Thick As Blood [Closed]

[Luxii]

For some reason, tying Celeste to the bed was worse than it usually was. Sure, Nicole always felt guilty when Alexis' forced her to do this, but this time she was actually ashamed of herself.


With practiced hands, she threaded one of the chains through the ring on Celeste's collar. It locked in place with a dull clink. Now she had to leave.


"Remember," she whispered. "I'm down the hall."


Just for a brief moment, she placed a hand on Celeste's shoulder, and then she was gone.


Alexis was waiting outside. Nicole almost ran smack into him. Their eyes locked for a moment, ice against amber, but Nicole couldn't hold his gaze. Not this time. Not after what she had just done. She could've let that girl go. She should have. But no, she was no better than Alexis, that bastard. The tips of her ears burned with the overwhelming sense of shame she felt.


"You like this one." Alexis' voice was like chocolate poured over gravel. It was a statement, not a question.

Nicole answered with a shrug of her shoulders. "She's different than the others." It was neither an affirmation nor a denial.


When Alexis' smiled, he looked like a shark. His lips split, curling up at the edges, his fangs rested over his bottom lip. That look would have made some girls weak in the knees. But it made Nicole's skin twitch.


"She reminded me of you, in a way," he purred. "You both had that same look in your eyes when I saw you: proud, haughty, like you were beneath me."


He reached for Nicole. The last four fingers of his hand curled under her chin. The pad of his thumb brushed over her bottom lip. To anyone else it would have looked like a tender gesture between two lovers.


"I will enjoy breaking her like I broke you."


"I'm not broken." The words forced from between Nicole's gritted teeth.


With a laugh, Alexis released his grip and turned to his quarters, disappearing behind the gilded door as it slid shut behind him.


She hated him. She hated him more than she ever had hated anyone more. Hot tears burned in the corners of her eyes, but Nicole blinked them back. There was nothing more to do here, her job was done. With one last guilty look at Alexis' door, she turned and headed back towards her own room.



​

 

[Lucyfer]

Kindness was itself an evil, when used improperly. Celeste knew that Nicole did not mean it as such when she reminded her of the location, and touched her shoulder, but the gentleness of it paired with her knowledge of the future almost made it so. It was almost enough to cause tears, but Celeste held them back with a deep breath, and closing her eyes.


Celeste could not make out the words being spoken just outside the door, but she heard the voices. She strained to hear, not opening her eyes lest it lessen the sensation of hearing, but she couldn’t understand. The door muffled it all too well.


When the door opened, Alexis’s laughter entering with him, Celeste opened her eyes and looked up at him. She didn’t shift her posture to try and inch away from him, nor did she immediately begin blubbering for mercy.


All that she did was assess him again with a once-over, and then look off to the left, every indication that she just wanted this to be done with written on her face and her posture. She doubted it would be as simple as Alexis just taking some of her blood and leaving, though she could certainly hope. ‘Then, orange juice. See if orange juice can be acquired.’ She forced her thoughts to be rational and to consider what was necessary after severe blood loss. Orange juice and iron. Those seemed the keys.


She forced her mind to start listing foods that contained high quantities of iron.


~***~


“Well…I don’t know what to say,” Donovan said, in spite of his words, “All the cameras blur them. Something’s up.”


“And it looks like they went up to the haunted mansion.”


“It would be a good place to hide out. No one goes up there. Private property and no trespassing signs. The gate.”


“We have a jeep that could ram it.” Gael noted. Landry and Donovan both gave him glares for that. “What?”


“We’d have to pay for the damages,” Landry said, then looked back to the televisions. “We should investigate this more. Ah, I get off at 7,” he offered, “We could go then?”


Gael was too impatient, “My sister could be there,” he reminded, voice ice.


“Well, I can’t get off work till then,” he technically shouldn’t even be here, but really, all his job consisted of was patrol work, and nothing ever happened here. He could claim he was patrolling through the cameras, anyway.


“How about you go get an idea of the layout?” Donovan offered, “then at 7, we can figure out entry and all that jazz.” He knew there’d be no stopping Gael, but he might delay him with sense. “Normally I’d say find some drunks and go investigate the haunted house in a group of frat boys, but it’s too late for that.” Plenty of people talked of investigating it. It wouldn’t seem too out of the ordinary if Gael had gone that route. “I suppose you could act drunk if you’re found…claim you went up on a dare…” Now he was just rambling.


Gael liked the ideas, though, “Yeah…yeah, I guess. All right, you two, call me when you get off. I’ll go check the area out,” he said, patted Donovan on the back as he got to his feet, and then headed out the door and returned to his truck.

 

[Luxii]

The way a slave chose to present themselves for the first feeding said alot. Alexis was not surprised to find that this girl had taken a seated posture, her long legs tucked underneath of her neatly. She had been sitting with her eyes closed, but he saw them flash in the darkness, looking him up and down before averting her gaze to the side.


For all her stoic posture tried to convey, Alexis could smell her fear. There was the barest tremble of her bottom lip, a twitch in her fingers that were laced together in her lap.


Fear added a certain tang to the blood, almost like a sour candy. One could alter the taste quite a bit by inflicting different emotions just before feeding. Anger made blood spicy, hot and peppery. Sadness added a slight saltiness. And lust, lust made blood sweet and sryup-y - like honey laced with sugar.


Slowly and deliberately, Alexis crossed from the door to the foot of the bed, a cat stalking its prey. Thus far, she had no reaction to him. Curious...


"Come here, girl," he said, crooking his finger back and forth. The chain would allow her to reach the edges of the bed, but no further.

xXx


You will always remember something when you least expect it. Realization hit Nicole like a bolt of lightening. She knew why Celeste had looked familiar, her and that boy from the town had the same eyes. Was she the one he had been looking for? Maybe it was just a coincidence, but Nicole didn't truly believe that.


The universe always had a strange way of binding people together. That boy had been on a mission. The determination in his eyes was not something Nicole had seen often. If it was in fact Celeste that he was searching for, Nicole had no doubt that their paths would cross again.


He had surely seemed the resourceful sort, the kind of person that you didn't say no to.


If only someone had searched for Nicole so diligently... Her life would have been so different. She would be an old woman by now - 73 to be precise. Would she have married? Would she have grandchildren?


It wasn't worth pining over things that would have been, Nicole had to remind herself. Her life had ended the night she was kidnapped; she just hadn't known it at the time.
​

 

[Lucyfer]

‘Don’t fight.’ There were many actions that Celeste could perform that were not, technically, fighting. Alexis moved forward, but not close enough to touch. His command in the nearly silent room was clear, but Celeste did not immediately obey.


It took thought to force her muscles to move, and even then their first reaction was to cause her fingernails to bite into her hands in resistance. She didn’t want to move towards him. It was true, she was more afraid now than she was angry, but as with any fear, it had to be faced.


Resistance wasn’t fighting, but it was disobedience, and Celeste doubted that would go over well. Right now wasn’t the time. Patience would pay off, or so she kept telling herself. Her fingers slowly loosened their grip and she moved her hands out of her lap.


Celeste crawled to the edge of the bed closest to Alexis, but felt the pull of the chain before she could leave it. Feeling that, she simply reverted back to the same sitting posture and looked towards him, unable to go further, unable to actually ‘go’ to him. To the best of her abilities, though, she had done as asked.


~***~


Gael did not drive to the mansion, but he drove close. He didn’t want his pick-up truck to be heard, so he parked it near the bottom of the hill and exited it. He looked up, and groaned aloud at the prospect of climbing up that steep thing. For all his training with the military, he knew he’d still be winded when he got up there, just because of the steepness.


‘Best to get it started, then.’ He’d find a way over the gate when he got to it. The first challenge was the hill.


So began his trek up, though he walked further from the road, just in case one of the residents opted to take the road up to the mansion. He didn’t want the headlights to spot him.


At the gate, he was winded, and he glared it down as if it might move. It didn’t, of course. ‘Go around it, look for a weakness. All else fails we ram it with the truck in the morning.’ His friends could get behind that. It wouldn’t be a jeep they all had to pay for.


So, Gael started around the gate that surrounded the manor, looking for a weak spot, or even a tree that had a branch go over the top of the gate—anything that would make it easier to get in, since he didn’t have the required credentials to make the gate open up on its own. ‘Maybe it could be hacked.’ He supposed he ought to examine it when he came back around, see if it was a passcode, a keycard, or just a lock and key system.

 

[Luxii]

For now, Nicole sat in the alcove beneath the window in her room. She'd pulled back the blackout drapes, allowing the light of the moon to dance through. It formed strange patterns on the carpet as the surrounding tree bent and bowed under the breeze.


The town was sleepy now. All the students had no doubt retired back to their dorms or apartements. The lights in all the bars were dark.


Then a shadow by the gate caught her interest. Had she not known any better she might have thought it a trick of the light, but being undead came with the gift of sharper eyesight. Was it an animal? No, it moved too methodically to be such.


Nicole leaned forward, pressing her forhead to the panes of glass before her. Could it be a human? Not many ventured up this far... certainly not this late at night.


Her curiosity piqued, she decided investigating this mystery shadow would be better than moping around her room.


xXx


Alexis took a final step, the tops of his thighs pressed into the bed directly in front of his new slave. She had obeyed without complaint, but a little slow for his liking. It was a lesson she would learn soon enough.


He cupped under the girl's chin, much as he had just done with Nicole. He tilted her face to the left and right, amber eyes raking over her. At this distance he could smell the fragrant oils from her bath earlier, the smell of despair from the auctions washed away. Nicole had done an excellent job plaiting the girl's hair down her back. A few stray pieces curled around her forehead.


The rough pad of his thumb smoothed across her bottom lip slowly.


"What is your name, girl?"
​

 

[Lucyfer]

Celeste had wondered if someone could exhaust their supply of adrenaline in a day. She wondered it again when Alexis reached out for her, and her heart quickened its pace, as if it could possibly help with an adrenaline boost. All it did was fill her with useless energy that manifested in her hands shaking, no matter how entwined her fingers were with each other.


‘Yes, I know we’re in trouble, knock it off.’ If only her body heeded logic. Unfortunately, it didn’t.


Celeste made no attempt to resist the turning of her head. She made it a point to look over Alexis’s shoulder, rather than at him, when her head was turned back towards him.


Her mind imagined her neck being snapped, and continued playing at darker thoughts until they were all stilled by his thumb brushing by her lip. She hesitated even to breathe in those moments.


Speaking, however, demanded air. “Lindsay,” Celeste lied. There was no reason to the lie, except that she wanted to keep as much from Alexis as possible right then. She had only been a number in an auction, after all. ‘And I’d much prefer that to girl, if you please.’ She did bite the inside of her cheek, since the words seemed to reach her throat, just to keep them from spilling forth.


Her tongue allowed other words to escape. “How should I refer to you?” Much as Celeste did not want to speak, the question came. It would be good to know, for survival purposes. It might also further delay matters if she was just a little conversational.


~***~


There were trees, but it took a while for Gael to notice one that might serve his purpose. The night made it difficult to be certain, the shadows making it hard to tell how thick the branch was.


Even so, he decided to give it a shot. He found foot holds and places to grab onto, and worked his way up into the tree, onto the branches, and up high enough so he could try and walk along the one that hung over the gate. He was cautious, slow. His hands remained above his head, holding on to a branch that hung over him.


There came a moment when he realized it wasn’t going to work out, though. ‘No. Too thin.’ It would break. No good. He looked back the way he came, and inched his way back along the branch.


He made it back to the trunk of the tree and let out a sigh, frustrated, cold, and becoming more and more tired as time ticked by. He should have grabbed a five-hour energy or something. He’d have to ask Landry to bring one, at seven.


‘Till then.’ He didn’t quite climb down so much as jump down when he got a little lower. Gael landed roughly, but not painfully. He straightened right back up and shook his head to try and wake back up. He didn’t think he was making too much noise yet, but then, he had no idea he was dealing with superhuman creatures.

 

[Luxii]

Alexis didn't get to be nearly a thousand years old without being able to tell when he had been lied to. That girl had just lied through her teeth to him. He pictured smacking her across the face for that. The skin on her cheek would turn red and welt up nicely. But it wouldn't be nice to pull out all of his tricks so soon. After all, they had just met.


Then she had the balls to ask how she should refer to him. He had to smile at that. Gutsy little thing she was.


"I'm sure you've heard by now, but I'll indulge you. I'm Alexis, master of this house and you will refer to me as such."


He still had full grip of her chin, but held her in place so she was forced to look up at him as he spoke.


"Now a question for you, girl. Do you know why you're here?"

The veins in her neck pulsed deliciously just under his fingers. His teeth itched in anticipation.


xXx


Nicole made her way to the front door of the house, swinging it open with a nudge of her shoulder. It was quiet out. The only sounds were the crunch of gravel under her feet and the leaves rustling together above her as she made her way to the gate.


The shadow was gone. She pursed her lips in disappointment. How boring, she thought.


And then she heard a sigh off by one of the larger trees by the fence. There! It was definitely the outline of a person leaned against the tree. Nicole guessed whoever it was had just tried to climb it and failed.


"You could have just rang the bell," she spoke loud enough that she knew her voice would be heard.
​

 

[Lucyfer]

Celeste couldn’t nod to suggest she understood what he had said in regards to how he ought to be referred to. ‘For all I know, you prefer to be called Alex.’ She wasn’t courting death just yet.


Another question. ‘Not for conversational purposes, though I suppose a slave doesn’t really get to decide its purpose.’ Her thoughts would be the death of her. Celeste could keep her mouth shut, but one of them was going to cause her to laugh, or break the mask, and then she’d be killed for insulting him.


This wouldn’t be the moment, though. “The woman who appeared older informed me I was a slave for you to feed on.” She kept her eyes to the wall just behind him. Her head might be forced to point towards him, but she could avert her eyes however she wanted to keep him from being the focus. It helped, somehow, keeping him just off center-stage, keeping herself from truly looking at him. “Is there more that I should know about my role?” The same tone, mildly curious, but still keeping her attention elsewhere.


Perhaps she should have added ‘Master Alexis’ there, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t say it with a straight face right then, nor in any tone that wouldn’t be derisive. She imagined omission would be better than an attempt.


~***~


Gael whipped right around when a voice spoke to him, one familiar enough since his focus was on the blurs from the camera. He didn’t hesitate in walking in the darkness towards it.


Sure enough, when he got close enough to see her, he recognized her. The lights that came from the mansion allowed him to see enough detail to be certain of that. “Yeah? I wouldn’t have guessed a place like this all that inviting,” he knew he was being rude, but he was angry. “You want to tell me why you and your friend blur on every camera—just like the people who took my sister?” He didn’t hide the accusation in his tone. He suspected she was party to it, and he regretted his words of warning.


She must have known what he was talking about—known, and kept it from him. Known, and helped. What did she get out of it, though? Did she make a profit? Gael imagined a thousand terrible things about the woman before him, not taking into account that she might be acting against her will.


He was too frustrated with his failure to get over the fence to consider anything good.

 

[Luxii]

It had been ages since Alexis had acquired such a cheeky little slave. It was oddly refreshing but irritating at the same time. He relinquished his grip on her for now. His eyes flicked to her upper arm. There was a bruise forming. Was that from him? He furrowed his brow slightly.


"You could be required to complete any number of tasks. It depends on my mood on any given day."


It irked him that she wouldn't look at him. Even when her chin was caught in his grasp, her eyes were focused elsewhere, some other point on one of the walls perhaps.


"Are you scared, girl?"


xXx


Nicole rolled her eyes. Of course, the rude boy from earlier this evening. Persistent little thing, wasn't he? Had her and Violet been caught on camera? Dammit, they would have to be more careful. And then she saw, his eyes were identical to Celeste's.


Shit.


"Blurred on camera?" she echoed his words mockingly. "Boy, have you been drinking? Go home before you get yourself in tr0uble."


They were practically face to face through the fence. Nicole could have reached through the bars and crushed his throat if she wanted. She really just wanted him to leave. Alexis wouldn't any problems killing this boy simply for being on the property, let alone if he found out this boy was searching for his sister, the newest bloodslave.
​

 

[Lucyfer]

Somehow, his answer wasn’t surprising. ‘Well, so long as I can move to do them, maybe I’ll oblige.’ Damn chain. Damn collar. Since he released her chin, though, she was capable of nodding when he finished speaking about what her tasks could be. Vague, of course, but expected. A slave was a slave.


She didn’t lower her head any, but she did turn it so that she was looking more to the left. Alexis was still within her sight, irritated at something. Celeste didn’t imagine she knew him well enough yet to know what small thing might have irked him. She was doing plenty of things that could be annoying. It could have been the combination of all of them.


Another question. This answer was honest, “Yes.” She imagined she got away with the lie about her name, even if he insisted on calling her ‘girl’. She knew she wouldn’t have gotten away with lying about whether or not she was afraid. She was, but she was doing her best not to let the fear have complete control over her actions. ‘Then you ought to call him Alex.’


It still had some control over her actions.


~***~


“I haven’t had a drop, unfortunately,” Gael answered the woman, “And about,” he did a mental count, recalling Janelle, Kenny, Landry, and Donovan, “well, at least four people saw the same thing, and probably more since I know some police watched the tapes and were going to check the CCTV.”


Gael was persistent, but more than that, he wasn’t alone. If he went missing, Landry and Donovan knew exactly where he went. They would tear this building to pieces, after reporting it to the proper authorities. “I’m not going home just yet.” He told her, “I’ll go ring the doorbell, though, like you said,” he turned from her and started to trek back towards the gate. There might be a system there, or there might not be. He’d look.


If there was, he might do just that and see what happened. It was certain to get a reaction from someone besides the blonde woman.

 

[Luxii]

If that stupid boy pressed the button for the intercom, it would certainly bring everyone from the house out to the front lawn. One human against an entire coven did not bode well for the human. He was no doubt reckless and determined, two admirable traits, just not together in this particular moment.


"Oh for god's sake, stop, STOP!" she hissed, traveling along the fence to match his pace.


She was torn between asking him if the girl inside - Celeste - was the girl he was looking for and trying to find some other way to get him away from here. If Celeste was the girl he was seeking, and he realized she was in there, he would probably do something stupid like ram their front gate.


"Listen... everyone else here isn't-- as nice as I'm being right now. Calling attention to yourself is the last thing you want to do, trust me."


xXx


It was a good thing the girl had told him the truth, if she'd have lied to him that would be a second strike against her. Her admittance to her fear made him smile. although she kept staring off to his left. It was infuriating.


He twisted in the direction of her stare. "What is it over there that has your attentions, girl? Do I bore you?" he snapped, anger flaring in his voice.
​

 

[Lucyfer]

Alexis was the first to lose his cool. Celeste counted it as a minor victory. ‘Of course, he can afford to get angry.’ Celeste couldn’t. It wouldn’t do her any good. “You do not bore me,” despite where she was looking, she was paying attention to him. Nothing about the situation was boring.


‘The wall is just easier on the eyes.’


Insults were not the way to go, but she hesitated to come up with a decent answer that wasn’t the full truth. “The walls are so enthralled with you that they react to your words. It is interesting.” Sure, false flattery when he was showing his anger. That was smart.


‘Goddamn it.’ Mentally, she could only face palm at the words her tongue decided were safe enough to be spoken. At least it sounded sincere, even if it was completely sarcastic. An art picked up by having a brother who was too honest for his own good.


~***~


Gael stopped. It was her tone that made him do so, not her words. There was a confession on her lips, but they never quite left. Perhaps he was only deluding himself now that there was more the woman wanted to say.


He crossed his arms, “I don’t need nice right now,” he’d take an asshole, if the asshole were going to be straight with him. “But I believe you. People who kidnap women usually aren’t all that nice.” All the blurred people were in it together, still, in his head. So that meant other blurred people were in this house, maybe the ones who took his sister. If he was lucky, maybe his sister was here.


He shook his head though, frustration calming for a moment. It was only then he considered that, perhaps, they weren’t all in it together—or that she might be as much a victim as anyone else.


He pushed his hand back through his hair, “Look, if you’re not connected—if you just blur like them for some strange reason," he gestured towards her with one hand, as the other fell out of his hair and back to his side, "then let me in to see the place, let me see that my sister’s not here,” he said, a touch of desperation now in his tone as his exhaustion begged him to find an easier method to go about things. “I know it was two men who took her, not you and your friend. I just need to see inside to know.”

 

[Luxii]

He was tired of playing her games. He'd been to soft so early on. She would need a firm hand or her impudence would flare out of control. Obviously she didn't fear him enough.


In a fluid motion with one hand, Alexis backhanded her across the face hard enough that her head whipped to the side, then with the same hand he gripped her throat - just above the collar, forcing her into her back with his weight. The chain and collar clinked together. His grip was firm, strong, and he pressed hard enough on her delicate throat that he knew she would become light-headed soon.


His anger was bubbling over the surface. His amber eyes glinted fiercly until he took a deep breath to center himself. Keep control was key, something that had already faltered once. It wouldn't happen again.


He could feel the pulse in her neck beating faster and faster. His smile was wide and toothy, and he made no attempt to hide his obscenely pointed canine teeth.


xXx


Nicole took a deep breath, then let the air leave her lungs with a whoosh. She mimicked the boy, running her fingers through her hair in frustration. It was likely spiked out everywhere now.


"I-- I can't let you in. That would be bad news for both of us."


She bit her lip. Something inside her wanted desperately to help him. It was almost positive that Celeste was his sister. She didn't want the girl to be here anymore than he did, but Alexis would never allow it. Especially since by now he had more than likely gotten his fangs into the girl.


The guilt was eating at her slowly from the inside out.


"Look," she continued. "I know who probably took your sister, but I don't have any part of that."


Her brain tried to scramble for what to say next to diffuse the situation.


"Come back tomorrow night and-- I'll help you. I promise. As soon as the sun goes down."
​

 

[Lucyfer]

Celeste knew what it was the moment his anger boiled over and the hit connected. Through the blur of the agony, there was a feeling of satisfaction that added another point to her favor. Her reaction to the anger of others was usually to see if she could prod them towards an epiphany. For the friends she had, it tended to work. Even when it didn't, she still prided herself on not blowing up.


This man, of course, was no friend of hers. He might have thrown $100,000 to buy her, but he'd likely kill her just as easily as he spent that money. At least now she knew his threshold was...low, to say the least. The pain was still fresh when he grabbed her throat and pushed her back, denying her air with the pressure he applied. There wasn't even time to let out a scream; she was caught by surprise when he grabbed her throat.


Instinct told her to claw at his hand to get it off, to kick out at him, to do anything to get free. The look in his eyes convinced her otherwise, though. Her hands clenched into fists around the fabric beneath her and she dug her heels into it as well. She shut her eyes before he tried to center himself to keep a focus on the actions that were preventing her from lashing out at him. Her grip did start to weaken, though. Her thoughts lost their focus. The smug sense of superiority that came with keeping her own cool drifted to other thoughts that were hardly related.


The surge of panic came as she realized she was drifting. This time, Celeste couldn’t stop the reaction of her body and she did try to kick out at him. Her eyes opened and her hands left the fabric to try and grab his hand and pull it off her throat—anything, to get the precious air back.


~***~


Gael was about to accuse her of helping the true villains, but the woman spoke before he could do so. Her words offered some hope, but he narrowed his eyes. He was willing to overlook her involvement anyway, if she would just help him find Celeste!


Fortunately, she made an offer. He remained suspicious, but decided from her stammering earlier it might be all right. If she knew, then if she was sincerely considering helping, it would take planning on her end. “All right,” he accepted. He would need the sleep anyway. He could tell Landry and Donovan of the change in plans, and let them know if he wasn’t in touch tomorrow morning, that they could do what was necessary. “Her name’s Celeste. She has red hair, and eyes like mine,” he’d been told before how similar they were. “So you know who to look for. My name’s Gael. If you see her…if you mention that, she might trust you.”


He then took a deep breath, and asked, “Can I have your number, or something. I can give you mine if something…if something comes up.” Though he wasn’t sure what excuses he’d accept, if any.

 

[Luxii]

Finally the boy would see reason. Of course, the fact that he was more than likely exhausted from his search helped. His veridan eyes still narrowed at her, not fully trusting. That was all right, understandably so even.


There was no doubt he would return immediately after the sun had set, more than likely a few minutes before even. He seemed the punctual type.


Celeste was the girl he was looking for. He confirmed that with her name and description. He also finally offered up his name -- Gael. It suited him.


He had asked for her number, and Nicole briefly thought about giving him a fake but decided against it. She nodded then waited for him to pull out his phone so that he could type in the number.


After she rattled off the digits, she said, "Just text me so that I have yours."


The sun would be up soon. Nicole was eager to make her way back inside before then. She eyed the horizon anxiously.


"Oh, and I'm Nicole." She had almost forgotten to properly introduce herself. "I'll see you again tomorrow night, then?"


xXx


She could struggle all she wanted, but nothing she did would loosen the vampire lord's grip. She clawed at his hand, kicking at him with her feet. It was amazing the tenacity one could have when they desparately wanted to live.


He had split her lip when he smacked her. A thin line of blood trickled from her bottom lip to the little divot above her chin. He released his chokehold, instead grabbing onto her braid and yanking her head back painfully so. It left her whole throat exposed to him.


She was panting, gasps quickly entering and exiting her lungs. How close had she come to passing out?


Alexis leaned over her and inhaled softly, her blood smelled like jasmine. It was still welling up on her bottom lip, a large bead of it perched on her lips like a ruby. His tongue licked the blood trail from her chin to the wound; he took her bottom lip between his teeth and sucked - hard.


She was deliciously sour. Fear had heavily spiked her blood, but her underlying taste was almost floral - like a white wine.


He released her lip from between his teeth with a pop. She would bruise there later, more than likely. Now his amber eyes were heavy-lidded, since he'd had a taste of her, he craved more.



​

 

[Lucyfer]

The second the choke hold was released, Celeste inhaled air through her mouth. She should have held it longer, but the panic still drove her exhale it quick, and gasp at another breath. Her hands fell away to her side and her kicking ceased—no point to wasting the energy now.


She was still struggling to fill her body’s need for oxygen when he licked her chin. Her head tried to turn away from him, but couldn’t, thanks to his grip. She quickly remembered to breathe through her nose when he found her lip and took it between his to suck the blood from the wound. She was able to take in one deep breath, and hold it, while he most certainly bruised her. Her eyes shut.


It came out slow when he lifted himself from her. That forced her heart rate to slow, and her posture to relax. Oh, she was still quite afraid, but with access to oxygen again, it was settling a bit. ‘Open your eyes. He didn’t like you looking away.’ And so, Celeste opened her eyes, though the posturing made it so she mostly saw the wall and headboard anyway.


She forced another deep breath, another slow exhale, though it shook. She didn’t say anything, though she did direct her gaze to get a glimpse at him—hooded eyes and all. ‘Ah, yes.’ Blood. It was tempting to lick her own lip, or suck the bottom one into her mouth, but she’d do that later, when there was time to literally lick her own wounds.


~***~


The woman consented to giving over her number, so Gael dug out his phone and typed it in as it was rattled off, then looked up, expecting a name to follow. She said to text her, and he nodded. It would be easily done.


Then the name came. “Got it,” he said as he put that in his phone, and then started to write up his text. He spoke while doing so. “I’ll be here tomorrow, and…if you need any help, just let me know.” If he got his sister back thanks to the actions of Nicole, he’d be eternally grateful. He’d help her as well, if it was necessary—hells, he’d do her homework if she wanted, or learn how to do manicures, to repay such a favor.


The text was then sent off. It would say simply ‘This is Gael’, but he wanted to send it while he was present in the hopes he’d hear her phone go off, and thus have confirmation that the number was accurate.

 

[Luxii]

The chime from Nicole's phone signaled that Gael's text came through. She plucked the phone from her pocket and with a few taps had stored Gael's number to her phone book.


"Thanks," she muttered with a quick glance back at the house. She swore she'd seen someone in the window. Shit.





"You need to go now," she urged as she shoved her phone back into her pocket. The last thing she wanted to do was explain why she was talking to a human at this hour, let alone what he had been doing up near the house anyway.


xXx


Alexis hadn't expected the girl to stare him in the face. Usually they all squeezed their eyes shut until it was over. Curious...


It was time to stop dragging this out. After all, they had many, many more nights like this ahead of them. Granted it was only if Alexis didn't get carried away, like he seemed to have a problem doing lately.


With a firm grip still on her braid, he yanked her up, shoving her against the headboard so that she sat upright. Another yank to the side exposed her throat to him. He let the anticipation build for a moment before he sank his teeth into the side of her neck with a growl. They slid easily into her soft flesh, like a knife through soft butter. Thousands of little blood vessels tore, spilling blood into the punctures.


She did taste like white wine, all sweet and floral, but with overpouring sourness from her fear. Her heart was pounding so fast that the blood poured out of her almost faster than Alexis could swallow it. Some of it spilled past his lips, swirling down her chest and shoulders. The sheets would definitely need to be changed after this.
​

 

[Lucyfer]

Celeste imagined she hadn’t faced injuries such as these since she was a stupid child climbing trees after her brother. She had gotten plenty of bruises then. She’d have several now, a new one likely forming on her back as she was pulled up and slammed back into the headboard. It took her breath from her, “Ga—!” The fangs did the rest of the job, the sharp pain causing the outcry to come out as little more than a gasp.


She closed her mouth and exhaled the pain through her nose. It seemed to be fading away, anyway, the sharpness dulling but not vanishing. The strange part was the fact that overriding it was a sense of pleasure. It didn’t cause the fear to cease, as she could feel the blood sliding down her neck, over her shoulders, and down her chest.


It did allow her to continue taking slow breaths, and continue her own effort to slow her heart rate. Her eyes averted down to see him, again. The posturing would be intimate to an outsider, a lover at a neck, but she knew it wasn’t that. The trickles of blood she could see further confirmed it.


She flexed her fingers to ensure she could feel them and could still move. ‘Where there’s life, there’s hope.’ Her brothers favorite saying, ever since he started studying ancient philosophers, and the cultures of some of them. It wasn’t said by a philosopher, but the unshakeable Roman, Cato.


Inhale. ‘Cato committed suicide, though.’ Exhale. ‘It doesn’t really feel so bad.’ Inhale. ‘I thought this would be the worst part….’ Vision blurred for a moment. Her reaction was slowed, her own breathing habits lowering her alertness, but she did react. She lifted her hands up and pressed them against his chest. The pressure wouldn’t have been enough to move even a regular man, but she wasn’t even trying to do that any longer. She was just trying to bring his attention to the fact he was drinking far too much.


~***~


Gael was pleased with the sound, and relieved. The fact that the number was genuine made him more willing to trust the woman.


He was told to go, and the urgency in her voice made it clear that it was necessary. It also confirmed his suspicions about how ‘safe’ she was. “All right,” he consented and gave something between a deep nod and a bow of his head, before turning on heel and walking back the way he’d come.


He did chance a glance over his shoulder once, before the steepness of the hill would hide the gate, and then he disappeared down it. He kept away from the road still, not wanting to be seen by anyone. He made the trek down, and back to his truck. It was still a tiring trek, since he had to check his speed so that he didn’t jog down. The steepness was annoying. ‘Tonight. Just a few hours. It’ll be ok. She’ll be ok. Everything will be ok.’ Gael had to convince himself of that as he grabbed the door handle to his truck.


Yet, when he finally got in and sat down, he let his forehead fall against the steering wheel, and he let out a frustrated scream that he’d given up so damn easy. He’d never forgive himself if in those hours, Celeste ended up dead.

 

[Luxii]

Alexis barely felt the girl's hands pressing against him weakly. Was she done already? Damn, but humans were such fragile creatures. He unsheathed his fangs from her flesh, then lapped the rest of the blood off of the wound. It sealed shut quickly - the enzyme in vampire saliva sped up the human body's clotting factor, so in another minute or two the punctures would be closed over enough that they wouldn't bleed anymore.


A quick knock on the door broke the silence.


With a snarl, Alexis vaulted off the bed like a cat. What part of "do not disturb" did these fools not understand? He reached the door quickly and flung it open.


It was Marcus. He stood a bit shorter than Alexis, but stockier in build. His blonde hair shined in the light from the moon; his chocolate colored eyes were serious.


"What?" Alexis barked. "You better have a fucking good reason for disturbing me."


Marcus cast his eyes down in reverence before speaking. "You'll want to see this."


Mya was walking down the hall, a pile of folded towels in her grasp. She kept her eyes low and her head down. Getting involved in vampire matters was something she didn't care to do.


"Mya, take the girl and clean her up," Alexis snapped. "She can stay in the slave's quarters tonight."


With a nod of her head, Mya waited until the two men had moved away before she entered the bedroom. She would have to change the sheets and get Celeste downstairs to her quarters before she could retire until the morrow.


A little further down the hall, Marcus motioned towards one of the windows facing the front of the house. They could clearly see Nicole, the snowy whiteness of her hair in the moonlight gave her away clearly. There was another figure on the other side of the fence, a human? No other vampires lived within 50 miles.


Curious...


xXx


Nicole made sure Gael made it down the hill before she headed back inside. Alexis and Marcus were waiting for her. They didn't catch her completely unaware. She had sensed she was being watched moments ago, but didn't expect Alexis to be finished with his new slave so soon.


"What were you doing, dear?" The smile on her sire's face was not a friendly one.


She shrugged as her reply. She would go around them to get to her room.


Before she could take two steps, Marcus had his hand around her throat and slammed her against the shut front door. Ever the dutiful dog, Nicole through wryly.


"I believe," the blonde vampire said, his voice was even. "That you were asked a question. Don't make him repeat it."


"I was getting some fresh air."


"Oh?" Alexis arched one eyebrow. He hated being lied to and Nicole knew it. "With whom?"


"No one."


Strike two.


"You weren't just outside having a conversation with a human on the other side of the fence?" There was a warning in the tone of the elder vampire's voice.


"I don't know what you're talking about."


Strike three.


Alexis locked eyes with Marcus, who nodded and released his hold on Nicole. She didn't even see Alexis close the gap between them until he backhanded her hard enough to send her reeling to the floor. Stars sparkled in the corners of her vision.


"You stupid bitch," Alexis growled. He reached down and yanked her head up by her hair, holding her in a kneeling position with her head craned back. "You fucking know better than to lie to me."


Nicole screwed her eyes shut, chosing to remain silent - simply because she knew it was infuriate her sire. The seconds spent in the position seemed to stretch into hours until Alexis released his grip on her.


"Take her to the slave's quarters," he spat. "Maybe a night spent back in chains will remind Nikki of her place."


Marcus yanked up roughly on Nicole's arms, but she wouldn't give either of them the satisfaction of a reaction. She was all but dragged towards to entrance to the lower level, where the slaves stayed. This would be a long next 24 hours.

 

[Lucyfer]

There would be no awkward, after feeding conversation. Celeste was grateful for that, hoping there’d be time to recover her senses a bit before the next time she had to deal with Alexis. ‘Sleep.’ Her mind wanted to insist on that. She was in a comfy bed, after all, why not? She would have given into it, had she not caught the sound of Alexis’s snap.


She shook her head slowly and straightened up her posture once again, as the older woman entered. A deep breath was necessary to try and stave off the feeling of a yawn. “Can I get water?” She asked. That was what she needed, more than sleep.


There had been another thing, hadn’t there? ‘Orange juice?’ Sounded right. “Or orange juice. And something…something with iron.” She hadn’t figured out a list of foods with iron. It hadn’t ever been a concern for her. She should have paid more attention to her mother’s lectures about these things. “Please?” How long could a human even survive like this, with all the proper care? Celeste didn’t think it could be all that long.


~***~


Gael took a few deep breaths after his own outburst and wiped at the treacherous tears before he dug out his phone and called Janelle. She was sleepy when she answered, hopeful, too. “I’m crashing at your place, all right?” It wasn’t really a question.


Even so, Janelle accepted it, and asked after Celeste again. “Not yet. Soon, I’m sure,” he said, added, “I have a good idea. Anyway, see you in ten, twenty minutes tops.” And with that he started the truck up, and urged it back towards town.


When he arrived at the apartment, Janelle was up and opened the door for him. He walked in and the two shared a cup of tea and tried to discuss anything but Celeste, and failed. The cat that Janelle had chose to stay with Gael that morning, when he curled up on the couch.


He left his phone on the table.


These surroundings would remind him, when he woke up, of what he had to do that day.

 

[Luxii]

Mya had been taking care of Alexis' blood slaves for the better part of her life. She knew Celeste would be sleepy, dehydrated, and weak.


"Of course, dear." She would make sure the girl had all the necessary nutrients to keep her well.


But first, Mya unhooked Celeste from the wall. The sheets would have to be changed first before they left the room. She motioned for the girl to sit on one of the couches while she worked.


It was mostly muscle memory now. She stripped the bed off all sheets, blankets, and pillows. The soiled ones she balled up and set into the hamper in the corner. She would take care of them when she did laundry later. Underneath the bed she always stored a fresh set of bedding for nights like this. No point in having to go all the way to the linen closet for them each time. It took her practiced hands only a few minutes to re-make the bed, smoothing and tucking everything in.


Once done, she returned to Celeste. She ducked under the girl's left arm, wrapping that arm around her own shoulders so she could support the girl as they walked. Many of the girls could not walk after their first feeding. They left the room quietly, making sure the door shut behind them.


Alexis was screaming at someone. Mya kept her head down, although they would be able to see the scene playing out below if they wished.


The back way would be the best way to go, Mya decided. She never wanted to interrupt vampire business. Their path took them down the back staircase, past the kitchen and the laundry room. The dank stone steps that led to the slave's quarters might be tricky for Celeste.


"Mind your feet and head," she warned the slave. "The ceilings are low and the steps steep."


xXx


Marcus had trussed her up good this time. He really enjoyed this too much, Nicole decided.


The slave's quarters consisted of one large community bedroom and a small bathroom off to the side. There were seven beds, a fireplace on the left, and a big area rug that covered the cold stone floor.


Nicole didn't even get a bed this time around. Marcus saw fit to shackle her straight to the wall, her arms stretched all the way up. It twisted her shoulder joints painfully. He had threaded a chain through two D-rings that were secured in the wall and attached them to metal cuffs he had clamped on her wrists, then winched her up until her face pinched in discomfort.


He spat at her before he left. "Learn your place," he snarled. And then he was gone.


She tried to shift to get comfortable, but that wasn't happening. Hopefully Mya would be retiring soon. She was currently the only slave here.... well, aside from Celeste. Sometimes there were two or three others, but Alexis usually killed them for one petty reason or another.


A few minutes later, the door swung open and Mya entered, she had Celeste with her. The girl looked exhausted. She had dried blood all down her shoulder. Her lip was split and swollen, already bruising.


Nicole felt terribly guilty, but she managed a small smile at the two women.


"Hey, fancy seeing you guys here."

 

[Lucyfer]

The chain was removed, but drink not brought immediately. Celeste didn’t have the energy to lie, so her expression showed both confusion and disappointment as she was told to get off the bed. “Okay,” she said, and looked to where the nearest couch was. Her legs were untrustworthy. She swayed on her feet, but managed to make it without falling. She certainly stumbled, though.


She didn’t lay down, but remained sitting, using the cushions to keep herself upright. She focused her attention on the woman, hyper-aware to remain awake.


Celeste let her arm be taken, and she accepted the help provided to her when the woman was done cleaning up. She heard the yelling, and peered in the direction of it to see Alexis screaming at Nikki. ‘Is this my fault?’ A pang of guilt struck, and remained with her as the woman took her another route to the slave’s quarters.


By the time they arrived, Nikki was already there and chained up.


Despite her own pain, which she was starting to feel more intensely as the adrenaline wore off, she broke away from the older woman. She only got a few steps before her vision blurred, and she realized how bad an idea moving was. She sunk to the ground, a hand going to her head, “I’m sorry,” slipped from her lips after Nikki’s greeting.


Her head was spinning too much to try and regain her feet. She spoke to the other woman, “Can we take her down?” It was probably the wrong thing to do, by the rules of this household, but Celeste couldn’t say she cared greatly. Well, she would care if it meant the other woman had to suffer more, but she hadn’t considered that.

 

[Luxii]

"I wouldn't do that," Nicole replied before Mya could. "I don't want to make things worse for you than they already are."


She knew Celeste was coming down off of the adrenaline high and the tingling pleasure from being fed from. It was a miracle she had even managed to stumble away from Mya as far as she had.


"Mya, go get her some dried fruit and orange juice from upstairs, please. Maybe some water? And don't bother chaining her... I don't think she's going anywhere."


Mya bowed her head quickly. She was glad to see Nicole had taken to this girl. It would be good for both of them. "Of course," she said before she took to the flight of stairs, her shadow quickly disappearing.


"The orange juice has vitamin C in it; it helps with iron absorption. And the dried fruit is high in iron. Much easier to eat instead of cooking a steak or something," Nicole explained.


She shifted slightly to relieve the pressure on her joints. If she stood on her tiptoes it was bearable, but there was only so long one could hold that position. The chains clinked together above her.


"I'm-- I'm sorry about Alexis. I know he can be a bastard." Her voice was low, heavy with guilt. "Did he hurt you bad?"

 

[Lucyfer]

Celeste felt some embarrassment as an order was directed to Mya on her behalf. ‘That’s why I kept thinking orange juice.’ Her mother had been on to something. She smiled, a little, but it was starting to hurt to do that. The bruises that were forming were stiffening her body. Her back ached. Her head, her arm, her throat, her lips—it would be difficult to sleep.


Celeste would. She was too tired not to sleep.


“Thanks. I knew I was thinking orange juice earlier for a reason.” She looked up when her vision stopped swimming, but didn’t try to get up. For the moment, Nicole was right about that.


There was a clinking of metal, and Celeste noted the way that the vampiress adjusted her posture. It was painful to see. “Don’t apologize for him,” she said. “As for that….” Celeste shrugged, “I don’t exactly know what would be bad for him. It seems bad, but I’m conscious. I’m…breathing.”


She stretched, trying to straighten her back, move her throat a bit to ease the pain that came from not doing that. It was only temporary relief, she knew. “I haven’t been this hurt since I was chasing my brother up trees,” she mused, “I fell, a lot,” it was something happier to think about.

 

[Luxii]

Nicole could see that thinking about her brother made Celeste happy, distracted her from her situation somewhat. They really loved each other as only siblings could. That much was clear from how tenacious Gael had seemed during their conversation earlier.


Oh, that's right. Marcus was stupid enough not to check her pockets before leaving. Her phone was still in her back pocket.


But before she let Celeste know about the phone, she would have to make sure that she was in fact Gael's sister.


"Your brother... what's his name?"


If they were in fact brother and sister, Nicole would let Celeste use the phone to contact him. Hell, she would help her escape even. Fuck Alexis and everyone else... well, except for Mya and Violet. But she would need to make sure Celeste had her strength back first.


And Alexis would no doubt come after them. Nicole would have to go with them to protect them. That was a scary thought. She hadn't known life outside this mansion in what felt like a lifetime.