went the more the bubbles came. The longer Amalie held her head under water the less the bubbles came. When they started trickling out slowly, she let go and took hold of Karen’s neck.

“I hope your smartass answers are done,” Amalie said before raising her head out of the water.

Karen gagged for oxygen as water went deeper inside her lungs. She began coughing loudly, desperately seeking to breathe clearly. Amalie’s hands moved again over her body, stopping at her waist. She helped Karen to sit up. Were it not for being held tightly, she would have fallen forward back into the water. Karen had caught her breath enough to speak when she was shook again by Amalie.

“Do you understand?” Amalie sternly said.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry you are such a bubble whore,” Karen barely had time to finish those words before being shoved back under water.

“OK bitch, tonight you die,” Amalie shouted as she repeatedly slammed her face onto the floor.

This time Karen found it difficult to hold her breath, and every time she hit the floor she sucked in more water. Water flooded her lungs at different times. Sometimes it occurred as her face impacted the floor. Sometimes it was when the woman raised her head up only inches from the bottom, only to slam it back down again.

Karen closed her eyes at first, but she found it difficult to know when she was going to hit the floor. She already learned when she felt her head move down it was going to happen; however, she could not stand the suspense of waiting for it. Her hands were clenched into fists, her body rigid as she fought this as best she could. This woman was incredibly strong. There was nothing Karen could do to prevent her death. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to do anything about it anyway. She wanted to die. She effectively drank her oxygen at this point. If she were a fish, all would be well, but she needed air to live. Wouldn’t be much longer she thought, before she would be dead. Drowning was a horrible way to go, second only to being burned alive. Those were her last thoughts as her eyes opened and she ceased to exist. Amalie had bounced on Karen’s back as she pounded her face into the floor until Karen had stopped breathing.

Raising Karen to her knees she pumped her stomach several times before turning her around and blowing into her mouth. She did this two more times before remembering that she should be pumping her chest, not her stomach. Several compressions and four breaths later Karen came back to life. Karen sucked in air once again until her coughing started. This time Amalie aided her by pumping her stomach as hard as she could without breaking her. Taking hold of Karen’s hair, Amalie raised her to where she was standing, and then higher. Every hair on Karen’s head screamed out in pain as the woman held her above the floor. Karen struggled until her gaze met the fiery violet eyes of her kidnapper.

“Yes, you are not playing around. I understand,” Karen gave in and stopped struggling.

Amalie kept her suspended until Karen again said she understood. Standing in front of her prize, Amalie returned a small smile to her face and leaned in for another kiss.

“Now, where were we?” Amalie seductively said before kissing Karen firmly.

Karen opened her eyes and tried to make sense of all this. It had nearly been a week since they found her. She had been on administrative leave ever since, which was standard operating procedure while one was being investigated. The goings on were still a mystery to her. Karen hoped she would remember more as time passed. Murders, disappearances, and kidnappings, all those and more happened on her watch. She was found naked walking the streets. Her partner Kaye was never found, along with half of the employees who were working that night. Their ambulance was left running and abandoned, and she could not explain any of it to the police or her liaison officer.

Truth be told, she remembered mostly everything as if it were yesterday, she just could not talk about it. It was the only condition that she had agreed to. Karen knew she was only safe as long as she kept the details to herself. Who would believe her, anyway? She would be locked up. Vampires were taboo and off limits for most sane, working professionals. It was rumored that vampires had friends