Blood Rose Ch. 03

"Come back again next week," he whispered to her. "I'll be waiting here for you." That was the usual drill for training a slave: manipulate her a little, arrange a second meeting, then manipulate her some more, and over time she would eventually become his obedient little toy. He imagined this one would be a quick and easy conversion. Hell, he might even have her by their third meeting.

She nodded, her eyes still wide, and then turned and wandered back to where her friends were. With that done with, Anthony turned his attention back to...

Shit!

The hunter was gone.

***

Kaeli shoved her way through the crowd. She'd definitely found a vampire in here, but right now she was more concerned about the victim. She needed to find that girl and get an antidote to her fast. She watched the girl as she turned and walked, following her as best she could, but as she dissolved into the crowd all she could do was guess where she went and try to find her there.

That had been a weird moment there, when the vampire looked at her. She'd happened to spot him feeding by the bar, and was about to report it to Dorian when he'd seen her, and when he looked into her eyes it was like everything in her system just froze. She'd stood there with her hand hovering in mid-motion of going to tap the transmitter in her ear, and she'd tried desperately to move, but as long as he kept staring into her eyes, all she could do was stare back. She couldn't even blink.

What did this mean? What were they dealing with? Did this vampire have some kind of hypnotic power? That would certainly explain why the girl hadn't even put up a struggle. He'd bitten her, and she'd just stood there and let him do it, and now Kaeli needed to find her before she started to change. When that girl walked away from him, she'd completely forgotten about reporting to Dorian; her priorities had just changed in a big way.

When she spotted the blonde hair and rainbow-striped halter-top she was looking for, she moved in, happening to overhear the chat that was going on. "Hey, who was that guy?" some girl said.

The blonde girl looked back towards the bar. "I don't know, he didn't say his name."

"Well you seemed pretty eager to see him."

"I don't know why, he just looked at me and suddenly I just felt like going over and talking to him." She suddenly began sinking to her knees, and one of her friends had to catch her. "Whoa, suddenly I feel kinda faint."

"Pull your hair back."

The girl and her friends instantly looked in Kaeli's direction. "Who are you?" one of them asked.

"Pull your hair back," Kaeli repeated.

"What are you—" the girl started to say.

"Just do it."

Hesitantly, the girl reached a hand up and pulled her hair away from her neck. One of her girlfriends gasped. "Oh my god, Caitlyn, you're bleeding!"

"What?" The girl reached up and touched her neck, her fingers coming away crimson and wet. "Whoa, how'd that happen?"

"So you don't remember exactly what happened with that guy just now?"

The girl—Caitlyn—gave Kaeli a curious look. She pondered for a moment, then said, "Not really, it's all kind of blurry."

"You're gonna have to come with me."

"What? Why?"

Kaeli quickly took her by the arm and pulled her to her feet. "Just trust me. That guy did something to you, and something's going to happen if you don't let me help you. Now come on, this'll be quick." With that, she began walking for the door, pulling the girl along behind her.

"Um, okay... what did he do to me anyway?"

Kaeli didn't bother to answer. She immediately tapped her transmitter as she walked. "Dorian, I got a girl whose been bitten, needs an antidote fast."

"Gotcha, I'll send Keith to meet you out front."

Andy's voice spoke up: "Did you see the vamp that did it?"

"Yeah, he's over by the bar—" She turned to look in the direction that she saw him before, and found his barstool empty. "Damn, he's gone." She sighed, and said, "Dark hair, long ponytail, red collared shirt... handsome, in a dark and sinister kind of way."

Looking around the club as she spoke, she suddenly stopped when she spotted the object of discussion up on the landing above. "Wait, there he is, I see him!" And then she saw the woman he was talking to, a redhead in a red leather halter and black leather pants. He seemed to be talking to her, while she seemed to be scanning the crowd below. "He's up on the landing, and he's talking to this woman—"

The woman looked at her. And Kaeli froze. Even from this far, she could see what almost looked like a violet glow coming from her eyes. She was trying to continue talking. She really was. She was trying to turn around and continue out the door. She was trying to just look away, to blink even. She couldn't. It was just like with the guy... with one little difference. This time she actually felt afraid.

"Kaeli? Kaeli what's going on?"

"Um, hello?" That was the girl, who waved a hand in front of Kaeli's face. Caitlyn's hand coming in the way of their locked eyes proved sufficient to snap Kaeli out of her thrall, and she had no intention of falling back into it. She continued for the door as fast as she could without looking back.

"What's going on here?" the girl asked. Kaeli ignored her again.

By the time they made it to the door, Caitlyn was starting to stagger along, and Kaeli had to pull a little harder to keep her moving. She was quite ungrateful for the way she was being slowed down, particularly when she again passed by the huge bouncer. She'd seen thousands of vampires in her life, but she couldn't remember ever seeing one that intimidated her so much. Andy's earlier assessment seemed fairly accurate: he really did look like Shaq on steroids. He stood at least seven-and-a-half feet tall, and wore a green muscle shirt to show off his musculature of steel, with biceps the size of basketballs. To think of a guy already built like that having vampire strength... Kaeli shivered, imagining what trying to take him down would be like when he could very conceivably defend himself by throwing a car at them.

"Your friend party a little too hard?" the bouncer asked, looking straight at her. Kaeli tried as hard as she could not to cringe. She knew he could smell the blood from the girl's neck.

"Just can't keep her away from those tequilas," Kaeli played along, meeting his gaze squarely. She turned away from him and continued moving.

"You have a real good night now," the bouncer said ominously. Kaeli paused for a moment, fighting the urge to turn around and jump kick that vampire in the face. As tempting as it was, there was no way that would end well. She composed herself, and kept moving.

When Keith appeared around the corner of the building, Caitlyn began looking a little suspicious. "Who's he?" she asked. Then she turned back to Kaeli and added, "Hey, you still didn't tell me who you are!" As she continued to speak, her head began to sway and her eyes began to flutter, and her voice grew gradually weaker. "I mean... w-what is this, any... way... what's... going...." Her eyes rolled back and she passed out in Kaeli's arms. The blood loss had finally gotten to her.

Keith pulled one of her arms over his neck while Kaeli did likewise with the other one, and they carefully carried her to the alley where Ethan and Dorian were waiting. "You have the antidote?" Kaeli asked Ethan.

Ethan produced a vial of clear liquid from his belt. "Always."

As Ethan began readying the syringe, Dorian asked, "Kaeli, what happened in there? You suddenly broke off transmission!"

"Well, that woman the vamp I saw talking to, when she looked at me it was like... like my body just froze up. I was honestly trying to talk to you, but as long as she kept staring into my eyes I genuinely couldn't move. It was so weird..."

Dorian looked at her with fierce determination. "What did she look like? Red hair, purple eyes..."

"Lots of leather," Kaeli nodded. In Dorian's eyes, she could see it: "That was her, wasn't it?"

Dorian nodded. "That's Electra." He hadn't said anything, but Kaeli could tell that his interest in bringing down Electra Rose was about more than just eliminating a powerful and influential vampire. There was something personal about this.

Dorian tapped his transmitter. "Jade! Andy! Kaeli says she's seen her up on the upper level. Red hair, violet eyes, lots of leather. Keep a close eye on her, but do not engage, that's an order."

"Got it," Andy replied. "Yeah, I see her."

"Jade, do you copy?"

"Yeah, I hear you boss. Watch the bitch, but don't attack, I got it."

Ethan had just finished rubbing Caitlyn's arm with cotton and was ready to give her the injection. "There's something else—" Kaeli started to say, when Keith suddenly cut both her and Ethan off:

"Wait a minute! Why isn't Shadow barking?"

All eyes turned down to Ethan's loyal German Shepard, who was watching the situation intently, but remained totally silent. "If she's been bitten," Keith went on, "he should be able to smell the meta-toxin in her blood, and he'd be letting us know, wouldn't he?"

"But I saw her get bit!" Kaeli insisted. She pushed the girl's hair aside to show them the bite marks. "And she's got the marks to prove it!"

"What does that mean?" said Keith.

For a moment, no one said anything. Ethan handed Kaeli the syringe, asking her to hold it for a moment, and produced from his handy belt another small device that was used to draw a small drop of blood from a subject to test it for vampire meta-toxin. He pressed it to the spot on the girl's arm where he'd been about to inject the antidote, then looked at it. Then he looked up at them, utterly bewildered. "She's clean! Meta-toxin level at 0%!"

"How is that possible?" said Dorian.

"She was only bit something like ten minutes ago," said Kaeli. "Have we ever tested someone who was bitten that recently? Maybe the content in her blood is just not enough for that gadget to detect yet."

"There should still be enough for Shadow to detect," Keith pointed out. "This girl's clean!"

"So," Dorian pondered, "we've got a vampire that can feed without infecting his victims."

"That's a good thing, right?" said Ethan.

There was an ominous moment of silence before Dorian breathed, "He wants his victims to be reusable."

"Hey wait, Dorian," Kaeli said suddenly, "there's something I was about to tell you. The vampire I saw bite this girl, the one who was talking to... Electra..."

"Yeah?"

"Well, what I said about how I couldn't move when she looked at me? It was the same way with him! Right after biting the girl, he spotted me, and I was about to report it to you guys right then, but then he made eye contact with me and I just froze!"

"Both of them?" said Ethan. "They just looked at you and you went stiff?"

"Yeah. It was like they had some kind of... hypnotic power. I mean the girl said that when he looked at her, she just felt like going over to him."

"So he lulls the girl into a trance, gets her to come his way and let her guard down while he has his way with her..." said Keith.

"And then he probably planted a post-hypnotic suggestion in her head to come back so he could do it again," added Dorian.

"There's more," Kaeli added, not liking the direction the conversation was taking. "While I was... trapped under his gaze, it felt like he was..."

"What?" Dorian said.

"Like he was studying me. It felt like he could almost see into my head. Like he knew..." A chill went down her spine as she realized for the first time, "Like he knew I was a hunter."

"And immediately reported to the boss lady that they'd been infiltrated," Ethan concluded. "Beautiful."

Dorian scowled. "Dammit."

"What do we do now?" Kaeli asked. "If she knows she's got hunters in her club, she'll be watching for anybody watching her."

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence before Dorian tapped his transmitter. "Jade, Andy, regroup, we're pulling out."

"What? Why?" was Andy's reply.

"She knows we're here. It's too dangerous now. Pull out, now."

Andy sighed, then said, "Yes sir."

"Jade, did you get that?" There was no response. "Jade? Jade!"

"All right, all right, I'm coming!"

"What do we do with her?" Keith asked, focusing his attention on the unconscious girl in his arms.

"She had some friends in there who probably know where she lives," Kaeli said. "I could take her back to them."

"I think that's an unnecessary risk," said Dorian. "Electra saw you, and she'll be looking for you."

"I for one want to keep an eye on her to make sure she really is clean," Ethan added. "I say we keep her at headquarters for the night and let her go in the morning."

Suddenly an idea dawned on Kaeli. "Wait a minute... Dorian, you said that vampire probably gave her a post-hypnotic suggestion to come back, right?"

"Yeah... what are you thinking, Kaeli?"

"Ethan, do you have a tracking bug you can plant on her?"

Ethan grinned. "You're thinking we tag her and let her lead us to the bitch herself! I like it!"

At that, Dorian also grinned. "Now that's a plan!"

Andy and Jade rejoined them at that point. "What's goin' on?" said Jade. "Who's the chick?"

"We'll fill you in on the way back to base," said Dorian. "We're taking the girl with us for overnight observation."

Ethan lifted the girl into his arms as they began moving back towards the van. As they walked, Kaeli stopped for a moment. She turned her head, taking another look at the building they were leaving behind. Something felt... strange. Almost as if she was being drawn back to the club. Leaving it behind was almost making her uncomfortable.

Shivering, Kaeli clutched at her crucifix. She had felt the touch of evil tonight, and it wanted more of her. She made a stance now: now matter how loudly it called, it wouldn't get her. God would not abandon her as long as she continued to fight.

One way or another, she would definitely be coming back to this place.

"Kaeli, come on!"

"I'm coming!"

***

Electra smiled. She didn't want Anthony to know it, but she was in a good mood all of a sudden. Having hunters show up in the club was enough to get him worried, but for herself, she was excited. Hunters! It had been so long since the place had seen a little excitement. It was far too uncommon that she encountered prey that put up a decent fight.

So many vampires feared them, but what were hunters really other than a few fussy humans with a few weapons and delusions of grandeur? They were really nothing to worry about—not for her anyway—but they were certainly worth a little bit of fun.

Anthony had decided to remain watchful for a while longer before he went home. Electra was allowing him to have his paranoid little concerns, but she didn't plan on doing anything differently tonight. If a hunter did attack her, it would hardly be the first time. And it would end just the same, just as quickly.

It occurred to her she had yet to enjoy a human tonight. The club would still be open for another hour or so, so she decided she might as well take advantage of the crowd while she still could. She began scanning the crowd from where she stood on the balcony level. She wanted someone genuinely attractive, yet simple-minded and weak. Someone she could take her time with and enjoy, but who would also be easily seduced.

"Electra? Electra!" She turned to the voice calling her name, which she recognized right away. Shao Li was making her way towards her, with a look of slight concern on her usually calm face. Once the Chinese pureborn was within speaking distance, Shao Li spoke, "Anthony is saying there are hunters here tonight. Is it true?"

Electra grinned. "Yes, exhilarating, isn't it?"

Shao Li tilted her head. "You are not concerned?"

"Are you?"

"Not for my own sake, or yours," Shao Li replied. "But there is a possibility they might do something to disrupt our business. In my experience, hunters are persistent."

"Until they meet the pointy end of your sword, am I right?"

Shao Li just looked tense and irritable. "I just think we should be watchful."

"And we shall be, my friend, we shall be. If any human approaches me expressing hostile intent, I intend to rip his still-beating heart out and drink from it. I trust you to do similarly." Shao Li seemed less than convinced, but she expressed no further argument. "Just relax, Shao Li." Then she got an idea: "In fact, I know just the way to clear your head. I was just starting to look for a human I could enjoy for a while. Would you care to join me?"

It took a moment or two, but Electra could see a smile starting to form on Shao Li's face. She finally nodded when that smile finished forming.

Shao Li was the oldest member of Electra's Blood Squad, not to mention the only pureborn among them. She was just pushing two hundred years, all but the last eighty or so of which she had spent living in China. She had been trained in many forms of Chinese martial arts and sword techniques, which she'd been continually practicing and perfecting for nearly her whole life; and nearly two hundred years was a lot of time to spend perfecting one's skills. It still amazed even Electra herself when she saw this woman in action; how she was able to leap and twirl through the air with the grace of a swan, land behind an enemy without making a sound, and remove the enemy's head in a single, swift motion.

If Electra had learned anything else about Shao Li, it was that you could take the girl out of China, but you couldn't take China out of the girl. She left her homeland for her own reasons after the rise of communism, but her roots were still written all over her. There was nothing in her wardrobe that did not scream Chinese expatriate. Like tonight, she had on a red halter with a big yellow Chinese character for "woman" on the front.

"I think I like that one," Shao Li said, pointing to lonely looking guy sitting at the bar.

Electra looked hard at the one she had selected. "All by his lonesome. Just waiting for someone to come by and notice him."

"Shall we grant his wish?" The two women grinned at each other, and headed for the stairway down.

On closer inspection, Electra found the guy bore a striking resemblance to... who was that bloke? She was never that good at identifying American celebrities, but he looked like someone she had seen in a Hollywood vampire movie. She did occasionally look into those for a good laugh... Brad Pitt, that was it. He looked like Brad Pitt.

He didn't even notice them approaching until Electra spoke. "And I think to myself, what is a bloody handsome devil like yourself doing with no girl by his side?" He looked her straight in the eyes, as if attempting to determine where she came from, when Shao Li showed up on his other shoulder.

"I think he could even handle two girls, don't you?" Shao Li said. He looked quite bewildered.

"Well, I just came here hoping to find one, but... when opportunity knocks..."

"You want to talk opportunity, do you?" Electra said suggestively. "I happen to own this place, and I'd be happy to grant you an exclusive pass to the VIP room. Right now."

His eyes went wider. "Really?"

"He seems excited, doesn't he?"

"Well, you know, I don't usually have two girls just drop out of the sky on me like this..."

Enough talk! Electra grabbed him by the arm and started pulling him along to the back. Shao Li followed close as she guided him to the rooms in the back of the revelry, and through the door into her cozy little VIP room.

It only took a nanosecond after Electra shut the door behind them that Shao Li grabbed his head and savagely engulfed his mouth. Electra grinned widely, and dropped to her knees and proceeded to unfasten his pants. When she pulled open the zipper, the large thing underneath, which had already gotten quite excited enough to be ready for them, instantly sprang out to greet her. She tightly grasped the base of it, and her practiced tongue skillfully wrapped around it. She heard him grunt his approval against Shao Li's mouth.