Thirst (18 page)

“Come in, come
in,” Maximus called out, as if I were an old friend. He rose to his
feet and knocked the blond vampire aside carelessly. He scowled
behind Maximus’s back, hatred in his eyes.

“I really didn’t
expect to see you so soon,” Maximus said.

I stepped closer
to him. “You have my grandmother?” I said as boldly as I
dared.

Maximus grinned
and tossed his hair. “I do, indeed. But enough about that
—”

“Let her go, and
then we’ll talk.”

Maximus frowned.
I obviously wasn’t acting the way he wanted me to. Judging by some
of the other vampires in the room, he was used to those more docile
than I.

“I don’t want
to,” he said, surprise making his voice high. I noticed the blond
vampire roll his eyes, and a couple of others shook their heads in
disgust—apparently Maximus wasn’t a popular leader, after
all.

“Then I won’t
talk.” I shrugged and put my hands in my pockets so he wouldn’t see
them shake.

For a couple of
seconds, I expected him to attack. His chin shook, and his eyes
narrowed as he looked at me, but then the smile returned. “I think
you will, young lady, but I don’t mind humouring you. Bring out the
old woman.”

He stared me down
as two vampires left the room. They weren’t as thin as Arthur, but
they seemed as obedient as Carl had been. Either vampires could
control other vampires, or else they were terrified of
Maximus.

The duo soon
returned with my grandmother. I cried out at the state she was in.
She had aged dramatically since I last saw her. She had been spry
my whole life, but now she looked unbelievably frail. Tears formed
in my eyes as I noticed dried blood splattered on her clothing and
one side of her face. One of her eyes was bruised purple. Her face
lit up with hope when she saw me, but the spark died almost as
quickly.

“Let her go.” I
spoke through clenched teeth, ready to fight, but not willing to
risk my grandmother being hurt. Our past didn’t matter anymore—I
wasn’t about to let the vampires have her. Especially not
Maximus.

“She’s a feisty
old lady,” Maximus said, wandering over to her and lifting her
chin. “I’d like to keep her.” He turned to gauge my reaction with
some satisfaction.

“If you want my
help then you won’t piss me off. Don’t give me a reason to look for
revenge.” I glared at him, his arrogance making me stubborn. He
wanted me to join him yet he threatened my family? His
mistake.

Some of his
vampire cronies rose to their feet and hissed their disapproval.
Maximus laughed heartily, joined by his blond sidekick, as if they
enjoyed the show.

“I’ll let her go
as soon as you tell me all about yourself. This little old lady
knows nothing, it seems.” He said it lightly, but I could feel his
irritation and guessed my grandmother had been as stubborn as me.
My chest swelled up with pride and gratitude as I realised she kept
my secret.

“She’s
practically senile,” I said, trying to sound scornful, bluffing in
the hopes at least one of us would get out of the building alive.
“She probably doesn’t even remember who I am. But still, she’s
family. Let me send her off safely. If she calls me from a friend’s
place, then I’ll do what you like. Me for her. What do you think?”
I sauntered around the room, touching vases as I spoke. Maximus
flinched each time. I picked one vase up and pretended to let it
fall. Maximus cried out in horror. Imagine, a vampire attached to
old pieces of pottery and glass.

“Whoops!” I put
the vase back down and smiled sweetly at Maximus.
“Well?”

“Fine,” he said,
charging past me to inspect his possessions. He pouted, probably
because I wasn’t begging, and I realised that everything had to be
dramatic for him. I couldn’t help wondering how he had become the
coven leader when he seemed more concerned with getting attention
than anything else.

“Get her out of
here!” he shouted at the closest vampire to him who bowed her head
and edged away from him.

“I need to say
goodbye first,” I said, stalling. “This is the last time I’ll see
her.”

“True enough,”
Maximus said. The reminder seemed to cheer him up.

My grandmother
swallowed a sob. I was only glad she had the peace of mind to keep
quiet.

“Back off,” I
snapped at the vampires who held her. They moved away without
argument. Maximus launched into an insulting tirade against them
for not standing their ground. I saw it as an
opportunity.

I grabbed my
grandmother tightly then quickly slipped the dagger from the sleeve
of my coat under her top to her waistband, hoping no one would
notice. “Stay safe,” I said.

Her chin
quavered. “I love you, Ava, I’m so sorry for
everything.”

“I know. It’s
okay. I’ll be okay. Go to Peter, call me, and let me know you’re
safe. Don’t worry about me now.” I didn’t believe her, but I wasn’t
as scared anymore. I was sort of resigned to the fact something bad
was going to happen to me. At least I had helped Carl; that counted
for something.

Maximus gestured
idly toward us. “Take her to her desired destination. See she makes
it alive.” He sounded bored, and I wanted to hurt him—force him to
take our lives seriously. A couple of vampires grabbed my
grandmother’s arms and led her away. I watched her leave and felt
completely alone.

Maximus grabbed
me from behind and sniffed my skin with a moan.

“Daylight and
humanity. It’s all over you, my dear. You’ll be so useful. I reward
loyalty, you know.”

“Like Arthur?” I
said, remembering how Maximus had repaid his loyalty.

Maximus threw me
to my knees, enraged. “Don’t speak to me of that name,” he
shrieked, hysteria in his voice. I was surprised by how easily he
became unbalanced, not what I expected from a vampire.

Maximus lifted
his arms, closed his eyes, and made a show of breathing deeply. He
then sat down and relaxed with a smile. I attempted to get to my
feet.

“Do not move!” he
screamed at me, his face convulsing with anger. “Stay on the ground
like the dog bitch you are!”

One of the
vampires kicked me back down, not holding back. I grunted loudly,
winded, amazed by the sheer force of strength. Maximus smiled
happily again. He was completely psychotic, I realised. I wasn’t
going to survive for long, no matter how valuable he thought I
was.

“Now,” he said,
as if nothing had happened. “Why don’t you tell me all about
yourself?”

I shook my head.
“Not until my grandmother calls.”

Tutting, he
folded his arms. “I don’t have time for that,” he
whined.

I eyed him, wary,
waiting for him to do something unpredictable.

He smiled
suddenly and looked all too pleased with himself. “I’ll just have
to tease it out of you.”

He jumped to his
feet before I knew what was happening then kicked me hard in the
stomach. He lifted his foot to kick again, but this time I was
ready. I grabbed his leg and tore a chunk of flesh and cloth away
with my fangs. Someone grabbed me back by the hair as Maximus
howled in frustration and pain, his cry a major exaggeration. The
blond vampire’s eyes gleamed with excitement as he punched me in
the face whilst the others held me still.

After my nose had
broken noisily, they threw me forward onto the ground. Gasping with
pain, I curled up into a ball as kick after kick rained down on me.
My face, stomach and back burned with pain as Maximus and his crew
enjoyed their sport. It felt like an eternity, but finally,
everything faded to black.

***

I awoke to
something ice cold dripping onto my forehead. I was completely
alone in pitch blackness, but I could sense it was daylight. The
irritating drip persisted. I struggled to move my head away, but I
was pinned down by something heavy. My arms were tied above my
head, and it was cold in the room.

After a couple of
minutes of futile struggling, I prayed for the intense pain of the
night before so unconsciousness would claim me again. My arms
ached, and the rope was so tight that my wrists burned with pain.
The dripping was the worst; my head ached from it, but I couldn’t
even move a centimetre to ease the relentless pain.

After an hour, I
was sobbing, and by the time a couple more hours had gone by, I
felt like I was going insane. I couldn’t relax for a second, unsure
when the vampires or their human servants would come back—if they
ever did. I shivered with a chill, and each movement felt like
another kick in the stomach.

My arms had gone
thankfully numb, but I had a persistent fear they weren’t there at
all. My head pounded until I wanted to scream, but my throat was so
dry, nothing more than a croak came out of my mouth.

I was exhausted,
mentally and physically, but the waiting was the worst. It was so
dark, I was so alone, and I couldn’t sense a thing. I wept for what
seemed like hours. Each minute was both hopeful and devastatingly
anti-climatic as I waited for something to happen, someone to come,
somehow for it all to end. I couldn’t see a way out.

Night came at
last. I sensed the vampires awakening. The doors of the room
opened, flooding the place with light that burned my eyes. A figure
approached me. My eyes were too screwed up from the light to see
who it was, but I recognised the voice.

“How lovely to
see you, my dear,” Maximus said. “Did you have a nice
rest?”

I kept my eyes
closed. I couldn’t manage speaking.

“Get her out of
here, take her into the main room, and quench her
thirst.”

I wasn’t thirsty.
I wasn’t anything anymore. I wasn’t sure if I was alive. Hands
grabbed at me roughly, setting me free and carrying me off. The
light was too much for me to bear. My arms still existed. I could
tell by the sudden burning pain as blood rushed to my
fingertips.

I was barely
conscious by the time they lay me down on a flat surface. My
breathing sounded funny, harsh and jerky. I remembered my nose had
been broken, but the thought drifted idly around in my
head.

“Are you ready to
talk to me now?” Maximus said, pacing up and down. “Your
grandmother didn’t call, I’m afraid. Perhaps she had a heart attack
on the way.”

I heard his
words, but they flitted about my brain, never quite holding down in
the one spot. They sounded slow, like they moved up and down a
spectrum of sound, each one echoing until all of the words had been
heard. His voice bounced around my brain until, finally, I
understood.

“Get her a drink,
I said!” Maximus shouted, sounding furious. I drifted off only to
be woken by a warm splattering of liquid on my parched lips. I
licked then opened my mouth willingly, letting a stream of blood
fall down my throat until I choked on it. The flow stopped, and I
coughed for a minute then licked at my lips steadily. Eventually, I
even managed to open my eyes, feeling less broken than
before.

“There she is,”
Maximus said, standing by my shoulder, rubbing his hands together
in delight. “Nice to see you back with us, my dear. Now, can you
talk?”

At first only a
dry, dusty sound came from my throat. Finally, I managed one word
as Maximus eagerly leaned over me to hear.

“Granny.”

He tutted. “I
told you, she’s gone. Now, tell me about your creator. Do you know
his name? Do you remember what happened?”

I nodded slowly,
feeling like every cell in my body was aching.

“Tell
me!”

“Fuck... you.” I
could barely hear myself, but apparently Maximus got the message
loud and clear. He thumped hard on my stomach. My body jerked of
its own accord as blood gurgled up into my mouth. I leaned my face
to one side and let the blood flow out of my mouth and down my
cheek. I was going to die.

Maximus picked up
a scalpel, but I didn’t have the energy to panic.

“Don’t you think
she’s had enough?” the blond vampire said. “We need her alive,
remember?”

Maximus squared
up to him, his nostrils flaring. The blond didn’t back off, but he
stayed silent as Maximus shouted in his face. “I decide when she’s
had enough!”

He returned to
the table, smiling brightly, and carefully drew the blade along my
stomach, cutting away my clothes, a little piece at a time. He
sliced my skin, lightly at first, then piercing jabs that jolted my
whole body. I closed my eyes, ignoring the pain. I heard Maximus
scream with fury, but I felt a cool breeze against my cheek and
retreated into myself.

His voice grew
distant as I concentrated on good things. Crushing on Peter, Carl
volunteering to stick around and help me, the sun on my skin,
chocolate, and the colour of daffodils in Spring. I smiled and
sensed Maximus going into a rage. He could hurt my body all he
liked, but my mind was safe, locked up in my own world. I drifted
away again, and this time I didn’t expect to wake back
up.

***