Dark Ecstasy

θΘ Dark Ecstasy θΘ

Chapter One

'One shot of tequila. No wait, make it a double,' I grinned at the barman and tried to recall his name. He had told me earlier, however the name was lost in a haze of cosmopolitans, cocktails and vodka on the rocks. I love a little variety now and then.

'Don't you think you had anough, lil lady?' he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at me. 'You ain't drivin' I hope?'

'No Rodrigo, I ain't. Hit me with another, por favor,' I took a stab at his name.

'It's Dario,' he said, smiling despite himself.

I knew he would have stopped me a long time ago if it hadn't been for the fact that this dive bar had few customers and I was probably the most attractive woman who'd walked into this smoke-choked place the whole damn night. Don't get me wrong, I'm hardly vain, being attractive is not a skill or something to be proud of. It's more of a tool to get what you want from a man. Blonde mid-length hair, chocolate brown eyes, long legs and short shorts can work wonders with the right people. And I'm all for taking advantage if it serves my purpose.

'An' what's your name, or shall I call you lil lady all night?' he asked, handing me my shot which I downed fast. It hit me almost immediately and I smiled lazily.

'Someone's cocky, you and me ain't happening ever. I'm a respectable lady you know, way outta your league,' I responded, reaching into my bag and pulling out a compact mirror. As I powdered my nose, I saw the man behind me keeping steady watch as he sipped his beer slowly. Damn, should've known one would come for me here. So much for letting my hair down.

'Come on, what's your name?' the barman asked, leaning forward onto the bar and pouting a little. I grimaced, a man pout was a definite turn off.

'Alexia,' I replied. There, that was it. The beer drinker's eyebrows raised slightly as I spoke. He knew who I was and I knew what he wanted. I smiled at the barman, snapped shut my mirror and approached the beer drinker. His face flickered to downright terrified for a second, before masking into a confident leer.

'Hey there darling, you drinking alone here?' the man said. I studied his face for a moment. Brown, dull eyes, a dusting of day-old stubble, spiked dark hair and an average build. Nothing special and I didn't recognise him, it seems I had met Mr. Average. His eyebrows rose, impatient for my reply and I gave him a coy smile.

'Not now,' I replied and he winked as I grabbed a seat near to him.

'Want another drink?' he asked.

I paused. I had already drunk way more than I should have but what could one more do? Except maybe give me a little more warm happiness to slow down all the millions of unthinkable thoughts swirling around in my head.

“Sure, why the hell not,' I said and he leant forward to kiss me, his hand snaking onto my inner thigh. His moves were fast and my sluggish reactions pulled me back too late. My skin crawled from that sensation of cool, moist lips against mine and a distant part of me asked what the hell I was doing. This was not how I worked, and every second that passed I was getting into deeper shit.

A few seconds later, he returned from the bar, placing my drink in front of me. I stared at it and I felt his eyes watching me. It was spiked, it must be. I leant forward and whispered:

'Forget the drink. Your place or mine?'

He smiled although it did not reach his eyes.

'Yours honey, wanna go now?'

I stood, went to the bar and tipped Dario for the drinks and left. He followed me, footsteps soft against the concrete. I listened intently as I moved, heading for the dark car park. As I heard him halt, I turned to the side and kicked out exactly where I thought his right hand should be. Spot on. A blade clattered to the ground and he cursed with pain from my kick. I didn't let him recover, instead snapping out a second kick to his crotch. That made him yell. He fell backwards and I leapt onto him, straddling him with a blade of my own. I held it against his throat and he breathed quickly, almost hyperventilating.

'Why do you bastards keep coming for me?' I growled, pressing the sharp edge against his skin. 'I'm frankly sick and tired of it.' I pressed the blade further into his neck, at first unwilling to make this a quick death.

'Please! No, I never meant-'

I slashed his throat deeply and he disintegrated to ash. I didn't like when they begged, acted as if they were people remorseful for their actions. You believe that and you're a goner. You have to be every bit as heartless as they are and never show mercy. It is them or me.

Outside was cool with a faint smell of smoke hanging in the air. It helped sober me up a bit and I stood for a while, enjoying the ambience. For some reason, my thoughts turned to the first one I killed, when I was naive and stupid. It was on the day of my mother's funeral, I'd been fifteen and she'd died in a blaze while I was at school. While she screamed as the flames burnt her up, I'd been stuck in history class. And you know how it happened? She accidently left a pan on the hob after making me pancakes for breakfast. So yeah, a few days later, after the funeral, I had gone in the evening to visit her grave and apologise. It felt as if it was my fault she'd died and I couldn't change what had happened... I didn't see him come at first, I was knelt at her grave, oblivious to anything besides my own guilt.

'Alexia Rivers?' my head snapped up and I saw an anaemic blond man dressed in a loose-fitting black suit. He had a long scar criss-crossing his drawn face and he stood with both hands resting in his pockets. He was a complete stranger to me.

'Yes?' I'd replied, rising to my feet.

'Excellent,' he'd said and smiled, two sharp canines popping out. At first I gawped like an idiot. Not every day you see a vampire after all. When he moved towards me, instead of doing the smart thing and running, I punched him smack in the nose. That stunned him and I ran, streaking away like my life depended on it, which I guess it did. As I dashed away, I spotted an empty glass beer bottle lying on the ground, and grabbed it, smashing it against the cemetery wall. He caught up to me soon after, and I held it behind my back as he punched my face. God, that killed, he had put a lot of strength in it.

'Stupid little bitch, I was gonna give you a clean death but not now!' he snarled and threw me onto the ground. I gasped in agony as I landed on the arm holding the broken bottle, glass shards cutting up my back. I still have the scars now. He pushed my head to the side and bit into my neck, his body weight heavy and holding me in place.

I still had the broken bottle in hand and after worming my right arm out from underneath me, I used all of my strength to propel the sharp, broken end into his neck. He screamed and I twisted it, pulled it away and shoved it back in, over and over until a rain of ash sprinkled all over me. I blacked out after. Ever since then, they've come for me. Just like tonight.

I glanced at the bar. Get a victory drink or go home? Tough decision. Then I figured if anyone deserved a little something to steady their nerves, it was me. I went back inside and ordered a rum and coke. Why not, the danger was over right?




Chapter Two

I left the bar at 2a.m. and walked shakily home. The one drink had turned into several and the night seemed to spin away from me. A wave of nausea caused me to double over but I wasn't sick, I handled my drink way better than I used to. Ha, I know what you think, 'she doesn't realise that she's an alcoholic'. You're wrong, I know full well what I am, known for a long time now. It's the only thing that gets me through, blunts the pain of my own thoughts. We all have our vices, well, alcohol is mine. The night was too cold, I'd left my jacket in the bar, but I couldn't go back for it. I could barely walk, and I smiled broadly. Might as well enjoy the high.

'Grab her,' a gruff voice behind me and my legs gave way. I had intended to drop to a squat, but the alcohol had wacked out my coordination. I hit the concrete painfully and cursed, then they were on me. They grabbed my arms before I could reach for my pistol, and twisted them up behind me, using handcuffs to keep them there.

'Are you fuckin' kiddin' me? Handcuffs? I'm so gonna beat your asses for this,' I heard my mouth talking, even though it didn't feel like my mind was directing what it said.

'Gag her, she's pissing me off already,' the gruff man spoke again and suddenly a cloth rag was being stuffed into my mouth. I squirmed and tried to kick out, but it was no good. They had me. I tried to get a look at my assailants and probable soon-to-be murderers but both wore balaclavas. I could only tell that there were two, and both male. One about six foot, the other roughly five foot eight.

'Stick her in the van,' the taller one said and got into the driver's side of a white van that I hadn't even noticed earlier.

Everything went black as the shorter one pulled a hood over my head. I was bundled into the van and I fell on my knees. The man was right between me and the back doors, blocking my exit even if I did develop Houdini skills. The shock was beginning to sober me up but not quick enough, I felt the van speeding and the sharp turns it took, but I couldn't keep track of them or picture where I was being taken to. The man ran his hands over my body, uncaring of my muffled protests and took my pistol and a hidden knife in my pocket. Fuck. At least he didn't get my...the man groped around my breasts, fingers under my bra and I shook my head desperately. He pulled out my last knife and I was unarmed; feeling violated.

The journey couldn't end soon enough. I hoped they'd kill me quick but I knew chances were great that they'd have their fun with me first. The man with me yanked me upwards so I was standing and walked me out as the other opened the back doors.

I heard the crunch of trainers against gravel and then we were moving into a cold, draughty area. I could tell the place was large with a high roof from the way sounds echoed, the ground was smooth concrete. I was pushed ungraciously into a solid chair and I felt them tying me to it. I had given up trying to work out what they wanted from me.

Once they had me securely fixed in place, one pulled off the hood and took the rag gagging me out of my mouth. The bright glare blinded me for a few seconds before I saw a man standing directly in front of me. We seemed to be in an abandoned warehouse and I groaned as I realised who it was that stood before me.

“Tre Connor... what you ran out of vamps so decided to come after me now? Or are you just suicidal?” I coughed, throat dry from the gag and dehydrating alcohol. Tre motioned to one of the men and they brought over a glass of water, holding it to my mouth. I drank deeply, not bothering to worry if anything was in it, I was pretty much at their mercy anyway.

'Alexia, I would like to ask a favour of you but considering your reputation for killing first, never asking questions later, I needed to take some precautions.' he said, glancing at the pistol he held by his side.

'And so this is your fine way to butter me up?' I glanced around, noticing there were several men watching, all carrying firearms. 'So many guns for one small girl, are you compensating for something here?'

He grinned. 'I don't think so, maybe some day you'll find out. But Alexia, I wouldn't call you a small girl.'

'What would you call me?' I replied.

'Talented, shrewd, independent and also somewhat of an alcoholic. You're a natural killer, that's something we share. I never understood why you won't work with us.'

'You can keep on not understanding too. I have my reasons.'

'We both kill vampires, we're on the same side, Alex,' Tre persisted and I was starting to lose my patience.

'Do not call me Alex, I am Alexia to you. The difference between us is that I do what I must to stay alive, you just rush in like a goddamn fool looking for vamps to kill. You chose this life, I never have and I never will.'

Tre squatted down in front of me and looked down for a few minutes, before meeting my gaze.

'I know your life hasn't been easy, Alexia and I know you've lost a lot of people-'

'What the hell do you want from me?' I cut in fiercely. Fake sympathy maddens me more than anything, except perhaps genuine sympathy.
'I want you sober. Then I need you to help me locate Adrien Dunaz.'

I looked at him for one long moment before dissolving into peals of laughter. Man, the drink had really gone to my head if I thought he was saying what I thought he was.

'And then you wanna go dancing on the moon right?' I asked, still giggling.

'The first part we'll help you with, it won't be easy but you can give it up Alexia, fight the hold it has over you. You're heading for complete oblivion, the way you're going.'

'What is this, a bloody AA meeting now? I thought you kill vampires, not booze addictions.'

Tre lost his temper. It was the first time I'd seen him do so, I must've struck a nerve.

'I will kill whatever I have to, to get you to help me,' he snarled, gripping the arms of my chair so tight that the knuckles of his hands stood out white.

'You think I'm going to be that suicidal to go up against one of the oldest vampires in existence, just because you asked nicely? If you want him so much, do it yourself,' I said, rolling my eyes.

'He has my brother, Alexia,' Tre spoke in a low tone. 'I need you to help me, I can't take him alone. You are the only other person I know that would stand a chance. Please, Cam's my family.'

I blinked in surprise. Tre admitting that he couldn't kill something was a pretty rare occurrence. He was the best vamp killer that I'd encountered, I wasn't sure I'd win if we ever came up against each other. I fight dirty however, so I knew at least I'd give him a challenge. He seemed genuine but I knew better than to trust his word.

'And what do I get out of it?' I replied.

'What do you want out of it?' Tre said and I frowned as I thought.

'Enough money so I can stop working those crappy bar jobs and your protection from vampires or anyone else gunning for me. Don't get me wrong, I won't be working with you, I just want some back-up. And Tre?'

'Yeah?'

'Get me the hell outta these restraints and return my weapons. Now.'