by P. Mattern
“Want some?” she asked, “It’s a fruit tea .Peach and Plum.”
Cass took the proffered cup and took two swallows.
“Very nice,“ he said, handing it back to her, ”Especially on a cold night. I forget how susceptible humans are to temperature …we really need to see to the needs of Daisy’s family. Some of them are in a tent, with cordless heaters. Some are propane and some are battery operated and can charge from their vehicle power source when they are driving but it’s a concern. Maybe even a safety hazard.”
“Do they have the silver thermal covers that we handed out?” Mitzi questioned.”They retain body heat in a wonderful way. Some of the blankets even come with a hooded part. And by the way,” She added, smiling ,”I think our ‘donor’ has a very noticeable crush on you Cass.”
Cass smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling up.
“I know,” he said, smiling a bit smugly and slipping his arm around Mitzi ”Isn’t that fun?”
“Is it?” Mitzi returned archly, ”When you actually make skin to skin contact with her to feed she is so young and impressionable, she might interpret the exchange as intimacy.”
“It IS intimate,” Cass asserted. “Granted the suction technique is less so, since it isn’t as fully invasive as fanging, but still…” Cass trailed the fingers of one hand up from her waist and along Mitzi’s spine to the back of her neck, ”Still much more intimate than a high five or a handshake.”
“Well we shall see,” Mitzi said demurely.”I suggested we BOTH feed next time on purpose you know. I want to see how this goes. This is a social experiment on a very grand scale…I think few vamps realize it. Our greatest hope for the future of humans and vampires is to cultivate symbiotic relationships of mutual nurturing.”
“Mitzi,” Cass said, suddenly serious, looking into her eyes searchingly “This isn’t about losing Buttercup is it? My darling she was a clone, not a human. That was an entirely different dynamic. Symbiotic relationships can involve a degree of intimacy in the exchange and still remain essentially businesslike. I don’t see Daisy sleeping in our bed with us as Buttercup did.”
Mitzi looked flustered for a second then gave an exasperated sound.
“Of course I understand that Daisy won’t and CAN’T be another Buttercup…but I think the new dynamic between vampires and humans WILL involve some emotional exchanges, it is a deep connection, Castor. I’m afraid it’s inevitable that attachments will form.”
Cass drew her closely to him, a tuberose fragrance from her hair wafting upwards pleasantly. He cleared his throat, “I just don’t want you to get hurt or disappointed. Some of the families that came with us are very suspicious and accompanied us only very grudgingly. Although everyone over the age of 17 agreed to the Donorship part of the agreement Daniel, our little resident bean counter informs me that there are about 15% of humans with us that refuse to sign up to donate blood, but still expect our guidance, provision and protection. Not very sporting of them, but life here on earth has never been a utopia and we have anticipated most of these glitches. We only REALLY need blood contributions from approximately half of those traveling with us, and we have over 70% totally on board, so we are still good.
Our promise to them and our obligation supersedes any other considerations. Even if they ALL refused to honor their end of the bargain, we have to preserve them. One thing –out of many—that the government neglected to tell it’s citizenry is that over time all those that have been chipped will be sterile. It’s an unfortunate side effect.”
Mitzi lifted her head, fire in her eyes.
“WHAT? That makes no sense at all Cass. WHY would they want to make certain that most of the population never reproduces? “
“The government wants to make sure that only the RIGHT persons reproduce,” Cass answered soberly. “You may have heard the term ‘Eugenics’? Unless humans go underground they will be controlled, sterilized and wholesale slaughtered by the thousands.
Vampires and other forgotten, and newly rediscovered, phylums will fare worse than the humans. But the few of us they keep around for military and political applications will be groomed as an elite force of superbeings to protect those in power. Celeste sees that they will maintain large ‘herds’ of humans in concentration camp type farms just to make sure that there is a blood supply for the Vampire Elite.”
Mitzi looked ashen at this information.
“I could never do that—or BE—that , no matter what they offered. I know that you couldn’t either.”
“No sweet, I could not. A cage, no matter how gilded, is still a cage. The ‘Elite’ will be prisoners and tools of the government…”
“An ARMY of Pet Vampires,” Mitzi interjected thoughtfully.
Cass brushed his lips across the furrow in Mitzi’s brow.
“An army indeed! Celeste says it will be modeled after the Spartans of ancient Rome. They will be allowed to have families but will only be allowed to visit on furlough in order to reproduce. Otherwise they will exist in squadrons in strategic locations.
You know what that might mean, love, don’t you?”
Mitzi sighed.
“Of course…It means we may eventually be fighting our own, in a CIVIL war, not unlike the Civil War in the Americas. “
Cass and Mitzi searched each other’s eyes for a moment.
“I’m not afraid,” she said.”I will fight, alongside you and Absolam if it comes to that. After all…” she said with amusement sparkling in her eyes,”You can’t keep me pregnant forever!”
Cass ran his hand over the swell of her belly.
“I can try,” he offered, smiling. “What do you want to name this one Mitzi, love. I haven’t even asked.”
“I feel our latest offspring is a boy and I want to name him Liam Castor Zander….and call him Zander!”
“I approve,” Cass said happily, and next time it’s my turn to name the baby! I really like propagating. It seems to make sense of everything else, don’t you agree? Let’s make love now.”
Mitzi giggled,”I knew you were getting to that.”
Cass looked around the motor home.
“Our new environment doesn’t afford much privacy. You will have to limit your ecstatic screams my love,” he said teasingly.
Mitzi laughed.
“I know that you haven’t noticed, Cass, but Absolam sleeps with his ear buds in for fear he might hear us going at it! He makes Natalie do the same. I think we’re okay on that!”
Two hours later, with no more sounds issuing from the closed door of the master bedroom in the mobile home, Absolam slipped out of his lower bunk and with great agility cimbed up into the top bunk with Natalie.
Natalie simultaneously removed her ear buds, slipped her lacy lingerie tank top off over her head and turned to give Ab a long welcoming kiss.
“I can’t sleep with you so near without being in your arms,” she whispered, tugging on Absolams full lower lip gently with her teeth. “Are you sure that your parents are asleep?”
“Perfectly sure. I have to apologize, if you heard anything Nat. I can’t drown them out even with my earpods turned all the way up. It’s horrendously embarrassing to be in a mobile home and have to listen to your parents going at it like mad elephants!” Ab hissed, making her giggle.
“Well at least the poor dears have finally worn themselves out.” She said consolingly.”Now it’s finally our turn. What’s on the menu tonight I wonder?”
“Oh you are in for quite an array of gourmet treats,” Absolam whispered, brushing his lips up the length of her throat., stretching down to momentarily capture a nipple in his teeth, “I am famished for you. ‘J’aurais toujours faim de toi’ as the song goes.”
“Absolam,” Nat breathed into his hair as his lips caressed the hollow of her throat.”I want to feel the weight of you .”
Absolam carefully positioned himself carefully above her; then bearing most of his weight on his forearms, gently lowered himself on top of her. Feeling the length a
nd breadth of his torso against her Natalie exhaled in such a deeply satisfied way that Ab felt instantly gratified.
“Is this what you wanted?” he whispered, knowing that it was.
“Yes my love,” Natalie answered, after which the two kissed passionately for an interminable amount of time.
Ab felt himself becoming drawn into their lovemaking to the point of losing himself. Time had no relevance any more . Ab felt a growing sense of longing that was so pervasive it was almost painful, and his discerned that Natalie was feeling it also. A sense of sublime urgency to become as close to her as possible. An even greater sense that they had somehow crossed a threshold and that this time they wouldn’t be able to stop.
She only uttered one word before their relationship was consummated, and it was to look into his eyes with her own eyes in which the pupils were so enlarged with longing and love that her magnificent golden irises were barely visible, her full pink lips soundlessly forming the word ,”Yes.”
He worried for an instant afterwards that he had hurt her, that she would be sorry, that she would somehow regret giving herself to him, but he needn’t have worried. As she lay in the cradle of his arms afterward, they were surrounded by a atmosphere of complete rightness and love requited.
They slept together dreamlessly.
Fressenda was bored and anxious to break camp and proceed to the next destination. She had set up a makeshift school of sorts for the children of the camp so that they wouldn’t get behind in their academic pursuits. That took up some of her time, but still she felt a wild restlessness taking over her spirit now that the vampires were, more or less, nonwithstanding their luxury mobile homes, living in the wild. The wildness around her awakened something ancient and primal that she had hidden under a thin veneer of civility and modernization.
She and Charley were inseparable now, and their lust for each other was never ending. She was excited by him on several levels. He had filled out and appeared more manly now, handsome as ever, clever enough to keep up with her , and most importantly, she had created him. Having twice turned Charley, the two of them were connected body and soul in a special and permanent sense.
Fress felt that Charley understood her in a way that few of her friends and acquaintances did. They often communicated wordlessly, and could sense each other’s moods even across a room. Fress kept very busy while the caravan of mingled humans and vampires camped for a few days. Charley often took her along as he joined the ‘Hunters’ who were charged with providing wild game to the occupants of the camp. As would be expected, the vampires were phenomenal hunters due to their speed and agility. Many of the humans, however were nearly as adept as the vamps and a camaraderie developed between them that could pass for a slightly guarded version of friendship.
Charley and Fress became close to a human couple, a young man named Court and his tawny haired and beautiful fiancé Kim. The couples had met since Court and Kim were assigned to Charley and Fress as their Donors. The foursome enjoyed exploring the caves together, and Fressenda showed Kim how to knit in a small knitting and crocheting group she had formed.
“The old skills will be very useful in the future,” Fress told the young woman,as they sat together at a picnic table on a day that was milder than usual. ”With the rapid changes taking place there may be disruptions in supply chains and difficulty obtaining all the premade apparel that we have been used to.”
Kim had smiled.
“It seems as though you know how to do everything!”Kim said good naturedly with a tinge of admiration in her voice.”Have you been, um, around for awhile?”
Fress answered with a laugh ”You could say that! I have lived in times when modern conveniences were unheard of. The popular perception is that those times were ‘harder’, and in some ways they were I suppose. But the lack of conveniences made for a much healthier lifestyle in many ways. There is a deep satisfaction in living from the efforts of your own hand. And a peace that comes from living simply I think.”
Fressenda had been knitting at a ferocious pace and suddenly stopped and did a last row of finishing stitches, then stood up to unfurl what she’d been working on.
It was a full length cape knitted from white eyelash yarn that had tiny golden threads through it. The threads sparkled in the wan winter sunlight as she held it up. It was fastened at the throat with two ties that had pompoms attached to the ends of them. Fress had cleverly knit a ruffled collar at the throat of the garment , and there was also a matching ruffled flounce all around the bottom.
Kim gasped.
“Oh my gosh that is absolutely gorgeous Fressenda ! How many skeins of yarn did you use for it?”
“Plenty !” Fress answered, “And I made it for you if you’d like it!”
The young woman’s eyes widened and she seemed speechless.
“It only took me about 90 minutes actually,” Fress told her. “And I can knit even faster but the needles start to ignite the yarn if I do.”
Gingerly Kim took the proffered cape and slipped it over her jacket. It’s whiteness looked lovely against the variegated golds and browns in her shoulder length slightly wavy hair.
“I don’t know what to say,” Kim said slowly, ”You are so generous. Thank you!”
“It looks lovely on you,” Fressenda said dotingly ,”And you are very welcome! I am enjoying getting back into these handicrafts. They are productive and relaxing…kind of stress relievers.”
Looking into the shining and grateful eyes of the recipient of her gift Fress had an epiphany, almost a vision of the girl as a vampire, her lovely face uncluttered by the thick glasses that she had to wear to correct her vision.
But sighing, she shrugged it off. The ratio of humans to vamps was a critical issue, and it would be a selfish indulgence on her part to change any of the humans that they were traveling with to vampires at any point. Of course she had changed Charley…but that was because she’d had such a clear vision of what he was meant to become. That had been a unique situation, almost a predestined act on her part, but there was no plausible rationale for repeating it. Inwardly she made a promise to herself that she would never change a human to vampire again.
It wasn’t a promise that she would be able to keep.
Lux and Pierre had been assigned a young adult female in her late twenties as a Donor, causing them some misgivings.
She was of medium build with broad hips and a ready smile, and her name was Raine. But the problem wasn’t her broad hips or her ready smile.
The problem was the close attachment both the vampires had felt at the instant she had sought them out for her first ‘donation’. It had caused both of them to feel such an immediate sense of protectiveness towards her that neither of them wanted to draw blood from her.
Raine seemed to have a matter-of-fact attitude toward donating blood, entering Lux and Pierre’s Winnebago that they were sharing with Fress and Jaxon with an air of it being no big deal.
Her vibe and mature and accepting attitude caused a slight shoving match as Pierre and Lux argued about who should be the first to take her blood offering.
Pierre had glared at Lux, whose ribs were showing through the thin material of his white silk long sleeved tee.
“You go first, and without any discussion please,” Pierre told him, ”I am tired of looking at your ribs. You are as bad as Fressenda and Mitzi, trying to starve yourself to make sure that the rest of us have something to eat. You are definitely satisfying your blood thirst tonight!”
“What about YOU?” Lux had questioned heatedly.”Okay so maybe you are built a little bigger and stockier but you’re at the last notch on your belt…hey don’t look so surprised that I noticed. I LOVE you! It’s my JOB to notice!”
Even though it was their first meeting with her, Raine, looking bemused, had interrupted.
“There is only one way to settle this,” she declared.”You are BOTH feeding…and please don’t look so shocked that I called it ‘feeding’..it’s not a dirty word. I�
�ve been hanging out with a lot of vamps lately and I am quite familiar with the terminology. I am a strong and sturdy woman and I am sure that you can both have a few ounces. If we don’t go overboard I can probably be back in three days time to ‘offer refreshment’ again!”
Lux and Pierre had stared at each other, Both of Pierre’s eyebrows were raised and one of Lux’s. A bemused smile appeared at the corners of Lux’s mouth as he looked at Raine.
“Okay, Lady, you’re on! Who do you want first?”
Raine pointed to a comfortable sectional in the living room portion of the mobile home.
“I’m sort of short on time tonight,” she told the vampires,”How about if I sit between you and you both feed at once-it’s purely for the sake of economy. After all, I have two wrists. Two of most body parts since I am symmetrical-that was a little joke by the way. And also I get the feeling that you are both plotting to let the other feed first so that you can figure out how to back out before it’s YOUR turn. So … both at once then?”
Lux started laughing and Pierre soon joined in.
“You are a very astute observer of ‘creature nature’ I would say, since we aren’t technically human,” Pierre commented as the three of them sat down against the cropped blue velvet of the sectional, ”Do you have a background in psychology by any chance?”
“Bingo!” Raine answered, sweeping her dark hair away from her neck and behind her. “I was in the middle of a Fellowship and doing very well when all of this nonsense started. But I learned a long time ago –because of my rotten childhood—to roll with the punches. So now I’m on Plan B. But it’s not so bad. I love being outdoors. And both the vampires and the other humans have been reasonable and kind. Really I have no complaints.
But I did want to ask…is it painful?” she asked, looking at each of them in turn, and showing the only signs of nervousness since she had entered the Winnebago .”You have such handsome and kind faces, both of you. I can’t imagine that you would hurt me,”
Lux patted her shoulder in a gesture of reassurance.