Love Bites

The smell of musky, rank, stale air met my nostrils, bringing me to consciousness. It was hard to tell where I was because it was pitch black. I groaned and shifted my weight and then stopped suddenly.

There was a sound of clanking metal. My heart began to pound as sweat dripped down my body. I started to realize I was not alone.

I waited for several minutes, then moved again. I head the noise once more, and realized with a sickening jolt what was going on.

I was alone, alone and shackled in the darkness. I tried to stand up, but only fell back down, slicing my knees. I felt warm liquid drip down my leg, and knew I was bleeding.

Henry, I thought frantically. What would he do? What does he think happened to me?

I pulled my knees to my chest and sobbed. I wasn’t going to be leaving anytime soon. I was imprisoned.

I wiped my snotty nose and tears on my arm, and looked up. There was a small light, and it was gradually getting closer ad closer towards me. I braced myself, getting ready for what was to come (although I couldn’t do much, being chained to the floor and all…).

“GIA!” cried a familiar voice. There was a sloshing noise as Andrew Blood came running with his lit candle towards me. “What have they done to you?”

He set the candle down gently, and my body became laminated in the candlelight. I saw that my pants were filthy, the knees of my jeans were frayed and ripped, blood still gushing from them. My shirt was ripped and bloody, and looked like it had seen better days.

“I never meant for this to happen,” whispered Andrew as he tore his pristine white shirt off, and began to make makeshift bandages for me.

“You-brought-me-here?” I gasped. “You were by my car! You rendered me unconscious!!!”

“I only did it so I could be alone with you!” exclaimed Andrew as he tightened the bandages. “I didn’t know the Brethren would do this…”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I asked harshly.

“I can’t tell you everything,” whispered Andrew as he rummaged through his pockets. “I’m forbidden to speak of the Brethren, and what it stands for…”

“Well, you might as well spill ‘cause you just told me they were the ones who captured me and brought me to this hell hole!”

Andrew Blood sighed, and finally found what he was looking for in his pocket. He pulled out a key, and unlocked my chains, freeing me. “You must never tell anyone our secrets. You must swear you won’t tell a soul what I am about to reveal to you.”

I stood up shakily, and nodded my head. “That’s not good enough. Swear, Gia!”

“I swear I won’t say anything!”

“I’m not human…”

My stomach dropped as if I the floor I was standing on was a trap door that had just opened beneath me. My guts churned, and I felt dizzy and weak. “W-what?”
“I am not human,” whispered Andrew once more. “I’m part wolf. That’s what the whole Brethren is about. It’s a pack of wolves, a club for people like me…”

“You are not-” I began as I stepped towards Andrew, but started to pitch forward. Andrew caught me before I had the chance to hit the ground.

“Yes, I am,” said Andrew angrily. “All the proof you need is how fast I was able to follow you home after you eluded me! Think, Gia! How is it possible for a human to beat a car going 40-50 mph somewhere on foot?”

Andrew lowered me carefully to the floor, and sank next to me. “I am not a monster if that is what you are thinking,” whispered Andrew as he brushed a hair away from my face.

“Oh sure, you’re not a monster,” I mocked. “Even if you aren’t human, you are just like the old Andrew Blood I know and despise. You try to sweet talk me into doing what you want, and you never think about me. You still have your violent temper, and you are still rude to me! I deserve a little respect from you after all of the bullshit I have put up with from you!”

Andrew got up, and took the candle that was sitting next to him on the floor. He started to walk away, and there was a loud CLANG as if a door was being slammed shut. “ANDREW!” I shouted through the darkness. “ANDREW?!?!”

But he wasn’t going to come back for me. At least, not after what I had said…

“Henry, if you can hear me, please get me out of here!” I whispered. “Henry, I need you!”
* * *
A beam of light came into my room, and woke me from sleep. I got up, and looked around. This was not my bedroom, this was a retaining cell.

I was in one of the filthiest cells you could possibly imagine. The bars were rusted and looked like tetanus city. There was no bathroom in my cell, just a stinking, rotting hole in the floor for a toilet. I had a window at least, where the light was coming in.

I looked about, trying to find someone, anyone out there to let me go. “Somebody? Anybody?! Please help me!! I want to go back home!!! Please set me free!”

There was a low growl, and I promptly slammed my hand over my mouth to stifle my scream. What was that sound? No, strike that, I didn’t want to know.

“What are your plans with the girl?” asked a deep, rough voice. “Why is the little brat even here? What use is she to us?”

“Patience, my fellow wolf, patience,” said a smooth voice. “She is a bargaining tool for the war… Our war on the blood lovers. Andrew has given me much information about this one. It seems she has been spending too much time with that vampire Henry Carson. Well, that’s about to change…”

Okay, what the fuck? I am a bargaining tool? So is that why I am here in this shit hole? If ever I was to bust out of this infectious cell, I was going to kill Andrew for all of this. Why can’t he just leave me alone, and try to move on with his life? No, he has to be a dick and stalk me like the maniac he is.

“When are we going to wave the bait in front of those blood lovers?” asked the deep, rough voice impatiently. “I want to watch them squirm when we turn her right in front of them…”

“Don’t we all, Tel. Don’t we all…” said the smooth voice. “We just need to get them within our grasp, and according to my keen sense of smell, one of them is very near…”

“Henry…” I whispered softly. “You’ve come to save me at last!”

“What should I do with the girl for now, master?” asked Tel.

“Take her to the torture chamber… and let her have fun in there. We’ll soon drop the blood lover in with her once we capture it…”

I gasped as my cell was opened, and a very hairy, buff man picked me up, and flung me over his shoulder. I cried out, screaming and kicking the whole way, but it was as if he was the incredible Hulk, and felt none of my jabs. “Here’s your new playroom, princess!” said Tel sarcastically as he threw me into my new cell. “Try not to have too much fun…”

And the door slammed shut behind him, his laugh echoing through the halls. I shivered, and looked about. Mirrors. There were all mirrors in this room. Every face that stared back at me was my own. I started a bit, seeing how filthy and disgusting I looked. Well, on the plus side, I was looking a bit thinner…

Well, I thought to myself. Now all I have to do is find the door. Should be simple enough…

I walked towards where Tel and I had just come through, when all of a sudden, the room began to spin in front of me. The mirrors led me in a carnival/circus freak show of a maze. Everywhere I turned, everywhere I looked was my thin, scared looking face. I ran about, trying to look for a way out of this hell hole, but everything kept looking the same. All the mirrors were the same, every image was the same.

I started to scream, and I fell to the floor sobbing hysterically. “Gia…”

“Who said my name?” I rasped as I looked up to see who it was.

“Gia!”

“Show yourself!”

“Gia… Gia… Gia…”

I looked about, and in the mirror, I saw a reflection of Henry. I was right, he was here to save me! Wait a minute… he was here to save me, and he got captured. Whoops, bad thing there!

“HENRY!” I cried, running towards him. “OW!”

I had run smack dab into a mirror. Fucking a. Things are never as easy as they seem… Even when they are right in front of your face apparently.

My eyes began to water as I rubbed my face… and then, I felt something wet in my hand. My heart sank; no this couldn’t possibly be! Maybe it was just my tears. I slowly raised my hand up to see, and I had confirmed what I had already knew: I had a bloody nose, and Henry was somewhere nearby. Shit! Shit! Shit!

I looked in the mirror, and saw my horrified, bloody face, and Henry’s bloodthirsty face. He licked his lips and began to growl like a fierce animal who is about to attack its prey. I screamed as the sound of glass breaking cut the air. He was going to kill me… he had been right all along. His love for me was no match for his love for blood… my blood.
I tried to run, and smashed into mirrors as I ran in a terrified panic away from the menacing images of Henry Carson. The sound of breaking mirrors filled the chamber, scattering the images even worse than before. My nose was bleeding worse than before now, and I took off my shirt, and held it to my nose, trying to make it stop. If I wanted my bloody nose to stop, I would have to CALM DOWN. But how the hell do you calm down when a fucking vampire is after you, and you are in a fucking torture chamber with no way of escaping?!?!

I began to take deep breaths, and calmed down. I looked at my shirt, and noticed that my bloody nose was disappearing, thank God for little things. I held onto my shirt, and walked towards one of the broken mirrors. I saw Henry’s beautiful, tragic face, and saw that he had finally come back to his senses. And he was feeling a great remorse for what he had done.

“GIA! GIA PLEASE I AM SO SORRY!” screamed Henry, his voice starting to crack. “That wasn’t me I swear! Please forgive me Gia! I LOVE YOU!”

I fell to the floor, sobbing hysterically, and put my shirt back on; so this was what Henry had warned me of, the true price of being with a vampire. Suddenly, the mirrored walls began to change, and turned into slate gray wall. I heard footsteps coming towards me, and heard a deafening roar.

Just as Henry was nearing me, Tel had come out of nowhere, and bound him. “You are not to touch her, blood lover,” said Tel. He kicked the wall closest to him, and it rotated to reveal shackles. He began to bind Henry to the wall, and I watched in horror as Henry tried to fight Tel off.

“Whatever they tell you- whatever they say to you, don’t believe a fucking word!” shouted Henry as he writhed in his bonds.

“Come with me!” said Tel harshly as he grabbed my arm and pulled me away from Henry. He rapped on one of the plain walls, and a door appeared. Tel carried me through it, and shut it behind him. “I got her, now what do you want?”

“You are dismissed, Telemachus,” said a smooth voice that I had recognized from before. From the shadows walked a man with a long, gray ponytail, stone cold gray eyes, and pale skin. “I have what I want, at last…”

“And why do you want me?” I asked, feeling brave enough to speak.

“Oh, my dear, we wolves have been dying to wipe out this pathetic excuse for a race for centuries! But we have never had grounds to start a real war. Oh sure, my people have fought battles against them, but never a war. And I figured… well, if Helen could destroy as many people as she did in the Trojan War, why not do the same with you?”

“I will not be your Helen of Troy,” I said through gritted teeth. “I will not be responsible for anybody’s death!”

“Whether you like it or not, you are in my capable hands, little girl. You are with Cicero DeRiene now, and you will do what I tell you to, understand?”

Cicero grabbed my arm, pulling it behind my back. With his free hand, he turned my face to look back where I had just come from. I saw Henry through the three-way mirror, still shackled to the wall and guarded by Tel. “You see that creature you love?” asked Cicero. “He almost killed you back in the torture chamber. It was by sheer luck you even survived without him damn near tearing your soft flesh apart!”

I shuddered, and felt my stomach start to churn. “But, if you come to the right side… our side, we can protect you,” said Cicero as he let go of me. “The Brethren will ensure your safety from these hell-bound creatures. Come to our side…”

“Let me get this straight,” I said, looking into Cicero’s cold gray eyes. “You want me to join your side after you got my ex boyfriend to capture me and put me in a cell, and then you throw me in a torture chamber, bleeding and whatnot with a vampire. And you think I am going to give in that easily?”

“May I remind you that your lover isn’t even HUMAN,” whispered Cicero in my ear. “Look at him, the THING that supposedly loves you tried to KILL you. YOU! And he didn’t have any second thoughts about it. Is that what you want? Do you want him to kill you?”

Tears rolled down my face as I looked at Henry. Sure, now he was normal, but Cicero was right. If we continued to be together, he would kill me over something as small as me getting a paper cut. Could I live with the fact that any moment with him could be my last?

“I’m not asking you to become part of the Brethren, just to consider our protection,” said Cicero as he patted my shoulder comfortingly. “Here, I shall leave you with Andrew for now… ANDREW!”

I held my breath as Andrew walked into the room. “Watch over the girl, Andrew. Make sure she doesn’t escape… Use any means necessary.”

Cicero left the room, and when I was sure he wasn’t going to come back, I began to beat the crap out of Andrew. “YOU HORRIBLE BASTARD! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!? WHY COULDN’T YOU JUST LET ME BE?” I screamed as I kicked and punched him as hard as I possibly could.

“No matter what you do to me, it doesn’t mean shit,” sneered Andrew Blood as blood gushed out of his mouth. “You can’t kill me; I’m immortal.”

“Well, I’ll sure as hell find a way!” I screamed as I kicked him in the chest, making him fall backwards and onto the floor. “Get me out of here NOW!”

“Sorry, but I only obey Cicero’s rules,” said Andrew with a smirk. His bloody mouth began to slowly disappear, along with the other bleeding cuts and bruises I had given him. “And believe me, I can deal with the fury of a woman scorned; I’ve had you before Gia, remember?”

“You have not, nor will ever have me!” I shouted as I put my foot over his throat, pressing down on it. Andrew chuckled, and ran his hand up and down my leg. Suddenly, he grabbed my leg, and I fell on top of him, straddling him. Andrew looked up at me, and I saw something in his eyes that scared me. It wasn’t evil… it wasn’t even hatred; it was lust.

I felt as if I were a statue, incapable of moving as Andrew pulled his face towards mine and kissed me. Instead of pushing him away, I let him continue to kiss me. I still lay on top of him, and as we kissed, I felt him stiffen through his jeans, and somewhere inside me, it turned me on. I became animated at once, and began to kiss Andrew back, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him closer to me. “Yes… yes, Gia. Be mine. Make love to me… you cannot deny yourself any longer. You’ve hid your feelings for me for so long; unleash your passion and desire.”