Even Monsters Get Lonely

André was quiet as he took Shannon to work. Pulling up in front of the café, he stopped and turned the engine off.

“I’ve got a few things to do, but I’ll be back before your shift is over,” he said.

Shannon paused, her hand on the door handle of the car. “Are you mad at me for talking to Tamara?”

He turned and looked at her. “Non, I’m not mad chérie, and even if I was it wouldn’t be with you. You had questions you wanted to be answered and I can’t blame you for that. I’m just... confused because I feel as if my whole existence has been a lie, and I don’t know how to deal with it. I never dealt well with becoming a vampire and now I could be...?” He huffed.

Shannon waited not wanting to rush him as he looked deep in thought.

He leaned his head back then against the headrest and gave a sigh as he closed his eyes. He then said, “Doc told me that my vampire and I are one. Of course, I argued with her, and eventually, she gave up. I knew we weren’t, and I didn’t understand why I was so different. Why couldn’t she have at least told me there was a possibility, a possibly valid reason why I’m this way? Even if it was a slim to none possibility, why couldn’t she see I needed to know about it? Why make me feel like there was something wrong with my psyche?”

Shannon leaned over the console and took his hand. “Oh Baby, there isn’t anything wrong with you. Maybe in her own mind, she didn’t want to admit that the Original eight were real and that you could be a descendant.”

“I suppose. But if she had told me these things, I could have been doing research or something. I already feel like a monster, but if I had known all of this, at least I could have proved to myself that I wasn’t a psychotic one!” He hissed.

“Hey! Don’t talk like that! You aren’t a monster, and you aren’t psychotic. You are a sweet man, and even Vampire can be sweet when he wants to be,” she defended.

He turned his head to look at her as he asked, “Do you really feel that way?”

“Yes. Now, I must go to work but... don’t stress to bad, and call Tamara. Talk to her Baby, she’s been your friend for a long time, so let her explain okay.”

“Okay,” he agreed.

“Alright, I’ll see you in a bit then,” she said. Giving him a kiss, she got out of the car and walked into the café.

After walking into the café, Shannon went straight to her locker and put on her apron before clocking in.

“Hey Val, is business slow tonight?” Shannon asked when she found Val up front.

Val turned to look at Shannon as she answered. “Yeah, so far but a couple of cars just pulled in, so who knows. Are you feeling any better?”

“Much better thank you,” Shannon told her.

“That man of yours taking good care of ya huh? Maybe he’s taking care of you a little TOO good, and that’s the problem,” Val said with a snicker.

“Huh?”

Val rubbed her belly.

Shannon frowned, then she blushed as she caught on to Val’s meaning.

“Oh no, I really don’t think that’s...” Shannon started. Then she stopped and began to think about it. What if I am? Tamara said he actually could get me pregnant, and it’s not like we’ve been doing anything to prevent it from happening since we didn’t think it was a possibility. I know that wasn’t what the issue was yesterday, since I wasn’t sick, but… OH BOY!

Val laughed as she said, “I’m teasing you girl, now get to work!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Val was right, and the night slowly picked up. About an hour before her shift was over though, she began to get that creepy feeling of being watched again. It made her nervous to the point she kept dropping things.

“Girl, if you’re just going to drop things, call that man of yours and have him come to get you,” Val grumbled as Shannon dropped a coffee cup, for the third time.

“I-I’m sorry Val. I just have this creepy feeling,” Shannon whispered, rubbing at the chill bumps on her arms.

Val silently watched her for a moment then nodded and said, “Rachael told me you had a feeling of being watched the other night. Is it the same feeling?”

“Yeah, it is. I’ll just go text André to come to and get me,” Shannon said. Then she headed for the back room. She then sent Andre a quick text, which he answered immediately, saying he would be back to get her soon.

Reaching the front counter, she lay her phone down on it, so she could put her jacket on. Her head came up when the door opened, and she froze before whispering, “Dad?”

Her dad smirked, quickly grabbing hold of Shannon’s arm.

“Time to go, you’ve caused me enough trouble,” Dad informed her.

“No, Dad let me go! I like it here! Please just let go!” Shannon cried out as she tried to pry his hand from her arm.

“I don’t care what you like or don’t like! You are my daughter; therefore, you belong to me. Besides that, I have someone who wants to meet you.”

“No, Dad stop! I have a husband now, let me go!” Shannon turned toward Val who was watching. She knew he wasn’t going to let her go and seeing her phone still on the counter she yelled as he began dragging her toward the door, “Val, call André!”

Dad quickly yanked her down the sidewalk.

She tried to fight him, but he was to strong, so she begged, “Don’t do this dad, please! It won’t turn out well when André finds you.”

Dad made a rude sound, saying, “This André doesn’t’ scare me, Shannon. If he shows up, he’ll be taken care of, don’t you worry.”

Eventually, he pulled her down into an alleyway before stopping. Turning to face her then, he backhanded her.

She felt her lip split.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t find you? You always were a stupid girl,” Dad raged at her, spittle spewing from his mouth onto her face.

“Why Dad? Why would you come after me? You didn’t want me around, you made that clear every time you hit me, so I left. Why couldn’t you just leave me be?” She cried.

He gave a humorless laugh before hitting her again, this time it was a fist to the stomach. “I needed somebody to take my anger out on. Now though, I’ve had someone offer me a lot of money for you. Don’t know where he saw you or how he found me, but I don’t care. With the money he’s going to pay me I will live like a king.”

He chuckled a bit, giving her another fist to the stomach which left her winded. “Good thing he won’t mind a few bruises because it’s what you deserve for running off the way you did.”

Then he proceeded to pound on her as if making up for lost time. After what seemed like hours, although she knew it was just moments, he backed up and laughed.

Shannon lay there on the ground bruised and bleeding, tears falling fast and hoping André comes soon to save her from this madman.

“You always were pathetic. Now that I have you nice and submissive, we’ll wait for your buyer,” Dad smirked.

“Wait, what? Buyer?” Shannon wheezed out, as she looked at him out of the one eye that wasn’t swollen shut.

“Yeah, a buyer. Are you going deaf too? I told you this already, you really are stupid!” He said. He then gave her another kick in the side as he said, “I don’t know why he wants you, and I don’t care, all I know is this Rick fellow is willing to take you off my hands.”

“D-did you say Rick?” She whimpered, but her dad didn’t answer, instead someone behind her did.

“That right Rick, remember me you little blood slut?”

Shannon heard his voice and whimpered louder as she tried to stand. She had to get away from him because she knew he would do horrible things to her if he took her before André could get here.

Dad grabbed Shannon by her hair, pulling her back before she could run. He asked, “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Trust me, she wouldn’t get too far, she’s too slow,” Rick snickered as he walked toward her.

“André will kill you for this Rick!” She yelled.

“Tsk, tsk André’s little beloved, by the time he gets here, it will be too late to save you. Did you really think I wouldn’t have help? Even as we speak, I have a few ‘friends’ taking care of him for me,” Rick said with a laugh as he snapped his fingers. Six vampires come out of nowhere to stand behind him. Rick then continued saying, “Of course, I brought a few with me also.”

Shannon was afraid all was lost, but she refused to accept what seemed to be her fate. So, she tried to stand up a little straighter as she wiped the blood out of her eye.

“You see André’s little beloved, you smelled so very sweet to me, and all I wanted was a taste that night. André though, he wasn’t willing to share, so now... now, I’ll have it all!” He told her as he laughed evilly.

“You will not touch her!”

“André!” Shannon cried out as she turned.

Dad wrapped his arm around her neck to keep her from running off.

André never took his gaze from Rick as he advanced, his eyes black, showing Vampire was completely in control.

Shannon could feel the anger pouring off him. She saw how his clothes were torn, and he had blood all over him. She couldn’t tell though if it was his or someone else’s.

“All of this Rick because you wanted what fate has given to me?” Vampire hissed.

“Yes, I wanted her. All you had to do was share, but then she started her crazy talk. I knew then her blood would be powerful,” Rick said with a hiss of his own.

“Powerful?” Vampire questioned, narrowing his eyes.

“Yes, powerful, if all those stories about a descendant’s beloved is true. Her blood will be exquisite, and it will be all mine when you are dead!” Rick said. He snapped his fingers again, and the six vampires went after Vampire.

Vampire bellowed, and hissed in his rage, as he attacked the first one.

Rick grabbed Shannon then, taking her from her dad. He bit down on her neck, and she screamed as an unimaginable pain shot through her. She was facing Vampire when it happened, and as the first vampire fell into dust, Vampire hissed.

“Vampire!” Shannon almost shrieked as wave after wave of pain continued to flood her body.

Then it was gone as Rick pulled away from her neck with an angry hiss. He shook Shannon like a rag doll as he screamed, “What is this? Why can’t I get blood from you?”

Parce qu’elle est la mienne!” (Because she is mine!) Vampire yelled, heading toward them, only to have another vampire stepped in front of him.

Rick then grabbed hold of her wrist and bit into the vein there.

Once more pain flooded every inch of her body, as scream after scream left her throat, leaving it raw and painful.

Vampire became a killing machine at her first scream, taking on the other five vampires, and beating them bloody before killing them. Then he was pulling Rick away from Shannon, slamming his fist into Rick’s face time, and time again, as he yelled in French.

Rick was unrecognizable by the time Vampire was finished.

“You dared to touch my Bien-aimé (beloved) and now you will die,” Vampire hissed as he shoved his hand through Rick’s body.

Rick screamed as his heart was ripped out. Then, Rick was nothing but dust.

That’s when Vampire turned on Shannon’s father who was cowering against a wall, white as a sheet.

Vampire grinned showing those needle-sharp fangs of his as he said, “And you, you are scum, and are not even fit to be breathing the same air as your daughter does. So, you will also die, but not before I drink of you since fighting is a thirsty business.”

Shannon watched as Vampire grabbed her dad and pulled him closer to him. She watched as he bit down on her dad’s neck and drank from him.

Her dad screamed, his body jerking as he tried to break Vampire’s hold. Then his body stopped moving and she knew he was dead.

Vampire coldly snapped his neck, dropping him to the ground.

Shannon knew the horrible nightmare that had been her life was finally over, and she sobbed in relief.

Vampire turned to look at her, his eyes still wild, with blood dripping from his fangs and chin.

He was the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen though. Her husband, her lover, and the one who had saved her from the horror of her nightmares. She wanted him to hold her, kiss her, tell her everything was okay now. So, she held out her arms to him as she softly cried out, “Vampire.”

He did none of those things however, instead he backed away from her and turned his back.

A big sob broke from her as she cried out to him questioningly, “Vampire? André?”

He stood there, shaking his head as he began to beat his fist on the side of a building before falling to his knees.

Shannon stood there on shaking legs, not sure what to do. So, with a sob, she called out again saying, “Vampire? André?”

He still didn’t answer her.

What is wrong with him? Was it something I did? She wondered, her thoughts jumbled and full of fear. Does he feel like all of this is my fault? Is it somehow my fault that this happened here tonight? Have I lost the love of my life because I was too weak to fight off my father? As she continued to stand there, her legs shaking, she hoped not, because, she knew that without André and Vampire, she was nothing.

He then began to shout in French as he continued to beat his hand against the wall, saying. “I am a monster, a horrible wretched monster! Why, why, why? I don’t want to be a monster! How could she love me after seeing the monster in me? I don’t want to be alone again. I don’t want to be lonely again. I need her, I need my Beloved, but how could she ever love the monster who killed her father in front of her?”

As Shannon heard him talking, crying out in French, her heart broke for him. She didn’t understand most of what he said, but she did catch the words why, and monster. She also heard the hurt and anguish in the tone he was using.

So, she continued to stand frozen, not knowing what to do, until she suddenly heard him in her head.

His mental walls had finally broken down in his anguish. His thoughts and feelings were suddenly so clear to her.

He didn’t turn away from me because he no longer wants me, she realized, no, he turned from me because he fears I will no longer want him because of what he has done here tonight, and with that thought, her own fears left, relief flooding her body.