by Tate Jackson
“Well, hurry or we’re going to be late.” When she got to the woods, she took the needle out, pulled her sleeve tight above her vein, and drew her blood. It wasn’t until she had recapped the needle and put it back in her pocket that she started to shake. If this didn’t go exactly as planned, she was going to die, and she was terrified! She took several long, deep breathes and walked out of the woods. Richard was waiting by the back door for her.
“Now I’m ready.”
They walked back into the house for her to say goodnight to Jenny and Potter.
“You two have fun tonight,” Jenny told them.
“We’ll try,” Richard replied. When Beck turned toward the front door, Leso was standing there. She new by the look on his face that he could feel her terror. She shook her head at him, and he turned his head away before Richard could see his face.
“Yeah, you two have fun,” he said casually.
“Who could have fun at the opera?” Beck responded.
“Stop picking with Leso and let’s go. Are you sure you want to walk?”
“Yeah, it’s a nice night tonight.” It really was. The breeze was crisp but not bitter, and the night was mostly clear. They’d just left the lane and turned onto the road, when Richard grabbed her arm and pulled up her sleeve.
“What happened to you?”
“How did you know about that?”
“I could smell it.”
“You’re like a shark. I just got poked by a limb in the woods,” she lied. “A shark?” he asked, pushing her sleeve back down. The plastic container of the syringe must be covering the smell of blood inside of it, because he didn’t notice.
“Yes, a shark. They say a shark can smell one drop of blood in the water from a mile away.”
“A shark, I like that. But I could smell a drop of your blood from more than a mile away.”
“Yeah, when I’m on my period. I remember,” she smiled. “No, that is a different scent. I had to get three miles away before I lost that scent.”
“You’ve handled it very well since then.”
“It was a shock the first time. Now I know roughly when it is going to happen, and I know that the men that are around you would never hurt you.”
She couldn’t help it, she laughed.
“What?” he asked.
“You’re a man alright.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“A man’s main concern at all times is to keep other men away from their pussy. You’re just a little more territorial. I’m surprised you didn’t pee on me to mark your area.”
“You have a very strange sense of humor. Do your parents curse as much as you?”
“No, and I don’t curse. I was born and raised in the South, in the Bible belt of the United States. I cuss.”
“You know you’re insane, right?”
“Yeah, but we all are. Only the degree of insanity varies from person to person. Bev cusses a lot, too. I hope Leso doesn’t mind.”
“I’m sure he will get used to it. I did.”
“Does it bother you to be in public with so many humans?”
“It can be overwhelming at times, but as long as I’ve fed, it’s controllable.”
“But you still want human blood?”
“Yes.”
“And that bothers you?”
“Very much.”
“Then why are we going into the city?”
He laughed. “I used to work there everyday. I haven’t worked since you came here, but I think I can manage not to eat anyone tonight.”
She stopped dead in her tracks. “You haven’t worked since I’ve been here?”
“Yes, I thought we just established that.”
“That has to be it. That’s what changed.”
“What? Me working?”
“Yes. We didn’t get married until October 14th the last time I was here. You asked me to marry you the day before that. You also didn’t tell me you were a vampyre until that day. As uptight as you are, I bet you mostly saw me in the city, and I bet you were still working.”
“And?” he asked as they started walking again.
“Well, this time you disappeared six weeks earlier. They must have seen us in the city that day, then noticed you missing after that and came looking for you.”
“They?”
“Other vampyres,” she recovered quickly. “I guess that makes sense. There are many vampyres in London at the moment. We sense them all the time. We tend to dismiss it until they get to close.”
She hadn’t thought about how many vampyres may be in London.
“How many?”
“I don’t know exactly, around twenty, I guess.”
She knew Elderson would only have six in his clan at a time. “You don’t know any of them?”
“We’ve seen some of them, but they don’t care for our kind.”
“Your kind?”
“Animal hunters.”
“Oh, right. You’ve mentioned that before.”
“Have I?”
“Yeah, in the future. Why do they care what you eat?”
“They believe what we do goes against nature. They don’t seem to realize that drinking blood at all goes against nature. None of us should exist,” he said stiffly.
“That’s not true. You don’t feed on humans, and most humans eat the flesh of animals. The only difference is that you drink the blood instead of eating the meat.”
“The only difference? If you go two weeks without eating meat, would you kill and eat the flesh of a human?”
“No, probably not.”
“Then it’s not the only difference, is it?”
“No, I guess not, but my point is that you’re not hurting anyone.”
“And my point is that I would if I had to.” They were entering the city before they spoke again.
“I sorry you hate yourself so much.”
“I do not hate myself, Little One. I only hate what I have been forced to become.”
They were walking down a nearly deserted street when a man approached them.
“Trouble,” she whispered to Richard.
The man pulled a wicked looking knife on them, “I’ll be having your money,” he told them.
He was Richard’s height with a stronger build. He must have thought that that gave him the advantage, that and he had the knife. To Richard’s credit, he did not pull her behind him.
He looked at her and said, “I’m not in the mood for this tonight, nor do we have the time to waste. We’re nearly late as it is”
“Your money, NOW!” the man said again, waving the knife at them. “Don’t kill him,” Beck said “I won’t as long he gives me the money.”
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Beck told the man.
She saw a flash of movement, and the man no longer had the knife. Richard crushed the knife like a piece of paper and dropped it on the street. “What the hell?” the man mumbled. “Now what?” Richard asked. “We go to the opera.” They stepped around the stunned man and continued down the street.
“See, if you were still human, that would have been a problem,” she smiled.
He laughed. “You would have protected me.”
“Maybe, but we still would have been in danger.”
“True.”
“See, being a vampyre isn’t all bad.”
“I never minded the strength or speed, only the blood thirst.”
“Does it bother you to talk about it?”
“Not with you.”
“You’ve never told me how the rest of your family became vampyres.”
“Because I don’t know. It is an extremely personal thing. Most of us won’t discuss it.”
“Jenny told me she was bitten by a vampyre that wanted her as a mate.
She was with him for a year before she killed him.”
“I’ve told you how me and Leso became vampyres. The only other one I know about is Bruce. He was bitten by a female vampyre when he was leaving a brothel. I
don’t know if her intentions were to change him or kill him, but Harley happened by and killed her. Harley carried him out of the city they were in to the house he was staying in at the time. They were still traveling together eight years later when they met Daryl and Rita.”
“Were Bruce and Harley still hunting humans then?”
“Yes, but Harley was ready for a change. I know he had a younger sister and three brothers when he was growing up. I think he missed the human part of himself. You’ve seen him with the children they watch. He can play with them all day and never get tired of it,” he smiled.
Harley did have fun with the kids, and they loved him. Who would have thought that the safest place for children would be in a house full of vampyres?
“About children, you do know I can never give you any, don’t you?” he asked quietly.
“I don’t want any children, I never have. Don’t get me wrong, I like children. I just don’t want any of my own. Bev feels the same way. So, Leso’s off the hook, too.”
“You’re sure you never want babies?”
She nodded. “Absolutely positive.”
“You don’t know what a relief it is to hear that.”
“You would have thought that being a victim of a vampyre attack outside a brothel would have been enough to keep Bruce out of them.”
“He was only twenty when he was changed. Besides the thirst, women are all he thinks about,” he laughed.
***
They had arrived at the opera. They took their seats, and soon the torture started. It was just as horrible as she thought it would be, but Richard seemed to enjoy it. It went on for hours, and when it was finally over, she had a headache. How anybody could enjoy opera was beyond her.
Richard looked at her and asked, “Ready to go?”
“I was ready to go when we got here.”
“It couldn’t have been as bad as you thought it would be,” he smiled.
“No, it was much worse.”
“Well, let’s get you home then,” he laughed, leading her through the crowd of people and out the door. Her headache started to ease in the cool night air.
“Do you want to get some dinner?”
“No, I just want to go home.” After the night she had just had, she would almost welcome death.
“I thought you might enjoy it once it started.”
“It’s just not music to me, not music I like anyway.”
They were on the road home, but still about a half a mile away from where the trees would start lining the road. If her murder was still going to happen, it would happen soon.
“What kind of music do you like?”
“I can show you.” Why not? There was no one around, and she had never danced with him before. This may be her last opportunity to do it.
“Please do.”
She knew the perfect song, her favorite song. It was an old song, but he wouldn’t hear it again for nearly a hundred years. She took his hand, put her other arm around his neck, and started playing ‘Let’s Get It On’ in her head. She danced with him in the road, a half mile and minutes away from when she was supposed to die. Right now that didn’t matter. Only him, her, and the music mattered. They swayed together in the empty road. The song was over to soon.
“Did you like it?”
“I loved it. The music and lyrics are very provocative. I’ve never heard anything like it before. What is it?”
“It’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ by Marvin Gaye. It’s Motown music.”
“I want to hear more of the music you like.”
“When we get home. Let’s go.” She walked on his right side with her hand around the ready syringe. She thumbed off the cap and waited for the attack. hey were almost to the lane to the house when it happened. She was grabbed from behind and pulled into the air. They had barely landed on the tree branch when she jabbed the needle into his thigh and depressed the plunger. He hissed and released her.
She was falling when Richard caught her in mid-air and landed gently on the ground. The vampyre landed with a thump in the street beside them.
She jumped from Richard’s arms and spun around to look at Elderson. Richard blocked her view by reaching down and ripping off his head.
When he threw the head at their feet, she saw a long, blonde braid. She used her foot to roll the head over and saw what she already knew. It wasn’t Elderson. Shit! She kicked the head like a football, sending it flying into the woods. She turned back around in time to see Richard pull the syringe out of the vampyre’s leg.
“What is this?” he asked. She plucked it from his fingers, recapped it, and put it back in her pocket. “Nothing.”
“You knew this was going to happen.” It was not a question, and he was pissed.
“I can explain.”
“Explain with what, another lie? Don’t bother. Just don’t talk to me at all. I don’t want to hear anything you have to say,” he said coldly, and turned away from her. “Leso and the others are coming.”
***
A few moments later, the road was full of people. The whole family had come.
“Potter sensed another vampyre,” Daryl said. “What happened?” Richard was picking the body up out of the road. “Ask Beck. Maybe she’ll tell you, because she sure as hell didn’t tell me. Take her home,” he said before disappearing into the woods with the body.
They walked back toward the house with everyone wanting to know what had happened. She told them about the needle and her blood, and how she had died from the attack the last time. She didn’t tell them that it was supposed to have been Elderson. Why tell the truth now?
“Why didn’t you just tell Richard what was going to happen?” Saphira asked.
“I don’t know,” she mumbled. When they got back to the house, everyone went in except her, Leso, and
Potter. When the door closed, Potter grabbed her and jumped across the yard. Leso landed beside them. Potter held her in a crushing hug.
“I thought you were dead,” he cried.
“I’m not dead. I lived this time,” she said, hugging him back. “I could smell your blood in the air.”
“After I injected my blood into the vampyre, Richard ripped his head off. That’s probably what you smelled.”
He stepped back and nodded, wiping his face with his arm. “I knew you were terrified when you left,” Leso said. “I didn’t know you were expecting to be attacked.”
“I told you I was killed the last time I was here.”
“I figured something had changed, that maybe the vampyre Richard killed here was the attempt on your life.”
“No, it was tonight, exactly when it was supposed to be.” Just not what or who it was supposed to be, but she kept that to herself. Potter chided her, “You should have told me. I would have stopped it.”
“I needed to do this for myself.”
“No, you didn’t. It was dangerous, and you’re lucky you weren’t killed,” Leso stated.
“I know, and now Richard’s mad at me. He told me not to speak to him,” she said softly. “He thinks I lied to him.”
“You did lie to him, Beck,” Potter told her. “Not really, I just didn’t tell him everything.”
“Then you lied by omission, but it was still a lie,” Leso said. “I know, but I can’t tell him everything I know. It would put you all at risk.”
“I know that’s what you believe, but maybe it won’t be that way,” Potter said.
“And maybe it would. I’ll tell you everything when I get back home, I promise. But until then, just keep moving, please,” she begged. “We told Richard we’ll run when you’re gone, and we will,” Potter assured her. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep everyone safe.”
They waited for Richard to come back until it was to cold for her to stay outside anymore. Finally Leso stood up, “You go inside where it’s warm, and I’ll go and find him.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I do,” Leso said angrily. “Don’t fight with him.
He has every right to be mad at me. He’s been through enough for one night,” she said, wiping tears out of her eyes. Leso was angry and upset now. “Really? He’s been through enough? I was under the impression that you were the one that was nearly killed.”
“Yeah, but I lied to him.”
“That’s no excuse to leave you here alone and upset,” Leso said. “I’m not alone, and if he wants to be a dick, let him.”
“No,” Leso threw over his shoulder as he ran off. Potter pulled her to her feet and walked her into the house.
***
She had lied to him. She’d known that this was going to happen tonight, and she hadn’t told him! Why?! She had gone with him tonight knowing that she would be attacked. She had used her blood to kill the vampyre! She had planned this before she had even come here, bringing the needle made of silver with her! Why? He was sure she would have her reasons, but he did not want to hear them. He didn’t want to talk to Leso now either, but could feel him coming.
“Go away,” he said when Leso sat down beside him.
“You need to go home to Beck.”
“No, she lied to me.”
“I know. You still need to go home. She’s upset.”
“I don’t care if she’s upset. I’m not going to comfort her,” Richard replied coldly.
“You don’t need to comfort her. She has Potter for that.” Richard said nothing. “She knew what she was doing. She was supposed to die tonight. The last time she was here, she did die.”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
“Would you have rather she had died?”
“No, I would rather she had told me the truth. She chose to lie to me instead. She chose to lie to all of us.”
This time Leso said nothing. He looked over at Leso, and he knew the truth.
“You knew. This is what you wouldn’t tell me. She told you not to tell me.”
“I guessed that she had died when she was here before. She told me how but not when.”
“And you told me nothing.”
“I promised I wouldn’t tell you.”
For the first time since they were children, Richard hit his brother in anger. He punched Leso in the face, breaking his jaw. He had hoped Leso would fight back, but he did not.
“I am sorry,” Leso told him when his jaw had healed. “Just go away.”