Dark Whispers: Running Amok 50

Mentally Charlotte checked the area and found that Eddie and his crew were maybe five minutes behind them if they negotiated the suburban nightmare of a maze correctly. With a wicked smile, she decided not to help him find the house. Hell, the confusion would be good for him. Eddie was too damned used to everything going his way -- arrogant master vampires. Besides, it wasn't like she couldn't handle Tim and his twisted aunt if need be. She'd wait for Eddie and the boys before she went upstairs to see dear old Jim. She figured there was no need to get overly involved in chains and leathers with the cameras still running. She wasn't too confident in Hank's abilities to walk up the stairs much less safeguard her. His mind was still under the illusion she actually wanted him.

Besides, Hank better be able to cover up the various cameras since she had no desire to see her ass on YouTube. The internet had that way of blowing everything out of proportion and given she couldn't exactly change her weight being a vampire it didn't seem like she needed the pressure of seeing how big her ass was by today's standards. She'd have to do some major human damage if that happened. A nasty comment or two from some kids online and she would be obligated to find the idiots writing the trash and kill them. The Spanish Inquisition had nothing on pissed off vampires. But then there were a few vampires running a few of those little uprisings. Enough said. She concentrated on Jim barely alive upstairs in the house hanging by chains and leather straps. She'd seen how ugly the whole room set up was by the videos Nathan had found online and didn't need any more traumas in her brain. At least not ones she hadn't personally caused.

As she parked Hank's Bavarian heap along the surprisingly empty curb she felt his blood rushing through her body and shivered with delight. There was no replacing good old-fashioned bad boy blood. Hank, naturally, was still groggy and lightheaded since he definitely was missing the pint or two she had liberated for a better cause. Her mind was still mildly latched into his and keeping him fearful and concerned. It was delightful.

"What, where are we? So, Honey, is this your house?" Hank was horny and blurry looking at the door and switching his eyes back and forth between her and the entrance. Such a stupid male. She could feel his fears drop off and his interest rise -- so to speak.

"Oh, this house, no it's not mine. Sorry, a friend called earlier and wanted me to drop by, it'll just take a minute, ok?" Like she cared.

She didn't see anyone watching them but the lack of streetside parking made her figure they all actually used their garages. Odd, but not unheard of ... she made sure to appear as normal possible. Yes, just two friends dropping by to say hi to dear old Aunt Maddie and her nephew Tim. Nothing to see here. She thought tranquil thoughts while she pushed a bit of confusion into Hank's already addled mind. She didn't need any more of his loudly asking stupid questions like her last name.

Yet even though he was only half conscious he still tried to puzzle through the verbal mess she'd spouted. He couldn't think of why she would be taking a detour when supposedly she was hot to have sex with him. But then Hank thought all women were idiots so her vague answer satisfied him. That's what he got for hanging out with kids and believing what he'd read in the letters to the editor from adult men's erotic magazines.

"Yeah sure, babe, whatever." He obviously had already forgotten her fake name. She was just 'babe' now. He was such a jerk.

Hank reached over and casually groped her right breast. It was all she could do to not rip off his face and spit down his throat. Carefully smiling without her fangs she said, "Thanks. Come with me okay?" He was slow to remove his hand and she refrained from ripping the limb free of his shoulder with great effort. Stupid human thought her breast was an old-fashioned radio knob and with the right amount of twisting he would be able to dial Albania or somewhere far away because he certainly wasn't finding anything local. It was no wonder he stuck to younger women they didn't necessarily know what they liked. She was proud of the fact he got to keep his hand -- for now.

She pushed a tasty promise of something erotic in his mind to entice him to follow her and he responded with a wider grin and pulse of interest. His mind had twisted to include the possibility of an underage daughter upstairs. Charlotte seized on that image and included her memory of the bedroom with a teen asleep on the bed she had seen in the video clip Nathan showed her. She mentally moved him slowly around the room pointing out the known cameras and letting him see the room as she had. His innate fear of media fueled the images and he wanted to smash and remove all cameras.

That settled, she left the car with Hank happily trailing behind her aching for an unknown nebulous underage girl. Humans could be such pigs. But his fears and worries fed her so she encouraged the emotional upheaval. Hank was still drunk and easily manipulated. And with his sudden interest in going upstairs to 'surprise' the unseen girl in the house she didn't have to guide him for all the neighbors to watch. His desire to remain near Charlotte with her vampire allure coupled with his wishful thinking about a young girl was pushing aside any logical instincts towards self-preservation. By all rights he should have been mildly suspicious if nothing else.

She knocked on the door and edged Hank to the center of the welcome mat thus having his face the one seen through the peephole. She felt a human on the other side. She stayed to the edges and let Hank stand alone. She washed feelings of trust and safety around and the human on the other side of the door weakened. There was a taste of vampire on him and she knew it was Tim the bartender not his slutty aunt.

She had to concentrate hard because she could feel Jim upstairs shifting with a sign or two of life with her arrival. It wouldn't do to have him snap the chains and meet them at the door, even if she was bringing a nice ripe vintage human with old Hank. So with no time to check out who else was inside she began to work some vampiric talents. Softly Charlotte pushed into Hank's mind a set of words guaranteed to get him inside. Robotically Hank's mouth spoke the words she'd shoved abruptly into his brain. His voice was soft at first and as he spoke she mentally pushed up the volume.

"Hey, Tim, open up. Kenyon sent me to help." Hank's eyes were round as he spouted her verbal bait. She could see far too much of his bloodshot whites. Trembling around his mouth he looked at her out of the corner of his eyes while he had spoke. The fear rolling off him was delicious. He was well aware of who was causing him to speak. Once she stopped her mental pushing his mouth gaped open and he lifted a hand to his face and manually pushed his jaw upwards shutting his mouth. Oops, she tended to forget that sort of thing. She shrugged lightly.

"You know Kenyon?" The voice came through the door and he was eager to believe. Charlotte dropped a few more gems into Hank's mind. He parroted them slowly.

"Sure do, Tim. So you going to let me in or should we wait to see if anyone else is interested in visiting?" His tone was stilted but it wasn't like Tim had ever heard him talking before so he wouldn't know the difference. His left eye was twitching nervously. But at least this time she remembered to close his mouth when finished. Hank's eyes were huge and he was starting to shake all over with fear. He didn't have a clue who Kenyon was but knew this wasn't what Charlotte promised.

"Sorry," the voice was muffled and the door was opened inward. Naturally Hank was the first person Tim saw. The look on Tim's face was mildly puzzled and Charlotte could see that he vaguely recognized Hank from his bout with notoriety. But the look on his face when he saw Charlotte was positively priceless. It was somewhere between utter shock and paralyzing fear with a tasty dose of 'you-have-to-be-kidding-me'. As the door was already open they were in before Tim could freak out and shut them outside. Vampiric speed did come in handy at times. Any neighbors watching would have figured they fell inside given the speed Charlotte hustled Hank inside and shut the door.

"Kenyon sent you?" The fear was washing over Charlotte nearly as lovely as that wine had cascaded down her throat earlier. Tim was hoping he'd misread what his eyes showed him and that Charlotte was supposed to be here.

Laughing, Charlotte positioned Hank facing the stairs and left him frozen, dropped like a child discards toys when something new is brought into view, and pushed Tim up against the wall. Her finger was in the middle of his chest and she softly asked, "Where is your darling aunt?"

Tim's eyes were blinking rapidly as he tried to figure out which answer was the one Charlotte wanted to hear. His mind wasn't easily pushed because he'd been Kenyon's chew toy for a while. Add in that he'd also been well-broken by Aunt for even longer. As any good boy toy knows, there were always right and wrong answers with punishments or rewards given accordingly. Since he hadn't ever played with Charlotte at the club he had no idea how her mind worked and she saw the struggle in his eyes as more possibilities washed through his mind.

"Timmy, this isn't a true or false or even a multiple choice sort of answer. Just answer the question: Where is your aunt?" She hissed very close to his face and drank down the fears running over him.

"She left?" He made his short answer a question rather than a reply.

"You don't seem very sure." Charlotte ran her nail up his cheek and tapped his left temple.

"She left. But she said she'd be back in an hour." This time Tim spoke more decisively.

"Guess we better be finished by then, right?" She smiled. Her fangs were the prominent feature, Tim noticed.

Just then Eddie opened the door.

"I can't leave you alone with anyone can I?" He was laughing at the fear dancing around the room and noticed Hank frozen at the base of the stairs.

"Well, I didn't fang in yet," Charlotte replied while carefully pulling said fangs back into her mouth a bit. Eddie was in a good mood so she knew he wasn't upset at her not helping him find his way through the similarly named streets. Kegs and Toby filled the entry hall and Toby shut the door behind them.

"Just the boys here?" Eddie had done a mental sweep of the house and figured out the aunt was missing. Charlotte would have but she was still simultaneously contending with keeping Hank leashed and scaring the crap out of Tim.

"Seems like. I was thinking we really need to take both of them out of here nicely or the neighbors will gab. Or you planning on going to all the houses and doing some major mind swipes?" Charlotte didn't much care what Eddie wanted to do with the neighbors but figured she needed to put that little tidbit out for discussion given how memorable Kegs and Toby were. They weren't in full biker regalia but both were large scary looking men. And Eddie was sexy enough he wasn't easily forgotten.

"Where should we take them?" Eddie was giving her comment and question some consideration. His grin was laced with more than a bit of amusement, as he was well aware of Charlotte's thoughts. Not like she tried to block him very hard given her distractions with Hank and Tim.

"Anywhere. We have about an hour according to the bartender here." She tapped his face with her fingernail and watched hunger rise into his eyes. He was ripe for the taking and used to being a victim. Such a sweet offering and worthy of being a minion -- too bad that would never happen since his days as a human were definitely in the finite numbers.