Chapter 6: The Morning After

When Lavinia woke, she found that she had not moved during the night. Usually a turbulent sleeper, she was surprised that her arms were still draped across Isaac. He appeared to have stayed on his back, eyes closed.

Experimentally, Lavinia took a deep breath. She could feel already that she was stronger now. The marks across her ached less and the fog around her thoughts had faded leaving a layer of disgust and apprehension.

This man, this monster, had brought half a dozen girls into a house of death. He openly confessed that he enjoyed the fear and discomfort that he caused. The girls in the room could attest to the fact that he used their dread for his own pleasure.

With every availability to switch to the manufactured plasma that his family produced, he still chose to select victims from the populace who had no recourse. The girls in the factory could not say no. Lavinia could still remember the heavy sound a body hitting the floor as Isaac dealt with the single girl who fought back.

Isaac Astor was a demon clothed in an opulent lie. He was gilded, his silvery exterior covering only rot. And here Lavinia lay, settled in his arms as if they were lovers. Through her revulsion and hatred, she could not block out how Isaac had made her feel in his moments of unguarded candor. When he felt unobserved, the softness in his face could almost be mistaken for kindness. And though the violence of feeding was not lost on her, Lavinia could not deny the thrill she got from it. The electricity of Isaac's hunger had infected her.

As Lavinia lay still, she could feel Isaac's soft breath on her neck, steady and rhythmic. There was a quiet desire, with his mouth so close, for him to bite down again, to drain her, to repeat the cycle. At this thought she recoiled, pulling away from Isaac and curling onto her side. Isaac's eyes snapped open.

"Where are you going?"

"I shouldn't be here," Lavinia started.

"I've asked you to be here."

"Let me go back to the room. With the others," Lavinia sat up, turning to face Isaac. He looked at her quizzically.

"Why do you want to be with the others? They are all temporary."

"And I'm not?"

Isaac hesitated. His previously melted expression quickly froze into a glare. "I suppose you are as well. I had hoped to keep you a while longer."

Scoffing, Lavinia started to retie her corset. "I will not be a toy."

Isaac watched her dress, eyeing the tenderness of her fingers as the boning tightened around the fresh puncture wounds. His eyes glimmered as she avoided looking up. "Indulge me for a moment."

"All I do is indulge you."

"Please," Isaac took Lavinia's hands in his. She tried to pull away but Isaac held her fast. His face twitched, something boiling behind his masked expression. With a concerted effort, he spoke again. "Tell me you don't feel anything."

"What?"

"When I touch you. When I feed on you. Tell me you felt nothing."

Lavinia stared at him, wide-eyed. She could not respond. She desperately wanted to tell him that no, she felt nothing. She wanted to push herself away from him and throw an insult in his face. To wipe the softness from his lips. But she couldn't.

"You feed recreationally. I'm sure a victim reacting positively isn't uncommon."

"Not especially, no," said Isaac. "Though any that have tried to tempt me were dealt with rather quickly. Affection has no place in my bedroom."

"Then why ask?"

Isaac didn't answer. A shadow fell over his eyes and he turned away. "You should be getting back to the room."

"Isaac-"

He strode to the door and opened it. Lavinia glared at him for a second and then stalked passed him, trying to move as fast as possible up the corridor. Isaac caught her wrist.

"Just walk. We are not alone in this house."

They approached the tapestry slowly. Isaac pulled it back with one hand without letting go of Lavinia.

"Who were you talking to last night?"

"What?" Isaac opened the door and followed Lavinia through.

"I heard you talking to someone last night."

"Must have been the guards."

"No," Lavinia said. "It was a girl's voice."

"Why," Isaac smirked. "Are you jealous?"

"Of course not."

"Sure."

"Well?" Lavinia asked.

"I was talking to my younger sister, Arabella."

"You sounded annoyed."

"Again, it was my sister. Annoyance is implied."

"No, it sounded like she was teasing you."

"I-" Isaac turned his head away, tilting his chin up so Lavinia could only assume that he was blushing.

"What was she teasing you about?"

"It's not exactly, well," Isaac started. "It is not exactly customary to let a meal spend the night."

"I see…"

"Let's get you back to that room, shall we?"

Isaac started descending the steps much faster, almost pulling Lavinia behind him. At the bottom, he opened the door and ushered her down the hall, all but throwing open the door to discard Lavinia inside. The girls crowded around the threshold, Rosie catching Lavinia as she fell. It slammed behind her and Isaac's footsteps disappeared up the corridor.

Rosie flung her arms around Lavinia. "We assumed you were dead. I thought- we thought he killed you."

"I'm all right, Rosie."

Helen and the other woman eyed Lavinia suspiciously. Their eyes moved between the marks on her throat and the color in his skin. Helen spoke first.

"You spent the night in his room?"

Lavinia nodded. "I could barely stand after he fed on me."

A murmur went through the small crowd. "Lavinia," said Helen. "Girls don't come back. If you aren't brought back after a night, you do not come back at all."

The curly-haired girl rolled her eyes. "I'm sure all he did was feed."

"Excuse me?" protested Lavinia.

"You seem awfully spry compared to Annette," she gestured to the girl who had been previously taken. "When she came back she was drained. And she didn't have quite so many marks." She reached forward to touch the bruises littered across Lavinia's collarbone.

Lavinia stared at her, stunned. She slapped her hand away. "He's a monster but he wouldn't stoop so low. If he has needs I'm sure he has his pick."

"Stooping low isn't the question. I'm asking what you let him have. What you offered him."

"I'm not discussing this. Nothing of the sort happened." Lavinia stalked back to her bed, wrapping the thin sheets around herself, trying to drown out the catty and suspicious whispers around her. Putting her fingers to her throat she could feel the punctures Isaac had left, and she found herself wishing she were back with him in the quiet warmth of his bedroom.