Chapter 2- Olivia's Story

Waking up was an unpleasant experience. Her body was stiff and her right arm throbbed with horrible pain. As she slowly woke she felt that pain spread its way down her spine and into her right hip. The right side of her face lay on cold concrete and in a small puddle of her drool that slowly leaked its way out of her gaping mouth. Her left arm lay above her head, straining her back muscles. “Fuck,” she managed to cough out, then the adrenaline sucked the word back into her lungs. Her body raged a war between struggling and staying perfectly still; she started to shake and her breathing grew ragged. “Damn, awake already?” light footsteps worked their way around her. She saw shiny black shoes and long black suit pants. “Would have been better for you if you had stayed asleep. Just ask my buddy Israel, over there.” The foot nudged her left arm softly. “Hey! Are you listening?” He stepped away while Olivia rolled onto her back. “You look okay for having been dropped- more than once.” It was a really short Asian man who spoke perfect English with no hint of an accent. Olivia saw a choppy looking wood ceiling above her head decorated with cob webs laden with dust. To her left and across the room was another man, he was turned away from her, curled on the floor against the bare white drywall. “Kaoru, fetch a wet cloth so she can get the blood off her. I want to work with a clean canvas.” At the sound of a woman’s Italian accent, the Asian slipped away without another word. Olivia sat up and leaned against her elbows. The woman from the restaurant was looking down at her with her big amber eyes framed by golden locks of curled hair. “I am Adora, I’m sure you remember me.” She stalked closer, the canary eating cat, her heels making sharp clicking noises on the ground. Her outfit was chic, very loose, shiny oyster gray fabric that billowed as she made her way toward Olivia. She wore plumb colored lipstick and eye shadow, which didn’t look to bad on her bony face. “What do you want?” Olivia’s voice was strong, almost angry as she tried not to betray her fear. Adora smirked, “Don’t they always ask such questions.” She walked around Olivia’s feet to kneel beside her. “Do you know what this is?” She tilted her head back and caressed her silver collar, sliding her manicured fingers down between her breasts. She took in a deep, sensual breath and fixed her eyes on Olivia’s quizzical expression. “It is a symbol of my status over this territory. I am the mistress of the vampires in this entire valley.” She stood up, her mock expression melting away, “And you are a danger to myself and my subjects.” “Danger? What the fuck are you talking about?” A door creaked open and slammed shut then heavy footsteps made their way down a flight of stairs. The Asian walked across the basement and knelt by Olivia, handing her a cold washcloth. She opened her mouth to say thanks but thought better of it. The sick sons of bitches don’t

deserve any sort of gratitude. But then, just maybe, Olivia was sick for forgetting it. The cool damp of the washcloth felt wonderful against her burning face. Her jaw hurt to touch and felt swollen on the left side. Adora noticed her wince,”Poor, girl. I guess Jeremy hit you too hard.” She knelt back down and reached for the cloth. Olivia pulled away, wide-eyed with fear and uncertain as to what to do. “You missed a spot.” “I can get it just fine.” Her voice shook despite her efforts to stay calm. She felt her heart pulse intensely in her throat. The Asian chuckled to her right side and Adora glared at him. He stepped back silently. “Nonsense.” Her long, thin fingers reached toward Olivia’s face, lightly touching her tender jaw. Adora's other hand pulled the cloth from her clutches and dabbed it to a spot just under her bottom lip. She tilted Olivia’s face up and wiped under her chin and down her neck, “Oh, there’s more. You did some damage to Jeremy’s arms.” Next Olivia knew her shirt was unbuttoned and Adora was cleaning her chest. She pushed her away and stood up hastily. “Now, now. You don’t want to end up like Israel.” She pointed to the man behind her who now sat up, watching them. His face was one swollen mass of multicolored bruise. He looked incredibly thin, not like Adora, but enough to notice the starvation he suffers from. He was smothered in dirt, his greasy hair plastered to the sides of his face. His incandescent brown eyes looked absolutely hopeless. “You still haven’t answered my question.” Olivia didn’t take her eyes off of Israel. “No, I don’t suppose I have.” Adora walked over to Israel. She crouched next to him, pressing her body against him as she ran her hands along his shoulders and down his arms. He cringed and tried to pull away, his body trembling. “Tell her why you are here, my love.” Israel sounded weak and raspy, “Because you’re,” he paused, his voice fading in and out, “a fucking bitch.” Adora’s aura shifted, spreading out like solar flares from the sun, its color deepening to a mahogany swirled with scarlet. She pushed him forward until his face was smashed against the ground. He cried out in pain, trying to lift himself back up but to no avail. “I don’t tolerate insults,” she said to Olivia. “Leave him alone!” Olivia rushed forward but the Asian held her back. She struggled against him but fighting the black guy was easier. Adora bent down, leaning in very close to the gaunt mans ear, “Looks as if you’ve made a friend, Israel. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?” She released him and stood up. “Kaoru, be sure not to hurt her any more than she already is. I’m coming back for her later.” Her smile was nothing but malicious with foul intentions running through her twisted mind. She then turned and strutted away.

Kaoru waited for his mistress to close the door at the top of the stairs before he let go of Olivia. He walked across the room and took a seat in a plain wood chair that protested beneath him. His eyes gazed at Olivia, taking in her hour glass shape, curly brown hair, rosy cheeks, pointy nose and dark blue eyes that gave away all emotion. Olivia backed up to the wall and slid down it so she sat next Israel. “Israel? I’m Olivia. You wanna tell me what’s going on around here?” He looked at her, his swollen face warped into a crooked and seemingly painful smile. “Well, you and I are sensitive to the supernatural, but people like us build subconscious defenses so that those supernatural beings can’t fuck with our minds, giving us more of an advantage than normal humans.” He wheezed as he softly formed the words and licked his lips frequently to keep them from breaking open, “That fucking whore-“ “Israel!” Kaoru hissed, showing his fangs. “Watch what you say.” “Why should you care? She prefers women over men, let alone Asians with small dicks.” Kaoru jumped up and was suddenly on Israel, yanking him into the air by his dingy gray t-shirt. He hissed and barred his insanely sharp fangs, lips curled back in a snarl. Olivia jumped up and pulled on Kaoru’s arms commanding him to drop her ally. He tilted his head toward her, his eyes drowning his black pupils in a swirl of white. A very unanticipated thing then happened, he chuckled, then he laughed and he let go of Israel to walk upstairs in fits of hysterical laughter. “This shit is so fucked.” She sat back down, cradling her head in her hands. She felt the sting of tears about to fill her eyes. Israel crouched next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. A cold, tingling sensation spread its way down her and into her chest. She jerked away, “You’re a vampire?” Israel sighed and leaned back until he sat on the ground, “Yeah. Not like I wanna be, but yeah.” “Then why are you down here and not like that black guy or the Asian?” She turned to him, face deadly somber but brows rose inquisitively, “Why aren’t you helping them kill me?” “I’m not like that. I haven’t conformed like others have, like Aspen did. He was like us then Adora found him, changed him and scared the shit out of him so he stays in line.” He coughed, clearing his throat. A touch of red bled in a tiny line on his bottom lip. His lips were what Olivia’s mother would call “not plush but kissable.” “I’ve only been here for about a month. After the first week, Aspen helped me escape but Adora’s little nigger bitch caught us. She did some horrible things to me; God knows what she did to Aspen. If she takes you up stairs, that means she is going to change you, but if she doesn’t then they torture you down here until they tire of you. Then you’re dead.”

“How many people has she done this too?” “Not very many. We are rare enough. I know of only of a few. There was Abilene, who is Adora’s lover; Harrison, I don’t remember his first name; some woman named Mary; Aspen; me; Jason, imported from Europe; Laura, a present from Adora to her favorite lover, Mahalia; then you. There were other people in-between… Children too.” His thick and wavy brown hair fell in front of his face, shielding those burning eyes and disfigured face from her. Heavy footsteps on the stairs echoed in the shabby basement. The Asian came back, a content grin smeared across his face. “Guess you get to go upstairs early.” He walked over to them, “Come on.” He motioned for Olivia to stand but Israel stood instead. Kaoru pushed Israel back and reached for Olivia, gripping her arm and jerking her to her feet. Her protests fell on deaf ears and he pulled her with him, across the room and up the creaky stairs. She tugged on him, trying to wrench her arm away but he wouldn’t give. She could only gasp Israel’s name as fear wouldn’t allow her to scream. They moved through a brightly lit hallway into a spacious kitchen with marble counters and cherry wood cupboards. He kept a tight hold on her and kept her out of reach of the knives that slept in their wooden home on the counter. Through the kitchen was a den, a large TV the center of focus and a plain gray couch on the opposite side from it. By a sliding glass door to the outside world was a foosball table, the light from the early morning sun just barley casting shadows in the room. The house was seemingly empty, hardly any lights on beyond the kitchen and no sounds but the ones Olivia and her captor were making. They found the main hall which yielded different pathways and doors to choose from. Aside from the doors there was a staircase that seemed to rise into the endless ceiling. They ascended the white carpeted steps in silence.