The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Los Angeles: 2056

But as fast as Brad swung the cane the second blow never landed. In a blinding instant Ray’s hand intercepted it and stopped it dead in its motion. In the next moment it was yanked roughly from Brad’s hand with the ease of an adult removing a pacifier from a baby.

With a simple, effortless twist of his hand Ray broke the cane in two and cavalierly tossed the pieces aside with the sweep of his arm all the while his calm black eyes were glued to Brad’s. He gave a slight contemptuous shake of his head.

In the next instant he yanked Brad to him like the boy was a feather, the situation now completely reversed from what it had been seconds ago. Now Ray was in the power position. Their faces were inches apart. Ray’s black eyes seemed even darker than ever, a curtain behind which nothing could be seen or discerned. The pupils had grown covering much of his eyes. Brad could feel Ray’s breath, so hot it felt like the scalding warmth when you opened an oven door.

“That was a foolish act,” Ray exclaimed in a calm voice through lips that were white and thin as a scratch. He cocked his head slightly, looking at the boy who had battered his head so savagely. “Well you had your shot, now I get mine. Turnaround is fair play old sport.”

He didn’t give the boy even a moment to digest the new reality. He pushed Brad back with brutal force. The terrible fury of the blow lifted the boy off his feet; propelling him through the air with such velocity that he did not stop until his back then his head hit the wall in concussive succession. The wall shook at the impact. His body slide down and came to rest.

Sammi exploded like a banshee. “Braaaaaaaaad!” she screamed, her eyes wide with terror and concern. Lauren held her tight, trying to keep her from running to her brother. Sammi turned on her with surprising force, ripping free. She punched and scratched, screaming like a wildcat. She fought with such ferocity that Lauren was having trouble keeping her under control. Sammi swung her fist and it collided with Lauren’s mouth with an audible smack, bringing blood to her lip.

In an instant Ray turned to the child, pushing out his mental tendrils to her, soothing her mind as quickly as a lightning strike. In moments Sammi stopped fighting. Slowly she lowered her little arms and turned towards Ray, her face now calm and placid.

Oh what a warrior’s spirit you have little one, thought Ray with high admiration.

Lauren touched her split lip and looked at her hand staring at the blood. “Let me kill this little bitch now! I want to …..”

Ray’s eyes slide to Laurens and pinned her as surely as Vlad’s stakes had his screaming victims. “Do not touch that girl,” he said softly. His voice was the sound of the grave. Lauren stood mute, not moving an inch.

Brad shook his head trying to get rid of the blackness and white blinding stars that had overcome his vision. A sharp pain in his left arm prodded the lethargy from his head. His arm was broke and he knew it. He looked over at it. A piece of bone was sticking out right above his elbow. The pain was excruciating. Upon seeing it his head began to swim. He turned away quickly. He knew shock was the biggest danger. If he succumbed Sammi was finished. His right side was swathed in fiery agony. He was having hard time breathing; all a sure sign of broken ribs and maybe a collapsed lung.

Brad blinked his eyes and looked up at Ray. There was blood on the side of Ray’s head where the monumental blow had landed but nearly as much as there should have been. The wound was jagged and deep but that horrific blow should have caved his skull completely in. Brad shook his head, part from dizziness and part from disbelief at what he was seeing.

Ray reached to his pocket square and placed it on the wound. He closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head a sign of the damage that had been done to him. His head was ringing too with waves of pain. “That stung,” he said seemingly to himself.

Ray gazed down at Brad with murder in his eyes. When he spoke his voice was an ice storm. “I played fair with you all the way through, every step letting you choose.” Blood was running down his face. “And this is how you pay me back, with treachery?” He shook his head ruefully. “You must have some Wallachian blood in you.”

Staci snorted at that joke. She knew Ray’s history intimately and he had discussed Wallachian politics in depth with her. She wanted to know everything about him and he was glad to have someone so inquisitive and intelligent to share his knowledge with.

Brad opened his mouth and screamed the truth. There was nothing else left to fall back on. “Fuck you bastard! This is a game for you! I’m trying to save my sister! I love her! She means everything to me! You have no idea how I feel. You’re not human! You don’t understand!”

The vampire absorbed the onslaught in silence. Ray recognized the truth and honesty in the boy’s words. He nodded slightly as though in agreement. His voice was clear and level when he spoke. “Now listen closely. You must parse my every word clearly as we continue our venture if you and Sammi wish to see the morning sun. I have been clear and above board in all I have said. Do not doubt for a moment that if you fail to understand me completely you will rue the day you came to my house in ways you even now cannot imagine. I give you this warning freely and honestly. Make full use of it.”

Ray turned his head from Brad and fixed his eyes on Sammi who stood quietly next to Lauren. He studied her for the longest time. Finally he would learn if this girl was what he suspected. This was the planned end result of his game and he viewed it with high anticipation. He was quivering in anticipation now. He held out his hand and called to her with the gentle beckoning of his fingers.

“Cat,” he coaxed his voice kind and soft. “I want to get to know you. Please come to me.”

Sammi glanced at Brad and for a moment her brother could see fear darken her beautiful blue eyes. Her mouth opened as though she were about to ask for help. But Ray sensed her fear and emotion and pushed harder into her mind yet. Slowly the look of terror and alarm left her eyes and they crew very calm. She turned to Ray and a small smile split her lips. She started to drift towards him like a small, pretty ghost floating across the floor.

“Sammi! Don’t go near him!” screamed Brad, the effort setting his arm and side on fire. His lungs were sacs of agony from his yelling. The pain was close to making him faint.

But she didn’t or couldn’t listen. She marched slowly, inexorably towards him. Her face placid and her steps slow but very sure. Her pretty blue eyes were trained on Ray as she moved as though on strings connected to Ray. For Brad it was like watching a condemned girl marching towards the electric chair but improbably the fate awaiting his sister seemed even worse. It seemed to Brad that she was moving in slow motion, that it took forever for her to reach him.

But eventually she did and soon Sammi was sitting on Ray’s lap, staring up into his eyes with a soft happy look on her face, as if he were a kindly uncle.

Ray pushed out again, entering Sammi’s mind, much harder this time to see if what he thought he felt when she first entered his house could possibly be true. What he found there almost made him gasp out loud. In all the minds he had invaded and corrupted in his life he had never found anyone like Sammi Kessler. Every single person, adult and children he had looked into over the years had darkness or shades of grey to them. Things he could take and magnify and nurture, turning them, poisoning them until their evil side dominated them. But this girl had nothing but good. She didn’t have one strand of selfishness or greed or vanity or any other dark impulse in her mind. She was truly, totally pure. He felt stunned in the totality of what he found. This girl was as every bit as unusual as he was.

He had spent his entire life searching for another of his kind, the rarest of creatures. It had all been in vain, like trying to find a unicorn. And now, incredibly, the unicorn had come to him. Only he had not found his evil twin, what he had been expecting, but just the opposite. The unicorn he finally stumbled upon was like looking in the mirror of his exact reverse. The irony of it all was exquisite. Ray smiled and shook his head at the shocking degree of life’s vicissitudes and surprises, even for someone who had lived as long as he had.

As he sat there with this incredible find, his excitement was so strong it took every measure of his infinite self control to keep his face neutral. He could feel himself quiver with this amazing girl right there at his disposal.

He peered into this young girls face as though a desert traveler trying to shake a mirage from his vision. Remarkable! It can’t be yet it is! Kat just sat there, looking back at him with that innocent, pretty face. Her eyes were so clear. The clearest eyes Ray had ever seen. If the eyes were the window to the soul……

“Please accept my apologies, Cat, you have been a guest in my home for a while and I have not properly introduced myself,” he finally stated in a gentle, encouraging voice “My name is Billy Ray. It is such a great pleasure to be able to meet you. You have no idea how long I have been looking for someone as rare as you. How many years have gone by in endless, fruitless search. I had practically given up until tonight, till this very moment.”

Kat’s face broke out into a wide, friendly smile, those clear eyes now showing genuine joy out from under his strong spell. “Hi Billy Ray. I’m Scat’s sister.” She giggled a little girl’s giggle. “He calls me Kat but my real name is Sammi Kessler.”

Brad winced at his sister giving this Ray that kind of intimate information. His sister seemed totally normal except somehow Billy Ray had taken all the reality of the situation they were in from her mind. It was like nothing that had happened to them existed for her.

Ray nodded in appreciation. “Sammi is such a lovely name. Short for Samantha?”

Sammi shook her head. “No. I asked my mom. She said it’s not.”

“But tell me, why do you and Brad call each other Cat and Scat?”

Sammi giggled again in amusement. “He plays scatback in football Billy Ray!” Ray could see Sammi was clearly amused and happy to be teaching him. He found that so very sweet.

“Ahhhh, I see. Now it makes sense. You gave him that name, didn’t you?”

Sammi nodded happily, impressed that Billy Ray figured it out so quickly. He was nice and smart. She found she liked him already just like Lauren. They were all so much fun. She loved being in this house. She thought how fortunate it was that she and Brad had stopped here.

“But why are you Cat? Is because you like them? Do you have one as a pet?”

Sammi laughed uproariously. This was a version of the same question Brad had asked her two years ago. “Nooooooo silly! Not because I like cats! I like puppies! It’s because I’m Kat! Not with a C with a K.”

His eyes moved to Brad for a brief moment and he smiled. “Ohhh, with a K not a C. Now I understand. Yes, I am silly aren’t I?” Ray laughed with her, charmed by that simple, unique answer from this amazing girl.

“Can I tell you something?” Kat asked with anticipation.

“You can tell me anything your heart desires, Kat,” responded Ray with genuine curiosity.

“Mom said she’s going to buy me a puppy for my next birthday! I’m want a pug. They look so cute, like little monkeys!” Sammi revealed with squirming delight.

Ray laughed at the girl’s enthusiasm. She was so sweet, such a charmer.

Sammi held up her candy bag. “Look Billy. See I have puppies on my bag. My mom put the decals on!” Her big blue eyes peered up at Ray for approval. “Do you like them?” she asked hopefully.

Ray examined the bag carefully, earnestly, no pretense at placation at all. “Yes. Your mom did a great job. It is the best trick or treat bag I have ever seen. I love the puppies.”

Sammi laughed again. “I like you Billy Ray!” she squealed. Sammi was having such a fun time talking to this silly, nice man.

They continued to talk for over forty five minutes, the monster and the little girl, engaged only with each other, Ray finding a bond with her he could not believe possible; he so ancient, her so impossibly young, his mind so experienced and cynical, Sammi’s so fresh and innocent and trusting. They were exact opposites yet the connection between them was strangely undeniable. He enjoyed talking with this child in a way he had never experienced before with anyone else. He found she took him out of himself; transporting him to another plane, allowing him to be something else instead of the feared, dark, nightmare terror of mankind he had always been. It was like listening to Mozart but so much more interesting because she was alive and giving him interaction.

Brad watched, trying to will his broken body back together so he could do something, anything to help her. He could see how Ray was expert at drawing Sammi out, saying the right things, the funny things that made his sister more and more animated and comfortable and trusting and it killed him to watch it happen.

They talked leisurely and at length about Sammi and Brad’s life. Sammi trustingly gave up the address of where they lived and again Brad shook with fear at this information.

The conversation turned their parents and their father’s death. Sammi’s face grew sad as she recounted what she could remember of her life with him and his untimely demise. Ray could feel the sorrow within her deeply. But he also sensed the strength and character in her that had enabled Sammi to overcome that crushing tragedy. He reached out and brushed her hair.

“I am sorry for your loss. To lose a parent so young is hard thing. The world is so unforgiving and nothing is promised us. But I know you have been so strong. You are amazing in so many ways for such a young girl.” At the same time he threw a look at Brad, acknowledging the lie the boy had fed him earlier about his father that had slipped past him.

“Thanks Billy Ray. I’m not the only person bad things have happened to. There are lots of people worse off than me,” she replied with a simple wisdom. “I’m very lucky. I have a great home and just the best mom and brother ever who love me. I have so much.”

He nodded in respect to her words at her wisdom and understanding of things. She had an insight that even many adults had not mastered and never would. He thought about all the immense suffering in human history. And closer still he remembered his many victims so totally destroyed. He had contributed endlessly to so many people’s misery.

“Yes, that is true. You understand this world.”

The talk turned to Sammi and Brad’s mother. Sammi’s unabashed love and pride in her mother was so open and apparent. She regaled him with hilarious stories of her mother’s unique personality and how she and Brad were always conspiring in friendly ways to thwart her rules and regulations. Ray found these stories some of the most interesting he had ever heard and many made him laugh right along with Sammi. It reminded him in a way of the intrigue at Vlad’s palace court but played on a friendly, loving, humorous level instead of the malign, deadly power games of ambitious adults. He hung on Sammi’s every word, delighted at her stories and he found her a natural raconteur, adding all kinds of small, amusing flourishes and observations. Listening to her, watching her face so animated as she told him these tales was one of the most enjoyable experiences of his life.

Ray became particular intrigued as Sammi spoke of her mothers work with highly advanced tech and her current project with AI. Tech, science and medicine and its advancement held a very intense personal interest with him and his future plans. It was in fact essential to him and those plans. He was not surprised at all at her genius. Someone very special had to have produced one such as Sammi. He wondered about the little girl’s father. She was half his. He too must have had something unusual to him.

Sammi moved onto her relationship with her brother. She told Ray how she loved Brad, Scat to her, more than anyone in the world and how he loved her just as deeply. She told him of their times together, the games and tricks they played the endless fun they engaged in. It was obvious to Ray that their bond was stronger and closer than any two humans he had ever met. He appreciated this kind of loyalty. It was so very rare. And what Sammi and Brad had was so real and he realized it was something he would never experience or enjoy. Not like the bond he created with his thralls, a forced invasion and coercion of their minds and thoughts with no truth at all to it like these two children had.

Listening to Sammi tell of their relationship tears flowed from Brad’s eyes. Ray watched the liquid emotion pour from the boy’s eyes and again he inwardly cursed at his inability to feel in that manner. His ravenously curious mind wished so dearly to know what that kind of emotion felt like. But it was hopelessly beyond one such as him.

Sammi continued on. She spoke of her school classes and her friends, her best friend, Melanie. She told Ray how every day she shared the lunch her mother packed with Melanie because her parents were poor and the lunch she brought to school was never enough. Her parents didn’t have the money to pay for school lunches and were too proud to apply for food stamps at school.

Brad closed his eyes at this. It was a secret Sammi had never shared with him. He marveled at how even at her young age she instinctively understood that some times when you helped someone, someone exceptionally close to you, you didn’t tell anyone, not even the brother you loved more than anyone else. You didn’t brag about it, you just did it the right way. Brad’s heart burst with the love and pride he had for Sammi and simultaneously burned with atavistic hate for Billy Ray for using his powers to draw this intimate secret out of her. A secret she never would have shared otherwise.

Billy Ray looked at Sammi’s Little Mermaid consume. “Kat, I apologize but I don’t recognize your lovely costume,” he queried, his face drawn in puzzlement. “I know you brother is Batman but what are you?”

Sammi smiled delightedly. She loved to help people learn things because she loved to learn things. “It’s the Little Mermaid, Billy Ray! I know that movie is really, really old but it’s my all time favorite. I love her. I want to be just like her.”

“Thank you for teaching me, Sammi,” replied Ray, his remark honest. He too liked to learn things. Learning for him was the most important facet of life and this small blonde pixie on his lap had just taught him something he did not know. That did not happen often. She had taught him of The Little Mermaid and many other unexpected things.

He decided immediately that when he woke from his next sleep he would certainly watch the movie that so impacted this girl. He wanted to know everything about The Little Mermaid and why Sammi loved it so.

“Do you love her because she is pretty?” he said, looking for signs of vanity but he already knew that answer.

Kat shook her head. “No. I love her because she sings songs so well. I sing along with her all the time. But I love her most of all because she is always nice to everyone. She makes them feel good.”

Ray nodded, thoughtful. “I see.”

“I want to be just like her. I like to be nice to people,” she continued before he could speak again. “It makes them happy so they won’t be sad.” Sammi looked him right in the eye. “Don’t you like to be nice to people and make them not sad? Don’t you like to make people happy, Billy Ray?”

The vampire stared at the girl, nonplussed. He tried to reply with a quick, witty response….…but nothing came out. His mind suddenly felt blank and old, cold and so very empty. That despite all the years of his timeless life there was nothing of value at all to share with this sweet, gentle girl on the level she was on. That everything he had accomplished in his strange life was useless. Suddenly it seemed like this child was on a plain far above him.

Sammi continued. “Isn’t it good when people are nice to you? When they make you happy so you aren’t sad? Isn’t that the best thing ever?” she asked, sure of herself in the way the very young can be, their clear child logic unsullied by adult vagaries that come all too soon in life. She reached out, unexpectedly for him, and held his big hand in her tiny one, smiling up at him, waiting for the answer she was sure would come. Billy was so nice; she knew he enjoyed making others happy, not sad. She knew it in her heart.

Ray looked down at her tiny hand in his and felt her human touch: His hand that had killed so many without thought or conscience or concern. Ray didn’t know how to respond to this small girl. In all his life he had glib, clever ripostes to any remark aimed at him, but now he felt befuddled, as though she were the grown up and he the child. No answer came to his ancient agile mind or his silver tongue. In all the hundreds of conversations he had over the years, he had never failed to come up with an answer to a question. But now, here in his own house, this ten year old girl had left him without a clue as to what to answer to her heartfelt, simple, honest question. He shook his head as though trying to clear himself of a fugue.

He opened his mouth and then closed it again. Brad, Nastia, Lauren and Staci were all watching him, mesmerized by what was transpiring. They had never seen him like this. It was startling in the extreme.

“I think you are a very wise young girl. As wise as you are pretty,” he finally murmured, so low that only Sammi heard him. For Ray, this was only between the two of them; none of the other four had the right to hear it. Suddenly he resented their presence.

“Thanks Billy.” She reached out and touched his cheek with her little hand. Her smile was so innocent, so beautiful. Ray thought the beauty in it dwarfed that of any grown woman he had ever known for it was a true reflection of Sammi’s heart, no pretense at all.

“You know, anyone can be nice. It’s not hard. You just have to try a little. Anyone can be nice Billy no matter who they are.” She looked deeply into his eyes. “You just have to want to. You have to try your best.” she said, her voice also low, as though she too knew this was for their ears only and she understood what he truly was, what he was hiding from the world. But Ray knew that was impossible, wasn’t it? He had fogged her awareness of what he had done to her brother. It could not be….

For the first time in his life the vampire felt a tug of fear. She can’t know what I am. She can’t. He realized he couldn’t abide this pure girl knowing what he was. It would wound him in a way even Brad’s harsh blow with the cane never could. For the first time ever he cared what a human thought of him. Not just a human but a ten year old girl! He suddenly felt overwhelmed by this odd situation and waif sitting on his lap, talking to him as a friend.

They stared into each other’s eyes for the longest time, saying nothing the only sound their syncopated breathing. There was a look in her eyes, something unfathomable just underneath that clear blue surface, a sad knowing but also a hint of imploring hope: A child’s simple desire that he be something good in the world. The look filled him with dread.

Or was it just the eyes of a little girl? Was he imagining it all? Was his mind playing tricks on him after all the years of making others do the same? Was the strange, lonely, weird nature of his time skipping existence finally beginning to make him see things not really there? Was his beautiful, marvelous adept mind beginning to buckle under the strain of his life and show foundational cracks?

Brad had finally gathered some strength and composure. He had a hard time hearing what his sister and Ray were saying but he knew nothing that monster was saying could be good.

“Sammi! Look at me please! Come here. Get away from him! He’s a bad man. He wants to hurt you!” yelled Brad.

Sammi turned to Brad. “It’s OK Brad. Billy is nice. We’re talking about puppies and The Little Mermaid.”

The sound of Brad’s voice had broken the spell Sammi had cast on him. The terrible dread he had felt seeping away. His mind was fine. He was still the master here. The master of all humans and this was his house and his game. He was the dominant species.

He could easily have spent all night speaking with Sammi, she enthralled him that much, but he knew that his game with Brad had to continue to its conclusion. He and the boy had entered into a compact between two men that must be fulfilled completely. It was a matter of honor. Even the unicorn Sammi was ancillary right now to that fact. As much as he wanted to keep speaking with her he decided to reengage Brad in their contest. It was time for a winner and loser to be declared. What would come after was still to be seen. The outcome was all in Brad’s hands..if he was smart enough to figure it out.

Ray smiled, this time the play of it on his lips seemed different than it had during his long conversation with Sammi. He glanced at Brad and the self reflection and kindness that had sat on his face during his interaction with Sammi was replaced by a cold challenge.

“Tell me, Sammi, Do you like to sing just as the Little Mermaid does? When you sing along with her?” he asked smoothly, his voice now all silky spun velvet, enticing. It was his seductive predator’s voice. The change in his tone was so pronounced that Staci, Lauren and Nastia noticed it immediately their ears pricking up with the sound of it. They had heard it often and knew it so well. The three girls shared a sneaky, wicked look of anticipation at each other. Brad caught their exchange and felt fear like he never had yet during this hell night.

“Oh yes!” she shot back, so excited. “I do!”

He put his hand under her chin, raising her face directly to his. Ray, his eyes now half lidded continued. “I know a very sweet song, a favorite of mine, just as you love the Little Mermaids. I would love to share it with you. Would you like to hear it?”

“Yes Billy. I love music.”

“Would you do me the honor of singing it to me, with me? Just like you do with the Little Mermaid? It would be such an honor for me for a good friend like you to do that.” he purred like a cat to a mouse.

“What’s the song about?” asked Sammi, now very curious.

“Ahhhh, such a good question, Kat. You are such a smart girl. It’s about a lovely, beautiful thing that happens…..to women. Something they never forget and always cherish in their hearts.” Something you will never experience if your brother has not understood me as I warned.

Her little pale forehead creased in concern. “But how would I know the words, Billy?” Ray knew she didn’t want to let her new friend down. She was incredible.

He smiled, so caring, such a great new friend. “I will help you with that. See, I have a special magic. I can put the words right inside your head.” He reached out with is finger and gently touched her forehead. Sammi giggled.

“Really?” she drawled out. “You do, you can?” There was doubt in her tone.

“I never lie to my friends when I give my word. And I respect you so much. You are my true friend.”

Staci nodded. “He can Sammi. He can put all kinds of beautiful things in your head.” She licked her lips. “He can put anything he wants in your head. You would love it.”

Sammi turned to Staci. “Really, has he done it to you Staci?”

She smiled at her. “Oh yes, Sammi, many, many times. There is nothing better than when he does it. You need to find out for yourself.”

Sammi whipped her head back to Ray. “What kind of magic?”she asked, still unsure if he and Staci were telling the truth or kidding with her. Sammi was at the age where she doubted magic, just like Santa Claus, but still young enough that there was a side of her that wanted to believe. What child didn’t want to believe in Santa…or magic? Could Ray really do magic? Wouldn’t that be so much fun if he really could? She wanted so much for it to be true.

Ray grinned. “The very best kind of magic, Sammi. It is so very special. Just like you.”

“Wow, you really can put the words into my head, with magic? Do you promise?” she said with wide eyed wonder replacing her doubt. The child’s desire to believe winning out over the adult she was slowly becoming.

He nodded, a half grin gracing his lips. “I can. I have done it to so many others over the years. Do you wish it, Sammi? Are you my friend? Would you help me sing that song with the magic?”

Sammi nodded now a little ball of fired up enthusiasm. “Yes! I am your friend. I like you and Lauren and Staci and Nastia. I love being here. This is so much fun!” Sammi couldn’t wait to see the magic. Could it be real? She hoped so much. Her little heart was pounding.

He grinned knowingly, so clever in the pushing of her buttons. He knew her so well now, what mattered to her, how to make her respond as he wished. She wanted to make people happy. He wanted her to acquiesce of her own volition without the coercion of his power to make the choice for her. The game was so much better that way.

He pushed on to the finish. “Would you be…..nice enough….to me and grant me that favor and make me happy?”

She nodded with pure joy. “Yes Billy Ray, if it will make you happy.” And I’ll see real magic too! Sammi had almost given up belief in magic but Billy Ray was her friend. He wouldn’t lie to her. He promised her.

He nodded. “And you are my friend too. So I will grant your wish as friends should always do.”

Immediately he pushed hard into her head, taking control. “Sleep now, my dear Sammi.” Her eyes were closed almost before he finished the command.

The vampire turned to Brad. “Hear me well, old sport, this is how the second part our trick or treat plays out. Sammi and I will sing a song together. You have only that time and not a single moment longer, to save her. During the time the song plays you must come to me and fight for her life. Do you understand clearly? You must fight me if you wish for Sammi to survive. That is what I ask and nothing less will do.”

Brad’s head and chest and side were on fire. His broken arm screamed with pain and hung uselessly at his side. He was having trouble taking full breaths, his lung wheezing. How could he possibly defeat this unearthly beast even healthy, let alone in his current condition? This was no game or contest at all, but an open invitation to slaughter.

Staci, Lauren and Nastia giggled, the sound both amused and lascivious, holding each other tight now, rubbing up on each other in excitement. Ray always played the best games with the highest stakes. They had seen it many times before and it was always different and never dull.

Finally Brad spoke the only thought that came to his mind. He asked the question that would supply the only glimmer of hope. “If we fight, will you use your powers?”

Ray nodded, his voice matter of fact. “Yes. I reserve the use of all the great and terrible powers at my command. I gave you choice after choice, edge after edge before. In this round I make all the rules and you play by them.” He ran the back of his hand gently over Sammi’s pink cheek, “Or you don’t play at all. But if you play, it is by the terms of the game. You wouldn’t want to be like one of those cheating English aristocrats I knew, would you? They had no character. Character is very important.”

“That’s not fair! I can’t win! You know I can’t win! Look at what you did to me!” screamed Brad, his voice cracking with the horrible futility of it all.

Ray gazed for a long moment, evaluation the boy in front of him. “I told you not long ago that life is not fair. That if you wish to survive it….” he tapped his head very slowly and deliberately, making a show of it, “you better grow up fast.”

Brad started to speak but Ray shook his head in abject dismissal. “I have nothing else to say. The rules have been laid down. I have been explicit in what you must do and what I expect. Think on it then act or not. It is your choice.” He had given Brad the path to victory...if the boy could discern it. Ray prized intelligence above all else in life and his games. Now it was up to the boy to grab what Ray had given. He turned back to the sleeping child in his lap.

“Wake, Sammi,” he whispered tenderly in her ear. Immediately, like some mechanical doll her eyes popped open wide. She smiled at him “Are you ready to make me happy?” he asked, his eyes gentle and sincere.

“I’m ready, Billy Ray,” she replied. She couldn’t wait for Ray to do the magic to her.

The look in Ray’s eyes changed instantly as he gazed at Sammi. Brad had never seen anything like it in his life. The intensity in them was inhuman, terrible in its depths and frightening in their determination. They looked like they belonged to an insane man looking smack dab into the sun, dueling with it, daring it to blind him but knowing he would ultimately triumph and snuff out the light forever.

Without preamble Brad heard the words escape the vampire’s mouth;the words that began the countdown of Sammi’s life from all the years that stretched before her to the few fleeting precious seconds of a song.

“Play music,” he said calmly to the house command system, “Dusty Springfield, Son Of A Preacher Man.”

And just as simple as that the final part of Gatsby’s game began.