Dead and Horny Ch. 20

Aileen looked relieved as she moved to the kitchen to retrieve the silver bowl from its place in the drying rack.

Lily couldn't see out of her magical prison, but she heard plenty. She learned very quickly that there were two kinds of people who worked for Deacon: regular humans who had sold out and Legion.

She could feel Legion's presence whenever they were near, but the demon never made any efforts to speak with or torment her, which she found strange. The other big giveaway regarding Legion was when she would sense multiple people nearby, but they wouldn't say a word to each other. In this manner, she deduced that Legion's lackies moved her out of the complex and onto a transport.

The humans in Deacon's employ talked consistently, though they often cautioned each other to keep their voices down. They were under strict orders to not speak with the captive, and definitely never fall asleep in her presence. This annoyed her, because with enough time she could have invaded someone's dreams from a distance and used their body to sleepwalk and let her out.

She also picked up on the fact that they constantly warned each other about Timotei. They mentioned several times to be careful with his coffin, and at least one crew member mentioned the last poor bastard who had accidentally dinged the wood. It amused Lily that Timotei took it personally that his coffin might get a boo-boo.

Stupid vampire, or vampyr as it were. Though the man wasn't a first generation vampire, he likely wasn't far down the list. Nobody, not even Amir, had been entirely certain where vampires had come from, but she remembered when the first rumors about them started circulating in Europe. About a new kind of undead with special powers that feasted on the living.

Amir had actually taken her to see the movie Nosferatu when it first came out in theaters. He had been working with several vampires at that point, and they had expressed concern that the world at large would now be exposed to the truth of their existence. He had laughed throughout the movie, finding the depiction of the monster all too comical. After the screening, he explained to the Old World vampires that their secret was not only safe, but that an opportunity existed. If they were the ones making the movies, then they could choose the message, ensuring that their weaknesses never became common knowledge.

And thus, the modern vampire had been born. They were dazzling, sexy, and some of them glittered in the sun. In truth, there were very few hard rules when it came to true vampires. They had to be invited inside, a rule that nobody fully understood. The older ones were obsessed with counting, a trait they shared with some demons. Timotei was old enough that he could probably go out in the sun, but it would weaken him.

During these ruminations, she dozed off and entered her own Dreamscape. Mike was waiting there, and the two of them had a movie marathon based on his own memories. Obviously, this meant that the movies were far from accurate. Lily was fairly certain that he made up most of the films about the vampire woman who wore leather and fought werewolves, but it was absolutely his favorite. She would have to remember that when she had a chance to fuck him in person, but that didn't stop her from hooking up with Mike's soul piece in the safety and comfort of her own mind.

Time was relative in the Dreamscape, and Lily lost track of it. The next thing she knew, the walls of her prison were torn down, revealing that she had been placed inside a circular cell with iron bars. Eager to escape, she dashed toward the bars and was blown back into the middle of her cage.

"Good morning." Deacon knelt just outside, a shit-eating grin on his face. Nearby, his daughter was busy typing something into a laptop. When she saw that Lily was awake, she got up and left.

"Is it morning?" Lily spun in place and frowned. She was in a room with wooden floors and a large red curtain. "Is this a theater? I hope we're seeing Hamilton or Book of Mormon. I hear they're both good."

Deacon chuckled, then stood and pointed toward the ceiling. Lily looked up to see that a sigil similar to the one they had used to capture her had been placed above, the runes blazing with power.

"There's going to be a show," he said, "but it's definitely not Hamilton."

"Damn." Lily pouted. "'Cause I'm looking for a mind at work."

"Don't worry, I know you'll like it. After all, you do love being the center of attention. Excuse me for a moment." Deacon stepped back and waited as Legion moved around the outside of the cage in multiple bodies, each one using a rope to pull a wall of Lily's travel prison toward the bars. A couple members of Deacon's security team were waiting to grab the pieces, their eyes on Lily as they rotated the mobile prison walls to slide them between the bars.

"Is that a new outfit?" Lily asked, staring at the closest Legion. She hadn't seen any of these vessels before, but made a mental note of each. She was preparing to strike up a conversation with Legion, maybe antagonize him a bit, when she noticed the coffins near the back of the stage.

There were two of them, one roughly half the size of the other. The smaller one had dark nylon straps holding it shut. She deliberately looked away, hoping that nobody noticed her interest.

"If I'm here for a donkey show, I should probably warn you that I'm pretty hard on animals."

Deacon stared at her for several seconds, obviously confused by her statement.

"You know, a donkey show?" Lily gyrated her hips. "You make me fuck a donkey?"

Deacon sneered. "That's absolutely disgusting," he said, taking a step back. "That can't be a real thing."

"Oh but it is." Delighted that she had finally gotten under the man's skin, she continued. "Before we had musicals like Hamilton, that's something people did for fun. I know you're dying to look it up, make sure you turn Safe Search off on your computer."

"Enough!" Deacon rubbed at his face, and Lily saw the bags under his eyes. Had he even slept while she was being moved, or had the fucker been awake the whole time?

"If you think that's bad, wait until I tell you about the sort of things two girls can get up to with one cup." Lily grinned, then summoned a red plastic cup into her hands. "You can look that up, too. I'd show you, but I would need a friend."

Deacon shook his head and groaned. "You're incessant, I'll give you that. But you still have your purpose. Now excuse me, I have preparations to make."

"Eat my ass!" she shouted after him as he left. Feeling smug, she paced the walls of her new prison, then stared at the coffins that had been left behind. She looked around for something she could throw, but the floor of her cage was solid iron.

"What's that about?" she wondered aloud, stomping her foot. She knelt down and examined the floor. There were gouges in it, as if someone had tried to dig down into it. Frowning, she paced her cage anew, only to discover that some of the bars had similar marks.

"Looks like we have a mystery to solve." Soul Mike was pacing the bars with her, wearing bell bottom jeans and a white shirt with an orange ascot tucked into the collar. He held a magnifying glass to the bars and rubbed at his chin as if deep in thought.

"This cage wasn't made for me," Lily said, then looked around the room. They were definitely on a stage. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out why they had built an iron cage into the middle of it, though.

"Maybe the good pastor is into something kinky?" Mike stared upward, still holding the magnifying glass to his face. "Sucks dicks through the bars for donations."

"You aren't helping," Lily muttered.

"Sure I am." Mike turned to face her, his eye comically magnified in the glass. "I'm your coping mechanism."

This made her laugh, which in turn made her frown. She missed the real Mike. With a snap of her fingers, she could probably go straight home into his arms. But then Legion would follow. Whatever Deacon and his flock were into, she absolutely couldn't bring it home to him. While fairly positive that someone like Abella could go toe-to-toe with Timotei, that didn't mean harm wouldn't come to the others. For all she knew, Legion would just strap bombs to their host bodies and storm the walls of the house.

She sat and stewed quietly for maybe an hour before she heard movement inside the larger coffin. There was a clicking sound, and then the lid swung open, revealing an ornate, padded interior. She was close enough to see that Timotei's coffin had sliding locks on the inside. The vampyr sat up to regard her with cold eyes.

"Morning sunshine." Lily had created a cup of coffee, which she sipped at delicately.

"It is dusk," he said, then got out of his coffin. He walked up to her cage and snarled, revealing his fangs. "You aren't supposed to be in there."

"You're right, I'm not." She pouted. "You should probably let me out."

Timotei didn't respond. Instead, he left, too.

"Well, shit." Lily scowled through the bars. "Guess it's just me and fun-size over there."

"And me," Mike added.

"Just stand there and look pretty for me."

It was almost twenty minutes before Timotei came back. With him were a pair of Legion's vessels, each one carrying a person over their shoulders. They were tossed to the ground, revealing a pair of young men who looked malnourished.

"Okay, now it's a party." Lily clapped her hands, getting the attention of the men on the floor, but Legion and Timotei ignored her. Instead, they moved to the smaller coffin, carefully moving around it.

"Please," one of the men cried, holding up a hand. "Call the police! They kidnapped us from the park!" The other man said nothing, a blank expression on his face. The smile slipped from Lily's face. If she were to guess, these men were homeless and had been abducted. She doubted it was for a good reason.

"I'm sorry," she said, then shook her head sadly as the nylon straps on the smaller coffin were released.

Something small shot out, and Timotei grabbed it with both hands, clutching the creature tight to his chest. When he turned around, it was to reveal a little girl around four or five years old, her eyes bloodshot with blind rage.

"There is your lunch," he declared, then let her go. The tiny vampire flew free of his arms and tore into the man who had spoken to Lily, clamping her teeth down on his throat. The man fell to the ground, the toddler sucking out his blood through his neck.

"How could you?" she asked, disbelief in her voice. "You turned a child?"

"It was the plague." Timotei's voice was calm, but misery was written across his face. "It was a choice between losing her forever or taking drastic action. This is not the life I would have given her." He turned his dark gaze on her. "I don't expect hellspawn to understand a parent's sacrifice."

The dying man made little gasps as his life was drained. The other man was staring blankly at the floor, his mind clearly broken. Lily couldn't help but study the creature huddled over her meal, greedily lapping up the blood that had been spilled.

"Now you understand what is at stake." Timotei knelt by his daughter and put a hand on her head. She snarled at him, but continued feeding. "Why I would align myself with a demon and his pet preacher."

The child let out a grunt and dropped her meal, leaving a desiccated corpse behind. Turning her attention toward the cage, she shot forward, crashing against the bars and reaching for Lily with bloody fingers. She gnashed her teeth, then tried to take a bite out of the metal.

"This is so fucked up," Mike whispered at her side.

"That's not the worst part." Lily's demonic heart pounded in her chest as she dropped her voice so low that she wasn't entirely certain she spoke out loud. Staring into the child's eyes, she saw nothing beyond. Even a creature like Timotei had some remnant of the person he had once been. "There's nothing there. This...thing doesn't even have a soul. It's nothing but raw hunger, personified. It may look like a child, but..."

"Mila." Timotei snapped his fingers and pointed at the man by his feet. "Ignore the woman, she is not your food."

Mila hissed, spraying the air with bloody spit, then dropped to all fours and crawled to her prey. She tore into him messily, coating the floor with blood. Timotei watched on with pride, but all Lily felt was disgust.

"Vampirism doesn't have a cure," she said, wrapping her fingers around the bars. Her skin ignited in places, but the pain barely registered. What she was witnessing was horrible enough that it didn't matter.

"And they say demons can't get into heaven." Timotei arched an eyebrow in her direction. "Yet Legion has already done the impossible. A demon who can control the minds of a hundred men, wrapping himself in their souls until even he can find his way back to Heaven. If such a being can trick his way into salvation, why can't I find a cure?"

"Because you're Damned." Lily shook her head. "When you became a vampire, that was the price. Eternal damnation for immortality on Earth. When you die, you don't get to go where everyone else does, that much I know. You and I are going to the same place, someday, and neither of us will like it. Even if that wasn't the case, do you honestly think you'll find salvation here? You are clearly working with evil people."

"God tests His most faithful." Timotei crossed his arms. "When I prayed for His help, the vampires found me. Is that not a sign that He acts in mysterious ways? They turned me against my will, and that was when I knew I was being tested by Him. He gave me this incredible power and the strength to save my child, but it would test my faith. Help doesn't always come from where you would expect it, but nothing happens without His permission. An eternal reward waits for me and my dear Mila, we must only ask for forgiveness once we have been cured."

"Holy shit, you're delusional. You and every nutjob that thinks sky daddy is doing fuck all for any of you. Free will is the game here, the thing you do when you think nobody is watching. The test everyone thinks they're being put through is self deception at best, you contrite asshole."

Timotei shrugged dismissively. "I care not what you think. You cannot even speak His name, you are no authority."

Lily snorted. "Why show me this? Are you hoping I'll feel bad for you? Offer to babysit when you're out sucking on dudes?"

He snorted. "Hardly. You're in Mila's cage, and she needs to be fed, is all."

Mila's next meal was clearly insufficient, because she lunged for the nearest Legion vessel. The demon barely stepped aside before Timotei snagged his daughter in mid-air and dragged her back to her coffin. She growled at her father as Legion moved to open the lid, and the three of them shoved her back inside with practiced movements. The whole coffin rattled as she fought to get free, but a third Legion appeared with a pallet jack and wedged it beneath the coffin.

"Lijepo spavaj." Timotei kissed the top of the coffin, then adjusted his sleeves as he turned around. Mila's coffin was taken away, leaving Lily alone with the vampire.

"Is this where you come inside my cage and slap me around a bit more?"

Timotei snorted. "You would like that, wouldn't you?" He crouched down and grabbed the two corpses, then dragged them toward Lily's cage. After opening the door, he tossed the bodies in, the dead men now cooling at her feet.

"What the fuck?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "Why stick the stiffs in here with me?"

"For decoration." A smile touched his lips and he turned away from her. He walked back to his coffin, casually lifted it up onto his shoulder, and carried it away.

"Decoration? For what?" She looked at Mike, who only knew as much as she did.

Why did they have her here?

Tasia's eyes snapped open the moment Dana touched her shoulder. She had fallen asleep on the couch watching TV, and was a little surprised to discover that someone had tossed a blanket over her.

"What's going on?" she asked. "What time is it?"

"Ten. Just got a text. Looks like we know where we need to go." Dana held a finger to her lips. "Aileen is asleep again. Poor girl needs it."

"Hmm." Tasia slid off the couch and stretched, yawning hard enough that her jaw popped. She adjusted her outfit, then yawned again. "So where are we going?"

"I've got an address for a place about three miles from here." Dana picked up her backpack and put it on.

"That's...awfully convenient." Tasia frowned. "Lily is nearby?"

"No." Dana shook her head as she moved to the door. "We need to stop there first before heading to Lily's location."

"Gotcha." Tasia was almost at the door when she stopped. "You don't happen to have any cash, do you?"

"For what?" Dana looked confused.

"For her." Tasia gestured toward the bedroom. "The Order will eventually come here. She didn't do anything wrong, but I at least want to pay her back somehow. Girl is practically starving."

"I don't have any cash." Dana turned to open the door. "Because I already left all of it on the kitchen table."

Tasia glanced over at the table and saw a few bills placed in the middle. While it probably wasn't enough, she didn't know what else could be done. She followed Dana outside, then waited while Dana used Aileen's house key to lock up.

"Does she know you have that?" Tasia asked.

"Yeah, she gave me the spare. She didn't know when we'd be leaving, and I didn't want to wake her." Dana pocketed the key and turned to go.

Down the hallway, one of the neighbors had their door open, and three men were hanging out by the balcony. They were splitting a twelve pack of beers and listening to music on a small speaker that had been set at the base of the door. When Dana and Tasia drew near, a couple of them smirked, and moved to block their way.

"Hey girls. Ladies." The man speaking wore a white baseball hat and stank of alcohol. Dana narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you our new neighbors?"

Tasia wasn't sure why, but one of the other men giggled.

"Nope. Excuse us." Dana tried to move through them, but the men huddled up again and blocked her path.

"What's the rush? You need to be somewhere?"

"Anywhere else, honestly." Tasia crossed her arms and gave them all a hard stare. "Move."

"Oh, we got a tough girl on our hands, boys." White Hat laughed, and his idiot friends laughed with him. Despite the late hour, it was still hot, and the men were all in tank tops and shorts. Based on the smell, they had been drinking for some time now. "A pair of them, maybe. C'mon, don't you wanna hang with us, have a few beers, relax?"

Dana moved to step past, and one of the other men grabbed her by the arm.

"Don't," she warned.

"I'd listen," Tasia added.

"Why? You got some secret man strength like your friend down the hall?" White Hat smirked. "He looks pretty enough in a skirt, but he ain't a woman."

"Excuse me?" Dana turned to look at White Hat, her face a blank mask.

"He doesn't like to hang out with us either." White Hat took a pull of beer. "Damn tranny is lucky we even let him--"

Dana's hand shot out like a snake, grabbing White Hat by the throat and lifting him. His friends stared in shock as she contemplated him, his dangling legs kicking, then casually tossed him over the balcony. His scream was brief, terminating when his fall was broken by landing on the roof of a car in the parking lot. The man still holding her arm didn't have time to let go before she kicked him in the shin hard enough that his leg gained a brand new joint between the ankle and the knee.

Tasia didn't even know how to respond when Dana grabbed the third guy by the collar and started dragging him down the hall. While he tried to fight her off, she lifted him much as an adult would a toddler, her fingers going into his pockets.