Dance Until Dawn (4 page)

The Thirst

When I found myself still in Will’s cellar the following night, I had to finally admit that this was no nightmare. At least not one I could wake from. I still couldn’t remember how I came to be here, and for the life of me couldn’t begin to understand what Will was hoping to achieve. With his looks, I didn’t think he’d ever have a problem getting any woman he wanted, so what was the big deal with me? I had no illusions about myself, being in any kind of show business will do that for you. Constantly surrounded by taller, slimmer and more beautiful people doesn’t do a whole lot for one’s self-esteem, believe me. I’d failed many an audition because of my height – or lack of it, and sometimes because of my red hair too.

My stomach felt as though something was stabbing me from the inside, and the searing intensity of the pain made me gasp and double over each time it flared. But I refused to sit and feel sorry for myself.

Forcing myself to stand, I went towards the door, or where I imagined the door should be.

I hated the dark. I’d told him that, the bastard. Did he get some kind of kick out of keeping me locked up here in the dark? Despite his protests to the contrary, he had to be some kind of pervert.

I felt my way along the damp, slimy wall until I found the door. Metal. Perfect for a prison, I thought bitterly. I kicked it in frustration and was gratified when it made a loud noise that reverberated around the walls.

I pictured Will upstairs somewhere entertaining and having to explain the noises coming from his cellar. I kicked the door again and again, amazed at my own strength. At this rate I’d be able to break the door down and get out of this damn place.

The room was suddenly flooded with harsh electric light, and I closed my over-sensitive eyes against its intrusive glare. The door opened outwards, and because I was leaning against it, I cannoned into a large immovable object, which turned out to be the man himself. His eyebrows rose in surprise, and he put his hands on my shoulders to steady me.

‘Are you having fun?’

‘You left me alone in the dark again.’

He continued to keep me at arm’s length, and his strong hands curled like steel bands around my arms. He walked us both back into the room and kicked the door shut, as he regarded me with interest.

‘As you can see, I have now arranged electricity in this part of the house for you,’ he said as if he’d just paid for dinner at the Ivy. ‘That should alleviate some of your discomfort.’

‘Shutting me in this …
cell
is what’s causing
my discomfort.’

‘It is a necessary precaution for the moment, I am afraid,’ he replied. ‘I apologise. Again.’

He dropped his hands from my arms and I turned away from him, walking further into the room.

‘I am afraid we need to address the problem of your feeding tonight.’ His voice was quiet.

‘I can hardly wait to see what you come up with this time.’

To my surprise, he turned back to the door and opened it again. Glancing back over his shoulder he inclined his head at me. ‘Would you accompany me?’

‘Is there a choice?’ I countered.

‘Not really.’

‘Great,’ I muttered. ‘OK, lead the way to another dark and miserable place, I’m all yours.’

‘Would that, that were true.’ An amused tone had crept into his voice again.

Against my better judgement, I followed him. It got me out of this cellar after all, even if it did only lead to another. My ‘dungeon’ turned out to be connected by a small passageway to another door, which, in turn, opened onto what appeared to be an old wine cellar. I had no idea where this place was, but any house that had cellars, plural, had to be pretty old, very big, and worth a considerable amount of money.
Hadn’t he said the house was Georgian
? If we were still in London, we were talking millions.

I clutched my stomach as the Thirst made its presence known again. I stumbled and missed a step. Will’s arm immediately encircled my waist to prevent me from falling, and I flinched at his touch. He let me go at once. Perhaps he wasn’t a pervert then, just a sadist.

As we walked further into the wine cellar, I became aware that I could actually hear a heartbeat. A strong smell of unwashed flesh pervaded my nostrils at that point, and I gagged. Someone else was in this cellar and they were definitely alive.

Looking around, I noticed the crumpled form of a skinny young man as he lay comatose on the floor.

‘What the hell have you done?’ I whispered in horror.

‘Sent out for a take-away,’ came the flippant answer.

‘Most take-aways are pizza or Chinese.’

‘I discovered this one attempting to break into my house,’ came the cold reply.

‘So … what? You thought you’d smash his brains in and then drink him dry?’ My voice trembled.

Will gave a harsh laugh. ‘I will neither drain him nor kill him. Although I admit to being sorely tempted to do both.’ He pushed the man’s body over with a contemptuous flick of his boot. ‘You will snack on him, and then I shall call our worthy police to have him arrested.’

‘Well I don’t know much about vampires,’ I said. ‘But even I know that there will be visible puncture wounds, and I am
not
biting into him or any other human. That’s the grossest thing you’ve come up with yet.’

Will turned to face me. ‘There really is no choice child,’ he said quietly. ‘It is the survival of the fittest, which, I can assure you, will be you, rather than this piece of pond life.’

I pushed my tangled hair out of my eyes as I looked down at the man again. I became aware of the smell of warm blood and my body suddenly craved the taste.

I knew then that Will had told the truth all along and my body wanted blood. Wanted it badly.

God help me, I wanted to taste him. I could feel the surge of the Thirst and my whole body trembled with the ferocity of it. I turned wild, frightened eyes to Will who merely began to lead me towards the man.

My body shuddered at the conflict and I struggled involuntarily against Will’s iron grip. He held me fast, apparently without any effort at all on his part, talking softly to me all the time even though I paid no attention to the words.

My body wanted blood, but my brain didn’t agree.

‘I
can’t
.’ I was frantically struggling to free myself from his grasp. ‘Not from a person.’

‘Yes. You can,’ reassured Will. ‘It is your nature. I would have allowed you to feed from a bottle, but you refused that. This is now the only way forward for you. Your instincts will take over and help you to feed.’

‘Blood made me sick,’ hysteria made my voice rise. ‘Sucking blood from a person is revolting—I can’t—I won’t—’

‘Yes, you will,’ he corrected. ‘You cannot go another night without sustenance, you have to believe me.’

I shook my head, trying to clear my jumbled thoughts.

I can’t drink blood. Why is he making me do this? What kind of monster is he?

I was vaguely aware that Will was speaking again, but I didn’t want to listen to him. A sob caught in my throat, and my body shuddered.

The ravening Thirst now consumed me, any rational thoughts I had became clouded, and I trembled from head to foot. I could feel the insistence of the Thirst, which seemed to dictate I should drink blood from the unconscious man on the floor. I looked up at Will, and fancied that the cold look in his eyes softened for just a moment.

‘I will help you. Trust me.’

‘I must have trusted you once, and all that got me is dead.’

He rolled his eyes in exasperation. ‘I
will
help you.’

I looked down at the unfortunate man, who sported a large bruise on his cheek. I had no doubt that bruise had been courtesy of my green-eyed jailer. Will hauled him up with one hand, keeping a firm grip on my arm with the other. He held the man upright, as though he weighed nothing at all, and turned back to me. ‘Feed little one.’ He released my arm.

The Thirst surged through my whole body again, and I shuddered violently. My hand shook when I tentatively touched the man’s arm. It felt so
warm
. I could hear the hypnotic beat of his pulse, and even smell the blood that pumped through his veins and around his body; blood that flowed so very close to the surface of his skin. I could hear the pounding of his heart, controlling the blood … warm lifeblood circulating his unconscious body …
blood
 …

My nostrils flared again.

‘Feed,’ Will repeated.

‘I don’t know how,’ I whispered, closing my eyes against the pain that racked my body. ‘I don’t know what to do.’

‘Your body will dictate what to do. Move closer.’

With faltering steps, I moved close to the unconscious man. All at once, my body urged me to feed, to sink the fangs I was now aware of into the unfortunate man’s neck. But my brain clung to the last vestiges of humanity it had left, and urged me to stop.
What was I thinking?
I moved in a little nearer, but it didn’t help. I felt confused, disorientated and very frightened.

I drew in a shaky breath, and sank to my knees, with cold tears trickling down my face. ‘
I can’t
.’

I expected Will to be angry, but he didn’t seem to be. He let the man fall back to the floor callously and moved as if to take me in his arms. I stood up in sudden panic and shook my head as I moved swiftly away from him. My stomach churned with nausea and my eyes filled with tears of self-pity as I looked up at Will. ‘Let me die. Please … just kill me.’

He came close and watched me for a few moments. ‘If you would come here to me,’ he held his arms wide, ‘I could help remove the pain.’

I shook my head. ‘You’re supposed to be helping me, not seducing me.’

‘I
am
trying to help.’ He sounded exasperated.

I closed my eyes as the Thirst raged inside me. ‘Then, for God’s sake, help me.’

‘Let us just take one step at a time.’ He started to draw me back towards my cellar, but I shook my head again, trying to pull away from his grasp. ‘No. I don’t want to go back there. Please don’t lock me in there again.’

He scooped me up easily in his arms, carried me back to the other room, and over to the bed, onto which he unceremoniously dumped me. I rested my head on my drawn-up knees and shook uncontrollably as the pain continued to slice through my stomach like so many sharp knives. Will put his hands gently on my shoulders, holding my gaze with his own, when I looked up at him.

‘I will not leave you alone for very long,’ he said. ‘Just sit here for a moment. I will even leave the door open for you, and I shall return swiftly, that I promise.’

I continued to stare at him while I decided whether or not I could trust him. His eyes gleamed brightly in the artificial light, their depths as deep as any ocean, but his expression looked sincere enough. I wrapped my arms around myself once more, as tremors again took hold of my body. He traced the backs of his fingers so very gently down my tear-stained cheek, and even that brief, soft touch made my body shiver in anticipation of another touch. I closed my eyes, not trusting myself to look into those feral eyes anymore.

‘I shall be right back.’

Then he was gone. I felt his absence immediately, it was as though a part of myself had been torn away, and that scared me almost more than anything else in this never-ending nightmare. I’d never been dependent on another person and I didn’t want to start now. I closed my eyes tightly, willing the awful vibrations in my body to stop. If this was eternal life, I’d take death – death for all eternity sounded blissful at this moment in time.

I kept my eyes closed as I told myself to try and ignore the Thirst and my unwarranted anxiety at Will’s absence. After a while I became suddenly aware of his return, and the smell of fresh blood.

Warm, fresh blood that was very close.

My eyes snapped open to see Will in front of me holding a china mug. My fuddled brain managed to register the fact it had
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
printed on in blood-red lettering, but I felt far too ill to appreciate the irony.

Will knelt down close to me and held the mug out. But I still trembled and couldn’t have taken it from him, even if I had wanted to, and I wasn’t sure I did want to. He stood back up and sat beside me, putting his free arm firmly around my shoulders. I went to move away, but the moment he touched me, the shuddering inside my body quieted, and I turned to look at him in surprise.

‘Sip this very slowly.’ He watched me intently.

I looked at the thick, red liquid and felt my stomach heave. ‘It will make me sick again.’

‘No. I do not believe it will.’

He held the mug to my lips and I sipped, very, very slowly at first, but then as the taste overwhelmed me, I drank faster and faster, gulping down the warm, metallic thickness of it as fast as I physically could.

‘Slowly. I can provide more.’

I finished the contents of the mug at a more sedate pace and turned to look at him, both amazed and revolted at what I’d done.

‘I will get more.’ With that, he left the room again.

Oh, I knew where the blood was coming from, my own human drinking fountain, but I had no idea how that much blood was finding its way into a mug so quickly. I didn’t want to ask either. Will returned with a full mug and held it out to me. ‘Are you able to hold this?’

I nodded and took it from him. When I had finished, the excruciating pain at long last subsided. I felt revitalised, almost alive again, and certainly well enough to hold his gaze steadily with my own.

‘Thank you – I think,’ I said and was rewarded by a devilish grin.

‘The pleasure is mine. Although I confess my intentions are partially dishonourable. I intend to return to my romantic seduction programme when you are feeling up to it.’

‘So that’s your evil plan.’

The grin widened with a flash of gleaming fangs. He stood there in front of me, all satanic seduction personified. I bet he didn’t get turned down too often. In fact, I felt convinced he didn’t get turned down
ever
.

‘Do you need more sustenance?’

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak, and he took the mug from me once more. He reappeared a few minutes later, and handed me the refilled mug.