Choices (The Vampire Ruth Series Book 2) Page 2

  He gingerly stood and wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand. “I'll be back tomorrow,” he said, “and we will make plans for the future. We can’t go on living this way.” He kissed her forehead and made for the front door, pausing only to get his coat, and left the house. Tears fell from her eyes as she stood in the doorway and watched him disappear around the corner. She dreaded the thought of her father's return and wished that Matthew could have stayed home with her tonight, but she loved him so, and wanted him to be safe. Little did she know that this would be the last time that she would ever see her brother alive again.

  Scene Four - Enchantment

  1819 AD

  His gloved hand held the collar of his coat tightly over his mouth as he briskly walked across the street to where his good friend Jeremiah Tundy lived with his lovely wife, Sarah. Dense fog danced playfully around the gas lanterns as they gave light to the streets, but Matthew could still make out where he was, Just, and he knocked loudly on the front door of number ten Barton street. Laughter spilled from inside, and he found himself smiling in anticipation of spending time with his friend and his wife, but guilt washed over him when he thought of his sister, and he wished that she were there with him.

  Within moments, Mrs. Lawley, a kindly woman who had been with the family since Jeremiah had been a small child, held the door wide open and bade him to enter. His delicate condition had greatly improved during the walk from his home on Sedan Street, and he smiled, giving her a cheeky nudge with his elbow as he stepped over the threshold. Her rosacea covered cheeks went an even darker shade of red as he quickly bent and kissed her line covered face and winked cheekily in the darkened hallway.

  “That'll be enough from you now young master Welsh,” she giggled, gently tapping his arm. “here, let me take your coat, you should go inside and warm yourself by the fire, master Jeremiah has a very intriguing guest I think you'd like to meet.” He rubbed his hands briskly together, blowing into them for extra warmth. “Hmm,” he said, “that sounds interesting, thank you, Maggie.”

  He gave a small but courteous tap on the door and entered the drawing-room. His eyes fell upon the most striking looking female he had ever had the good fortune to see in his life. Her hair, as black as a raven's feathery coat, was in stark contrast to her unusually pale skin. He had never met anyone who looked quite like her before, and he found himself transfixed to the spot. She was utterly mesmerizing, and he felt a little embarrassed as he realized that he hadn't spoken a single word since entering the room.

  Extending his hand warmly towards him, Jeremiah broke the silence. "Ah, Matthew," he said, "this is an unexpected visit. How lovely it is to see you this evening.” He turned and gestured to he and Sarah’s mysterious guest.

  “I'd like to introduce you to my new business partner, Miss Isabella Marshond."

  She bit back a knowing smile as her delicate hand reached towards him in greeting. He stepped forward and took it, but as he brought her hand to his lips, he was surprised by how icy cold her fingers were, even though she had been sitting in front of a roaring fire.

  She held his eyes with hers, and in the tiniest of moments, he had a desperate urge to run from what he felt was a predatory gaze. She mouthed something that he couldn't quite hear, and from that moment on, he felt completely at ease.

  Scene Five - Preparation

  PRESENT DAY

  Matthew squeezed the remaining water from the sponge he held into the large bowl sitting on the bedside table and began the process of preparing Ruth's body for her final rest. As he washed her hand, he was pleased to feel that it wasn't as cold as it would be if she had died a natural death, and he held it lovingly to his face. He picked up the soft towel his sister had given him and dried her skin, then pulled her upright so that he could slip the beautiful white nightdress over her head. It had belonged to his mother and was the same one he had used when he prepared Victoria in the same way, all those years ago, so it was very symbolic and precious to him.

  As he laid her gently back on the bed, he felt the slight twitch of her hand and noticed that her eyes were moving rapidly behind the lids. He knew then that she was going through the stage where she had to make her final decision and commit to transforming. This was the second of three phases of the transformation, and he knew that if she went rigid and cold in the next few hours, it meant that she had decided to stay asleep forever. He had been dreading it.

  He laid down next to her and whispered words of love and encouragement into her ear, hoping that she could sense that he was with her and waited, desperately hoping that she wouldn't change her mind during the process. She remained that way for the remainder of the day, and as midnight approached, he felt her body relax, and she looked at peace. He broke down with relief as he realized that Phase two was over, and she had chosen to stay with him.

  Scene Six - Chosen

  Candlelight illuminated the scene with low, soft, flickering light as Tori held the door open wide as her brother carried Ruth in, and gently laid her down on a small bed set in the alcove at the corner of the room. She didn’t need vampire eyesight to see how ecstatically happy he was. Ruth’s flesh was soft, which meant that she had chosen to stay with him, and Tori felt beyond happy for her beloved brother. She knew that he had suffered a great deal over the last several hours as he had anxiously watched over Ruth going through the processes of her change, but now the stress had left his handsome face and was replaced by a beautiful smile.

  Their attention was momentarily drawn to the man held in chains on the other side of the darkened room. Wayne Thomas whimpered pitifully in fear, and Tori hastily went to stand in front of him. "Speak quietly, monster." She ordered.

  "Please," he begged, "what's going on? Just let me go; I promise I won't tell anyone about this. About you. Please." Tori stared wide-eyed at the sheer audacity of his words and hissed as she bared her fangs. Renewed fear overwhelmed him, and he sobbed uncontrollably as again, his bladder gave way, and urine pooled on the floor around his feet. Matthew had no patience, and using his influence, he ordered the monster to sleep.

  Scene Seven - Awakening

  Wayne Thomas was abruptly woken by the severe pain in his wrists. Aside from the bone that broke when Matthew had first put him in them, the metal from his manacles had cut into his flesh when the full weight of his body had pulled him down as he slept, and he felt sick with hunger. He didn't know how long he had been held captive here, but he knew that he would never be allowed to leave this place alive. He was utterly terrified, but during the rare moment of clarity he had had when his jailer had told him to be calm, he realized that he deserved everything that was happening to him and tried to accept his fate.

  Wondering why she was there, he leaned forward and stared at the girl sleeping on the bed, until a noise made him look upwards. His jailer was above her with his back to the ceiling. At first glance, it looked as if he was floating, but he noticed that his hands and feet were spread out to each side of him, pressing hard on the wall of the alcove to hold himself up. The darkness of the room did nothing to hide his fangs as he hissed threateningly, but he remained where he was, and glowered.

  He looked back down as the girl on the bed raised her arms above her head and stretched out her body; then, his eyes instantly darted to the corner of the room when he heard a low growl coming from the shadows. He trembled uncontrollably as Tori stepped out from the darkness. Her long sharp teeth were easily visible even though her mouth was closed in a cold and wicked smile. She was aware of what he had done to many innocent people and was glad that justice was about to be served.

  With her eyes directly focused upon his, she walked slowly and purposefully towards him and, without speaking a single word, ran her long sharp fingernail deeply across his cheek, drawing a line of blood before disappearing back into the shadows. He whimpered as he looked back to the girl on the bed who was now fully awake, but she was still just lying there, blinking. He held his breath as she slowly sat up a
nd sniffed the air, peered around the room, then turned to look directly at him. She inclined her head forward, but her eyes remained firmly locked onto his. He knew then that he was about to die, and screamed.

  Scene Eight - Ferocity

  Matthew licked his lips excitedly as she crossed the room in a blur and jumped upon the monster. She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist and grabbed hold of a handful of his thinning hair, and roughly jerked his head to the side. She paused for a moment to watch the vein thump thump thumping in his neck, and with a primal scream, she bit deeply into him with newly formed fangs, half ripping out his throat with just one bite. Her head jerked back, and she screamed again as she spat a large chunk of his flesh to the floor.

  She looked feral as insatiable hunger engulfed her, and her head dove down again. She held her mouth wide open over the wound and sucked hard, taking full advantage of the last few beats of his heart. Gutteral sounds of satisfaction came from deep inside her throat as she ferociously bit into him again and again, and by the time she was finished, Wayne Thomas' head had been almost severed.

  She stopped abruptly and fell from the lifeless, sagging body still being held up by the chains around its wrists, and the reality of what she had done hit her hard. She had taken a life.

  She scampered across the floor on all fours and clung to the shadows in the corner of the room, sobbing uncontrollably as she saw that she was covered entirely in the blood of an innocent human being.

  Scene Nine - Confusion

  "Stay back," she screamed as Matthew walked towards her. He squatted a few feet in front of her and held out his hand. "Please, Ruth," he said. "let me help you." She looked over his shoulder as Tori appeared from behind him, and leaped to her feet. She ran for the door, but Matthew was quick to catch and hold her tightly in his arms as she struggled to break free.

  “Get off me.” She screamed. “Let me go.” She fought hard but was no match for her uno parente. “Get off me.” She screamed again. Matthew released his hold on her, and she fled back into the shadows and fell to the floor. He heard movement behind him and knew that Tori was dealing with what was left of Wayne Thomas before Ruth had the chance to see what she had done to him, and grateful that she was there with them, he made a mental note to thank her later that night. He stood in front of Ruth and used his body to help shield the sight.

  She whimpered pitifully, and his heart went out to her. "Are you OK, darling?" he asked softly. Her eyes darted around the room as her brain struggled to make sense of where she was and what had happened, then suddenly, the brutal reality that she was now a vampire, and had just killed a man, rushed into her consciousness.

  She tried to stand on shaky legs, but Matthew stepped forward and picked her up in his arms. At that moment, the last thing she wanted was to be held, but she didn’t have the strength to fight him, and she put her arms around his neck as he lifted her.

  “What’s happening?” She sobbed. “Who's that woman?” Her eyes pleaded with him for answers as she cried. “Matt?” She persisted when he didn't respond. He was wracked with guilt that he had deliberately not told her what would happen, but right now, his priority was to get her out of that room. "Let’s get you upstairs," he said. " I'll run you a bath, and we can talk." She looked around the room. "Where are we?" She whispered. "We're still at my house,” he replied, “this room is just next to my bedroom in the basement." Matthew felt relief as Ruth laid her head on his shoulder, and he quickly carried her from the room.

  Scene Ten - Aftermath

  Bloodstained water pooled around Ruth's feet as she scrubbed Wayne Thomas’ blood, and small pieces of his flesh from her body. Matthew had run her a bath, but the water had instantly turned red, and he had pulled the plug, realizing that a shower was her best option. She had asked him to leave her alone to process her feelings and knew that he was worrying about her initial reaction towards him after her first feed.

  Was it always that brutal when a new vampire woke up? She wondered, and if so, why didn't he tell her how violent it would be? Maybe he thought that she would decide not to go through with it if she knew that she would have to kill another human being in the process.

  She felt partly responsible as she realized that she hadn’t actually asked him what would happen when she woke up, but that didn’t excuse him for not telling her. It was her choice to make; Not his. All her life, she had been a gentle soul, but what she just did to the man in the basement was the very epitome of violence, and at this moment she didn't think that she would ever be able to forgive him.

  Her stomach heaved, and she vomited onto the shower tray. To her horror, the blood of her victim covered her feet and legs, and it made her cry. "That poor, poor man," she sobbed into her hands. She cried harder as the thought of him having a wife and children came into the equation. "What have I done?" Her back slid down the tiled walls, and she hugged her knees to her chest.

  Blood flowed freely around her as the water fell directly onto her hair, and for the tiniest of moments, she wished that her mother was with her, but she quickly pushed it away as the memories of the past year flooded her brain and pulled her down further into the pit of despair. She concentrated on calming her nerves and sat where she was until she eventually began to quieten.

  Her heart hardened as an image of Jessica Bartlett planted itself in her mind. "No matter what Matthew says," she thought, "she's going to pay for what she did to me." Suddenly, her mouth felt weird, and she hissed. She pressed her finger, to her newly formed fangs, and ran her tongue over them in wonder. "I just felt angry,” she thought, “and there they were." She remembered how frightening Matthew had looked when he showed her his fangs for the first time and came back down to earth with a bump.

  She stood, picked up the body wash, and began showering in earnest. She wanted answers, but before that, she had another and equally desperate urge she needed to fix.

  Scene Eleven - Lust

  Waiting for Ruth to finish her shower, Matthew sat on the bed and worried about what was going through her mind. He knew that she would be angry with him for not telling her what the first feed would be like, but hoped that the fact that her victim was a serial killer, and that by ending him, she had done the world a favour, would soften the blow.

  Ruth’s gut-wrenching sobs spilled from the bathroom, and he wanted more than anything to go and comfort her, but Tori had advised him against it, saying that he had to let her go through the process no matter how painful it was. He knew she was right, she always was, but it didn't make it any easier.

  He was deep in thought when the bathroom door opened, and Ruth appeared in the doorway, completely naked. He stood as she approached and handed her a set of fresh clothing, but she pushed his hand aside and held his eyes with hers. She pushed him down onto the bed, and he stared wide-eyed as she began to pull his tee-shirt up and kiss his bare chest. He grabbed her wrists and rolled her over so that he laid above her.

  "Ruth, what are you doing?” He asked, “you need to take some time." She had, on occasion and in the privacy of her room, explored the most intimate parts of her body herself, so it wasn't her first, but her mind imploded with the memory of the orgasm he had given her just before she died. She had never experienced anything like it, and she was desperate for more.

  "Matthew, this is exactly what I need right now,” she said, “and judging by the hard piece of flesh digging into my thigh, you need this just as much as I do,"

  He almost pulled away as she tried to kiss him, but realized that now there was nothing holding them back and allowed his passion to flow freely. He released her hands, and she leaned up onto her elbows to watch as he stood and removed the rest of his clothing. Matthew, not once taking his eyes from hers, got back onto the bed and moved towards her on all fours. She opened her legs as he lay over her, and urgently guided his manhood into her most sensitive area.

  He moaned with pleasure as he entered her for the first time, and she responded in kind, loving the feel of him insi
de and wanting more. She equaled him with every thrust, and it wasn't long before she felt the build-up of another beautiful release.

  Locked together in unadulterated lust, their tongues met with urgency as they kissed. She ran her feet seductively along the outside of his legs before bringing them up to wrap around his waist, and he increased the pace of his thrusts. She arched her back as her orgasm exploded like an electric storm throughout her body, and he cried out with absolute ecstasy moments after. It seemed to last for an eternity before they slowed and stopped, fully satisfied.

  Matthew kissed her lovingly, and for a moment, she forgot how angry she was with him. He tenderly wiped away a few strands of wet hair from her eyes. "How are you feeling?" He asked, quietly afraid of her reply. Because her body had had the physical satisfaction it needed to release her pent-up tension, all her emotions came rushing back to the surface.

  "Angry." Was all she said, intending on leaving the ball for the rest of the conversation firmly in his court. She sounded as disappointed as she was angry, and it made him feel even worse. "I know why you’re so angry with me, Ruth, and I don't blame you, but please hear me out,” he said, “I can explain."