Better off Undead

Chapter 55: The Temptation of Amber

There was darkness, followed by blinding white flashes of pain. A piercing and shrill electronic sounding whine slowly lowered in pitch and intensity until it became more of a dull hum. That hum then clarified further into individual voices.

She opened her eyes.

For a moment, she was very confused. Despite having opened her eyes, pretty much all she saw was darkness. Her eyes slowly adjusted, her senses slowly sharpened, and her vision slowly cleared. She began to see blurry shapes in that darkness, and eventually those shapes became definite objects. Finally she realized that her head was drooping into her chest, and she was staring down past her knees to the underside of a table.

She blinked past the headache, and let her head loll to the side so she could get a better look. Her heart pounded in her chest.

Seated across the table from her were two vampires.

Fully awake, she jerked her arms and legs into action. Unfortunately, unknown to her, those very limbs had been tied down to the chair, so despite all her strain she didn't budge an inch. She unwittingly let out a gasp as she stared down at her arm as though it had betrayed her. A thick, sturdy rope had been tied around it, anchoring it to the chair arm. And not just the one arm. Ropes were wrapped around her other arm, her legs, and even her chest, bolting her in place.

For some reason, it struck her as odd that the chair was wooden. It looked like something that came out of an antique mall. It was made all the more surreal by the room they were in. The walls and floors were entirely stone, and stalactites hung from the ceiling. Despite the two modern-looking doors set into two different walls that she could make out from her current position, she felt like she had fallen asleep and woken up in a fantasy novel.

"Ah, you're awake."

She turned her horrified expression in the direction of the voice. It had been one of the vampires that had spoken to her, the male, but they were both watching her. They smiled their shark-like grins at her, as if they were old friends who couldn't wait to eat her again. Her hand gripped tightly to the arm of the chair.

"What the hell am I doing here?" she asked. As she did, she noticed that Jay was to her right, and he seemed to be going through a similar waking process as she had just gone through. She looked around, but realized that none of the others were in the room.

"Where are the others?" she demanded.

The female vampire waved her hand dismissively. "Dead, of course," she replied, lazily. Amber's blood froze.

"Liar!" Jay declared, somewhat drunkenly.

Amber could only stare, particularly at the male vampire. There was something... eerily familiar about him, but she couldn't place it. Her hand gripped tighter on the chair arm.

The vampire laughed heartily. "Why would I need to lie?" she asked. "It's not like it matters to us. Well, I guess it matters a little. Waste of good food, really."

"Why are we alive?" Amber interjected.

"Now that is the important bit," the female replied. She rose and came around the table to their side. She leaned against the table, and then bent down to bring her face somewhat close to Jay's. She ran a long, skinny finger along his cheek, smiling. "What we want," she said, breathily, "is you."

Jay swallowed hard, conflicting emotions plaguing his insides. "Uh... wha... what?"

"It's simple," the male chimed in. "All living things need food to survive. We need food. Our food comes from you. Humans. And so we need you alive."