Dark Confusion Read online

  Dark Confusion

  A Dark Desire Novella

  J Thompson

  Contents

  1. Mercy: an expensive luxury

  2. A Damsel in distress

  3. The voices help, the voices understand.

  4. Where there's pain, there's more pain

  5. Drips and Darkness

  6. Dignity there, dignity gone…and my soul

  7. Strength, I have none.

  8. When will it end, when can I rest?

  9. Enforcers…

  10. Hunting…Killing...My job.

  11. Only a bond will survive

  12. Let the healing begin.

  13. Choice! What choice?

  14. Healers know it all. Or do they?

  15. Can blood heal the mind as well as the body?

  16. Words can sometimes hurt more than actions.

  17. Even warriors cry

  18. Demons do exist, even in those we love

  19. Not all tales end with a happily ever after

  20. Bonds can be broken. But can they be remade?

  21. Sometimes hope can be the evil we try to escape.

  22. Taking a chance, believing in love

  With Dark Confusion comes Dark Need

  A Note From Jenn

  Also by J Thompson

  Copyright © 2017 J Thompson All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  There are so many people to thank, because without you readers, my fellow authors, my editor(tartag), my formatter and cover designer (wench) and my family and friends this would have never become a reality.

  You support me no matter what and help me believe in me.

  Thank you

  1

  Mercy: an expensive luxury

  “Dammit, get the fucking defibrillator!” the doctor bellowed out in rage as the monitors screamed out a warning that the vitals had flat-lined.

  “I want her alive,” he yelled out again, his face purple with rage and stress as he started CPR. His meaty hands pressed against the chest of the woman who lay prone on the exam table, her body fully exposed to all as he started a quick rhythm of compressions in the desperate bid to restart the female’s heart.

  The female, or Subject 12, as the doc had named her, had lasted a lot longer than he had originally expected. When they had first picked her up, he had been convinced she was just another normal human female - until they had started the testing. She had been able to withstand high amounts of pain and had shown accelerated healing. He had also found that - when she had been in the testing room - any males in her vicinity had become affected by her presence. Either she had bewitched his men or she gave off some sort of pheromone, similar to that of a wolf when ready to mate. This had been the first breakthrough since they had acquired her.

  She was clearly non-human, but what she actually was, was still unknown. He felt desperate to know how she had come to be in London. He had also become obsessed with Subject 12, but had managed to hide it from the others. As far as they were concerned, he enjoyed inflicting pain upon the creature. He did - to an extent - but he also craved being in her presence.

  His mistake now had been pushing her to the limit, even though her body had long ago stopped healing. Her once flawless skin and body now held reminders of all the damage he had personally inflicted. The last bout of electrotherapy had caused her to suffer a bleed on the brain. A grand mal seizure swiftly followed which, in turn, sent her into cardiac failure. He now battled to keep her heart pumping - to keep her alive.

  He already missed her unusual pale blue eyes - a feeling he had noticed immediately when she had failed to respond - that and the sparkle and fire that accompanied those orbs. He enjoyed riling her up and watching them burn. But now her eyes were closed, her skin held a blue tinge as her body slowly shut down.

  The doc started to panic.

  “Breathe, you bitch. Breathe!” he growled out as he continued the compressions, her body twitching with every brutal shove downwards on her chest. It pissed him off more that the other men in the room did nothing to help. Even though he had shouted to have the defibrillator brought to him, they had not moved. All they did was watch.

  His arms were getting tired but he wouldn’t give up. There was so much he didn’t know about this stunning creature; death would not stop his research. His thoughts drifted to the progress he could still make if he was not able to revive her. Her corpse may just offer the answers he needed and craved.

  Could he dissect her body, though?

  A sudden single beep brought him out of his musings. He eyed the heart rate monitor and watched as a single blip fired, then another. With a grin, he stopped the compressions and grabbed another syringe, quickly injecting the adrenaline into her body. He felt the needle slide into her sternum as he plunged it directly into her heart.

  Her skin slowly returned to its pale pink tone and her chest moved, although, he would have missed it if he hadn’t have been watching her so closely.

  The doc wiped a clammy hand down his sweat-drenched face and breathed a sigh of relief. He may be a torturing bastard - her words - but he had dreaded stripping her body. This creature - as demonic as his faith implied her to be - was far too beautiful to die.

  He knew he was contradicting himself, his own beliefs told him that something like this creature shouldn’t even exist and was the work of the devil. But he had always been a bit of a rebel.

  The doc, after one long, slow perusal of the creature’s body, pulled a sheet to cover her. Yes, he may torture her, mutilate her body just to watch it heal, but it was for scientific purposes and would change the course of human evolution.

  “She back with us then, Doc?” one of the men called out, edging closer to the exam table; another male that had become more than a little fond of Subject 12.

  The doc nodded in response as he touched her newly shaven head. He remembered fondly her long raven hair that would cascade over the edge of the table. That first time he had brought her in, it had swept across the floor. No matter how many times they had cut her hair, it had always grown back, although it would now take a while for it to return to its previous splendour. He put that down to the same issue that was stopping her from healing. She had responded well to the drugs they had given her, and even better was her reaction to a liquid form of Viagra they had introduced. The doc had never in his life seen a woman react like that, even in the throes of passion. It was a vision he would never forget and had kept him company on many a lonely night.

  “She is back. We will need to be vigilant next time, we were lu-” His words were cut short as the doors to the exam room were thrown open, the force so great it took them clean off the hinges. Five males - all taller than the doc’s own guards - stalked in, each holding a weapon. The doc blinked - was that a sword?

  His guards looked sluggish and unskilled as the males walked into the room, one large male heading straight towards his new position - knelt behind the exam table. The doc’s own heart was ready to stop as the tip of a sword was placed at his throat.


  “Stand.” The male's voice was low and laced with anger as the doc stood on trembling legs. He pushed the doc backwards until his back hit the counter. The doc focused on the male until he heard a loud growl. Another male, just as large and heavily armed, had stopped by Subject 12’s table. The male's eyes roamed over her covered form and forced a jealous response from the doc.

  “Don’t touch her!” he shouted out, only to have his words cut as the blade pressed harder into his jugular, the skin easily pierced by the blade. The doc felt a small trickle of his blood slide down his throat.

  The other male ignored the doc as he bent his head to that of Subject 12’s. His whispered words - still loud enough for the doc to hear - shocked him. They were here for her.

  “Helena, my love.”

  The male stroked her cheek and then ran a hand over her shaved head. A look of mortification flickered across his face before he schooled his features. His gaze moved back to stare at her unconscious face with a look of adoration before he lifted the sheet to examine her naked form and the damage the doc had wrought. The doc felt like hours had passed before he was finally pinned with a look filled with so much hate, the doc’s heart missed a beat and a feeling of dread swept through his body.

  “Did you do this?” the male ground out as he took a step closer, his hands flexed and his eyes blazing, their colour mesmerising.

  “Did you?” he asked again, and the doc could do nothing with the sword at his throat but nod. “You will fucking die for what you have done, you and those that serve you!”

  Another male stepped forward and stopped the large, angry male from advancing. The doc had a moment of relief before the sword edge was replaced by a large hand that gripped his throat and slowly tightened.

  “Callum, stop, we will deal with this, with all of it. Your bonded needs you.”

  The male dragged his gaze from that of the doc’s and stared at the male that had stopped him before he looked back at Subject 12. Acceptance on his face, he nodded. “You will do this for me, Sebastian? You will make this right?”

  “Yes, I swear it.” The second male, right hand clenched into a fist, pressed it to his heart and nodded. A bond; a promise.

  The male nodded and turned back to the female. The doc knew there and then that he had been dismissed from the male’s thoughts instantly; a forgotten memory. The male walked to the table. He took a small blade from a belt that criss-crossed across his torso and swept the edge over his lower lip. The blood instantly bloomed and dripped down his chin. He then bent and pressed his lips to that of the female, forcing them open slightly.

  The doc watched, stunned as Subject 12 responded instantly; her arms winding around the neck of the male. Without breaking contact, the male collected her - sheet and all - into his arms, forcing his lips away so he could navigate the room. The doc looked his last at the female before she was carried out of the exam room, and out of his life.

  The doc - so engrossed on the response of Subject 12 - missed the movement of the other four males until he stood surrounded. Not one looked capable of giving any mercy.

  It was then he knew - knew for sure - that this was his end.

  The words of Subject 12 ran through his mind. She had been right all along.

  He would die and he would not receive one ounce of mercy.

  2

  A Damsel in distress

  Helena

  Drip…Drip… Drip…

  Helena focused on the continual drip of water that echoed nearby. She had yet to open her eyes but the smell of damp stuck into her nose. That - along with the persistent pounding in her head - told her that when she opened her eyes, she most definitely wouldn’t be at home. Helena slowly turned her head as she forced her eyes open and groaned as the harsh light caused them to burn. She lifted a hand to cover her eyes as she used her other hand to push herself up on the bed. Her body ached and her head swam so much she nearly fell back down on the musty camp bed she had been dumped on. Nausea rolled through Helena and she fought the need to be sick, instead, wrapping her arms around her middle and looking around.

  She had been lying on a small camp bed with only a thin blanket and scrawny pillow that had been placed next to the wall, with head at the end of the room. There was only one exit: a large metal door. Its small window reminded her of those that were shown in prison movies; it could be opened to peek into the room or to give food. But right now it was closed. On the opposite side of the room was a small red bucket, its position answered the question about the ever present drip of water that came from a broken pipe high up in the ceiling. The colour was dreary, reminding her of the bleak stone that surrounded the burial grounds of her kind. A reminder of death.

  That summed up her accommodation; a bed and a bucket. If she hadn’t have felt so sick, she would have laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. Her thoughts sobered as memories of her abduction flashed back through her mind.

  Her last minute trip to the surface, without a chaperone, in the bid to buy Callum a gift, trying to get back to the portal as quickly as she could, only to turn down the wrong alley and find herself surrounded.

  Helena shuddered as she remembered the feeling of a heavy weight connecting with her skull before darkness had overtaken her.

  She heaved as tears started to fall from her eyes. Ignoring her aches and overall dizziness, she dived for the bucket, only just making it as she emptied her stomach into the plastic receptacle. Her body purged itself of the toxins she had been pumped full of whilst she had been unconscious, until there was nothing left and only dry heaves remained.

  The floor was like ice that seeped through her long skirt and thin blouse, despite the fact it was June. It had been a good 25 degrees where she had been in London, and she didn’t think she had been held captive so long for the seasons to have changed.

  Wiping her mouth on the back of her blouse, she pressed her back into the wall and wrapped her arms around her knees. She had no idea why she had been taken. She had been warned time and time again not to leave the safety of Helvetia, but she had been desperate to go and get a gift that her future bonded would like.

  Helvetia was the realm most immortals had been banished to centuries before when the humans turned and started hunting down anyone they classed as unusual. The ‘witch trials’ were just a cover for the capture and murder of many creatures. So, to protect their species, they went underground. That was the term they used, but to be more accurate, they made a home in a different dimension, which could only be accessed by portals. These portals were placed under most of the major churches in London and other major cities. It had been the creator’s way of having a laugh at the humans’ expense. They hunted and tortured every creature they deemed evil by their faith, so we hide within the very shadows of the house they deem to be pure.

  Most of the races had lost half their numbers, so they all agreed to try and live in Helvetia together, each having their own space and running their own portals. Helena sighed and turned her cheek onto her knee. She should never have left without an enforcer, but there had not been an attack for years, from either humans or another race.

  Lifting her right hand, she twisted her palm in the light. The faint scarring shimmered, showing the intricate pattern that had been placed there as a sign that she had been promised. It would only darken to an intense black if she went through a taking ceremony with her bonded - the male meant to be hers for as long as her life permitted.

  Her thoughts quickly turned to Callum - an enforcer. He was also the male she had been promised to at infancy. She had known from the first time she had seen him that he would be her mate. Typically, he hadn’t been that keen. But as they had grown older together, it had become something they had both wanted.

  As a Succubi female, she would need to be bonded before she became sexually mature, as it was only the blood and touch of her male that could control her needs and urges. Unchecked, a female could go on a sexually charged rampage, causing havoc among males, no matter
the species. Human males were the most susceptible and could easily be killed and drained of energy. It was only the males of her own kind that had the power to calm and control.

  The loud clang of metal on metal sounded and pulled Helena from her thoughts. Squeezing her knees into her body more, she lifted her head and watched as a short male entered the room. He wore a stereotypical white lab coat, large thick-rimmed glasses and had balding hair, thin on top with wisps at the side. To most, his easy smile would be seen as a kindly feature, but to Helena, it sent the warning bells in her head into overdrive. He approached slowly then bent his knees, squatting down next to her so he was closer to her eye level. She couldn’t help the shudder that swept through her body as he slowly perused her, taking in every feature. She felt like an insect under a microscope. He smiled wider as she tried to back away further, like she was trying to get inside the wall. Her body felt unresponsive and sluggish and her head still felt muggy.

  “Where am I?” she asked, her voice a lot stronger than she thought it would be. “What have you done to me?”

  The doc - as she would call him - eyed her before he stood back up and placed his hands into the pockets of his white coat.

  “My dear, welcome to The Vault. This is a small facility, as it were, that caters to special people.” He paused and smiled again, stepping even closer to her. His eyes paused on the bucket that was now filled with vomit. He didn’t seem disgusted with it, but rather, he took the information in and stored it for a later date.

  “Edwin, please come and remove this bucket, this can’t be pleasant for our guest to have to see,” he called out and moved the bucket, with his foot, towards the door, letting the continuous drip of water now hit the floor next to where Helena sat. The sound as it hit the stone floor was dull compared to the sound of it hitting the bucket, but it still felt too loud to her senses, even though they felt dulled.