7 March 2020

Life hadn’t exactly come easy.

It was tiresome listening to the same conversations day in and day out. Edie had been looking for a fix; her entire body was a little itchy from the time between her last hit and now. Oskar had yet again left her, swearing up and down that she was no good for him -- though, in reality, he had simply run off to chase some tail that had looked his way for all but a split second. She knew he would be back, crawling, and he would find her at the same party at the same place with the same people.

That was all they did now, and Edie had been waiting here for a little over half an hour with her half-baked smile and boring idle chatter for that span of time before she was offered a hit. Cocaine was her drug of choice, and this time she snorted the white powder that had been offered without hesitation. She had once tried to get clean, a little over a year ago when Oskar had found her, but he had led her right back down that path. As the cocaine hit her system Edie tilted her head back and sighed; her short, wavy, near-black hair bobbing a little with how her body swayed now. She practically hummed, muscles relaxing, and for the first time that day, she actually smiled.

Just a little.

Edie wasn’t known to smile much, especially having very little to smile about. Oskar had shown up at some point and, lo and behold, had honed in on her just as she had anticipated. A large part of her wanted to tell him to fuck off, chop off his cock, and feed it to him. The other, smaller, more logical part reminded her that he was the roof over her head right now. She had lost her most recent job as a server only two weeks into it.

“Ed, c’mon,” Oskar was insisting with a grin, and Edie had realized she had been tugged along toward the door without even realizing she had stood. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

“Is the surprise something I will enjoy?” Edie asked, her tone a little harsh and causing Oskar to pause and look at her funny. Ah, fuck. There went her mouth again.

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing,” Edie said with a sigh as she tried to rein in her expression as well as her sharp tone, gesturing toward the door they had nearly gone through. “Please. Lead the way.”

Fucking against the wall of an alley hadn’t been a surprise, nor had Edie enjoyed it. The grimace on her lips said it all, but she kept her face hidden behind her hair and straightened her skirt when Oskar was done.

“I have a job for you,” he said once she had straightened up. Naturally, Edie knew where this was going. Instead of chasing tail he had chased down a rich old bastard. Oskar made his money by robbing them, or the occasional kidnapping for ransom. He had found a use for Edie on occasion.

“I told you,” she began, her tone firm as she fixed the heeled shoe that had slipped off. “I do not want to rob old men anymore. Find someone else.”

“This is different--”

“How?” Edie asked pointedly. “Tell me how this man is different, how we will be fat with money. Tell me how this all plays into the grand scheme, and we come away with millions.”

Oskar had laid out his entire plan, which was the same as any other plan: Edie was the bait, luring the man and Oskar and his buddies would take him. The same game and she was growing tired of it, but Oskar made sure to throw it in her face how much he had helped her out recently. She knew, truly, she had no choice. If he kicked her out she would have no way to find her next fix, and once the withdrawals set in… well, she really didn’t want to go through that hell again.

Edie had been told what to look for when she had come into The Tasting Room. It was a more upscale place in the nicer part of Weymouth, way nicer than Edie could ever truly see herself in. Now the nice black dress she had bought from a low-end department store felt more like a trash bag. She truly didn’t feel like she belonged, and what’s more, a few eyes flitted her way and made her feel as though she was being judged. If she had known what bar she had truly stepped into she may have thought twice about entering, but instead she felt a streak of defiance and rebellion; she could have belonged there, and who were they to judge? These snooty bastards had no idea if she was made of money or just there to pick someone up.

Her ears weren’t able to pick up a whisper from a couple near the bar as she passed them, but she could tell they were talking about her as she ordered a drink that was exceptionally expensive and, as she took a sip, not even that good for the price.

Eyes darted around the bar until they had landed on what she had assumed was her target. He was definitely not what you would expect of old, but rich sure as hell fit the bill. The tailored clothing screamed designer, and his dark brown hair was cut short and styled to where every hair seemed perfectly in place. Even his facial hair was immaculate, and underneath all of that clothing had to be the toned body of someone who saw the inside of a gym on a regular occasion. He was attractive and, at least for a moment, Edie found herself staring until she had remembered the job she had set out to do. The second she took a step away from the bar, however, she noticed that his eyes immediately found her; it was a little alarming, causing her to pause and her breath to hitch for a moment from the suddenness of it. It didn’t help that the hair on the back of her neck rose, and she had to shake off the feeling as she took another sip of her glass and moved across the floor toward the booth where he sat.

“Hei,” she said, her accent a little thick and a polite and slightly flirtatious smile on her lips as she looked around at the empty booth. “I noticed you are sitting alone. Why?”

"I have concluded a bit of business and am now enjoying a drink," he answered. She had her own light, Scandinavian accent, but his fell somewhere between German and English, and she couldn't quite tell which. It surprised her. "And you, sweetheart? Are you alone?"

“Not at all,” she replied, a grin forming slowly on her lips to the point that her eyes crinkled from it. She gestured around her. “How could I possibly be alone with so many beautiful people around me?”

He chuckled and sipped his drink. "I find that is often when I feel the most alone, actually. Your company, however, is not unappreciated."

“I would hope not,” she retorted, the grin still on her lips. It hurt to smile so damn much, but she knew she had to sell the whole package. “My name is Edith, but you can call me Edie if you like.”

"You may call me Thomas," he returned. He drained his glass and looked at her with obvious amusement and interest as he straightened up a little. "What are your rates, sweetheart?"

Her expression faltered slightly, showing her confusion. “My what?”

Thomas raised an eyebrow. "Your dress is not expensive enough to simply be a patron. You waited at the bar while you scoped the place out before approaching me, a visibly wealthy man drinking alone. Shall I do some drugs or something else illicit to prove I am not law enforcement?"

“I…” She realized now what he had meant, but the term rates had thrown her and now she felt as though she was floundering fast as her heartbeat sped up slightly. “I am sorry, but I am still a bit new to this lifestyle, and still sometimes I find myself translating things differently.” The save, she hoped, was a decent enough lie. “I have only been in the States for almost three years.”

"Then I apologise for confusing you," he said, his hazel eyes scrutinizing her with obvious interest. He pulled a wallet from inside his jacket and then from it pulled five hundred dollar bills, holding them up between his index and middle finger. "And what does this get me, sweetheart?"

Edie smirked behind her glass as she took a sip, her expression clearly showing her amusement as she tilted her head slightly to the side. “Very little, I am afraid,” she teased with a chuckle. “I do know American currency, and my rates, as you call them, are much steeper than that.”

Thomas looked amused, putting the bills back in his wallet and putting it away. "If you want more than that, sweetheart, you'll need a nicer dress to convince them."

“I think of it as practical,” Edie retorted with a smirk. “Why would I ruin my fancy dresses? I know what I am worth. If they refuse to look past the dress to see the woman behind it, why would I give them my time?”

"I suppose it depends on how hungry you are then," he answered without hesitation. "A feeling I can understand, believe it or not. I am curious what you think you are worth, however…"

“For you, since I find you so interesting, I will cut a deal,” Edie said with an amused smirk. “Double your offer and I will gladly keep you company tonight. I would not want you to be alone, after all.”

Thomas shook his head, tsking softly. "No, no, no… You have played me wrong, sweetheart. You could have easily sold yourself for two or three grand. You really are new to this…"

“Perhaps I need someone to help me learn, then,” Edie said with a soft smile. “Someone who knows what I am worth…”

"That sounds like a lot of hard work, sweetheart…" He crooked a finger, gesturing for her to slide close in the booth. "I want a better look at what I am buying."

Edie smirked, but she didn’t hesitate to move over to take a seat beside him. “Maybe there is hard work,” she agreed with a nod. “But maybe we also play hard. I promise I am very good company.”

He pulled the wallet out again, removing three of the bills and putting the rest back away. He smirked as he ran one hand up her thigh and under her dress, the other slipping the cash between her small breasts. "A down payment," he assured as he pressed his fingers between her legs. "I must examine the merchandise, after all…"

“This gives you five minutes to do your exams,” Edie retorted, trying to keep her muscles from tensing at his touch. She had been used to having hands on her before from the other marks, but it was still the most frustrating part of the game. She wanted to rip his hand away, punch him in the throat, and make a run for it -- but, yet again, she found herself thinking about what she would do after the fact. She hadn’t run from Oskar despite her many thoughts about doing so, she couldn’t run far since her visa was expired and she could be flagged then sent back to her country. Edie didn’t want to go back there, not now. Not with nothing to show for herself when she had told her friends and family that she would go to America and make a name for herself there.

Like that had fucking happened. Edie shut her eyes as she relaxed into it, and with his fingers probing she found herself enjoying it a little given the man was at least more attractive than of all the other marks she had had before.

It wasn't long. Thomas rubbed along her underwear for several seconds, watching her intently, feeling a dampness form that surprised her, and then pulled his hand away. "You have a deal, sweetheart. Where shall we go?"

“I would love to see your place, Thomas.” Edie said, a smile forming on her lips as she leaned in to place a kiss to his neck as her hand moved to his crotch.

He chuckled, shifting to allow her to touch him better. He picked up his phone to text, telling her, "Alright. I will have my driver meet us out front.”

“Can’t we walk for a moment?” Edie asked as she planted another kiss to his neck, the words nearly coming out in a hum. “I could use some fresh air first.”

Thomas shrugged. "Alright. He will be at the ready."

“Then come take a quick walk with me before we go play,” she said with a playful chuckle, leading the two out the front door of the bar. Some of the bubbly demeanor dropped, but he couldn’t see her face as she tugged his hand and led him as if she was leading a stubborn puppy behind her. It was brisk, but not bitterly cold; the weather had fluctuated between deciding if it would be Spring or not, and off in the distance, she could hear someone coughing as she glanced across the street at a homeless man who couldn’t seem to catch his breath.

Edie didn’t like what was to come next, though, as she led him further away from the bar. She knew two blocks down Oskar and his three men waited for them. They were not far now.

“I enjoy walking at night, do you?” Edie asked as she forced herself to smile before she turned her head back to look at him. “It is so peaceful and quiet.”

"It is," he agreed. "I am actually quite nocturnal myself. Sometimes I feel like I have forgotten what the sun looks like."

“The moon is much more beautiful, trust me,” Edie said with a grin as she turned and tugged him close by the collar of his shirt. They had just approached the corner, her lips firm now against his.

Thomas enjoyed the kiss for a moment, but it broke as he wove his fingers into her hair and yanked her head back. "You have so much to learn, sweetheart…" he murmured before shoving her to the ground and spinning away just as two of Oskar's men tried to grab him. There was a blur of movement Edie couldn't quite follow, one neck snapping and the man crumpling, the other man disarmed of a knife that then opened his throat and that of the other.

Blood sprayed the alley and Thomas was covered in it as he stopped in front of Oskar, the latter with a gun drawn. Thomas was still holding the stolen knife, which dripped with blood, and he pretended to look afraid. "Oh no. He has a gun. Clearly I have been thwarted."

"Back off, motherfucker, or I'll shoot!"

"O-Oskar…?" Edie had managed to pull herself to her feet now on wobbly legs, her eyes wide and heart pounding in her chest. She didn't feel for the men near her feet but the pool of blood now creeping toward her high heels. All of this had been done so quickly, and she swore it wasn't just from the little bump she had taken before coming out tonight.

"Be quiet a moment, sweetheart," Thomas said lightly, taking a step toward Oskar. "I will get to you when I am done."

A shot from the gun rang out, aimed directly at Thomas but the man had somehow been missed entirely; a blur of movement as Oskar looked on in confusion at his miscalculated fire only for his confused expression to be the last thing he did when Thomas stood inches in front of his face.

Edie could only see the back of Thomas's head as he bent it and chomped down into Oskar's neck, the man letting out a pained howl that Thomas muffled with his hand. She watched in horror as the pained howling died out until she realized that what she was seeing was real, that a monster stood with his back turned to her as the voice of Oskar turned into a gurgling noise that sounded sickening to her ears.

Edie then took that moment to force herself from the wall, and she ran down the alley closest to her in her panicked state just to get away from the monster. She could see the end, not even bothering to look back out of fear of what was behind her, when she ran straight into a brick wall of a man as she clung to him.

"Help! Please, please, you have to help me!"

The man in question had light brown skin, dark curly hair combed back neatly, and was dressed almost as nicely as Thomas, though not as expensively so. He looked somewhat apologetic as he suddenly shoved a gag into her mouth and grabbed her arms, dragging her back to Thomas with ease.

"Thank you, Ignacio," Thomas said calmly. He was wiping the handle of the knife before he dropped it in a nearby dumpster. "Bind and put her in the trunk." She could see a distinct, jagged wound on Oskar's neck and Thomas seemed to be looking at it, too. "I will take the car. Dispose of this one, would you? He is too obvious. The other three can stay."

"Yes, sir." Seemingly out of nowhere, ropes wound themselves around her wrists and ankles and she found herself blindfolded. No matter how hard she thrashed, Ignacio didn't slow, shoving her face down into the trunk of the expensive town car. Her screams were nothing with the gag shoved deep into her mouth and she heard the trunk shut above her. A moment later, another door opened and shut and soon the car was moving.

She was not at an angle to pop the trunk or even kick out the lights, but she kicked and thrashed the whole way. Several long minutes passed before the vehicle came to a stop. Her gag was looser and her blindfold had slipped up, but firm hands fixed both the moment the trunk opened and then she was hoisted up and thrown over a man's shoulder. Her kicks didn't slow him as he carried her through a house and dropped her on bed. A door was shut and locked and only then did Thomas remove the blindfold and gag.

Edie tensed at the sight of him, still covered in blood, but her time in the trunk had pissed her off once she had realized her fate didn't look so good. So she did what any self-respecting woman would do, spitting in his face the second he was in range.

A growl not unlike an animal escaped him and his hand came down across her face with far more force than she would have expected, sending her off the bed and onto the floor, hands and feet still bound.

"Fuck you, you fucking devil!" Edie snapped in her native tongue, her cheek on fire and her bottom lip split in two as she gasped from the pain and cringed.

Thomas stood over her, but he did not strike her again. "Tell me, sweetheart. Was the plan to kill me or merely to rob me?"

"I do not make the plans," she managed through gritted teeth.

"Clearly." He reached down with one hand and hoisted her up onto the bed so she was seated, her dress having ridden up several inches. "What was the idiot with the gun called again? Oskar? Was he in charge of your ridiculous little scheme?"

Edie shut her mouth tight, staring him down with cold eyes even though she was absolutely terrified of the thought of dying. Like hell she would let him see her fear, though, and like hell she would speak and tell him every last little detail.

"That is a yes. You humans have no idea how much a simple heartbeat gives away…" He shook his head. "Like in the bar. I knew right away you were not actually a whore. I wondered if you were Guild, but not with that performance. 'Let's take a walk'? Really?"

"What are you?" Edie growled. She wasn't sure what the hell the Guild was, nor did she care, but she had heard him say 'humans' as if he wasn't one. It made her hair on the back of her neck stand up much like it had when she had first laid eyes on him.

His hazel eyes melted into black and as he smiled calmly she saw two fangs drop over his canines. "I am a vampire, sweetheart."

She knew her body betrayed her, her entire being shaking just slightly from head to toe at the sight of him. Still she didn't tear her eyes away, the icy expression still holding as she stared him down. "What will you do with me?"

"That is entirely dependent on you," he answered. "You have potential. I get the sense that you are intelligent under whatever drugs you have soaked your mind in, you are brave, and you are beautiful. You clearly had no love for that arschgeige, so I suspect this was all an arrangement of convenience. What did you get out of it? Do you have a child?"

"A what?"

"Good." He was eyeing her with interested black eyes. "I wonder, sweetheart, how much you would appreciate a fresh start, a blank slate."

"There is no such thing," Edie retorted, her tone still icy as she stared at him and nostrils flaring in her anger. "In this country or the next."

"I assure you there is," he countered, chuckling darkly. "I have had several."

"Money can buy you the facade of a fresh start," she said, accent thick. "But it is only that."

"I am offering to turn you, Edith. That is your only option. You will not leave here alone any other way."

"Turn me? Into what you are?" Edie scoffed. "Why me?"

"I already answered that. The fact that you are not a local contributes. Do you have any family here? Friends who will wonder where you have gone?"

"Why are you wanting this?"

Thomas shrugged. "You would be useful to me."

"It does not make any sense," Edie retorted with a frown. "You are trying to trick me, get me to comply. You will kill me anyway."

"I do not need your compliance to kill you, sweetheart," he said bluntly. He drew a switchblade from within his jacket, flipped it open and cut her wrists and ankles free. "I do not need your compliance to do anything, actually, including turning you."

Edie stared at him for a long moment, her wrists and ankles aching from the ropes. The switchblade was still in his hand, and she knew even before she lunged off the bed for it, the entire thing was futile, but she had to try.

Thomas stepped out of the way without missing a beat as she fell to the floor, sighing softly. Then he dropped the switchblade at her feet. "Yes, try that. It will be fun."

Almost immediately she scrambled to grab it, and with all her strength she shoved the knife into his leg. He made a pained grunt, but didn't flinch, reaching out to grab her arm and twist it behind her as he pulled the knife free. He forced her to her knees so she could see in the hole in his pant leg where his thigh was rapidly knitting itself back together.

"Have you got that out of your system yet?"

Edie's breath caught, staring in confusion and wonder at the way his skin began to form again over the wound. She couldn't decide if she was terrified of the fact, or intrigued by it, but she still felt the panic begin to rise in her chest as she struggled to get away from him.

He released her, tossing the switchblade to the ground again.

Edie had scrambled back on her arms and legs before her back hit the wall, just as terror set in and she shook her head. "No, no… this is not real, none of this is real…" she whispered to herself.

"I believe I have proven that it is."

Edie pulled her knees up to her chest, her breathing heavy as she pulled her head down with her hands and her body shook. "No… no, this cannot… this is not…"

Thomas rolled his eyes. He reached out and grabbed her arm, yanking her up. "I will give you time to detox and you can decide when your head is clear."

“D-detox?” Edie asked, her eyes wide as she found herself being forced to walk toward the bedroom door. “No! I don’t want to!” she exclaimed as she fought against his strong hold.

"That is not something I am giving you a choice in," he said calmly, pulling the door open. "Unless you have chosen death."

Edie had only just managed to find the weakest point in the grip he held, Thomas confident that he could easily handle her -- and rightfully so -- as she yanked her arm the second they were through the bedroom door and in the hall where she broke into a run, heading in the opposite direction that he stood.

Thomas sighed in annoyance. He'd been looking for a progeny worthy of him for some time and his instincts had rarely led him astray since he was turned, but this was getting annoying. She bolted for the stairs and he waited a moment, letting her, before leaping gracefully over the railing of the upstairs hall and landing in front of her. His hand shot out, grabbing her chin-length hair, and he threw her to the ground so that she rolled into a table where a heavy vase tumbled down and landed on top of her.

Edie let out a pained, choked sob. The vase hadn’t broken, but it had spilled its contents on her back and head, and cracked as it rolled off of her and across the hardwood floor. She groaned, pushing herself up by her hands and nearly slipping from the liquid on the floor as she tried to stand with a pained gasp.

He sighed, shaking his head, though there was a spark of approval at how defiant she was, how unwilling to give up. That was what he would need. "Come, sweetheart," he instructed, moving in a blur so that he was behind her, one arm restraining her. He bit into his other wrist, then forced it into her mouth, closing her mouth and nose with his hand until she was forced to swallow it.

Edie choked on the metallic taste of his blood in her mouth as she tried to pull her head away, but he held her steady until she had swallowed quite a bit of it. She let out a whimper, an odd sensation like nothing she had ever experienced taking over; her body warmed several degrees, the aching from where he had hurt her suddenly numb until she realized it wasn’t just that they were numb, but they had healed. The cocaine high was replaced with the mildly pleasant intoxication from his blood, and though she tried to fight now against the feeling she could feel every muscle begin to relax in his hold as he pulled his wrist away.

"That is better, isn't it?" he said gently, though he didn't release her. "I will take care of you, sweetheart. Don't you worry."

“W-why…” she managed, her voice breaking just a little as she whimpered again. Her legs felt numb, heavy, but the rest of her somehow felt so light she wasn’t sure which way was up or down.

"We need each other. You will be useful to me and I will protect you.”

He began leading her, Edie half-dragged, half-stumbling, through his opulent mansion to a set of stairs. Those stairs led down into a basement. There were bars, a pool table, and huge TVs, but he brought her into a utility room. There were laundry machines and boring metal racks filled with cleaning supplies. He gripped one and slid it as though it were on wheels. Behind it was a wall, but he touched the wall with the flat of his hand and a moment later it seemed to melt away into a curved archway. Behind the archway was a cold, empty concrete hall, narrow and lit with fluorescent lights. She was dragged down that hall until it turned and she could see several small cells with iron bars. He had a real, modern dungeon under his house.

“W-wait…” she managed, realizing that he intended to put her down here. It was hard now to struggle, and her feet shuffled loosely across concrete in her attempt to push against him, but it was no use. “Please don’t! Please!” she begged before he firmly shoved her into one, Edie stumbling forward and her hands reaching out to the adjacent wall to keep from falling to the floor before she turned around with heavy feet to move back toward the cell door, which shut before she could do anything but reach through the bars and grip his shirt. “No! Please! Don’t leave me down here!”

“I will have food made for you,” he promised, pulling free. “I will bring you books to entertain yourself. Unfortunately, I cannot trust you with free run of my home. I am sorry you will have to suffer like this, but it will be worth the trouble in the end.”

“No, no, no, no!” Edie called out, words tumbling fast, as he started to turn away. She tried to reach out and grab him again, but he was out of reach of her fingertips and she found herself letting out a sob. “Please! Please! I cannot go through this again, I will die! Please!”

“I will not let that happen unless you choose it,” he said simply.

He started back toward the door, Edie calling out and begging over and over until the door shut and she broke down. Edie slid to the floor, her legs finally too heavy for her to stand. She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, but eventually exhaustion and the oncoming withdrawals wore her down, Edie falling asleep on the cold concrete as she curled up into a ball.