Chapter 142

    The summer passed uneventfully. His wife stayed out all night and slept all day and avoided him whenever possible. He avoided her as well. Luckily, his family didn’t expect them to become bosom buddies. She was too old and he was too young. He started school eagerly. It gave him an excuse to get out of the house for a time. Even when his wife slept, he was keenly aware of her presence. The first day of school was typical, but when he arrived home he walked into an argument between his wife and his father.

   “You whore!” His father shouted. “I’m going to the Council to dissolve this marriage!”

   “I’m not a whore! It’s your grandchild I’m carrying!” She screamed back at him.

   “Pedophile! Ben’s only twelve! He can’t be the father!”

   “You’re so old, you’ve probably forgotten what it’s like to be twelve,” she sneered.

   “That is not the point!”

    “Your son practically attacked me. He begged me to have sex with him. He said he loved me, that he couldn’t wait until he was older.”

    “Lying slut!” he growled. Ben shivered as air flowed violently around him. His father was normally very even-tempered. Even when he did lose his temper, he never once lost control of his powers. Hesitantly he stepped out of the elevator into the room.

   “Um, Hi.”

   “Benjamin, this, this woman claims she’s carrying your child. Is this possible?” Blade  struggled to sound neutral.

   “It’s possible, Father Blade. I did have sex with her. Once. She insisted.”

    “Don’t tell me you believe his story?” She protested at Blade glared at her. “He’s just a child.”

    “He’s my son. I’d believe him over you. Especially considering the reports I’ve had of you partying at clubs all night with strange men.”

   “Nobody wanted this marriage. Least of all me. I’m not planning on waiting until that child grows up to have my fun.”

   “The Council wanted this marriage.”

   “The Council is a bunch of senile old women, scared of their own shadows. There is no plot to fulfill the prophecy. I don’t see why I should be sacrificed to their paranoia.”

   “You’re a married woman. You can’t have your ‘fun’ as you put it. You need to bear Ben a child first.”

   “Why do you think I seduced the brat first?”

    “If I might interject,” Onyx said from where he had been quietly observing the discussion, “if there is doubt regarding the child’s paternity, shouldn’t we wait until after the child has been tested to start laying blame.”

    “She raped a twelve year old boy. I don’t care if he’s her husband, he’s still too young and legally he can’t consent.”

    “Blade, there was a time when children of that age were married off all the time,” Ice reminded him.

 

    “That doesn’t make it right.” Then they were off arguing again. Ben edged his way around them and fled to his room.

 

Chapter 141

    Burke lay there on the bed. It was the only position he’d found that did not immediately result in vomiting. He’d been nauseous almost constantly since that night. In order to avoid dehydration, his captor had set up an IV for him. He was tucked into a luxurious bed instead of sleeping on a cold stone floor. A TV had been mounted on the wall and hooked up to a DVD player. A wide selection of movies, games and books had been provided for him. Anything he wanted, he had. The man was taking no chances of him losing the child growing inside Burke’s body.  He winced in pain as the child twisted around.

   “Good morning,” the man greeted him as he entered the room. “I see you haven’t touched your food.”

   “No. I’m not all that fond of reruns.”

   “I beg your pardon?”

   “You know food that repeats on you. It’s not all that great the first time around. I really don’t want to taste it again.”

   He shrugged and changed the IV bag. “I would offer medication if I could. But there is no way to know how the child would react to it.”

   “Why me?”

   “Normal humans generally do not survive the conception process. Those that have, die in the first trimester with the child. Signs indicated that one of vampire blood would be more likely survive the process long enough to bear a living a child.”

   “I hate you.”

   “Your feelings toward me or the child are irrelevant.”

   “What is so important about this child?”

   He laughed, “Do you really think I’d tell you that. I have read the list of things evil overlords should not do. Spilling one’s ultimate goal to a prisoner is a big no-no.”

   “What happens after?”

   “The odds of you actually surviving the birth are slim at best. If you survive, you won’t be given back to the demon. His kind only mates with virgins and you no longer qualify.”

   “You won’t…”

   “Rape you? No. I sacrificed my manhood to my power before you were born.”

   The man left the room and Burke was alone with his thoughts. His stomach lurched and he rolled over to retch feebly over a bucket.

 

Chapter 140

   Byron slowly paced the room. He wrote the measurement down in his notebook. He awkwardly knelt to examine the floor. His belly caused his center of gravity to shift spilling him onto his side.

    “Byron, are you okay?” Kory rushed in, the picture of concern.

    “Y-yeah. I-I’ll be g-glad when the b-baby is b-born.”

   “You need to be more careful. What if you hurt yourself or the baby?” Kory rubbed his hand over Byron’s stomach. “What are you doing anyway?”

   “I-I thought we n-needed a n-nursery. For the b-baby.”

   His husband laughed. “You’re right. I hadn’t thought about that. What colors did you have in mind?”

   “I-I thought we c-could d-do the walls and floor in white and t-two c-cribs, one in aqua and one in p-purple,” Byron ventured.

   “That would probably be a good idea. Then we could get started on our second child immediately.”

   “K-kory, I haven’t even g-given b-birth to the first one.” He protested.

    “Don’t you want a large family? I do. I want you to bear me lots of sons and daughters.”

   “W-why am I d-doing all the work? Y-you should have some t-too.”

Chapter 139

   Ben led his new bride to their room. Blizzara looked around the room and sneered.

   “This is a dump. How can they make me live here?”

   He bit his lip. He’d been taught to show respect to his elders, but this was his home, she had no right to insult it.

   “I can’t believe the Council is making me live here with a child husband and his three sisters and their parents.”

   “Nadia’s my cousin, not my sister,” Ben volunteered.

   “Whatever,” she said crossly. “The only men here prefer the taste of cock to pussy. Do you?”

   “Do I what?” he asked confused.

   “Do you like boys or girls?” She enunciated slowly. “Watcher, you’re an idiot, too. What did I do to deserve this hell?”

   “I’m twelve. I hadn’t really thought about it.”

   “Yeah, well, what do you think about this?” She asked ripping open her shirt. He stared as her two well-formed breasts tumbled out. She took a deep breath, which threaten to cause them to spill out of her bra. Ben swallowed, mouth dry, as his body decided enthusiastically that he liked girls. A lot. His wife slowly removed her skirt, revealing a pair of lacy panties.

   “Strip,” she ordered him.

   “Huh?”

   “Are you deaf as well as stupid? Re-move your clo-thing.”

   Ben just stood there staring at her assets. He knew that they were supposed to wait until he was of age before doing anything, but he couldn’t make his body move. She glided over to him and impatiently tugged his clothing off of him.

   A gentle push and he was sprawled naked on the bed, his erection pointing toward the ceiling.

   She straddled him and lowered her body onto his. He gasped as her warm, wet depths surrounded him. A few strokes and he was shuddering with his first release. She stood up and stared at him, her nose wrinkling with disgust.

 

   “Well, I suppose I can’t expect an inexperienced child to last longer. Hopefully, that will have been enough to get the job done. You’re so tiny, I barely felt you.”

   She grabbed her clothing and entered the bathroom. He lay there on the bed, listening to the shower run. He felt disgusted and humiliated. His wife was a thoroughly unpleasant person and he’d just lost his virginity to her. He vowed that nothing could make him lie with her again.

 

Chapter 138

   Ben helped around the house during his suspension. He struggled to be a model son. His normally indifferent grades improved. But soon enough his life changed forever.

   Blade and Ice stood silently in the doorway. “Come with us, Ben.”

   “Why? What have I done?”

   “Nothing. This is not a punishment.”

   “Where are we going?”

   “To see the Council,” Blade sounded tired and old.

   “Why?” Ben asked again, his eyes widening. He knew about the Vampire Council of course, but didn’t understand what they wanted with him. He was just a twelve year old boy. He hadn’t broken any of the Laws.

   He sat in the backseat of the car as Blade drove the three of them to the Council chambers. Ice was his usual unreadable self, but Blade seemed angry. They didn’t talk to each other during the long drive. Ben got the impression that they had argued over something. Which was impossible, they never argued.

   The car stopped and they got out. They went into an underground corridor.

   “Wait here, you two,” Blade said breaking the awkward silence. He entered the plain wooden doors.

   “Why am I here, Ice?”

   “I can’t tell you.”

   “Can’t or won’t?”

   “Can’t.”

   The door opened and Blade gestured them inside. The Council was waiting for them in their rainbow of colors. A slender pale woman stood before the Council. She did not look happy about being here.

   “Fabian Dickson, Ice King, Benjamin King, you stand before the Council. Fabian Dickson, do you acknowledge that this boy, Benjamin King, is the son of your body and your blood?”

   “I do.”

   “Do you acknowledge that the Council holds the right to dispense of those your blood as it chooses?”

   “I do.”

   “Ice King, you stand for the boy’s mother, do acknowledge the rights of the Council?”

    “I do.”

   “Benjamin King, you have not yet reached your majority, yet you are old enough to understand. Do you acknowledge the Council’s right to determine your future? The punishment for refusing to submit to the Council’s will is usually death. Do you understand this?”

   “I understand. I submit to the will of the Council.” Ben said. He knew perfectly well that the Council ruled the vampires and half-vampires with an iron will. Comply or die. It was an effective means of control.

   “Good. Blizzara Frost, do you submit to the will of the Council?”

   “I do,” the woman said. Her body language and tone said “Go to hell.”

   “It is the will of the Council that these two individuals be joined in matrimony. However, since one of the participants is underage, consummation will wait until the boy reaches his majority in six years.”

   “Do you, Benjamin King, take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife?”

   Ben struggled to find his voice. This was completely unexpected. He was only twelve, far too young to be married.

   “Benjamin, you must answer the question,” Blade prompted quietly.

   “I do.”

   “Do you, Blizzara Frost, take this man as your lawfully wedded husband?”

   “Man?! He’s an untried, ignorant boy!” Contempt colored her words.

   “Blizzara,” Lord Diamond warned.

   “Very well. I agree to shackle myself to this child.”

   :Then I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride.”

   She snorted. “Shall I get a ladder for him? Or perhaps an instruction manual?”

   Ben flushed. He knew he was inexperienced, but there was no reason to mock him for it. He leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the lips. She wiped her lips off afterwards.

   “If this farce is over, may I leave?”

   “You may accompany your husband to his house.”

   She fumed beside Ben the entire trip home. His parents weren’t talking either. He was struggling to wrap his mind around the fact that he was married. Married to a woman who clearly despised him. He had no idea why it had been necessary to do this, but he would wait until he could get Blade alone to ask the questions bubbling through his mind.

 

Chapter 137

    Benjamin King, youngest child of Aaron King and Fabian “Blade” Dickson, sat swinging his legs outside the principal’s office. This was the third time this month he’d been there. He’d been fighting again.

   His cousin Tristan and half-brother John glared at him from the bench on the other side of the door. They had hated him his entire life. Not that either of them knew they were related to him. His parents had made that perfectly clear when he started school. He wasn’t to let them know about their connection. That didn’t stop them from tormenting him. He pushed a lock of purple hair out of his aqua eyes. All they cared about was that he was a mixed-color sim.

   “Benjamin, will you come in?” The principal called. “Benjamin, I’m very disappointed in you. This is the third time this month you’ve been called in here for fighting. What do you have against Tristan and John?”

   He shrugged. “Nothing.”

   “Then why do you keep fighting them?”

   He shrugged again. The principal was open minded about mixed color sims. He’d had every single one of Ben’s siblings and step-siblings at one time or another. Still, he was a pure blood and couldn’t understand how it actually felt to be different.

   “Well, I’m going to have to call your parents. You’ll be suspended for a week this time.”

   Ben sat outside the office waiting to be picked up while the principal talked to Tristan and John. He felt sorry for Tristan a little. Tristan’s father had been murdered last year and the killer still hadn’t been caught. Ben’s older brothers Byron and Burke had disappeared earlier that year. Ben privately thought the police weren’t looking too hard because they were mixed. Even with the dissolution of the PPP, there was still too much discrimination against mixed-color sims.

   “Benjamin King, you were fighting again?” Onyx said, exasperated.

   Ben looked up. Of course it was Onyx who came to pick him up. Blade was probably at work so had a good excuse for not coming, but Aaron worked from home. He could have come. He never did. Aaron refused to be outed as gay or in a mixed relationship, especially since Ben’s opponents were his nephew and other son. Ben hated John. He was a constant reminder that his father had cheated.

   The door opened and John’s mother walked in with Tristan’s sister, Chantel. Chantel had absorbed all her mother’s twisted beliefs. She had managed to turn Tristan into her puppet. Julius was better, but Ben still didn’t like his cousins. Chantel grimaced in disgust as she caught sight of him. She held a handkerchief up to her nose and hustled Tristan out of there.

   “I wonder what she would think if she knew who you were?” Onyx mused as they walked out of the school.

   “I think it would make it worse. I’d be the nasty little family secret that no one talks about. The blackest, black sheep.” Ben stated.

   “You’re probably right. I wish you would stop fighting with those boys. You are kin after all.”

   “Hell will probably freeze over first. They hate me.”

    “You’re grounded of course. You’ll also be cleaning the house every day after school and helping Aaron in the vineyard.”

   Ben nodded, resigned. He knew there was no way he could escape being punished. They drove home in silence and Ben immediately went into the vineyard to help his father weed and water the plants.  

  “Fighting again?” Aaron asked.

   “Yeah.”

   “The usual suspects?”

   “Uh-huh.”

   “Benny, what are we going to do with you?”

   “You could send me off to boarding school.”

   “No. All of your siblings have gone to the local school, no reason you can’t do the same. Even if it kills you.”

   “I don’t suppose you could convince their parents to send them off?” Ben asked curiously.

   “No. For one thing Chantel can’t afford it. For another, running away from your problems is not a solution.”

   “I know. A guy can dream though, can’t he?”

   Aaron laughed and tousled Ben’s hair. “You’re more trouble than the rest of your siblings combined.”

   “Sorry.”

   Ben trudged to bed exhausted from the hard physical labor he’d endured. His bruises from the fight began to ache and he stared up at the ceiling as sleep eluded him.

 

Chapter 136

   Burke hobbled up the walk into his new home. The man escorted him downstairs to a bare room.

   “This is where you will stay until I need you. Food will be provided.”

   He looked around the room. “Um, where do i…?”

   He cried out as an invisible lash scored his back repeatedly.

   “Please,” he begged. The beating continued.

   “Master, please stop.”

   “Very good, you are capable of learning,” the man said as the pain faded. “A bucket will be provided for you. You may strip now.”

   Burke removed his clothing. The room was warm enough so he wasn’t in any danger of freezing. It was obvious that whatever the man’s purpose, he wanted to keep Burke alive and in reasonable health until then.

   “If I may ask, Master, what do you want with me?”

   “You are impertinent. You will be held until the time is right.”

   The man left the room and locked the door behind him. Burke was alone with his thoughts. Time passed. Invisible servants brought food and emptied his bucket. The food was better than he expected. The man never came again. To occupy his time, he sang every song he knew. When he ran out of songs, he made them up.

   After an indefinite period of time, the man returned.

   “It is time. You will come with me.”

   Burke followed the man into another underground chamber. A complex design was inlaid into the floor.

   “Lie down on your back and spread your arms and legs,” the man instructed.

   Burke hesitated. The chamber reeked of blood and death and pain. He was certain that he wouldn’t enjoy whatever was going to happen here. He yelled as pain coursed through his body.

   “Do as I instructed,” the man ordered.

   Burke crawled into position. With a gesture, invisible restraints clamped down on his wrists and ankles. Instinctively he struggled, but the bonds held him fast.

   The man smiled at him, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Burke began breathing faster as adrenaline coursed through his body. He was positive that he would die here, tonight.

   The man began to chant in an unknown tongue. A vortex of darkness swirled above Burke’s prone body. The feeling of evil increased until he felt that he was suffocating in it. Unbelievably, his body began to respond. He gasped as he became hard. He arched his hips up toward the darkness, wanting, needing to be filled. His movements matched the rhythm of the man’s chanting.

   A figure coalesced from the darkness. It was not entirely solid. It turned to look at Burke. Burke gasped. The figure was obviously, blatantly male. Its member was huge, far larger than was humanly possible and covered with wicked barbs.

   “This is the sacrifice?” its voice rasped.

   “Yes, my lord.”

   “It is male.”

   “A herm, a virgin and vampire as requested. This one should survive long enough.”

   “If it does not, you will be my next bride. I tire of your failures.”

   “Y-yes, my lord,” the man stammered, paling.

   The figure knelt between Burke’s spread legs. He wanted to close his eyes, but it was like watching a train wreck. He watched in fascinated horror as the being’s member split into two. The second one was narrower, but equally barbed. He arched his hips toward it in invitation. His mind screamed in terror while his body offered itself to the thing between his legs.

   The being’s member probed between his legs before penetrating him. Burke smelled blood and feces as the being began moving inside him. The spell arousing him transformed the pain into pleasure. His body burned as the being spilled its seed deep inside him. His ordeal wasn’t over yet as the being swelled again almost immediately. Sometime during this process, he passed out.