I was standing in my appointed spot.

True to her word, every day I was assigned to add so-called aesthetic value to some corner of the leech's lair.

I was angry, but that was nothing new. I was also quite bored, but if the leech thought I was going to beg her to release me from this trial she had another thing coming.

There hadn't been even a single person go by for at least ten minutes. It seemed that she, or more likely her minions had deliberately chosen the least active spots to make this feel as long as possible.

Rotating my shoulders, I adjusted myself more comfortably against the wall and folded my arms in front of me.

Instead of allowing this to be a complete waste of time, I reviewed what I had seen of her lair thus far and tried to spot the weaknesses.

As much as I hated to admit it, she, or more likely one of her slaves, had a flair for ensuring that every possible angle was covered. There were well fortified exits in the walls facing out towards the four directions, the main gate being at the southern end of the area. I had watched the guards and I doubted they even blinked at the same time.

Even if there had been no watchful humans carefully guarding every corner, I had seen signs that there was a higher concentration of ancient human style tech here than was usual in our world. Most of the remnants of the world from before the vampires had pushed humans to their knees were in the bloodsuckers' possession.

The previous world had been taken from us and now we existed on the scraps they dropped, or what we managed to scrape out from the natural world. It was infuriating.

I gritted my teeth again. I would wear my molars down to the gums if I was not careful.

Footsteps sounded down the corridor. I stiffened and stared straight ahead.

A male voice broke the silence. "Can't you at least give me a hint, Vienne?"

"Not a chance." I recognized her voice like it was burned into my mind. "That was not part of our deal."

"You just like toying with me."

My thoughts from his mouth.

"Obviously," she agreed along with that annoying, self-satisfied laugh I heard so frequently whenever I was inflicted with her presence.

The footsteps paused.

"Why is there a human just standing here as if he's frozen?" the unfamiliar voice said, identifying the speaker as another leech.

My eyes snapped over as if of their own accord to see its face. Black hair, but the face was wrong, the nose was too thick, the cheeks too high, the eyebrows too flat. Not the leech I was searching for.

"I discovered the new human I bought was near useless so I decided to use him as decoration," she explained as if the answer was obvious and I were really no more than an object in the halls.

"Really, Vienne? Stop messing with the poor man," the other leech said, surprising me.

"Why?" she asked with her patently false guise of innocence.

It just looked at her, eyebrows raised.

She drew out her response slowly. "Fine."

I caught a flash of fang and she rolled her eyes at the leech beside her. "I'm only doing this because you're such a pitiful bleeding heart, because you're annoying me, and because I was boring of his statuary performance anyway. Seriously, Drak, how in the world do you live like this? Poor human this, poor human that? It's frankly pathetic and it must get woefully dismal."

This new leech grinned at her outburst, completely unabashed by her criticisms.

I might have liked the guy before he had been turned into a monster.

She turned her head to me and caught me watching. No point in pretending I had not been. I stared straight at her, not giving an inch. She smiled as she kept her gaze level with mine.

I was not going to break eye contact first.

"Jamie, you're relieved from duty. Leif'll let you know what your next task is when it comes to me. For now, go, I don't know, train or something."

"Yes, Bloodsucker," I agreed, mindful of my deal with Stump to not call her a leech anymore. Still, I did not move.

I almost regretted my words as her smile grew into a grin. Did she truly like it when I called her such things?

"Come on, Drak."

With one more aggravating smile she looked away and they continued past me, the male leech shooting me what might have been a sympathetic glance. "You never change, do you?" he asked her.

"No, and you're welcome. I'm sure the consistency is most comforting to you, besides, I'm so close to perfection already the odds are any change I make would move me further away from the ideal."

I forced myself to unclench my jaw as they moved away.

* * * * *

After the leeches were gone, I did go work out, but only because I had begun to notice that all the forced training on the various machines in conjunction with added nutrition was making something of a difference in my condition. I could lift more weight. I could run for longer on the treadmill.

It wouldn't hurt me in the slightest to have more speed and strength the next time I staked a leech and dragged it out into the sun to shrivel into a pile of ash.

Once I found my way out of here.

Still, it did not feel quite as urgent for the moment. First, I wanted to get a look at the database Stump had mentioned. The sort of information about the three visitors I had read and reread while I had been waiting for them to leave could very well be the difference between success and failure when I finally found that dark-haired demon bloodsucker from my memories.

Hell, if information about it was in her database, that might be the difference between whether I found my quarry or not. Every time I went into a situation on some vague tip, it ended up as more trouble and all for nothing. I could spend my entire life searching out each black-haired leech I heard rumours of and never find him.

The information had been sparse but specific on the papers Stump had given me: the location of their lairs, their usual habits, such as the fact that the three were scarcely ever apart from each other, that they had been sired during what was termed the human suppression wars, and that they tended to be strict when dealing with their slaves.

The last part caught my attention, because all vampires were harsh when dealing with humans. Even the leech who currently held me, while she had not yet physically harmed me beyond restraint and containment, treated me as if I were merely an object which existed solely for her amusement.

If she was the better sort of vampire, I could only renew my desire to see these creatures destroyed down to the final one.

If only I could find a way to convince Stump to let me look at the information without the need to ask the monster for permission.

Maybe I could simply track his movements, pay attention to where he would go to discover where such information was kept, and steal it for myself before I sunk to the level of begging for a favour from my captor.

* * * * *

I was sitting and eating breakfast mercifully alone the next day, when Leif came up to me, along with four other humans behind him, Rocky and Blondie, and two others I did not know. "I need you to come with us, if you're finished."

I slowly and carefully finished eating, intentionally making them wait as long as possible. I'm sure they knew what I was doing, but Leif simply waited patiently.

Standing up, I asked casually, "So, where are we going?"

"You need a brand, it's been put off too long."

"No thanks, I'll pass," I said and tried to walk past them.

One of the unknown men grabbed my arm as I walked by and without conscious thought, I brought my elbow up to slam him in the jaw.

He swore and loosened his grip, but before I could try anything else, Rocky wrestled my arms behind my back. I could not get momentum to break free from his hold.

Leif's voice was weary. "You can't beat us all, so just cooperate. We don't want to have to force you."

Rocky's ridiculous strength seemed almost enough to do the job alone.

"Sure seems like you don't want to force me." I hoped they caught my sarcasm.

"Think what you will."

"Oh, I will. Leech loving traitors."

Leif ignored me. "Are you going to walk willingly, or should we carry you?"

Neither option pleased me. "I'll walk."

Rocky let me go, but I was outnumbered. I could hold my own against any one of them, even Rocky if I had room to manoeuvre, but with five against me I had little chance of gaining my freedom.

What would even success bring me except temporary relief? Probably amusement for the leech, or she might be angry force me herself.

I had no illusions that I was stronger than the bloodsucker. The leeches had that on us humans, if nothing else. It was technique and surprise that had allowed me to overcome bloodsuckers in the past.

Right now, I was cornered. I began to walk beside Leif, but I kept my face blank as I did.

The halls were quiet except for the sound of footsteps as I was taken to be marked as a possession. I could barely contain my fury and perhaps even my dread of what was to come.

Though I did not relish it, I wasn't afraid of the pain of my flesh being seared and neither was I afraid of what the leech could do to me. I did not know from where the fear stemmed, but I pushed it back ruthlessly.

If she thought that this would bring me to my knees, she was dead wrong. One day I would stab her in the same place she branded me.

"I don't like this any more than you do," Leif said, his voice solemn.

I did not bother to respond to him. He could go to hell for all I cared about his preferences.

"It's bad enough that you've been wandering around unbranded this long, but the recent guests brought that into sharp focus. Do you have any idea how serious it would be if someone discovered that the Mistress has unbranded slaves a month after purchase?"

Sounded more like an opportunity than a problem from my perspective.

We reached a door that did not stand out in any way from the others lining the halls. "Where do you want it?"

I smiled coldly. "Right over my heart."

* * * * *

As we entered the room, Trisha came out, helped along by a man and a woman who I did not recognize. She looked shaky and her eyes were red and she did not meet my eyes as she passed.

I had not seen her much since I had been trapped in the leech's lair, because the few women were kept largely separate from the men. Trisha looked both more robust, yet more demoralized at the same time.

The change in her hurt, but this damn marking on my skin would mean nothing to me ultimately except as a map of where to stake every leech that I encountered.

The room I was brought into was rather stark in contrast to the opulence of the rest of her lair. I was prepped and shackled to the wall and then restrained for the first time since I had arrived.

I forced down the urge to struggle against my bonds, because there was no way out.

Blondie had been oddly silent during the time they forced me here, but he finally broke the silence. "I know how it is, but it's not as bad as you think."

I kept my teeth clamped shut. He had no idea how lost he was in the leech's manipulations.

One of the unknown leech lovers was working with his back to me and I could not see what he was doing until he swung around with a long piece of metal, the tip glowing red.

A moment later, my flesh was seared so hot my mind could barely understand what was occurring. There was a strangled animalistic sound that must have come from me. My mind finally caught up with the pain flowing into the spot, screaming at me, warning of the terrible damage to my skin and telling me to move away from the damaging instrument, though bound as I was I had nowhere to go.

Then the metal was gone, but the damage remained. My heart beat with my fury under the blazing pain. I was going to take the branding iron and shove it straight through the leech's chest one day.

They did not release me right away, probably afraid I would lash out.

"You calm now?" Leif finally asked. His voice was composed, almost casual and it pushed at my temper.

I would never be calm about this, even after the throbbing pain finally faded, but if my release was dependent upon keeping my cool, I could maintain it. "Yes."

The shackles were released, the bonds were loosened and I was free to at least move again.

"The Mistress gives recovery time after the procedure, so we'll help you to your room so you can rest."

My legs felt shaky, but I propelled myself onwards. I was relieved when I got to the familiar door where I slept.

I dropped down to the bed, trying not to look like I was collapsing. The burn throbbed in my mind, both the pain and my absolute fury that the leech had dared to have me branded. Other than the leech in my mind's eye, I had never wanted to kill one more than I did in that moment.

Lucas was the only one who stayed with me. "Listen, here's a bowl of cold water and a cloth. You're going to want to keep cooling the burn. It'll heal faster that way."

I ignored him, staring off into the corner like I was alone in the room. I did not care about the pain, at least not enough to show weakness in front of one of the leech's human traitors.

When I finally heard him leave, I reached for the bowl and began to do as he had suggested.

A short while later, there was a knock on the door. I stayed quiet and the door opened a crack. From the corner of my eye I saw a woman come into the room who was obviously not the leech because her hair was blond instead of black like the monster's.

Turning my head, I recognized her as one of the assistants from my forced physical. She carried a load in her arms and set it down on the bedside table.

"I'd ask how you are, but I already know. Or maybe not? I passed out when mine was done." She indicated the scarred flesh on her upper arm. "I'm just going to dress your wound, okay?"

"Fine."

She kept talking as she set her supplies on the bedside table and arranged them neatly before starting. Her hands were gentle as she applied some sort of salve to the red angry flesh on my chest. A part of me wanted to relax under her touch.

"I know it hurts, but it's worse than that, huh? But it'll feel better in time, I promise."

The pain would fade, but not the memory and not my anger. The damn leech had left its permanent mark of ownership in my flesh. Was this better or worse than its fangs?

"This should keep you safe from other vampires. They typically respect each others' property rights and our mistress does not share willingly."

"When's the last time she fed from you?" I was stupid to let this woman's kindness get to me, but it had somehow gotten under my skin. Did she remind me of my mother, or had it just been too long since I had simply existed around other humans? Even among the other free humans I knew, there had seldom been time for anything beyond the shallowest interactions. I'd always been looking for more information, more leads, never just experiencing companionship with others.

I didn't need the weakness.

"Oh, let's see? I think I gave her blood something like a year ago, it's hard to remember. There're a lot of humans here and the mistress does have her favourite feeders. The rest of us rotate."

I had certainly seen her favourites and she had made no secret she wanted me amongst their number. The woman taped gauze to my chest over the ointment. She seemed relatively unguarded, almost like Melissa had been. Perhaps I could get some more information from her.

"How many slaves does she have?"

"Oh, I think about two hundred here, give or take. The number fluctuates quite a lot."

Her matter of fact comment about population fluctuation was chilling.

"By how many?"

She considered. "Well, maybe a few dozen a year?" Then she met my eyes, her own widening at the expression I'd failed to hide. "Oh, that's not the only cause of the fluctuation. Our mistress maintains a number of industrial production sites and humans get sent to wherever she thinks they will best be utilized, and more people are also brought in over time."

My mind wandered through the new information. "So when she bores of her slaves, she sends them off to the factory?"

"Not exactly like that."

Again, her calm acceptance of the situation was unnerving.

"Do you ever see them again?"

She paused. "Once in a while. But not usually, because they have their purpose where they are, I'm sure."

She stood up and gathered her things while my mind whirled through what she had told me. At best, discarded slaves were sent off to labour until they died. At worst...

I could not even decide what could be the worst, because after every imagining, a new horrific image of the sickening possibilities sprung up to take its place. Perhaps this was why these humans tried so hard to suck up to the leech as a desperate attempt to avoid being sent away.

"Well, you're all done. I'll be back to change your dressing later, we don't want you getting an infection."

"Thanks," I said absently, my mind still reeling from both remembered and imagined horrors of the leeches.