Season of Darkness Episode 3: Chapter 16

1

I waited for their onslaught but it never came. Not one finger touched me. Not even in my mind as I half expected. I peeked my head out from under my arm and saw the mob no longer looked at me; they looked behind me. I slowly unfurled and turned around. 2

The King stood over me arms crossed, his royal robe flowing about him. He did look rather majestic. I didn't stand. Instead I knelt there before him. "I swear I had nothing to do with this," I told him.3

He ignored me. "You five," he pointed behind me, "take the wounded downstairs." I heard shuffling but didn't look. "You two, clean this mess up. The rest of you depart."4

I took that to include me so I began to stand. "Not you, Aloise." I fell back to my knees and waited. When the hallway was clear except for the three of us he bent down to look at Sabertooth. He petted him as if he thought the dog had died. "What happened?" He asked quietly.5

"I- I don't know. He passed me in the hallway a little while ago acting normal then a minute or so later he attacked Kama. I presume others tried to help her and he attacked them as well." 6

The King nodded. "Take him downstairs and await my instructions."7

"Yes, your Majesty. Should I go get help?"8

"Why?"9

"Well to carry him he weighs-"10

"Did you forget what you are?" he asked haughtily.11

Yeah, I guess I had. I'm not used to being able to pick up a 170lb robot by myself. I slid my hands underneath him and heaved. It was a bit of a struggle dealing with his awkward bulk. I managed to get to my feet. Once balanced I thought I could walk. 12

"Um… Can I ask something else?" He nodded his head once. "Who gave him teeth?"13

"When you have him in a secure room you may examine his behavior further." The King walked away before I could ask anything else.14

***15

"Come on, Sabertooth. Let me see those teeth." He kept his mouth firmly shut, I couldn't even remove the fur around them as he'd move his head violently each time I tried. "Brat!" 16

Frustrated I pushed him away from me. He just rebalanced himself and came back to me a little pouting. "How could you ever kill anyone?" I patted my head as he wagged his tail.17

I was given a secure room in the lab that had an electronic seal on the door. Only the King or I could open it. The room had been equipped with everything I could possibly need. It was far better than my lab upstairs. Kenneth would be jealous.18

I felt Bram coming and was relieved; I could use a little cuddling. Problem was I sensed he was not in a good mood. I contacted Jacques to open the door for Bram.19

When Bram entered, Sabertooth growled and for a moment I thought he was going to attack Bram.20

"Settle down." I grabbed hold of his scruff.21

He looked up at me and wagged his tail again. At least he knew who was boss.22

"Is it safe?" Bram asked.23

"Of course."24

"Have you found the problem?"25

"No, the software is pretty complicated."26

"We're putting it down."27

"He's a robot, not a real dog. You don't 'put him down.' You turn him off. Simple."28

"Whatever. It's a danger to the gens and is to be destroyed."29

"He's not a danger. Look at him. Does he look dangerous?"30

The fur covered head bent down between his paws and seemed to look up at Bram with soulful eyes.31

"You saw what he did on that battle field and saw what he did up there!"32

"Bram! Someone programmed that dog. He didn't just go berserk on his own."33

"How do you know that?"34

"Come on! I'm an engineer. When electronics go bad it's not like a sci-fi movie okay. An electrical shock doesn't make them come alive and the AI doesn't evolve to destroy the human race. They either have a few functions disabled, in which case, he wouldn't be able to walk right or something similar, or he'd stop working altogether. The fact that he attacked everyone but me, in fact stopped attacking on my command tells me he was programmed."35

"All right then wipe his memory."36

"If I wipe his memory I lose all trace of who reprogrammed him."37

"Toni, we can't have him roaming around-"38

"I'll turn him off temporarily, okay? I need him on to do certain tests. Will that satisfy his majesty?" The question wasn't to Bram. I knew the King was listening.39

Approval was given not quite in words but we both knew it. I bent down over Sabertooth who leaned his head towards me. I patted it once, felt for the off switch, dug around a little, and felt for it more.40

"Why can't you find it?" Bram asked.41

"I don't know." I touched Sabertooth's belly and on command he rolled over exposing his underside. I unzipped the fur and puzzled some more. "Some things have been moved around. Maybe whoever installed the jaws." But no, I'd found the off switch all right when he attacked the hunters.42

"Who?"43

I shrugged. The power supply was still in the same place, but it was a different supply, the label told me it was more powerful, plus strangely there was no switch on it. The wires were soldered in place. I had to cut them to turn him off. Sabertooth growled a little when he saw me coming at him with wire cutters. "I'm sorry boy." His head fell with a thud.44

What a mess! How sad too; it'd take more work to put him back together again now. From a first glance there were several changes to his hydraulic systems. I guess to give him more power fighting vampires. 45

I dug around and found the CPU still in the same place I left it. I found the memory chip with the AI program on it next to the CPU . I removed both and plugged them into the test board I made.46

"What's that do?" Bram annoyingly watched over my shoulder. I didn't answer him.47

I made a backup of the memory onto my laptop so I could study it later. Thankfully I disconnected my laptop before I activated the CPU . 48

Once I did, all sorts of things started to happen! My spectrum analyzer made all sorts of pretty wave forms on pins that should have just been levels. The logic analyzer simply began wigging out and made some strange sounds. I didn't know how that was possible. The computer I used to control everything blue screened. Finally, there was a series of pops and several little puffs of smoke wafted from the support chips on the test board. 49

I yanked the power plug from the wall!50

"Damn it! No, no no no No!" I threw the keyboard across the room and it splintered into pieces against the cement wall.51

"Toni." Bram softly put a hand on my shoulder.52

I spun on him teeth bared, slapping his hand off me. "Don't!"53

He fed off my anger and grasped my upper arms immobilizing me. I struggled but he only stared me down. Then he kissed me hard.54

It was more effective than him dousing me with cold water. The shock of the sudden kiss broke me out of my short hysteria and landed me solely in one place. Heaven.55

I relaxed and let him do as he willed as he moved his tongue around my mouth. Fantasies started running around my head and he fed off those emotions too. 56

He looked at me with those deep blue eyes and I stared back. The room became ten degrees hotter. I held back from ripping his clothes off. It would mean taking my eyes off his. "You are incredible," I whispered.57

He kissed me again breaking our eye contact. The spell broken, I began kissing him all over. I grasped his shirt in wads. He signed into my ear and I melted. 58

He pressed up against me and I found myself trapped between him and the counter. My heart pounded and I felt his beating against my breast. His tongue flicked my earlobe sending shivers all over my body. He always knew just the right buttons to press and when.59

Soon we were making love on the counter next to the computers, then the floor practically on top of Sabertooth, who didn't seem to mind one bit.60

***61

I laid on his chest. My breathing still hadn't settled. I enjoyed his fast heartbeat and warm hands wrapped around me. I felt as if my whole body had been submerged in a bubble bath for an hour. 62

"What happened with the chip?" He had to go and ruin such a beautiful moment.63

"I don't know. They probably put a virus on it." I buried my face in his chest. I didn't want to think about it. "Though, it shouldn't have done what it did. I've got a lot of code to go through to know for sure." I sighed. I didn't want to think about it.64

He nodded. "Is it still operational?"65

"Don't know, the CPU didn't look damaged, but I'll only know once I put him back together."66

"Okay. Is the software you downloaded enough to find out what you need to?"67

"No idea," I admitted, then had my own question to ask, "So did anyone find who did this yet?" I felt he was reluctant to answer, half afraid of another outburst. I was too relaxed to make another scene so he answered.68

"No, then again we just started."69

"I didn't think it would take that long to search the slaves' minds."70

"What makes you think it was a slave? Do any of them have the expertise needed?"71

"Well, not exactly, but why would a vampire have Sabertooth attack other vampires? It doesn't seem their style."72

"I agree, however I'm not sure you fully understand what we're capable of."73

"Maybe but I thought the King had control over all of us. I thought that was the real reason there are no internal wars here."74

"Only to a certain extent, you know well enough that he can't keep track of each of us all the time. It would be simpler if all of us would scan the slaves and ourselves, yes, however he wants you to do it."75

"Me? He wants me to search my friend's minds?"76

"That is not the reason. The King thinks this might be a good task for your less subtle approaches."77

"What's that supposed to mean?"78

A vision of me going around and asking questions after Lowell's death went through my mind. I remembered how upset everyone got. So he wanted me to piss people off?79

"His intention is if you strike the right cords the culprit may show him or herself."80

God! More manipulation! 81

"Why me? Is this some sort of test?"82

Bram shrugged. "Well I might have suggested to the King you'd be useful-"83

"Bram!" He smirked that coy smile I liked.84

Still he was probably right. I knew of only a few people who could have done this. Not many people have access to or are not so scared of Sabertooth to get close enough to him.85

Yet another job for me. 86

"Oh you enjoy it and you know it." Bram kissed me on the cheek. "You are the best." He kissed me hard on the lips this time and I dug my nails into his hard chest. "You'll be well rewarded too." He whispered as his hands inched downward. Seems I was about to be rewarded.87

***88

"So what's the story on the Sabertooth attack?" Gary asked as I sat down to a game of poker with him and the others. He could have at least let me get comfortable first. 89

This is good though since I hadn't decided how I'd start my questioning, so he gave me the opening I looked for.90

"Not good." I collected the cards he dealt me. "A lot's happened and I'm no where close to finding out what went wrong. Not to mention we have no clue who programed him."91

"Programed?" Lacey asked. "I thought he just went crazy."92

It was okay for her to be naive about it, but it was Kenneth and Gary I was watching. Kenneth had a good poker face and didn't take his eyes or mind off his cards. Gary seemed to be a little more than interested, but he usually was when something was out of order. He likes everything in its place. 93

"Somebody would have to be very smart to program him wouldn't they?" Gary asked as he moved his cards around in his hand. He was nervous and blocking me. He knew more than he was letting on.94

"Yep. Any ideas who?"95

"Wen," he said instantly.96

"Why him?"97

"Toni, can you just bet?" John prodded me to keep the game moving. He sometimes had a short temper and a bit of engineering knowledge. I wondered if he might be a suspect.98

I threw some chips in then kept on him. "Wen has no motive."99

"He's the only one I know who's smart enough," he shrugged, "plus Gwen has influence over him and she'll do anything to get out of here."100

"Gwen?" Now there's someone I hadn't thought of. She was always just a little suspicious. Still, I didn't see her going through all the trouble to make this elaborate of a plan work.101

"Gwen didn't exactly like Sabertooth." It took Lacey a little while to recall the memory of Sabertooth prancing through the slave court and Gwen's fearful reaction. "He didn't like here either."102

"True, so you think that's a motive?"103

Lacey shrugged.104

"Are you guys going to talk or bet? I rose twenty not ten Lacey!" Bea said after she put in a chip. Bea too had her own issues with the vampires, but little electrical knowledge that I could tell. She was here more for what I could use her for. She often blazed a trail of gossip.105

I sighed and figured I'd let it go for a little bit. I truly didn't believe Gwen was involved. Of course, in this place anything's possible. 106

I didn't win that round or the three after it. I had a full house on the fourth round though. "Raise fifty!" I threw in my two blue chips.107

"Damn!" Kenneth pounded the table. His luck had been no better than mine, but he was taking it harder. I said nothing and kept it in mind that something was bugging him.108

I won that hand! While Kenneth grumbled and dealt the next one, Lacey became uncomfortable with the silence. 109

"So how was your trip, Harve?" She winked at me. He was suddenly a bit shy and just shrugged. I knew had I not been there he would have blabbed the whole story. He usually liked to talk just not in front of those he talks about I guess.110

Gary noted the exchange and asked me directly.111

"Yeah, what happened? It's unusual for three vampires to go somewhere with just one slave."112

I thought about copying Harve but the curiosity around the room told me all were interested. Can't imagine why, it wasn't too unlike other trips. However, it would be fascinating to see their reactions. I had gathered these specific people for a reason. Each are either gossip mongers or suspects. The gossipers might have heard something and/or will let something slip to the perpetrator, and of course the suspects I just want to see if I can get them to let something slip. It hadn't worked so far, so why not this?113

I began my story, "My eyes blurred and I fought to keep them open. I set fixing Sabertooth as a priority. Let whoever did this think they got away with it for a little while, they'd be relaxed and would be thrown off guard when I started asking questions. Problem was it was taking me longer than I thought to fix him. The setback of destroying half my equipment earlier was only one problem.114

"The new circuitry and software were complicated. The original AI was bad enough to search through. The Master of All Things didn't add any comments at all. Where the software was elegant the new circuitry was a wreck, whoever installed it wasn't neat about it. I did a bit of detective work too; dusted the parts for prints but came up empty. Whomever it was did it quick but knew what they were doing.115

"I ran my hands through my hair wanting to pull it out by the roots. I hated not being able to figure this out. If only, with all the other additions, they had given Sabertooth a voice.116

"And to make things worse, Keir was coming. How would he react when I told him I had no progress to report? I told Jacques to let him in. Once inside, Keir didn't even give me a chance to turn from my work.117

"'Come on. Let's go.'118

"'Go where?'119

"'Out.' He pulled on my arm. I allowed him to but didn't exactly go willingly, just rolled along the floor in my chair.120

"'But Sabertooth-'121

"'You've worked on him for three days straight.' He pulled harder dragging me to my wobbly feet.122

"'But the King will kill me if I don't find out what's wrong.'123

"He whirled me so our noses were touching.124

"'I'll kill you first if you don't come with me.'125

"His teeth were in my face and I knew that growl. I sheepishly took two steps towards the door. His demeanor changed and he practically skipped along.126

"'So whom are we taking along with us?' I thought it was a rhetorical question so I didn't answer. 'Come now. You need to think about these sorts of things.'127

"I started to ponder whom I'd like to have along on a trip then Keir pushed a whole bunch of information in my head. Locations, if the person was allowed on trips or to specific locations, if they had knowledge of that location, were they able to do certain tasks, did they have specialized knowledge and other things of this nature. I needed to take these things into consideration when choosing.128

"The problem was I didn't have any of the basic information to fill in those blanks. So Keir pushed that in my head too. 'New York, they'd need to know specifically about the nightlife there. Harve is a good choice. He's a pilot as well so that keeps the slave count down. However, you can choose anyone you wish as personal compatibility is also a key in choosing a slave for a trip.'129

"'No Harve is fine.' I hardly dealt with him up to that point and hadn't drunk from him yet.130

"Had I known then what I knew now, I probably still would have chosen him as he was helpful later on. I also might not have chosen him for the simple fact that he never shut his mouth. I came close to wanting to drain him a couple of times just to shut him up, but knew he wouldn't shut up in my head once I did."131

"That's right and don't you forget it." Harve laughed. "Tell 'em about how I kept talking to you guys over the plane's intercom and you kept making me-"132

I didn't need to tell them. I showed them. 133

Harve blinked a couple of times then looked at his cards strangely. "What game are we playing?"134

I sighed and went on with my story.135

"'So, where are we going?' Bram caught up to us and I beamed wanting to take his hand instead of Keir's.136

"'We' aren't going anywhere. You're not invited.' Keir's voice wasn't harsh which was good.137

"'Ah, come on, Keir. I'll be a good boy. I won't kill anybody.' Bram flashed his brilliantly white fangs."138

He was looking rather dashing. His hair swept back and a little wavy. His face, freshly shaved, was so smooth silk would be jealous. His white shirt pressed nicely with just a couple of open buttons let a little of his chest hairs peek out. It was enough to drag my attention to his shapely chest. I just wanted to run my fingers over those defined muscles. Feel the pounding of his heart as I sunk my teeth…139

Damn, I've digressed again. I thought I broke myself of that habit. Give me a little slack! He is easy on the eyes and it's been a while.140

"'Fine but don't distract her,' Keir grunted. Bram already had his arm around me and was smelling my hair. As if caught doing something wrong, he ripped his arm from me and held it behind his back. When Keir stopped looking he slipped it right back into place. 141

"I smiled and enjoyed the attention.142

"Harve met us in the hangar and shortly we were off. It wasn't a long flight and the attention of the boys one upping the other to gain my favor made me feel good. They wouldn't be fighting over me for long. Soon they'd have more women than they could handle. 143

"We landed at a small airport and took a private car into the city, all of which took about an hour and felt like much more. By the time we got to what Harve assured us was 'the hottest nightclub in Manhattan,' it was certainly jumping. Well, that is if one could jump in here or move at all for that matter."144

"Why a nightclub?" Kenneth asked. "It's always a nightclub. It's like a new vampire cliché: stakes, coffins, bats, now nightclubs. In any modern vampire movie worth its salt they have a nightclub where a vampire can pick up his prey." 145

"Isn't it obvious?" I asked. "There's so much activity no one notices anything."146

"Not to mention people who are more likely to be into vampires gather there. Furthermore, easy victims in the drunks and drug addicts," John said, seemed he knew a lot about vampire psychology.147

"Exactly!" I pointed at him. "Don't forget we feed off of not just blood but energy. Where better to get such energy? Which leads me to what happened next.148

"I saw the crowd, no, actually I felt them before entering the building the moment I saw them I wanted to turn and run. Bram wouldn't let me.149

"'Face your fears. You have to learn to control it. We're here so you can learn to pick out rapti in a crowd.'150

"Amazing thing about telepathy no matter how loud the music you can still hear voices in your head.151

"'Oh great.'152

"The mob pressed on all sides. People I didn't know touched me in undesirable spots. My heart rate jumped to about 200bpm and I began shaking all over. I hate crowds, always had even before I became a vampire. Maybe I had a touch of the mental awareness then but now it completely overloaded my senses.153

"There were more people here with more active minds than that in the complex. They bounced around from subject to subject. Their minds never staying in one place, just like their bodies bouncing around the dance floor bumping into each other. Like one giant mass of heated electrons. 154

"I felt it like a circuit buzzing. The current flowed through me and my hairs stood on end. I felt alive, really alive. I also felt high. The whole thing was very disorientating. I fluctuated between feeling like I could take on the world and fainting.155

"I scooted backwards towards the door. I needed air and time to readjust my mind for this situation. Bram and Keir both took an arm holding me in place. They acted as a bit of a buffer for me from the crowd. Bram continued to attempt to calm my mind, at least until we were through the bulk of them.156

"'Don't run away. Absorb it. Let it make you stronger,' Keir prompted.157

"'Easy for you to say.' My head swam in the flow of information.158

"'We are simply here for you to learn how to choose rapti, not to choose servi, simply someone to provide sanguen.' He pushed more information into my head such as; homeless and hookers are not preferred but would do in a pinch, too many drugs and even alcohol sour the blood, larger people interestingly taste a little better since they usually eat plenty of red meat. That sort of thing.159

"'Now the trick is to find people who've come alone who have a habit of getting drunk. They're easier to manipulate and usually pass the incident off to their drunkenness, but mostly someone who won't make a scene,' Bram instructed.160

"I immediately spotted several players who fit that description but none of them interested me.161

"He kept talking but I wasn't listening I had focused on a couple. Despite the noise and crowd they acted like they were the only ones in the world. It would be easy to sperate them from the crowd.162

"'Feel for their intentions.' Bram was saying. 'You can tell if they have good or bad intentions. That guy over there for instance,' he pointed out one of the players, 'you can feel his intentions are not pure. He'd rape a woman if she fought him, but he's never had to resort to it. We're not here to kill so there's no reason to choose people like that. We're here for pleasure, of all sorts.'163

"Yes so was the couple I'd spotted. They fit all the criteria perfectly. They were in love, the purest of emotions. They glowed like no one else in the room. I wanted to share in that glow. 164

"'Find a single person.' Bram pulled on my arm.165

"'Ah come on! These are the most compatible people here.'166

"'But we don't do couples.'167

"'Bram, look, are we going to kill them?'168

"'No!'169

"'Okay, then are we going to make them slaves?'170

"'Of course not.'171

"'And we can erase their memory afterwards, right?'172

"'Yes.'173

"'Then where's the harm?'174

"'I'll tell you.' Bram began. Keir cut him off, however.175

"'No, Bram, this is a learning mission. Let her hang herself if she wants. She learns more this way.'176

"'Wow, Keir said something sensible?' I thought jokingly. Neither laughed.177

"The music was an electrical techno beat, loud and fast. It almost forced the heart rates of all the people in the room to beat to the same rhythm. Heads bounced and everyone moved continuously to the noise. Usually I don't mind techno, but with vampire sensitivity loud music really hurt my ears. I'd have to remember ear plugs on our next outing. Nevertheless, I bumped and jostled my way closer to the couple.178

"The couple were becoming quite amorous to the point that they were thinking about finding someplace private least they find themselves nude in public. It was simple enough to put the thought of the empty apartment next door into their heads. It had been a stray thought I caught from someone else.179

"The gentleman, named Rick, whispered about it to his fiancée Barbara and she eagerly agreed. Rick led the way and the three of us followed at a discreet distance. Hiding our presence from them could have also been easily done but wasn't necessary. Not yet at least.180

"It was pleasant to be outside away from all that noise. Don't get me wrong, I love techno music, I just don't like it so loud it makes my heart jump out of my chest. We moved through the parking lot with nary a glance in our direction. All thanks to Keir who set off a distraction by having a number of people in line rush the bouncer. 181

"'Never let anyone see you,' he admonished me at the same time. 'We mustn't leave evidence of our presence behind.'182

"'Yeah? What about the security cameras?' I pointed up to the corner of the building. 'Then there's the prints and DNA you probably left on that glass you were drinking out of.'183

"'Enough!' I must have hit a nerve.184

"'Things are a bit more sophisticated now.' Bram seemed to be trying to appease both of us. 'However, we can circumvent those traps if and when we need to. Leaving witnesses, though is harder to clear their memory after the fact, first you have to find them then-'185

"'Yes, yes, you can fill in the details later.' Keir seemed a bit anxious to see how this would play out. I could feel part of that was due to his being affected by the couple's lasciviousness. 186

"'Come on!' Once I saw the couple headed in the right direction, I pulled on Bram's hand and ran quickly rounding the building to the back so they wouldn't see. I kept my mind's eye on them. Rick was a leisurely kind of fellow despite how anxious he was. He opened the door for Barbara. 187

"'Act surprised when they interrupt,' I told Bram. Without notice I grabbed his collar and kissed him hard climbing half way up his body. It was mostly an act but I was feeling the heat of the couple's passion in me and would have release by the end of the night. Keir watched amused and slightly jealous. He didn't wait on the sidelines for long and moved in behind me grabbing my posterior with such force that I bit Bram's lip drawing blood. I sucked on it hungrily.188

"'You are simply a tigress," Keir growled in my ear and moved his hands towards my inner thighs. Bram held me tightly to him restricting some of Keir's access and making me moan at the same time. I loved his strong arms around me. I felt so safe here even with Keir present. His lips pressed softly against mine but opened ever so slightly, invitingly. I loved him so. He was not lustful like Keir but was always responsive in a pinch.189

"'Oh, excuse us.' A shaky male voice said from behind. The couple finally made it inside.190

"I untangled Keir and slid off Bram. I waved sheepishly, like I was embarrassed, which I kind of was. I would have never done this several years ago. Heck, I probably wouldn't even do it now, if I didn't think of it as just an act to lure these people in.191

"Barbara also gave a half wave. Her mind betrayed her and spoke of interest and longing for the muscular black man. 192

"I fed on this and attempted to assuage Rick, 'No, it's all right. There's more than enough room here why don't you join us?'193

"Luckily, Rick wasn't a prude and with Barbara's insistence 'They seem like nice people.' They moved in closer. 194

"Now, I'm by no means a hunter. At this point in my life I knew nothing of the sport, other than you had to be patient and wait for just the right moment. This wasn't it. They still weren't comfortable yet. Sure, they were close enough we could jump them and drain them if we wanted. Keir made it clear; in this game they have to be willing."195

"Oohhh… I like where this is going," Lacey said.196

"Yeah, yeah, then a big orgy ensues." Gary flipped his cards over uninterested.197

"Been there done that." Bea winked at John. "Hehe, straight beats yours!"198

"Actually, it was nothing like that." I began shuffling for the next deal. "We weren't interested in sex."199

"Yeah, right." John said.200

"Hey, why would we when we have all you beautiful specimens?" I joked but I think he took me serious as he beamed with pride. 201

"No, you'd rather trap a couple of innocents and destroy their lives," Kenneth said. "Typical vampires."202

"We didn't destroy their lives. They don't even remember the incident." Most of it anyway. I added silently.203

"Are you sure?" He asked.204

"Of course, but I'm getting ahead of myself."205

"'You're… You're… Vampires? You're not cosplaying are you?' Rick asked.206

"Now, Rick slept like a baby. I watched him making sure he wouldn't die on me. Bram held onto me with care and compassion. He simply stood behind me with his arms around my waist and chin on my shoulder. As we stood there he rocked me a little and I felt like I was in such a good place, I never wanted to move.207

"He'd been quite tasty and only fought a little after he figured out what we wanted. 208

"'Come on baby.' Barbara tugged on his shirt minutes before. "I've always wanted to try this."209

"He stared at Bram's neck. I had bitten Bram as they showed up and the blood still stained him. 'But he's bleeding. That's real blood!'210

"'Oh don't be such a chicken. He's still alive.'211

"'It will be more pleasurable than you imagine,' I said to him as I stepped closer. I calmed his mind.212

He nodded slowly. I took his hand and brought him to me. He closed his eyes and tensed up which made things much worse. Do you know how hard it is to penetrate a vein when the muscles grow hard around it, and it contracts? I did the only thing I of to relax him. I touched my lips to his. It surprised him a little and he was more reluctant as he knew Barbara was watching. Annoyingly, she was enjoying watching her man kiss another woman. I decided quickly she was not really in love with this man so all my remorse disappeared. 213

Keir distracted her anyway so she didn't watch as I worked him. I wanted to make her jealous but by this point I felt it was useless. So I simply played the man until he relaxed enough. Perhaps I made him a little too relaxed.214

"Now Keir finished with a flourish snapping his head back and growling as he took a deep breath. I had to admit he was kind of beautiful like that. Beautiful but scary. Barbara didn't think so. He was about to drop her next to Rick when she clung to him like plastic wrap to a fruit bowl.215

"'I need you,' she screamed, 'you're a vampire! Make love to me. Please!"' 216

"The look on Keir's face was worth the entire trip; horror, confusion, repulsion and more. His nose twisted like a skunk had just sprayed upon him. It was his eyes, though, that shown brilliantly in the dark lighting. They dilated and nearly bulged out of his head. I fought my laughter when he tried to remove her hands and she only clenched harder eliciting annoyance and fear from him."217

I received significant laughs from the others at the poker table that made me feel quite good and justified.218

"Did he kill her?" Gary asked almost too eagerly.219

"No, though a part of him wanted to." I admitted. "He had enough sense to do the right thing.220

"'Do something!' Keir cried. 221

"I extricated myself from Bram. Maybe because he's my genitor and maybe because I felt pity for him I rushed to her and pulled at her. Her grip was so strong I worried I might have to break her hands to get him free. 222

"'No!' she screamed, 'I have to feel his teeth in me again!'223

"'Calm down.' I forced my mind into hers with relaxing thoughts. 224

"'No! I've wanted this all my life.'225

"'Honey?' Rick asked weakly.226

"'This is why we don't do couples!' Keir blurted. I felt her mind go slack then and she fell limply in Keir's arms. I looked up at Keir who seemed a little surprised.227

"Harve stood smugly by a broken piece of wood in his hands. 'And that's why it's a good thing you brought me along.' He'd come to warn us about the couple's friend. I'd been too busy to realize he came in.228

"'I'll see what I can do with her memory.' Bram smirked, 'That's why I'm here.' They laid her on the ground.229

"'Barbara?' This was a female's voice coming from the other side of the large room near the door.230

"Shit, why can't anything go right? 231

"Barbara's yelling caused their friend, who was looking for them, to hear her. Thanks to Harve we got a two second warning. We all felt her about the same time. Right before she spoke the name, now we all froze. What to do?232

"'Mary, get out!" Rick yelled hoarsely.233

"'Send her away.' Keir snapped in my head.234

"'If I do she'll remember what she saw here.' I replied, then said aloud. 'Come in, darling. He's just a little drunk.'235

"She cautiously walked a little closer to us but not close enough for any of us to get a hold of her quickly. I was sure I could beat her in a race to the door. Man, and to think just a few years ago I would have had a coronary if I tried to run that far.236

"I assumed she was close enough to handle mentally. I went into her short term memory and erased it completely. She wouldn't remember how she even got to the club. It's a good thing too because she was getting suspicious; Rick apparently doesn't get drunk.237

"Rick's memory took a little longer. I made a larger impression than I thought. For some strange reason not all his thoughts of me were in the same place. Some had gotten stuck in what appeared to be his imagination center because there were some not so amusing fantasies about me already circling his mind. I wiped them out as cleanly as I could. Harve cleaned up their wounds with the small kit he brought in.238

"Keir watched over me and seemed to approve, at least of my progress in mind manipulation. When I finished he grunted, 'How could you miss that they had a friend with them?'239

"'How could you?' I countered, because she surprised him just as much me. That appeared to shut him up. 240

"Well, either that or Barbara stole his tongue. She'd awoken from her stupor and looked up at Bram. 'Who?' She looked at me, 'What am I doing here?' Her gaze fell over her husband and friend apparently sleeping on the ground together and rolled around to Keir. She gasped. 'The vampire!' Her voice filled with glee.241

"I rolled my eyes and Bram dropped his head. Apparently his quick memory wipe wasn't good enough either. She had a stronger will than any of us thought. Of course, this was one of the reasons I picked her; she loved vampires. I just underestimated the power of that love.242

"Luckily, Keir was on the ball with this one. 'You are mistaken miss. I simply came in here when you called for help for your fiancé. He has fallen ill, but I think he will be okay. You and your friend seem a little disorientated also.'243

"She looked at him with unease. She knew she couldn't be wrong about the vampire thing but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She nodded and set herself off balance a little. Bram caught her and gave her that winning smile. I felt a small bit of jealously that he would share it with anyone else.244

"I did feel his hunger so the jealousy decreased a bit. He had no one to feed off yet. We both thought perhaps Mary could fulfill that hunger but at this point it would complicate matters too much.245

"So Bram held Barbara. Keir and I attempted to wake the other two out of their stupor. I pulled Rick to his feet. He was quite heavy when he's half awake. Moving a heavy support beam would be easier. 246

"He stumbled and slipped out of my hands. 'Hey, watch it!' Rick bellowed.247

"My reflexes kicked in and I grabbed him before he fell to the ground. Unfortunately, in the process I dug into him with my nails to keep my grip from slipping. Problem was it did slip and now he had three long red bands around his arm just like the ones on Jupiter. This sprung all our senses into action. Even the smallest bit of blood hits the olfactory receptor just right. The sweet smell of iron boosted my cravings. 248

"I know my teeth showed. I wasn't used to stopping them enough. Bram was worse. He licked his chops. Bram, hungry as he was also fought for control. It seemed Keir was the only one who was under control for once. Too late though, because Barbara noticed.249

"The thought process was quick, too quick to stop her from putting 2 and 3 together. 'You are vampires! Take me with you please!'250

"The three of us exchanged glances. Was she insane? One bite from a vampire and she was ready to give everything, her blood, her dreams, her life. I knew we weren't recruiting today and I didn't believe she would really be able to handle it. Living a fantasy is one thing, living that life is completely different. No one should ask for it.251

"'What do we do?' I asked Bram and Keir. 252

"Memory wipe wouldn't do she already resisted the first one. The boys didn't answer. Well, Bram had a vivid image of killing her and Keir was entertaining the notion and even beginning another memory wipe.253

"'Scare her,' I said to them.254

"'What?'255

"'Scare the living wits out of her and then she won't want us or to come with us.'256

"'Yeah, then she'll go running to the hunters,' Bram said.257

"'Have any better suggestions?'258

"He dipped his eyes away from me. He knew he couldn't kill, at least for me. Instead Keir said, 'Yeah, follow me.'259

"He began to walk for the door totally ignoring her and the other two. He tried to make a wide circle around her but she'd have none of that, ran up to him and pulled on his arm. 'Come on. Where are you going? Take me with you.'260

"Keir, with a perfect gangsta impression, pushed her easily off him. 'What you talking about: vampires? You crazy bitch. Get off me, yo.' She fell to the ground and started crying. We followed him to the door. I wanted to look back to make sure she'd be okay, of course I could feel that it had the desired effect. 'You one messed up white skank.'261

"Yeah, she's not the only one. I thought.262

"Harve rushed to Barbara's side. 'You okay lady? Those people are just rude. I think you just got messed up with the wrong crowd.' I heard him saying as we exited. He was still talking to her and talked her out of pressing charges by the time we were down to the street."263

I finished dealing the last card and Gary started the betting round. I sat quietly contemplating my pair of nines.264

"So that's it?" Gary asked.265

I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."266

"Then why are you so down? That wasn't that big of a deal." Lacey asked.267

I sighed. I knew I needed to tell the last part but I didn't want to. However, it was the most critical. It was the reason I was here. So as I called Gary's obvious bluff I began again.268

"I didn't really want to go back to work. Bram even offered to stay the day with me in my room. However, I had obligations and I really didn't want to be around anyone else right now. So I politely excused myself. I didn't plan on working on Sabertooth. Maybe some writing research would get my mind going. It would provide enough distraction to make me forget about the night's events. 269

"I went down to the dungeon as I began to lovingly refer to it in my own mind. The deep dark catacombs of the complex that housed the labs among other things. Okay, they weren't dark catacombs per se and there were no chains on any of the walls but they were deep and compartmentalized. My own little home away from home was somewhat dark as the King wanted a secure room off the beaten path in case Sabertooth did decide to go totally haywire.270

"I reached the door, like every other secure door in this place there was only one way to open it, and that was to mentally contact Jacques. In a way I felt sorry for the guy, he had one hell of a boring job, opening and closing doors all day. One of these days I planned to visit him and give him some company, if he swore he wouldn't go crazy and maul me.271

"Now there was one other security measure on this particular door. I never trusted to just one method and who knows how reliable Jacques really is on following orders. So I asked for a padlock to be put in place. Oh I know what you're thinking, a padlock, yeah, that's real secure. Especially knowing I'd learned to pick locks in this place. However, from what I could tell, I was one of the few who could. Most vampires wouldn't bother, they'd brute force the lock open, and the few slaves who could don't venture down here as far as I know. So I figured if nothing else, it was a way for me to make sure the door wasn't tampered with.272

"Plus I transferred the padlock to the inside when I really don't want to be disturbed. 273

"So obviously I felt fairly safe when I arrived to find the padlock untouched. That is until Jacques slid open the door for me and I found the room empty. 274

"Well, not completely empty. The computers were still there. Sabertooth, however, was not.275

"Jacques!' I screamed in my head. He didn't answer. 'Where the hell is he?' This was really pissing me off. Nothing was sacred around here, even locked doors!"276

Lacey gave a sympathetic, "oh no!" Besides that there was nothing. Gary was ambivalent his mind was thinking I probably deserved that if I left him alone while out "gallivanting." I think he was jealous I was spending more time with Keir than he was. Kenneth was more concerned with the cards he was going to discard finally deciding on an Ace and deuce. 277

He had been listening however and made the suggestion, "Maybe the King took him back."278

"Well duh!" I mean the moment I got back and found him missing I contacted the King. If it was any other case than Kenneth's suggestion I probably wouldn't be having that pleasant conversation. "The King did inform me Sabertooth returned to him."279

The problem was the wording. It wasn't that he went and took Sabertooth. It's that either Sabertooth somehow managed to put himself back together, activate himself, figure out how to open the locked door, and return to the upper levels or someone took him. He couldn't have done any of that and my lock be unharmed that without help so it had to be the latter. No one else had access to that door besides the King and me. 280

So I wasn't about to tell them the details but I did say, "Someone released him. Had to be." I folded yet another hand and Gary wound up winning, again.281

"Who'd have access down there?" Gary asked. Boy he was doing a good job of asking the right questions today. Was there a reason for that? Did he know what I was doing?282

"That's what I'd like to know," I said as I looked at each one of them. "Any ideas?"283

Each shrugged. A couple looked away from me but that didn't mean they knew anything. They were just used to looking away when a vampire stares down at them. 284

"Well, if any of you hears anything, please tell me. You know how the King is. If I don't figure out what's going on, he'll probably get upset and then…"285

"I'll see what I can find out," Lacey pitched in like a good girl.286

"Yeah, anything for you, Toni," Kenneth said, but not with as much enthusiasm.287

That was what I wanted to hear. The more people kept their feelers out the easier my job would be. I watched Kenneth and Gary for any other signs of knowledge of the events but they sat blank faced. Perhaps it wasn't the best decision for me to do this during a poker game. Ah well, they may have good poker faces but their minds were open to me. Besides the two pair Kenneth had and the inside straight Gary was going for, there was nothing to indicate they were hiding anything. So I relaxed a bit and let the game play out. I purposely lost that hand and a couple of others just to make sure they didn't think I was reading their minds.288

***289

As I was heading out, Kenneth stopped me. "How are the vampires that were attacked?" Was that sympathy I heard in his voice? I probed a little deeper. Yes, he was picturing Kama. He remembers her and has feelings for her? My memory wipe wasn't that refined I guess. I still have a lot of practice to do.290

"It's been a week Kenneth. Their wounds healed a long time ago."291

"Do you think I can-"292

"She doesn't want to see you." I dashed his hopes before he could voice them. "It's best if you just serve us and not become involved."293

"It worked for you and Bram."294

"No, it hasn't." I thought about it, then decided to tell him a portion of the story of my trip to New York I didn't tell the others.295

"We headed back for the nightclub after the incident with Rick, Barbara, and Mary. It would be best to put in an appearance. Two out of three people wouldn't remember us, so if anyone asked questions most people at the nightclub would swear we were there all night. 296

"An unfortunate event happened there to top off my 'wonderful' night. The music pounded inside my head. I wanted to leave but Bram wanted his fill too. For his sake I tolerated the crowd and headache. I drank the strawberry daiquiri gently. I was still getting used to alcohol again. 297

"I watched Bram across the room as he approached a table with two half-drunk women. Two men came up to me but I brushed them off quickly. Bram invited himself to sit with the women. I watched him and learned how to approach people without them knowing my intentions. He was a master. I knew he'd drink from them soon, with their permission. He was that good.298

"A third came up to me, 'is that a strawberry margarita?'299

"'Nope.' I didn't even look at him. He signaled to the bartender for another one for me.300

"'So, I've been watching you. Those guys weren't your type. You need a guy that knows what he's about.' He puffed out his chest. I felt Bram's hunger grow and I basked in it. I didn't like his choice of victims but the hunger drove out my jealousy.301

"'Yep, when you find that guy, send him my way,' I said. He deflated a little. Well, okay, I was still a little jealous. I'd rather have Bram here instead of this guy.302

"Still he didn't give up. 'I'll treat you right.' He handed the bartender a $20 for the $8 drink trying to show that he was a good tipper. 'I'm a CFO for OBX Corporation. You've probably heard of us; we're the number one manufactures of Fetal Monitors. I can give you just about anything you could want.'303

"I half smiled at this. 'All right. I'll tell you what.' He became extremely hopeful. 'One kiss.' His grin nearly blinded me with his bleached teeth. I slid my eyes to the side a little. My jealousy was heating up while Bram made out with one of the girls. This mixed with his hunger drove my own heat. 'If you still want me after that then we'll talk.'304

"'Sounds good to me!' 305

"I watched Bram in the periphery. He was smooth. He'd already bitten the first girl and was working on getting the right position for the second. My temperature rose which was just what I needed to get rid of this guy. 306

"I let the guy make the first move. He was fairly aggressive. Our lips hardly touched by the time he was shoving his tongue in my mouth, which was fine with me. My renewed hunger stimulated my biting reflex. One of my fangs shot down straight onto his tongue! 307

"He yelped and pulled away like a scared dog! He covered his mouth and looked at me with horror. His bulging eyes impressed me as I saw tears welling up in them. Before I said a word he ran from there as quick as he could.308

"Next to me Keir chuckled. He got a kick out of how much I was becoming a vampire. A few years ago I would have been shy with these players, now not so much.309

"I looked past Keir to Bram who didn't even notice my little exchange. He was fully engrossed in his own kiss. That and the woman's hand unbuttoning his pants. 310

"I didn't realize how much this affected me until my hand crushed my glass. The brand new daiquiri splashed all over me. Keir roared with laughter."311

"Wow," Kenneth said, "so he wasn't faithful to you at all?"312

"Oh, it gets worse." I gave him a wry grin. "That's vampire morality. There is no loyalty. Rather there is ultimate loyalty. We're all loyal to each other thus it's not an issue to switch partners at any given moment."313

"Of course when they have to share one person that's another story."314

"I don't understand."315

"Well, let's just say the plane ride back was interesting."316

"You had a threesome." He smiled with typical male ego.317

"Not in so many words."318

"Keir didn't feel like he had enough of me earlier and I think watching me at the club made him excited. So as soon as we were strapped in for takeoff he began making his moves and I let him. I was still on a blood high after all. 319

"'I'm going to finish what you started tonight.' He tilted my head in his direction and I parted my lips for the kiss. It was long and sweet, not rough at all like he is most of the time. Obviously the night put him in a good mood. Me too, I needed the release and relaxation this was giving me. The gentle ebb of blood that flowed to my finger tips and the glint in his eye that told me he wanted me, made me feel so good. 320

"The plane lifted off and the acceleration made the kiss more difficult but more exciting and I felt myself becoming aroused. His hands moved towards my collar and under it tickling my neck. My hormones began their course through my blood. I reached up feeling his bulging pectorals through his shirt. I wanted to have a man treat me how I deserved; not as an object to be bought, but as a woman.321

"Keir was giving me that at the moment. He wasn't asking anything of me, just attempted to please me. He really could be a considerate lover when he wanted to be. He gently caressed my neck while staring deeply into my eyes. I was locked there feeling the depths of his feelings. The passion, the heart he put into his next kiss was more than I was used to.322

"My moans from Keir's light touch must have set Bram off, or turned him on, I'm not sure which. I wasn't paying much attention to him, at least until I felt the second pair of hands on my hips and cold teeth pressing against my neck. 323

"Ignoring the seat belt warning sign Bram had left his seat and was attempting to get me out of mine. Keir didn't seem to mind too much and unbuckled himself. Soon we moved in unison to the bed. It was a little tricky as we were still climbing in altitude and none of us moved out of touch with any other. So it was just this mass of bodies stumbling across the plane bumping into tables and cabinets until we fell onto the bed.324

"At any one time I wasn't sure whom I was touching or kissing, nor whose hands were where on my body. There wasn't a problem until half our clothes were off and Bram turned me towards him. I knew he was ready to have me and I offered myself to him. Apparently Keir had a problem with that. Keir was caressing my thighs and when he saw Bram going for my panties. He swatted Bram's hand away.325

"Bram ignored Keir and tried again. This time Keir pushed Bram heavily away from me.326

"'Hey!' Bram and I both knew it wasn't unusual for Keir to be so aggressive, but he had been sharing fine a minute before. A quick scan told me Keir had only been tolerating Bram with hopes of the threesome going in a different direction. When it appeared it wasn't going the way he wanted his pot began to boil over.327

"Bram attempted to tolerate him and moved back in. Keir would have none of that and shoved Bram off the bed. The plane began to bank and Bram slid across the floor into a row of chairs. I heard a snap and felt the pain he experienced. Keir must have blocked it out because he took the opportunity to turn me back to him and he began to move on top of me. That was enough to engage Bram's anger. Something flew by and the next thing I knew I was alone on the bed. 328

"Bram and Keir grappled on the floor wrestling like a couple of teenagers at a high school match. I fear had there been some folding chairs around it would have degenerated into a WWF match.329

"'God!' I rolled my eyes. 'Boys?' They didn't hear me. 'Boys!' Still no answer and I pushed into their mind as hard as I could, 'Boys!'330

"Finally they stopped and looked at me. 'No need to fight over me.'331

"'Who say's it's over you?' Keir spat blood.332

"'He started it!' Bram pointed childishly to Keir who swatted his hand away again. Well, that didn't last long. Bram threw a punch that nearly sent Keir across the cabin. Keir rammed him with a loud crunch and they fell into some cabinets. Small boxes of supplies went flying everywhere. I stood with my hands on my hips. This was not how this night was supposed to turn out.333

"I stomped over to them and attempted to pull them apart. A stray fist nearly broke my arm. I had enough of them. Keir lifted Bram to his feet and shoved him against the wall. I was afraid he'd put a hole through the skin and decompress the room. 334

"There was no cold water around and invading their thoughts was no longer working. I had to find a way to break them up before they broke up the plane. Keir dug his teeth into Bram's arm and held his other so Bram couldn't get leverage. It's not that Bram was defenseless but this pissed me off and I did the only thing I could without trying to kill Keir.335

"I punched him in the nose.336

"It is strange to see a reaction you weren't expecting. I'm used to being the weak one. Keir not only didn't anticipate the punch but was thrown back by it. I was stronger than I realized!337

"Bram saw an opening not really paying attention to me and lunged for Keir. My fist met Bram's stomach halfway there. He fell onto his bum gripping his stomach and staring at me in shock.338

"'Stay!' I ordered him.339

"Keir was about to get up and pummel me when I put a foot on his shoulder forcing him down. 'You stay too!' He stared at me in amazement and anger. I knew I'd get another whipping for this.340

"I didn't care. I couldn't take them fighting over me. As cool as it sounds, to have two strong men fighting over you. It's a little less than cool when they act like children.341

"I stared down hard at Keir, 'I'm not some toy to be fought over. I am not some prize to be won. I'm a human being and expect to be treated as such and with respect!"342

"Human?" Kenneth asked.343

"Yeah, well, I still think of myself as human, plus it made my point." I went on with the story. "'Bram, is this how you treat someone you love?'344

"'I don't love him-'345

"'Answer the question!'346

"He drooped his head. 'No. I shouldn't have gotten angry.'347

"'Good.' I turned my attention to Keir who looked smug and prepared to throw me off him. I pressed my heel into him harder. 'Do you think it's acceptable to treat your friends and your progeniei this way?'348

"He shook his head, even though he still had that damn smug grin on his face.349

"'Then share, or neither of you get to play, understood?' They both nodded and I let Keir up.350

"Bram took me protectively into his arms before Keir could get to his feet. I allowed him one kiss. Then I stopped him from going any farther. I saw the look in his eye. The confusion, the sadness, the hurt, because he already knew what I was about to do. Maybe I did it because I was still jealous, or maybe I did it in hopes to avoid that whipping. Maybe I did it just to see what they would do.351

"I broke away from Bram and pulled Keir to me. He was pleasantly surprised and felt my hunger. I climbed onto him before he fell backwards onto the bed. I tore at his clothes and kissed him passionately. The blood flowed directly to my loins.352

"Bram, I could feel, I was losing completely so when I came up for air I turned back towards him and held my hand out. 353

"He gave me that cute lopsided smile and took my hand. 'I love you.' He said quietly as he crawled into the bed.354

"I didn't return the words, but as we made love he knew that was what it was. With Keir it was just sex, but he could tell the attention I paid him was different, softer, more loving, just as he treated me too. 355

"So despite all the heartache and infidelity, yes love is still there. But don't depend on it, Kenneth. It will tear you apart. Because once we got back here, before I found out about Sabertooth, I still got that whipping."356

"Shit!" Kenneth's hopes were collapsing.357

"Give her up Kenneth. It's for the best." He nodded knowing what I said was true.358