Gabriela had given up resisting by the time Vincent half carried her down the stairs before dumping her onto the couch in front of the television.
Once his hands were off her, Gabriela curled herself into a small ball on the cracking bonded leather of the couch. Her fingers idly traced over the fine lines that showed where the glue between the layers of synthetic and animal fiber was weakening.
Distanced from the present, she allowed the mess of her hair to fall over her face and down her back. Her bare toes curled against the edge of the couch doing her best to ignore the itching between her shoulders as Vincent's glare focused on her.
"I want your attention, Cream Puff." He continued with the demeaning nickname. A nickname that had her cringing at the ridiculousness of it or how he reduced her to confection that was easily consumed and then forgotten about.
Only good for the filling within the pastry. Stubbornly she kept her eyes downcast, focused on the worn and balding carpet in front of the couch.
Her jaw clenched tight as she bit back any sort of retort, complaint, or other reaction. He wanted her to react. He needed her to push back or show a spark of rebellion; anything to justify trying to snuff out what resistance she may have held to. Gabriela refused to give the man the reaction he wanted.
She felt the cushion next to her dip and the springs beneath protested softly before the sound of static broke the quiet of the air.
Gabriela forced back a derisive snort as she realized he had dragged her from the comfort of her shared bed, still wearing her clothing from the night prior, to watch bad television with him. The channels didn't seem to change but the static broke away to the stock standard sound of a smarmy news anchor.
'Man's severed head was found in an elevator' She mentally recounted the old joke. 'Good news for egg lovers' The back to back stories of the joke meant to laugh at the unflappable upbeat tone the anchors seemed to magically keep plastered over their real emotions no matter the story.
Her finger continued to trace along the forks of each crack, tracing the tiny designs on the worn couch.
"You are going to want to see this pet." Vincent's hot breath teased over her ear. The sickly sweet scent of old soured blood washed over her nose as the heat of his breath lingered along her cheek.
Gabriela jerked away from the touch before fanning her hand in front of her face; the action an unspoken insult. He just laughed before leaning back against the cushions before pushing play on the recorded show.
"In other news tonight, the missing college student was declared dead today after the county coroner successfully matched the blood found at the crime scene with hers. The deceased male remains unidentified." Gabriela looked up at that. Her focus on the male news anchor and his blasé tone.
Not exactly upbeat neither was he somber but some strange combination of the two. His hair was neatly combed back and slicked down with pomade, teeth perfectly straight and professionally whitened, and his suit a simple gray affair with pale cream button up shirt.
She could have seen the same man on four different channels with four different names and never have told them apart.
What caught her attention was the causal and brief summery of her death. Just a blurb before he was moving on to some national story about a politician and their never ending sex scandals.
The date blazoned there along with the weather for the day taunted her. Exactly three days after her supposed disappearance / death.
Just three days before the officials had written her off and nothing mentioned her family, slimy asshole of a boyfriend, or even her coworkers; just a footnote in the news.
"I would show you the footage of your supposed funeral, but there really wasn't one. No body, you see, so your parents decided to save the money and just planted a tree on the edge of some easily ignored plot of land." He taunted as Gabriela stared forward at the paused news cast. The man caught mid word in the frame. His mouth opened in a polite mockery of the scream she held back in her throat.
"So you see, no one is looking for you, no one ever looked for you. There is no rescue coming, pet. You are ours and will abide by our rules, our lifestyle, and understand your value is only what we give you." He didn't bother to rise from his seat, to do anything besides look at her. His focus placed on her as she attempted to hold herself together, to keep from visibly reacting and giving him the satisfaction of watching her fall apart.
"I already knew that no one would." The hushed words escaped her lips. A soft whisper of sound that slipped out detached and calm despite the silent shattering of her heart.
Some small part of her had hoped that someone would have cared enough to look, to try and at least put her body to rest. The logical part of her told her it was better this way, that those she loved would be at peace and not search for a body they would never find.
"Now that we are past that let's start on your lessons. For some reason Eli has decided you will be coming with the rest of the family to the solstice gathering; which means you will know the rules and how exactly to obey them." Vincent's voice brokered no room for protest.
Silently he rose and pulled her with him, barefoot and bedraggled, off the couch and towards the basement.
At the top of the steps Gabriela found her fight again.
Her feet dug against the flooring, fought to find any sort of grip before he could pull her down to that place of nightmares. Her fingers curled as her tiny claws tore at the flesh around his wrist in a futile attempt at escape.
Annoyed, he gave a final jerk, sending her tumbling down the stairs. She felt each step as her body crashed and rolled. Nothing broke but the pain reminded her that once it would have.
Her head hit the cement floor after the final step and for a brief moment she knew nothing as darkness overtook her.
The grainy sound of old music playing over a low quality speaker was the first thing that came to her awareness.
Then it was the cold and damp beneath her. Slowly Gabriela pushed herself upright. With one hand she pushed her hair back from her face as she glared up at Vincent.
He leaned against one of the concrete walls just watching her with his unblinking gaze. The cement cell was empty, with just the two of them, a metal instrument tray with a green glass bottle and empty wine glass and the record player grating out its old sultry blues jazz.
"Ah, awake now. That was lesson one, fighting an older, stronger vampire will never go well for you. Doesn't matter the species, we get stronger as we age." He didn't move or even blink. Just waited for her to push herself back to her feet.
One hand cupped along her ribs where they were still sore as the healing process worked through easing away the damage.
"Now, fill the cup and drink. Bottled will not heal you as fast as free from the vein but there is too much to study to fight that battle." He moved then, walking over to the record player and pulling out a cleverly built in drawer.
In a smooth practiced move he switched the records until she could hear an old fashioned waltz start playing.
"Lessons begin now and if you are as clever as Budgie says you are ,then, perhaps you will survive this.."