Lay Me To Sleep

Chapter Eleven - The Devil You Know

I awoke to the sound of high pitched screams and the rattling of a door handle.

There I lay in my coffin, half awake, and I hear screaming... Of all things.

I could feel it in my bones. The sun had gone down maybe a half hour ago. It was safe to come out I thought. I must see what all the screaming was about.

As I climbed out of bed, I could hear heavy footsteps above me. I was underground, in the basement. So I knew it could only of been Louie walking around up there. Nina was hopefully still fast asleep, as I heard no accompanying footsteps.

"Please...please God... Oh God.. No..no. ..please...Open..open..." And the door stayed shut.

Now I remembered what I did last night. I remembered the poor girl I had picked up after I tucked Nina into bed. She now stood at the end of a dark hallway near a door. This door would lead to two more locked doors before it would lead to a flight or two of stairs, stairs that would then lead up to the main floor. The floor that Nina and Louis were presently on.

Oh, imagine that.... I had the keys.

The girl struggling with the door handle had started to become the most irritating sound I had ever heard. A sound of which I would need to neutralize immediately.

She hadn't known I was behind her until it was too late.

"Evening." I said aloud behind her, with arms crossed.

She whipped her head around quickly to face me before she took off running in another direction and down another hallway. She wouldn't get far though, there was only one door for her to leave through and she wouldn't be going through that door breathing.

All of the extra hallways down here were used as storage areas or to confuse my meals if I ever felt like dinner on the run. This one put up quite a fight last night, this I did remember. She reminded me of Nina- that's why I chose her.

I often would ponder of a life with Nina; often would dream or fantasize about her- her luscious lips. I never dreamed when I was turned vampire, in fact I hadn't had a dream since I was human. The first dream I had since being a vampire, was of Nina.

She was in the middle of the street, in Paris. Just below me. I was watching her walk through the streets from a window above. She walked with no one but herself and seemed elegant in doing so. I followed her. She somehow knew I was there as I saw her round a corner of an alleyway and then disappear. I followed after her quickly, looking around for her. She then proceeded to tap me on the shoulder to my surprise then leaned in to kiss me passionately. She moaned as I pushed her up against the wall and grabbed her by her hair. She was enjoying this as much as I was. Then I heard fangs extended and my lip began to bleed. I pulled away for a second to see glowing blue orbs and elongated canines. She was like me, and she pulled it off nicely. She was perfect. She was always perfect to me but now I really wanted her, in every sense of the word. When I thought of her, the world seemed to stop and my mind quieted. For all I could think about were her beautiful words and her "Goodnight Lestat"'s. She made me feel mad and sane at the same time.

I was pulled from my reverie when something heavy hit me in the head.

The girl I had trapped down here had managed to find an old book of Louie's and proceeded to smack me repeatedly whilst shouting "No" over and over again. This frustrated me. As she tried to bring the book down on me again I snatched it from the air with my supernatural speed and had her pinned against the wall.

She let out a string of profane language in French as I held her in my arms. Then she screamed.

"Scream all you wish woman. It won't matter, you'll only go hoarse. No one will save you." I got closer to her face and held her mouth as I leaned into her ear. I whispered sweet nothings to try and calm her before I told her she would die here and to accept this. She was crying now and pounding on my chest, all of which were quite pointless and annoying. I wiped her tears away and leaned in as if I was about to kiss her. She looked surprised, quickly it all ended here as I moved from her face and aimed for her throat. She gasped as I bit down- hard. Her gasp turned into another scream that faded out to harsh gasps from time to time. At which point, I had her laid out on the stone floor and in my lap. She was still holding on, but fading fast. I had drained her to the point of death and had a good time doing it. I released her throat and laid her head in my lap gently. She looked around with horrified eyes as she found out she was to weak to move- to weak to run away from me. I looked down at her and smirked, as I played with her blonde hair. I was the last thing she saw before her blue eyes glazed over.

I wiped my bloodied mouth and pulled her corpse over my shoulder. I walked back to my coffin and laid her on the floor near it. I would dispatch her after I was sure Nina was asleep the next night. Nina could not know of mine and Louie's secret just yet. In due time I would tell her, when I was sure she wanted me as much as I wanted her. As I looked down I remembered my keys were in my pocket. I shut my coffin and put a sheet over, the now mangled, body of the woman. I wondered for a brief second what her name was, before it came to me from her blood memories- Kate. It was Kate, such a lovely name. Poor thing, I thought as I smirked. This was the way it was. I will do as in my nature to do, I will survive. No reason why survival couldn't be a little fun though, right?

I took my keys and unlocked the first and then the other two doors and then locked them behind me. I put the keys back into my pocket. I traveled up the stairs and went to go greet Nina and Louis a "good morning". Nina smiled genuinely at me but Louis only nodded. I knew he had to of heard what I did with the girl- I mean Kate, in the basement. She had no idea though. The only reason Louis knew was because he had a vampire's hearing ability, Nina did not. I could do this as often as I wanted and no one would know but Louis- who obviously did not approve. A smirk grew on my face as I looked to him.

"Somebody's happy this evening." Nina said questioningly.

" You have no idea." I said as I kissed her on the forehead and proceeded into the parlor. I could feel a smile start to dance across that beautiful face. She was mine.