Blood Silence

Chapter one: Caine and Adalyne

The doors of the elevator slowly opened as the single passenger thought seriously of staying inside the small, safe room and heading back down to leave the luxurious building. Gathering her courage and reminding herself of her desperate need for cash as motivation, the girl timidly stepped forward to face the entrance of the penthouse apartment. Despite her worst fears a tall,incredibly handsome man dressed in a white shirt and black leather pants answered the door. He looked like a rock star, maybe this won’t be too bad after all, she thought to herself.

“Hi, I’m Charlotte…from the agency.”

“Hello Charlotte from the agency, come in, my name is Caine.”

Stepping into the penthouse apartment was like stepping into the past. Modern design furniture mixed with art deco accessories and abstract paintings that she swore were by guys she had seen on museum tours.

“Wow, this is some crib ya’ got here.”

Caine turned and walked slowly into the bedroom ofhis New York penthouse apartment; removing his shirt as he walked and casually dropping it at the foot of the bed like some stripper teasing his audience.

“I guess you guys got a lot of time to collect all this nice stuff, huh?” asked the girl nervouslylooking around and not really expecting an answer.

“You know what I expect then, Charlotte”

“Oh yeah, Lydia told me all about what you guys like, I mean the blood an all. You want me to get undressed?”

“You’re not frightened?” Caine asked his back still turned to the girl.

“Maybe a little, Lydia said you won’t drink too much.”

"Well then, by all means; in the buff it is."

“Oh yeah, sure thing, hun.”

The girl removed her clothes and stood naked before the vampire, Gideon Caine.

Caine sat on the edge of the bed and admired the girls youthful body. Long legs with incredibly slim ankles, radiant red hair cascaded down over white shoulders and long beautiful neck. Then the girl saw a blur and suddenly his arms were around her naked body.

The blood ran two red rivulets down the heaving breasts of the excited young girl, like hot lava burst free from the angry mouth of a mountain. Caine could feel the wondrous pulsing of her heart, like a distant drum beating in the quiet of the night. He rose slowly from the bed and felt the surge of fresh blood run through his long dead veins causing the flesh of his limbs to slightly convulse and shiver with the reminiscence of life he had just taken. Visions of the past ran through his mind like dreams escaping an uneasy subconscious as the world came into a crystalline focus. No other sensation compared to these moments of feeding ecstasy. The dullness of his melancholic existence became accelerated as all his senses tuned with the shadowy universe he had come to cherish in these rare moments of incontestable pleasure. Not even the droaning span of centuries on end could dull the ecstasy of feeding.

“Is that it?” asked the girl propping herself up against the headboard.

“You sound like a virgin complaining that it was all over too quickly” Caine laughed.

“Don’t ya’ want to do anything else? I mean… I thought there would be more, that’s all. I thought I would feel something more.” said the girl searching for the right words.

Charlotteswung her shapely legs over the edge of the canopied divan and began to look at her long naked body in the mirror across from the bed. She dabbed at the two punctures that showed crimson against the white skin of her breast and wondered if a little makeup would cover them so she could go on working through the night. Caine ignored her and walked to the window, gazing out over the city he had come to know so well. He could feel the girl’s eyes on him as he leisurely moved across the room. He stood well over six feet tall, well muscled and moved like a dancer. Most women found him irresistible but he most often preferred to use professional girls who knew what he wanted and didn’t struggle as he took it from them. A few centuries of playing blood games had made the act somewhat wearisome but the allure of the heady elixir of red life was compelling beyond measure.

“I thought you guys didn’t like mirrors, garlic and shit like that.” The girl said as she ran her fingers through her long, wavy, redhair. Caine rose and began dressing, he had heard it all before. Those humans who acknowledged the existance of vampires were insatiably curious about them.

“Your money is on the table. Take it and go.” He murmured , feeling somewhat irriated by the girls simple curiosity. Like the few awkward moments after sex on a one night stand, he felt embarassed by his surrender to the power of his own lust and wanted to escape the girl's presence as soon as possible.

“Look, I didn’t mean anything by it, I just thought it would take longer that’s all. The other girls said it was a real rush and well, you’re a good looking guy and all. Anyway this girl Lydia said she likes it better than sex. Not that that’s surprising considering how much time she spends on her back an all.” The girl rambled on still staring at herself in the mirror.

“Brevity should be a good thing in your line of work. What do they call it nowadays? Tapping the Blood bank?”

“This was my first time, with one of you guys. Jeez, I’m afraid of needles much less fangs, no offense but my mother is sick Ya’ know, and I…

Caine’s incredibly quick movement caused the girl to witness only the blur of his body as he shifted across the room. He grabbed the trembling young woman by the throat and lifted her high overhead, her hair scraping the ceiling and her legs kicking uncontrollably in his deadly grasp.

“If you want more you have to give more, shall we venture down that dark road together then? Caine growled, his eyes glowing a slight reddish hue as the girl’s unsullied blood and his anger rushed trough his veins.

“Please! I didn’t mean anything…please!”

Caine dropped the girl and once again turned towards the window; staring out into the dark.

“Get out!”He shouted.

Caine could hear the frightened call girl scrambleto gatherher things and run to door, still naked and stumbling on her way; too terrified to say anything more. The door slammed behind her and Caine hoped she had fully dressed before she ran down the long hallway to the building elevators. What would the neighbors think?

“Hello, Gideon.” came a seductive female voice from across the room.

“I don’t use my first name anymore, call me Caine, Adalyne.”

"Were you watching?"

"I hope you don't mind, so erotic, don't you agree?" said the vampiress edging closer.

“You look flushed, Caine,…was that your latest “lick”? How was she?”

“Lick? Where do get that hip, dip vampire dialogue anyway? Did I miss the updated Vampy Dictionary everybody seems to be quoting from these days?” Caine said smiling.

“Com’on, lover….don’t be mean to me, we haven’t seen each other in almosta century. Didn’t you miss me, even a little?” she whispered as she sidled up to Caine’s firm body and stroked his long dark hair.

“As I remember it, the last time we spoke you left me chained to a dungeon wall.” Caine replied.

“Well that’s true, but a girl’s got to look out after herself and the Count had a great deal of gold he was only too pleased to squander on little ‘ole me.”

“Enough chit chat, what do you want, Adalyne?”

“Ephiaus wants to see you…tonight!”

“Since when have you become Ephiaus’ dog?”

“Since he imprisoned Balto and Kilbayne and became head of the council.”

“Ephiaus always was an ambitious bastard but I didn’t think he had the brains to outwit Balto. How did he manage it?”

“Let’s just say Balto had developed a weakness for somewhat underage newbies. Ephiaus set a slow blood poison in several of his nubile little friends and soon it was… bye, bye Balto.”

“Balto is gone?”

“No, Ephaius wasn't confident enough to end Balto but he’ll be crypted for quite awhile until he can renew himself. Ephiaus told the Brethern he did it because he respected Balto, but I think he was just to chicken shit. Beside Balto still has a great many loyal followers amongst the family. Crypting him up and letting him rot was the smarter move, don’t you agree?” Adrayne slowly circled Caine and caressed his still damp flesh, leaving tiny trails of blood dripping from her long green fingernails.

“And, Kilbayne?”

“That was a more sophisticated affair; perhaps you can ask Ephiaus yourself when you meet face to fang.” She smiled coquettishly.

Caine slowly dressed as Adalyne watched, her green eyes drinking in his long, lean, frame and remembering the many nights of unadulterated pleasure she had felt at the hands of her long time aficionado. Her tongue flicked at the sharp points of her fangs and she smiled the smile so many men had seen as they surrendered themselves to her seemingly infinite blood lust.

“Tell Ephiaus I’ll meet him at the Spire Club tomorrow at eight o’clock.”

“He won’t like that Caine, he’s the head of the council. When he summons one of the Brethren he doesn’t take tomorrow for an answer!”

“And what will you do, Adalyne? Have you the means to enforce your master’s dictates?”

Caine turned to face the woman in black and clenched his fists as if awaiting Adalyne’s charge. He had seen her disembowel a man in less time than it takes to blink an eye. He wasn’t sure how far their long time relations would go with this perfect killer. Caine saw Adalyne’s eyes go from a fiery red to their usual hypnotic green as she thought better of her rage.

“Tomorrow at eight, Spire Club, don’t be late lover. I don’t think Ephaius will send someone nearly as forgiving as me the next time he summons you”

“You let me worry about Ephiaus.”