Suzanne Wright - The Bite That Binds

“No need to be alarmed, Samantha,” a tall Pagori with black hair assured me. “We mean you no harm. If you allow us to explain, you will see that we speak the truth. My brother is going to unfreeze you now. I am trusting that you will not attempt to attack anyone. If you do, he will be forced to freeze you again, for our safety.”

Experimenting, I tried crossing my legs. It worked. “Where am I?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

As I spoke, I wasn’t so much answering him as I was trying to figure things out for myself. “I was on my way back from the shop, heading for my flat…I knew a vampire was up there…Was that you?”

Looking oddly pleased with my answer, he replied, “No. I suspect the vampire in there was the one who attacked you. My name is Quinn. My brother here is Wyatt. The vampires around you work for us.”

“I was attacked? Let’s start from the beginning. How the bloody hell did I get here, and why am I here at all?”

The brothers exchanged an odd look before Quinn flashed me a bright smile. “I’m afraid that your memories will be a little shaky for a while. The process of bringing someone out of a comatose state can have that effect.”

“Say again?”

“You were comatose until just now. I am guessing that the vampire responsible had been waiting for your Sire at the flat and was surprised by your entrance – it would seem that he upset the wrong people.”

Victor had a terrible habit of doing that. “Are you one of those ‘wrong people’?”

He appeared truly offended. “No, Samantha. Definitely not. We were strong allies of your Sire.”

Well then I definitely didn’t like these people. I had an urge to get up and pace around. Having five Pagori vampires standing over me wasn’t making me feel relaxed, but perhaps the best thing to do would be to act as though I was at least open to trusting them. The last thing I wanted was to get frozen again.

“We heard about the plan to attack him, went to the flat to warn him, but unfortunately we were too late to help him. We found you and brought you here so that we could—”

“Wait a minute. Victor’s dead? Then why am I not in agony? They say if a vampire’s blood-link with their Sire is broken, the pain’s excruciating.”

“Perhaps it is because you were comatose at the time.”

Oh this was bloody unreal. Attacked in my own flat. Surely I’d remember something like that. But as I tried to reach for Victor through our blood-link, I realised that the link had been severed. He had to be dead.

“I brought you here and one of my vampires used his gift to awaken you. How do you feel?”

He seemed truly interested…in a very paternal way. I didn’t like it. “Confused.”

“The confusion will wear off soon.”

“Right. Well, as much as I appreciate your help and stuff, I should head home now so—”

“It would be an extremely bad idea for you to return to the flat, Samantha. The person who attacked you and your Sire could be waiting there.”

“I’ll take my chances, thanks.” I moved to stand, and every person in the room tensed. What was with these people?

“Please, Samantha. I failed to protect your Sire, but I do not wish to fail you. I want only to protect you.”

“Yeah?” I said doubtfully. Maybe I shouldn’t be so suspicious, but there was something about this bloke that I didn’t like. If these people truly had any wish to help me, it wasn’t out of the kindness of their hearts. Crossing my arms over my chest, I suddenly became aware of something. I was wearing silk. Looking down, I studied the silky black robe, briefly noticing the white lacy underwear beneath it. “Whose clothes are these?”

If I wasn’t mistaken, Quinn seemed a little stuck for words. Like a kid having to think fast on his feet because mummy had caught him out on a lie. “They’re not yours?”

“No.” I would never in my life have the money to afford this kind of stuff.

“You said you had been shopping, so perhaps these are new purchases and you were trying them on when the attacker struck,” suggested Wyatt.

“But that makes no sense. Not just because the shop I went to only sells food and booze. But because I knew there was a strange vampire in the flat. The last thing I would have done is model new clothes while there was an intruder. And what are these things on my nails? Crystals?”

“I’m sure this will all make sense to you soon.”

I kind of got the feeling that he was very wrong about that. There was something else that was bugging me. “Why do I feel…different?”

Wyatt’s eyes lit up. “In what way do you feel different?”

My eyes widened at the sight of the silvery-blue wisps on my fingers. “And why is energy clinging to me like that?”

“We were wondering the same thing. Maybe the vampire did something to you during the attack.”

But that didn’t make sense, because I felt stronger, more powerful. Not that I had any intention of telling these people that. I didn’t trust them as far as I could throw them, even if they had pulled me out of a coma.

A hissing sound distracted me from my thoughts. I looked around to find a large reptile tank that contained one hell of a huge snake. A python. Its black eyes regarded me, and suddenly I was thinking of another set of black eyes. The image of a brilliant blue snake flashed in my mind. “I have a snake.” No, no, I didn’t. I almost laughed at the absurdity of that statement. Of course I didn’t have one, why would I ever have –?

The python hissed again, and another, similar image flashed before me; this time the same blue snake was curled up on a sofa…A sofa that I recognised, yet didn’t. It certainly wasn’t from my flat.

Maybe these blokes had slipped something in my drink.

“You have a snake?” said Quinn.

I meant to say no, but the word wouldn’t come out of my mouth. It felt unnatural to deny ever having owned one, even though I had no recollection of ever having bought a snake.

As if Wyatt sensed my confusion, he said, “The disorientation is normal. Do you need to feed?”

I wasn’t about to accept anything from these people who had obviously been giving me drugs or something. I shook my head. Involuntarily, I found my gaze moving back to the reptile tank. As I looked at the python, an image again flickered in front of my eyes. This time, it was the same snake as before, yet its colouring was different…Red. It was wrapped around me, hissing at…at…And then the memory was gone, and I couldn’t reach for it.

But it couldn’t be a memory, could it? None of that could be real. So why was I seeing these things? Why did I feel… more than before? And why did I feel restless – like there was something important I was supposed to do, someone important I was supposed to see?

That wasn’t the only thing that I could feel. Strangely, I felt a mood besides my own. Not like when I sensed Victor’s mood, no, not that type of connection. But I could feel echoes of irritation and apprehension that were not coming from me. Nor were they coming from a person. More like an animal.

“I would recommend that you stay here with us,” said Quinn. “We can keep you safe and can help you avenge the death of your Sire.”

Like I cared about that! If I ever met the vampire who killed him, I’d shake his hand.

“Yes,” agreed Wyatt. “We can also help you find out why energy seems to be magnetised to you, and why you feel ‘different’, as you described it.”

Quinn nodded. “It is what Victor would want.”

“Besides, do you really want to be alone, Samantha?”

Once more, the damn python hissed. Like a trigger, the sound sent various pictures shooting through my mind: a blue snake twined around my arm, a red snake striking at a faceless person, a piebald snake tattoo on my arm, a black snake slithering from my arm to another arm. This arm was male, sprinkled with chestnut hairs.