Breathless Ch. 04

*Yes ma'am. It's owned by the Farley Company . . . Nothing in it yet. Just bought it last week and put out adds for employees in the paper. They . . . ah, they're one of those companies that sell cheap furniture . . . kinda like Ikea. (click)* There was a pause. *Looks like a diverse company. Human owned, but they're looking to hire a werewolf security company and goblin distributers. (click)*

'Could be a lot of jobs for the community,' Sadie thought. 'Why would anyone break into a warehouse with nothing it it? Ah, probably just druggies or winos looking for a place to shack up. Hate to kick 'em out,' she thought. 'Getting cold out at night.' She jumped up on a dumpster and looked in a window after wiping the frost away. 'Big damn building.' She hopped back onto the ground and went around to the back. She found a wall of loading doors, and the one at the far corner seemed to have been lifted with a car jack.

"Dispatch, I've found a possible point of entry. It's probably nothing, but send some backup if we've got anyone in the area." She approached the door. 'Wait,' she thought. 'Why would a junkie have a car jack?' She peeked underneath the door. It smelled of stale air and dust, but there was something else . . . gasoline? And there was sweat and shoe leather, and she heared some scuffling. Sadie knew she should wait for someone else. This wasn't just a simple breaking and entering. But she heard someone whimpering . . . someone was afraid. Sadie rolled under the door.

Indoor darkness was much different than outdoor darkness. Outdoor darkness had starlight and moonlight and a score of other things that a vampire could use to find his or her way. Indoor darkness was the darkness of the grave, with nothing on the other side. Some lamplight shone in the high windows, and she saw flashlights in the middle of the wide open space. She crept closer, listening. Four . . . no, five voices. The fifth voice was weak, and it had to be the one that had been whining. It belonged to someone was hurting. Sadie smelled blood amongst the gasoline, and the air was so thick with fear that Sadie almost choked on it. She took another whiff.

'Elves . . . one vamp . . . one witch. What the fuck are they --'

"Stop your whining," a voice shouted, followed by the sound of a book hitting a ribcage. "Lowlife human."

"Stop playing with the pond scum and finish the circle," someone else said.

Sadie recognized that voice, but she was having problems placing it.

"Circle's finished," a third voice replied. "Just need to bleed the pig a bit, and that'll give the fire enough mojo that it'll burn all the way through this fucking burb."

Sadie's eyes were finally able to adjust enough to see outlines in the center of the room. One seemed to be dressed in robes, undoubtedly a witch. The two svelte ones were the elves, and the fourth standing figure carried himself with an arrogance that could only mean vampire.

"So bleed him," the vamp said.

'That sounds like . . . like Dazza,' she thought. Dazza was one of Lord Frost flunkies and was a emissary of the Vampire Council of the Northwest. Sadie didn't have time to verify that she was right, because one of the elves, reached towards a prone figure on the ground, and he was holding a knife.

Sadie pulled her flashlight off her belt and grabbed her fifty caliber. She activated her walkie-talkie and left it on as she shouted, "Freeze! Nobody --" She should've known better than to try and say "Nobody move," since the first thing it did was make everyone try to move. The second thing they tended to do is shoot at you. That's what these guys did.

"Fuck!" she shouted, diving forward in a roll. "Drop your damn weapons! I'm a Federal Arbiter and I can kill you without anyone asking any damn questions!"

One of the elves seemed to be pointing a gun at her. She pointed her flashlight in that direction. 'Yep,' she thought. 'Gun.' He squeezed off a round, but she had sprung six feet straight up in the air. She found that people didn't really expect that. Most people equated dodging with being a two-dimensional activity. Sadie liked to think outside the box or, more specifically, above the box. One shot from her handgun removed a large chunk of that guy's arm.

The other elf slashed quickly at the figure on the ground, who in turn began screaming. This elf was smart enough to make defensive maneuvers as Sadie ran forward to defend whoever was on the ground. Her would-be rescue victim reeked of blood and bourbon, something Sadie normally wouldn't mind. But the guy hadn't washed in days.

'Great,' she thought. 'They were sacraficing a homeless guy to --' She dodged as the elf and the vampire she thought was Dazza opened fired.

"Light the circle!" Dazza shouted.

The last thing Sadie wanted was to be caught in a magical circle with a bleeding body, so she picked up the sacrificial lamb and started to pull away. She saw Dazza aiming his weapon, and she knew he wouldn't miss. So she spun around, putting herself between the vampire and the bleeding human. His shot caught her in the shoulder, sending her gun spinning off into the darkness. It hurt like a mother-fucker, but he wasn't using as high a caliber weapon as she was. It had fucked up her shoulder badly enough though, and she and the man she was trying to rescue went crashing to the ground. Over the pain echoing in her ears, she heard a witch chanting, and a powerful circle appeared around them, flames erupting along its edge. Sadie could feel the walls of the circle, and knew there was enough force there to keep anyone from breaking out, at least not in time. And the flames were getting hotter. These people were serious . . . they meant to leave scorched earth throughout the Gravestones. This circle would grow hotter and hotter, feeding on the air around it until it exploded, probably catching the entire warehouse district.

"Let's get out of here!" someone shouted, and she heard feet running for the exit.

Sadie was bleeding badly, and the heat was making it hard to think. The man's blood splashed on the floor, and she could smell it sizzle. She had to bite back her hunger . . . he wasn't a meal. However much blood she might lose, she would never feed on an unwilling victim, and this man was in no condition to consent, even if he had any to spare. She put the man down and pulled her shotgun from her back. With her one good arm, she popped it open and removed one of the shells.

'These sons of bitches are about to find out who they're messing with,' she thought. She let some of her blood drip into the silver shot, then fumbled as she reloaded the gun. If these people thought that no one could break an intact and activated magical circle, they had never met Sadie Hewitt. Blood and silver were powerful in the magical world, and her blood was more potent than most. She pointed her gun at the ground, trying to see the line in the concrete through the creeping flames.

"By his blood be cast," she muttered, looking at the man on the ground, "but by my blood be undone!" This last was shouted as she fired the shotgun at the floor. The silver turned molten almost instantly, and the blood cooked on the concrete. The circle that the flames emanated from pulses rapidly, then started to glow.

"Please work please work please work," she said rapidly. Finally, the circle flared, then evaporated. The flames had already burned through the gasoline and had been fed entirely by magic shortly after the casting. Now, there was just a smoldering circle of smoke on the ground. Sadie looked towards the open door, and she could see the outline of one of the arsonists through the haze. She hauled her gun up and fired. She missed by a mile, but certainly got his attention, making him take off like a rabbit.

"Good," she said to herself, half in a daze due to pain and blood loss. "I don't think I could reload." She tossed the shotgun towards the door, needing her good arm to lift the homeless man and carry him over the floor. It was still so hot that it started to melt the bottoms of Sadie's shoes. By the time she got the man to the opening, the attackers were nowhere to be seen. She lay the man down gently on the loading dock. He'd been cut deep in the arm and was suffering from smoke inhilation.

"Officer . . . officer hit," she gasped into her radio, the pain in her shoulder becoming more noticeable. "One civilian wounded . . . slash wounds and smoke inhalation. Need medical assistance," she said, though dispatch had probably figured that out ont their own. She looked down . . . the guy couldn't be more than twenty-five or twenty-six years old, and he looked like he'd been a transient for a while. And he was dieing.

"Where's my fucking ambulance?!" she screamed, but the only response she got was an echo.

She looked across the floor of the warehouse and luckily saw the glint of both her shotgun and her pistol. She hurried over to get both, then returned to the injured man. "Hang in there," she said tiredly. "Help's on the way." She hoped they got there soon. When her own blood levels dropped enough, she would feed, and she would lose conscious control as her instincts strove to insure her survival. She looked around . . . still no one.

'I have to save him,' she thought. 'I don't matter.' Her shoulder was still leaking blood, so she opened the mans' mouth and poured some into his throat.

In order to Turn a mortal into a vampire, you had to suck their blood, let it sift through your veins, then you passed a mutated version back to the donor. This strain linked you to your creator to some degree. Having the blood of a vampire who hadn't bitten you and drawn your blood acted more as a temporary high, and that was it. But Sadie was not ordinary, and neither was her blood.

"Heal," she whispered before sitting back.

Almost instantly, the man began coughing less, and the wounds began to clot. He wouldn't heal completely . . . she hadn't given him enough. But he would live. And now she needed to get away . . . she needed to run before she did something she would regret. Already, she was seeing the veins in his neck pumping a delicious rhythm, and his played an erotic tune. She started to stumble towards the SUV and the first-aid pack inside. About the time she got there, ambulance and police cars came screaming up.

First out was Fitzpatrick.

"Victim is over there. I think he's stable, but get the EMTs down there stat!" She liked the Irish cop. He didn't waste time, but jumped to help the injured man. The rounding the corner of the vehicle was Vlad and Devlin.

"Help Fitzpatrick!" Vladimir yelled, his eyes looking on Sadie with great pain. She looked like hell. "Arbiter--"

She snarled at him and pushed him aside. 'Damn he looks good,' she thought. It was an erotic aftereffect of the bloodlust that was creeping up on her. She wanted to jump his bones, drink him of blood and ride him into the ground while doing it.

"Sadie --"

"Out of my way!" Every police unit had an emergency blood pack refrigerated for just such an emergency. She managed to get the doors open on her own, growling at anyone who tried to assist her. She grabbed the case, yanked it open and sank her teeth into the cool blood. It was good, but it was far from enough to replace what she'd lost. Still drinking from the bag, she headed around to the driver side door. She opened it up and depressed the cigarette lighter.

"What the hell are you doing?" Vlad said, wondering if he should try to tackle her so that the frightened medics could do their jobs.

She wasn't in her right mind, so she just kind of ignored him. After a second, she grabbed the lighter and shoved the hot metal against the wound in her shoulder. She screamed so loudly that she made everyone in the area jump at the sound. Her flesh cooked, but the blood stopped flowing.

"She's nuts!" she heard one of the EMTs gasp.

"Four . . . four assailants," she said, her voice strained. "Two elves, one witch . . . one vamp. Started a magic circle . . . trying to burn down the whole damn district. Blood magic," she added. Blood magic was nasty and incredibly dangerous, and those who practiced it tended to meet very painful ends.

"You did good," Vlad said, worried more than he could express. Sadie looked like hell, and she was getting worse. "Now let's get you to a hospital so you can get some --"

"No hospitals," she said. "No chance in hell. Just gimme some Plasma-Ade and --"

"That shit won't give you nearly what you need!" he snapped. "It's just a stop-gap fix!"

"It's enough," she replied.

Devlin came running over, his face pale. "Arbiter, you look like shit."

"Fuck you!" she growled, crawling into the SUV.

"You cannot seriously be thinking of driving!" Vladimir said. He'd shoot the tires out before letting her drive anywhere.

"I'm thinking that I'll think whatever I wanna . . . wanna think," she babbled.

"What's wrong with her?"

Vlad shook his head. "Some kind of delirium. I don't know what's supposed to happen now."

Sadie needed to get away. Looking at Vlad, she saw a pool of blood and sin that she wanted to roll around in. She knew she was far too close to the edge.

Vlad got on his radio. "Hey, Sadie's hurt bad, and she's getting crazy. What the hell does that mean?" He heard a bunch of random noise on the other end, then he heard Mel's voice. She had been listening in, and she sounded concerned, but she had also turned on the calm. And she was the closest thing to a vampire expert they had.

*How much blood is she down? (click)*

"Too much. And she isn't letting the medics near her."

One of the medics grimaced. "We normally just stop the bleeding," he said. "We don't have any more bags."

"Get that?" Vlad asked to the radio.

*Vlad, if she gets too low, she'll go into a blood lust or a feeding frenzy. She won't be able to resist it and, if she gets that far, she'll probably kill whoever she's feeding from. (click)*

'That's probably why she's trying to get away,' Vlad thought. 'She'll protect those around her even if it kills her.'

"I can't believe she's doing this for THAT guy," Devlin muttered, looking back at the transient.

Sadie heard that and roared. She was acting on instinct, and she wanted to bash this human into oblivion for his callousness. That man had as much right to live as anyone. Luckily for Devlin, she was too weak to do much but snarl at him. But if she was still there when the bloodlust kicked in --

*Vlad, I'm patching you through to Mary -- (click)*

"Mary?! The wraith?!"

*Yes, but she's Sadie's friend too, and she used to be a vampire. I called her for advice and she's got some for you. (click)*

"Okay," he said nervously. Even over the radio, wraiths were scary.

*Officer Koloff,* that cool voice said, *how dilated are her pupils? (click)*

"Very. I can barely even see whites anymore."

*She's close to the edge. (click)*

"Crap!" he shouted. Sadie was trying to start up the vehicle so, smart or not, he grabbed her out of it and wrestled her against the side. She may have been faster normally, but she was weak now. Weak, but pissed, and she was snarling at him. Then her face blanked a bit.

"I'm sorry Vlad," she whispered. "I shouldn't have . . . I should've respected your wishes and your wife . . . I didn't want to drive you away." The woman was beginning to babble.

"I need some help here!" he shouted.

*Vlad, she needs a blood source,* Mary's voice said. *She needs fresh blood, and she needs it now. Whoever it is needs to be big enough to donate the blood, strong enough to fight her off, and hopefully someone who doesn't hate her. When a vampire feeds, they react to the emotion of their 'victim.' (click)*

"No," Sadie said, shaking her head. "I won't . . . won't --" Her face was so pale.

"She says she won't bite!" Vlad said. "I'll do it, but how do you make her feed? She's such a stubborn bitch!" He put the radio to his ear. Mary gave him an unusual set of instructions.

*And if you can, take her somewhere private to feed. She will probably feel guilty and vulnerable after feeding, and privacy will help her pride. (click)*

'What . . . wuh she say?" Sadie said, looking at him suspiciously. She was trying to edge along the wall to escape, but he picked her up.

"Devlin," he said calmly but firmly, "I want you to go help Fitzpatrick. I'm taking the Arbiter over . . . there," he said, pointing with his chin to a small grove of trees between the parking lot and a state highway. It was easily dense enough to hide from prying eyes. "And you say nothing about this to anyone. Clear?"

Devlin nodded. He respected the Captain, and he didn't want Sadie to die.

Vladimir carried the weakening woman over. Mary had told him that if she reached the frenzy stage, it meant that her body had diverted all remaining blood to her muscles and away from her brain. She would become easily strong enough to kill somone if it got that far. Once out of sight, he leaned her against a tree. He yanked his shirt off his shoulder. "Feed!"

"No," she whispered. "I can't . . . I'll hurt you . . . I already hurt you, and I didn't mean to."

"You won't feed?" He waited until she shook her head. Then he slapped her hard across the face.

She looked away, then her gaze met his again, and she looked confused. He wered his hand just enough to get claws on the end of his fingers, and he used them to create a thin trail of blood along the meat of his shoulder. Then he slapped her again. This time, her face whipped forward. Her teeth were extended and her eyes wild, and she was staring at the trail of his blood.

"No," she said, one more time.

*Smack!* His hand struck her again. Mary had told him to do this to evoke her animal instincts, preferably while her mind still had some grip on reality however. It worked. Sadie lunged forward, wrapping her arms around him in a demonic embrace and sunk her fangs into his shoulder.

Vladimir Koloff had never been bitten by a vampire, but he was pretty sure what was happening was abnormal. Normally, there was supposed to be a slight sexual rush when being bitten. This was like a tidal wave of pure sensual pleasure. As she drew blood from him, his manhood jumped to full attention faster than he could've imagined possible. Her body was like fire against his, and it took every bit of willpower that he had not to rip off her clothes and drill her like an oil well as she consumed his blood. He could barely even remember his wife's name at the moment, much less care what the bitch thought of him. This creature before him was wild . . . she was passion incarnate. He gasped as he climaxed in his pants due to nothing but the feeling of the bloodletting and the pressure of her body against him. To make matters worse, his member wasn't even able to shrink, but rather was ready to go again.

He was on the verge of breaking down and giving in to the temptation he'd felt so strong that night at the bar, but then he heard something that made him stop. Sadie Hewitt was crying. Even as her body pulsed with lust and her teeth drew him inside of her, her soul began to ache and her eyes leaked tears.

'She feels weak,' he thought, ashamed at the notion that he'd almost taken advantage of her. 'She completely lost control of her mind, and she's ashamed of herself.' He could actually feel, at a very subtle level, what she was feeling. Mary had been right. Sadie felt vulnerable. Vlad was feeling a little woozy, so he knew it was about time to stop.

As soon as Vladimir began to calm down, it seemed that Sadie did as well. Her fierce bite had become a gentle nursing, and the tears came down harder. Finally she pulled away, closing her eyes and curling up into a ball on the ground. Vlad knelt beside her, coming down from the sexual rush of being bitten and trying to comfort a vampire who had been laid low by savage instinct.