Beaten but not Broken

[aubrey]

With a sigh of frustration a pale hand slammed the tablet down onto the night stand. Xavier had cluttered a small part of her bedroom with reading material. Tablets, books, scrolls and etchings now covered her floor. She ran her hands over her face. It was interesting, but horrible at the same time. She picked up on of the etchings. The man was being tortured. There were several sets of arms whipping him, beating him and even feeding from him at the same time. She put it down and covered it with a book. It made her think of Xavier.

She slinked out of bed and stretched her arms up. She caught a glimpse of herself in her large mirror. One wonderful part of being a vampire entailed that you get to wake up each night looking perfect. She ran her hands over her black nightie. It had been a gift from Xavier. He had brought it home to her after he had been out of town. It was soft and silky. She liked it. She had wanted to wear it for Shaden, but Xavier would have smelled him on it. She wouldn't feel that way if Xavier would let her wear it for him.

Xavier had been showering her with gifts. This one in particular had been given to her because of his absence, and because of the massive beating she had received before he left. He had even went as far as sleeping with her some days. He was always gone before she woke up, but he was much older than she was. He didn't need to sleep all the way until nightfall.

She curled back into her bed. Her thoughts drifted away to Shadens house. It wasn't anywhere near being this immaculate, but it was wonderful none the less. The thought of their time spent in his bed made a soft blush come to her cheeks. She snuggled into the bed and smiled. She picked up one of the tablets. It was focused on The Black Nail Coven's torture methods. She shut it as soon as she reached the first picture.

Xavier had a torture room. He took her there to be punished when she didn't follow through with his every plan. If people had to come over once a week to change out his bloody carpet, they might start asking questions. She threw the book in disgust. It hit the wall with a loud 'THUMP'. Great. Xavier would come in now, he was most likely already on his way.

He had been cautious around her lately. Aubrey was afraid on several different occasions that he knew about where she had been going. He never breathed a word about it. Maybe he would come in with a new gift. She was always more obedient when he gave her gifts. She wanted him to know she appreciated it. She would show him gratitude in another way, but he never seemed interested.

[xavier]

The door to her room eerily opened with no one on the other side. A chilling wind crept through the open doorway and a necklace was draped around Aubrey's neck. Beautiful onyx stones and a large onyx rose like pendant hung in the front. Aubrey had been doing alot of studying lately. As the weeks rolled on, it seemed she became more and more obedient and loyal. However, every now and then he had smelled and eerie scent on her that was vaguely familiar, he didn't speak much about it. If Aubrey left without Xavier's permission, it would just be enough to fuel him for when she is punished the next time.

I hope you like it.

His soft voice echoed beautifully through the walls of the room. His eyes gazed at the back of her neck and his light breath tickled the back of her neck to where he could see the hairs lightly picking up. He walked out from behind her, wearing a usual tight shirt and black pants. No matter how old he was, Xavier had to stay up to par with the latest fashion so he wouldn't draw any attention.

How is your research going? Good, I hope. We are going to be turning people fairly soon, and you need to read all of these passages if you are going to want to do it correctly. Any idiot can have fangs and black nails, however it takes a highly intelligent, highly trained and highly powerful vampire to be a member of The Black Nail Coven.

[aubrey]

Her hand curled around the pendant. "It's beautiful Xavier, thank you." She smiled and traced his cheek with her free hand. She hadn't even been punished lately and he brought her a gift. Aubrey curled up to him, picking up the newest book he had given her. "This is the last one you brought me and I finished it before i went to sleep."

She plucked one of the etching tabs and started to flip through it. "Xavier, why are they so brutal?" Xavier had told her many times that he was going light on her punishments, she never believed him until he started bringing her books. She pointed to one. There was a woman strapped down to a chair. Coven members were eating from her. Not just drinking blood, but removing chunks of her flesh from her body.

Reasons like this was why humans should be terrified of vampires. She sighed and flipped through the other pictures. They were all the same. Evil, terrifying, and relentlessly brutal. She had been showing Shaden some of the things Xavier was giving her to read. He hadn't wanted to see very much. She thought of him and sighed. She wouldn't be able to sneak out tonight.

She pushed the book away and shrunk against Xaviers form. He was too beautiful for his evil disposition. "When we start turning others...does that mean that I have finished training?" She hoped so. Xavier told her that he could show love to her after she was broken in. She should have been grateful that he already was by not doing these terrible things to her. He had made her torture others though.

It had been difficult, and she spent two nights tucked away at Shaden's as a result, but she had done it. Done it for Xavier. She positioned herself to sit in his lap. She grazed her teeth over his arm. "Can't we take a night off and do...not Black Nail things?" She nipped at his neck softly. "I could work double hard tomorrow and make up for it." She held an inward hope, but she didn't expect him to submit to her. He hadn't even noticed she was wearing his nightie. He hadn't even complimented her, that was a bad sign.

[xavier]

Good...

His voice was soft and pleasant, not a tone of hoarseness or anger, simply soft and sweet. His eyes lingered around her body, and then they snapped back at her face. He smiles and rubbed his hand softly across her leg. Then she asked the question, what were The Black Nail Coven's reasons for their brutality. The answer was simple but hard to explain. At that moment, flashbacks of darkness and blood scattered across his mind as they always did and he looked back at Aubrey.

If you have a child, slightly aged but not an infant, and you never taught him right from wrong, he would not know what it meant. Therefore, if someone tells him he is wrong, he will simply agree, yet go back to his old actions. If you beat the child once and never beat him again, eventually he will return to his old habits, if you beat the child 3 times, He will do anything he wants behind you back, knowing that another beating is possible. However, if you beat and punish the child constantly, for years and years even over the lightest of mishaps, the child will continue to obey and live in strict order, even after the beatings have stopped some time ago.

He said looking at the ground the entire time. Those were the ancient methods of The Black Nail Coven, and they worked, even to this day. Xavier then looked at Aubrey, she had taken a dozen beatings already, she had been held from feeding and placed in complete isolation for days at a time. Already, she was showing signs of loyalty and respect.

Your training will never be over, as a member of The Black Nail Coven, you will always be training, you just will not know it. With that said, we can never stop your growing and maturing, however..we can take a slight break..and go out later than usual.

[aubrey]

Aubrey would have pouted at his first comment, but promises of being able to take a break made her happy. She kissed him softly and jumped up off the bed. She set to organizing her books and literature. She didn't want it to be sloshed about.

When she finished she grinned at him. "What I wear depends on where you would like to go." She slipped out of her nightie. It fell in a crumple around her ankles. She stood in front of him only wearing her newest gift. "So I am going to go take a shower. You should let me know what you decide."

She smiled coyly at him and sauntered into the bathroom. I didn't take long before you could hear running water. She left the door ajar. It was a silent invitation.

[xavier]

Xavier took a refreshing sigh as her lips pulled away from his and watched as she strolled around the room with no clothing. He watched her as she slipped into the bathroom and smiled as he heard the running water. As she shut the glass door to the shower, Xavier's grin slowly dipped into a dark, mysterious expression.

He arose from the bed and picked up several of her clothes that she had been wearing over the past few days. He filled his senses with the strange, aroma. It was too familiar to be just a fluke. Xavier then searched through the convexes of his mind, desperately trying to justify what he knew was imminent. Aubrey was going out behind his back to see someone he didn't want her too. At that very moment, his eyes struck to his display that rested in the upstairs hallway, he moved towards it as if he had no control over his own body.

His sharp, ice blue eyes scanned over the dazzling, lighted display of weapons and prizes and then his eyes met the blade, the combat knife that he had been using to slice up those insignificant fools that night. Slowly, Xavier opened the door at the scent had already hit him, the last person he had cut with the knife was that lackey that Massimo owned, Shaden. The scent of the blade and of her outfits were almost and exact match. A sense of accomplishment and anger swept over him, however, he kept his rage at bay.

Xavier could have very well, walked into the Bathroom and butchered Aubrey to nothing but shreds, however he had something else in mind..something..

Beautiful.

[aubrey]

She walked back into the bedroom wrapped in her luxurious gold towel. She didn't know where he had run off to. She was too excited to even care that he hadn't followed her into the shower. She rummaged through her closet, looking for something to match her gift.

After finding an outfit she sat in front of her vanity mirror and primped. When she was finished she smiled into her reflection. Her hair fell in soft curls around her shoulders. She wore light makeup, she didn't need much after being turned. She stood up and pulled on a pair of black lace panties. She followed it with a matching strapless bra.

She stepped out of her bedroom wearing a black strapless top and dark jeans. She matched with knee high boots. The idea of it was simple, but she look rather nice. She even managed to find a pair of earrings to match her necklace.

She found Xavier standing in the hallway. He was holding a knife and had an odd gleam in his eye. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed the side of his neck. "I wanted you to come to the shower with me." She pouted and bit softly into his neck. Not even hard enough to draw blood. "Is what I'm wearing okay?"