The Renfield Syndrome (Bisexual horror)
- David is an ordinary man thrown into a nightmarish world of bloodlust and passion with his own humanity at stake. This is an ongoing work in progress of psychosexual horror.
Content Warning:
Bloody horror violence and gore
CHAPTER 13
Once again, Angelique had rendered him helpless with little more than a glance, and David felt impotent in the face of her power. He knew exactly what had just happened, this was a demonstration as much for the benefit of the chosen as it was discipline for Lori. Her message had been received loud and clear. In a very literal sense, don't even
think
about crossing Angelique.
"Who's the new girl?" Sandra asked him, unfazed by Angelique's display, then pressed on without waiting for an answer. "Homely thing, I wonder what Angelique sees in her? She always has her reasons, of course, but I admit I'm curious."
"Sandra, no need to be rude," said Fabian. "I'm sure she's a lovely girl." The tall, dark-haired man was on David's left, sitting just a bit closer than was entirely appropriate. With one manicured finger, he toyed with the fabric of David's plain t-shirt. "Angelique doesn't discriminate when she sees something special in someone. We come from all walks of life."
"Obviously." The woman cast a downward glance at David's plain clothes with a slight look of distaste on her surgically sculpted features. "Really, you could have tried to look a little nicer, you're as bad as that awful 'Roach'." She made air quotes with her fingers around the name. "Always looks like she just climbed out of a dumpster, you'd think she'd have more respect for Angelique if not the rest of us."
"Not that your clothes will matter once we get them off you," Fabian teased.
Before David could respond to this, the swinging doors leading to the kitchen burst open and a small flurry of waiters pushing rolling trays of food emerged. They quickly spread throughout the dining room, stopping at each table to serve the fanciest hors d'oeuvres David had ever seen. There were antipasto skewers of cured meats and cheeses, small Italian meat rolls called spiedini dredged in breadcrumbs, and sausage stuffed mushroom caps. As their table was served, David noted there wasn't a vegetarian option anywhere to be seen, the carnivorous appetites of the chosen being dutifully catered to by the kitchen staff.
Without hesitation, Sandra selected a prosciutto-wrapped fig and inhaled its fine aroma before popping it into her mouth and chewing with great relish. Fabian mirrored the action with a succulent meat roll. All about the room, the well-dressed people fell hungrily to the various appetizers, being none too restrained as they snatched at them. David realized that it had been hours since he had last eaten himself and he felt hollow again, the supernatural hunger uncoiling from within and rearing its ugly head once more. The toothsome smells of the offerings before him were tantalizing, each bite-size morsel obviously prepared with great care and skill.
David selected a steak bruschetta, the rare, red meat sliced thin on baguettes and topped with caramelized onions. It looked more than appetizing, but before he put it in his mouth, he remembered Lori's fierce admonishment.
Don't eat anything,
she had said. She'd been away from him for some time, God only knew what she had seen and heard. So as hungry as David was, he set the hors d'oeuvre back down and refrained.
"You're not eating?" Sandra asked him around her second mouthful. She had selected a meat skewer, dipped it in honey, and set about devouring it. "You can't be serious, Angelique's chefs are the best in the city, world class they are. She employs only the finest, aren't you
hungry
?" Before Sandra had even swallowed, she had already snatched up one of the stuffed mushrooms and popped it in her mouth in a sudden display of bad table manners. "It's a dinner party, you silly boy, what are you being so shy about? Here, open up!" Sandra picked up his discarded steak bruschetta and held it before his lips, offering to feed it to him.
"No really, I just..." David began, but the woman was insistent and shoved the hors d'oeuvre into his mouth as he opened to speak. It was indeed a delectable bite, the beef immaculately seasoned and so tender it nearly melted in David's mouth. The hunger within him roiled as David hesitated, then began to chew, savoring the flavor.
*****
Lori watched with horror as she stood in Angelique's shadow as the appetizers were served. The self-declared 'Mistress' had been flitting about with Lori in tow, seeing to her precious party, and of course had ventured into the kitchen to ensure everything was prepared. Several chefs were hard at work back there, and nothing at all seemed out of place in the bustling kitchen. That is, until one of the sous chefs turned away from his cutting board for a moment and Lori had caught a glimpse of the severed human hand sitting upon it, already half carved into thin, bloody slices to be piled onto baguettes.
Now she looked out at the room full of rich and cultured cannibals and saw David at his table near the front. Did he know what he was eating? Lori could scarcely imagine the David
she
knew willingly consuming human flesh, but everything she thought she knew about the world had recently been turned on its head. Lori had no idea how much a part of this crazy cult David was, but for all appearances he was well under Angelique's thumb. Lori had no intention of joining him, and filled her mind up with flowers again, lest she think too hard about getting the fuck out of here and alert Angelique to her plans, feeble as they were.
"Don't let me stop you from joining the others, dear," Angelique said, turning her eyes on Lori again. The effect was visible as Lori felt the raw force of the woman's gaze threaten to drive her to her knees.
Lori managed to stand her ground, keeping her eyes submissively downcast to avoid looking into those violet hues and said in a quiet voice, "Thank you Mistress, but I'm not..." And there Lori paused because she realized that to say she wasn't hungry was an untruth. There was a ravenous hunger inside her that was wholly unfamiliar. Her stomach, nay, her entire being felt yawningly empty as if she hadn't eaten for days. "I'm a vegetarian," Lori finished hopefully.
Angelique laughed at this, high and delighted, like a young girl. "Oh, my poor dear, not anymore. I am far more familiar than you with the hunger my gift has awakened in you. Come with me, child, let us join the festivities. It
is
a party, after all." She stepped forward to take hold of Lori's chin and turn her face up to meet her eyes. Lori went unwillingly, but had nowhere else to look, so she fearfully stared back and felt the woman's power hit her between the eyes like a physical blow. She tried to cast her eyes in any other direction, but she was rooted to the spot, held motionless by that penetrating gaze. The next thing Lori knew, she was meekly being led to a table near the front where several gaudily dressed people sat, alongside the uniformed cop from downstairs, Doyle.
The men and women stood immediately as Angelique approached, the remains of the appetizer course still on their fingers and faces. There were three women, much younger and dressed in a far more scandalous manner than the older, graying man they surrounded. A handsome young Latino wearing a tuxedo shirt and tie without a jacket also had the look of someone there mostly for his value as arm candy. Doyle was the outlier, dressed in his SPD uniform and bulky gun belt. As a group, they bowed respectfully to their hostess with looks of utter adoration on their faces.
"Mistress Angelique," the shortish graying man in an expensive suit greeted her, wiping some grease from his mouth. "You honor me by joining us. Fantastic party, as always."
"The party's just getting started, my dear Mayor," Angelique cooed, drawing close to him and gracing him with a kiss upon the lips to the man's rapturous glee. Her mouth opened and her grotesque tongue emerged, sliding into the older man's mouth. The rest of the table wore their jealousy on their faces as Angelique briefly teased him, and then she withdrew her tongue and pushed him away. The mayor looked like he was about to shoot in his shorts as he held one of the women's abandoned chairs for her. She smoothly lowered herself into it and motioned for Lori to sit beside her. "Allow me to introduce you, this is Lori. She is our newest. Isn't she delightful?" Angelique stroked Lori's hair affectionately, and Lori somehow managed not to cringe.
"Lori, it's a pleasure." The mayor leered at her, his eyes crawling up and down her curvy body in a brazenly libidinous fashion. "Welcome to the family, so glad you could make the party." On the other side of the mayor, Doyle was likewise staring at her tits and licking his lips as if in anticipation.