Blood Rose Ch. 02

Elizabeth finally crawled out from under Charlotte and sat up. "Well what now?"

"Now," said Annabelle, "you should probably go get showered." She gestured towards the bathroom connected to the room. Realizing that sounded like a wonderful notion, Elizabeth got up to do just that. As she stepped through the doorway, she was momentarily stopped by Annabelle's voice: "Friday night."

"What?"

"Come back on Friday night at one for your first session."

Elizabeth grinned sheepishly. "Okay."

Since entering this mansion, certain things had become readily apparent. She could certainly tell that this house had been around for a long time; there was much of it that had a very antique feel to it. However, it was also certainly apparent that it had been lived for a very long time. There were so many other things that had been modernized to the extreme. And in that sense, it was also readily apparent that Annabelle had a lot of money to play around with. This bathroom alone was enough to suggest that.

It was decently clean. Elizabeth could tell by looking that it was frequently used, but it was still decently clean. It certainly wasn't shiny like new, but nor was it filthy. That wasn't really the part that mattered. What mattered was that it was still beautiful.

The shower was set into a corner of the room, about five-by-five feet in width. The walls of the shower were completely tiled, stretching from both walls of the room but not quite meeting, leaving an open doorway which had no door. There were actually two water jets on two adjacent walls, angled such that the separate streams would cross at about the spot where the occupant would stand, and not a drop would escape through the open doorway. Next to the shower, running along the remainder of one wall, was a marble bathtub that was actually sunken into the floor, and the sink was set in a marble countertop beneath a nearly wall-length mirror embroidered in gold.

Elizabeth stepped into the shower, turned the handle and was greeted with dual sprays of hot, soothing water. She stood there a moment, eyes closed, just taking a moment to savor the feeling of the water on her skin. She really didn't understand completely what Annabelle had done to her tonight; what was really happening to her in this mansion. The only thing she really knew for sure was that she could not remember the last time she had felt this good. It was almost like the euphoric feeling of having just fed off a live person without the accompanying guilt trip. Everything in her body felt alive. And amazingly, her level of arousal had not quite gone down yet.

Her thoughts began focusing on Charlotte, and on the intimacy they had just shared. She remembered the feeling of that thing inside her, and suddenly found herself excruciatingly eager to find out what the real thing felt like. Once more, she began thinking about Nathaniel, and on impulse began groping her breasts. His beautiful face, his rock-hard pectorals...

She didn't even notice she wasn't alone until she felt another pair of hands slide under her own and begin fondling her tits for her. "Hi sugar." Rosanna.

Elizabeth didn't say a word. She didn't need to. She barely even opened her eyes. She merely turned her head sideways to accept Rosanna's tender kiss. Her fingers entwined with hers, and moved with them as they squeezed and fondled her tits. She could feel the tip of Rosanna's tits touching her back, which sent a tingle of excitement through her. And when Rosanna's right hand began moving down her body to the magical spot below, Elizabeth's hand moved with it.

Some part of her brain was whirling right about now. This made the third lesbian encounter with as many girls she would have in one night, when she still hadn't even done it straight yet. And yet as aware as she was that this was crazy, she couldn't have cared less right now. She rotated herself around to face Rosanna, never once unlocking lips, pressing against her tit-to-tit. Rosanna was massaging her clit like a pro, and Elizabeth grinded against her hand with burning need.

A need that had not been satisfied when she suddenly no longer felt the touch of Rosanna's lips and tongue on her own. But Elizabeth felt disappointed only for a split second, as Rosanna's tongue touched another part of her, just below the neck, moving slowly downward. Elizabeth became more excited than ever that her sex was about to have a mouth on it again. And when it happened, when she felt the touch of Rosanna's warm, moist lips in her most intimate of places, her entire body shivered with delight.

At that moment, lost in blissful passion, her eyes shut and her mouth hanging open, her fingers clutching Rosanna's skull and digging into her hair, Elizabeth made a definite decision: The fact that she still didn't fully understand what this Blood Rose thing was didn't matter at all. One way or another, she would definitely be coming here again.

***

As far as Kaeli was concerned, if tonight's hunt was as uneventful as last night's, that would be fine with her. Actually, she was kind of hoping for them to find nothing tonight. She knew Dorian would be pissed, but right now she couldn't care less. Not as long as she and Andy could keep doing what they were doing.

Kaeli lay on her back, clutching Andy to her, relishing the feel of him inside her. Her neck arched back and a low moan escaped from her mouth, which she had been trying hard to suppress. She really didn't want to attract attention right now. Andy was quick to stop the noise she was making by pulling her head up and locking lips. It was a gesture she appreciated a lot. For more than one reason. She really didn't want them to bother the guys in the front of the van.

The back of the team's van had a small room with a door used primarily for what the two of them were doing right now. Most hunters liked to take a few minutes to have this kind of fun when they could. She'd been back here with both Dorian and Ethan a few times, but Andy was still her favorite. And not just for sex. They'd tried their best to keep the real nuances of their relationship under wraps; Dorian would never approve if he knew they'd really fallen for each other.

Kaeli rolled herself on top and slowly raised herself upright on Andy's lap. Andy beamed up at her with his dark, dangerous eyes as he groped at her tits. "You like bein' on top, don'tcha?" he grinned.

She smiled back at him, thrusting her hips back and forth. "I just like being in control."

Andy's face took on a decidedly wicked look. And since his face usually had the look of a wicked notion being behind it anyway, seeing it look decidedly wicked usually meant trouble. "You do, do you?" he smirked. Kaeli had a split second to understand that something was about to happen before Andy lunged up with a feral roar, grabbing her and tackling her down without pulling out of her once. She let out a scream, which quickly changed into high-pitched laughter. "Who's in control now?"

She realized then that she had probably failed in a very big way to avoid attracting attention, but she found herself a long way from caring. Andy was a talented lover: not many guys she'd been with could talk to her and focus on continuing to please her at the same time, but at no pint during the words she had just exchanged with him did his pace falter. He never failed to make her hotter than hell, and she knew he was probably less than a minute away from getting her off in a very extreme kind of way. Oh, she could feel it coming—

The van stopped moving. Which could only mean one thing. "Hey, you two! Front and center, we got a live one!"

Dammit!

The two of them reluctantly ceased what they were doing and hastily pulled their clothes on. Kaeli donned her green tank top and her leather pants and boots. Andy, decked out in a white shirt and a pair of jeans, strapped on his knives before pulling his black duster on over them. They exchanged a glance of disappointment, and Kaeli shrugged. "Look at it this way," Andy said, "the sooner we go, the sooner we get back." He gave her a smile, which she returned.

Kaeli grabbed her longbow and her arrows and hopped out of the van where Keith was waiting outside, his revolver ready. "Talk to me, Keith, what's up?"

"Dorian's got one on the run, he wants back-up."

Kaeli tapped on the transmitter in her ear. "Dorian?"

"Kaeli, I'm chasing a vamp up 23rd, about to cross Riverside. I want you to set up an ambush on Eastvale."

"Got it," Kaeli acknowledged and took off running.

She heard Dorian's instructions to the others, but for the moment she'd heard what she needed to know. "Andy, try to cut him off on Riverside, I've got Jade watching the flank."

"I'm on it."

"Keith, stay by the van with Ethan, be ready if he tries anything brave."

"Will do."

Kaeli had already had time to get over her disappointment. Where a vampire walked, it needed to die, and no amount of pleasure was worth allowing it to get away. That was the most essential truth she knew. It was all she had ever known.

At 25, Kaeli was one of the youngest hunters on Dorian's team, yet ironically also one of the most experienced. Born the illegitimate child of two hunters, she had been pretty much raised by her parents' entire team, and was taught from the cradle everything she ever needed to know about vampires. Hunting them was what she was born into; her purpose in life. Had she been born under different circumstances, she had no idea what she would have done with her life, nor did she ever bother to think about it.

She heard three gunshots over the transmission. "I got him takin' a detour on Riverside." That was Jade. Trigger happy Jade, always brazen enough to think they would be able to bring her target down before the cops had time to investigate reports of gunfire. They were fortunate enough that it was late, and there didn't seem to be any civilians on the streets in the immediate area right now, but Kaeli doubted that the shots had gone completely unheard. This had to happen quickly.

Kaeli leaned around a corner, and spotted the target moving up the street like a bat out of hell, with Ethan's dog Shadow hot on his heels. She got ready, drawing an arrow and preparing to let it fly at any given moment. Andy emerged from an alley, tossing a few knives into the vampire's gut. In the time it took for him to reel from that blow, Jade had time to catch up, and he barely evaded Shadow's teeth. "We got him cornered on Riverside," Andy announced into the intercom.

"On my way," Dorian responded. "Keith, Ethan, bring the van around."

"Yes sir."

Kaeli drew her bow, preparing to launch when the appropriate moment arose. The vampire attempted to get away by leaping at least ten feet into the air onto the side of an adjacent building and climbing up. Her aim followed him; he was clear of Andy and Jade, but she still had to aim carefully. She wanted to make sure this shot counted. She found her moment, and let fly.

Bull's-eye! Right through the heart.

The vamp had time to gasp for a second or two before dropping back down to the street where Andy and Jade, and now Dorian, were waiting. "I got him," Kaeli announced.

"He's down," Andy confirmed.

"Good job guys," said Dorian.

The van pulled up and Ethan and Keith emerged. "The bloodsucker's dead?" Ethan checked in his gruff, raspy voice as Shadow bounded over to him for a pat on the head.

"Yeah," said Dorian. "Let's load him up and get him to the incinerator."

As always, Ethan stepped up first. Ethan was all sweat and muscle. When not hunting vampires, he spent most of his time in the metal shop at Dorian's headquarters forging weapons. He was the kind of guy who was hardboiled to the point that Kaeli often suspected he was forged in a metal shop himself. He was the weapons specialist on the team, and anytime someone on the team needed manual labor done, he was The Man.

As Ethan and Keith lifted the body, something fell from it. Andy picked it up to inspect it, naming it when he saw what it was. "A rose. How charming."

Dorian suddenly got an urgent look on his face. "Let me see that," he commanded, receiving the red flower from Andy and taking a look at it. "Keith, Ethan, hold on!" The two guys stopped, looking at Dorian with more than a little curiosity. "Check his pockets," Dorian commanded.

The two of them set him down and began digging through the dead vampire's pockets, pulling out a wallet, a cell phone, a set of keys and some loose change but not much else. Dorian immediately snatched up the wallet and began rifling through it. When he pulled a small business card out of it, his face lit up like a candle flame. "Paydirt!" he beamed.

"What is it?" said Kaeli, joining the others crowding around him. Dorian responded by handing the card to her. The card referred to some nightclub called the Deadly Rose. And then she saw the name of the owner.

"Electra Rose."

The looks on Ethan and Andy's faces denoted that they knew exactly what this meant. Jade and Keith had no clue. "Who the hell is she?" Jade shrugged.

"Only one of the most powerful and dangerous vampires alive," Kaeli said. "She commands a massive organized crime network, mostly run by vampires."

"She leads a group of vampire assassins called the Blood Squad, too," added Ethan. "Nasty motherfuckers, known to wipe out entire teams of hunters in minutes."

"And yet I'm detecting a happy vibe going around here," Keith said, perplexed. "Someone care to fill me in on why we're excited about this?"

"Just imagine for a moment," said Dorian, "what it could mean if we took out a vampire like her. The everyday vamp we all know is just a small step in making the world a safer place. But Electra... we're talking about the ultimate femme fatale! The Attila the Hun of vampires! And we've got her address!"

"So you're thinking we find this club, throw a bomb in and blow the shit out of the place?" Jade suggested. "Sounds good to me!"

"No, wait," Kaeli put in, "we don't know for sure that everyone in the club is going to be a vampire."

"She's right," Dorian agreed. "Vampires who own clubs try to blend in by allowing in anyone who buys a ticket, vampire or not. Not to mention it gives them an opportunity to lure some poor saps into their fangs. We've got to do this carefully."

"So what were you thinking?" said Keith.

Dorian contemplated a moment. "Well don't expect me to form a plan right on the spot. This just points the way, so from here I guess we'll just kind of play this by ear."

"And keep an ear to the ground," added Kaeli. Everyone looked at her, asking for an explanation. She went on, "well if there are going to be other vampires there, which there's surely going to be in a vampire club, we can see if we can eavesdrop on them and find some connections. This could be an opportunity not just to nail Electra Rose, but some of the other big hotshot vampires out there as well if we play our cards right."

Kaeli could see them chewing on this idea, and some of them seriously considering it. "That sounds dangerous," Ethan cautioned.

"And name one thing we do that isn't dangerous," Andy put in. Kaeli smiled at him, and he turned a warm-hearted eye to her.

"All right," Dorian broke in. "We'll check this place out on Friday, when the club should be at its busiest and see what we can find. We play it quiet, keep all weapons concealed, don't do anything to attract attention."

"So you're saying we just go to have fun," Jade grinned. "I'm into it!" Kaeli grinned with her, realizing this probably was exactly Jade's kind of mission. Not that she wasn't looking forward to it herself somewhat. She clutched at the crucifix that hung from her neck as she wondered if that was wrong. But then, why should it be? When doing something as righteous as killing vampires, what could be wrong with taking some kind of pleasure in it? Why did it feel like a guilty pleasure?

***

Elizabeth did ultimately get around to mentioning Annabelle to her parents. She didn't tell them much; just that she'd made a new friend, and that she'd be going to her house after school on Friday night. That was enough for them, and she was free to pursue... whatever it was she was pursuing.

She arrived at the mansion at about 12:58, and was greeted at the door by an Asian girl with short pink hair in a red silk kimono, just like the one Rosanna had worn. The girl smiled, and said, "You must be Elizabeth," with the faintest hint of some accent in her voice.

"That's me," Elizabeth smiled back.

"My name's Noemi," the girl beamed, shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you."

A gentle hand touched Elizabeth's shoulder, and she turned her head to look into the dark eyes of another Asian girl in the same kimono, this one with slightly longer blue hair. "And this is my little sister Miko," Noemi said. Elizabeth opened her mouth to say hi, but before any words could come out Miko greeted her by shoving her tongue down her throat. Elizabeth was caught off guard for a moment, but then relaxed into Miko's kiss and closed her eyes and returned it. Noemi laughed.

It took a second or two after Miko disconnected their lips for Elizabeth to open her eyes again. "What was that for exactly?"

Miko shrugged. "Just saying hello."

"Sorry, I didn't really have time to warn—" Noemi started to say, but was cut off by Elizabeth grabbing her face and giving her the same kind of kiss.

"Didn't want you to feel left out," Elizabeth smiled.

Miko laughed this time. "I think I like her," she giggled.

Elizabeth took a look around, although quickly realized the futility of that. "Where's Annabelle?"

"She's just getting ready for you," Noemi said. "She told us to keep you company in the meantime. Can we get you something to drink? Some blood maybe?"

"Sure."

Elizabeth followed the two sisters into a sparkling and grandiose kitchen. Noemi opened the six-foot silver refrigerator and asked, "What type do you take?"

"Do you have AB+?"

"And plenty of it," Noemi smiled, producing a so-labeled package. She pulled a glass from the pantry, popped the top off the tube end of the package and filled the glass with the thick red stuff. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Elizabeth took the glass and sat down at the island in the middle of the room. "How long you two known Annabelle for?"

"A few years," Miko replied. "But we only started her Blood Rose training about a month ago."

"So are you youngbloods, or are you pureborn?"

"We're youngbloods," they both replied. Miko went on, "I don't think Annabelle works with pureborns very much."

"Why's that?"

Miko thought for a moment. "I think she says something like, it's easier to tap into your latent vampire senses when you've felt them awakened in the first place."

Elizabeth's thoughts trailed back to the things Sylvia said the other night, about how she envied youngbloods. It now sounded like that feeling was being given just cause.

"So... how'd you get to be vampires?"

Noemi thought wistfully for a moment. "We were in high school in Tokyo, I think it was 1983. Miko was in tenth grade, I was in twelfth. There was this college boy who showed up at one of our school dances, and we both started seeing him a lot. We were both attracted to him—oh, he was a vampire, by the way—"

"Yeah, I got that."

"Anyway, he was attracted to both of us too, and we had to face the fact that he had to choose one of us, and... he ended up choosing me. So, he turned me. But you know, I couldn't just leave my sister behind, so I turned her too."

Elizabeth turned her eyes downward, making a small, wistful grin. "That sounds familiar."

"What do you mean?" Miko asked.

She started to give them a brief recounting of what happened the night Anthony came home, but she didn't get too deep into it. She really wasn't interested in thinking about Anthony right now. "So anyway, what happened to this guy?"