Turning Points

Suddenly Georgia heard a door open from another room, followed by nearing footsteps. She put her head up in hope of help or release or anything at this point. Despite all of her years in the foster system, she had never been violated. Some men had made passes at her, but she had been able to brush them off with her usual reserve and defense mechanisms. Now all she could do was sit curled up with her knees against her mouth, sobbing in torrents of silent tears, rocking back and forth.

To her shock, the brown-haired, blue-eyed man from the convenience store in St Louis entered the room. He surveyed the scene before his eyes and he apparently grew enraged. His anger was a living thing stalking the room. Josh came to his senses and cowered where he was sitting on the couch.

Martin turned to Georgia, with scarcely controlled rage and asked, "What happened here?"

She began, speaking slowly while trying to regain her shredded composure, "I was hitchhiking to Columbia and he picked me up, brought me here and raped me. I begged and pleaded for him not to, but he wouldn't listen."

"Is this true?" asked Martin blurred across the room with white rage, appearing suddenly before Josh.

The boy swallowed hard and looked up at the angry man with some emotion more profound than abject fear, hesitatingly he began, "Master, I couldn't help myself..." but then trailed off. Josh seemed to know that there was no appeasement.

Martin raged, "You seem to have misunderstood what I meant when I said 'pure and undefiled'.This will NOT go unpunished." He turned from the young man with a flashing eye and dismissive shrug then turned his attention to Georgia, half denuded and still sobbing.

His demeanor and voice softened as he spoke to her, "Will you allow me to help you now?"

The girl continued to collect the shards of her shattered composure and merely stared at him in disbelief. Mentally tumbling through the events of the last few days, Georgia could not begin to comprehend how she could be here or how this man, Martin Van-something-or-other, could be here too.

Martin tried to appear as honest and gentle as he could, "You do remember me, don't you? Such a strange coincidence that we are in this position, don't you think?" He was consider his best option at this point, keep her as a prisoner and turn her in a few weeks when she turned 18 or try to wash away her pain by turning her now.

Georgia looked up with reddened, tear-swollen eyes and replied slowly & sharply, "Yes I do, but this doesn't seem right somehow..." Though mentally drained, she kept up her physical guard as best she could. Josh, still cowering on the other end of the large sofa, simply watched.

"You are a very perceptive girl," said Martin, still pondering his course of action, "but then again, you always have been."

This struck a discordanct note within Georgia and she suddenly regained a measure of clarity.She looked at the man incredulously, "What are you trying to say?"

He looked squarely into her swollen face and simply stated, "I think you have an idea."

Georgia ran through the implications in her mind, "This is not a coincidence, is it?"

"The fact that you are here is no coincidence, though the circumstances we currently face are different than I had pictured," answered Martin, letting all pretense drop.

"How is it that I came to be here then, and what are your plans for me?" she asked, raising her now raw & still handcuffed wrist.

The pale, dark haired man glanced at Josh as though to will him to stay in place on the couch and spoke, "My dear, the story of how you came to be here is a very long one, but my plans for you remain much as they were, except for a slight alteration in the timeline."

Martin's demeanor had changed, Georgia could see clearly, but it was hard to qualify. The softness was gone, there was no pretense of concern anymore, which she found almost more comforting since those pesky emotions were removed from the equation. However, what little comfort she felt was offset by her captivity and knowing it was done by his hand. She also saw no way to escape.

Despite her left arm being handcuffed to the ring in the wall, Georgia unwillingly began to relax as her last physical reserves waned. Her mind and body, in their sheer exhaustion, . uncurled and she sank into the soft cushions of the couch. Looking at Martin, her voice resigned, she questioned, "How did I come to be here?"

He took a few minutes to compose his answer before beginning coolly, "My dear, you have been a project of mine nearly 13 years."

At this, Georgia shifted slightly from what was either mental discomfort or physical exhaustion, but said nothing. Martin noted it and guessed that the truth lay somewhere in the middle. He continued, “I first saw you when you were most likely 5 years old. Late one night you were sitting on the back step of a house in St. Louis County with a book on your knees, reading quite intelligently aloud to yourself. You had a level of self-composure and obvious intelligence that was quite uncharacteristic of one so young. It was then I chose you to be my greatest work.”

A little of Georgia's fire returned and she snapped, “Why do you speak of me like my feelings don't even count? And while you are taking credit for so much, I'd like to know what exactly you have done for me.”

With detached sarcasm and underlying triumph, Martin replied, “My dear, but for this most recent and regrettable event, I have orchestrated every circumstance in your life to bring you here to this moment and this place. I made sure your mother had a steady supply of money to buy the drugs that killed her at your side when you were 8. I made sure that every stay in a foster home was short so you would change schools as often as possible. I made sure that you would cling to no one but yourself, your own native intelligence. So you see, I have succeeded magnificently.”

“You have used every possible method to make my life a living hell and are happy about it? What kind of monster are you?!” screamed Georgia, sitting bolt upright on the couch now.

“You hit very near the mark, my dear,” he replied calmly.

“Do you murder children? Or do you just torture them?” she cried.

“Oh no,” Martin said, “I shape their lives and then offer them something that very few will ever wish for, completion in their perfection.”

Georgia, still sitting up, with voice still raised, “What kind of bullshit are you talking about?”

“Immortality, just as you are... perfect,” he replied.

“What the hell are you talking about?” she queried again, obviously angry and confused.

At this point, Martin decided that the time had come to complete the first stage of his project.The timeline wasn't ideal, but he knew no other way. He approached the girl and watched her shrink away from him in fear. Trying to reassure her gently, “There really is nothing to be afraid of.”

Georgia looked at him like he was mad, “What are you going to do to me?”

“Nothing that any of a thousand souls wouldn't willingly choose,” he said in reply.

“But you have given me no choice, apparently. How is that right or fair?” she asked incredulously.

Martin moved closer to Georgia and pulled her to her feet. She attempted to fend him off, but his raw power combined with her weakness made that impossible. He placed his arms around her firmly as she struggled and bent her head to one side and buried his fangs in her neck.

Georgia's blood soon began to flow into Martin's mouth and spill down onto her shoulder. At first she fought against him, but her resistance faded quickly as she seemed to resign herself to the sensations she was feeling. Very shortly however, she faded like a delicate summer flower.

Martin eased Georgia to the couch and worked very quickly. He spied Josh's pocketknife lying on the floor and seized it and slashed his left wrist. His blood began to flow rapidly and he put his wrist to her mouth. The first drops apparently had no effect, but moments later, Georgia began to moan and growl. As she took in more of his vital essence, she began to writhe wildly and her eyes suddenly opened. She had a look of intense anger suffused with pain filling her face as something drained away from her. She was fighting the handcuff encircling her left wrist which kept her attached to the ring in the wall. She seemed to be trying to reach Josh, still on the other end of the couch. Callously amused, Martin deftly produced a key and freed Georgia's wrist. She reeled and turned towards him but he turned her back towards her original target and she leapt on Josh with the ferocity of an animal. Her first meal in unlife was a messy affair, leaving his corpse drained and bloody, scratched and lifeless.