Autumn lives a lonely life after being used and discarded by the man she had hoped to marry. She works as an aid in an elderly care facility and is witness to too much death and pain. Autumn is no stranger to the harsh things that life can offer.
Micah is an ancient vampire, who lives with others of his kind. His life has left him disillusioned with the concept of love. Trained by a dominatrix to seek only the joys that masochism can supply, his heart has been shattered and tainted.
Can Autumn, an inexperienced, but kindhearted woman succeed in teaching Micah how to love again?
As her mind cleared, panic threatened again and she pushed it back. Allowing a bout of hysteria would be a useless, and would severely lower her chances of escape. Her neck was stiff, and she rubbed at it, the vague memory of sharp points breaching her flesh making her check her palm for blood. There was none, and she could feel no injury sight to verify the memory.
As Autumn continued to massage her neck, she shifted her head from side to side. It helped a little with the pain, but what she really needed was to stand up and walk around. Autumn shimmied back to straighten her spine as far as she could, and began to bend and unbend her knees. She changed her strategy and lay down, folding her knees up to her stomach. Autumn began to kick at the door with her feet, the cage shuttering from each blow. The door warped slightly under her attack, but the latch didn’t snap as she had hoped. Autumn sat back up.
Closing her eyes, she tried to calm herself as she always taught her patients to do, taking in deep breaths, and blowing them back out. She envisioned the white light of serenity flowing from her toes up to her head as she concentrated on releasing the tension from each individual muscle.
The sound of footfalls on the floor instantly caught her attention in the silent space, and Autumn opened her eyes. The sight before her was startling, three people who appeared to be in their late teens or early twenties were standing at the base of the cage. Their skin was stark, white fangs protruding from beneath their top lips. All three of them were drooling as they stared at her, their nostrils flared as if they were scenting her out.
The panic took over as Autumn crawled as far back into the cage as she could. She had indulged in her fair share of vampire books and movies, and that was exactly what she was looking at. The three people before her were the epitome of vampire kind.
Autumn had seen many unaccountable things in her lifetime, but to suddenly be faced with this reality was staggering. She had read once that vampirism was nothing more than a disease where people were appalled by strong smells, and their eyes became ultra-sensitive to light. Obviously, the report had been wrong.
The three drew closer, the male reaching through the opening in the top to try and grab some part of her body. Autumn curled away from him, shoving herself as far back as possible. The tallest man had the longest arms, and he pushed the other two back, reaching in towards her. His fingers skimmed her arm, and she put her arms to her sides, trying to flatten herself to the back grate.
He changed his strategy, going straight down, and grabbing her pant leg. She kicked at him, trying to dislodge his grasp, but it was a useless effort as he pulled her leg upward. Her entire body slid down, as he reached in with the other hand, and ripped the fabric from her skin. Autumn lost control of her emotions, and began to scream, her eyes squeezing tightly closed as she awaited the onslaught of pain.
Her leg was slammed against the top of the cage, and then it dropped, painfully crashing into the sidewall. Autumn scrambled back, folding her legs against her body as she opened her eyes. The taller man was gone, and the two others were skulking away from her with their shoulders hunched in defeat.
Standing before her was another man, his jet black eyes slowly lightening to blue as he gazed at her. His skin had the same coloration, but when he smiled, there were no fangs. “Sorry about that.”
Autumn shivered, staring at him in fear.
“Someone left the outer door open. It was probably Arone. He is overly curious, and can’t compete with the vampires. Are you hurt?”
His voice was husky, yet his tone was so kind that she relaxed slightly. “I don’t think so. Does it really matter? I’m obviously going to become vampire food.”
“My name is Micah Alist. Are you hungry?”
He hadn’t denied her accusation, which only further verified her theory. “Are you going to feed me to fatten me up, or just to keep me alive a little longer?”
Micah sighed. “I’m going to feed you because there is no reason for you to starve. Are you hungry?”
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