Marie awoke the next morning to a tinkling sound. The fog was slow to lift since she was used to taking her sweet time waking up. So it took a while for it to register that someone was stirring something somewhere in her apartment. She sat up quickly and stared out her bedroom door and into the kitchen. The intruder was blonde, when she turned and smiled Marie recognized her. She was the blonde that had been with Eva the night before.
"Finally, I didn't think you'd ever wake up."
Marie sat up to go see who was talking, but noticed that she was naked and pulled the covers over her bare body quickly deciding to stay in bed.
The blonde rolled her eyes and stopped stirring. "I'll turn around so you can get dressed."
Marie waited until she could see the back of her head and scurried out of bed, pulling a set of tattered flannel pajamas from her drawer and pulling the on. When she finished, she made her way into the kitchen.
"How did you get in here?" she croaked.
"Your key," the blonde answered as she shoved what appeared to be a cup of tea at Marie.
"How did you..."
The blonde rolled her eyes again and sighed. "Don't you remember anything about last night? Eva and Donovan musta worked you over good." Her Jersey accent was heavy. She wore low cut distressed jeans and a spaghetti-strapped black tee. She was model pretty and equally thin. Marie noticed how her honey-colored hair was long, almost touching her ass, and straight at the moment. She thought the curls from the night before looked better.
Marie flinched at the names and touched her neck where they had drunk from her hours earlier. "I remember," she muttered staring into the gold liquid in her cup. "Are you a vampire too?"
The blonde laughed sharply. "No, its noon and the windows are open. I wouldn't be here right now if I was a vampire."
"Oh," Marie said feeling like an idiot. "So who are you?"
"Amanda. Donovan sent me over to make sure you were alright and help you get ready."
Marie's hand shook at the thought of Donovan. He was the just type of man that could give a woman the shakes. He was six foot four, with black hair that hung past his shoulders, coal black eyes that didn't so much as see you as look right through you. Then, there was his body, broad shoulders, amazing chest, six pack abs, long muscular legs, and a nice, big dick. She could still feel his hands, his tongue, and his dick. Some of the tea sloshed out of her cup and burned her hand a little.
"Get ready for what?"
"You're visiting the mansion tonight. You have to look your best." Amanda smiled, flashing her perfectly straight teeth and cocked her head to the side.
"The...the mansion?" Eva put the cup on the counter before she spilled again. Her hands were yet to stop shaking.
"It's Donovan's house, but almost all of us live there."
"Look, Amanda, I don't mean to be rude, but I don't want to go to the mansion. I don't think I could face Donovan ever again. I'm fine...you've done your job, now you can leave."
Amanda's blue eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open in surprise. "You don't want to go?"
"No," Marie said hugging herself tightly. "I don't want to go."
Amanda's shocked expression turned into a smirk. "You got some nerve. Do you have any idea how long I've been a familiar? I've been feeding Donovan and biding my time until he decides to finally turn me so I can stop running daytime errands. He's ready to turn you tonight, but you don't wanna to go?"
"That's right," Marie said, raising her voice, "I don't want to go and I don't want to be turned into a vampire!"
Amanda scoffed and walked out of the kitchen. "That's just great. Just fucking great."
Marie followed her and watched as she grabbed a pale pink sweater from the couch and pulled it on. Amanda looked more than a little annoyed.
"Donovan's gonna to be pissed. He's gonna to be pissed at me, but he'll be back for you. Trust me, he doesn't take no for an answer."
Marie's mouth went dry at the thought of Donovan back in her apartment. Probably, alone with no female buffer between them, he might not stop at sex this time. He may not stop with a couple quick healing drink holes in her throat. He was a vampire; he could tear her apart and drink her dry if he felt like it and why wouldn't he if he was going to be as upset as Amanda claimed?
"Wait," Marie gasped when Amanda had her hand on the doorknob to leave. "I'll go."
Amanda slowly turned around to face Marie. She eyed her up and down and wondered just what it was that Donovan wanted about her. She was more plain that pretty. Marie had long, dark hair and eyes almost as dark as Donovan's. Her eyes were open wide, so they were almost round, but that was just from fear. Her nose was long and just a little pointy with thin nostrils, and her mouth was a bit too large. The worst part was that she wasn't even thin, she wasn't fat, but she wasn't thin either. Amanda had been shocked when Eva showed her who it was Donovan wanted the night before. A frumpy, dark, overweight girl alone in a bar, but there was no questioning Donovan.
He'd woken her roughly when he'd returned home that morning around four.
"Go to her," he said tossing a set of keys onto Amanda's bed. "I want her here tonight." He'd walked straight out of her room slamming the door as he left.
Amanda was used to his cold manner. Donovan was like the oldest grumpiest man in the universe. He'd been around for centuries and didn't waste time with pleasantries or idle chatter. He was direct and to the point. There was no questioning him...ever. If he felt an inkling of resistance he could easily force his will, but those occurrences were few and far between. Everyone worked for Donovan, from the local vampire sects to most of the European ones. There were even hundreds of humans he had under his thumb that had no idea what he really was.
As much as Amanda had wanted to question his choice in Marie, it was not her place. She loved Donovan and would do anything for him, even help him find another woman to suck and fuck. If history was any indication, he'd tire of her soon and send her away, whether he turned her or not. Donovan's love interests were fleeting, but Amanda was permanent. She was always there and always willing to do anything he demanded. She was counting on him realizing that soon enough and turning her so she could be his queen forever.
She dragged herself out of the bed and sighed as she palmed Marie's house key. This woman would be gone in a matter of months, and then things could get back on track.
***
Marie pulled on the black satin gloves that Amanda had purchased. The two had spent the whole day working on Marie's looks. She got a mani/pedi, a haircut and style, and a deep tissue massage which hurt like hell, but Amanda said was necessary to improve her circulation. Marie didn't want to think about why her improved circulation was necessary.
Amanda smiled from where she sat on Marie's bed. "Looks great."
Marie looked at herself in the mirror over her dresser and couldn't help smiling. She did look great. She had picked out a simple black evening gown, strapless so the satin bodice clung to her full breasts and the full skirt blossomed out below the waist, hugging her generous hips. The skirts moved easily swaying gently with every move she made. She felt like Audrey Hepburn in the elbow-length black gloves. Her dark hair hung down her back, long, heavy, and slightly blown out from her visit to the salon that afternoon. She wore no jewelry because Amanda had said everything she owned was either cheap or tacky and there was no way she would go jewelry shopping for another woman.
Amanda looked at the tiny gold watch on her slim wrist and sighed. "It's almost seven. The car should be downstairs by now."
Marie nodded slowly, but a huge lump rose in her throat. The car waiting downstairs was to take them to Donovan's house on The Hill. From what Amanda had told her, it was a massive mansion and it would be filled with vampires. There was a party tonight, for no special reason, just because Donovan had insisted on an event that evening. Marie was nervous about seeing Donovan again, but she was even more nervous about being in a mansion full of blood suckers. She felt like a lamb being led to slaughter.
"Are you comin', or what?" Amanda said impatiently from the doorway.
Marie frowned at her, but nodded. Amanda was rushing her out of the house, being the perfect little shepherd. That's what she was...a bleached blonde executioner with a Jersey accent.
"Let's go then," Amanda said turning sharply and walking towards the door. Marie grabbed her purse and followed like a good sheep.
***
Donovan's home was amazing. It was even more than she had imagined. Marie had assumed it would be large, but she'd thought it would be more Disney's Haunted Mansion, less Tara from Gone with the Wind. The red brick house was two stories with giant picture windows and bold white columns across the front. The porch was painted white and the front doors were stained glass, works of art themselves.
Amanda led her quickly inside and gave her one last look as they stood in the foyer. Her blue eyes traveled up and down, appreciating her own handiwork. "I gotta go upstairs and get dressed myself so you just go ahead into the den. Donovan will find you." She turned to go toward the staircase, but stopped to give one last instruction. "Don't talk to anyone unless they say something to you first."
