Fratelli: The Awakening (The Vampire Cartel #1)

10. You’re a Monster!

Chapter 10

You’re a Monster!

H ouse of Draca

New Orleans, LA

Midnight

Dolly groaned awake. She felt as though her body had been through a battle. Her throat ached, and a severe headache made opening her eyes nearly impossible. Shame and desire entwined intensely and deeply between her thighs at the center of her sex. Her body told the story. Something was wrong. Reaching to touch the searing pain in her throat, she discovered a puncture wound, coated with her dried blood. Terrified, she sat upright.

“What is going on?” she asked.

Initially, she saw nothing but a blur. At some point, someone removed her glasses from her face during the night. She was about to scream when something remarkable happened. Expecting little improvement in sight without her glasses, she was astonished when her vision sharpened. In mere seconds, her sight cleared to perfection. She saw everything in the dark with great detail.

Dolly lifted her hand from her neck and looked at her fingers. There was blood on her fingertips. She was bleeding, she screamed, she panicked. Then a man’s groans of agony surfaced above her screams for help. Turning, she saw Lucio on his knees. He went flat to his stomach. He dragged himself away from the bed. His naked body was stark white, convulsing with pain.

“Lucio?” she said in a voice barely above a whisper, and still he heard her.

“Get out, run Dolly. Leave!” his voice was grave and deep, almost like a snarl.

“What’s going on? What happened to me?”she asked.

Pulling back the covers, Dolly uncovered her nakedness, feeling the familiar aches of sex, accompanied by blood. It had trailed down her neck and stained her breast. “Oh-my-God! Oh-my-God!” she panted.

“Please go, get…,” he pleaded and dragged himself further from the bed. “I can’t control it, Non sapevo che sarebbe successo .”

Dolly scrambled out of bed, frantic as she searched for her clothes. Something terrible had occurred, and her memory offered no clues. Compelled by concern, she approached him.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Tristan. He takes… he can… understand.” It was the last thing Lucio said before he went limp and unconscious. When she reached him, went to her knees and turned him over. The horror of him nearly shattered her sanity. There was blood covering his mouth and down his throat. A lot of blood. Was it her blood? She didn’t see any other wounds.

“Lucio?” She leaned in and put her ear close to his mouth. She didn’t feel any breathing. She then put her ear to his chest and heard his heartbeat. It was faint, but she heard it. “I’ll get help.”

Why would she get him help? The thought occurred to her. There was blood on her and him. Why help him? Dolly slipped into a silk black robe she discovered draped over a chair, hastily tying it around herself as she ran through the mansion’s halls, desperate to find the way to the front door. Her memory was a jungle with wild thoughts that blocked her from her at every turn. And only brief flashes of being carried by him, their kisses, and the bliss of those first moments surfaced.

After an agonizing search of a maze of halls, she finally navigated her escape, bursting through the front door into the open air. Relief washed over her when she spotted Tristan, just as she had left him, smoking outside the SUV. His expression turned to a frown upon seeing her frantic state.

“Come, quick. I think something happened to him. He’s not moving,” she panted.

“What?” Tristan ran past her into the house. It was even harder to keep up with him. And she was in shock. Her eyesight wasn’t the only thing she felt had changed. There was something about her that felt exhilarated, horrifying, but wonderful all at once. And she couldn’t understand the mixture of fear and elation. The emotions were too raw and conflicting for her.

They entered the room, and Lucio was where she left him. Tristan went to his boss. He stood over him, looking him over.

“He has a heartbeat. So, he’s still alive,” she said.

“What are you talking about? His heart can’t beat!” Tristan said and went down on a knee. He tapped Lucio’s face.

“Of course, it can! I’m telling you; he isn’t dead even if he looks… dead. He bit me. I’m bleeding. Oh-my-God. I’m still bleeding from my neck,” she said.

Tristan dropped his head to his boss’s chest to validate her story. He then pulled back as if he’d touched a serpent.

“His heart is beating. How is that possible?” Tristan mumbled.

“What? What do you mean? Call the police. Call the paramedics. You have my phone,” she shouted.

Just as Tristan was about to stand, Lucio seized him by the shirt. The Don pulled him in close to whisper urgently. From a distance, Dolly watched the interaction closely. She caught the intensity of Lucio’s actions and the way Tristan’s gaze briefly fixed on her. Understanding seemed to dawn on Tristan as he nodded and stepped back, released from Lucio’s hold. “Stay here. Stay with him. I know what to do.”

“Call for help!? I’m hurt too!”

Tristan exited the room, and as Dolly attempted to follow, he shut the door in her face. Overcome with frustration, she screamed and pounded on the door and rattled the doorknob in vain. Her fists continued to strike against the barrier relentlessly. “Help us!! Come back!! What the fuck is wrong with you? Call the police. Call the police!”

“Darlene,” a voice croaked.

Turning around, Dolly saw Lucio’s gaze fixed on her. Terrified, she backed against the door. To her, he appeared ghastly, his mouth smeared with her blood and his body as pale as a corpse. Slowly, he extended his hand towards her. “More, I need more.”

“More of what?” Her voice trembled.

“Darlene, I’m… help me. You can, you can help. Please,” Lucio begged.

“I don’t know what you want. You’re a monster.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t control myself.” He tried to sit up and could not. He fell back. “You don’t understand. You don’t know what you are.”

“You attacked me. Raped me!”

“No,” he looked over. “Rape? No. Never. Not what happened.”

“Why am I bleeding? What is wrong with me? Why don’t I remember anything? What did you put in my food?” she asked.

“You’re blocking me, Darlene. Try. Try to remember me, Dolly. Try please,” he groaned.

“You’re a monster!” She shouted at him.

“Darlene, please, stop.”

Frantically, she dashed around the room, pulling back curtains only to discover each masked bare walls—no windows. Desperate, she searched for any weapon, something to defend herself with.

“I didn’t rape you. Try to remember. You must try. You can help me.”

“Go to hell!” Dolly said, unable to find anything, not even a mirror. She touched her neck, and the pain had all but healed. She didn’t even feel the scar. Confused. She spun around the room. Feeling dizzy but trying to gather her thoughts as the room swam in a fast swirl before her eyes.

“Darlene, finish me. I need you,” he whispered into her head. “Please.”

She stumbled backward, bumping her legs against the bed. Her dizzying vision cleared. She sniffed through her tears. He looked even sicker and paler, and the dark rings under his eyes were scary.

“Finish me!” He demanded in a voice that sounded unreal.

“I don’t understand what you want from me.” She put her hands to her head. The pounding in her skull became unbearable.

“Try sweetheart. Aiutami per piaciri.” he begged.

Dolly wept.