THIRST

Chapter Twenty-Four: Defending the Manor (Bane)

2 hours earlier...

"Thanks for a great evening," I said. "I had fun."

Setekh stepped closer. "You're not just saying that because I, you know..."

I quickly placed a finger to his lips. "Easy big boy. I meant to say thank you for taking me out tonight. It's been a long time since I had so much fun."

He chuckled, brushing his hand across my cheek. "What can I say? I aim to please."

I laughed. "No arguments here. Well, goodnight, Setekh."

He leaned in closer, our lips inches apart. "Goodnight, little one. I'll call you in the morning."

I moaned into the kiss as he took me in his arms. Running my fingers through his hair, I breathed in deeply through my nose as he gained control and went for the soft spot on my neck. His teeth grazed along my skin, causing me to gasp softly as I heard him growl in response. When the kiss was over, he set me down, my lips tingling. Lust burned in his eyes as he took a step back before saying goodnight again and turned to walk away.

With my hand on the doorknob, I waved at him from behind the threshold as I shut and locked the door. The fire still burned in the living room as it crackled and popped, shooting sparks up into the chimney. But before I could take a shower, I headed into the security room and armed the system. If anyone got close to the main gate or stepped foot inside the grounds, a silent alarm would sound, informing the police of an intruder.

Upstairs in the bathroom, billowing clouds of steam swirled in the air as the hot water cascaded down my body like a gentle stream. Reaching for a bottle of soap I lathered up a sponge and washed from head to toe, smelling like Irish spring. As the last of the suds circled down the drain, I emerged from the warm confines of my shower wrapped in a towel as I went to my closet and slipped into a pair of pajama pants and an oversized navy blue shirt.

Back down in the living room, I found my parents collection of old vinyl records. Classical music was the entertainment choice for tonight's evening and finally after a few minutes of selecting through an endless supply of names. I came to the decision that it would be Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata that would help me relax. Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the stain glass window at the top of the stairs while music played through a set of speakers.

Bungee jumping or 'dancing' as I like to call it, allowed me the chance to clear my head. I cracked my neck and rolled my shoulders as I inhaled slowly and exhaled before closing my eyes and jumping off the railing. The tension in the cords allowed me to fly through the air as I floated to the floor and hovered for a moment before being lifted back up. I did multiple flips and tricks while the thoughts in my head ceased and all that was left was the music.

Ah! What a perfect activity for a Friday night.

On my next descent, with my arms spread out wide, I heard a rapid beeping coming from the wall security monitor. SECURITY ALERT! INTRUDERS DETECTED! The screen then shifted to four different security camera's viewing the grounds, the surrounding forest, the backyard and even the roof! Instantly, I was back flying around in the air again as I heard the stain glass window above me shatter as I quickly covered my head and saw three figures dressed all in black fall to the floor with ease and grace.

I, myself, barely had enough time to react before I too went back down and came face to face with a female vampire. We became eye level for only a moment as her brown eyes turned a fierce blue and she flashed me her fangs. Holy shit! Lashing out with my right foot, I swung back as I kicked the underside of her jaw, causing her to scream and fly backwards. Even her two companions joined in the fight to try and take me down as they hissed like a pair of snakes and moved around in a blur.