Glamour Bites

They say that when you think things can’t be worse, just think of the worse case scenario and you’ll know you’ll be ok. I don’t see how my situation could have gotten any worse.



All I could see was a bare stone wall. My naked body pressed against it told me that it wasn’t the cleanest of walls and had been around for more years than I had. Mold and slimier things pressed against my bare breasts as I tried to look behind me and failed, only managing to realize how much of a bind I was in.



I hung loosely in the heavy, fur lined chains and tried to assess the damage before deciding on what to do. I didn’t appear to be bleeding, though the bite on my neck was still sore, and nothing appeared to be broken, but the chains had some kind of spell on them that even my preternatural strength could not break.



I tried to look around the room again and growled in frustration. The room was in total darkness. Darkness so complete that even my vampyre eyes could not pierce the blackness around me. I could still hear through the darkness and was thankful of that, though there was only the heavy drip, drip of blood hitting the ground.



I dug my legs into the cracks between the stone and made my way up the wall enough so that my mouth was even with my shackles. I bit the cuff and gasped at the magic flowing through the metal of them. The metal, not the stone.

I smiled slightly to myself and braced my hands into fist around the shackles, hitting the wall as hard as I could. The stone gave and I fell to the ground, landing nimbly on my feet.



I used the sound of my fall as a sort of sonar to get my bearings. Four walls, a door on my far left, and some cloth like material on a table in the corner. Seemed simple enough, but why did I still hear dripping blood? There was no one else in the room as far as I could tell.



I shook my head and made my way over to the table, feeling the cloth material and sighing in relief as I felt the leather of my clothes. I pulled them on quickly in the dark, wishing I had weapons in here too. Now to find a way out of this prison without alerting anyone to my new freedom.



I walked to the door in the darkness and examined the door knob with my hands. It was simple enough and had no magical booby traps on it. But if I simple used my strength, I’d let everyone within a hundred feet of this door know where I was. Maybe a psychic blast could soften the blow, but did I have enough power to do that right now? How long had I been out? If I haven’t fed in a few days, there was no guarantee that this would work. I took a deep breath and braced myself to try it anyway.



I bit my lip as I put a psychic shield out around myself and the door before kicking the lock. I was in a fighting stance before the door hit the wall beyond it, but there was no one running at me with guns or blades.



I looked around the corner quickly, but again there was no one. Fear and confusion started to rise in my stomach as I continued down the hall without running into a single person. In all my years I had never been captured where

there no one was guarding me. It was just weird.



Mold and old blood were the only things I could smell as I continued down the damp stone hallway. I used all the skills I had to find someone, anyone, along these hallways and there was nothing. It was like being in the twilight zone.



I came around a corner and threw myself against a wall as I spotted a large wooden door. Again, there were no guards around, though the area smelled heavily of vampyres. I took a deep breath and growled, scenting one particular vampyre.



I could remember very little after leaving St. Katherine’s, but I now knew that I hadn’t made it to Cassi’s and just who had kidnapped me. He was about to know just what it meant to wake up in a strange place, naked and tied to a wall.



Oh my gods! I had been naked. What did he do to me? I had to get out of here and find out where I was. The only way out seemed to be the door before me and I didn’t know what lie beyond it.



Only one way to find out. I walked up to the door and laid my whole body against it, listening to the sounds behind the door. All I could hear was the sound of birds, which either meant an underground bird sanctuary or the outside.



I tried the doorknob and it was locked, but I wasn’t about to give up. I shocked the door with my whole body, putting all my strength into it, and it gave a little. Three hits later, the door gave way and I walked into the noonday sun.



I sighed and walked farther into the light, letting the burn from the sun fill me with relief. I knew where I was, but I didn’t like it very much. Andreas had a small house just outside of the city that everyone knew about. It had a stone basement and he often took his victims there. I knew that I had just escaped from that den, but I was trying not to think too much about my time spent in there.



Walking down the road, I found a pay phone about a mile from the place and dialed the office. The phone rang for what felt like eternity before Karma answered, her voice cheerful. “Glamour Hunt Incorporated, how may I direct your call?”



I sighed and found my voice for the first time that day, finding it harsh and small. “Karm, it’s Alexia. I need a pick up at Quinlan’s ranch outside of town.”



“What in the world are you doing at Quinlan’s place? He’s the bad guy, A. I know you normally like the bad boys, but isn’t that going a little overboard?”



“Teasings are not going to settle well with me today, Karma. After I left St. Katherine’s, I headed to Cassi’s for treatment. I never made it. I don’t remember what happened, but I woke up tied naked to a wall in his dungeon. I’m frightened and I need help.” I felt the tears in my voice a second before they slid down my cheeks.



Through the phone line I could hear shuffling a second before Karma yelled at Mike to cancel all appointments for the afternoon. “I’ll be there in five minutes, Alexia. Just hold tight and I’ll be there with backup and bells on.”



The phone went dead in my hand and I hung up, knowing that she would be here in less than five minutes. She knew what it meant for me to show any emotion or to admit that I was frightened. I had long ago learned that you never admitted to fear, because it would likely be the end of you, but today I hurt all over and had woken up somewhere I didn’t belong. I was scared.



* * *



I had been on the ground with my legs pulled up to my chest when Karma had arrived. She had taken me and placed me in her sports car before driving back to Andreas’s house and doing a thorough search of the premises, including my prison. I had sat in the car, weak and afraid of seeing where exactly I had been kept.



After nearly an hour of searching, I had all my belongings back, as well as my Jeep and the knowledge that I had been the only prisoner in the dungeon that night, though there was evidence that I hadn’t been the only one this week.



I tried to get Karma to just let me drive my car home, but she wanted me to get checked out first, so she took me to the DIT doctor, wanting him to look me over and make sure that my mental state was well enough for me to continue with my work, as I wanted.



Dr. Malcolm Vaughn was a psychiatrist as well as a medical doctor. He was a handsome man in his late thirties with a head full of dark hair streaked with grey and dark grey eyes. He always had warm hands and knew me better than any of the other hunters in Glamour Hunts Inc because he had stitched me up more than he had the others. Not to mention that he had been to my house for dinner multiple times.



He brushed my hair off of shoulder and shined a light in my eyes. I guess he didn’t like what he saw because he sat back and looked at me, scrutinizing. “Before I continue with this examination, I need to know exactly what happened, Alexia.”



I sighed and looked at my hands. “I don’t know, Malcolm. One minute I was heading to Cassiopeia’s to get treatment for a vampyre bite, and the next I woke up naked and in pain changed to a wall in a room with dripping blood. I ache all over and just want to be told that I’m ok. Can you do that, Malcolm? Tell me that I’m ok?”



Malcolm sighed and shook his head. “Let’s have a look at you and then we’ll be able to tell you that you’re ok. Take off your clothes so we can make sure that you have no marks that don’t belong.”



I had no problem taking my clothes off in front of Malcolm, having done it many times to get numerous burns and wounds checked out. He flinched as I removed my pants and I looked down, seeing the dirt and blood all over my body.



Starting to panic, I took his hand and was led into the back room with the showers. He took various samples of the dirt and blood that littered my body and sent them to the lab, needing to see if any of the blood was mine.



After a quick shower in which he kept his back to me, he turned and started to look over my body to see if there were any extras injuries sustained in the incident. He ran his hand along my thigh and I flinched, feeling pain run up my leg. “Don’t do that!”



He looked up at me and sighed. “You’ve been, um, well …” He stopped and looked me in the eye and I knew what had happened, even without him saying, but he said it anyway. “You’ve been sexually assaulted, Alexia. You have a vampyre bite on your thigh as well. Whoever did this to you, wanted to mark you.”



I nodded, knowing that it had been Andreas. He had wanted me for years, and the only way he could have me was to kidnap me and rape me while I was unconscious. It made perfect sense in a way. I wouldn’t give him my body if I was conscious, so he had found another way.



I barely made it to the sink to pour all the contents of my stomach out. He had raped me. I had been raped. I was tainted. I moved back to the table and pulled the blanket he wrapped around me tighter and shuttered. I needed Cassi, but she wouldn’t awake for another few hours. This was going to be a long day.



“Are you ok, Alexia? Do you need something? Anything?” His kindness sometimes overwhelmed me, but I didn’t need anything but quiet and to be alone right now.



I shook my head and stood, grabbing the clothes Karma had brought me to change into. I slipped the blue jeans and midriff shirt on and looked back at Malcolm as he watched me. “I just need to be alone to think about everything, Malcolm. I need to try to remember last night. You know me. I’m a trooper.”



I shook his hand and he pulled me into a friendly hug. “If you need anything, Alexia, don’t hesitate to all. I’m your friend as much as I am your doctor. Remember that.”



I smiled, feeling the tears come to my eyes. “I know, Malcolm, I know. Maybe when I get back on my feet you and David can come over and have dinner with me and Cassi. We love it when you come with us, even if Cassi doesn’t eat anything and David eats too much.”



I smiled as he nodded, releasing me. “David would love that. We have do few girlfriends. And every once in a while I want to hear about killing someone, and not fashion or design.”



“Oh you know you love to hear about that stuff, Malcolm. It’s what you gay guys just love to do.” I smiled wider, loving to tease Malcolm about the stereotyping that all homosexual guys seemed to face. It was one of the things that made us friends, though I only saw him when I was hurt or he needed a break from DIT.



“If I wouldn’t have to stitch you up, I’d cut you for that remark.” His grey eyes flashed with humor and he sighed. “I’m serious, Alexia. If you need me, call. I have to get to the victims of last night’s fiasco. I still need to give a few of them the second treatment. Be careful on your way home.”



“I will, Malcolm. Don’t worry.” I stood on tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek and headed out the door with my bag in tow.



I was met by Mike in the hallway. He was greener than usual and wearing rumpled jeans and a T-shirt with a large rip across the bottom of it. I had known him for years and only known him to wear suits.



He stood as soon as I was out the door and walked toward me, hugging me tight before quickly pulling away. “You had me so worried, Lexi. I was worried that I would have to find another hunter.”



I knew that in Mike speak that was true concern, so I smiled and kissed him on the forehead. “Don’t worry about me, Mike. I’m perfectly alright. I just need a day to rest then I’ll be back on the job.”



He nodded, obviously relieved, and smiled. “Take as much time as you need. The band of vampyres that you and Cass were supposed to infiltrate turned out to be the same band that you and Karma killed last night. You are free for a while.”



I nodded and said my goodbyes, avoiding Karma, and headed to my Jeep. I crawled into the comfort of my familiar territory and pulled out of the parking garage, heading toward Cassi’s house. I didn’t know what I was going to tell her, but I knew that I had to get there and I had to get there now.



My thought process was interrupted by the sound of my phone ringing, though and I pulled over, digging through my bags to find it, answering it with a breathless, “Hello?”



For a moment, there was nothing, then a soft voice came from the other end. “Alexia? This is Ian Donne. You told us to call and check up with you each week. Is this a bad time?”



I sighed and leaned my head against the headrest of my Jeep. “Actually, it was a rough night and I’m just now heading home. You didn’t have to call for at least a week.”



“I know I didn’t have to call, but I was wondering if you wanted to get together sometime for lunch or something, but since you’re busy, I guess I’ll call you back.”



He sounded so sweet and concerned, just like the little boy I had known as a little girl. “I would love to get together with you for lunch, Ian, but I’m going to be busy this week. But I have a question for you though. A friend of mine wants to see your band perform on Friday night.”



“And you want tickets, right?”



I smiled to myself and responded quietly. “Um, yes, actually, I would like tickets. Sounds fan girlish, I know, but Cassiopeia is kind of a fan girl.”



“Don’t worry about it, Alexia. I’ll get you and your friend backstage passes. Consider it a gift for helping us. Come about an hour early and we’ll all go out to dinner, if you would like that is.”



“That sounds great, Ian. I’ll see you Friday.” I hung up and turned my head just in time to see the cop pull up behind me in my side mirror. Great, just what I needed. I wonder what I had done.



I pulled my badge and waited for the police officer to come even with my door. When he got to the back of the Jeep he told me to put my hands on the steering wheel and I flashed the badge over my shoulder. “US Marshall Alexia Mooren. Is there anything I can do for you officer?”



He seemed to visibly relax as he shook his head. “No, ma’am. We’d just had some people pulling over on the road lately and doing drug deals. I was curious as to why you were here.”



“I was merely taking a phone call, Officer. I don’t like to talk on my cell phone and drive at the same time.”



“Thank you for that, Marshall. Most people get into car accidents while being on a cell phone. Thank for your time.”



“No, Officer, thank you for your concern.” I started the Jeep and pulled onto the road, watching the officer in my mirror. There was something about him that didn’t sit right with me, but at least I had Friday to look forward to now. I just had to figure out what was going on at my life at the moment pray I had a solution for everything that was going on, whether good or bad.