&&&&&&&

"Hey sis, listen to this!"

Dan shouted excitedly, almost dropping the pulse rifle he was cleaning. Doris was in the kitchen preparing dinner for the two of them. The mutton was fresh kill, and she had finally gotten the seasonings she wanted. Presently, she appeared at the doorway to the living area, wiping sauce from her hands onto her apron.

"What is it?"

"They've captured Lamika!"

"What?"

Dan quieted down so Doris could listen to the rest of the news broadcast.

"…all other cases have been postponed so that this trial can take place as quickly as possible, tentatively scheduled to begin within the next three days. Once again, Lamika Lee, daughter of the late Count Magnus Lee, has been captured and is held without bail in the central detention facility. She is charged with numerous counts of murder, as well as various atrocities against humanity. In other news, the expected drought is thought to be…"

Doris turned off the newscast, staring straight ahead, eyes unfocused as she was deep in thought.

'Lamika... is alive...'

She nervously wiped her hands again on her apron.

'D himself hadn't killed her; he knew her potential. He saw what she was capable of becoming. But she hasn't got a chance at receiving a fair verdict. They're going to kill her.'

"The sins of the father..."

"What?"

"Oh, nothing..."

Dan spoke softly to his sister.

"What are you gonna do, sis?"

"I don't know. But I have to do something."

&&&&&&&

"Two silver pieces... for five minutes? That's a hell of a lot. I could almost get a whore for that!"

"Yeah, but none of the whores in this town hold a candle to her. She's special... this is once in a lifetime, you know that."

The guards at the prison medical facility were taking bribes and allowing Lamika unauthorized "visitors". For a price, men got to spend five minutes with the young former countess. Though they were strictly forbidden to have intercourse with her, they could molest her in any other way.

And they did.

&&&&&&&

Lamika was awakened by a calloused hand caressing her face. She reacted instantly, instinctively attempting to create a shield of protection. Remembering that she still couldn't, she raised a hand to the intruder, only to have the bindings restrict its movement.

"Heh, heh. You might as well quit strugglin'. You ain't goin 'nowhere, beautiful."

The man was a return visitor, unshaven and nearly toothless, and this time he reeked of sweat and alcohol.

"Such smooth skin. You're so pretty. It's too bad, what's gonna happen to ya after the trial."

Lamika remained silent, her lips a thin taut line. Her eyes glowered her rage at this indignity, however.

"There's a lotta folks here that hate you, that hate your guts. They wanna see you dead. But I don't hate you. As a matter of fact, I like you. I like you a lot."

To emphasize his point, he placed a hand upon her slender waist, and slowly caressed her body as he moved it up to her right breast. Lamika winced at the contact, and again struggled against her bindings.

"So nice and firm. It's too bad..."

The hand then went back down her body, to pause once again at her waist, before moving further down, until it found the spot it was looking for, at the junction between her legs. Lamika gritted her teeth and clenched her legs together, but he was too strong. He marveled at his good fortune.

"I ain't never had a woman like you before, but that's gonna change..."

The light was relentless, never ending, never giving her a chance to completely recover. The guards were under orders to never extinguish them while she was being held. She was already panting with the exertion of trying to defend herself, but as with all the other visitors, she was helpless, at his mercy. Her degradation continued, and he chuckled to himself as he roughly clutched her femininity.

"I don' care how many others been here besides me. This here belongs to me, and I"m gonna have it, maybe not tonight, but I'm gonna get it before you die, understand?"

She would not give the pig the satisfaction of a response, so she remained silent.

"You don't have to say nuthin' right now..."

He leaned over to whisper into her ear.

"But you'll be makin' a lotta noise before I'm through with ya."

The guard opened the door.

"Time's up." The man wheeled around, frustrated.

"What? Ahh, shit!"

He grudgingly surveyed her once more before leaning over her, inches from her face. He licked her cheek. His whiskey-laden breath nauseated her; had she any bile, she would have vomited. She bared her fangs, but he deftly avoided them.

"You want to kill me, don'cha? That's good. I wan' ya to put up a fight. I like my women lively. You'll see me again, soon enough."

He barked out a laugh as he made his way to the door.

When it closed and she heard the bolt click into place, Lamika let out the breath she had been holding forever. They were trying to break her, and they were getting closer to doing so with each passing hour, but she would not let them succeed. It was true they had the upper hand now, but she had to continue to believe that things would change, somehow. She closed her eyes and contemplated.

What about D?

Could he help her, somehow? She was locked up, disoriented, with no means of communication, but she remembered that she had felt a connection to him when Rei supposedly killed him after the candle disabled him.

She would have to take a giant step, and admit failure once again. Her ego was by now very fragile and she had to protect her sense of self with all she had left. Her mind raced through any other remaining options. She knew she had to get out of this place, by any means. Sighing, she swallowed her pride and tentatively called out to him mentally.

'D...'

It felt foolish. A shot in the dark. Seriously, what could come of it? He may as well have been millions of miles away. She resolved, however to give it her best effort, no matter how futile it seemed.

'D..? I need your help. Can you hear me? Can you feel me? I... I don't know what else to do. I've never been dependent on anyone before, but...'

Lamika rolled the word around in her mouth. She couldn't ever remember saying it to anyone save her father.

'P...please. D. If you can... '

She summoned every bit of energy she had and sent it out to wherever on earth he might be, the strain of that effort taking its toll on her already limited life force. As she lay panting from the exertion, she heard the bolt release and the door open once again. Preparing herself psychologically for what she was certain was coming, she did her best to disengage her mind from her body.

&&&&&&&

A thousand miles away, in the throes of battle against the minions of another human-feeder, D's sword cleaved through three mutant attackers in one swipe before his eyes lost their bluish glow from his power. What... was that?

"Lamika..!"

To the cool efficiency of his killing technique was added a renewed sense of urgency. The bowels of Hell would open up this night to receive a large number of new residents.

&&&&&&&

"Well now, Lamika. How are we today? Have we had a change of heart?"

The voice brought her back. It was the mayor. She relaxed slightly, as thus far, he was only concerned with one thing, and that had nothing to do with her.

Make that consumed with one thing.

The mayor sat back in his chair, raising an ankle across one knee. Lamika remained mute, head turned away from him, gazing upon the far wall.

"It's quite simple. You know what I want. We can stop playing these foolish games. I certainly don't feel happy about the way things are turning out for you. However, you leave me little choice in the matter."

He paused, running his hands through his white hair, then released a deep breath.

"Out of necessity, we are "adjusting" the security detail schedule, and this unfortunately will create periods of time when this part of the facility, and your cell in particular might possibly have no guard on duty. Our budget is quite stretched, you see, but you can easily help us with that, should you desire. This is quite distasteful to me. Why do you persist when we can easily help each other?"

He shifted in his seat, placing his foot upon the floor. He leaned forward.

"You can't want for this to continue. Believe me, it will get worse for you. You understand my meaning, of that I'm certain."

Lamika felt a chill down her spine as she understood completely. What she had been subjected to thus far were only preliminaries, feeding the fantasies of frustrated men for a few coins. What would happen next was clear. She would be left unguarded, and during one or more of those periods of time, she would be raped. The mayor grunted with exasperation.

"You must have some pride left; you're the Count's daughter, for god's sake! Put an end to farce this now."

Lamika swallowed audibly, and opened her mouth as if to speak, but seemingly thought the better of it, and again turned away from him.

"All right, then. Remember, this is your choice. Cooperation invites cooperation, and that includes your being treated with the respect I'm sure you feel you deserve."

The mayor stood to put on his coat and hat, then turned to leave with his assistant.

"Officially, this conversation never happened. Unless, as I said, you give me something to work with, I can't be held responsible for any further "adjustments" in the security schedule that leave you exposed. Should you speak publicly otherwise, I have no choice but to cast further doubts as to any integrity you might still retain."

With that, he nodded and waited until the door creaked open. He mumbled something to the guard on duty, then left abruptly. After a while, Lamika again tried to regain her focus in another attempt to contact D, when she heard the door open once again.

The next man entered, one she had not seen before, and he nervously clutching his hat as he glanced about the room. His eyes lit up when he saw Lamika, however. He licked his lips as he approached her.

"Beautiful... just like they said..."

She steeled herself for what she knew was to come next.

&&&&&&&

The trial was a sensation.

People from villages far and near came to witness the proceedings.

Lamika, in shackles, could only watch mutely at the proclamations of her guilt. Dressed in their finest, barristers took turns posturing and proselytizing as they sought fame along with the justification of a death sentance. After what seemed an eternity of useless filibustering, the judge finally turned to her.

"Have you any words in your defense, vampire?"

The once-feared daughter of Count Lee looked around the packed courthouse before standing on shaky legs. A high intensity spotlight illuminated her, further ensuring her continued status as a prisoner. Although dressed in prison issue, her majestic inner nature still shone through, as if a lotus flower discovered amidst the mud and muck. Doris, in attendance, couldn't help but shed a tear at the irony of a proud woman now reduced to this. Lamika spoke evenly, with little emotion.

"I am not a vampire. I... am a dhampire. I cannot defend what I am nor have I any defense for what I may have done in the past. I was bred and raised to sustain the hierarchy of dominion in this world, at the top of which are vampires, and so I acted accordingly. This court and this trial is a sham. You might as well put a cat on trial for eating the rat it captured."

"Order in the court!" The judge angrily rapped his gavel. The lead prosecutor spoke up.

"Your honor, as you can see, the defendant has yet to show remorse for her past actions. Her attitude of contempt for us, for her victims is clear for all to see. There can only be one verdict in a case such as this."

He turned to the crowd for effect.

"Guilty!" Came a cry from the masses. Others chimed in until the chant became a roar. The judge once again demanded and got silence. He rubbed his chin before he spoke.

"So, since you had no choice in the matter, since you were only a part of a pre-existant hierarchy, you admit that you ruthlessly slaughtered humans upon the order of your father, the Count?"

Lamika blinked her aquamarine eyes and sighed.

"Just who is on trial here? If in fact it is my father who is on trial, then you will have great difficulty with a conviction as he is most certainly dead. I should think you would need habeus corpus for the accused as much as for the victim in order for your due process to work?" Lamika gave a wan smile.

"Again, your honor, the accused shows nothing but contempt for this court, and by association, your honor himself!"

The judge contemplated the barrister's words. Lamika looked out upon the buzzing crowd

"It is quite clear that the balance of power has shifted upon my father's death, but if you are here to witness your pawn pleading for her life, then you will be greatly disappointed. Do your worst."

Doris could take it no longer.

"No Lamika! You can't give up! You must fight! You must choose life! What would D think if he knew you had given up so easily?"

The gavel fell again as the judge expressed his displeasure.

"Silence! Silence in my courthouse! Remove that woman immediately!"

Guards escorted Doris as she struggled within their grasp.

"Lamika!"

Then Doris yelled out over her shoulder something that startled even the dark haired dhampire beauty.

"Lamika don't leave me! I love you!"

The crowd was hushed into silence as it processed her words, before a great cacophony ensued.

&&&&&&&

Next: There is a method to Doris' madness... and the killing begins.

Thanks Cynical Chaos and Spirit-Wolf25! Sorry for the delay, but things should move along much faster now...