Stolen Soul

After immersing herself in the beginners section of the large tome of ice magic, Maddison realised that it was getting darker.

"Wow, the sun is already going down", she murmured to herself.

‘Hopefully I won't need to use any of these spells tonight‘, she thought as she ran the incantations for the freezing spells through her mind.

--

After approaching the bar, she stepped inside and scanned the tables looking for Marcus.

As she was about to give up and find a seat to wait for him to show up, she noticed him at the back with a drink clutched in his hand as he talked to a rather bimbo-like looking woman. Other than noting her brown hair Maddison ignored her as she approached his table.

He looked up and noticed her and sighed to himself.

'I have no idea why I don't just get rid of this annoyance, she has much to learn', he thought.

"It was nice talking to you Marietta, but now you must go", said Marcus as he stared into her eyes.

"Ok, it was nice talking to you too Marcus", she replied as she got up and walked away as if in a trance.

Maddison slipped into her vacated seat and before she could say anything, Marcus said to her,

"What do you want?".

"To show you something, you obviously don't believe me when I say I can give you back your soul", said Maddison.

Marcus sneered at her and said, "I should drag you outside right now and kill you".

"Then why don't you?", asked Maddison almost challengingly and she mentally slapped herself for letting that out.

"Because, you’re rather amusing. I haven't met a witch or a human as foolish as you in a long time", said Marcus.

"Look at this book, this is where I found out about you", said Maddison as she pulled the ancient tome open to the page she had marked.

"What is this?", asked Marcus as he chuckled. "Why are you showing me a blank book?".

"It’s not blank", said Maddison puzzled as she looked at the writing clearly visible on the page.

"Well if its not blank, then there must be a witch enchantment on it because I can't see anything. Means you've wasted your visit", said Marcus.

"Alright then, I will read from it then. It was written by Grand Inquisitor Bourgeois, in 1745", said Maddison.

Marcus' eyes widened a little at the name.

"Is that name familiar to you at all?", asked Maddison

"No" said Marcus bluntly.

"Well it should be, this was written by the great-grandson of the only surviving member of the Inquisitorial Squad that was butchered outside a village near Paris in 1647", said Maddison.

Marcus slammed his hand down upon the table and looked right into her eyes.

He growled out, his fangs growing,

"If you ever come near me again, I will rip your throat out", and then he stormed off.

'Well, we’re making a lot more progress now', thought Maddison happily.

She shut the book and tucked it under her arm as she left the table to follow Marcus. She looked around for him but couldn’t see him anywhere.

‘Damn but he moves fast’, she thought as she tried to pick him out, oblivious to the stares she was getting from the vampire who had been the only one to survive from the night Marcus had saved her.

Maddison sighed and headed for the exit. Maybe Marcus had gone outside and had decided to head home.

She left the club and was walking down the alleyway when she was suddenly swept off her feet and thrown against the wall and she banged her head and let out a small cry of alarm just before she slipped into unconsciousness.

Marcus who was a street away heard her cry with his keen sense of hearing and he stopped and turned back to face the way he had come.

He knew Maddison was in trouble, could sense her fear like it was his own.

For a split second he warred with himself over what to do.

She was a nuisance, a hassle he didn’t need. He should never have saved her the first time so why did he feel compelled to go back and do it a second? He had never thought of himself as the kind of fool to play hero to a damsel in distress.

But she was a very desirable damsel…..but not a totally helpless one as she was a witch at the end of the day.

She was one stubborn woman and for the first time in decades, he experienced the stirrings of emotions.

Like a moth to a flame he felt himself drawn to her and he soon found himself back in the alleyway, his fangs bared as he took in the sight before him with barely controlled rage.

Maddison lay on the floor, her attacker hovering over her, his extended fangs inches from her delicate neck.

Marcus growled and flew at the other vampire, knocking him away from Maddison and into the wall.

“You were told that she was mine….what gives you the right to think you can take from her?”, he said and the other vampire grinned.

“She is no more yours than she is mine. You have not marked her so she does not have your protection”, he said and Marcus snarled.

“Marked or not she is mine and you will stay away from her or I will snuff you out and you will not see another night”.

“What’s so special about her? We could share her”, the other vampire said and then found a hand around his throat as Marcus grabbed him and smashed him against the wall again.

“I would not share the dirtiest whore with you let alone a woman like her….now get out of my sight”, Marcus threatened and the vampire snarled before glancing at Maddison momentarily and then disappearing down the alleyway.

Marcus sighed and then turned back to Maddison and knelt by her side.

He reached out and moved her hair away from her face, gasping as he saw that she had cut her forehead and he caught the scent of her blood.

His gaze travelled to her exposed neck and he felt his fangs distend in anticipation but something held him back once again.

‘Maybe if he just took a little from her…..just to mark her……at least then she would have his protection but he wouldn’t have to see her again’.

He bent his head to her but again found he couldn’t bring himself to sink his teeth into her.

Growling, angry with himself, he scooped her up into his arms and left the alleyway.

Against his better judgement he took her back to his house and once inside, placed her on his bed whilst he sat on a chair by the window, staring at her as she lay motionless.

He sat for what seemed like hours. He knew the night was passing him by and that the chance to feed was slipping away, unless he took from the woman before him that was.

He wondered once again why he hadn’t gotten rid of her yet and as the other vampire had said ‘what was so special about her'?’.

‘Nothing’ he told himself. ‘There was absolutely nothing special about his witch’.

He moved over and sat at her side, his fingers trailing up her bare arms and up over her shoulders to the soft skin of her neck.

He felt his fangs begin to grow as he felt her pulse beating strongly beneath his finger tips and he moved over her, the lower half of his body pressing against hers as he lowered his mouth to her neck.

As his teeth merely grazed her skin he was shocked to realize that the hunger he felt for feeding was slowly being replaced by something else……..the hunger for sex.

Maddison stirred and tried to move her head to one side but she felt her cheek come into contact with someone else’s and she frowned and moaned softly as she felt her head begin to throb painfully.

Marcus raised his head as he felt her move and he watched as Maddison slowly opened her eyes and struggled to focus.

He remained silent as he watched the play of emotions cross her face.

Pain, confusion, realisation and then finally panic.

She pushed ineffectually at his chest.

“Ma…..Marcus…..what are you doing? Where are we?”, she managed, her eyes unable to leave his fangs.

“We are in my home and I do believe I told you that if I ever saw you again I would rip your throat out”, he replied and felt Maddison stiffen beneath him.

“You……wouldn’t?”, she whispered.