Seer: Thrall (34 page)

I could hear her crying.

Danette moved around her to the other girl. The girl looked up at Danette with frightened eyes, and tears were crawling down her cheeks, but she wasn't making any noises. Danette collected rope and said, "Give me your wrists."

The girl didn't resist. Sometimes it amused me when they resisted, but it never went well for them. It took her a moment, as she had partially tied her hands behind her, but she manage to shake loose and then offered her wrists, crossed in front of her. Danette changed them so they were held parallel, then she expertly tied them, just the way I liked.

There was a chain with a hook suspended over the stool. From the floor, Danette couldn't reach it, and she didn't know what to do. She looked over at me, and I could tell she was afraid she was disappointing me.

"Stand on the stool," I said.

"Yes, Mistress."

It was awkward for her, but she climbed up onto the stool, her feet next to the girl's buttocks, grabbed the chain with one hand, then ordered, "Give me your wrists."

The girl docilely held her wrists up. Danette secured them then turned to me while still standing there. "I don't know how to tighten the chain."

"There's a winch," I said. I pointed to the control near the wall. "Don't pull her arms out of the sockets."

Danette climbed down and walked to the winch. She was grinning. I watched as she figured out the controls, then she turned the handle that tightened the chain. With an expression of glee, she watched the girl as she did it.

She was a real bitch, my Danette.

Deep inside, I had a twinge.

"It's a dream," I said. "This is a dream. You're not Bistra. Wake up. Oh god, Solange, wake me up. Wake me up. Oh god, wake me up! Please wake me up. Wake me up. Oh please wake me up."

But then my own thoughts faded, and I was entirely Bistra again.

"That's enough," I said. "I told you not to pull her arms out of the sockets."

"Yes, Mistress." She gave the girl one more look then hurried to stand in front of me, her eyes downcast. "Which device is mine?"

"None," I said. "We're playing a new game, Danette." I paused. "Put the shoes on that one." I pointed.

"No!" the girl began screaming. "You promised. Mistress! No!" She began struggling against her restraints, but Danette had done a good job, and she couldn't free herself. She began to keen and loudly cry.

Danette moved to the supply cabinet and found the metal shoes. She returned to the first girl and knelt behind her. The girl tried to squirm her feet away, and Danette fought with her.

I pushed off from the wall and crossed the room, kneeling down in front of the girl so she could see my eyes. "For every second it takes Danette to put those on you, you get a second of the torch held to them."

She immediately stopped fighting, but her keening grew louder. I think Danette took her time putting the shoes on the girl, but soon they were in place and secured. Danette stood up and headed back to the supply cabinet, presumably for the torch.

"No," I said. "That's not the game."

I reached up and pinched the girl's face. "Are you listening to me?"

She nodded and tried to stop sniffling. "Thank you! Thank you for not burning me."

"Good girl," I said. I patted her cheek. I stood and looked at the other one. "Are you listening, too?"

She nodded frantically. "Yes, Mistress."

"This is the game," I said. "Tonight, you are both dying. One of you will die with my fangs in her neck, in as much bliss as I can give you. The other Danette gets to torture to death."

They both began begging and protesting.

"One more word!" I said. "And she gets to torture both of you."

They shut up.

"That's more like it," I said. "Does one of you want to volunteer to be tortured to death? Danette is very creative. I'm sure you'll experience things you've never experienced before." I looked back and forth between them. Danette was eyeing me hungrily.

Neither of them volunteered. I hadn't expected them to.

"Well then, we have to pick. I think it should be a contest. The first one to have an orgasm gets to die in bliss." I turned to Danette. "You may do whatever you want to this one." I pointed to the first girl. "If you make her come, then later I will do anything to you that you ask. If I do not believe you have done the very best you can to help her win this competition, then before she dies, I will do to you anything she tells me to do. I do not imaging biting you will be part of what she demands. And then later, I will suspend you from your arms and begin to lower you into the vat. Slowly. You'll scream for days."

The vat was how I got rid of bodies. It was filled with lye. Danette might enjoy most of the things I did to her, but she wouldn't want to die that way.

I turned to the other girl. She was already trying to rub herself off against the dildo upon which she was impaled. I didn't think it would work, and so I didn't punish her for starting early.

I never liked her, anyway.

I knelt down in front of the first girl one more time. She looked at me with fear. "If you come, I'll remove the shoes."

Then I stood back up. "I'll know if either of you lied. Danette, I'll know if you've done your best. Begin."

"Wake up!" I said. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

I watched as Danette moved behind her girl. She was smiling. Then she moved underneath her, looking up at her. She was actually gentle as she reached up and caressed the girl's face.

"Do you want to win?" she asked the girl.

The girl nodded frantically. "Please help me. Oh god, please help me."

I was actually surprised. Danette was... kind. She reached up a hand behind the girl's head then levered herself up and kissed her very gently. I couldn't tell if the girl kissed her back, but the kiss lingered.

When she pulled away, Danette asked her, "Is there anything you would like me to do?"

"I don't know," the girl said. "Your hands. Your... your mouth? Oh my god, she expects us to come like this? How can she expect us to come?"

"Shh," said Danette. "Close your eyes. Close your eyes, Jerri." Danette stroked the girls face. I couldn't see if she closed her eyes, but I imagined she did. I watched avidly. "You're a beautiful girl, Jerri," Danette said, her voice gentle. "So soft and sweet. I've wanted you since I first saw you. I'm in love with you. I'm sorry I didn't tell you that before."

"You... you are?"

"Yes," she said.

She continued to speak gently to the girl. It was all very endearing, but I wanted her to get with it.

I didn't interfere. I would let the game play out.

I glanced at the other girl. She wasn't getting anywhere, but she sure was trying, riding up and down. She didn't have enough play to free herself from her position, but she could get some real motion going. I wondered how long she would last like that.

I looked over, and Danette was kissing Jerri again, then nuzzling along her face and whispering in her ear. I heard every word.

"I am very good," she whispered. "And I want you so badly. I'll take care of you."

"Wake up!" I screamed. "Wake up!"

Danette was taking her time. I wasn't sure she was doing the best she could. But I wasn't going to fault her. As good as Danette was at giving me what I wanted, maybe she would know what this girl wanted, too.

"Wake up!" I tried closing my eyes, but I couldn't. Instead, I leaned closer and watched Danette kiss the doomed girl.

The other girl gave a gasp, and Jerri cried out. "Please, Danette. Help me!"

"Shh," Danette said. "Trust me. I play to win, baby. I'll take good care of you, but you have to want me. You want me, don't you baby. Think about how good it's going to feel. It's going to be so good."

"Please, Danette. Please touch me."

The other girl gave another gasp, but I thought she was faking it. I moved around behind her and whispered into her ear, "Worry about yourself."

She turned her face to me. "Please, Mistress. It's not working. Please, it's not working!"

"Try harder," I said. "Think about the bliss when I feed from you."

And then I stepped away.

The dream stuttered, and then I was watching Danette. She had moved behind Jerri and had her tongue buried inside the girl. Jerri was starting to moan, but I didn't know if she was going to be able to forget her situation enough to enjoy Danette's delightful tongue.

The other girl seemed to have given up. She was slumped from her arms, panting. Every once in a while, she wriggled, but I was sure she wasn't any closer than she had been.

"Please, God, please don't make me watch anymore."

The dream stuttered again. I was drenched in blood. I must have practically bathed in it. Danette was at the supply cabinet, and I saw her remove a circlet, a type of crown. I knew it fit over the victims head, and then there were screws that could tighten, and tighten, and tighten.

And I heard screaming.

"Solange!" I screamed, sitting bolt upright. Immediately I was sobbing. "Solange!"

She was there immediately, climbing into bed with me, holding me against her as I sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed.

"Shh," she said. "Shh. Safe now. All over. Safe now. Safe. Safe. No one will hurt you. I'll protect you. Safe, Sidney."

"She has to die. She has to die. She has to die!"

"She will." She held me tightly, rocking me back and forth.

I clung to her, crying, for a long time. She held me the entire time, whispering to me, crooning gently.

I began telling her the dream, skipping all the details. "It was horrible, so horrible."

"I know," she said.

"She killed those girls," I said. "I think she killed the man, too. We made her kill them."

"No, honey, we did not. She was going to kill them, anyway, and probably just as horribly."

I pushed away, and she had tissues waiting for me. I tried to clean up. Then I told her about the phone call. Solange smiled widely.

"She's no match for Gideon, not in his own territory. It would be dangerous for him to invade her home, but in Atlanta, I do not believe there's a vampire alive he should fear."

"She's not going to go after him," I said.

"No, but she made an enemy. They both know someone is playing with them, but now Gideon knows she is unhinged. If someone told him who we were, he would be obliged to act against us, but he's not going to come looking."

"What do you think they'll decide?"

"That one of her own vampires has turned traitor. She'll probably purge them." She paused. "Honey, we're going to have to know."

I sighed. "Will it help stop her?"

"I'm so sorry."

"Hold me for a while longer." I closed my eyes and pulled her to me. "Just hold me."

We shifted around on the bed and curled together. She was still wearing my robe. I had thrown the covers away, but she pulled them up around us and held me to her, murmuring gently.

"Do you need the details?" I asked.

"No, but we need more drawings. Can you do it?"

"Yes," I said. "You're going to have to help. You're going to have to ask questions." I started to cry again. "I'm making you ask horrid questions."

"Shh," she said. "We're in this together, Sidney."

"I don't want these dreams, Solange. I want happy dreams."

"I know, honey. I know."

It was some time later that Aubree slipped into the room. "Is she all right?"

"Yes," said Solange.

"Amanda and Cadence are both here. Sidney, do you want us to use your computer? And where?"

"Yes," I said. "Library."

"I'll take care of it."

"Ask Amanda to shut it down before you move it. She has an account and should know how. The password is just her first name in lower case."

"We'll be down in a few minutes," Solange said. "Is there a fire?"

"And hot tea," Aubree said as she slipped from the room.

I continued to cling to Solange, still deeply upset, although my heart had slowed down by now.

"I'm a scared little girl," I told her.

"Honey," she said. "No. She's truly a horrible creature. You wouldn't be human if this didn't upset you."

I laid my head on her shoulder for a moment then said, "We should go down. Will you let me have your blood later?"

"Yes, honey, all you want. And then I'll help you sleep."

"Will you stay with me?"

"If I'm invited."

She helped me from the bed. There was a robe waiting for me, but I headed for the bathroom first. I took care of everything, even washing my face before I stepped out. Solange was waiting and helped me into the robe. Then, together, with me still clinging to her desperately, we headed downstairs.

When we arrived in the library, there were three worried faces. They stood up and turned to me. Solange led me to Amanda, who pulled me into a hug, and I held her tightly for a minute or two.

"Thank you for coming tonight," I whispered. "I know it's late."

She squeezed more tightly and whispered into my ear, "Let Solange take care of you."

I decided I was going to.

She and I sat down on the sofa. The vampires collected behind us, and I felt hands on my shoulders and neck. When I turned around, Solange and Aubree were touching me, and Cadence had her hands on Amanda.

"It's bad," I said. "It's very, very bad."

"I know," Amanda replied. "Tell me about the people."

"She got the drawings we sent," I said. "They arrived FedEx, addressed from Atlanta." I looked over my shoulder. "Clever." Solange nodded.

"She went insane with anger. We should draw that. There was a human. Garrett. I think he's dead. He was nearly wetting himself when he gave her the envelope. She screamed for a while, then called someone named Gideon."

"The Master of Atlanta."

I went through the dream, just the high level details. I briefly described the three women, and what she had done to them, only in high level terms.

I was trembling before I was done. I looked over my shoulder at Solange. "Please hold me."

She bent over and wrapped her arms around me from behind, and I laid my head against one arm, clasping her wrists in front of me.

"Let's start with the three girls," Solange said.

"Danette first then," I said.

* * * *

It took hours. Amanda drew the three women from my description. From time to time, Solange asked more questions about them, and she was very good. We figured out their relative heights and body types and smaller details, like the shape of their hands. Then Amanda did several drawings with less effort from me, not using too many details. She did a drawing of each woman in her cell and then the women running down into the torture room.

We did two drawings of Jerri bent over the bench and two of the other woman on the stool. One of them we extrapolated and showed her lowering herself onto the stool. I closed my eyes through much of it.

We did one more of Danette holding that crown near the end of the dream.

Then we backed up and Amanda did two drawings of Garrett, one of him flying through the air after Bistra hit him and another of him crumpled on the floor. Then she did a final drawing of Bistra on the phone, her fangs out, and she was clearly screaming in rage.

"That's good," Solange said at the end. "Sidney, what did she say to Gideon?"

"Um." I thought about it. "She threatened the human who answered the phone. Something about ripping her throat out. And she called Gideon a bastard and threatened to come to Atlanta. I think she said something about a sword."

"All right," said Solange. "Amanda, add a caption to the phone call drawing. 'You bastard, Gideon. I'm coming for you.' "

"Are we done?" I asked.

"We're done," Solange said. "But I need you to put everything on the removable drive and scrub that machine."

"May I scrub it tomorrow?"

"Take it off the network and leave it off the network until it's scrubbed. You don't know who is able to do what. And in the future, take it off the network when we start doing drawings."

I nodded. I took the mouse from Amanda, and it took only seconds to disable the wireless. "Done."

I leaned back and pulled Solange's arms around me again. But I looked over my shoulder at Cadence. "You haven't said what you think."

"I was skeptical about this when we discussed it," she said. "I'm not skeptical anymore. Solange, are all other vampires like this?"

"No," she said. "Bistra Miladinova is not unique in her depravity, but she's not the norm, either. I'd say the majority of vampires have little empathy for humans, but only a small percentage are depraved. The rest see humans primarily as food and tools, but they aren't driven to cruelty."

"I'm glad it was you who I met, then," Cadence said. She bent over and kissed Amanda on the top of the head. "And that this one lets me keep her."

We climbed to our feet. Amanda and I looked at each other. She looked tired, and I was sure I looked to be a wreck. We closed the short distance and hugged fiercely. A few moments later, Cadence was collecting her. "Take care of her," I said.

"I will," Cadence said. "Get some sleep, Sidney."

Solange stepped up behind me, wrapping her arms around me. Aubree saw Cadence and Amanda out for us, returning after just a minute or two.

"Are you all right?"

I shook my head. "No." I turned in Solange's arms and buried my face against her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around me and held me. We stayed like that for a minute, then I turned back to look at Aubree. "She promised to stay with me, but if the two of you want to talk, I don't mind."

"I'm going to sleep, too," Solange said. "It's therapeutic."

She turned me, and we headed to the stairs. Behind us, Aubree moved around, turning off lights. When we got to the door, Aubree said, "Sidney. You're being very brave."

"I don't feel brave," I replied. "I'm so scared."

"Being brave is doing what needs to be done even in the face of fear," Aubree countered. "That's what you are doing."

I turned to face her, smiling tentatively. "Thank you."

Then I let Solange lead me upstairs. We climbed into bed together, getting comfortable. She lay on her back, and I let her cradle me with my head against her shoulder.

"Honey, I need to calm down a little before I give you my blood."

"All right. Why?"

"Because you'll taste my emotions, and it won't be pleasure for you. I'm going to stroke you for a while, if you'll allow me."

I nodded and closed my eyes. A moment later, she began caressing me gently. It felt nice, and I sighed. She brushed her fingers through my hair, caressed my face and neck, and spoke soothingly to me. It all felt nice, and I felt myself relax a little. Behind me, I could feel the tension leaving her body as well.

"Still with me?" she asked a while later.

"Mmm," I replied.

She shifted a little, and a moment later her wrist was against my lips. I opened immediately and began drinking, drawing heavily, hungrily.

"Take as much as you want, Sidney," she whispered. "I'll take care of you. You have nothing to worry about. Drink, and in a while I'll help you sleep. You'll have the best dreams, baby."

The warmth hit immediately, just like it always did, and the bliss spread outward. She tasted heavenly, and I moaned with the pleasure while drinking heavily. But then I was sucking on a healed wrist, and I whimpered.

She reopened it for me, and then again.

And I didn't have a thought but the ones she whispered into my ear.

* * * *

I had good dreams all right. Oh boy, did I have good dreams.

* * * *

I was still high when I woke. I was curled against Solange, my head on her shoulder and my body pressed against her side. The covers were pulled up to my chin, and I felt so good.

"Good morning," she said. She must have noticed my breathing had changed.

"Mmm," I said. I wasn't sure if I could pull together a thought more complicated than that.

"It's about nine," she said. "You haven't had enough sleep, but I think we should get up anyway."

I wrapped around her a little, voting "no" with my body.

"Little vixen," she said. "If you manage to get out of bed under your own power, I won't carry you to the shower and throw you in."

"You wouldn't," I said. "That's just mean."

She chuckled. "Perhaps, but the threat is helping you wake up, isn't it?"

It seems she was wrong, as my thoughts drifted, and the next thing I remember, she was standing beside the bed wearing my bathrobe. She gently pulled the covers from me and then began undressing me. I didn't even resist her, but I did manage to say, "We don't have this kind of relationship."

She got me entirely naked then slid her arms under me, picking me up. I threw mine around her neck and laid my head against her shoulder.

"Solange?"

She carried me into the bathroom, and I really started to wake up, tightening my grip around her neck.

"No! Solange!"

"Hush. Hot bubble bath."

I tried to decide how I felt about that and didn't come to a conclusion before she was lowering me into the water. But then I refused to let go of her neck. "Join me," I said.

She pried my arms from around her neck then adjusted me in the water. I looked up at her, blinking. I pointed at her, my finger held just under my chin. "Take those off and join me."

"Oh honey," she said. "You are still so high."

"So? Don't be a buzz kill."

She bent over and kissed my forehead. "If I did, I think you'd be very angry when you come down."

I splashed water and bubbles at her. "Come in and play. We can play 'find the rubber ducky'."