_______________

Hey, buddy. You awake?

Huh? What? I thought in surprise.

I'm not supposed to interrupt the story; but, you're unconscious and I don't feel too guilty about it.

Okay. I thought, slightly confused.

I'm sorry about what happened. I tried to tell you what to do. You should have listened to me and chose D. It was the only option that wouldn't end with you... ah... captured.

That's not what you were going to say. I thought and then remembered all of the vampires inside and finding Natalie was there. No, I couldn't burn her to death.

You didn't know she was in there when you made the choice.

You knew and didn't tell me! I thought as my head started to fill with anger.

Yeah, and that's why I said to burn it all down. It was the best choice and would have the best outcome.

What? How? I asked. Natalie was inside and...

She's inside a fire resistant room, because they were testing her to see if she was vulnerable to fire like they are. The vampires would have fled long before any flames would have reached them and it would have left Natalie there for you to find and rescue.

I sighed. Well, now what am I going to do? They caught me... and Nina... Nina, she just...

Your choices led you to this point and to be perfectly honest, you're screwed.

Great, just great. I thought in defeat.

Look, I can't really do much, since the scenario is playing out pretty much with the intention of killing you. Like I said, I'm not supposed to interfere with you and the story you want to play through...

But. I thought.

...there might be something I can tweak in your favor. You just have to tell me what you want.

Get me the hell out of here, save Natalie, and kill the bad guys. I immediately thought.

Jesus, buddy. I said tweak something, not rewrite the whole thing.

I sighed mentally and then thought about it. If all you can do is tweak something, then... then give me an advantage that they wouldn't expect. Something that can slightly change what they planned from being completely in their favor to be slightly in my favor instead.

Hmm. That's actually not too bad of an idea. Let me think about it.

Hey, I'm unconscious. It's not like I'm going anywhere.

Ha, funny. Just for that, I'll set the blackout for accelerated time and jump you ahead. No, that's not the tweak I mentioned. Oh, damn! I just thought of how to tweak it. Ha ha! You're gonna love this, buddy. I just know it.

_______________

I slowly opened my eyes and I was in a small room on a bed and no zombies were in the room. I felt the sharp pain on my neck where Nina had bitten me and I felt a little sick to my stomach. I assumed it was due to blood loss. Since I didn't know how long I was unconscious, it could be a lack of food, too. I tried to move and I discovered that I was tied up securely.

I looked down at myself and was glad that I was still dressed, which meant that no one had been having fun with me while I was out of it. At least, I hoped that was the case. It was sometimes hard to tell, especially if they cleaned up afterwards.

“Don't move.” Nina whispered and one of the shadows dissolved to reveal her. “If you keep pretending to be asleep, he won't send for you or make me bite you again.”

“Make you?” I whispered. “You seemed really eager to do it.”

Nina stepped towards the bed and climbed on top of me, I assumed to cover me from being seen. “Oh, David.” She said softly, her voice full of sadness. “Don't you realize that...” She stopped talking and reached down to feel that I had an erection. “...I've kept Natalie alive and I'll keep you alive, too.”

“By killing us.” I responded and she shook her head.

“You know vampires are crazed until they take that first deep drink.” Nina whispered and stopped touching me, then she laid down on top of me and pretended to have sex. “They are watching.”

I did not tell her that was obvious, considering there were two more shadows in the room.

“I did my best with Natalie, David. My very best.” Nina said, barely above a whisper as she moved. Surprisingly, her crotch was not rubbing me and only hovered slightly above it. “I kept her from leaving.”

That last word resonated with me and my mind fought to not yell out loud in surprise. I knew exactly what she meant. Natalie's soul hadn't left. She was still her and wasn't only a magically reanimated corpse. She wasn't 'dead' in the traditional sense, even though technically her body had died. Several different scenarios went through my head and I needed to decide what to do with that information.

_______________

Ha ha! I told you that you'd like my tweak!

Why couldn't you tell me this before? I asked.

Because if you knew, it would change the story. That's how this works. It all depends on what you know and what you choose. If you knew, then your other choices would have changed and you might not have gotten here to let me change things.

I sighed. Good God, you're playing with the people in my life like they mean nothing to you.

They don't, not really. My priority is giving you a satisfying story. Good or bad, it's still satisfying. That's what I do. But, I've taken a liking to you and I don't want you to get one of the generic endings, especially after some of the crap you've gone through.

All right. I have to accept that as the truth. I thought. So, now what?

You need to make a choice, obviously! Ha ha! Good luck, and I won't tell you what you need to do. You should know that already. If you don't, well... it was nice getting to watch this train wreck. Take all the time you need.

A) Beg her to help you escape. B) Overpower her and try to escape. C) Accept reality.

I read the options and then thought about all of the other options I had been given. Each and every one brought me here, to this moment, and I believed that everything that happened was my fault.

You're right, whoever you are. I do know what to do. I thought. I choose C.

_______________

I waited for Nina to finish her simulated sex, then I whispered into her ear. “Do it.”

Nina froze stiff and didn't move. “David, I... I love you. You can't mean...”

“If you really want to protect me and Natalie like you claim, then do it.” I said. “Please.”

Nina stared into my eyes and then gave me a gentle kiss. She moved her head down and buried her face into my neck, and bit me again. I blacked out and thought I would be unconscious for a long time, then suddenly the blackness faded. I felt that I was still bound up and looked around with my eyes, since my head seemed to be held still by a strap.

I saw that it was nighttime and we were in a cemetery. The old man stood above me and said several phrases in German as he wrote several things in blood on my forehead and on the gravestone.

Natalie's gravestone.

“Hey, that was my chicken.” I complained and the old man's cold hand slapped the side of my face. It dazed me for several moments, even with my better healing from the unfinished were-cat part of me.

“Quiet. I need to complete this.” The old man said and I felt his necromancy as it poured out of him and into me. My forehead glowed red and I blinked my eyes. I missed practically everything he said in German, since the words he used were not commonly used and not easily understood. I didn't try to fight the power or whatever he was doing. I took it all in and accepted it.

Nina stepped into view and leaned down. “David...”

“Hurry up.” I said and she looked surprised for a moment, then she sighed and buried her face into my neck.

“I didn't think you would be so eager to become a slave.” Nina whispered, then she bit me for the third time and I lost consciousness.

_______________

Congratulations! You are now dead! Good going, buddy!

Wh-what? I thought in surprise. Aren't I supposed to...

Hey, relax. You know that death isn't really the end in this story right now. Nina's got her ability going and she's going to shove you right back into your body in a few minutes.

A few minutes? I thought it took a day to stay buried in the dirt to count.

I'm accelerating your down time, remember? I don't want to sit here while you get magically transformed any more than you want to float in the dark and wait.

That's a good point. Thanks.

You're welcome. Oh, by the way, you're going to be full of blinding rage and your hunger is going to be off the scale. Just so you know.

Well, that's just wonderful. I thought sarcastically.

It can be if you use it right. Just bide your time, if you can. You might do more damage than you realize if you don't control yourself.

I thought about what Natalie was like and nodded my head mentally.

I'm glad you understand. Okay, here we go. This should be fun.

Hey! I just died! I thought in surprise.

Yeah, and how many people can say that and not be complete liars? You have to admit dying in Nina's arms was kind of fun. Come on, buddy. What a way to go!

We only simulated sex the second time she bit me. We didn't actually do it.

You're such a prude.

Hey! Stop laughing!

Sorry, buddy! Wakey-wakey!

_______________

I opened my eyes and met complete darkness. I didn't panic, though. My eyes adjusted after a few seconds and I could clearly see the top of a casket.

_______________

Here's another choice for you. I can't tell you the importance of it, though. My supervisor is breathing down my neck about giving you too many hints.

A) Stay and wait. B) Kill yourself. C) Bust out of there fast. D) Dig your own way out. E) Rage.

I'm taking your advice this time. I choose E!

_______________

I took in a quick breath through my nose and smelled Natalie. I was inside her casket! “NATALIE!” I yelled as loudly as I could. I felt my power, my now vampire enhanced power, burst forth and it filled me with strength. I could hear my heart beating in my chest and my muscles expanded, just as they did when I had been 'alive' and called power to myself.

I carefully moved my hands up to my neck. I poised them to strike the top lid, then jammed them forward. To my utter surprise, my hands went right through the thick wooden casket lid and up into the dirt above me. Once my hands touched the earth, my power spread out and I felt the graves around me. They were empty and I felt their loss as if part of me was gone. I ignored that feeling and let my anger override my survival instincts and started to dig.

The dirt flowed down easily and filled the space around me. I kicked off my shoes and pushed and pulled myself up and into the dirt as I pushed the dug out dirt down and into the casket to make room for myself. When I started to ascend to the surface, I was surprisingly quick, considering I was six feet down and had all that dirt to go through. I churned my arms and pushed with my feet to give myself the most purchase with little effort.

I didn't have to breathe now, so I didn't panic when my brain started to give me automatic lung spasms and cried out for oxygen. I fought the urge to open my mouth and take a breath, mainly because I never did like the taste of dirt, then my hands met open air. I grabbed onto the surface and pulled... which just pulled more dirt down on top of me.

Goddammit! I yelled in my head and kept 'swimming' up through the dirt and kicked with my feet until I could get enough of a handhold onto the surface to pull myself out the rest of the way. I plopped down onto the ground beside the freshly churned earth that I had just escaped from and wiped it off my face. I took a breath and let it out, then I remembered what I just did.

My anger flared and I stood up, quick as a flash, and turned towards the headstone. I kicked out with my foot and hit the center of it. There was an impact crater in the shape of my heel and the stone tilted back and fell to the ground. I wasn't happy with only that, though. My eyes turned red and I gripped the sides of the fallen headstone, lifted it up with barely a struggle and slammed it back down onto the large stone base it was on.

I did it again and again, until it broke into several pieces and the stone base was crumbling. I stared down at Natalie's shattered name on the broken headstone and felt much better. I was still angry; but, that tantrum had let me calm down some. It was unfortunate, because now there was nothing to hold back the hunger.

My stomach felt like it contracted into an eighth of its normal size and my throat dried up. I couldn't speak and when I tried to swallow, it felt like I was swallowing sand. I choked and coughed and dropped to my knees. My mind started to haze over and all I could think about was the burning in my throat. I knew what I needed and I had no idea where I was going to get it.

“You should have waited.” The man's voice said from off to the right. “We wouldn't have left you down there for long.”

I ignored him, because I had caught the smell of something wonderful. My mouth watered, even though I didn't have any saliva at the moment, and my stomach lurched and urged me to hurry up and feed it.

“B-b-blood.” I whispered and lifted my head.

Six vampires I had never met were around me and I hadn't felt them at all. My powers had receded because of my hunger and I couldn't maintain it. My eyes fell upon the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. She was being held between two of the vampires and when she tried to struggle and break free, they had to use both hands to restrain her.

“Mikki.” I croaked.

“NO!” Mikki yelled as tears came to her eyes. “No! That... you're not... oh, David!”

I stood up, a little wobbily, and I felt as weak as a kitten. I chuckled mentally at the comparison, because Natalie was my little kitten and she was anything but weak. I took a shaky step forward, then another.

Mikki's tears streamed down her face. “No.” She shook her head. “No.”

“He's a lot calmer than I thought he'd be.” One of the vampires holding Mikki said.

“Maybe he exhausted himself by digging out?” The other one holding her asked.

“The headstone is smashed.” One of the others said and then laughed. “He blew his initial rage on a piece of stone! What an idiot!”

I ignored the taunt and stumbled a little, then I took another step and it put me right in front of Mikki. She looked into my blood red eyes and I could see that she searched desperately to see if there was anything of me left inside.

I opened my mouth and started to smile.

Mikki's eyes widened as my fangs grew... and she recognized them. They matched her own. She nodded imperceptibly, so I quickly grabbed her and took her into a hug. I buried my face into her neck and almost growled. I didn't bite her, though. The two vampires holding her arms, laughed and let her go, because they thought I did.

“This should be good.” One of them said and crossed his arms to wait for me to drain my first victim.

I didn't disappoint him.

I quickly turned and tossed Mikki as hard as I could. She flew up into the air and well outside of the circle that the vampires had made to surround me, and all of their eyes followed her.

IDIOTS! I yelled in my mind, since I couldn't really speak, and I lunged for the vampire that had spoken. I sank my teeth into his exposed neck and sucked as hard as I could. As soon as the blood touched my tongue, slow and viscous as it was, my powers sprang back to full force and my urgent hunger faded. I didn't stop sucking, though.

None of the others noticed as they waited for Mikki to land. I sped up my blood absorption with power and commanded the dead thing in front of me to give me its power and its blood. I felt a massive amount of life force get pulled into my chest and my stomach filled with blood. I felt the vampire's blood oath, just like I had felt Jeanette's and Nina's that time, and I plucked it free... just before the vampire died his second death.

I quickly tore his heart out and crushed it in a second, then grabbed the other vampire that dared to touch Mikki. I commanded him to give me all of his power and reached inside him to touch that blood oath bond. I severed it and sucked in all of the vampire's life force. I removed his heart and crushed it, too. Barely two seconds had passed and Mikki was now on the ground. She had seen what I did and ran as fast as she could. She wasn't fleeing from me, though.

She was buying me time.

I pretended to help the other vampires chase her and as I reached each vampire, I did the same thing. I took their life force and ripped out their hearts. I was so quick that they couldn't react or even warn the others. The merry chase we were on ended at the far end of the cemetery and I killed the last one.

Mikki remained in a running stance when she stopped, fully prepared to actually flee from me. “David, is... is that really you?”

“You know vampires are crazed until they take that first deep drink.” I said, repeating Nina's words to me, and Mikki's tears started flowing again.

“Oh, David.” Mikki said and walked over to me, then she took me into a hug. “I'm so sorry.”

“Why?” I asked and she stiffened, then let me go.

“You... you died. Now you... you're just...”

“I'm just me.” I said. “Nina didn't let me leave.”

Mikki caught her breath at my words, for two reasons. She understood what I had meant. Nina had turned me and she also saved me.

“I'm going to kill her.” Mikki said.

“She saved Natalie, too.” I admitted.

“WHAT?!?” Mikki yelled.

“Come on. I'll show you.” I said and held a hand out to her. Mikki didn't hesitate for even a fraction of a second as she took my hand. We took off running at full speed towards the warehouse district.