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Walking up to the second floor, Elizabeth said, "I know you don't really enjoy this, so I want to thank you in advance for humoring me."

"It's been a long time since there has been the time to enjoy anything, you needn't thank me," Sol said. It was true that he didn't enjoy playing Elizabeth's dressing game, but they had a different relationship now and on some level he missed her and her games.

Sol remembered watching as Sabastian fell so fluidly back into the game, helping her choose what to wear and what makeup to put on. It surprised him that it was possible after they hadn’t seen in each other in over a hundred years, not to mention the fact that Elizabeth was confronting Sabastian for a publicly exposed murder at the time. Sol noted that Sabastian was much better at dealing with Elizabeth than he, but he felt it would be nice to play for a little while, anyway.

When they got to her dressing room, she dropped her robe, revealing herself. Sol was shocked and couldn't help but say, "My God."

Elizabeth was relatively young when she was made and her body was firm and strong. She had a shapely figure and smooth, white skin. Like every time before, this is what Sol expected to see. This time, however, her body was marred by bites, scratches, cuts and bruises.

"Did this happen when you fought the Zionists? I can't believe John Paul would..." Sol asked, touching some of the marks.

"No," Elizabeth replied. "I wasn't even in the fight. This happened shortly before you arrived."

"Thomas did this to you?"

"Yes."

"But..."

"You know why,” she said. “He has to teach me a lesson or he loses face. It isn't the first time he's beat and raped me. It probably won't be the last."

"How can you let him..."

"He is more powerful than I, how could I stop him without being killed? Besides, he is my sire and I owe him so much.

"It's not as bad as it looks, I'll heal quickly enough. This is such a small cost for what he’s done for me."

"He has no right to..." Sol started, angrily, before Elizabeth broke in.

"No, he doesn't, but who is going to stop him? I can't. Nor could you."

"Sabastian," Sol said, still looking over his sire's marred body.

"You will not tell Sabastian!" she said adamantly.

"If you don't want help, why did you show me this?"

"So you know the danger of confronting Thomas. He is powerful and vengeful," Elizabeth said, walking over to Sol. He took her into his arms and she started to cry. Sol caressed her hair and cried with her.

Sobbing she said, "He knows how much my beauty means to me. So he violated my body. He left my face, Sol, so that he could hold something against me. So I would know that he could and would come back to inflict more pain if he wanted.

"I can't believe the things he said to me. He was so cruel. And he had that bitch Night watch. It was horrible."

"This was unnecessary, evil. He should be stopped," Sol said.

"Yes, but you will not do anything. I've shown you his handiwork because I know you. You feel betrayed, you want revenge. If you attempt anything, a worse fate than this awaits you."


[Copyright Reuben Gregg Brewer, 2005, 2006. All rights reserved.]
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