The Vampiric Housewife

by Kristen Marquette

  “Engine’s cold. How long have you been stranded?” he asked as he checked valves and belts and such.

  “You were the first person kind enough to stop.”

  “That’s the world we live in,” he said. “It’s sad. I’m James—“ He turned towards her extending his hand, and she attacked. Her teeth sunk into his neck. She could smell the sun charred skin, his aftershave, the air conditioning from his car. His blood ran hot and thick down her throat. He didn’t put up much of a fight, but he jerked and twitched in a way she wasn’t accustomed to. Soon as she felt him go limp, she released him.

  “John!” she called out slamming the hood shut. Her son quickly appeared. “Help me.”

  Together they moved the man to the back of the van and heaved him in.

  Amelia stared aghast at the human. She stared at her mother—not with the same judgment she held for her father, but bewilderment. Valerie just looked back at her defensively until she had to turn her attention to the situation on hand.

  “Mom, that was cool!” Harry told her. She ignored him.

  “Charlie, we’ve got blood.” She pulled the blanket back then using her teeth opened the human’s wrist and held it over Charlie’s mouth. He suckled it with a hunger she had never seen in him before. His lips flaked away but there was raw flesh beneath them.

  “Can I have some?” Harry asked enviously.

  Again, Valerie ignored him. They would have to do something about the body. There wasn’t a bloodman to pick the corpse up from the curb. She looked out the window. There was a cow pasture next to the highway. As Charlie finished, Valerie started going through his pockets. She found his keys and a wallet. A hundred bucks in cash, a credit card, license. James Peterson. Forty-three. Organ donor. He wanted his death to help others. She could take solace in that. I am so sorry James, she silently said before pocketing the cash.

  Charlie flung the arm aside. His lips and eyes were healing but still raw. He no longer screamed in torment; he was simply weak.

  “John, Amelia, I need you to take the body out to the middle of that field.”

  “No,” Amelia said in a panicky voice. She had never told her mother no before.

  “You’ve taken bodies to the curb for me before. This is no different.”

  “This man stopped to help us. It is different!”

  “Did you want your father to die? This thing is human. We are vampires. We drink human blood,” she said firmly. “Do as you’re told.” She pulled the blanket-curtain aside and looked at James Peterson’s car. A SUV. That would fit them. “Harry, you’re going to help me move everything to its car. Then you’ll help me move your father.”

  Harry was sniffing the human. There was no blood left to taste or else Harry would have stolen a bite. “Okay,” he said easily.

  They went to work. With relative easy the two teenagers moved the body to the field. She prayed no other motorist noticed them. Harry and Valerie moved their few possessions to the SUV which was much nicer than the van with its clean interior and leather seats. They found some human food in the console, CD’s in the glove box. In the back there was a tool box and golf clubs. Valerie decided to keep the tool box and had Harry dump the golf clubs in the field. He came back carrying a putter, swinging it about like a toy. She let him kept it even though the sight of it disgusted her.

  With her and Harry on either side of Charlie, they were able to move him to the SUV and place him in the back row of seats. He made very few sounds, his eyes remained closed, but he seemed to be getting better before their very eyes.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  “This is wrong,” Amelia said carrying the man’s sandaled feet.

  “What was Mom suppose to do? Let Dad die? Is that what you would have done?” John snarled. He had just about had enough of Amelia’s human sob story. So what if humans weren’t what they thought? They were still food. He was going to strangle his sister if he had to hear one more thing about those dirty homosapiens. Or his little brother if he had to hear him whine about being hungry or bored. Or his mother if he had to listen to her attack Charlie one more time. All he wanted was a moment alone. A moment to mourn all that he had lost, his old life, his friends, Lisa. He could never go back. After Drew and Mr. Miller attacked them in the motel room, he surrendered to that idea. His premonition on Lisa’s porch was true, he would never see her again. He was a man. He could handle that. But he still needed a moment to get his head around it. And around the new world he saw. Yeah, the cars were cool. The TV was weird. The girls were cute and easy—and human. The music was god awful. His best friend was trying to kill him. His sister seemed to have super strength, his little brother a killer instinct, and what did he have? Nothing. There was nothing special about him in this real world. He was special in his old world. He was a star athlete. He was dating the head cheerleader. He was popular. Now he was nothing. So no, he did not want to listen to everyone around him complain, and he really did not care about the plight of humans.

  He was particularly pissed at his mother. Charlie had saved them. He had gotten them out of Sangre Valley. He had shown up at the motel and rescued them. Why couldn’t she just lay off of him? He was exposing himself to sunlight for their protection. What more did she want from him? And here Amelia was complaining that Valerie killed a human to save their father’s life just because the human was nice.

  “Oh fuck!” he swore. He just stepped in cow manure.

  “John!”

  He glared at her.

  They found a pond in the field a good distance from the highway. Cows herded around it. They released low toned moos and stared at the kids.

  “Set him down for a minute. He’s heavy,” John said. “We’ll just roll him in.”

  As they dropped him, John noticed a cell phone fall out of a side pocket. He looked at his sister. She didn’t notice. He quickly pocketed it himself. He couldn’t go back to Sangre Valley, but maybe he could call Lisa just to let her know that he was okay and to say goodbye.

  They rolled the body into the water. The man bobbed face down a couple of times then just floated at the surface.

  “I’ll clean your shoes off for you,” Amelia offered timidly.

  She wanted to make peace. He took off his shoe and gave it to her. With a leaf and a stick she squatted down by the water and began to clean it off.

  “I’m sorry,” he said not sounding at all as if he was truly sorry. He was sorry but he wasn’t. “It’s just . . .”

  “I know. Our old life was a lie. And our new life is . . . this,” she said looking around. At that moment a cow mooed at them breaking the tension. Both broke into a fit of giggles.

  “Do you think Dad will be okay?” he asked

  “Yeah. His flesh was coming back as he drank,” she said. She bit her lip. “It really doesn’t bother you? Humans being a lot like us?”

  “Jesus Christ, Aims, if you start with the human bullshit again, I’m never speaking to you again.”

  “Okay.” She handed him back his clean shoe.

  “It’s soaking wet!” he said as he slid his foot in with a squish.

  She smiled. “At least it’s not covered in shit.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Don’t Play with Your Food

  Valerie drove as her husband recovered in the back. Harry kept his mom company in the front seat as he pawed through James Peterson’s wallet. Harry could still smell the man’s scent on it. His whole car reeked of him. But also of a woman and two children. He saw a picture of them in the man’s wallet. The wife was blonde and fat and wore too much makeup. She didn’t look anything like the humans on TV. The kids were a little bit younger than him. Two fat boys, little piggies. Their names were on the back of the pictures, Jason age eight and Sam age ten. He looked at the address on the driver’s license. The SUV had GPS, he could drive to their house in the middle of the night. He could break in through a window and creep upstairs where they would be sound asleep in their beds. He’d do the mom first. He would wak
e her up before he killed her. After the woman in the Blood Market, he wanted his humans to see him, to realize exactly what he was doing to them when he fed. And he wanted to see the terror in their eyes. That was almost as delicious as the blood. So he would wake her up but bite her before she could scream. She was so fat, she’d have to have a lot of blood in her. He’d gorge himself. But he’d save room for her two little piggies. Harry didn’t really believe there was such a thing as too much blood. He would wake the boys up. Maybe they’d want to play with him. But Mom always told him not to play with his food. He would drain the oldest first, Sam, while the youngest watched. Then he would drain the other. It would be a blood feast. So much blood he could swim in it if he wanted. Harry found himself smiling at the pictures playing in his head.

  “What are you doing?” his mother demanded and snatched the wallet from his hands. “Leave that alone.” She tossed it out her window.

  She always had to ruin his fun.

  It was nearing six a.m. They needed to find refuge. It would do them all a world of good to spend a day outside of a vehicle, bathe, get at least a little bit of space from each other. Besides, they were here; it was New York City with its scrapers and bright lights.

  She pulled off at a random exit and found a motel that looked cheap. She parked and turned around in her seat. “How’s he doing?”

  “He’s doing fine,” Charlie answered back in a weak but cheerful voice.

  Relief spread through her chest. It was as if a vice had been released and she could once again breathe. “I’m going to rent us a room. I’ll be right back.”

  John got out of the car too.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Going with you,” he said trying to sound firm.

  She smiled and kissed the side of his head.

  Together they entered the lobby. There was an Indian man behind a plastic barrier reading a magazine. At the sight of him Valerie’s heart began to race. The clerk would instantly know she was a vampire. He would know that she had killed one his own just hours ago. He would have a stake hidden beneath the counter. With some fancy flips and a karate chop, he would break through the barrier and pierce her heart with a wooden stake. Those were the types of images that ran through her head every time she dozed or Charlie left their eyesight for a moment to buy gas or meat. The images were worse when he took the kids into gas stations or markets with him. But humans never seemed to be able to tell the difference. James Peterson certainly couldn’t. Humans didn’t have a sense of smell like vampires. It was no different with the clerk.

  “Can we have a room, please?” she asked, her voice shaky. She needed to pull it together.

  “Single or double?”

  “Double.”

  “Cash or credit?”

  “Cash.”

  “I’ll need to see an ID too.”

  What had Charlie done when they asked for ID? She didn’t have one. Well, she had her Sangre Valley driver’s license. Somehow she didn’t think he’d accept that.

  “I-I don’t have one.”

  He looked at her for the first time. His eyes looked her up and down scrutinizing. She must look a mess. Her face was makeupless and dirty. Her dress wrinkled and soiled from wear. Her son just as grubby as she was.

  “Sign the register under any name you’d like. It’ll be fifty extra bucks. Another twenty if you want me to tell your husband or boyfriend or whoever you’re running from that you’re not here.” He was no longer looking at her.

  Silently she handed him the money. He handed her two plastic cards.

  “What are these?” she asked.

  “Your keys, duh,” he said as if she was an idiot. Silently she took them.

  “Go get your brother and sister,” she told John and went to find the room.

  She looked at the key and the strange lock on the door. She put the card in and nothing happened. She tried again and again. Harry came running up behind her. “Gimme!” he said. He put the card in then quickly pulled it out. The door unlocked and Harry pushed it in. John came up behind her propping Charlie up. Amelia stood behind them with the suitcase. Amelia refused to look at her, but Charlie smiled at her looking more animated.

  “You’re a natural,” he told her proudly.

  She followed her family inside. The room was bigger than the last. Two queen sized beds with ugly linens, a cracked tile floor, but also a mini kitchen with a half fridge, microwave, and a table and chairs. There was a scummy bathroom with a cracked mirror, but it had a full bathtub. As gross as the bathroom was, Valerie couldn’t wait to soak in it, to relax and have a few minutes to herself.

  John lowered his father down on one of the beds. Harry immediately jumped on the other bed and turned on the TV. The two eldest sank into the chairs looking exhausted. Their pallor was deeper than usual, dark circles hung under their eyes, their hair limp and dirty.

  Valerie sank down on the bed next to Charlie. “Go wash up before bed,” she told her children.

  Amelia trudged in first while John laid on Harry’s bed.

  Charlie propped himself up with some pillows. “You saved my life,” he said to her, a loving tone to his voice. “Thank you.”

  Not looking at him, she asked, “Where next?”

  He swallowed. “Did the man you killed have any cash on him?”

  “A hundred.” It disgusted her that she had taken the money. It had been bad enough to kill him. At least she did that to save her husband’s life. But to rob the corpse? That was unspeakable.

  “It was smart to switch cars. What did you do with the body?”

  “The kids dumped him in a pasture pond.”

  He nodded. “Not bad. How did you get him to stop?”

  “I don’t know,” she said touching her temples as her head throbbed in precise beats.

  “We should dump the car. The last thing we want is the police after us. I think we’ll be okay until evening though. We’ll have to come up with some more cash. But together, we’ll manage.” She felt his hand slide into hers.

  “Mom—“ Harry started.

  “The cooler is on the table,” she said already knowing what would come out of his mouth.

  “It’s not fresh.”

  “The sun’s up. Soon as it’s dark, we’ll pick up something fresh.”

  Harry didn’t even bother with the meat.

  Once the kids had bathed and settled into bed, all three of them were out cold sharing a single bed. Valerie escaped into the bathroom, the oasis of moms everywhere. She washed everyone’s clothes in the sink and hung them over the shower to dry. Then she filled the bathtub and slipped into the steaming hot water. The heat felt good on her tired muscles and weary soul. The water had a purifying effect as it washed the dirt off her skin. If only it could purify her soul as well.

  Today, she had stolen. Not just money, but a life. It didn’t matter what she barked at Amelia on the side of the road. She could no longer see humans as food. They were mothers and fathers, grandparents, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters. They loved and laughed and cried and grieved. If vampires were further evolved than humans, then they should act like it. Take mercy on lesser creatures. She could still see James Peterson smiling at her. She didn’t kill him. She murdered him. Traded his life for the life of the father of her children. She couldn’t say that she would have done anything different in the same situation, but that would be the last time she killed a human for food. She wouldn’t be able to handle the way Amelia looked at her. They could live off animal blood and meat. And when she said they, she meant all of them. No more human blood for any of them—not Harry, not even Charlie. They had lived a long time on animal meat, they could continue on with that lifestyle. And James Peterson, she would carry him around with her for the rest of her life, apologizing to him, asking him and God to forgive her, and he would be the reminder of the evil of her thirst.

  The stealing, that would have to end too. But for the survival of her family, it would have to last a l
ittle longer. She couldn’t be naïve about that. A cabin in the woods, isolated from the rest of the world. They could hunt deer for food. She would home school the kids. What choice did she have? There weren’t schools for vampire children anyway. If most vampires were made, there might not even be another vampire child out there. Charlie could . . . she didn’t know what Charlie could do to support their family, but they would think of something. They had to.

  Valerie let herself slide down into the water so her head was submerged, her eyes open. She stared up at the ceiling through the distortion of the water. This was how she had felt her entire life, like she was underwater unable to breathe, desperate for oxygen, for life. Her head came back up, water running down her face, her hair slicked back. She rested it against the rim of the tub. If only getting her head above water in life was so easy.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Meet the Murrays

  “Time to get up!” Harry said bouncing on their bed. “Come on! It’s nighttime!”

  Valerie opened her eyes. Charlie was lying next to her looking completely renewed. The ash was gone, his lips were ruby red, the skin under his eyes white again. Human blood was a powerful thing. Valerie may have renounced it, but she respected it.

  “We’re up. We’re up,” she said sitting up.

  “The meat is gone,” Amelia said. She was dressed in her clean, but wrinkled poodle skirt and a pink sweater. She had a scarf tied around her neck to cover the two tiny scars Drew had left on her. Her hair was shampooed and pulled back into a messy ponytail which was very modern. John was sitting next to her at the table in his laundered clothes tossing his football up and down silently. He looked more sullen than usual.

  “I’m starving!” Harry said. “I need food!”