Page 15 of Inhuman Natures #1

She had the telltale double incision on the inside of her wrist where Lawrence had bitten her. Judging by her ashen skin, he’d taken more blood than in normal circumstances. Shaun wouldn’t be able to feed from her at all, lest he inadvertently act on Lawrence’s will.

Shaun might be able to move around the room, but he was far from free.

All Shaun knew was that he wouldn’t kill the woman, and he wouldn’t let Lawrence do it either. But if he didn’t get out of the basement soon, he doubted either he or the woman would live to see another night.

He went back to the wall, tugging on the chains embedded in the stone. He’d been working on them ever since they’d moved to Brighton a few years earlier. Even at his strongest, it would be a challenge to pull them out. Of course, he was never at his strongest when in the basement.

He examined the link closest to the wall. Degraded, but not overly so. Not enough for Lawrence to have noticed.

Shaun glanced at the woman. With fresh blood, he’d have more strength to break the chains. He knelt beside her, checking each of her wounds. The blood on her head had clotted, sticking to her hair in congealing lumps. Not ideal, but it was all he had.

He offered a quiet apology to her before scraping the dried blood from her head.

It didn’t come close to the sensation of drinking warm blood straight from the vein.

Only the knowledge that he needed it had him persevering.

It was almost devoid of flavour, which was a small blessing, but the texture left much to be desired.

Once he’d choked down all he could stomach, hating himself every time he touched the woman, he hurried to the wall, keen to put the memory of what he’d just done behind him.

He paused for a few seconds, straining to hear if Lawrence was coming back down the stairs. The basement had soundproofing, but you could tell when someone was right outside the door. Shaun only heard the faint sound of the woman’s heartbeat, however.

He grabbed onto the weak link in the chain and yanked, sending puffs of dust into the air. Metal ground against metal as he pulled with all his might. Again and again, he pulled, then stopped, listening each time for movement on the stairs.

Eventually, and unexpectedly, it gave. Shaun fell backwards with a jolt, landing on his backside, the broken chain in his hands. He stared down at it in shock, then let out a startled laugh. He hadn’t truly trusted it to work.

As he composed himself, he considered his next move. No matter what, he needed Lawrence to think, even for the shortest length of time, that Shaun had followed his orders and killed the woman.

Lawrence would know she was alive within seconds of being in the room. But she just needed to look dead for long enough for Shaun to gain the advantage.

In the end, he chose shock value. He tore into his own arms, dripping the lethargically flowing blood over the woman.

He painted a macabre picture on her skin until she was drenched in red.

It left him light-headed, his arms barely healing.

The impression it gave would hopefully be distracting enough to even someone as indifferent to violence as Lawrence.

Because Shaun was out of options, and this was his last stand.

“Master, Master, please. Let me out! I can’t be here with th-the body.

” Shaun choked on his words. Perhaps playing a role for over a decade had improved his acting skills.

“ Please forgive me.” Okay, so maybe that was laying it on too thick, but Lawrence loved nothing more than him begging and repentant.

He even let loose a few tears, which weren’t all that hard to conjure when he thought about all he’d endured over the past few days.

He banged on the door, hoping the racket would hurry Lawrence up. “Please, Master, I’ve done what you told me.”

Lawrence made him wait. After what felt like an age, Shaun heard Lawrence’s light footsteps as he neared the door.

Shaun readied himself. One chance was all he had.

As Lawrence walked into the room, momentarily distracted by the sight of the woman covered in blood, Shaun sprang. He timed his jump perfectly, landing on Lawrence’s back and throwing the chain around his neck.

As Lawrence tried to pull the chain away, his claws scratched deep scores into Shaun’s forearms. When Shaun tightened his grip, Lawrence lumbered backwards, smashing them both into the wall so hard that Shaun’s head cracked against the stone.

If he were still human, he had no doubt he’d be dead from the blow.

Even as his vision blurred, he held firm.

All he had to do was break Lawrence’s neck. He hadn’t thought it would be this difficult.

Shaun’s back screamed in agony as it scraped against the wall, reopening the unhealed wounds Lawrence’s whip had left. Gritting his teeth, he forced Lawrence’s head up into an unnatural position.

Lawrence screeched as Shaun pulled harder until there was a sharp snap. Then, silence.

Lawrence went limp, dropping them both to the ground.

Shaun moved as quickly as he could. He wasn’t sure how long Lawrence would be out, but it wouldn’t be long. Running to the woman, he scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder.

He deposited her on the sofa in the living room before running to his room to dress. He could hardly run around the city all bloodied and naked.

When he came back downstairs, he wrapped her in a blanket, relieved when she stirred. Concerned she still might die, he ran them to the closest hospital. The numerous wounds his body sported slowed him down, but he managed to stay out of sight of any humans.

By the time he laid the woman down near the hospital entrance, she was awake. She looked up at Shaun with a mix of horror and revulsion and then passed out again. He hoped someone would find her soon.

He retreated to the closest park, hiding in the shadows as he watched the lightening sky. Leaning against a tree to keep himself upright, he wondered where the hell he was supposed to go now that he couldn’t go back to Lawrence.

Maybe he should just let the sun take him. It would be a far quicker death than Lawrence would grant him.

Before he had time to decide, a weight crashed into him, throwing him off his feet. He twisted on the ground to see Lawrence swinging a fist at his face. Shaun threw up a hand, blocking the blow.

Lawrence bared his fangs in a snarl. “I’m going to make you regret you were ever born.”

Shaun tried to buck Lawrence off where he’d pinned him down, but Lawrence was so much bigger. Despite the dire situation, the urge to fight—to survive —rose in Shaun. If he was going to go down, he’d go down fighting.

Lawrence scraped his talons down the side of Shaun’s face, close to his eye. In retaliation, Shaun dug his claws into Lawrence’s neck, right over the chain-bruised skin. Lawrence had recovered fast, but he’d still be vulnerable there.

With a cry, Lawrence jumped backwards off of Shaun, pressing his hand to his bleeding throat. “You’re such a disappointment, Shaun.”

Shaun got to his feet. Exhaustion clung to him, but he ignored it as best he could. “Fuck you.”

Lawrence snorted. “I doubt you’ll be saying that when I rip you limb from limb.”

Shaun chanced a look at the skyline. “Well, you better get a move on. It’ll be light soon.”

Lawrence hesitated. “One day,” he said. “You get one day’s reprieve and then I’m coming for you.”

“I’ll be gone by then,” Shaun said, trying to goad Lawrence into staying outside for longer .

“I’ll see you tonight.” With that, Lawrence sprinted off.

Shaun did the same, not knowing where his feet were taking him until he sped down a familiar street. He had only a matter of minutes. So, decorum be damned, he ran right up to the door and pressed the buzzer for the flat on the second floor.