Darkened Days (2 page)

But the pain was gone now.  Just a peculiar weakness and a sense that everything had changed. 

Henri had arrived with a key and unlocked the cuffs.  Starla watched the chains fall away and clatter against the concrete floor.  His hand out, he pulled her away from the pole.

“Come with me.  You need to drink, so we need to hunt.”

What he said didn’t make any sense to her.

“Hunt?”

“Yes.  The blood you’ve been drinking…it’s vampire blood.  It’s what changed you.  You’re vampire now, Starla.  From now on, you’ll drink blood.  But it won’t be from Etienne.  Or me.  It’ll be from humans.”

She drew back and pressed herself against the back wall she’d rested against for the past week.

“What?  I don’t understand.  You need to explain exactly what is going on with me.  What you have done to me and why.  What you guys want from me.  Henri, start talking!  I am not going any fucking where until you give me those answers.  Why you kidnapped me and held me here.  And why do I feel so odd?”

Sliding down, she dropped against the concrete floor that had been her bed the entire time she’d been here.  Her own language shocked her.  She had never used that word before she came here. Her mother would have washed her mouth out with extra strong soap made from seal blubber.  Literally.

Henri released a sigh of frustration.

“Etienne didn’t tell you?”

“Etienne fed me. That’s it.  He’s sexy as hell and just as rude.  And that bitch that hangs around with him all the time…she didn’t let him stay after he forced his fucking blood into me.”  
Huh
, she thought,
look how easily that word is coming now.

Henri came to her and dropped down beside her.

“Okay.  I don’t know how much you know, so I’m going to start at the beginning.  You’ve certainly figured out some of it by now.  Basically, we’re vampires.  You understand that?”

“I understand you
think
you are.”

“For good reason.  We are.  So are you.  Whether you want to believe it or not.  If you drink from a vampire, a large amount quickly,
and keep ingesting it, vampire blood begins to change you.  I know you can feel it.  You can see it.  There’s a virus in the blood that changes you on a genetic level.  It makes you different than anything else you’ve ever been. Different than
anybody
else has ever been...except for the few of us who are vampires.  Yeah, I heard you when you first woke up.  Buffy wannabes.  But that isn’t real.  This is.  What we are, what you are now, Starla.  It’s very real.”

Starla rolled her head sideways and looked at him beneath darkened iris’
s. 

“Real?  We’re vampires?  The wal
king dead?  We live on blood?  Uh, huh.  Got it.”

Henri got it too.  Sarcasm.  She didn’t believe.

“This is where the education comes in.  Etienne is supposed to make sure all of his “makes” are indoctrinated.  Doesn’t surprise me he hasn’t .  He’s an ass.  But I’ve already said that before.  Sorry.  Okay, listen closely.  It’s not my job, but I’ll go through it with you.  You are a vampire.  Well, officially, they don’t usually use the ‘a.’ As in ‘we are vampire.’   Humans who have been altered at the cellular level to need blood to maintain health.  We are not the walking dead.  We are not dead at all.  Dead is dead, even for us.  It’s just that it takes a lot to kill us.  Bullets won’t do it.  A broken neck won’t do it.  We don’t get sick and we don’t age.  So you, my lovely little coffee haired beauty, will always be this young and hot.  We
do
eat regular food, and a hell of a lot of it!  But you won’t ever get fat or high cholesterol or heart disease.  Sinking in?”

With a slight nod, Starla mumbled, “Sure.”

“So being fed massive amounts of blood, going through extremely intense pain this past week…what did you think that was?”

“You guys are psychos.  And you poisoned me.
  Most of the time I really thought I was going to die.  I really
wanted
to die through much of it.  So, yeah, I think you are all delusional.  Although you seem to be a
nice
psychotic.”

Henri stood up.  “Thanks.”

Holding out his hand to her, he said, “Come over here.  Look in this mirror.  Tell me what you see.”

Starla pushed herself off the
hard floor, took his hand and slowly followed him across the room to a huge dusty old full-length mirror propped in a corner.

“I though
t vampires had no reflection.”

“That’s movie vampires.  We are not fiction.  We’re still the same person we always were, with incredible enhancements.  Come on, you’ll see what I mean.”

She eased up to the mirror and hesitated.  At this moment she was afraid to confront the possibility he was telling the truth, and although at heart she was sure she didn’t believe his wild claim that they were vampires, something inside told her to prepare herself.  Coming up from the side of the mirror, she made herself step forward and turn to face her image.

A woman stood there, frightened and breathing hard.  She looked a lot like the girl Starla had seen in mirrors all her life.  But there were startling changes that could never have happened in a week.  A week of pain and deprivation had left her dirty and she was sure she smelled, although she’d been living with herself in this condition long enough now she couldn’t really tell.  The cute little skirt she’d loved when she bought it right after arriving in France was shredded and stained with blood.  Her shirt was gone and her bra nearly was.  She had always been slim, her body more boy-like than bombshell, but now she had curves where she never had before.  Her bare arms were muscular, her legs slim and much shapelier.   Her face was
the most shocking.  It
was
her face, but with softer lines, her lips filled out, her eyes larger, the milk chocolate brown iris’s gone, darkened, like Henri’s eyes.   The contours of her face had changed just enough to push her from pretty to stunning. 

“You’re saying this is because I am a vampire?”

He nodded.  “And you are a fucking sexy one, little Starla.  Look at your equipment.  Everything is, well, I guess the right word is ‘more.’  Everything is more perfect, bigger, harder, brighter, sexier.  You can’t miss the size of your breasts.”

Starla looked at her new profile.  No.  No one could miss them.  They were larger, certainly, and much firmer, she realized as she moved her hands over them. 
The bra was two cup sizes too small.  She tore it off and let it fall at her feet, releasing the full breasts from their inadequate restraint.  Cupping them, she ran her fingers along the edges of the rounded globes, then slipped to the center to encircle the nipples, which went immediately erect.  Her eyes lifted from her own image in the mirror to Henri, who had released a sudden hard breath.

“Don’t do that.  Not unless you are inviting me to do the same. Listen to me when I tell you that we are very, very horny all the time.  I know it’s true of vampires as a race, but all of us in our group here are very young.   I think we’re even more inclined because of that. 
Look what you’ve done.”

His hands went to his pants, unzipped them quickly to show an engorged penis.

“I could throw you down right now and ride you until daylight.  In fact, I’m going to ask you if you are interested.  Are you ready?  I don’t want to scare you, but if you’re up to it, I really want you.”

Starla glanced back into the mirror.  Her hair, which had been just past her shoulders last week, hung to
her waist now.   Although her eyes were darker, as she stared at them, she realized something odd.  Were they glowing?   Wow.  Yes they were.  She wasn’t the same girl.  Not just because she looked different, but because she felt different.   She had only ever been with two men in her life, yet the area between her legs twitched and begged her to accept Henri’s invitation.  But something inside her tried to hang onto the innocent girl from the tiny northern Alaska town.

“I don’t know you.”

“You will.  Intimately.  Star, you don’t need to worry about anything.  This is guilt-free.  You won’t catch any disease, you can’t get sick anymore, you can’t get pregnant.  This is sex purely for the pleasure.  No one worries about society’s crap.  We’re vampire.  We do whatever we want whenever we want.  It’s incredible.  And sex as a vampire is impossible to describe.  Come on, Star.  Let me show you.”

Star.  A new name for a new woman. 
She watched the image of that sexy woman in the mirror as she leaned back into the tall handsome young man she did not know.  He reached around and lifted one heavy breast as his fingers moved ridiculously fast over a nipple, causing her to press tighter back into him to grind against his cock.  She raised her eyes to meet his in the shining glass.  And smiled.  She wanted him.  He knew it.

Henri lifted her high in his arms and carried her quicker than she thought p
ossible into the darker areas of the basement.  He’d lowered her onto a mattress in the corner and removed her torn skirt and all of his own clothes before she even realized it had happened.  He came down on top of her to begin a soft kiss, but as soon as his lips touched hers, she found herself so hungry for him, she pulled him to her and rolled him over until she sat on top of him. 

“Wow.  Hey gorgeous, if you want to take the lead, I’m all for it.  I’ll just wait un
til you’re done playing.”

Starla hesitated, not certain if this was the right choice, but then his scent assaulted her. 
The smell of man and sex spiked.   And she grinned.

“Yes, I think I do.  You stay still, Henri.  I’ll tell you when you’re allowed to move
.”  She leaned down and put her lips against his ear.  “I’ll tell you what I want you to do.”

For the first time in her life, Starla was the sexual aggressor.  She’d always been the sweet innocent one.  In high school, Starla would have been the one voted most likely to remain a virgin.  And here she was in a dirty basement with a man she knew nothing about, getting ready to have sex with other people somewhere in the same room.  It didn’t bother her.

Why didn’t it bother her?
   That innocent girl from Alaska would never,
never
do anything like this.

S
he leaned forward as she reached back to grab his cock.

CHAPTER TWO

Eight weeks later…

Jacob stretched, naked, his body displayed in front of the huge win
dow.  It didn’t matter to him if anyone saw him, his body was excellent. Vampires rarely had modesty issues anyway.  As far as he was concerned every inch of his body was designed for sex, and he used it accordingly.  He hadn’t turned on any lights in the enormous apartment, so unless someone was looking closely, they likely didn’t see him in the darkness.

He pressed his head against the cool glass of the nearly floor to ceiling window that spanned the front of Eillia’s Paris loft. 

The city was lit up below him, beautiful, like the lady she was.  He loved Paris.  It was crazy that in the over two hundred years he’d lived, he had only visited here three times.  Before tonight.  But tonight wasn’t for pleasure.  Tonight continued his search for the missing human that disappeared on his watch.  She was Eillia’s close friend, but he was the one responsible for her that night in the hospital.  After he’d given her enough of his vampire blood to help her heal from likely fatal injuries, someone had taken her.  Someone vampire.

But last night he’d had a lead about a group of young vampires in Paris who were converting young tourists.  They had received a call from a human friend that lived in the city who was blood-bonded to a first blood vampire.  Lovely Sarah had been bonded to the huge first blood Xavier for twenty years, handling all daily affairs for his properties.  As a blood bond, she routinely ingested a small amount of his blood  so there was literally a bond between them that made it possible for him to control her, which he rarely did, but also kept her at the young age she was when the bonding began two decades ago.  Vampires needed human staff, and this was the way to get trusted members for long periods of time.   Everyone benefited.

Jacob picked up a bottle of bourbon and took a swig as he headed into the bathroom for a quick shower.  He thought about the first bloods.  Since he’d found out they existed, he’d met several o
f the extremely powerful people who were
born
vampire, not made. The origin of the race.  They’d been here for thousands of years, and from what Jacob knew at this point, the parents of any “made” vampire.  Most vampires did not know the original first blood vampires ever existed.  About a dozen first bloods still lived quiet lives. They kept it that way for safety.  And yet he himself was now living with four of the strongest, most powerful vampires on earth.  It made his head spin. 

Eillia was a lady of great taste.  The bathroom in this apartment was one of the largest he’d ever seen. 
The shower that claimed most of the room was large, with multiple shower heads facing from three directions.  He caught his image in the gilded mirror across from the shower and noticed his cock was partially erect.  With a sigh, he slid his fingers down the smooth skin to the head.  It had been weeks since he’d had sex and his body was reminding him of that now.  He nodded to the man in the mirror to acknowledge the need.  But then shook his head.  No time  to take care of it now.  He didn’t want to burn the night.  This rescue was already weeks past what it should have been.  Hell, he could not even remember what she looked like. 

He rolled his eyes up. 
That
wasn’t true.  How could he forget the sweet little smile and huge innocent milk chocolate eyes of the nervous young woman he’d opened the door to that night?  He hoped he’d find her alive.  There were so many asshole humans, what a shame to kill such a gentle, sweet soul.

As the powerful pulse of
each showerhead pummeled him, he just stood still for a moment and enjoyed the massaging sensation.  He leaned into it, his hands pressed against the tile wall and moaned.  It was incredibly relaxing…and that was something he rarely ever let himself do.  Relax.  No pressure.  Just allowed body and mind to rest.  It was so good.  It was what he had needed for a very long time.  He lifted his head and let the water massage his face. 

After he found the girl, he needed to leave.  While he had no idea what it was he sought, he just knew it was time for a change in his life.  For the past two hundred years, he had dutifully taken care of
security and all household and property management for his friend and sire, Bas.  He loved the man, he truly did.  As well as his beautiful new family.  And maybe that was the problem.

Bas found his perfect life.  Jacob had watched the entire thing unfold
with no jealousy or rivalry.  But he saw how happy Bas was now.  How satisfied.  Jacob had no interest in creating a family.  But he wanted…
aw hell!
  He didn’t know.  Just something was missing.

Another moan.  The hot water felt amazing. 
How many showers had he taken since the last time he let himself be calm and just enjoy it?  Yeah, he needed a break.

Although
, he felt as if he spent much more time in the shower moaning, he was going to turn into a woman.  He laughed as he turned the water off and reached for the oversized towel necessary for a body as large as his.  Yeah, he
knew
what women did in there with those pulsating shower heads.  And although his orgasms were always explosive and satisfying, he envied the multiple orgasms some vampire females told him about in great detail.  At his request.  A few of them demonstrated, which he found quite fascinating and stimulating.  An image formed and his cock shot up again.  A good drying off and a proper rubdown took care of his problem for the time being.  He would see to his needs before he had to go to ground for daylight.   For now, he had to go.

This apartment was set up for vampires.  Eillia had always been the perfect hostess, so for friends visiting her in Paris, she provided this spacious
, stocked, furnished loft with an incredible view of the city.  Four fully shielded rooms at the back of the loft supplied safe daytime rest, and three refrigerators with huge freezer sections always held a diverse supply of food.

Which is where he headed next.  A large frozen meatloaf thrown into a microwave heated while he looked over the
Intel from Sarah.   A group of young vampires had been witnessed running from Paris all along the coast abducting and converting tourists.  She’d heard they had a bad rep for partying too much and too wildly.  Turning humans was considered sacred, and rarely done.  And conversions were only done with consent from an informed human.  These young vampires were playing by their own set of rules.  And it was dangerous.  Since Sarah knew he was looking for a missing woman, she thought he might want to check it out.  It was his best lead so far.

So he finished off the meatloaf and headed out into the cool, refreshing night air.  It was a weekend, a busy Friday night, and there were people everywhere on the streets.  He was heading for an area where the young vamps were often seen.  Popular with tourists and locals,
la rue Mouffetard
near
l’Odéon
was an area with a lot of restaurants and bars.  It was where he would start his search.

The narrow brick streets were primarily used by pedestrians.  Locals and tourists packed outside tables and filled the softly lit area with music and laughter.

Jacob loved the relaxed festival atmosphere of people eating, drinking, and dancing.  Looking for fun and perhaps a little
amour.
  Picking up a bottle of wine from a table top as he passed by, he took a long swig.  Yeah.  Just calm and relaxed. Like everything was okay and going to
be
okay.  He needed peace.  And no responsibilities.  For a while.  He winced.  Shit!  Was it as simple as needing a vacation?  Maybe.

Draining the bottle of wine, he dropped the empty bottle on another table as three pretty young wom
en looked up at him.  All three gave him brilliant smiles.  One of them leaned forward to push her cleavage up, nearly spilling from a satin bustier.  Damn, he wished he could stop and make a suggestion he thought they
all
would enjoy.   But he promised Eillia, and even more importantly, he promised himself, he would find Starla.

He smiled, threw them a kiss, and turned away to begin a systematic sweep of the region, moving out from the center.  If she was here, he was going to find her.  He was locked in this holding pattern until he brought her back, or found she was dead
, then the search was finished forever.

After another hour, he stopped to grab a
second bottle of wine when he felt a vampire’s energy nearby.  Someone close was vampire.  Young, by the energy he felt.  He searched the faces of those around him until he zeroed in on a ginger-haired man laughing at a girl who looked like she couldn’t be much older than fifteen.  She was human.  He was not.  Jacob saw the girl’s expression go slack and he knew the boy had compelled her and was looking for a blood meal or sex.  Likely both.

Then the young vamp shocked Jacob by leaning over and biting the girl right there on the street with people all around them.  He drew some blood, the girl whined softly at one point, the boy smacked her gently, and then led her away by the hand.  Keeping his distance, Jacob followed them as they moved toward the back of a street away from the crowds.  The young man had an arm around the girl and they looked like a nice young couple out for a stroll in the city of love.  Jacob knew his intentions.  They were not honorable.

As the two entered a darkened alley, the boy suddenly looked up and his eyes ran straight into the imposing silhouette of Jacob.

Jacob laughed grimly.

“It took you long enough to realize I was here. You’re a victim waiting to happen.”

“I’m vampire.  Not much can hurt me here.”  English accent.  Welsh, maybe.

“Well, you’re mistaken, but I guess you’ll have to learn that the hard way.  So…”

He walked toward
s them.  “Who’s the girl?”

The young man glanced at her and back to Jacob with a frown.  “What the fuck do you mean?  She’s my fucking blood meal, now ain’t she?”

“Going to treat her right, then?”

“What the fuck is it to you?”

“Hmm.  Not much, really.  Just trying to protect our race from repercussions pertaining to an asshole vampire taking a life or blood meal in public.”

“You don’t know what I’m going to do, then, do ya?”

“Yeah, you’re right.  I don’t know.  But I’m guessing.  And my guesses are pretty amazingly accurate.  So, go ahead and feed.  I’ll watch.”

“Bullshit you will!  Get out of here, old man!”

The younger vampire turned his back on Jacob.  A strategic error, since the kid should have known that as an older vampire, Jacob was much stronger and bigger than him.  He raced in front of the young vampire and pitched him up against the side of the alley where he slid down the wall into a crumpled mess.

Turning to the girl, he caught her eyes to compel her in French.

“Go home.  Immediately.  When you get there, you’ll prepare for bed and then turn in for the night.  You will remember nothing of this night.”

She left quickly just as the young vampire came to.

Rubbing his head, he looked up at Jacob.

“Ah, come on.  It’s not like you don’t do the same thing.”

“Not in public, I don’t.  And I don’t feed on little girls. By the way, sex should always be consensual.  Never compelled.  Now.”

He pulled the redhead up by his shirt.

“We’re going to have a little talk.”

They had a good crew tonight.  Eight of them, all hungry, all partly drunk already.  Loud and obnoxious, they knew they just looked like partying kids out for some drinking, dancing, and fucking in one of the prettiest cities in the world. 

It was a diverse group, most
taller than average, three girls and five guys, all dressed in neo-goth clothes that were both eclectic and sexy.  It was apparent several eyeliner sticks had died to create the look since both male and female members of the group were heavily made up.  Two of the girls were wrapped arm in arm with the two men who led the group.

The tallest, a heavily built dark haired young man, entwined his fingers with the girl who had a hand tucked into the back of his low-riding jeans.

“Are we eating out tonight, everyone, or do you want to take it back to the basement for a munch down?”   His English had a soft French accent, as if he had spent some years away from his home country.

The stunning girl at his side groaned.

“No, Henri.  I’m sick of the place.  I want to dance and eat some real food before we take our blood meals.  Tell you what, you guys come to the club with me, we fill up, get some floor time, and then we’ll take the blood meals back home.  Okay?”  She spoke with a perfect American accent.

Most of the heads nodded. One girl with tight dark blonde dreadlocks shot a nasty look at the brunette, but she didn’t say anything.  It was clear everyone agreed with her.  God, she hated that bitch!  Frustrated, she grabbed the spike haired man she was wrapped around and pulled him to a stop to shove her tongue down his throat, and her hand deep into the front of his pants.