Summary: Chloe wakes up changed in The Baron’s dungeon. A mysterious stranger rescues her.
Chloe woke up surrounded by inky black darkness. She tried to sit up in bed but her head smacked against a hard surface instead.
What the…
She reached out in all directions, feeling out her surroundings, and started to panic as she realized she was stuck in a wood box. She felt a fury rise in her like she’d never felt before, animal instinct overtaking her rational mind completely.
A scream erupted from her throat, but she didn’t feel in control of her own voice. Her limbs thrashed wildly, and the wood box shattered from the force, splinters flying everywhere. She squinted her eyes shut against the relatively bright light of the cell she found herself in.
I feel…wrong.
She sat on the floor, staring at her own hands, trying to piece together what had happened. Her new job…The Baron…him attacking her in his office…sucking her blood.
Well that can’t be right…pull it together Chloe. He might be a creep but it’s not like he’s a vampire or something. He must have drugged me.
Panic started to set in again as she looked around at her cell, trying to see a way out of her predicament. She felt her self control slipping away…more screaming…more thrashing…pounding on the bars with impossible strength, bending them but not nearly enough to escape.
“Shhhhh.” She heard a voice quietly shushing her and looked around to find the source of it. She spotted a dark figure at the end of the long corridor – how can I even hear him from so far away? – and in the darkness she could just barely make out his finger moving to his lips, gesturing for her to keep quiet. A second later she heard heavy footsteps approaching from the other direction, walking down stairs from the sound of it.
A long, lean figure rounded the corner, and Chloe breathed a sigh of relief to see that it wasn’t The Baron. The tall man gave her a broad smile that made her skin crawl.
“You’re awake,” he said without emotion, “The Baron will be most pleased to hear that you’ve survived the day.”
“What…” he turned and walked away, ignoring her. Desperate, she called after him. “Wait! I’m so thirsty! I need water!”
“It’s not water you need.” The mysterious man from the end of the hallway was suddenly just outside her cell. He pulled out a few small tools and went to work on the lock.
“What do you mean by that? Who are you?” He ignored her as he worked at picking the lock. “Hey…why are you helping me? What’s happening?”
He looked up at her with a smirk as the lock clicked open. “We’re leaving; that’s what’s happening.” He slid the door open and took her hand, leading her back into the dim hallway.
Footsteps. The two of them both stopped dead in their tracks as they heard at least two people approaching from the same direction they were trying to flee. “Try to stay calm,” the man whispered to Chloe. “You need to avoid losing control, OK?”
Chloe nodded, trying to choke down her own panic. Everything felt so intense, yet unreal – I must still be a little drugged up.
He let go of her hand and stepped forward, unsheathing the katana he carried on his back as he walked stealthily towards the footsteps. Chloe held her breath, terrified to see where this was going.
As soon as The Baron’s men came into view, one of them lost his head, a fountain of blood taking its place as his body crumpled to the floor. The other turned to run but was cut down after a single step, the katana plunged through his heart. The mysterious man turned back to Chloe, saying nothing, holding out his hand to her.
She stepped towards him but then froze as she looked at his face. His eyes were glowing red, just like…
She turned on her heel and sprinted in the other direction, moving faster than she’d ever run before. Immediately she hit a dead end and turned around to see the man already caught up to her. His hand covered her mouth as she tried to scream, and in her panic she bit into the soft flesh of his palm. He flinched as her fangs pierced his skin…
Wait, what…
She looked back to his face and his eyes looked normal again, gentle and deep brown. He gave her a sad smile. “I need you to trust me,” he said quietly, looking her in the eye. “Just trust me and I’ll get you out of here, OK?”
Chloe just nodded, wondering how long this nightmare was going to last before she woke up. He nodded back at her and took her hand again, pulling her along with him as they ran down the hallway, up several flights of stairs, and through a hidden exit out into the alley behind The Shrike.
“Wait, those creepy cells were just below the bar?” Chloe asked incredulously.
The man nodded. “The Baron likes to keep his people close. We have to get away from here; he’ll come looking for you and his men any minute.”
“Where can I go? He knows my address.”
“You can come with me, for now. Let’s go.” He took off at a run again, and Chloe followed, cutting through dark alleys and keeping to the shadows as she ran further than she ever dreamed she was capable of.
When they arrived at the safe house, Chloe frowned at it skeptically. It was a condemned apartment building that looked like it was getting dangerously close to collapsing completely.
“It’s just temporary. We need to keep you hidden until The Baron gives up on finding you,” the man explained.
“And why is The Baron hunting me?” Chloe asked, that panicky feeling welling up inside her again. Panic and something else…hunger. She was so hungry.
The man frowned. “It’s going to be a lot to take in. Let’s get settled in first and I’ll explain as much as I can. I’m guessing you’re hungry?”
She nodded emphatically as she followed him into the building. “I’m starving, but I can’t think of anything I want to eat. I think I’ve been drugged.”
A few other people were milling about the building, and the man waved at them as he headed towards a small refrigerator running off of a generator in the corner. He reached into the fridge and produced…
“A bag of blood??” Chloe stared at his outstretched hand, dumbstruck. “Why do you…why do I want that? I want that!” She took it from him and tore into it with her teeth, eagerly sucking down the thick liquid inside, moaning with pleasure as it ran down her throat.
“That felt…so good.” The man smiled at her and she felt herself feeling oddly predatory, suddenly very aware of his handsome face, his muscular body, how badly she wanted to just…
“Hey,” he interrupted her train of thought, “So I’m sure you have a million questions.”
“I’m a vampire,” Chloe said simply, having accepted the obvious as the blood had poured down her throat. “That’s…certainly an interesting development. So what are you? Some sort of vampire hunter?”
“What?” he said, taken aback. “No, I’m a vampire like you. But it’s a little more complicated than that.”
“More complicated than my boss turning me into a vampire and locking me in a cell in the basement?”
“Well, yes, unfortunately. But for starters, I guess I should introduce myself. I’m Jax Matsuo.” He held out his hand and she shook it. A tingle of electricity passed between them as their skin touched, making Chloe gasp and pull away. Jax laughed softly.
“Yeah, everything’s going to feel a little more intense now. You’ll get used to it.”
“Right…” she replied, flustered by the intensity of his touch.
“…you were about to tell me your name?”
“Yes! Of course, I’m sorry. I’m Chloe.”
“Hey, Chloe. So here’s the deal, in a nutshell: your boss is a powerful vampire, but he’s supposed to play by the rules and not turn any more humans.”
“OK, sure, that seems…incredibly insane, but go on. Clearly he’s breaking that rule.”
“Yes. He’s been turning his staff and his inner circle. But because they’re not welcome in any of the clans…”
“The what?”
“The uh, vampire clans. Stay with me here.”
“OK, secret vampire clans. Got it.”
“So because they – because you – are not welcome in their clans, you aren’t technically allowed to exist.”
“Excuse me? Says fucking who?”
“Yeah, that’s…pretty much my feelings on the matter too. All of us here are in the same boat. None of us wanted this, and now we’re all in hiding, just trying to stay alive. I’m sorry I don’t have better news for you.” He looked truly pained as he apologized, looking away from her.
“OK so…we’re definitely going to bring this asshole and his clan buddies down, right?”
Jax looked at her with a grin. “Oh, I like you.”
That predatory urge was building in her chest again, stronger than her fear or confusion or anything else in her mind. She licked her lips as she leaned towards Jax, pressing her lips to his…
“Oh fuck!” she exclaimed suddenly, pulling away.
“Are you OK? Chloe, stop –”
She was already on her feet, headed for the door. “He knows where I live, Jax!”
“Yes, that’s why you’re here with me.”
Chloe shook her head, tears starting to well up in her eyes.
“Lily!”