The Feeder Read online

  When I had first come to this area, I’d had nowhere to stay. Not knowing anyone, I had been at a total loss for what to do or where to go. Luckily – or unluckily depending upon how you looked at it – I’d stumbled upon Gideon, who’d offered me someplace safe to sleep. After he had taken control of the club and become the local Master vampire he’d moved me here.

  Locking the door behind me, I began my routine of checking all the windows, locking all the doors, and setting the alarm system. I had already locked up the club downstairs, but if anything, the security system in my small apartment was even more advanced. To some, it might seem crazy that a place like mine, inside an already secured and alarmed nightclub, had not just your standard alarm, but the best money could buy, but I had my reasons.

  As I made the rounds, I began to get the strangest feeling that somebody was watching me. The hairs on the back of my neck rose, a shiver that had nothing to do with the chill of the air running through me. I could literally feel eyes upon me.

  Panic began to set in as I ran through the rooms, double checking, triple checking all the locks and alarms. It had happened a lot lately; a sense that I was not alone. Grabbing the remote from the side of the bed I turned on the TV and flicked through the channels until I found the one I was looking for; the CCTV footage from the club. Checking each camera, I half expected to see figures leering in the background, waiting to strike, but saw nothing. Moving on to the next set of cameras, I checked the stairwell that led up to my place. Still nothing.

  After half an hour of going over the footage again and again, I finally relented, giving the place one last check over before stripping and climbing into bed. I left the screen on, the images flashing from one camera to another as I closed my eyes and let exhaustion pull me under, into the world of sleep.

  It’s all just in my imagination. No one is watching me. Are they?

  Vince

  Watching Eve’s small sleeping form, scenting her delicious aroma wafting through the air vent was the highlight of my night. As soon as the club closed its doors every night I would head straight upstairs to the storeroom next to her apartment and climb into the air duct. A few meters to the right and I was in perfect position. There were three vents in her apartment, one in the living room, one in the bathroom, and one in the bedroom, ideally located directly above her bed. I could watch her every move, and she would never even know. She may have sensed something – like tonight, with her constant checks of the doors and windows, and her panicked viewing of the camera system – but I had no reason to worry.

  She would never catch me. At least not until it was too late.

  Eve

  I hated doing inventory. Counting all the bottles and beers was one thing. Counting every single little red straw was another. I wasn’t even sure why I bothered doing it, to be honest, it wasn’t as if I didn’t know some of the staff were helping themselves.

  When I’d first moved here when Gideon had taken over the club, I’d been full of hope and excitement for the future, but after a few years of seeing the place slowly going down the pan, I was sick of it. Gideon didn’t seem to care what happened to the place, but for some strange reason, he never forgot inventory.

  As I set the last box of straws back in the cupboard behind the bar, I got that sense again, the feeling that eyes were upon me. There was one small difference, though; the sense of danger did not follow it. Following the feeling, I glanced over my shoulder to the opposite side of the balcony floor. Stood on the other side was Thayne, the new vampire Gideon had hired the night before.

  The assassin.

  What was he doing here? It was still daylight.

  “May I help you?” I asked as he moved in my direction, making his way round the room towards me. It was the first time I had gotten a really good look at him. Watching him the night before hadn’t given me much to look at, it had been too dark. But as he strolled towards me now, I had to fight seriously hard not to drool. He had the most amazing crystal blue eyes. His spiked hair was as dark as night, but the tips were the colour of blood. I had never seen anyone so… sexy.

  “I was just scouting the place out. Getting to know the place better,” he explained, smiling as he took a seat at the bar. “What are you doing?”

  I really should have kept quiet, ignored him, but against my better judgement, I found myself answering. “Inventory,” I sighed. “Though I don’t see the point. If the staff does not steal it, it'll be destroyed in the next big brawl.”

  “Well if I have anything to do with it, that big brawl will never happen.”

  From what I’d seen, he was excellent at what he did. Well, at stopping fights that is. I didn’t know how good an assassin he was, and well, I hoped never to find out.

  “Thank you. But I don’t think anything you could do will help keep this place going forever.” Thinking about the amount of stuff missing so far this inventory that dreaded day looked like it was looming closer and closer.

  What would happen when it did? What would become of me? I had nowhere else to go.

  He looked at me puzzled for a moment, his eyes squinting like he was trying to figure me out. “You’re not a familiar, are you?”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Well, you don’t act like one. When you first saw me heading over here, you didn’t plan, didn’t come up with a million different ways in which you could get me to change you. Familiars all have that same calculating look. You don’t have that. Also, most importantly, you actually care about this place.”

  I did. Before the club, my life had been nothing but pain and loneliness. Now I had something to love, to take care of.

  And I had freedom… kind of.

  Yes, I was made to feed Gideon every week to keep that small bout of freedom I had, but that was nothing compared to what I had gained from this place. It was my home.

  We talked for a while, about the club mostly, but occasionally he would ask something personal. I avoided all of those questions like the plague. I never let anyone close. The only person that really knew anything about me used me as his personal feedbag and didn’t give one shit about me.

  Inventory wasn't so bad with Thayne keeping me company. Time seemed to fly by. Heading back downstairs shortly before nightfall, this month’s inventory complete and the club thousands of pounds out of pocket, again, I shook my head at the sight that greeted me. The new cleaning crew had been in earlier and done what I had asked, cleaned up the damage from the fight, but still the terrible stench remained. “It doesn’t matter who I hire; they never can get rid of the smell.”

  “The carpet is so saturated with blood that you'll never remove it. It’s spread through to the floorboards below. If you think the smell is bad to you, just think what it is like to us vampires. That is the reason there are so many fights breaking out all the time. Why all the vampires are so on edge. The scent of blood is so strong in here that even the most controlled vampire would have a hard time keeping a lid on his temper. The hunger burns,” he growled. The low, almost animalist sound, sending a shiver running down my spine.

  “And does it,” I asked, swallowing hard, “make your hunger, control, worse?”

  Suddenly I didn’t feel quite so safe. Maybe it was best if I kept away from him. I startled when I felt his hand wrap around my wrist, his grip stopping me from moving forward, away from him.

  “No. You have no need to fear me, Eve. I would never hurt you.”

  And strangely I believed him, though why I wasn’t sure.

  As I stood there unable to speak, not knowing what to say, a small flirty smile pulled at his lips, his eyes sparkling with mischief as he gazed down into my eyes. “I am incapable of harming beautiful women.”

  A laugh burst past my lips at the terrible line, my fear and nervousness disappearing as if they were never there. “Bad, Thayne. That was so bad.”

  Smiling, we continued our way downstairs. As I moved down the last step, I felt it again, that sense of eyes upon me. Insta
ntly fear and panic began to rise within me once more.

  “You okay?” Thayne asked as if sensing the sudden change in me.

  No, I wasn’t. I was far from okay. But what could I say? I think someone is following me? Stalking me? No. I couldn’t tell him anything. He would think I was crazy. “Just a little chilly,” I lied, wrapping my arms around myself. “Well, I better head back upstairs and get ready for when Gideon arrives.”

  “Upstairs?”

  “Yeah. I live in the apartment above the club. It comes in handy when officials call around during the day when things have gotten out of hand at night.” Like last night, though thanks to Thayne’s intervention I hadn’t been woken by phone calls or pounding on the door.

  “Well, I guess I’ll see you later then, neighbour.”

  Neighbour?

  Seeing my look of confusion, he explained. “Gideon's allowing me to rest in the room just off the cellar until I find somewhere nearby in which to stay.”

  He was staying here? In the building?

  Okay, no need to panic. It was okay. I just had a blood sucking vampire sleeping a few floors below me, who could easily decide that I would make a great midday feast.

  “You sure you’re okay?”

  I'm fine,” I croaked. “Totally fine.”

  I would have to be. But there was one thing I knew for sure… I was sleeping with the curtains open from now on.

  Later that night, I sat in anticipation as the guys and Thayne waited for Vince to show his face. Thayne had called a meeting before opening in a hope of reorganising the group, but it seemed as if the final member of the team had decided he didn’t need to show up. I could literally feel the anger in the room building with every minute that went by. Vince was in so much trouble.

  “Is he always like this?” Thayne demanded.

  “I wish I could tell you otherwise, but unfortunately, yes,” Trent explained. “Vince does what he wants when he wants.”

  “And Gideon allows this?”

  “I don’t think he really cares.”

  And unfortunately, that was the brunt of it. Gideon didn’t care. Not about the club at least.

  In the end, Vince never showed, so we opened the club without him, and Thayne got straight to work with the others. He was fantastic. By the end of the night, I could tell that we have made the right decision hiring him. It would take longer than a day to get the guys up to scratch and working as the team Thayne visioned, but judging by the progress they’d made in just that one night, Thayne’s promise of no more big brawls happening looked more likely to be true.

  Vince

  I didn’t like him. In fact, I hated him. How dear he stroll in here and not only take over the place, giving orders left, right and central, thinking that he could tell me how to do my job but now he was taking Eve away from me too.

  I had watched them on the CCTV screen within Eve’s apartment. She’d been doing that thing again, whatever it was called when she counted things behind the bars. Then that bastard, Thayne, had turned up and within moments, they were laughing and chatting like old friends. She was never like that with me. Not that it mattered. She was mine. She just didn’t know it yet.

  I needed to up my game, prove to her that I were serious, that I would not give up. But what to do? There had been one idea running through my head for a while now, one that sent my dick hard at the thought of her face when she saw my present and the terror that would fill her eyes.

  Yes, maybe it was time to give her a gift, let her know of my intentions.

  Movement in the bottom right corner of screen caught my eye, the backdoor the staff used as an entrance swinging open and Dean’s little bit of flesh walking through all sweet and innocent like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.

  Perfect! She would be it. She would be my gift.

  Thayne

  I had been here for a week and still had not been able to scout the place out completely. Every time I set out to do so, Eve would appear in all her beauty. It was bad enough that she was a constant feature in my dreams now, never mind being everywhere I looked during my waking hours.

  What was it about her? Since that first meeting, she had mesmerised me. Her long auburn hair, sparkling blue eyes and lush kissable lips had me salivating so bad I swear I needed to carry a damn drip tray around with me. And that was before I’d gotten a whiff of her mouth-watering scent.

  Never in my life had a human smelt more appetising. I was surprised that I could concentrate enough when she was around to train to guys, as she was usually nearby helping Dean set up the bar ready for the night. Not that she ever really talked to me. If anything, I’d say she was trying to avoid me at all costs. Luckily enough the stench of old blood and stale beer that came from the club helped cover her scent, but it didn’t stop me remembering it and my throat burning every time I saw her.

  My initial feeling that I would like the three guys I was to train was true. Over the past week, I had struck up a real friendship with Trent, Reese and Chad. Trent and Chad were younger than me, having only been turned around two decades ago. Whereas Reese was a little older than me and just as powerful, but his short fuse and easily lost temper put him at a disadvantage.

  I’d hoped that once they were comfortable around me that I would be able to pump them for information, but there was one big problem… none of them had been working here before Gideon had taken over. They couldn’t tell me anything about the fight that had won Gideon the title of Master, a fight in which there seemed to be no witnesses, even though a Master challenge was supposed to be held before members of the region.

  The only guy I was not a fan of was Vince. After we had finally tracked him down my second day on the job, I knew straight away that we would have problems with him. He was stubborn, refused to be taught, and I wasn’t going to waste my time on him if he couldn’t be bothered to make an effort. I’d gone to Gideon’s office and informed him that Vince was not performing in his job and that he should be replaced, expecting Gideon to agree and find me a new vampire, but I had been wrong.

  “Then don’t train him. I'm sure he doesn’t need it,” Gideon said, never taking his eyes off the papers in his hand before ramming them in the already overflowing wastepaper basket.

  “No, he doesn’t, because he’s not right for the job. You need to find someone else.”

  Glaring at me with his amber eyes, he growled. “No, I don’t. Vince has been here since I took over. Hired him my first night in charge, and he is to remain here. If you don’t want to train him, then don’t. I'm sure he is perfectly capable of doing his job without your assistance.”

  He wasn’t, but I wasn’t going to waste my time on someone that was not interested in learning new skills and using them to be better at their job. I would need to ask him some questions, though. If Vince was around on Gideon’s first night as Master, he might have been there the night before when the battle had happened.

  “Have you seen Vince?” Reese asked as we stood watching the crowd on the floor below from the balcony.

  “No.” I actually hadn’t seen him since that second night. Just after I’d left Gideon’s office, the bastard had walked down the corridor looking incredibly smug. “Why?”

  “No reason, just haven’t seen the fucker around so far tonight.” That was nothing new, he never turned up until halfway through the night and then he disappeared well before everybody else when the club closed, apparently. The others regularly reported that he was here, but the guy seemed to be avoiding me.

  We continued our watch in silence, my eyes constantly scanning over the club looking for trouble. A few small fights broke out but so far nothing major that required all of us. Chad and Trent were doing a good enough job by themselves on the floor below, that Reese and I decided to take a quick break and find ourselves a snack. It had been a few days since I’d fed and the hunger was starting to burn my throat a little.

  Separating from Reese when he spotted one of his regular hook ups, I headed toward
s the bar and the small group of female familiars that seemed to want to catch my eye. Well caught it they had, but not for the reason they wanted.

  “Hey,” one sang as I took a seat, turning so that my back was to the bar. I may have been taking a break, but I still preferred to be able to see everything that was going on around me. It wasn’t safe for someone in my line of work to have their back to a room. There were a lot of people out there that I’d pissed off. You never knew when someone would try to take revenge.

  Running her hand down my arm, the dark haired familiar worked her way between my legs, pressing her breasts up against my chest in a hope to get a response. “You looking for some fun tonight?” she asked, her eyes glazed with lust and desperation. This one had been hanging around vampires hoping to get turned for a while, the marks on her neck from regular feeding were proof of that. “I can be very fun… if given the right motivation.”

  I bet she could, but I wasn’t interested in anything she had to offer. I would have to make sure the guys on the door knew not to let her in again after tonight. It was evident that she was kind of close to doing something stupid if she didn’t get somebody to turn her soon.

  Turning my gaze to the quietest of the group, a small redhead that seemed to have a hard time taking her eyes off Reese – who was across the room in a dark corner with his fangs and cock deep in his lover – I stepped down off the stool. At first, the desperate familiar wouldn’t move away, rubbing herself all over my body, but when her hand moved to grasp my dick I grabbed her wrist. She gasped in pain when I tightened my grip, using just a little bit of my strength - I could easily snap her wrist if I wanted to. When I was certain she'd taken the hint, I released her and moved away.

  The little redhead was so preoccupied watching Reese feed and fuck that she didn’t feel my presence until I pulled her back against my body, one arm around her waist, the other at her neck.