said.
“Thanks, Judy.”
Judy gave her brother a pleased look and climbed in behind Amber. “I’m glad you’re going with us. I can’t wait to get a dog!”
“I just know you’ll love her,” Amber encouraged, finding Judy’s enthusiasm catching. “I know I’m really happy with Star, so far.”
“Only bad thing is,” Paul said, glancing at Amber, “is that he likes Mr. Lodovico, too. I was kind of hoping he’d want to rip Mr. Lodovico’s … well…privates off.”
“Paul! That’s not nice!” Judy was aghast. Then to Amber, apologetically, “He’s afraid Dorian’s after you.”
“I see…” Amber said, not letting on that she’d already had that one hashed over.
“She only has eyes for you, Paul. Get used to it!” She beamed at Amber. “Am I right?”
Amber could see no other out than to agree with her. “Only for Paul.”
“See there! Now quit worrying!”
Paul kept his focus on the road. “Sometimes you talk too much, Judy.”
Amber chuckled. “It’s okay, Paul…Really.”
He glanced at her, then back at the road, and let out a sigh of exasperation.
If only you knew! She still wondered where the feelings of deep guilt had gone. She just didn’t seem to have them. Wasn’t normal.
It was bedtime by the time Paul dropped Judy off at home with Bebe and then took Amber to her house. He pulled in the drive and glanced at the digital clock on his dash.
“It’s after ten. Guess we stayed at Jerri’s longer than we thought. Kind of hoped we’d have some time together when we got back. But…Honestly. I just realized that I am really tired…more so than I would have expected. But…we didn’t get a lot of sleep last night,” he noted with a jaunty grin. “So, if it’s all right with you? I think I’ll call it a night.”
“Fine with me, Paul.” She went to open her door.
“Wait! I can at least walk you to the house. I’m not that tired.” He jumped out and came around and let her out, once more looping his arm through hers, and escorting her to the door. There, he waited until she unlocked her door and he saw Star waiting there for her to come in. He kissed her quickly, said goodnight and returned to his truck. He was pulling out of the drive by the time she reached her bedroom.
She had showered earlier before Paul had picked her up, so she decided to skip taking another and quickly dressed for bed. Once in bed, she laid there, Star at her feet again, wondering what had happened to her sense of guilt. After a while, visions of Dorian took over and she fell asleep dreaming of him.
Nine:
Klaus knocked on Dorian’s door around eleven. Dorian swung the door open. “What’s up?”
“Thought I’d pay you a little visit.”
Dorian stepped aside, not really crazy about his new vampire friend, but he didn’t desire to be his enemy either. “Come on in…I’ll get you a beer.”
Klaus smiled amiably. “Was hoping you’d offer.”
Dorian led him over to the bar and told him to take a seat while he pulled a bottle out of the refrigerator and sat it before him. “Again…what’s up?”
“Just what I came to ask you,” Klaus said, his smile turning to a quizzical stare.
Dorian thought about what Klaus might mean for a minute, and then he realized what it was. A slow wry grin came to his face. “Oh! You mean the Hispanic man I didn’t quite finish.”
Klaus nodded slowly. “Uh-huh…Thought you didn’t want to bring attention to yourself? And…unless one of the other vampires is moving in even closer…I knew it had to be you, friend. Cause…” he leaned in closer to Dorian who stood just in front of him on the opposite side of the bar. “I didn’t do it.”
“Guilty!” Dorian took his stool. “Normally…I am much more discrete…But I was a little…pissed the other evening. Sometimes have trouble controlling my temper.” He sat down. “You know what its like.”
“Not unnatural for our kind.” Klaus took a long drink of his beer and sat it down. “What were you pissed about? Wouldn’t be because that Amber you’re after has been dating Paul?”
“Not really your business,” Dorian commented.
“I know…But I might be more understanding of your…wishes if I knew more what’s going on. Want me to kill Paul?”
Dorian’s eyes flashed with a touch of anger. “No! If I decide I want him dead, I’ll kill him myself!”
Klaus raised a palm. “Just thought I’d offer…Don’t get your raven feathers ruffled.” He took another swig of his beer, studying Dorian’s face. “Just who all do you not want me to kill?”
“Not anyone that means anything to Amber.”
“That list is growing…Could get a little boring.”
“You don’t have to stay here,” Dorian suggested.
“True…But neither do you…And that’s not very friendly of you considering I’m trying to abide by your wishes.”
Dorian bobbed his head. “I apologize…A bit edgy. She slept with that human the other night.”
Klaus leaned back and guffawed. When he composed himself, he said, “That would get under ones skin.” He sat straight then. “Myself, I’d of killed the sonovabitch.”
“Not going to say I didn’t feel like it. But I want her to love me! And if he dies, she will grieve for him and it will take a lot longer for her to come around to me.”
“Yeah…Humans are like that. But you can have her anyway…She doesn’t have to fall in love with you…just think she is.”
“I know how it works, Klaus…Been a vampire for three hundred years.”
“Got a hundred years on you.”
“Hmmm…” That meant that Klaus was stronger than he, something he already suspected but had now confirmed. If they were to get in a fight to the death, Klaus would have a far better chance of winning. It meant Dorian would have to keep on his toes, feed on more human blood to keep up his strength. Just in case. Obviously, Klaus had no qualms about keeping his up.
“How do you feel about Sally…the little lady that works for Paul?”
Dorian leaned forward. “I noticed your handiwork when I stopped by the store earlier. So, you’re turning her?”
“Yeah…She’s got spunk. Kind a like that in a woman. Besides, I got bored…She’s not bad in the sack either. And she’ll get a lot better, as you know,” he said with a big grin.
Dorian finished off his beer. “Want another?”
“Nah…The need to feed is gnawing at me. Going hunting. Wanna come?”
Dorian thought about it for a moment…”Maybe…Where?”
“We can cross over to the next county, if you want? That way we’ll be damn sure not to kill any of Amber’s friends,” he said, teasingly.
Dorian twisted his mouth but didn’t comment on the dig. “Also…I don’t kill kids…Or anyone I think might be decent. Prefer criminals and such.”
Klaus chortled. “You really need to get over your sense of morality if you’re going to survive as a vampire.”
“Made it for three hundred years.”
“Impressive… considering your attitude. But…I agree with the not killing kids. And most of the time I try not to kill honest folk either. But I do screw up occasionally, as you know.” He chugged down the rest of his beer and sat the empty down. “What do you say? You with me tonight? Not gonna promise sticking to the raccoons.”
Dorian had wanted to pay Amber a visit and rekindle the fire he’d started, but he also deemed it wise to keep Klaus on his good side. He could see Amber later. “Sure…Might as well.”
“Good!” he stood. “Ready when you are.”
Dorian got up and tossed the empty bottles in the recycling bucket. “Let’s go!”
“That’s the kind of attitude I like to see.”
They shimmered out.
It was all over the morning news. A gang of young men in King County slaughtered in a bloodbath after trying to gang-rape a young girl of sixteen. The girl, being the onl
y survivor, said that the five young men in their early twenties had surrounded her as she was leaving a local 7-Eleven, forcing her into an alley.
One of the men had started to rape her when two men, one in his early thirties, and the other, a little older, attacked the young men, killing everyone except for the girl. What was really unusual about the incident was that the girl insisted that the attackers were vampires, that they had grabbed their victims’ necks with their teeth and sucked them dry of their blood. Local doctors stated the girl was suffering from hysteria, that the young men were killed by large dogs and not by men at all.
Paul wasn’t so sure. He stood in front of the TV with the remote in his hand as he watched the incredible story unfold. Judy came in the room.
“I’m running late…May miss the bus…Can I take your truck to school if I do?” Then she noticed that Paul was engrossed in the news. “What’s going on?”
He swung around. “Oh! Just your usual violence…a gang of young men was killed when they tried to rape a young girl.”
“Serves them right,” Judy said.
“Maybe…but that’s pretty harsh.”
“Would you kill someone that tried to rape me?”
“I’d certainly feel like it.”
“Point made…Did you hear what I asked?”
“Sure…If you miss your bus you can take my truck. But…come straight home after school!”
“I will. I know better than not to. Besides you, I have Bebe to come home to now. Will you let her back inside in a bit? I tied her out back.”
“Certainly.”
Just then, the sound of the bus pulling out caught their attention.
“Guess you’re taking my truck,” Paul said and turned off the TV and
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