Rabid Mate (REWRITING A FEW CHAPTERS)

Chapter 1

Copyright © 2014 by Tanesha Galante
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing, 2010
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There's blood dripping into my eyes and rocks making deep gashes into the pads of my feet - I don't care. Low hanging branches from trees I sprint past are whipping me in the face and neck, a couple have gotten me in my open eyes. Still none of it mattered as much as the need to continue.

If I stop, I die.

 They're right behind me, I can hear them, feel them, see them when I glance back as their eyes glow like bloody beacons in the dark forrest behind me. In front of me is more forest, more trees, shrubbery, and rocks to gouge myself on. There's no where to hide, no way to escape, and panic crowds closer. The extra adrenaline pushes me faster. Somehow, I am fast enough to escape their grasps. It shouldn't be possible.

Before I started running, I had been dragged from the basement - my living space - into the kitchen for the sport of the vampires busy with a card game. I was a snack, whipping post, and whatever else they wanted me to be. Tobias, a mocha skinned vampire who was appointed as a sort of keeper to me, had thrown me on the kitchen floor near the sink, opposite the kitchen door. The table the vampires were sitting at was between me and the exit. Tobias' 6'4 inch lean yet muscular frame was to the right of the sink, in front of the fridge. To the left of me on the other wall was a counter and plenty of cabinet space - although the only food the cabinets held was a meager supply to keep me alive, if just barely. Above the sink was a small window, usually closed. Assuming it was, I didn't look behind me.

When I was first brought here over 2 years ago, I was constantly checking the windows for an opportunity to escape. And the doors. And even the cracks high on the basement walls, hoping maybe if I dug into them I'd end up outside. But not anymore. I'd investigated the cracks in the walls until my fingers bled and my fingernails broke completely off, and learned there's just always more cement. The windows near the ceiling of my living area were barred off with steel poles so thick I couldn't get my hand completely around them, and the other windows in the house were always closed, as well as the doors. I was always guarded, so even if they weren't I would never get away. I had given up and accepted that the rest of my life was going to be spent here, being used and abused until they decided to drain me. Or trade me.

I sat on the floor for almost 3 minutes before one of the vampires decided it was time to acknowledge my presence. It was Alexi, the only vampire at the table I was familiar with. At a meager 5'7 in comparison to his... friends, Alexi has shoulder length hair that is naturally the same crimson as his eyes.

When he turned to me, the other four vampires at the table followed suit. There were two brunettes, one almost drastically taller than the other, a blonde, and the last had jet black hair. All with the trademark red eyes.

All but one kept a stoic expression. The shorter brunette looked at me and gave me one of the most sinister grins I'd seen since becoming a prisoner.

"This, my friends, is Little Bitch. Not very useful around the house, but good for sport. Say hello, Little Bitch."

"Hello." I almost choke on the word, I'm so terrified. But I've learned many times over to obey Alexi when he speaks.

"Very good," he cooed at me, like I was a favored pet. Which I basically was. "Joshua here was telling me how he loves children. Preferably the young females who haven't yet matured completely. Why don't you sit on his lap and get to know him better?" Alexi smirks at me while he says this, and indicates the short brunette with the sinister smile.