Chained

Mike, Linda and Steve are two of the characters in my Vampire Novella.  This is Mike's first introduction to the story.  He's not a bad guy, but circusmstances are going to make him have to do some very bad things...at first, though I think eventually he will do the right thing.  Just have to wait and see.

Chained

by Lisa McCourt Hollar

Mike woke to darkness. His head hurt and he was groggy. He lifted his head and immediately lay it back down as pain stabbed at his brain. He tried to lift his hand to bring it to his head, but his arms were restrained. Squinting through the darkness, he peered at the chains that held his arms down. They were attached to a bed, not his own. Testing his legs he discovered that they too were restrained. Wrenching his arms against the manacles, Mike arched his back, putting all his strength into it. Nothing happened, not surprising to him since he was currently in human form, He pulled again, shaking the metal bed he was imprisoned in. Maybe if he could get the frame to break apart…

“Careful,” a familiar voice said, “you might hurt yourself. We wouldn’t want that.”

“Linda,” Mike growled, “let me loose!”

“Not just yet,” Linda said, lighting a torch and revealing his prison, a dark culvert somewhere within the tunnels that ran beneath the city.

“I don’t know what you are up to Linda, but when James finds out about this, he will have your head!”

Linda laughed, revealing two sharp fangs. Behind her someone else laughed, a deeper sound than Linda’s light, feminine lilt, but also less certain, as though not sure there was anything funny to chortle about. Mike looked past Linda, not too surprised to see Steve, Linda’s constant shadow since she had turned him a few months ago. Mike didn’t like him; Mike didn’t like Linda for that matter. In fact he didn’t like most vampires. They couldn’t be trusted, proof being his current situation.

“James isn’t going to do anything,” Linda said, “because you aren’t going to tell him.”

“I don’t know what you’re smoking,” Mike growled, but you can’t keep me here forever. Sooner or later…” Mike paused, looking around. It had suddenly dawned on him that there was no light in the culvert they were in, save for the torch. He looked towards the ceiling and saw that there was no opening to allow moonlight or sunlight in; one of the reasons the vampires had chosen the tunnels, which had once been a part of the city’s sewage system. Long ago renovated, many of the tunnels that had been considered too deteriorated had been closed as the city expanded and a new, better system was put in place. The vampire population had immediately seen the advantage to a system of passageways that led throughout the city, allowing them to avoid sunlight and move about during the day. It now seemed they had found a new use for it.

“Oh don’t worry,” Linda said, seeming to read his thoughts, even though he knew his mind was one that she couldn’t peer into; an advantage of his kind in the past conflicts between their people.

“Then what is the purpose of this,” Mike asked, shaking his arms for emphasis. Glancing down at himself, Mike’s eyes widened in horror as he saw that the chains were not the only disturbing thing about his confinement. He hadn’t noticed in the dark and when Linda had lit the torch he had been too busy looking at the bitch to realize that he was cold…colder than he should be.

“What’s the matter,” Linda asked, “don’t you like blue? I thought it brought out the color in your eyes perfectly.”

“What the hell,” Mike yelled, struggling against the chains again, horrified to see that he was naked, except for a pair of women’s panties and a bra.

“Oh come now,” Linda said, “I saw you at The Drag a last week. You didn’t seem to mind wearing women’s clothes then…oh wait; you might not want Jake to know. Understandable, considering…” Linda let the words sink in as Mike’s mind went crazy, imagining his brother’s reaction if he knew.

“I’ll deny it,” Mike said. He won’t believe a skanky vampire over his own brother.”

“Maybe,” Linda said, “but then I have these.” Linda held up a handful of pictures, showing them to Mike one at a time. They revealed Mike in various states of undress as he engaged in ‘behavior’ that would disgust his brother. If Jake were to see those pictures he would turn on him in a heartbeat and hunt down the other in the pictures. Since Derrick was a part of their ‘family’, it wouldn’t be too difficult.

“What do you want me to do?”

There is a new member of our Coven,” Linda said, “Jayne. Kill her.”

“I’ve seen her,” Mike said, “with James. Word is he treats her like a daughter. I can see where that would make you hate her, but enough to risk ending the treaty between Vampires and Lycans”

“I want to do more than destroy the peace; I want to create a new alliance between our two species, one that isn’t bound by the restrictions that James has put in place.”

“James will never agree to change the covenant.”

“James will have no choice,” Linda said, “if he is no longer our leader. A short war after the death of his beloved Jayne could bring about his death. Then, as his daughter I would become the new ruler of our Coven…I would be the one to draw up a new agreement with the Lycans, one that will be beneficial to us all.

“We could roam freely at night,” Mike mused, “feeding off of whomever we chose?”

“We would rule the city,” Linda laughed, “and the humans would serve us in whatever way we wanted.”

“The other Covens would never agree,” Mike said.

“Leave them to me,” Linda said, tossing his clothes on the bed. “Just kill Jayne, or I will have to show those pictures to your brother.” Then, leaving the key where Mike could reach it, Linda and Steve left. Unnoticed by both vampires and the nearly naked Lycan something else left the room too, silently following the pair.

 
copyright 2011 Lisa McCourt Hollar. All rights reserved