Fallon and I both broke into laughter. All jokes aside, I needed to have some questions answered. And I only hoped I didn’t turn up dead, or unable to be located somewhere. “So, I certainly don’t want to question a good thing. But, what’s with this stuff Dawn mentioned about being bound, being my servant, and me as her master?” 

Fallon’s eyes narrowed. “Remember our discussion of power?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“Come with me,” she said. “You’re a hard worker and you have begun to prove yourself. So I will show you why I brought you to Normandy.

Right then, she led me into the bowels of the ship. Walking through dark passageways, I heard noises, muffled, but human. As we walked closer, I could hear very faint screaming. Wailing. My feet slowed. What the… 

“Do not worry, Delano. You are safe. Today.”

We entered an opening, and walked down a set of stairs. The screams belonged to a man. Then I heard smashing. Laughter and clapping hit my ears next. Voices of many men filled the inner bulkheads of the ship, which had been lined with some kind of insulation material to soundproof the steel.

We finally arrived in a large, dark space, only dimly illuminated with candle light. Extending downward from the ceiling, into the center was a large platform, complete with hooks, loops, ropes and hanging satin cloth. A lone man was spread out in the middle of it. His hands and legs stretched wide at his sides, and they tensed under the tightly bound ropes. Tied against the platform and hanging from about twenty-five feet in the air, the man’s body faced the floor. 

One woman in all white leather and lace flew outside the platform! I checked for something holding her, or moving her from side to side. She flew! She held a whip that she snapped across human flesh. Another woman hung upside down and sat on the man’s face, squirting white liquid into his mouth from her pussy. Yet a third woman bounced hard against his dick— upside down— creating the smashing I heard. With rough, violent jerks, the third woman punished his dick thrusting it as if she aimed to yank it off.

These women were so comfortable fucking and torturing while upside down, I would have thought they were… bats. Just like OctoPussy!

The man was screaming in sheer, tortured pleasure. The first woman whipped them all, stopping every so often to dip her whip in smoking, hot liquid.

“What is that?” I asked.

“Hot wax,” Fallon answered. I winced.

“Ahhhh!” the man screamed in pain, before wet, streaming pussy slathered all over his face. A milky, creamy substance dripped and splashed all over him. He shook his head, lifting his neck and sticking his tongue out for more. The woman skidded her ass across his tongue, and he swallowed as much of her pussy juice as he could.

The other men clapped. I didn’t know whether to clap or go untie the poor fellow. The hot whip lashed out again, slapping across one woman’s breasts. She stuck them out further, thrust her head back and crashed down on the dick even harder. Her mouth opened and a growl erupted. The shit sounded otherworldly.

As I cringed at the sound of more whipping and cracking against flesh.

Though the three people in bed winced and jerked, they seemed to… revel in it.

“What is this?”

“His third and final initiation. After this night, he shall own the world, and live for centuries.”

Readying my next question, I turned to Fallon. I fell right into the eyes I had so often tried to fight. They blazed now, yellow and orange tunnels that twisted like fiery, infinite worlds. Her skin faded into a sheet so white it became ashen gray. Those blazing worlds pulled me inside of them now, and took my soul somewhere else, blanketed with satins, silks, soft fabrics that surrounded me. Candles, tall arches and warm creams gave me comfort, ease, as I laid back in a long, flourishing house. I sat on a throne with tables of endless food, a breeze blew through open corridors, the ocean stretched forever, and many children sat in front of me. All of my opponents— every single person who had ever betrayed me or dissed me, even my old coaches— bowed down. My limbs floated in the weightless heaven of Fallon’s eyes. 

In my lifetime, I’d had weed and even tried a little ecstasy, but had never felt this amazing. 

“Sorry to disappoint you, Delano. I don’t need drugs.” 

Did she just read my…?

“Yes, I did,” she answered, interrupting my thoughts, dropping me out of her gaze. From the shock of the visions and screaming, breath had fled my body, and my lungs dragged in several deep breaths to fill themselves again. Too much bustled around me at one time. I felt naked and cold now, as if dropped in the freezing arctic with no love, no family, nothing. My breathing still labored, my chest convulsing in and out, I fought to readjust to the coldness of this world again. 

Goddamn. 

Whatever she had just done, I needed it back. “What was that?” I asked between breaths. “What did you just do? How did you do all that? Your eyes, your skin, all my… enemies…?” 

“I am not human, Delano,” she said. 

“How?” I asked.

“The Bond of Blood. Of vampires.” She paused and stared at me, for my reaction, I’m sure.

I didn’t disappoint. Still catching my breath, I stared back. Complete disbelief. Even though I had just seen it. Felt it. No. Just no. Stunned, I didn’t know whether to laugh or run. As her skin returned to normal, her eyes kept confirming to me it was real. I stammered, “You’re… kidding.”

“I am not. Three bites. Or three rounds of sex. Each one infuses you with more power and ability. After the third, you become a fully evolved vampire, a member of the Bond. Forever.”

“Ahhhh!” the man continued to scream only yards away from me.

“That is my faithful servant. He watches my global operations in shipping, manages my money and protects my wealth. He has taken my business and investments to heights our company hasn’t seen since before the Great Depression. Those women who pleasure him now, are completing his Culmination. They are my gifts to him. And they shall serve him, as his mates. Loyally. At his command. He will own houses and castles by the sea. Royalty shall honor him, fear him.”

“Those women are… gifts?”

“Yes. Perform. Take my team to the top. And you will receive gifts your own.”