“Thanks for agreeing to meet me at the park.” Alex came up to him with her bagged lunch. He agreed to meet her at the park because it was his job, but he found himself eager to see her today. He wanted to spend time with her, and his talk with his sister last night had helped. He noticed the sunlight radiating off her auburn hair. The light made her appear almost angelic, and beautiful.
He led Alex to a remote area so they could talk in private. He spread the blanket under a large tree with plenty of shade. He suspected she chose the park because it was such a public place. He remained uncertain of what had spooked her yesterday.
“Next time I’m picking the place,” he said as he allowed her to sit down first.
“Oh, are you feeling weakened by the sun’s rays?” She almost sounded delighted.
“No.” He looked at her as he sat down. “Is that why you picked the park?” He wondered if she were testing some of the fake vampire lore the movies and TV shows were always spewing about. He hated the way the media depicted vampires, but he liked Alex’s spunk. He had not expected it.
“I read something about vampires growing weaker in sunlight. I wanted to test the theory.”
“You could have asked.” He knew what she was up to, and his smile showed it. He liked this playful side to her; he just didn’t like to sit in the hot sun and wondered what other lore she might test him on.
Alex took her sandwich out of her bag and fidgeted with the plastic wrap. Gaining her courage, she finally asked, “Are you dead?”
Boy, this was always the stupidest question people would ask. “No. Do you see me here in front of you? Can you hear me talking to you? This animated state is called ‘being alive’. It says so in all the medical textbooks.”
He sensed her nervousness as she nibbled on her sandwich. “I don’t understand. Why vampires? What can you do better than humans who protect the White House and other agencies? I mean, I’m sure you can do more … I just want a list of what that is.”
OK, let’s bring on the list. “We have better hearing and sight. We’re harder to kill. We have fast speed while running or hunting. Overall we have heightened abilities, like being able to see at night, hearing outside the normal human range, and such.”
“What about sense of smell?”
“Yes, that too.”
“Can you smell my blood type?”
He took an unnecessary deep breath for dramatic purposes, since he already knew her blood type, and had the second she walked into Dixon’s office yesterday. “Yes. It's A+”
Alex smiled as her eyes widened in surprise, “Well, wouldn’t that come in handy in a medical emergency?” She took another bite of her sandwich and a sip of water.
Raymond smiled at her. Just like yesterday at Starbucks, he found himself less lonely when she was nearby. He never would have guessed that talking to a woman would be so enjoyable and easy. She hadn’t yelled for help or run away from him as if he were a bloodthirsty monster. Of course, he did notice her play with the collar of her shirt and cover up her neck a bit at his last statement. He sensed she was comfortable talking with him, but still a bit overcautious.
“Do you prefer one blood type over another?” she asked.
“I prefer A+.” If he had to sit in the sun, she could take some friendly prodding herself, but it was obvious his comment didn’t sit well with her. She squirmed on the blanket, perspiration dripped from her temple, and it wasn’t that hot outside. Raymond felt bad for that one; maybe he shouldn’t have made his last comment.
“The government also employs us because there have been vampire attacks on the White House and the President in the past. Some congressmen and senators have been targeted as well,” Raymond said, bringing the conversation back to her last question. “We can sense when another vampire is nearby. It’s our predator instincts. You also need a vampire to catch a vampire usually since humans are too easy to compel.”
“Compel?”
Thought patterns shot out again in panic from her. He wanted to calm her down, and mentioning compelling was not going to do the trick, but he had already laid it on the table. “We can compel humans to do what we want.”
Her eyes narrowed as she took a good look at him, “Am I being compelled right now?”
Raymond was tempted to flirt with her, but he was out of practice. He decided to just answer her questions and ignore his interest in her. “Of course I’m not compelling you right now. I wouldn’t compel you.” Taking a good look at her, he added, “You need to lighten up. You’re tense. It’s understandable, I guess, but I’m not the enemy. We can’t compel you to do anything you normally wouldn’t do. If you were a criminal we could get you to talk, but we couldn’t have you step in front of a moving bus, for example, if you didn’t already have suicidal tendencies.”
She fidgeted with the buttons on her blouse. “Vampires in the movies compel women into their beds, against their will. Could you compel a woman to undress?”
The question embarrassed him – probably because he had never been asked such a question before. Maybe because the question came from Alex. He wasn’t sure.
He considered his answer. “Depends. If she were an exhibitionist? Yes. If she believed her shirt had toxic waste on it? Sure. If they were already inclined to go to bed with me? … Well, there would be no need to compel her in that case.” He cleared his throat and continued, “Women get undressed every day, Alex. It’s ordinary for them. If I wanted a woman’s shirt off, I see no reason why I wouldn’t succeed.” He realized his last statement sounded a bit off–putting, so he added, “Of course, it’s a moot point unless I wanted the shirt off to begin with. Personally, I’ve never compelled a woman in such a way.”
She appeared more nervous at his answer, so he smiled at her to look less menacing. Now he realized that all he could think of now was her shirt off¸ and the idea surprised him. Of course, she was a beautiful woman, and any man would want to see more of her incredible body, but he had not realized until this moment how much of an effect she had on him. He was actually aroused, and he had not felt that sensation in response to a woman in quite some time. He knew his eyes were pitching black in response, so he blinked several times and resisted his feelings.
“Something in your eyes?” she asked, as he continued to blink.
“It’s nothing.” He wiped his eyes and felt for his fangs with his tongue. No fangs produced themselves under his inspection; he was okay to look at her. “I’m fine,” he said as he gazed into her emerald eyes again.
He watched as a squirrel came up to her. She tore off a piece of bread from her sandwich and handed the food to the animal. He found it odd that she didn’t tear the bread and throw it onto the grass for the squirrel to pick up; she was hand–feeding it. “You should be careful, Alex. The squirrel could bite you.”
She looked at Raymond. “I’m guessing one of the points of this outing is to prove to me that not everything that can bite you will bite you.” She studied the vampire from head to toe, and then gazed into his eyes. “You don’t sound so sure of that though. Are you sure I’m safe around you?”
She toyed with him, or so he thought she did. Was she flirting with him? Maybe she was serious. He chose his next sentence carefully. “I’ll ask your permission before I bite you. I give you my word on that, Alex.” As if a ton of bricks fell on him, he realized saliva pooled in his mouth. He wanted to know the taste of her blood. He wanted to feed from her vein. He swallowed hard and tried to dismiss his feelings.
Alex took a look around the park. The place was filled with families enjoying the sunny day. “Just in theory, why not create a super army of our own. Why always be on the lookout for human and vampire threats alone, why not create a threat for our side? … In theory of course.”
“Because we’re living beings. We feed, breathe and have children. We’re not robots … and this isn’t Nazi Germany and we’re not a supreme race. Plus, the more vampires there are, the harder the secret of our existence is to keep. Event
ually every rock star would want vamp bodyguards; hell, they’ll want to be vampires themselves. Where would it end? The Colony is a small group. Vampires are not federally registered or on government reservations, they are scattered and, at least with the civilian vampires, they are relatively unorganized just trying to live their lives among humans.”
“Don’t say that word again.” She appeared irked at his last statements.
Surprised by her tone, he asked, “What word?”
“‘Hell’. You’re in the presence of a lady.”
Raymond’s jaw slackened as he blinked a few times. “I apologize for offending …”
“It’s a joke Raymond. You need to lighten up.” She smiled at him.
Raymond smiled back. He wasn’t expecting her to make a joke. She had a softer side to her, he just knew it. Of course, there existed a tough exterior. She lived and breathed career military and now a top federal official. Putting vampirism on the table would cause anyone to be a bit edgy. But here she joked with him. Tit–for–tat. And wasn’t that sexy.
Alex nodded as the information sunk in. “Can you have children?”
“Yes. Of course we can. That’s how we get baby vampires.”
“I thought vampires were all sterile.”
He shook his head, “Only in the movies.” Raymond hated the way the movies portrayed vampires.
She asked the next question in a hushed tone. “Can vampires and humans have sex?”
Boy, she went straight for the hard questions. “Yes.” He uttered the word slowly and lingered on the ’s’ as he looked deep into her eyes and spoke in the same hushed tone. OK, now all he could think about was having sex with her. Damn. The breeze caught her scent and blew it towards Raymond. His nostrils flared instantly; she smelled so good. The sandwich smelled God–awful nasty, but she smelled great. His attraction grew, as well as an erection. He looked away and forced himself to concentrate on the smell of the sandwich.
“So humans and vampires can have children together?”
The intimate questions surprised him, but her curiosity in vampires as a people pleased him. He felt that she surely had no idea how attracted he was to her, or she wouldn’t be asking these questions. “Vampire males can father children with human females but not the other way around,” he answered, barely making eye contact with her. Before she could ask him why, he continued, “Human sperm, well, any human genes, can’t penetrate a female vampire’s egg.” The discussion centered itself on topics that were intimate in nature. He said the word ‘sperm’ to a woman he had recently met and instantly felt his age. The times had changed, and the world was more open with such topics. Or maybe it was just Alex being so open with him? He wasn’t sure, but Raymond could not remember a single male director of the colony ever asking such questions. He concentrated more on the foul smell of her sandwich so he could clear his head.
“So a vampire man can father a child with a human woman?”
Raymond knew from experience the answer. After all, he had fathered Sterling with his beloved Wilma. “Yes,” he answered looking back at her.
Her face focused in concentration. “The half–breeds have the same vampire qualities? Or are they human?” she asked.
Raymond’s stare intensified as he looked at her. “My son is a half–breed,” he said coldly. “I don’t like the term. Please rephrase the question.” His attraction to her took a step back, but then he had to remind himself that to her the term was not meant to be derogatory in any way. She simply asked a question and was genuinely interested in the answer.
“I’m sorry. … Ah, I’m sorry for the offense, not sorry that your son is a ‘half … um. … OK. Let me start again.”
Raymond had scowled at her half–breed remark, but as she tried to clarify her last sentence she looked horrified for the blunder. Many vampires used the term half–breed, but Raymond hated the term. The embarrassment made her look sweet, so he smiled back at her.
“Do the children produced with one parent being a vampire and the other a human take on human characteristics or vampire ones?”
“They’re vampires. They have both human and vampire genes. Depending on who they choose to have children with, they could have children that are purebred vampires, more half–breeds, or even human children.” He felt bad for snapping at her. “I apologize for my anger about the term half–breed. It was unwarranted. Please accept my apology.”
She nodded and then finished her sandwich without touching the chips in her bag. “So your wife is a human.”
It felt like a knife. “My wife is dead. And yes, she was human.”
“I’m sorry. How did she die?”
“No. Ask another question.” He didn’t want to talk about his loss.
“Okay. Are your parents mixed?”
“No. My parents were both vampires. I’m a purebred.”
Touching her neck, she asked her next question. “Can humans be turned into vampires? And if so, how is it done?”
Bingo! This question usually made it in the top five people would ask. “Yes they can. The vampire has to be fully mature, about 25 years old. That’s when the blood is potent enough to turn a human. The human has to be fed a little of the vampire’s blood which will stave off death temporarily. The human needs to bleed out, the vampire usually drains them. Then the human must drink more vampire blood to start the change. The change takes about 24–48 hours, they’ll need human blood immediately afterward, but after that it's pretty much done. They are known as full vampires.”
“And do full vampires have all the vampire characteristics that purebred vampires have?”
“Yes.”
“Full, pure, and half … oh, my.” She paused before her next question, “I know I’m one–fourth American Indian. Are there individuals who are one–fourth, or less, vampires?”
He shook his head. “No,” He took a deep breath “A half–breed genetically has his father’s vampire DNA. They are sometimes considered … ,” he cleared his throat, “… considered a DNA copy. Their ability to reproduce with vampire women is limited, not only because of genetic limits, but also because our women shun them for being weaker and not good breeders.”
Her eyes pierced him with curiosity. “So your son …”
He cut her off. “I’d rather not talk specifically about my son.”
She nodded, and then her hand instinctively reached for the cross she wore around her neck. Alex looked around at the other people in the park, and then leaned in towards Raymond and whispered. “Have you ever turned a human?”
Raymond decided he had been grilled enough for right now, both by her and the sunlight. He leaned in towards her, and deliberately stared at her cross necklace. Her heart raced, and he knew he shouldn’t tease her, but it was payback for the sunny day picnic. Once he was mere inches from her face, he gazed her deep in the eyes. “Have I turned a human?” He moved in even closer and whispered, “That’s classified.”
Remaining close to her, he pulled an antique pocket watch out of the side pocket of his jeans to examine the time.
She leaned back away from him, her face a bit white with fear. “What a lovely timepiece.” Alex’s shaky hand reached across to touch the watch, “May I?”
The chain was still attached, but they were sitting close enough that the time piece easily reached.
She held the watch. “It's beautiful … and old.”
“The watch belonged to my father,” he said, counting the freckles on her face.
Alex looked at the back at the engraving; the initials did not match Raymond’s name. “He doesn’t miss it?”
Raymond took a deep breath and he removed the watch from her hand, never allowing his gaze to drop from her face. “He’s dead.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, her eyes meeting his.
He could still hear her heart pounding, but didn’t believe it was all because of fear. With the sandwich gone, all he could smell was her sweet scent. He wanted something to say, anything. Right
now all he could do was look into her beautiful emerald eyes and wonder what her lips would feel like if he kissed her. He licked his lips and nearly leaned in to find out.
His phone beeped and broke him from his trance. He pocketed the watch and grabbed the phone. It was Ben with some routine business, but Raymond needed a break. He was enjoying his time with Alex a bit too much, and just needed a breather so he wouldn’t do anything inappropriate – like compel her to remove her top.
“What is it? A bat signal asking you to return to the bat cave?” she asked.
It was as good an out as he needed. “Something like that,” he chuckled. “I’ll pick up at your place for dinner tonight.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Raymond met Alex for dinner at The National Mall. Alex had changed clothes and now wore a pair of tight fitting jeans and a plain white t–shirt. She styled her hair down and just tousled, like she didn’t bother to put much effort into her appearance. Damn, she could look good in anything. Raymond always preferred women in dresses and skirts, but had to admit, Alex looked amazing in her tight jeans and t–shirt.
“Hi, Raymond. Sorry I’m a few minutes late. I just got done at the gym.”
“Hi, Alex. Not a problem. I only now arrived here myself.” In truth, he had arrived a few minutes early since he hated being late. Raymond stopped texting when she approached. “I need another minute. A random shooting just occurred at the Pentagon.”
“What? Did anyone get hurt?”
“No. The Pentagon police caught the suspect. Appears that he acted alone. Ben is near Interstate 395 so I’m asking him to stop by and read the suspect’s aura. My son will swing by FBI Headquarters later and read him as well.” The human team, once again, had done a wonderful job in protecting government officials and the civilians. Chances were likely that no vampire had a hand in this, but the double check of his team comforted him. Once done texting Sterling, Raymond looked up at Alex. “All is taken care of. I thought we could walk around a bit before dinner. Maybe talk a little.”
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