SIX: Blood for Blood, the Screams All Sing

The thought had never occurred to me that it would be harder with my hands free. It was, of course. I should have realized it. Part of how I stayed still when he cut me was the ropes holding me in place. Sitting on the couch, with him straddling me holding the knife against my collarbone, I struggled not to flinch. Masaccio didn’t like it when I moved.

When the front door crashed inward, I couldn’t help it. I let out a small cry and jerked suddenly away from the blade. Masaccio swore and turned to the door. Then he smiled. “Ah, I knew you’d come eventually.”

I’d been with Masaccio a while now. I couldn’t say exactly how long since we didn’t have a calendar, but it’d obviously been long enough to Jack’s arm to heal.

He stood in the doorway, panting with rage more than exertion. Both arms bent as they should. He looked angry. He looked strong. With such pure hatred glaring out of his dark eyes, he also looked frightening.

Masaccio cocked his head for a moment and his eyes looked distant. “Alone? That’s either overconfidence, stupidity, or proof that your family doesn’t support this venture and you’re too desperate to stay away any longer.”

Jack growled. “Let her go, you freak.”

“But she wants to be with me, don’t you, Kylara, dear?” He turned slightly towards me, obviously still keeping an eye on Jack.

“Yes, so you should leave Jack.” I hoped he would. I’d already taken my vengeance and hurt him by leaving. He didn’t need to be dead too.

“No, Kylara. I want him here. I’ve been trying a long time to get him out alone, unprotected.” He grinned. “This is my chance.”

Jack’s eyes widened and he took a step back, more in surprise than fear. “What the fuck..?” I thought the same thing and froze where I sat on the couch. What the fuck, indeed.

“Oh, well, I had thought maybe you’d have figured it out. Kylara obviously hasn’t. But she makes up for being an idiot by being so damn sweet.” I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I was suddenly angry. A large part of why I went to him was because he was honest. He wanted someone to hurt and someone to fuck, and he was open about that. Jack was the one who lied and manipulated and kept things from me, not Masaccio.

The vampire laughed. “Close the door, Jack and come in. No need to scare the neighbors. We’ll be done shortly anyway.”

Jack closed the door with his foot and advanced on Masaccio with a stake. It was mostly wood, but the tip was silver. Streaks of silver shot up the sides too. I wanted to ask what the point of that was, beyond decoration. Now was not the time.

“Masaccio,” I asked, hoping to buy some time to get Jack out of there, “What do you mean? What do you want Jack for?”

“This is the part where I reveal my evil scheme, isn’t it?” He looked to each of us, and continued when we didn’t respond. “Well, I’m not a moron. That’s a waste of time. I’ll tell you in five minutes when it’s too late.”

He grinned again and lunged at Jack. The human didn’t have time to dodge, but he managed to turn mid-fall and slice Masaccio’s cheek with his stake. The wound bled and smoked, like nothing I’d seen before. I wondered if it was a magical sort of weapon, but decided not to waste my time thinking.

Instead, I ran at them, yelling “Stop!” I tried to pull Masaccio off of the guy who had been my best friend, but the vampire brushed me aside with enough force to slam me into the wall. Jack shouted my name, but then he grunted as Masaccio attacked again.

What could he want from Jack? I had already chosen Masaccio. I thought that was enough. I thought that was what he wanted! All I wanted was to make him happy, just a little bit, but apparently I wasn’t good enough. He needed Jack Guinness to barge in and fight with him.

Even as they fought, I could tell Masaccio was thrilled. His wide-eyed grin, and the way he almost seemed to dance when he moved gave it away. I tried again to stop them, but I couldn’t keep up. I screamed at them, but both guys ignored me. The fought longer than last time, and I watched more intently as I tried to find a way to pull them apart or distract them from the fight—throwing things at them had already failed as badly as yelling.

Jack fought as viciously as before, maybe more so. Masaccio still seemed so in control. Watching now, I could tell why. Jack wanted desperately, with all his soul, to kill Masaccio. For whatever reason, Masaccio was trying not to kill Jack. He pulled his punches, threw Jack when he could have skewered him, dodged more than attacked. Masaccio wanted Jack alive. I couldn’t begin to guess why.

Finally, the vampire pinned Jack to a wall, and I saw what would be my last chance. I ran at then and latched onto Masaccio’s arm, pulling even though I knew I lacked the strength to move it.

“Let him go! Please. I’ll do whatever you want, Masaccio; just let him go.” I begged and begged, until Masaccio rammed his leg into my shin. I screamed as the bone snapped and the bottom part of my shin shot forward. Still screaming, I fell to the ground.

“Shut up, you fucking little bitch.” He nudged my jaw with his foot. I felt like someone had kicked me. If I’d wanted to, I could have kept screaming, but I’d spent so much time doing what Masaccio wanted that I stopped almost automatically. I whimpered softly, pained tears pouring from my eyes, and craned my neck to see Jack and Masaccio’s faces.

The vampire bit into his wrist and held it to his victim’s mouth. Jack pressed his lips closed, but that didn’t even phase Masaccio. He spread blood over Jack’s lips and then plugged his nose. For a few minutes—longer than I could hold my own breath—Jack struggled while Masaccio held him patiently. Finally, he opened his mouth, gasping for breath, and Masaccio rammed his still-bleeding wrist between Jack’s opened lips.

The vampire grinned. He’d obviously won something. Jack struggled for a moment longer, but then, for no reason I could see, he started desperately drinking in the vampire’s blood. Watching him, you’d think it was the only thing keeping him alive, even though only a few seconds before he’d been desperate to avoid it.

I could only think of one reason a vampire would want a human to drink his blood. I’d never heard of it working quite like this, but fuck, what did I know? Most things about Masaccio didn’t work the way I expected them to. Even things with Jack didn’t work how I expected him to, and he was still human! Maybe. I wished I knew more about vampires, so I could know just how long and how much it would take for Masaccio to make Jack into one of them.

When Masaccio finally pulled his wrist away, Jack obviously still wanted more. He tried to follow it, but the vampire slammed his head against the wall. That seemed to bring Jack back to himself because his expression changed from one of lust to one of rage and disgust. So he wasn’t a vampire. Yet. Probably.

Masaccio spoke softly into Jacks ear, in an almost seductive voice that just barely reached me where I lay on the floor trying not to move my broken leg. “I needed someone special, Jack. Someone perfect. I couldn’t turn just anyone. Maybe some of the others do, but that’s why they all die.”

Jack spit in Masaccio’s face and the vampire slapped him.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been searching, waiting, planning. And now I have you. Finally. I’ve started it, you know that. I suppose it’s possible you won’t become a vampire—if I lose interest or someone kills me, unlikely as those are—but you’ll definitely never be human again, not completely.” He flashed his smile, and his fangs glinted ominously.

He’d wanted Jack for a long time then. How long? When had they first met? I thought and realized Masaccio had spoken to me about how Jack turned me down at school the day I was abducted. He’d stumbled over the name, but what if that was fake? It must have been. He knew about Jack all along. Of course he did. Jack belonged to the family that hunted him—to his family. Jack was his descendent, or the descendent of one of Masaccio’s close relatives. Of course he knew. He’d wanted Jack all along, but Jack was too well protected by his family. He’d needed to lure Jack away somehow.

“You used me to get him here!” I accused, still lying on the floor beside him. My tears turned angry then. I had thought I understood Masaccio. Of course not. He was a vampire, a monster. I was just a stupid girl. I didn’t go to him because I cared about him. I went to him because I could hide away and never have to face the world covered in scars.

“Yes, now shut up.” He kicked me and I flew back into the couch, jarring my broken leg. I screamed again, but silenced myself as soon as I could. Out of habit.

Fuck habit.

I started screaming my lungs out at him. Every bit of profanity I’d ever heard wasn’t enough, so I started making some up. It didn’t matter what I said. Screaming at him felt good. I wanted to take Jack’s stake and shove it into that fucking vampire’s heart. Then I wanted him to come back to life so I could do it again.

He used me! He didn’t care about me. He didn’t see anything in me that made him want me. He was probably pissed as shit that I wasn’t as pretty as the girls he liked—girls like Annabelle. He’d hated me so much he had to bring in a backup. The best part of this for him had probably been when I stayed at home. Masaccio had never wanted me.

I wasn’t special.

Jack was.

I forced myself to my feet, screaming as much from anger as from pain. He watched me, looking slightly amused, but didn’t move or loose his hold on Jack. I hopped forward on one leg, each jump painfully jarring the broken one. I didn’t care. If I could reach Masaccio, I’d find a way to wring his undead neck, tear off his head, and stick it on a pike. I didn’t care if it was physically impossible. I’d figure something out.

While Masaccio focused on my slow, painful advance, Jack suddenly coiled his body up and then kicked Masaccio with both feet. The vampire flew across the room and slammed through the wall into one of the empty bedrooms.

I froze, forgetting to yell at Jack for moving the monster even farther from me. Jack couldn’t kick that hard. No human could. But he’d drunk Masaccio’s blood and his eyes glinted red now as he advanced towards the broken wall. On the way, he bent down and grabbed his silver/wood stake.

After lowering myself to the floor, I crawled after him. At the hole, I could hear Masaccio talking.

“… so strong already! I knew you would be. Just think how much stronger you’ll be next time we meet.” He chuckled, and Jack kicked him in the jaw. The vampire fell backward but kept talking. “I want you to drink from others too. It’s an old method, one that will make you strong, strong enough that most sires are too afraid to try it anymore. But the more vampires you taste, the more different blood you carry within you, the further it will take you.”

Then he stood, faster than my eyes could follow, and grabbed Jack by the throat. He lifted him into the air, and threw him back through the wall, right past me. I scurried on my hands and knees to Jack’s side.

“Jack, I’m so sorry! I was wrong… stupid, stupid, stupid, wrong. Please forgive me.” I ended sobbing. He wouldn’t be here except for me. He wouldn’t be half way to a vampire if not for me.

“Of course I forgive you Kylara,” he smiled, but his red eyes made it look dark and angry. He stood again and faced Masaccio as the vampire strode back through the ruined wall. “It’s him I’ll never forgive.” He growled and his eyes flashed with an inner light. I shivered but didn’t say anything.

I pulled the locket from around my neck, ready to tell Jack it was the vessel. I didn’t know what he’d do with it exactly, but if it killed Masaccio, it was what I wanted. Before I could say anything though, Masaccio was beside us. He knocked Jack out and grabbed me. I hit him and screamed and tried to fight him as much as possible, but then Masaccio just knocked me out too.

He kept me tied up again and never bothered to reset or put a splint on my leg. We were somewhere else now, and I dreamed again of escaping. I remembered when he first took me and kept me in a dirty room. I wondered how I could ever have wanted to return to him after that.

I knew Jack must hate me for it.

I always lost track of time with Masaccio, but I knew that if I split my time with him into three sections, this one would be the longest. Mostly he just kept me tied there and tortured prettier girls in front of me. I was just insurance that Jack would come. The vampire had no reason to feign interest in me anymore, so he didn’t.

I spent my days imagining how to kill him, and my nights trapped in nightmares of Masaccio killing me and turning Jack into a vampire. I hoped Jack never returned. It meant I would never see him again, but it also meant Masaccio wouldn’t kill him or finish turning him.

I always knew he would though. Maybe he’d come to save me. Maybe he’d come to kill Masaccio. Or, worst of all, maybe he’d come to sate that bloodlust I saw as he drank from the vampire’s wrist. Whichever it came down to, I knew Jack would come. Masaccio didn’t even need to keep me around. Jack would come with or without me. He couldn’t stay away, not now, not anymore.

Masaccio had brought in two girls tonight. Both looked like models—if models looked dirty, beaten, and terrified. One of them reminded me of Annabelle, even though her hair was a brilliant red. She had the same kind eyes. She probably had a family too.

He drained her immediately, every last drop. Then he used the heat of her blood to rape the other woman while I watched. I wished he would drop dead right there. Turn to ash and never hurt anyone ever again. He didn’t. Something else happened instead.

All of my worst nightmares came true.

The door opened. It was Jack. He entered slowly, stake in hand. His red eyes glowed in the dim light, and when he smiled his canines were noticeably longer. He didn’t even seem to notice me. Instead, Jack stared at Masaccio like his glare alone could kill the vampire if he tried enough.

“You’ve been a good boy I see.” Masaccio said, obviously ecstatic. “A very good boy.” He pulled himself away from the poor woman and approached Jack, not in the least phased by being caught naked in the middle of fucking a poor woman senseless.

Jack growled but said nothing.

They fought. I was too weak, and too human to keep up. Jack was stronger and faster than before. He’d obviously taken Masaccio’s advice and consumed the blood of other vampires to make himself stronger. I wished he hadn’t.

Seeing them fight now—what little I could keep up with—it was obvious Masaccio had only toyed with Jack before. It shouldn’t have mattered, but it still made me angrier.

“Jack!” I screamed, and fell into a fit of coughing and dry heaving. My voice was hoarse from disuse. He looked up, noticing me for the first time. In seconds he was at my side, his eyes sad. Masaccio pummeled into him, pulling my friend away from me, but Jack hurled the vampire across the room and returned to me.

“Kylara, I…”

I didn’t care what he had to say. I had to tell him how to kill that undead fucker. “The locket: it’s the vessel. His name is Thomas, not Masaccio.”

He looked surprised, and it reminded me of the last time I’d seen him. “You mean this…?” He reached up to my collar bone and yanked something from around my neck. I hadn’t realized I’d been wearing it the whole time. I nodded, stunned. That was it.

Then Jack screamed. Behind him, Masaccio stood with his fangs deep in my friend’s neck. Jack struggled to get away, but Masaccio had him. I’d been too late. Again.

The color drained from Jack’s skin as I watched. Eventually he stopped struggling. Then Masaccio took his favorite knife and cut his own neck. When he place Jack’s lips against the cut, the dying boy began drinking. He seemed to regain his strength as he drank more and more of the monster’s blood.

Finally, Masaccio pulled Jack from his neck. Desperately, Jack reached back for it, but the vampire held him firmly away. He moved closer to me and made a cut on my neck as well. Then he shoved jack’s face on it.

Jack drank.

Masaccio had never taken this much from me—he’d never used me for food so much as fun—or lure. This was different. Jack sucked desperately at the wound in my neck. I don’t think he could stop. I don’t know if he wanted to. I tried to talk to him, but he didn’t respond, and I was too weak to keep talking.

It felt like a pair of stab wounds when two fangs suddenly pierced the skin around the smooth cut and he began to drink faster. Masaccio smiled and I knew Jack had become a vampire.

The last words I ever heard in life came in a muffled, gurgling sentence from Jack as he eagerly drank my blood: “I love you, Kylara Scott.”