Bloodseeker - Colin's Conquest Part 5

"Can you think of a better explanation?"

Walking over to the mantle, he rested his elbow there and ran his fingers through his mop of black curls.

"I knew Joanna was the one for me when she broke through my spell and touched my hair, a strong will. Plus, she gave me the headache."

"The headache?"

Drawing a deep breath, Colin approached him and touched his forehead about an inch above his nose.

"Your blood seeker's soul is here, Ben. We feel each other here as well, the third eye, the seat of our souls, the pineal gland where lamiartis is formed. Without this, no human could become as we are. You had it or you would not have survived. Little is known about the pineal gland in humans and what purpose it serves. We know, however, that it lacks the gene that makes us what we are and without it we would not be here."

He paced the room, agitated by something. Ben could see the muscle working in his creator's jaw, a sure sign that something made him uneasy.

"What's the matter, Colin?"

Running his fingers through his hair again, he turned to Ben."Even though I know this, there is still only a small chance that Joanna will make it through the transformation. I have done everything that my creator instructed me to do, but how will I make her care for me, that stubborn woman in there? Your chosen one must give herself to you body and soul. She must love you even though you are a killer of her kind, a vicious, bloodthirsty night stalker. She must offer her life's blood to you simply because she loves you more than life itself or there is no chance for transformation."

Ben chuckled, forgetting himself. "Now who's being melodramatic?"

Colin pursed his lips and was about to retort at Ben's unwise remark when a loud crash echoed through the house. Looking at each other, the two sighed at the same moment, then turned to go to Joanna's room.

The dance begins again.

Six

Colin stared, enthralled with the daintiness of her limbs and her sluggish human movements. He could not remember ever seeing a woman so perfect before. Many a beauty had pa.s.sed before his eyes, but none to equal Joanna. The way she moved, the way she spoke, the way she thought, those were the things he saw when he gazed at her.

Kneeling, she piled the smaller pieces of the broken bowl into the one remaining large piece, unaware of her silent audience watching her from the doorway. She finished her task and glanced around for something to put the bowl fragments in, her eyes jerking to and fro, like a thief watching for the police. She looked past the door once without seeing them, intent on finding a hiding place for her accident. Then, she did a double take and turned back to the door, crus.h.i.+ng the shards of stoneware against her blouse in an attempt to s.h.i.+eld them from their view. The adrenaline flowed in her bloodstream, increasing her heartbeat and respiration.

"I'm sorry." She stuttered, her breath catching in her throat. "I fell asleep ... the bowl was in my lap...."

Without warning, Colin felt the vibration in his forehead, starting as a dull ache that intensified as Joanna grew more frightened. She didn't even realize her own power.

He winced from the pain, squinting at her through crinkled eyebrows.

"What is it?" Close to panic now, her face blanched. "What's the matter?" Joanna panted, her fear escalating.

"COLIN!".

The now pounding headache and the sound of his name distracted him from the divine smell of her fresh blood. He shook his head from side to side and backed away, one slow dragging step after another, pulling Ben with him until they stood once again in the doorway. The pain in his head lessened as they moved farther away from Joanna until it just vibrated behind his sinuses. With his hand still gripping Ben's elbow, Colin lifted his arm and pressed the captive elbow to his forehead.

Ben winced from the pain of having his arm in such a position. At least it distracted him from the smell of Joanna's t.i.tillating blood fragrance. Her blood attracted him like no other had before. Nothing normal about her at all.

Colin lowered Ben's arm, looking at it like he had no idea how it managed to be in his hand, then lifted his eyes to Joanna's frightened face.

"Joanna." Colin's voice a silken thread of sound that coaxed her into compliance with the simple use of her name.

"Joanna, your hand, you have injured your hand."

Still she crouched unmoving, her eyes wide and staring. A tear slipped over her lashes and slid down her cheek and the blood seekers both heard the faint whimper forming deep in her throat, although no sound left her lips.

Colin clicked his tongue against his teeth, then spun on his heel and pressed Ben out of the room.

"Please leave us Ben. Wait for me outside." Colin's gentle words took the sting out of his request. With a curt nod of his head, the young one complied.

Colin moved toward Joanna, taking small steps to avoid startling her. He kneeled in front of her frozen body, his movements slow ... rea.s.suring. The headache roared but he ignored it, knowing that if he calmed her fears, his headache would also lessen.

"Here, let me see." With gentle care, he pried her rigid arms away from her chest and removed the broken bowl from her bleeding hand. Colin tossed the fragments on the floor out of her reach without letting go of her forearm, being very careful not to bruise her with his immense strength. Despite his tenderness, Joanna stared wide-eyed at his hand like it would devour her.

"Everything is all right, Joanna. Your blood indeed sings to me, but we are not savages to lose control over a small cut." One corner of his mouth raised in a half grin when she lifted her head to meet his gaze. With tender strokes, he pushed the hair out of her face and continued crooning to her as he dropped his hand from her face to her injured hand.

With his gaze still locked with hers, he brought her bleeding hand up to his lips. A small, but deep cut oozed from the tender area between her thumb and forefinger. Watching her expression, he licked the trails of blood from her hand, then locked his mouth to the wound and sucked, moaning with pleasure.

His buzzing headache vanished.

A slight smile touched her lips and she relaxed against the bed, laying her head back on the mattress. The sensual movement of Colin's lips on her hand sent goose b.u.mps up her arms, and despite her prior fear she found that she loved to feel his mouth touch her skin. All too soon, he dropped her hand and pulled away. She frowned at him as he stood and pulled her to her feet.

"I must go." With a gentle touch of his fingertips on her lips, he left her room.

"You bit her again didn't you creator?" Colin ignored Ben and pulled his keys from his pocket, locking the back door. Turning, he saw the hunger in his eyes as Ben smelled the lingering blood on his lips.

"I felt the tingle ... here." Ben touched his forehead with awe. "Did she cause this?"

"Yes, yes she did. She does not realize what she does. She uses her pineal gland without even knowing. You do the same, young one."

"Huh?"

"We hunt together tonight. Let us be off," Colin took off through the trees towards town.

Ben said nothing about his creator's abnormal behavior. They never hunted together, choosing instead to s.p.a.ce the kills far apart to avoid arousing suspicion. Tonight the blood l.u.s.t grew strong, Joanna's small wound had inflamed their senses and the thirst raged.

As they ran, Colin's voice drifted back to him over the roar of the wind in his ears.

"I cleansed her wound, Ben. Nothing more. Jealousy is virulent, infecting you and those around you ... No more..."

A strange odor distracted Colin and he stopped to get its bearing. Burning hemp ... and foolish humans. The blood seekers closed in on them, following their scent though the woods. At that distance, their human odor would go un-noticed, but he found it easy to pick up the heady, distinctive odor of their marijuana. Unwise for them to be out in these woods at night ... after all, people always got lost and disappeared in the Big Thicket. Too bad for them.

Ben snickered when they had them in sight. "How convenient, one for me and one for you."

The thin lanky human pa.s.sed the burning cigarette to his companion.

"That's some good s.h.i.+t man! Where'd ya.... hey Bud ... check it out man!" He slapped Bud's leg and pointed toward the front of the truck.

Bud scowled and slid off the hood of the truck, putting the joint out on the fender and hitching up his droopy pants with the other hand. He cleared his throat and spat on the ground by his feet.

"Looks like fair game to me, Steve."

Following his friend's example, Steve jumped off the hood of the truck and stood to face the two dark clad intruders.

"They might be cops, Bud."

"Bulls.h.i.+t! We'd be in cuffs by now if they were. They're probably a coupla f.a.ggots wantin' to poke your skinny a.s.s!" He laughed and took a step towards the two strangers."We're gonna f.u.c.k you up, you coupla.... you coupla penguins!" Steve snickered and stepped up beside his friend, retrieving a large branch from the ground and swinging it with menace at the two strangers.

Bud charged at the two silent fiends and swung his meaty fist at the taller of them, expecting to knock him out with one mighty punch and rob him as he lay unconscious.

With lightening speed, Colin caught the man's fist in mid-swing and broke his forearm in two as easy as snapping a dry twig. Big bad Bud dropped to his knees crying, clutching his fractured arm. Colin pushed the man p.r.o.ne to the ground with one hand and held him there as he drove his fangs into the side of the man's thick neck. Bud whimpered, then cried no more.

Steve watched as Bud fell to the ground with the stranger at his throat. Then, with a painful knot of pure terror twisting in his gut, he turned his gaze back to the other man in black. He stood as he had when Steve first saw him, except now, his burning blue eyes bored right into his face and now he grinned. He smiled wider still as Steve watched, his lips drawing up over the two long canines that shone in the moonlight ... terrible white instruments of death.

Steve's legs trembled. "Oh s.h.i.+t.... "He spun to his right and ran into the woods faster than he'd ever ran in his life. He raced through the thicket, heedless of the branches tearing at his arms and face, then he stopped short and screamed. There stood the very same creature! Swallowing his scream, he spun about and ran away again, but there he was standing in front of him again. Steve fell to his knees bawling like a little girl. Ben grabbed him by the hair, pulled him to his feet, then slapped his face.

"Come on Stevie boy, stop your whining and walk back to the clearing so I don't have to carry your body." Ben's soft voice should've terrified him, but it didn't.

Docile, without hope, he trudged back through the trees into the clearing and into Ben's arms. He cried without sound, his mouth gaping, as the blonde man's arms encircled him and he felt the hot breath on his neck. For the first time in Steve's life, he didn't need the drugs to escape reality ... he escaped reality this time, forever.

"Ben! We must go back. I am sure our guest has escaped and we must retrieve her."

"How..."

"I just know. Hurry now."

They buried the bodies, leaving no trace of their existence. The truck they left parked where it sat. d.a.m.n fools must have wandered off and couldn't find their way back out of the thicket. What a shame.

Joanna stared at her hand, and the cut where Colin's mouth had been. The numbness in her limbs had worn off and the fog lifted from her mind. Those two fiends left the house, she felt the emptiness the moment the door closed. She should get out before they returned and they would never be able to find her in the vast woods. As soon as the sun came up, and she got her bearings, she would find her way back to her cabin. She thought of going to the police, but who would believe her? They would lock her up instead!

With slow movements, she pulled herself upright and on shaky legs Joanna stumbled to the door. Unlocked! Not believing her good fortune, she stood staring at the k.n.o.b for several minutes before she shook herself and opened it. Peeking her head out she saw what must be the den at one end of the hallway, and two closed doors nearby, at the opposite end.

Panting with nervousness, she sprinted down the hall into the vast, almost empty den. An immaculate room, and the heavily waxed floor shone with the small amount of light spilling in from the other room. It only took a few moments to find what she searched for.

The front door! She found the deadbolt locked but giggled with anxious glee when she saw the key dangling on a hook nearby. A perfect fit, and the well-oiled lock turned with ease. Relief flooded over her when she swung the door wide and stepped through, finding herself on a quaint wood planked porch, complete with a porch swing like her grandpa's."Not such smart vampires, are ya guys?" She pulled the door closed and skipped off the porch into the nearby trees.

She admired whoever built the cabin for they must share her love of the trees. No real clearing separated the home, just the woods and the cabin, coexisting as one.

Her next step brought her sock clad right foot down on top of a young pinecone and she winced with the pain. She hadn't even thought to look for her shoes. She stared at her socks, indecision eating away precious time. Should she go back in and look for her shoes or just take her chances without them? She could travel quicker with shoes on, but what if she couldn't find them?

Deciding to go for the shoes, she ran back up to the porch and inside the cabin.

Glancing around the large open room, she spied the doorway leading back to the bedrooms and sprinted for it. With her first full step, the rug flew out from under her feet and went sailing across the room. Joanna fell flat on her face on Colin's over-waxed floor.

Grunting from the impact, but injured, it was apparent that fright makes a person clumsy.

Despite the screaming adrenaline rush coursing through her body, she rose and picked her way across the room with care to avoid any other rug mishaps. The two demons might return at any moment and the urge to run almost overpowered her. But, she made it to the bedroom where Colin kept her the previous night. She found her shoes tucked under the bed, scooped them up, then ran from the place as fast as her trembling legs would allow.

Carrying the shoes in her arms, she didn't stop until the woods surrounded her, and the house no longer loomed like a sentinel waiting to give its master a full report.

Sitting on a fallen tree, she slipped her shoes on over her dirty socks. Before now, doing that would seem repulsive, but how silly it seemed to her now. Standing again, she tested her still quivering legs for strength and she felt invigorated, triumphant in fact.

Joanna drank in the night air. Thrilled with her escape, she had to bite her lip to prevent herself from squealing in delight. How glorious to be out! Wonderful to be among the buzzing mosquitoes and chirping crickets. HA! Those vampires underestimated her strong will, her stamina. Did they expect her to cower in that bedroom and await their return?

"Fools!" She shouted back at the cabin, then plunged into the underbrush, putting as much distance between herself and 'h.e.l.l- house' as she could.

Because of the almost total darkness in the dense woods, Joanna groped her way from tree to tree with arms extended to avoid walking straight into something. She tramped along that way for what she figured to be a few hours when she heard a rustling noise nearby. Oh s.h.i.+t! Had the vampires found her?

Making herself as small as possible, she crouched down beside a tree trunk and waited, holding her breath. She peered into the darkness searching for the source of the crackle. As he pa.s.sed under a slight opening in the treetops, a thin sliver of light shone on his head and she saw him.

A lone armadillo shuffled by, nosing in the fallen leaves in search of a snack then moving on. An enormous weight lifted from her chest and she could breathe again. She sighed with relief and stood. Dizziness a.s.sailed her when she gained her feet and she stumbled back several paces b.u.mping into a tree. Reaching behind her to grip the trunk and regain her balance, she felt not rough bark, but the smooth texture of cloth.

Her heart jumped into her throat. She prayed that she only hallucinated, but with a sinking feeling she knew it was real.

The tree at her back was too soft and ... breathing! In a final desperate attempt to escape, she leapt away from the thing at her back and ran ... right into another one.

"Oh man." All she could manage to say as their arms wrapped around her and lifted her off the ground, carrying her back to their lair. Through a break in the trees she caught a glimpse of Colin's stern face and decided against struggling. Neither one of them said a word to her, but their powerful grips on her body said all she needed to know. She would not escape, or so they thought. No more than fifteen minutes later, they put her feet on the ground at the back door. What the heck had she done? Circled around the cabin?They released her arms and that very instant, she bolted back into the trees.

Colin and Ben both just stood and stared, stunned by her tenacity. Unbelievable that she would run again when they found her with ridiculous ease the first time. Ben looked up at Colin expecting to see anger there on his face and it surprised him to see amus.e.m.e.nt instead. What was that sound? Colin laughing? Yes! The deep chuckle sounded deep in his chest as he shook his head back and forth then smiled at Ben.

"Let her go." He took the keys from his astonished neophyte and unlocked the door. Colin stepped inside and beckoned for Ben to come in also.

"Wha..." Ben's mouth hung open.

Colin laughed again and placed his hand on Ben's shoulder. "Do not worry, I fully intend to go after her."

"Will you punish her then?"

Colin nodded his head. "Oh yes I will punish her. You are correct about that." Squeezing then releasing Ben's shoulder, he smiled even broader. "I will enjoy her punishment immensely in fact."

Joanna stumbled through the underbrush, thorns tearing at her hair and scratching her arms and legs. She paid no attention. She'd get away this time and not repeat the mistake of traveling in a circle!

Stopping for a moment she listened for the sounds of someone following and heard nothing but her own heart pounding in her ears.

Oh hooray! She needed a place to hide until sunrise. Scouring the area, she found nothing to hide in or under, so she kept moving, trudging through the endless thicket in search of a hideaway. It dawned on her that trees surrounded her, so why not climb one? A good candidate stood not too far off, a huge Magnolia with a split trunk. Joanna climbed into the fork, put her back to one side and planted her feet on the other, scooting up the tree until she got as far as her reach would bring her. Uh oh. Stranded with no branches to grab and her legs spanning two trunks, she sighed in frustration. Relaxing her legs she started sliding back down.

Her s.h.i.+rt rode up on her back and the smooth bark of the Magnolia peeled a layer of skin off her shoulder blades. By the time she reached the ground, her back felt like fire danced across it and she gained nothing. As she stood flexing the muscles in her back, trying to ease the raw skin away from her s.h.i.+rt she noticed the downed tree not too far from her. Toppled by a recent severe wind, the great roots lay exposed, leaving a briar-covered crater in the ground. She could push through the weeds and thorns and hide in the crater!

Ben watched his enigmatic maker through his lashes as he polished the coffee table over and over again like he had all the time in the world. Why hadn't he left to re-capture that incorrigible woman yet? Humming to himself, he pushed the soft cloth around and around the table. At last pleased with the wood's intense sheen he took his time walking back to the pantry to put away his polis.h.i.+ng supplies. With every nonchalant step he took Ben's stomach knotted even more. How could he remain so d.a.m.ned calm?

Colin returned to the den with a deck of cards and folded himself into the chair beside the table with the finely polished surface of a glacier. Ben choked on his own saliva and went into a coughing fit when Colin began to deal himself a hand of solitaire, then proceeded to start building a house of cards with the remainder of the deck. The table was so slick that the cards fell as soon as Colin stood them up but he continued to place the cards on their sides with composure that would make the queen jealous.