Chapter 27
King of Carnal Lust
Seeing Transfusion again was like receiving a bullet to the heart to the point that I couldn’t help but place a hand there.
It was as if I just had to check that there wasn’t a mortal wound there I was bleeding from.
Because now here I was again, looking up at the building as I had once done that night, only feeling so very different than I did back then.
Because now I knew…I knew what to expect and what horrors lay behind those walls and at the front of it all was a cruel, heartless King who thought nothing of crushing a young girl’s hopes under his boot and right along with it…
A fragile and bleeding heart.
I tore my gaze away from the place, now stood across the street knowing that I had no choice but to go inside.
I don’t know why the place affected me so much.
Well, that wasn’t true, I knew why, and well… it all started…
Seven years ago…
“This is a bad idea,”
I said to myself out loud as I looked up at the imposing building that I swear was one second trying to draw me closer, whilst at the same time trying to warn me away.
And why was I here, because I let my cousin Ella talk me into it that’s why! Go tame the wolf she said, yeah like that was even possible around someone like Lucius.
But then again, I didn’t know how much longer I could go on the way I was.
I had tried to get a hold on this obsession.
By Gods in Heaven and Hell, they all knew that I had, but it was all in vain.
Because here I was, after creating an excuse that would eventually land me in Germany.
I had decided that studying here might be as good a place as any to start my dream of becoming an archaeologist and with LMU university in the heart of Munich, I thought it might have been perfect.
Okay, so it was true that I was hoping for another reason for me to find perfection here and I thought that if I was a regular enough face in someone’s life then maybe something more could grow from it.
I was twenty years old and I wasn’t a kid anymore.
I was an adult so maybe, just maybe he would finally start to view me as one.
I mean, it wasn’t as if I had grown up seeing him or that would have just been weird.
But then again, didn’t these guys have a massive age difference with anyone they dated…look at my dad and mum for example, he had been thousands of years old and my mum had only been twenty-three when they met.
Alright, so from what I heard there had been that one time when he saw me as a baby, but since then the first time I remembered ever seeing him was when I was at the tender age of sixteen.
That had been the first time I had ever spoken to him in person but the second I saw him I couldn’t believe my eyes.
To find the man I had been dreaming about since I was seven years old had been like being plunged into my dream world and imprisoned there with him as my personal jailor.
At first the dreams had just been of a man watching over me, but I never saw a face until much later on.
It was as if the older I became the more, little by little, parts of his image would start to emerge.
So, by the time I was sixteen I finally had a face to go with years of an intimidating shadow.
However, there was never anything sexual about these dreams, but just a few stolen touches to my cheek as if he had been checking to see if I was hot or cold.
There would be a caring spark in his intense grey eyes that I couldn’t look away from.
But then, after that first moment I met him, my dreams did change, now taking on a more heated element that had me both waking up gasping for air and experiencing my first orgasm on the night of my seventeenth birthday.
I swear it was the best present I could have ever received, and his touches hadn’t even been real.
But since then I’d had three more years to cope with, as those dreams only intensified.
Those dominant hands that would control my body along with the state of my mind.
Hands that I knew were as dangerous even when they were adoring my skin.
It was as though I belonged to him, and every touch granted was just another brand to my soul for me to collect.
I often asked myself, wondering how long it would be, how many brands would it take, for him to consume me whole. For there to be nothing left that belonged to me but in fact to find that he had taken it all and I had been powerless to stop him.
This was why I was so obsessed.
And it was the sole reason for me to be here now.
I had been in Germany a week, seen the university and spoken with people at the Faculty for the Study of Culture, which I learned was a course that comprised a variety of disciplines, ones which were based on philological, archaeological, anthropological, ethnological, and sociological methodologies and each and every one of them was a mouthful.
But, so long as it combined my passion for learning history and cracked the secrets of the past, along with being placed in his path, then that was all I wanted.
Of course, all I needed to do now was get up the courage to actually step inside.
But what if he turned me away, or I wasn’t even allowed past the front doors? But surely not, I mean he knew my parents, was friends with them even, so why wouldn’t he meet with their daughter? What reason would he have not to?
No, I was at least confident that he would see me, and I had everything I was going to say all planned out.
I would simply tell him how my father thought it was a good idea we meet, considering I was going to be living in his city and he thought it best that I have some protection.
This part actually wasn’t something I had made up just as an excuse…okay, so when I had been trying to sell the idea to my father and he’d been about to refuse, I simply reminded him that the college in Evergreen didn’t do my course.
I also asked the question, didn’t he have a good friend in Munich who could be there for me if I needed help, even watch out for me?
I couldn’t understand why my dad had scoffed at this, but good old mum came to my rescue, declaring it a wonderful idea.
She then helped me convince my dad and the next thing I knew I was on a plane heading for Germany with my best dress secretly packed away ready and waiting for this night.
I knew it was naive to hope that he would fall madly in love with me on first sight, now getting that chance to see me as a grown young woman.
But I just knew that it must have been what was going to happen…surely? Because there was only one reason for all these years’ worth of dreams and that was simple…
He was my Chosen One.
He was to me what my dad was to my mum, I was sure of it.
And my mum always spoke fondly of him, encouraging me one day to meet him.
When I had hit my teens, I tried to do as much research on him as possible but could only find his history going back a few hundred years and nothing before.
I didn’t know his background story even though I had a feeling everyone else did around me.
I would ask my mum and she would just tell me, that it wasn’t her story to tell.
So yes, in essence all I knew was that he was King of the Vampires, so sired my mother at some point, but this was yet another story I didn’t know.
I also knew that he used to be my father’s righthand man until again, something happened that I didn’t know the story behind.
So, all in all, other than knowing him to be a pretty powerful being and the most handsome man I had ever seen, then I was in the dark when it came to what the man himself was like as a person.
Which I know didn’t exactly set the foundations for a loving relationship, considering the guy could just be…well, a dick.
But then once again, if this was the case and we weren’t meant to be together, then why all the dreams? Why did this obsession even start to flower?
So, didn’t it all mean that it was time to put this obsession to the test?
I took a deep breath and told myself it was time to be brave.
To cut the cords from my safe world that was Afterlife and step into what could be my future…
Into Transfusion.
After this thought process took root, I stepped into the line, waiting my turn and pulling nervously at my jacket, wondering if my dress was too short beneath it.
I had bought it because worn with jeans or leggings it just looked like an overly long strappy top.
But then lose the bottoms and add the thick black belt I had tied around my waist and presto! I had a sexy dress that showed enough leg that I think my father would have made it a record for the first supernatural to have popped a vein.
I matched it with a pair of strappy black heels which had ribbon that wrapped around my ankles and tied in a pretty bow at the side.
I had done my hair in a twist with curls cascading down around my face and worn my contacts lenses that I was still getting used to.
I had done my make up a little heavier than I ever had before, but I think it suited me, with the darker shades making my eyes look bigger.
The dark plum lipstick managing to give me a slight gothic edge which, considering it was a gothic nightclub, I thought was best.
After all, I didn’t want to stand out by looking preppy. Besides, I kind of had in my head that this was a look he would like or go for in a woman.
I saw that I was next in line to be admitted and my nerves started to double.
“Halt,”
the doorman said and placed his hand out to prevent me from going in.
“Wie alt sind Sie?”
he said, and I had to think back to my German lessons to try and piece together what he’d asked, something about age I think.
“Um, twenty, oh I mean… siebzehn, oh no wait that’s not right, I mean zwanzig?”
I said getting my numbers mixed up and first telling him that I was seventeen by mistake.
He raised an eyebrow in question and looked slightly amused by my mumbling.
I just hoped he didn’t think I was as young as seventeen as I knew that I had always looked younger than the age I actually was.
Well, at least over here you didn’t have to be twenty-one to have a drink like in the states.
“Englisch?”
he asked, and I nodded, thankful he was at least being nice to me.
“Passport?”
he asked me, and I frowned first wondering why he would need to see my passport when it suddenly occurred to me that he wanted to see proof of my age.
“Oh, I didn’t bring it, I am sorry…I didn’t know that…”
“Then no inside, lady,”
he said in broken English.
“But…but wait…”
I said the second he tried to get me to move along whilst the next couple took my place.
I decided I had no choice but to say the words that suddenly started spilling from my lips,
“I know the owner…Lucius, I know Lucius, he will let me in.”
This made him stop and the look he gave me was one of pure shock before then one of…was that pity?
“Are you sure…sure you wish this of yourself?”
he asked in a low tone, bending his head slightly to look in my eyes and I knew what it was…
A warning.
I swallowed hard and nodded, trying to lift my head a little.
Because I may not be able to account for the other mortals in the club but for me at least, then I knew he wouldn’t hurt me.
If only because of who my parents were.
Surely this would be enough…wouldn’t it? The guy sighed and nodded in acceptance but looking dejected all the same.
Then I listened as he spoke to someone on his radio before waiting a moment to see.
“Name lady?”
he asked as the people on the other end obviously wanted to know.
“Amelia, Amelia Draven,”
I said leaving out my middle name and for once using my first name, strangely one I never used.
I had always been Faith or Fae, to everyone, so why change now? Was it to sound more grown up? I held my breath as I waited, not sure whether I would find myself pleased or disappointed not to be let in.
Either way, nerves were all I felt the second he nodded and let me inside.
It even turned out that I didn’t have to pay as I stepped up to the booth the door man waved me off,
“Nein, keine Zahlung,”
he said to the lady who was collecting and stamping.
I gathered it meant that I could go on in, which I did.
There was a staircase straight ahead that obviously led up to the upper levels, but I thought it best to go into the main level first.
Although, if this was anything like Afterlife, then I knew where I would most likely find Lucius and that was in his own VIP at the very top.
But I decided to go inside the main room first and I couldn't help but gasp as I looked all around the massive space, including up at its tall ceilings.
The main room was a huge open space with a heavy industrial vibe that looked in parts very steampunk.
It looked as if it once could have been an old warehouse of sorts, that had been converted into a nightclub.
On the side of the building where I had been queueing was, on the inside, a long bar that ran nearly the full length of the large room, covered in elaborate twisted metal work.
The nightclub looked to be on many levels as the open space was framed by a series of metal staircases and wide balconies that framed the entire circumference of the room.
Each space was filled with so many bodies dancing to the heavy rock band that played on stage, it was hard to make each person out as a singular entity as they all seemed to merge into one.
The stage area was on the level above the ground floor I was stood on and it curved outwards over the room in a half moon shape, which was mirrored above.
It had great metal columns reaching the full length of the building from floor all the way to the roof either side of it as a main feature.
The dance floor was below it and fanned out, spreading outwards not far from the bar area where I was stood.
It was hard to see all of its details with the hundreds of bodies dancing and jumping around, moving as one with everyone singing in German, joining in with the band’s main singer.
But from what I could see, then I would say that it had a mixture of old-world elegance combined with a harsher industrial grunge.
The lighting seemed to play havoc on my eyes as strobe lights bounced all around the space, reflecting off the people below in streams of green and red beams.
The only lights not dancing around were the ones attached to the balcony railings that were like dulled red floodlights and above the bar were unique just like the ones outside.
They were wilted thorn covered roses that lined above the bar so that the bar staff could actually see what drinks they were mixing.
I walked further in, trying not to get crushed in the masses and made my way to the bar area first as I thought a drink was a good start.
I ignored any stares I received, putting my head down and once again asking myself if this had been a good idea? Maybe I could just get one drink, call it a baby step taken and then go home to try again another night.
I swear by the time I made it to the bar I had to place my hands down on the counter and close my eyes a second.
“You can do this,”
I whispered to myself.
“Are you sure about that, Princess?”
The second I heard his voice I whipped around expecting to find him stood there behind me.
I swear it had sounded as if it had been whispered directly into my ear.
I looked all around and saw no one and everyone at the same time.
But I was only looking for one person.
Did this mean he knew I was here? Could he see me right now…was he watching me?
Did the beast know when a willing victim had walked into his domain? Deep down I knew that he did.
But before I could follow through with my plan I needed a drink, so I got the barman’s attention and ordered a diet coke and rum.
Then I took a big long gulp and made the decision to see if I could get his attention another way.
So, I decided to be brave and after I swallowed down a hard lump of nerves, I slowly unzipped my jacket making sure that if he was looking that he could see…all of me.
My back was to the bar and what faced me were three rows of balconies, being the one at the very top that was mainly cast in the shadows.
It was also the one I was most interested in.
But wait, was that a figure I could see stood there at the centre looking down? Was it the king of the castle? I didn’t know but I continued anyway, peeling away my jacket and revealing my tight short dress, hoping it was as sexy as I hoped.
But the second my shoulders were bare and I was letting it slip from my hands, I jumped when I heard a bottle smash behind me.
I turned and nearly dropped my jacket when someone caught it for me.
“Sorgf?ltige Dame”
the guy said, telling me to be careful.
“Oh, thanks.”
I muttered to the stranger.
“Ah, you’re English,”
the guy said with a German accent.
I turned to look at him fully to see that he wasn’t a bad looking guy, but there was something in his face I didn’t trust.
As if he was acting.
“Yeah I…”
“You will tell him you are with someone, do it now!”
Lucius’ demand suddenly spoke in my mind and I wondered how it was he was doing it.
I looked up and all around the balcony, but the shadow had gone.
“You were saying?”
the guy asked with a grin that didn’t reach his eyes.
He had sharp features, with a thin nose and dark eyes that were slightly shadowed as though he never managed to get enough sleep.
“I’m sorry, I…I’m with someone,”
I told him, and the guy then made a show of looking around as if he didn’t believe me and I soon found out why.
“I don’t see anyone, and besides, I saw you come in alone,”
he challenged, making me frown and wonder if this guy knew how to get the hint when a girl wasn’t interested.
“I am waiting for him, he owns the place,”
I said, adding this last part and hoping he would take me more seriously…he didn’t.
No instead that asshole just started laughing making me frown.
“What’s so funny about that?”
I asked with a slice of attitude.
“No one sees the owner or if they do, then they don’t remember it…he is a Geist, a phantom, the how you say, Boogieman… one second you see him and then POOF, he is gone!”
the guy said, trying to be dramatic and scare me.
Ha! Well that was funny considering this guy had no clue why it was I wouldn’t ever scare easily.
“Yeah, alright then…look, thanks for catching my jacket and everything but if you could just give that back before he turns up then…hey, what are you…?”
I stopped mid-sentence when he stepped into me and placed his hand behind me at the bar, then he leaned in close and warned,
“Demons are real, little girl, so watch yourself in the dark, for they are waiting for you.”
I gasped the second he issued this warning and went back a step when he winked at me.
Then someone who looked like security, started making their way through the crowd shouting,
“Du da, komm her!”
Which I knew meant ‘you there, come here’.
The guy saw this and after granting me a last sadistic grin he left, ducking in and out of the crowd and getting lost.
I picked my jacket off the floor from where he had dropped it and then turned around to take a large gulp of my drink.
Could that have been any weirder? How did he know that demons were real? He was definitely human, that was for sure, but then how did he know unless of course he was just trying to scare me?
“Excuse me, miss can you please come with me?”
A man said approaching me, who definitely was security and one that wasn’t German for he had an American accent.
“I didn’t have anything to do with that man, he just approached me and…”
“Yes, we know,”
he answered in a stern voice looking off to his side and in the direction the man disappeared to.
“The boss wants to see you, come this way please,”
he said, and my heart did a sudden back flip.
Lucius wanted to see me?!
I quickly turned around, took my drink and downed it in one, knowing that I needed it.
Well, there was no going back now, I had come all this way to see him and after so long of planning it then this was the final step before hopefully my new life would begin.
Would he know about the dreams…? Was it possible that he had been having them too? I know that’s how it happened between my mum and dad.
All the things she described before they got together, well, I never said anything, but I just knew that it could only mean that Lucius was my fated one too.
For what other reason could there be?
The security guard gave me a head nod telling me without words to follow him.
I thought we were going to go back the way I had come in and up the staircase I had seen near the entrance.
But instead he started to lead me the opposite way to the furthest end of the room.
It took us a while to get through the crowd of people and when one guy bumped into me, I turned and swore I could see him looking back at me with crimson blood red eyes flashing the second the strobe light fell on him.
I frowned, wondering if that meant that his kind were allowed down on this level to mingle amongst the humans? And if so wasn’t that a bit of a risk? I shook it off, deciding now was not the time to focus on what was humanly right in his nightclub.
So, I followed the guy in front of me, but once again I swear I caught sight of another one in the corner looking directly at me.
It was starting to freak me out, so I quickened my step making sure not to be left too far behind.
The guy was just approaching a set of doors at the back that was guarded by two massive guys that looked to spend all their free time at the gym or making protein shakes.
The security guy that I had been following gave them each a nod and then swiped a card by a reader at the door.
Then he looked back to see if I was close.
I finally managed to squeeze past a tight group of people just as the doors opened and revealed it to be an elevator.
“Ready?”
the guy asked me when I finally made it inside and was now next to him.
I frowned in question and wanted to ask him, ‘ready for what?’ when instead he just closed the doors with another swipe of his card and we shot up the three floors to the top.
Then the doors opened and he answered my silent question…
“For this,”
he said nodding ahead as the doors opened into an entirely different room and definitely not any type of VIP I had ever seen before.
No, this was one of pure salacious behavior and debauchery.
It was sinful with a supernatural twist and I felt my cheeks getting hot the second my wide surprised eyes took in the room.
But most shocking of all wasn’t the utter erotic events that were occurring, no it what was centred in the very middle of them.
The King of his dark, twisted and carnal world…
Lucius.
My Chosen One.