Chapter Ten: Torture and Death
"You're disgraceful, princess!" Daimon threw her into the wall and she landed in a heap on the floor. "You fell in love with a human! Aren't you supposed to fall in love with one of your own kind?"
"You freaking hypocrite. I'll fall in love with whomever and whatever I choose." Midnight struggled to stand, tried to push herself up to her knees, but Daimon knocked her back onto the floor.
"You will now, will you? Has no one explained pain to you, princess?" Withdrawing a wooden knife with a silver tipped edge, he straddled her waist and pulled one of her wrists up into the pale moonlight. He slashed through the vein on her right wrist and latched his mouth to it, letting her blood flood his mouth. She felt darkness where his lips touched her skin, and then she felt tired, exhausted. Daimon heard her heart stutter, skip a beat, another.
Sweeping his slimy tongue over her wound, he cut into his own wrist, let his dark, tainted blood drip into her mouth. The taste burned her throat, left her skin crawling and her stomach churning, but every cell in her body cried out for that blood, needed it because she was so close to dying. Daimon gave Midnight a fourth of what he'd taken, enough to let her live, not enough to satisfy her hunger. When that boyfriend showed up, she'd finish him off herself.
Daimon put Midnight under a subtle compulsion, so she'd sleep until that idiot mortal came along to "rescue" her.
* * * * * * *
Kai saw Midnight, slumped over on the pier, unconscious. But getting to her would've been too easy. Something was up. But what?
"Go get her." A voice said. Kai whirled around to face Daimon, who grinned at him sardonically. "Go get her." He repeated.
"What did you do to her?" Kai snapped at the vampire angrily.
"Me? What makes you think I did anything? By the way, you have until two o'clock in the morning, which is in about ten minutes, to get to her or Justin there throws her over the edge and she drowns. Saltwater is very bad for vampires, you know, especially if it's cold. Too bad for you it's the middle winter. Now, if I were you, I'd go get her." Kai growled in frustration, and ran up the length of the pier to his girlfriend. Daimon had to smile when the mortal boy trustingly held the princess against him, her head far to close to his throat for safety.
Midnight, wake up and feed.
"Kai… Kai, you have got to get away from me! Daimon… he's done something to me, you have to get away!" Midnight whispered. "Go! What are you waiting for?"
"I'm not leaving you. That's the whole point of me coming in the first place." Midnight tried to push him away, trying to block out the sound of his heart beat, the smell of his blood.
"Kai, please go! Please! I don't want to hurt you!" Her eyes fluttered open, the centers glowing red, and Kai felt drawn into them, as if he were drowning in the fiery light of her eyes. Her fangs sank deep into his throat, draining him, exhausting him. Kai's blood ran into her mouth, down her throat, reviving her body. Kai moaned softly and went limp in her arms. Healing the wound, she pulled her head back, a cry of anguish ripping from within.
"Kai, I'm sorry. Please, forgive me!" Laughter echoed around her, and she lifted her head from Kai's precious face to Daimon and his evil expression. "You bastard."
"Such language, my lady. It's not my fault, you know. You warned him. He wouldn't listen."
"Get lost, before I tear out your throat." Daimon disappeared, and Midnight blocked him from her mind. "Kai, open your eyes. Please? I'm sorry. I never meant for this to happen."
"D-don't cry, Dara." Kai's beautiful blue eyes opened slowly, and he gave her a wan smile. "What did you do, anyway?"
"I… I bit you. None too gently, either. I'm sorry. This is gonna seem really disgusting, but… you'll die if you don't drink my blood." She looked about ready to faint, her skin pale.
"What about you?"
"I'm fine. I can hunt. You can't. Come on, Kai, you need this. Don't make me force you." Kai sighed, and nodded. "It might help if you close your eyes." He obediently shut them while Midnight tore into her wrist. Kai's mouth latched onto it as her warm blood trickled down his throat. She knew what he was tasting. Vampire blood was like soda with a cupful of sugar mixed in, very sweet and a little thin. Kai needed all she could spare him. When his color returned, Midnight whispered softly, "Enough, my love." Kai released her, swallowed the last dregs, and looked up at her.
"That wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be."
"It never is with a real vampire. Come on. You'll be a bit wobbly, so go slow." After the pier stopped shifting under their feet, Midnight grinned mischievously at Kai. "Wanna get home fast?" He nodded. "Hold on." Everything twisted and blurred around them, and then Kai felt solid concrete under his shoes.
"What did you-"
"Don't ask. Go inside, drink some milk, and go to bed. You need to sleep for a while. I'll be back in an hour."
"Where are you going?"
"I need to… get something to eat. Okay?" Kai grabbed her hand as she started to walk off.
"Please, be careful." He kissed her softly, and went inside.