shadows and stones - an original fiction series of gothic, horror, dark fantasy

An intense stench of fear filled the main cavern of the vampire lair, like the humid air of a rainforest. Romany hated the smell, it had surrounded her for weeks now, tainting the taste of the blood she fed on, even when it came from willing donors. Now, in the presence of the new group of naked, hooded captives, the miasma was almost overpowering. For the hundredth time since she had tricked the head of Simon from the shape-shifters, Romany wished she had left it in their hands and let them destroy him.

Needing to release the anger which thoughts of Simon roused in her, Romany pushed the prisoners into a lineup, cursing the vampires holding the men if they were slow to move. The naked bodies were all perfect, nearly identical in form height and coloring as had been demanded. She had spent over a week combing various cities. Collecting these specimens without raising the suspicions of police had been a strenuous task; if Simon did not chose one this time, she would not go out again and risk being caught.

As she shoved him into place, one captive man began shouting obscenities, demanding to be let free, threatening to kill them all. Smiling, Romany leisurely stood in front of him. With two, razor sharp fingernails, she pinched the delicate flesh of his scrotum. Even muffled by the hood, his shriek of pain echoed off the walls of the vast cavern chamber. A few drops of blood slipped down his inner thigh.

"Does anyone else have any comments?" Romany asked. The remaining men were silent, except for a stifled sobs from a few who had lost all semblance of courage. "Very good. I like quick learners."

The sound of footsteps in the corridor alerted Romany to the approach of others; Simon, no doubt, accompanied by his entourage of fawning menials. The few pack members who had survived the centuries since his beheading fought for the right to carry his head from place to place, and followed the one who did with religious devotion. The spectacle sickened Romany, more than the behavior of the lower pack members usually did. She would be relieved when this was over and she could finally leave.

As she expected, a well-dressed vampire walked into the chamber, Simon's head resting on a velvet cushion in his hands; three other decrepit vampires followed. Romany waited until Simon's head was placed on a large, throne-like chair in the center of the room, before beginning.

Stepping forward like a ringmaster, she swung her arm in a wide arc towards the line of men. "Behold, the latest in summer entertainment," she mocked, "gathered from the furthest corners of the UK for your delight and amusement."

"What are the hoods for?" Simon snarled, ignoring her disrespect.

"How much easier to admire the bodies when not distracted by the mewling faces above them." In actuality, she had grown tired of listening to Simon's endless complaints about the "peasant features" of the men who were brought for his perusal. The old leader refused to acknowledge that nobility no longer existed as it had in his day.

Romany took Simon's lack of response to her statement as tacit agreement. To admit aloud that she had made a wise decision would have been beneath him. Among other things, this antiquated attitude towards women was another reason she had grown to despise him. Meanwhile, the men were turned and posed, one at a time, for his examination. Some fought, screaming inside their sack hoods and kicking blindly, others moved docilely, clearly frightened into submission; occasionally whimpering or sobbing. One or two were fully supported by their handlers; unconscious either from fear or abuse.

After looking over each offering, Simon pronounced his opinion. "Vermin," he spat.

Romany snapped.

"What the hell are you talking about! Every one of these is flawless; no scars, no tattoos, no odd birthmarks. They're all young and healthy, no drug addicts, no winos, no fat boys. Do you think it was easy to find them? This isn't three hundred years ago, y'know, people notice when someone goes missing in this day and age. Cops get involved in disappearances."

"I will not bear a peasant body."

"There are no peasants anymore, you bloody git, and if you'd seen photos of the few titled wankers that are the only excuse for nobility you wouldn't want them! As for Royals," she spat, "Bloody sodding Charles is too damn old, and his pretty son William is too young. Either you take one of these or you take your own damn body back, 'cause we can't risk dragging any more men down here."

"Had you properly cared for my body, I would take it back, but I cannot waste time waiting for it to grow strong again." Simon's voice was dangerous, but Romany ignored it.

"Well, complain to Thomas about that, why don't you? Oh, right, forgot, Thomas is dead, isn't he? Fried like a pan full of bangers by that bastard shape-changer when he got caught trying to shag a local girl. Maybe if Thomas had told me what to do before getting himself killed I could have done it. But no, caring for the almighty vampire god Simon's body was his job, not fit for a lowly bitch like me. Blame Thomas' arrogance, but don't bloody blame me for the shape your body's in!"

Stalking to the line of men, her boot heels clicking loudly on the stone floor, Romany pulled forward those she felt were the finest choices.

"Pick one, or tonight I put you back on your own body whether you like it or not."

"I will see you burn if you do."

"Maybe, or maybe not. What'll it be?"

Simon cast an eye along the line once more, finally settling on a man who stood close to the end in silence and dignity. "That one," he growled.

Privately, Romany felt he had chosen badly. While the man's body was, without a doubt, beautifully proportioned and strongly muscled, the skin tone was more tan than average. Even after becoming a vampire, the color would be noticeably different from the sun deprived white of Simon's face. Well, he would have to live with it, not her.

"Prep him," Romany commanded the two vampires holding the man. "Get rid of the rest, except for that one," she pointed to a man she found particularly attractive. Since destroying Wolfgang Dieter in front of the wolf-girl, she had not had a decent toy. The man she chose fought as he was pulled to the side, while those she had ordered disposed of screamed and begged as they were dragged away. Most of the pack members followed hungrily, eager to participate in this rare feast. A few stayed behind to watch.

Simon's choice turned into a fighter. Dragging at those who held him, he sought to pull free from their grip, spewing out a steady stream of profanity and threats when he realized he had been singled out. Though they were stronger than any mortal, the vampires holding him strained to retain their grasp, and were unable to move him to a nearby pair of posts from which chains dangled. Disgusted with their inefficiency, Romany moved in front of him and thrust her knee into his groin. Shrieking at the sudden pain, he collapsed, allowing them to drag him easily.

"Don't damage it, you stupid bitch!" Simon shouted.

"A little love tap won't break anything, so don't get your knickers in a twist," Romany retorted.

Placing him between the posts, the vampires fixed cuffs to the man's wrists, then pulled the attached chains until no slack remained and his arms were tightly perpendicular to his torso. Cuffs were also place on his ankles, then hooked to a metal ring embedded in the floor; there would be no more kicking when he recovered from the knee to his groin. As soon as they released him, the man slumped, still groaning in pain.

Casually, Romany moved behind him, tilting his head back and to the side. His neck and shoulder were smooth and beautiful. She ran her tongue along the sweaty skin tasting his fear. Opening her lips, her needle sharp fangs descended from their retracted position against the roof of her mouth, slipping into place directly behind her smaller human canines. Placing the hollow points at the base of his neck, she prepared to bite.

"Not yet," Simon shouted. "Let it recover."

"Bloody nuisance," she murmured, stepping back to wait, but leaving her fangs extended and prepared.

As she waited, Romany laughed inwardly, wondering if the wolf-girl, Eva, had been stupid enough to try putting the Scottish boy's head on a fresh body yet. Too bad it wouldn't work. The wolf-girl was a fool if she'd believed a vampire would tell her the whole truth. Without this key step, a body replacement would never work.

"Now." Simon's command brought her back to the present. The man had pushed his body erect again, struggling against the chains and cursing.

This time, naturally, he fought against her hands as she pulled his head out of the way. Far stronger than any of the other pack members Romany suffered no inconvenience from his attempts. Spitefully she twisted his neck awkwardly before beginning. Romany ran the edge of one fang along the line of his neck. Shuddering, the captive jerked at the chains, trying to rip them from the posts, only to freeze mid-motion, arching his body backwards as Romany sank her fangs into the flesh of his shoulder.

Suppressing the urge to feed, to draw his blood into her teeth and mouth, she contracted tiny muscles along the side of her jaw, reversing the feeding process to pump blood from within her body, through the hollow points, and into the man. With the first infusion, Romany heard liquid splashing against the floor; like most victims, the man had lost control of his bladder from fear. As she pumped a second round of blood into him, Romany hoped he wouldn't lose control of his bowel as well. Without releasing her grip, she moved slightly to the side, just in case.

Counting to ten, she injected a third batch of blood venom. In ideal circumstance only one infusion would be required, but Romany had learned through trial and error that it was better to overdo the dosage than run the risk of the infection not taking hold. Beneath her lips the man was trembling, an excellent sign. After pumping the last dose into his shoulder, Romany withdrew her fangs, slowly sucking each stray drop, before licking the puncture marks until they clotted.

Stepping back several paces, she allowed her fangs to retract, listening with indifference to the crying and begging from beneath the hood as the victim felt the inevitable progress of the infection moving through his body. Suddenly the man fell silent, rocking in the chains. Involuntary seizures caused the muscles along his limbs and torso to spasm rapidly; a rippling effect which Romany found sensuous to watch. As the man shook uncontrollably, however, in the grip of the changes, his bowels loosed.

"Clean it up." Simon demanded.

Though she knew he was speaking to her, Romany pushed one of the other vampires towards the mess. "Get on with it, prat." Afraid to do otherwise, the vampire complied with her order.

Romany was pleased at how quickly the infection was taking hold of the man. Though the stages were well defined, individuals varied in the duration of each; that he had begun the seizures so quickly indicated a strong circulatory system. A short stage, the seizures soon ended, leaving the man limp, supported only by the chains. His breathing was hoarse as he waited, completely submissive now, for what would happen next. Approaching him from behind, Romany stroked his tightly muscled buttocks while whispering in his ear.

"Don't worry, lovely, it'll all be over soon." A moan was his sole response.

Laughing, Romany turned to leave the cavern, gesturing for the man she had chosen to be brought along. Only a few steps from the entrance, Simon stopped her.

"Where the hell are you going?"

"It'll take five nights for the infection to finish. You can sit here watching if you want, but I'm hungry and I've a new toy to play with." Romany ran a razor sharp nail down the hairless chest of her victim. A sharp intake of breath beneath his hood and the stirring of his penis showed her he enjoyed the sensation. "See you in five."

Without waiting for Simon's response, she left the chamber, a pair of pack members pulling her man alongside her. "If you're extra good," she whispered to the hooded victim, "maybe I'll let you become one of us. We could use a few stiff...backbones around here." As they walked, Romany teased his scrotum with the tips of her nails, pleased to note he not only ceased to struggle, but had begun to walk faster, almost dragging the vampires who were supposed to be leading him.

Romany laughed, anticipating a long, pleasant five nights before she had to look at Simon again.

It was fortunate Simon's choice had been made strictly for the body, and not the mind of the victim. Like it had in many others, the infection proved too much for the man; by the end of five nights he no longer even formed coherent noises. The hood was removed, and vacuous eyes stared blankly into the dimly lit cavern while drool trickled in a steady stream from the right corner of his mouth. Romany glanced over at Simon's head for his command.

"Start," he snarled.

Now would come the most dangerous moment of all. Though the man appeared helpless, he was a full vampire, and a mindless one at that. When released from the chains, there was no guarantee he would not come alive in an insane fury. Romany stood well back, close to an exit, while three of the less intelligent pack members handled the chore. She needn't have bothered. The appearance of mindlessness was also the reality; the man made no effort, whatsoever, to move once unchained. Unsupported, his body fell limply to the floor.

"Be careful you fools!" Simon shouted at the careless handlers.

Immediately, they lifted the limp body again, dragging it onto a long stone table. Rolling the helpless victim on his back, they strapped him to the stone; ensuring his arms and legs were immobile. One of the male pack members approached with a scalpel and a surgical saw. Feeling around the neck, he determined where the vertebrae needed to be sawn in order for the join with Simon's head to be exact. With a pen he drew guidelines along the front and sides of the throat.

Blood sprayed everywhere as the first scalpel cuts were made. The body jerked, then lay surprisingly still as the saw was used to methodically work its way through sinew and bone. When the last bit of skin was severed, the head rolled off of the table, onto the floor. Carefully, the male vampire cleaned the surgical instruments of every drop of blood before bowing to Simon.

"Burn the head." Simon ordered.

Bowing again, the vampire lifted the drooling, still living head by its hair and carried it out of the room. Romany snapped her fingers, and other pack members dragged a teenage girl from the shadows. A gag was all that kept the girl's screams from echoing throughout the chamber. Romany found it an excessive indulgence that, with so many men wasted to find Simon a body, he had insisted on a virgin girl for the final blood victim. He had no concept of the difficulty she had had in finding a virgin old enough to provide sufficient blood.

Though she longed to drop kick him as the wolf-girl had, Romany respectfully lifted Simon's head from the cushion and carried it to the body on the table. Making sure to move his hair out of the way, she lined the base of his neck up with the freshly opened neck of the body. A sucking noise was clearly audible as the two vampire pieces came together.

"Ahhhhh," Simon sighed.

The girl was dragged to the side of the table where one of the vampires tore off her blouse and bra. Sobs shook her body and full breasts. Romany found Simon's chosen method for dealing with this victim distasteful. Had the choice been hers, the girl's wrists would have been slit, allowing the most blood to come out as quickly as possible. Simon, however, preferred making his victims suffer. The girl's right breast was placed against his open mouth, and for the first time in three hundred years he buried his fangs into warm flesh.

Thankful she had no role to play in this, Romany merely watched, her lip curled and nose wrinkled as though she smelled something foul. A pack member put a knife to the girl's left breast, cutting a deep furrow across the nipple. Already in agony from Simon's teeth, the girl barely seemed to notice the injury. Meanwhile, as blood poured from the fresh wound it was spread like salve across the line where the neck of Simon, and the neck of the body, met. It took hours for the girl to bleed to death, as Simon continued pulling blood from her right breast and the wound in the left was kept fresh with repeated applications of the knife.

Tossing the corpse into a corner, the pack members brought out a red velvet sheet, unfolding it carefully before spreading it over Simon's face and new body. He would remain covered for the next twenty-four hours - at which point they would learn if the joining had succeeded or failed. Either way, Romany had already made her decision. When the moon rose again she was going back to London. Only her promise to Thomas had kept her living in the middle of nowhere, and with it discharged she could join Julian in the city.

Rich red blood. Warm and smooth as honey left out in the sun, and just as sweet - particularly virgin blood. It was indicative, to Simon, of how low the pack had sunk, that the bitch leader did not understand the importance of using the right blood for the right ceremony. Just as well that he would be whole again by the next evening; it was time to clean house.

As he lay upon the cold stone, beneath the red velvet sheet, Simon felt the bones of his neck merging slowly with the bones of this new body. The veins, arteries and nerves sought out their equivalent partners on either side of the joining, knitting themselves together in ecstatic unions which made his lips tremble. Each time a closure occurred he could feel, for the first time in centuries, a toe, or a leg, or a twinge on a fingernail. Sensation was exquisite. He reveled even in the pain, simply because he had not experienced it such an incredibly long time.

Three hundred years, it had been. Three hundred years of hell to revenge himself for. The shape-shifter, Rath, would pay dearly for every moment. Perhaps through the mortals he persisted in caring about, or perhaps through the sister who made foolish deals with vampires; somehow he, Simon, would make sure Rath regretted the day they had last met, when Simon's head had become a trophy for display.

And that bitch, Romany.

Thomas had always had poor taste in females, preferring the whorish type who were good for nothing beyond feeding sexual appetite. At least two of the oldest remaining pack members were, in fact, women Thomas had abandoned when other, more appealing wenches had come along. Simon cursed the careless stupidity that had left the pack to be lead by a peasant whore. The bitch would pay for the insults he had received since his return; she would pay for her arrogant attitude.

Lethargy moved through the limbs he could feel, and into his brain. Dawn must be rising outside, bringing with it healing sleep. Sighing, Simon allowed himself to slip into the trance slumber of the vampire, relishing the thought of dreaming of the torments he would soon be inflicting.

Before the full twenty-four hours had passed, Simon rose from the stone table. As per his instructions, clean clothing, suitable for a man of his rank in this era, rested on a nearby chair. At first his movements were awkward. The body his mind remembered had been different from the one he now possessed, and after three hundred years he was out of practice in performing even the most simple tasks. Still, he managed to be fully dressed and seated on his throne, when the other pack members began filing into the cavern that night.

Upon seeing him, most fell instantly to their knees in obeisance. Some, however, mostly the youngest, sneered at the abject groveling of the older vampires, and went about their daily business, ignoring the change in leadership. Simon noted their faces; they would be dealt with in good time. First, he wanted the bitch.

Romany arrived at what she considered an early hour, only to be surprised by the sight of Simon, dressed and seated. Even across the great cavern she could feel his animosity when she entered. Warily, she approached his chair, nodding, rather than bowing.

"I take it everything works?" she asked casually.

"Yes."

"Good. Then I'm going."

"What?" Simon's voice seemed controlled, but Romany could sense the anger beneath it.

"Look, you don't need me, and you don't like me. I stayed in this backwater because I promised Thomas I'd get your head back. Promise done with, I'm going back to London where I belong."

"And if I forbid it?"

Romany raised her eyebrow as she studied Simon before answering. "You may have been leader of this pack three hundred years ago, but you were never mine. Forbid all you want; I'm leaving." Not waiting for an answer, Romany turned to the exit.

A snapping of fingers sounded behind her. Before she could react, a dozen of the pack were pushing her to the ground, pinning her body as they tied ropes around her arms and legs. Though stronger than any of them individually, Romany was overwhelmed by their numbers, and surprised by how many she had thought loyal to her now obeyed Simon.

"Help me, you prats!" she screamed to the younger vampires, but frightened at this sudden turn of events, they remained motionless, ready to take their cue from whoever won.

"Lock her into one of the dark rooms. Don't feed her or do anything else with her, until I tell you." Simon rose from his throne, sauntering to where Romany lay trussed on the floor. Looming over her, he grinned showing his magnificent set of pearlescent teeth. "Don't worry, lovely, it'll all be over soon," he mocked.

"I'll kill you, you sodding bastard!" Romany screamed as they dragged her out of the room. "I'll fucking kill you!"

"Does anyone else have any comments?" Simon asked.

The remaining vampires were silent.

episode i: journey into darkness - episode ii: tea party - episode iii: awakening
episode iv: the book of grief - episode v: paterfamilias - episode vi: breaking points
episode vii: the dark of the mind - episode viii: decisions
episode ix: momentary distractions - episode x: exorcising demons i
episode xi: porcelain visions - episode xii: the nature of jackals
episode xiii: exorcising demons ii - episode xiv: the invitation
episode xv: body & soul - episode xvi: mothering sunday
episode xvii: imbalance of power - episode xviii: interlude
episode xix: between life and death

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