Christmas Consort

Terror Better Than RED Bull

"You little bitch," Lara leapt onto the sofa at a dizzying speed. "You like him."

Kylie blanched, "What? No!"

"Deny it all you want. You think I can't smell your excitement? It wafts off you right along with the fear. I can't blame you." Lara hopped up and began slinking around the room. "The sexy way his hair falls almost to one eye." She flexed her hands and hopped onto his chair. "The power that courses through him. I can't wait to be that strong."

Kylie thought that was a fairly dismal prospect considering how easily Lara overpowered her even in an injured state. Should she flatter Lara's strength? Appeal to her vanity and desires? Before she could pursue the thought the vampire jumped from the chair to the sofa landing softly beside Kylie and grabbing a fistful of her hair.

"Don't go getting any ideas," the female spoke through gritted teeth. "I'd hate to have to kill you before my plan comes to fruition."

Kylie tried to shake her head but the vampire's grip was firm.

"Although, now that you're here," she released Kylie's hair and pet her again. "...my plan A has a plan B that will serve equally as well." She rubbed her hands together, "And the best part is that both can be pursued simultaneously. What do you say?"

That you're an absolute lunatic, Kylie wanted to say. Instead she blinked and held her tongue.

"Plan A. After the consorting tomorrow night, I'll go out and leave you two alone. You, my pretty little vixen, will work your feminine wiles, or at least what you have of them, on Silas. Understand this," she jabbed Kylie's shoulder. "Your only goal is to get him to feed off you. Nothing else and not until after the consorting. Then everything may take care of itself." Lara's smile spread wide and slim reminding Kylie of a lizard about to eat a bug.

"Plan B. I'll convince him my future happiness depends on having a sister," she coiled a section of Kylie's hair around one finger. "You will, of course, appear more amenable to that than you appeared to be tonight or so help me," she grabbed Kylie's face with both hands, "I will put my thumbs through both your eyes, heal you with my venom, and do it again, just because I can. Do you understand?"

Kylie nodded and swallowed a lump in her throat. There was no room for doubt in her mind. This chick would follow through on her threats and do more if she felt like it.

"Now," Lara hopped to her feet, " I'll go finish locking up the house. Can't have our star player trying to scurry away, can we?"

If there was a way to scurry, run or crawl out of this situation, Kylie vowed to find it. Whatever misplaced notions of obligation she felt toward the Man in Black, finding him wasn't worth spending another minute with the...was the vampire a psychopath or sociopath? Kylie thought she was mixing the two up. Either way it was all bad all around and she had made a discovery. Terror was better than Red Bull at keeping her awake all night.

The nature of the odd shutters became clear as Lara opened the windows in toward the house, pulled the metal and twisted their handle. When the vampire headed up the stairs presumably to continue closing them, Kylie scrambled over to her cell phone. There were no bars and not a single wi-fi, secure or otherwise, in range to register. Welcome to the boonies, Kylie thought.

She glanced at the front door and thought about how the male stopped to ask about her car keys. Had he? He hadn't. She was sure. He had walked right out and left the front door unlocked. Banging upstairs continued. Kylie's shaky knees wobbled under her as she went as quietly as she could to the front door. It was now or never.

The knob turned slowly without sound, and the crisp air burst through the widening gap thrusting the door open. Kylie stepped and and slowly pushed the door closed releasing the latch gently.

Off the porch in a moment, she stumbled, walked and then finally ran toward the thickest area of trees. Never mind how they kept sliding side to side like a forest pendulum. There had to be places to hide, and getting distance between herself and the mad creature in the house was the only priority. With her cell phone gripped in one hand, she worked forward for a distance, checked service and tromped through trees again searching for elusive service. She heard a resounding screech from the house that pricked her skin and robbed her thoughts.

She tripped through under growth and fell hard hitting her forearms on a log. The phone bounced away, its light buried under leaves. Kylie swept her hands around through sticks, pine cones, and leaves, scratching herself till she felt the phone, grabbed it up and held it to her chest. Kylie's own panting and noisy escape had covered the sound that she now heard. Pursuit. Was I that loud?

A dip in the forest floor near a log provided what she hoped was a good enough hiding place. Quietly as possible, she crawled forward into it.

"I can still smell your blood in my nostrils," her pursuer shouted. "Do you think I can't track you?"

Kylie took a chance on the mobile's light, looking for and praying for a signal. One bar flickered. She heard the breaking of branches nearer.

"Come out, come out wherever you are."

Kylie pushed 9-1- and then Lara was on her. The slap rocked her head sideways and sent her sprawling into a leafless bush. Blood sprayed the phone screen as Kylie coughed and pressed the last one. When Lara jerked her back to her feet by the hair, Kylie pressed the green call button behind her back.

"Oh, your blood." Lara licked Kylie's face. "How can they expect me to go without such sweet delights.

This time Kylie thought she knew what was coming as the vampire threw her head back, bared her fangs and sank them into Kylie's neck. The force of the attack threw Kylie back onto the ground, knocking her scream and her wind out of her body. Kylie pressed send and flung the phone further into the woods as fangs jerked on her neck with every suck. What good was 9-1-1 if she was dead?

The lashing pain faded as Kylie's limbs flopped heavily onto the dry leaf covered ground. She tried to speak, to protest the cold death creeping in as the trees above began turn in circles around them. She was melting away into the earth, too heavy for the dirt to hold her up.

"What about the plan?" she tried to say though nothing seemed to come out. The plan. The plan. The plan, was the last thing she remembered.