Loving Merritt Forever

Loving Merritt After 26

In a room that was luxurious and close to Levi but still too far away. Merritt left her vulnerable rest state and knew instantly she was not alone. There was a heart beat in the room. Clutching the covers around her naked body, abruptly sitting up in the bed, Merritt was shocked to see Rose sat naked on the foot of the bed. "Mistress wishes you to feed." The hollowed, empty human body said. Looking so frail to Merritt. She didn't want any part of causing more harm to physical body in front of her. Even if the mind had been stripped away, Rose had been a person at one point. Just like Merritt had been,

"I'm not hungry." Merritt saw something, almost like life flicker through the dead eyes of the woman in front of her.

"She will hurt you. Do it!" Rose nearly slammed her forearm into Merritt's mouth. Merritt was caught off guard, but she saw the spark of life, and saw it die, as Rose kept her arm wedged against Merritt's lips. Reluctantly, Merritt let her teeth extend. Taking a delicate taste of Rose's blood. Just one single swallow before releasing, licking the wound to help it heal.

Only for Rose to yank her hand back from under Merritt's tongue. "The worse it looks the better it will be." One last flash of life from the woman barely still inside her body before the mindless look once again took over Rose's eyes. "Get dressed, she is expecting you." Rose commanded with a voice that had no sign of life behind it. Merritt saw the single tear to steal free from the woman's eye.

Merritt put her hand against Rose's cheek, "Come back, if you can." feeling a spark as her physical connection to Rose broke. A flicker of terror and despair. Gone like a match that failed to burn, Rose was back to looking like a vacant husk so quickly Merritt was barely certain if she had seen anything or just wanted to see something. Merritt felt sick. This was awful, Not even her worst imaginings of what a person who had their mind ruined by a vampire could compare to seeing the truth.

Merritt dressed herself in jeans, and a comfortable loose top from her suitcase. Fashion sneakers she knew she could run in. Ready for anything Mary had planned now that Merritt was alone, fed and at Mary's mercy. Rose led Merritt to a part of the manor that had not been revealed the previous evening. There was a lot of light, just not a lot of windows. This home had been purpose built for vampires.

Mary, poised, ready and waiting for Merritt to arrive. "Did you rest well little dolly? Rose has little to offer but she can be enthusiastic when the time comes." There was so much left unsaid in the air between Mary and Merritt.

"Rose was a delight." Merritt answered. "Thank you for the hospitality in sending her to me." Hoping she was able to hide her actual disdain. Her desire to try and set Rose free. Set them all free any way she could. Dead was better than being a zombie lunch bag to a vampire. Merritt was acting with everything she had. Merritt was about to start small talk, when Mary interjected.

"I can't wait for you to meet him." Mary sounded dreamy, eyes in a gaze that was focused somewhere over Merritt's shoulder. In a slightly deranged way, Mary's head went from her day dream hazed eyes to snapping to sharp focus on Merritt. "He is going to be so happy." Something no longer seemed right about Mary. More than just the awful way she farmed people in this mansion.

"Who is he Mary?" Merritt asked. Already knowing her situation was going to be far worse before there was any hope of it getting better.

Waiting and knowing it was coming as Mary reverently breathed out, "The Master." Her eyes going glazed just the same as Rose's, Stagg's, Libra's all of them. No one in this house seemed to actually be capable of being themselves. Merritt got up from her chair, running at full speed for the door. It was night. She had until sunrise to get far far away. Call Levi. Beg forgiveness. Take any punishment. Never ever run away again.

Merritt hadn't even made it to the door before she felt the air in the room chill. Her demon making a terrified scream before going completely silent. Merritt threw open the door, running at full speed, was far from the house, when she heard a whisper on the wind. "I adore a hunt." Merritt could feel dark influence and magic around her, felt like she could hear the monster hunting her feign as though he needed to breathe. A gentle sigh, "Run fast Persephone."

Merritt was running as fast she could, No matter how fast her legs moved, no matter the distance, it felt like the monster was right behind her, ready to snatch her away at any moment. Merritt knew she was crying, looking like some kind of nightmare ghoul as she ran through the dark woods, blood tears streaming down her face. Branches hitting against her skin hard, breaking lashes into her skin as she ran through the woods.

Merritt was close to despair until. "Levi?" Merritt turned sharply, almost all the way to running back the direction she had just run. Merritt ran with everything she had, the feeling like dark tendrils were wrapping around her growing with every second. It felt like every step was growing harder and harder, a force much larger than herself tried to still her. Something her demon had already submitted to.

Merritt burst through the tree lines, bounding leaps like a deer, almost crashing into a rental car, large stickers from the airport Merritt had used just days ago on the windows. Brakes screeched as the car tried to instantly stop. Wheels locking up. The smell of burnt rubber pungent in the air as friction burned the tread away on the asphalt.

Levi had finally found Merritt, and nearly run her over in the process. He could feel her nearby, but between his own motion, and Merritt's recent movement, he was having trouble judging where she could be. Her rushing out of the tree like a startled doe was not what he had expected.

The unfamiliar rental car locked up, wheels burning away as Levi tried to control the car without crashing into Merritt. Her face was lined with red streaks from tears. "Levi!!" He heard her scream over the screeching of the tires. The car coming to an abrupt stop. Merritt was at the door before the car had completely stopped. Banging her fist on the window, wrenching at the still locked door. Begging to be let in. The car had stopped in the opposite direction than Levi had been driving in. Which was good because this road was a dead end with no exit in only another fifty kilometers or so depending on the branch taken. .

Levi opened the door and Merritt moved faster than he had ever seen her as she screamed "Drive!" at him, before breaking down and sobbing into her hands as Levi did as Merritt told him and floored the gas pedal under his foot.

Levi did his best to look at the road. While also looking at Merritt as she sobbed or screamed at Levi to drive faster over and over. The blood would be hard to explain away. Levi might need to crash this car, and encourage an ambulance driver to just submit some mildly misleading paperwork. Levi making his plans, while he tried to patiently wait for Merritt to come back to him. In mind and not just body.

Soon enough they were on a reasonable highway, straight, wide roads. Where Levi could safely drive as fast as he could and divide his attention enough to try and figure out what exactly he had rescued Merritt from.

"Merritt, You're safe now, I've got you. You are mine and safe." Levi looked at the sign on the side of the road, letting them know they should be well out of range for most things that could have made Merritt so afraid. Whatever it had been, Levi had not felt anything, so surely, it was nothing outside his abilities to manage.