Sara Curran-Ross's Blog, page 9

The Vampire Lover's Diary (Work In Progress)

Hi Everyone,

Here is the next instlament of The Vampire Lover's Diary.  I've posted it here and on my blog devoted to all of my vampire stories, http://thevampirknights.blogspot.com/ where I am hoping to update this work every couple of days.  Please let me know what you think.  Enjoy. :)

23rd December, evening.

Roman made me go through the whole story again and again. He wasn't too happy when I casually mentioned the man standing outside in the garden for two nights either.


'I wish you had called me when I asked. You don't realise how much danger you are in. It's not safe for you to be left alone ,' he told me abruptly giving me a look that said he was not convinced I was capable of looking after myself. 'I will stay here with you tonight.'

What??? Now don't get me wrong the man is gorgeous and boy did I want him staying the night but we'd only just met and I'm one of those good boring types who don't jump into bed on the first date. Not that this was one, of course but hell he was forward and I'm not used to that. I'm an old fashioned sort of girl . . .'

'Amanda, relax. I am not inviting myself into your bed,' he said with a small laugh as he towered over me at the back door. 'I will sleep on your sofa.'

I gave him a startled look. He wasn't giving me a choice and I am really sure now that he can bloody read my thoughts.

'I didn't think for one moment that . . .' I blushed and blustered. I felt so embarrassed.

'Not yet anyway,' he added with a grin and a wink.

I was speechless. He laughed again and gently took my arm telling me he was sure Julian would have dinner ready for us now.

'When are you going to tell me why I am in danger?' I demanded.

He gave me a thoughtful look and opened his mouth as though to impart the truth and then thought better of it. He smiled. 'It's just with all of the burglaries and abductions I was telling you about, not to mention the shock you had today and that you have concussion. It isn't safe for you to be alone and as I said we look out for each other on this street. Besides after last night I thought you might be glad of another companion in the house. It might make you sleep better,' he said softly, firmly as though expecting an argument.

I didn't know what to say. So much for my resolve to be independent but I have to admit I craved a decent night's sleep and to my feminist shame I did so relish the prospect of a man being present to fend off any impending danger. Suppose I really am old fashioned. I don't want to be but . . . I nodded and no more was said.

I have to say I enjoyed my evening after that. The food was wonderful. I am not a very good cook and what Julian served up was pure delight. Steak au poivre with French fries , and a crisp green salad. Yum. I hadn't eaten so well in ages. I get rather neglectful of my food when I am writing and tend only to concentrate on feeding my daughter well. I was enjoying my food and the company. My home hadn't felt so warm and safe since I'd moved in. But all of a sudden I kept seeing that poor helpless girl lying there with her half her face ripped away.

I put down my knife and fork unable to wipe the image from my mind, wondering if it would ever leave me alone. I couldn't help wonder who she was? Why she had been in the woods? What she done the night before? Who her mother was??? You get the picture?

I felt Roman's hand on my arm.

'What happened to the girl I found in the woods? I've never seen anything like that before. And who do you think was following me and why? And come to mention it Roman, why were you suddenly there?' I couldn't help it. I felt compelled to ask. There were so many unanswered questions and both he and Julian had done their best to evade giving me proper answers.

I didn't miss the uneasy look Roman's identical twin Julian gave him.

'The police think she has been savaged by some wild animal. I can't believe they accepted that idea so easily. Here in Peachum? It isn't like we live in Kenya or somewhere and a lion....' Then it struck me. I stopped dead feeling an icy shiver quiver along my spine. 'That animal, that dog, no that wolf at my door last night and the man,' I gulped. 'You think that's what killed her? You think that is what is going to happen to me? What if my daughter had been here? I don't understand. Why me?'

I could hear the hysteria rising in my voice. 'What is it that you aren't telling me? What's happening?'

Roman caught my hands in his and covered them, squeezing them tightly for reassurance. He made sure he captured my gaze and held my attention.

'First of all I am not going to allow anything to happen to you or your daughter. You are safe and under my protection and Julian's. But I cannot lie to you any longer. There is something I must tell you, Amanda. Something you will find hard to digest. You are special, different to the other women that you know and I believe a part of you will have always known that,' he paused lifting one of his hands away from the tight clasp in which he held mine to gently wipe a tear that had dropped from my eye unchecked. I tried to move away embarrassed but he held my hands fast. There was no escape from his tight grip as he continued his speech.

'Unfortunately there are some men in this world who wish to possess you because of your wonderful difference and others who want to tear you apart for it,' he informed me in his warm gentle voice. 'Let me explain.'

News

Hello,

I've noticed from my blog stats that some people prefer reading my vampire stories as opposed to the thriller ones and vice versa.  So for easy reading I have decided to separate them into two other separate blogs.  For all things vampire, http://thevampireknights.blogspot.com/ and for all things thriller and chapters of Hidden Agenda written live, http://thethrillerzone.blogspot.com/.  Hope you'll take a look at them.

I will still be posting on this blog and will be doing some extra posts on writing and other topics.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend.

Best wishes.

Sara

Hidden Agenda (Work In Progress)

Here is chapter five of Hidden Agenda.  It's a long one today!  I've really got into the story now and I couldn't stop writing it today.  I hope you enjoy it.  Please let me know what you think of it. :)

Sara


Chapter Five


London, July, 1996

Alessandro stared at Ariadne's beautiful pale features in surprise. It looked as though Paul had suffered from a wave of conscience before his death. But he was curious about one thing.

'If you are going to give it to the police, why didn't you give this tape to your boyfriend?' he asked in a calm low voice.

She frowned.

'How do you know about Richard?'

'I heard him talking to your sister Jane outside your room. He doesn't believe your story about tonight. And yet there was such eloquence in your acting ability.' He couldn't help but smile.

She gave a sigh and flicked those haunting dark chestnut eyes away from him towards the window. He followed them. He could still hear the eerie wail of sirens. The grey fog was still hanging over the rooftops and orange flames of fire did their best to stretch high above it in the distance.

'It doesn't surprise me,' she said turning her head back to look up at him. He turned back to watch her intently. Her eyes suddenly scrunching with pain. She rubbed her forehead. 'He doesn't believe anyone or anything,' there was heavy irritated sarcasm in her tone. 'His job has turned him sour. And I wouldn't trust him with something as important as the tape. I am pretty sure that as well as serial womaniser he is what is known in the trade as a bent copper. From what he tells me about his work it sounds as though a few of them in that station are. I will take it somewhere else.'

Alessandro rolled his black eyes.

'Really. I take it there is trouble in paradise?'

'There is no paradise, Alessandro. There never was with him . . .'

Alessandro thought carefully for a moment as her voice trailed off. She deserved to know that Richard and her sister were fucking each other behind her back. He would want to know and he figured it would be the same for her after their meeting tonight. She didn't seem a woman who would suffer fools. But his conscience insisted he admit that he had an ulterior motive. He wanted her and the tape. It was plain and simple. Not to mention a surprise and a bloody inconvenience. He didn't have time for seducing a beautiful woman. Get a grip. Think about the tape, just the fucking tape. He told her anyway.

'Did you know your sister and Richard are having an affair?'

Her eyes filled with water but she didn't shed any tears. Her expression told him she knew. He felt relieved.

'I thought we were talking about the tape?' she said hardening her voice.

'We are but I thought you would like to know. You deserve better than him,' he whispered gently.

'I found out tonight,' there were angry tears in her voice that she did her best to rein in. 'I met a friend for a coffee. She told me she'd seen them together at the weekend. They were partying together at a nightclub with a load of his friends. It was my one weekend off from this bloody hospital. I wanted to go out but he had to work. He couldn't get out of it. And he was with her . . .' she paused and sighed. 'I'd be angry if I had the energy. But after what's has happened I just don't care anymore. I was on my way home to confront them both when the explosion happened.'

'Shit.' Alessandro reached out and touched her arm in sympathy. 'I'm sorry,' he paused and then said more firmly, 'But I need the tape. And I am not leaving this room until I have it.'

'No. I promised Paul I would get it to the police. He said the bombs that were set off tonight were done by that environmental group, VOTE. He belonged to it.'

Alessandro frowned listening to her voice rise with heated agitation, desperate for him to see it her way. He didn't mistake the trace of fear evident in her tone about what he would do to her if she wouldn't give him the tape. He needed her to be worrying about it. To wonder how far he would go. Fear was always a persuasive tool but for the first time he felt sick that he had to make use of it on a woman. How far would he go? That was the real question. He'd never hurt a woman before and he didn't want to start. But he had little choice . . .

'Paul said that the bombs had been set off sooner than planned. They weren't supposed to go off tonight. He also said that VOTE were planning something bigger, much bigger than these bombs. I don't even want to think what that might be . . . This tape is a recorded meeting with the committee in which they organised the explosions. It's vital evidence for the police. Don't you see?' she almost begged him. 'It's about more than settling a vendetta with your grandfather.'

'Paul told you about that?'

'Not much . Just that for some reason your mafia boss and grandfather is mixed up with VOTE and funding these explosions. And he's going to help them do whatever it is that their planning next. What is he getting in return?'

Alessandro didn't want to hear anymore.

'Don't ever make the mistake of calling him my boss,' he snapped. 'You shouldn't be mixed up in this. I don't trust the police. Vadala buys police whether they are in Italy, here or anywhere and when they don't play ball they or their families are threatened or killed if they get in his way. I know he is funding VOTE,' Alessandro heard his voice rise with anger. 'Give the tape to me and I will see to it that when I bring my grandfather to his knees VOTE's whole operation will be stopped.'

'No. I can't afford to trust you. I promised I would do everything Paul asked.'

Alessandro gave a growl and stood, spying her bloodied clothes neatly folded on a chair by the window. He rifled through them. He searched her nightstand, under the bed and the rest of her room. Nothing.

'You won't find it,' he heard her say nervously behind him as he closed the wardrobe doors.

He straightened feeling his temper rise to snapping point. He turned swiftly and approached her bed once more. He caught hold of the rail behind her and leaned over her in a threatening manner. Her already pale features whitened further and she began to struggle with her injuries to sit up. He pushed her back down against the pillows with his free hand and firmly held her there. He watched her lips tremble and those beautiful chestnut eyes widen with fear.

'I'm going to ask you one more time where the tape is and if you don't answer me I am going to have to hurt you,' he told her.

She swallowed hard, twice and opened her mouth to speech. Her voice came out dry and raspy with fear. She made an effort to clear it. Alessandro felt nausea rise in his stomach once more.

'It's hidden.'

'I'm warning you, Ariadne,' Alessandro deepened his voice and moved his fingers from her shoulder across to her throat. He gently stroked her soft delicate skin and studied her lips fighting the sudden urge to kiss her. Focus. He spoke with quiet determined menace in a voice as soft as cashmere, 'You've seen what I am capable of doing back on the street with Gregorio.'

Alessandro's stomach twisted a knot again when she looked up at him with terrified eyes.

'Don't think I will be lenient with you just because you are a woman. Now where is the tape?' he demanded.

His question was met with silence. He shut his conscience down and wasted no more time, gripping her throat with sudden swiftness. She gave a strangled cry.

'Maybe it's on you. Perhaps I should search you and give you a beating you won't forget,' he growled using his free hand to tear back the bed covers in blind fury.

Tears sprang from her eyes then. She couldn't seem to help herself. She gave a sob scrunching her eyes up tight and curled up her bare bruised legs up the bed. She only wore a hospital gown and was clearly naked underneath it. It would be so easy to tear it from her and find out where she was hiding the tape. He took hold of the bottom of it in a right fist ready to rip it when she let out a sob and forced herself to look at him.

'Please, don't. It isn't on me. It's in a safe place. I gave it to someone to hide. They don't know what it is but I know it's safe. You have to believe me. Did you see that woman and the child lying in the street? The ones I said I tried to help but they died?' she sobbed. 'That was my best friend who came to tell me about Richard and Jane and the child was her six year old daughter. Everyone in that street died apart from me. Why did I survive and not them? What makes me so special?' she cried.

Alessandro felt his hard eyes soften despite his resolve to entertain her fear of him.

'I should be dead with them but I'm not,' she continued. 'I owe it to them to bring these people to justice and stop them. You can do what you want but I won't give that tape up without a fight. I will hunt you down until I get it back and bring you and your grandfather to the police on a silver platter,' she almost spat at him.

He stared at her, awed by her power and her determination not to let him have the upper hand even when he had her physically cornered.

'And as for hurting me. I don't believe you want to, Alessandro. You could have taken that tape from me any time in that hole in the street. You must have seen it in my blouse, yet you didn't. You protected me and saved my life. You aren't your grandfather. You are a decent human being. Don't destroy that. Let me do this. I promise the police will get him.'

Alessandro took in a deep breath and continued staring at her in silence. After a moment his fingers relaxed on the material of her hospital gown. He heard footsteps outside her door. Quickly, he let go of her gown and her throat. Without a word he replaced the covers around her and stood back watching her wipe her eyes as she cried with relief.

'I'm sorry.' He said it without thinking. He meant it. 'I don't want to hurt you but holding on to that tape will get you killed. And I don't want that on my conscience either,' he told her abruptly wrestling with anger at himself for nearly overstepping the mark.

'I am willing to take the risk. I have to. I owe so many people . . .'

'You owe it to yourself to stay alive,' he jumped on her frustrated by her lack of thought for her own life. 'Give it to me and I will make sure VOTE are destroyed my way.'

There were voices outside the door now. They could both hear Jane talking to a nurse.

'No. I am going to take it in to the police tomorrow myself.'

'You can't trust the police with your life. Even when you've given that tape to them Vadala is going to come after you. You won't ever be safe again. You won't make it into that police station tomorrow. They will have killed you before then. Don't do this to yourself,' he said gruffly. He didn't want to see her lying dead on the pavement with her head blown off.

'I must . . .'

'I will be here tomorrow,' he interrupted. 'They will already be on your pretty tail. I am going to take that tape from you. I've been lenient tonight but when the morning comes, if you live to see it, you won't be so lucky with me if you give me any grief. And you'll thank me for saving your life.'

'It looks like it will be a race between yourself and your grandfather to get the tape before I take it to the police. But don't be so sure either one of you will win the challenge. I know this hospital like the back of my hand now and I will outwit the two of year getting out of here,' she said with confidence.

He couldn't help but laugh. He shook his head.

'You are really something. I'm going to send a couple of my men over to keep an eye on you. I will know your every move and you won't get out of here tomorrow without giving me that tape.'

'We'll see,' she challenged curtly, recovering her composure.

He narrowed his eyes at her and was about to say more when the door to her room opened and Jane walked in. Alessandro flashed a smile when Jane gave him a confused look.

'Oh I'm sorry I didn't know anyone was in here with you, Ariadne,' she gushed blushing.

Alessandro watched her eyes travel the length of him and return a small smile of admiration. Score. Shame, but I prefer your sister. Much more class and she has the edge on you for looks and cleavage.

'This is doctor Michael Jenkins,' Ariadne covered for him. 'He is training to be a surgeon with me. He's just come to see if I am doing ok.'

'Hello, I'm Jane Balmain,' she said shaking his hand. 'Nice to meet you.'

'Likewise. Balmain. That's French?'

'Yes, French father, English mother,' Jane smiled fluttering her lashes.

'I thought you said you had rounds, Michael?' Ariadne urged with a certain amount of annoyance in her voice.

'Yes, you are right. Must go. Nice to meet you, Jane. Ariadne, I will check in on you in the morning,' Alessandro said with a smile.

'That's if I'm still here,' she smiled sweetly.

He left without another word quietly cursing her under his breath.

Hidden Agenda (Work In Progress)

Hi Everyone,

Finally, here is chapter four of Hidden Agenda.  Hope you like it. :)

Sara


Chapter Four

London, July, 1996


There were two male police officers assisting the fire fighters and paramedics who pulled them out of the rubble. They started asking uncomfortable questions about Ariadne's bullet wound. Alessandro was ready to come out with some farfetched cock and bull story or failing that, making a run for it when the pretty lady decided to save his bacon. He remembered raising his eyebrows at her as she panted out her story with such fervour and animation that anyone should have believed her.

'I don't know where they came from. There were two of them. One started shooting. I got shot. I thought that was it. If this man hadn't come along and helped me take cover I would have been dead. He saved my life.'

Alessandro's eyes widened with surprise as he stepped into the ambulance after they'd handed her in lying on a gurney. He sat down across from her with the officer eyeing her quizzically. But she would not meet his eyes. Why the hell was she helping him yet again?

'I owe him my life.'

Alessandro wanted to laugh for one mad moment. Don't overdo it, honey. I owe you mine.

Yet the police officer wouldn't stop asking bloody questions and he and the male paramedic attending her were becoming angry at the man's persistence as they drove off at speed.

'I don't know who they were or why they were shooting at me? Don't you think I would tell you if I knew?' she told him wearily obviously beginning to feel the effects of the morphine she'd been given for her pain. 'Maybe they were involved in the bombing . . .' she trailed off, her eyes closing momentarily with drowsiness.

'That is what I am trying to ascertain, Miss Philips,' the officer said with barely disguised impatience.

'Why don't you give her a break? She's injured. She's told you everything she can,' Alessandro urged, wary of the officers constant questioning.

The officer narrowed his eyes at Alessandro.

'Look sir, London hasn't been bombed this much since the bloody Blitz and if there are two gunmen running about the debris then we need to know.'

Alessandro gestured with his hand towards Ariadne.

'But she's told you all she can. I saw them shooting at her. Like she says we took cover in that doorway and the building caved in around us, pushing one of the parked cars at us. We thought we were going to die.'

The officer shook his head as they both watched the paramedic cover Ariadne's mouth with an oxygen mask.

'I need more information from you both.'

'But there is no more to give!' Alessandro feigned exasperation and annoyance.

'Enough constable,' the paramedic ordered replacing his plastic gloves to have a look at Alessandro's cut. 'Miss Philips has been shot, and she has concussion. She needs to rest and I need to take a look at this gentleman's head now I've got her stable. You can talk to them again after they have received treatment in the hospital and not before.'

Silence and no more questions. Alessandro felt relieved. He glanced over at Ariadne and found her watching him with her sleepy eyes. She suddenly looked afraid. He gave her a gentle smile of reassurance and thanks. He noticed her finger was tapping with agitation on top of her stomach. His father did that. He always finger tapped when he was angry and trying to keep it under wraps or anxious. He wondered which emotion Ariadne was feeling. Probably both. Something made him reach out and stretch his arm across the small enclosed space in which they travelled to catch hold of her finger tapping hand. She didn't object as he gave it a gentle squeeze and held on to it tight.

The first explosion in which Alessandro and Ariadne had been caught up in hadn't been far from the river and it was to University College hospital they travelled. The whole place was in chaos but Alessandro found that he and Ariadne were dealt with promptly. At least two of the doctors appeared to know Ariadne and were alarmed when she was brought in. Alessandro wondered if this was the hospital in which she worked as a doctor.

They were parted before he could find out and after he was treated it took some initiative to lose the persistent policeman and find out where they had taken her. He found himself worried about the small beautiful woman who had protected him. He needed to keep her in sight. Despite his warnings to Gregorio, his grandfather would not hesitate to kill her. Not to mention Alessandro wanted that damned package and he wouldn't be happy until he had taken it from her.

He eventually found her in a private room. He was about to go in when a tall woman who bore a striking resemblance to Ariadne and a fair headed man with short hair stepped outside of her hospital room. He bore all characteristics of a plain clothes CID police officer. Alessandro slipped back behind the corner and discreetly watched them and listened in on their conversation.

'You have to talk to her Jane. We need to know what she saw? I am sure she is hiding something from us? None of it adds up. Why would they just shoot at her indiscriminately. They have to have a reason. Why her? I want to talk to this man she was with,' the fair headed man was saying.

Alessandro watched him scrunch up a paper cup with undisguised irritation and throw it into a nearby bin.

'Don 't be so hard on her. Although, I have to admit it does seem as though she is hiding something. It's not like her. Then after what she has been through tonight . . . When are you going to tell her we are together? I hate all of this sneaking around,' the woman returned in a shaky desperate voice.

The man pulled the woman into his arms and kissed her gently.

'Soon. I promise. Tonight would be cruel after all she has been through.'

'But she's my sister, Richard. I feel so dishonest.'

The man kissed her forehead this time.

'Shh. Just a little while longer.'

The woman nodded reluctantly in his embrace.

Alessandro rested his head against the wall. Shit. Ariadne didn't deserve to be attached to a prick like that or have a sister who deceived her. She was worth more than that after what he'd learned of her tonight. He smoothed his hand over his face wondering if he should tell her what he'd heard if he ever had the opportunity.

'Jane, try and find out what she is hiding? This isn't like her. I will see you later. They need me working on these attacks. No one has claimed responsibility yet but something tells me it isn't the IRA. My money is on that environmental group, Voice of The Earth. I have to go, babe.'

The woman nodded. She wiped tears from her eyes and watched Richard walk away from her down the bare clinical corridor. For a moment, Alessandro thought Jane would re enter the room but she sniffed back her tears and began walking down the other end of the corridor. No doubt for some refreshment or just to clear her head.

Alessandro took his chance and slipped inside Ariadne's room. She was lying peacefully in her bed, a drip in her arm and a heart monitor bleeping gently in the background. He stole by her bed in the dim light eager to be near her at the same time as wondering what the hell she had done with the package. He sat down carefully on the bed beside her. She appeared to be sleeping and he felt a sudden irresistible need to touch her. Very gently he brushed his fingertips against her cheek. She stirred and opened her eyes. She gave him a soft sleepy smile.

'I suppose you've come for the tape,' she whispered. 'I'm sorry but I can't let you have it. I promised Paul you wouldn't get it. After the explosion, the only people he wants to have it are the police.'

News

Unfortunately events have conspired against me and I am unable to post a new chapter of Hidden Agenda tonight.  I will post a new one as soon as possible.  In the meantime please check out my publishing news for Knight of Swords at http://hellfireherald.blogspot.com/.

Please also note that the edits for The Organ Grinder have now been done and once I have received the official book cover I will post it here.

Have a great weekend!

Sara :)

News

Knight Of Swords

I have now received the official book cover for my gothic victorian vampire novel and the first in The Swords Series, Knight Of Swords.  This book will hopefully go on sale in 2011 at the end of April.  I have also now been informed that the second novel, Ace of Swords will be published by Hellfire Publishing.  In view of the above I am posting chapter one of Knight of Swords to give a taster of what to expect.  Please be aware this chapter is a little on the scary side!  There will be four books in the series and I am currently working on the third novel, The Hanged Man.

If you are following my mafia thriller, Hidden Agenda, please note that I will be posting a new chapter on friday evening.

Thanks.

Best wishes.

Sara :)


Knight Of Swords

Chapter One


London 1893

Once again I was to be guest witness to a gruesome murder against my will. The monster came to collect me from my dreams just as he always did. He changed their pleasant landscape and replaced them with a vision of death that would forever haunt my soul.

Somehow this creature had the terrifying ability to walk through my mind and lead my very consciousness into his own dark filled world. I would see his cruel murders first hand. His emotions and mine were one and the same, linked by some fateful bond. Only fear and revulsion were my own. Our senses were entwined. I felt the touch, smell, taste and sound of all that he did. I didn't know how and I did not care to know. I just wanted it to stop.

This night we approached a small secluded alley in a forgotten, dirty, damp corner of Whitechapel, not far from where one of the famous Ripper murders had taken place a few years earlier. To my horror, it was somewhere I recognised. The memory flashed strong and vivid in my mind. I had taken the daughter of the landlord from the nearby drinking establishment, The Candlewick, up against the wall not two weeks before.

I remembered her innate giggling as I man-handled her fleshy plump breasts and moved her up and down against the wall as she straddled me, pushing inside her so hard and fast my head spun. I recognised every place the monster took me. They were always the scene of one of my carnal sins. It was all part of the punishment he had so meticulously devised for me.

I heard a muffled sobbing and a dragging sound. I stared at the creature's back and down to the long bony fingers of his hand that were coiled tightly around a mass of fiery titian curls. My lips trembled and my body shook as I looked down at the woman he was dragging along the alley.

She was bound and gagged. Blood trailed from a large gash in her forehead. I ached to help her, to tear her from the monster's grasp but I could not move my body other than to walk dutifully behind him. My will was not my own. He wore the garments of a clergyman but this man was no true man of the cloth. How could he be?

I never saw his face. It was always obscured by the shadows that seemed to surround him wherever we travelled. He walked with a limp and an unsteady gait. It made his footsteps heavy and laboured on the cobbled streets. The clumping sound chillingly announced his arrival into my dreams when he came to collect my soul.

The heavy sound mingled with the noise of the woman's body being dragged along the cobbles. Tears sprang into my eyes begging for release but I held them back. I fixed my sight more closely on the woman. It was . . ., you must excuse my emotion, it was Sophie – another young woman who had been misfortunate to attract my lust. This cruel, unforgiving creature took the women I had made love to. Oh God, Sophie, I am so sorry you ever met me.

Sophie was to be his fifth killing in the last month. I tried to beg for her life, to connect with any shred of humanity left in him but my efforts fell upon deaf ears. I offered my own life in return. When that did not move him, I vowed that I would find a way to stop him. Somehow I would kill him. Even if I swung for it, I would kill him. I thundered this intention at him with anger but he merely laughed at the suggestion and continued diligently with his task.

We finally reached our destination, a small black corner of the alley, well hidden from view. It was a cold damp winter's night. Tendrils of wet mist curled and stretched like smoke through the alley. The man pulled Sophie up to standing. He loosened the bonds around her wrists and fixed them around a cold wet drainpipe. The action forced her up on to her tiptoes. Her eyes darted upwards to the source of her new pain and she began squealing frantically behind the gag, just as a child would, then her eyes lowered and slowly fixed upon me.

They filled with tears that were quickly replaced by disgust and loathing. I tried to speak of my innocence, my intention to help, my fear for her situation but I was silenced. Sophie struggled wildly causing her body to swing on the rope. I tried to move with all of the strength I possessed, to rush to her aid but it was useless. I could not move unless the creature allowed it.

Sophie would die believing that I was a partner to her murder. I found that hard to live with. The man started to strip Sophie of her sky blue satin evening gown and undergarments, exposing every mouth watering curve of her naked body I had spent many a day and night getting to know in hurried moments stolen from her husband.

When she was fully naked, the creature turned her around to face the wall of the deserted building. Her small frame was rigid with fearful anticipation as he stroked the length of her spine with his fingers. She shivered and pimpled with his slithering touch, her voice an incoherent whimper of pleading words behind the gag that cruelly forced its way into her mouth, silencing any protest she attempted.

The killer was pleased with the choice he had made in selecting Sophie as his next victim, for it was not only me he punished with his vile acts. Sophie bore a very close resemblance to his lost sweetheart, the woman who had rejected his tormented love. This woman, this Juliet whose name he whispered as he maimed and killed, drove his murders in equal strength to his passion to punish myself. Somehow the man had linked our perceived crimes and deemed them both worthy of the same punishment.

I could not help but feel as though he believed I had wooed Juliet and taken her from him as I had done to other men with other women. Yet I had never met her. I confess, I was confused and bewildered by his anger toward me. Jealously seemed as good as a reason for his hostility as any other.

Every killing was the monster's rehearsal of Juliet's eventual demise. I feared for Juliet's life on a continual basis.

I did not know of Juliet or her life but I was drawn to her through this creature and I felt incredibly protective of her. I was relieved that despite all of his efforts he had not been able to detect her whereabouts either physically or psychically.

I winced when the man slit the sharp dirty black nail that adorned his index finger into the skin at the top of Sophie's spine. It cut deep. Fresh crimson blood permeated the wound. The blood felt warm to the killer's touch. Excitement stirred in his loins at the sight of it. I could only feel disgust at the indecent arousal forced to enter my mind. I wanted no part of it.

He was hypnotised by its intense scarlet colour contrasting against his captive's naked pale pink back as the blood trailed seductively in one perfect single line down her quivering spine. I heard his breath deepen with aroused anticipation as the line curved down to the cleft between the plump rise of her buttocks. He smoothed his palm around her fleshy rump in appreciation before bending to lap at the blood, just before it entered the tight cleft.

Sophie's helpless body shuddered with the icy caress of his tongue and her hips bucked against the wall mimicking the sexual act in a vain effort to reel away from him. Her skin was soft and downy to the killer as he caressed it once more but the pleasure he took from it was nothing compared to that provided by the taste of her blood.

His unclean fingers splayed out across her back. By now I knew what he was going to do next. He was feeling for the most tender part of the woman's back, where the blood was the most sweet and nutritious. Every muscle in my body tightened once more as I made yet another futile attempt to move and come to Sophie's rescue. Fear and rage swelled feverishly inside me as the man bent his mouth to her back and grazed his sharp teeth along her skin.

Sophie reeled away from him, sobbing behind the gag. He sniffed at her skin with the curiosity and intensity of an animal. As he inhaled that familiar aroma of soap and jasmine from Sophie I experienced its potency along with him. The killer's sense of smell was far more heightened than my own and the power with which he inhaled her scent left me feeling giddy.

This was the point in the proceedings when his victim appeared to take on Juliet's persona to him. He whispered her name to Sophie as though she had been named Juliet at birth. He spoke of the cruelty of her rejection and the price she had to pay. He had no choice, she had to die for her ungodly treachery. He could wait no longer.

For the final time I begged him to stop but he merely gave me a soft chuckle. His teeth snaked sharply against Sophie's skin and then broke it. The incision was almost surgical, delving deep through muscle and sinew. I had never believed in fantastical stories of vampires but here there appeared to be living proof.

Sophie's screams were a muffled garble against the material thrust inside her mouth as her essence spilled from the hole he'd made in her body and drained into his mouth. He had punctured one of her organs, her liver perhaps, I was sure of it and he drew blood from deep inside her with passionate ardour.

It saturated his lips and dribbled untidily down his chin, staining his black garb and white collar red. I felt the liquid fill my stomach. It surged upwards with force through my throat as I made every attempt to reject it. It burst out through my mouth onto the ground. It was a hallucination the man had created within my mind and I was powerless to stop it.

I fell to my knees vomiting the blood. But what disturbed me more than anything was the small part of me that cried out to hold onto the blood. I vomited again at the revulsion I felt towards my confused thoughts of both need and rejection of Sophie's essence.

Sophie was collapsing when I wiped my mouth and stood once again. He spun her around. Her eyes were dull, almost lifeless, glazing with the approach of death and burrowed into her face by black rings. Her complexion was smudged and discoloured with tears. Her skin was now as white as porcelain – she looked as though she were a broken china doll left out in the rain. Her titian locks had fallen loose from the clasp at the back of her hair and caressed her breasts.

The monster swept the hair away from her chest and began planting bloodied kisses across her throat that turned into vicious bites. Sophie's body resembled a leaking vessel riddled with holes. Tears began flowing down my face as I wept for Sophie.

Blood dripped between her pale cleavage. He scooped up one of her breasts and bit into it softly, as if he were taking a bite from a succulent exotic fruit. Blood sprang into his open orifice and overflowed from the sides of his mouth as he suckled with the fervour of a newborn babe.

After a while, he lifted his head and I knew it was time for Sophie to finally die. But I also knew that would not be the end of matters for the killer. When the women died, the creature would dismember the cadaver just as The Ripper had done with his own victims. He would open the body and select the choicest organs and wrap them in a large handkerchief to take away.

He always took the heart but he would make choices over the other organs. It depended on his peculiar taste for that evening. The way he had earlier admired Sophie's plentiful rump left me in no doubt that he would cut a piece of that juicy mound to accompany whatever organs he took. Nausea rose from my stomach as I contemplated being forced to view this vile act. How could this man masquerade as a servant of the Church and commit such acts of abomination? I knew not.

He planted more soft bloody kisses. His mouth approached the slowing beat of her pulse and her jugular vein. My whole frame tightened and I found myself holding my breath in terror. I shouted out, vainly. But the man's cold gray eyes stared back at me without pity, betraying a trace of amusement at my distress. I had, perhaps, given him the reaction he desired in the final act of my latest punishment and redemption. He lifted his mouth from Sophie's tender, fragile throat and widened it to reveal his sharp blood stained incisors.

My eyes stretched open in horror as in one fluid motion he swept like a bird of prey down onto Sophie's throat and ripped it out. Sophie fell dead in his arms instantly. It was over – God forgive me but I could not help feeling relieved. Sophie would feel no more pain and at least she would not feel the tearing of her flesh. I was grateful for those small mercies.

The man pressed his face into the fateful wound to catch the best of the rich essence that poured from Sophie's broken body. I closed my eyes tight, unable to take the gruesome scene anymore. I struggled to support myself on my shaking legs as Sophie's blood seeped into the cobbles around my feet. I wished I could block out the frantic sucking noises the man made and remove the taste of blood from my mouth that made me convulse.

A soft feminine cry startled both myself and the man. The dreadful sucking noise abruptly ceased. I opened my eyes with a quick sharpness to find the source of the distressed utterance. I heard him whisper her name with reverence, 'Juliet . . . my love, Juliet, you have come at last.'

Hidden Agenda (Work In Progress)

Hi Everyone,

Here is chapter three of Hidden Agenda.  Enjoy. :)

Sara

Chapter Three


London, July, 1996

Alessandro opened his eyes and tried to focus in the dust filled darkness. The girl was coughing. He glanced back. There was no way they were getting out the way they came in without help. The side of the car was tilted towards them and the fallen brick had done its best to fill the small hole in which they sat.

The girl suddenly made to outstretch her arms but the brick was packed too tight around them to allow the action. She whimpered. His vision was becoming accustomed to the light and he could see her hands shaking. She fought to turn herself in his grasp.

'No, don't move, stay still. If you make any sudden movements you might bring the brick in on top of us,' he instructed catching hold of her hand.

'We're trapped in here,' she gasped snatching her hand away. She quickly turned to the doors. 'What's the chance that these doors are open?' she panted.

On closer inspection the rough green doors didn't look big enough for someone to fit through to Alessandro. If they tried they would have to crawl. More likely the office building used to be a pub and that was where they rolled the beer barrels down to the cellar. Still, it might be their only way out.

'Nil, I guess.'

'I still want to try. Humour me,' she persisted.

'It will be a waste of time,' he told her flatly.

'I can't stand the thought of having to acknowledge that we are buried alive in here. Please help me delay the inevitable,' she panted with a small amount of humour in her voice.

'Ok, but nice and slow. No sudden movements.'

He allowed her to slowly turn from her sideways position in his arms towards the doors and lean over. With shaking hands she pushed at it. When it didn't budge she tried again. She gave a frustrated growl and grunted with the exertion on her injured arm.

'It's no good.'

He sighed. 'I told you so.'

'Maybe we should try to kick it in.'

The girl started to try to stretch her legs out as far as possible pushing back on him. He tightened his grip on her waist in warning.

'Stop. I told you no sudden movements or we won't get out of here alive,' he commanded.

'Let me try. We have to do something. I can't just sit in here and wait until we run out of oxygen or something.'

She had a point. He tried to move his own legs but they were wedged in tight, his knees bent around the girl, his feet pressed upwards against the side of the cubbyhole. He nodded at her and helped her turn around fully. Slowly she leaned back against him and lifted her leg and kicked at the door with all she had.

Nothing. Dust began to fall around them from the rubble as it moved against him. His body was just about all but keeping the rubble from falling in on them. He eyed it suspiciously as she tried again. She kicked it several times, each action becoming more frustrated and erratic. Their brick prison began to shake making him shout at her to stop. When she wouldn't listen he caught hold of her leg and forced her to turn around back to her sideways position against his body.

'There's nothing we can do. We will just have to sit tight until the emergency services get here. They'll find us,' he told her beginning to feel hot in their small prison.

'I can't just sit here and give up,' she shouted.

'You are going to have to . From the way you kept working on Paul I can tell you don't know when to give up and realise there is nothing more you can do,' he said with impatience.

She sat forward holding her injured arm twisting her head around as far as she could to see him over her shoulder.

'You knew him?'

Damn. He shouldn't have opened his fucking mouth. But he decided that maybe he could play this revelation to his advantage and work out if the girl had taken the evidence from Paul. Perhaps, he'd entrusted her with it just before he'd died. It was worth a shot.

'Yes. I was going to meet him. We were friends.'

'Really? You don't seem that cut up about his death?' she challenged.

'Like I've had time to be. What's your name?'

'Ariadne. Yours?'

'Alessandro. Ariadne, did Paul give you something before he died? He was supposed to . . .'

She was angry.

'Your friend has just died and you sound more concerned about something he was supposed to give you? Some friend you are. Ow . . .'

'What is it?'

'My arm, my head. They hurt like hell. I can't believe I got shot . . .'

Her voice sounded breathy and drowsy. She was losing too much blood. The paramedics needed arrive pronto. He strained his ears listening for voices. Nothing. He felt cramp beginning to creep up his legs and shifted his body once, twice.

'What are you doing?' she hissed at him.

'Nothing,' he grumbled. 'I'm getting cramp.'

'Don't move again. It feels as though you are rubbing yourself against me.'

'What? What the hell are you on? It's not like I want to touch you up. Like I could in here?' he mocked sarcastically.

She winced loudly with pain and brought her hand to her head.

He was concerned. He caught her hand and pulled it away from her head and spoke softly.

'Come on, lie back against me and relax. The paramedics will get here I promise you.'

He guided her reluctant body back against his chest with a firm grip. 'I don't bite.'

'No you just shoot people.'

'Shh, let me have a look at your arm.'

Her head fell against his chest. Blood from the cut in her forehead was streaming down her face and her shirt sleeve was soaked. He took hold of the material and ripped it open. She jumped in his arms but offered no objection. Her head moved listlessly from side to side against his chest. He pulled at the tie around his neck and pulled it away undone from his collar. Quickly he tied it around her arm above the wound to stem the blood flow and ignored her cry of pain. She was pretty out of it now.

'Hey don't go to sleep on me. Stay awake,' he urged, worried she was about to lose consciousness. He swept his hand around her waist again and gave her a squeeze around her middle. She moved and cursed him but it did the trick.

'I hate just sitting here. I hate small spaces. Who do you think set of the bombs? It has to be the IRA,' she questioned, the pain clearly audible in her strained voice.

'Might be but then that environmental group Voice Of The Earth has been threatening action for a while. Maybe it's them.'

'All those lives gone in a few seconds. It's too much to bear.' She paused. 'I'm so hot. Do you think we'll make it?'

'Damn right we will,' he told her confidently but he was beginning to wonder. It was getting harder to breathe and the dust was choking his lungs. He couldn't hear anyone out there. 'Come on talk to me. How old are you?'

'None of your business,' she said with drowsy humour. He sensed her smiling.

'I reckon you are similar to me twenty-seven or maybe twenty-eight?'

'Twenty-eight.'

'One year older than me.'

'Does that make you a toy boy then? I want to go to sleep now.'

Her words were slurring. He felt afraid for her. He liked her humour, liked the way she'd hung around when he was in trouble and did her best to help.

He lightly swept his fingers around the side of her face and stroked her cheek in a gentle soothing motion as he kept her head resting against him. She turned slightly, pressing the other side of her face against his chest and he found himself warming to her need for comfort.

'You are one gutsy lady. Most people would have took off at the sight of a gun. But there you were banging a broken chair across the back of one of the most dangerous men I know.'

'It's not in my nature to run away.'

'No. But it might have been better if you had done. Are you sure Paul didn't give you anything?'

'No, I'm sure,' she said with irritation but still he doubted her. There was something uneasy in her tone and the way she snapped at him told him she was hiding something. He didn't persist any further. The time wasn't right.

'Ok, shh. Take it easy,' he whispered kissing the top of her head to gentle her protest.

'I'm frightened,' she said out of the blue. 'The last time I was in an enclosed space, bad things happened . . .'

She sounded delirious. He became curious.

'Shh, your safe with me. What happened?'

'I don't want to talk about it. I'm too hot.'

He watched her move her hand to her throat and pull at the collar of her shirt. One of the buttons came undone and exposed her cleavage. He couldn't help but look down. Hell, it was in his nature. It was automatic. That's when he saw it. A small package tucked inside her left bra cup. Excitement streaked through his veins. So, Paul had given her something.

He considered simply taking it from her but then he didn't want to hurt her or make her frightened of him. He would have to wait. At least he knew she had it, safely tucked in that rather magnificent pert cleavage. He couldn't think of anywhere safer or where he would like to be if he was that package. He smiled to himself. She was one formidable woman. She'd probably bite him or something if he even tried. He wondered what Paul must have said for her to lie and keep her possession of it secret.

He glanced down again, temptation and frustration to have it beginning to get the better of him. He was relieved for Ariadne's sake that he was thwarted from acting by the sound of voices outside of their claustrophobic prison. He began shouting loudly and before long both he and Ariadne were pulled from the rubble. He was just going to have to find another way of retrieving the package before she gave it to the wrong people or his grandfather decided to kill her for it.

Hidden Agenda (Work In Progress)

Hi Everyone,

Here is chapter two of Hidden Agenda.  I plan to write this one on the blog so I hope you enjoy following it.  Thanks for reading.  Enjoy. :)

Sara


Chapter Two

London, July, 1996


Alessandro aimed. It was stupid. The smog was growing dense and the lack of light was irritating. He'd be lucky if he hit anything. He moved back against the woman and into the shadows hearing his assailants run towards him. A quick glance at the girl told him she was still alert despite her injuries. He put his finger to his lips and motioned for her to be quiet as she pressed her back against the wall for support and stared at him in bemused alarm. He turned quickly hearing the first man approach and brought the butt of his Glock down hard on the back of the man's neck with deft force.

The man dropped to the ground hard and out cold. The second was on him before he could let out breath. Alessandro raised his leg in a perfect arc and executed a neat roundhouse kick, knocking the man's handgun from his hand. Startled, the man fought to recover quickly and launched himself at Alessandro, driving his head into his stomach and pushing him backwards against the girl.

She gave a squeal and moved out of the way. Alessandro struggled hard. The guy was big, built like a brick shit house. It was Gregorio, one of his grandfather's best men. He wound his hand around Alessandro's throat and gripped hard banging the younger man's head off the wall. Alessandro pushed back against the man's chest with his arm to gain his freedom trying to aim his Glock as his assailant tried to wrestle it from his grasp with his free hand.

If Gregorio succeeded in subduing him he'd drag Alessandro back to his grandfather like a trophy but the girl . . . He'd kill her without hesitation. The realisation renewed Alessandro's waning energy. He was her only hope for survival. Out the corner of her eye he could see her frantically looking for something to hit Gregorio with. He needed her to stay back she wouldn't be any good to him in that state and would just get herself killed.

He growled as he felt his throat constrict and fought to get his breath. If the bastard kept this up he'd be unconscious. He kicked out at the guy refusing to give in. But he felt his grip on the Glock slipping as his consciousness ebbed away. Gregorio banged Alessandro's arm against the wall in a constant brutal motion. Despite Alessandro's effort to retain his hold the handgun fell to the ground. Shit was he in trouble now.

Gregorio leaned down to pick it up. Alessandro struggled for all his life's worth, trying to kick the gun away with his feet as darkness began to creep into the sides of his vision. His blurring eyes frantically sought out the girl. He hoped she'd had the fucking sense to run. Gregorio picked up the gun and that's when Alessandro found out where the girl had gone. She stood behind his assailant whacking him on the head and back with what was left of a wooden chair as if there was no tomorrow.

The guy swore, stooping with each blow and let go of Alessandro's throat turning swiftly to swipe the back of his hand across her face. The blow was enough to knock her to the ground semi conscious. It was all Alessandro needed. He bent quickly to retrieve his handgun and took the safety off. As the man turned back to him he aimed it at him square.

'Tell my grandfather I will not be forced back into his stinking family,' he panted, his hand to his throat as he fought to catch his breath once more. 'Tell him I won't rest until he is a dead man. Got that?' Alessandro snapped.

The man shook his head and gave Alessandro a look of disgust. He spoke English with a heavy Venetian accent.

'I do not understand your disrespect to Signor Vadala. If you were my own I would have cut off your head for your dishonour to the family. I will deliver no such message.'

'Maybe this will change your mind,' Alessandro coldly redirected his aim towards the man's leg and discharged a bullet into the man's kneecap. Gregorio sank to the rubble strewn ground crying like a baby with pain. Alessandro leaned over him to pull him up by the shirt collar and got in his face.

'You tell that bullshitter that I'm coming for him. You come after me again or go after the girl and I'll kill you next time.'

Gregorio spat his response in Alessandro's face.

'You can't escape the family. Do your duty and come home. He wants you to take over the business when he's gone. Why he should still love you as one of his own . . .?'

'Shut your mouth and get up before I decide to take your other kneecap away.'

Alessandro pulled the man up by his collar and aimed the handgun at the back of his head fighting back the urge to blow his head off.

'He wants to give you everything,' the man panted. 'You are heir to the Vadala family and all that he owns,' there was incredulity in Gregorio's tone.

'I belong to my father's family. The Madernos.'

'When your grandfather finishes wiping out your family you will have to return and know your place. Your mother learnt the hard way what it meant to leave the family and bring it disgrace.'

Rage boiled over in Alessandro's mind. He knew the bastard was trying to push his buttons but the memory of his mother being mowed down on the road by a hit and run driver all those years ago automatically began to replay in his mind. It never stopped. It was always there waiting for a bloody reason to come out and torment him. Remind him of his real duty, to exact revenge on her behalf.

'Your mother was a stupid, dumb bitch. Come back now or your father will pay for your mistake. Maybe this woman as well.'

Alessandro pushed him away and without hesitation shot his other leg in the thigh. He let him fall to the ground once again so that he might tower over Gregorio's panting, blabbering form.

'Move now. Crawl if you have to. If I catch you harming the woman or going anywhere near my father I'll come for you and then your own family. Do I make myself clear?'

There was a strangled mumble from the man. Alessandro repeated his question pressing the gun into his temple. His voice was deep with menace.

'I said, do I make myself clear?'

'Yes, yes,' the man blurted out in anger, a beaded sweat breaking out on his forehead as he fought to endure the agony of his injuries.

'Now move.'

It was a miracle the man could stand let alone move but he did back in the direction of the fire as Alessandro continued to aim at him. There was a loud bang from the restaurant and fire blew out of it making the man jump and see cover before picking up speed. He'd narrowly missed being burnt. The burst of flame lit up the street in the gloom revealing the gaping building fronts with paper and plaster raining down from the blown in offices.

The building in front of them was still intact but only just. The whole front of it seemed to be moving with fragments of brick escaping down onto the street. He had a bad feeling that they didn't have much time The woman gave an agitated gasp at the small explosion reminding Alessandro of her presence. He turned and put the safety back on his handgun before putting it back inside his jacket and hurried to take hold of her arm.

But when he approached her she took two steps back alarmed, clearly horror stricken by his treatment of the man. Any trust she had for him he'd just blown it out of the water. Damn it, he didn't have time for this.

'Stay away from me,' she screamed at him putting her blood stained hands to her head. Who the hell are you? You shot him. Who the hell goes chasing someone with a gun after an explosion? I'm getting out of here. . .'

She turned around and began to stumble away. She could hardly move. Blood was seeping from her arm and head.

'No, you need my help. You have to trust me. I won't hurt you.'

Without his assistance she would collapse and probably bleed to death.

'No I'll be fine. Leave me alone. I am going to tell the police . . .'

He strode towards her and caught hold of her wrist on her injured arm and pulled her back against his chest. She gave a anguished cry of pain.

'It won't do you any good.' He told her steadying her slumping form against him as he bent his head to take a closer look at the bullet hole in her arm. Thankfully it wasn't as bad as he had anticipated. It had simply cut through her flesh and nothing else He spoke softly, 'Now let me help you. I won't harm you. I promise.'

There was a noise. Low and grumbling, just like thunder. He felt the woman's body stiffen against his chest.

'What was that noise? No more bombs. I can't stand it,' she said angrily.

Alessandro looked back at the building that was a neighbour of the restaurant and stretched to where they stood in the narrow neck of the small street. The front of it was shaking for real now. Shit it was coming down.

Alessandro's movements were lightening quick. He wound his arm around the young woman's small waist as the ground started to shake underneath their feet and lifted her up against his side. He ran as best he could over the rubble acutely aware that the falling building appeared to be chasing them.

Bricks and mortar fell around them striking his back, choking his lungs with the dust. He couldn't help wondering if he and the girl were going to come out of this one alive. Then he saw it. A small hole, ground level. It led down to some cellar doors in the side of the building across the road. He hoped this office building was intact and had no plans to topple.

He lowered the girl to the floor and pushed her until she fell inside. He followed. It was just big enough for them both to fit and shelter from the falling office block. He pulled the coughing woman against him and curled over her, gallantly protecting her from the falling debris. His heart was thudding. There seemed to be no end to the collapse. There was a scraping noise and a creaking that accompanied it. He glanced back. The girl must have done as well because she gasped as the falling rubble pushed a parked car towards the hole in which they had taken refuge.

Shit, was this really it? Not now, not when he was so close to finishing his grandfather. Alessandro held the girl tighter feeling his body shake with her own as the car careered towards them. He couldn't breathe. They both instinctively jumped as the car slammed against the entrance to the small hole littering rubble all around it to block their safe exit. Everything went black.

Hidden Agenda (Work In Progress)

Hi Everyone,

Here is the first chapter of my Mafia thriller Hidden Agenda.  Hope you like it.

Sara


Chapter One


A sudden blue flash dazzled Alessandro's eyes momentarily blinding him in its vivid colour. Before he could determine its source the ground beneath his feet shook and the world around him began to explode and splinter. Air rushed from the darkness to punch him hard in the chest. The last thing he remembered was being thrown backwards up into the air to be dashed against the wall of an office building.

Moments later he regained consciousness to find a an assortment of glass, plaster and paper debris lying over his fallen crumpled body. He put his hand to his aching head as he made a stiff effort to sit up. He turned his head sharply to the source of hurried footsteps approaching from the top end of the London alleyway in which he had been walking and vainly attempted to focus his blurring vision on the figure.

The figure cleared to reveal a man passing by, blooding streaming in a torrent down his face. He was crying loudly and didn't seem to know where he was going as he stumbled on and out of the small street. The faintly lit evening had turned grey with smoke and there was a smell of gas. For a moment Alessandro thought he was dreaming. None of it seemed real, it couldn't be, he wasn't sure. He wiped at the small trickle of blood coming from his forehead and considered how lucky he was at having survived the explosion.

He cleared away the debris and slowly stood wiping the dust and plaster from his navy suit. There was a distant wail of police sirens and a chorus of car alarms going off as he hurriedly made his way to the opposite end of the alley wondering if the man he had arranged to meet outside a restaurant in the next street was still alive.

Alessandro heard a woman shouting as he rounded the corner. Quickly he looked for her and spied a woman leaning over the prostrate form of a man lying in the middle of a road. She was desperately trying to revive him with mouth to mouth and heart massage. The small Italian restaurant he'd frequented so often was blown through and it's huge glass windows lay in shards all over the road. A large one lay imbedded in the injured man's chest. He was a bloody mess and Alessandro doubted whether the woman's efforts to save his life weren't a waste of time.

He made his way towards her stepping over the rubble. A street lamp was bent double, the light holder having been broken but the light was still shining. It creaked eerily in the warm July evening breeze casting shadows of yellow light in the grey cloud that now hung low all around him. He found himself stopping to step over the body of a young woman and two of her severed limbs. There were several other bodies littering the street all in the same state of dissection.

Finally, he reached the frantic brunette counting out loud as she continued to give the injured man heart massage. Alessandro Maderno was no stranger to death or those who sought to set it's curse upon others. He was often one of its messengers in his line of work but still he found himself wincing at the futility of death's random set of innocent victims. At least when he brought death to an individual there was a reason, a purpose, a due to be paid, even a justice to it.

He felt blood dampen his forehead and ran his fingers through his softly curled black hair finding the cut. He would need stitches. He was bloody lucky that was all he had needed. Not many people seemed to have survived the explosion in this street. He would be damn lucky if his informant was alive. More than likely he was lying in several pieces just like the others strewn around him. He approached the woman and felt the warmth of a blazing fire against his face. He turned to stare into the glow of flames that roared in the gutted hole of what used to be his favourite restaurants. He needed to get the woman away from it. The smell of gas was much stronger here.

He looked down at the woman and man and cursed under his breath. It was his informant, Paul Wakem. The man's eyes were staring wide and vacant of life, yet still the pretty young woman was doing all she could to save him and refused to admit defeat.

He called down to her but she didn't seem to hear him or even notice his presence. He bent down and took Paul's pulse in his wrist just to make sure. He was gone.

'He's dead. You need to stop now. There is nothing more you can do for him,' he told the woman gently, laying his hand lightly on her arm.

It was of little use. The woman was in shock. Her hands were covered in blood as she continued resuscitation and tears streamed unnoticed down her cheeks. His heart leapt out in sympathy. He leaned over and more firmly took hold of her arms commanding her to stop. She looked up at him with confused and startled brown eyes as if she had only just realised he was there. Bewildered and dazed with shock and no doubt blood loss from the large wound in her forehead, she allowed him to prise her hands away from Paul's body.

'Is he really dead?' she asked. 'I tried but I couldn't seem to help him. What kind of a doctor am I? I tried but I couldn't help anyone here,' she told him with a shaky voice that was on the verge of cracking into hysteria. 'Maybe I shouldn't give up like I did with that man and that little girl over there.'

Alessandro gave her a sympathetic look as he glanced at the mangled bodies she referred to. No wonder she was traumatised. He caught hold of her shoulders as she moved away from him to work on Paul again. This time he wasn't giving her any choice. He pulled her roughly towards him, his intention to get her on her feet and away from the fire that raged in what was left of the restaurant before something blew in there. But the lady was a fighter and wasn't going to come easily.

'He's dead. There's nothing more you can do,' he shouted at her giving her a shake when she struggled fiercely in his hold. 'I can smell gas. That restaurant is going to blow any second. I am not going to let you die.'

He wondered if she would be able to stand. Her body was trembling like a pneumatic drill and her head kept tilting backwards as though she were about to lose consciousness. That nasty gash to her forehead was streaming with blood. She needed a doctor quick.

'I can't just leave him there. I don't even know who he is . . .'

Alessandro growled.

'Lady you are testing my patience. Stay put. I will find out who he is . . .'

It was a great excuse to look in Paul's jacket pockets. Paul was supposed to bring him something tonight. Hard evidence he said, 'Enough for you to bring down your grandfather and start a war between all the families. Just what you've always wanted.'

It had been an effort to wait until that evening. He searched in Paul's pockets but there was nothing. He turned and looked at the woman, wondering. Had she taken it? No, it was a crazy thought. She was distraught. Besides she didn't know anything. Bloody stupid idea. Still he had an uneasy feeling at the way she avoided his eyes when he looked at her.

'He hasn't got any id. I don't know who he is,' he told her standing, watching her fold and unfold her arms in an agitated restless manner.

'I want to stay with them until the paramedics come. I don't want to leave them on their own, I shouldn't. I'm a doctor,' she told him running her hands through her short dark hair.

He had to get her out of there. She was going a nasty shade of white and was clearly in shock. He stood up and swept his hand around her face gently lifting it to him to capture her dazed attention.

He spoke softly but with determination. 'No. I am not letting you stay here. You've done all that you could. You need medical attention. And it's dangerous.'

The moment he spoke another explosion echoed from the distance somewhere in the city. The woman jumped as the ground shook once more. Alessandro found himself impulsively pulling her into the safety of his arms, holding her protectively against him.

'What was that?' She asked against his shoulder, tears in her voice.

'Another explosion.'

'What's happening to us?'

'Someone is trying to make a point and overdoing it,' he informed her coldly. 'Come on, let's get out of here.'

He swept his arm around her waist, keeping her close and supported, conscious she was ready to pass out and began leading her on back the way he came. Relieved she was now too weak to offer him any resistance. They hadn't reached the end of the street when Alessandro heard the pounding of heavy feet through the debris and the fire of a handgun. Instinctively he pushed the woman against the side of one of the buildings out of the way as he pulled out his own gun but it was too late. The bullet sliced through her arm raising an anguished squeal of unexpected pain. He caught her over his arm as she slumped and pushed her down into the shadow cast by the wall of the building closest to them in the heavy dense smog. He stood in front of her, gun aimed waiting for the men to come out of the fog. Seems his grandfather was on to him and not even a terrorist bomb was going to stop him from making his grandson see the error of his ways.















ra.

Knight Of Coins (Work In Progress)

Hi Everyone,

Here is the second chapter of Knight Of Coins.  Hope you enjoy it!

Sara.


Chapter Two


I still held the blade of my sword to Sabrina's tender throat feeling rebellion rise strongly in her mind at the mention of blood and being forced to consume it. I pressed her back in her seat once more when her body jumped to move. A smile twitched at my lips as I remembered my own reaction the first time I was made to take blood. It took more than a sword to my throat to hold me down. It took two Royal knights to keep me still as one of them force fed me. Sabrina would struggle, we all did when the time to change came upon us unannounced and I would have no option but to be firm and harsh in my treatment of her until she accepted the life giving essence that would mark her transition.

'There is no way you are going to make me take blood,' the tremble in Sabrina's voice threaten to overwhelm her. 'I won't let you,' she told me with conviction. 'I can't . . .'

A cry of pain echoed loudly from her pursed lips and she raised her hand to head in agony and then I felt it, felt her in my mind for the first time. I lowered my sword to the floor as she raised her other hand and held her head, rocking back and forth with the pain. Her consciousness swept on into my mind searching for anything and everything amongst my thoughts. I was ecstatic. Her resistance had been broken down by the bond itself.

'Don't do that. Don't wander into my mind uninvited,' she shouted at me.

I gave a small laugh as I took hold of her arms and prised them away.

'Look at me, Sabrina. I am not in your mind at this moment, you are in mine.'

'What?' Tears sprung into her eyes and her body began to shiver. 'What's happening to me? I need to go to hospital,' she was almost talking to herself unaware of my presence. 'I'm afraid.'

I punctuated my tone with firmness and strength when I spoke, hoping my confidence would give her belief that I spoke the truth and that I would carry her through the cruel process.

'Concentrate through the pain. Try to keep your link with my mind. Let me shoulder some of the pain for you. Sabrina, don't be afraid. I am here for you and I won't ever leave you. I promise I will make sure you are safe.'

'No. This isn't happening. I don't want to be in your mind. I just feel more pain.'

My voice lowered as I made every effort to gentle her and coax her acceptance and trust now I felt her disbelief weakening at long last. I cupped the side of her face and gently lifted it to me commanding her attention. She looked at me with childlike wide frightened eyes filled with the heavy weight of pain and confusion.

'That is because you have been resisting our mental bond and it has caused me discomfort when you refused to allow me access to your mind. I had to fight it to get inside you. You are a strong woman, Sabrina,' I smiled.

'To be apart from your mind, your thoughts causes us both physical pain. You must allow the bond to follow freely or you will spend an eternity locked in pain and sentence me to the same punishment. Stop resisting and accept your fate. I have little choice in our joining just like you but I want this Sabrina more than anything and I won't ever let you go, darling. I've waited too long for you to come to me. There is no escape.'

She stared at me but did not speak. I heard her teeth chatter as her body temperature began to rise higher and her human body fought to cool itself. Another cry of pain. She opened her mouth and yanked one of her arms free from my hold to press her fingers against the top of her jaw. I waited for her to find the irrefutable truth of her new emerging existence as she probed her finger between those pretty pink quivering lips of hers. Her eyes widened with shock and she was suddenly raising her aching body and stumbling to the mirror over the fireplace at the side of the sofa.

I stood just behind her and put my hands in my pockets patiently watching, waiting. With shaking fingers she lifted her top lip and viewed the new pointed incisors viciously splitting open her gums and pushing aside her other teeth to settle their position just like a newborn teething. Her eyes filled with hurtful resignation and a fresh batch of tears she did her best not to shed gathered in her eyes as she stared back at my reflection in the mirror. I felt her sense of helplessness crush her as she looked at me with terror.

My heart leapt. I wanted to hold her, comfort her in my arms and reassure her frantic mind that all would be well, that I would be there for her day and night. She would not have to face this new existence alone but she needed a moment to accept her new reality. I stood still and viewed her with sternness still sensing a frisson of denial echo in her mind. Finally after a couple of silent minutes as she studied her teeth once more her eyes began to roll backwards and her face drained of colour. She clutched at her stomach and started to fall to the ground. I heard myself gasp but my movement was quicker than lightening and in perfect time. My arm was under her falling body and sweeping her up into my arms before she fainted to the floor.

I raced out into the large hall and carried her up the long staircase to my bedroom at speed. I had to hurry and make sure she fed before death claimed her. She was moving her head from side to side in a frenzied delirium when I laid her upon the bed. I knelt on the bed beside her and stripped off my jacket, tossing it to the floor and undid the cufflink on my shirt to roll its sleeve up my arm away from my wrist. I lifted my arm under her shoulders and pulled her to me and up to sitting. I kept my arm across the top of her body holding down her arms to prevent her fighting me and bit into my wrist.

She was squealing and sobbing with resistance when I brought my bloody wrist to her lips and pressed it against them. She closed them tight just as I and countless others had done in our own change. I fought to keep my patience. I was frightened for her life but also afraid of hurting her with the force I could exert upon her to make her feed. But it was becoming inevitable that I would need to be cruel to be kind.

'Open your mouth, Sabrina, or I will have to hurt you to make you,' I thundered at her.

Still she fought me with her dying breath. Damn it, the woman was stubborn beyond all realms of sensibility. I wasn't losing her whether she liked it or not.

'Just let me die. I don't want to be one of them,' she panted. 'Please, I just want to die.'

'No, no way. You don't get out of life so easily. I won't let you have that choice. It isn't yours to make alone now. We are Taleian mates. I get a say in your life and you are going to have to realise that and no you are not allowed to die. I forbid it.'

'Arrogant, son of . . .' I heard her begin to say in her breathless voice. It was all I needed. I moved my arm up around her throat to hold her in position and pressed my wrist against her open mouth before she could finish her sentence.

'Ladies shouldn't swear, Sabrina,' I said with gentle humour as she violently struggled, gulped and gurgled as the blood hit the back of her throat. 'It is very unbecoming.'

It took several minutes before her legs stopped thrashing around on the bed and her hands stopped clawing at my arm that imprisoned her against me before she began to suckle the blood with eagerness. Taking the blood would ease some of the transition pain as the body moved out of its denial and into acceptance of its physical transformation. Now she drank the blood contentedly. It was just like feeding a baby. But then that was what this whole process was, a birth.

After a while I decided she had taken sufficient to ease the danger and I removed my wrist, allowing my bite to heal. I fluffed up the pillows on the bed and sat back against them stretching out my long legs and turned on my side to hold Sabrina against me in my arms. She looked up at me, quiet and peaceful even though fear of what was to happen reigned uppermost in her thoughts. I was happy and relieved beyond measure when she pressed her body and face against me for nurture and protection. I held her tighter loving the feel of soft feminine face against my chest.

I felt her brow. It was soaking. It wouldn't be long now. I kissed the top of her forehead and felt the dampness coat my lips and sat in silence waiting for her human death.

'I can't hear your heart,' she whispered. 'This is real, isn't it? I am going to die.'

I cupped her face and stroked my thumb along her paling cheek wiping at a single tear that escaped her eye.

'Yes but you will awaken again.'

'I'm afraid.'

'Shhh, it will just feel as though you are slipping into a deep sleep,' I soothed softly feeling the familiar fear I had experienced at my own human death in 1890 in London when I was just 24 years old.

Sabrina was making the change in her early thirties. It came when the body was ready, no matter the age. Besides there were advantages to being a Taleian hybrid vampire, you never aged past twenty-five in appearance even whilst still a human. It was one of the only benefits of the Druid's curse that was settled upon my ancestors and turned us into vampires when our ancestors were driven from our lands in ancient Briton.

Sabrina's body felt cold and clammy and a ghostly whiteness was colouring her complexion. There was no fight left in her. She was calm, serene and resigned to her fate and my control. I had witnessed only one death and rebirth before. There was always sadness at the death of the human body and I felt it its heaviness engulf my mind. An obsessive fear would follow as the lost one lay in the sleep of death for hours, and the Taleian hybrids waited and prayed that they would awaken. Sometimes the hybrid didn't. A weakness in their body may have prevented their full change or sometimes they simply died and we never knew the reason.

I looked down at Sabrina as though she were a babe in my arms and willed her to make the change with safety.

'Close your eyes, Sabrina,' I whispered softly. 'Go to sleep, darling. I will be here. I promise you will be safe. I will protect you.'

'I saw you in my dreams before I met you,' she confessed.

'Yes, it was the same for me but they were more than dreams, they were visions. They told me where to find you.'

She squirmed and I felt her fear heighten.

'There were others, three men. Night after night they plagued my dreams. One of them frightened me.'

She had to be talking about Taleian male challengers to our mating bond. I would need to be on my guard. I had sensed at least two of them desperately trying to establish a bond with her mind over my own since I first found her. But her stubborn resistance to have any of us in there had served and protected her well. Yet she talked of another I had not seen. All of the challengers would sense her change and would be planning her capture. I would not let them take her from me to make their own.

'No matter, Sabrina. They will not be allowed to harm you. We will talk of this when you awaken. Now sleep little one.'

Sabrina's beautiful facial features contorted with another wave of intense pain and she took her final breath. Her body fell limp in my arms and her life slipped away. I trembled all over and held her to me with crushing strength feeling the sharp quick loss of our mental connection and the sudden ache in my temples that accompanied it. I sat for a few moments simply holding her, stroking her face, too fearful to let go of her. But I knew I had to move, to prepare for her anticipated awakening and the attacks from the slavers and the challengers that would now undoubtedly ensue.

I laid her down and removed her boots and clothing from her cold body. I pulled a shirt from the wardrobe, the best I could find and dressed her in it before slipping her under the black silk sheets that covered my bed.

I stood at the foot of the bed unable to tear my eyes from her sleeping form wondering when she would wake. I was impatient even though I knew fine well it would take hours. I picked my jacket up from the floor and took my mobile phone out of the breast pocket and hit the speed dial for my friend Dylan Lysander, another knight who served with me as I stood over Sabrina's dead body.

'Victor, how is the delivery coming?' he asked me with humour. 'Is she still resisting?'

'Sabrina has just died and I am waiting for her awakening.'

Dylan's tone turned serious.

'Good. Then you will be needing your human blood donor?'

'Yes. The slavers have already attempted to take her from me.'

'Do you need help? You know we are here for you. The Queen is concerned and determined to visit you the moment she is told of Sabrina's awakening despite the obvious danger.'

'Stubborn as ever, then?'

'Oh yes.'

'Sabrina is no better. It's definitely a trait that runs in the royal family, especially in the women. I've never seen such obstinacy in anyone but them,' I groaned.

'Sounds as though Sabrina is going to be a handful when she wakes. I will bring the donor and check in on you. The waiting is the worst part of the process. I won't be long. Hang on in there.'

I hung up and decided to take a shower and change. The hot water was inviting as it pounded against my skin. I lifted my face to the water and ran my fingers through my short hair flattening it against my scalp. I dressed in a black cashmere sweater and some trousers to match and dried my hair. Gone were the days when I had a valet dress me, although sometimes I missed it when I couldn't decide what to wear. I came out of the bathroom noticing how still the large house appeared.

I know I had given the staff the week off to prepare for Sabrina's birth into a hybrid and there was no one else there but it seemed too quiet. I listened to the crows squawking in the trees outside in the grounds and the eerie calls of the peacocks that wandered there. Yes, everything was normal but I couldn't help shake the feeling and a Taleian never ignored his feelings however strange or improbable they were for they were always right.

I looked out of the large Georgian windows at the side of the bed. It was just past lunchtime and at first I saw nothing but the dull greyness of the day. Then the blur of a black shadow passed in front of my eyes across the other side of the window. I froze as a second shadow passed by. I turned quickly to the wall next to the window outside to confirm my suspicions. A black mass engulfed it. It slowly transformed into a physical black and green human form confirming my worst fear that the slavers had sent Hunter demons to capture Sabrina.

It stared at me and hissed with its venomous tongue. There was always another one. They never hunted alone. I swung around to the large fireplace behind me as I heard a whistling sound and a black mass seeped out of the fireplace into the room in front of the bed. I would have reached for my sword but then I remembered it was lying in the study downstairs. I would just have to fight without it. They would not have her even if it cost my life.