Wolves and Men

“Very well, let us talk, Ansuya, as two people. If you’d like you may imagine a peaceful sunset setting from my native Italian landscape. A beautiful seaside sunset with the water on fire as the sun slips beneath the calm waves.”

The Elder looked at him and sighed, “I’ve always preferred a moonlit night, full of bright stars.”

Kenneth smiled, “Oh, yes I must have forgotten, you would be a little more predisposed to moonlit settings wouldn’t you?”

“As would you, vampire.”

Kenneth barely kept his rage in check. His hand twitched for want of using the taser on her again, but then again that might be exactly what she intended for him to do. He calmed down with some effort and smiled again.

“You know, I could keep going for several days down here. You might be expecting me to have to leave and sleep during the day? That’s not an accurate portrayal of my kind. We can go sometimes a month or more at a time without sleep. All we really need to do is avoid sunlight. Down here, sunlight can’t affect me in the slightest. Can you last even a week? I can see from here just how exhausted you are already,” Kenneth said.

Ansuya looked up at him and despite the dark circles under her eyes she held strength and a fire there that was admirable, even a bit shocking. After everything that had been done to her, she still held on to her defiance.

“I suppose,” replied Ansuya, “that you will just have to stay down here and find out.”

Kenneth jammed the rod in between the bars as he let his anger get the better of him. He watched her for a few moments before withdrawing. He would have to use his tools sparingly otherwise what reason did she have to talk? He let go of the rod and sat back in his chair with his hands steeped in front of his face, hiding his mouth and facial features.

He said, “You want to know what it is I want, right?”

Ansuya nodded her head once. “It would….make this…torture…have some kind of point…at least.” She said weakly.

Kenneth nodded. “I want your kind destroyed, to start with.”

Ansuya’s face held no shock or surprise at this. “To start with?” she asked.

Kenneth smiled, clever girl, but not clever enough. “Yes, to start with, Ansuya, and to do that I need to know where you live. So, if you would tell me that, this could all be over very soon. If you can’t tell me, well I’ll be content with a nice little scream from you, to start with.”

Ansuya looked up at the vampire and smiled. “Well, if that’s all you want, why didn’t you say so? My home is on a little square of a market place. It doesn’t really have an address but its right next to the merchant district in Calicut. We have a lovely two story home with 15 bedrooms, two full kitchens, five full bathrooms, and a few sitting rooms. It really is quite lovely.”

A shadow passed over her face as she was describing the house. There was truth in what she said but not the truth that he was looking for. “Ansuya, you may have lived in a home like the one you describe, but don’t take me for an idiot. Where do the werewolves live!” He sent another current through the bars. This time a small whimper did escape her lips but was quickly cut off as she grit her teeth together.

Kenneth stopped and sat back in his chair. “Well, Elder? I’m waiting?”

The beautiful brown woman took her time rearranging her clothes and repositioning herself in a more comfortable position. When she was ready, she looked back at Kenneth. “I would really like to help you, Kenneth. I would. But I’m very thirsty and my memory is all fuzzy. I can’t keep things straight in my head. Maybe if I had a glass of water, I might be able to help you.”

Kenneth smiled viciously. “You’re just stalling now.” He tased her once more. The woman was very strong, but the harder she tried to stop herself the more small noises escaped her lips. It wouldn’t be long now before she was howling with the pain. “Where do the werewolves live, Ansuya?”

The Elder spoke through ragged breaths, her dirty hair hanging in front of her face, “Go find it yourself, parasite!” she spat. There was a pause and a slumping of her shoulders.

Kenneth smiled down at her. Well, pain was a powerful motivator and her visage of strength and dignity was collapsing around her. “Really Ansuya? Reduced to name calling? I’m surprised.” He resumed his torture.

She was now whimpering as the voltage flowed all around her. Her back was spasming, her hair was burning, and her muscles were convulsing and tensing uncontrollably from the current and the pure white hot pain that came from it. There were even a few whimpers that escaped her lips. He removed the rod from the cage. She woman’s body slumped back. Her breathing was so harsh and ragged it almost echoed off the walls around them.

“I am a reasonable man, Ansuya. I hate to see a woman of your stature and beauty kept down here in a hole like this that I usually reserve for wolves and criminals. I hate seeing you endure all this pain. And for what? Your people have obviously abandoned you. Why else would they not be out actively looking for you? I have eyes and ears all over this city and they haven’t seen anyone that matches William’s or the other man who was with you the night.” He sat back and folded one leg across the other. “Surely you would like a bath and some food. You must be starving. I haven’t fed you much over the past week or so. All you have to do is point to a place on a map and all this pain will go away.” He glanced upward at the ceiling of his basement. “I have a hot tub that could be ready for you in five minutes so you could soak yourself and get cleaned up, if you wish. All I need is a location.”