Bride Of Blood

Dracula stood over Jonathan with an expression of triumph. Mina's husband had been dashed to the floor, still breathing weakly but with blood trickling down from his temple. There were streaks of white in his hair that had not been there before, and Mina longed to rush to his side and cradle him in her arms. It was only the wicked vampire's gleam of amusement that kept her frozen in place.

"Beg me for his life."

Mina's mouth was utterly dry, and it took her a moment to be able to speak. It was a dangerous hesitation- in that moment when she was silent, he could have grown bored and sliced through Jonathan's throat with one of his nails sharp as claws. When she finally found her voice, it was soft and trembling.

"Please don't kill my husband." He didn't respond, so she swallowed her pride and added one more word. "...sir."

Dracula stroked a long, cold finger down the side of Mina's neck.

"Very good, my pet." He leaned in and whispered into her ear, making Mina shudder involuntarily. "You thought you could ply your wits against me. Many women have thought such things before. Even your poor friend Lucy thought she could run and tell everything to her doctors. Such a shame that you have all been wrong."

Mina wanted to scream, to scratch his eyes out, to strangle him for daring to boast about what he had done to Lucy. All she managed to do was try to jerk away violently from his grip, and he responded by seizing her hair and twisting it painfully.

"You are lucky," he growled. "You have a certain charm to you, despite your low birth. I could simply leave you here, cut open and bleeding on the ground, as a warning to your friends about what happens to those who oppose me. But I think I'd rather keep you. Shall we find out whether you are worth it? I expect my wives to meet my every last desire."

He twisted her hair again, causing Mina to let out a small cry of pain despite herself. Dracula threw her back onto her bed (the bed she shared with Jonathan, the place where they had learned how to please each other, the place that had always seemed so safe) and quickly pressed himself upon her. Mina looked up into his face- handsome or ugly, she couldn't decide, only that it looked like a cat toying with a mouse- and he gave her a horrible smile.

"Yes," he said. "Pretty peasant stock. If you had lived in Transylvania, I would have long ago seized you. I could have fucked you in the fields where you labored like a drudge, and perhaps tossed you a coin if I felt generous. You should thank me for taking you as a wife, making you a royal concubine instead of the common little bitch you are."

His cold hand reached down, throwing up the skirt of her nightgown, pulling down and slicing away her bloomers. Mina winced when he touched her, more from humiliation than discomfort.

"Does your love ever touch you this way?" he asked.

"Yes," Mina snarled.

"Clever boy. My wives would have had such fun with him."

Mina felt no pleasure from his cruel ministrations, or at least nothing she recognized as pleasure. Jonathan was always mindful of where she was most sensitive, but Dracula had no such care against hurting her. When his hands finally entered her and found her slick nonetheless, her heart sank. This could not be happening.

"Sweet girl," Dracula said with a condescending sneer on his face. "My sweet little whore. Your poor little friend Lucy didn't even know what I was doing to her. But oh, you know your way around your own body. Did Jonathan ever kneel before you and offer his mouth? I made him do it for me."

He was lying (or else, dear god, he was not lying, and her love had suffered more than he had dared to write about.) Such hatred as she had never felt before filled Mina to the brim. She would see him dead, she swore to herself, dead and dispersed into ashes scattered to the winds. Someday, somehow, when he was not pressing down upon her with Jonathan's life at the mercy of his whims.

When her attacker went to undo his own clothing, she tried to twist away. It only resulted in Dracula slapping her across the face- she had never been hit before, and the experience was shocking. She felt tears come to her eyes, and it grew worse when she felt his cold body against her bare thighs.

"Don't-" she started, not even knowing why she was bothering to plead. He paid no heed to it, and with a sudden thrust she had to fight back another scream as he violently entered her.

Mina's head swam with pain and humiliation and unwilling physical sensation. She writhed this way and that beneath him, hardly able to see anything through her tears. Simply taking her wasn't enough for him- Dracula had to further touch her, his hands on her breasts, pinching her roughly through her nightgown, and his lips brushed her neck where it met her shoulder. That frightened her more than anything, reminding her of the first signs of Lucy's torment. If he turned her, how would she ever escape him?

Her fears were realized when he bit down on her, not ceasing his attacks on the rest of her body. The bite was a stronger violation than anything he had done to her yet- the pain of his teeth was mingled with such an intense feeling of ecstasy that it was tempting to let herself get lost in it. She had felt pleasure before, but she had never thought she would feel it in response to violence. If he drained her dry, at least it would spare her any more shame.

Her body twitched as he sucked on her neck, pushing her mind into the realm of the unreal. Perhaps this was all a terrible nightmare, perhaps her mind was playing tricks on her. Had those terrible women in the castle done this to Jonathan? How could these monsters be so cruel as to torment their victims this way?

Spasms within her lower half tormented her further. She didn't want any of this, but she could hold off no longer. The wave of torture inside her built up to a crest, and she moaned with agony when her body finally shuddered to a climax. Dracula still pushed in and out of her, and at least that turned to pure pain. It was better than the horrible sensations he had inflicted upon her before.

When Dracula at last pulled away from her, she was faint from loss of blood and her nightgown was all askew. She could not see what mark he had left upon her neck, but she imagined it must look mangled and grotesque. When he undid the fastenings of his shirt, she hardly even had the energy to ask why.

And then he sliced a long, jagged cut down his bare chest, letting blood trickle down all over his bare flesh.

"Please," said Mina as she realized what he was about to do. "Haven't you hurt me enough? You cannot do this, please!"

Dracula's grin only grew wider. Once again he seized her by her hair, and he lifted her up against him. She tried to turn her head and press her lips closed, but when she finally needed to gasp for air, she at last tasted his salty, bitter blood on her tongue.

And that, at last, was when Mina lost all hope.