The Order Ch. 01-02

Cara wasn't sure what town she'd stumbled into, or where. It was small and in the middle of an expanse of lonely, desert terrain. It reminded her of something out of an old west movie. The day had been so hot she thought fainting would be a better plan than walking around, but she eventually found the local watering hole and then remained there for the rest of the day. When they finally threw her out after starting an argument with one of the local hicks, she shivered with every awkward, drunken step when she fled. The frozen night cleared out the scorching day.

"To Hell with them," she grumbled to herself as she swayed down the street towards the small inn the barkeep told her about.

She wasn't that bad, really. People called her violent and maladjusted, but they just misunderstood her. The fights she'd gotten into were only out of defense, especially the physical ones. Was she supposed to sit around and take the abuse? Not at all. She grew up having to just take it as a kid, but she would be damned if she'd take it as an adult.

"Are you lost?"

Cara turned her head towards the sound, finding a man leaning against the clay plaster wall of one of the town's short buildings. Somehow, he looked very out of place in the small western town. He appeared unnaturally pale, especially in the glare of white street lights. His bald head reminded her of a glowing orb. He wore a black tee shirt with chains and skulls printed haphazardly in the cloth. 

This guy is trying way too hard, Cara thought. She really didn't want to entertain whatever kind of foolishness the man promised.

"I'm good," she said to him, giving him a dismissive wave as she kept on track.

"Hey!" he called after her.

She stopped, wobbled, then turned around. She threw her hands up and sighed with annoyance.

"What? Can't you see I'm heading somewhere?"

The man chuckled at her as he pushed off the wall, taking a step closer. Cara put her hands on her hips, holding her ground. No chump was going to chase her away, especially not someone as lame as this guy.

"I'll give you twenty dollars if you come over here," the pale man told her.

Cara laughed. She closed her eyes, tilting her face to the clear sky. When she looked at the man again with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"What, so I can suck your pencil dick because I'd love it so much?" she asked, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "I don't think so, buddy. I'm not a damned whore."

She continued on her way, ignoring the shuffling sounds coming from the direction of the stranger. He could follow her if he wanted to, but it was a bad idea. The thought brought a smile to her lips.

"Aren't all women?"

And there it was--the wrong move. Rage filled Cara, burning deep in her chest. Every breath became a struggled as anger tightened her throat. This guy was going to get the beat down of his life.

She turned her head, eyes wide, and teeth clenched enough to make her jaw spasm. The man laughed, darkness brimming in his eyes as he grinned at her. But there was something wrong with that smile--something inhuman. That look was enough to make her waver. The man looked insane, and she didn't like to tango with crazy people.

"What's the matter, little girl? Are you afraid?" he cooed.

He stepped closer still, grin widening to show a mouth full of too sharp teeth coated in dark slime. Black goop began spilling from his mouth until it covered his chin. At the same time, the air filled with the scent of old blood and sulfur. It was so overwhelming, Cara doubled over, covering her mouth and nose with her hand. Gorge rose in her throat, threatening to spill.

Forcing herself to swallow her stomach, Cara stood up so that she could properly escape, but as she tried, the man appeared before her in a blur. She stumbled back, nearly tripping over herself, but the man grabbed her shirt at the chest and pulled her closer. He snapped his horrible teeth at her, splashing some of the foul goop onto her face. 

"Don't like what you see, huh?" he asked, then licked his lips with a charred, black tongue.

She looked into his eyes and saw death coated in those milky blue orbs. A tremor of fear moved through her, causing her body to shake with it. Still, she wasn't about to take that fate. 

"Oh, hell no!" she growled.

Her hand balled into a tight fist, then launched at the monster's face. It contacted his jaw with a loud crunch. The monster man stumbled back, releasing her. Cara fell to the ground, gagging from the nastiness. She took a moment to recover before getting to her feet and running, even as she choked from the horrible smells around her.

The world blurred while her feet carried her as fast as they could. She wanted to scream out for help, but her voice had disappeared, and her throat constricted. She made her way down a narrow, sparsely lit alley way, ignoring the squeaks of cats and critters scurrying away at the sounds of her feet against gritty concrete. 

A strong gust of night chilled air slammed into her, forcing Cara into the wall of one of those buildings. She yelped as pain shot through her body. Before she could recover, her body lifted from the ground with a tight hand around her neck. She gasped, clawing at the offensive clutch around her throat, and her legs kicked violently against a solid mass of flesh.

But she refused to die there, helplessly dangling from the hand of a nightmare.  Cara forced her eyes open and focused on escape. She punched at him in his now glowing eyes until they bled his blackened blood. The monster hissed and stumbled. Eventually, his grasp slacked and Cara landed on the ground, balance completely thrown. Luckily, she could recover quickly. Then once she had, she stomped on the man's foot, then kicked him hard in the groin.

Satisfied with the man creature's groans of pain, Cara took a step back in preparation to run. Arms wrapped around her, underneath her own, capturing her. She screamed out even with her bruised and closing throat, but it wasn't enough. More hands grabbed her flailing legs, holding her down with an almost sharp force. 

Though her assailants moved mostly in shadow, soon they stepped into the moonlight. To her horror, they looked like the first monster man to attack her. No, not just similar. They held the same disturbing face. 

"Not nice..." the men whispered, though it sounded more like grunts, hisses, and growls.

More of the same man joined them, surrounding them in a semi-circle, all with goop covered mouths salivating in wicked glee. They smiled at her, sharp, long teeth chattering.

The first took a prominent spot in the semi-circle. His eyes still bled the black blood, but it was smeared across his pale face as though he tried to wipe it away. Unlike the other monsters, his grin had turned to an irritated grimace.

"We like when they fight," he said to her as he licked his slimy lips. "We like the smell of your fear."

The group of them took in deep breaths of her, causing Cara to shiver. The one holding her down was worst of all. His face buried into her thick, curly dark hair. The cold slime from his mouth seeped through to her scalp.

Breath struggled to fill her lungs, but she still growled, "Go to hell."

They laughed in unison. "We've seen Hell," the main one told her, "now we would like to visit Heaven."

The circle tightened. Their mouths opened with their long pointing tongues licking their lips. Cara knew she was only moments away from being their dinner and she sincerely hoped the bastards choked on her while they fed.

She struggled in their tightening arms, but closed her eyes. Though she knew it wasn't possible in the dead of night and in the strangeness of it all, she prayed for someone to save her.

The monsters hissed, but it sounded more like fear. Cara's eyes shot open just as the men released her. She crashed hard to the ground in a yelp, pain ran through her, head-to-toe. Despite the pain, her eyes focused on the creatures now cowering backward into the darkness, heads bowed as though hiding from an unknown force. Only her first attacker stood from the group.

Her eyes then turned in the opposite direction to find another figure cloaked in the darkness, yet had a red glow to it, like a shimmering haze. Her eyes had a hard time focusing because of it.

The air heated around her, prickling her skin to the brink of pain. The being stepped closer in a slow, but graceful movement. The creatures hissed again, capturing her attention. The singled-out beast fell to his knees.

"Master? Master. No!" he cried over and over.

She looked back to their master and watched as it made a gesture with a flick of the hand. A loud splitting sound followed by a heavy thump echoed off the buildings. She dared to look down and found the monster's head staring back at her. Quickly, she swatted it off of her person and into the shadows.

The monsters ran off into the night, howling in pain. Fear still pulsed through her, but she tried to order her nerves into relaxation. The other being sauntered closer, moving into a hint of moonlight exposing a bit of his face. But its eyes drew her attention.

Hard, cold and clear as crystal with a beautiful blue tint. The haunting gaze mesmerized her. He bent beside her, gently taking her into his arms, his eyes locked on hers. Cara wrapped one of her arms around his neck, finding the other too uncomfortable to lift.

As he effortlessly stood with her as his bundle, the world swam around Cara. Darkness began eating chunks of her vision, narrowing it to those beautiful eyes. The last thing she saw before the darkness could completely take her was those crystal eyes softening thoughtfully.

Chapter 2

She woke to the smell of fresh, clean sheets and the feel of cool linen wrapped around her body. Cara, still wobbly from her attack, sat up slowly on her elbows as her eyes adjusted to the dark room.

The man with the crystalline eyes knelt at the foot of the bed, stoking the fireplace opposite it. When he noticed she'd awakened, he rose to his feet. Cara squinted to get a better look at him, but with only the flickering orange light of the fire, she could only make out the hint of a bare and muscular torso.

Neither spoke. For the first time in Cara's life, she had nothing to say, not even a snarky remark. It made her nervous, feeling as though exposed and utterly vulnerable. Plus, she was so overwhelmed by the night's events. In fact, if the man hadn't been with her in that moment, she would have thought it all a horrible dream.

Her pulse quickened at the prospects of it all being in her mind and to the turn it could very well be taking.

The man placed his hands on the edge of the bed, smoothing them across the white cloth. Cara found herself clutching her own end of the sheet and pulling it to her body protectively. It was in that moment that she realized that beneath that thin material; she had nothing else to cover her.

Still, the large man said nothing. Leisurely and sensually, he moved onto the bed and began crawling towards her. Cara gasped, partially out of fear, but she couldn't deny the excitement and eagerness welling within and pooling between her legs. Still, she drew the sheet closer to her body as he continued his path.

Soon, he was hanging above her as she sunk into her pillow with eyes wide. His eyes traveled around her pointed face before finding her own. She swallowed hard under his scrutiny, but not to be outdone, she did the same. With him this close, she was more able to see him. 

He was beautiful. More beautiful than a man should ever be.  Yet, he was so distinctly male. How was it possible to be beautiful and rugged all at once, she wondered? 

The man raised a brow at her as a cocky smile pulled at his lips. He knew she found him attractive. Cara's face flushed from embarrassment and a hint of annoyance.

He ignored the blush, favoring her hands, clutching the sheet instead. His own hand moved to the edge, tracing it with one finger. With that single finger, he pried the material from her hand and began pulling it down her body, which now trembled with anticipation. He stopped the moment her breasts were exposed. Using one of his large hands, he took a mound of flesh into his hand. She always considered herself to be under average, but she fit perfectly inside of his palm. 

The hand squeezed her and teased her, bringing her nipple to a stiff peak beneath his calloused palm. The sensation was overwhelmingly delicious.  She moaned out softly, arching her back for him. He chuckled at her, a deep, rich sound that stole her breath for a moment.

"Hungry?" he asked.

His voice was as sensual as his chuckle, with an accent she found to be from everywhere and nowhere all at once. Completely indistinguishable and sexy beyond words.

Before she could answer him, his mouth found hers, gently coaxing her to open. She obliged and was rewarded with his tongue slipping between her parted lips. Eagerly, she took him in, savoring the feel of the heat of his mouth. Her tongue danced with his, causing her to groan with delight. And though it felt as though he were trying to devour her, the man was still oh-so-gentle. Removing his hand from her breast, he touched her face, fingers slid across her face, tracing her jaw with his forefinger. Cara's breath caught. No one had ever treated her like this before.  Everyone she'd fucked gave it rough and dirty, which usually was her preferred method. But this guy...this guy, whoever he was, made her feel precious.

Although he was easily seducing her without even giving a name...

That realization sobered her somewhat. She'd always been a wanton woman, and without shame for it, but she'd at least always known the person's name before in the past. As she looked into those beautiful eyes, she had a very hard time caring. It frightened her.

"What are you?"

She'd meant to say "who," but considering the overwhelming calm rushing through her, drowning out tempting concerns, she had to wonder what kind of spell he'd woven over her. Even the thought didn't terrify her, which distantly she recognized as a bad sign.

He smiled, and it was darkly cocky and all too knowing.

"Just your average 'bump in the night,'" he told her.

Somehow, that was good enough for her. She let out a slow, calm breath as his face lowered to hers. The kisses were teasing and coaxing.  His silent requests for entry were granted--her mouth opening enough for his tongue to slip within her parted lips. It danced around the depths of her, feasting on what she had to offer. And she more than eagerly offered herself with a long, excited groan.

He shifted until his body rested fully on hers and his hips thrust between her splayed legs. She gasped at the feel of him, hard and ready for her. Cara grounded her body into his, his stiffness rubbing places that sent her into delicious spasms from head to toe. 

"So eager," he laughed, "I promise I live up to it."

And she was. He'd done so little, yet she was incredibly wet. She'd never wanted a man inside of her more in her life.

"Please," she whispered despite herself.

The beautiful man chuckled. He buried his face against her neck and tenderly suckled the skin there. He pushed into her then, filling her completely, sliding in with ease. He was so deliciously thick. Slowly, gently, and in perfectly timed circles, he moved inside of her until spasms wracked her body. Moments before she let the waves of pleasure drown her into orgasm, she felt a sharp stab in her neck that had her screaming in ecstasy and pain.