Chapter Six;;
Blood Disease;;
Cooper let Aiden drag her out of the mysterious room she'd woken in. She noted the two girls as they came out. One was a petite brunette with her hair curled into a crown of braids. She had really stunning bright eyes. The other was taller but just as slim, and looked fifty times as intimidating. She had sleek blonde hair. Something about her reminded her of Britney.
Cooper didn't really take note of which way they were going, she was going to make Aiden come back to the room with her after meeting the cult. She needed to talk to him alone and she didn't really want the two girls that were following them to overhear or pay attention to what she had to say. And she really wanted to argue with him about her predicament.
She looked back at the women who were following closely in silence.
As if reading her mind the brunette smiled, “I’m Nadeline.” She was the one who’d had the chiming laughter.
The other girl looked at Nadeline silently for a moment then shook off her air of condescension. Looking at Cooper with a tiny grin she said, “Hi. I’m Dalia.” She was so much less intimidating when she smiled, but Cooper still didn’t allow herself to trust her. She didn’t trust either of them. They were, of course, the enemy.
"So where exactly are we going?" Cooper asked, not bothering to introduce herself. She was their toy. They were just going to use her. So what did it matter if they knew her name or not? It wasn’t like they actually cared.
Aiden opened his mouth to answer but he was cut off by Dalia, "Oh, we're only taking you to the feasting hall." Her voice sounded so casual but it was very taunting. Cooper knew she was only trying to scare her, and it was probably not where they were going at all, but it worked. She was scared. She wanted to go back home, to be far away.
Nadeline shook her head lightly, as Aiden snapped at Dalia. "Would you stop it, Dalia? Unlike most of your victims, she is not a toy and you are not to frighten her."
Dalia rolled her eyes, and mumbled something Cooper didn’t hear. If she didn’t know better, Cooper would have said that was nice of him. That’s it, she thought. I am actually going to go full out crazy. It won’t be long now.
They approached this large wooden door with intricate carvings. Cooper felt her heart pumping a million miles a second, no one else had actually answered her question. Maybe they were going to the feasting hall. She was hyper-aware of the blood rushing through her veins. Dalia seemed to notice because she gave Cooper another grin, though it looked as though she were aiming to be, well, reassuring.
Aiden probably noticed too, because he reached for her hand - which she was too afraid to pull away - and whispered, "They won't hurt you." She nodded dumbly and forcibly slowed her breathing.
“We’re only going to be talking right now, and doing introductions of course.” Nadeline smiled as Aiden opened the doors and urged her through. As they waltzed in Nadeline hugged Cooper from behind and whispered, "You'll be fine. If any one goes for you Dali and I will rip their throats out."
Cooper almost laughed, but then she remembered Aiden saying they were part of a cult and started to think she was actually serious. The attempt at reassuring her back fired and Cooper suddenly felt more nervous than ever. They probably could do it too. She really wished Nadeline wouldn’t touch her; she was a vampire after all.
Sitting at a long table in the center of the room were three men and one other girl. Nadeline and sat down beside an angry looking guy and Dalia leaned against a wall, running her hands along the sides of her black silk gown. Cooper thought for a moment that she truly looked like a vampric princess.
The oldest looking guy at the table, who appeared about 53, stood. He wasn't too bad looking. His dark brown hair was streaked with gray and his beard was crisp, clean and even. "Let's get to business. I believe Aiden may have told some of you about his intentions with this girl."
Some of the other vampires snickered and Dalia muttered something like 'only some of them.'
The man continued as though no one had said anything. His voice rang across the room, and everyone immediately went quiet again. He was the authoritarian here. "Aiden does not enjoy killing. I am sure most of us feel the same disdain for our needs. So, the plan Aiden has made for this mortal is to use her enough to sate our needs without any killing."
"That's a marvelous idea!" Exclaimed a slightly pudgy vampire, sitting at the man's side. "We could consider ourselves conservative vampires. Or preservationists!"
"Conservative vampires?” Cooper burst out, stupidly unleashing her anger already. “Just yesterday I learned vampires are real and now you're freaking conservative? I’m sorry but are you trying to pretend that you’re nice people? "
The pudgy vampire looked at her stricken and the other female glowered at Cooper from heavily lidded eyes, something about her seemed familiar. “Excuse me?” The heavy-lidded woman asked, she had the gall to be offended.
“You vampires are real and what do you do? Hide in your lairs, kill people, and pretend to be a family? You just sit here and you do nothing?” Cooper was getting herself worked up and fighting against Aiden’s tightening grip. She knew she shouldn’t be arguing with a roomful of vampires who could kill her without a second thought, but her temper wouldn’t let her slow down. “Don’t you have super strength or something? Couldn’t you be saving the world? Helping people? You are not good people, you are selfish jerks who just…I don’t know but you should do so much more!”
“Are humans really worth saving? They are disgusting creatures.” The tough looking guy growled.
Dalia wandered over to an empty seat beside the girl who had gotten all offended at the accusation. “Cooper.” She said reasonably shaking her head; she actually looked like she pitied Cooper. Cooper, though, was just alarmed at how she knew her name. “Anger is just a cover up emotion. What are you really feeling?”
“Anger.” She said matter of factly, her chest heaving from her long winded rant.
“That’s not really true.” She smiled and gathered her blonde hair over one shoulder, then she began to tug at her lace gloves. “Have you never hid back tears by getting angry?”
Cooper stared at her for a minute. Breathing heavily, angry with her for being such a…such a know it all! She noticed the boredom on all the other vampires’ faces but she didn’t care. Let them be bored. Then she slowly calmed down, thinking about what she said.
“I am, well, I guess I feel shocked. And surprised, and afraid. Actually, I’m just pretty angry anyway. Legitimate anger. You kidnapped me; you’re talking about using me as if it’s no big deal. You’re going to bite me and drink my blood but let me live so you can all do it again and again. That’s torture, and that is denying me my human rights!”
“Good, that’s how you really feel.” Dalia smiled. Nadeline grinned as well, but added a roll of her eyes. Apparently neither of them were phased by the fact I hated them.
“May we get back to our discussion, Miss Kironen?” The older male asked again with evident irritation. Then vampires proceeded as though the little outburst hadn’t even happened.
The tough man beside Nadeline said skeptically, "And she can provide enough blood for all of us? How many cuts could she sustain?" He was picking his nails while eyeing Cooper up; Cooper didn’t like the look in his eyes, and his buzz cut made him look more menacing than Dalia.
The man who had stated their intent pondered this for a moment. Cooper felt invisible, which she should have expected. She was their blood slut; they were just going to pass her around until she was run dry. "We may have to find an additional source of blood, especially since some of our allies will be coming for a while. But the new human must be dependable and healthy...Wesley, please find another source tonight."
The blonde man who had been silent rose, however his journey to the door was interrupted by an outburst from the vampires.
“Our allies are staying here?” The chubby female asked.
“Why?” Was the brutish query of Buzz-cut Boy.
“How long are they staying?” Nadeline and Dalia asked in stunned unison.
The elder vampire ran his hand over his face in exasperation.
“Louis…” Aiden breathed. He didn’t believe what Louis was saying; Louis would not invite their allies to stay unless there was something very wrong.
“There is a blood disease spreading in their territory.” The other vampires gasped, even the silent blonde haired boy narrowed his eyes. “It is undetectable by smell. It can only be determined by taste, and by that point it is too late. For some reason whatever is in the blood is deadly to vampires and it is spreading like wildfire in their region.
“Since our feeding population is thus far uncontaminated it is the courteous thing to invite them to stay with us. Now go fetch our second human, Wesley. Look for a male, then we can cater for everyone’s tastes.”
Before he could leave though Aiden said something entirely unexpected. "I think I know someone who could be useful; Cooper introduced me to him last night." He smiled down at me. “She just seems to be really useful, doesn’t she?”