She did as she was told, without question, and without argument. As we approached the garage, it opened just as I said it would, allowing the both of us to be brought into the encasement of wood and steel. I remained in the seat for a time, watching her quietly from behind. Her hands gripped the wheel relentlessly, knuckles white. It took a honed gaze to watch the singular droplet of sweat caress down from the side of her temple, along the outside of her ear, closest to her cheek, and down toward her jaw. Nervousness dripped from her. Wax from a lit candle. And it would not be stemmed. I had no desire to do so. I wanted her to fear me. To fear the unknown. Worry over the decisions she'd made for the evening. Finally I spoke. "You can turn the vehicle off." She flinched faintly, not expecting my voice, even low as it was. With a sheepish grin she turned off the engine and removed the keys to drop them down within her bag. She glanced briefly into the rearview mirror, seeing nothing but my shadowed visage. The scowl that crossed her face was priceless.
"Exit and keep facing forward," I said, barely breathing the words. The game was still going, a game I've played many times before.
"But–..." I interrupted her before she could go on, my tone becoming demanding. "My words are not up for discussion." I could have sworn she trembled. Without further words she opened up the door and stepped out, remaining forward just as I had told her to. Climbing out myself and closing both of the doors I slid my fingers up the nape of her neck, caressing my nails along the length of the hair-laced skin. Delving the digits within, I took a firm grasp and led her to the entrance of my home. Reaching past her I pressed the button for the garage door, making it hiss closed and then shut with a not-so-quiet thump to the ground. With the door already unlocked, I pushed it open and moved her into the hallway.
I could tell that her lust no longer ruled her. No, by now it was fear, curiosity, wonderment that owned her mind. Most of all, she was concerned with her own intelligence. Here she was, meeting someone –myself - for the first time after a long 'relationship' online. The question remained: just how much can a person know about someone they have met online? So many lies stated. So many half truths. Rarely is it that someone tells another everything about them. What they do tell is usually exaggerated, or little white lies. Oh, believe you me, I could always explain to someone that I am a vampire, that I torture and kill men and women for my pleasure, for my experiments, but just how would that be taken? Many would simply laugh, thinking that I am joking, or that I am a fool, or perhaps insane. Insane I might be, though fool... never.
Silently stepping down the length of the hallway, my hand at the small of her back, I smoothed my fingers slowly along the curve of her spine, letting her feel the caress of my fingertips and nails beneath the thin cloth that separated flesh from flesh. Sometimes I wished that I had the ability to heighten such things as emotion - though my fellow Sect-mate was correct; that would do nothing but taint what I do naturally. And I could not have that. Maybe later down the line I will learn, on my own. After all, I have the blood of the Childe of Mekhet within my veins. That is all that it would take. That and plenty of time.
"You have a beautiful home," she finally stated, her breath catching faintly as I took ahold of her shoulder to pause her. Finally light entered the room, flooding the whole of the living area with the dim illumination. She had only seen a bit before, but now she could see the whole scheme of the place: something there is no need to dwell upon; it is minor and insignificant.
"Thank you." Idle conversation, short and meaningless. Truly, I did not care how my home looked, save for the fact that I was hoping mother did not make its appearance any time soon. That would mess up my game too quickly. "Close your eyes." My words were whispered against her ear, a gentle brush of unneeded breath. She trembled within the loose grasp I had upon her shoulder and nodded stiffly. With her eyes closed she turned to me and stood still, very still. I lowered my head, brushing my lips along her own, and then sought out a kiss. Seduction always proved interesting. The approach, the opening, and conversation. Often times the process is ended with two indulging their lusts. Intercourse is always a weakness to humans, and sadly some vampires also. It can be used to buy power, to bribe, and even to kill. Those are just some of the things. A gentle whimper left her lips, especially when I went beyond a chaste kiss. I broke off the embrace once her arms began to lift, and for the first time of the evening I allowed her to look upon me.
She did so, taking in every little nuance of my visage from the arch of my brows down to the slope of my chin. By the way she was holding her breath she found me beautiful. Yes, even men can be beautiful. I would hope so. It took me hours to get this skin to be perfect. Nevertheless, what I sought to do, I succeeded. My fingers danced slowly along her jaw, grazing against the slope of her throat and down toward her clavicle. Her skin was perfect. I wondered if she had tattoos beneath her clothing, or perhaps beauty marks that might have been hidden from prying eyes. I look at her now and one would not recognize her as the same being that I brought in on that night. She is not the same - I made sure of that.
Nevertheless, I motioned her to settle to a sit and upon shaky legs she moved back, thumping down to rest upon the couch. "It feels so good to finally meet you, Meuric." I said nothing, only allowed a slow smile to form across my lips. My eyes remained steady upon her, expressionless, apathetic. A slight shift betrayed the squirming she wanted to do. Predator to prey,that was how I looked upon her. The naiveté of some people surprises me. How could someone trust another person, a stranger that they had never met? After all, that person could be a psychopathic killer.
I have been asked a few questions before. Why do I do these experiments? Quite a simple answer: I enjoy studying the human, and the vampiric, mind; to find out what causes another person to do what they do. Either from fear, lust, anger, or joy - there are hundreds of different emotions. Thousands of different scales. I wish to know each and every one of them.
Which brings me to the question of 'why?' - another question that can be answered easily. To know of how a person feels, how they think, how they act, is to have power over them. To know how to manipulate another, one must learn how to focus on which switches need to be flipped. One cannot know how to properly torture if they do now know which method to use. A person could be tolerant of physical pain, or even be one of those that enjoy such things. Should these types be encountered, one needs to learn how to tap upon mental and emotional pain, and vice versa.
What right do I have to do these things? To place a persons life in my hands? To decide who lives, who dies, and who wishes they were dead? Easy answer yet again. I have all the rights in the world, because I am God. Ah, no, Reverend God, to be precise. Mustn't forget that title, now should I? Perhaps later it will be Templar.
Though I digress. Here I am going off subject again; it tends to be a habit for me. "I want you to meet someone." This brought a bit of a surprise to her face and she looked upon me suspiciously. My smile grew. Even if I had just motioned her to sit, I held my hand out to her. I was growing impatient, you see. This game had been drawn out long enough and I was growing restless. Her warm hand settled within the hold of my own and I curled my fingers against it loosely before roaming off to one of the back rooms. It was a large house, and so I had plenty of space for each of my experiments. Coming to the room I had prepared, I glanced to her then to the door just before I opened it and lead her inside. It was dark, too dark to see one's hand before their face. Closing the door behind me, I locked it securely with a click, then a twist of the key. Reaching over, I clicked on the light and allowed her a moment to adjust to the sudden flood.
The scene was quite a simple one. An X rack sat to one side. Only a few feet away were two wicked-looking hooks dangling from the roof, attached to chains which ran their lines across the roof then to a ring and bolt embedded in the ground. The carpet had been stripped, leaving the concrete bare – or it would have been bare, had I not had it tiled. The floor sloped down in the middle, dipping to a drain that would allow all sorts of fluids to be expelled from the play room. There were only two doors: the one that we had entered, and another one that roamed off to somewhere distant.
There was another in there, a Caucasian male naked and blindfolded. I lowered my mouth to her ear, all the while drawing that almost ever-present syringe from the depths of my jacket pocket. "Let's have a little fun, shall we?" The top struck the floor and she went to pull away, to no avail. I stabbed her efficiently with the syringe and pumped the mild sedative into her body. I let her go then, allowing her to run, though she did not get very far before she collapsed, dazed. While I could deal with her wide awake, I'd rather not have to put up with a struggling mortal.
Going over, I lowered to a crouch, scooping her up to bring her over to the rack. Settling her down to a sit, I let her lean back against my chest as my fingers loosened the buttons of her blouse. The room was incredibly silent, save for the soft breathing coming from the two captives as well as her barely-conscious whimpers. "I'm going to do a little test with you. To find out just what kind of person you really are. I am sure you remember our conversations, about what you would do in certain situations." She answered with a soft whine when my nails traveled a slow caress upon bra-bound flesh. With the softness of her blouse loosened and slid down from her shoulders, I then removed the 'holster,' as it were, leaving her torso bare. The rest of her clothing posed a bit of a problem, but I was able to remove it before she started to come to. Latching her arms above her and legs spread-eagled, I looked down at her, brushing her dark hair from her face. I turned her enough that she could watch what I was going to do. Knowing she was still out of it, I waited.
Meanwhile, I would deal with my other 'toy.'