“Hey… Hey, wait a minute.” He scrambled backwards away from her. “They said they would protect me from you. All I had to do was provide them a child, and I did. They took you away. You aren’t supposed to come back. You’re not welcome here!” Ryan bellowed the last sentence, pointing a shaking finger at Lauren, who stalked him slowly before getting to her knees and crawling, cat-like towards him.
“Not welcome? Silly boy. You were only safe inside your flat. This is a hallway. Public domain, honey. You remember our hallway, don’t you?”
Ryan attempted to get up and run, but he wasn’t going to get away from her that easily. She struck out with her hand and plunged two fingers through his shoe, the elongated nails piercing leather, flesh and bone. He yelled in agony and looked down at his foot. With ease, Lauren pulled Ryan’s entire body towards her with those fingers and smiled as he screamed and cried. She released her fingers and brought one up to her mouth, sucking on the nail of her forefinger.
“Oh, God. Please don’t do this,” sobbed Ryan. “It was just a job. I’ll give you back the money, I swear. You’re not supposed to kill me. That was part of the deal!”
Lauren launched a stinging open hand across his face, slicing his cheek open diagonally from eye to mouth. “Your deal, not mine.”
She was on top of him in an instant. She marvelled at how she ever could have felt any attraction to this pitiful, squirming specimen. Tilting her head to one side, she gazed at him coldly, allowing her eyes to go black. He began sobbing in earnest now as her fangs extended. Lauren grew weary of his bleating. This wasn’t fun yet.
She opened her mouth and slashed at him with her teeth. Ryan screamed as he saw her come up with something in her clenched jaw, his own blood spluttering over his cheeks. She spat what he recognised as his ear onto his chest. Lauren grabbed one of Ryan’s hands and led him, screaming for help, back towards the door. Suddenly he saw her two creators behind her.
“His wails are beginning to bore me.” Vickrant sneered down at him.
With a last act of desperate strength, Ryan released himself from Lauren’s grip and lunged himself at the other two, falling at their feet, blood oozing down his face.
“Help me! You c–can’t let her d–do this!” he stammered. “You promised…”
“What did we promise you, human?” Vickrant hissed. “We paid you. You witnessed the making of a vampire and we took her away. That was our agreement. We never promised you would be safe afterward. Our daughter must learn how to feed.”
“But…the prince sent you to me. He paid me!” Ryan pleaded.
“Did you believe you were being rewarded for your website? You stupid morsel. You knew too much. This is your punishment. You are turned or you die. That is the law. That is Vincent’s wish.”
Lauren grinned at the other vampires, her fangs hanging over her bloodied chin. “They are here to watch what I do to you. You know how people like to watch, don’t you, honey?”
She stomped her heeled shoe into his groin. The veins in his throat jumped and pulsed with the screech that erupted from him. He rolled over, leaving a patch of shimmering blood in his wake.
“Stop! Please, no more… Just, please…”
“You’re right. One last kiss for old time’s sake, then?”
Ryan was suddenly standing, held against the wall by Lauren. Without time to protest, Lauren had her mouth over his. With quiet ferocity, she bit his tongue. Her lips muted a lot of his terrified and desperate cries. He tried to beat her with both fists as blood seeped and then flowed steady through the gaps of their two mouths.
Finally she released him as he choked and spat out blood. She was done playing. She thumbed his earlobe and when she held up her hand, she had a fistful of twenties. She stuffed them down the front of his pants, deliberately taking her time before removing her hand, coming up with his phone. The same one he had used to show her the videos they had made.
She looked thoughtful as she handed the phone to Vickrant. “Thanks for making my dark fantasy come true.”
With that, Lauren roared and flung him to the floor, her already dripping teeth reaching for his neck. She didn’t cover his mouth. She wanted him to scream. She enjoyed it. She didn’t drink, not at first. She bit, she chewed and pulled at his flesh. Ripped and teared. Over and over again. The vampires behind her moved slowly to get a better view, standing over his twitching feet.
“Smile for me, darling,” Vickrant cooed. Lauren ignored him and continued to feast, blood continuing to coat her cheeks and nose as she heard the whirring of the video app. “To all those who enjoyed the website, I trust you will enjoy this. Let this be a lesson. This will be the last video you see. If you know of us, beware. We are not your allies. We are not your playthings. We will hunt you without warning. We will destroy you without mercy.”
Chapter Fourteen
I Know Who You Are
Alex faced Ryan’s building. Michelle had kept her word, but strangely not before Alex changed her clothes. Michelle actually went into her bedroom and picked out the items she wanted Alex to wear. When Alex had got them on she looked at herself in the mirror with a quizzical expression. Bright colours. Like Michelle always wore. They had been ready to go for about an hour, but Michelle insisted on waiting for a bit longer, always looking at her watch or through the window. Alex was going to ask what was
