Charlotte's mansion

[Holly's POV]

The SUV pulls up to a mansion on the outskirts of the city. Holly is a little relieved to see a brightly lit home. Other than the boarded up windows, it all appears perfectly normal.

"Home, sweet home" Charlotte says as they exit the vehicle, leaving the now-dead human behind. Holly looks behind her at the drained pregnant woman, and bites her lip uncertainly. The one thing that Holly is certain of is that Charlotte does not appear to be trustworthy and that she and Theresa are at a severe disadvantage right now. As they walk to the large red front door, Holly chews over what Charlotte had said - scant as it was. We didn't receive...what did she call it? The "dark kiss"? Holly wonders. An accident...the gift without the blood... Holly thinks, with way more questions than answers. She does realize that she and Theresa are different somehow from Charlotte - she just isn't entirely sure how.

And who is Tabitha??

Entering the mansion, Holly's jaw drops at the opulence. The entry foyer must be three stories - marble and crystal everywhere. Ornate, expensive looking, but not gaudy. The central chandelier must be 15 feet across at least. Like the SUV, the mansion looks way bigger on the inside than the outside. As from outside - Holly sees no windows. Several wide marble stairways lead off to other floors. The mansion is quiet (at least this floor). There is something disturbing about its dimensions and décor, but not in a way that Holly can put her finger on. She looks up at the fresco on the ceiling - surprisingly it has blue sky, clouds, cherubs, angels, rays of sunlight. In her peripheral vision she thinks she sees the figures in the mural moving and taking on more demonic characters, but when she looks dead-on the movement appears to stop - just beaming angels smiling down on her. It leaves Holly a bit disoriented and dizzy. Charlotte chuckles.

"A bit tamer than you expected" she says, a smirk plastered on her smug face. "No coffins, candles, cobwebs? No wretched humans chained to the walls bitching and moaning? Most humans don't keep their pantry in their foyer, why should we be different?" Charlotte laughs.

Holly isn't sure what horror movie cliché she actually expected. The mansion is both visually dazzling and utterly discombobulating. She looks over to see Theresa is just as stunned as she is. The timing almost too coincidental, as just then a few dozen feet down the hall they see a tall, statuesque black vampiress leading a human captive, nude and chained, on a leash down a flight of stairs. The human looks at the newcomers balefully, her eyes pleading for help. The tall vampiress just yanks on the leash, making her stumble forward. The vampiress and her captive disappear out of view. Holly summons her courage.

"What do you want with us?" Holly demands, crossing her arms. "Why have you brought us here?"

Charlotte's expression turns to one mild perturbation, but she is good at keeping her cool.

"You two are amateurs" she snaps, "and I can't have you running around exposing us to the cattle. The humans are dumb, but not that dumb. You will be our guests until we are confident that you two know how to wield the dark gift wisely." Holly recoils. She said guest, but we are really prisoners... "Don't worry, you will be well looked after here. More women, more blood than you could ever imagine - on tap." Holly finds herself becoming slightly aroused at the mention of blood. She senses that she is slowly but inexorably changing. Theresa opens her mouth as if to object, but closes it. It seems Theresa also notices that they lack bargaining power here. They are not sure yet what Charlotte is capable of, but Charlotte did seem to find them without much effort.

"I have a job...with the mayor" Theresa says.

"We know" Charlotte replies. "Don't worry about it, your absences will be excused. It may even come in handy. Anyways" she says with a brush of her hand, "it is almost sunrise, and I look positively dead without my sleep. Let's show you ladies to your quarters."

The serious looking blonde vampiress, Lauren, escorts Holly down a long, twisting hallway on one of the upper floors, a firm hand on her shoulder. Holly doesn't like that she's been separated from Theresa, but doesn't think she can really argue the point. She is already so lost, even if she made a break for it she doesn't think she could find her way out. Every now and then she hears a scream, but they sound muffled and distant.

"I think you'll enjoy it here" Lauren says compassionately. "All the blood you could ever want. Lots of cows to play with - sex, ****, blood, whatever you want. You're free to be yourself here."

I still don't know who that is yet Holly thinks. Free ... to dance to Charlotte's tune.

They come to a wide oak door. Lauren pushes it open, revealing a richly decorated apartment. In the center is a large bed. On the bed are two naked human women. Both are blonde, with delicious curves. Holly notices their pierced nipples, and the tattoos across their chests reading "bed-****". Her mouth waters as she smells them. She can hear their heartbeats. They look back at Holly, desire in their eyes.

"They've been conditioned to serve obediently. At the least, they'll keep your bed warm as you sleep through the day. But they've been trained to have many skills. Feel free to fuck them, or eat them, whatever you wish. Their our gift" Lauren says as they walk into the apartment. Holly feels herself being drawn towards the bed, taking a few tentative steps forward. She doesn't even notice that Lauren has silently retreated to the door, her eyes are fixed to the warm cattle on display. She spins around just as Lauren is closing the door.

"If you do feed from them though" Lauren says sternly, "make sure that you kill them. Last thing we need is more of...you...running around."

With that, Lauren closes the door and Holly hears a very audible click. She turns back to the humans who are kneeling on the bed facing her, waiting for her next move. Holly considered herself straight before her ... change... but isn't so sure anymore.

Holly knows that there are a million things she should be doing right now, questions she should be asking. But as her fangs descend involuntarily, she can only think about the cows in front of her.