First Kiss (10 page)

Beth heard a woman's voice over the wet squishing and gagging noises she was making around Colin's penis, "She's soaked! Go ahead. Tastes pretty damn good too."

"You can have some more when I'm done," a man behind her said.

"That's nasty," the woman told him. "I'm out of here."

Somebody else climbed onto the bed. Beth realized she'd just lost her chance to get up or try to move around. She jerked her hips up but a strong pair of hands grabbed her and held her tight. Fingers dug into her hips, but her cries were muffled by the dick in her mouth.

What was she thinking? A new Beth? If this is what it meant to be outgoing and have fun, she was fucking stupid! She shook her head and tried again to pull away. If she told them to stop would they? She yanked on her arms again but she couldn't get them free. It wasn't rope, it was something hard. Something that bit into her wrists. Handcuffs?

Tears ran down her cheeks and fell onto Colin's belly. They were absorbed into the puddles of spit. She felt the man behind her rubbing up against her ass. She wiggled her hips to slow him down but that only made his fingers dig in harder. She whined and gagged, nearly throwing up.

She needed help. She couldn't do this on her own. Where was Carla or Mandy? Or anyone with a sense of decency? Even that waitress in the white outfit. Colin was an asshole and so were all his frat brothers. They were the ones doing this to her. And that girl, whoever she was. Why didn't she help? Why would she think it's okay for another woman to be tortured like this?

Beth's thoughts froze for a moment. Waitress? Yes, the waitress that brought her home. That Carla had seen. She'd saved her and brought her home, but from what? And how did Beth know her name was Penny? She'd told her to call for her if she needed help. She didn't remember anything else, but she remembered that.

What was she, some kind of guardian angel? The thought was crazy, that kind of thing didn't exist. She'd never seen evidence of anything supernatural in her life but what else explained it? A stranger cared enough to make sure she was brought home safe? And her savior got away without having to answer any of Carla's questions. That was a miracle in itself. Whether it was the alcohol or pure desperation, Beth knew she had nothing else to try.

She bit down on the hard flesh between her teeth. Why hadn't she thought of it before? That would teach him to do this to her, she just had to bite him where it hurt the most. She pressed harder and felt her head jerked to the side. Her neck popped and her wrists burned from the metal digging into them.

"Fucking bitch!" Colin screamed at the same time as she was pulled off of his dick. He slammed his hand into her cheek, knocking her back the other way, and then he slipped out from underneath her. "Jesus, you left marks! Christ, Beth, you almost drew blood."

"Fuck you!" Beth slurred around a fat lip.

"Fuck me?" he asked. He laughed and shook his head. "No, you're the one getting fucked here. And you're not going to say a fucking thing about it. Just another stupid bitch that drank too much and got slutty at a party."

The fingers yanked her up higher and she felt the stranger slapping something against the crack of her ass. He laughed when she tried to pull away. She whimpered and shook her head, then whispered, "Penny, help me!"

She grunted as the man yanked her hips back towards him. She couldn't move, he kept her in place with his cruel grip. He was having a hell of a time, holding her still while he tried to swing his swollen cock in place and thrust it into her. He kept missing but he was getting closer with practice. She bit her lip and tasted her blood from where Colin had split it.

"Jesus, shut the fucking door!" Colin growled. "That's all we need is for somebody to see this."

Someone jumped over and shut the door, muffling the sound of the rave in the basement further.

"I'm going back in that sweet mouth of yours," Colin warned her. "You bite me again and you're going to leave here missing a few teeth."

Beth whimpered and shook her head. This wasn't happening.

"Come on, baby," Colin teased. "Let yourself enjoy it. No holds barred, remember? No holes either, we'll show you how much fun you can have. You'll be begging for more."

Beth shook her head again. "No!" she howled as soon as she found the breath in her lungs to use. A powerful thrust from behind missed the mark but managed to drive her forward so her face rubbed against the mattress.

"What the fuck?" another voice she didn't recognize asked.

"What? How'd the window get open?" Colin asked.

Beth's twisted her head to stare from where she was pressed into the mattress. She saw the open window and a gust of wind blew in, sending the curtains floating through the air. When they settled down she saw a woman with dark hair and pale skin standing in front of it. Short black horns curved up from her head, just above her forehead. She looked angry. She opened her mouth and revealed sharp fangs where her canines should have been.

Beth's eyes widened as the first of the shouts began.

Chapter 14

Beth huddled against the wall. Her wrists were bleeding from the handcuffs that dug into her skin but she didn’t feel it. She stared wide eyed at the violence in the room. Blood ran down the walls in drips that reminded her of painting her bedroom as a kid with too much paint on the roller. Except her paint color wasn't red.

She heard someone panting for breath. An occasional whimper slipped out in between gasps. The noise sounded like it came from around her because it was her. She was terrified and didn't know what to do.

The man on the floor jerked. His legs kicked twice and then collapsed with a stillness that wasn't natural. Beth knew she'd just watched him die. She felt empty and cold inside. "No," she whimpered. "This isn't happening. I'm drunk. Or drugs. Maybe they gave me something…"

The woman rose from the body and turned. She was dressed in black, from her black boots that slipped over black leggings so tight they clung to every curve and crevice. It could have been bodypaint for all she knew. Her back and arms were covered in the same form fitting material. Only her hands and face were white.

She turned and drew a fresh whimper from Beth. Blood stained her lips and mouth. Had she eaten the men in the room? Beth saw her throwing them into walls and tearing skin and blood with her bare hands. She was a monster! The kind of monster that existed in nightmares and scary movies, not in real life.

Beth's breath caught in her throat. Monsters. She jerked her head as her eyes glanced across the floor, never stopping in any one place. She'd knew something about monsters, didn't she? Hadn't she seen them before?

"Beth."

Hearing her name jerked her gaze back to the angel of death in the room with her. She was no guardian angel, she was the grim reaper. All she needed was a scythe and a skeletal finger pointing at her.

"Who are you?" Beth breathed.

"You called me," she said. Her fangs disappeared, allowing her to speak with a sensual voice that was rich and comforting. It hinted at secrets and adventure.

"I— I called you?" Beth asked. She gasped. "Penny? But… you were a waitress?"

She smiled. "You're not supposed to remember any of that."

"I'm not?"

Penny stepped up to the bed and looked down at the handcuffs trapping Beth. She reached for them, causing Beth to whimper and squirm. The metal kept her still until Penny's black fingernails touched the cuffs. She pinched them, her nails proving they were harder than the forged steel. Beth's hands jerked free as the cuffs fell open and clattered off the edge of the bed.

She grabbed her burning wrists and clutched them to her chest while scrambling on the bed and sliding along the wall further away from Penny. "What are you?" Beth asked.

"If you can remember me at all you will remember the rest," she said. "You have a very strong mind, Beth. That is a wonderful thing. And a curse."

"A curse?" Beth blinked and looked around the scene of carnage.. The stink in the room hit her. Blood and bodies that had been torn apart. It was worse than the time her dad had hit a deer with his truck and spilled its belly across his bumper.

"I can't make you forget, you proved that," Penny said. "So as much as I don't want to do it, that leaves me with only one choice."

Beth gulped and forced herself to ignore the death in the room. "One choice? What choice? What are you talking about?"

Penny sighed. "My given name is— well, it translates into Penelope. I was born in a tiny village even I don't remember the name of. That was a very long time ago in a land far from here."

"Where?" Beth asked. Penny's words sounded familiar, like she'd heard the story before, but she couldn't remember it. A few more words and she'd be able to piece it together, she was sure of it.

"The Haemus Mons," Penny answered while watching her. "Now they are called—"

"The Balkans! Romania!"

Penelope smiled. "We were Thracians, but the Romans called us Dacians. It's no matter, I was taken as a slave and sold to a wealthy roman that made me his wife for a while. I bore him children and then caught the eye of someone else. Something else. A creature that has arisen in history time and again to terrify the sane and godly."

"What are you—" Beth stopped herself as the words unlocked bits and pieces of memories that snapped back into place. "You— you can't exist. I was told you don't exist. People like you, they aren't real. Aren't possible."

"Who told you?"

"I—" Beth hesitated. Who told her that? She had a flash of red hair in her mind. Not anybody she knew now, but somebody she had known? She kept seeing Crystal's face, but Crystal was a lying bitch that left her behind as soon as she found what she wanted, a boyfriend with a motorcycle. Except she could have done so much more than that. Beth gasped. "Crystal!"

"Your friend Crystal told you?"

"No! She's… damn it. There's something about her. I thought she left me, but she didn't. Not really. You did this to me? You made me forget?"

"I tried," Penny admitted. She sighed. "It's no matter. I have to kill you now."

"What? No!" Beth shrieked. "I don't— I mean, why? I won't tell anyone. Nobody would believe me if I did!"

"There are people that would believe," Penny said. She stepped closer to her and reached out a hand. "Come with me, Elizabeth. I will take you somewhere amazing and make your last moments the best of your life."

Beth trembled and shook her head. Fresh tears filled her eyes and spilled. "Why?" she cried.

Penny frowned. "You made me feel again. The pain you've been through. You've come away intact after being attacked and touched by creatures and magic beyond your understanding. That's more than rare, it's proof of character. I thought I'd found a companion at last. A kindred spirit."

"You— you want a friend? I can do that. I'll be your friend," she stammered.

Penny turned and swept an arm over the devastation in the bedroom. "This is what you chose."

"I didn't choose this!" Beth sobbed. "He tricked me. Got me drunk or something. I still don't feel right."

"You did," Penelope said. "You told me you were scared. You hated being left out and always different. You wanted to fit in. To be normal."

Beth's lips parted as her breath hissed through them. She had said those same words. She remembered it. She remembered sitting on top of one of the buildings in downtown Detroit talking to Penny. The wind and snow blew at them but they both ignored it

Beth jerked and focused on the beautiful vision of death in front of her. "Why haven't I been cold?"

Penny sighed. "First Kiss," she said.

Beth mouthed the words and then licked her lips. "That drink you gave me? Your blood?"

"A drop, nothing more," Penny said. "It opens you to me and grants you certain traits."

"Unless I drink too much? There was something about that, wasn't there?"

She nodded. "You can recover from each drink and live a normal life. The effects will fade. Until the third. After that your body craves it and you become my pet."

Beth gasped and remembered how everyone seemed to defer to her at the strip club. "The people at the club?"

She nodded. "You are perceptive. I own it, but none of them know it, they think I work there and the owner is a friend of mine."

Beth opened her mouth, anxious to learn and remember more. Anything she could do to prolong the conversation. Maybe she could talk Penny out of thinking she needed to die. Before she could come up with another question Penelope's head snapped around and she stared at the door. A heartbeat later Beth heard someone pounding on the door.

"Come with me, Beth," Penny said. "I must leave."

Beth focused on Penny and saw the woman staring at her again. "You're going to leave this, uh, mess?"

Penny turned and moved. Beth gasped as the woman blurred before her eyes. She was back almost before Beth finished breathing in her sudden intake of air. A light on the floor was smashed open and flames were rising from the spilled pool of fluid.

"Oh my god!"

"Last chance," Penny announced. "I offer you a bliss you will take into an eternal sleep. The alternative is here. Lying broken on this very bed until you are consumed by fire."

Beth whimpered and stared up into the impossibly blue eyes of the woman.

Penny held out her hand again. "Don't be afraid, you'll sleep peacefully. Forever."

Beth shook her head. "I don't want to go."

Penny frowned. Her tongue moved beneath her lips, licking her teeth. Teeth that Beth knew could be sharp enough to tear her life from her in seconds. "Very well."

"Wait!" Beth cried and held up her hands. "I mean I don't want to die. Here or there. Anywhere. Ever."

Penny's eyes narrowed. "You said—"

"I said I wanted to know what it was like to forget about monsters and be normal," Beth remembered. "Now I know what that's like. It sucks. I can't escape, I get it. I understand. I was wrong. If I want to make a life worth living I have to take risks. I have to go for it. I have to push to be what I want to be, not just like everyone else."

The flames spread and crackled behind them, catching on a rug and spreading to some dirty clothes knocked out of a laundry basket on the far side of the room. Penny ignored them and stared at her. "Tell me what you want."

"I want to be like you!" Beth cried.

"Are you afraid?"

"Fucking terrified!" Beth admitted. "I don't want to die."

"You have to."

"But…but you said you wanted a companion. Someone—"

"I died when I was a few years older than you," Penelope informed her. "I've been here ever since, unchanging. Until the world and everything on it ends."

"Oh my god," Beth whispered.

Penny ignored her and the repeated pounding on the door. Someone shouted Beth's name. "There's no escape that way. No escape at all."

Beth nodded. "I know."

"Are you ready?"

Beth gulped and nodded. She wasn't. There was a million questions she had to ask. People she wanted to talk to. Calls and texts she wanted to send. But the flames were spreading along the walls and the smoke was billowing out the open window. It was only a few feet away from Penny's feet. As she watched shapes emerged from behind Penelope, cloaking her in shadows and blocking the light from the fire.

"You've got wings!" Beth gasped. "What about your clothes?"

"I have none," Penny said.

She reached her hand out again. A third and final time, Beth knew. Just like the First Kiss drink that Penny had given her. Beth's hand trembled as she reached out and took Penny's black tipped fingers in hers.

Beth's yelp was breathless. She sensed movement and knew she was elsewhere, but everything moved in a blur around her. She felt wind and heard a rushing noise. She blinked her eyes opened and wondered when she'd shut them. She turned her head and stared through the blowing snow as a house grew smaller beneath them. The neighborhood and city followed, shrinking into the night as they flew across the night sky.

"Oh my god!" Beth cried, weightless and overcome by the sensation. "We're flying!"

Penny tightened her grip on Beth and brought them to a halt in mid-air amongst the upper reaches of the clouds. Her wings flapped, holding their station with only a little bobbing up and down. Beth turned to look at her and saw Penny's face shone with the light of the stars and moon. The vampires smiled and exposed sharp fangs in her mouth.

Beth clamped her gawking lips together and swallowed. "This is it?" she asked. She nodded, answering her own question. "Of course it is"

Beth tilted her head, exposing her neck. "This is the first kiss that matters," she said.

Penny's voice lisped around her fangs as she corrected her. "This is the forever kiss."

Beth's eyes widened and she gasped as two red hot needles drove into her neck.

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