Midnight Calls

The Midnight Call

Calls like this meant something had gone terribly wrong. An accident. A death. Or worse, a Templar. However, when Willow walked into the hotel room and saw Christina freshly showered, clothed, and neatly applying lipstick to her mouth in the living area, she knew exactly what happened. The smell of blood wafted in air and beyond the close door she could hear gurgling sounds. She didn't give the younger woman a moment to speak. Simply grabbed the startled thing by the collar of her shirt and slammed her against the wall.

"Is this a game to you?" She demanded, thudding the girl's head against the wall. "Do you think there aren't repercussions for something like this?"

"You can't treat me like this." Christina protested weakly. Willow responded with a savage slap to her face and then another with the back of her hand just because it felt good. Ben was in the room then, opening the door to the bedroom and letting out a low "Fuck" under his breath as he inspected the scene inside.

"He's too far, Willow. We can't do the normal gig on this." Ben rumbled in his deep baritone as he closed the door. "He's gonna need to be imprinted."

Christina shifted against Willow's hold in an attempt to look at Ben. "Well, I think--"

"You don't think." Willow snapped. "Do you know what this is?" She hissed at Christina as she attempted to speak, "I don't expect a proper response from you so I will just give you the answer. This is the action of a greedy and selfish little girl. Richard hasn't touched you since you've been turned, has he?" The woman stiffed in surprised and glared at Willow, which was answer in itself. "Thought as much. But you want to know why you really can't?" She roughly grabbed the woman by the shoulder and hauled her over to the door and shoved it open.

It wasn't a pretty sight. The poor man lay on the bed, wheezing in breaths, his eyes wide and shifting in a similar manner that trapped animals did. There was blood soaked into the bedding by his neck and shoulders, giving them a deep rich color that even dyes could not properly mimic. His throat had been torn out; only the magic in the turning was keeping him alive. Painfully alive. There was enough blood on the bedding and floor to show that had been drained completely and left defenses on the bed. Every time he let out a breath, she saw blood gently pump from this neck wound as his heart attempted to replace what was loss. She wouldn't completely blame Christina as this just show the lack of parenting of Richard. Seemed he had been too busy of last building up his harem rather than seeing to his duties as a Dominus. She prayed to every god she knew of to somehow turn his collection against him and let her watch as they rip him apart. It was serve the little shit right.

Christina was struggling against her hold, battering at the older woman like a child to giant for all the effect it had. Willow grabbed a large amount of Christina's golden locks with her free hand and forced her to look at the man on the bed. "This is why you can't. Because you can't deal with the dirty aspect of this. You are irresponsible and spoiled. Did you think we would come here, clean him up for you, and then present him like a new puppy? No." She tripped the blond onto the floor where the blood soaked into the pristine white carpet beneath. It had the effect she wanted as the younger woman whined and scurried back with the man's blood covering her hands.

Ben caught Christina as he leveled a warning look at Willow. He could do that to her, keep her from going into a full rage with a look. She liked to think it was the look and not the fact he was a Michael Duncan double when it came to size. He spoke softly to Christina as Willow turned away to cooled her temper. She listened with half an ear as Ben continued his questions, walking over to inspect the young man. His panicked eyes focused on her and she murmured soft reassuring words to him, brushing her hand against his cheek. Much in the same manner she once done to calm startled horses. It worked the same in time, his breaths slowing and frame relaxing. Pulling in a deep breath of her own, she let his scent of sand, wind and incense from his skin slip through her nose and deep into her lungs.

"Here on vacation?" She asked. He gave a small nod, winching at the movement. She grimaced and took a moment to pull up the blanket to cover the lower half of his body to give him some dignity before going to the door. Ben was talking on his cell as Christina sat in one of the chairs looking every bit the guilty dog she was. Calmer now, Willow felt a little ashamed of her earlier outburst. All that Buddhist training just out the window at the flip of a switch, but in her defense she hadn't been a vampire when she was a monk. Turning changed you. Sometimes small, sometimes big. She considered herself lucky to have only gained anger management issues.

The clipping sound of Ben's cell closing brought her attention back to him. "I called Eric, but other than you and me, no one else is close by. Could you. . ." He trailed off, looking at her with his unspoken question in his eyes.

"Baleh." She said with a nod.

"You sure?"

"Like riding a bike, no?" She said, shrugging a shoulder. "I'll take care of it. Just send the cleaners in after we leave."

He nodded and reached down to gently pull Christina up by her elbow. "Come along, little miss. We are going to go for a ride." They left the room with Ben's hand at the small of Christina's back and the final click of the door sliding shut behind them. Shaking her head slowly, Willow walked back into the room. She was carefully to sit on the bed so she wouldn't stain her clothes as she rolled up the cuff of her shirt.

"I'm sorry this happen to you. It normally doesn't happen this way. There are... procedures. Rules that we follow." Lifting her wrist to her mouth, she allowed her teeth to sink into the flesh, blood welling up around her mouth. She noted how his eyes quickly darted to it. She held it a ways from his mouth as she continued speaking. "In situation like these, we have steps to take to dispose of you, but" She looked at him and decided to not mention Christina has waited too long to call at that moment, "You are just too pretty to die. The good news is you won't have to be buried and then dug up later. You drink, shower, dress and then disappear with me. I want to tell you about the Imprinting. It's like a ducking thinking the first thing it sees is its mother." She hesitated a moment. "It'll be intense, but will go away in time. Survival instinct." She let out a breath and lowered her wrist to his mouth. "You'll pretty much be joining a new country, only there's no flag and we don't go outside much during the day."

There was a chuffing sound from his chest, which she assumed was him laughing. She waited for him to open his mouth before fully pressing her wrists to it. He was hesitant at first, only licking at her wrist before pulling at the wound. He was holding her wrist with both hands to his mouth and she had a moment of light headedness after several long moments allowing him to drink as much as he could so he could recover quickly.

"Stop." She blurted as her vision started to darken around the edges. He did instantly, pulling away to look up at her. Looking at him, she saw the wound of his neck was sealing up, leaving behind pink new tissue in its wake. There would a scar there. His last scar after tonight. Standing she motioned him to the bathroom and he went without a word. Making herself comfortable in front to the TV, she licked her wrist clean as she waited for him to shower and dress, her mind drifting off.

"Should I take anything?" He said pulling her attention to him. He was dressed in relaxing clothing and holding his wallet and passport in his hands.

"Take a personal item if you wish, but not much else. The Cleaners will need it for later." She stood and stretched with a groan and went to the door. "Let's go. My TVO recorded today's Breaking Bad. We can watch that while sipping on some O-pos as we wait for a call from Eric."

"Yes, Domina." He said and followed her unquestionably out the door and into the night.