Bridget's Nights Ch. 07

The second man had no time to consider the fate of his companion. I was on him. I ripped away his hood, seeing the pale visage of Jean. Ah, that was his trade then. He lured men and women to his mistress, searching carefully for those with no attachment. I had fit the bill. Too bad for him. I tore open his jugular with one swipe of my fangs and fed. I made no attempt to stop until his empty corpse fell to the floor.

I turned and looked around. The other man lay still, obviously dead. At the top of the stairs, the Countess was clawing at the heavy iron door that was apparently locked. Heedless of the damage to her hands she tore at it, pounding it with the flat of her hands until they bled. She cast one horrified glance over her shoulder at me. I'm sure I was a terrifying sight. Blood ran down my face and the glow in my eyes had not dimmed. She whimpered, so frightened that she could not even scream.

I bent down to the lifeless body in front of me and picked up a large key ring. I held it up. "I think this is what you are looking for?" I tossed it up the stairs to land with a clang at her feet. "I tell you what. I'll be sporting. I'll let you open the door and give you a head start."

She bent and scooped the key ring up. Her hands shook so bad she barely could get the key in the lock. As she strove to turn the key, she realized I was standing beside her. She flattened against the door, her hands held out in front of her.

"You said you would give me a chance!"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I lied."

I pulled her against me. "Mmmmm, you feel good. I bet you wouldn't mind my making love to you now would you?"

Her teeth chattered so hard she couldn't speak. Finally, she whispered, "Please. Mercy."

"Mercy is for the merciful." I bit into the throbbing spot on the side of her white neck. Moments later she was dead.

I let her body fall away, off the side of the stairs. I sat down and rested my head in my hands. I had enjoyed the killing. I had taken actual pleasure in the Countess' terror. God, I was as bad as the whole group of them.

A low moan from the direction of the cells snapped me out of my self-pity. I rushed to drag the bodies to a single pile on one side of the room. As best I could, I cleaned my face and body of the blood. Then I took the keys that had fallen from the Countess' hand and set about releasing the 3 women and 2 men I found in the cells.

When I saw the horrible condition they were in, my remorse fled. Beaten and burned and crippled for no reason other than pleasure. I managed to dress the worst of their injuries. When I was sure night had fallen I led them to a convent, leaving them to the nuns there, along with a considerable amount of money I had gathered from around the townhouse, to insure their care. There was a good bit more, along with some jewels, and I kept that.

It was a good thing that I did. I had taken care to return to the townhouse and burn the bodies but someone started wondering and then looking. The next thing I was running from the local archbishop's vampire hunting squad. The Church is very good at that, even though they've never been as organized and equipped as the ones John Carpenter tells us about. They still can be quite dangerous. Only the greatest of good fortune got me out of a dungeon in Budapest before the traditional "roasting of the vampire" celebration.

So I ran away. One place was as good as another. I certainly didn't want to have to harm any of the men who would be in that group. And when the revolution started, I was in Spain and beginning to plan how I could get safely to the New World.

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

"And here you are." Pat said softly.

"And here I am."

"Well, we're very glad you are." She struggled out of her husband's lap and pulled on his hand. He rose and followed her as she reached me and kissed me on the cheek. "Its good to know we have someone else on the side of the good guys." She braced her hands and muttered "Oh my aching back. Honey," she looked at Mike. "Take me home."

Mike bent over and kissed me on my forehead. Damn I was terrible. The closer he got the more I liked what I saw. Well, I would behave. It hadn't killed me before. Of course , just it case it might I don't do it very often.

"Goodnight all." They left.

Linda stood and stretched. Oh my. That was a lovely sight. Now I was going to have to behave again. Twice was too much to ask, really. Sue stood and I amended my thought to "three times."

"Dawn is coming and we're all pooped." Linda announced. "Come on Bridget." They led me to a large bedroom, obviously theirs. Sue went through a doorway and I heard water running. Linda pointed after her. "In there is a huge bathtub. If I know Sue, and I do," she smiled happily, "She's adding all sorts of bath salts and bubbles to the water. You go enjoy. We'll find you something clean to sleep in." She suddenly swatted me on the butt and I laughed. "Go on."

Sue was coming out and laughed along with me. "Hey, that's usually my job." Linda blushed deeply. I smiled at their closeness as I headed into the bathroom, shedding my clothes as I went. With a deep, contended sigh I settled into the warm water, pink bubbles tickling me. Wonderful.

How wonderful I was about to find out in short order.

(To be continued)