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Chapter Two

Taine drew himself into the shadows of the dark trees as he re-entered the park. After saving the girl and seeing her home safely, he knew he needed to track down the asshole that had forced himself on her and put him out of commission. However, a lingering suspicion had sparked in his mind as soon as he had set eyes on Catelyn.

She didn't look like the normal type of woman who generally hung around dangerous parks after dark. Those sorts of women tended to carry some sort of protection against the more persistent types of thugs and went around in small groups if necessary. Catelyn looked like a typical suburbanite; well mannered, pleasant, quiet and sensible.

Taine's mouth quirked into a smile. The way she had responded to his kiss, even after her ordeal, had hardly been that of a quiet girl; definitely not sensible although very pleasant indeed.

Obviously she was a woman with suppressed passion and heat and he vaguely wondered how it would feel to plumb those depths. How hot would her fire burn?

He shook his head and dismissed the notion. It was not as though he would ever see her again. Encounters between himself and the many women he had met and bedded over the years had always been brief but pleasant. Never more than one night would he lie in the arms of another. He would take his fill of pleasure and then leave her with woozy, light headed dreams.

Somehow, he knew it would not be that easy with Catelyn. With her mane of rich, chestnut hair, her petite curved figure and eyes that begged so much, he knew one taste would never be enough. But he would never have the chance to find out. Nice, well bred city girls did not associate with those of his kind, except in the briefest moments of passion which were all but forgotten with the rising of the sun.

Which brought him back to his suspicions over why she was in the park in the first place? When he had reached into her mind, he could sense her own confusion over her actions, questioning why she had wanted to walk through the park unescorted when it was not something that she would have normally done.

Taine's mental strength had picked up on something akin to the stench of burnt tin when he had thrown Cate's assailant to the ground, a sign typical of mind control which he had learned to recognise over the years. It was more of a mental alert than an actual scent but it had always reminded him of the scorched metal.

This was the fact that bothered him the most. There was only one type of creature capable of successful long term mind control and Taine had not come across such foul beings for nearly a century. They tended to gain power quickly, feeding off the emotions of others which in turn boosted their own mental strength. Once in the power of a Controller, for that is what Taine had come to call them, a mind slave lived only to serve them. Through their mind slaves, Controllers could spread their own power further. In the worst cases Taine had ever heard of, whole cities had become enslaved, sometimes even whole nations in ancient times.

That was before Taine's race had evolved to the point where they could fight back against their awesome power. By developing their mental state, they could harness dormant parts of their brain and so had become the executioners of the Controllers; a caste of warriors that could fight back against this terrible enemy. But with such an evolutionary step had come a price no one could have foreseen. Normal food could not sustain the energy levels needed for their higher brain power. Their lifespan had significantly shortened with the best warriors not reaching much past their thirtieth birthdays and so his ancestors had been forced to seek a new food source.

Blood. This rich liquid diet gave the warriors the strength required to fight and, combined with their new mental powers, gave them an incredibly long life span. It was not the most pleasant of transitions but over the many centuries his race had become accustomed to it, thinking it no different than to any human eating a regular meal. There were also other benefits to being a vampire...for that is what his race had become.

Scorned throughout history as monsters and agents of the devil, the vampire had had all but become myth and legend. Very few knew of their true existence. In reality, they were simply another branch of the human race, evolved along different lines to accommodate their purpose in life.

Taine thought briefly of what Catelyn's reaction might be if he told her of his true nature.

Smiling, he shook his head. He was pondering the impossible and he knew it. He had never shared his secret with anyone and wasn't about to start now. But for some reason, he could not forget the brief passionate kiss he had shared with her beneath the oak tree earlier.

The faintest stench of burnt tin crept into his mind and at once his focus became razor sharp.

"Time to see who's pulling the puppet strings," Taine mused to himself, stepping out from the shadows and into the path of the hulking brute that had come searching for his next victim.

Taine stood casually, his sheer size emphasizing the strength that came so easily to him, the strength that would serve him now for he knew all too well any human under the influence of a controller would be damned hard to break.

"One victim not enough for you pal?" he growled, his anger rising at the reminder of what the bastard had nearly done to Cate.

Cate's attacker pulled up short and frowned as he tried to focus on Taine's face.

"You! What the hell do you want? You got that girl back didn't you?"

Taine stepped forward a little more, his hackles rising, his anger a tangible force that beat back against the stranger. Taine drew in a deep breath and laughed as the stranger's fear grew rank and fetid in the night air.

"You smell like garbage and…" Taine drew another breath into his lungs, the stench undeniable, "… burnt tin. If I didn't know any better, I'd say someone else is sailing the ship right now so why don't you give up the ghost and tell me where your controller is human?"

The man's forehead wrinkled as he tried to understand the question. Taine's own power delved into the disease ridden brain of the mind slave before him. The innocence was a natural shield. The Controller would not reveal himself to his minion's conscious mind as a means of protecting himself.

"I don't know what you mean. What controller? Just push off and leave me be asshole."

Way wrong answer! Taine's temper snapped and he lunged forward in a sudden burst of preternatural speed, slamming the heavy bulk against a tree.

His eyes focused on the stranger's pupils and his power bore through his feeble defences.

"Where is your Controller human? Do not lie to me!"

The taste of tin flooded Taine's mouth as the stranger's eyes changed to a solid grey. No pupil, no iris: just flooded with the pale, monotone colour.

"Ah Taine, I see the centuries have done nothing to curb your impatience or that fierce temper."

The voice was far removed from the human's normal tone. It was deep and smooth, radiating confidence. It was also horribly familiar and the sound of it sent chills running down his spine. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead but his grip on the stranger remained strong.

"You? How can it be you? You're dead!" Taine spluttered, incredulous, unable to believe what he was hearing.

The mind slave chuckled.

"I have not spent all this time tracking you down to tell you all in a single moment Taine. And certainly not through my mind slave."

The laughter continued until Taine felt it press inside his skull, a sharp pain that throbbed between his temples.

"No Taine, my revenge will be sweet and slow. You will hear from me soon enough. In the meantime, I suggest you protect that human female. Such sweet and innocent thoughts as hers will be a pleasure to devour."

All at once, the pain ceased and the stranger slumped under Taine's grip. He knew without looking at him that the mind slave was dead, executed by his master through the mental link he exerted over him.

Taine's frozen response was over in seconds. Quickly, he moved the body behind the trees, hidden by the dark shadows. No doubt someone would find him in the morning but the police would hardly be surprised considering the area he was in. This part of town was notorious for drugs and crime.

The Controller's last words sounded loud and clear through his memory. However this particular controller had managed to survive, it was obvious that his target was Cate, for nothing more than reasons of vengeance. Taine squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block the panic that rose when he thought of her under the Controller's influence. Her eyes vacant, her expression blank, and her mind nothing but the urge to obey her master.

Taine ran from the park, out of the gates until he stood outside her house. The Controller's mocking laughter still rang in his ears until he thumped the garden wall in his anger. Never! The Controller would never have her, he would never touch her mind and he would never, ever hurt her in anyway.

Not so long as Taine lived and breathed, he vowed he would protect her with his very soul if he had to. Suddenly, he realised, this was bigger than him. If a Controller, especially one as powerful and nasty as this, was loose in the city, then he was going to have to call in a few old favours. Catch up with a few old friends.

He frowned a little as he walked slowly down the street, barely noticing the sheer chill in the wind as it sliced like a knife's edge through the night air. The warriors of their caste did not generally mix, each preferring to live in secrecy. Since the last great conflict with the Controllers centuries ago, the vampires had all but dissipated into single units. Too many vampires in one place meant more bitten necks and humans had a tendency to get edgy when the evidence started to mount up.

However, this was not a normal situation. The simple truth of it was that he was not strong enough to kill this Controller by himself. Sighing, he pulled out a mobile phone from his pocket and dialled the only number that was ever stored on there.

The phone rang once before it picked up.

"Yo Taine, what's up mate? It's been a while since you checked in."

Taine could not help but grin as the voice on the phone chuckled richly.

"Well you know Dace, can't leave you on your own for too long. Idle hands and all that shit, you might decide to take up a hobby or something. How's the knitting coming along?"

The string of half hearted profanities that followed made Taine laugh. As much as he hated to admit it, he had missed his friend and that knowledge gave him pause for thought.

"So was there something you wanted Taine or was this merely a ploy to find out how many jumpers I've knitted this year?"

Taine sighed into silence.

"There's a Controller here Dacien, in Gloucester. He's already started targeting people. I need to get to him before this gets out of hand."

"A Controller? How is that even possible? We killed the last one years ago. There's just no way this could happen!"

Taine ran a hand through his hair, his muscles beginning to lock into the kind of knots he hadn't experienced for a long time. Absentmindedly, his thoughts strayed to Catelyn and to the Controller's damning words. Against his better judgement, he was going to have to keep an eye on her but that thought did not seem such a burden for some reason. Mentally, he slapped himself for such self absorbed thoughts.

"I think he knows us, or rather knows me. He addressed me by name and his threat implied he is definitely going to be working this area. We're going to have a huge problem if we don't bite this in the ass soon!"

On the other end of the line, Taine could hear keyboard keys being hit at a fantastic rate and he grinned quietly into the darkness. Dacien was such a tech head.

"Ok buddy, I'll get the chain started and relay the information. When and where do you want us to meet? Remember, some of the guys are not even in the UK anymore."

Taine thought about that briefly and kicked an empty lager can off the pavement. Today was Wednesday; they needed at least 48 hours to be in any kind of condition to start tackling this problem.

"I need everyone here by Friday night at the latest Dacien. You know my location. Forward it to the others and get them here ASAP."

"Will do. Check in later if you need to."

The phone went dead and Taine snapped his shut with more force than necessary, his thoughts drifting to Catelyn as he relived their tender moment beneath the tree. He shook his head in disgust.

"For God's sake, get a grip man. This is no time to be enjoying fantasies," he scolded himself as he stalked off down the street towards his own home. Catelyn was safe for now. The Controller had obviously no idea where she lived and that was good. It meant there was some level of protection there he wasn't required to give and judging by the way his body reacted around her, the less distraction she gave him, the better.

However, he decided with force, he was going to have to start walking her home from work. He could not allow her to be subjected to that terror again and he knew, deep in his bones, that the Controller would try. The Controller wanted her to be his.