Superheroes In Denim

by Lee French

  “I didn’t feel comfortable looking for a whore at the time, partly because of the stigma and partly because that would be cheating on Marie, and wasn’t sure where to go for that anyway. I also didn’t feel like I could go to anyone I knew, because it was so crazy and demented. So I found a few homeless people and paid them ten bucks each to let me bite them. It was nothing like as great as sex and food together, but that was how I came to the understanding that drinking blood is an intimate thing, something inextricably linked with sex. Biting men bothered me because I’m not attracted to them.

  “But, my point is that they’re food. If I wanted to let that rule me, I could. There’s no shame in slaughtering food animals, so long as you’re actually eating them, and I’ve never managed to feel ‘full’, so I know I can drink more than one person dry at a time. Which, of course, means that I could pick people out and eat them and feel nothing, because they’re just cows.” He stopped there, still staring at him.

  Bobby scowled at his feet, having a feeling he knew what the point might be. “But you ain’t doing it,” he mumbled to the dirt.

  “No, I’m not. I could, and I already know what it feels like to do it—it’s amazing and intense and I want that, badly. But I’m not doing it.”

  “And you think I’m an asshole for giving in.”

  Stephen arched an eyebrow up. “No, I think you allowed the dragons to become your scapegoat. Whatever they do, it’s them, not you, and you can be disgusted by it without feeling responsible because they’re not under your control. In reality, they’re little pieces of you, Bobby, and you’re completely responsible for everything they do. In the same way that my hunger for blood feels like a separate thing, a demon possessing me, if you will. I could blame it for whatever depraved things I do, but that’s a lie, a bald lie. It’s not some other entity, it’s nothing more or less than my deepest, darkest desires, made more palpable for what I have to do to survive. This is about taking responsibility for what you are and can do. I understand you didn’t quite realize what they’re capable of, but now you do.” He smirked. “If you keep letting them do it, then you’re an asshole.”

  Bobby huffed out a very mild snort, but also nodded his understanding. They sat in silence for a few minutes while he chased his thoughts around to form them into coherence. “I ain’t rightly sure what actually happens when I’m dragons. To me, I mean. I tried to see what I could do while they were— I let ‘em go to just do whatever they wanted, and they flipped out at folks what look like those guys in the cave. In that first town, one tried to smack me upside the head with his rifle, and I let ‘em loose, but we only done killed the men.”

  Thinking back, he replayed it, trying to figure out where things went wrong. But then, it had actually been before that. Maybe a lot before that. He never killed anyone until that day at Lily’s house. Those two suits came in and the dragons surprised the heckbiscuits out of him by attacking. They killed those two men. Because—because he was angry at the suits for what they did. At that point, though, they hadn’t really done much. “I think—I think maybe I got lotta anger in me, and I just don’t feel it so much because they do.”

  Several seconds passed before Stephen offered, “Maybe you should ask yourself why you have all that anger.”

  “Shoot, I dunno. I always been the scrawny kid, the one what got beat on, not the one what done the beating.”

  “You were bullied as a kid and you can’t imagine why you might be angry as an adult?”

  Bobby opened his mouth to respond, but realized he had no intelligent words to put there, so he shut it and looked off into the distance, making a little hmm noise. “I reckon maybe I gotta stew on this stuff.”

  “Probably wise.” Stephen picked his hat back up and used it to mostly cover his face. “Don’t forget I changed two months before you met me. Also, I had therapy when I was young.”

  Chapter 9

  If anyone noticed them perched on the top of this cruise ship, Bobby would eat his boot. He sat next to Stephen in a t-shirt and boxers, working on a plate piled high with food. This was the best meal he’d had in a while—fried chicken, buttered corn on the cob, mashed potatoes slathered in gravy, thick biscuits, and a beer. His camouflage clothes lay in a rumpled pile nearby, where he’d shucked them to blend with the natives and enjoy the sunshine.

  “This is the way to travel.” He loosed a mighty burp. “They don’t even ask nothing, cause ain’t nobody should be on the boat without a ticket at this point. I said I forgot my ID and they just gave me the beer anyway without no hassle.”

  “I hate watching you eat.” Stephen, still lying where he’d been asleep until a few minutes ago, grumbled from behind his balaclava. “It’s like watching your best friend screw a gorgeous redhead while you’re chained to a chair on the other side of a window.”

  Bobby choked on the comparison, thumping his chest to get the food clear. His neck separated into dragons, a chunk of chicken fell into his lap, and it all re-formed too fast for his head to fall apart. “I could eat it down there, but it don’t seem rightly like a good plan, since someone might actually notice I ain’t wearing proper shorts.”

  “Take some.”

  “I ain’t seen a good opportunity to. Nobody walks around with spare clothes in their pockets. It’s all in their rooms.”

  Stephen snorted. “Since when does that stop you?”

  “I don’t need it, it ain’t right to take something when you don’t need it.”

  “Seriously? You’re still going to cling to that morality?”

  “‘S’only one I got.” The food suddenly tasted bitter for Stephen hinting to All Of That. Bobby sighed and resolved to think of everything that happened in Afghanistan as staying in Afghanistan. Like Vegas, only a lot less fun. He hadn’t had any nightmares, at least. Not yet, anyway. “You gonna grab a meal tonight before we take off?”

  “Yes, I am. If I don’t, I may well get hungry enough to chomp on you.”

  “Shoot, that’s pretty gosh-darned hungry. Don’t worry, though, I don’t think I’ll ever get hungry enough to try to eat you.”

  “That’s neighborly of you.” Stephen sat up and went quiet while Bobby stuffed his face. “Man, I can smell them all. It’s like the ship is one giant buffet.”

  Since he thought the same thing, Bobby chuckled. “You wanna stay on the boat until tomorrow night or fly on after you eat?”

  “You said it’s headed in the right direction, but it’s so damned slow.” Stephen huffed out a mildly annoyed breath. “While I’m prowling, check their maps to see if leaving now is potentially committing suicide. More than fourteen hundred miles is probably too much to go before your next meal.”

  “Good point.” Nodding, Bobby shoveled the last bite of potatoes into his mouth and set the plate aside to finish his beer. “We might be screwed.”

  “Nonsense. The worst that happens is we wind up on some stupid little island in the middle of nowhere, eating raw fish and sleeping out in the open.”

  “So we might be screwed, then.” Bobby grinned and felt like laughing for the first time since All Of That.

  Stephen snorted. “Yes, we might. If it’s too far, we can always go back to land and catch a flight. You and I can both ride in a cargo compartment, and I seriously doubt we’ll have any trouble sneaking into one.”

  “Fair point, but maybe we can find another cruise ship after this one. I kinda like it.”

  “Imagine that. I’m shocked, I tell you. Shocked.”

  Bobby followed Stephen’s gaze as he turned his head west. The sun had slipped down to the horizon, throwing brilliant orange and pink light across the sky. It drifted down, disappearing from sight.

  “I will not kill anyone on this ship.” Stephen unlaced his boots, ready to pull them off the second he wouldn’t burn for doing so.

  “Me neither, and I know you won’t. Maybe you should graze a bit here and there to make it easier to resist.”

  “Yes, that’s a good idea. I’m not
sure I like this ship business as much as you do. No hookers, no slums, and too many people who’ll ask questions.”

  “I bet they got hookers, just not the cheap kind you mean.”

  Stephen reached over and gave him a playful shove, the first time he’d done it since All of That. Then the sun disappeared and he shucked his clothes, down to the same shirt and boxers as Bobby. Breathing in the sea air, he wiggled his toes and stretched. “Don’t wait up.”

  “Don’t s’pose you’d drop off my dishes? It was kinda a pain to get them up here without being noticed.”

  “Yeah, I can do that.” Stephen took them and stepped off the side of their perch.

  “Don’t do nothing stupid.”

  Stephen grinned broadly. “No, that’s your job.”

  “Damn straight.” With the vampire gone, Bobby lay back and popped off a single dragon. He tossed his mind into it and flew all around the ship, scouting. Plenty of people milled about and sat on the open air decks, some of them enjoying the buffet he’d collected his dinner from. Kids ran and shrieked, and this boat even had a pool.

  He dove through the first door he found open at the right time. From sitting on it all day, they knew it headed west, but had no idea where to. At a guess, it would head halfway across the Atlantic to some island paradise, then go back to wherever it came from in Europe or North Africa. They could fly on from that pit stop and probably be okay. The ocean couldn’t be that big.

  He thought a map would be difficult to find, until he discovered the part with all the shops. A screen dominated one wall, showing the ship and its route. This boat started in Lisbon, Portugal, and had a destination of Ponta Delgada, a tiny island somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic. It had reached halfway between the two ports already, and had no stops listed between them. Instead of mileage, the route had been marked by days and hours. Three days from now, it would reach the island, which might be a good place to rest and stock up on supplies before crossing the rest of the ocean on their own.

  The shops sold most anything a body could want on a trip like this, and he found himself contemplating how best to take a pair of shorts without it being noticed. Out through the back of the shop would probably work. He summoned five more dragons and had them perpetrate a small heist of shorts, a shirt, and flip-flops. It was all necessary to fit in, because he intended to vote for sticking with the boat at least until tomorrow night.

  Something started to annoy the dragons, and he had to land out of sight and focus to figure it out. They wanted to eat. When was the last time he let them eat? He couldn’t remember, which meant it’d been too long. They messed up that car outside Elko, then…nothing. That happened two weeks ago. Dammit, he could’ve gone to Fort Morgan or Denver any time during that week before they went to Chicago. But no, he spent all his time with Lily and Sebastian, afraid of missing something with them. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

  Right now, he could do nothing about this. Whatever might be found on the ship, he suspected letting them eat it might damage the engine or other important parts, stranding all these people out here. What would happen when they got really, really hungry? It seemed like maybe he’d find out, depending on how long it took them to get to that point. Hopefully, they could last three or four days. This island place probably had nothing for them, which meant they’d have to wait until he got back stateside.

  On the way back to his body, he spotted Stephen, now somehow wearing a pair of shorts and an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt. The vampire sat with a rather attractive blonde, talking to her about something. They both laughed. It must be nice to have that easy a time with seducing women. He said and did all the right things.

  Then again, maybe he only knew how to pick the ones that would be receptive to a one night stand. He watched Stephen lean in and whisper something in the girl’s ear that surprised her and made her cover her mouth. When he pulled back with a predatory smile, she gulped and nodded, nervously eager. They stood up and walked away, Stephen smug enough to peel a grape. Damn.

  Chapter 10

  “Bobby, I have to stop someplace, soon. I can’t just go forever.”

  The dragons responded with chirps of acknowledgment so Stephen knew he’d been heard. They’d left Ponta Delgada at dusk yesterday and hadn’t found a place to touch down for even five seconds since then. Twenty- four hours later, Bobby could hear the exhaustion in the vampire’s voice.

  The vast size of the Atlantic surprised him. He worried they might be flying in giant circles, they could have turned toward Antarctica by accident. While they had both the sun and stars to go by, he’d never navigated that way before and had no idea if they’d managed to stay on a due west course. He’d expected to find dinky islands dotting the ocean, at the least.

  It’d been so long since they last stopped, he had no idea what to expect for the condition of his body. He’d never gone a full day without pausing to eat before. Worse, the dragons were cranky now, hungry enough to not give a crap about what he wanted. The second they found food, they’d devour it, no matter how much he wanted to stop them. Stephen would probably feel the same way by then, too.

  What would happen when his body wanted to shut down for lack of food? What about the dragons? Was he slowly killing himself right now? Contemplating the possibility of accidentally starving himself to death gutted his morale, so he stopped doing that. He tried to, anyway.

  “I think I’ll be okay with blood, but I need to sleep.” Stephen’s voice did a much better job of breaking his downward panic spiral than Bobby’s resolution to make it stop. “I’m not sure if I can drown or not, and don’t really want to find out. Can you spread out to look for a place to land? Even just a little fishing boat would be enough.”

  Certain he could handle that, Bobby had the dragons trill. A third of the swarm streaked north, a third headed south, and the rest stayed with Stephen. Fortunately, they understood that food required land and cooperated with him.

  Half an hour later, still with nothing in sight, the vampire slid downward. The dragons screamed at him. He woke up and held his head in both hands. “I’m just not up for two all-nighters in a row, Bobby, not without something more interesting to look at or do. Maybe I can float on my back? The water’s pretty calm.”

  Great. Stephen would float on the current while Bobby did what? Keep going? Float with him? The dragons could keep going forever, so far as he could tell. Their little minds, though, had become consumed with hunger. He felt like hundreds of toddlers saying “why?” over and over again had camped in his head.

  “What I wouldn’t give for some caffeine right about now,” Stephen mumbled. His body bobbed up and down as he fought to stay conscious. Thankfully, the dragons could see the value of keeping the vampire going, and did what they could to help: chirping in his ears when he started to fall. Even so, they gradually drifted downwards. When they reached a few feet above the surface, Stephen finally fell in. Hitting the water only woke him up enough to roll onto his back, then he passed out again.

  The dragons converged on him, no longer watching for anything in particular, and struggled to keep him from sinking under the surface. It overrode their hunger. Briefly. They came together, re-forming his body against his will, and Bobby realized with horror that he’d pushed them too far for too long. Usually, he did that fast enough to not consider the process. This time, it took them about a minute to do it, and he registered the exact point when his mind snapped into his head.

  He slipped underwater and struggled to break the surface again, then thrashed about to reach and grab hold of Stephen. An all-consuming hunger hijacked his head as he did do, twisting his insides into knots of agony. His eyes drooped and his leaden limbs refused to cooperate. The dragons could go without sleep, but Bobby couldn’t. The next time they did this, they’d take a plane, dammit. Because there would be a next time. Somehow, despite his gross stupidity, they’d survive this. Somehow.

  Sputtering on salt water that he kept swallowing when his will to remain conscio
us wavered, he tried to relax with his arm looped through Stephen’s. He blinked and caught himself coughing again. Any minute now, he’d slip under the surface for the last time, too weak to push his way back up. Karma caused this, he figured. For his crimes, he’d drown in the middle of the Atlantic, which he’d failed to grasp the vastness of.

  In the middle of a disjointed prayer for God to watch over his Momma, he caught some kind of strange sound chugging closer. In his current state, he couldn’t comprehend it well enough to attach a label to it. Momma shouted, saying something about water. He thought he blinked, then he fell onto something hard. Faces swam in his vision. Momma told him to wake up and spit the water out. Rolling to his side, he coughed and thought he saw Stephen. Either he’d died or he’d been pulled onto something that would keep him from drowning. Assured the matter had been settled one way or the other, he closed his eyes.

  When he opened them again, he groaned. His belly had wrapped itself around his spine and squeezed, making everything hurt. “I died,” he gasped. His body curled into a ball of its own accord.

  “Take it easy, Bobby, we’re relatively safe. There’s some fish, it’s cooked. I can feed you, but you have to help me out a little.”

  “Where?” Without opening his eyes, he opened his mouth. A forkful of food pushed in, and he marshaled every ounce of willpower he had to take the time to chew it up before swallowing. Nothing had ever tasted so good as that bite of fish, a food he usually avoided.

  Stephen fed him several more bites before answering.“A private yacht. The owners fished us out of the water and are headed back to port. The boat isn’t very fast, though, and they were a fair distance from land. I’ve only had a short nap. When I woke up, I met them both and told them I didn’t remember how we got where we were. I suggest you go with that, too. They think we’re Army, I haven’t tried to correct that.”

  “They call?”

  “No. They were out in international waters and didn’t want to deal with whatever the military might send out. Besides that, they were apparently headed back anyway, something about running low on food and water. It’s a very nice older couple. We’re in one of the bedrooms on their very nice boat. They sometimes bring their grandkids out with them.”