Blood Hunt

by Christopher Buecheler

  Two glanced at Stephen for a moment, and then said, “Not now.”

  “I will be gone as soon as this program ends,” Stephen said without looking away from the television. “I wouldn’t want to spoil your personal time, ladies.”

  “I’m sorry, Stephen,” Two said. “No offense. It’s just …”

  “That my brand of contribution is not what you’re looking for at this time,” Stephen finished for her. “I know. I do many things well, but sensitivity is not one of them. The way I make up for it is by knowing when not to stick around. No offense is taken.”

  Two nodded. The microwave beeped, and she stood to retrieve her dinner. She returned with it, sat down again, and began to eat, staring at the television without really watching it.

  “This tastes like fucking cardboard,” she remarked after a few bites.

  Stephen laughed. “Perhaps you should try a different brand of frozen ‘meal’ … and I use that term in the loosest possible sense.”

  “Your advice on food is somewhat suspect, Stephen, considering you’ve had naught but blood for three hundred years,” Naomi told him.

  “Yet, somehow, I have a hard time believing that any dinner one can purchase frozen, in a four-compartment plastic dish, is going to qualify as fine cuisine.”

  “He’s got a point,” Two said.

  “Thank you.”

  “But I’m too lazy to bother with anything else.”

  “That I cannot help you with,” Stephen said. He used the remote to shut off the television, and then stood. “Ladies, I have acquired tonight’s football scores. My work here is done, and I’ll bid you a good evening.”

  “Goodnight, Stephen,” Naomi said. She had her eyes closed again, still leaning back against the couch.

  “Later,” Two said.

  “Later indeed,” Stephen replied, and made his way out of the apartment.

  Two finished her meal, not talking, and Naomi didn’t seem in a hurry to speak. After perhaps ten minutes of silence, the vampire glanced over at her.

  “Is it too soon?”

  Two shrugged. “Too soon for what, Naomi? To talk about the bullshit that went on tonight? No, now is fine.”

  “I’m sorry that the council couldn’t grant you what it is that you want, Two. I argued your case as strongly as I could. Please believe me.”

  “I know. I believe you. I’m not angry at you, Naomi. It’s just …” Two sighed, stood, and looked out the window at the city, arms crossed.

  “Just?” Naomi prompted.

  “I feel like this is never going to end. It’s so frustrating to finally find the place you belong and have it yanked away from you.”

  “I understand.”

  Two continued. “And now I can’t even manage to get some new version of it. I don’t know what being an Ashayt is going to be like, but it has to be better than this. It has to be better than waiting, and wondering, and getting my hopes up. Christ, what if they say ‘no?’ I almost wish I’d never run into you. At least before, I just didn’t care anymore.”

  Naomi was quiet for a time, and when she spoke, her voice was subdued. “Do you mean that?”

  Naomi’s tone seemed to cut through Two’s frustration. She turned to look at the vampire and, after a moment, made her way back to the couch, shaking her head.

  “No, I don’t mean that. I’m sorry, Naomi. I wasn’t being very fair. I’m glad I met you. I’m even glad I met Stephen, believe it or not.”

  Naomi smiled. “He grows on you.”

  “I miss Theroen. I miss being with him, and seeing him smile, and hearing him talk, and listening to him breathe. I just miss all of it. Theroen … what he gave me, it made me warm and happy and comfortable. Being with him made those feelings even stronger. Now it’s all gone and I’m just tired and cold and empty. I hate it.”

  Naomi nodded.

  “And now I’m going to have to go to London, where I thoroughly do not want to go, in order to petition a bunch of ancient people about being allowed back into their club. I’m sure that’s going to go perfectly … it’s not like old, rich, powerful people are usually set in their ways or anything.”

  “It may not be like that,” Naomi said. “The European council is … not like the American council.”

  “Sorry if I don’t get my hopes up.”

  “You’re forgiven.”

  “Anyway, what happens when this is done?” Two asked, running a hand through her hair.

  “I imagine that depends on the council’s conclusion,” Naomi said.

  “Right, but if they say I can be a vampire again?”

  “Then I’ll gladly fulfill that request. Two, I … you are someone that I think I could teach. Someone I could spend decades with. Someone that I …” Naomi’s voice trailed away.

  “Someone you could what?” Two asked.

  It was Naomi who stood this time, pacing back and forth, looking agitated. “Someone I feel should be a vampire! You are worthy, if you’ll excuse my arrogance. So many people are brought in, especially amongst the Burilgi, who are so very useless. You are Eresh-Chen! You were chosen by Theroen, and it would be unlike him to make a mistake. I do not believe that he did.”

  “Dunno what you all see in me,” Two said. “I’m just a junkie hooker. When Theroen met me, I was nothing. Garbage.”

  “I guarantee that you have never been garbage,” Naomi said. “You don’t understand, Two; it is because of where you’ve been and what you’ve done that Theroen chose you. You have remained strong in such terrible conditions. Think, Two, in every situation you’ve been in, what was the end result?”

  “That I wind up miserable?” Two asked. She heard a shakiness in her voice, and was angry at it. You’re not allowed to start crying, she told herself.

  “That you triumph. You moved out of your house as nothing more than a child, and you survived for years. If not for random bad luck, you would be surviving still. You triumphed over Darren, over the heroin …”

  “Only because of Theroen.”

  “But you attracted him in the first place. Do you see?”

  Two shrugged. “I guess.”

  “You triumphed over Abraham. You triumphed in your goal of bringing Tori home. You triumphed in your search for more vampires. Do you not think you will triumph in this latest quest?”

  “I have no idea. Suppose I don’t. Suppose the council says ‘nope, sorry, ain’t gonna happen’ and forces me out the door. What then?”

  Naomi looked out the window. “Then you adapt. You find another way to accomplish your goals. There are other vampires, in other lands. You could go to Australia, or even Asia. If it comes to that, there is nothing to stop you from going to these places.”

  “I’d have to leave everyone I know and love behind.”

  Naomi turned to look at her, a sad smile on her face. “When you make the change, you will leave those people behind regardless. Your friends will age. They will die. You will not. It is unwise to stay too attached to humans.”

  “I don’t generally worry about what’s wise,” Two said.

  “I know. It’s … one of the things I like about you,” Naomi conceded. She sat down on the couch again, next to Two, the warm feeling that she sometimes projected rolling off of her in waves. It was stronger now, perhaps, than it had ever been before. It was comforting, lulling.

  Two sighed and said, “Are you doing this on purpose? Hypnotizing me? Filling me with happy vibes so I’ll stop being depressed?”

  Naomi looked surprised. She shook her head. “No, I … what you’re feeling isn’t under my control. It happens to some Ashayt vampires. Lisette was able to control it, but she never had time to teach me. It is a manifestation of the fact that I care about you.”

  “It’s nice. Warm. I’ve felt it before, but never this strong.”

  “I … care about you very much.”

  Two opened her eyes, glanced over at Naomi. “Do you?”

  When Naomi leaned forward and kissed her, it was not ex
actly unexpected, but Two was unable to prevent herself from going rigid for a moment. Naomi took this as a sign of displeasure and broke quickly away.

  “I’m sorry, Two. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s OK. I’m not angry,” Two said.

  “No?”

  “No.”

  “You’re sure?”

  Two leaned her head back against the couch again, closed her eyes, sighed. “Naomi, I have no idea what I want. I know what you want. I already kinda guessed it, and now it’s … well, it’s pretty much on the record. I just don’t know what I want. I don’t know how to feel. I’m numb.”

  “Your life has been very cold,” Naomi said.

  Two nodded. “Freezing.”

  Naomi leaned her head against Two’s shoulder and spoke in a voice that was just above a whisper. “I would very much like to help make you warm.”

  Two put her hands over her face. “Oh, God, what’s wrong with me?” she asked, her throat aching.

  “There is nothing wrong with you.” Naomi wrapped her arms around Two and pulled gently sideways, sliding into a reclining position against the arm of the couch. Two turned with the vampire girl, nestling against her. Naomi held her, saying nothing. Eventually the urge to weep passed, and Two took a deep and shuddering breath.

  “Are you all right?” Naomi asked her.

  “Yes. No. I don’t … can we just …”

  “Whatever you would like.”

  “Just stay like this. I’m tired and confused and sad, and I don’t want to make a dumb mistake.”

  Naomi was playing with a lock of Two’s hair. “Of course,” she said.

  “Thanks. I … I’ll figure out what I’m feeling soon, I promise.”

  “There is no rush. We have plenty of time.”

  All the time in the world, Two’s mind whispered, and she thought again of Theroen. For the first time in her life, she made a conscious effort to push his face from her mind. Closing her eyes, Two let herself drift, floating along the warm currents that Naomi was providing.

  * * *

  “I’ve booked three tickets to London,” Naomi said, looking up from her laptop. She and Stephen were sitting on one couch, Two on the other.

  Nearly twenty-four hours had passed since she and Two had lain together on the couch, and Naomi had made no further efforts to advance their relationship, had put no further pressure on Two. The previous night had ended with Two eventually getting up, thanking Naomi, and going to bed. She was no closer to determining how she felt, but at least Naomi didn’t seem to be expecting any immediate answer.

  “How do you guys deal with stuff like traveling?” Two asked. “I mean, what if it’s light out when we arrive?”

  “It’s a bit of a pain in the arse,” Stephen admitted. “Not so much for Naomi, since she handles the sunlight relatively well. If I absolutely must go out during the day, I can do it, but it’s rather painful and it doesn’t do wonders for my otherwise charming personality. Most of the time, I stop in Iceland and spend the day there, flying out again at night. Unlike most people, I rarely have to look for the cheapest or fastest option.”

  “That’s exactly what I did,” Naomi said. “We leave JFK airport at ten in the evening, and reach Reykjavik in the middle of the night. We stay in a hotel there, and then fly out of Iceland at night, and arrive in London before the sun rises.”

  “Nice,” Two said.

  “It’s much better than the old days,” Stephen agreed. “Booking passage on a ship, breaking into cabins at night to feed or just surviving on rats. Now the hardest thing is explaining to the flight attendants that even though you’re flying in business class, you don’t need or want the free meal.”

  “It’s so weird to think that you guys were alive before airplanes.”

  “When I was born, America was still a vast, unexplored land filled with natives, save for a smattering of European settlements,” Naomi said. “Reflecting on it does sometimes make one feel old.”

  “You look fucking spectacular for four hundred,” Two said dryly. Stephen made a snorting sound.

  “I came to the States in nineteen fifty-two,” Naomi continued, ignoring them. “I had spent World War II moving from town to town in France, trying to kill as many Germans as I could without arousing too much suspicion. Once the war ended, I decided it was time for a change of scenery and came here. I met Stephen in nineteen sixty-eight. He used to wander around the city by himself, late at night, in dress clothes, hoping to get mugged so that he could beat the offending party half to death.”

  “Those were good times,” Stephen said, smiling. “This city is so boring, now.”

  “You should spend some time where I grew up,” Two said. “Still plenty of bad shit going down there.”

  “Yes, but then I’d have to go to Brooklyn.”

  Two laughed. “Typical Manhattan asshole. All right, so when do we go?”

  “Friday night,” Naomi said. “Two days.”

  “How long until we can see the council?” Two asked.

  “That … is a fine question,” Stephen said. “They don’t hold themselves to quite as rigid a schedule as the American council does, so it may be a while.”

  “OK, but how long are we talking?”

  Stephen glanced at Naomi, who shrugged. He turned back to Two.

  “I think they try to meet every year, if they can,” he said.

  “Oh my God,” Two moaned, putting her head in her hands. “Are you fucking serious?”

  “This is why I was none too pleased with the American council’s decision,” Stephen told her.

  “It won’t be so bad,” Naomi said. “London is a wonderful city, and perhaps we can take some trips to other parts of Europe while we’re there. I will have to spend some time making inroads with the council, but I don’t think it will be difficult to gain a meeting with them.”

  “Do you know any of them?” Two asked.

  “Not well. I have been before the European council before, but it was centuries ago. I think two of the members have since been replaced.”

  “One of them for certain … unless his ashes stood up and started talking,” Stephen said.

  Two rolled her eyes. “You guys have such peaceful lives.”

  “Faegan went by choice,” Naomi said. “He was tired and in pain.”

  “Emotional pain,” Stephen elaborated. “Not real pain.”

  “That is the most ridiculous thing you’ve said in some time,” Naomi said, a touch of disgust in her voice. “The woman he loved wouldn’t let him turn her. He spent seventy years living with her, begging her to reconsider. When she finally died … I’ve never seen a man so devastated. He was like a shell. You don’t think that’s pain?”

  Stephen shrugged. “Aye, terrible, I’m sure. I once saw a man get his arm crushed by a morning star. Took the whole bottom half … he was left with this jagged nub of bone jutting out of a pile of ground meat, a big flap of skin swaying below it, blood spraying everywhere. He was begging for someone to kill him.”

  Naomi sighed, shaking her head and turning back to her laptop. “You’re an idiot.”

  Stephen grinned, leaning back on the couch and putting his feet on the coffee table. Naomi glanced with distaste at this, but chose not to say anything. Two watched without comment, amused. Stephen seemed to know all of Naomi’s buttons, and took no small amount of pleasure in pushing them. Two wasn’t sure yet what it was Naomi got out of their relationship, but she suspected that below the refined, political façade there was a part of Naomi that deeply appreciated Stephen’s irreverence and disdain for protocol.

  “I’m booking a hotel for us in London,” Naomi said, glancing at Two. “We’ll get a flat eventually, but it’ll take a week or two. Do you mind sharing a room with me? There are two beds.”

  “No, that’s fine. I don’t mind.”

  “Good. We can just get a two-bedroom suite.”

  “You mean I’m not invited to share the room, too?�
� Stephen asked in mock surprise.

  Naomi rolled her eyes. “Don’t you have a fight to attend?”

  “Not just yet,” Stephen said. “Another hour and I head for the Upper West Side. Then you ladies can get to your knitting, or … whatever it is you do when I’m not around.”

  Two glanced at Naomi, but the vampire girl appeared to be intently involved in whatever was on her laptop screen. Two didn’t think Naomi had told Stephen about the previous night, or about her feelings for Two, but she wondered if Stephen had not perhaps guessed some of it for himself.

  Naomi closed her laptop, stretched, looked at Two.

  “Flights are booked, hotels in Reykjavik and London are booked, and I’ve sent out an initial email to the council requesting their attention. I’m afraid that is all I can do for tonight.”

  “That’s plenty, Naomi, thanks,” Two said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  Naomi shook her head. “Just promise you won’t go running off to Australia until we hear their decision.”

  Two blew air upward, shaking her head slightly, but after a moment she sighed and said, “OK, I guess that’s reasonable.”

  “Is there anything you would like to do in New York before we leave?” Naomi asked. “We will likely be in Europe for some time.”

  Two shrugged. “My house got busted up by vampires, I’m not allowed to see my friends, and there aren’t any movies playing that I care about. I think I’m good.”

  Naomi smiled, nodded, glanced at Stephen. He gave her a dismissive wave.

  “We’re fine,” he said. “No need to mother us. Besides, we all know you’ll want to go to your club a last few times, say goodbye to all of your little friends. If you would, try not to alert the cultist to the fact that we’re harboring an Eresh-Chen?”

  “I have never given Thomas any information on our activities,” Naomi said.

  “Then all is well.”

  Naomi looked over at Two. “Would you like to go to L’Obscurité?” she asked.

  “Sure, I could use a drink.”

  As they prepared to leave, Two thought of London, and what it would be like to live there for a year. Would she love it? Hate it? Not care? She had no idea, knew only that she was glad to be going with Naomi and Stephen. Two had spent too many long months alone. She was happy, now, to be with friends who would help her along this journey.