Find your next favourite story now
Login

13+
Vampire Murders Part 15

"Leona and Andrei wake up in a stone dungeon and have to escape their captors."

2
1 Comment 1
1.6k Views 1.6k
3.6k words 3.6k words
The sun disappeared below the western horizon and another beautiful day ended in the city. Late October in the city was a beautiful time. The oak and maple trees dropped their red, yellow, orange and brown leaves. They swirled around when cars passed, creating small funnel clouds of crushed leaves and debris. When it rained or frosted, the streets became slick almost like ice. It was so warm during the day that people walked in shirtsleeves, but at night, they huddled in jackets and sweaters. Frost covered the ground outside the estate. The footprints in the frost-covered grass showed that the force was twice its normal number. The security team was on heightened alert watching for a rescue attempt for the newly arrived 'guests.' Inside the estate, things in security buzzed and the men watching kept their eyes moving staying alert.

Elsewhere tonight in the estate, where Leona and Andrei now slept, the other sleeping vampires stirred. The ones, who resided there permanently, awakened and left their coffins to meet in the dining room. The six permanent family members welcomed the four much younger vampires to their table. A butler pulled out the chair, as Theodore, the youngest family member, stood to speak to the assembly.

"We have succeeded in the first of many steps, which will put this family back in control of all the vampires in the city. With the aid of our new friends, we captured and imprisoned the master vampire of the city and his sister in our dungeons below." Theodore said with praise, as he gestured to the four newcomers. "They will remain there until we take back control of the city."

His father sat at the head of the table and grumbled, "Are you sure you got the right vampires? I would hate to get the wrong ones and either return or kill them." His father did not like the liberties his son took introducing these new vampires into the family business.

Theodore turned to the butler waiting there and said, "Would you go check on our 'guests' in the cellar please?"

Wordlessly, the butler left the dining room, descended the stairs to the cellar and opened the window into the cell. Leona and Andrei sat in their respective coffins looking at the eyes watching them. The small slit in the oak door let in enough light, so Leona saw where they were and what was there for them, nothing. They were in a cell hewn from solid rock many years ago. The walls were smooth with no cracks or joints. The oak door seemed made from a single piece of wood three inches thick with four heavy steel hinges securing it firmly into the stone walls. When the small opening closed, no light entered the cell rendering it completely black with no sense of space or time.

When Leona woke earlier, she bolted upright in her coffin because the room was pitch black and cold. The darkness disoriented her, as she sat assessing her situation. She heard another coffin creak open in the same room. She smelled a familiar odor and knew that Andrei was with her. Now, confusion smacked her brain and made her more curious.

"Are you all right Andrei?" She asked.

"Yes, Leona I am fine, just a little lost as to where I am." He replied.

"We are no longer at the warehouse in safe quarters. This appears to be a dungeon of some kind hewn from solid rock with no seams or joints. It was a very good job, done by professional stone cutters." Leona added. "We have to get out of here and fast."

As she scoped out the room with her very sensitive eyes and ears, she heard the approaching footsteps of the butler. She smelled the scent of human blood and the hunger flared in her body. The smells and sounds increased as the butler approached. Leona's anger started to rise at the thought of the capture and kidnapping by a group of humans. The footsteps ceased outside the door to their cell. The butler slid the viewing panel open, which bathed the cell in light. Leona looked at the panel, staring intently, as the eyes outside searched the dungeon.

Leona's anger rose even more, as the eyes examined Andrei and her. She rose from her coffin and walked to the door. The focus of the eyes never wavered. She smelled the presence of human blood, but no fear accompanied it. She watched the eyes move from her to Andrei and back. Her anger rose as she watched the eyes. Her ability to focus on the watcher and bring him under her control never happened because he was immune.

This frustrated Leona and she yelled at the eyes, "Let us out of here! Why hold us, as prisoners? We have done nothing wrong or harmful to you."

The eyes remained locked on her as she paced the cell. Andrei tried using his magical powers and psychic projections to no effect. He stood outside his coffin, stopped Leona and held her close to him.

He bent his head to her ear and spoke softly in Romani, "We are in a house owned by a vampire and are his prisoners. I read that from the mind of the human watching us now. The human is a butler who works for the family of vampires and lives on the estate."

"Can we get out of here soon?" She asked.

"I do not know. It seems we are here in a dungeon and may be here for a while. I think the people who kidnapped us think I am your brother. They are in for a big surprise if I get out of here." Andrei continued.

"What do you mean?" Leona asked.

"If they think I am Gustaf, they will not be ready for my additional powers, which he does not possess yet." Andrei whispered.

Leona calmed as the eyes left the door. Whoever watched them forgot to close the viewport. Andrei projected his mind out through the port wandering up to the main level of the house. He followed the man who watched them, as he entered a large dining room with ten vampires sitting around the table.

"Sir, the vampires woke up and are docile for now. There is a man and a woman in the cell. They appear to be brother and sister. I am not familiar with the master vampire of the city, but the woman is definitely the one who took away the position from your father." The butler replied.

The father told Theodore, "Take some security guards and bring the two 'guests' up to join us."

Theodore turned to the butler and signaled him to do it. The butler left, walked into the kitchen and entered the security center. He spoke to the men on duty, "The master wants our 'guests' brought from their cell to the dining room."

They nodded, radioed the roving patrols to continue their duties, but be extra cautious. They got up from the consoles and screens and followed the butler down to the dungeons. Andrei sensed them coming and pulled his mind back. He motioned for Leona to relax and act passive. The butler opened the cell door and motioned for the two vampires to move out into the hallway. The butler turned, walked away up the stairs followed by the two vampires escorted by the guards. The butler entered the dining room and announced the arrival of the 'guests' to the assembled vampires. The security guards returned to their duties. Andrei and Leona entered the dining room with their heads bowed, as if in a show of respect for their captors, but instead, Andrei and Leona exchanged thoughts concerning their next moves against this inconvenience.

When the four guest vampires saw Andrei and Leona, they cowered in fear. Theodore and his father failed to notice this action. Andrei moved to the head of the table, as if in greeting the senior vampire.

"Are you responsible for bringing us here? Why are we here?" Andrei asked menacingly.

"Yes we are. You are going to regret becoming the master vampire of the city tonight." He mumbled not bothering to look up at the approaching vampire.

As Andrei bowed to the father, he extended his hand in greeting, but did not stop moving. Instead, his hand went past the elder's outstretched hand. The hand continued to the senior vampire's shirt and pushed through the flimsy material tearing it easily. The hand penetrated into the body and ripped out his heart. Blood sprayed out of the hole in his chest as Andrei held the heart in his hand for all to see. He held the heart up high so all could see it still beat slowly. The old man's body slumped in the chair, as Andrei slowly squeezed the beating heart crushing it to a quivering mass of red meat and dripping blood onto the floor and down his upraised arm. Everyone sat shocked at the incident, not daring to move.

Theodore jumped up trying to rush to his father protesting, "What are you doing? Leave my father alone."

Leona grabbed him firmly, holding him tightly, lifting him off the floor asking, "Would you like to join him?" She did not wait for an answer. She twisted his head decapitating him in one very quick motion. The rest of the family sat in stunned silence at the violence that visited them. Not a sound came from the remaining vampires, as they had never seen such a demonstration of vicious violence against another vampire.

Leona walked to her vampire children, made them stand up and escort the remaining family members and the butler to the dungeons. She signaled the butler to give her the keys and join the family in the dungeons. The four remaining family members and the butler went into one cell. Leona's children entered her cell and removed the two coffins. She told them to get in the cell and locked them in as well. No one protested his or her imprisonment in fear that what he or she witnessed earlier would happen to him or her.

Leona joined Andrei back in the dining room and helped remove the dead vampires. They sat at the other end of the table and talked about what to do next. Whom should they call? It was obvious this family was the one in power when Gustaf and Leona arrived in the city. They did not know where they were and it appeared there were no phones in the house for people to use. The security center probably had phones but that was manned and well guarded. The roving patrols outside prevented anyone from entering or leaving. Even though they escaped the dungeons, they still felt imprisoned in the house.

"We need to find the security center and get them to let us go. Let's search the house for the room." Leona spoke strongly. The earlier killing raised her anger and she wanted out of the wretched place.

"Calm down. Searching with any anger can jeopardize our escape. We need to be organized." Andrei replied softly. Leona calmed at the sound of his voice. He always had that effect on her since she was a child in Romania. She watched intently, knowing that his mind had a plan for getting away from this estate safely.

He rose from the table and looked around the room. The drapes over the windows covered the black paint coated exterior windows, which further preventing light from entering. The lights in the room were very old incandescent bulbs, which gave off little to no ultra-violet light. Andrei wondered if each room with exterior walls contained the same features. There were no light leaks penetrating from the outside at all. As Andrei walked out of the dining room, the scent of human blood came strongest from the kitchen area. He walked in the direction of the kitchen. He entered the room, found it spotlessly clean and void of any food. Everything looked new and never used. He thought nothing of this, because it would be the same in any vampire kitchen. Leona followed him and drew the same conclusions. She sensed the human blood was near, by the noise of beating hearts.

The door to the security center was as plain as could be and matched the decor except for the entry latch and hinges. The hinges were new, strong and large. The entry latch was stainless steel and steel re-enforced. The door appeared wooden, but was a painted steel door. The whole entry could withstand a battering and prevent entry by anyone not authorized. The smell of human blood emanated strongest from that room. There was more than one human behind that door. Leona looked at Andrei and signaled that they found the security center now. They examined the door and the surrounding support structure. What they found was a very strong door, but the walls were ordinary plaster from the turn of the century and very easily penetrated by a strong vampire. Walking through the old walls appeared the only way to enter the room, but that would raise alarms and signal the roving patrols that the house was under attack from within.

Given the construction of the walls, Andrei was able to use his mind powers to force the guards to open the door. When the door opened, Leona took the guards and glamored them into obeying her commands. Once she was in control, the house was theirs and she used the phone in the control center to call Gustaf and Slade. She informed them that they were all right, but did not know where they were and could not leave. Leona heard the guards calling via two-way that they reported nothing new outside. She forced the guards to acknowledge the transmissions and proceed as directed. Gustaf told Leona to get the coffins ready and a crew from The Main Artery would pick them up in an hour. Sam took the Step Van with three bouncers and raced to the house in the suburbs.

When Leona called Slade, he told her that he knew where she was and gave the information to Gustaf and Sam. She told him, "The family and the four young vampires were prisoners in dungeons below the house. There are two dead vampires, who seemed to be in charge. We will bring the four young vampires back to the city. I can't wait to see you tonight."

In an hour, when the truck approached the gates at the house, they opened and the staff directed them to the back of the house loading dock. The men loaded the coffins of Leona and Andrei. The four young vampires moved from the dungeon to the truck. Special accommodations existed in the truck to prevent their escape. Leona glamored the staff and guards telling them to forget what they saw and release the vampire family before dawn. They brought the butler upstairs, asked him about food for the family.

It turned out, there was another section of the house, which contained cells for keeping people for the family to feed from every night. It was in the oldest part of the house and smelled of death, pain, fear and suffering. Leona went with Andrei and the butler to this area, where she released all the prisoners and directed them to the truck, which would take them back to the city. The prisoners were afraid at first, but Leona assured them they were free to leave. When they walked out and no one swooped in to feed off them, they ran to the truck. Leona went with them and made sure everyone was all right and comfortable.

She was so angry she called Sam and gave him special instructions. While Leona freed the prisoners, Sam and the bouncers went into the last dungeon. Sam and the crew decapitated each of the family members and removed their hearts. Sam and the crew piled the bodies on a slab of wood and carried them upstairs to a small crematorium used by the family. They destroyed each of the remaining family members carefully making sure no evidence existed of the family and its end.

When done, there was no evidence of the family, including the earlier dead vampires. No vampire remained in the house to molest or terrorize the city. The staff and guards met with Andrei, who erased their memories and left them feeling euphoric. He left the house, climbed into the front of the truck and rode out of the estate happy with a threat to Gustaf and Leona eliminated. There remained one thing left to handle. The fate of the four young vampires still hung in the air over Gustaf and his head. That was not an easy threat to eliminate yet.

When the truck arrived at the warehouse, Leona went to her chamber to take a long bath and put on clean clothes. She ran a warm bath, removed her clothes, which smelled of death and blood, destroyed the clothes and laid out a royal dress to wear for Slade. She slowly lowered herself into the lavender scented bath, leaned back and closed her eyes. Her mind drifted over the events of the past days and she relaxed that it was all behind her. Now, she thought only of Slade and desired his presence in the tub with her.

Andrei supervised the release of the people rescued from the food cells. A hot meal gave each of them a good start to getting out of the life they spent in the estate. Showers, clean clothes and transportation wherever they desired, gave them a strong feeling of security again. When they finished their preparations, Andrei sat down with each of them and cleared their minds of the terrible past events. Instead, he instilled in each person memories of a lavish vacation, which made them happy and relaxed.

The four young vampires remained chained up waiting for Gustaf to arrive. The guards with Sam watched them closely. Leona and Andrei's coffins moved to their respective areas for use at dawn. Everything was back to normal and life proceeded as planned.

Gustaf arrived and sat huddled with the new young vampires. He started speaking to them very strongly, "You, four have taken your last liberties against me. If you do not do as I instruct you, there will be dire consequences for you and your three human friends. The police know who you are and what you can do. They are building a strong case against you and I am afraid you and your friends will have to serve time for the six murders. I do not plan to hand you over to the police, but I expect they will capture you eventually." He paced in front of them slowly examining their vacant eyes. "What I request of you is that you report to me daily where you are and what you are doing. If I find you lied to me, you will die. If your friends do anything illegal, the police will catch them, because I will help. Is all this clear?" The four shook their heads in understanding. "OK, now get out of here and remember I want to know where you are at all times."

Dawn was an hour away, when Leona emerged from her room and saw her brother sitting with Andrei. She ran to him, hugged him tightly, as tears of happiness appeared from her eyes. She sat with them and drank some blood to regain her strength. She felt so much better and needed to talk to Slade.

It was late and she decided to leave him a voice message on his work phone rather than disturb him at home. She told him, "I am fine. I am unhurt and rescued. I have returned to the city and back to my normal sleep chamber. I will see you tonight, after the sun goes down. Andrei, Gustaf and I want to meet with you and Eran to report what happened. That has to wait until darkness and I want to go out with you after the meeting." She ended her call with something she never said to any man in her life, "Detective Slade, I missed you and I love you. Have a good day and I can't wait to be in your arms tonight."

Gustaf went back to his private sleep chamber, accompanied by his bodyguard Sam. When the daytime guards arrived, Andrei and Leona retired to their sleep chambers. The guards settled in watching the interior of the warehouse and monitored the outside with the aid of several cameras. No one would kidnap these vampires during sunlight ever again. If they tried, a pitched battle would be the only way to win their capture.

Before Leona crawled back into her coffin, she stood looking at her closet full of clothes. What she wore, at the moment, was not suitable for sleeping. She searched, but decided that she would sleep in the nude. She stripped of her clothes and looked admiringly in the full-size mirror of her closet. She slowly turned examining her body for flaws or any hint of the past day's events. Finding none, she smiled, closed the closet and walked over to her coffin. Slowly she rose off the floor, hovered over her coffin and gently lowered herself inside. She reached up and slowly closed the cover sealing her in for another day of sleep.

Indeed, it was a very good day. That was the last thing she thought before she drifted away.

Published 
Written by frogprince
Loved the story?
Show your appreciation by tipping the author!

Get Free access to these great features

  • Create your own custom Profile
  • Share your imaginative stories with the community
  • Curate your own reading list and follow authors
  • Enter exclusive competitions
  • Chat with like minded people
  • Tip your favourite authors

Comments