Chapter 28

Holly woke up with a headache. Her shoulders and wrists hurt, and it felt like her fingers were asleep. When she tried to move her arms to relieve some of the pressure from her shoulders, she realized that they wouldn't move. Her eyes flew open and she saw that her arms were shackled to a steel ring in the wall above her head. She looked around the room; she was sitting on a white tiled floor. The walls were white as well, and on the opposite side of the room there was a doctor's table like you would see at a gynecologist's, complete with stirrups. At the head of the table, there were more restraints in the wall, so that if someone were to be laid out on the table, their hands would be shacked above and behind their head. On the other side of the room, there was a small, dark wooded table with two chairs.

She swallowed, feeling fear ripple through her. She recalled going to Walmart and meeting that male who called himself Victor Marano. As she stood up, she felt her ribs and back begin to holler, and she remembered how he had thrown her to the ground when she tried to run. She hoped that the cell phone had stayed under the pallet of dog food where she had kicked it. That had been a gamble, but she figured there wasn't any way in hell that male was going to let her keep her cell phone. She hoped that the people at Thaddeus's house cared enough about her to try figure out where she had gone. She was certain Cy could hack into any system, including surveillance systems, and she just hoped that they had thought to look at all the Walmarts, not just the one by their house. She hoped that they would go find her phone and be able to trace the number that Victor had called from. It was a long shot, not to mention a lot of hope, she knew, but it was the only thing she could think of. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.

The door opened, and a medium-sized male walked in. He stood just under six feet and was thin. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. He was dressed in jeans, had on a pair of black Reeboks and a Yale sweatshirt. His looks were terribly unremarkable. He smiled at her, revealing his fangs.

"G'day, Holly," he said in thick Australian accent.

Holly didn't say anything.

"You're a silent one, aren't ya?" he said as he came closer to her. "Let's get this straight right now, love. I don't give a shit about conversating with you, okay? But our good friend Victor has hired me and another bloke to get you knocked up. You'll meet him later."

He smiled again, and ran his eyes over her body. "You're a little thing. I usually prefer my females with a little meat on their bones, but a job is a job, and I think I can get it up and do you."

Holly felt her knees start to shake, and she was afraid she would collapse to the floor again. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, willing herself to be strong. It was pretty simple; she would not be taken without a fight.

When she opened her eyes, the male was standing just a couple of feet in front of her, fishing through his pants for some keys.

"You're a lot cuter than that one next door I have to fuck," he said.

Holly felt her stomach roll. Unless they had somehow gotten to another female vampire, it had to be Myla he referred to. And that really made her mad. Myla was sweet and warm. She had always called Holly her little pit bull because Holly had a way of inserting herself between Myla and the rest of the world. Holly could take what the world dished out; Myla shrank from it. Holly had been her protector.

As he came toward her with the keys, Holly decided that one of two things was going to happen: she would get her and Myla out of there, or she would die trying. She watched as he unlocked her arms. She brought them down to her sides and willed them to stop tingling. As the male turned around, Holly launched herself at his back, wrapping her legs around his waist and grabbed his hair. She felt her fangs punch through her gums, and she pulled an Aiden and bit the male in the neck. He screamed, and began spinning around, clawing at his back to get her off. He finally slammed her into the wall, knocking her breath out of her lungs, but she held on. He did it again, and Holly couldn't take it. She let go and fell to the floor, blood running down her face. She was literally seeing stars.

"You bitch!" he exploded as he slapped her across the face. Holly felt her own blood mix with the taste of his.

She willed herself to stand up. Her head spun, and her face hurt, but she wasn't done yet. She steadied herself against the wall, measuring the male in front of her. He was feeling the tear in his neck, looking at how much blood he was losing. Holly noted it wasn't nearly enough to do any serious damage.

He stepped toward her again, raising his fist to hit her again. She brought up her foot and connected solidly with his groin.

As he doubled over, she ran for the door. She yanked on the knob, and it wouldn't budge. She felt her panic escalate when she heard the footsteps behind her on the tile. She turned to face him, sending her fist out into his face. His head snapped back, but he recovered quickly. With a hiss, he smacked her again, this time much harder, sending her to the floor. She brought her hand up to the side of her face and winced from the pain. As she lay on the floor, black Reeboks came into view. She watched as one came toward her, landing on her stomach.

She heaved and turned on her side, the air in her body gone. He lifted her to her feet by her hair, and Holly met his eyes. "I would love nothing more than to kill you right now," the male hissed at her.

"Do it then, asshole," Holly said through her gasps. The male's eyes widened in surprise, and then he smiled.

"No, love, not yet." He hauled back and his fist connected with her face again. She felt nausea rise from her gut.

"Peter!" the male yelled. "Get the needles. This little one needs some sedation!"

Sedation. If they sedated her, she didn't have a chance. She felt tears sting her eyes.

When the second male came in, they held her down on the ground. She got in another groin shot, a claw to his face, but then the needle pierced her skin. Almost immediately, she felt herself slipping into oblivion, and defeat rolled over her.