being serious about killing her. "Don't. Touch. My. Slave."
"Tell her not to touch mine."
Gabriel leveled his gaze with hers. "Fine. Now leave my room."
Jeshickah paused. "I could do that, but I thought I might hang around and wait for your little brother. After all, I do owe him thanks for the fine slave he gave me," she said fillipantly.
"Vitaliy isn't here."
"Jaguar said that your brother was with you and I don't think you have any other brothers," she pointed out.
"Did you ignore the person in the other room?"
"Who? Brandon? Why should I pay a slave any mind?"
Gabriel laughed. It wasn't a friendly laugh, it was one berating a person who had just made a grievous mistake. "His name is Fritz. I consider him a brother. That's who Jaguar meant."
"Oh? So we're adopting slaves as family now? How quaint Gabe, truly. Eventually you'll go back to your sheep herding and leave the rest of us alone."
With that last threat, Jeshickah vanished. "Don't call me Gabe," he said to the empty room. He slumped down onto the bed and Alexia sat up to rub his shoulders. "Ooh, that feels good," he said after a few moments.
"I know it does. So what are we going to do now?"
"I don't know baby. It would've been all too easy if Nicole had been one of the slaves that Jaguar had offered as for sale. All he has are mindless lap dogs. I refuse to even go near them. As warped as they are, they wouldn't know how to act in the real world anymore. It's pathetic," he sighed.
"I ran into some vamp named Gabriel," she said to change the subject.
"Oh really? I should have known that he'd be hanging around. That must be why Jaguar's slave looked at me like I was nuts when I said my name. That also explains why Jaguar is in such a particularly foul mood. Not only is Jeshickah here, but Gabriel. They are probably the only two vampires here that can really challenge his claim to Midnight. I wish I knew else was here, that would make things easier. Nathaniel was here yesterday, but he's already left. He is about the only one who would help us," he said thoughtfully.
Alexia sat back on her heels. "Should I try and scout around more?"
"No, if Jeshickah catches you wandering around she's liable to do something to correct that. However, I do need to visit the west wing. I would like you to accompany me."
"What's in the west wing?"
He half-chuckled. "Dinner."
Alexia paled. She had never had to watch him feed before. He usually went to SingleEarth with Vitaliy, or occasionally hunting with Kiree. This was going to be interesting. She stood and smoothed the front of her top. Gabriel walked out of the room to the halls beyond the small sitting room. She had fallen into step behind him, just as a good slave would do. She kept her gaze on the plush carpet below her feet. A guard stopped them at the entrance to the west wing, but allowed them to pass. Alexia was glad that she had to look at the floor, she didn't want to see what was going on. They passed alcoves with suede couches and several rooms. One had it's door open, and Alexia couldn't help looking in. A male vampire had a girl on his lap who was probably sixteen or seventeen years old. He held her gently and lowered his mouth to her throat. Alexia looked away in revulsion.
They came to a room with several people in it. When she and Gabriel entered, they all immediately fell to one knee with their heads down. "Select one and bring it to the third room on the right. You know my tastes," Gabriel instructed.
Bring me the girl on the left, he added.
Alexia waited a moment, pretending to be picky. The girl he had chosen had chestnut auburn hair and a well tanned complection that made her look like she spent a lot of time in the sun. They remained motionless. She stopped before the one that Gabriel had told her to bring. "You," she said coldly.
The girl rose and followed her. Alexia knocked at the closed door and was bade to enter. Gabriel was sitting on the love seat against the far wall. "Come here," he said to the girl. Alexia knew that she shouldn't watch, but she could not lower her eyes. The girl moved seductively across the room and perched on his lap. It was obvious that she found him attractive. Jealousy flared inside her as Gabriel lowered his lips to her throat. The girl seemed asleep, but she had a self-satisfied smile on her lips. She was enjoying this. Gabriel let her go after a few moments. She didn't move from his lap. Instead, she whispered something into his ear. Gabriel slapped her, and she fell to the floor. He stepped over her body. "Do not presume that you are fit for anything other than food," he said sharply. Alexia flinched. She didn't like this side of Gabriel.
The girl moaned, but did not get up. "I apologize milord, I only thought that-"
"You are not supposed to think! You are only a slave. Remember that," he said. "I shall inform Jaguar of your behavior."
"Milord, please, no," the girl pleaded.
"Oh, now you beg for mercy?"
"Please milord, I'll do whatever you want," she said again.
Gabriel paused at that. "Anything?"
"Yes milord! But please don't go to Master Jaguar."
He pulled to girl to her feet and deposited her on the couch. "What do you know of Jeshickah?" He demanded.
"I dare not say milord," she said meekly.
Gabriel suppressed a snort of laughter. "You dare not oppose me," he sneered. Alexia was beginning to wonder if this was Gabriel's true nature. He was scaring her.
"I know only that she feeds once a day, milord. Yesterday she killed one of the slaves. Master Jaguar was quite upset. She told him that he was going soft."
"What of the new slave she brought?"
"I know nothing of her milord."
"But you know she's a girl?"
The girl flinched. She had given herself away. "Milord, I dare not say anything more about Mistress Jeshickah."
"You dare not defy me!"
"Mistress Jeshickah plans to break her completely so that she doesn't even remember herself then return her to someone named Vitaliy as a reminder! That's all I know milord!" The girl curled in on herself. Gabriel nodded and left the room without another word and Alexia rushed to follow him.
~*~
Nicole swam back to consciousness. The room was dark, but she was not alone. She couldn't muster the strength to speak, so she moaned in the direction of the other person. "Had enough, have we?" Mistress Jeshickah's voice was like poisoned honey.
Nicole curled back in on herself when she heard that. She had no desire to anger her mistress again. It was getting so hard to hold on to who she was and she almost gave in and let go. At that thought, a resounding NO! broke Mistress Jeshickah's hold on her mind. The vampire let loose a yowl of fury. Nicole did not know how long she endured the torture; time had lost all meaning.
~*~
End Part III...
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