Disclaimer: Vamps belong to Anne Rice, not me. I make no money from this.

Spoilers: Queen of the Damned

David crouched behind the couch, his lungs heaving under his tight harness. Aside from the leather straps winding around his body and his dog collar, he was utterly naked. He glanced down at his hands, still handcuffed, and jerked at the metal again.

"David! Oh, David, where are you?"

David froze in terror, listening as Marius stalked through the living room. He wished he could see where the Roman was, but if Marius saw him...who knew what might happen?

Wh-pash! David yelped and jumped into the air, his bottom stinging. He whirled and saw Marius grinning behind him, whip in hand.

"Found you! Now bend over!" He raised the whip menacingly.

"Eek!" David ran past Marius into the next room, hoping he could get away, when he suddenly tripped over something soft. He landed hard on the floor and looked behind him.

Armand and Daniel were wrapped together, their wrists and ankles handcuffed to each other in odd positions. Of course both were completely naked.

"David, help!" Daniel cried. "We can't get loose!"

"Don't listen to him!" Armand yelled. "He's mine!"

"Oh, David?" Marius chimed as he came in, but he stopped in wonder at the bound pair at his feet. "A present for me?!"

Armand looked up in terror at the whip. "Danny, roll with me!"

"I can't!" Daniel said. "We're too tangled!"

Wh-pash! Armand shrieked as the whip nailed his rear. Marius smiled and raised his arm again.

"Damn it, roll!" Armand and Daniel slowly started to move, but when Daniel's butt got lashed, they really picked up speed. Soon they were whizzing down the hall at breakneck speed.

"Slow down, slow down!" Daniel screamed.

Armand looked back and saw Marius running after them.

"Keep going, keep going!" Armand told his fledgling as they went up the stairs.

Meanwhile, David had found a phone and was rushing to dial the number. One ring...two...three...he could hear a vase break upstairs, the crack of the whip, and a howl...ten...fourteen--

"Hello, what in blazes do you want?!"

"Lestat, it's me, David! You have to help--!"

"David?! Merde, even when you're not here you interrupt us! Do you practice at this bad timing, or have you always been a nerd of a vampire?"

"Lestat, please, I need your help! Marius won't let me go, and he won't stop whipping me!"

"Good!"

"I've been wearing this harness for five days straight! He makes me wear it under my clothes and he keeps tightening it, and I've been in handcuffs for two days. Lestat, he's done terrible things to me."

"Oh?" This time Lestat seemed genuinely interested. "Like what?"

"He makes me get on all fours and act like a dog! He even puts a collar on me!" He paused as a window broke upstairs, and the ball that was Danny and Armand fell screaming to the ground and kept rolling. "He ties me to the ceiling and hangs things off of my nipples!" Outside he saw Marius jump down and chase the other pair. "He's tied me to a steel chair and started a fire under it, saying he wanted to toast my buns!"

"Oh...fire..." came another voice.

"What the...?" David asked. He heard Lestat shift around in his bed.

"Louis, get off the other line!"

David heard the other phone disconnect.

"Don't you have any respect for a private phone call?!" Lestat raged.

"But chere, you listen to mine all the time," Louis whined.

"That doesn't matter. Go get the fingerpaints. Now David, what were you saying?"

David, meanwhile, had been watching the chase in the front yard. Armand and Daniel had rolled behind a bush and waited for Marius to pass by, then made a break for the fountain. The Roman had turned around to fast, though, and for awhile the fountain was all that was between the fledglings and a discplinary whipping. Then Marius had jumped over the fountain and was now driving them back to the mansion. Wh-pash! Wh-pash! Wh-pash! "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"David!"

"Oh, um, here, Lestat. Please, you have to get me out of here!"

"What else has he done to you?"

"What?!"

"Well?"

"Uh...he's buried me up to my neck on the beach and made me watch him with Armand."

"Eww...what else?"

"He ties me to a post and puts make-up on me, and braids my hair, and makes me wear lingerie and stilettos,and sometimes he tosses me into the pool with a cement block chained to my ankle, just to watch me thrash."

"Wait, slow down, say that again...lingerie and what?"

"Lestat, are you taking notes?!"

"Well..."

Suddenly the phone was slapped from David's hand and slammed down on the receiver. David turned and found Marius in front of him, grinning wickedly. David made a move to run, and Marius grabbed the handcuffs, holding him still. With his other hand, he held the end of the whip and slowly drew it down over David's face, and David couldn't help but moan.

"Naughty slave," Marius whispered. "Trying to run?"

David shook his head. "Never."

"Never, what?" Marius smiled, giving David's rear a small lash.

"Never, Master."

Marius forced a rough kiss, pulling David by his harness, but the kiss over several seconds became gentle and sweet. Finally Marius backed away, and David fell breathless into his arms. Marius laughed and stroked his hair, then slung the youngster over his shoulder, heading for the nearest bedroom.

Just as he got to the door, though, Armand and Daniel came barreling through the hall and rolled right into them. Marius went backward and David fell on top of him, with Armand and Daniel squished on the bottom.

"Get off, you're flattening me!" Daniel screamed.

"Me too! Me too!" Armand cried.

Marius tossed David away and stood, hauling the vampire ball up into his arms, and then grabbed David's collar and hauled them all into the bedroom.

"Now," he laughed, "this is going to be fun!"

He threw Armand and Daniel onto the bed, and had just locked David to the iron chair when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Marius? It's me, Louis. How do you wash fingerpaint off once it dries?"

The End