five. 

    Laughter sprung up from the woman and she looked down at him as he were on all fours, head situated nice and comfortable between her legs. 

    “Hungry are you?” The laughter turned into half moans and she tightened her hold on the bars up above her with her feet. 

    “God you’re pitiful. Like a dog. I wonder if you can bark.” Mouth pulled away and a soft gruff ‘woof’ sounded in the room. Satisfied, she grabbed hold of his hair with a hand and gyrated her bleeding sex against his mouth, eyes rolling back as he began to follow her movements with his tongue. 

    “Good boy…such a good boy.” Lifting eyes upward, he looked at her. Everything about her disgusted him. Her blood tasted bitter which indicated that she did not take care of herself in the manner of a Lady. Hygienically, something was being neglected. If he didn’t need more of a feed, he’d take more than a bite out of her dirty clunge. 

    “Mm…Lord Nolan….please sir…. more…” Eyebrows knit. Lord Nolan? She desired him? Of all people she desired him? Hm. He was never one to play with his food but this time he’d make an exception. Panting against her, he flattened his tongue to catch the bloody drops as they came. 

    “You’re disgusting. What manner of beast are you…” Lifting his tongue, he swiped her bean before closing his mouth around it. She couldn’t much say anything else, her moans coming closer and closer together now with increased volume. 

    “Oh…oh!” A slight spray of bloody release misted across his awaiting tongue and he sopped it up until she drew back from him. Embedding her nails into his scalp, she bit her lip. 

    “It’s a shame they don’t let you out. I can only imagine how good that knob would feel.” He didn’t say anything as she breathed a short sigh, a giggle soon following. 

    “Devil with blue colored slits. You deserve to be down here. You’re filthy.” Lifting up onto her knees, she used the bars to pull herself up. 

    “I can train you to be my very own pet. You’ve already mastered one trick.” Situating her skirts, she reached in and smeared the remnants of her blood across his lips and down his chin. 

    “Should I come tomorrow night I shall teach you to roll over, beg or heel.” He grabbed hold of her arm and twisted it behind her, forcing her back against the bar. 

    “Ow! Let me go! Unhand me!” Reaching across, he took her by the neck, grip tight, claws digging into the skin. 

    “Bark.” He whispered into her ear, tongue tracing the shell of her ear. 

    “N-no….let me go!” 

    “I said bark.” His claws began to dig deeper and she reached up with her other hand and dig her own into his wrist. 

    “W-woof…woof woof…” Smiling against her ear, he chuckled softly. 

    “Very good. Louder.” 

    “W-WOOF. WOOF. WOOF-”  Before she could continue, he yanked her head to the side and embedded his fangs into her flesh, the immediate outpour of blood from her artery sending a shiver of ecstasy through him. She thrashed and wetly choked but soon that stopped and she grew limp. Simply removing his claws from her, he watched as she fell crumpled to the floor.  Not a minute later the door creaked open and a sharp gasp was heard. A soft spoken yet frightened question demanded an answer. 

    “My God..” In the low light, she appeared as an apparition, black and shapeless, peeks of white piercing the room. As he lifted his eyes, his pupils dilated to adjust to the unwelcome visitor in front of him. The blood swirling in his belly calmed down the rage, the hunger, the beast within. 

    What…..what are you?”

    “What am I.” He answered, voice flat and quiet and she flinched as if she hadn’t been expecting him to speak. Lifting hands to the bars, he curled fingers around them and gripped tight. 

    “What are you?” He posed, expression solemn and dark. She opened her mouth but alas, nothing came out. Eyes dropped to the tiny peek of pink tongue that dashed out to nervously lick full plump lips, clothed in shiny midnight, nonetheless, tempting to say the least. 

    “Is…is she…did..did you kill her?” The obvious answer lied at their feet, blood, rich and red as a rose petal still oozed from his assault, a deep gash he’d torn into her neck. Still, her eyes had grown glassy, frozen with eternal fear. 

    “Have you not eyes little one? Surely, you can see she is no longer amongst the living.” His voice surprised her with its sudden teasing tone, deep accented and lilting. London lived on his tongue but there was another accent there just beyond that she could not quite place. Body captured in a deep freeze, she found that she could not move. Back pressed against the wall, the candle light nearest her flickered as if it would extinguish altogether. The presence of the man threatened to suffocate her, a dangerous dark and dominant force that seemed to squeeze at her very neck. 

    For the longest time they stared at one another, curiosity aglow in each gaze. From what she could see of him, he held a quite beautiful countenance, one some would say was feminine in nature. Thick shapely eyebrows complimented his handsome forehead, deep brown almost black eyes delightfully almond shaped were wide enough to express a myriad of expression. An elegant nose bridge flared outward into a slight peak. 

    Cheeks grew warm as her gaze travelled to his mouth. What a glorious mouth it appeared, pouty flushed lips painted pink as if he had taken a drink from Cupid’s cup himself. Once he had decided he was gone oogling her the same, those blushing forms curved up into what some would call a sultry smirk, playfulness abound. 

    “It seems that you are as taken with me as I am with you.” At that realization, she dropped her gaze shyly and the sight of it strangely pleased him. For he to feel such a thing for a mere girl, a stranger at that was odd indeed. 

    “I’m…I’m sorry…I-”

    “Allow me to answer your question. As to what I am.” Good. Her gaze lifted again. 

    “I am what you are. Bondsman to those who deem themselves better…fit to live as gods. Deserving to trample upon those they view as unworthy.” To that, she couldn’t speak and he took the opportunity to speak again, 

    “Your name little one? What is it?” 

    “….Zadie. I…I have no last name. None was I given sir.”

    “Ah.”

    “A-And you….what is your name?”

    “I am called Kieran.” Her eyes dropped to the woman who by now had grown cold and stiff on the floor. He sensed a desire to run from her and with her heart beating so loudly in his ear it didn’t surprise him when she finally did, taking off like a crackle of fire in the night. Smirk drifted off of his face and he adopted a much more empty expression, eyes falling to the ashen woman of whom he’d drank his fill. Bitch. Her end she most rightfully deserved. And as for Zadie…well he’d see that would become of her wouldn’t he? 

*** 

    Kieran. What a strange name. Black. Plenty of it had atop his head that was for sure. In the low light it had been hard to see and yet it was as if she could see him clearly. She’d never before seen a man such as he before. His hair left unattended to had been dirty and matted, the length of it sure to end just below his shoulders. What strong and broad shoulders he possessed, the entirety of his body clothed in almost creamy translucent skin. He wasn’t as big as say Lord Nolan but he was much taller than him and much leaner. Like a cheetah or perhaps a jaguar. Stealthy and fast, incredibly strong yet efficient and sleek. 

    Her cheeks grew warm at the recollection of his bare naked torso. A sliver of moonlight cut across it then and yet left his lower half completely clothed in darkness. Housed there on his stomach were delicately laid bricks of muscle, unknown to her as to how they remained there despite the complete lack of activity. Stop it. Don’t be tartish. Right. The more important questions. Why was Therese down there in the first place? Why was he down there in the first place? Who kept a grown man locked up in a cage? What reason did there exist outside of the fact that he too like her must have been property to the Nolan household. But why? How long had be been down there? Why were his conditions so poor? Was this Lord Nolan’s way of trying to convince her to obey his every whim lest she end up with the same fate? Worrying her lip to death with absentminded nibbles, she lifted the duster and continued sweeping the staircase banister.

*** 

    “Have you heard about Therese?” 

    “No, wot ‘appened to ‘er?” 

    “Apparently, she was found in Lord Nolan’s basement cellar with all the blood drained from her body.” 

    “Impossible.”

    “I swear! They even say she had two distinct puncture wounds on her neck, alongside with what appeared to be human teeth.” 

    “Don’t say stuff like that. You’re scarin’ me Harriet!” 

    “Well! I’m just telling you what I heard.” 

    “Come to think of it weren’t we missing another maid that mysteriously vanished?” 

    “Yeah I think her name was um…Marie?”

    “Yeah. Marie Huxley. Poor thing. She was only 17 years old.” 

    “Lord Nolan planned to make her his bedslave you know. I heard the talk in the kitchens and from some of the upper housemaids.”

    “Dorthy where do you get all this information from? It’s kinda scary.”

    “I’ll never reveal my sources. You won’t hear a peep outta me about it and that’s that.” Smiling, she looked up from a pair of hose she was repairing. 

    “Do you really think the Nolans have something down there?” She asked quietly, careful not to sound too excited. 

    “I don’t know and I don’t want to find out. Let’s keep it there yeah?”

    “Somethin’s goin’ on. Two of our maids jus’ up an’ disappearin’ or bein’ found dead. Somethin’ is definitely goin’ on.” Anne put in her two cents, smoothing down her apron. 

    “Aye Anne, while you chopping it up with us mates why don’t you see about bringing us something back from dinner aye?” 

    “You tryin’ to get me fired are ye?”

    “Well, you certainly seem to not have lost any weight have you?” She laughed some, which seemed to surprise and please the small bunch of women. 

    “There she is. Zadie’s back.” 

    “A’right lassies. Sharpen up and get back to work! Break is over!” Moaning begrudgingly, the lot of them started to scatter off in different directions. And yet all the while, her mind could not help but drift down below her feet into the basement cellar. What was his reason for being there? Why was Lord Nolan working so hard to try to hide him? It was driving her nuts trying to figure it out. 

*** 

    Four nights. That’s how long it had been since he’d seen her but all the while he’d heard her heartbeat race and thump around like a bottle of hard candies. It didn’t surprise him when on the eve of the fifth night, the door was slowly opened. By the light of the candelabra, her face appeared. Taking in the surroundings, it was prim and neat. The body of who he assumed was a housemate of hers had long been disposed of; the blood washed away. None other than Lord Nolan himself had done the honors. He was really a barbarian. 

    “Ah, so you return.” He greeted her warmly, a kind smile on his face. She stared at him like he had lost his mind. 

    “Do, come in. Close the door behind you. Don’t want to give away that you’re here.” 

    “O-oh…r-right.” She turned and closed the door behind her. Swallowing thickly, the staring commenced again and it humored him to say the least. 

    “Well come on then. Make yourself at home.” 

    “M-make myself a-at home? T-this is your home?”

    “Isn’t it obvious little one?” Blushing, she pursed her lips and sat on the floor, placing the light nearest the middle of the room. 

    “You’re brimming with questions. So many of them and yet not one answer.” She stiffened and he fought not to laugh. She was very readable, like an open book she was. And the funniest thing yet was that she didn’t even know it. 

    “Come on then. Ask. That’s why you came back.” She bit her lip before speaking. 

    “Why are you down here?” That question was always first. Sighing, he mosied up to the front of the cage and sat down. Lifting his hands, his fingers enclosed around the bars. 

    “I’m here because of fear.” Her pretty features knit. 

    “Fear?” 

    “I’m not sure if I can explain this to you in a way that you would understand.”

    “Try.” He chuckled. 

    “Alright then. When you don’t understand something…or someone…when something frightens you… what response is most natural?”

    “To run of course.” She answered without hesitation. 

    “Experience with that I take it?” Pursing her lips, she averted her gaze. 

    “You could say that.”

    “Run. Exactly. Or even better should you have the authority to do so… you control what you fear so that it becomes powerless.” She remained quiet. 

    “I’m sure you also have experience with that as well.” She could only look down. 

    “So, you’re saying that Lord Nolan fears you?” 

    “That’s exactly what I’m saying little one.” She took a moment before she looked up at him and his heart began to beat a bit faster. The moonlight streamed in through the narrowest of windows and when it kissed her skin, it appeared to him as though she was made something mythical… something not of this realm or that of four others. She seemed to sparkle and glitter and her eyes though dark seemed to hold stars within them. Lips having been wet by her tongue, they shimmered too, their plentiful appearance most enticing. 

    “Lord Nolan is one of the wealthiest men in Hawthorne. He’s also one of the most powerful. Why would he fear someone like you?” 

    “Because unlike the rest of his kind, I possess a strength that is not human. There are a lot of my ways that are not human.” 

    “But you have the body of a man. How then can you say you, who are human, are not human?” 

    “It’s charming of you to assume that I am human simply because I appear like one.” That seemed to spook her and she grew still, eyes large wide and confused. 

    “You came to seek answers dear Zadie. So shall they be given to you.” 

    “What do you mean you’re not human?” 

    “Just what it means.” Swallowing, there that heart of hers went again, thumping loudly against her chest. 

    “Then…what are you…” 

    “They have called us many names. Vampyre. Beast. Blood sucking monster. Devils. Take your pick.” 

    “B-blood s-sucking m-monster? Surely you joke Kieran.” 

    “Surely not. Of course I can eat food the same as humans but the main course preferred is the latter.” 

    “Wait. You can’t be serious. You expect me to believe that Lord Nolan has a blood sucking creature caged in his basement?” At that, the teasing smile faded and he grew serious. 

    “I don’t expect you to believe anything. But remember little one it was you who came to me. With questions that no one other than I could answer. Now you have have your answers. Do with them what you will.” He let go of the bars and turned away from her. He stared at the wall until the light from the candelabra disappeared. And when it did he closed his eyes.