Exsanguination Read online

  “You think she’ll turn me? Nikki?”

  He shook his head. “Not for a very long time would be my guess. You’re a virgin, as am I and, to them, our blood is like the nectar of the gods.”

  Owen reddened. “I’m guessing that sex will be out.”

  He nodded. “Coitus? Yeah, but there are other ways of having pleasure.”

  “So, what did you major in?” Owen changed the subject.

  “Molecular biology,” Phillip responded. “You?”

  “Business degree,” Owen smiled. “I don’t think either of them will do us much good in the current environment.”

  Phillip laughed. “I suspect you’re right. I think that, not only our college days are over but our working lives may be as well.”

  “Is Vanessa rich?”

  “I don’t know if she’s rich but she seems to be quite comfortable financially.”

  Nikki kept to her own bed when they retired and Owen was delighted to find himself snuggling up against her. Her skin felt quite cool but seemed to warm slightly over time, absorbing the heat from his body.

  XII

  The following afternoon, Vanessa made a phone call. When she finished, she smiled at Nikki. They had been joined by Phillip and Owen in the drawing room.

  “It’s all set. David will be coming over this evening for our little get together in the wine cellar and you will have the privilege of inserting the needle.”

  “Jesus,” she responded hesitantly, “I don’t know if I can do that, Vanessa.”

  “Of course you can,” she waved her hand dismissively. “In fact, David is a bit of a special case.”

  “How’s that?”

  “He has a bit of a unique scenario that he prefers. I’ll secure his arms and legs to the cage with zip ties and gag him before we proceed.”

  “Ooooh.” Nikki’s eyes were wide. “Good book material. Fifty shades of red?”

  “I don’t get the reference.”

  “I’ll tell you about it later.”

  Vanessa shrugged and continued. “I’ll show you how to hit the artery and then you’ll miss it – intentionally. You don’t do it with a quick stab, you press the needle to his thigh and then slowly push in. You’ll miss the artery, slowly pull the needle out and try again and fail. The third time will be a charm.”

  “That’s going to be agonizing!”

  “As I said, David is a bit of an unusual case.”

  Nikki slowly nodded her head, knowingly. “I think I get it now.”

  “Good girl.”

  Both Phillip and Owen had been listening to the conversation in silent shock.

  “What the hell is going on?” Phillip finally asked.

  “We’re gonna have a party in the wine cellar,” Nikki grinned. “Maybe you’d like to come along and watch?” she shot an inquiring look at Vanessa who nodded approval.

  “Watch you torture some guy?”

  “Not at all,” Vanessa responded. “He likes it, ergo it’s not torture. Not everyone marches to the beat of the same drum, Phillip. That said, I think both you and Owen should remain upstairs here. This might be a bit more than you can deal with.”

  “And you’re good with this?” he looked at Nikki.

  “I think it’s going to be great fun!”

  He turned back to Vanessa. “Are you going to suck on his neck?” his eyes narrowed.

  “No, nothing like that at all,” Vanessa responded, sensing the jealousy in him.

  “Good. I don’t want you on anyone’s neck but mine.”

  She wrapped her arms around him. “Darling, you are the only one for me; you know that. You have my heart and my fidelity in every way possible.”

  “Good,” he responded grudgingly. “I’d like to keep it that way.”

  Vanessa gave him a long kiss, not stopping until Nikki coughed.

  “I think we should get some breakfast.”

  As they sat down, Phillip proffered a question to Vanessa.

  “So, where did you find this guy?”

  “Well, about four years ago, in an act reflecting my utter boredom, I joined a club.”

  “A bleeder’s club?” he eyed her sceptically.

  She chuckled. “No, silly. An S&M club.”

  Phillip’s jaw dropped. “You’re into that kind of thing?”

  “Oh, Phillip, it wasn’t a sexual thing for me. It was just fun – something new to do. It distracted me from the monotonous tedium of my everyday life.”

  “Do I want to know the details?”

  Vanessa shrugged. “I became quite accomplished at flogging, whipping and a host of other things. They had weekly parties and I soon became the centre of attention, what with my looks and all.”

  “I’ll bet,” he sighed. “You sure know how to make a man feel insecure.”

  “I can make a man feel anything, darling. If you’re jealous, I could give you a light whipping,” her lips twisted in an amused smile.

  “The hell you will,” he responded flatly.

  She chuckled softly.

  “That’s something I’d pay to see,” Nikki grinned.

  “Fortunately you have no money and an exhausted credit card,” he replied coldly. “Now that I think of it, how are you going to pay that thing off?”

  Nikki shrugged. “Who knows? How do you plan on paying your card?”

  “I hadn’t given it any thought,” he grumbled in response.

  A couple of hours later the sound of the door knocker penetrated into the drawing room and Vanessa got to her feet.

  “That,” she smiled, “would be David.” She turned to Phillip and Owen. “No one is going to die tonight. I want to make that clear.”

  “We’re delighted with the news,” Phillip responded with a sour face displaying his dislike with the whole business.

  David was of average height, about thirty years old and a bit overweight. Both Vanessa and Nikki could hear his heart pounding at a high rate of speed. Vanessa smiled.

  “So glad you could make it on such short notice, David.”

  “It’s my privilege, My Lady,” he replied nervously.

  “Well, come along.”

  They led the man through the drawing room, down a hall, and to the stairs leading to the wine cellar. Moments later, Vanessa stood him at the side of the cage.

  “Remove your clothing, David.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  Vanessa glared at him and it evoked an immediate response.

  “I’m sorry,” he said quickly as he began disrobing.

  When he’d finished, she opened the cage. “Get in.”

  “Please, don’t hurt me.”

  Nikki thought this response was a bit odd since the man obviously knew what was going to happen. She watched him tremble as he made to get into the cage.

  “I will do as I please with you.” Vanessa’s lip curled in derision.

  The cage swayed slightly but Vanessa steadied it, closed the front and snapped the locks in place. David was held tightly, the iron frame pressing into his flesh. Picking up a handful of large zip ties, she began securing his limbs to prevent any sort of movement. Once finished, she smiled at him.

  “You should feel privileged that I’ve selected you to participate in our experiment.”

  Nikki watched quietly, in fascination, as the scene unfolded. It was a bit like watching a play.

  “Experiment? What experiment?” his eyes were wide.

  “Ah,” Vanessa frowned and held up a finger. “You need to be silenced.”

  After a bit of a struggle, she managed to insert the large ball in his mouth and buckle its strap tightly behind his head. She grinned widely at him. “We’re going to see how much blood you can lose before you die, David. Won’t that be fun?”

  The man shook his head violently and made grunting sounds. Vanessa swabbed his thigh with alcohol and took a heavy needle from its sterile packaging. She held it up in front of his eyes and then attached it to the tubing.

  “This is g
oing to be pushed into your femoral artery and your blood will flow through the tubing.”

  He squinted his eyes and groaned, again shaking his head violently. Nikki didn’t think it possible but his heart rate actually accelerated further. She wondered if it was from excitement, fear, or a bit of both.

  “The Lady Nicole will be doing the sticking and, unfortunately, she has no practice at such things so it may take more than one try,” she turned and handed the needle to Nikki who looked at David.

  “This is probably going to be rather painful,” she improvised.

  Vanessa pressed her fingers against his thigh, feeling for the pulse.

  “Right here. Go straight in and stop when the blood starts to pump into the tubing. Do it slowly so as not to miss your target. Angle this way,” Vanessa made a gesture.

  Remembering Vanessa’s previous instructions, she pressed the tip of the needle against his skin and began applying pressure. Like a mantra, she repeated to herself over and over – it’s only a human. A high pitched whining sound came from David’s nose. After pressing harder and harder, it pierced his skin. Nikki, with her enhanced senses, perceived a pop as it entered. She continued to push slowly and he began to tense and grunt in response to the pain. When it had reached the hilt of the needle, she frowned as she realized there was no significant blood flow through the tube. Vanessa shook her head.

  “I’m afraid you’ve missed. Withdraw it and we’ll try again from a different angle.”

  David sobbed through his nose as Nikki followed the instructions. By the time the third attempt was successful, tears were running down the man’s cheeks.

  The two of them strung the tubbing out and Vanessa handed one valve to Nikki and took the other herself. She placed the end of her piece of tubing in her mouth and opened the valve slightly, sipping at the blood. After a moment she closed the valve and took the tube from her mouth, she smiled at Nikki. “No need to rush, he’s not going anywhere except to a shallow grave in the back of the wine cellar.”

  David sobbed under his gag.

  The two sat in stuffed chairs and chatted as if at some bizarre cocktail party. Nikki grinned at David.

  “What does dying feel like, David? Are you feeling the strength slowly drain from your body?”

  Vanessa chimed in. “You’re going to feel gradually weaker and weaker. Your knees will buckle and you might even lose control of your bladder.”

  David was crying constantly at that point, his eyes pleading with them for some modicum of mercy. Half an hour later his heart was slowing and his eyelids were flickering.

  “Close your valve and grab that pressure bandage,” Vanessa whispered, an urgency in her voice.

  Within moments, she had pulled the needle and applied the bandage. She cut the zip ties and removed him from the cage, easily carrying him to the nearby couch and gently laying him down. His heart rate and respiration were slow but not dangerously so.

  “What now?” Nikki asked.

  “Now we just wait. It may take hours for him to recover enough to get up.”

  “Then what?”

  “Then we get him upstairs to bed. It may be a while before he’s able to safely drive.”

  Nikki sighed, smiling. “That was incredible! I can’t believe how much I drank. It was so satisfying.”

  Vanessa nodded, returning her smile. “It’s good to gorge once in a while. It didn’t bother you to insert the needle?”

  “The first time around it did a little but, after that, it was no big deal. I kept saying to myself – it’s just a human . . . it’s just a human.”

  Vanessa chuckled. “Good! Why don’t you bring the men down?”

  “Okay.”

  Phillip and Owen stared at the motionless body on the sofa.

  “He’s alive?” Phillip wanted reassurance.

  “Oh yes, just passed out from blood loss. It’s not a problem,” Vanessa responded.

  Nikki picked up the needle and waved it at Owen. “You want to be next? I could still drink some more.”

  “Thank you very much but I think I’ll pass,” he recoiled.

  “So it all went fine?” Phillip spoke again.

  “Absolutely. We gormandized for an hour or so and David had a delightful time.”

  “I’m amazed. No accounting for sexual tastes I guess.”

  “Trust me, I’ve seen a lot stranger,” Vanessa laughed.

  He held up his hands. “Don’t want to know.”

  “Do you know what Vanessa called me?” Nikki spoke up.

  “What?”

  “The Lady Nicole!” she responded, tilting her nose in the air.

  “Well, la dee dah,” Phillip responded.

  Vanessa grinned.

  David, having recovered, left the following day.

  As the group of four relaxed in the drawing room, the front door knocker banged repeatedly and loudly.

  XIII

  “I’ll get it,” Phillip announced as he stood and started in the direction of the door. He waved the slow-moving Robert off who responded with a grateful nod.

  “Oh! It’s not my favourite person. Hello Antoine,” he said, unsmiling as he opened the door.

  Antoine looked troubled. “I understand but we must set that aside. There is a large problem,” he walked through, a tablet under his arm, and continued to the drawing room, Phillip close behind him.

  “We have been exposed!” he announced, agitated.

  “Calm down, Antoine,” Vanessa said quietly. “What are you talking about?”

  He held out the tablet to her and she touched the screen. As she watched the video, her expression became increasingly dark. “Explain. Who is this?”

  “His name is Reginald. He was turned by Helena who obviously didn’t caution him about feeding in an open or well-lit area or he decided to ignore her instructions.”

  Vanessa handed the tablet to Phillip and he pressed play on the video. It showed a man . . . a vampire feeding on another man. As it played, the man lifted his head and turned, looking directly at the camera, his fangs fully extended, blood on his face. Then he ran.

  “How did you get this, Antoine?” Vanessa asked, her jaw clenched.

  “Everyone has it! It is everywhere! Gone viral on the Internet!”

  She shook her head. “It’ll blow over. As with most things on the Internet, it will be labelled a hoax and disappear.”

  Antoine shook his head. “The man he was feeding on is dead. The authorities have his body, almost emptied of blood and with puncture marks on his neck. To empty a man that much, this Reginald must have fed for some forty-five minutes out in the open!”

  “Well, the police won’t know who Reginald is.”

  “They will,” Phillip interjected. “They’ll use facial recognition to identify him and then set about finding him. They’ll be studying the feeds of every camera in the city.”

  “That’s possible?” Vanessa raised an eyebrow and gave him a worried look.

  “More than possible. It’s a certainty.”

  “Do we know where this Reginald is?” she looked at Antoine.

  “We do not, “he replied.

  “Get Helena over here. She may know where we can find him.”

  Antoine nodded and made a call on his mobile.

  “She is on her way.”

  “What are you going to do?” Phillip asked Vanessa.

  “Dispose of Reginald and hope this doesn’t go any further,” she said flatly.

  “Dispose of? You mean kill him?”

  “Yes, but we need to get that body from the morgue. I would presume that’s where it is,” she turned to the Frenchman.

  “Antoine, can you get some people in there to retrieve it without setting off alarms or attracting any attention to themselves?”

  “I will try.”

  “Use a diversion. I would think that rats would work. Swarm them with rats, get inside, find the body and dispose of it completely.”

  “That can probably be done.”


  “I certainly hope so. If not, we’re facing a very serious situation if you take my meaning.”

  “That would certainly alleviate boredom,” Phillip remarked.

  “I’m not looking to ease boredom. I’m trying to contain this nightmare before it gets out of hand.”

  “What happens if it gets out of hand?” he asked.

  “They may well start hunting us. If that happens we’ll be at war.” Vanessa responded as she poured a whiskey for herself.

  “And what would war consist of?” he frowned.

  “War has never been expected but it’s been prepared for. Word will go out and we will be turning as many people as we can. Our numbers will double in one day, redouble the next day, and so on. We will not be exterminated. In one week we could number over a hundred thousand.”

  Phillip took a deep breath and whispered softly. “A vampire apocalypse?”

  “Or redemption depending on which side you’ve taken,” she turned to Nikki. “Be a darling and bring the laptop from my office, Nikki?”

  “On it,” she sped away and returned almost instantly.

  “Does this mean you’ll turn me if war breaks out?” Phillip gave Vanessa a hopeful look.

  “Wouldn’t want to fight for the humans?”

  “Do you have to ask?” he shook his head slowly.

  She smiled at him. “Then, yes, there would be a definite possibility of that,” she finished the email she was composing and sent it off.

  After some time, the door knocker sounded again and Antoine left the group, returning moments later with a nondescript, middle-aged woman. She held up her hands in front of her.

  “I know. I know. I’ve already seen it. I told him to use darkened alleys and such. He’s incredibly stupid!”

  “Never mind that for now, Helena. Do you know where he is?”

  She nodded. “Probably at his apartment.”

  “Good.”

  She turned to Antoine. “You have your job. Get to it.”

  He nodded and left.

  “Nikki, Helena, you’re with me.”

  She turned to the two remaining men. “Stay here. We should be back within the hour.”

  “You sure we can’t help?” Phillip asked.