Plaything

[Anastasia Noldavir]

Anastasia Noldavir huddled in the dark, damp basement with her knees drawn to her chest, her eyes wide and staring somewhat vacantly into the darkness. The fifteen year old shivered hard in the cold, wondering somewhat belatedly what she'd done to deserve this horrific nightmare her life had suddenly become.

Ana might as well have been the daughter of royalty. Her father, Alexander Noldavir, was a very skilled and almost ridiculously wealthy businessman. Her mother, Sophie Benjamin, was a world-famous singer and part-time actress who had retired from the limelight some ten years ago but was no less popular or loved by the masses. Anastasia, their only daughter, had literally grown up her whole life with a silver spoon in her mouth. She split her time between a massive Beverly Hills mansion in California and a huge castle-like home in St. Petersburg. It wasn't uncommon for she and her mother to jet-set down to the Bahamas for a week-end retreat, just to catch a tan and enjoy the surf. Her father gave her whatever her heart desired.

And now this.

She and her best friends, Heather and Vera, had been hanging out at an underage club in the city on a Saturday night, when the two older men approached them. Ana wasn't really sure what had happened. Inside she knew that going anywhere with the strangers was bad news, yet when they suggested it, it had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Unable to resit the compulsion, Ana, Heather and Vera had all followed them from the club like tame little sheep and piled into their car.

They hadn't broken free from the strange haze until it had been much, much too late. Ana had been forced to watch, frozen with shock and revulsion, as the two men suddenly sprouted wicked fangs and--just like some kind of twisted horror movie--commenced to attacking her friends. Yanking them forward and biting them in the front of their throats, practically tearing them open. Anastasia had just stood there, too terrified to run, too weak to help, while Heather and Vera screamed in vain, blood spurting everywhere. Until the two girls had slowly gone limp, and were then tossed aside like broken dolls.

The two men had turned to her then. Ana had been terrified, huddling against the wall, sure that one or both of them were going to kill her next. Yet what happened then was even more horrifying.

The larger one came forward and Ana shrinked in farther on herself, crying and shaking. He'd merely grinned at the sight of her terror, reaching out to pet her hair. Carelessly leaving streaks of blood in his wake. The other sneered.

"If you're gonna feed from the bitch, then do it already," his friend had snapped somewhat impatiently. "We got shit to do."

The other just shook his head, a rough growl purring out of his chest. "I dunno if I wanna kill this one, Luke. She's a pretty little thing."

Luke just rolled his eyes slightly. "You and your kid-fetish. "

Ana just stared at him, beyond horrified. When his hand suddenly went for her breasts she found some wellspring of defiance however, despite her precarious situation. The girl shoved his hand away roughly before spitting in his face. That just got her a painful slap that had her dazed, ears ringing, before he snatched her up by the neck and slammed her back against the wall again. Choking, Ana couldn't do more than flail a little in vain while he groped her through her clothes.

Ras just grinned down at her nastily. "I like that," he sneered in reference to her somewhat pathetic struggles. "I think I'm gonna keep you for a long time, precious," he'd chuckled then.

And then she was screaming as best she could through the crushing hold he still had around her throat as he bent and bit her viciously in the neck, his other free hand pushing it's way beneath her skirt. He didn't kill her like he did the others, though. Merely fed from her until she was so weak she barely had the strength to breathe, all-the-while fondling her crudely through her underwear.

And then they'd left her. Ana might have passed out then, she wasn't really sure. What might have been minutes or hours or even days later, Ras had come back and repeated the process again. And then again, after another indefinable amount of time later. So far he hadn't done anything more than touch her, but Anastasia knew that was going to change very soon. And even more terrifying and maddening, she knew she wouldn't have any way of stopping it.

She huddled in the corner of her prison, too out of her mind with fear and pain and horror to care about the dirt and blood that covered her, or the matted mess her long hair had become. Instead she did her best to ignore how easily she could now see her surroundings in the pitch-black room. How her teeth ached in her gums. And how her stomach was cramping painfully, even though she had utterly no desire to eat. At least not food.

Her mind recoiled violently at how pleasant the dried blood around her smelled.

Anastasia couldn't process the thought of having become like the monsters who were torturing her. She just couldn't handle it, and so did not. Instead the girl tensed in wary terror as the door to the basement suddenly unlocked, and the heavy shape of her tormentor appeared inside of it. A nasty, eager grin on his face.

"Hello, precious."

[Headmistress Briarthorn]

In a flash, Briarthorn, Talon, Rose, and Ethan with a suitcase were on the other side of both a continent and an ocean, in Southern California. They were outside an old, boarded up house in a very crummy neighborhood, and it was the dead of night.

"Talon." Briar said, turning to the vampire. "Your wayward kin are in there, tormenting a newly turned. This is your show but be gentle. She has had a horrible experience."

"Yeah yeah. I can be gentle. Just you wait until you see me with Gabby." The vampire said in an affronted tone before she walked up to the door and disappeared.

Inside, she saw a sight that sickened her. A full grown vampire descending with a predatory grin on a girl no older than the kids outside. Talon growled, her illusion fading and then some, her claws growing, and the blackness in her eyes almost spreading.

"Disgusting. You're a waste of blood." Talon spat, and the other vampires both jumped. The girl on the floor looked at her in fear, but the male looked at her in anger.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, barging in to my home?! What the fuck are you?" The male advanced on her.

"What the fuck am I? I am a beast so old I remember when they first started calling my homeland the Middle Kingdom. And I was a vampire then, too." Talon growled. "I've gone by many names. You can call me Talon. Hell, in a few seconds I'll bet you'll be trying to call me Mercy."

Maybe he would have said something angry back, but the waste of blood suddenly screamed, and the older vampire was holding his severed arm.

She tossed it aside like the trash it was. "Pathetic. Now I see why you go after little girls. Probably couldn't catch an adult."

Another trash vampire burst into the room. "What the fuck? What the fuck is going on here?"

"I'm cleanin' my house. Step one is to remove you two from the bloodpool." Talon turned to the fearful captive. "Might wanna close your eyes. This ain't gonna be pretty. But you might enjoy it anyway."

Talon was a blur then, and suddenly parts began to fly off of the two trash vampires, flesh and limbs and digits flying all over the place as the elder was a flurry of claw and fang. By the time the mist of blood cleared, they were a pily of twitching organs and bones, with conspicuously little blood between the two of them.

"Totus volvit ut Ornus." Talon chanted, and the scattered remains of the two trash vampires burned to ashes. She then walked over to the chained captive and studied her for a moment. "Hm. Just a day too late it looks like. Oh well. You're in good hands now." The elder vampire said as she snapped her fingers. All of the girl's restraints fell away.

"My name is Talon." She extended her hand. "I'm a vampire like you. Not like them." She added, turning to spit on their charred bones and ashes. Even that which the flame did not touch was now ash and dust as well. "My boss is a nice lady who can give you a place to go to learn what you are and how to control it. She's not one of us, but you can trust her."

Talon saw the mistrust in the girl's eyes and her mind. Clearly, being a vampire was a con to her rather than a plus.

"Look kid. I remember when every bloodsucker looked like a monster. But I ain't a bad guy. I just saved your ass here." Talon replied. "Now come with me. Briar can explain everything. And don't worry, she's not a vamp. But you are. And nothing right now can change that."

The girl very, very tentatively grabbed Talon's hand. The elder helped her up and then the two of them were outside the house. The girl immediately pulled away and backed up fearfully.

"It's alright. No one's going to hurt you. What's your name?" Briarthorn asked softly.

"A-Ana." The girl said fearfully.

Briarthorn held out a silver amulet with a ruby set into it. "Take this. Please. Just put it on and it will help keep you safe."

Ana took it and, extremely hesitantly, put on the amulet.

"No need to be afraid, cousin." Talon replied. "We're the good guys."

[Anastasia Noldavir]

We're the good guys.

A simple statement, but at the moment it was so very hard for her to believe it. Good guys called the police, after all, didn't they? They didn't turn into a blur of fangs and claws and rip the bad guys into tiny pieces before somehow, with a few whispered words, turn them into ash. Yet, Anastasia found a part of herself thinking that it had been a fitting end for the two monsters. Did that make her a monster as well?

Ana trembled faintly, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Her stomach was killing her, cramping painfully with hunger even though the thought of food made her feel nauseous. And her gums ached and throbbed, especially after smelling all of that blood that had just been flying everywhere. A tiny shudder of revulsion wracked her frame.

There were two teens her age, with the two older women. Both of whom were staring at her with matching expressions of pitying horror on their faces. One was an extremely pale featured girl, blue eyes wide with sympathy. The other a dark redheaded male with thick glasses and a sweater vest, who looked somehow torn between terror and protective anger. She wondered if either of them were monsters like herself.

The dark-haired creature that had rescued her let out a low, faintly frustrated growl. "You ain't a monster, kid. Those two sick bastards in that house, we could have a debate on. But being a vampire doesn't make you evil."

Ana's lip trembled, tears welling in her wide green eyes. "Can you not make me human again?" she questioned somewhat pitifully, her voice laced with a slight, melodic Russian accent. Though she wasn't quite aware of it, even now her canines had become very delicately fanged, revealed to the others as her lips moved to speak.

It was the other one who responded, tone somewhat softer with sympathy. "No, child. The time for that has come and gone, I'm afraid. There is no cure for vampirism, so long after having been turned." The tears slipped loose fully then, which seemed to annoy Talon, though at the moment Ana could care less. "Though if you choose to come with us, I can offer you a cure for that self-loathing you are now beginning to feel. A cure for the fear, the uncertainty and doubt. My name is Briarthorn, and at my academy I can teach you how to control what you have become. How to defend and protect yourself from the monsters you now know roam free in this world."

Ana gazed up at the older woman, something inside of her--beneath the anguish and the fear and the doubt--stirring. If she could learn to fight as well as Talon had, then no one would ever be able to make her a victim ever again. And she could save other people from suffering her fate. It didn't mean she was quite ready to easily accept the fact that she had become her worst nightmare . . . but it was a start.

"Very well," she agreed after a moment, only sounding about half-convinced and feeling less, but driven to do something other than stand here on the side of the street shivering. "We are going to see my parents first, yes? They must be worried sick about me."

At that Briarthorn nodded readily, and Ana relaxed just a little more. Then she grimaced, a hand rubbing slightly at her stomach as it seemed to give an especially strong cramp. She crept a little closer to the other teens as the two women turned to each other. She knew her stomach hurt because she was starving, but--knowing what it was that she was craving to eat--Anastasia wasn't about to draw attention to it. In no hurry to have to experience that side of her new existance.

[Headmistress Briarthorn]

"Well, we should go speak to your parents imm..." Briar stopped mid-word when she saw the look on Talon's face. Talon was studying Ana still, an almost concerned look on her face.

"She needs to eat. She hasn't had a drop since she was changed." The elder vampire said. Then she pulled back her sleeve and held her arm in front of Ana's face. "Go on, eat something."

Ana looked at her in horror. Briarthorn said, "There's no need for that. I have some pig's blood in my bag."

"We need her in good shape fast. Pig blood ain't gonna cut it, Briar." Talon replied. "And unless you want her to bite Wolfy or Little Miss Demon over there, you're gonna want her to take off her amulet for a sec before morning hits and take a few swigs from me."

Briarthorn glared at the vampire, but then sighed. "Alright. Alright. But hurry. It'll be morning soon." She glanced at the now purple horizon. "You should do as she says, Ana. You will be too weak to move soon if you don't drink."

Ana shook her head. "No. I won't."

"This ain't a question of will or won't, cousin." Talon replied. "You need blood now. And a pint of my blood'll be better for you than a gallon of that pig nastiness in Briar's bag. So unless you feel like guzzling a a couple hogs worth of blood, you're gonna sink your fangs into my arm and you're gonna do it now."

"Talon, that's..." Briarthorn began. The elder vampire turned and growled at her boss.

"Don't you even, Briar. If anyone knows vamps its me. If I need an obscure language decoded, an ancient magic used, or someone to fuck a married man, I'll call you, but don't you fuckin' dare second guess me in my territory."

Whether from hunger or fear of Talon, Ana removed her amulet and sank her fangs into the elder's arm. She drained the vital fluid for a few moments before Talon pried Ana from her arm. The young vampire already looked better.

In that next instant, they were in front of a mansion. Ana quickly replaced her amulet.

"Alright, Ana. Please, introduce us to your parents." Briarthorn said, obviously trying hard not to glare at Talon.

[Anastasia Noldavir]

Anastasia wobbled a little unsteadily on her feet, both from the suddenness of their arrival as well as the heady rush that was still pumping through her system from the blood she'd drunk from the elder Vampire. It almost burned like acid going down her throat, but in an indescribably good way. It had tasted better than anything she'd ever put in her mouth. At first horrified with the thought of feeding off of a person or swallowing blood, as soon as she'd gotten a taste she hadn't wanted to let go. Hence why Talon had been forced to literally pry her off.

Still shaken and somewhat embarrassed by her lack of control--even though none of the others seemed to be staring at her with anything other than sympathy--Ana fiddled nervously with her amulet as she led the way up to the gate. Already she felt worlds better, not at all sluggish or in pain. In fact, she suddenly felt completely refreshed, as if she hadn't spent the past three days and nights in a basement with no food or water to speak of.

As soon as she neared the gate house Alonzo--their security man--paled and then frantically reached for the phone. Then she was being ushered frantically inside, and after another few minutes Anastasia found herself swallowed up in hugs from either side by her mother and father. Both of whom looked a wreck, as if they'd not slept or eaten well in days themselves.

"Oh my God, oh my baby," Sophie kept mumbling over and over like a mantra, petting her hair and sobbing. "I thought I'd lost you."

Alexander sat back after a moment, his sharp green eyes taking in the dirt smudges and traces of blood on her skin, clothes and hair, and then turned to the others who had followed her inside. His expression was still friendly, though beginning to cloud with curious suspicion.

"Where on earth did you find her?" he demanded, his voice laced with a much more prominant Russian accent than Ana's own.

"Unfortunately we discovered Ana in a basement, after having been tortured for several days and fed upon," Briarthorn announced in a nononsense tone. Sophie let out a small wail of horror, hugging Ana again, while Alexander frowned.

"Fed upon?" he demanded, glancing back at his daughter. And growing more confused as she didn't seem to have a mark on her.

Anastasia tensed up, eyes wide. Dreading how her parents were going to react.

"Yes, fed upon. The two men who abducted her were vampires. And unfortunately they were of a mind to turn your daughter and keep her for their amusements. We were too late to prevent the change, either."

Sophie just stared at them, gaping somewhat, while her father frowned.

"Is this some kind of joke?" he demanded, his tone beginning to grow harder with annoyed anger.

"Daddy, please," Ana called then, drawing both of her parents' attention. She stepped away slightly, fingers curling nervously into the hem of her skirt. "It is not a joke. I know it sounds unbelievable. And awful," she conceeded, ignoring Talon's impatient eyeroll in the background. "But it is real. The men lured me and my friends out of the club somehow, and by the time I knew what was going on, it was too late. We were locked inside the basement." Her lip trembled a little, eyes welling as her voice throbbed with the remnants of the horror she'd witnessed. "They grew fangs and attacked Heather and Vera first. They killed them both. And then the one came over to me. H-he . . . he said he wanted to keep me," she forced out, scowling through the tears that spilled down her cheeks. "Said I would make him a good toy for him to pass the next few months with. He bit me. Over and over again. And now it's too late."

Ana curled her upper lip back, revealing the small--almost dainty--fangs that now rested inside her mouth. Alex and Sophie's eyes widened, expressions mirroring the shock and horror she had been afraid of. More tears slowly slid down her face. "I am sorry, Mama," she whispered somewhat brokenly.

"Oh c'mon," Talon snapped then impatiently. "Being a vampire isn't the end of the friggin world."

"Indeed it is not," Briarthorn cut in, casting a faintly annoyed glance at the other before stepping forward. "While it is a terrible tragedy, the attack your daughter suffered through, it is by no means the end of her life. Figuratively speaking, at least," she amended after a slight pause. "Technically speaking, she is in fact dead. Or at least will appear so to any human means of detection. But I digress. My name is Briarthorn, and I run an Academy for children such as your daughter, who are taught how to control their abilities and learn to defend themselves to the dangers around them. I would very much like to enroll Anastasia into the next semester of classes."

Briarthorn was interrupted at this point by Sophie letting out a short, loud scream. Ana stumbled back from her, eyes wide, as her mother seemed to be in the middle of a mental breakdown while her father was rambling about security. Briarthorn just sighed.

"Calm down, please. Mr. and Mrs. Noldavir? Calm down." Then she rolled her eyes slightly before saying, in a more firm--strangely hypnotic tone, "calm down."

Immediately both of her parents seemed to go glassy eyed, and went perfectly still. Ana gazed on in horror.

"What did you do to them?!" she cried. Briathorn just shook her head.

"Nothing damaging, my dear. But necessary, it seems. Why don't you go on up to your room and get yourself cleaned up, and pack some clothes. Your parents and I will finish hashing out the details."

Ana wanted to protest, but at the same time she knew she didn't have a choice. Her parents obviously weren't taking the news well, of what she had become. Briarthorn was probably going to have to do something to them, some sort of mind compulsion or something, to get them to agree to let her go. It sat unwell with her to hurt her parents in any way, yet what choice did she have? She couldn't stay here and go back to life the way it had been before. Not now that she knew what lurked in the shadows.

She needed to get stronger. She needed to learn how to protect herself. Only at Briarthorn Academy, was she likely to be able to do either. So Anastasia turned obediently and headed for the massive winding staircase, to go get a quick shower and gather her things. Doing her best not to dwell on all of the things she would now have to leave behind.