Chapter 28: Something to Do With Sex

March 1999

Sometime later, I woke up to discover I had overslept, as it was a few minutes after seven o’clock in the evening. I decided that if Tayla thought of herself as aristocratic, royalty or not, I would also dress to be presentable before a queen. I jumped into the shower of my private bath, cleaning up as fast as I could. My best suit was a navy blue one, which hung neatly in my closet along with the rest of my suits. After getting dressed, I stepped out into the hall. I was starting to think there would be someone out there, guarding my door, or standing by to serve my requests. Was I forgetting something?

My Bible! I grabbed it off my nightstand and then it was back out the door and down the hall to the stairs. The light in the house was dim but lighted enough so that I could see where I was going. As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I could see no one. My shoes clicked on the marble tiles across the floor. It had to have made a noise that anyone in the adjoining rooms would have to hear but I did not care about making noise. After going into the kitchen, I found a plate of prepared food in the refrigerator with a note attached to it. It was from Shade. She had felt bad about this morning, and that she hoped that this would help me feel more welcome. I appreciated that. Shade seemed the most normal of all the familiars, but she still worked for the Clan. I took the plate, pulled back the foil, and found a delicious array of homecooked food. I placed it in the microwave and as I did, it occurred to me that when I did this last, two familiars showed up. I thought therefore, if I turn around this time events would be repeated. As anticipated, Necro and Dread were again standing in the doorway of the kitchen, peering in at me as if I were under a glass cover.

“Good evening!” I said as I leaned against the counter. I folded my arms in a defiant act. My Bible was on the counter next to me. Dread and Necro were looking at it. “Thanks for retrieving my Bible. I was worried where it might have gotten off to.” Dread just nodded. Necro spoke up. “Originally it wasn’t our intention to bring it. We overlooked it. I thought Tayla would be angry with us for bringing it into the house. She was pleased that we did. She said we did a good job, serving you and her purpose as well.”

“Where is Tayla? Is she up yet?” I asked as the microwave behind me hummed.

“Yes, Tayla is always up. Yet she still is below, in the Lower Estate. You made her particularly hungry last night. She is still...

feeding,” stated Dread. He said it as if it had a hidden meaning.

All I could think of was that poor victim, who no one would hear from again. I remembered the experience that I had a few nights ago. My memory of watching the murder of the young runaway girl happening before my eyes just made me lose my appetite. I hoped that when Tayla came up, she would not have an appetite either. I asked, “How many victims would Tayla take in one night?”

This time Necro filled in the blanks. “Tayla can and will take as many victims as we have available. Her appetite is ferocious, especially,” he chuckled, “if she’s horny. When we say Tayla is hungry that does not always mean that she is thirsty for blood.

However, when she does get in the mood for sex,” he paused, and let his eyes roll backwards as if to emulate ecstasy, “remember it is vampire sex we are talking about, well ... there is no stopping her. She will conquer!” He used his hands and arms as gestures to drive his point home.

Dread added to the conversation, pointing his large finger at me. “And you did it, Mr. Harris. She’s down there right now in a feeding frenzy!” he hissed at me. “You have no idea how many days it took Necro to secure those lives. He worked hard for Queen Tayla to bring them in. Now she’s down there, almost out of control, going through men and blood as if they were lined up outside, banging on the door to get in.”

I was speechless. What did I do? Tayla was a very sexual persona, it seemed. The vampire legends always seemed to have something to do with sex. Why was that? I could tell that she was in a sensual mood last night, but I did not think that I had driven her to a sexual frenzy. After all, we had just talked, and drank coffee. I should have known something was up when she blew me a kiss and winked as she evaporated into thin air in the dawning hours of this morning. Should I assume all this was my fault? “I’m sorry, but I can’t take responsibility for what’s happening below. Will Tayla be up later? (After she smokes a cigarette!)

(Maybe a pack!)

They both nodded their heads yes. “I do not know what would be worse for you. Taking your blood, or taking your love!” warned Dread, as he turned with Necro to leave the room. Ding! The microwave went off. My food plate was piping hot. I hoped that I would not ever have to find out. It was imperative for me to remain pure and faithful. To stumble and fall here, of all places, would render my witness impotent. I already thought deep down inside, the seeds of temptation had already been planted. After all,

I was a man and men think about “it” all the time. I was no different, at least not in that respect. I sat down at the kitchen table and started to eat. My mind started rehearsing many questions for Tayla, like for example, where do the familiars stay? Here, or do they have their own homes? How do they keep these victims, and for how long do they keep these victims? What do they do with the bodies? Moreover, just what is the meat that I am eating? I stood up and spit it out. I was not sure what kind of meat it was. I did not think it was human. There was too much real food around here in the kitchen and Shade was cooking real eggs this morning. I remembered how Tayla had treated the body of the young victim that served as Tayla’s demonstration of power. Tayla would not allow the consumption of human flesh, would she? Perhaps that was how she put the familiars under her power. I had already eaten a few bites, yet I did not feel any different. I supposed that my imagination was running away with me. In my mind, the only thing that kept popping up was a load of more questions.

Why did Tayla need a driver to take her places? Did Tayla go out on the town? Of course, she had to go to the club. They probably did a host of other vampire activities. I did not want to think about what that might be. This place was a whole other world, vastly different compared to the one I lived in. I missed mine. I finished eating, and then back to the great room. I sat and continued to admire the art on the walls and figurines placed about in the large room. Tayla did not appear as she had that first night. Well, I thought she must have been having a good time down there. I prayed for the souls of those poor victims. To take my mind off the matter, I went up the stairs to the library. It was time to get to work. I laid my Bible down on the desk and opened it up. I tried to remember where I had read about demon possession. However, I could not seem to get my thoughts in order. I tried writing down a plan on paper but that did not seem to work either. My thought kept going back down to the activity down in the Lower Estate. The bloodletting and the carnal frenzy that I imagined Tayla perpetrating on helpless men, or maybe even women for all I knew, seemed to seize my mind. The desire was building inside me, to find this place, to explore and discover this Lower Estate. What did it look like? Caverns, passageways, corridors, underground rooms that appeared like rooms in a subway. I could only imagine what it might look like. Tayla had expressly told me that I was not ready for that. I was angry that she was not here as if we had had a date.

It had been over an hour of waiting, as I paced back and forth. My frustration was debilitating to me. I still could not get my thoughts organized. Then the room began to get cool, then cold, progressing to a downright icy. At the other end of the library, a thick fog began to form. Then a fountain of the fog began to build from the floor up into a column of fog, but thicker, like smoke. The smoky fog began to peel off in layers, from the top down, to reveal Tayla, as the dark-haired woman that I had first met. She was dressed in a black leather cat suit, adorned with gold studwork, black stiletto heels, with a gold chain wrapped around her waist. She was dressed to kill, as the cat suit was very provocative, very sexy, zipped up all the way to the neck, outlining her perfect figure. Moreover, it was shocking to think that this woman had just had sex with multiple partners! I wondered how many people she had just devoured.

“Eight as a matter of fact,” she said, lightly panting as if slightly out of breath. Though the room was cold, she had sheen of perspiration on her that indicated her most recent activities as being strenuous and heated. “I was hungry. Forgive me for this moment of self-indulgence. I was inspired to abuse my position as a queen, to partake of the riches that reside here,” she said in her usual smoky, whispering voice. She continued, “I know that you were interested in observing what was going on. Let me assure you first, that no one is dead. I did feed from eight men, and I drained their love from them. They are totally mine. Perhaps I shall do so again and again,” she chuckled to herself. “However, they are still alive. Someday I will take you down there, to the Lower Estate. In addition, I will put on a show that you will not ever forget! Do not concern yourself with this for now as I told you last night that you are not ready for it yet.”