Chapter One

Eric always checked into the personal lives of his employees. Cole had been his assassin. He had been a ruthless vampire with a certain predilection for cruelty. He had enjoyed his work. It was surprising to Eric that he had met his end, but he did have a few faults and one of them was over-confidence. So, before closing the book on Cole, he once again checked into his personal matters to make sure that there weren't any loose ends left to tie up. He found out that Cole had acquired a new human pet in the weeks before his death. She was such a recent acquisition that Cole had not left any provisions for her. Sometimes, a pet will be bestowed upon another in the event of a true death or left some sort of monetary allotment. This pet had not come to see him or asked for any dispensation from him. This pet had not asked for anything from Cole's estate. On the contrary, this pet seemed to want to stay undetected and anonymous. While this was not exactly unusual, it was curious and he asked those that knew Cole what they knew about this pet. It seemed that Cole had talked about her. He had bragged how incredibly delicious she was. Cole had admitted to nearly draining her to the point of death on several occasions and then reviving her with his blood. Understandably, the girl was not overly fond of him. She had probably feared that someday Cole would either kill her or turn her. A few of those that Cole had talked to had decided to seek out his pet after his death. After all, she would be fair game. But, they had found that she had moved and left with no forwarding address. The girl had gone into hiding.

Eric sat at his desk and thought about her. He had heard of other instances where a vampire had fed on a human like Cole had done to this girl. Sometimes, something very unusual and rare happens. In essence, Cole had been creating a vampire without killing her. It was an extremely rare occurrence, and the resulting human became a half-vampire. A human with vampire abilities. These creatures were very rare. They were also very valuable and useful. He needed to find this pet and make sure that she had not become something more than human. He sent out notice to have her brought in and got his investigators to look for her.

He was out of Fangtasia, when one of his lieutenants found her and brought her in. He chained her in the basement and called Eric. Since Eric was keenly interested in the girl, he returned immediately to Fangtasia. He found his lieutenant waiting for him inside. The bar was almost deserted since the hour was late and the bar had closed.

"Is there anything unusual about her?" asked Eric.

"Like what?" asked his lieutenant.

"Something not human," said Eric.

"She looks human to me," said the lieutenant.

Eric walked down into the basement with the lieutenant and approached the girl. She had been sitting on the floor, but got to her feet when they arrived. She moved away from them as far as the chain would allow her. She was nervous, but was doing her best to maintain an air of calm. She was surprisingly pretty. She didn't appear to be the type that his ruthless assassin would have been attracted to. She looked like a pretty girl next door. She had soft brown hair that fell just past her shoulders and beautiful blue eyes. Those eyes radiated intelligence. As he gazed into them, he could feel that she was sizing him up. Smart and pretty, he thought. He might have underestimated Cole, after all, since his choice in women had surprised him. She was wearing plain jeans and a cotton top that exposed a beautiful glimpse of neckline. His lieutenant had also been gazing on her with appreciation.

When they stopped in front of her, a look of hatred flashed briefly from those carefully guarded eyes of hers. She quickly covered up that lapse and, once again, unemotionally gazed at them.

Eric grabbed the chain and began to pull her to him. The lieutenant watched with a smirk. The girl tried to resist, but Eric just continued until she was about a few feet away. He was sure that she knew who he was. He watched her. Those intense blue eyes slightly narrowed as she swiftly calculating her options. She fell to her knees before him and chose to beg.

"Please, let me go, Sheriff," she begged.

"Are you the human that belonged to Cole?" he asked her.

That look of hatred flashed again and she said, "I never belonged to him."

"I believe my assassin thought differently," said Eric.

"I could not tell you what thoughts that creature had," she said.

"He fed on you regularly, didn't he?" asked Eric. He added with a smirk, "And knowing Cole, I'm sure that he did much more than that. To a vampire that constitutes ownership."

"Not to me, it didn't," she said.

"How did you come to be with Cole?" asked Eric.

Once again, the girl chose to appeal to his sense of mercy. She was not aware that he didn't have any, he thought.

"I beg you, Sheriff Northman. Please, let me go. I do not want to have anything else to do with vampires," she said.

The girl did not want to talk with him and wanted only to be released. He was sure that she was hiding something. What she could not hide was a strength that even the cruel Cole had not been able to destroy. He knew his assassin and he was sure that this seemingly ordinary girl had suffered at his hands. He found himself attracted to more than her beauty. He decided that, even if she was no more than what she appeared, he would keep her as a pet. She was attempting to match wits with him by pretending to be a meek and helpless human girl. She was very convincing, he thought, as he looked into her pleading eyes. He knew differently, but he appreciated her effort to outsmart him.

"You will either answer my questions now, or I will leave you down here until you are more cooperative," said Eric.

He looked down at her and watched as she changed her expression as easily as flipping a switch. Those wide, pleading eyes quickly turned cold. She stood up and stepped farther away from him. She crossed her arms in front of her and stared at him with anger.

"One night when I was walking home alone, he caught me. I thought that he was going to kill me. For some reason he didn't. He feed me his blood to heal me. From then on, that monster could always find me," she said.

"How often did Douglas feed on you so severely that he needed to give you his blood to keep from harming you?" asked Eric.

The girl did not answer and Eric was sure that she did not like his curiosity about her. She did not want to answer any personal questions.

"I asked you a question," he said. "Was it more than three times?"

"Why is that important to you?" she asked.

"You did not learn obedience from Cole," said Eric. "You will obey me. Now, answer the question."

"Yes, he did that more than three times," she said.

"And you did not come to feel something for Cole?" asked Eric.

"Oh, I felt something for him," said the girl. "Hatred."

Eric considered her. A strong bond should have formed from drinking Cole's blood that often. Perhaps, Cole's cruelty to the girl had prevented her from developing feelings for him. Cole had been a fool to treat her that way, he thought. He believed in making it clear who was in charge, but he rarely strayed into outright maliciousness.

"But, you obeyed him?" asked Eric. He was curious because if she was like a vampire's child she would be unable to resist her maker's commands.

"He had some power to make me comply with a direct order," she said.

Eric smiled at that. He could read between the lines. She had disobeyed Cole when he had not exactly spelled out his instructions. She was a tricky little thing. He wished that he had met her before his assassin. It would take a while to undo the damage that Cole had done to her.

"And you have not noticed any changes in yourself?" asked Eric.

"Changes?" she said. "I don't understand what you mean."

Either she was lying very well or she did not know what he was talking about.

He stepped to her and reached out and turned her head and gazed at her. She appeared to be only human. She twisted out of his grasp and stared at him angrily.

"Leave us," said Eric to the lieutenant.

The girl watched his lieutenant leave with apprehension. She must now realize that he was not going to let her go, at least, not right away. She backed away from him as far as the chain would allow.

He watched her and said, "Cole bragged about how absolutely delicious you were. He said that was why he would loose control and drain you so severely."

"Cole was a braggart," said the girl. "He was only trying to make me sound irresistible to make other vampires jealous."

"It worked," said Eric. "Vampires have been looking for you and I have finally caught you. I want to find out if Cole was telling the truth."

"Please, let me go. I'm no different than anyone else. I promise that I won't talk," she said.

Eric brought out his fangs and said, "There is only one way to find out if Cole was lying about you, pet."

She closed her eyes and trembled. As he watched her, a tiny tear escaped from one of her eyes. For some reason, he hesitated.

When she did not immediately feel his fangs at her throat, she opened her eyes and looked into his. He reached out and brushed away that tear. He felt her flinch slightly from his touch, but she didn't move away.

"Please, don't," she whispered.

For a brief moment, he considered not biting her at this time. But, just as quickly, he felt his desire for her overcome those feelings. He wanted to taste her more than he wanted to show her mercy.

Eric bared his fangs at her. Before she had time to react, he grabbed her, pushed the collar down and plunged his fangs into her throat. She cried out and tried to push him away. At the back on his thoughts, he noticed that she seemed stronger than normal. But, as he drew her blood into his mouth and tasted her, he was oblivious to anything else except how delicious her blood was. No wonder Cole had kept coming back to her, he thought. He pushed her against the wall and sucked harder on her neck. Slowly, she began to relax and he loosened his grip on her and began to caress her. He pressed her into the wall and uttered a soft growl as he continued to feed on her. His hands began a more focused exploration of her body. Reluctantly, he removed his lips from his punctures on her throat. He ran his tongue over them to both lap up her blood as it still slowly flowed and to speed the clotting.

He whispered into her ear, "I can see why my assassin was so enamored with you, pet."

That broke the spell and she pushed him an arm's length away. In a flash, she delivered a resounding backhanded blow that knocked him back a step.

"I'm not your whore, vampire," she said.

She was so upset and angry that she lost control of herself. A pair of fangs popped out with a snick. With a hiss, she launched herself at him. She was angry with him for biting her. But he wondered if part of the reason for her loss of control was because she had felt some lust for him.

As he stood contemplating her motives, she attacked him. She surprised him by dropping down and knocking his feet out from under him with her leg. Evidently, his assassin had been doing more than just biting her, he thought. Why had Cole been training her? As he was on the floor, she quickly looped the slack in her chain around his neck. Placing her foot in the middle of his back for leverage, she pulled the chain tight with all her strength and began to strangle him. He would have laughed if his throat wasn't so constricted. She must have forgotten that vampires don't need to breathe. Even though she was amusing, enough was enough, he thought. She was a baby half-vampire and he was a thousand years her senior. He easily knocked her off him and moved in a flash to grab her by the throat and hold her against the wall. She still hissed at him and bared her fangs. So, he choked her slightly to get her full attention.

"Those are very pretty fangs, but you will retract them now," he firmly said.

She struggled and tried to reach him with her hands and legs, but his reach was much longer than hers. He simply held her out and raised her feet off the ground. She began to gasp as he tightened his grip.

"I said to retract those fangs, Dylan," said Eric.

Maybe it was the use of her first name, but he finally reached her and she stopped fighting. She hung limply at the end of his arm and retracted her fangs. He released her and she dropped to the floor. She began to cough as she drew air into lungs.

"Do you understand what has happened to you?" asked Eric.

"Cole made me into some sort of monster," she replied.

"Monster is a little harsh, Dylan," said Eric. "After all, you are closer to vampires now than to humans."

"I am not a vampire," said Dylan.

Eric smiled and said, "You have fangs, don't you? That makes you not human."

Yet, she was still part human, he thought. Physically, except for the fangs, she appeared human. No doubt, she had convinced herself that she was still the same girl that she had been before she had met his assassin. She thought that she could just blend back into the human population. He almost felt sorry for her. There was no going back for her.

"You cannot be allowed back into the human population, Dylan," he said. "You are too dangerous to us. You need someone to show you how to adapt to these new abilities."

"I was doing just fine on my own," said Dylan.

"I wonder," said Eric with a smile. "What happens when someone cuts in line in front of you and you loose your temper? Or the boss decides to come onto you? You have become something superior to humans and deep down, you know this. You will come to have contempt for them and despise them, if you haven't already. Can you really control these new powers and urges?"

"I won't obey you," said Dylan. "You can't hold me prisoner here."

"I'm Sheriff," said Eric. "I can do anything that I want."

"You are all monsters," she sobbed. "I just want to go home."

She seemed to withdraw into herself and began to cry. It was a very human response and Eric wondered again what side of the fence the girl fell on. Was she more human or was she more vampire? Of course, he thought, if she was still on the human side, there was a way to nudge her over to the vampire side. He simply needed to continue the work that Cole had already started. He had thought that Cole had done this to her on accident. She was delicious enough to drain, he had found that out firsthand. But, when she had attacked him and used some fighting skill, he knew that what was done to her had been done on purpose. Cole had trained her and he must have had a reason for that. He wondered, what had been the ultimate goal of his assassin? Maybe, it was a lucky turn of events that Cole had met the true death.

"Stop crying," said Eric. "That's an order."

The girl sniffled and wiped at her eyes. Those eyes were still wet with tears as she gazed at him.

"You are now mine. I will train you and help you understand what you are," said Eric.

"Like Cole?" she said.

"You will come to find that I am not like my assassin," said Eric.

"You seem the same to me. You're just another vampire that wants to hurt me and control me," said Dylan.

"You are acting like you have a choice in this," said Eric.

"I will not willingly cooperate with you," said Dylan. "Whatever I have become, I am still not like you."

"I could just turn you all the way," said Eric. "Would you like that?"

Dylan smiled at him and said, "But, you won't do that because you don't want another vampire. I am much more valuable to you as what I am now."

He wondered if the girl had a real inkling of her true value. She was something so rare and unique that vampires would literally kill to possess her. A true daywalker was priceless.

"I will give you some time to contemplate your position," said Eric. "But, the only way that you are getting out of this dungeon is to be under my control."

He turned and left her there. As he reached the top of the stairs, he heard a muffled sob escape her.

He went to his chair and wondered how long the girl would hold out. Pam was waiting on him.

"Is she human or not?" asked Pam.

"Not," said Eric.

"Do you think Cole did that to her on purpose?" asked Pam.

"Yes," said Eric. "I'm not sure why, though."

"Maybe, just for the girl, herself," said Pam. "Wouldn't she be enough of a reason?"

"He picked a very interesting human to change," said Eric.

"How so?" asked Pam.

"She is strong and intelligent. She will not be easy to break," said Eric. "My assassin was unable to break her spirit and we both know what he was capable of."

"Then, don't break her," said Pam. "Use your charm and make her fall for you."

"The girl would be resistant to glamouring," said Eric, with a smile.

"Since when do you need to glamour a girl to make her open her heart or her legs to you," said Pam with an evil smirk.

"She is different," said Eric. "She hates all of us."

"You like her," said Pam, astonished.

Eric was silent. He didn't want to like her. She was tough and strong, yet she had a softness to her that made one want to be gentle with her. That complex mix of strength and vulnerability was hard to resist. It would be easy to fall under her spell and he was smart enough to realize that. He glanced at Pam. Perhaps, it would be better if he kept some distance from her.

"You are free to see if the girl is willing to belong to you," said Eric.

Pam looked surprised since she had not thought Eric would share something so special.

"I don't need time to think that over," said Pam, with a smile.

She turned to go to the basement and Eric interrupted her.

"Just be aware that I won't totally let you keep her all to yourself," said Eric. "Plus, she will work for us once she is trained and her loyalty is without question."

Pam went down into the basement carrying a blanket. She could see the girl sitting on the floor and crying. The noise from her sobs covered up Pam's approach until she was almost upon her. When Dylan realized that Pam was there, she scrambled away from her to the end of the chain.

"I brought you a blanket," said Pam as she held out the blanket.

Tentatively, the girl approached and took the blanket. Pam could see Eric's bite marks on her throat. That surprised her since she didn't think Eric would relinquish the girl once he had tasted her. Maybe the girl didn't taste very good, thought Pam. The girl had other impressive charms, wickedly thought Pam.

"There is another way out of this basement," said Pam.

The girl only stared at her. Pam wondered if she was as intelligent as Eric thought she was.

"You could belong to me," said Pam.

"You must be close to him," said Dylan.

"Yes, he is my maker," said Pam.

Dylan wondered why Sheriff Northman was offering her to his minion. Yet, he had absolute control of Pam so it was still the same as being in control of her himself. Maybe the two of them were going to pass her back and forth between them. Evil vampires, thought Dylan. But, still an opportunity to escape had presented itself to her. She would be a fool to not take advantage of it.

"I have never been with a woman before," she shyly said. "You know, that way."

Sensing an interest, Pam smiled and said, "You have no idea what I can do for you. Aren't you just a little curious?"

Dylan dropped her eyes and a blush rose to her cheeks.

Pam stepped close to her and said, "You're shy. You know what they say about the shy ones, don't you?"

Dylan looked up and found Pam right in front of her. She gazed into Pam's eyes and parted her lips.

"What do they say?" she softly whispered.

"That they are the boldest ones in the bedroom," said Pam.

Pam moved to her ear and whispered into it, "Insatiable."

Dylan closed her eyes and sighed, "Cole never pleased me."

That was actually sort of a lie, thought Dylan. That ruthless bastard had managed to please her, much to her shame.

Pam gently kissed her cheek and said, "Even a male vampire is still a man, they are too concerned with their own pleasure first. Let me show you how it can be."

Pam moved to Dylan's lips and kissed her. Slowly at first and, when she did not feel any resistance, she used her tongue. Dylan pulled away and, with a sigh, she extended her fangs.

"Eric didn't tell me that you had fangs," said Pam.

"Is that a turnoff?" said Dylan.

"Honey, that only makes you more attractive," said Pam.

Pam moved back to her lips and darted her tongue over Dylan's fangs causing a soft moan from Dylan. Pam moved to her neck and Dylan heard a snick as Pam's fangs came out.

Dylan put out her hand and stopped Pam, saying, "I'm not into bondage, though. Release me from this collar and I will show you how grateful I am."

Pam paused a moment and then said, "Eric will be mad if I release you."

"Maybe he let you come down here because he was sure that you would fail," said Dylan. "I have made my choice."

Dylan leaned in and kissed Pam on the lips.

"Release me," said Dylan. "I'm a very fast learner."

Pam took out the key and unlocked the lock. Dylan took off the collar and held it in her hand. Before Pam knew what she intended, Dylan hit her with the collar with all her new strength. The blow knocked Pam into the wall. Dylan moved in a flash and grabbed Pam and slammed her head into the wall as hard as she could. She heard a crunch and saw a blood splatter on the wall as Pam limply fell to the floor. Dylan didn't spend any time to triumph over this victory. She knew the only reason that she had incapacitated Pam was because she had totally caught her off guard. In a fair fight, she would probably have little chance against Eric'c progeny. Quickly, before Pam came around, Dylan raced up the stairs and slipped out the rear entrance.

Pam came around and Eric felt her distress. He came immediately down into the basement. He gazed at the unlocked collar in anger. Then, his eyes found Pam. There was blood on back of her head that had run down her neck. He saw the large splatter on the wall. That little half-vampire didn't pull any punches, he thought.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I will be," said Pam.

"Were you really stupid enough to let her out of her restraints?" asked Eric.

"She was very convincing," said Pam. "Little tease."

Eric smiled and said, "I should have warned you that she is a little sneaky."

"Are you mad at me?" asked Pam.

"I'm just surprised that you were taken by those pretty fangs of hers," said Eric.

Once again, Eric put out notice to have Dylan apprehended and returned to him. He didn't doubt that she would soon be caught. She would not be able to hide anymore in the human population.