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A Tale of Revenge Ch. 01

By: Eliya



I'm still working on Battle for Blood but a story I read caught me attention and kinda sat in my head for a while so I decided to go with it and explore a different relationship dynamic. With permission from Goldeniangel (one of my favorite authors here), I've taken her story Witch and I'm putting my own spin on it. I'm moving into more unfamiliar territory with the non-consent themes here but the dynamic intrigues me and I liked the struggle between seeking revenge or justice that the original story explored. As always, suggestions and constructive criticism is welcome.

I'm moving this story to non-con as it seems like that's where it belongs. Things will get much worse for Anna before they get better. I've written through Chapter 8 and I'm a little stuck so I hope you all will help me move forward. Many of my earlier readers have expressed that they'd appreciate me finishing the project before I continue posting but I find I need your help, at the very least, with some encouragement.

As always, enjoy and comment—no story was ever better without receiving criticism.

Anna eyed the group of men she had been tracking for days. The group had moved faster than she thought they would after their bountiful pillaging added so much weight. They hadn't taken hostages though, something she knew all too well, so that hadn't slowed them down. Still the camp was expansive. There were at least 50 of them judging by the number of fires going. Her father had taught her that trick, though for them it was never more than a game to play with passing groups of merchants or gypsies.

She was perched in a tree near the periphery of their camp letting their sounds and smells cover her imperfect stalking skills. There was a clarity of purpose in her movements, one so powerful she had never felt before. At the edges of this purpose was a terrifying abyss of pain and grief. She could feel it there, lurking in the corners of her consciousness. The only thing to do was to focus on the task at hand. With any luck she would never feel that abyss again.

She shifted her bow. She had her father's daggers strapped insecurely inside her belt as best she could. This wasn't exactly something she had practiced. She knew her only hope to get anywhere was to pick off a few, something she reasoned she might be able to do. She wasn't the best shot in the word but it was better than her knife skills. After someone raised the alarm the aim was to throw herself into them and wreak as much havoc as she could before someone ran her through. If she could kill one it would be better than nothing.

Part of her warred with this obvious suicide. Her instinct for survival was still kicking up some trouble but it was overlaid too heavily with her determination never to feel the pain of the last few days again.

There, her chance was coming her way. There were two of them, drunk and singing, stumbling along. She might get lucky and be able to pick off the two of them without having to leave her perch. She ran her fingers over her bow, feeling the soft familiar grain. She felt a pang in her heart like a stab wound as she remembered her grandfather stringing it for her the first time.

Anna shook off the memory. Now was the time to focus, to seek what little revenge she could with her limited skills. They had left her entire village a pile of desecrated ashes. They could not just walk away completely unscathed.

She notched an arrow and drew back the bow, feeling a bit uneasy as her legs clenched around the large branch supporting her. She lined up her shot, aiming for the man who had fallen and was laughing maniacally at his companion's drunken jig. She saw with perfect clarity the sick smile on his face. She aimed her bow for his heart and drew in her breath.

Suddenly, Anna felt strong arms wrap around her from behind, pulling her against a very hard chest, a man's voice whispered in her ear "Not so fast, pet." Before she could register what was happening or try to fight back she was falling into darkness, her bow clutched uselessly in her hand as her arms slackened. It was as if the darkness was swallowing her, squeezing her body, and pulling her back into its infinite grip.

The shock of falling and the fear that gripped her brought her back. She kicked and screamed trying to get the arms around her to release her from their iron grip. Whatever had her barely registered her struggles. Suddenly the world flew back up at them. Anna found herself back in her family's home, kneeling in the ashes on the floor as she tried to catch her breath. It felt like all the air had been forced from her lungs. She gasped and looked up, her eyes flying around what had once been a familiar room.

What had just happened? One moment she was in a tree days from here and the next she was kneeing in her kitchen? Who was that man? Her brain swirled with dizziness and confusion as she tried to right herself and settled on kneeing.

"It can be a bit startling at first, I know," the man's voice came from behind her. Anna whipped her head around, still unable to trust her legs underneath her.

She took in the creature in front of her, for he was no man. His face was too perfect, his voice has a low undertone that made his voice sound strangely cavernous and he seemed to almost glow in the dark room. This was a god. Which one, she couldn't be sure, but she was smart enough to know when the divine was before her. She took in his dark waving hair, straight nose and dangerously angled jaw line. He may have been handsome if not for the inhuman quality in his face.

She should have lowered her eyes, bowed, or shown some other signs of deference but something akin to panic had begun to rise in her mind. The focus she had managed to cling to with her nearing suicide mission was slipping with this new development, leaving the sea of grief free to begin to wash over her. She had never wanted to return to this burnt out mess of what had once been her home and this god had just forced her back.

"Why did you do that?" she demanded. Her voice came out horse and harsher than she had intended. The panic edged into her words even as she tried to keep herself under control.

The man before her surveyed her with piercing eyes. Maybe he was also surprised at her lack of decorum. "I did not wish for you to die today," he said simply. His voice ran in waves through her body.

"Why on earth is that up to you? I am not one of your followers. I have not pledged myself. I am not entailed to any god or any practice. You cannot just interfere with my life when it pleases you." It came out as a rush. She felt a rising tide of emotions and tried to quell them. She needed to get out of here, back on the trail, start again.

The god gave her a half smile and cocked his head, looking much more human for a moment. "That is true," he began. Anna tried to suppress the desire to scream at him to talk faster. "But sometimes it is not up to you."

"What on earth is that supposed to mean?" Anna screamed at him, feeling her lungs burning again with unshed tears.

The god looked her over once more, seemingly amused by her temper.

"I own your death."

Silence filled the burned out room. Something wasn't right. The words all made sense individually, but together their meaning was lost. Anna looked up at his chiseled face, trying to read something in the implacable expression, some clue as to what on earth was going on here. Panic and anger drained away and fear pressed in. Speak wisely, a small voice muttered. Anna felt her reason return slightly.

"I don't..." she trailed off. He didn't move. She cleared her throat and lowered her eyes, folding her hands in her lap. "I don't understand what that means."

"Just what it sounds like."

Her eyes flew back to his face. "Are you teasing me?" She practically shouted.

Shouted at a god. Again. Something had definitely broken inside her head. She reigned in herself in. She was just some inconsequential peasant girl and she was talking to a god. Despite all evidence to the contrary, she could still hold on to some semblance of reality. She lowered her eyes again and struggled to breath evenly. "Please, sir, I don't understand. I'm afraid I cannot bear your taunting me. I beg you to explain." Her voice shook. She had been so close to ending her grief, emptying her body of the tormented emotions that wracked her soul with unyielding pain. She had accepted the sweet relief of death and now here she was, back in the house that had served as her family's tomb.

"I mean," he began, his tone betraying no emotion, "that long ago once of your ancestors made a deal with me. She traded me nearly everything she had to offer in exchange for great power. Despite the fact that she was quite clever she missed a rather ambiguous part of the deal, which gave me influence over all parts of her body, including the life growing within her. Since that day I have owned a part of each of the female descendants of this woman, though with each generation my influence is less. As you are the last of the line the only thing still owed to me is control of your death. As it does not please me to allow you to throw yourself into a suicide, I have interfered to claim what is mine. I shall choose when you die, not you, nor anyone else. Have I explained myself properly?"

Anna kept her eyes down. Her brain struggled to work through this new information. She beat back the panic that rose in her chest. It had been the last thing she had, the last thing she had to offer her murdered family. She would give her life for some small bit of revenge, whatever she could manage. Instead she was back here, back where she had been helpless to save them the first time they needed her. What else did she have? She could not carry on living without seeking to avenge her family, nothing had taken away the bottomless pit that had opened inside her when they had perished like the intention she felt as she tracked their murderers. How could she simply give up the fight? She couldn't. And it would mean her life, which he wouldn't allow her to give. Helpless once again. Her kneeling body shook with something akin to fear though she had lost track of what spiraling emotion was possessing her at any given moment.

"I'll take my leave if that is all." His voice rang through her thoughts. That undertone rumbled through her again. She dared to look up again, her panic roaring through her once more. He couldn't leave yet!

"No!" she shouted. "You can't leave me like this!" The desperation in her voice stung her ears. The pain and panic clawed at her throat, seeks to suffocate her words. He just looked at her, as if her turmoil was no more interesting than a spider climbing a wall. How could she convince him when she couldn't even form a coherent thought? "Why won't you let me die?" was all she could manage.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Because it doesn't please me to allow it now."

"But I have to do...I have nothing else to offer my family for revenge. I cannot simply continue on."

"And why not? You have your life to offer your family as vengeance against those who would blot them out. Continue to live in defiance of what they did." His tone had not changed. She couldn't tell if he was mocking her or genuinely trying to convince her to go on living.

"I cannot!" Anna shouted back. "I am already dead inside. I have no heartbeats left to count except to see those who did this punished. I have no thoughts but to the savagery I have witnessed against those I loved. I have no life left in me. Do not force me to keep breathing simply for your amusement. I cannot breath without pain and to deny me the only way to stop this torment would leave me in a state much worse than death."

Still the figure before her did not move. He let the silence ring out again. Anna prayed he would agree. What could a god possibly care about the life of some broken peasant?

"No." the word thundered through the room.

Anna leapt to her feet; tears she thought had long stopped flowing streaked through the soot on her cheeks. "You cannot do this! You cannot leave me with nothing. You cannot keep me alive when my soul is putrefying inside my body."

"I assure you, your soul is still very much intact." Anna still couldn't tell if he was teasing her or not. She halted suddenly. Through all the grief and anger some reason managed to burrow through to her, something better than begging, something that hadn't occurred to her before this moment.

"What deal did my ancestor make?" She looked straight into his face, hoping to see some betrayal of emotion as he stood, prefect in his stature amongst the rubble that had been her home. Did his eyes widen slightly at her words? Had she surprised him?

"She offered me her body and soul in return for certain powers over her surroundings."

Anna looked at him more closely. His expression was still unreadable. "What type of powers?"

She knew she didn't imagine the slight curl in the corner of his mouth when he looked back at her. "That is a function of the deal. She requested and I gave." He didn't move to continue.

Anna felt two equally strong and opposite things at the same time. One part of her screamed to accept her fate as he had stated it and run in the other the direction. Do not, her mind shouted, trade him your soul for your revenge. The other part of her was not so logical. It reached up to her through the tattered remains of her reason and shoved the knowledge that no amount of running would ever heal the wounds inside her. She could not escape this.

"I have only my body and soul to offer," she said, in barely more than a whisper. She saw the smile disappear from his lips.

"You do not want to do this." His words sounded harsher, more of a command.

"I have no choice," she said, her voice a little clearer as she locked onto her course of action. "I cannot live without doing something and I cannot do something without dying, which you won't allow me to do. Which leaves me with this, I will give you my soul, which means little to me in it's tattered state, and my body, which torments me as it continues to function. You already own my death. I only ask that you allow me to seek my revenge before you collect on the latter."

Anna straightened, allowing herself to feel her old self seep back into her body. Here was the strength she had lost over the last horrible week, here was the girl she had been. This was her fate, with this trade she could actually seek her family's murderers. It wouldn't have to be suicide. Suddenly something new appeared in her chest, the slightest blossoming of hope. She might actually succeed.

"You would not be so fast to condemn your offspring as your ancestor did. Do not offer your body if you do not know what it holds inside it." His eyes fell to her abdomen, reinforcing his meaning.

Anna's hand, unbidden, flew to her stomach as if protecting something. "I am not with child," she said quietly.

"Your great-great-great-great-grandmother wasn't aware of her state either. You should be more careful than she."

"I cannot be with child, sir." She felt a hint of a blush crawling along her pale flesh. Her eyes slid from his to the floor in front of him. "I have not lain with a man."

"Hm," He began again, looking at her with a look she didn't quite understand. "Then it seems you also have your innocence to trade." Anna looked back to him. Was he considering this?

"Will you accept my offer then? Will you accept my body, soul, and innocence in return for the powers I require to seek out my revenge?" She tried to keep her desperate hope from her voice but she knew she hadn't quite succeeded.

He let his gaze shift from her face to the surroundings as he considered her words. She held her breath.

"I am faced with two issues," he said. "One, I don't believe you fully understand the gravity of what you offer. Your torment at the loss of your family and village are painful, but it will fade with time in this life. What you are offering is the extension of this punishment into the next life as you can never be free of me. Secondly, and more importantly, you offer me things of high value but you intend on stripping them of that value with the powers you receive in exchange. I would be remiss to accept goods guaranteed to depreciate."

Anna was confused and said so.

"You offer me your innocence but that is destroyed as soon as it is collected and thus cannot be worth much. You offer me your body but as you live and breath it begins to break down, as young as you are, you are still in the process of dying. For an immortal such as myself, your body does not mean so much."

"And my soul?" Anna choked out. Fear was beginning to replace that brief flash of hope.

"Well you have expressed, in no uncertain terms, that you will be seeking revenge. As you rampage through the many, many men who were involved in the rape, torture, and destruction of this village, your soul will be marked with their deaths. Thus, if I allow you to finish your little killing spree, the soul I receive on the other end will not be worth what I had traded for it."

Coolness trickled into her brain. He would deny her! The last bits of her that hadn't broken under the strain were threatening to burst leaving her senseless and witless, driven mad by her helplessness.

"Is there nothing I can do? Is there no way for you to make this exchange?" Her voice, body and eyes pleaded with him. Every piece of her leapt out towards him, begging him to accept what even she put little stock in.

He sighed, sounding suddenly sounding more human. "You will not like the terms."

"Please," she said, unable to make coherent sentences.

"It means three things: the first is agreeing that I can begin collection when I see fit, it means access to all those parts of you which will now be my property. If you seem intent on destroying what is mine I will be forced to collect early."

Anna froze. "But I make this deal with the intention of carrying out my revenge. If you wont allow it then I will not receive what I am trading you for."

"This brings me to the second term. If you wish to seek out your family's murderers then you must manage to keep your soul intact. This means that you will have to seek justice over vengeance, something you will find very difficult when you confront these men. You must not murder, though you will be able to defend yourself if necessary. You must find another way."

"But how...?" she gaped at him. How could she let them live with the power to make them die?

"And before you work through that, the third stipulation is: I want something beyond your body and soul: I want access to your mind." His voice became harder as he spoke these last words, bringing Anna's careening mind to a halt once again.

"My mind?" she whispered.

"Indeed."

"You would control my thoughts? My memories? You could turn me away from my task to anything you wanted without me knowing it." Panic made her voice rise. She had to make this deal.

"Nothing so dramatic," his voice held the smile that had crept across his lips again. "No power can actually erase the other person's self. I am asking for access, which means I would know your thoughts, I would have access to your emotions, dreams, anything I wanted to see. There would be nothing you could hide from me."

She tried to comprehend his meaning. How could he want something beyond her body and soul? Would he not own her without also knowing her thoughts? The truth sent shivers down her spine. She would be owned, possessed, completely and totally by this being. She would have no choice but to be laid bare before him, every part of her would be his and she would never have anywhere to hide from him. Could she handle this loss of self? Would she be able to handle this for eternity? Her mind spun with things she could not comprehend.


A Tale of Revenge Ch. 01



"What happened to my grand-dame? What did you do with her soul?" She watched his eyes narrow almost imperceptibly in the low light of the evening. But he seemed to emit his own glow in these dank surroundings.

"She is still in my service. It is not always unpleasant. Gods, as you know, have our own business with the state of men, in this life and in the other realms. She is tied to me and does my bidding when I call on her." He paused, "I'm not a terribly demanding master."

Anna thought this over. She would be his, owned and kept forever but was this not a small price to pay? She would have peace in this world, knowing she had punished those who deserved it. She could endure what he had in store for her in the next. She nodded at him, crushing the screaming part of herself that told her this was a mistake.

"Do you agree not to interfere with my mission if I adhere to your terms? Will you not deter me or claim my life or body when it would me compromising my goals?"

"This is all you ask?" he asked quietly.

"And for the power to carry it out," she said, realizing at once that this would be the last thing she did as a free woman. The image of her family and friends' twisted bodies came barreling into her mind, stamping out any doubt that she could make another choice. She squared her shoulders, looking up into his perfect face again. "I agree to your terms."

"I believe you should take the time to fully consider this. As I stated, your pain is driving your reason. You should try to recover before selling your soul."

Had his voice softened or was she imagining it? Anna couldn't understand his tactic. He had her; she had agreed. Why was he hesitating now?

"I don't wish for more time. I cannot sit idly and consider this offer. I was willing to die for the chance of revenge. I will accept the consequences for the chance to seek justice for my family. There will never be another path for me. There is nothing left for me to consider."

His eyes slid over her face, searching for something, though she wasn't sure what. She held herself high, trying to ignore the nagging thought that she was selling herself as a slave to this man; though he wasn't a man, he was much more. The crumbling remains of what was once her home around her helped to solidify her determination to see this through. She would punish those who took the lives of everyone she had ever cared for. After all, what else did she have left?

The god stood, appraising her still. "Disrobe," he said finally.

Anna gaped at him. Her brain came back, screaming at her to run away, to keep her dignity. But she was selling him her body, along with more precious things. This was only a drop in the bucket. If she couldn't handle this how could she manage the rest? She stilled her shaking hands and reached to untie her bodice. She fumbled with the familiar ties but finally she cast it to the side. Her dress followed it to the floor and her undergarments after them. She let her long dark hair fall forward, offering her the smallest bit of modesty as she clutched her hands together in front of her. She had never felt so vulnerable as she did now.

Anna set her jaw. She would be owned, yes, but she would be powerful and she would finally have the means to the end she had never considered possible. This was the price she had to pay. So be it.

The god did not move for a moment and Anna sneaked a look up at his face. His eyes raked over her body, his movements were unhurried. He, of course, had all the time in the world. Anna held her breath and waited.

Finally he moved towards her, until she was staring directly into his chest. She had always been unusually tall in her village and found she was unused to the feeling of someone towering over her. She winced as his fingers slid along her shoulder, pushing the long strands of her hair back behind her. His hands slid down her arm, drawing conflicting sensations of disgust and comfort from her. He reached her hand and moved to her body, allowing the tips of his fingers to slide over the skin of her thigh and belly until he reached the underside of her breast. Anna squeezed her eyes closed. She had never been touched so intimately before. While most of her struggled with the humiliation of standing and allowing him to do it, some small part of her mind relished the touch of someone else. She had thought to die without ever touching another being but in violence.

His hand flattened out and he ran his palm over her ribs, following them to her back. Once more she felt his arms around her as he pulled her into his body. It felt as though dry water was running through his body and onto hers, spreading over her exposed skin.

"Look at me, Anna," his voice commanded. She tilted her face up to look into his. She saw now that his eyes were the clearest blue, like the deep glass that the gypsies had been selling in town years ago. They burned into hers with his power, catching her, holding her focus steadily.

"For your body, I grant you the knowledge of war and the ability to carry it out." The room faded from her perception. She felt like she was floating, held up by his arms. The darkness that surrounded them was no longer as terrifying as it had been when he had plucked her off her tree.

"For your soul, I grant you the power to change the fate of others." His voice seemed to emanate from within her as he pressed her closer to him, melting their bodies together.

"For your innocence, I grant you the power of clear sight and the ability to cloud the sight of others." The soft glow that surrounded his body grew brighter, spreading over the pair of them, burning in the darkness.

He paused, moving his mouth closer to hers. "For your mind, I give you power over your surroundings and the ability to bend them to your will."

With every word his power pulsed through her, filling her skin with prickling, crackling flames. She barely registered his face moving towards her as her body was suddenly overcome with the new painful power that throbbed inside her. His eyes never left hers till the last moment when he tilted her head back, his hand cupped at the base of her skull, and brought his lips down on hers.

Anna felt a searing shock of heat run through her, as if his kiss was pouring fire into her body. At the same time she felt some energy deep within her, so deep she had never truly appreciated it as a separate entity from herself, flow out towards him. Her lips parted in a gasp as the exchange continued. She felt his tongue run against her lips. He deepened the kiss, pulling her further, drinking the life and energy from within her as he poured his promised powers back in their stead. Anna felt the world fade. Their bodies pressed so tightly together she wasn't sure where he ended and she began. Unbidden, she raised her arms to cling to him as they hung in this unearthly place. It was if she was weightless, floating in a sea of lightening.

And then he was gone; his body seemed to flow into hers until there was nothing left in the room. Anna fell to her knees. Her skin felt over full, stuffed with energy she couldn't contain. The pain was unbearable, as if everything inside of her had turned molten and was trying to push it's way out. She screamed in agony as she felt the foreign energies thrash inside her. She screamed again in anger, beating back the overwhelming fire before it could consume her. Her nails dug into her palms, drawing blood and her focus. She would not let it take her, not now, not when she could possess it.

The pain receded enough for her to open her eyes. She was back in her house, alone, the flame blackened walls still standing around her. She looked down at her hands as her vision began to swim.

"What did I just do?" she whispered to them as the dark edges of her vision closed in around her and she collapsed.

****

So a short and (hopefully) sweet beginning. Thanks again to Goldeniangel for permission to use her story as inspiration and her encouragement and advice to get me writing.



A Tale of Revenge Ch. 01



Author's Note: Some of you might remember this one. Yes, it's another repost. There is a strong warning. We're dealing with Vampires, Bloodsuckers, Nosferatu. There is definitely going to be blood and gore as well as violence. A warning to any of the men reading this, Chapter two is going to be a doozy. This story was written a long time ago. Enjoy!

*****

The alley was rank and smelled of foul, dirty diapers and three week old trash—

the scent of the day. I crouched amidst the waste, hidden in the shadows as I waited for some sign. Would it be tonight? Tomorrow? Would I have to continue my watch for the rest of the week? It should be tonight. Halloween, a fitting evening to end this game of cat and mouse we'd begun so long ago.

I was tired and sore, sick of the stench and the damp. I wanted this to be over. It should have been over. It should have never been left to go this far. I closed my eyes for an instant and took a shallow breath, all I dared allow myself even after ten days of inhaling this filth.

Two months ago I'd been happy and smiling, about to be wed to the man of my dreams. I had a job I loved, a family who adored me and everything a girl could possibly want out of life. I didn't know such nightmares existed or could intrude upon my existence in such a way. And now, sitting here in this alley, terrible thoughts haunted me, horrible memories that would forever be burned in my mind. The dreams possessed me when I allowed myself to sleep, dreams of red eyes staring out at us from the woods behind my house.

I saw every single detail of what happened that night in my mind's eye as if it were happening now. I could envision the way Wyatt had turned, the way he smiled at me, laughing as we discussed the wedding and what would be "okay" for his bachelor party. We walked the path we always walked when we wanted to talk, a path that took us through the woods and into a pretty field of lavender as purple as the color it was named for. We held hands, we kissed and touched and laughed—everything a couple should do when they were in love.

And then that growl, that terrible unearthly growl splitting the night and making the hair stand up on the back of my neck. A dog, that's what Wyatt said it was. It was j—just a dog.

We turned to go back and she stood in the middle of the path, the huge luminous moon silhouetting her curvaceous figure in intimate detail. Her thick black hair tumbled around her shoulders, swaying gently with her movements. Her eyes shone red in a face as pale as death. Her lips pulled back showing white teeth with long, sharp incisors. She wore leather, a long coat billowing in the wind, and pants that curved and clung faithfully to her figure. Her blouse was white, shining eerily in the moonlight, the laces in the front undone and exposing a goodly amount of cleavage.

I'd tried to talk to her, to ask her what she was doing on my property or even if she knew that this was private property. Her eyes raked over me disinterestedly, her gaze for my Wyatt alone.

She spoke, soft words carrying on the wind which didn't reach my ears. Protecting me, Wyatt pushed me behind him as the woman stepped forward. I tripped over an exposed root, hitting my head dully on a hidden rock. Even so, I tried to rise, to see what was happening.

I saw Wyatt standing in front of the woman, staring down at her as if he knew her. He took her in his strong arms, holding her closely in an embrace I knew so well. He held her as a lover would, his hands moving slowly against her back as his eyes stayed fixated upon hers.

When he kissed her, my heart bled. I called out his name breathlessly and was ignored. I tried to get up again, but dizziness defeated me and I was helpless to do anything but watch as he began to make love to this vision of darkness.

She pushed him down so he knelt in front of her. His hands stroked over her bosom, pulling aside one part of the billowing blouse to expose her naked breast. It was beautiful, rounded and pale as ivory. The tip was dark, almost cherry colored in the deepening shadows. I saw his mouth close over it, suckling her in. Her head fell back and once more I knew what she felt, how he touched and kissed, what the heat of his mouth, the soft flick of his tongue, felt like upon my own rose colored nipples.

Her long fingers entangled in his hair, holding him to her. I saw her sharp nails parting through his thick hair, caressing his head as he fed upon her breast. Her eyes swept downward, meeting mine in the glow of the moon. Hers were triumphant, victorious, as she let my love nurse of her dark passions to his contentment.

She bent over him, her stance almost protective and loving. Her mouth opened and I saw it then, the jaws splitting impossibly large, lips stretching over teeth that had grown even sharper and more menacing. She tipped his head to the side and latched on to the strong muscles of his neck.

Wyatt gasped in surprise and struggled for an instant before groaning. His moans and sighs sounded more as if he were in the midst of an intense orgasm, rather than having the life's blood sucked from his veins. I heard the sounds of her feasting from where I lay, the slurping and gulping as she fed from him, the sound vile and nauseating.

.

She bled him close to death, his body barely staying upright. She supported him easily, one hand cupping the back of his head, the other still buried in his hair. When she lifted her head, I saw his blood shining wetly on her mouth, trailing down the side of her chin, dripping against her exposed breast.

With one sharp nail, she slit the skin over her nipple, blood welling and mixing with his own. Then she pulled him closer, pushing his mouth against her open wound. He struggled weakly and then his tongue swept out, tasting the salty tang of her blood. His mouth closed over her wound and he started sucking hungrily.

She let him feed for a moment and then pushed him backwards, coming to stand over him. As I watched, the deep wound she'd created healed itself, leaving her skin smooth and unblemished and as pale and cold as the moonlight she stood in.

She stared down at his prone figure, seeming to wait for something. I managed to drag myself to a sitting position, my hand held to my head the other propping me up—it felt as if my head would split right off my neck. As I watched the two of them, my heart breaking at the death of my beloved, tears of rage and pain mingling with the dirt upon my face—he moved.

At first just a twitch, a jerk of muscle so small I thought I'd imagined it. Then his arms moved, pushing against the ground feebly as he tried to curl in upon himself. A soft crooning noise came from his mouth and grew until it became a scream of such pain that I clutched my hands over my ears, sobs racking my body.

His body jerked with intense spasms that almost raised it off the ground, his head flew back, his sightless eyes pointed towards me. And then, just as suddenly as it had started, it ended. He relaxed against the ground, his lungs exhaling one long drawn out sigh and then didn't move again.

And I knew he was dead.

She stood over him the entire time he writhed and cried out in pain, watching him fight and struggle with a pleased smile under the blood on her lips. Her eyes watched every move he made, sweeping over the length of his body. She waited out his spasms and then, with his final breath, she licked her lips once, her pink tongue sliding over the lush bloody fullness and held out her hand.

I gasped as Wyatt reached up and took her hand, letting her pull him off the ground. She steadied him for a moment, watching him as he looked around. When his eyes turned my way, I gasped again, but this time in utter horror. His eyes glowed that same unearthly red hers had.

She had turned him, changed him into the same type of creature she was, something dark and foul that fed from innocence and despair. As I watched, they kissed, his hand dipping into her dark hair. He licked the blood from her lips hungrily. Then he turned and stared at me.

He looked like my Wyatt but I knew the man I'd known so well, had loved so thoroughly, was gone. In his place was a monster so hideous and unclean it fed upon the life's blood of others. I'd heard the stories, seen the movies and had never once believed that such existed.

Wyatt and the woman moved towards me, their movements more stalking, more predator after prey, than a simple stroll through the garden. I scrambled backwards, trying to get to my feet, to get away.

He held out his hand, stopping the woman. His head tilted to the side, his new eyes seeing me in ways I couldn't even grasp, not then anyway. I saw his tongue snake over his lips, touching the tips of his now elongated incisors. He stared at me and then smiled and held out his hand.

My Wyatt was there, a sweet smile upon his handsome face, his eyes shining, dancing lights of good humor. His voice was in my head.

"What are you doing, baby? Come on, we've got to get to the party."

I looked down and saw myself in the new dress I'd bought for our rehearsal dinner. I was sitting on the floor of our house, my feet splayed, the dress pushed high on my hips. How I had gotten here, I didn't know. I reached up with absolute faith and trust in my fiancé.

When our hands met, a spark shot from my fingers and suddenly I was back in the woods, the hard ground wet against my now filthy jeans. My hand was tingling, almost like an immense static shock had pulsed through it. There was a glow coming from my body, golden and warm, making me feel wonderfully safe.

A yowling scream erupted from in front of me. The sound of pain bled into that inhuman screech. I saw Wyatt on the ground, his hand smoldering, his fingers blackened. The woman was beside him, her eyes wild as she shied from the aura surrounding me. She grabbed Wyatt's arm, holding onto him as he rose and then they both turned. Almost as one, they disappeared from sight, moving at a speed beyond anything I'd ever seen before.

The aura faded from my body and I noticed a stinging warmth at my neck. The cross, a present from Wyatt on the anniversary of our first date, was hot enough to burn me when I touched it with my fingers. Laughter welled from deep inside of me to mix with the racking sobs. A gift from the man I'd loved had saved me from a terrible death at his hands. What horrible irony was that?

After that night, I hid in my house for a few days, seeing no one, speaking to no one. I took the phone off the hook, locked the doors and windows. I became obsessed with locks, constantly checking them, even though I knew I had done so not minutes earlier. I slept in my clothing, when I slept that is. Most nights, I paced, going from window to window, waiting.

Finally, he came back. I knew he would, I knew he would be drawn to me as the one he loved. He stood outside my second story bedroom window as if there were solid ground under his feet. His eyes looked in at me through the glass. He whispered to me, using every secret, every dream we'd ever shared to try to get me to come out to him or to let him in.

I stared at him, the dark figure of the man I loved more than my own life. His skin was pale, shrouded in shadows. His eyes no longer danced with laughter and life—instead they glowed with evil's intent. He smiled, not the smile of my lover but that of the hunter, his teeth sharp and predatory in a mouth grown larger, his lips crimson from the blood he now drank. I threw my hands to my ears, ignoring his words, tuning out the images he placed in my mind. I wouldn't be fooled.

He shrieked and beat at the glass on the window in his frustration. It held against his powerful blows. How? I didn't know then, but I do now. They cannot enter if not bid welcome. And I had barred him from me.

He left as the sky turned a lighter shade of midnight, his shadowed form moving with incredible speed. It was then I knew what I had to do. He would be back, over and over until my will gave way and I let him in, or my mind gave and I killed myself. I felt an intense hatred grow for the woman—no, the beast—that took my Wyatt. 

I would use that hatred, tap into it, and find a way to best them both.



A Tale of Revenge Ch. 02



Here is the next installment. As always, please feel free to tell me any thoughts or criticisms you may have. This is a new direction for me and I welcome any feedback.

******

Anna spent the next week experimenting with exactly how much power the god had given her. She hadn't actually asked for anything in particular and the gifts he bestowed seemed rather generalized. Before she set out again she decided to see exactly what he had given her to work with.

The morning after their interaction she had woken up, still face down on the kitchen floor, naked and shivering in the early morning chill. That day she discovered exactly what he had meant by 'the knowledge of war.' She took her bow, which had found it's way back to the burned out house as well. She had never been an expert archer, just good enough to get by with small and medium game with some regularity.

But now the bow felt oddly comfortable in her hand, as if it was nothing more than an extension of her limb. When she drew an arrow it came back so fluidly she nearly gasped at her own movement. Each arrow hit the target's center as she practiced shooting from above, below, while running, even upside-down. Anna could feel her muscles moving with some sort of foreign energy. While the acts seemed to be almost natural to her, she still felt detached from the ability as though it wasn't her mind that was truly directing her body.

After several hours of practicing with anything she could find, including makeshift swords from tree limbs and her father's daggers, Anna began to realize these powers were not free of charge. Soon, a deep exhaustion set in, one that couldn't be explained away by her physical exertions. She gathered what she could from the town and set up camp in the woods nearby, refusing to sleep again in what she considered to be a mass graveyard of everyone she had ever known.

As the week went on she learned that the more she practiced, the longer it took for the weariness to set in, as though her body was adjusting to this newest pull on her energy. She hadn't had the opportunity to change anyone's fate or to cloud the eyes of others, but she had some success using her 'clear sight' to track the men she was to set after in her mind. She could follow their movements, not just the camp, but also the stragglers as they broke off from the group, taking their cut and setting off on their own. None would escape her. She was sure of it.

Exerting her will on her surroundings seemed to be the most all purpose gift she had received but it also required the greatest amount of concentration and energy, something she found out very quickly when she tried to use it to finish burying the bodies of her neighbors. Eventually she had succeeded but it meant remaining for a few days longer than she had initially intended. She also found that a sick feeling overtook her as she modified states of nature. All in all, it was the least rewarding to use though it seemed to have the greatest effect.

The god showed no sign of himself throughout the week she spent testing herself and burying the dead. Sometimes she felt as if she were being watched but it was never more than a feeling. She tried to keep herself from hoping that this would somehow reflect the rest of their relationship, that somehow she would be spared his attention forever. She pushed away the anxiety of not knowing when he would appear and what he would demand of her. It would do her no good to worry herself on such matters, besides there was a heavier presence in her mind.

Throughout the week she was plagued with nightmares, finding herself locked in a burning room, hearing the cries of her family as they perished, feeling frozen, unable to help them. Each night, no matter how exhausted she was, she found herself battered and tortured by the same dreams that had followed her since the day her village was ransacked.

But now there was a new element: during each dream, as she reached a fever pitch of fear and horror as the torments of the day replayed themselves, she would feel strong arms wrap around her. She would turn away from the screams and sights and bury herself in the large chest of the man who held her. Anna never dared to look up at his face, scared to acknowledge that it was the god. But she took comfort in his presence nonetheless, and would fall back into peaceful sleep. When she awoke she would wonder if it was the god exerting his influence and invading her subconscious mind or if it were she who was seeking out and manifesting the only comfort anyone had ever offered her.

After a week of retraining her body and gathering what supplies she could from the village, Anna decided it was time to leave. The men were splintering more and more as they moved away from her. Every day she spent standing still they got further away. She packed up her camp, taking only what she could carry easily. She turned away from her village and set off a second time to find her quarry, this time with more than just the desperate suicidal grief of the first time. She felt a difference in her stride, one that didn't come from her new abilities. She knew now that she was not just seeking to end her own pain. This was about justice, and revenge, though she spent much of her time trying to suppress her more violent thoughts. She knew that she couldn't act in revenge after she had made her deal.

This time the route she took led her past the home of the village healer who lived in the outskirts of the wooded area. The woman had been somewhat reclusive, practicing strange rituals that scared the proper villagers—whispers of 'witch' were never far behind her silver hair when she did emerge, though none of them balked at her touch when they needed healing.

Anna slowed as she crossed the broken doorway. She had already buried the woman's body. The old healer's reclusive lifestyle had not spared her from the bandits. Something was nagging her, drawing her into the house. Anna set her bag down at the door and crossed into the tiny room. The place was ransacked; containers and contents smashed and strewn on the floor. Anything of worth had either been trampled or taken. Anna scanned the room, wondering what had brought her here. She closed her eyes and reached into her mind, feeling for her powers of sight. When she opened them again the objects in the room seemed to shimmer under her gaze. She spied a brighter glow coming from beneath the shredded mattress that had been hacked to death by some frustrated pillager. Anna pushed the straw and cloth away and pried the floorboard up with her fingers revealing a small space. A dusty parcel glowed brightly in Anna's vision and she brought it out into the daylight.

Inside the grey cloth was a small leather bound book. Anna was surprised, this was by far the most expensive thing in the house, maybe the village. The villagers were lucky to have parchment to write on and only a few could even read. Anna's grandfather had taught her at a young age, carving letters in the dirt. She hadn't had much practice over the years but it seemed her powers of sight helped her to make the words out more quickly than she would have been able to otherwise.

It was a book of rituals and magics, ones Anna had never heard of. Most of the people of her village, and the ones she encountered, worshipped only the most powerful gods and even then only when absolutely necessary. Sometimes there would be a merchant or gypsy tribe that had a particular patron god but most of the secondary gods were unimportant in the daily lives of lay people. Only powerful families swore themselves or their children to the service of a god in order to garner favor. Peasants never expected any consideration and thus spent little time on rituals. It was well known that the gods grew more powerful as more swore themselves. The most powerful gods were either the oldest or the best at coercing humans to their service.

Anna's mind turned over the thought of her ancestor, one she had never heard of, and how she had managed to attract the attention of this particular god. It seemed unlikely that the daughter of a peasant farmer could trade her life for powers. Then again, Anna reminded herself, she had done just that. She swallowed the lump forming in her throat. She had avoided thinking about this so far; she would not let her mind turn to pondering her new status as property of a god.

She turned back to the book, trying to find what was calling her. She turned pages until one in particular seemed to glow brighter. She read a short description of the ritual to summon the god Leonid, a powerful god of black magic. The description of the god was sadly lacking more details about his powers and intentions but Anna realized there was something familiar in the description of the god. Use cobalt glass utensils, a tribute to the god's appearance and a sign of respect.

Anna's breath caught. Leonid, his name, her owner, he had a name. She remembered with searing clarity the feeling on his eyes on hers, the deep pools of blue that lit into her soul. Leonid. She snapped the book closed. The shimmering light of her power went out and the house was just a heap once more. She grasped the book in her hand, allowing a brief moment of overwhelming sadness for the loss of her freedom before pushing it back and away. There was a strange feeling of darkness inside of her, not one she cared to delve into too closely. Now was not the time for self-pity. Now was the time to move. Anna took the book and packed it away in her bag, setting off again.

It took less than a week for her to reach the nearest town. She felt the pull of one of the men who had been in her village lurking in the unsavory neighborhood. She decided to get a room at an inn near where she felt his presence. The dusty bar held most of the usual characters. Anna had been to this town several times; her father had even walked her through this part of it, wanting her to understand why she could never come back alone. Back then she had been scared. Now she felt powerful.

"I need a room for the night," she said to the barkeep, who had been watching her since she walked in. She knew her appearance, an innocent looking country girl in a dress, was out of place here. At first she hadn't cared. Now she was beginning to realize that calling attention might not be a good idea. The barkeep leered at her with his broken teeth.

"I can offer ye a bed. Ask anyone here, they'd be happy to take 'un as you home tonight." He licked his lips. Anna suppressed a gag. Slowly, so as not to startle to him, she reached into her cloak and withdrew on of her father's daggers. She twisted it slowly between her fingers, allowing for it to gather speed until it was a blur in her hand and then released it, letting it sink into the wood of the bar near where the barkeeps dirty hand was resting.

"I'd prefer to sleep alone, thank you," she said, trying not to smirk too much at his stricken face. "With hospitality such as you offer I imagine you have some vacancies, do you not?"

The barman stammered an apology and quickly arranged for her room upstairs. The other patrons at the bar all seemed suddenly immune to her presence, keeping their eyes anywhere but her form. Anna noted a few twitches as she walked by with some satisfaction. The day was growing late and she had been walking for days. After locking her room she fell deeply asleep on the first bed she had slept in in over a week.

Anna sat up with a gasp. She had been in the throws of another dream, hearing the screams of her sister and the calls of the men who had cheered each other on as they took turns with her. She had been waiting, hoping for the arms of the god to close around her, to take her away from the scene, but instead her vision had become blindingly bright as looking at the sun. Now awake, she realized her sight was calling her, telling her the man was near.

Anna scrambled out of bed, disoriented in the darkness. Night had long since fallen, but unlike at home, where it was complete, the city kept much of the dark out. She peered out her window. Guessing by the amount of people in the street it was getting late. Anna slipped on her cloak, checking that her daggers were all in place. Instead of going out through the tavern downstairs, which still sounded well occupied, she decided it best to leave through her window. She climbed out to the low roof and slipped down a supporting beam, landing softly in the street below. She silently cursed her long skirts, realizing that though her body could handle the impediment, the garment was proving more of a hassle then it was worth.

Her sight led her through the thinning crowds, onto deserted back streets. Finally a light flared in a dark alley where Anna could just make out the sounds of a muffled struggle. She quickly slipped to the entrance of the narrow alley and glanced in. The lights of the city didn't illuminate this place but she saw two dark forms grappling with each other. He was here. She watched as the dark form suddenly slammed into the wall and she could hear masculine grunts of pain as well as the sound of a woman whimpering.

"You little slag," the male voice hissed in the darkness. "I offered to pay. As you can see, I didn' hav' ta." Anna heard the sound of clothing ripping. The woman's muffled whimpers became more urgent. For a moment Anna was back in the woods, outside her village, frozen in fear as she watched the smoke rise above the trees. Her muscles wouldn't move as her mind seized up.

The sounds of distress in the alley were getting more frantic as the ripping continued. "Quit yer squirming," the man grunted. "All you bitches are the same. Screamin' when you are just servin' yer purpose"

Something about the man's mention of other women snapped Anna out of her daze. Her sister, mother and friends had been subjected to this man and his comrades. Now she was idling while he did it again. Anna pushed off the wall and made her way to the mouth of the alley, kicking some forgotten garbage on her way to draw his attention.

The figures stopped moving, both growing quiet. She knew she was silhouetted by the dim light behind her so he could make her out easily. Her sight allowed her to make out the details in the dark that no human would be able to see normally. The woman was desperate—wide frightened eyes stared at her while half her face was obscured by his large dirty hand clamped over her mouth. His other hand was still inside her ripped bodice. The man was rough looking and though unfamiliar to Anna, her power told her he had been in her village inflicting himself on the women there.

"The lady seems to be protesting your advances. Perhaps you should find someone more likely to accept your penny," Anna said, trying to keep her voice steady. Being confronted with the realities of what the women in her village had gone through was raising a burning anger in her chest.

The man smiled at her with dirty teeth. "You offerin' young'n? Cause there be plenty of me to go 'round. Once I finish with this slut I'll be pleased to oblige ye,"

With that his hand moved, pinching the woman's nipple painfully and making her shriek into his hand. "I prefer a bit of a fight anyway. Be on your way whore. I dunna take so kindly to yer interruption." He turned his attention back to his struggling captive.

"Oh I wasn't offering," Anna said, stepping into the alley. "I was only giving you a chance to back away from her, which you'd best do now so I don't have to be more forceful with you."

The man turned to her with a snarl, pulling his hand out of the woman's dress and reaching for a short knife in his belt. "Be gone, slag, no cunt threatens me and lives. Be grateful I've got a better prize than you to play with."

Anna's eyes shown in the darkness with her power, causing the man to pause for a moment. Her voice was a poisonous hiss in his ears, "Oh this will be your last night with such prizes at your disposal. Take your hand off her before I relieve you of your manhood."

The man's other hand released the woman but he stepped between her and Anna, drawing another short knife from his belt and facing her with both fists glinting with metal. "Let's have this ovr wit then," he growled "I'm nun' so picky that I can't have ya once yer heart's stopped."

The man lunged at her in the darkness, thinking her unarmed. Anna quickly spun to the side, allowing his body to pass her, and raking his arm with her own dagger. The man turned again, cursing and spitting as he lunged again. This time Anna dodged later, allowing her time to grab his arm and twist his wrist painfully so that he dropped his knife and fell to his knees. He swept the other knife up towards her face, blindly trying to reach her and escape her iron grip on his limb. She blocked his swipe with her own knife, letting the metal clang together loudly and jarring his good arm. She released him and let him stagger back into the better-lit street next to the alley. She was vaguely aware of the sounds of the woman scurrying further away from them down the dead end.

Anna focused on the man who was still intent on her. For a moment she worried he might run from her as he was obviously outmatched. She stepped into the light and he saw her face for the first time. She saw the realization of her youth and the subsequent fury at being bested by a mere girl. She gave him a wicked smile, aggravating his temper further. He threw himself at her once more. She didn't step aside, instead grabbed his knife wielding hand away from his attack, again gripping his wrist and causing the weapon to fall from his grip. At the same moment she landed a solid blow to the center of his chest with her knife hilt, driving the wind from him and sending his sputtering back to the wall behind him.

He collapsed to his knees, gasping and holding his chest. She stalked slowly over to him, grabbed his hair and pulled his head back so he stared straight into her face. None of the pulsing fury within her chest had diminished during their pathetically short tumble. She still needed satisfaction.

"You should heed the words of stranger more carefully," she hissed at him. "Unwilling women are not a playground for your cock."

The man's faced shifted, almost as if he recognized her. His breath had recovered enough for him to wheeze his response. "I suppose this is about the slag from the village a fortnight ago. Yer sister? Hardly unwillin'. Begged for each of us." Anna's vision flashed white as she saw this man's face from her sister's perspective, rocking above her and grinning down at her tears. The anger in her chest seemed to burst through her and she screamed at his broken smile.

It was as if in a dream but, at the same moment, all too real. The feeling of her knife slicing through living flesh reverberated up her arm with sickening clarity, though she couldn't recall her intention to strike him. His sputtering as blood filled his lungs seemed to be muffled by the roaring of her anger in her ears. The feeling of the hot blood splashing from his chest onto her hand felt like it was searing her flesh and yet she could barely feel the hair still clenched in her other fist. In a second he was still at her feet.

Reason returned. Anna stepped back, releasing his dead weight from her fist and knife, backing out of the pool of blood that had gathered at her feet. She stared down at her hand which was now drenched in blood that seemed almost black in the dim light of the small street. She felt suddenly deaf, like the sounds of the world were completely blocked out. Her eyes moved of their own accord over to the body of the man she had just killed. A cold feeling moved through her body as if ice was trickling down her back and spreading throughout her veins. She stared at his crumpled corpse, unsure suddenly. Her anger was gone, replaced by a void that felt much more frightening than her grief ever had.




A Tale of Revenge Ch. 02



Author's Note: This chapter is pretty bad. Lots of violence and blood shedding and even a bit of an explosion. This story is meant to entertain. I seriously don't want to be a blood whore. Is that what they call them? Enjoy!

*****

It was the day after Wyattr's first nocturnal visit when I remembered what my father had always told me. Knowledge is power. I would need that power and more to fight the hideous beast that had become my nightmare.

Turning to my computer, I searched the Internet, reading everything I could find about those that hunted at night, that fed on the blood and despair of others—the so called Night Walkers, Nosferatu, Bloodsuckers, the Vampire. There were stories everywhere filled with mostly conjecture and little fact. Some stated wooden stakes were the only way to kill them, others said daylight, or silver. Nothing pointed to one certain way to make them die.

I read stories of Vlad the Impaler, the first Dracula, and his reign of terror in Moldavia. The horrors this one man had committed upon tens of thousands of people, impaling them upon wooden stakes buried in the ground and leaving them to die foul and painful deaths brought tears to my eyes.

But none of this got me any closer to the information I needed. I had to find my salvation elsewhere, for once, the Internet didn't hold all the answers.

Daylight came once more after another night of checking locks, jumping at every noise, listening for the scratchings at the windows that would once more call to me of Wyatt's return. I locked our house, the bright sunlight shining warmly down on me, feeling an eerie sense I would never see my home again. But I was determined. I had to do this.

I reached the city just before sundown and found a motel. Of course, it was seedy, as the section of town I felt drawn to was a warren of alleys connected by neon lit streets. Triple x-rated movie houses and book stores mixed with darkened store fronts that stood decayed and abandoned. The hopeless stared at me as I walked along, and I felt my heart harden just a little at their plight. So many seemed homeless and needy, a hand out for coins that might at first have me searching, but soon had me brushing them aside as I tried desperately to find that which I needed.

Prostitutes called out to passing cars or made crude remarks to me as I walked by. I was threatened more than once by scantily dressed streetwalkers out to sell their bodies for rent money, food money or even that next fix of whatever poison they craved. I was propositioned more than once, but I kept my head down, my eyes averted from the men who stared or followed in my wake, shouting obscenities.

It was in the most unlikely place that I found what I was searching for, a store called "Hardbodies" run by a skinny white guy with glasses and funky teeth. He wore leather, showing off a girlish stomach and a hairless chest. His nipples were pierced, small golden hoops swinging as he moved. He had huge tattoos over his arms and shoulders, but I didn't want to look at him long enough to discern their shapes.

Something had called me into the store, almost as if it were fate that I find the card which changed my chances on a board situated at the front of the store. I ignored the looks of the pierced boy, the way he stared at my jeans and preppy-looking button-down shirt. I knew I stood out in this depraved part of the world, but I didn't care. I was looking for information, not a critique of my fashion sense. The card, hidden by a few other notices, caught my attention as I rifled through the want ads.

Buried under the 3x5 cards advertising "Slave for fetish torture games wanted", and "Kinky little M Sub looking for Kinkier Bi M Dom" was one that caught my attention. It was white, business card size, and held a phone number and a single word. That word was "Hunter".

I took the card and slipped it into the pocket of my jeans. Then I hurried out of that place, feeling like a layer of filth covered my body. I desperately wanted a shower. I hurried back to my motel room, cutting through one of the dark alleys in my haste. I was scared, feeling unprotected and vulnerable outside of my own home, so I kept one hand holding the gold cross which had saved my life before.

Halfway through the alley I knew I'd made a mistake. I heard the voices, low and menacing, coming from in front of me. I wanted to turn and run, but I didn't want to draw attention to myself. Instead, I snuck closer to some empty boxes and tried to hide myself in the shadows.

"Aww, come on, baby. You know you want this." The voice was cruel and taunting. I chanced a look and then couldn't look away.

She was beautiful in an earthy way, dark brown hair gathered in a ponytail at the back of her head and wrapped in the fist of one of the four big men standing around her. She was naked, huge breasts jiggling above a tiny waist and full, rounded hips. Her mound was thickly covered with brown curls and was being pawed by another man. She struggled against them, kneeling in the filth of the alley, her mouth stubbornly closed against the huge cock the one man was trying to shove down her throat. Her hands were on his legs, pushing at him frantically, her nails pushing into his jeans.

The man mauling her pussy grabbed the entire mound in his hand and squeezed cruelly. The girl opened her mouth to scream, the sound cut off as the cock was shoved in her mouth, forcefully pushed until I saw her gagging around the wide shaft.

"Now don't be biting that, girlie," the one on his knees behind her said, his hands coming up to pull and twist her nipples. "Otherwise, I'd have to pull these beauties clean off your tits."

She moaned and squealed as her breasts were tortured, pinched and pulled. I watched her cheeks bulge as the man above her continued to force his cock further into her mouth. He used her hair to pull her head forward, thrusting his hips until her nose was buried in the dense forest of crinkly hair at the base of his cock. I saw her arms flailing as he held her there, depriving her of necessary oxygen.

Finally one of the other two men, both of whom were pulling on their own cocks, opened his mouth. "Hey, don't kill her yet, I want some of that while it's still moving."

He relented and I saw the girl's face, her cheeks bright red, her eyes rolling wildly and tears streaming in a steady flow. Her mouth looked stretched and obscene as her lips tried to open to gulp down precious oxygen. I heard her struggles for air from where I was standing and the men's voices as they continued their verbal abuse.

The man behind her got up, pulling the girl to her feet. She could barely stand and he was forced to hold her up, his hand wrapped around her waist, grabbing another handful of her pubic hair. He kicked her feet apart, spreading her open as the other two guys gathered around. His hand came down and he crudely spanked the lips of her exposed pussy, laughing as they turned bright red. He reached down and unzipped his pants, pulling out his cock and rubbing it lewdly against the girl. Her hips moved more as she tried to get away but the man was relentless, finally grabbing her hips with both hands and forcing himself into her.

His face looked strained as he pushed himself in to his limit, finally ending up with his balls slapping against her clit. He pushed against her, pushing her face into the man who was face fucking her, his body starting to tense and jerk a little with every thrust.

"Damn, this pussy is tight boys," the man moaned, pulling on the poor girl's bruised hips. He started pumping into her, his sharp hip bones barreling into her plump bare ass with every move. She moaned, an almost animalistic sound, taking my eyes off the men violating her naked flesh. Her eyes roved wildly over the two men who were left, moving from one to the other, watching them as they fisted their own hard cocks, jerking off in their excitement to get at her.

Then her eyes turned to me. I saw her focus on me, hidden even as I was by the shadows of the boxes and the dim light of the alley. Her eyes met mine, and for one moment I heard her voice in my head. Her thoughts flowed along with mine and she called my name, her voice soft and beautiful, making the name Kiana sound like music. 

She laughed, in my mind I heard the trilling sound and saw her head back, her hands on her shapely hips. Her breasts moved sensually with her enthusiastic giggles, and for one moment, I wanted her. I wanted to touch her and to take her, to gently taste the flesh these men were so brutally violating. I saw myself kneeling before her, bending to caress her ankle with my lips. My body was as naked as hers, my breasts taut, and my nipples tight buds of needs as I sought to please the earthly vision before me. I felt my hands reach down for the buttons on my blouse and I started to step forward into the dim light the scene highlighted.

"Oh, bitch, you feel good." The man riding the girl brought his hand down hard on her ass, spanking the smooth flesh and breaking the trance-like state I was in. Her eyes broke contact with mine and she seemed to almost glare around in impatience at the interruption... 

Then I saw them. I saw the red glow of those eyes that told me of her true being. I moved back in revulsion, not realizing my blouse was half open as I started to move away from the horror I knew was going to occur. The man in her mouth was coming, I saw him jerking against her and her swallowing, her body suddenly calm. He rammed into her a few more times as he started to soften. And then I heard him scream.

"The bitch bit me!" He tried to pull from her mouth, but she hung on, sucking and suckling the holes she had made in his cock. It filled with blood, hardening again even as he sought to get away. She reached up, her nails turning into talon-like claws she wrapped around the man's thighs, holding him in place.

Despite his struggle, the other three men didn't come to his aid, and she started to drain him, her body seeming to glow as she drank the life giving blood. He collapsed under her to the floor of the filthy alley, his body twitching lifelessly when she finally released him. His blood stained her lips; her eyes glowed and seemed on fire. She stood, her back arched, her ass pushing back against the man who was still thrusting into her, his eyes closed as he savored the feel of her tight cunt, before she reached out for the next man.

He came to her happily, despite stepping over the body of his friend, and stood close, tilting his head as he stared into her glowing eyes. Her mouth opened, her lips stretched over jaws grown large, her chin pushing forward to almost impossible lengths. She bit into his neck and fed as he continued to stroke his twitching shaft. He moaned and jerked, his cum splattering against her naked body as she fed. She laughed with glee when she dropped his body on top of his friend's and pulled forward the next victim.

I wanted to shout to the man raping her to open his eyes, to see what was happening. I saw his body shaking, even as his friend was being killed in front of them. This wasn't a changing like it had been with Wyatt. The vampire was feeding, feasting on the blood of the men who had dragged her into this alley to rape her. And while they were scum and deserved to be thrown in jail for their brutal acts, they were human scum and not cattle-like fodder for the undead.

I finally found my voice and my feet at the same time. I rushed forward, screaming at the man to stop. He opened his eyes when he heard me, seeing a crazy woman rushing him, her blouse undone, her plain white bra exposed to his eyes. He turned to the girl he was raping and saw her finish, dropping the last body on top of the other two. She smiled over her shoulder at him, her needle sharp teeth dripping blood out of a mouth too wide and too large to be human.

He shrieked at the sight and tried to pull away but she turned, showing that incredible speed I was getting used to seeing. She grabbed him, toying with him, her thirst obviously satiated by the other three. Her nails, razor sharp, tore slices in his shirt and pants, easily ripping through the heavy denim and flannel.

When he was naked, she held him helpless in one hand, seeming incredibly strong as he struggled to get away. Her eyes looked him over, sneering at the pot belly and scrawny legs his clothing had hidden. His cock, once a mighty weapon he'd used to subdue her, now lay tiny and feeble, wet and limp against his thigh. She reached down with one finger, flipping it with just the tip of her nail, drawing just a tiny bit of blood. She brought her finger to her lip and licked it, smiling dangerously with sharp long teeth, and blood coated lips.

I reached up and wrapped my hand around my cross, feeling the heat of it start to tingle in my hand.

"Let him go!" I shouted, trying not to look in her eyes.

She laughed, a hoarse ugly sound. And as I stared, she changed to the form I had seen in my mind, her body radiant in the soft light. She no longer held the man, even though I knew he was still there. Her eyes were deep brown, lovely and gentle as she called to me. I felt a wrench in my body as my mind pulled me forward, longing to touch this beautiful woman.

Then, as if a curtain had dropped, the vision was suddenly gone. I shook my head and looked back at her, careful not to look into her eyes. I knew she had powers I couldn't guess at, telepathy and mind control only minor gifts in a being that wasn't human.

She stared at me, her mouth opening in shock as I stopped coming to her. Her hand came forward, held out from her body, her fingers open and pointing at me. Her voice was low and girlish, softly feminine as she called to me. "Come."

"I don't think so." I felt the glow from my cross flow through my body. I released it, letting it slip down until it fell naturally against my throat, the eerie golden light coming from it shining out at her.

She screamed and dropped the struggling man to the alley, stepping backwards and away from me until her back was against one brick wall. Her hands came up and covered her eyes, her body tensing in pain as the brilliant light encased her shaking form.

A voice from inside of me urged me forward, told me what I had to do next. With what seemed incredible strength to me, I reached out and pulled down a piece of board, cracking it in half as if it were a tooth pick. I stalked the struggling vampire, stepping over the fallen man without looking at him. Grabbing her hands in one of my own, I pulled them down to expose her face to my cross.

She shrieked even louder, her face shuddering in either pain or terror, I didn't care which. The stake in my hand seemed filled with power and I raised it, then thrust it with all the strength I could into her chest, not stopping until I felt it rip out of my hand and hit the wall behind her.

I heard the man behind me, cowering and blathering, then running out of the alley, screaming. The vampire's mouth ripped open with its own hideous screech of pain. The noise built until it seemed to reverberate off the walls around me, shaking the garbage strewn throughout the alley. It stopped suddenly as her mouth clamped closed, the glow fading from her eyes. Her body straightened out, stretching like a rubber band pulled too far, and then it suddenly exploded.

Pieces of her flesh flew over me, blood and other foul liquid splattered against my skin, all of it so cold it felt like ice. Her bones exploded, showering around me, sticking in the waste coating my hair. I cringed back from the mess, frantically trying to wipe my eyes of the stinging goo so I could see to run out of there. I pulled the tail of my blouse out of my jeans, using the clean ends to wipe my eyes. The alley looked like a bomb had gone off, black blood splattered, pieces of organs, hair, and bones blown everywhere. I heard a scream and ran without looking, not stopping until I reached the motel.

The key shook in my foul-covered hand as I tried to get it into the lock. It took a few tries before it clicked home and turned. I pushed the door open, locked and bolted it quickly behind me and ran to the bathroom. Before I could even pull the clothing from my body, I was bent over the toilet, my body heaving as my stomach rebelled at what I had seen and done. I still felt the give of her flesh as the wood pushed into it, the sort of pop it made. The way she had died, the violence of it all, was abhorrent to me, against everything I'd ever thought of or believed in.

When my stomach calmed, I stood and dropped the filthy clothes, leaving them in a pile in the middle of the cold bathroom floor. I climbed into the chipped tub and dragged the curtain around it, closing myself into a world of steam and heat as the water washed her blood off of my skin.

I stood under that stream for twenty minutes, washing my hair twice, rubbing the tiny soap bar over my skin again and again until I couldn't feel the ice of her blood anymore.

Then I got out and wrapped a towel around myself. I sat on the bed in the other room and stared at the card I'd pulled from the dingy back pocket of my jeans—the card which carried the number that might hold the answers I needed to have.

I stared at the card, lost, without thought or hope.



A Tale of Revenge Ch. 02



She was a killer now, just like them. Suddenly her blood roared in her ears and she felt like she might faint. A small hand touched her shoulder and she leapt back from the contact. Anna had forgotten about the woman from the alley. She held her tattered dress against her chest and stares up at Anna with wide frightened eyes. Her other hand was held up in front of her in a gesture one might use when approaching an animal that one wasn't sure of.

"Thank you," the woman said in a small voice. Anna didn't reply at first, still trying to make sense of what had just happened. She looked down at the man again, feeling bile rise in her throat before looking away. The woman seemed to understand Anna was not in the habit of stabbing would-be rapists in the street. "You saved me from him. He deserved what he got. Thank you."

Anna shook her head, finding the lump in her throat hard to speak around. She looked down, noticing for the first time that her dress was splashed with blood and her entire arm was soaked in it.

"Come with me," the woman spoke again, "I live just over there. The bastard caught me coming back from a birth. I'll fix you up so you don't go trailing this all over town."

Anna allowed herself to be steered towards the woman's home by her un-bloodied arm. She still felt numb and unresponsive; allowing this woman to take charge for a minute would have been a relief if she could feel anything at the moment. Before she knew it the woman was sitting her down at a table and bringing a large bucket of water and a basin over. She moved with the studied movement of a woman accustomed to blood, though Anna was sure there was a difference between a woman in labor and one who had just stabbed a man in the street. The woman spoke in a soothing tone; her name was Mirabelle, a local midwife. Her good for nothing husband had given up waiting for the birth to finish and headed to a pub instead of staying to accompany his wife home.

Anna let the woman's voice flow over her, feeling bits of warmth seep back into her rigid body. The woman began undoing the bodice of her dress, which was completely soaked. Anna's hand s flew to stop her.

"Lovely, you can't expect to wear this again. I'll get you a change of clothes. We need to get you cleaned and changed."

Anna nodded dumbly at Mirabelle, allowing her to remove her cloak and dress. Her undergarments had been miraculously spared the copious amounts of blood that soaked her outer layers. Mirabelle gently washed Anna's skin until the basin was bright red. Once she was satisfied, Mirabelle bustled over to the far side of the room to look for clothing that might fit her.

"I think I only have some men's clothes from a boarder a while back. If you stay overnight I have some wash that might be dry by morning."

Anna shook her head. "Pants are fine," she rasped, realizing her throat was paper dry. Mirabelle went to get her some mead she had stored away from where her husband could find it and Anna worked her way into a pair of leather breeches that she could tuck into her boots and a coarse men's shirt. It dipped low in the front to where her breast band started with a tie to keep the neck together. She kept her father's belt with his daggers. She placed the knife she had just used back with the others after wiping it clean with the wet cloth. Mirabelle had also supplied a hooded cloak. As long as Anna kept her hood up and changed her gait she could probably pass as a boy.

Mirabelle pushed a cup in front of Anna. "Drink up, it'll help the shakes." Anna held out a trembling hand and took the cup. Mirabelle gave her an apprising look. "Seems you aren't just an angel of vengeance coming to those of us in distress. You look like I did after my first breach birth."

Anna could only nod, feeling numb again. She drank the sour liquid quickly, making her limbs tingle with the feel of alcohol. She looked up at Mirabelle's face, straight into the woman's searching gaze. Suddenly the room felt stifling and small. Anna lurched from her seat and backed her way towards the door.

"I have to go," she stammered. Mirabelle only nodded slightly. Anna turned to go, but paused at the door, her hand gripping the handle. "He raped my sister." She said quietly, almost more to herself than to the other woman.

"He deserved what he got," Mirabelle said from behind her. "You saved me and countless others he would have done this to. Remember that."

Anna couldn't bear facing the woman again. Part of her just didn't believe her. She nodded at the door and slipped back into the night. She fled in the other direction from the body that surely hadn't been discovered yet. She didn't remember finding her way back to the inn or clambering up the roof back into her room.

She fell to her knees in the center of the room, looking down at her hands. A terrible fear began to grow inside her. What had she done? She had killed a man. The feeling of the blade slicing through his chest was hideously easy to recall. Her muscles still remembered the jarring feeling of blade on bone and the final resistance of his heart muscle as her knife sliced deep into his chest. He had been kneeling, injured and unarmed at her feet. She hadn't needed to kill him. She could have cursed him, maimed him, blinded him, anything but take his life. Instead she had cut into his chest like he was a pig for the slaughter.

He is a pig! She shouted to herself. He raped all those woman! He raped June, and probably so many more. He deserved what he got. Even Mirabelle said so.

You're a killer, another voice said in her mind. You have the power to enact your vengeance without taking a life and you didn't even try. Just ran him through like an animal.

Hot tear streamed down her face. She had killed a man, even one as evil as him, and a piece of her soul felt torn. She suddenly felt this overwhelming urge to purge herself somehow. But how? How can you take back something so irreparable as taking a life?

Without fully considering her actions, Anna reached into her belt, withdrawing another of her father's knives. The sick feeling inside her would not be satisfied with self-loathing. No, she realized, she would have to suffer for her actions.

With no hesitation, Anna raised the knife in her right hand and brought it down swiftly in her left palm, which was lying against the floor. The blade traveled between the small bones of her hands, through muscle and skin, and lodged itself in the floorboards pinning her hand in place. She let out a small cry of pain, willing herself not to wake the others in the inn with the loud cry she wished she could release.

The pain was immense, the flesh of her hand burned, the muscles inside screamed as the blade scraped against the tear it had made. Anna closed her eyes, tears still spilling from underneath her lashes. She gripped the handle and yanked the blade out, cradling her injured hand in her lap and dropping the knife with a clatter. She whimpered as the pain shot up her arm. But this was only a tiny fraction of what he had felt. How was this small injury meant to make up for what she had done?

Anna sobbed again, forcing her injured hand into a fist, causing the searing pain to double as the muscles strained and her fingernails dug into the open flesh. She felt light-headed with pain, blood dripped out of the back of her hand onto the floor between her legs. Her other hand grasped for the knife; the pain would purge her of her deed.

"I think that's quite enough."

Anna's eyes flew open. Once again she found her self on her knees in front of the god. He stood by the door to her room, glowing softly in the darkness. The sight of him jolted Anna from her shock. She looked into his face and followed his eyes to her mangled hand that was still clutched on the floor.

"I killed a man," she said, not knowing what else to say by way of explanation.

"I am well aware. While I can't say I'm surprised I must express some disappointment. Twice in less than an hour you've managed to damage my property."

He was referring to her. The way he said it made Anna cringe. She felt powerful when he was not there but as soon as he was present the façade was removed. She was just some tortured soul with no control over her own life. A sick feeling filled her as it began to sink in. He was right. She was damaging his property.

"I had to purge myself," she muttered hastily. "I feel sick from his death. I just needed to..." she trailed off. He looked almost amused at her explanations.

"I know what you feel you need to do. You want to be punished for taking a life, even one as filthy and useless as that man's. That's fine. You will be punished. But you are too bold. You do not choose the punishment. I do. You do not damage this body, I do. It is not yours to maim. Just as your soul is not yours to begin to tear apart." His voice sounded almost bored, like he wasn't ripping apart her sense of self, reinforcing his dominance and the necessity of her complete capitulation to him.

Anna warred again with her new reality. Part of her was desperate to submit, to relinquish control to someone else, be free from the weight of carrying her thoughts. But this was a small part. The headstrong girl who had defied her mother's weaving lessons for her father's bow and her grandfather's letters, cursed the god's ownership.

Anna squeezed her hand again, the pain shot up her arm and she felt faint again. It had been her choice and action that caused this pain. It was a small act of rebellion to be sure, but it filled her with some sick satisfaction to continue in her act of defiance.

The god chuckled. The pain in her arm evaporated. Anna gaped as she looked into her intact palm which seconds before had been dripping blood all over the floor. The pool had also disappeared as if the injury had never happened. She raised her blazing eyes to his, once again her anger getting the better of her.

She was about to snap at him when he laughed again. "You do know you don't actually have to say anything out loud? You are practically shouting in your head."

Anna got up slowly. He had access to her mind of course. He could stifle any rebellion before it started. She was again confronted with a dizzying loss of self. Her mind, which she had so foolishly traded to him, meant that she was trapped whenever he was there. There could be no fighting him.

"Clever girl." His tone was condescending, making her anger flare again but she bit her tongue. She had nothing to say to him. She met his gaze, willing him to leave her so she could gather her thoughts without the added weight of his presence. He simply shook his head at her. "It seems that you have a hard road ahead of you. You will learn to accept this. Most put up less of a fight after they had gone so far in with me on a deal. Perhaps you need a bit more oversight than most. We can't have you forgetting again can we?"

"I'm sorry to have damaged your property," Anna said, sounding terribly unconvincing. "I will work harder to control myself next time." That part was true. She still felt sick over the death of that man.

All at once the sensations that had run through her arm as she stabbed him, the feeling of his hot blood on her arm, came rushing back with horrifying precision. Her stomach rolled with Mirabelle's mead. She turned, finding the empty chamber pot at the end of the bed just in time to empty the contents of her stomach.

The god waited for heaving to subside. "I have my doubts." He sounded decidedly unsympathetic. Anna didn't know what else to say. She pushed the pot under the bed and sat on the thin mattress, clasping her hands in front of her. Her face felt hot from embarrassment. She wished he would leave so she could pull herself together. Once again she felt at mercy of the roiling emotions in her mind. She had wanted to kill them all, feel their lives end in her hands, but now she wasn't sure. The sickening feeling came back.

"Well there is that at least," the god spoke again. She dared look up at him. His blue eyes glowed subtly in the darkness. His facial expression was hard to make out but his tone sounded vaguely resigned. "But it can't be that easy. It's important to consider your punishment."

Anna was incredibly uneasy. Somehow stabbing herself in the hand had been much more palatable then than uncertainty of a punishment from the god. What would he do to her?

She didn't hear him approach but suddenly he was right in front of her, holding out his hand expectantly. Anna gulped. It was so much worse than just being taken. She had to submit herself to this, to take his hand of her own accord. Of course he knew that. It took an enormous amount of will to force her hand to his. Her fingers had barely touched his skin when the feeling of power rippled across her skin. She couldn't quite place the sensation though it felt as if dry water was flowing over her skin leaving a prickling sensation all over her.

No sooner had his hand closed around hers, she felt a jolt, and once again she was flying through the darkness. She landed on her knees on a forest floor. The ground beneath her was covered in dry leaves. The god stood in front of her, his arms crossed, his face impossible to see.

"Disrobe," he ordered. Anna glared at him but moved to comply. She shed her boots and breeches. The man's shirt she had adopted fell well below her waist. She took a moment to enjoy the last shred of modesty before removing it as well. When she stood bare before him the god approached her slowly. She felt fear and revulsion rise in her throat. When his fingertips came to rest on her collarbone she actually shuddered. Every fiber screamed 'run' and yet she stood stock-still.

He continued unhurried, guiding her long, dark curls behind her ear with his other hand. The intimacy of the motion made her want to jerk away. It took all of her power to stay still as his other fingers began tracing the outside of one breast, down her side. "Perhaps you will learn faster than I give you credit for. I do love to be surprised."

His hand continued to wander over her body. Unlike last time, when she had sold herself to him, his touch didn't soothe her the way it had before. Now she felt distinctly vulnerable and, in turn, anger and fear fought for the top slot. Before she had been so near the brink that any sign of kindness had seemed infinite. This time the anticipation of his punishment made her wish for solitude again. The god sighed and stepped away from her. She tried to hold back on feeling grateful for the reprieve. Something about his sigh bothered her; it seemed far too human to come from his implacable self.

The god snapped his fingers and suddenly thick rope wound its way around both of her wrists, pulling them together and upward in front of her. The other end wrapped itself around a low branch of a tree so she was hanging, barely able to stand on the balls of her feet, her back to him as she faced the bark of the trunk. Fear took over immediately. She couldn't see his movements behind her, she couldn't even hear him to gauge his distance. She struggled against the rope that bit into her wrists. Her feet slipped on the soft forest floor beneath them. She stilled, her head fell forward with her hair, covering her front but leaving her back bare and vulnerable.

For a moment nothing happened. The clearing held only the sounds of her fast, anxious breathing. Anna's anxiety rose as he delayed whatever it was he had in store for her. Would he leave her here to hang like this? Already her arms were cramping. Was this her punishment? Was he even still there?

Anna heard the sound of something moving fast through the air a fraction of a second before searing pain lit up across her back. Her breath abandoned her scream before she could form it. Again the sound came and fire burned her skin, this time from her other shoulder downwards. Her body jerked but she hadn't had time to find her voice again. She felt like the pain was forcing the air from her lungs. She gasped, gulping air just before the third stroke hit her back, lower, the pain spreading along the top of her bottom. Finally, the fourth time he hit her she managed a small scream of pain.

Sweat broke out across her body as the beating continued. Each time the whip fell, a line of fire erupted under her skin. Each time a lash crossed another, the pain felt triply worse. It soon became impossible to tell the difference as her back became a crisscross of welts. Her voice grew hoarse and her muscles shook with exhaustion. The blows still struck her back, legs and behind as her systematically punished her. The light of early dawn spread through the clearing and the sound of birds mocked the burning pain radiating across her back.

Finally he stopped. The only sound from the pair was her whimpering pant. This pain was somehow much worse than the wound she had inflicted on herself. Under the physical pain was a deeper, shameful feeling of having been punished by another. The unpredictability of his strikes had added an anxiety to the punishment that she could never manage in herself. The fight was gone from her. She accepted his punishment of her body for the piece of her soul she had forever destroyed in the alley. She let her eyes close. In her exhaustion and pain she felt a strange sense of peace as the ache in her back began to throb deeply.

The ropes around her wrists disappeared and her body crumpled to the ground. She struggled to lift her upper body from the damp leaves beneath her. Her arms shook with the effort; her back, buttocks and legs burned anew with the multitude of welts.

"Try to keep this in mind next time you confront one of these men. If you cannot learn to control yourself then there will be further punishment. If you take this too far, I will collect on our bargain before you are done." His voice betrayed no emotion and no sign of his physical exertion from the beating. Anna felt small, human and weak in his presence. The hurt in her body was spreading as her muscles protested her movements.

She felt his hand on her shoulder, a familiar jolt of power, darkness, and then she was back on the floor of her room at the inn and he was gone. She struggled to move to the bed. The entire back of her body screamed in protest when the skin contacted the sheets. She finally settled on her stomach above the bedding. She was dimly aware of a sticky dampness between her thighs, but when she moved to discover the source, the pain was too much. She registered the sensation and fell into a deep sleep as the city woke up around her.

Her dream was different this time, more of a memory. She was younger, maybe 11. The children were playing in a deep bathing pool created by the spring thaw, yelping as they pushed each other in the frigid water on the unseasonably hot spring day. She stood apart, feeling for the first time like she was too old to strip down and join the others. Over the winter her chest had started to grow, leaving painful bumps below her once flat nipples. Her mother had seen her grimace when she was facedown on the floor, fetching something that had rolled underneath a low wall and explained that she was beginning the process of becoming a woman. All of it made her feel both above the frolicking children, and horribly self-conscious.

The older boys had no problem stripping down and joining the younger ones. She sighed as she watched them cool themselves in the clear water. Geoff, a boy a bit older than she, spotted her sitting above them and motioned for her to join. She simply shook her head, burying the embarrassment she felt under a bored mask.

"You too good to share the water with us now miss priss?" Geoff called, drawing the others' attention to her presence.

"Just you Geoff. I don't need to bath in there now that you've pissed in it," she called back, her temper getting the better of her. He had always been a bit of a bully. She thought her posturing would cover for her insecurity.




A Tale of Revenge Ch. 02



Geoff was out of the water and up the rise in a flash. The rest of the children began hollering after him, egging him on. This was a matter of honor now. He grabbed a handful of her hair, yanking her head back so he could look into her face. Her hands flew to his, trying to dislodge his grip. "Well if you think you are so much cleaner than the rest of us we'd best dirty you up a bit." He reached for some dirt and thrust the handful into her chest, smearing the skin above her neckline with mud. "That should do it!" He declared, and began dragging her towards the water.

It was at this point she realized the heat rising in her chest had started to descend into her lower belly. A strange tingling feeling radiated from the pain in her scalp down her back making her arch a little further. By the time Geoff had dragged her to the edge of the water and was about to throw her in, she realized that something about what was happening to her actually felt good.

She looked up into Geoff's sneering face, her ears buzzing. What was happening to her? Suddenly the pain in her head became intense as he used her hair to launch her into the water.

Anna sat up with a jolt in bed just as her dream self was hitting the frigid water. The pain in her back had been reduced to a deep throb but upon her unexpected movement, it roared back to life and she gasped. Sunlight filtered through the closed shutters and she could hear the noise of the city below her window. She shifted off of her aching bottom and onto her knees, supporting her upper body with her arms against the mattress on all fours.

She moaned slightly as the aches and pains in her back, butt and legs made themselves known individually and all at once. She reached back with one hand. Her skin felt hot and tender under her fingertips, like everything was slightly swollen and raised. She was sure if she could manage to twist and look down at herself she would see the long welts all over her body but she couldn't bring herself to move that much. The pain throbbed through her, moving out into untouched parts of her body. It seemed to curl up in her lower belly, eliciting the same strange excitement that had stirred her memory and caused her dream. She felt as if the pain throbbed at her very core, but it excited her.

She reached down again between her marked thighs. The sticky residue there had dried somewhat but when she pressed her fingers into her core she felt the warm juices run over her fingers, just as they had that spring day when she had run home, soaking wet and terribly confused. Anna gasped as her fingers brushed against the sensitive bud nestled between her legs. It seemed as swollen and throbbing as the rest of her. Somehow the pain seemed to focus in on this point, begging for some release.

Anna pressed her fingers harder, moaning as shocks of pleasure rippled through her body. She swirled her finger against the aching bud as the waves became more and more pronounced. The pain mingled with the pleasure and the pressure inside her seemed to build in her chest. Her fingers started to move faster, pushing her towards an edge she wasn't sure she wanted to reach. Her aching body clamored for relief.

Anna jerked her hand away from her core and threw herself onto her back on the bed. The harsh sheets against her tender skin pushed the pain to an overwhelming burn that drove the thoughts of pleasure from her brain. It hurt so much it nearly took her breath away. She cursed herself. How could she seek pleasure in her pain? This was her punishment, a reminder of her broken vow to Leonid and her offense to the man she had murdered. Here she was, seeking her own pleasure when her family was dead, her soul sold for revenge and a man's body lay rotting somewhere by her hand.

She lay on her burning back for a moment longer and then shoved herself to her feet, ignoring the protests in her muscles. She would not avoid this pain or try to turn it into something else. When her core began to throb with pent up desire she pushed the sensation from her mind, jerking her new clothing on and hurrying to leave the city. She had to focus. There were many more tests ahead of her. She could not be derailed so quickly.

***

Hope you liked this part. Getting to the good stuff soon I hope. Please comment, vote, leave me feedback or suggestions, whatever. Thanks for reading!



A Tale of Revenge Ch. 03



Chapter 3 for your reading pleasure. Please remember—feedback makes the heart grow fonder... 

I've submitted edited versions of Chapters 1 and 2 but they are still pending. Hopefully by the time this is posted they will have been approved as well. 

***** 

Ch. 3 

The next few days found Anna on the road, testing her powers of clouding the sight of those who past her to cover her pursuit, if you could call it that. She practiced shaping their perceptions so she appeared as someone else, or clouding their vision entirely so that they didn't even notice her—she was as good as invisible. It was tiring work, but her body adjusted quickly. 

The power and her body seemed to be integrating, something both reassuring and terrifying. She had known the deal was permanent when she made it but feeling the fire assimilate into her core was a constant reminder that there was no going back. 

The book she had taken with her turned out to be a wealth of knowledge about the gods and magic. She began to learn more delicate uses of her powers, drawing runes and using incantations to direct the power. But having never had to cultivate her magic to make it grow, she found that she often pushed past any blocks she had simply with asserting more power. It was a bad habit, but she excused herself. Truly delicate spells took time and focus to complete—two things she was in short supply of. 

Each night, no matter how tired she was, her dreams returned. Her eyes would barely have closed and she would be watching, listening, feeling her family and friends' deaths over and over. But he was there, every night, to offer her a way out of her nightmare. In her dream state she felt uninhibited by her natural aversion to his presence and she would turn into his body, allowing herself to take comfort in his presence. 

During the day the thought plagued her that it was indeed the god in her dream, invading her mind as he had arranged for in their deal. But something about how easy it was to take solace in his presence made her think more and more that this was nothing more than her own projection, her dream state manifesting something, anything to keep her from going mad again. 

She was also beginning to understand why Leonid had insisted on access to her mind. A person's mind was sacrosanct. No power could infringe on it and it required permission from the subject simply to be able to access their thoughts. Anna couldn't process how horrible it felt to have given up the very thing that would have always been hers alone. She cursed herself a million times for being a fool but it didn't help. 

Four days past and her progress behind the men was frustratingly slow. Every time she used her powers she was getting stronger but every evening, as darkness fell, she would still collapse into an exhausted sleep, barely managing to set out her camp far enough from the road to be protected. She was fast running out of her stores of patience. 

To add to this she felt a gnawing feeling inside her as her body begged for release. Whatever desire her punishment had awoken within her was refusing to be tamped down. It ate at her throughout the day leaving her on edge and distracted. On the fourth day from the town, despite her exhaustion, she considered slipping her hand between her legs, just to ease some of her aggravation. She cursed her weakness, reminding herself that there was no time for pleasure when her family's murderers still walked free. She went to bed that night more frustrated than ever. 

Sleep claimed her quickly nevertheless, and she fell into a different kind of dream. 

She was standing in an unearthly darkness, nothing more than a void below her feet. Before her a scene stretched out, silent but clear, as if she was on one side of a perfect pane of glass. She saw the men's camp stretch out in front of her vision. They were settled in, comfortable and confident. She couldn't hear their voices but the smiles on their faces sent burning anger through her. Here they were, enjoying their campfires as she struggled behind them. She brought her hands up against the barrier and hit it with her fists, screaming at their laughing faces. 

Tears that she had held back all day stung her eyes. Her dream self didn't feel it necessary to suppress her reactions as she did when she was awake. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she turned away from them. As always, strong arms closed around her and she buried her face in his chest. She sobbed quietly, feeling the tension of the day and her frustrations at her progress slowly ebb. His hands stroked her hair and she felt his cheek rest against the top of her head. Anna's tears finally stopped and she sighed against him, too comfortable to pull away. 

"I am never going to catch up with them like this," she muttered. 

"You don't seem to be making much progress." The playful tone in his voice was decidedly ungod-like. For the first time in her dreams, Anna raised her head and looked into his face. It was the god, Leonid. But the harsh lines and unearthly perfection were softened. He looked more like a man now. A smile played across his lips. In the real world this would have shocked Anna, but now it seemed perfectly normal. 

"That isn't very supportive," she countered, a tiny smile teasing the edge of her lips. 

"Just speaking your mind." His face was very close to hers. The burning sensation that she had been pushing down for days came roaring to life inside her. Her insides seem to clamor for relief.. She licked her lips instinctively. 

"Why are you here?" she asked, looking into the blue pools of his eyes. 

"For whatever you brought me here for," he answered, his smile still warm, his face open. Part of her realized it was true; she brought him to her dreams to provide whatever it was she couldn't find in her waking life. This time though it wasn't just comfort or simple contact. She had this ill-defined need that she couldn't take care of herself. 

"I don't know what it is," she said softly, her face drifting closer to his. "I feel locked up inside." 

"I may know what's troubling you." His smile hadn't wavered. 

"Is it serious? Should I be concerned?" Her face drifted closer to him. She needed this, the lightness, the teasing. Her world had been too dark and grey for too long. 

"I think I might be able to give you a hand." His lips descended on hers. It felt so different than the last time she had been wrapped in his arms. Then his kiss had ripped her soul from her body and filled her with alien magic. This was a real kiss, his lips against hers warm and teasing. She let herself melt into him. It served to stoke the fire within her, but did nothing to truly put out the flames. 

His hands began to run over her body, dwarfing her frame beneath his powerful fingers. A thrill of excitement ran through her, coiling in her lower belly, tingling in her spine as she arched against him. His hands made their way under her shirt. His touch seemed to paint her skin with fire. She gasped as he found his way to her breast, palming her flesh and running the pad of his thumb over her aching nipple. He took the opportunity to tease her tongue with his, deepening the kiss and drawing her further into him. 

Anna clung to his shoulders and lost herself in the sensations running through her. His hand on her breast became rougher; his fingers plucked her puckered nipple making her writhe with her unspoken need. She needed more, not just his gentle caresses. She wanted him to take her body and make her cry out. She whimpered softly into his mouth, pressing her chest into his hand more firmly. He obliged, twisting her nipple and making her gasp as the tiny shot of pain ran through her. It occurred to her, somewhere in her dreaming mind, that all of these sensations seemed to run straight between her legs, which was now aching to be touched. 

She broke the kiss for the first time, pressing her forehead against his and grasping his shoulders even tighter. 

"Please," she begged. 

She felt, rather than saw his smile. His mouth found hers again, more urgent and demanding than before. She gave into his questing tongue, accepting his caresses and encouraging him with her own. His other hand, which had been holding her against him from the small of her back, began to make its way under the waistband of her breeches. Anna whimpered again as the ties loosened and his hand slipped against her pulsing core. She needed to feel him touch her where she couldn't bring herself too. She practically screamed in her mind, begging him to end her torment. 

The anticipation of his movements, the uncertainty of where he would touch her next, all bound up in this knot of tension that had been hovering in her gut made her gasp in pleasure as his fingers finally met her slippery heat. Her mouth fell back from his with a groan. His fingers felt so different than hers had, so sure of their movement. His lips traced a line of kisses across her jaw and neck. 

His mouth moved to the neckline of her shirt, which had slipped down below her breast, leaving it bare to his attentions. His tongue slid across her nipple and his teeth came to rest against the sensitive skin. She shivered, her hands twining in his hair and drawing him closer, pulling him against her. His fingers between her legs continued their soft perusal of her folds, brushing against the swollen nub of her clit. She whimpered, needing more. 

His gentleness evaporated. All at once his teeth came down on her nipple as two of his fingers forced their way inside her, filling her almost painfully. His thumb pressed on her clit, rubbing it in tiny circles. The pressure built up until it felt like she might burst. The shots of pain from her breast with the dull ache of his penetrating fingers amplified the wicked tremors radiating from the motions of his thumb. He pushed her further and Anna felt the pressure break, her fingers tingled and her limbs shook. She arched her back and called out in her dream, a flood of pleasure ran through her body like waves threatening to suck her under. 

She jerked away in her bedroll, sweating and discombobulated. For a moment she didn't recognize the wood around her, or the quiet sounds of the forest waking up. The grey light of dawn was working its way towards where she lay on the ground. 

Was it just a dream or did he come to her again? With shaking fingers she inspected herself. Her clothing was intact, laces done up and shirt askew only from her movements. She touched her breast through the shirt and band she wore and felt no soreness. She pulled the neckline down so she could inspect her skin but her breast looked the same, no teeth marks or signs of contact. Her hand traveled down between her legs after undoing the ties of her pants. There was no evidence of her dream except for the copious wetness that covered her fingers. 

"Just a dream, Anna," she said to herself. "Its always only a dream." 

She pushed herself up and set about gathering her things together. Today she needed to move forward, no more dawdling behind these men as they gallivanted around the countryside. When her pack was full she reached into a small pocket, hidden on the side seam and pulled out the book of gods. She now was the time to use her magic more efficiently. Today was as good as any to try something new. 

She replaced the book and set her pack on her shoulders. She sat on her heels, hands on each knee, and turned her focus inwards. There it was, the strange alien energy that now sat at her innermost core. She pulled at it, imagining in her mind the camp she had seen in her sleep. She took the dark fire in her mind and wrapped it around her body, willing it to comply with her demands. She forced the image of the camp into the ropes of fire, pulling at the folds of reality that held her to the world around her. There was a rune she was supposed to draw but in the midst of it all she couldn't seem to bring it to mind. 

For a moment nothing happened, the forest was quiet and it seemed the fire was slipping from her mind's grip. 

All at once the sounds stopped in her ear and the darkness behind her eyelids became absolute. Anna felt the air squeeze from her lungs, just as it had when she was pulled from the tree those weeks ago. The dark fire grew in her mind until it overwhelmed every other thought. And then, it was gone. 

Anna opened her eyes, drawing in deep breathes to her burning lungs. She steadied herself against the ground and found not the forest floor at her fingertips, but the well-trodden dirt of the soldier's camp. She looked around slowly, taking in the success of her spell. The camp had been made in a wide space surrounded by forest. The men had obviously left recently—fires pits still smoked slightly, the foot and hoof prints were clearly visible in the damp earth, leading off towards a space in the trees that lead out to the main road. Anna smiled. She was back on their heels. 

She stood up too quickly and found the world swirling around her. A good deal of energy had gone into that spell. She took a deep breath and waited for the ground to settle. Her body felt stretched but she didn't feel tired though, if anything she felt buzzed with energy. She took her pack off, thinking to eat some of her meager rations before she set off again, when the sound of voices drifted through the trees towards where she stood. 

She instinctively crouched down, adrenaline running through her already stressed body. They were male certainly, and loud, obviously comfortable. They were coming back from the directing of the soldiers' tracks. Anna twisted around, looking for cover in the large open space and finding none. She could break for the tree line but she didn't think she would make it in time. How could she have let them get so close? Her ears buzzed. 

She could see the flashes of their movement through the trees. Time was running out. She could run but she'd be spotted and almost surely tracked down. She wouldn't get far on her wobbling knees. She could stand and fight but even that seemed foolhardy. She knew the god wouldn't let her die but that doesn't mean he'd interfere if she was captured—that thought made her shudder. Finally her decision was made for her. She ran towards the only bit of uneven terrain she saw. As the men emerged from the trees she threw herself down below a small rise of dirt and used her power to shield her body from their eyes. 

There were seven of them, one on a wagon, one on a horse and the rest walking, their weapons displayed on their bodies. They began to make their way across the open field. Anna gritted her teeth as sweat began to bead on her skin. They were cutting their way almost directly towards her. She couldn't think to move and hold the illusion so she remained where she was, praying they wouldn't run over her. 

They grew closer. Anna could hear their voices clearly now but she was too focused to listen to their words. She closed her eyes, sweat now pouring down her face. The wagon creaked as it drew closer. She listened to its rhythmic sounds, willing it to move faster when the voices suddenly grew much louder, and the wheels stopped moving. 

"What is it?" She heard one of them call out. She opened her eyes, her vision swam slightly as she focused on the group who was only 20 paces from where she crouched. 

"It's not one of ours," another voice called back. Anna saw what the speaker had in his hand and cursed herself violently in her head. Her pack. She had left it out in the open and now one of these soldiers was pawing through her rations. He held up her spare dress, which had been wrapped around the food to protect it. "Definitely not one of ours," he cackled, licking his lips. 

"Alright, spread out, find the owner," the one on horseback said. The men on foot took off in different directions, spreading out to find her. Anna cursed herself even more. There was nowhere to go. She couldn't hold this spell much longer, certainly not long enough to wait out their search parties. 

"What do you think?" the man on the wagon was speaking to the mounted man. "Anything to be concerned about?" 

The other man scoffed, "Unlikely a woman traveling alone would pose any threat. But I guess we will see the prize when we find her." Anna's blood ran hot; her focus wavered. The man on the horse had been scanning the area. His eyes snapped to where she was. The spell was back in place but she had been spotted. 

The man swung off the horse and made his way slowly towards her. She could see his attention was focused several paces to her right but he was getting close. Her focus wavered again and he saw her. It was too late to pretend not to be there. Anna braced herself against the flood of fear that filled her chest and dropped the spell. The man's eyes went wide at her sudden appearance. 

"Now where'd you come from?" Anna could almost see his fear at the obvious magic before him warring with his lust. His eyes raked her body as she stood up. 

"This will not end well for you," she said quietly. 

The man on the wagon stood up and shouted to his companion, "She's a witch! Kill her before she does any more." 

"Oh she's no witch, just good at hiding. She wouldn't dream to hurt me. Would you sweet thing?" the man's voice slid over her like cold cooking grease. He was edging closer to her, one hand on his weapon but the other readying to grab her. Anna stared at him, allowing his approach, her hand slid to one of her concealed blades at her back. 

Suddenly, the man on the wagon pulled out a horn from behind his seat and blew into it, calling the others back. Anna and the man facing her jumped, she from the sound but he was launching himself at her. A fraction of a second too slow, she ended up crushed beneath his body as he landed on her. Her hand was holding her father's dagger but it was caught between her body and the ground. Her other hand was being gripped by her attacker, above her head. She twisted in his grip, trying to dislodge the much heavier man who was breathing in her face through a vicious smile. 

"Better than I hoped for," his breath reeked as she tried to throw him off. "But looks like we'll have company soon so I'd best stake my claim now." He shifted to reach down between her legs, just enough to allow her to get her hand out. In a flash the dagger was against his throat. He froze. 

"Get off of me," she said through gritted teeth. He backed off; both of them got to their feet. Anna could see the other men coming towards them from afar. She counted at least 4 in her peripheral vision. She didn't have long. "I'll take your horse." 

Her attacker laughed. His companion did not seem so casual. "Don't laugh at a witch!" the man hissed. 

"She's no witch. I'd be dead right now if she had any power," the other said. Anna chose to largely ignore their conversation and started making her way around them towards the horse in question. She registered that they seemed strangely comfortable talking about magic, as if perhaps they had seen it before. The others were closing in. She could hear their shouts now. She looked over her shoulder to see how close they were getting. It looked like one of them was dragging another figure towards the wagon. She paused too long to understand the newest addition to the scene. The man before her used the moment to draw his sword and step between her and the horse. "Sweet thing," he said in a mock sing song "put down your blade and I'll make sure the boys don't mark you up too badly. You're no match for me anyway." 

Anna sighed, her head pounded with a mix of exhaustion and adrenalin as her situation became clear. There was no avoiding a fight and her soul would pay the price. But she was out of tricks; her focus and energy were too depleted for some elaborate get away. All she had left was to face them. She turned to the man. 




A Tale of Revenge Ch. 03



It seemed as if I stared at that card for hours.

I knew every crinkle in the cardboard, every stain on its surface. I closed my eyes and saw the cold blackness of the font which was much better then what I could have seen considering the evening I'd just had. How could I have known that the vampire would be in that alleyway? Or that she would be planning on snacking on the four men who had dragged her down there to rape her?

I could still see her in my mind's eye as she stood, her body curved and sleek, motioning me forward. I had wanted so badly to go to her, to be caressed and kissed and to do the same to her.

But why had I stopped? She'd had me, I had felt her power and her seductive charms. I wanted her with a desire I didn't think possible for me to feel. I had never been attracted to another woman before until her. What had stopped me?

That question, followed by a thousand others, broke me out of my shocked daze. I reached for the phone and punched in the numbers on the card that I hoped would bring me answers.

"It's about time." The voice was abrupt and deep, and sounded very annoyed.

Huh? Was he expecting someone... or was he expecting me?

"Um, I found this card at..."

"I know where you found it. I've been watching you since you left Hardbodies. Nice kill. Now, get dressed and meet me at this bar."

He gave me instructions and I quickly found a pen and jotted them down on the first page of the Bible that was in the dresser drawer. It still looked brand new. That thought almost had me laughing, looking around at the bright red paisley bedspread, the red stained curtains, the brown carpeting and the neon light flashing in through the window. If there were anywhere that this bible should be read, it was here.

"Okay, how will I..."

"Fifteen minutes." The line went dead and I heard it reconnect, the dial tone buzzing incessantly in my ear. I dropped it back on the hanger, sent a silent apology up above and ripped the page out of the bible that I had written the instructions on. Then I hurried and got dressed. Even rushing, it still took me longer than the fifteen minutes the voice had specified to reach the bar.

It was a dive. Dirty front windows that had been boarded over instead of being replaced, a large neon sign with half the letters out, the rest buzzing and sputtering all giving the place more than a well-lived in feeling. The name of the bar was Michelle's Tavern but with the letters that were burned out it spelled helle's Tavern. I thought the description very apt.

My shoes stuck to the floor when I walked to the bar. I had no idea who I was looking for, only that I really didn't like being in the place. Whoever Michelle was, she didn't keep a very clean tavern. The barstools were ragged leather haphazardly patched and filthy. The bar was grimy, which was a shame because it looked as if at one time it had been a real showpiece. The brass foot rail was old and scuffed, tarnished and dull. And I didn't want to even think what had been on the floor, or on any of the round, lopsided tables scattered throughout the room.

I gingerly climbed onto one of the stools, staring at the huge man behind the bar. His biceps were as large around as my waist. On one was tattooed a bright red heart with the name Michelle written through it like an arrow. He looked like the normal bartender for this kind of establishment, bald with a large handlebar mustache, bruiser type in a tight tee shirt and a stained white apron wrapped around his waist.

"Getcha..." he gruffed at me.

"Ah..." I hadn't really thought of drinking anything and wondered if the glasses were clean. "Do you have a Coke in the can or bottle?"

He reached under the bar and yanked open a refrigerator case, pulling out a can and sliding it across to me, slapping down a grimy glass on a yellowed bar napkin. "Six bucks."

I wanted to protest but decided that I'd rather pay the money, skip the glass and look for the man who had sent me here. Wiping the edge of the can off with the napkin, I turned to survey the room behind me. It wasn't very busy, a couple of guys at a single table staring at me as if they knew what I looked like naked and a bunch of noise coming from the back half of the room. I could see the green felt of a pool table and a group of guys gathered loosely around it. I could also hear the bass guitar of a very squeaky and brutalized jukebox that really should have been put to pasture a long while back.

I sat for a few minutes, wondering if my contact or whatever I should call him had gotten tired of waiting for me and left if he had ever been here in the first place.

Giving him a few more minutes, I finished my coke, looking everywhere but at the two guys who were still ogling me. What is it about some men? They could make you feel naked if you were wearing a parka.

This was nuts. I was out the second time tonight, far from the safety of my motel room in the presence of rude and rugged strange men. He wasn't showing up. I dropped the empty can back on the bar, nodded to the barkeep who just looked bored and kept rubbing a filthy bar rag over a filthier glass and walked out.

The door shut loudly behind me and I was alone on the almost empty streets. I'd always thought that the city never closed, that the streets always had seemed busy no matter what time James and I had gone out. But this area was deserted. I saw a couple of generic looking bag people huddling in tight balls against filthy cardboard as I passed an alley, but that was it.

I was almost to the motel before they struck.

The arms came at me from out of another of the endless alleys, yanking me into the shadows. A hand slapped down hard across my lips and I felt blood welling in my mouth from where my teeth cut into my flesh. The brick wall bruised my back as I was pushed against it. A tall, rangy body pushed against me, pushing my thighs apart and rubbing against my jean covered groin.

"You're a pretty one." His breath smelt like the bottom of a barrel where the ale had gone bad. I cringed back away from him.

"Wait, you got to go first last time," the voice was higher and shrill and I recognized it from the bar. It belonged to one of the two men at the table who'd been staring at me. My mind raced as I tried to find a way out. I could feel a sense of surrealism coming over me, the dim lights wavering as my brain decided to pick this moment to disconnect. How much was I supposed to endure?

First James, watching my beloved's life blood drained only to be replaced by the vampiric curse. Then to have him come to me, try to draw me out to him, to be only a meal for him. This trip, the vampire in the alley, her blood foul over my skin, I couldn't take much more.

I found myself wishing it were over. Wishing that I could just give up and let them take me. I felt my shirt rip, the air cool on the upper curves of my breasts. His mouth latched on the soft skin near my cleavage, his tongue licking and seeking more of my softness. I shuddered in despair and disgust, feeling tears flow down my cheeks. His hand was at my neck, lifting my head, his other hand pulling at the rest of my shirt, ripping the material until it hung from my arms.

He yanked down the cups of my bra, exposing my breasts to his foul gaze. I could feel his fingers pulling at my nipples, laughing at how they tightened in the cool night air.

And I just stood there. I didn't fight though my arms were free. I didn't kick or struggle. I stared off past his shoulder and let him maul my body. I heard a whimper and realized that it came from me. He looked up at me and suddenly everything came back into focus. His eyes shown an angry red and he smiled, his teeth long and sharp in a mouth suddenly too big. His hands were claws, digging into my skin. I saw over his shoulder the whiny guy. He too was looking at me with those glowing eyes, a look of something more then lust in them when he glanced at my skin. He looked hungry.

His mouth closed over my nipple, his tongue flicking at the taut bud. It was cold and dead feeling, like a piece of meat left too long in the refrigerator, it felt rubbery against my skin. I felt a sharp pain and knew he had nicked me with one of his teeth. He pulled back from my breast, his mouth leaving my skin with a disgusting popping noise. He watched the blood drip from the tiny wound he had made, running in a tiny rivulet down over my breast. Then his tongue lapped out, sliding along the bloody trail, licking clean the blood and leaving a slimy trail of fetid saliva.

"Hmm, baby, you taste so sweet."

I felt a burst of heat from around my neck and heard the vampire scream. He dropped his hands from me, backing off quickly. I took a second to catch my breath, seeing the golden glow that came from the cross around my neck, the last present that James had ever given to me. It seemed to hold some strange power, something akin to the myth of garlic and crosses that I read in the stories and articles I had found online.

I jerked my bra up, pulling my shirt over my breasts and tying it in a knot at my stomach. Then I advanced. I went from a subdued, cowering wimp to an extremely pissed off bitch in the blink of an eye.

"You son of a bitch, do you think I'd let you take me that way? You want sweet? I'll show you sweet."

He cowered back from the cross, his annoying friend behind him. I listened to their shrieks as they tried to shield their eyes from the light. There was a sense of freedom inside of me, an awe of the power that I felt now. It was frighteningly powerful, terrifyingly addictive. I could almost feel the strength sing through my bloodstream. I wanted to feel death, but my own way. I wanted to cause bloodshed, I wanted to take these beasts and send them back to the hell they came from.

"Here," a voice from behind me said.

I turned and instinctively reached out as a stake flew through the air towards me. It slapped into my palm as if drawn there by a magnet. The heavy feel of the metal heating with the warmth of my body was invigorating. I knew then that these two would feed from me tonight. They would feel my heat through this stake and it would be the last thing they knew.

Of course, they tried to fight. My attacker threw a punch, his other hand up in front of his eyes. It was ridiculously easy to dodge. I slapped aside his hand as he tried again and came under it, my stake finding its target in the corded muscles of his chest, slipping through ribs and finding the unbeating heart.

I pulled back, the stake still in my hand as he looked down at the hole in his chest. He looked at me in surprise and I smiled gently, blowing him a kiss. His body went into almost the same paroxysms as the girl had earlier and I stepped back, waiting for the explosion. I didn't exactly relish the idea of being covered once more with vampire guts, but it seemed to be part and parcel with the job.

The explosion didn't come. He shrieked and clawed at his face, pulling the skin off, flinging it away and then running back further into the alley. I couldn't help but be amazed by the way he simply fell to his knees, hitting the cement with a shallow plopping sound. And then his body seemed to implode in upon itself, leaving nothing but a wet stain upon the pavement.

"Convenient," I said aloud to myself before turning to the last vampire in the alley.

I was feeling cocky, maybe a little too overly confident. Whiny hadn't seemed like that much of a man. He'd seemed like more his friend's lap dog instead of an actual threat. With a come hither wag of my fingers, I egged him on.

He didn't rush me as I expected, instead stepping around me, watching my body language. I could see his eyes on the cross at my neck and the stake in my hand, but he didn't seem afraid. Instead, he seemed to shrug off his subservient attitude as if it were an unwanted coat. He cracked the bones in his neck with a simple toss of his head and then did his fingers with a crack and hack move that all good computer jockeys knew. He smiled down at me, mockingly, not even trying to hide from the gold of my cross.

Uh oh.

What I knew about fighting I had learned from watching the unending selection of action movies that James had loved. I'd never even hit anyone until tonight. A little of the amazing power I had felt earlier vanished and I felt a tiny niggle of concern that caused sweat to break out under my arms and trickle down my spine. I let the stake drop a little to my side, flipping it in my hand so that it was held loosely, pointed up like a man's hard and excited cock would be.

His hand shot out and found my face, slapping me hard enough to make my ears ring. I fell backward, taking an involuntary step to keep my balance and he grinned at me. He took the cocky fighting stance that Keanu Reeves had taken in the first Matrix movie, turned his hand over and waved his fingers at me, a not so subtle attempt at humiliating me.

Well, I might not have the Bruce Lee fighting skills or be able to kick ass like Blade, or have the fun toys like James Bond. But I did have one thing that they didn't. I had years of being a woman and knowing how to use it to my advantage. I put my left hand to my face, pulling it back with a look of shock in my eyes when I saw the blood on my fingers. I let my shoulders droop, my lips pout in horror. Tears welled in my eyes and overflowed onto my cheeks. I did everything but shove a thumb into my mouth to let him know that I was beaten and cowed. And by one little punch.

His stance relaxed, his arm dropped. He looked disappointed, surprisingly enough. He stepped forward, the glow of red in his eyes intensifying. I felt that pull for just an instant, a voice in my mind that called me, reached down inside of me and made my panties wet as desire flowed rich and thick. My nipples tightened against the ripped material of my clothing, my heart raced and tiny little goose bumps broke out on my skin.

And then I was myself again. But I didn't let him see that. Instead I stepped forward, taking his hand with my free hand when he reached out. I kept staring into his eyes, giving him a shy, sweet smile. I acted the cowed and willing lover to the beast, even going so far as to tilt my head for his feast. I felt the sharp tips of his teeth against my skin.

My arm came up amazingly fast, plunging the stake into his heart unerringly. His hold tightened on me and his teeth started to bite down with the pain. I kicked out, knocking him backwards, yanking my neck from next to his teeth an instant before he would have ripped through, tearing out my jugular.

This one wasn't going to leave just a small splat on the sidewalk. His face started swelling almost instantly, his mouth opening wide as he started to convulse. I stepped back as far as I could, and sought to stay out of the way of his rolling on the ground as he fell. A hand grabbed my arm and dragged me, dodging past the flaying legs of my latest victim and pulled me out of the alley and around the corner. I stood there, catching my breath and then I heard the plop and felt the cold rush of air as he exploded.

When the last drop of blood landed, I turned to the man, seeing him for the first time.

He surprised me. I guess I was still caught in the movies. I had expected maybe the teacher from Karate Kid or the English guy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. No, what I got was more along the lines of Hannibal King from Blade Trinity. He was tall, cut and buff, a beard and mustache, nicely trimmed accenting a lush mouth. His hair stood up in a spiked look that I had always thought semi ridiculous, but he pulled it off beautifully. He was tall, much taller than my five foot seven inches. I had to look up at him. His eyes were chocolate brown, melted sweetness. I felt a knock in my ribs and then shame. My James, my beloved was gone and I was getting the hots for a guy I met in an alley.

"Thanks for this." I held up the stake and then flipped it expertly in my hand and slid it into my back pocket. He wasn't getting it back. I liked the way it felt too much.

He half nodded his head in acknowledgment and then motioned me forward. He walked quickly and I had to half run to keep up with his much longer legs. I looked up, noting my motel sign and realized we were heading for my room. He didn't say anything when we got there, just motioned at the door and I once more slid the key into the lock, my hand this time as steady as a rock.

He stood inside the door and stared at me for a moment, then reached out and grabbed my arms, dragging me closer to him before I could react. His hands stripped the knot of my shirt, yanking it down and then quickly following with my bra.

"Hey!"

I don't know if I was more shocked or surprised. Or maybe I was just a lot of both. His eyes scanned my bruised flesh in the bright light of the overheads. He reached out and touched the small puncture left by dead boy's fang, his hand gentle but abrupt against my skin. Before I could move, he reached into a side pocket of his pants and pulled out a vial. He poured the liquid over my skin and I felt a burning sensation. Looking down, I saw the wound bubbling as if I had poured hydrogen peroxide into an infected cut. But it hurt a hell of a lot worse than that.

"Ouch, what the hell are you doing?"

"Holy water." He held up the vial for my inspection and then slipped it back into his pocket. "Vampires carry disease, a virus that kills blood cells and creates the constant need for fresh blood. That tiny cut probably wouldn't have meant much but better to be safe then sorry."

He turned away from me as if seeing my naked breasts hadn't affected him. I think that thought hurt more than the holy water had. I quickly dressed while he stared around my motel room. He went to the picture of James that had been sitting next to the bed.

"I've seen him. He runs with the pack now. He's Marina's new boy toy."

I took the two steps separating us and snatched the picture from his hand, setting it down inside the suitcase that I had left open on the dresser. For some reason, I didn't want him touching James, I didn't want him looking at my last memories and defiling them.

"Who's Marina?" This is the information I needed to know. That and more of how to kill them.

"A killer." He looked at me for a second and then walked around the room, looking inside drawers and finally standing at the doorway to the bathroom. His eyes settled at a point and I knew he was seeing the pile of clothing I had left there filthy from the female vampire I had ran into earlier. I wasn't planning on wearing them ever again, they would get thrown out as soon as I got the guts to actually touch them again.

"You have to be careful," he was saying to me. "Remember what it looks like, how it feels, when one of them is vanquished. This isn't some nice story where vampires turn to dust and blow away. That would be so easy. No, vampires have different ways of going. Looking at them, you'll never be able to tell whether they implode or leave a big mess like that one did." He nodded at the pile of clothing. "Always leave yourself an out, a shield against the gore. You don't want to be blinded with vampires around."

And in my head I heard words from The Lost Boys, a movie that I used to love to watch. "Some yell and scream, some go quietly. Some implode, some explode. But they'll all try to take you with em."

He turned and glanced at me. "Got anything to drink in this place?"

"Water." I nodded at the bathroom door. He stepped inside and I heard the tap running. All the time he was in there, my mind was buzzing with questions. I could close my eyes and still see the eerie red glow of their eyes. Watching them die didn't seem as big a deal as it had before I had left this room to go to that bar. It now seemed a little piece of freedom with every one I staked. They all would lead to the final confrontation I wanted, the show down with this Marina. And then, James.




A Tale of Revenge Ch. 03



"This will not end well for you." 

The last one died on his own sword. She had taken it from him in his panicked attack. She was so exhausted that as he stumbled away she had used it to brace herself from falling, as an old beggar might use a staff. It had given the man undue confidence as he hurled himself back at her, reaching for her throat. In the last minute the strange energy deep inside shuddered through her muscles, bringing the sword up, slicing his gut and lodging in the lower border of his ribcage. The smell of his exposed intestines filled the space between them as the man's last breath left him. 

Anna stumbled away from the blood bath. All seven men had died at her hand. She still felt each and every vibration through her body, every sword cut that shuddered through her arm, every knife slice, every blow, every time a man's flesh resisted the movement of her weapon. They were all there in her body's memory, to carry with her. She fell to her knees, wrenching and bringing up the little food she had in her stomach. The bile burned her throat and a bone deep weariness warred with her convulsing muscles for dominance. 

Movement caught her eye and she dragged her head up to see the man the others had dragged behind them as they came to join the fight. The one dragging him had unceremoniously throw his bound captive to the ground in order to engage her and there he had stayed for the duration of the fight. Anna looked into the young man's terrified gaze. His hands were still bound behind his back, a rag shoved between his teeth. She tried to guess if he were a threat or not but her thoughts were cloudy. Her vision started to swim and his face fell out of focus. She pushed herself up and stumbled a little further from where she had knelt, just a little further from the smell of fresh death. Her vision blackened and blood roared in her ears. Something hit her side hard, sending flashes of white through the darkness. In the moment before she lost her senses completely she realized it had been the ground. 

Anna stirred, she sensed being in motion. Something hard dug into her stomach and the rocking told her she was on a horse. Then it was dark again. 

The next time she woke up she was stationary, wrapped up in a bedroll. Her throat burned and her muscles felt like lead. She groaned as she tried to force her eyes open. Someone was helping her sit, pressing something hard to her lip. She tried to swallow, forcing some of the cool water past her swollen throat. Her eyes still wouldn't open. Whoever held her lowered her back to the ground. She could hear them speak but couldn't make out the words. Sleep washed over her and dragged her back to the darkness. 

There were men surrounding her. She twisted around, looking for a way out and finding none. One of the men came towards her. The weight of something in her hand drew her attention. The man opened his mouth to speak and she raised her sword and cut deeply into his throat. Before his body fell she moved to the next one, sinking her blade deep into his chest. Hot blood splashed on her but she continued hacking through the men around her. Her stomach rolled, her mind screamed at her to stop, but she kept moving, kept cutting. She sobbed as her arms continued to wield the blood soaked blade. In her mind she screamed for it to stop. The last man fell and she turned to see the wake of devastation she had left around her. 

A voice came from behind her, calling her name. She turned, bringing up her weapon. The god's grip came down on her arm almost as quickly. The sword fell from her hand. Suddenly her body was wracked with the sobs. But the comforting embrace didn't come. She didn't deserve it. He could stop her but not heal her. She was too broken. She let him hold her arm for a moment longer before pulling away. 

Anna's eyes jerked open. Her vision was blurred and it took a moment to clear the cobwebs. Her body felt heavy, her head pounded and her stomach still rolled but she was alive. And what more, she was far from the field and the bodies. She was lying in her own bedroll in the middle of a clearing. By the dappled sunlight she guessed it was midday. The horses from the soldiers were standing nearby. She pushed herself up with shaky arms. 

"You're up!" a male voice said with some surprise from behind her. She whipped her head around and instantly regretted it as the world tilted and her vision blackened at the edges. The man came into focus a moment later, he was the one they had caught and left on the ground during the fight. He was young, possibly younger than she. He stood stock still, fear in his face. Of course he'd seen what she could do to a man. 

"Who are you?" she croaked. Her throat felt like sandpaper. Her companion moved around her, giving her a wide berth and went to get his water. 

"I'm Dev," he said as he moved around her. "I was following the group you fought yesterday." He smiled politely, and a bit fearfully, as he handed her the water. Anna took in his light brown skin and dark chestnut hair. His family had been from this part of the country originally. Anna's mother's family had always stood out in their village with their olive skin and dark black hair. 

"Why were you following them?" Anna asked, her voice more recognizable now. 

"They attacked my family, burned our farm," he said it in a distant way, almost cold. Anna could tell he had cut himself off from the words, not truly hearing the reality he spoke. "I was seeking vengeance but I suppose you took care of that." He tried to smile at her and failed. 

A strange silence fell between them. Anna's first instinct was to confess her own history with these men, to tell this other wounded soul that he was not alone but something held her back. She did not want to think about her family now nor did she particularly feel like explaining her own quest for revenge, or justice, or whatever this mess was. She could see in his face that he had questions for her but she had no answers she felt like supplying. 

"You said that was yesterday?" Anna looked around the clearing. "Where are we now?" 

"I took their horses to move you. We went east. There are more of them, the soldiers that is, and I'm still following them but I didn't want to stay too close to their trail in case you are going another way but I couldn't stay put. It seemed inconsiderate to leave you behind." His joke fell a bit flat. She could see he was still afraid of her. 

"Thank you," Anna responded, seemed like the right thing to say. 

"So are you?" Dev asked her after a moment. 

"Am I what?" 

"Going another way?" 

Anna shook her head. "It seems I am on the same path as you." She watched as his face went from confusion, to understanding and finally, heartbreakingly, to hope. She had felt that once as well, but that was before she had begun to enact her revenge, before she understood the cost. 

"You are after these same men?" His voice sounded eager, hopeful, it left her feeling uncomfortable. She would not shoulder his desires for revenge along with her own. 

"I am," she said shortly. She didn't want to discuss it further now. Her head had started pounding again. She couldn't move further today. She needed sleep and food, but first sleep. 

"Will you—" he started. 

"In the morning," she snapped, putting her hands to her throbbing head. "We can discuss more in the morning." With that, she turned her back and fell back into her bedroll, trying to sleep off the headache. 

*** 

Anna woke up again, fully and completely, her eyes opening to the utter darkness of the forest around her. The moon had come and gone and the dawn had not begun. Only when she turned to face the camp did the red glow of the ember situate her in the dark. 

From beyond the fire she heard the soft sounds of sleep. Dev had set himself as far from her as he dared. She shouldn't have snapped at him. Her head still hurt though. 

She reached inside herself, to the alien energy inside her chest, which was fully restored after her rest. Drawing out a tiny bit of it she pushed it through her body, willing it to devour the pain. When she opened her eyes, the pain was gone. Smiling a bit at her newest manipulation of her powers, she moved to lie down again. Movement caught her eye before she had the chance. 

The god's glow made him visible in this dark but didn't illuminate anything around him, as if he contained his fire internally, away from the rest of the world. Anna tried to suppress the swirl of emotions that ran through her. She knew he would read anything she thought of so she willed herself to quiet all the confusion, fear and even distant arousal. He wasn't going to stay away forever. She brought up her anger to the forefront, letting it cloud out all the other emotions. 

"You've been busy." His cavernous voice seemed all the more threatening in the darkness of her camp. 

Anna glared back at him. "Am I to receive punishment again? For defending myself?" 

The god's lips twitched to the side in a smile she wished was less threatening than she perceived it. "You have taken lives, again. Despite the need for self defense, you will still be punished as your soul is still marked by your actions." He extended his hand to her. "But don't worry, it won't last long." 

Anna tried to suppress the anxiety knotting up her chest. She did not want to submit herself again to his treatment, mostly because she was terrified at how she might react. She pushed that aside, forcing a false calm and stood to take his hand. A jolt and they were standing in a vacant clearing. Dawn was slowly rising turning the trees around her from black to grey. Birdcalls were beginning. All of this seemed so surreal, while the glowing god in front of her somehow made more sense to her. 

"Disrobe." The order came again, passionless and hard. Anna felt her insides squirm with shame. She divested herself of her bloody shirt and her only moderately better pants. She had ignored the mess when she had first woken up but the tinny smell of drying blood hit her full force as she pulled the shirt over her head. She was almost glad to be rid of it. When she finally stood there naked before him, he ran his eyes over her body. 

"Eat more." Again his tone brokered no discussion, just another order from her owner. The thought twisted her gut again. He moved around behind her, pushing her hair over her shoulder, baring her back to him. She felt his fingers run down her skin, which erupted in tiny bumps at his light caress. The bits of blood that had dried on her skin disappeared, the dirt from the trail with it. The shiver that ran through her ran counter to the heat of the blush that was spreading across her face and down her chest. Her emotions were too confused to sort out and she prayed he would finish with her quickly. 

He moved around to her front again. She kept her gaze down, avoiding his eyes, but it meant she was staring at the whip that had appeared in his hand. She jerked as if she'd been struck, her eyes flying to his. She knew what had been coming but to be confronted with it so blatantly was still shocking to her. Anna went to pull her gaze away from his face, which betrayed no reaction, but he stopped her with a hand under her chin. 

"Look at me." She raised her eyes slowly, willing him to beat her and leave her. The discomfort she had been feeling seemed to amplify as soon as she met his gaze. Now it seemed like snakes were writhing in her chest, a sinking feeling appeared in her belly. The physical manifestations of her emotions were more accessible to her than trying to sort through what was going on in her head. He held her like that, staring into her eyes as the world brightened around them. She didn't know what he saw because his face never changed from the blank, perfect expression he had started with. 

He stepped back and once again she found her wrists bound together and strung up a tree branch above her. She struggled, trying to get better purchase on the ground with just the balls of her feet. 

"One for each man." 

The sound of the whip alerted her a fraction of a second before a stripe of fire lit up across her back. She yelped at the sting. The second fell parallel, stealing her breath with the pain, but there was something else to it. 

Anna felt something inside her click into place. All of the writhing shame and anxiety that had been brewing inside her focused itself like a jolt of energy directly between her legs, as if it had simply been anticipating the opportunity. The pain in her back as his third stroke fell seemed to fuel it. She could feel herself getting wet, like she had in her dream, and in the inn when she had awoken after the first beating. She called out as the fourth blow crossed the others, sending bolts of fire through her back that seemed to wrap itself around her body, like a caress that drew the heat of the pain down her body directly into her core. The fifth and sixth blows were no better. The sting excited her, there was something more than just hurt, something she wanted more of. Her sex throbbed in response with a desperate need. She was slick with it. She begged her body to stop, to make it untrue that she could feel this way at his violence against her. 

The god struck her the final time and the throbbing ache overwhelmed her thoughts. In some way it hurt more than the sharp, exact pain on her back. This was an overwhelming, terrifying desire that opened at her very center. What was worse, she could not think enough to try and hide it from him. 

He came around to her front, taking her tear stained face in his hand again, forcing her gaze up to him once more. 

"Well isn't this a surprise." His eyes bore into hers. Her brain screamed no while his other hand made its way down her flushed body. His soft touch after the beating only seemed to amplify her desire as she clenched around nothing. His lips betrayed the smallest hint of a smile as his fingers dipped into the evidence of her arousal between her legs. 

"I do love to be surprised." His fingers dipped into her core, his thumb finding her hard nub. Her body arched into his touch, her entire skin felt like she was on fire. This was so different than the dream; every sensation was so brutally tangible as he played with her body. She writhed in her bonds, her body eagerly absorbing these new sensations. She felt the tension begin to climb, the peak she hadn't experienced looming close by. Shame crept in as her body edged towards that fever pitch. She was just a plaything on a string. 

Her mind screamed at him to stop, hoping to avoid the humiliation of finding satisfaction with her owner without her consent. Her eyes slid to his face, his expression seemed almost bored as he watched her twist on the rope that held her. His other hand slid across her skin, finding her breast and twisting her painfully erect nipple. The sensation made her shudder as his assault continued. Something akin to panic ran through her as she realized he would not stop and she had no control. Her body's reactions were too far to be reigned in. When the peak did come it hit her body like a blow. Her body tensed like a bowstring as waves of release ran through her, battering her reason into submission and silencing the continued denial of what he was doing to her. 

When she slumped as the sensations abated, the rope disappeared causing her to fall gracelessly in a sprawl at his feet. He looked down at her with a blank face. Shame and disgust burned her cheeks. 

"It can be difficult to a punish someone who finds such pleasure in pain." She couldn't keep looking at him. Horrible confusion set in. She felt betrayed by her body. Something was terribly wrong with her if his beatings affected her so. She put her head in her hands only half heartedly covering her ears, feeling like she, not he, was the enemy now. "Seems your shame may do the trick." 

His words ignited her fury again. She glared up at him. "Why did you do that to me?" 

The god crouched down so their eyes were level, giving her a small smirk. "I was punishing you, love. I had no idea you would like it so much." His mocking tone stoked her shame again. She had been violated and worse still she had enjoyed it. His hand came to cup her cheek but she found she couldn't raise her eyes. With a jolt she found herself back in the camp, Dev's slow breathing indicating she hadn't been missed. 

Though she couldn't see him the god's voice whispered in her ear. "There is a stream nearby. Next time try to wash yourself off before sleeping in the blood of those you've killed." And he was gone before she could retort. The cruelty of his words gripped her as she gathered her soiled clothes made her way to the stream. She was a butcher, meting out death wherever she went. Once she had thought it would make her feel proud, vindicated. Instead she felt numb. The frigid water made scrubbing the blood from her clothing almost painful. She scrubbed harder, her heart sinking despite the evidence of her deeds washing away. 

She replaced her pants and breast band after only a few spots that had needed her attention and got to work on her shirt. The dark crust peeled away under her practiced fingers. Seven lines of fire stood out on her back. Anna reached behind her and let her cool fingers run over the raised welts. She whimpered as pain flared despite her attempts to be gentle. Her face burned with the memory of what he had done, how she had reacted. She rang out the shirt and stood to lay it out on a sun-warmed stone. A noise behind her caused her to twist around, a motion her back made sure she instantly regretted. 

Dev was awake and moving about the camp. His heavy footfall was coming towards her. Anna turned to face him, keeping the marks on her back out of sight. Of course it meant she was facing him in just a breast band, but still the lesser of two humiliations. 

Dev emerged from the trees and his eyes immediately fell on her half dressed form. "Sorry!" Dev blurted out. His eyes met hers for the briefest second. He stumbled back, disappearing between the trees. Anna stayed still a moment longer, making sure his footsteps faded. Her shoulders slumped as she turned back towards the water. She hadn't thought about her travel companion since the god had come to take her. What was she going to do about him now? Could she stand to travel with him? Could she convince him to leave? He seemed intent on the same suicidal mission of revenge she had been on. If she could keep him from the same fate shouldn't she try? 

With a groan she reached for her soaked shirt. It would just have to dry on the road. 

***** 

Do tell me what you think. I'm editing Chapter 4 and working on writing Chapter 8.



A Tale of Revenge Ch. 04



Thanks to everyone who sent feedback. It really does help keep me motivated. Hopefully you like where this story is going. As always, vote and let me know!

Chapter 4.

Dev begged her not to leave him despite her best attempts to coolly shake him off. He swore never to breach her privacy, told her of his family's fate and promised anything and everything he could possibly give to help her on this mission. It was only when she recognized that this was a version of the conversation she had had with the god that she acquiesced. Have you lost so much of your humanity that you can't recognize your pain in another? She scolded herself.

The way was a bit less burdensome with him. The two of them mounted the soldiers' horses and made to catch up with the group they'd fallen behind the day before. She was not left trapped in her own thoughts and frustrations. Despite barely a word from her, Dev managed to fill the space between them with an endless stream of stories, songs and jokes. While she should have been annoyed with his rambling she found that the distraction helped, though she made no outward sign of this.

Dev was finishing singing a song about Brissida, a vengeful warrior lady who avenged her king's betrayal, dragging out the high notes to pull the most drama from the ballad. Anna's lips twitched. Dev saw her small smile and encouraged, tried to engage her again.

"So are you Brissida the Black Justice reincarnated?" His joking tone faltered slightly. He was only half joking.

"No," She said shortly. Silence fell between the pair again.

"It's just, I've never seen anyone fight like that," he tried again after a few moments.

"And you are a great observer of fighters?" Anna meant it to quiet his line of questioning but Dev ignored her mocking tone.

"In fact, we used to travel every year for the jousts and tournaments in the capital. My uncle was a blacksmith and I would assist him. I used to sneak away whenever I could, finding my way into the crowds. My uncle threatened to leave me behind every year but by the next I could make him forget. This one time..." and he was off on another tale of mischief and mayhem. Anna congratulated herself on distracting him so thoroughly. His chatter soothed her and she turned her attention back to the trail, letting her sight reach out towards the group they were rapidly gaining on.

A straggler had changed course from the rest of them. She saw him depart on his own at a crossroads ahead.

"Hush," she said suddenly, bringing her horse to a stop. Dev stopped speaking immediately. "Wait here." She slid off her horse.

"No!" Dev whispered harshly. "Don't leave me behind."

Anna looked up at him, nothing his pained expression. Part of her wanted to let him come but he still knew nothing of her abilities beyond what he had seen and she didn't want him to know any more. If Anna had learned anything from the way her village had treated the old women whose book she carried, most people viewed magic as a curse, and thought little better of those who used it.

"No, Dev. Listen to me or I leave you behind. Last time you made an appearance it distracted me long enough for the soldier to get the drop on me. Stay. Here." She punctuated the last two words. For a moment Dev looked as though he would defy her. She really didn't want to have to put power into making him comply. She'd really prefer he didn't know about that.

"Fine," he agreed miserably. Anna nodded and started making her way through the wood, following her sight to the lone traveler. She came up on him as he marched alone down a small trail. She watched him approach her position, wondering how to proceed. For the first time confronting her enemy, she actually thought of a plan.

As the man got closer, Anna left her cloak in hiding spot and stepped into the path in front of him, barring his path. The man stopped, shock on his face but he didn't take a defensive pose. He spent a long moment looking her over before his face broke into a smirk.

"What can I do for you, love? Lost in the forest looking for a friend?" he grinned at her.

Anna pulled her hands from her back, both fists glinting with blades. "Not exactly." She enjoyed the way his face changed so completely at her threat.

"There are much better ways to pass the time," he grunted as he threw his pack on the ground. He pulled his long sword from his waist and faced her again. "You sure you wouldn't rather get to know each other better?"

"None of you can think of anything else, can you?" Anna said exasperated.

"None of us?" this one wasn't as slow as his friends, she realized.

"Your comrades in arms. They also spent too much time trying to get their cocks wet and ended up on the wrong end of my knives." Anna gave him a ferocious grin. "Maybe if you thought we were more then walking cunts you'd recognize a threat when it was issued."

The man was not talking anymore but slowly making his way towards her left side, inching in such a way to keep her from noticing him searching for a weakness. Anna let him get close, let him think she was a fool. His sword struck out at lighting speed, a surprise even for Anna. The black fire inside her came roaring to life, pulling her muscles to react faster than her vision. She twisted under his jab and landed a glancing blow with her knife as his arm stretched out above her.

He pulled back, eyes wide. She smiled at him again before she threw herself at him. Her knives flashed dangerously fast. He managed to block many of her blows but before he broke away he was covered in shallow cuts along his face, hands and arms.

"What are you?" he managed, his sword still pointed towards her chest. She noticed his stance was less confident now, he was more wary, moving away rather than towards her.

"I am the spirit of vengeance," Anna said, her voice dangerously low. "I am the misery and death you inflict and forget come back to haunt you. I am the justice your victims' souls cry out for as they are ripped from their bodies."

The man's face turned white as she spoke. She knew he believed her. She could see him wrestle with what to do. Give up? Run? Beg for mercy? But she knew he was a fighting man to the last. His attack didn't surprise her. He was masterfully fast, better than those who had come before him, but still no match for the god's gift.

His sword sped down towards her face and she crossed her blades, catching his in the X they formed. She looked into his face as she twisted the knives, pushing his sword over to her side and into the dirt. She swung her body with the blades, lowering her center of gravity as her leg shot out, striking the big muscles in his thigh that were tensed in attack. He cried out, his leg giving way. He was on one knee, his sword still in his hand. Anna struck his chest with her foot and knocked him back into the dirt. In a moment she was on him, one of her blades at his throat. Her knee held down his sword hand, which was now pinned uselessly at his side.

"Confess," she hissed at him.

"I followed orders. Nothing more. It was my duty," he said quietly.

"Your duty to rape and murder women and children and old men?" she said, contempt dripping from her voice.

"To protect my king. That is all I did." His voice was steady. Could he be telling the truth? Anna reached with her sight, searching into the past to see his deeds. She saw him in her village, standing by. He was truthful, he did not partake in the more egregious sins committed against her kinfolk but he had killed those who thought to fight back. He had run through the miller's son who came at their commander with a hammer for one.

"To protect those who rape and murder," Anna said, unmoved. She saw his actions and judged him unworthy of mercy. "To kill commoners who come at you with tools of trade with your blades of death. It is an honorable duty you preformed." Her voice dripped with contempt for his claim of obligation.

The man looked away from her. She could see he hadn't enjoyed himself but he had done it anyway. She considered her next move a moment too long. His left hand, the one she had not secured as soundly, jerked from under her knee. His dagger flashed towards her face. She moved back a moment too late and he managed to land a shallow glancing blow across her cheek and the bridge of her nose right under her eye.

The black fire inside her acted more quickly than her mind. Her hands dropped her knives and went to his fist. The motion of his cut was across his body so she used his force and helped the blade across to his right. At the last moment she twisted his hand so that the blade was pointed down and then shoved it through his right wrist below the hand that still clutched his broad sword. All of this took no more than a fraction of a second to occur.

The sword fell from his useless hand as the tendons of his muscles were severed. He howled in pain and horror as he twisted underneath her to gape at his mangled hand. She didn't retract the blade, knowing this would be his death sentence.

"You used your sword to protect those who murdered. You saw this as your sworn duty to your king. So I have relieved you of your duty. You will never raise a sword again. Your right hand will remain useless to you for the rest of your life. Every time you curse me and the fates who took it from you, you will know, deep in your heart, that you deserved it."

With that she got up, taking her discarded blades. She watched the man curl up around the knife that remained lodged in his arm and the ground. With some satisfaction, she turned to leave.

When she made it back to Dev he was pacing the small clearing she had left him in. He looked up at her approach.

"That didn't take long," he said nervously.

"There was only one," she said coolly. She couldn't help a self satisfied smirk. She felt vindicated without feeling dirty. This was what she had been looking to feel all these weeks of hunting.

"And you killed him?" the hope in his voice pulled her out of her self-congratulatory musings.

"Justice was done." She mounted her horse and looked back at him. "There is a party of ten of them heading for Anthrosen. If we move we can reach them in the morning and circle back for the main army."

Dev mounted his horse smoothly. He had had much more practice than she, a simple country village girl. "You mean to take out ten of them in one morning?" he asked, his tone light despite the morbid topic.

"I mean to mete out justice to ten men come morning." With that she started to move, lapsing into silence for the rest of the day.

***

They located the group of soldiers outside the larger town. Anna let Dev tag along while she scouted their camp. He was jumpy and excited. She tried not to encourage him. She didn't want to get his hopes up. She wouldn't let him join her fight this time either.

They settled in for the night without lighting a fire, choosing to remain close but hidden from their targets. Anna lay in her bedroll waiting to hear Dev's breathing slow. While she was glad for company she was also beginning to get nervous. Would he get involved in the fight despite her warnings? Would he find out about her powers?

Anna sat up frustrated that sleep eluded her. Why did she care so much about this boy and his never-ending stream of chatter? Why did it suddenly matter to her what he thought or knew? She huffed, putting her head in her hands and dragging her nails through her knotted hair. The cut on her face still ached. She hadn't wanted to heal it too quickly lest Dev realize something was amiss. She shook her head again, appalled that it even mattered to her. She stood, thinking to wander the woods under the full moon to calm herself.

She felt him before she saw him. She turned to see his strangely glowing form between the trees some way off. Why was he here? She had killed no one, unless the man had died from his wounds. What an idiot! Had he removed the blade and bled out right there? In her rush to find out she left her shoes and breeches behind, making her way through the forest barefoot in the large shirt that hung down to her thighs.

His form kept moving away from her as she followed, desperate to know why he had come for her again. Finally, she found her way into a small clearing, the bright light of the moon turning it into a silvery impression of day. The god's form had disappeared and she stood, looking into the darkness of the trees around her, trying to see where he had gone.

His hands on her shoulders made her jump. He had appeared behind her without so much as a sound. His hands smoothed down her arms and she felt his body no more than a hair's breath from her own. She stood frozen, shocked at this sudden intimacy of his touch. She had been expecting binds and a lash.

He chuckled in her ear, very close. "We can do that too if you'd like." His laughter made her shiver with it's alien sound.

"Why are you here? I didn't kill that man today. He was alive when I left him. I can't be held responsible for his stupidity if he let himself bleed out." She bit her lip to stop herself from saying more. She hadn't been able to keep her voice from betraying her nervousness at his closeness.

"Such concern for your foes," he murmured in her ear. His hands continued roaming across her back, along her sides. "The man is fine, well mostly intact. That was a nice bit of work you did." She could feel his lips moving he was so close to her ear.

"Then why are you here? Am I to be punished for my actions regardless?" She tried to keep her voice steady. It was getting hard to stay still as his hands began down the front of her body, dangerously close to the hemline of her shirt.

"This is not for punishment," he whispered, pulling the hem of her shirt up, letting his hands slide across the smooth skin of her thighs. "This is the other part of our deal, the one where this responsive body of yours is available to me when I see fit." She bit her lip against making a sound as his fingers reached her undergarments and pushed aside the barrier. He parted her lips, finding the beginning of her arousal already moistening his fingertips. "Responsive indeed."

Anna closed her eyes against the shame, turning her face away from his voice. She forced herself to be still, fighting ever fiber of her being that screamed at her to run from his caresses.

His other hand came across her chest, grasping her breast and pulling her body tightly against his impossibly hard one. "A wise choice. Are you learning your place?"

Anna's anger flared. She started to struggle against him. "Let me go!" She shouted, unthinking. The god laughed again. The hand between her legs dug into her flesh cruelly and the other tweaked her nipple so hard her back arched to try to alleviate the pain. And still the shooting pain seemed to send darts of fire along her skin, awaking the stirrings his soft caresses had begun. And then at once, he dropped her unceremoniously on the ground.

"Apparently not," he said, walking around to her front. She looked up at him, fury overriding her fear of him but the expression on his face made her think twice. "You are mine, every part. You have sold me each and every piece of yourself. I did not force that upon you, you took it upon yourself. But by all means, keep fighting. It seems a great use of your energies."

Anna hung her head, hiding from his gaze as much as from his words. She wished he would just take her, not make her complacent in this. But that was the point wasn't it? She had to submit. She had, after all, agreed to this deal. She wanted to fight, to maintain some semblance of dignity but it was a farce. She had sold it.

She took a deep breath and stood before the god. She couldn't look at him yet. She found the hem of her shirt with numb fingers. She pulled it over her head, tossing it to the side. She fumbled slightly with the ties of her under clothes. But soon, too soon, she stood bare before him. She twined her fingers in front of her, unsure of where to put her hands. She shifted nervously, not knowing what to do.

Finally she looked up to see him looking back at her, the same blank expression he had worn before. She thought to speak, to incite him to do or say something but she could think of nothing to say. The stillness of the moment became oppressive, his gaze never wandered from her face. Finally he moved, raising a hand to her cheek. His thumb traced the line of the knife cut she had sustained in her fight. She hissed quietly as the pain flared but just as quickly it disappeared, as if it had never been.

She raised her hand, running her fingers beneath his own to feel the newly intact skin of her face. Her eyes went to his and he smiled slightly. "Now it's time to see how responsive you can be." Her breath hitched in her throat and she only just kept herself from recoiling.

All at once she felt the now familiar feeling of restraints binding themselves around her limbs. At her back a smooth slab appeared and her wrists and ankles were pulled away from each other until she is stretched into a perfect X. Her pulse raced, all the suppressed instincts to run came roaring to life as she pulled uselessly at the ties that bound her.

Her wide terrified eyes met the god's smooth, unresponsive face. She tried not to beg him to leave her alone, to leave this dark part of herself uncovered. As he approached her, causing her to pull back farther into the unyielding slab at her back, her restraint gave out.

"Please don't," she managed in a small voice.

The god seemed pleased. A small smile played across his lips. "Don't what, Anna?"

Her name in his deep, cavernous voice, washed over her—through her—and plucked at the desires she was so desperate to keep locked away.

"Please don't do this. It's wrong. Something is wrong. Please don't make me feel like that again." She hated that her voice wavered. She hated that she feared not the pain to come but the pleasure it would bring. Humiliation mixed with the potent arousal that had begun when he touched her, and multiplied when he bound her in place. She felt it like a burn in her body that was at once torturous and intoxicating.

"Oh no sweet," his hand come up to her cheek again. "I intend to delve into the depths of your depravity."

She felt a sick feeling in her chest. This was not something she had considered when she had made this deal. She had thought he would take her, use her and she could hate him for it. She thought to suffer his attentions and impositions until he tired of her and left her soul to rest. She hadn't considered this torture—he would rip her open and leave the darkest parts of her exposed. She dug her nails into the palms of her hands to stave off tears that threatened to overwhelm her.

"Please," she managed to choke out, "no."

"Yes," he said simply, pulling her chin so that she looked up into the deep pools of his eyes, which managed to appear blue even in the moonlit world of black and grey.

She clenched her jaw to keep from begging again. He was never going to give in. She tried to take a deep breath, hold herself together. Then he ruined it by bringing a soft black cloth over her eyes, blocking her vision entirely.

Anna's breathing grew rapid and panicked again. He wasn't touching her, which made it even worse. She couldn't see what he was going to do to her, where he would touch her next. She struggled uselessly, unable to rationalize herself to stillness.

Then his hand made contact with her stomach, moving upwards towards her breast. She tried to control herself but the blindfold made her anxiety spike, each contact he made with her body stoked the burning sensations inside her chest. He cupped her breast, moving lazily. His other hand came to her other breast, making her jump again at the surprise contact. She couldn't slow her heart or her breathing. She felt ready to climb out of her skin. But then something wet and warm descended on her nipple and she nearly cried out at the sensation. His mouth, she realized, enveloped the aching bud, sucking slightly and pulling on her nipple with his teeth. She gasped and writhed, arousal taking over where fear had been. She almost groaned when he withdrew his mouth, leaving the sensitive skin puckering in the chilled air.




A Tale of Revenge Ch. 04



But then a sharp pain tore through the haze he had created. She cried out, in surprise as much as pain. It felt like something small and hard was crushing her nipple. She wanted to scream at him, to beg him to remove it but she held back. She knew he could sense it, that the pain was working its way deep inside her, fanning the flames that never should have been there in the first place. Why did this effect her so? She felt her core clench, her arousal cooling against her lower lips as it met the night air.

His mouth descended on her other nipple. She wished she could stop her body from responding but it felt so good. The warm, soft, wet caress on one breast stood in clear contrast to the aching pain in the other. Another moan escaped her as the coiling pressure settled in her lower belly. His mouth disappeared and she braced herself uselessly. The pain shot through her again, this time straight between her legs. She felt the pressure rise, her body calling out for release.

For a moment she hung there, the pain in her breasts throbbing with her overly fast heartbeat. It seemed to pulse through her, straight to her core. Oh gods she wanted him to touch her, to fill this void she felt opening up between her legs. She felt perched on the edge of a cliff but he left her hanging there for a long moment.

Fingertips traced her inner thigh. She bit her lip to keep from calling out with relief. She needed him to touch her again, as he had before. He continued unhurried up to her core.

 "My, my,' he said as he stroked her lightly, too lightly. "Aren't we a greedy little girl?"

Please! She shouted in her head, knowing he could hear her. He just chuckled and withdrew his hand. She groaned in frustration.

Pain flared across one of her breasts coupled with a sharp slap. It happened again on the other before she could even understand what was hitting her. With the third strike she realized he was whipping her. The leather straps came down again on her breast and she whimpered. The pain wasn't terrible. In comparison with the whip he had used on her back this was barely a tickle. But her overly sensitive skin meant each strand left a fiery strip of skin beneath it. She tried to twist away, to stem the onslaught. Every time it hit her nipples she wanted to cry out.

Just as she felt she could handle the sensation, the straps came from below and slapped at the flesh between her legs. Then she did cry out, from surprise, pain and, gods help her, relief that something had finally made contact with her throbbing core. Again he hit her right breast, and then again between her legs. The straps struck the wet skin and it stung. She almost sobbed. Again her left breast, flicking the nipple clamp, making her moan. Again against the heated flesh of her core. He alternated, keeping her guessing where he would strike next, the soft leather meeting more and more sensitized skin every time. Finally it seemed like her entire body was calling out for release, for someone to release the pressure that had become unbearable. Anna thought she might go insane if he struck her again, or worse, if he didn't.

The flogger struck her hard between her legs, hitting her clit and making her shriek as the pain shot upwards. Twice more he hit her in that spot and she screamed her release. All the prickling and burning in her skin seemed to wash over her in a great wave, sucking her under as her body released the pressure into spiraling pleasure. His hand was between her legs, stroking her, driving the sensations further and harder. She thought he might be speaking to her but she could hear nothing as she began to feel lightheaded. A hand on her breast released whatever had been clamped on to her and she screamed again as pain blossomed through her orgasm. His mouth was back, soothing the tortured nub. His hand between her legs kept working and she thought she might die if he didn't let her be. Her peek went on, buoyed by the release of her other nipple and his soothing mouth. The pleasure became painful until finally his hands slowed and stopped.

Anna was limp in her binds, her muscles watery and her head spinning. The blindfold was gone and so were her restraint. He caught her before she fell, holding her to his chest.

"That wasn't so bad was it?" he said, scooping her up off her unsteady feet. She looked up into his face, too caught in the afterglow to feel the usual self-loathing that came with release at his hands. He looked back at her. She couldn't tell if he actually wanted a response but she had none to give. She closed her eyes and mumbled something, her brain jumbled from too many sensations. She heard him give a self-satisfied sigh before she felt squeezed by his magic and he was placing her back on her bedroll, somehow back in her discarded garments.

This time it took less than a moment to fall asleep.

***

Anna felt jolted awake. She looked around at the unfamiliar campsite feeling discombobulated and exhausted. Why was she awake? Her body felt sore and oversensitive. She was dressed again in her shirt and undergarments. She looked down her shirt at her breasts, which were still aching. The skin was normal but her nipples were a decidedly darker shade than they had been yesterday. Don't let Dev catch you staring down your shirt, she thought to herself, looking around for her missing companion.

It was then that her tired mind registered what had caused her to wake up so suddenly: the sounds of a fight not far off. Cursing as violently as she knew how, Anna stumbled to her feet. She grabbed her bow and quiver and was about to pull on her pants when a cry of pain cut through the trees. All thoughts of modesty forgotten, she ran in a mad dash towards the sounds.

She notched an arrow as she ran, praying she wouldn't be too late. Cruel laughter grew closer. Up ahead she could just make out a man laughing and raising his sword, below him Dev held up a bloody hand, as if that would ward off the blow. Anna raised her bow. The man's laugh was cut off by her arrow in his throat. She dashed towards Dev, emerging from the trees at his side, facing the nine remaining men, a second arrow notched and drawn.

Their laughter died as their companion fell and all eyes went to the girl standing before them in a man's shirt, her hair in wild curls and dark eyes flaming with anger.

For a moment, all was quiet. Then three of the men leapt towards her across their campsite. Three arrows found three targets, though with enough foresight to make them non-lethal. They each lay on the ground, howling in pain. The others started edging in, swords drawn and ready. Anna drew three more arrows, keeping two in her hand as she notched another. She could hit them all before they got to her but something made her pause. This didn't have to be so hard, and surely one of them would die from his wounds.

"Stop," she said, pulling the dark fire inside her to the surface and weaving into her word before it left her mouth. They all halted, compelled to stillness. Their faces were frozen but their eyes danced wildly. She felt a smug sense of success. She lowered her bow. Time to change the fates of others.

She approached the first man who looked at her stricken from his frozen face. She placed her hand on his cheek in a tender gesture. She used her sight to see his past deeds. "You like stealing more than killing, skulking in the back while others do the dirty work and you get the first chance at ransacking the dead's belongings. From now on when you touch another's belongings in ill intent it will cause you pain. You will never be rich and you will live the rest of your life begging for the mercy of others as you so often ignored the pleas of those around you. When you sleep, it is all you will hear and you will wake knowing why you are condemned."

With that she bound the man to her curse and turned to his companions, she could feel them fighting against her magic, struggling to move. She simply clamped down in the threads of fire holding them in place. Anna set off again, cursing them each in turn, judging their deeds or inactions and finding appropriate sentences. She left her arrows in the men who had earned them.

As she reached the last man his eyes burned in hatred. His face had been the most cruel, the most menacing of the attackers. Her arrow still stuck out from his inner thigh, blood seeping from the wounds. She crouched slowly so they were eye level. She didn't touch him as she had the others but looked into his eyes. She had barely begun being overwhelmed at his crimes—murder, rape, rampaging through children and the elderly with gleeful satisfaction. She looked at him in disgust.

"You are hardest of all. I can't seem to think of a punishment I could possibly come up with here that would answer your crimes." She sighed wearily at his furious eyes, reveling in his anger and powerlessness. "You will never raise a hand against another in violence ever again, regardless of what they do to you. You will be defenseless and impotent, though without the violence factor you can't get it up anyway." She could almost feel the rage coming off of him. "You will be compelled to tell the truth and when asked you will confess your most hideous crimes to be dealt with as the local justice sees fit. You will have no haven, no safe place. All who see you will know what you are and all will despise you. And I will take your anger," his eyes softened even as she spoke, "and replace it with the gnawing emptiness you left behind you."

Feeling satisfied she turned back to Dev, intending on helping him back to their camp. She was met instead with his wide, frightened eyes as he tried to crawl away from her. Her head started pounding from her new use of magic, making her short tempered with his discomfort. She approached him and knelt at his side. He raised his arms to shield his face as if she were going to curse him as well.

"What are you doing?" she hissed at him, not wanting the frozen soldiers to hear her.

"Please," he whimpered.

"Please what?" she snapped, her anger getting the better of her.

"Please don't hurt me," he said from behind his arms.

"Don't be an idiot." She had lost patience with the boy's fear. She turned back to the soldiers. "You have a day to remain like this. When you can move again your fates will be forever changed. You will never be able to speak of us or what happened here." With that she grabbed Dev's arm and lifted him onto her shoulders. He groaned in pain and fear as she bore him back to their campground.

Anna dumped him unceremoniously on his bedroll when they reached it. He curled up around a wound on his side. He was pale with blood loss but still trembling in fear more than anything else.

She took a few moments on her side of the fire, putting on the clothing she had discarded in her haste. Her hands trembled with frustration at his reaction to her. Had she not taken him on when she didn't want to? Had she not promised to help him avenge his family as well? What had she done to warrant such a fearful reaction from him? Some part of her understood his fear at her unprecedented display of magic. He had thought himself rather worldly from his travels but he had never seen anything like her. But she couldn't help feeling hurt at his fear and mistrust. She steadied her breath and noticed her hands were still shaking.

She turned back to Dev, whose eyes were now closed, his hands red with the blood from his wound. She cursed again and knelt at his side. She hadn't noticed how badly he'd been injured. She put her hands over his chest and reached into his body, feeling the extent of the damage. She could heal him but it would deplete her completely. She would be dependent on him to move them today. This brought her pause. Could she trust him? Should she? He thought she was some kind of monster now. She couldn't be sure he would help her anymore.

Get up and leave him, a voice inside her head said, he won't help you now that he knows what you are. But something deeper held her there. Anna didn't want to be alone. Dev seemed to her to be a lifeline to her connection with people. Though he was bent on the same path of revenge that she was, he also grounded her firmly in the world around her instead of lost in her own head.

"Dev," she took his face in her hands. "Dev!" she said louder when he didn't respond. She shook him. His eyes snapped open. He focused on her face; the look he gave her went from relief to fear under her watchful gaze. "You are badly hurt. I can heal you but it will drain me completely." His eyes rolled closed, she shook him back to wakefulness. "You need to promise me that you will get us both out of here when I am done." He kept looking at her like he didn't quite trust her. "Please, Dev," her tone changed from her usual hard edge to something one might almost describe as pleading. "Promise me so I can heal you."

Dev looked at her again, searching silently. He licked his dry lips, as if trying to say something but he gave up. He simply nodded his head. That would have to be good enough.

Anna placed both of her hands over his chest and drew on the black magic inside her. She pulled it through her hands and forced it into his body, willing it to heal his wounds and restore his strength. At first it happened slowly, but as she sat there the fire rapidly began to spread through him, licking his wounds till they closed, flooding his veins and bringing his mind back to full wakefulness.

Anna felt herself growing constantly weaker as he grew stronger. By the time she had finished the world was swimming and blackness was edging in on her vision. Finally she broke the connection with a gasp and sat back from him. Dev sat up, eyes level with hers, no longer pale and weak. She attempted a small smile but what she saw was not the face of a grateful friend, rather the look of someone whose fear was rapidly becoming a much uglier emotion.

"Who are you?" his voice was harsher than she'd ever heard it.

"I'm Anna," she said, her head starting to pound so loudly she was having trouble hearing.

Dev stood up and began to back away from her. Anna couldn't even find the strength to pick her head up to look at him. "Dev, don't," she started but the darkness closed in, the pounding got too loud. She felt her arms give out beneath her and the forest floor met her face. You idiot, the voice said as she faded away.

***

That's all for now. Happy holidays. I hope to have more up soon. Please don't forget to vote and comment. Every little bit helps me know how I'm doing. Besides one less than thrilled reader, I got mostly positive remarks and yet the votes took a downturn this week. Please let me know what you liked or didn't.



A Tale of Revenge Ch. 05-06



I'd encourage anyone starting with this chapter to read the previous installments. I don't think it will make a whole lot of sense without the background. As always enjoy and vote/comment. 

***** 

Ch. 5 

She was lying on her back in a field. Blades of grass and small wild flower tickled her skin as they swayed in the soft breezes. An impossibly blue sky opened up above her. She closed her eyes, feeling the sun on her face. 

"This is nice." The god's voice came from next to her. She turned her head and opened her eyes to find him lying in the grass next to her. She almost laughed. 

"How casual of you to be down in the dirt with me." Her voice barely covered the giggle that threatened to break through. 

The god cracked a smile, rolled on his side and stuck a daisy stem between his teeth. "Ay, ye wee lass, as they do say, from whence we came so shall we return," he adopted a northern drawl and quoted the dark god's promise to her, a mockery of the famous northern priests. Anna couldn't take it and broke out into a full laugh at this ludicrous notion that a god was teasing her in the middle of a sunny field. She must have lost her mind. 

"I've gone mad," she gasped. 

"Happiness is surely the first sign of it," his voice was falsely grave. "Terrible for one so young." 

Anna laughed again. Suddenly she stopped and sat up, looking out into the dream's infinite horizon. 

"I've made a terrible mistake," she said, remembering. 

"Perhaps not," the god said, sitting up next to her. "Perhaps the boy will surprise you." 

Anna felt a knot tighten in her throat. "He fears me now, or worse. He will have left me in the dirt." 

"You might be better off alone." 

Anna shook her head again, tears pricking her eyes. "I don't want to be alone. Alone I am tormented with thoughts of all I', haunted by my own deeds, filled with silence and rage. He also bears my burden, but so lightly. It hasn't blackened his soul as it has mine. I can save him from that. I have to. And in return he can share his light with me." 

The god's arm wrapped around her shoulder and pulled her into an embrace. He lifted her face to his. "You are light. Sadness and anger might shade you now but underneath it you too are all light." His lips met hers softly and she let him pull her into the kiss, allowed herself a moment of reprieve. 

A familiar pain blossomed in her gut as she struggled back to awareness. She was lying across a saddle, her legs on one side of the horse and her head and arms off the other. The pain radiated out, announcing that she had been in that position for a long time. She groaned loudly as she came to full, head throbbing consciousness. She squeezed her eyes closed. 

The horse stopped and she felt someone pull the ropes the bound her in place off. Her body was swung up to someone's shoulder, the pain tripling from the relatively narrow area now bearing her weight. Her head felt thick with too much blood. A moment later she was on the ground and strong arms were propping her against a tree. She opened her eyes as far as she could without searing pain only to find a blurry form moving away from her. 

She closed here eyes again, feeling inside to the dark fire at her center. It had restored itself. She grabbed a bit, washing it through her system, ridding herself of the lingering weakness and soreness that tugged at her body. When she opened her eyes again she saw Dev before her, his face unreadable. She opened her mouth to speak but her dry throat wouldn't work. 

He held out a water skin towards her, dropping it as soon as her fingers touched it. She tried not to wince at his action and took a deep drink. 

"How long?" she croaked. 

"All yesterday and this morning." His tone was short. 

"Thank you," she whispered. "For not leaving me." 

Dev eyed her suspiciously for a long moment. "What did you put in me?" 

"I had to heal your body with magic. You'd lost a lot of blood. The magic replaced it until your body does its work." 

"Can you take it out again?" he sounded strained. 

Anna had trouble meeting his eye. "I wouldn't recommend it. You will not feel well on your own." 

"I feel worse now. Like there are ants crawling on the inside of my skin. I want you to take it out." A bit of the scared boy edged into his voice. She knew how he felt. 

"I know it feels strange. Rein it in; make it work for you. It will be gone in a few days." 

"No!" he snapped at her. "Take it out now!" 

Anna's eyes flashed with fury as she looked up at him. "Get a hold of yourself. I can't stay here and nurse you till you feel well enough to move around again." 

"I just dragged your unconscious body around for nearly two days and you are going to threaten to leave me behind?" 

She groaned as she got to her feet. Even at her unusual height, she still had to look up to Dev's furious face. 

"You would have died there and then had I not done what I did. I'm grateful you didn't leave me behind out of fear of my magic but don't dare order me around and snipe at me after I very well saved your life. Twice." 

Dev looked properly abashed but still prickly. "It feels like fire." 

"It is fire," she sighed. "Clamp down on the feeling; rule the fire." 

"Is that what you do?" he asked cautiously, his anger dropped out of his voice. 

Anna put her hand to her pounding head. "I don't want to talk about that." She was exhausted. She needed food and sleep. 

Dev's voice sharpened again. "How can you expect me not to ask what you are? How you do what you did? People don't just wander around throwing spells around. You froze those men in place. They couldn't move at all. One died of his wounds and still his body hung there. How could you possibly be so powerful if you are what you say you are?" 

Anna's head snapped up. She reached out and grabbed Dev's arms, her fingers digging into the muscles in his forearm. "What did you say?" 

His shocked eyes looked from her hand to her face. "What?" he managed to stutter. 

"About the men. You said one of them died?" Her heart was pounding. She had forgotten! She had taken two lives and barely noticed. 

"One of the men you shot with an arrow started bleeding from the wound. I went back to the camp to check to make sure I hadn't gone mad. I saw him die and still his body stayed in place. Your magic did that." 

"Oh dear gods. Two of them. The other man, I shot him in the throat. He was about to bring the sword down. I didn't think. I shot him in the neck. Then I left them trapped and the other one died. It's still my fault. I'll have to pay." She was muttering almost to herself but she kept her grip on Dev. Fear battered her thin defenses. She was exhausted and starving and incapable of dealing with the thought of more pain. 

"Anna, what are you talking about?" Dev's voice was still fearful but also concerned. Her tear-bright eyes met his soft hazel ones. For a moment She wanted to tell him everything, to tell him how she sold her soul, how the god had come to punish her, how she couldn't kill them, how she didn't want to kill them anymore. But there were other parts of the story she couldn't tell him. And she knew even then that she couldn't seek comfort with him. 

She tore her eyes away from his and released his arm. Stumbling away from him. "I just shouldn't have done that. I made a mistake." 

"Shouldn't have done what? Anna, what is going on? Can't you tell me?" Dev stepped towards her. All the fear was gone, he was still her companion, still concerned about her. She supposed her shaking, teary self was no longer as terrifying as he had no doubt imagined her to be. 

"I'm sorry, I need to sleep." Anna felt cold with exhaustion. She tried to still the tremors that ran through her with no luck. Dev's hand came down softly on the back of her shoulder. She wanted to shake him off but for a moment she let his hand rest there until she began to shiver again and she pulled away. "Please, can I sleep here? Are we far enough off the road?" She couldn't turn around and face him. 

"Yeah, Anna. I'll get a fire started." She knew there would still be questions when she woke up. Maybe she would have some answers for him. Moments later she was wrapped in the cocoon of her bedroll and Dev was starting a fire. He tried to wake her to feed her but she would not be moved. Dev settled on the far side of the fire, looking at the lump of cloth that contained her form, wondering what on earth was going on. 

* 

It was dawn when she woke up, the world was grey and the forest around her was waking up. She shivered, sitting up and looking around for her bedroll. Had she thrown it off somehow? Where was the fire? She realized, as the cobwebs cleared, that she was alone and she didn't recognize the wood around her. Had he left? And taken everything? Would he do that to her? 

Her answer appeared at her side. She looked up at the god's face and her stomach dropped. He was furious. She hadn't thought he could express emotions that intense. She slowly got to her feet and faced him, her eyes still downcast. Silence fell like a weight on her back. She tried not to fidget. She wouldn't be the first to speak. 

"I suppose you think I should be lenient because you didn't kill them all?" his voice seemed more cavernous and otherworldly than ever. It was like a blow across her body. 

"I didn't think that," she whispered. The thought hadn't occurred to her. He must have known that. 

"Do you think so now?" 

Anna shook her head. She would take whatever it was that he was going to do to her. Suddenly the thought occurred to her, would he take her now? Was he going to collect on their deal because of what she had done? She hadn't considered that this could be the end of the road for her. A tight feeling of fear gripped her entire body. No, please, not yet. She looked up into his face, parting her lips to speak her mind but he silenced her with a look. 

"I should. It is a fool who allows this type of persistence in folly." He stopped there, letting the words hang there between them. Anna could not think of words to plead her case, her mind was suddenly clouded entirely by panic. She wasn't ready to go; she still needed more time. What of Dev? He would think she had abandoned him. Did this mean she dies now? Was this the end? What of the men? So many more of them would escape justice. 

"But so many of them would escape being murdered by your bumbling and regretfully not be able to participate in the blackening of your soul. And need I remind you that it is my soul now?" 

Anna swallowed again; her mouth was dry. She felt hollowed out, like something was eating at her from the inside. She couldn't argue, couldn't beg. All she could do was stand there until he told her what he was going to her. 

"You ignored my order also. This body you sold me, while not entirely well fed to begin with is eating itself from the inside. I did not just tell you to eat on a whim. Magic draws on your energy as well. If you do not feed your body the magic will consume it. You may not feel hungry but you must eat. You cannot simply restore your health with magic and assume the rest is also taken care of." 

Anna hadn't considered this. She looked down at herself. It did seem like these clothes were hanging off of her more than they had been. The trousers Mirabelle had given her were once a bit snug on her feminine hips, having been cut for a narrower male. Now she was verging on needing a belt to keep them up. The magic was indeed consuming her. 

She placed her hand on her chest, trying to rub out the empty feeling there. Everything had gone terribly wrong. She had wanted to avenge her family and now she realized taking their lives cost her more than it was worth. She was still haunted by their faces as they died, the feeling of their flesh on the other end of her blades. And if her guilt and self-disgust weren't enough, she was to be punished by the god as well, opening her up to new levels of degradation. Now the magic she had sold her soul for was actually eating away at her. 

Was there no upside to this deal? Had she been played for a fool? No, she had wanted revenge, wanted blood. How naïve. She had never even seen a man killed before that horrible day and she had sold herself to be able to do just that, never considering that she wouldn't want to. 

Anna raised her eyes to the god's face. He had tried to warn her off of it too. She was such a fool. She felt herself slipping again, back towards that dark place, back to the abyss she had teetered on so desperately after her family had been killed. He would take her and it would be over, this whole sad silly experiment. She began to close her eyes, to let the tide of nothingness take her away from all of her horrible choices. 

The god's hands grasped her upper arms, shaking her. 

"Anna, open your eyes." It was a command but she suddenly found it difficult to care. Not caring lay this blanket over all that was bad and snuffed it out, kept her free of it. The weakness in her body called out to her to give in, to stop fighting. Leave it, she thought, letting the darkness close in. The pit was too deep to start climbing out again. 

"Anna, open your eyes," this time the voice rang out in her mind, pushing past the fog, jolting her brain back to the present. She complied, looking back up at his face. She had never been this close to him and had time to actually look at him. Usually she was too wrapped up in what was about to happen or had just happened to actually take the time to look at the god, Leonid, the one she had sold herself to. 

His face was eerily perfect. His skin was much darker than hers and evenly toned as though the sun had no effect on it. His cobalt blue eyes shown out from under thick black brows which arched across his smooth forehead. His nose was straight; his lips wickedly full. She wondered, absent mindedly, if his lips would feel the same as they did in her dreams. She saw the corners curve up in a small smile. 

He knew her thoughts! A rush of embarrassment washed over her, breaking her daze. She lowered her eyes and resisted trying to hide her face in her hands despite the grip he still had on her arms. What was wrong with her tonight? 

"Stop, Anna," the use of her name still affected her, sending shivers down her spine as if his voice was caressing her skin. "Stop with this self pity and the rest of this nonsense." 

She felt stung. Was she letting herself get pulled under? Wasn't she just getting tired of trying to be strong when she wasn't? When it was all false bravado backed up by magic, which she had so little control over it was devouring her without her knowledge? 

"You are not a little girl living under her parents' roof any longer. You wanted to dispense justice. It is more difficult than you thought it would be. Stop feeling bad about your choices and live with them." 

It occurred to her that he had never spoken so much to her at one time. "It's a lot to take in all at once." Her voice sounded small. He was right of course. She had told Dev to clamp down, to rule the fire, and here she was letting all of this burn her up. She realized she was leaning into the god's arms, seeking out some sort of comfort from him. She righted herself a little, pulling away. She could not ask and he was not offering. 

The weakness in her body made her want to curl up and disappear into the ground. But her mind felt clearer now. 

"I'm ready to accept punishment for my crimes," she said softly, trying to sound braver than she felt. 

"A brave thought, but your body is too weak. We can't punish the unconscious can we?" He wasn't going to punish her for the lives she took? Or just not yet? Something inside her ached at either thought. She feared the pain but she feared liking it more. She looked back up at him, searching. He was still smiling slightly. "Tomorrow night perhaps. Feed yourself; lay off the magic. I'll come for you when you are ready." 

His right hand moved from her arm to her cheek, his thumb running softly over her bottom lip. A shudder went through her that had nothing to do with her hunger. The god's gaze became almost painful with its intensity. Then it was gone, he released her and dropped his other hand. He reached behind her and pulled her bow and quiver into his hand from thin air and held it out to her. 

"You'll need this," he said. "Your camp is just through those trees." He gestured towards her left. She nodded and took the bow, noticing he had strung it for her as well. She wanted to ask why but even that seemed like more energy than it was worth. 

The god stood there as she moved off towards the direction he had indicated. "Anna," he said softly. She turned back to him. "Your concern for the boy is admirable but don't put yourself in the position of having to kill for him again." Then he was gone as if he'd never been there. 

She walked numbly back towards camp, turning over all that he had said, all the things she had felt. Suddenly a great surge of relief burst inside her, rippling out of her throat as a laugh she barely recognized as her own. She had thought she was dead, finished, scooped up by the god and taken from this world to who knows what fate. She had accepted it, given herself up for lost the same way she had a few weeks before. It felt like years had passed since that day on the tree. And here she was, still here, still with a chance. 

The laugh startled a large doe that had wandered close to their camp. The creature launched itself between the trees almost straight at Anna. Her need for the bow became clear and Anna brought the animal down with a single shot. She smiled as she walked towards it. He had told her to eat after all. 

"I could use your help," Anna said to Dev's tossled head as he jerked awake. She was dragging the heavy carcass behind her. He fumbled with his shoes and came over, helping her string the body up on a tree branch. 

She sat down heavily when it was done, her weakness catching up with her. Dev looked at her pale face and went to get his hunting knife. "I'll take care of the deer. Eat some of the food I left for you last night." He gestured at her pack. She found a crust of bread and cheese as well as some cold stew. She ate all of it so quickly she barely tasted it. A strange warm feeling settled in her body. How long had she been neglecting it? Days, weeks even. She had barely stopped to eat on the road and she had developed a habit of pushing her magic too hard and ending up unconscious. That would have to stop. 

The smell of warm meat cooking brought her focus. Dev was still keeping to the far side of the fire. The sidelong glances let her know he still wasn't quite sure what to make of all this. 

"Why were you at the soldiers camp that morning?" Anna asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence. 

Dev looked like a child caught in the act. "I just went to see if they were moving. I heard them in the morning and you were sleeping so heavily. I wanted to make sure we didn't lose them." 

"And they spotted you?" 

Dev shifted a little. "I may have made my presence known." 

Anna gave him a reproachful look. Dev looked away but his jaw tightened. "You left me behind with that other soldier in the woods. You were going to leave me behind again when you went to these men. You are no older than I and yet you order me back like a child. I had a family before those men came through. I also want to see justice done." 

"Did you see justice done?" Anna asked, genuinely curious about how he felt. 

"I saw magic done." He was still afraid of it, of her. "I suppose it was punishment. The last man you cursed was condemned to die by the judge in Anthrosen not the day after. But why the magic and the cursing? Why not take their lives as they have taken others?" 




A Tale of Revenge Ch. 05-06



She considered her answer carefully. "I killed one of the men who had raped and killed my sister." Dev's eyes grew wide as she spoke. "I had him in his knees and disarmed and he said something about how she had wanted him and the others. He was a horrible wretch of a human being but I could not feel vindicated killing him. I once thought of killing them all. But I know now that it would warp me into something closer to what they are. I was not a killer before that man. I am now. I will try not to be again." 

Dev continued his wide-eyed stare as she finished. She moved to take the meat off the fire, barely taking the time to let it cool before she cut off a hunk of it and began to eat. She was still terribly hungry. She let Dev consider her cautionary tale. She could see he still had questions. 

"Are you a witch?" His voice was quiet again, maybe a bit afraid. 

Anna shook her head, her mouth full. Then she thought about it and shrugged. "I don't know if I qualify," she said when she had swallowed. "I was not born with magic and I didn't learn to acquire it. If simply possessing magic makes me a witch then I suppose I am." She leaned to take another bite. 

"Then how did you get it?" Did he sound eager? Anna paused. Her face turned dark and she looked away from the boy on the far side of the fire. 

"That is not a story I can tell you. Suffice it to say I would not recommend it." She looked up at his hungry eyes; she saw his desire for it. "I mean it Dev. It is a curse that lives inside your body; it eats away at you. It causes more harm than good and opens up avenues of action that you are terrifyingly unprepared for." His look didn't change. "I didn't learn to fight," she continued, hoping to get through to him. "The magic moves my body when I am in battle. Had I learned over years I would have the discipline to go along with the ability. Instead I struck out at the first man I found and killed him without a thought. Nothing is free." 

Dev looked away from her but she could see she hadn't gotten through to him. She shook her head and kept eating. She should have just kept her mouth shut. Now he'd think magic was a glorious idea, a short cut to being a super warrior. At least he seemed less afraid of her now. She watched him as he thought it over. She could seem him wrestling with the idea. Consequences, especially long term ones, had hardly been a deterrent for her. Why would he be any different? 

"Is there anyone left on your farm?" Anna asked. 

Dev nodded absentmindedly. "My cousin and his wife took over the lands, their farm is next to ours and they were spared the attack. They are keeping it for me if I return." 

"Were you not intending on returning?" 

"I don't know if I can go back," he said darkly. 

Anna nodded. She knew that feeling. "Do you still want to travel with me?" she desperately wanted him to say yes. 

Dev looked at her, a bit shocked really. "I—" he stopped, unsure. He didn't want to be left behind and she was still a better bet than striking out alone, Anna reasoned. He was scared of her but also, now, interested in her magic. There was nothing behind him. She hoped he would reason his way to coming. "I would." 

She gave him a real smile then. "Excellent, you can finally tell me what happened to the sea maiden who loved the sun," she said referring to a tale he'd been dragging out for days. 

He hesitated and smiled back, "I'm afraid it doesn't end well." 

She gave a theatrical sigh. "The sun is a poor choice of partner." 

Ch. 6 

It was three days before the God came to her. She had done as he bade, eating ravenously for days to restore her strength, never intentionally using the magic. She found that she couldn't quite turn it off completely. She still felt slightly disconnected from her actions when she hunted, the magic doing most of the work. 

She was coming to understand that the magic was an entity apart from her, a strange passenger that was beneficial as much as it was an imposition. But, at the time, it was fully integrated into her body. At night she would try to feel for the magic inside her, to see where it ended and she began, but she found the space between her and it to be too small to sense properly. Dev continued to ask her sly questions about her magic, trying to catch her off guard. She remained completely opaque in response. She had already told him too much. 

For two nights now she had slept badly, nervous and anticipating the arrival of the god. When she did fall into an uneasy sleep she has fractured, erotic dreams that left her unsatisfied and more anxious upon awaking in the morning without the nightly interruption. When he woke her on that third night she almost felt relieved, or she would have if her heart hadn't immediately lodged itself in her throat and a familiar tightening hadn't settled in her lower belly. 

He smiled knowingly and held out his hand. She took it and stood before he whisked her off again. This time she found herself amongst ancient twisted trees with soft moss under her bare feet. The trees glowed white in the moonlight but also seemed to hold their own inner light, the way the god did. Anna looked around in wonder. This was the first time it occurred to her that he might be taking her rather far from her camp. 

"Where are we?" she asked, her voice hushed in reverence of the scene around her. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the twisting branches of the trees. They seemed to reach out and cradle each other in never ending loops. 

"A personal favorite of mine." 

Anna turned back to look at the god. He looked less out of place here, more human. He released her hand and stepped into the ring of tree. She followed, nervous again at what was coming. He turned to face her and she saw something in his hand. 

"What is that?" she asked before she could stop herself. 

"This," the god said, "is for your punishment tonight." He held up a leather strap, about as thick as three of her fingers. Anna tried to suppress a shiver, of fear? Of anticipation? 

"Why pain?" she blurted out. Why was she suddenly talking so much? She bit her lip, wishing she would just keep her mouth shut instead of dragging this out. 

"Why pain what?" he asked her patiently, as a parent might talk to a curious child. 

Anna's cheeks burned at his tone. She felt small and stupid, human she supposed. "Why pain as a punishment? Doesn't that seem a little...fanatical?" 

The god actually laughed. "I'm impressed you chose to bring up theology with a deity." He gave her a real smile that made her knees wobbly. He was never this animated outside of her dreams. "I suppose you are referring to the northern priests who whip themselves to purge themselves of their earthly sins?" She nodded. "They believe that in service to the Dark God they must punish their mortal forms. It is an idiocy but so is worshiping death. No one claimed northerns were the most rational lot." 

Anna was fascinated. "So why are you punishing me with pain? Why chose what you've deemed an idiocy?" 

"Oh I didn't chose this, sweet girl," his tone had lost its playful edge. His face lost its smile. "You did." Anna didn't understand. She looked up at him confused. "The moment I came to you in that inn and found you with a knife sticking through your hand. You chose to punish yourself with pain for that man's life. I am simply making sure you don't mutilate yourself in the process." 

Anna rubbed the hand she had stabbed, flooded again with the horrible memories of that night. It felt like looking through someone else's eyes and feeling someone else's emotions. One moment she felt sure of herself, confident in her path and strong enough to handle the burden. Then Leonid would come for her and she would just break into tiny pieces inside. Why was she always coming apart? Shameful tears burned her eyes. He had told her to leave the self-pity behind and instead she seemed to be more susceptible than ever when he was around. 

"So if I had chosen something else? Or not at all? What would you have done?" She wanted to keep the conversation going, anything to keep all these overwhelming feelings at bay. 

"Why so curious tonight?" the god said. Anna took a breath, mustering some semblance of composure. 

"Maybe it's just nice to hear you say more than just 'disrobe.'" She gave him a wry smile that was miles more confident than she felt. 

He returned the smile and then leaned in, his cheek passing hers with barely a whisper of space between them. He was as close as possible without touching her. Anna's entire body felt like it was leaping out towards him. Her skin tingled, her mind suddenly completely blank except for the sound of her heart pounding. She was sure he could hear it from where he stood. His lips hovered right next to her ear so his voice went straight through her. "Disrobe." It was barely more than a whisper but it echoed through her head. She felt an undeniable shock of excitement. She bit her lip to keep from voicing her arousal. It was bad enough he knew her thoughts already. 

He leaned back so they were facing each other and locked eyes with her as she slowly began to remove her shirt. Instinctually, she knew not to pull her eyes from his gaze. A small smile played on his lips as he watched her bare herself once again. When she was done he let the silence and stillness fall on them again. This time she didn't fidget. It didn't feel oppressive as it had in the past. The still moment felt like a small caress before they began in earnest. 

"Reach above you," the god said softly. His gaze had softened as he had sensed her calm. She didn't move her gaze and simply reached her hands above her head. His fingers closed on what could only be the branches of a nearby tree. But they hadn't been there a moment ago. She gasped as she felt the wood move slowly around her fingers, growing down her hand to her wrists. It felt smooth and oddly warm. In her wonder she looked up to see the glowing branches twist around her hands and begin down her arms. In contrast to the ropes he had used before this felt like a soft caress on her skin, albeit an unmovable one as it held her fast. The branch pulled her up, stretching her arms till she was once again balancing on the balls of her feet against the soft moss floor. 

The god brought his hand to her jaw, running his fingers to her chin. She looked at him, her eyes wide but unafraid. She knew what was coming. 

"This is going to hurt," he said simply, no emotion at all behind his words. 

"I know," she said, surprised her voice didn't waver. She was apprehensive for the pain but something had changed. She couldn't quite understand what. 

"Next time you will be more careful." It wasn't a question or a command. Just simply stating it aloud. 

Anna nodded. The god brushed his thumb across the skin of her face once more and then moved behind her. Her breath got faster in anticipation. This was going to feel very different from the smaller whips he had used before. 

The first blow stole her breath away. The strap was heavy and bruising; the pain it inflicted was deeper than anything she had experienced up until now. The strap had fallen across her shoulder blades, and it burned brightly across the bones. She choked on her gasp and tears stung her eyes. The next one came, directly below where the first had fallen, as though he were painting stripes down and across her back. She screamed then; the pain echoing through her body. Tears began to flow freely down her cheeks and her breath came in pants. Again he struck her and again she screamed. It hurt so much. The thickness of the strap meant he could hit her harder without fear of breaking the skin. The fourth came and she sobbed, twisting in her binds. She could just barely feel the branches' loving caress as they moved further down her arms, cradling her as she grasped them for support. 

Again and again the strap fell across her body, down her back and to her buttocks. She shrieked in agony when it struck her where her legs began. By the time he had finished with her thighs she was whimpering. The branches had come down her arms and started across the back of her shoulders, cradling her head as it fell backwards. She lost her footing and slumped into their embrace. 

No more blows came. The tree continued to move around her. She felt more branches grow down her sides. They slid between the places he had struck her back, twined themselves around her legs and under feet, offering their own support as her muscles gave out completely. She felt her legs spread, not of her own volition but the branches themselves separated her thighs. She gasped in pain, any movement awakening the strokes across her body to full, flaming misery. She closed her eyes, giving in, letting this strange scene take control. She had no desire to fight it. 

She felt the cool evening air against her sex and gasped again. She was aroused? From that pain? It seemed impossible and yet there was no denying it. She felt a finger trace across her side, the branches moving out of the god's way to let him touch her. His hand smoothed over the tortured skin of her ass and she moaned in pain and fervent arousal. His fingers found her soaked sex. She gasped as he began to stroke her. Everything felt so impossibly sensitive to his touch. Her body was arched back towards his questing hand, the tree moving her for better access. His finger stroked around her clit bringing more moans from her lips. She was so close. All her energy focused towards whatever he was doing between her legs. His other hand came to her back, touching the raised welt at her shoulders as his mouth came down at the base of her neck, first in a gentle kiss and then a nipping bite. The shooting pain from his other hand, in contrast to the one doing such wonderful things to her sex burst the dam of the pressure growing inside her. Her body shook, and she cried out into the night. 

She collapsed against the branches. Her eyes stayed closed, it seemed too much to try to open them. She felt the touch of his hand across her collarbone and she knew that he was standing before her. She felt the branches move her body again, turning her head to the side and baring her neck to him. 

"Lovely," she heard him say. His mouth descended on her overly sensitive skin and she moaned again. The branches pushed her back so that her breasts thrust out, another offering to him. His mouth trailed kisses to her right nipple, his tongue dancing wicked circles around the aching nub. His lips closed on it and his teeth scraped her skin. 

Anna was lost in a sea of sensation. Nothing seemed to exist outside of what he was doing to her. A small part of her was scared to open her eyes lest it all be a dream. The pain in her back still radiated through her but the sharp distracting edges had faded and she could focus on his mouth moving down her stomach. The branches were still arranging her, offering up her body to his mouth. 

Kisses trailed along the inside of her hip bone, right above her sex and again on her inner thigh. She groaned, the tree spreading her legs further. She was arched backwards, almost as though lying back on this strange bed of moving branches that held her tightly in place. How wonderful, she thought, that the very trees comply with his wishes. 

She could almost feel his chuckle. "No sweet, it's not me they are listening to." That wasn't right, was it? Her muddled mind was too jumbled to fully grasp what he had said. All thoughts of trying to disappeared as his mouth descended on her wet slit. 

Anna's eyes snapped open. She was starting up at the clear night sky framed by the white branches in the grove. The trees had grown in, as if drawn to watch the spectacle. All of this barely registered with her. His tongue was drifting across her most intimate place. The sensations were overwhelming. She whimpered, confused. The gentle caress was almost painful against the overly sensitive skin. His lips closed on her bud and she convulsed. He moved down, laving her slit with the broad part of his tongue before returning to the apex, teasing more delightful sounds from her. 

She was mad with pleasure. She twisted in the branches embrace. It was too much, but it wasn't enough. Something ached deep inside her, something that called out for satisfaction. His hands roughly grasped her ass, pulling her into his mouth with a growl and she was lost. The pain flared from the welts there and again she was spiraling into her orgasm. It seemed to go on forever, rocketing through her prone body, exciting every nerve in her body until she thought she might faint from all the parts of her calling out in ecstasy at once. He didn't stop either, dragging out her pleasure until it hurt, until she begged him to stop, and still he kept at it. 

Anna's eyes closed, her body jerked and stilled as he drew away from her. Lights danced in the darkness of her eyelids. She felt the branches lift her again, offering her to the god. She felt very far away as his arms closed around her and the branches receded. The pain in her back seemed to fade as she slipped further away, and the darkness closed in on her. 

Leonid stood for a moment, holding her limp form. He looked down at her tear stained cheeks and full red lips. Then he stepped through space back to her camp, pulling her clothing to follow. He laid her on her bedroll, intending to replace her clothes when a soft snore sounded out from the other side of the fire. His eyes narrowed at the boy. He looked back at Anna's naked form. He closed the bedroll over her and sent the clothes to the other side of the camp, folding them neatly over a log. Anna groaned softly in her sleep. She would be in pain tomorrow when she woke up. He crouched down, looking intently at her sleeping face as her frown softened and she drifted deeper. He brushed a lock of silky black hair from her face. And then he was gone. 

* 

Pain worked its way into the peacefulness of sleep and Anna swiftly came to consciousness like a swimmer coming up for air. She gasped and jerked to sitting to relieve the pressure of her body weight on the lines of deep pain across her back. The ones on her ass called out loudly but she couldn't bring herself to move again. She bit her lip but she still whimpered. Despite the pain, and there was plenty of it, she felt this deep and satisfying peace at her center. Last night had been terrible and incredible. Her body seemed to agree. She grasped her bedroll to her naked chest, clenching it in her fingers. She was so distracted she didn't hear Dev until he dropped the firewood he had been collecting as he entered the camp. 

From where he stood he had a perfect view of the dark welts across her back, drawn in perfectly sloping lines across her body. Shock kept him still but he heard her whimper of pain and the daze broke. He rushed to her side. 

"Gods, Anna, what happened?" he breathed as he crouched next to her. Her eyes were squeezed tight, her lower lip white against her teeth and her hands were shaking. She opened her eyes, looking shocked, as if she'd forgotten he'd be there. She looked strangely embarrassed at her state. Unthinking, he brought his hand to her back in a comforting gesture. When his fingers hit her bruised flesh she gasped and jerked away. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he coughed, holding his hands up in front of him. "Sorry, I'm an idiot. Sorry." 

Anna shook her head and closed her eyes. She wanted to tell him it was okay, to stop apologizing, but it seemed like too much effort. She was mortified that he had seen her punishment, and worse that he had interrupted her rather lustful recollections from the night before. Suddenly the whole situation struck her as very funny. Here she was, naked as the day she was born, clutching her bedroll and suffering the pains of a morning after a punishment and Dev was apologizing. She started laughing; she couldn't help it. The strangeness of her life was either going to break her or she was going to start taking things in stride. 




A Tale of Revenge Ch. 05-06



"Anna, are you okay?" he said as she quieted down. She nodded again, giggling. 

"Would you mind terribly grabbing my clothes for me?" she gestured to the pile. Dev seemed to realize she was naked for the first time and leapt away from her as if she was on fire. 

"Yeah, of course, sorry." He stuttered as he retrieved her clothes. He turned his back as she reached for the clothing. Moving was torturous, the feeling of the clothing against her skin was even worse. But the soreness she felt at her core felt better than she was willing to admit, even to herself. When she was finally fully dressed she touched Dev's shoulder to let him know she was done. When he turned to face her, she couldn't quite make out the expression on his face. Was he pitying her? Was that concern or scorn? Maybe she was losing her touch for reading people—too much time around the inscrutable god. 

"What?" she said, trying not to sound defensive and failing. 

"Anna, come on," Dev gestured at her. "What in the dark pits of hell happened to you?" 

Anna looked down, ashamed and defensive. She didn't know what to tell him. She found she didn't want to explain herself or reveal the nature of her relationship with Leonid. She especially didn't want Dev's pity. So she lashed out at him. 

"I don't want to talk about it." Her tone brokered no argument but Dev was not going to be put off so easily this time. 

"I don't care. You can't expect me just to ignore the fact that you were obviously beaten at some point last night. Which can only mean something magical and horrible is happening because you went to sleep one way and woke up looking like my grandfather found you messing with his best horse. Which means that somehow, in the middle of the night, someone or something is doing that to you." He was practically shouting by the end of his little rant. 

Anna shook with anger, pouring all of her other emotions into fueling that fire. "I agreed to bring you with me, against my better judgment, to try and give you the same kind of peace I was looking for. If you can't handle traveling with me then leave me be. Find your own way." 

Dev looked at her, shocked to silence for a moment. "You don't mean that." 

"Like hell I don't. I'm sick of the way you look at me like I have three heads. I hate that you can't trust me after everything I've done for you. I'm sick of tiptoeing around you because I'm afraid you'll call me 'witch' and leave. So fine, leave, it'll give me peace of mind." 

Dev's face closed, his emotions barely concealed under a mask of calm. "I'm terribly sorry for worrying about your wellbeing. I will try not to show any concern for the almighty sorceress in the future." 

Anna sneered at him. "Perfect. I'd hate for you to waste any pity on this freak." 

Dev's mask slid a little. "I can see we won't be able to ride today since your mysterious nighttime activities have made it impossible for you to do so much as don clothing without pain. Perhaps a little time apart would help." With that he turned on his heals, took his own bow and quiver and made for the woods without another word. 

Anna was left alone in the quiet camp, nothing to distract her from the pain blossoming across her back, ass and legs. Dev was right about one thing, she was not going to be riding today, maybe not even tomorrow. She reached out with her sight, something she had been avoiding for days as she had left her magic alone. The soldiers who had broken off from the main group seem to have returned home, or of sorts. She was beginning to realize that the ones they had encountered up to this point seemed to be mercenaries, hired swords and criminals. There was still a core of about twenty-five men including commanding officers who were together, moving towards the capital. She would get all the mercenaries first, then make a move on the capital. 

She sighed, her shoulder slumped as she came back to her lonely spot in the camp. She should not have gotten so angry. She rubbed the back of her neck, wishing there was some way to lessen the ache in her body. She considered using her magic to heal the welts but it seemed like a poor choice, especially now that she was trying to keep the magic to a minimum. She sighed and turned to find something to eat. It was going to be a long day of nothing to do but wallow in her sorry state. 

Afternoon found her laying on her stomach, the only comfortable position, next to a deep river not far from their camp. She had set up lines for fish and taken the opportunity to relax her aching muscles. She heard Dev's footfall from far off. At first she was worried it might be someone else but his cautious shuffling was familiar to her at this point. His careful approach made her hope he had come to make peace. She wanted to apologize to him for her anger but she couldn't tell him anymore than she already had about who she was and why her back was marked from strappings. 

He cleared his throat a few paces from where she lay. She picked up her head to looked at his awkward stance and shifting gaze and gave him a small smile, hoping it would be taken as the apology she couldn't seem to muster. He gave her a small smile in return and moved to sit nearby. 

"Catch anything?" he asked. 

"Not yet, but they usually wont bite for at least another hour or so. The sun is still pretty high." 

Dev nodded and glanced at her. She propped herself up on her elbows, ignoring the twinges of pain from her back in this position. "You?" 

He nodded, gesturing to three rabbits strung on his pack. Silence fell between them again. Anna chewed her lip, trying to figure out if she should say something else and coming up with nothing. Dev seemed to take a breath as if about to say something but then letting it out in a sort of sigh. 

He did it a third time and Anna finally had enough. "What is it?" she tried to sound patient. 

"I have something for you if you want." He said this very quickly. He reached into the sack on his belt and pulled out a dark green herb. The smell hit her hard. She knew it from the tea her mother used to make her drink when she was sick. It was a sharp, cool smell that brought back, most painfully, the memories of being a child, cared for and loved. Her heart lurched and she felt her chest tighten around it. 

"My grandfather was pretty generous with the lash when I was boy and I was always ending up on the receiving end for one thing or another. My sister used to make a paste to put on the bruises and it helps something wonderful. If you want I can make some for you." He was talking rather fast and low. Anna nodded quietly, working on the lump in her throat. Dev gave her a relieved smile and made his way down to the water. He returned with a large flat stone and a slightly smaller, smooth one that would serve as his pestle and he set to works grinding the herbs into an aromatic paste. He kept talking, telling her stories of his childhood mischief and the subsequent punishments he'd receive. Anna let his stories run into one another without stopping him. Where she dealt with the pain of loss by speaking as little as possible about her family, Dev seemed to take great comfort in recalling every last detail about his childhood. 

When he was done with the paste he gestured to her back. Anna shyly drew her shirt up to her shoulders to reveal the stark marks she knew were there. She had only been able to see the ones on her behind and legs but she knew the dark bruising on her back was probably worse. Dev gave a low whistle when he saw them up close. "Not a bad set. My grandfather would have been proud," he said, a grand attempt at levity. 

Anna resumed her prone position, keeping her shirt under her breasts while she lowered her body back to the cool ground. Dev moved next to her but she turned her head in the other direction to hide her embarrassment from him. She didn't want to bare herself to him again but there was a greater need inside of her, one that had been stirred by the smell of his herbs. 

She wanted, just for a moment, to be taken care of. She wanted someone to care about her wellbeing for no other reason than that she was another human in pain—not because she was owned or because she was a means to an end, but just because she deserved that kindness. She didn't want to show Dev her pathetic neediness but she wasn't ashamed enough to turn down his offer. 

"This may hurt a bit," he warned as his green tipped fingers hovered above her back. She gave him a nod and he tried to spread the salve as gently as possible. Anna still hissed when he made contact. He knew all too well how it felt, the stinging coolness of the herbs against the aching flesh was not all together pleasant. He worked quietly, trying to be gentle and cautious of her modesty. Despite the marks on her back he was all too aware that he was in direct contact with her naked back, something he tried not to focus on too much as it tended to distract him. 

Anna for her part was giving herself over to the gentle touch on her back. The kindness of his gesture and the effectiveness of the salve were working wonders. As she had with Leonid, she was getting better at giving herself over to the moment. The stresses of her journey were wearing out her stony resolve to be tight lipped and stoic about the entire venture. More than once she unconsciously leaned into Dev's hand. She didn't notice but he did and his tentative application became less guarded as he smoothed the herbs over her skin. 

By the time he finished her back Anna felt like a cat that had been scratched in all the right places. She stretched out languidly, ignoring the untreated marks on her ass and thighs. She sighed happily. 

"Thank you," she said softly. 

"Anytime," he said, removing his touch. Anna felt the loss of his contact. 

They were both silent for a moment, when a splashing sound caught their attention for the first time. All three lines had caught while Dev had been working on her back and neither one of them seemed to notice. She sat up and gave Dev a satisfied smile. "Seems like today wasn't a total loss." 

Dev laughed. "Well if you can't ride, you must eat." 

The two fell into an easy rhythm of the camp, cleaning and preparing their haul for the day—some of it was going to dry to be packed for the road but much of it was consumed. Anna had realized that she could easily put away as much food as Dev could if not more. At first she had been self-conscious but her embarrassment took a backseat to her needs. Now that she was aware of the hunger the magic created it seemed like her body clamored for food whenever she thought to eat. 

That night, tucked tightly into her bedroll, Anna smiled a little as she slipped into sleep. 

She was walking along the edge of a vast lake. Her bare feet made their way over the soft round stones at the shore. She was wearing a long white dress that clung to her legs as she walked into the water up to her knees. She was looking across the expanse, trying to make out the other side. It seemed to her that there was something she should be doing. The warmth of late summer wrapped around her. She had always loved this time of year. While some found the humidity oppressive, Anna had always loved how the evenings seemed to caress her with the heavy air. The water at her feet was wonderfully warm as well. It was a prefect night, prefect for Anna at least. 

"Another peaceful place," a voice from her side sounded out in the darkness. The god's form moved next to her, very close. She turned to look up at his dark face. She gave him a languid smile. 

"I was feeling peaceful," she said simply. 

"How strange. I thought you only called me up when you were feeling blue." His tone was teasing. 

"I wasn't aware I'd invited you here," she teased back. Had she though? She remembered wishing for the hot air, the lake and the water but not him. 

"I suppose it's rude to intrude." He made no move to leave. Anna smiled again. 

"So why did I call you up?" she asked, turning back to the expanse of water. Leonid shrugged. Anna laughed. "You are supposed to speak my mind! How can you not know?" She asked. 

"I suppose because you don't know," the god said. He moved behind her, wrapping his powerful arms around her and her body relaxed into his. His chin rested against her temple as she settled against him. A strange sort of heat began in her body. She was at once comfortable and all too aware of the touch of their bodies. She pressed back, sure of why she had called him to her. 

His hands traveled over her arm, up to her jaw line. She let him tilt her face up to his. His lips descended on hers and she felt her body shudder slightly in his arms. She twisted around so she could face him more fully, equally engaging his lips with hers. She opened her mouth slightly and he followed, slipping his tongue against her lips, drawing hers out. She brought her hands to his face, pulling him towards her. She unabashedly molded her body to his and his hands stroked her back, down her ass. For a moment they stayed there, knee deep in water, two bodies pressed desperately against each other. 

Leonid slid his hands lower, grabbing her ass and pulling her against him as he kneaded her flesh. She made hungry sounds in the back of her throat. He leaned her back, getting a firmer hold and picked her up. Instinctively she wrapped her legs around him as he bore them back to shore. She didn't break their kiss the entire way. He bore her down on a soft patch of grass, hands free to roam her body again. She moaned into his mouth as his palm smoothed over her breast, the hard nipple pressing into his hand. His fingers drew lazy circles around the nub, not really making contact but making her shiver deliciously. 

She tightened her legs around him, pulling him into her. She became aware of a hard ridge between his legs that was lining up directly with her rapidly dampening core. In her waking life she would have been nervous at the promise of penetration but in her dream state this was welcome. She had been aware that though the god had forced her pleasure on her, he had never taken his own with her. She assumed it was because he saw her as little more than a mortal plaything. Now, in her dream, she could live out what she wanted—mutual pleasure, some sort of partnership in the act, instead of the constant anxiety of his domination over her. 

Their clothing seemed to melt away from their bodies and Anna was lost in the feelings of his mouth on her neck and chest. His hands seemed to find the exact places she needed to be touched. But she didn't want his hands or mouth now. She brought her hands to his cheeks and brought his mouth back to hers. She tightened her legs around him and pressed her wet slit against the head of his manhood. She didn't need to beg, or push. Here she got what she wanted. 

When he slid inside her it felt like a hole she hadn't known was there was finally being filled. It was overwhelming. She kissed him more urgently as he surged inside her. His hand stroked her side, down to her ass and he pulled her against him, filling her further, moving her body with his. Anna brought her hands to his shoulders and she clung to him as he moved. She found his rhythm and soon was moving along with him. The humid air filled with their mutual moans. When she climaxed she felt as though the warmth of the night was flowing in as she breathed, pulling her back into the darkness of sleep as the pleasured high when on and on, like the echo of a bell ringing through her mind. 

Anna woke with a sigh. Her eyes opened to the dawn-grey forest, the cool air promising the autumn's arrival in the coming weeks. She felt strangely contented after the dream. She closed her eyes again. She might have even tasted happiness for a brief moment. It wasn't until she had dressed and begun to prepare to ride out that she realized that she wasn't in any pain. The marks from her punishment had faded to nothing in the night. 

*** 

So finals are upon me. Med school is such a drag. I hope this is a good leaving off point. I'll be back in a few weeks. 

I'd be very interested from you, dear readers, to hear how you feel about this transition. What do you think of Anna and Leonid's development? Did it feel like a natural progression? Also how do you feel about Dev? Annoying? Interesting counterpoint? Just friends? Comment or email me. I've progressed with them but I'm open to suggestions.