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Condemned

By: SumOfAllThings



I didn't think I'd ever understand why anyone would chose to kill them selves. To me every day was a struggle to stay alive and I worked damn hard to be able to live! For a moment I wondered if I would ever get to the point in my life where I would give up. 

I picked up one of her blankets and folded it gently in my arms. I guess I was kind of annoyed that she was gone. I didn't miss her because she didn't deserve that, not after what she had done. I did feel crappy though. She was my mom after all. Anyone would have felt the same. A part of me reasoned that I should be happy she was gone. The past year she had been worse than ever. She rarely got out of bed and was always crying. It had been up to me to find food. I often went without because I couldn't find enough for both of us. She never once said thank you. Half the time I don't think she even noticed I was there.

The blanket still smelled like her. It was one of the things we had managed to keep from before. My eyes started to mist up but I rubbed them angrily until they cleared. I'd be damned if I'd shed any tears over her. Like I said, she didn't deserve it.

I put the blanket down on my bed and headed for the door. It was still midday so I had a while before the sun went down and all hell broke lose. Never the less I was careful to ease the door open slowly to make sure no one was waiting outside for me. No one was there. The streets were deserted in fact. Not a great surprise. No single went out unless they had to. Although the gangs waited until night time to come out in earnest an occasional few, always the humans of course, still took the day shift. They would cruise around the city in the hope of happening on a single stupid enough to let them selves be seen. 

One time I saw a kid run into a pack of them. She couldn't have been more that sixteen. The stuff they had done to her out in the streets had scared the crap out of me. When they'd finally finished with her all was left was a bloody mess of twitching limbs. I thought I heard someone crying close by but they never showed them selves. I waited a while to see if anyone was going to help her but after a few hours I gave up. I still wonder if anyone went to her in the end. I very much doubted she was still alive.

As I stepped out of the small refuge of my home I was greeted with the eye opening sight of Birmingham city, which stared back at me in all of its grim glory. Sewage and refuge littered the streets, pouring in and out of houses where the windows were either barred or shattered. Graffiti markings covered every wall, flat and abandoned car. They each represented the various gangs that ruled the city. The rural areas of Brum had never been that pretty to begin with. Grey concrete council block flats were spread out as far as the eye could see and the only bit of green in sight came from the mould. 

I fastened my coat to try and keep out some of the bitter cold as I trudged out into the rain. I hated winter with a passion so intense that I think it was a little unhealthy. The constant gray skies and bitingly cold wind pissed me off, but nearly so much as the crappy rain. Worse still was the oppressive lack of daylight. The gangs must have loved it but it meant singles like me had even less time to try and scavenge food.

I stayed to the streets I knew best, keeping in shadow whenever I could. I was always listening. The city was so quiet that a person could hear a pin drop. It was because there were so few of us singles left. Those that were still alive were breathing because they knew how to stay quiet. In my experience if you're loud you're probably going to be dead fairly soon.

There was a store a little further ahead that held all kinds of goodies. The guy that ran the place didn't exactly seem the charitable sort though. If you wanted to eat well you needed to have something worth trading. Drugs were usually the most valuable commodity, then cross's, which I new for a fact didn't do a damn thing to a gang member besides make them laugh, then guns, knifes, sexual favours, other kinds of food- the list was endless.

I walked straight past the place. I didn't have anything worth trading. Of course that wasn't entirely true, maybe there was one thing, but the guy who ran the place, a big hairy son of a bitch with a depraved attitude, well i wasn't that hungry yet and i hoped dearly that i never would be.

I walked for a little while longer until I found a flat that looked thoroughly fucked over. Nightshade, excuse me whilst I roll my eyes, gang tags were all over the place. They looked old and the place had clearly been deserted for a while. I forced my way though the broken window and moved quickly over the dust covered floor until I found the kitchen. I scrounged around in the cupboards for a while and felt a stab of triumph when I saw the canned fruit wedged into a far corner. I grabbed them and shoved them in my bag, careful to make sure no one was watching me. You can never be too paranoid.

The cans were one hell of a find and would keep me fed for a while; especially now I only had to look after my self. It amazed me that other singles didn't enter the abandoned tagged houses. It was pretty much the only way I stayed alive.

I got out of the flat as fast as I could. I was just making my way home when it hit me how quickly it was getting dark. Weird, because my watch said it was only three p.m. I looked up at the sky and felt my heart jump up in my throat. The sun was being smothered by the moon. It was solar Eclipse! Jesus fucking Mary and Joseph! 

I started running, there wasn't much else I could do and for the first time in twelve years I headed into the daylight. It streamed over me, lighting me up for the world to see. Though my mind screamed at me to get back into the shadows my instincts told me to stay where I was. I heard laughter, dark and sinister. It seemed deafening in the constant quiet. I stumbled and saw a white marble hand reach out and beckon me towards the shadows. I backed away on my backside, too stupid with fear to form any coherent thoughts other than how much it was going to hurt when they killed me.

The light was almost all gone now. I couldn't make anything out. The shadow passed over me and then I was blind.

My entire body was exposed as I sat in the middle of the alley. I began to shake as my chest let out a stream of stifled breaths. At least I didn't have to think about mom anymore, or how she'd survive if I never came home. 

I heard the laugher again, closer this time. Despite not being able to see anything I drew my legs up against my chest and buried my face into my arms as they rested on my knees. I was still horribly exposed but at least now I had something to hug.

Soft footsteps padded up beside me. I tried to beg for my life but I couldn't speak through my terror. I was having trouble breathing. I hoped I'd pass out. Gentle fingers traced the outline of my bowed head, running down through my hair until they clamped firmly onto the back of my neck. I realized I was taking then, babbling payers that had been forced fed to me as a child. 

"Shhh," it cooed in a voice that dripped with honey. "I don't like those words. Now tell me love, what's your name?" The desire to scream was almost unbearable. I pressed my hands over my ears to try and block him out. The pressure on my neck increased painfully and I got the hint and dropped my hands. "Your name?" He repeated.

"Conner," I whimpered.

"Didn't you know there was an eclipse today Conner?"

A stupid question, if I had known- Pain lased through my neck. "No" I gasped. 

"Why have you come out of your hole, Conner?"

I wondered if he intended to play with me for much longer. I knew I was beginning to break apart. "I-I was looking for food." I realized I was crying then. I tried to pull out of the painful hold on my neck. A stupid mistake. I was quite literally dragged up by the scruff on me neck. My eyes opened wide in shock and as they adjusted I began to make out the features of the thing in front of me. He was a little taller than my 5"11 and probably outweighed me by more than fifty pounds. I couldn't make out much colour but his wide eyes and shoulder length hair looked light. His mouth was slightly open as he smiled at me. I was staring almost directly at his engorged fangs."

"Jesus," I gasped. His smile grew dangerous and I remembered that he didn't like those words. I began to shake so badly that I was amazed my legs were still holding me upright. He used his free hand to trace the outline of my jaw. His fingers moved over the arteries in my throat and down to my collar bone. When his hand slipped beneath my shirt collar I felt a sudden burst of distaste that mingled strangely well with the horror I was experiencing.

My world shifted upside down and I realized I was being carried on his shoulders. I thought about struggling but quickly dismissed the idea as I was carried swiftly into a smaller alley. I had been pretty meek so far; maybe that was what was keeping me alive. 

I tried to track our progress but when he turned into a ground flat and headed down a long tunnel through the cellar door I became hopelessly lost. Loud pounding music reached my ears. I heard laughter not long after that. He was taking me into the heart of one of the damned gangs!

He stepped out of the tunnel and I suddenly found my self in a huge hall filled with people. There were so many of them that I felt sick and smothered. 

Before I had time to look away my eyes locked with a young woman. With her olive coloured skin and pale brown eyes she was obviously human. I wanted to ask her for help but the image of that kid being ripped part jumped into my mind. I pressed my face against the guys back. 

"What have we here Michael?" I heard a woman talking close to my shoulder ask. I didn't think it was the girl I had previously been looking at. "Did you pick him up in the eclipse?"

"He is splendid is he not?"

"Exceedingly so. How old is he?"

"Early to mid twenties I think."

Long tapered fingers ran under my shirt and over my back. I tensed and they both laughed. 

"Have you tasted him yet?"

I think I managed to stifle my whimper. 

"There wasn't time. Sadly the eclipse did not linger."

My head was wrenched up so quickly that I was amazed my neck didn't snap. My back arched painfully as I tried to accommodate the iron grip on my hair. The woman holding onto me crouched down until our eyes were level and studied me with an intensity that scared the shit out of me. 

"Just lovely." She said at last. She let go of me and I rammed back into the guys back. He didn't even flinch as my head ploughed into his spine. I wondered if I'd just given my self a concussion. 

"Were many others brought in?"

"Not a single one so far. Some were caught of course but they were unsuitable so they have been subdivided for food."

Abruptly my world turned right side up. I stumbled and might have fallen if Michael hadn't reached out and caught my arm to steady me. I couldn't really say I was thankful. For the first time during this whole horrible encounter I had nothing to hide behind. I thought I had felt exposed over his shoulder. Standing between them as their demonic eyes devoured every inch of me I suddenly wished I was upside down again. 

"A pity he isn't suitable for the change." The woman said in a tone that seemed full of regret.

"Why do you say that?" Michael snapped, his crystallized blue eyes flashing with what seemed like very real fury. "He's the right age and he's healthy enough." The grip on my arm increased and I had to bite my bottom lip to keep from crying out. "He would survive the change."

"Likely he would, but then what? Should we suffer another of our kind that cannot bear what they have become? He has not the will or the nature to become one of us."

"You have seen him for mere moment. You do not know what he is capable of ."

"You are not looking past his pretty visage my love. His soul will rebel if you try to take him."

Though I had listened to every word my concentration was centred on the burning agony in my arm. With every angry word Michael's grip had tightened until I was sure he was going to snap my bones in two. 

"Jesus fucking Christ!" I half gasped, half screamed. My knees buckled and I was sure I was going to pass out. The pain in my arm lessened considerably though. Obviously the bastard had finally let go!

I head a dry chuckle above me. "Dose he say that sort of thing often."

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Have you told him not to?"

"Of course."

Another chuckle but then her voice turned serious. "What are you going to do with him then?"

"I could give him into one of the mortal groups."

"They would rip him apart." The image of that kid popped into my head again and I felt my body shudder. 

He grabbed my arm, the uninjured one, and hoisted me to my feet like I weighed nothing at all. "I'll think of something for him to do." He said as he pulled me past her. He waved away anyone who came towards us and increased his pace until I was practically running to keep up with him. We left the hall and travelled further down into the earth. It was darker in the lower passages and I was having trouble seeing where I was going. The walls were painted crimson and blood red, with gothic furniture covered every inch of where we were standing. It reminded me of the set of a Jack the Ripper film I watched when I was a kid. He stopped outside an iron clad door and pulled out a key. When he opened the door I tensed, expecting to see a Victorian style torture house inside. As he pulled me into the room I think my jaw quite literally hit the ground.

The room was beautiful. Hard wood pine floors, a cream leather corner couch with a huge plasma television and a sound system to kill for. The guy even had a Wii for Christ sake! Cream walls covered in explicit paintings of lovers, though I was shocked to see that they weren't all depicting men and women couples. A kitchen stood in the far right corner. The only thing I could see that hinted at Michael true nature was the spotlessly clean stainless steel kitchen he had. I could tell from a glance that he had never used it before. 

He pushed me down onto the couch and walked past him into the other room. I caught a glimpse of a huge bed covered in red and white silk before the door slammed shut behind him.

He was gone for a long time. So long in fact that despite the danger I was in I was beginning to doze off. It had been one hell of a day and that, coupled with the lack of sleep I'd been having since Mum died had left me exhausted. I was just entering full sleep mode when I felt someone standing over me. My eyes popped open and I found my self staring directly into Michaels face, who was crouched less that a foot away from me. 

"Jesu-" His hand slapped painfully over my mouth, effectively cutting off my little curse.

"Enough of that!" He ordered. "This is your last warning. Say that word again or anything like it and I'll hurt you. Understand?"

I nodded slightly but inside I was screaming hysterically. Funny that I hadn't realized how cold his hands were earlier. He let go of me and lent back a little. He was looking at me thoughtfully, like he didn't quite know what he should do with me. Despite my self I couldn't stop staring at his mouth. I couldn't see the fangs whilst he had his mouth closed but I knew they were there. I wondered how many people he had killed with them. I wondered if he intended to kill me with them.

"Conner," He said. He smiled and I got to see those elusive fangs of his. I recoiled a little but if he noticed it didn't show. "I must say you're reacting incredibly calm, all things considered."

Calm, calm! I was about to pass out! He looked at me expectantly, as though he wanted me to say something. Frankly I had begun to wonder if I still possessed the ability to speak. I couldn't trust my self to open my mouth and not scream so I just looked at him.

He cocked his head to one side and let his hand rest on my knee. The fact that this guy had pretty much kidnapped me, and could kill me with very little effort did not take away from the fact that he was feeling up my leg! It was bad enough when he had dipped his hand inside my shirt earlier. Why did his kind have to be so damned hands on?

His smile widened and I wondered if I hadn't completely succeeded in hiding my disgust. It worried me that my being repulsed was funny to him. His hand moved up my thigh and before I could think it through I pushed it away. I think he probably allowed me to do it.

"You don't like it when I touch you, do you Conner?" faster that I could blink he had his hand around my throat and was pushing me down onto my back. I could breathe ok if I didn't fight him but I really didn't want him lying on top of me so I started to thrash around. All it earned me was a bruised throat and the added knowledge that I was throttling my self. I stopped struggling and he let up a little. Enough for me to be able to breathe anyway.

It was a surreal moment. Me lying flat on my back whilst one of their kind leaned over me. He smiled suddenly, a small twist of the lips that made me want to curl into my self. His hands slid over my stomach and the next thing I felt was his fingers expertly undoing my jeans.

"Fuck you!" I snarled. The bastard could kill me but I'd be damned if I was just going to lay back and let him rape me. To my surprise his hands fell away from my jeans and he sat up. I could breathe normally now he wasn't on top of me. I managed to get my legs under me and scrabbled backwards. Gods wonder that he actually let me. I fell off the bed and hit my head pretty hard. I shook it off as I continued to back up. I stopped when my back hit the wall, what the bloody hell else was I supposed to do, break through it?

His eyes were the worst I decided. In fact I think I preferred looking at his teeth compared to staring at his eyes. They looked like they were made out of ice.

"So," He said, sizing me up even as he spoke with a painfully nonchalant tone."What's with all the," he smiled and clasped his hands together like he was praying. "Words?"

"I'm catholic,"

He looked surprised. "That a fact. Not many of your kind around anymore. Not after that little war you guys cooked up a while ago. Pretty stupid of you, coming after us like that."

"A bit before my time." He looked relaxed but I was willing to bet he'd spring into action if I gave him a reason. Running would be really stupid then. "I don't recognise your accent."

He smiled and slapped his thigh in an exaggerated fashion. "I'm from the states. I believe you Brits like to call my kind yanks."

I like to call your kind demonic bastards. "Where about in America?"

"All over, Boston mostly. I like it here much better though."

"Yeah, why's that?"

He got off the bed. I tensed, expecting to be attacked. Instead he walked past me into the next room. I stayed where I was, too freaked to move. He came back in a moment later holding two glasses of clear liquid. When he passed one to me I cringed, which caused him to growl low in his throat so I took the glass with shaking hands but didn't drink out of it. Gods knows what he might have put in there. Thankfully he moved away from me and went back onto the bed. "It's harder for my kind in the states." He said, and it took me a moment to realise he was answering my earlier question. "There are hunters, weapons like you wouldn't believe. My kind doesn't last long there."

It was difficult to muster up much sympathy for the bastards. "Kind of what it's like for the singles here." I said coldly. Shame I'm not an American though, I thought. According to the history books our country and theirs had been pretty close once. Hell, apparently we were their founders. Pretty shitty of them to screw over their mommy country like that. I wondered why we had been abandoned when they so obviously had the means to help us. Maybe were just too worthless now. "What's it like everywhere else?" I asked. I'd always been curious. It wasn't like there were recent news papers or books being published to let us singles know what was going on in the world and there was a fair chance I'd never get the opportunity to ask again.


Condemned



He used his long nails to pick at his fangs, maybe to remind me who I was talking to. Like I could forget! "Africa's mostly left alone, though the more populated cities have some of our kind around. I've been there though and it's not too much fun. Way too warm. Like I said, America's pretty much off limits. Canada's a little easier, but who the hell wants to chomp down on the Canadian's? Way to damn congenial for me. Not to mention that the states don't like the idea of my kind at their borders to they keep a close eye on their neighbours. Likewise for Mexico, though truth be told theirs not much going on down there. It's too warm too."

"I guess you don't bother with the south part of the globe much then?" I asked.

"Good guess, though I do like to visit Australia now and again, in winter of course. Hell of a long trip though. New Zealand's a nice getaway but the countries not well populated so staying there long term isn't really an option. I went to South America once, hell of a continent; the women in Brazil were just lovely. Its pretty poverty stricken though and people notice if you chomp down on the elite. Russia's interesting but too poor, the same for most of Eastern Europe. Asia can be fun but I avoid the Middle East like the plague. They and the good old states stopped arguing with each other when we came along. They mutually hate our guts and they're packing the same sort of toys as the mother land." 

"So most of your kind is here?" I asked in awe. I couldn't believe it! I'd always thought the whole world was screwed but it turned out that the good old salty U.K had drawn the preverbal short straw. As an after thought I added. "It's a wonder no ones tried to blow us up yet."

A blur of movement and then my feet were dangling in the air as a hand gripped my shirtfront. I wasn't breathing too well but I could suck in enough oxygen so I wouldn't pass out. Lucky me! "You're not as dumb as you look, Conner my boy." He said as he slapped my cheek twice, hard enough that he had probably left a mark. He let go of me and I fell into a heap on the floor, looking up at him as he towered over me, hating him, fearing him. "We made a deal with them some years ago. Make our base here and leave the rest of the world in peace. We do for the most part, hell, why wouldn't we? We've got it good here and the weather suits my kind. Not too cold or too hot. Winter means short days and long nights. We're cut off though, and that's what's important to the untied governments. You see France and Germany, well they would have been equally suitable but their not Islands are they? If we had them we pretty much got access to most of the world. They won't bomb us though, because they know that an act of war like that would mean the end of their kind. All it would take was a hundred of my kind to go on a rampage, turning the singles who in turn went on little rampages of their own and then that would be the end of the human race. The united nations aren't dumb; they know we got more than a few hundred of our kind in the big wide world. They won't bomb us." 

He knelt down and wiped my hair back from my face. I glared at him and he let his hand drop. "You not a fan of same sex, Conner?"

I think my mouth hung open a little. "No." I said eventually, not able to communicate how totally freaked out I was. "Dose that matter to you?"

He tucked his hands behind his back and stood up. I think he liked looking down at me "Honestly, I prefer a partner that's into it, but gay or not anything I get from you probably wont be voluntary, so no, it doesn't matter."

I didn't know why hearing him say it upset me so much. It wasn't like I didn't expect him to rape me, probably kill me after he was done. I drew my legs up and pressed my face against my knees. 

What a shitty life!



Condemned Ch. 02



I couldn't stay awake. No matter how strong my resolve was I couldn't fight the basic human need to refresh my body. As I looked back across the narrow confines of the bedroom I saw a pair of ice blue eyes glitter in the encompassing darkness, watching me, waiting for me to make a mistake. I jolted upright again, determined not to give in to the needs of my own body, knowing that if I did I might not be given the opportunity to wake back up.

I was shivering as I pushed my self further against the far wall of the room. Michael kept his chambers uncomfortably cold, too cold for me to feel any sort of comfort. From the corner of my eyes I saw a flash of his teeth and realized that he was smiling at me. "There are ways for you to keep your self warm Conner." He said mockingly, laughing at me as he pulled back the covers of his bed. 

I didn't say anything. A part of me reasoned that I had to keep him as calm as possible. I doubted I would be able to stem my own hysteria if I opened my mouth to speak so I clamped it firmly shut and looked away. He clicked his tongue impatiently and I heard him stand up. My body tensed even as I realized that if he did decide to kill me there was little I could do to try and stop him. I squeezed my eyes firmly closed and waited. I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks but I didn't make a sound as I felt his presence loom over me. A hand landed on my head and I flinched. He chuckled quietly and patted my head as if I was a dog. "I'm going out now Conner, do try to get some sleep. The beds there waiting for you if you decide it's too cold here on the floor."

I didn't move until I heard the door close and then I cautiously raised my head, half expecting him to jump out at me. He wasn't there though and the room felt warmer because of it. I shifted slightly and carried on with my vigil but exhaustion finally had its way with me and I fell into a restless slumber. 

*******************

Before all hell broke lose and the country turned into a cesspit of murder and madmen my mom used to tell me these bedtime stories. They should have been gentle enough not to terrify me but the truth was I that I was a wimp as a kid. My mom said I was sensitive; my dad assured me I'd grow out of it. I hadn't though, even now when I was all alone in the dark those childhood stories still came back to haunt me. 

Just before everything first went arse upwards my dad had the fortitude to see what was going to happen. He secured the house as best he could and stockpiled food and water. Because of that my mom, dad, sister and me we were able to stay hidden during the worse of the rioting. The gangs formed swiftly afterwards, making it hard for us to leave our homes during the day. My mom was constantly terrified and wouldn't leave the house so it was up to the three of us to gather food and water. I was about twelve years old when my dad told me and my sister to wait for him in an alley as he went into an abandoned house to scavenge some food. We must have stayed there for three hours before my sister, my elder by two years, told me we had to go because the sun was about to set. I didn't want to leave dad, I told her so. I remember the blank look that passed over her face as she grabbed my arm and dragged me back to our home. When we got inside our mom was waiting for us. My sister took one look at her and said in a voice void of emotion that dad wad dead. Her name was Lilia. A couple of years later she disappeared. I always wondered if she had been killed or just abandoned us. Mom pretty much lost it after that. That was when I was left to look after everything, my self and her included. I always thought I was pretty good at what I did. I'd managed to avoid trouble for so long that I was beginning to actually think I might be able to survive, maybe live to the ripe old age of thirty. 

I quelled a laugh, knowing it would probably only come out as a strangled sob. So much for surviving. Michael lay across from me now, sleeping peacefully, his face smoothed into an expression of comfort and contentment. They were supposed to be vulnerable during the day. I had been told that they slept so soundly that one could easily take their heads without them waking. Sitting there, watching him as he occasionally twitched or shifted I realized that the person that had made that assumption had read too many Anne Rice novels. I was willing to bet that Michael was an extremely light sleeper. 

I slowly became aware of the needs of my own body. I was hungry and very thirsty. I wondered if Michael even remembered what it felt like to have a mortals hunger. I still had the canned fruit in my bag. I lifted it out slowly and felt a torrid of relief that the lid didn't require a can opener. Trying not to make any noise I opened it up and drank the juice inside. I ate the whole contents of the can but I was still hungry afterwards. Despite the hollow feeling in my stomach I didn't touch any of the other cans. Maybe it was being a little optimistic of me but I wanted to try and make them last. 

Now that discomfort had been rectified I became aware of the cramping in my legs and the ache in my back. I had been practically curled up in a ball for hours. I stood up slowly and tried to work some of the feeling back into my frame. Careful not to make any noise I began to stretch my joints, easing out the kinks and twinges. My eyes passed cautiously over Michael. My heart jump up in my throat and I fell back several steps. He was staring at me, his ice eyes glaring daggers at me as he emitted a low growl deep in his throat. My legs collapsed beneath me and I fell painfully to my knees. "I'm sorry," I gasped, the words escaping my treacherous mouth as I began to try and back away from him.

I saw him sit up, visible as a faint outline in the dark room, his eyes still locked on mine. "What exactly is it you're apologizing for?" he asked. 

I thought he might have been smiling again, but if so I couldn't make out his teeth. Small miracles!

"I didn't mean to wake you."

"Then you shouldn't have been so damn loud." The words were harsh but spoken with a light tone. He stretched his arms, almost mirroring my earlier movements and stood up. He walked within ten feet of me and I found my heart pounding painfully in my chest. I heard a distinct click noise and then the lights shone back to life, momentarily blinding me after being in the dark for so long. 

He looked down at me and twisted his nose sourly. "You need a shower Conner." He bent down and caught my arm, dragging me to my feet. I tried to dig in my heels but it didn't deter him in the slightest. He dragged me the short distance to the bathroom and pushed me inside. I tripped but his strong hand caught me again before I fell. He spun me around and pressed my back flat against the shower cubicle. I emitted a quiet whimper as his milky white hands tore the fabric of my shirt, pulling it off and letting it drop into a heap on the floor. He stood back and stared at me, his eyes glowing as they caught the light from the next room, reminding me suddenly of the cats that used to wonder around when I was kid, back before they were considered a common food source. 

I took a single step forward, trying to push past him, to gone in my own terror to properly think about what I was doing. It was a mistake, a stupid, thoughtless and utterly futile mistake. He pushed me back so hard that my head knocked painfully against the glass cubicle. His hand wormed its way through my hair, gripping it tightly as he wretched my head back. "Never, ever fight me boy, you hear me? You fight me and I'll rip your fragile little neck in two." He let go of my hair and pushed me back again. His hands latched onto my hips as he traced the material of my trousers with his thumbs. "You need to stay calm son, you stay calm and I won't hurt you." 

Bullshit! I thought dazedly as he stepped back and looked expectedly at me. I looked away, pressing my arms over my chest as I tried to hide the sight of my exposed flesh. "The pants Conner." He said to me, pointedly looking down. I followed his gaze slowly before looking back up at him. I could feel the tears beginning to well in my eyes, blurring my vision. "Conner!" he snapped. "The pants, now!" 

My hands were shaking so violently that I couldn't make them close properly. I began to fumble with the buttons, desperately trying to open them, terrified because I wasn't moving fast enough. I looked up once, noted the amused expression on his face and felt the last ounce of my strength slip away. My knees buckled and I allowed my self to cry. I was living in a nightmare. I knew he was going to kill me, as surely as I had known my mom would kill her self, as surely as I had known that stupid kid that got her self caught all those years ago would never get up again. I couldn't stand it anymore, the wait was excruciating.

I heard a soft clucking noise above me before strong hands grasped my upper arms and hoisted me to my feet. He smoothed back my hair and wiped the tears off my cheeks, whispering soothing noises as he moved. He undid the buttons on the trousers and slid them slowly down my thighs, moving my legs slowly out of the trouser legs, positioning my limbs where he wanted them. I looked away during the whole thing, trying to picture what life had been like before everything had gone to hell. I was too young though and almost all of my memories consisted of the basic need to survive.

It was a shock when the warm water hit my body. I'd never had a warm shower before, hell the truth was I hardly ever got the chance to bathe properly. The creatures elegantly tapered hands moved over my hair and body, lathering me up with sweet smelling soaps. I looked down at the soiled water that disappeared down the bath drain, amazed by how long it took before the water running of my body was finally clean and unsoiled. The powerful fingers latched into my hair, smoothing over my head and tracing a line down to the middle of my back where my hair lay in wet tangles. "When you're finished I want you to change into the clothes I've left out for you. Brush your hair and wait for me in the sitting room."

The commanding manner in his voice knocked away some of the terror that had numbed me. I stared haltingly at his retreating back, watching his through a tick blanket of hot steam as the water pummelled by chest and shoulders. I felt the tears threatening to come again and pushed them angrily back. I hated that the creature could make me cry, that he could rip open every ounce of vulnerability and fear inside of me and leave it open and bare.

I must have stayed in the shower for hours when the hot water finally cooled and turned icy cold. For a long time I still didn't move but then the discomfort became too much to bear and I had to turn it off. I stayed still, dripping and shivering on the cool marble floor. I didn't want to leave the shower room because I wasn't sure what was waiting for me.

"Conner," His voice rang out, startling me from my revere. I took a deep breathe but didn't answer. "Conner!" He yelled, "Damn it boy hurry the hell up!"

I stepped outside and saw the clothes that had been laid out for me. A simple grey jumper, a pair of faded jeans, old trainers and some non-descript black boxers. I put them on quickly, savouring the warmth they offered. There was a full mirror across the other side of the room. I stepped towards it and as I examined my self I wondered what it was about me that excited him. I was the poster child for malnutrition, my lank black hair lay in tattered rat tail tendrils to the middle of my back, my cheeks were hollow, my skin sallow and paper thin.

He walked in then, his eyes pinning me to the spot as he took up the brush and stepped behind me. I think he wanted to be gentle but my hair had not been well maintained. For my own part I managed to contain my pained groans as he hacked away at my throbbing head. Eventually I heard him swear and stalk off. He came back shortly with a wicked pair of scissors clutched in his long tapered hands.

I was half way across the room before he caught hold of me. He was laughing as I strained against his hold, lifting me up as easily as I would a child before settling me down on my feet in front of the mirror. "Come on kid," He said. "If I wanted to hurt you do you think I'd need these to do it? They're for your hair!"

I stopped struggling but I couldn't control the unbearable trembling. His hands travelled over the back of my head and down to the nape of my neck. He collected my hair and began cutting away at it. I watched it drop to the floor around my feet, praying to god that he would be finished soon. I heard the scissors drop but he didn't let me go. One hand latched onto the back of my neck whilst the other took up the brush again. It was easier this time but it still took a while before he was finished. He turned me around abruptly and locked hold of my waist. His light eyes caught mine before travelling slowly up and down the length of my body. The expression on his face made me want to curl up into a tight ball. Before I could protest he pulled me tightly against him and covered my mouth with his, bending me backwards as he forced his pelvic into mine. I instinctively tried to push him away but the loud animal like growl he emitted froze the blood in my veins. I caught hold of his shoulders for purchase but I was too afraid to try and push him away again. 

One hand slid down my hip and caught my arse. He squeezed hard and I let out a pained gasp. The moment my mouth opened he forced his tongue down my throat, licking and slathering the inside of my mouth. I cried out but the noise was muffled to almost nothing. I didn't want it. I didn't want his hands on me; I didn't want his tongue in my mouth, his lips on mine. I punched his chest with all the strength I could muster, ignoring the growl this time as I let loose a flurry of panicked blows. He pushed me away so abruptly and with such violence that I didn't register that I had been released until I was lying flat on my back in the middle of his bedroom. 

He made a soft tutting noise as he walked towards me, smiling as he undid the top button of his jeans. I watched in muted horror as he stepped over me and reached into his trousers. 

"Wait!" I hissed, backing away from him. "What are you doing?" my hip and back hurt as I shuffled backwards. The way he just threw me away from him, with such power, it was terrifying. That he could hurt me so much without really meaning to-

He pulled out his dick, semi hard in his hand as he followed after me. I had never seen another mans before and I was shocked by how large his was. I stared up at him and then back down at it, a denial on my lips. Suddenly my back hit against a wall and back was no longer an option. "Don't," I whimpered, unable to look away despite how much I really wanted to. 

"What do you think I'm going to do Conner?" he asked me, the laughter clear in his voice as he stepped over me. 

I was saved from answering as the door to the room was knocked loudly. He grinned at me and stepped away, his dick still in his hands. 

"Adrian," he said happily, stepping aside and ushering a young woman into the room. Judging by her dark skin and warm eyes she was one of the gang members. I had to admit she was stunning in a hard sort of way. Her eyes passed dismissively over me before she stepped inside and made her way towards the bed. 

Michael looked back at me and growled deep in his throat. "Get out!"

"I beg your pardon?" I said stupidly.

"I-said-get-out." He repeated slowly.

I propped my self up the wall and edged towards the door. I expected him to pounce but he just watched me, the smile clear on his face. The door opened and I stepped outside into the gothic corridor. "Conner," he called out quietly. "Be back here before sun rise."

I didn't have a chance to answer as the door slammed in my face.



Condemned Ch. 03



For over half my life I had done everything I could to avoid the gangs. I'd grown up dreading the sounds of their loud, cruel voices, the sight of their sleek, well fed faces. I'd learned to hide in places too disgusting to tempt them to follow, to stay away from anywhere clean and open. It hadn't been an easy life by any means but at least I was free.

Now, surrounded by them with every instinct I possessed urging me to run, I was beginning to feel a new kind of hysteria. My common sense forbade me to make any sudden movements because I knew that they were watching me, some casually, some with much more scrutiny. I tried not to cringe at the sudden noises, the laughter, the bellowing. Singles learned early on that they needed to be quiet, that they should never draw attention to themselves. The gangs seemed to thrive on it though. They wanted to be seen and heard. I wondered if it made them feel alive.

I turned around, preparing to go back into the relative safety of the dark, morbid corridors. Perhaps I could find some abandoned corner to hide in until sunset. And then what? Go back to Michael? I ran my hand through my newly trimmed hair, dirt and tangle free for the first time in years. 

I don't know what it was that made me look up. I felt a sudden lurch in my stomach when I realised that three people had formed a lose semi circle at my back. They were of varying ages. A man of some forty years smiled at me, his white teeth even and bright. His body was lean but muscled and he looked a picture of healthiness. He had light brown hair with a spattering of grey and dark brown eyes. There was a young girl, barely out of adolescence, her spiked purple hair and thick makeup disguising her pretty face and a man closer to my own age. We were probably a similar height though he would have outweighed me considerably. He wasn't a handsome man by any means. His face was scarred and his nose broken. Whatever had happened to make him a gang member must have been intense.

The older man grinned at me, his smile dazzling as he stepped towards me. The other two kept staring, issuing a challenge I couldn't understand. Well the hell to them, I thought briskly and only a little hysterically as I made to walk around them. The older guy chuckled and rapidly closed the distance between us. I fell back a few steps and he stopped within grabbing distance. "What's your name?" He asked me, the soft lilt of his Irish accent reminding me suddenly of my mom. I stared at him, wanting more than anything for him to move aside and let me pass. He wasn't budging though. "You're name son?" He asked again, a fountain of patients.

"Conner." I said, and I was glad my voice didn't shake. "Excuse me," I tried to walk around him again but he just stepped back into my path. "What do you want?" I asked him tiredly. 

"Only to get to know you a little better me boyo. You're news is what you are. Picked up in the eclipse weren't you?" Picked up was a little more accurate that I wanted to admit to but I nodded my head reluctantly. "By the yank no less?" The Irishman said with a grin and then a wink at my surprised expression. "I was Shocked when you popped up tonight. We expected to hear you'd been turned into fodder, didn't we my lovelies?" The other two nodded their heads obediently. The scarred man smiled at me. "Michael's not one to play with his food. You to be turned?"

"No." I said, maybe a little too vehemently because suddenly the grin slipped off the Irishman's face and he stopped looking mildly threatening and became more than a little menacing. I stepped back again and he stepped with me, keeping the same distance between us. "One of the others said I wasn't suitable." I said, desperate to fill the silence that used to seem so natural to me.

"I heard that." The other man said, slowly relaxing his stance and expression. "And by the way you're acting you'll not be getting an invite into any gangs either." His grin came back full force but it held a visage of cruelty now. "You're a single through to the bone aren't you boyo?" he asked as he stepped forward again, and again I gave ground to him. 

"He's another sheep." The girl said, with an accent thicker than my own. I tried to place it as I knew I'd heard it before but the memory escaped me. "A stupid sheep filled with stupid thoughts."

I didn't even look at her but kept my eyes fixed on the Irishman. "Aye, a sheep he is me lovely, a sheep born and bred, but I'm willing to bet he's not a bad sort, are you lad?"

I didn't like to wonder what their idea of bad could be. I shook my head because that was what they wanted me to do and tried to hide my growing panic.

"Are you hungry Conner?" He asked me suddenly, all smiles and honey as he stepped forward. When I stepped back again he laughed at me. "I'm fond of dancing lad but this is getting a little tedious don't you think? Now are you hungry?"

I was always hungry. Being hungry was so natural to me now that the pangs had to become quite severe before I really took notice. And because I didn't want to go anywhere with them, and because I still had the canned fruit in my bag I shook my head no. I saw the other mans eyebrows shoot up. He looked me up and down and raised his eyebrows sceptically. I didn't care. The idea of being fattened up brought back a great deal of children's stories I'd read as a kid. Considering what happened to the fat kinds in the stories I decided I'd rather stay skinny. 

He stepped forward and I went back. It wasn't until I saw his eyes twinkle that it occurred to me to look where I was going and by then it was too late. My back smacked up against a wall and a moment later he was standing very close to me. I instinctively shrank back and a part of me realised that the Irishman revelled in my fear. He'll be turned, I decided as I looked into his not quite human eyes. He grinned again as he raised his arms lazily and rested them on the wall on either side of my shoulders. I debated trying to push past him but it was a fleeting idea that I quickly pushed aside until the image of that kid popped back into my head. With amazing clarity I remembered every scream she'd let loose. I tried to shoulder past him but he just laughed at me pressed me back with his bulk. 

"My, my, you don't like being cornered do you son?" He asked me jovially, as if it was all some joke.

I wondered if there was anything alive, man or beast, that could possibly like being cornered. I very much doubted it. I found it agonising. The few times I'd run into other singles we had kept a weary distance between us. Since my dad died I hadn't really had to look directly up at anyone. I wasn't used to feeling so overpowered by another person. Mindless fear of the world was one thing but a direct confrontation was totally beyond me. 

"So boyo, how about a bite? Hmmm? I don't think Michael will object if we put a little meat on your bones?"

I wanted to say no, I opened my mouth to say exactly that but before I could mutter the first syllable he grabbed my arm and dragged me after him. The other two fell into step behind us, staying close enough that the girl actually stepped on my heel. I looked back at her and wondered if she had done it on purpose. Her face was expressionless but I could tell the petty little act had amused her. 

The hallway they took me into was different to the one leading into Michael's room. Despite all the gothic furniture and garish red walls I knew enough to realise that it had been done richly and well. The hall I was in now looked little better than a large hole cut ruggedly into stone and earth. Water dripped off the rocks above, splashing on top off my head and running down the back on my neck. The air smelled stale and confined and the stench of unwashed bodies was everywhere. 

We paused outside a small wooden door. The scared man opened it and with a not so gentle shove he pushed me inside. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It was clean and spacious enough for me to turn around in and put some distance between us. It was modestly furnished with a couch and a spattering of chairs. The trio were ignoring me for the moment but they soon exchanged nasty looks before spreading out across the room. The girl came towards me. She was probably the only one I wasn't afraid of because she was the only one smaller than me but I still backed away from her for proprieties sake because I suspected it wouldn't take much to make her very angry. She reached into a cupboard and pulled out a bottle and four small glasses. Meanwhile the Irishman had made himself comfortable on the couch whilst the scarred one collected an arm full of containers and dropped then onto the floor.

"Come here Conner," The Irishman said suddenly, making me jump. When I didn't move he frowned at me. "You going to eat your supper from all the way over there? No, I thought not. Come here then."

I shook my head. "I'm not hungry."

Hi face changed again. He was angry now. "Fuck me; I thought we'd already had this conversation! I don't give a shit if you say you're hungry or not! Get over here now!" 

So I did. As much as I didn't want to I went over to him and I let him pull me down onto the couch beside him. He opened up some bags and thrust them onto my lap. I ate obediently but whatever it was tasted like ashes in my mouth. I chewed slolwy, aware of the Irishman's predatory gaze as I shifted uncomfortably beside him. I debated with myself whether it was worth just making a run for it but I couldn't build up the courage so I just sat there. 

Eventually he plucked the half empty bag out of my grasp and set it down on the table in front of us. I noticed his eyes flicker over my head and wondered which one of them was behind me now. I started to hear that kid scream again. 

"Have you ever been out of England Conner?" He asked me casually as he lent back and laced his fingers behind his head. He pulled a pained expression. "Ah, poor boy. You haven't have you? Well, have you at least been out of Birmingham?"

"When I was younger." I answered hesitantly. "Before-"I let the work hang. Everyone knew what before meant.

"You've very little knowledge of the world then?"

I had very little knowledge of anything and was damn well aware of it. I shrugged my shoulder slightly and looked away

"Do you know what boyo, I like you." I startled badly when he clapped my shoulder. "Sheep or not I can't help but like you. What say you me lovelies. Should we let Conner here join our little gang?"

The scarred one snorted directly behind me. I resisted the urge to look back and tried to ignore the terrible tingling feeling in my exposed neck. "Let him join as what?" The girl asked, coming around to stand in front of me. "What use would he be to us?" 

"Ignore her." He said, squeezing my knee as he shot her a sour look. "I'm sure you're good for a lot of things, aren't you Conner?"

"Not really," I answered, because it was the truth and I was beginning to feel so nervous that it seemed prudent not to lie.

He frowned at me for a moment before letting out a mirthless bark of laughter. "At least your honest, if not a little harsh on yourself. But come now Conner, what could you do? What could you offer the rest of us?"

"I'm sorry." I said, because I knew something bad was going to happen and even though a part of me reasoned that something as mundane as apologising wasn't going to stop it I still had to try.

His eyes didn't soften in the slightest. "Why are you apologising boyo?"

I slapped his hand off my knee and stood up. Before I could even think about struggling I felt myself pulled back down and manoeuvred onto my back. The soft sofa cushions dipped on either side of me as the Irishman fell on top of me, his girth pressing down on me and making it difficult to breathe. "Don't!" I yelled, pushing against him, trying to dislodge his weight. He laughed at me, laughed as I tried to buck his weight off from on top of me. His mouth was suddenly on mine, his tongue forcing its way past my lips and into my mouth. My yells were muffled to almost nothing. I could hear the other two close by, laughing at me.

I wanted to bite down, every part of me that held even a shred of courage screamed at me to do it. I couldn't through; I was too afraid, too aware of how little power I had. That kid's scream ringed continuously through my mind. A constant reminder of what they could do to me. 

His hands slid over me, much as Michaels had. I thought it might have been more terrifying with one of the others but it wasn't. The feeling of helplessness and dread was the same. God how I hated them! How I hated that any living thing could make me feel so afraid. I was tired of being afraid.

The Irishman's hands wound through my newly cut hair, teasing it as he kissed me. I could feel his hardness pressed up against my leg, digging into me. His hands wound downwards and caught hold of my trousers. I managed a screamed protest before the sound of the door being violently hammered broke through my consciousness. The Irishman tensed on top of me. A woman called out from outside the door and he sprang off me so quickly that I was knocked to the floor. I was up almost as quickly and retreated back from them.

The door burst open and one of them stepped in. She was a young looking female, red haired and green eyed with skin as white as milk. Her gaze flickered briefly past me before settling on the Irishman.

"Where were you Jonnie? I've been waiting hours." She asked, her accent proclaiming her Irish decent as clearly as her flaming hair.

The Irishman shrugged and pointed at me. "I was sidestepped, Kerry. Have a good look and you'll see why." She was in front of me before I could blink, staring up at me quizzically as her hand hovered above my face. "Exquisite isn't he?" Jonnie asked brightly.

"Yes, and likely more trouble than he's worth. He has Michael's smell all over him. You should be wary Jonnie; Michael isn't one to share his property." She looked me in the eye for the first time. "Shoo," She said, gesturing me towards the door. When I didn't move she gave me a hard look and a rough shove, "Get on with you, shoo!"

So I shooed like I had a rocket up my arse and bolted from the room.

* * * * * 

They had a huge clock in the central hall that announced the arrival of daybreak and nightfall by chiming out a dull tune, alerting everyone where they had to be or go. It rang out as I sat huddled in my small corner. I looked at my watch. It was a little past 7 am. Michael said I had to go back to him first thing in the morning. I kept staring dully at my chest and didn't move. I felt broken and used and violated. I wanted to take another shower but this time I wanted the water to scold the flesh off my bones. 

I don't know how long I sat there before I felt one of them bearing down on me. I couldn't have explained the sensation of having so much raw power directed solely at me. It was to say the least intense. I managed to utter a tiny whimper before a pale hand gripped my arm and pulled me up. Michael growled deep in his throat and caught my chin in his manacle like hold. "Where were you?" He demanded, his eyes red and teary. Clearly he wasn't used to being up so early.

"I-" was all I managed to stutter out before he let go of my chin and grabbed the back of my collar. He pulled back to his room, nearly lifting me off the floor as I struggled to keep up with him. When we were inside he let go of me more gently than I would have expected. I scuttled backwards, instinctively pressing myself into the same spot I'd occupied the night before. My bag was still there. I picked it up and hugged it against my chest as I slowly slid down the wall into a sitting position. I buried my face into the bag and tried to stop the shaking. 

I heard a weary sigh and then the room went as dark a tomb.



Condemned Ch. 04



I heard her scream, and it wasn't the normal playful squeaks she normally let lose during one of their sessions. It was an actual, gut retching, agonised scream that pierced my own self induced denial and brought me spinning painfully back to reality. Not a second later Michael burst into the main parlour with blood pouring down his chin and neck. Even as I watched it dripped down his silk cream shirt, staining the light material a deep crimson red. His wolfish eyes settled on me and I heard him growl deep in his throat. He took two steps towards me and the spell was broken. I threw my hands up over my head, the reflective action giving me absolutely no comfort at all as I felt his huge presence loom over me. A cold marble hand ran through my hair, tugging lightly threw the tangles. I could smell her blood on him; the metallic tang was everywhere, clogging my nose, drowning out all of my other senses.

"You should get out." He said, his voice tight to the point of breaking.

He didn't have to tell me twice and even though it worried me to step outside his room I knew that staying inside would only lead to one thing. I got up slowly and edged my way carefully around him. He kept me in his sights the whole time, staring at me as if daring me to run. I tried not to let into my fear, it would only entice him.

When I closed the door behind me I had absolutely no allusions of safety. I had nowhere to go but the main hall. The prospect of going back there made me almost want to start clawing at Michael's door. If the smell of blood and the vivid memory of Michael's feral eyes wasn't so fresh I might have given into my cravings. As it was I made my way slowly to the main hall, dragging my feet the entire time. I wondered if I could just stay out in the hallways but it was a fleeting whimsy. If one of the other caught me loitering alone they would either take me back to Michael or do something else with me that didn't really bare thinking about. 

A few of the gang members looked at me when I stepped into the main hall but I was thankful none of them tried to approach me. I wedged myself into a grotty corner and tried to make time speed up but it didn't take long for someone to waylay me, and fuck me if it wasn't the one gang member I least wanted to see. He had his chin held high as he sauntered towards me, that same cocky grin bright on his face. His two lackeys were trailing a little way behind him but they stopped a good ten feet from where I was sitting and eyed ne maliciously. I stood up cautiously as he approached and I wasn't really surprised that he only stopped when we were practically nose to nose. There was nowhere for me to go, with the wall at my back and him at my front I was thoroughly boxed in.

"Conner me boyo." He said with that soft Irish lilt of his. "You've been keeping yourself hidden away for a while too long. Tell me lad, where have you been?"

"I haven't been hiding." I said neutrally. I guess living day and night with Michael had made me pretty good at masking my fear. I looked pointedly back at the Irishman. "Can I get past?"

"May I get past?" He said stonily.

"Excuse me?" 

"May I get past? Not can I. Remember your manner's lad."

I very nearly started laughing then. I'm not really sure why. I mean there wasn't anything funny about the whole big mess that was my life. It was just that it all suddenly seemed so stupidly absurd. "May I get past?" I asked icily.

He kept me pinned there a while longer but eventually he backed away slightly. He only gave me a very small amount of room to manoeuvre past him so I had to flatten myself up against the wall and edge around him. He stared at me the whole time, smirking slightly when I accidentally brushed his shoulder and flinched. 

I was nearly past him when he reached out and snagged the back of my neck. The gang members were watching us now. Some of them started jeering when he grabbed me. From what I could see almost all of them were laughing. I shouldn't have been surprised but it shocked me suddenly that the people that surrounded me were in essence the same as me. We were all mortal, we were all human yet there was something inside these people that made them lust for death and violence. Where it horrified me it only seemed to entice them.

He started dragging me, pulling me back towards his room! I dug my heels in and started to fight him then. True I was useless at it but I had to at least try to stop him. I twisted in his grip but he was faster than me. He snagged my arm and pulled it painfully behind my back. I didn't care. Not going back to his room was paramount! 

He was laughing at me, I was fighting with everything I had and he was laughing at me! He hoisted me up suddenly and threw me over his shoulder. I kicked and screamed and punched at the bastard and although I'm sure I must have hurt him he refused to let me go. He was performing for the crowd now, showing them how strong me was, how much he deserved to become one of the others. 

I didn't stop fighting him, even when he opened his bedroom door and pulled me inside. He let go of me suddenly and I hit the floor like a rock. As my teeth rattled in my head he took the opportunity to kick me in the gut. The pain quickly doused the fire burning inside of me but when he bent down towards me it flared back up and I punched him hard in the face. I heard the bones in my knuckles crunch. I was sure at least some of them were broken. He staggered away from me, his lip already red and puffy.

"You're a fuckin Idiot! You know that?" he snapped as he prodded his face. "I wouldn't have hurt you boyo, not badly anyway. But you just had to make a fuss didn't you?" he reached down and grabbed my hair. "You raise your fucking hand to me again you stupid little fuckwit and I sweat to Christ I'll rip it off!"

He backhanded me and I crumpled. His hands were on me then, rough and intrusive as he rolled me onto my back and started tugging at my jeans. He leaned over me and I instinctively shied away. His bulk kept me effectively pinned and I was too freaked to try and fight him again. When he ripped my shirt off and pulled off my trousers I just went numb with terror. He was calling me all sorts of derogatory names. I tried to block him out but I couldn't ignore his clawing hands or his hot breath on the back on my neck. 

It took me a moment to realise that someone was yelling my name. It seemed my aggressor was too intent in what he was doing to notice. It could only be one person and despite myself I was reluctant to call out to him. 

The choice was taken from me in the end. The door burst open and Michael swept down on both of us. He grabbed Jonnie and threw him off me. His eyes passed over me for a moment and then he was advancing on the Irishman.

"Now calm down Michael," He said, raising both of his hands and retreating backwards. "I wasn't going to hurt him, I was just-"

"I know what you were just going to do scum!" He roared, causing both of us to flinch. "I should rip your head clean off you pathetic excuse of a meat sack! I swear if you ever come near him again it's going to take a lot more than Kerry to save you. Being potentially turned does not make us equals!" He was in front of me so quickly that I barely managed a squeak. "You, come with me."

He seemed so angry with me. I struggled to keep up with him as he swept down the gang quarters, dragging me behind him. A number of the others looked up at us as Michael rushed us through the main hall. I noticed a young gang member staring and as our eyes met she let out an audible gasp. I just stopped moving, staring at her in disbelief as she took a faltering step towards me. It only took a second before Michael's momentum knocked me flat. He dragged me for a few seconds more before he realised I'd fallen. I barely noticed when his arm wrapped around my waist and he tucked me under his armpit. I was staring unbelievingly at the young gang member. Her mouth worked silently.

"Conner?"

***********  

I thought back to that first sunset when she didn't show up. Mom and I were peering through the parlour windows, anxiously awaiting the sound of her key in the door lock. We waited there all night, both of us preying she would come home safe.

A week later and I was still at the window, afraid to leave my vigil, frightened she might be crawling injured towards our home in need of my help. Mom had already fallen in to the mad pit of depression that had eventually claimed her life. At a time when I had needed my big sister the most she had disappeared on us. 

I had assumed she was dead but now I knew the truth, she had just grown bored with us and thrown her lot in with the gang members. Sudden, chocking fury rushed through me. How could she do that to us, how could she leave us alone when she knew how bad mom was getting? All those years I'd struggled just to survive and she was frolicking with the bastards that had helped make my life so fucking miserable! 

"What's your problem?" Michael asked, not brothering to look at me as he sat watching the T.V. I saw his pale wrist rise above the couch as he casually changed the channel. 

"Nothing." I said, struggling to control my flaring temper. "It's nothing."

"Really because all the time you've been down here I haven't sensed even a hint of a temper. Truth is I'm surprised you've got one. I assumed single living had beaten it out of you. So what's happened to tick you off? You thinking of that bastard?"

"No," I said evasively, a little freaked that he could so easily read my emotions. "How do you know what I'm feeling?" I asked softly. The few days that had passed since he had collected me from the Irishman's room had wrought a subtle change in our relationship. Michael stopped doing everything in his power to frighten me and started to encourage conversation. It was one hell of a relief for me. I hadn't realised just how highly I strung I was until I started to relax. Not that I was totally stress-free, I wasn't a complete idiot after all. For the love of good I was living with a monster!

"Its a neat trick huh." Michael said casually, his face still averted as he watched his T.V. "So you going to tell me or what?"

"It's private," 

He rose up on his elbows and turned to look at me. His eyebrow arched slightly as our eyes met.

"I'm just thinking, it's nothing specific." I paused for a moment and then decided what the hell. "Can I go out for a while?" 

"You want to go out on your own? After what happened last time?"

"Is that a problem?" I asked hesitantly.

"Not really. I'm just surprised is all."

"So it's okay?"

He shrugged and gestured towards the door with the remote. I took the hint and slipped outside, closing the door quietly behind me. I moved quickly through the hallway leading to the main hall, stepping out without too much hesitation. My roaming gaze immediately aligned on Jonnie, who was leaning casually against a wall with his usual lackeys circling him. Our eyes met and he started towards me but suddenly he seemed to think better of it and step back. He made a shooting gesture towards me with his hand and then said something to his group that had them all looking back at me and laughing. 

Clearly the Irishman had taken Michael's warning to heart. Personally I couldn't have cared less that they were reduced to pointing and laughing at me as an alternative to attacking me. In comparison it wasn't exactly hearting chilling. Still, seeing the malignant expression on his face was enough to make me drop my gaze. I wondered if Michael's threat would linger for long or if the other man would try something else. Clearly someone was protecting him.

I moved a little further into the hall, keeping close to the edges in an attempt to avoid any further trouble. I looked around for a while and eventually picked out a young girl on her own. She had a mildly distant look on her pretty heart shaped face but outwardly she didn't seem terribly threatening. I made my way towards her and let out a tiny cough to gain her attention. She turned slowly towards me, her doe brown eyes wide and bright with some sort of drug she'd probably taken earlier. "Yes?" She asked, smiling softly.

"I'm looking for someone." I blurted out. "A woman named Anne. She's about your age and has the same colour hair as me. Do you know her?"

"Anne?" She made a soft humming sound and began tracing the line of my jaw with her finger. I could tell there was nothing behind it, she was just that spaced out! I'd run into other singles who occasionally retreated into a world of make believe in order to escape reality. In my experience they rarely lasted very long.

"You're wasting your time with her." A sharp voice said at my back. Another woman, older than the first and thankfully cleared eyed stepped towards me. "So why are you looking for Anne?" She looked me up and down with a critical eye. "You don't exactly strike me as her type."

I returned her frank appraisal, studying her as she studied me. She looked like she was in her late thirties, which was fairly old for a gang member. She had traces of grey in her chestnut coloured hair and deep set frown lines around her eyes and mouth. She might have been beautiful once but clearly the years had not been kind. "Do you know where she is?" I asked.

"Yes, but why do you want to know?"

I reined in my impatience with some effort. "Because I need to talk to her and it's private."

She laughed at that. "You belong to Michael don't you?"

"I don't belong to anyone." I said testily. "Are you able to take me to her or not?"

"Okay," She said, surprising me with her sudden willingness. "Follow me then. My name is Louie by the way. Should Michael come after you later please stop him from tearing my head off wont you? I heard about what he did to Jonnie."

She started forward, pressing through the crowds and coming chillingly close to Jonnie. The Irishman looked up at us and I quickly dropped my gaze. "You couldn't have gone around him?" I mumbled.

"I could have but then I wouldn't have been able to piss him off by doing this." She stepped close beside me and lifted my arm until it draped over her shoulder. She was a little smaller than me and fit surprisingly well into my side. I didn't look at Jonnie to see what he was doing.

"Why would you want to piss him off?" I whispered. "Isn't he supposed to be turned soon?"

She smiled up at me, which transformed her face and made her look ten years younger. "One of them or one of us. It won't make a difference. He'll still be a twat and he'll still be dangerous!" She let out a tuneless whistle for a few seconds. "So, how do you know Anne again?" She asked sweetly.

Despite myself I chuckled. "I appreciate you helping me but I'm not telling you."

She nodded her head acceptingly for a moment. "You related?" she suddenly asked. I stumbled and she had to grab my waist to stop me from falling over. "I'll take that as a yes. You look a lot alike. Same hair and skin colour, different eyes though."

"Do you know her very well?" I asked.

"As well as anyone knows her I suppose. She's a quiet one though, and dangerous too. I'd be careful if I was you kid. Jonnie isn't the only one favoured to be turned."

"What?" I asked, feeling like someone had thumped me in the stomach. "Anne's to be turned? In to one of them?"

She shrugged causally. "So I hear, but it could be nothing more than rumours." She squeezed my waist in mock affection. "You sure you still want to go?" 

Honestly I wasn't sure if I wanted to see her, not knowing what she had become, but I felt like I had to. She was my sister and had been one of the only constant people in my life. I needed to know what had happened to her. Knowing that she was so close but not being able to speak to her was eating away at me.

"Here we are," She said brightly as she stopped in front of a solid red door. I noticed the scriptures that had been carved into the wood, but before I could look at them more closely Louie had rapped neatly on the door and stepped nimbly back. I didn't even have time to compose myself before the door swung open and Anne was standing there looking furiously back at me. "Look what I've bought you my dear," Louie said, her smile dazzling as she shoved me forward. "You can thank me later." She laughed, walking away and leaving me standing there wondering if I had just made a very stupid mistake.

I opened my mouth but now that she was standing there looking at me I couldn't think of a single thing to say to her. I stepped backwards, unsure if I should just turn around and run when she caught my arm and yanked me inside her room. "You stupid little git!" She hissed as she spun me around and shoved me backwards. "What the hell are you doing here?" I backed away from her, distracted by the young man that was staring at me from the corner of the room. He smiled brightly and waved at me. "Well, answer me damn it!" 

She looked so healthy, sleek and strong. She was taller than me and lithely muscled with shining black hair and bright blue eyes. I noticed the faint lines around her lips and eyes and I wondered if they were the only reminder of the hardship of her earlier life. I thought of myself, wasting away to almost nothing and not growing to my full height because of malnutrition. I thought of my mom, shrinking and growing weaker before my eyes. Something in me snapped and before I knew what I was doing I lashed out and slapped her hard across the face. Her face whipped to the side and she let out a loud snarl. "I suppose I deserved that," She said stiffly as she rubbed her reddened cheek. I felt a moment of remorse but it was short lived as she reached out and snared my wrist. She pulled me close. "Don't do it again." She said very quietly as we stood practically face to face.

"You left us," I managed to choke out. I could feel tears of anger and frustration and I fought to hold them back. "We thought you were dead, we mourned you for Christ sake! How could you just abandon us? You knew how mom was; you knew how hard it would be for me."

She sighed softly and let go of my wrist. "Things were getting too complicated Conner. I was just a kid myself and honestly-" her bright eyes appraised me thoughtfully. "I was so much stronger than you. Even if I had wanted you to come with me you never would have left mom, and if you had I'm sure you'd be dead now. I did what I had to."

"Is that it?" I practically screeched. "That pile of bullshit is your excuse for abandoning us?" I pulled back my fist, fighting the urge to hit her again. "Do you even care what I've been through? What I'm going through now? How long have you known I was here and you did nothing to help me?"

She pushed an errant strand of hair behind her ear and bit her bottom lip, reminding me suddenly of the little girl I had grown up with. An image of us as children came unbidden to my mind and with it a release of the anger I could feel welling up inside of me. What did I expect really, that she had some grand explanation for leaving us? She was a gang member after all. Expecting anything from her was just stupidity. 

"I don't know what you want me to say." She said eventually, looking sadly back at me. I wondered if she actually felt sad or if she was just trying to convey what she assumed was the appropriate response. I suspected it was the latter.

"You've said enough." I said flatly, refusing to look at her. "Bye Anne." I turned my back on her and opened her door. She didn't try to stop me and as I stepped out into the damp, squalled hallway and made my way back to Michael. No one bothered me as I stepped into the main hall and found my way back to him.

"You weren't gone long," He remarked as I stepped inside and fell down beside him on the couch. His eyebrows rose slightly but he didn't comment on our closeness. "You okay?" He asked, sounding like he actually cared.




Condemned Ch. 04



I realised I was fidgeting and forced myself to stop. "Couldn't be better," I said flatly.

I thought he was making fun of me as he started fidgeting, it took me a moment to realise that he was actually nervous. "You're afraid of me?" He said, as if it was an accusation.

"Yeah," I said, turning around to look him in the eyes. "I thought that was what you wanted. For me to be afraid of you." 

"What can I say," He said, moving a little closer to me. "Things have changed." And then he leaned down and pressed his lips against mine, pressing him body into me. And Jesus only knew why but I started kissing him back.



Condemned Ch. 05



It took a minute for the little voice in my head to start screaming at me, a second later I realised what I was doing. I pulled back and literally flung myself off the couch and half way across the room. Michael looked at me suspiciously as I pointed a shaking finger at him. "What the hell was that?" I demanded, all but screaming at him. "What the fuck is going on?"

His eye-brow arched, conveying the perfect image of amused indulgence. "It was a kiss Conner. Haven't you ever kissed anyone before?" 

No, but that was entirely beside the point. I was still pointing at him. "It wasn't just a kiss." I argued. "I would never just kiss you! What have you been doing to me? Things just changed one day, everything got easier, more comfortable! Why?"

"Perhaps you just realised you like me kiddo."

I stared at him in utter astonishment. After a moment Michael sighed and rolled his eyes. The expression looked ridiculous coming from him. "Have you ever heard of dazzling Conner?"

I had actually. In the beginning I read every horror book I could get my hands on. After a while though it became apparent that almost everything beside the very basic crap like the sunlight and the blood lust was just rubbish. I thought the dazzling was the same. Wrong again.

"Don't!" I said raggedly. "Don't do that to me anymore."

Both eye-brows rose this time. "What makes you think you get to tell me what to do?"

The little clogs in my brain went into overdrive. "You can just force me right?" I said as I got up. He looked confused. "You could just make me do whatever you want. You don't need the glamour."

"No." He agreed. "But it does make things easier."

"But not by much." I argued. "So if you're not forcing me it must be because you don't want to hurt me."

"That's pretty sketchy as far as reasons go, especially considering what we both know I am." He was smiling now. "What makes you think I care if you live or die?"

"A hunch." I said hoarsely. "So you don't want to hurt me. That's great, better than great; actually it's pretty damn brilliant. But you don't need the glamour."

"I thought you didn't like the man loving kiddo?"

I gulped audibly and I could only imagine what sort of expression I was wearing. "Honestly, I'm not really a fan of the idea but if it means you don't force me then I'll try to be a bit more open. Deal?" Weird, how I could sound so rational about the whole thing, like I wasn't talking about having sex with something that could easily snap me in two. 

"So basically I promise not to hurt you, rape you or use you in anyway and you'll consider the possibility of sleeping with me at some point? I'm not exactly coming out of this smelling like roses Conner."

What could I say to that? I mean honestly what the hell could I possibly say? We stared at one another, making eye contact in a natural way I never thought would be possible. Michael abruptly threw his hands up in the air and groaned. "Fine, I give up! We'll try it your way."

"So no more dazzling?"

"No more dazzling." He agreed. He shuffled across the couch and gestured to the empty seat. "So you wanna sit down?"  

I didn't move for a minute. The absence of the glamour was so much more noticeable now he had taken it away. All of the little fears and rationalities he had been keeping at bay swarmed back over me and for a moment I was paralysed, too frightened to move as I started to comprehend what was sitting in front of me.

"You're a silly kid." Michael said, shaking his head irritably. "This isn't better, is it? The dazzling took away the fear, took away your primal instincts to run away. You're just a frightened statue again." He huffed quietly. "I liked you better before."

"Give me a minute." I said, hopefully gently enough not to piss him off. "I just need a minute."

He turned back to his television and did his best to ignore me. For my own part I tried not to think about what he was. Think of him as a person, I told myself, think of him as something alive, someone that had actually saved my life. 

I began imagining the things he had done for me. He was different than the others, or so I thought. He'd saved me from becoming a meal when he first brought me in from the eclipse, he saved me from Joseph, he hadn't forced me, drank from me or hurt me at all. 

There was no point obsessing over what he could do to me. The important thing was that he had not done any of those things.

But then there was that pretty girl with the sleepy eyes and long blonde hair. I remembered her scream and the sight of Michael covered in her blood. I couldn't quite repress a shudder. 

Of course Michael reacted to my fear. He looked up at me, his blue eyes predatory and terrifying. Our eyes met and despite myself I held his gaze. He growled low in his throat and moved fluidly to his feet, looking so much like a stalking lion. 

A part of me knew that meeting his eyes like I was would be considered a challenge. Instinct demanded I look away and submit but I knew with sudden and un-floundering certainty that if I was going to survive Michael I needed to grow a backbone. I needed him to respect me. 

One moment he was standing across the room from me and then the next I was pinned against the furthest wall of the chambers with his body pressed close against mine. Our eyes still held and I could make out the sharp glint of his teeth as he sneered at me. "You're mine," He hissed and bent down to breathe my hair. "Such a lovely spirit and pure soul." He stepped away from me abruptly. "And so appealing as you try to establish dominance." He smiled abruptly and the predatory gleam in his eyes began to fade. "Will you sit with me now?"

"Alright." I said, and I was rather pleased with how well I controlled the pitch in my voice. He pulled me to the couch with him and draped his arm contently over my shoulders. If his skin hadn't felt so icy cold it might have been easy to forget that I was sitting with a monster.  

*********

Surprisingly Louie became a friend. She showed up at Michael's door one day and asked if she could take me out. Michael had looked amused and had actually given me a little shove out of the door. "Look after him." He'd warned as he'd shut the door in both of our faces.   

I didn't spend every day with Louie but I wasn't often out of her company. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed spending time with her. She was a gang member after all and everyone knew what gang members did to singles. From what I could gather though she had no interest in hurting me. I genuinely believe she liked me, not in a sexual way but as a friend. 

It was also a relief to have some sane human contact. Considering how little experience I had outside my own hovel of a home I knew I must have seemed terribly naive to her. If she felt that way though she did an excellent job of hiding it. I hadn't realised just how lonely I was until I started spending time with her. My mom had checked out years before she actually died and apart from her I'd had no one else to talk to. All those years alone and I'd had no idea how isolated I really was.  

Of course all of that alone time had not made me a sparkling conversationalist. Louie mostly talked and I pretty much listened. She was quite nosey about Anne but I was tight lipped in that particular subject and refused to talk about her. Louie had no such qualms. She talked openly about Anne, telling me what she remembered of the younger woman's youth and the respect she had gained over the years. Louie was also quite happy to talk about herself. 

As it turned out Louie had been one of the very first gang members recruited into the inner circle of the others. She'd been a teenager when everything had changed but she'd adapted in a way that could only be described as admirable. After being targeted by four different immortals she'd turned on them with such viciousness that they had deemed her to fierce for food. They'd offered her a place among them and she'd prospered.

I wondered why she hadn't been turned if she was as fierce as she claimed. I thought she was definitely dangerous. Something told me that the easy manner she applied when we were together could quite easily turn given the proper incentive. Despite that though she was definitely mortal and seemed inclined to stay that way.

A strange woman but one I was beginning to greatly admire.

"You've put on weight Conner." She told me happily one day as we sat side by side in the main hall. A buzz of activity surrounded us as everyone moved through the hall in preparation for nightfall. I was sleepy as I sipped my milky coffee, unaccustomed as I was to being awake during the day. "And you look much sleeker than before. It seems Michael is treating you well."

"He's definitely feeding me." I said, grinning at her as I patted my stomach. True it wasn't exactly bulging but as least it didn't look concaved anymore. I smiled at her. "You think I look sleek?"

"Don't get cocky kiddo." 

I smiled lazily. "Yeah, you fancy me."

She smirked at me. "Sorry Conner but I prefer my men to be a little more butch."

"I am butch!" I argued, affecting the deepest voice I could muster. "I'm super butch. Feel my bicep!"

"I'd have to find it first."

I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Well lookie here." She said and suddenly and all the play was gone from her voice. I followed the line of her gaze and felt a sudden fluttering in my stomach. My sister was just across the room and she was staring at us. "I think she's going to come over."

A part of me wished she would. Despite the anger and betrayal I felt I was still painfully curious to find out what had happened to her all those years ago. Some small, childish part of me wondered did she leave because of me, if I was stronger, braver; would she have stayed with us? 

Her eyes met mine, bold and sure. She wasn't afraid of meeting anyone's gaze. She stood tall and strong. Life had been good to her since she joined the others. I wondered, had she been out there with the others, hunting down the ones like me, laughing as they were raped or murdered in the streets in broad daylight.

"You're shivering." Louie commented without a trace of concern.

"I'm going." I said suddenly. I stood up, breaking eye contact with my sister and turning my back on her. I hope she understood the significance of that. Let her have her bloody gang members and deadly others. I didn't care.

"Conner?" Anne's voice reached me a moment before her hand wrapped around my arm. She tried to stop me but I pulled free without looking at her. "Wait a minute will you?" I didn't stop. Her footsteps increased until she was abreast of me. "Still pissed huh?" She asked.

"What do you want?" I asked her tiredly.

"You and I have to talk."

I sniffed at that. "I think you've already said enough."

She grabbed my arm again and this time she didn't let go. I gave my arm an experimental tug and her fingers bit into my flesh as she yanked me back. I debated punching her, I really honest to god did. So Michael could throw me around like a ragdoll, along with almost every other person in the hall. But Anne, she was my sister and she really wasn't that much taller than me. I doubted she weighed anymore than I did. 

Her eyes narrowed as if she knew exactly what I thinking. "You raise your hand to me little brother and I'll show exactly what got me into this gang in the first place."

I laughed at her. "Do your worse." I poked her in the shoulder. "You remember who I'm sharing a room with? You don't exactly compare big sister." The latter words came out in a hiss. "Get off me."

I could see her hand straining above her belt knife. I wasn't scared; she wouldn't pull it on me. I was sure of that at least. She let me go suddenly and gave me a solid push in the chest. I very nearly fell on my arse. "I don't need this shit." She snapped. "Piss off back to Michael then, but don't say I didn't try."

I didn't answer her; I thought I might end up laughing in her face. Jesus, I want out. The thought came out of nowhere, shocking me with it ferocity. I mean, of course I wanted out, who wouldn't? I was surrounded by murderers. The point was though that I wanted out, out of the tomb, out of the dark and cold. I wanted to be in the light, I wanted fresh air and the freedom to go where I wanted. Granted I'd never really had any of those things before, the air smelled like refuge and mould and I tended to keep out of the sun to avoid detection. It was better than what I had now though, of that I was sure. 

It was still daylight. There weren't that many gang members up and about yet. I doubted there was much chance of me running into Jonnie so early in the day. I chanced a short crossing across the hall, entering into unchartered territory as I inched closer to the one of the few exists that led out of the hall. 

I reached the door before a light arm wrapped around my waist. I jumped but it was only Louie. She smiled at me, casually lifting my arm until it draped her slender shoulders. "Whatcha doin kiddo?" she asked me.

"Nothing." I answered immediately.

She frowned at me. "You know what will happen if you go out there Conner? You're free game. You won't get ten feet before someone rips into you. Believe me when I say leaving is not a good idea."

"I wasn't going to." The lie hung heavily in the air between us. "Jesus Louie-"

Her hand slapped across my mouth, smothering my words. "Cut it out." She snapped. "You know what that word does to them. Now you listen to me Conner, if you try anything like that again and I'll have to stop taking you out with me. I don't want to but I'll not be the one ripped apart by Michael because you decided to do a bunk. " 

I turned my face away, pulling away from her hand. "I just wanted to see the sun." I mumbled. 

Her face softened very slightly. "Things are different now Conner, you need to get used to that. The Sun is no longer a part of your life."

It seemed to me that was an incredibly stupid thing to say. I was a person for Christ sake! How was I supposed to just accept that I would spend the rest of my life in a pit?

"I'm being serious Conner." She warned. "I'll tell him."

"Tell him what?" I demanded. "That I wondered near a door!"

She grabbed my arm and started dragging me through the hall, back towards Michael's room. "Do not take that tone with me child. People see you talking to me like that and they'll think I'm getting soft. You'll force me to act and neither of us wants that."

I closed my mouth firmly and refused to look at her. I felt betrayed and stupid. I should have known better, even though she was my friend she was still one of them. I needed to remember that in another life, had our paths crossed, she probably would not have hesitated to kill me.

"Do you ever go out in the light Louie?" I asked her, surprising myself when I asked her.

"What do I care for the light?" She asked quietly, her hands clenching into fists as she pulled me along beside her. "We're not in a country that was ever made for the light Conner."

I disagreed with her. I remembered plenty of summers back before the world turned to ash where the sun shone and my sister and I played out in the little garden outside our modest semidetached house. England could be a warm and beautiful place during the summer months. I missed being able to experience it. I missed the light.

*****

"Conner?" 

Strong fingers kneaded through my hair, caressing gently as they slowly stroked up and down my scalp. I jumped suddenly, looking up and surprised to see that Michael was standing over me. "Hi." I said faintly. His cool eyes weren't looking at me. I wondered what he was thinking about. 

"I spoke to Louie earlier." He said, his hands still caressing softly. "She told me about your sister."

I wondered if she'd told him about the whole door incident. I was still breathing so probably not. "There isn't really much to tell." I mumbled.

"She hit you didn't she?"

"I probably deserved it." 

"Why's that?"

I shook my head in denial, although I had no idea what I was denying. "I was pretty pissed at her. I started mouthing off and I guess I made her look bad. Gang members can't afford to look weak." Of course that whole macho gang member bullshit didn't mean anything to me but I still cared about her enough that I didn't want Michael to rip her head off for touching me. I knew how possessive he could be. 

He sat next to me on the couch and gripped my knee. He squeezed encouragingly. "Did you know she'd joined the gangs?"

"No, we thought she'd died. It absolutely ruined my mom when she disappeared." I thought of her just before she'd finally died. A skeleton that only talked in whispered rants. I shuddered.

"You cold?" Michael asked, wrapping his chilly white arms around my shoulders. "You want me to put the fire on?"

"That's okay." I said, raising my knees onto the couch and pressing my forehead against them. We were quite for a while then. Michael sat abnormally still next to me. He kept his hands wrapped around my shoulders, the gentle pressure belaying his true strength.

I must have been dozing because the knock on the door made me jump a mile. I looked up but Michael was already up and answering the door. To my dismay three others were standing there waiting for him. I couldn't see Michael with his back to me but I think he was a little surprised to find them there. 

I knew one of them. Her name was Kerry and she was the one rumoured to change Johnny. Her bright red hair and flashing green eyes were exactly as I remembered them that night she'd ordered Johnnie to send me back to Michael. Although I was positive she wouldn't have given a damn she'd actually saved me from a brutal raping that night. I didn't have it in me to be grateful but I sure was thankful she'd shown up when she did. Looking at her I had to admit that among a world of beautiful creatures she was probably one of the loveliest I'd ever seen. Her alabaster skin and perpetual child like face was in a league of its own. The other two beside her were male. One of them was abnormally tall with sparkling brown eyes and soft brown hair. His figure was slim but obviously very defined beneath his tight fitting shirt. The other one looked like a kid. He couldn't have been much more than eighteen when he was changed. He had huge blue eyes and a soft full mouth. He was short, shorter than me even and his figure still had a little plumpness to it that was uncommon for the others.

His big eyes turned to me, squinting slightly in surprise. I looked away quickly and rested my head back on my knees.

"There's been some trouble." Kerry said, stepping uninvited into the room. I noticed how Michael made way for her and wondered if she was a lot stronger than him. Considering her close connection to Jonnie I sure hoped that wasn't the case. "The western covenant has intruded on our land. Rumour has it they plan to make an attempt on the coven itself."  

Michael nodded his head slowly. "What have the elders decided?"

"That we need to quash them now before they gear themselves up for a proper attack. They have forces situated within the vicinity, watching us and reporting our movements. We have orders to send them a good and proper message."

"Very well." Michael said, smiling. "Are we going in after them?"

"No, it's to be a proper slaughter, one that'll make them wish they'd never tried us. We want to lure them out and we want to make sure their coven is humiliated."

"What's that to do with me?"

"Because we need something that's going to lure them out. Something they're going to find almost impossible to resist."

I must have made a noise or maybe the frantic beating of my heart caught their attention. Suddenly four pairs of glittering eyes turned eerily in direction. 




Condemned Ch. 05



"Jesus." I whispered.

*********  

I couldn't say I was particularly enjoying my time with my new friend. She kept looking at me like I was dinner. I still couldn't believe that Michael had handed me over to her.

It was still light out and I actually caught a glimpse of the orange sun before she grabbed the back of my collar and pulled me back into the dark.

I was surprised that she had miscalculated the time. Normally their kind instinctively knew when the sun was about to set. I supposed I had to account for her youth. Only turned during the past month, clearly she wasn't accustomed to her newly attuned senses yet. 

Her hold on my collar tightened, near choking me as she dragged me back into the sewage tunnel. She was smaller than me, lighter and delicate looking. If I had known she didn't have the power to crush my skull like an egg I might have been tempted to run away. 

"You remember what Michael told you?" She asked me, shaking me slightly for emphasis.

I nodded my head. It wasn't difficult for me to remember. Michael had told me to go out into the streets and wait. He said I wouldn't be hurt as long as I didn't try to run. He told me the latter was for my own protection.

Like I could believe a word that came out of his mouth!  

"Good," She nodded her head and started tapping her small foot. "Good, good, good." She was nervous, which couldn't mean anything good for me. "Conner?" her newly burnished eyes turned on me suddenly and she bared her fangs, willingly or not I couldn't say. I wondered how she knew my name. "Why hasn't he killed you yet?" She reached out with her spare hand and cupped my face. "Has he even bled you?" She looked at me expectedly and then got angry when I didn't answer her. I wondered if anyone had thought to feed her recently. "Alright then slug, keep your secretes!" And before I could protest she grabbed the back of my hand and sunk her teeth into my palm.

I gasped in pain but couldn't suck in enough air to scream. I tried to pull back but I don't think she even registered my tugging. Then suddenly it stopped. Eyes glowing, she grabbed my wrist, opened the sewage grate and chucked me outside. 

I tripped and stumbled but I managed not to fall flat on my face. I looked back, expecting her to pounce but all I heard was a slight slam as she locked the grate back into place behind me. Surely this couldn't be it? There was no way they could expect me to just stand out in the open with my hand bleeding and night quickly approaching. I looked down at my white shirt and light blue jeans. Jesus Christ, I was going to stand out like a freaking roman candle.

I didn't know where I was. I tried to remember the last time I had left my part of the city and realised I hadn't travelled more than 90 minuet's in any direction since I was a kid. "Fuck!" I said, because honestly, sometimes there isn't a better word. "Fuck, Jesus Fucking Christ!" I started running. I wasn't about to just stand around and wait for one of them to spot or smell me, not when there was even a small chance that I couldn't make it someplace safe before nightfall.

I looked up at the sky and felt a rush of dread. Bright orange and vibrant red's coloured the skies. The sun was setting and it was going down fast. Did it always drop so quickly? I looked around, desperate now for somewhere to hide. "Fuck." I whimpered. Even if I hid there was no way they wouldn't smell my blood. It was dripping down my wrist, splashing relentlessly on the dirty grey pavement. I looked around and realised I was about to freeze. "Fuck it." I gasped. I didn't care where I went or how far I got but I'd be damned if I'd just stand in the middle of the street and wait for one of them to come murder me. I turned on my heels and I started running like the devil himself was chasing me.   

They were on me in minutes. A figure jumped in front of me, moving so quickly that the only reason I avoided him was because he let me. I stumbled back and saw another circle around me. Five of them altogether, looking at me with dead glittering eyes. I held my wrist against my chest and stared back at the one right in front of me. I think he expected hysterics but I'd never been much for frenzied screaming. He smiled and took a small step towards me. "You sure picked the wrong time of night to bleed kid." 

I wasn't sure what happened next. I noticed Michael and Kerry and another group of others that I'd only really seen in passing. There was a blur of blood and screaming and disembodied pieces. A head rolled towards me and I think I might have fainted. Unfortunately I came to a lot quicker that I would have liked. The head was still there, staring at me with a horrible expression of drawn fangs and clear hatred. I scampered backwards and heard an angry snarl behind me. I looked up and found the young looking one that had approached Michael with Kerry a few nights ago. Michael had told me that his name was Adam and he wasn't nearly as young as he looked. He reached down and pulled me effortlessly to my feet. He was an inch or two shorter than me but that didn't make a difference considering the quivering strength I knew he possessed. 

His eyes flickered to my wrist and I think I must have groaned. He smiled at me in a way that made me shiver before he ripped off the bottom end of my shirt and wrapped it around my injured wrist. I think I must have tried to pull away because he laughed and lifted me off my feet a little. "Here Michael" He called, "I have your mortal and he's none worse for wear."  

"Let go." I gasped, pushing uselessly at his arm.

When Michael pulled me into his embrace I was so relieved that I grabbed his shirt and pressed my face into his chest. At that moment, bizarrely, he was the closest thing to comfort I had.

"It's alright Conner." He whispered into my hair. "You're alright."

But I wasn't and God help me if I ever had to experience anything like that again I was scared I'd follow my mom into oblivion.



Condemned Ch. 06



"I said I was sorry," Michael said sourly, his eyes resting somewhere above my head. "I didn't have a choice, I told you that."

"I know." I answered. "You've explained it to me numerous times now Michael."

If he took offense at my tone he was doing an excellent job of hiding it. It had been like this for a few days now and I was beginning to wonder just how far I could push him. I knew it was incredibly stupid but I couldn't help myself. A part of me was taking some sort of perverse pleasure in quietly tormenting him. Maybe it was my release. I could still feel the anger bubbling inside of me and if I didn't let it out somehow I'd probably do something terminal like trying to throttle the double crossing bastard.

"You were never in any real danger." He continued tersely.

"So you said." Liar, I thought instantly.

He was in front of me so quickly that I didn't even have time to flinch before both of his hands were cupping my face. "I had to Conner, I didn't want to but I didn't have a choice. It would have been treason to deny them. They would have taken you anyway and I would have been powerless to help you." His lips hovered close to mine, almost touching as his fingers gently caressed my cheek and jaw. "It sickened me that I had to let them use you like that. I wanted to kill them all for endangering you."

It should have been frightening, having him so close, but when I looked back at him all I felt was numb. Perhaps I was finally having a breakdown? It would be just like me to do it so quietly that even I wasn't even really aware of it. 

He looked at me for a moment more before his lips crashed down on top mine. I jumped in shock but made no attempt to push him away. His tongue pushed into my unresisting mouth and caressed my own sensually as he gently pushed me onto my back.

I felt a sudden jolt of panic then. I gave his chest an experimental shove but he didn't seem to notice. His hands fumbled with my belt and I twisted my head away. "This isn't the best way to earn my forgiveness Michael." I told him, very calm and relaxed. Anything else would make him react to me like I was prey. 

He groaned into my throat and sat up with a frustrated expression on his handsome face. "You hate me again." He accused.

I sat up and shrugged. What did I care if his feelings were hurt? "I'm going out." I said, getting up and reaching for my coat. Winter had arrived in earnest over the past few days and it was hardly warm in the tunnels beneath the city. I wondered what it looked like outside. Probably pissing it with rain. I would have given anything to see it.

"You going to see Louie?" He asked me, all casual like.

"Who else?" I laughed. I saw the serious look on his face and paused at the doorway. "Is that okay?" I asked, a little cautiously because as angry as I felt I still wasn't a complete imbecile.

He dismissed me with a flick of his hand but called out to me just as I was closing the door behind me. "Don't come back for a while, I'm going to have company." He looked at me expectantly, maybe anticipating a reaction. I stared impassively back at him until finally he shook his head. "Go on then." He snapped. "Get lost."

"If only." I muttered, knowing his keen hearing would have heard me and hardly caring.

I probably slammed the door closed a little louder than was strictly necessary. Arsehole! I silently cursed, hurrying up the hallway towards the main hall. I headed towards the mortal quarters and had a nasty shock when a cold a hand locked onto my arm. I looked down into Adams' huge blue eyes and felt a strong urge to scream. He smiled at me, all innocent and appealing beauty. He really must have been one hell of a hunter with a face like that.

"Hello, Connor isn't it?" His voice was as charming as his face, soft and soothing. I thought he was English but I couldn't place the accent. "Where is Michael?"

"In his room." I said, subtly trying to pull my arm free, though perhaps not as subtly as I'd hoped. His arm wrapped around my waist and squeezed painfully hard. A warning or was it his inability to gauge the difference in our strength? Regardless of which I stopped moving. 

"Where are you trying to get to in such a hurry?" He asked me sweetly.

I gasped, fighting the urge to scream for help. I sure as hell knew I wouldn't be getting any so what was the point of even trying? "I was on my way to see a friend." I grasped his arm. "Could you release your hold a little?" I asked gently, hopefully.

Surprisingly he did let me go but he immediately stepped into my space, herding me backwards until I hit a wall and couldn't retreat any further. "You're not looking too much the worse for wear." He commented cheerfully as he started running little circles over my chest. 

"You know I'm Michaels don't you?" I suddenly demanded, pissed as hell because he was just groping me. I mean sure, I disliked stating that I belonged to someone else but if it meant he'd back up I was willing to take the hit. "He's not really one for sharing." Jesus, did I have a fucking sign on my god damn head that said molest me?

"How could he share when he's never even partaken himself?" He grabbed my wrist and held it up between us. "From what I've heard the first person to sample you was that little newborn Samantha. Tell me Conner, did you like her kiss?"

"Not really." I said, calm again. How the hell I wasn't screaming wildly was a mystery even to me. 

He caressed the faint scar caused from her fangs, inspecting them thoughtfully. "Have you and Michael fucked yet?"

I nearly pulled my own arm out of its socket as I attempted to jerk free "None of your god damn business!" I hissed, regretting it instantly when he hissed back at me with a flash of his burnished teeth.

"I hear Jonnie wants you." He said, the smile gone. "He'll be turned soon. Kerry's powerful you know, her blood will make him strong."

"He's already stronger than me." I said truthfully. 

He smiled at that. "I find myself intrigued by you." He reached out and touched my hair, cooing softly as he stroked my steadily growing locks.

I tried to pull back but with the wall behind me I had to settle for glaring at him. Maybe if he read my dislike it would mask just how freaked I was. In a world of fearsome and creepy monsters he was perhaps one of the worse. Maybe it was the deceiving innocence he portrayed, or his ethereal face. Whatever it was it sent my escape instincts into overdrive. "I have to go." 

"Go where exactly?" He wondered. "You aren't allowed outside, you avoid most of the other gang members like they have the plague. Why not spend some time with me? Someone should be enjoying your obvious charms. If Michael doesn't want you-" he let the sentence remain unfinished as he pressed me back against the wall and ground himself into me. 

I was just sucking in enough air to start a full throttled panic attack when Adam was suddenly flying through the air in the opposite direction. I was trying to find my voice when Michael appeared right infront of me, his fangs out and his eyes bright red. I recoiled but he stilled me with two words. "Stay-put."

I think it was fear that kept me in place, or perhaps he was using some sort of glamour on me. Whatever it was it kept me from doing much more than shiver as Michael glided towards Adam and grabbed the smaller creature by his throat. "If you ever fucking touch him again I'll rip your damned head off!" He shook Adam, causing the smaller man's head to whip back and forth violently. 

To my shock Adam laughed at him and grabbed Michael's wrist. An audible crack filled the air and I was sure I was going to spew. I stumbled backwards and both Michael and Adam turned demon blood red eyes on me. "I told you not to fucking move." Michael snarled, cradling his wrist before turning back to Adam. "Ow." He spat.

"It's your own fault." Adam chided, all soft innocence. "I was only playing with him. I wouldn't have damaged him."

"He's mine!" Michael hissed.

"So you say but where are your claims? The only one to leave a mark on him is the newborn. She has more right to him than you do." 

"Am I under some sort of duration to try him? If I am its news to me."

"Be serious Michael," He chided mockingly. He looked back at me and flashed that chillingly innocent smile. "Though I'll admit that you do have wonderful taste in companions."

"Find your own." Michael warned. "And leave him to me."

He shrugged and caught a lock of his golden hair, twirling it around his finger like a child. I shuddered and had to look away. "As you wish, though I'll appreciate it if you could refrain from tossing me again. It irritated me."

"Do not touch him again and I'll have no reason to."

"Touch me again and I'll do more than break your wrist!" He snarled.

They stared at one another a moment more before Adam shrugged and turned his back on us. He sauntered away like he didn't have a care in the world. 

Michael was there almost instantly. He looked so angry. I instinctively backed away and he caught my jaw in a bruising hold. "I let you out and in a few minutes you're already fucking up."

"It wasn't my fault!" I said, a little indignantly, though I was too frightened to do more than whisper.

His arm wrapped around my waist, I was lifted up slightly and then we were moving so quickly that my head started to spin. I was struck by a sudden and long forgotten memory of my childhood. My parents had taken us to the fair one summer and had somehow persuaded me to go on the waltzer's ride, despite how terrified I was of anything more daring that the teacups. I remembered the way the world had spun around me then. The only constant thing in my life at that moment was my mom. She had laughed and took my hand, letting me know that there was nothing to be frightened of. 

We were back in his room and I was lying flat on the bed. I started to sit up but he shoved me back down. "See this?" He snapped, holding his wrist close to my face. "This can't happen again."

I wondered if he intended to stop letting me out. God I hoped not. I couldn't cope with being locked up anymore and the idea of losing my only friend was devastating. 

Of course the majority of my fears faded into the background as he grabbed my jaw and forced my head to the side, totally exposing my throat. "Michael!" I cried, hysteria filling my voice because I knew, just knew what he was planning. "What are you doing?"

"Shush," He commanded. "Just be still, it won't hurt if you don't fight it."

"Don't!" I pleaded, doing the complete opposite of what he asked as I bucked and struggled beneath him. "Michael, please don't!" The latter came out as a shriek as his teeth clamped down on me and agony shot through my neck and right shoulder. I screamed, hitting and clawing at him to make him get off. "Stop!" I begged, still bucking though my body soon grew lax and weak. The only noise was the sound of my crying and the soft, slurping noises coming from Michael as he fed. "Are you going to kill me?" I whispered before darkness rushed over and me and my world turned black. ****

"Jesus!" I moaned as I woke up. I pressed my hand against the stabbing pain in my neck and felt a sudden wave of nausea. My head was swimming and for a few blessed moments I couldn't remember what had happened. 

It came back to me pretty bloody fast though as I remembered with painful clarity the exact moment when Michael's teeth had ripped into my flesh. My fingers encountered two tiny puncture holes and came back sticky with my own blood. 

I looked at the blood for a long moment as I tried to fully process what had happened to me. I'd been bitten, obviously. Okay, so I'd been bitten. That shouldn't have come as such a shock considering I was living with a monster. Logically it had been inevitable that he would bite me eventually. The fact that he had taken as long as he had was in its self something of a miracle. Yet despite that I couldn't shake off the feeling of betrayal I felt coursing through every fibre of my being. He had bitten me, hurt and taken from me something I had been unwilling to give. 

I was feeling about as sick and weak as I could ever remember feeling in my life, which was saying something considering the amount of times I'd come close to starving to death . 

I sat up and felt a wave of dizziness. My eyes scanned Michael's bedroom for any sign of him. He'd gone, thanks god. I noticed a glass of juice, placed beside me on the bedside table and reached for it greedily. It felt glorious as it ran down my throat, soothing the lesser irritation caused by my own screaming. 

As I placed the empty glass on the beside table I saw a packet of painkillers and a small bandage. I looked at them both blankly for a moment before picking them up and angling myself out of the bed.

I stumbled to the toilet and paused at Michael's sink. He didn't have any ointment, which came as no shock, so I had to make do with water. I turned on the tap and soaked one of Michael's nice dishcloths in cool water before dabbing in at my throat. I felt a dull sort of satisfaction in soiling it.

I plucked up my courage and looked at the mirror facing me above the sink. My eyes were inevitably drawn to the marks on my neck and for a moment I was memorised by the little trickle of blood that was still flowing down my throat.

The bite had not been clean. The holes were torn and ragged and would definitely scar. I supposed I should have listened to Michael when he told me not to fight him, but then the idea of just lying prone as he tore into my flesh seemed as impossible now as it had been then. 

I wiped the small holes dry and pulled the bandage free from its packaging. I winced as I imagined having to pull it off later but I couldn't go around with blood trickling down my neck so I placed it carefully above the marks and pressed it down until I was sure it was stuck. 

That accomplished I proceeded to stare at myself in the mirror. What now? I wondered. Things couldn't go back to the way they were before. The little illusion of equality we had built between us was pretty much shattered. I wouldn't be able to hide my fear next time I saw him, which would make him react to me as if I was prey.

"Conner?" A voice called from the other room.

I jumped back from my reflection and spun round. "Yes?" I called back tentively.

"It's Louie. Are you okay?"

I dropped the dishrag in the rubbish and opened the door timidly. I half expected Michael to be waiting with her but she was thankfully alone. We locked eyes and she flashed me a relieved smile. 

"You okay?" She asked again.

My hand almost touched my neck before I let it drop. "Yeah, I'm alright." I was lying of course.

"Michael told me to come look after you." She crossed the distance between us and dropped her hand on my shoulder. "I'll be honest kiddo, I was only half expecting you to still be alive considering the state me was in when he got me."

I flinched a little from her touch and she immediately let her hand drop. "The state he was in?" I let out a bit of a huff that turned into a whimper without me meaning it to. "Hopefully he'll not be too distraught!"

Her hand hovered above the mark on my neck before she let out a very soft sigh. "Did he scare you then?"

"Scare me?" I let out a cold bark of laughter and slapped her hand from my neck. "I thought I was going to fucking die, of course he fucking scared me!" My voice was louder than I remembered ever hearing it before. "What the fucking hell do you suppose I'd fucking feel having that fucking monster rip into my fucking neck!" 

She stepped back, her eyes wide and unblinking. "Conner," She said, but seemed at a loss for words.

I opened my mouth, preparing to yell some more when I abruptly dropped my hand and plonked myself on my arse. "Sorry," I said, so quietly that I wasn't even sure she'd heard me.

"No need to apologise to me." She said as she settled down beside me. "I've never seen you angry before. I was beginning to wonder if you even knew how to lose your temper."

"Well now you know. Impressive hey?"

She smiled sadly at me and wrapped an arm around my waist. "You haven't come to see me much lately?" 

"Yeah, well I guess I thought it was for the best."

"Oh?" She asked carefully.

"Like you said, you don't want people to think you're going soft." I squirmed out of her hold and stood up as I flashed her a quick smile that I suspected looked more like a grimace."Look, if you don't mind I'm feeling a little sick. You can see I'm alive and everything. Would you mind-" I faltered, unsure how to politely ask her to leave. I ended up gesturing helplessly at the door.

"Are you sure you want to be alone right now?" She asked me as she got slowly to her feet. Her hand hovered above my shoulder but she let it drop when I flinched back. "Okay," She said softly. "I'll come see you tomorrow kid."

I watched her leave and felt a sudden pang when I realised I was alone. It was stupid to feel that way when it was exactly what I had asked for. I almost went after her before I reached the door and froze.

It seemed to me that almost every time I went out alone I was targeted one way or another. Whatever it was about me that screamed that I was a single was obviously very clear to everyone I came in contact with.

Frankly I was just sick of being tortured. I couldn't stay where I was anymore. The fear of trying to escape and being caught was being outweighed by the terror that struck me at the realisation that I was going to die in this place, and it was probably going to happen soon.

So, I was going to try and run. Now all I needed to do was figure out a way how. Obviously I couldn't ask Louie for help. She had already made her stance on any escape attempts clear. Where did that leave me? I could try and go alone but I doubted I'd even make it out of the basement without being caught. I had a feeling that my face was pretty well known among the gang members and the Others. 

There was always Anne. She was my sister and god knew she owed me. It should have been the most obvious thing in the world but I wasn't sure that if I went to her would she be willing to help me. I wondered if it was even more likely that she would turn me for even suggesting such a thing. I shivered as I imagined what Michael might do to me if he found out I was even entertaining such an insane idea.

Of course there was always the blinding question of what would I do if i did free myself. I could search for my old flat, hide there and keep going as I had before. Slowly starving to death as my mind turned to mush. I would probably go mad eventually, for I had a taste of companionship now and I wasn't so sure that I could survive on my own again. 

I grabbed some of Michaels sheets off his bed and dragged them into the main room. The thought of spending the day beside him was to terrifying to even comprehend. I made a small nest from myself in the corner furthest from the room and fell into a deep slumber.

******

I woke up feeling disorientated and ill. I could feel eyes on me and when I looked up I found Michael looming close by. I panicked and threw the quilt over my head. I was old enough to know that hiding behind sheets never kept the monsters at bay but I couldn't bear to look at him.

"Leave me alone!" I shouted, the words undoubtedly muffled by the sheets. 

I heard a soft sigh and then hands were lifting me into the air, quilts and all. I was carried a short distance and placed gently upon a soft surface. I didn't try to fight the tangle of sheets as a large presence settled beside me but I did cringe when a hand wormed its way inside my cacoon and stroked my head. "I'm sorry Conner." Michael said, his voice sad and resigned. "I know I scared you and honestly that was never my intent. You may not believe me now but I did it to protect you."




Condemned Ch. 06



I could feel tears streaming down my cheeks and pressed my face into my arms. I couldn't force myself to talk to him. It was all I could do not to scream.

"Is your neck alright?"

I sobbed, no doubt loudly enough for him to hear.

"Will you let me look?"

"It's fine." I cried as my voice filled with panic. His other arm crept over me, settling lightly on my stomach over the quilt. "Conner, please come out."

I made no answer and thankfully he let me alone. He stilled beside me, either sleeping or remaining statue still. For my own part I tried not to move too much and eventually I fell back asleep. I wondered, just as I was dozing off, if Michael would ever just let me go if he cared for me as deeply as he seemed to claim.

Doubtful, but then I supposed stranger things have happened.



Condemned Ch. 07



I couldn't stop staring. Every time I passed a mirror I felt an urge to look and every time I did I was sickeningly disappointed. They were not fading as I'd hoped they would and though I'd never considered myself a vain man I would have given anything to see the skin against my neck as smooth and pale as it had once been.

For a moment my eyes wondered and locked onto the gaze of the pathetic bastard staring back at me. I had thought that months spent with a regular supply of food would have made me strong, perhaps even formidable. Jesus, I really was delusional.There was nothing to me. I was skin and flesh, a wraith with dark hair and dark circles around eyes that looked too big for my head. No wonder they all wanted to attack me. I had 'Loner' printed all over my fucking forehead. 

"You about done in there?" A voice called from behind me. Michael wanted the room. He wanted to make himself pretty for the next poor soul he sucked dry.

I pulled away from the mirror and shirked around Michael. I had learned that the trick to not setting him off was making absolutely no eye contact. I could feel him watching me and my body gave an involuntary shudder. "You going to spend some time with Louie tonight?" He asked me, trying to sound conversational as he adjusted his hair in the huge gilded mirror. 

I didn't usually talk to him and he rarely asked me anything directly anymore. Since he had bitten me our relationship has taken a dramatic turn for the worse. Judging my how constantly freaked I was I didn't think he had started glamouring me again. He had equally stopped trying to calm me down whenever I was in his presence. It meant I was constantly scared and on edge. Such behaviour did little for Michael's killer instincts and I had found myself on the unfortunate end of his temper several times in the last few weeks. It was a terrifying cycle that I had no idea how to end/

I debated ignoring him but realised that could annoy and set him off again. "I-I don't think so." I whispered.

"No plans then?"

I could literally feel my blood freeze. "Why?" I asked, rather faintly.

"The others keep asking about you." He said and moved so quickly that before I could blink his big hand was cupped around the back of my head and he was forcing me to look at him. "Keeping you in here, away from them, is making them curious. If I start bringing you out they'll back off."

"Once they've sated their curiosity." I said, my tone accusing and sarcastic enough to make Michael's grip tighten painfully. 

"They won't hurt you." He bent his head close to mine until our lips were almost touching. "I won't let them."

"You couldn't stop them before." I said, the words leaving my lips before I could properly consider my own stupidity. 

His expression hardened and the grip on my nape became too tight. "That was because you were unmarked before." He pulled me against his chest and bent his head to my throat. "I rectified that mistake."

"Stop it!" I gasped, pushing ineffectively against his shoulders as I tried to pull away.

He growled like some sort of fucking animal. "That's all you ever say Conner. Stop it, stop, please stop. I'm sick of hearing it."

I wanted to scream at him, to rant my hatred and frustration and make him know exactly how much I despised him. "You're hurting me." I whispered.

He let out an irritated huff and let go of my neck, transferring his grip to my arm and pulling me effortlessly after him. "I'm tired of hearing your simpering. All I did was mark you, as is only proper. I've even stuck to our deal and haven't taken you, despite your promise that you would give yourself to me if I gave you time. I'm sick of having to deal with you."

"You could let me go." I said softly as I was dragged out into the gaudy gothic hallway.

"Let you go? Are you honestly that naive? You think you'd last out there? You're weak Conner, weak and stupid."

I pursed my lips and resisted the urge to remind Michael I had managed ok before he had snatched me, and the only reason he had managed that was because of a freak solar eclipse. I wondered what had pissed him off so much and had a sinking suspension it had something to do with the sudden urgency to introduce me to the others. I couldn't help but drag my feet as I was led through the gothic corridor to a room I had never seen before. The front door, a huge stainless steel monstrosity, was guarded by an intense looking other with the burning eyes of someone who was thirsting. She hissed at me as Michael stepped in front of her and I nearly pulled my arm out of its socket in my sudden urgency to run away from her. 

"Stop it!" Michael snapped irritably as I tried to hide behind his bulk. He turned away from me and let out a threatening hiss that caused the other to cringe back from him. She opened the door with sudden deference, bowing her head and babbling her apologies.

I was tugged inside and was instantly drawn to what was happening in the middle of the blood spattered room. Perhaps two seconds passed as my brain struggled to understand the images in front of me. I felt my breath start to shorten and my skin grow blazingly hot. God, I thought, it's real. This isn't a nightmare, its real!

Horror unlike any I had ever experienced before bubbled up inside of me and I did something then that I had managed not to do once throughout my entire ideal. I opened my mouth and I screamed.

*****

It had taken a rattling backhanded slap to stop my hysterics, and even then I had been unable to stop the incoherent babbling that spewed insistently from my lips. A whispered threat and a stern warning of what would happen to me if I embarrassed Michael any further finally shut me up. He joined the others and I was left standing alone, watching the show and trying very hard not to throw up.

I tried, I really did, but I couldn't block it out, the crying, the begging, the screaming. This was sport to them, a treat to be shared throughout the entire clan. 

Three of them were already dead and even as I watched they picked their next victim to torture and kill. They chose the poor fool at random, dragging the guy out of the tight crowd and throwing him in amongst the shrieking newborns. He just knelt there with tears streaking down his hollow cheeks, clutching wildly at his trouser legs as a blood spattered girl crawled towards him on hands and knees. I felt my throat close up as the monster reached out and caressed the man's face, wiping away the tears in morbid fascination. Now that the bloodlust had been slated she was taking her time, playing with her food as she feasted on his terror.

"You seem distraught, Connor lad." A deeply revolting voice oozed into my ear. A strong arm looped possessively around my waste and pulled me into a tight embrace. "You need to learn to hide your squeamishness better. It'll make the others think you're weak." I could hear the sudden smirk in his voice. "Course, you screaming like a girl over a bit of blood might have ruined any chance of convincing them otherwise."

"I don't care what they think of me." I said quietly, dropping my eyes as the man let out a howling scream of pain. I resisted the urge to cover my ears too, knowing that such an obvious sign of weakness would not be tolerated. "Let go." I said, the words lacklustre because I knew that Jonnie wouldn't let go of me unless he wanted to. 

"You're shaking like a leaf." He pressed his lip intimately against my ear. "It turns me on so fucking much, watching you. I can almost smell your terror." He nipped at my ear and I tried to pull away. "Soon I'll be able to smell it."

"Michael will kill you if you don't let me go." I said, quietly confident.

"No he won't, not with Kerry right there. I'm her favourite you realise?" I didn't think it was possible but Jonnie somehow managed to plaster himself even tighter against my side. "Besides, old Michael isn't all that popular at the moment. Word is that your master has pissed off the council. He allowed one of their own to get killed in his haste to save you when that other coven attacked. That boyo is a big no no."

I allowed my eyes to flicker towards the group of others and although Michael was watching us he seemed in a heated argument with Kerry. Jesus, something bad was about to happen, something even worse than what they were making me watch. "Don't you care?" I blurted, needing to understand how we could both be human but be so different. "Those people are innocent; all they've ever done is try to live. How can you watch them be tortured and not care?"

Jonnie blinked at me, genuinely confused by my question. "They're loners. Expendable little urchins who are only good for eating and playing with." The grip around my waist tightened. "If you were as ugly as them you'd be out there too, because let's face it boyo, everything about you screams victim."

"Given the alternative I'm glad." I gestured to the man, a bloodied twitching mass that must have been in agonising pain. "No one deserves to die like that; no one should be tortured for pleasure."

"You're such a fucking little loner." He said contemptuously. "How the hell you and Anne are related is a mystery to me."

I looked up sharply at the sound of my sister's name and had to bite my tongue from asking him how he knew we were related. But then, given his apparent popularity among the other the gang members, they must have flocked to him. He probably knew every dirty secret imaginable within the coven. 

"Jonnie, come here." Kerry suddenly called and I looked up to see a large group of others staring at us. Her sparkling green eyes bore into me and whether it was a compulsion or my own fear I found myself suddenly rooted to the ground. "And bring Michael's pet with you."

Jonnie let go of my waist and transferred his grip to my bicep. He dragged me the short distance to the other's and pushed me in front of Kerry.

"Hello little mouse." She cooed, reaching out long fingers to brush back my hair. I was shaking so hard it would be impossible to miss. "Are you enjoying the show?" She gestured to the newborn others and the gruesome mess they had made. "You're fortunate; it's been sometime since we rooted out such a rich horde."

"I-I don't..." I shook my head and dropped my eyes. She wanted congratulations for having found a group of innocent men and women to kill and I'd be damned if I'd give it to her.

"Come now pet, speak up. What do you think?"

"It makes me sick." I said, the words choked and hushed to almost a whisper. "I don't understand it." I looked up at her then, pushing all caution aside. "I want to leave." I looked at Michael, whose gaze was focused on Kerry. "Michael, please."

"Yes Michael," Kerry said, turning to the other and throwing him a dazzling smile. "Why don't you save your little toy?" Her voice turned childlike then and deeply mocking. "After all, he's so delicate and frightened. He needs you to save him." She grabbed me so suddenly that I didn't even have time to gasp before I found myself being dragged towards the middle of the room before the watching newborns. They started hissing and laughing as I was pulled among them, straining forward against the collars around their necks. "Come now Michael, why aren't you saving him?" She pushed me out at arm's length until there was nothing but air between the newborns and myself. The one closest to me snarled, snapping her teeth inches from my face, straining so hard against her collar that blood began to bead down her pale neck.

I was beyond even hysterics as I stared into the eyes of my soon to be killer. She would have been in her thirties when she was turned, I thought in numb detachment. Beneath the grime her hair was a thick chestnut brown. If not for the blood and deranged expression she might have been pretty.

"Kerry, why are you doing this? Why are you provoking me?" Michael's voice seemed very far away. He had promised he wouldn't let them hurt me. With my death literally looking me in the face I found that very hard to believe.

"If you want me to stop come and take him from me." She gave me a fierce shake that knocked my feet out from under me. I was suddenly dangling in her grasp and I don't think she even noticed. She pulled me up suddenly and inhaled against my throat. "Unless," I felt her smile against my neck, "You don't want him?"

"You know I do!" Michael roared. I jerked then, barely moving within Kerry's grasp. "You know he's my favourite."

"Your favourite?" She mocked. "Do you intend to turn him then?" She laughed and ran her fingers through my hair before forcing my head back. "Shall we make a loner one of us Michael? Shall we turn him and by doing so weaken us all?"

"He is company only." Michael growled, stepping forward slowly as not to threaten. "I keep him to warm my bed and pleasure me. His beauty is captivating enough to make up for his faults."

"He is no true companion for one of us Michael." Kerry said, her tone suddenly soothing and motherly. "Take one of our true followers and use them for your pleasure." She gave me another hard shake. "This one is not worthy."

"Can I not decide that for myself?" Michael asked, his tone somewhat desperate now. 

Oh god, I thought as it dawned on me that he wasn't going to fight for me. There was no way he could win against her and everyone in the room knew it. I was going to die, I was going to be ripped apart just like that poor kid all those years ago.

"You make poor decisions as far as this one is concerned Michael." She said softly. "And so I'll take the decision from you. He is no longer yours, you deserve better and as a gesture of good will I offer you a pick of any among my own to sate your desires. All except him." She pulled me away from the newborns and dragged me across the room before Jonnie. She clamped the Irishman on the shoulder and showered him with a dazzling smile."This one is mine, he is my favourite and he shall be a shining beacon of what a proper companion should be." She looked at me for a brief moment before shoving me in the Irishman's arms. "Here Jonnie, take this one and try to teach him how to act properly." I felt her eyes rake up and down me as Jonnies arms wrapped around my chest. "At the very least he'll make a nice little pet for you."

"You're giving him to one of your own favourite?" Michael suddenly roared, all pretences of calm gone as he tackled Kerry around the wrist and drove her into the opposite wall. "You fucking whore! You think you can disrespect me like that and –"

She kicked him so hard that Michael's bones protruded from his chest as he sailed through the air and landed among the newborns. They scrambled away from him as Kerry approached. She leant down to Michael, caught him by the throat and pulled him close until they were facing one another. "That was very stupid Michael." She whispered, before breaking his neck as easily as I might break a twig.

Michael collapsed to the floor like a fish, twitching and floundering in a horrid attempt to save himself.

Stark silence followed for a moment before the Others burst into loud discussion."Well lookie what I got." Jonnie breathed, pressing me even closer against him as he ground his erection into my back.

My eyes took it all in, the mess in the middle of the room that used to be people, Michael's twitching form, Kerry's grim superiority, the spectators collective glee, coupled with the sickeningly sweet scent of Jonnies breath washing over my cheek became too much. I couldn't catch my breath and I suddenly desperately hoped this would be the end of me. A sleep I would never wake up from.

***** 

I woke to the feeling of a heavy body pressed against my own, sucking against my neck and I lay pinned on my back. I panicked, thinking Michael was drinking from me again. I cried out and thrashed and the hand not fisted in my hair reached out and caught one of my flailing wrists. "Awake at last." A lightly amused voice breathed in my ear. It took me a moment to realise it wasn't Michael and then all of the memories came flooding back. "Stop!" I cried, unable to help myself despite the sound realisation that crying out would only turn the Irishman on more. 

His hand slipped beneath my shirt and ghosted over my right nipple. When I bucked away from him he pressed his teeth into my collarbone and bit down hard enough to make me cry out. "Stop?" Jonny asked in fake astonishment. "But boyo, we've barely even started."

I wanted to hit him, when he pressed his lips against mine and forced his tongue down my throat I wanted to bite it off. What was wrong with me that I couldn't make myself react? This was a man, not one of the others but a flesh and bone man that was as mortal as I was. Why couldn't I defend myself? Was he really so much stronger than I was that I didn't even dare try?

"Don't," I cried, twisting away from the hands tearing at my trousers. "Jonnie, stop!" I clawed at his hands and he punched me. The blow hit my jaw with a solid thump and I dropped like a rock. I tried to curl up in a ball after that but a few sharp tugs on my hips sent me flat on my back. 

I didn't see her until she was almost on top of us. The surprise must have shown on my face because Jonnie began to turn over just as Louie brought a golf club down across his head. His eyes widened for split second before he collapsed down on top of me.

Louie helped me heave him off and then shoved my trousers into my hands. "Move, now." She snapped. When I just stared at her she slapped me. "I said move Conner!"

"Jesus," I breathed, shoving my trousers on and pulling on my shirt and shoes. "Jesus, were so fucked." A thought occurred to me and I looked up at Louie. "You stopped him, why?"

She looked pissed and scared. She spared a look for Johnnie and spat on him. "No way in hell you deserve to be given to that sick fuck. First those poor fucking loners and now you." She looked back at me and for a split second the facade cracked and I saw her for what she was, a middle aged lady that had seen way too much. "I can't do this anymore Conner. I can't just watch them murder people for the hell of it." She grabbed my hand and pulled me to the door. "You and I, we're getting the hell out of here."