Standing Before Monsters (Vorans and Vampires)

by Donald Wigboldy

  “Then all you need to do is look up home schooling and teach her what she needs for a G.E.D. or whatever. It may not be the most social way of doing that, but her life starts when the sun goes down now.”

  He snorted at the second part, “Me, try and teach her a current curriculum? I haven’t been in children’s school for over a century. I literally didn’t have electricity when I was growing up,” Nick had to laugh. The popular insults of a child to their parent of being so old they hadn’t invented light actually suited someone born during steam power.

  Charlotte was laughing as well, but as the idea settled, the woman suggested, “I don’t have anything better to do and at least I graduated less than a century ago. If you decide to try home schooling her, maybe I could do it?”

  Shaking his head, the man glanced at her and replied in amusement, “You like her already too.”

  Miming the squeezing of Sami’s cheeks, Charlotte made a face like playing with a baby as she said, “She’s just so cute!”

  He couldn’t help but laugh. There was something about the young girl that seemed to want to pull them to her. It was like they had been glamoured by the new vampire.

  When the two entered the apartment, Logan and Kate seemed to eye Nick guiltily. It was Kate who confessed, “We heard crying coming from the bedroom a little while ago and no one’s come out of the bedroom, but I think Nicola’s up.”

  Listening for any noise coming from the bedroom, the voran took his time walking across the room and down the hall. He could feel Charlotte nearly breathing down his neck as they made their way and opened the door. A floor lamp was turned on from one side of the bed giving the room some light. Nick flicked a switch turning on the recessed lights bringing two sets of eyes to the doorway.

  Nicola’s gray eyes looked sad, and he thought that she had perhaps been crying as well. Barely covered in a bath towel, the woman held Sami in a hug around her shoulders and appeared to be comforting the much younger girl. Green eyes and the younger girl’s nose appeared reddened from crying, but she managed a smile for the two at the door.

  He didn’t know if he should ask. It could end up being like kicking a hornets’ nest.

  Nicola saved him the effort and stated, “The past two days’ events and changes finally caught up to Sami.”

  Sniffing, the teenage girl agreed and her words came broken with choking sobs, Sami apologized, “I-I’m sorry. I just couldn’t stop thinking of him taking me and the blood. People died all around me and I couldn’t move or react.”

  “The vampire who kidnapped you glamoured you,” Nick said with a nod as he entered placing the bag of new clothes on the floor at the foot of the bed. Charlotte placed a second bag next to the first and sat on the bed looking at the two vampires looking about to cry as well. “It’s an ability of vampires to take control of a human mind and make them do anything. It’s probably part of what helped keep you together initially.”

  Nicola looked at him and she appeared annoyed as she reprimanded him, though he had tried to be analytical to help calm the girl. “She understands what he did to her. That wasn’t the only thing he did to her and for any woman, whether she’s fifteen or older, it’s a scary thing. You don’t need to teach her what movies have already taught the girl. It is two thousand eleven, Nicholas.”

  He had garnered a ‘Nicholas’ from her, so he knew that he was somehow in trouble.

  Charlotte stepped in and said, “We went shopping to get some clothes for you. Do you want to see?”

  Both of the vampires perked up at the idea and quickly moved to the end of the bed to start looking at what Charlotte had picked out for the girl. Seeing the situation rapidly deteriorating into what he would call a girl thing, Nick started to back out of the room; but Nicola caught him. “Don’t think about escaping yet, Nick. You might not understand teenage girls, but you do have something we both need.”

  If she had included Charlotte, he might have misconstrued the inference; but knowing that Nicola often cheated by taking a little extra blood from his hand he could figure out that she needed more blood. After having given Sami some earlier, he was a little surprised that Nicola believed she needed to feed again.

  “Charlotte can show us the clothes while you lend us a bite,” the vampire stated in an off handed order.

  “I gave her quite a bit earlier,” the voran stated unsure of how much extra he could afford to donate even if he did heal faster than a normal human.

  Sami started to shake her head, but Nicola caught her with both hands and pried open her lips revealing vampire fangs, albeit the small ones he had noted earlier in the day. “She can’t get them to retract yet, so either you help her or we need to go find a human donor.”

  Grinding his teeth, Nick knew that she was pressing his buttons. The voran had never sanctioned a vampire’s taking of human blood in all the time he knew Marek and his clan, which was from the start. It was why he donated his blood to keep the clan from hurting others.

  “Why haven’t her fangs retracted? She took blood from me. That should stop her need already.”

  “Not for a brand new vampire,” Nicola said with a sigh. “Marek probably never told you that we went through extra voran blood with each new initiate. He just would tell you that we ran low or it spoiled to get you to give more. Two or three feedings in the first twenty four hours should set her fangs to be able to retract to normal human proportions, though I admit hers are about the most dainty I have ever seen.”

  Sami reddened at the odd compliment of her teeth. “I had braces for three years,” the girl stated, “if that makes a difference.”

  “Who knows?” he replied and moved to sit between the girls. Nicola and Sami each moved aside to give him room, though the towel didn’t move as easily exposing the vampire until she pulled the cloth back into place.

  Sami giggled and said, “She flashed me earlier too. She’s been wearing the towel sitting with me for an hour, so it was bound to happen.”

  Nicola took Nick’s right hand as she nodded to Sami to take the left as she replied, “Nick’s seen all of me and used all he’s seen. I only fixed the towel out of courtesy to you and Charlotte. Personally I don’t have such body issues anymore.”

  Charlotte made a sound of derision as she sat in the chair pulled from his desk. “When you have a perfect body forever, I guess I wouldn’t worry over who saw me either.”

  Raising an eyebrow at the pretty, brunette werewolf, Nicola stopped suckling a moment to retort, “Says the beautiful werewolf who undressed in front of her pack every full moon.”

  “Yes, yes, you are all beautiful,” Nick said irritably. “Now can we get this over so I can go eat to start replenishing what you two have taken?”

  Nicola released his right hand with her mouth to kiss his cheek before turning him to kiss his lips. “Sorry, my love, but you know that she is beautiful and doesn’t need to hide that body out of shame.”

  The vampire managed to get Charlotte to blush and Nick turned as he heard Sami laugh and lost her bite on his hand. She had caught the look and found it amusing. Her smile was in her eyes now as the teen managed to find humor even after so trying a day.

  She returned her teeth with an apologetic look for a little more of his blood. When he felt slightly light headed, the voran shook loose of both girls. He knew that Nicola hadn’t taken more than a few drops in reality. Her tongue had flicked at his skin tickling him for most of the time as she enjoyed the intimacy of the gesture.

  Sami on the other hand didn’t know when to stop and this was her second time taking blood from him today. Even his ability to heal required a little more time than the hours he had been afforded and the limited amount of food he had been able to take in to help replace the blood he had lost.

  Charlotte got up noticing his eyes and put her hands before him as she said, “Just sit, Nick, I’ll get some food and drink for you.”

  The other two girls gave him brief worried looks before the clothing bags called to
them more than their concern. Nicola knelt on the floor while Sami sat on the other side of the bags and Nick to pull out blouses, t-shirts, shorts, jeans, and a couple dresses: both a sun and a club style dress. Charlotte had picked up some under garments, but didn’t guess at her bra size. Nick also knew that he had let the woman shop more than just for a temporary guest.

  Nicola looked up and asked, “Are we taking her to Marek’s?”

  The other girl paused in her examination of a strapless dress that would be good for the Lair. She was fifteen and couldn’t drink of course, but as a guest she could certainly pass through without issue. Meanwhile, her eyes asked of them, what was Marek’s?

  Ignoring Sami a moment, he answered Nicola, “Do we have enough room for her here? At least there is room at the Lair, even if she uses your room there, since you are here most of the time now.”

  “Your bed can hold two or three easily. She can sleep with me during the day and there are enough chairs to sit on in the living room. Why send her away?” the vampire asked a bit slowly as if she were considering the details aloud for him to follow.

  Nick was slightly surprised, but had seen the two together when he had arrived. They had bonded as much as he and Charlotte with the werewolf bond, he thought. “I wasn’t sure that you would want to share and it would be another set of ears, if you want to do other things.”

  Being fifteen, Sami was a little too old to try and fool with euphemisms. The girl was surprised, however, and asked, “I thought Charlotte was your girlfriend.”

  The brunette had returned with a plate and a bottle of orange energy drink. A refill of electrolytes was just part of what he needed to replenish however. Hearing the conversation, Charlotte smiled and nodded, “He is, but they were together first.”

  Looking really confused, Sami looked between the women and then at Nick before asking, “Both of them?”

  With a big sigh, he hung his head. Nick knew what she was thinking and had to say, “It’s a long story.”

  “Longer for me than her,” Nicola quipped though there was no accusation or anger to the comment. She was simply amused by the length of time that she had known the man before finally coming together.

  Sami looked at Nicola and said, “You look barely older than me. How old are you, if I am allowed to ask?”

  It brought laughter to the other vampire’s lips. In some circles, it might be bad to ask a vampire’s age, but the number with a virtual immortal mattered little. The bigger the number the more powerful a vampire was, however.

  Nicola didn’t worry over the number, especially in present company, “Ninety-nine until September, but I am just a baby compared to Nick and Marek.”

  Sami gave him the look and he had to think a moment, “Records weren’t that good back then, but I am pretty sure that I am one hundred thirty one.”

  The girl’s jaw dropped and she blurted, “But Nicola looks barely older than me and Nick is maybe in his middle twenties or so.”

  When her eyes went to Charlotte, the brunette just spread her hands and said with a smile, “I’m just twenty-six, hopefully like I look. With all these werewolf and vampire headaches, I might age before my time.”

  Sami turned serious as she looked at Nicola again and asked, “How old were you when you became a vampire?”

  Looking wistful, the blonde dancer smiled as her eyes seemed to wander into the past. “I was twenty-one when Marek made me into a vampire. Unlike you, I was given the choice and he had told me about Nick’s blood before I risked my life.

  “I was a ballet dancer and had followed my career to America. When I met Marek, I had been checking out New York’s clubs. Dancing of a different kind was found there, but I loved it. I also thought that I loved Marek. We were going to be vampires together and be in love forever, but pretty quickly we figured that we just made better as friends.”

  “Then you were stuck as a vampire living with Marek and his new girlfriend,” commented Nick as he worked on the second sandwich Charlotte had brought for him. Cheese cubes and potato chips had been halved and the woman had put werewolf portions on the plate. Even his bottle of orange drink was down to less than half left.

  Nicola shrugged, “I like Audrey and never really had a problem with her. She was kind of like a sister to me and a good friend. Besides it isn’t like I didn’t try again over the decades.” Leaning towards Sami, she whispered loudly, “Believe it or not I am not a ninety nine year old virgin.”

  The girls giggled even as Nick covered his eyes pretended to be dizzy as he ate his sandwich and tried not to hear the vampire’s words.

  Sami’s smile faded slightly as she asked, “So am I going to be stuck like this for the rest of my life, however long it is?”

  Nick and Nicola exchanged looks of worry, but the vampire nodded, “Yes, this is the way you will look, aside from haircuts and makeup; but don’t worry I’ve seen a lot of girls who looked your age in their twenties. Once you are actually old enough to go to clubs, I’m sure you will find boys that will love your looks.”

  “Hmmm,” Sami hummed and looked at Nick deviously, “so how old do you think I’d need to be before Nick would want to date me then? I mean he’s going younger, so...”

  While the other women laughed, Nick shook his head adamantly, “Great just what I need, another girl with a smart Alec streak. Actually, I was debating on giving up on women and moving into a monastery lately.”

  As the vampires giggled, Charlotte asked with a smile on her face, “And when did you start debating that?”

  “About five to ten minutes ago when this conversation headed down a wrong path,” he replied with a smile.

  Nicola stood up dropping the towel before pushing him back to kiss him. “You wouldn’t want to give us up, now would you?”

  She rolled away almost as quickly before walking to the closet and asking over her shoulder, “We are going to the Lair then?”

  “I need to let him know about these reapers that tore through a nest of vampires, if nothing else,” he replied.

  Sami moved to sit next to him on the bed and asked, “Am I the else?”

  He nodded and said, “Originally I thought that the lack of room alone would make it impossible. Logan and Kate are in the spare room. I barely sleep, but Charlotte uses the bed at night while Nicola uses it during the day. If you stay here, then you have to share the bed with Nicola.”

  The other vampire carried a red dress in front of her and said as she went to her suitcase for underwear, “I’m happy to share the bed with my new little sister, if she doesn’t mind. Otherwise, there is a room open at the Lair for you,” she changed to speaking directly to Sami. “It’s technically my room, but I’m not using it anymore other than as storage. We’re still trying to figure out our new arrangements, since all this is pretty new to us as well.”

  Sami looked hopeful as she looked at Nick and asked, “I can stay here with you all and I get to go to a night club?”

  He wasn’t sure which part truly thrilled her, but Nick nodded slowly. “If the three of you don’t mind, then it’s fine by me. We’ll have to try and figure out what to do for schooling and maybe your parents.”

  Her green eyes found his curiously again. “My parents?”

  Sighing, the voran nodded and admitted, “We can’t have humans knowing about vampires and werewolves or it will cause a panic. We police them and kill the strays as fast as we find them, so to bring your parents into this is against all we’ve known; but if you think that they could keep it a secret then perhaps we can try.”

  Bouncing on the bed in excitement, the girl leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before grabbing an underpants and the strapless dress the women had all liked. Stripping off the shorts and shirt with no regard for Nick being in the room, Sami followed Nicola into the bathroom already talking like a little sister to her trying to figure out what to wear.

  “And on that note, I think I need more to eat and drink,” he said to Charlotte who had a bemused smile on he
r face. Standing with the empty plate and bottle, the outnumbered man prepared to leave.

  The brunette stood with him blocking his path as she wrapped her arms behind his neck. “You know that you are in trouble with that one. She has a crush on you. You are the hero who saved her and apparently Sami isn’t anymore shy around you than Nicola.”

  A passionate kiss from Charlotte finished the set of lips on him. Letting him go, she pulled off her top reminding him why he wouldn’t want to become a monk anytime soon.

  Chapter 21- The Report

  Pulling up in front of the warehouse turned nightclub in his BMW brought some confusion from the valets, who wondered where his two seat Mercedes roadster had gone. When the three ladies exited the other three doors converging on him to escort them inside, sly smiles from the men and understanding nods from the female valets made the man want to cringe. He would certainly be labeled a player if he wasn’t careful.

  He gave the keys to the first valet to arrive and walked slightly ahead and between the three women. Unsure of whether he should escort any of them more personally like a gentleman, since being with two women was hardly gentlemanly, Nick started off just being nearby them. Charlotte’s hand took his arm and Nicola pulled Sami by the hand before taking his right arm. Already worked out among them, the man wanted to sigh. Women, especially vampires and werewolves, were just too complicated. The monk thing was sounding good in its simplicity again.

  At the door Brian, also known as Hawk for his bouncer name, was joined by a new face. A Hispanic man only about as big as Nick was in charge of the door while the massive black man was in charge of whom approached that door. Seeing Nicola, the big man’s eyes widened in surprise. He had rarely seen her come in through the business entrance.

  “Hi, Hawk,” Nicola greeted climbing up the stairs ahead of the others reaching up to squeeze the big man’s left cheek like an old aunt playing with a little nephew. “Did Marek hire someone knew to help you?”