Chapter 13

The opulent mansion was located several miles from the city on a rather remote wooded estate. Above ground it looked little different from that of any wealthy abode, an abundance of living, dining and recreation areas on the main floor with bedrooms galore on the second. It was the underground area however which set it apart. Ostensibly a wine cellar, there was the expected rack after rack of the finest from vineyards around the world. However a secret panel revealed a cavernous expanse more deeply set even further underground. It was here the trial by council would take place. The mat where the combat was to take place was in the middle while comfortable seats ringed the arena.

Leonora escorted Cassi into the arena. "I must leave you now and take my place with the council. Remember -- you win or you die!"

"I'm not likely to forget that one," said Cassi, trying to be flip but not succeeding.

"You will go to the edge of the mat and wait."

"Yes, my queen," Cassi answered, obeying.

The other queens had already taken their places and Cassi was amazed at how beautiful they all were. She had expected Leonora to be the exception, that most would be old hags or look like crones. That was far from the case however. Yes, some appeared older than others but all were as attractive as Leonora, some even more so.

At last, when Leonora had seated herself close by, a particularly lovely queen dressed in satin and furs rose. Cassi was puzzled to see Leonora straighten in her seat as if alarmed.

"I, Queen Vanessa," volunteered the vampire, "have volunteered to provide the test for Leonora's nominee to succeed her."

Cassi looked to Leonora who seemed to be staring icicles through the queen who stood addressing the council.

Vanessa motioned to the entrance and all eyes shifted their attention. The door opened and not one, but three young terrified women walked to the edge of the mat each wearing a long terry robe and barefoot.

Now it was Cassi's turn to be shocked for she recognized all three. The first was the beautiful black attorney from the D.A.'s office, Amy Caldwell, whom Cassi had toyed with and whose panties still resided in Cassi's dresser. The second Cassi knew she had seen somewhere but could not place until it dawned upon her that this deep auburn haired girl was the coed, Kelly Andrews, whom she had fed upon in the shadows several nights ago. And the third was the lovely young mother, Lorri Stevens, whose blood had been so warm, delicious and satisfying.

"What is this Vanessa?" asked Morella, a stunning queen dressed in a sparkling silver gown and matching heels who spoke with a middle european accent.

"I know it is --unusual, but allow me to explain," said Vanessa. "I had a fitting pawn selected to oppose our candidate, but she was taken ill. In order to provide the competition we all desire, I decided on these three humans."

"Pawns?" asked another of the queens.

"No, simply human. But three nonetheless. Our candidate is a police woman, versed in combat. I think a three-to-one ratio should make them a worthy adversary."

Cassi was stunned. How could Vanessa know about...

The vampire queen looked to Cassi with a smirk of self satisfaction "I know everything I need to know, Cassandra."

Leonora started to intervene. She knew, as did Vanessa, that after feeding or even toying sexually with a human a certain symbiosis developed between vampire and victim. And that meant Cassi would not only have to contend with three opponents, she would have to overcome her personal feelings as well. Vanessa had planned this well.

"Must she fight all three at once?" Leonora inquired.

"As the council wishes," smiled Vanessa, venom in her voice

The queens mumbled among themselves for a few seconds then one of the older queens rose to voice their decision.

"Three against one seems like demanding enough odds. She may fight them one at a time."

Vanessa smiled but was clearly disappointed. She sat down and glared at Leonora who returned the look.

"That one," pronounced the queen indicating the nineteen year old coed."

"Please," begged the girl. "My boyfriend proposed to me last night. I'm to be married."

The queen's response was simply to motion to a male pawn standing nearby who ripped the robe from the startled girl. Kelly made to cover her breasts for she was dressed only in a skimpy light blue thong. The queens were obviously pleased with this first of Vanessa's picks. Kelly's body was fit and trim, her green eyes a complement to her dark auburn hair.

The pawn pushed her to the center of the mat and motioned for Cassi as well. Cassi dropped her own robe and strode to center mat. She also wore only a black leather supporter for her oversized appendage and nothing more. Looking at Kelly, she had to agree with the other queens that this was indeed a beautifully delicious find. The other night in the shadows she had not had the opportunity to really appreciate Kelly's beauty, but now that the girl was fully (at least virtually) revealed she was stunning.

"What... are the rules?" asked the coed hesitatingly.

The pawn grinned. "There are no rules," he said, stepping back and off the mat.

Cassi's mind raced. She did indeed have feelings for all three of these women, yet she was being forced to defeat them. Was there any way, she wondered, she could make it easier on them.

The two began circling but as they closed, Cassi whispered to the young girl so none of the queens could hear. "Let me hit you a couple of times. Then go down. I'll try to save you."

But Kelly was either too frightened or too angry to listen. Vanessa had obviously told her that Cassi had fed upon her and despite the ecstasy, Kelly knew she had been raped.

"Go to hell!" hissed Kelly.

Cassi was sure that Kelly had no fighting experience. Her stance was too closed and she stood almost straight up. There was hate in her eyes but Cassi was sure she could take her.

A feint to the left and in her inexperience Kelly crossed her legs in attempting to react. That was all the opening Cassi needed. She swept the girl's legs from under her and Kelly went down hard. She was up quickly however and it became obvious she was not going to take the dive Cassi had suggested.

Cassi moved in hoping to score a quick knockout punch and although she got in two quick jabs which snapped Kelly's head back, the coed swung wildly and connected to the side of Cassi's head stunning her for a moment. Kelly swung again but Cassi partially blocked the blow by ducking and taking it painfully on the shoulder. The two separated for a moment, again circling and eyeing each other warily.

Cassi closed again and this time when Kelly swung, grabbed her arm and dropped to her knees pulling the coed over her shoulder and slamming her to the mat. As Cassi tried to pounce on the auburn haired beauty Kelly got a knee up and into Cassi's stomach knocking the wind out of her. Now it was Cassi who was in trouble. Kelly grabbed her by the hair, yanked her to her knees and delivered a right to Cassi's cheek. Cassi went down, stunned. She had not expected this kind of resistance from a coed with no training. She would quickly learn that with the threat of death hanging over someone they fight with an intensity no one could otherwise imagine. Kelly was at her throat in an instant, squeezing for all she was worth. Cassi's eyes began bulging and her vision was turning red before she could reach up and claw the coed across the face bringing a screech of pain as Kelly fell off and scrambled away to nurse the red whelps which now appeared on her cheek. Cassi stumbled to her feet trying to get her wind. Kelly, now enraged, ran directly at Cassi intending to bowl her over. Cassi, despite being winded, saw her chance. As Kelly approached at full speed, Cassi sidestepped and extended her arm. Her forearm caught the college student directly across the throat in what is often called a "clothesline." While not actually breaking any cartilage, the blow was sufficient to completely immobilize the girl. Kelly's legs went out from under her and her head hit the floor knocking her unconscious.

Cassi stood panting heavily until, at last, it became evident to everyone that Kelly would be offering no more resistence.

Vanessa waved to the pawn who dragged the inert body off the mat. "Very good Cassandra. You have met your first test," smirked Leonora's arch enemy. "Now let's see how you do with the second."

Lorri, mother of the newborn who Cassi had fed from in her apartment, was stripped of her robe and pushed onto the mat.

There was genuine fear in the mother's eyes as the two began circling each other.

"Please don't hurt me," sobbed Lorri. "I can't stand pain."

Cassi jumped in, squeezed the blonde in a bear hug. Then expending valuable energy she lifted the woman from the ground and slammed her to the mat.

"Lorri, listen to me," whispered Cassi as she pinned the woman's arms, "Let me put a hold on you. It'll knock you out but you won't be hurt. Then I'll talk to the quee..."

"Lorri, my sweet little whore," said Vanessa, "remember, if you lose, you die. And remember what Cassandra said she would do to your baby if you lost."

"Lorri, don't believe her. I don't want to hurt you or your..."

Suddenly Lorri was energized. Fighting now for her baby as much, even more, than for herself, she brought a fist into Cassi's jaw knocking the queen-to-be off to the side and enabling the mother to get to her feet.

Cassi, seeing stars, shook her head to clear it. It was just in time as the nineteen year old came charging. Cassi tried to sidestep as she had done with Kelly, but Lorri had been watching. Instead of allowing Cassi to move out of the way she changed her angle of approach and barreled directly into Cassi's midsection. Cassi went down heavily on her back with Lorri now atop her and raining blows to her face and head. Many of the blows went wild and simply glanced off, but three or four caught Cassi flush in the nose and mouth and she began bleeding from both cuts. Resorting to street fighting, Cassi grabbed Lorri by the hair and yanked. The blonde shrieked and fell off and to the side. But she scrambled to her feet and began kicking Cassi, again landing some painful blows to her side, one cracking a rib.

Cassi knew she could not take much more. So in desperation as Lorri's foot came in for another kick, Cassi grabbed it and twisted. Howling, Lorri fell and scrambled away. Cassi knew she hadn't really hurt the woman but it had given her a few precious moments to collect her wits and regain her breath which was now painful because of the cracked rib. Painfully Cassi climbed to her feet. The rush of adrenaline which had helped carry her to victory over Kelly was now gone and she suddenly felt weak and exhausted.

Lorri was breathing hard as well, but seemed basically unhurt. Cassi simply could not match her blow for blow and expect to win. Yet she had to convince Lorri that she could not win. Cassi brazenly walked up, fended off a wild swing of Lorri's and punched the women in the nose and mouth, bringing blood, then backed away. She saw the disbelief and tears appear in Lorri's eyes. Her training was coming back to her. She moved in, countered Lorri attempts at hay makers and punched the woman again in the face and breasts, then two shots to the stomach and the mother went down in agony. Cassi saw the look of panic in the eyes of the lovely blonde.

Standing over her, Cassi knew now how best to defeat the young mother. "You can't stop me Lorri. Remember that night in your apartment, how I had my way with you and there was nothing you could do to stop me? I've been taking it easy on you so far, but you just don't get it, do you? Well now you're going to get it, understand? Know what I'm going to do to you, Lorri?" she taunted. "First I'm going to break both your arms so you can't resist any more. Then I'm going to ream that little pussy of yours and when you're lying there crying and bleeding I'm going to roll you over and stick this monster in that tight little ass of yours and fuck you to death right here in front of everyone!" Cassi threw in a sadistic laugh to cap off the performance.

She got the reaction she had hoped for. Where there had been anger only moments before, now there was abject terror showing in the lovely face.

"Know what Lorri? Give it up right now and I'll see that no harm will come to your baby. I'll even see she's properly taken care of. Keep fighting and I'll punish you. I'll make you feel pain you never thought possible. Then I'll rape you in your pussy and your ass and we'll all watch you die. Now what will it be?"

Lorri was trying to stem the flow of blood from her nose and mouth. She was hurting now, the pain perhaps would have been tolerable in others, but for the young mother it more than she could bear. Even worse were the threats, first from Vanessa and now from Cassi. In the mind of the young mother all she could think of was her baby. She knew she couldn't defeat the policewoman, that she could only perhaps prolong her own agony. Could she hope for anything other than the promise that her baby would be unharmed? She was sure she could not.

"Well, Lorri?" demanded Cassi.

The mother struggled to her knees and looked up into Cassi's eyes beseechingly.

"You promise you won't hurt my baby."

"I promise."

In that moment Lorri read Cassi's eyes and found nothing but truth. Slowly she hung her head in surrender. Cassi moved behind her slowly reached down from behind to put a head lock on the pretty blonde.

"Don't fight it and it will soon be over," said Cassi.

Lorri nodded sadly.

Cassi gripped the woman's head and slid her hand over the mouth and nose. Lorri tried not to resist but as it became evident she was being smothered she began to flail her arms as panic set in. Cassi held her firmly however and carefully avoided being injured by the wildly panicked woman. The jerking was at first strong and for a few moments Cassi wondered if she should have used some other means of rendering Lorri unconscious. But she held on and soon the jerks and flailing became weaker and when the arms dropped to the floor limply, Cassi released her and gently laid her head to the mat.

"Foul!" cried Vanessa. "What kind of contest was that? Cassandra obviously cheated!"

"How so?" demanded Leonora. "Surely a queen's wits are as important as her ability to physically subdue. Cassandra defeated the human in a fair fight. The fact that she successfully used fear and intimidation to accomplish her goal is to her credit."

"I agree," came the voice of the oldest of queens. "Cassandra has demonstrated she has a quick and inventive mind. I like that."

"But..." began Vanessa.

"Enough!" said the old queen. "She still has another opponent to face, and from the looks of her I would say her most daunting yet."

Everyone's attention came back to the mat as Lorri's unconscious body was dragged from the mat and Amy was stripped of her robe and pushed forward.

The black woman was stunning. Tall and slender with long shapely legs she could have been a fashion model. Her hair was coal black, her complexion creamy chocolate brown. Her breasts were large for a woman of her frame the nipples prominent amid areolas which covered a large proportion of each breast. Her high cheekboned face complimented the large brown eyes and pouty lips. Every queen in the room felt a tinge between the legs as Amy walked to the mat, her firm hips swaying, the orange thong hiding very little of the small triangle of hair and pubic lips.

Cassi had hardly had time to catch her breath. She ached in every muscle and that cracked rib was giving her a lot of pain. Her breathing was ragged as well as she had now taken three shots to the nose. Although not broken, it continued to bleed making breathing difficult. Cassi realized she was also dog tired. Her training had never prepared her for extended combat like this. Add to that the fact that she had never actually been in hand-to-hand combat. She had only drawn her service automatic once and then only to cover Larry as he made an arrest. Now she was in the fight of her life and her training and experience seemed of little use especially with someone like Amy. The black woman was at least seven inches taller than Cassi and even though trim, outweighed her by twenty-five pounds.

So Cassi, now battered and fatigued, faced her strongest opponent yet. And there was something else Cassi was about to learn the hard way.

As the two began circling Amy assumed a martial arts crouch.