Mature: Desert Moon

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad made his way back into the other ward. Now that he'd ripped his attention from Sinead, he intended to make Tenele his next unfortunate victim. He needed an outlet for all this protective rage.

But when he made it into her room, his wife wasn't there. He looked out into the hallway and chased down the doctor he'd spoken with earlier. "She's feeling better, then?"

He looked at Vlad in annoyance. "Ask her yourself, Dracul."

"You released her, didn't you? So tell me her condition," the vampire snarled.

The doctor paled, as if suddenly remembering what he was talking to. Vlad didn't mind the fear in his expression. "She isn't in her room?"

"You didn't release her," Vlad said flatly.

"No... she was to stay put until I had time to work with her."

"Why would she stay put if she doesn't know where she is?" Vlad snapped. He shoved the man into the wall hard enough to bruise the plaster and stormed away, looking for her scent. A half hour later, he'd scoured the palace with no sign of her. "I should have used that imbecile for fuel," he muttered to himself, fully enraged now that his wife was missing. He reached to fiddle with the ring on his left finger, as he often did when he was tense. He winced at the pain as he touched smooth, scarred skin instead of cool metal. "Damnit," he snarled. Was it because she didn't remember him?

He didn't let himself think it through further, but he knew that wasn't the reason. Not actually.

It was because she didn't love him. Not right now. Their marriage didn't even exist.

He left the front gates of the palace, wondering how long amnesia would last. A few hours? Hopefully not days.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele heaved air in as best she could, but her arms and legs were pulled to tight and the corset was too constricting. The dress was gone, the only thing left was the slip and under-bust that the maid had tied too tight. The wheel cranked a little more, dragging her arms and legs further from the center of her body. Tenele cried.

"Why are you..." she wheezed.

The burly man leaned in, dragging a finger along her cheek. "Call it a hobby," he murmured. "My wife has her toy, and now I have a new one. My last one didn't make it so long. I hope you last a bit longer."

"You're crazy," Tenele choked. He twisted the wheel a little tighter. She screamed.

"Careful," his wife chimed in. "You don't want to dislocate her limbs so early on."

"You're crazy!"

"Go play with Martha," he seethed. "I'll do what I want. Its my pet, not yours." His wife stomped her foot and left the room.

It was dark, the basement, with little bits of light falling from from windows along the top of the wall. Chains... tables of sharp objects. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't be going through this. She wasn't going to die here.

"Please," Tenele whispered. "I have a daughter. She's the only thing I can remember. Let me go back to her. I won't tell anyone about this place. I promise."

"I know you have a daughter. That's what makes this sooo much more exciting than all my other pets. The punishment of getting caught with someone like you is far more terrifying than if I got caught with some street urchin. You are important." He brushed her cheek again. His hand skimmed along the top of her breasts and over her hip. "I wonder what your husband is thinking right now? He must be so worried about you."

Tears welled in Tenele's eyes. She couldn't remember him. She couldn't see his face in her mind. She just pictured this blond man with blue eyes. Her daughter had blue eyes. She knew that.

Her captor leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. Tenele opened her mouth and bit down on his tongue. Blood filled her mouth. He flailed, trying to twist the crank to shock her away. Instead he hit the latch that loosened the straps. Tenele slipped down the slanted table and punched him hard in the ribs over and over until he fell sideways. She struggled out of the chains. Her limbs refused to obey her. They felt like jelly after all the mistreatment. She dragged herself to the door, forced herself onto her feet, and clamored up the stairs.

"Help!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, running for the front door again. But, she knew how futile it was to try and open it. So, she picked up a chair and threw it out the front window. She screamed for help, hoping someone would hear. Tenele heard him coming. Heard a whipping sound. Chains dragging behind him.

She ran back down the corridor and hid in the closet of a room.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad had every sense open wide as he prowled the streets for some sign of his wife. In the condition she was in, he wouldn't be shocked if she was just hiding quietly, which would make it almost impossible to find her. He needed some sort of sign to lead him to her.

A window crashed, somewhere blocks away. He picked up the high frequency clearly. Then the faintest echo of a scream. Too far away to place whose. It could just be a random accident.

He sighed and turned toward it, jogging. He didn't want to teleport any more than necessary until he got things under control and found a chance to feed.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele held her breath. She peeked through the small crack in the door and watched him shuffle around the room. "Where are you?" he called, a little too much glee in his voice. "You shouldn't have done that. Now, I have to explain why the window was broken and who was screaming. I have to punish you. You must learn to behave in this house."

Tenele trembled and jumped as she saw the whip he carried slash down across the floor. It had small metal brabs, perfect for ripping skin.

The closet door jerked open. He grabbed a handful of her hair.

"I thought you were a warrior," he muttered, tossing her across the floor. "You don't seem to remember how to fight, either." He shoved her and she skidded across the floor. The whip snapped against the wood. Tenele jumped up, her knees buckled. Her joints protesting. She sobbed. Work. Work. Move!

The whip ripped across her back. Tenele screamed. But, she forced herself to stand again. The whip struck again, knocking her down. Another scream, but she drug herself back up. She stumbled out of the room, legs quivering with each step. Tenele ran as best she could without looking at the path ahead. She kept her eyes on the beast that was barging after her.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad paused on the street outside, where people were staring curiously at the broken window. Then he heard her voice, and smelled her blood, and all his senses were lost. He was inside the house within an instant, found the man with the whip in an instant more, and then what remained a moment beyond that looked nothing like any kind of man. Vlad ripped him apart in front of Tenele's eyes, nailed what remained to the wall with a set of knifelike claws, and drank from the bleeding corpse's neck until the skin went gray. Vlad threw the body; it crumpled in the street outside, a message to the entire kingdom about what happened when his family was trifled with.

He wiped his face with the back of his hand and glowered at Tenele. The anger wasn't for her, but until every life sign in this house was dead, he would stay at the killing edge. There were two more heartbeats, one weaker than the other. He turned a predatory gaze from his wife toward the door at the end of the hall.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele stared back at Vlad with a hollow sort of fear. The image of him ripping apart the man repeated until she leaned forward on her knees and wretched. This Tenele hadn't had the hardened life to get used to blood and gore.

Her back was mangled where the barbs had dug in and ripped out flesh. The blood dripped in lines, staining the too-tight corset around her middle. She was frozen with fear as she watched the vampire look away from her and to the closed door.

She wanted to run away from him, but her body gave up on moving. Her joints ached, her back burned, and her stomach churned. Tenele stayed kneeling in shock.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad went to the other end of the hall and forced down the door with a psychic blast. He had just enough poise to spare Martha. Just.

But not enough to worry over her. He left the room, leaving her for the patrol to tend to. He was far more interested in Tenele. He spotted her where he left her - at least she stayed put this time - and crouched beside her. Her back was torn from the vicious whip. He reached for the laces to her corset.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele sensed him reaching for her and she flinched away, falling over onto her side. She trembled, taking short breaths. It needed to be loosened, she knew that, but she was afraid of him. Even with the fear there was this subtle edge of trust that turned her stomach. Why trust a man that murdered with so much ease? The way he'd ripped apart that man... What was to stop him from hurting her too? How did he even find her?

[Soran Nightblade]

"I made you sick, didn't I?" Vlad murmured tenderly. "I won't do any more. Stay still." He reached out with both hands and worked at the knot in her lacing, moving human slow. When it proved too tight, a single claw slid out and under the base of the garment, sliding with the flat end against her bare skin as he cut the laces open. The corset fell to the ground, leaving her uncovered.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele drew her arms to her chest shyly, wrapping her arms over her breasts to shield herself from him. Her cheeks flushed crimson, and she avoided eye contact. To her, he'd never seen her in this state. To her, this was the first day she'd ever met him. Tenele bit back tears. Why didn't she remember who he was, when he obviously remembered her. She shook her head, and then the tears fell freely.

Tenele cried because she hurt, because she'd been tortured and harassed by two monstrous people, because she didn't know who she was, and she cried because she was near-naked before a man who frightened her.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad thought about offering her his shirt, but it was covered in her captor's blood. "Why didn't you stay in the palace?" he asked her unhappily.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele frowned. "I wanted to see if I recognised anything," she cried. "I didn't. Not a single thing. All I remember is my daughter. I know I have a daughter, and I know what she looks like. But, I don't remember where she is or her name or her father. What happened to me? Why don't I know who I am? That man said I was important..."

[Soran Nightblade]

"I'll take you to your daughter," Vlad said carefully. "And I'll explain things to you. But you need to go back to the clinic. You're not well, and I can't be far from Queeny right now."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele nodded at his words, not really sure if she believed that he could take her to her daughter. But, she knew she needed medical help. Tenele sat up slowly, still hugging her arms to her chest. She was trying to figure out how to explain that her limbs were nearly pulled from their sockets, that they might not cooperate, so she tried to stand.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad watched her closely. "I can take you there directly, like before," he said. "But I have to touch you."