A Tale of Revenge Ch. 05-07

"We have company, my love," I heard her say and saw James' eyes dart toward me. They gleamed, almost red, reflections of the fire in the fireplace flickering in their depths as well as the blood lust that was now an integral part of him. I couldn't help but cringe, seeing him this way, blatantly being fondled in front of me.

"Raina," he said, his so familiar voice deep and sending well-known feelings shooting through me. "I'd so hoped you'd come," he laughed lightly. "But I had hoped to come before you did. If you could give me a moment..." he said, letting the sentence hang.

I closed my eyes, trying to regain my calm. Just seeing him sitting there, not caring that I was watching what he was doing with these two women hurt more than I thought possible. I knew in my heart that my James was dead, that he'd been dead since that bitch who was stroking his chest now had bitten him. This man may wear his face but he was not my fiancé.

Pain and fury flashed through me like a tidal wave. I could barely control my senses and felt the heat of the crucifix flare light lightning through the room. The girl whose mouth was wrapped around James' cock looked up from where she was currently with her nose in James' pubic hair. She groaned and tried to pull back from him, but he held her head tightly.

I went to step forward, intending to end this whole thing now even if it wasn't quite fighting fair, and found myself jerked up short, held by two strong arms. Thin, elegant hands held me tightly, and I couldn't move no matter how I struggled. I slammed my head back into the person holding me, felt more than heard him yelp, but still the hands held me tightly.

"Let me go," I hissed, struggling harder.

"No, stay and watch," my captor said, his voice in my ear soft and compelling. I found myself relaxing, leaning against him, and watching as James worked the girl's mouth over his cock. I knew what she felt, what she tasted. I'd had that cock in my own mouth, sucking it, licking the crown, nibbling the tip. My mouth had run over that long shaft, felt every vein and ridge on it. I'd tasted his pre-cum, and felt his cock jump and swell in my mouth right before he came. I could almost taste it in my mouth, the bitter sweet flavor that was musky and tangy and so unlike anything else in the world.

"You'd like to taste him again, wouldn't you?" The artist was at my back, I knew that voice, I could feel the insidious charm that he wielded trying to claim control of my mind. There was a buzzing in my ears that I tried to deny.

"Tell me, Raina. You'd like to go over there and take his cock from that girl and let him come down your throat, wouldn't you?"

I moaned the "yes" he wanted to hear so badly, felt his hands lighten up there desperate grip on my arms. His fingers traced up and over the black leather jacket I wore, reaching around to the front to grab the tab of the zipper between two of his long fingers. He worked it down as I watched James' eyes, saw his face and the pleasure the girl was giving him. Marina stood behind him, her hands on his chest, her mouth licking and kissing over his throat from behind. It was an incredibly erotic sight, made even more so by the hands that were now dragging my jacket from off my shoulders, leaving me in only the short black vest that Ryan had bought me.

The jacket dropped to the ground and his hands returned to my body. He played with the zipper that held the vest closed, his fingers dipping into the deep vee neckline to stroke the curve of my breast with a cold touch. I shivered, revulsion and passion twisting in an incredibly erotic and sensual mix of emotions that left me yearning and wanting for that which I couldn't stomach.

His fingers rested gently upon my chin, tipping it back until he could find my throat with his mouth. I felt his tongue as he licked the sensitive skin just below my ear, flicking against my earlobe for one nipple-hardening moment. I shuddered and felt myself grow wet, even relishing the pain of his sharp teeth as they grazed my throat, hard enough to welt but not to break the skin.

How long I could deal with this, I didn't know. I did know that Marina was watching me, staring at me. I could feel her trying to invade my thoughts. I moaned and almost climaxed when the man behind me pulled the zipper of my vest down, my breasts pushing through the opening and into his waiting hands.

They were ice cold and shocking against my soft skin, forcing my nipples to harden even more until they were throbbing with need. I saw Marina rise from her seat on the back of the sofa, heard as James grunted and his hips pulsed against the girl's lips. I could even see her throat moving as she swallowed his icy seed.

With a sigh, I dropped my head even further back as if begging for him to bite my throat, to take my blood and make me into one of them. And then my stake was in my hand and I turned, taking advantage of his preoccupation with the throbbing beat of my pulse in my throat. The stake slid into his chest with a popping noise, almost being dragged out of my hand as he tried to jerk away.

I held on, pulling it free and watching as his eyes grew wide with disbelief.

"How..." his words stopped as he fell, his body pulsing and then melting into itself with a bubbling of noxious thick viscous liquid.

"Oh, no," I put my hand up to my lips. I turned toward Marina, whose eyes were as wide as the artist's had been. "That's going to leave a stain in the carpet. White stains so quickly." I zipped up my vest, covering up my breasts and trying to ignore the need that still fluttered between my thighs.

"He was foolish," Marina said, her golden eyes turning up toward mine. "He hasn't been challenged in so many years, he'd lost his edge. I haven't"

I heard a growl, feral and harsh. It was followed by a scream. Knowing what was happening didn't make it any easier to hear. The crying that grew weaker by the second, the slurping and gulping of the demon inside of James as he fed his lust for blood just as he'd slaked his lust for sex. I wished there was something I could have done for the girl, but if I'd tried, I'd have both of them on me. One at a time was going to be the only way for me to handle them, especially Marina.

"So, do you want to do this here where I'm only going to mess up the pretty furnishings some more or should we take this outside?" I bent down, keeping my eyes on Marina, and picked up my jacket, holding on to it with one hand while I acted as nonchalant as I could. "I guess that it wouldn't matter much to you though, since you'll be dead."

There was a thump as James dropped the now limp body of the girl he'd fed from. I glanced over, watching as he rose from his seat and buttoned his fly, tucking his now limp cock back inside his pants. He wandered over to where Marina was standing, coming behind her. I could see the girl's blood dripping on to the white of Marina's shirt from James' sharp fangs; see the stain of the blood gleaming wetly on his face.

"You were always cocky, Raina. I always hated that about you." James' tongue lapped out and licked up some of the blood that was on his face. He closed his eyes and swallowed, leaving me little doubt that he was enjoying the taste of the coppery scented fluid. When his eyes opened there was a red sheen to them as if his blood lust had just been teased, leaving him wanting more blood. Leaving him wanting my blood.

"Yeah, James, and you snored. No one's perfect." I sighed, hating what I was going to have to do, knowing that when I staked him, the stake was going to be going through my heart in a way also. "So shall we get to this? Decide, here or outside?"

"Oh outside by all means, Marina said, cheerfully waving her arm for me to go first. "That way when I am done with you, I can feed and leave your rotting corpse out in the dumpster where it belongs."

"Oh, Marina, that hurt." My hand went to my breast as if clutching at pain that was so fierce as to do me in. "I'd almost think you didn't like me."

"I like all my food," she said, and I once more felt the insidious touch of her mind to mine as she tried to link. I freed a touch of the power of the crucifix and heard her gasp as it fought back. The power surged through me, strong, sleek and sexy. I loved the way it felt, the way it made me feel. And now I couldn't wait for this fight.

She directed me through another door, one that lead to the back alley that I was so used to fighting in now. I could hear voices coming from the other end, a shrill scream cut off abruptly followed by grunts and the sounds of flesh slapping against flesh. The sound of crying, muffled and heart wrenching followed, and once again I was bombarded with conflicting feelings of wanting to save versus wanting revenge.

This time revenge won out and I said a quiet apology in my heart as I turned to face my opponent. The air was cold on my arms, the light dim and the air fetid. My senses were active, so much more than before I'd faced my fate. I stood, waiting, dropping my jacket over the top of a box and dropped into the fighting stance I'd been taught by Ryan.

Marina took her time, circling around me as if looking for a place to bite. I knew she was super fast, both of them were, so I was prepared. At least I thought I was.

When she moved, finally, I felt her come close, her hand reaching out to strike, an opened palmed slap that I easily deflected. They might be super fast but I wasn't a slouch. "You'll have to do better than that, Marina."

"Who trained you?" she asked me. "Was it Ryan? I think he's their favorite right now. And such a stud. Has he had you yet?"

"Why do you care, Marina? Are you jealous?"

"Jealous? Who do you think gave him the scar that he has on the inside of his right thigh?" She threw her head back and laughed. I felt the sound tickle down inside of me and had to tamp down on the rage I felt as I did remember the small scar, about two inches long, that I'd kissed and licked one night while I played with his body. The surge of jealousy made me want to attack the bitch that seemed to want to blacken everything about my life and anything that was good or had been good in it.

"I guess you are a wimp, that scar was little more than a scratch. What, did he tell you your blow jobs suck?"

She attacked again, this time even faster and I was almost too late in raising my arm in defense. I heard applause and saw James leaning against a wall, his chest still naked, blood still staining his face.

The blow hit me just below my rib cage, knocking lose my breath and forcing me to step back. I turned my attention back to Marina just in time to block a kick aimed at my head and to force her back with a blow of my own. She gave me no time to recover moving in quickly and raining down blows with a precision and fury to equal what I felt.

A roundhouse kick landed with perfect speed and power, knocking the vampire back into a bunch of garbage cans, sending them over with a loud crash and clang. Marina lost her balance, falling on her back in the trash that spilled out, staining her shirt with unimaginable gunk.

She rose quickly, her eyes focused on me and I felt her fury from across the alley. This was it, this was the time where either I was going to kill the bitch or she was going to sink her fangs into my throat. She flew across the distance separating us, her arms outstretched, her hands curved into claws reaching for my throat. My stake was in my hand, I ducked under her arms, striking the killing blow with joy that was almost euphoric.

Everything I had been through since she'd come into my life flashed through my mind in a blur. From the terror of her original attack to the pain I'd felt watching James outside the window of our house, to how I felt watching her caress him in their basement lair. I felt triumphant as I watched as she gushed, her body boiling into itself, shock and surprised horror in her eyes as the pain washed through her.

"That should teach you not to play with your food, Marina."

His arm came around my body, closing across my throat with almost maniacal strength. I felt the body that I had known for years press up against me, cold and hard. It was familiar, his scent, the shape of him, the way he held me, even as he restrained me. I felt my heart stutter, felt the ache of loss that I had thought healed tear open and bleed.

I still missed him.

He turned me easily in his arms, his hands holding my body motionless though I didn't struggle. I stared into his eyes, knowing he was playing his little mind tricks, wanting me to see him as he'd been once, when he'd held me with love and wonder, not trickery and deceit.

"I've missed you, Raina."

Even his voice, the same voice that had whispered sweet things to me, fought with me, sang in the shower though albeit badly, teased and cajoled me, seemed different. There was an evil quality to it, a mocking tone as if I bored him with the whole fight between good and evil thing.

"Sure you did, James. You missed me so much that you fought off the evil to come back to me that night in the clearing."

"Well," he laughed, his fangs shining in the dim light of the streetlamps, "Marina does have a way about her."

"Marina did, not does, Past tense, James." I said, turning my head to glance at the blob on the ground that had once been the evil beast.

His laughter sounded loud in the deserted alley. "Very true, and so well done of you. I hadn't thought Marina to let someone like you to get the drop on her like that. She's been around for centuries, Raina. She's showed me some of the things that she's seen. It's amazing. And even more amazing, I'll be around for centuries to come, to see the things that humans now can only dream of as science fiction." He looked down at her, admiring her beauty in the light, though his eyes saw her differently then they had before. "You could go with me, Raina."

"You want me to let you make me into one of you?" I laughed. "I don't think so, James. I don't want to feed off of blood, to eat people to live. At one time you'd have been horrified to have become the creature you are now."

James dropped his arms from my body, shrugging his shoulders. He turned away from me, as if exposing his back to my stake. I felt the need to finish the deed but saw the twitch in his neck as if he were waiting for me to make my move and then... Well whatever he had planned, I wasn't sure I wanted any part of it.

"People change, Raina."

"Yeah, James, people change. They change attitudes and moods, and even their clothes. They don't willingly change into mindless demons that prey on others for blood. Not willingly if they are sane." I knew the futility of the conversation we were having. He wasn't human, he wasn't even really my James, just an evil being with all the same memories that James had. And to free his soul, I had to kill it.

"Are you ready to do this?" I asked suddenly, feeling tired.

"I don't want to kill you, Raina. I loved you." James turned, and I saw in his eyes the man he'd once been. A gentle, caring, loving man who'd made me happy just by being. He held his hand out to me, smiling, his teeth brilliant white in the sun. "I love you, baby. Come on, we need to get to the church."

I glanced down at my body, seeing the beautiful white gown I had bought, yards of satin and lace and tiny seed pearls that hugged my slim form and then flared out at my waist to float behind me. I could feel the lace veil that lay against my skin, covering my bare shoulders and arms. In my hand was the huge bouquet of roses and lilacs, their scent strong and wonderful in the air around me. On my finger was the diamond ring that he'd saved to buy for me, the diamond that I had fallen in love with at first sight when he'd held it out to me that wonderful night so many months ago.

"Come on, Raina. People are waiting, love."

My heart ached with happiness, my soul seemed to sing with joy. They'd waited for this day for so long and now, finally it was going to happen. I held out her hand, trust and love shining in my eyes.

* * * *

Ryan woke, his arms feeling empty. She was gone again, gone to fight vampires in the alley, to wait for her fiancé to show up so she could kill him.

He sat up in the bed, the sheet pooling to his waist. She'd been going every night since he'd first taken her there, sneaking out of bed and out of the warehouse only to return before dawn, aching and bruised. Ryan had wanted to hold her in his arms, to soothe her injuries, to kiss everyone to make them better. But he couldn't. He couldn't baby her, not if he wanted her to live.

Usually he'd wait for her to come back, hearing the clang of the metal doors as they closed behind her car. Then he'd close his eyes and control his breathing, slowing it to the soft sound of sleep. She'd climb into bed and into his arms, her body cold and trembling. He would warm her, without a word and then they would sleep.

But something in his gut said that tonight was different. Tonight, if he sat back and waited for her to do what she was trained to do, then she wouldn't be coming home to him. He threw back the covers, pulling jeans and a shirt out of the closet, throwing on the vest that he'd had specially made that held the implements of the trade, cloves of garlic, holy water, crucifixes, and of course, his silver stake and gun.

He raced down the stairs, feeling a kind of fear that he wasn't used to feeling for anyone. It consumed him, called to him to hurry. Running through the garage, he opened another door, his eyes not even noticing the sleek and sexy cars sitting there, all tools of the trade. Instead, he pushed a button that opened the outside door. Grabbing a helmet, he threw his leg over his newest toy, taking the time to stroke the shiny chrome and midnight blue of her body before starting the Kawasaki Ninja ZX98. It purred to life with the sound only highly tuned engines could make.

And then he was racing into the night to find Raina.

* * * *

James took my hand and I felt a shudder at the coldness of his palm against mine. It wasn't cold and clammy, as if he were having second thoughts. No, it felt cold and dead. "Are you okay?"

"Just fine, my love. Now come, we have to get inside. Your parents still have a gift they want to give you, something that will go with that dress so much better than that crucifix."

I lifted my hand, feeling the coolness of the metal against my skin. "I haven't taken this off since you gave it to me, love. I won't take it off today."

"You've always been so sentimental, Raina. It's just a necklace and not a very expensive one. You don't want to upset your mom and dad now, do you?" He smiled and it struck me as strange. There was something not right about this, something that just niggled at my brain but I couldn't figure it out.

"I guess not." I reached up with the hand not holding the bouquet, struggling with the clasp on the necklace. Watching James, I couldn't help but notice the way he seemed to focus on my throat and what I was doing, his foot tapping against the cement stairs of the church as he hurried me along. My hand felt clumsy and I struggled with the clasp feeling it give finally and the gold chain start to slip along my collarbone.

Light poured over me, bright and sudden, startling me. I turned and I was back in the alley, a motorcycle streaking past me, its light shining into James' eyes. I dropped my stake into its pocket in my pant leg and redid the clasp on the necklace, my heart pounding. He'd almost done it, James had almost had me at his mercy.

Ryan got up from where he'd skidded the bike into James, sending him careening into a wall. He tossed off the helmet, wiping blood from his hand which had taken the brunt of the fall onto his jeans. "Are you okay?"