by P. Mattern
Daisy’s family had had the foresight to lay in quite a store of nutritional bars as well as many number ten sized tin cans full of nuts, grains, powdered milk and even medical supplies. She wasn’t worried about having to eat anything too repulsive.
But she was determined to be one of the donors for the Noble family.
As Daisy was standing in line she looked around her. She saw rows of campers, and tents here and there , and somewhat removed from the epicenter of the camping site she could see rocky formations with large openings through which both humans and vampires were walking leisurely. Her family had purchased a fairly good sized mobile home for the trip, but Daisy had heard that even some of the humans with other means of shelter had opted to sleep in the caves. Daisy determined that she would see them for herself—from all reports the caves were spectacular inside, with small running streams and vividly gorgeous rock formations. The natural beauty had lured many from their manmade shelters to sleep there.
The long line was getting shorter and at last she found herself standing in front of a caramel skinned vampire girl wearing a white down jacket with a pair of bejeweled sandals, even though the temperature was in the mid forties.
“Daisy Neris,” she told the beautiful creature.
“I’m Merilee,” the girl told her,”And you will be assigned to Rosalie Goldman.”
Daisy hadn’t ever heard of the Goldmans and gave Merilee a pleading look.
“PLEASE!” she said plaintively, ”I really was hoping to be assigned to the Nobles. Is there any way that could happen?”
Merilee smiled at her kindly.
“I just assigned someone else to Mitzi and Castor Noble 5 minutes ago…that girl standing over there by the campfire.” Merilee answered, quickly picking up that the girl must have some sort of ‘celebrity crush’ on the Nobles. Seeing the girl’s stricken expression she felt a sudden surge of sympathy.
“Tell you what,” she said,”If you can get the girl--her name was Gia I think—to trade with you then we’ll just do a swap”
“Thank you,” said Daisy as she turned and strode determinedly in the direction of the girl with cat’s eye glasses and brown bangs who was talking animatedly to another girl.
“Hi,” she introduced herself as soon as she got into the other young lady’s field of vision. My name is Daisy. Are you Gia?”
“Yes I am,” the girl answered cautiously.”Is there a problem?”
“No , not really,” Daisy answered her, ”I just wanted to know if you’d be willing to trade Donees with me. Merilee the girl at the table said you got the Nobles for your vampires. I was wondering if you’d trade with me please?”
“That depends,” Gia said, looking at Daisy suspiciously.”Who do you have?”
“I have Rosalie Goldman, and I don’t know her. I would rather have a couple, not someone my age.”
“Vampires are all the same age, nearly,” the brunette said,
”What difference does it make?”
“I guess it doesn’t matter much to most people,” Daisy answered.”But I sort of KNOW the Nobles a little. I would be more comfortable with vampires I know. So…will you trade me?”
For a moment Daisy thought the girl was going to say no-Gia seemed to be exchanging meaningful glances with her unintroduced tall and gawky looking female friend.
Instead she turned to Daisy again and said in a more pleasant tone of voice, ”I really like your pink hoody-it’s from the “I Love Pink” line at VS, right?”
Daisy realized with a slight shock that Gia was angling for a bribe. But she decided that the hoody was nothing compared to Castor Noble.
She looked the shorter girl evenly in the eyes.
“Trade me and it’s yours,” she answered.
At Gia’s decisive nod the exchange was made. Daisy pulled her hoody off over her head and exchanged Donee Assignment Slips with Gia.
Gia gave a whoop and immediately exchanged her own shabby sweater for the gloriously pink hoody. Daisy waved as she trotted back to tell Merilee that the exchange had been made so that Merilee could adjust her record keeping. Inwardly she gave a huge sigh of relief.
She would be in Castor Noble’s arms tonight, perhaps even feel his lips upon her throat.
And she was determined that one day soon she would have that kiss.
“I don’t know Cass,” Mitzi said in a fretful tone,”I don’t feel ready for this …new regimen I suppose you’d call it. I’m afraid I was spoiled between donated blood and having dear Buttercup around . I’m not comfortable with the idea of taking blood from strangers.”
Cass, finishing a huge plate of beef stew that Mitzi had made, smiled at his wife indulgently.
“I understand your reticence ,” he told her, ”But don’t you think it’s best just to dive right in? Things will never be the same again, my sweet. Major paradigm shift for vampires AND humans. Change is never easy…and I know I don’t have to remind YOU of that.”
Cass stood and after placing his dish in the sink turned and laced his hands around Mitzi’s waist.
“You’re growing too thin my darling. I’ve been noticing that you are barely touching any of the last of the donated blood, saving it for everyone else. But you have to feed , Mitzi, as awkward as it will feel the first few times. Tonight our personal Blood Donor will be visiting and YOU my darling will drink your fill. I’m not even going to entertain an argument, Mitzi, and you know I’m serious. Tonight is the night.”
Mitzi sighed as she allowed herself to rest in Cass’s embrace.
“It’s not that I don’t see the necessity,” she returned, ”And I didn’t give you enough credit for being observant I see,” she continued, feeling slightly exasperated that he had caught her denying herself to make sure their supply of blood donor bags went to their extended family.”But Cass it’s just so intensely weird to think of biting a stranger…”
Cass tried not to laugh.
“What strange vampire folk we have in the New Millenia,” he said, ”Where some of them, including present company, think it odd to feed on actual humans at all! Listen my Love, you’re a Tribite and you’ve been on a secret , until now that is, self-deprivation program. When the time comes your biological imperative will kick in. I should probably be present to make sure that you don’t drain your Donor completely dry!” he teased, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.
“When IS the Donor coming?” Mitzi asked nervously. “I did make a whole slew of the beef stew so I can put it in a big container for the human family. I thought I’d give them some other groceries also . You , Lux, Charley and Pierre are all great hunters-we can get fresh meat anytime. I am not an ace at cooking venison but I’ve been looking up recipes and I think I can get the hang of it!”
“Soon,” Cass answered,”Merilee called me before dinner. Our donor is a young female named Daisy Neris. And I insist on watching you feed on her…I’m anticipating it will be even more of a turn on than watching two female energies kiss!”
Just then and before Mitzi felt anywhere near ready, there was a knock on the door.
The girl standing below her at the bottom of the aluminum steps leading up to the center door of the Winnebago was fairly tall, with blonde hair blowing in the breeze that had sprung up. Before the girl could speak Mitzi asked, gesturing for the young girl to enter”Daisy Neris?I am Mitzi Noble.”
“Yes,” the girl replied, clambering up the steps as Mitzi stepped aside,”I’m the Donor for you and your husband I think. I might as well tell you that I’m so nervous..I attended the Donor Informational Meeting but I arrived late, so I’m not at all sure how this should work.”
Mitzi gently guided the young woman into seating in the ‘Living Room’ area of the mobile home.
“There isn’t really any hard and fast procedure for this,” she assured Daisy, who looked as if she might fall over in a faint, and was staring at Cass as though mesmerized.”I will just come sit beside you, and take your wrist in my hand. Then I will use
a pressure suction method to draw the blood through your skin. It will take about two and a half minutes. When we’re finished you will have a lateral bruise but the skin will not be broken.”
Daisy was still staring at Cass and seemed as if she hadn’t heard anything Mitzi was saying. She seemed to come back to herself just then and nodded her head, saying ,”Um…that sounds fine.”
Cass reached across Mitzi to offer his broad hand to the girl.
“I’m Castor Noble by the way,” he told her. “I’m sure this is weird. But it doesn’t hurt, and the only one of us that you need to worry about feeding tonight is my wife.”
Mitzi could have sworn the girl looked disappointed for a moment. She recovered quickly, however, and said, ”Sure. Fine. It doesn’t sound too awful at least. “
As though trying to be helpful Daisy pulled the sleeve of her sweater up to her elbow, exposing an expanse of pale skin with a few small freckles here and there.
“Is this all right?”she asked Mitzi.
Mitzi began to feel a pulse pounding in her temple. As she took in the delicious scent of the female human’s blood her bloodlust was kicking in so quickly she was afraid she would lose control.
“Turn your head and close your eyes my dear,” she said quickly,”It will be easier that way.
Mitzi’s fangs had extruded but she fought an impulse to pull the girls head back and sink fangs into the girl’s neck and instead bent forward slightly as she raised the girl’s wrist up to her mouth.
The first of Daisy’s blood that entered Mitzi’s mouth tasted like ambrosia. Mitzi reveled in the deeply aromatic bouquet. It was difficult (‘but essential!’ she warned herself sternly) to take it slowly and gently. She didn’t want this young woman’s experience to be an unpleasant one. Within three minutes Mitzi felt immensely refreshed and pulled her lips away from Daisy’s wrist.
Daisy opened her eyes and immediately looked down at the lateral bruise forming on the inside of her wrist. It looked almost like a vermillion lip print.
“Wow , I really didn’t feel anything except a little prickly sensation from time to time,” Daisy commented, her gaze still fixated on her wrist.”I thought it would hurt but it didn’t.”
Mitzi felt awkward. She wasn’t used to feeding from a human, only from prepackaged blood or a wetnurse clone, she wasn’t used to making conversation with her “food”, and she felt a pang in her heart for Buttercup. Buttercup had been such a nurturing and devoted companion, practically a surrogate mother to Mitzi.
But this young woman was an innocent, and a human. For the first time since her Turning Mitzi felt depraved, ashamed of what she’d become.
Ashamed to be a vampire.
Nevertheless she kept her composure as she said to Daisy, ”I’m so glad that it wasn’t unpleasant for you my dear. It was a first time for me as well. I’m sure you’ve heard that V-net vampires have for many decades only existed on donated blood…we have become unaccustomed to feeding directly on humans. I am sorry that it has come to this. I really am. But all the same I thank you for the gift of your blood. It will sustain me for three weeks or more.”
Cass stepped into the conversation at that point.
“Oh no no no!” he admonished Mitzi.”No you don’t my love! You have weakened yourself for our sakes and now you have to catch up!”
Turning to Daisy he said earnestly, ”My wife will need another feeding in a week’s time. I insist that she has at least two before I will take a turn. And don’t worry, Daisy. We are well aware of what we need and how our ’blood extractions’ affect the health of our human donors. We will not cause any harm or distress to you my dear, that is a promise.”
Daisy was looking in Cass’s kind golden brown eyes as if she were entranced.
“Of course I will be back,” she said, though she was still staring at Cass rather than looking at Mitzi.”And let’s make it THREE days…they said at the informational meeting that that would be an appropriate interval between feedings. They said that the average feeding extracts only eight ounces and so I am free to give another eight ounces at any time-even tomorrow!
Of course,” she continued, lowering her eyes demurely, ”That will mean I won’t be able to donate to Mr. Noble for 56 days after that…”
Mitzi ran the calculations in her mind, and came up with a more equitable solution.
“When you come again we BOTH will feed!” She said adamantly , speaking over Cass as he immediately started voicing an objection, ”We can split the 6 ounces to 3 apiece. I am a small woman and I think 6 ounces would be an over feed for someone of my stature anyway, given that I have already fed this night.”
Cass sighed, winked at Daisy and rolled his eyes.
“I guess you heard from ‘the boss’ he told her,”My wife is small but mighty! So I guess we will see you in three days, Daisy, if that meets with your approval. And please let me walk you back to your—wherever you are staying. Mitzi has made some delicious food and also we have other supplies you might enjoy having.”
Daisy smiled shyly , thanked Mitzi for the groceries and allowed Cass to help her on with her jean jacket.
As Cass walked out into the crisp night air, Daisy turned to him, her eyes luminous.
“So kind of you to walk me back. We have a camper and a big family tent about five minutes walk from here. I’m not yet used to sleeping in the woods. The noises bother me at night, especially the owls.”
“Ah, the night birds of prey,” Cass said contemplatively.”I can see how strange their night music seems to a city dweller. In modern times we are comforted by the noises of our technology surrounding us. We sleep easily to the sounds of the furnace or air conditioner kicking in, we get used to the hum of the refrigerator, and the muted sounds of distant traffic.
But Mother Nature has her own lullabies-the sounds of the night birds calling, the wind moving through the branches of the trees making almost an ocean sound, the crickets and small animals calling .The Night Symphony is alive and has a resonance in the spirit of all creatures…something that man made environments lack. We are all creatures sleeping on the bosom of the breathing Earth. I think our modern lifestyles cause us to forget that.”
“WOW,” Daisy said, taking in a breath. She stopped walking and turned to face him.
“You are blowing my mind Mr. Castor Noble. You have the soul of a poet. What you just said was—well, it was just beautiful!”
Cass shook his head, chuckling.”Not really. I may be waxing more eloquent tonight than usual, but it’s my brother Lux who is the poet in the family. I’m more of a mad mechanical engineer and a gearhead.”
Cass decided to switch topics.
“How has this journey been for you Daisy? I know it can’t be easy leaving the kind of life you have always known.”
“It was hard at first,” Daisy said thoughtfully. She shivered a little and brushed an errant strand of hair from her eyes as the wind picked up.”But we are adjusting. The funny part is some of this seems like déjà vu to me…as if I was expecting a big event my entire life but didn’t know what form it would come in. It’s …weird. And ever since I was little I have had dreams about something catastrophic happening in the world. Lots of dreams about tidal waves—and why would a five year old living in Indiana be having recurrent dreams about tidal waves? Or earthquakes?”
“ It may be that you are an Auditor,” Cass answered, a serious tone in his voice, ”NOT in the usual modern sense—in the V-net it was discovered some time ago that certain humans are able to discern cataclysmic events long before they take place. We call them ‘Auditors’ because they operate at a higher vibrational level than humans generally do, and are therefore able to sense and predict events before they happen. Frequently they become aware of forthcoming events when they are in a dream state , because they are astral traveling .”
Daisy stopped abruptly. They were standing in front of a large green group tent that was well lit by lanterns on the inside. Lit up it looked like a miniature
Emerald City, and the silhouettes of humans inside could be seen.
The tent was pitched closely to a small camper which was also lit up, and someone was standing in the doorway obviously peering out at them.
“That’s my mom,” Daisy sighed.”She doesn’t like any of this…”Exchange” I guess you could call it, between humans and the vamps. She calls it “bloodletting”. She refused to sign up—she and my dad had quite a row about it.”
“That’s completely understandable,” Cass told her reassuringly.”We anticipated some suspicion and hostility. Maybe we can win her over. In the meantime…” He said, looking down at Daisy warmly,”We are grateful for your assistance. “
Cass started to carry the packages of food to the door of the camper, but Daisy stopped him, saying, ”Really I can take those from here. If you come any closer to the camper my mom will faint or something!”
“Oh, sorry!” Cass apologized, handing the slim teenager the large packages he’d been carrying, ”Well have a nice evening!”
Daisy looked at Cass and smiled shyly.
“I will. And I’ll sleep better too, remembering your poetic description of the Night Symphony.” she said.
Cass watched the girl close the distance between himself and the camper, and waved back at her when she turned and waved one last time before going in.
When Cass got back to the mobile home Mitzi was still up having a cup of tea. Toward the back of the Winnebago the sound of deep breathing could be heard as Absolam and Natalie slept.
Cass shucked off his jacket and slid in beside Mitzi and her fragile Belleek bone china cup, white with delicate clovers scattered over it on a pattern.
Mitzi held out the cup.