by Alice Brown
Erica glanced down at his hand, and noticed the crest symbol on his ring. “That is a really cool ring. Does it represent anything significant?”
Kevin looked down at the ring on his finger and smiled. “Each senior member of the VCTF has one just like it. After all the training is completed, each member must go through a year trial period, just to make certain they are up to the challenges that come with the position. After that trial period, you are given a ring and a motorcycle, and become an official member of the VCTF team.
“Each symbol holds a different meaning. The griffin stands for valor, death-defying bravery, and vigilance.” Kevin took the ring off of his finger and began to show Erica the very small symbols on the shield. “The shield itself represents defender. The castle represents safety. The bear stands for strength, ferocity, and protection of one’s kindred. The lightning bolt means swiftness and power, and the oak tree stands for great age and strength.”
As Erica studied the ring closely, she asked, “What does it say at the very bottom of the shield?”
He looked up from his ring. “Patronus Of Totus,” he now quoted. “It’s Latin for ‘Protector of All.’”
He twisted the ring off of his finger and held it out for Erica to take. She held it just for a moment while she finished studying it. “It’s a cool ring.” She stated quietly, as she handed it back to him. “So what kind of motorcycle do you drive?”
“A Harley, of course!” he answered her, while grinning widely. “I’ve got a picture of her, if you would like to see it.”
“Oh, of course it’s a female. Does she have a name?” Erica replied with a chuckle, as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a picture of a black Harley motorcycle bearing the same crest symbol that was on the ring.
“Nice bike. I’ll bet you can get some speed going on her when you need to,” Erica murmured as she glanced appreciatively at the photo.
Kevin grinned like a schoolboy. “Yes, she can get up and go when I need her to. Maybe I’ll take you for a ride sometime.”
“Okay, my turn. How old are you? Kevin began, as he neatly turned the tables on Erica. “Do you have any family around?”
“I’m twenty-four,” she answered, a bit shyly. “And no, I don’t really have any family. I grew up in multiple foster homes. I was bounced around a lot.”
“Do you know anything about your real parents, Erica?” Kevin asked, with such a tender look in his eyes it made Erica’s heart wrench.
Erica sat back and frowned. She didn’t want the spotlight on her, and she especially didn’t like talking about her less than perfect childhood. She had given herself more than one headache trying to search out her biological parents. Up until her mother had died, it had seemed they had both simply vanished. Taking a deep breath, she started, “A couple of years ago, my biological mother passed away. I never knew her, and would not have known about her except the courts found me and I was given a few of her possessions. One of which is a diary. I have it with me, in the bedroom. I have never been able to make total sense out of it. She wrote that she had been attacked, but by a man that she supposedly loved. I guess he really messed her up, and she was lucky to live through it. She wrote in the diary that after my birth, she just couldn’t stand to look at me, I just reminded her of him. So, she walked out of the hospital without me, evidently never looking back.” Erica’s voice was thick with unshed tears as she finished, which she tucked her chin down in an attempt to avoid Kevin noticing. This was a painful part of herself that she rarely spoke of to anyone.
Kevin quickly noticed the tortured look on her face, and automatically pulled her up against his chest, while running his hand in little circles across her back. “Do you know anything at all about your biological father?” He asked curiously.
“His name is mentioned in the diary. I tried looking him up on the Internet, you know, just to settle the curiosity, and ended up coming up blank.”
“If you want, I can have Charles look into it for you. He has more contacts than anyone else I know, and he seems to have a way of retrieving information that not even our own government has access to. However, this is only if you wish for him to,” Kevin offered.
“Maybe,” Erica replied. “Can I think about?”
“Of course,” he replied. “Take all the time you need. Can I ask you a personal question?” Kevin asked, knowing he was treading on dangerous ground. When she nodded slightly, he continued. “Did Shawn give you all of the scars on your arms, or have you had a run-in with another vampire that I missed hearing about?”
“No, they are all from Shawn,” Erica answered him, frowning, as she glanced down at her covered arms.
Kevin gently took her hands in his as he softly inquired, “May, I see?” Without waiting for her response, he very gently started pulling up the sleeves of her shirt. Erica found herself holding her breath, butterflies hitting her stomach, just watching him roll up her shirt sleeves. She would have never considered such a petty thing as rolling up arm sleeves to be sexy, but as slowly and gently as Kevin was doing this chore, Erica couldn’t help the strange tightness that clenched low in her belly. She allowed him to lay her arms out flat, in order for him to get a full view of the scars. The gauze bandage from her last encounter with Shawn was still on her right arm.
Kevin studied her arms for a long time, his eyebrows drawing up into a deep frown. He very gently rubbed his finger across several of the deeper puncture marks. When he came across the bandage on the right arm, he gently removed the tape and gauze that had been thrown around it. Erica found herself holding her breath while he removed the bandage. He was a vampire, after all. Had the wound closed up enough that it wouldn’t bother him?
“Have you ever had any problems with infections?” Kevin whispered, glancing up at Erica’s face.
Catching her off guard, Erica tried to speak, but the only thing that came from her mouth was a squeak. She cleared her throat as she quickly glanced down at the wound. “No, not really. They are good and sore for the first few days, and I do try to keep the wounds clean and covered until they are healed.” The one Kevin seemed to be intently staring at was an angry red, and she realized that with everything else going on in her life, she had neglected to keep it clean and cared for.
He started running his thumb very gently around the wound and examining it carefully. “This one looks like it is starting to get infected. Rosetta should have something we can put on it, and then we will rebandage it back up until it heals,” Kevin stated softly, while shaking his head and frowning. “So now I understand why you wear long sleeves so often. I have often wondered about that. We vamps do it because of the sunlight not being good for us, but I have often wondered what drove you to wear a long sleeve shirt in the middle of summer. I am so sorry you had to go through this,” Kevin stated as he continued lightly stroking her arms.
Erica waited until she had direct eye contact with him before answering. “Yes well, unfortunately I was in over my head before I knew what hit me. Wearing long sleeve shirts is easier than trying to explain the scarring. People see my arms and are naturally curious. I can’t exactly tell them the truth!” Her words came out bitter and harsh, even to her own ears. Geez, she was turning into a cold bitch. She hadn’t meant for her words to come out so harsh sounding. Hanging her head in shame, she could feel tears stinging her eyes.
“I understand,” Kevin replied gently, as he picked up her wrists and kissed the inside of both. “It pains me that you have seen only the very worst side of our kind, and when things like this happen, it gives all vampires a bad name. I do hope you will give me the opportunity to show you that most vampires are nothing like what you are used to.”
Oh, he was a smooth talker. “Are you telling me you have never bitten anyone before?” Erica blurted out before she could stop herself.
“Well, yes, I have. But I have never hurt anyone in the process, and it was only done in an emergency situation,” he answered her quickly.
Erica
thought about this for a moment. There certainly seemed to be two different factions of vampires. The ones like Shawn, who clearly didn’t care who they hurt or what damage they caused, and the ones like the O’Rourke family, who tried to blend in with everyone else and make the world a safer place.
As she tried to sort out all the information her brain had absorbed, she peeked out the window and was surprised to see the sun starting to sink low on the horizon. The afternoon had seemed to disappear so quickly while she and Kevin talked. Where had time gone?
Chapter Seven
As Kevin glanced down at his watch, he was surprised to see the afternoon was gone, and evening was fast approaching. “Will you join me downstairs in the family room?” he requested calmly of Erica.
“Sure, why are we going to the family room?” she questioned curiously.
“I want to introduce you to Davidrick. He should be here soon,” Kevin explained.
“Oh, I forgot about that, sure,” Erica replied, as she followed him to the door of the apartment.
A short time later, the doorbell rang. Kevin left Erica on the couch in the family room and went to answer the door.
“Hello,” Davidrick greeted, as he walked in. It was impossible to miss the huge grin that was spread across his face.
“It’s nice to see you are in such a good mood this evening,” Kevin greeted him. The air surrounding him was filled with his friend’s joyful spirits.
Davidrick was the closest thing to a younger brother that Kevin had. A bond had formed many years ago, and had remained strong, perhaps even grew stronger as time went on. Before Davidrick had a chance to reply, Kevin’s youngest sister, Elizabeth, walked up and stated, “I thought I heard a familiar voice. Sure hope you brought some O negative with you. Dad and Mrs. Jenkins have both been grumbling about running out.” She grabbed the backpack and disappeared just as quietly and quickly as she had come in.
“Guess who I have a date with Friday night?” asked Davidrick, with enough enthusiasm that Kevin began to wonder if he was going to start bouncing up and down.
“Who?” Kevin responded with interest. It was common news that his buddy didn’t get out and socialize. Since Davidrick worked at the hospital morgue, he endured many jokes regarding his lack of social life and hanging around dead people all day.
“Jordan,” Davidrick almost shouted in reply. He reminded Kevin of a little kid, and again Kevin wondered about this almost uncontrolled excitement. He had never seen his friend like this before.
“Jordan?” Kevin echoed in question. “Do I know this Jordan?” The only Jordan Kevin could think of was someone not likely to give his buddy the time of the day.
“Jordan the Cleaner!” Davidrick exclaimed with a slight smugness now attached to his over-enthusiasm.
“How in the world did you manage to snag a date with a good-looking thing like her?” Kevin teased. He often teased Davidrick about his social life, knowing he was one of the very few who could get away with it.
“Well, we have been working on and off together for a long time. I finally got the nerve up to ask her out,” Davidrick replied with a slight shrug of his shoulders.
“Congratulations,” Kevin told him, as he slapped him on the back. “Come on, there is someone here I want you to meet.”
Kevin heard his friend mumble, “I didn’t realize you had company,” as he followed Kevin in the family room. Erica stood up as soon as she noticed the two men approaching, and Kevin immediately walked over to her side, wrapping his arm firmly around her waist.
Introductions were quickly made, and Davidrick was finding himself shaking his head in disbelief. For all the ribbing Kevin gave him regarding his social life, Davidrick knew for fact that Kevin’s social life was in the same boat. It was a well-known fact that Kevin was married to the VCTF.
Davidrick cast a questioning look over to Kevin, who just gave him a sly grin for a moment and kept quiet. Kevin could easily see his buddy forming numerous questions to throw at him.
“She is not, Davidrick, so be nice!” Kevin warned in a low voice that he was certain only a vampire could hear.
That was one question down, now for the other hundred. “Is this your friend from school?” Davidrick inquired, and Kevin watched him with a slight amusement, as Davidrick attempted to figure out what exactly his buddy had been up to over the past two weeks since he last spoke to him.
“Yes she is. Erica is staying with us for awhile,” Kevin replied, with a sly grin on his face.
Davidrick’s eyebrows shot upwards, and Kevin quickly decided to steer the conversation down a different avenue before his buddy could start shooting his other ninety-nine questions out. Glancing over to Erica, he explained, “Davidrick supplies a lot of the blood for our kind. Once he drops it off, Kate and Elizabeth set up deliveries to our elderly who are homebound. Remember Charles telling you about this earlier?” he inquired.
“Yes, I remember,” she replied, as she gave Kevin a smile. If she only knew what that smile did to his heart, he thought as he fought the urge to snatch her up and kiss her senseless.
Kevin returned to his conversation with Davidrick. Because he had always felt like a big brother in some ways, he felt an obligation to insure Davidrick had a game plan for Friday night. He was well aware Davidrick didn’t get out much, and as far as Kevin knew, Davidrick had very little experience with women. Although he was certainly no Casanova, Kevin felt comfortable sharing a few pointers. Surprisingly, Erica felt comfortable enough to join in with a few tips, as well.
Erica inquired out of curiosity how Davidrick and Kevin originally met, and that started a conversation that lasted most of the evening. Kevin explained that Davidrick and he had met at the morgue. “I was bringing in a young human boy who ended up dying fighting in a gang-related turf war. The VCTF had been called in to assist on the case, after local authorities had failed in getting the situation under control. That night had been my first night on this particular assignment.” Kevin paused for just a second, recalling that particular evening, so many years ago. “My father had been dealing with Davidrick for quite a number of years. However, this was all new to me. That night when I arrived down at the morgue, I was frustrated that I had been unable to stop a needless death of someone so young, and Davidrick felt my frustration. We started talking and realized we shared a lot of the same interests. That started a friendship that has lasted over four decades,” Kevin stated, as he grinned over to Davidrick.
“Davidrick does an outstanding job of serving our community by supplying needed blood. The Meals on Wheels program is always at the top of his priority list, and he also supplies many of our other vampires in the city with their blood supply. When he isn’t busy supplying blood, or doing autopsies at the morgue, you will find him busy tinkering with his hobbies, either working on his computer, or installing electronic equipment. He lent me a hand when I installed my new home theater system just a month ago, and I doubt I could have done it without his help,” Kevin bragged.
By the end of the evening, Erica was relaxed, and grew quite comfortable as she sat chatting with the two male vampires. Funny, she didn’t even think of them as vampires. Both were easygoing and enjoyed teasing one another. The easygoing bantering kept a smile on Erica’s face most of the evening. It was after ten when Davidrick bid the couple a good night and headed home.
“Are you working tonight?” Erica inquired, after they had seen their guest off.
“No, I’m off tonight.” Kevin replied, as he wrapped his arm around her to usher her back to his suite. He could see she was getting sleepy, and it had been a long day for her.
As they reached the front door of his apartment, Erica turned to look at Kevin, “So, how much sleep do you need?”
Kevin cocked his head slightly at her as he opened the door and waited for her to enter. “That depends on what I am doing. The sun drains my kind of our strength fairly quickly. When this happens, we need to take a rest in a very cold atmosphere, and get a supply o
f fresh blood in our system.”
“And when this happens, do you have a special ‘cold place’ to go?” Erica probed.
Kevin hesitated for a second before responding. She continuously surprised him that she wasn’t already aware of some of this information, since Shawn was a vampire. He glanced over at her, and decided that today had been a great day, and to bring up the rodent-soon-to-be-ex-husband would surely ruin it.
“We do have a deep freeze off of Charles’s office,” he replied. “And sometimes I just choose to crank up both of my air conditioning units, and stretch out across the bed.”
“You have two air conditioning units in your room?” she asked, a little astonished. Kevin realized he had never given much thought to this, however, upon thinking about it for a moment, it probably did sound a bit outlandish to a human.
“Yes, you haven’t seen my room, have you? Come, I’ll show you,” he stated, as he gently placed his hand at the small of her back and directed her towards the hallway.
He gave her a quick tour of his bedroom, keeping everything on a light note. He noticed that she stopped at the doorway, refusing to budge an inch further into his room. He put a smile on his face, hoping that Erica would fail to notice how her sudden fears ripped a hole in his chest. He scooted past her and walked right on into the room, as if all was well, and quickly pointed out the highlights of the room. Meanwhile, Erica stood stone still in the doorway, as if her feet were suddenly cemented into the floor. He walked back over to where she stood, and gently escorted her back to her own room. “I will be in the living room for a time. If you’d like to get comfortable and join me, you are welcome to,” Kevin lightly stated, and then added, “Or, if you are tired, I’ll say good night.”