Vampires Among Us [Vampires Among Us 1] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Alice Brown

  “Yes, but Shawn isn’t a human. Where are you going with this, dad?” Kevin asked.

  “Well, I am wondering if the excessive amount of alcohol Shawn has consumed is to blame for the masking of the scent.” Charles was still pondering this, as he answered Kevin.

  “I’ve just never known another vampire who didn’t have a strong vampire scent to them,” continued Charles. “Except you of course, Kevin, and we know that is because of your animal abilities.”

  “Well, it would make sense, I guess. We have run across plenty of our kind that have been drunk, but have never run into this problem. Come to think about it, I don’t think I have ever run into another of our kind that has had such an excessive drinking problem,” Kevin stated, and then continued. “Still doesn’t help us catch him. It just tells us we can’t rely on our sense of smell.”

  “Exactly, Kevin,” Charles stated simply. “Which means you will need to depend on your other senses more acutely, for example, hearing.”

  “Well, put it like that, at least we know what we are up against,” Kevin finished.

  Kevin stood up, ready to leave, when Erica glanced over at Charles. “May I ask you a favor?”

  “Anything, honey, what is it that you need?” He replied as he glanced back up to her. She had always been rather shy around him, and he was a little surprised to hear her request a favor.

  “I know hardly anything about my real mother, and even less about my father. What little bit I do know is in this diary. It was my mother’s,” Erica stated hesitantly as she held out the little book for him. “My father’s name is in this book, and I have tried to locate him using the Internet, but have come up blank. Kevin mentioned you are good at research and gaining information. I was wondering, if you have a little extra time, would you mind looking into this?” Her heart was pumping wildly as she finished. Other than Kevin, she had never discussed her birth parents with anyone.

  Charles reached up and gently took the book out of her hand. “I’ll be glad to see what I can do,” he stated with a kind smile on his face.

  Erica gave him a gentle smile as she replied, “Thank you.”

  “By the way, Erica, you have an appointment with our judicial committee the day after tomorrow,” Charles stated as the couple headed out the door.

  Chapter Nine

  The day of the appointment with the judicial board found Erica with a nervous stomach. Kevin knew Charles was planning on attending with her, but she seemed so nervous, he decided to call Marshall and make a last-minute shift change, allowing him to join her also.

  It was a short appointment. Charles stood up when Erica’s name was called, and walked up to the front of the room where the judicial board members were seated in a semicircle.

  Charles bowed slightly as a sign of respect to the board members. “I have the necessary paperwork requesting the immediate dissolve of marriage between Erica Harper, mortal, and Shawn Harper, vampire.” He then glanced back and nodded for Erica to join him.

  Kevin stood up and escorted her up the walkway to stand next to Charles. He could feel her trembling and her heart racing as he gently placed a hand on her lower back to urge her forwards. When he felt her legs become shaky, he wrapped his arm around her waist to help steady her, as they approached the board.

  “Mrs. Harper, are you requesting the dissolve of your marriage on your own free will?” The female board member sitting in the middle of the semicircle seemed to be the one in charge.

  “I am,” Erica responded in just barely a whisper.

  “And on what grounds is this request being made?”

  “Madam, if I may interrupt for a moment,” Charles quickly cut in. “Mrs. Harper has been through a tremendous amount of physical abuse and is still suffering emotional trauma from that abuse.” Charles reached over and snatched one of Erica’s arms and quickly pulled up her long sleeve, exposing her arm. “As you can see, Mrs. Harper was forced to be a food source for her husband for an extended period of time. Any one of you can do a quick mind sweep to discover the other abuse and torture this young woman was forced to endure, but I would request that you do not make her relive this nightmare by forcing her to recount the events.”

  “Mrs. Harper, please approach the bench,” the female board member instructed. The woman wore a cold, stern, hard look with no compassion or feelings of any kind showing on her expression. Her black eyes stared at Erica while waiting for her to comply.

  Erica felt slightly better when she realized Kevin was sticking by her. The woman in front of her was downright scary. She stopped in front of the half circle table that separated her from the board members, and Kevin stood directly behind her, keeping his hands on her waist. “Please place your hand face down on the table in front of you,” she was instructed.

  Three hands from various board members covered Erica’s tiny hand the moment it hit the table in front of her. She immediately felt a sharp pressure in her head. Her knees started to buckle beneath her, and Kevin wrapped his arm tighter around her middle, while whispering, “Just relax, this will only take a few seconds.”

  Ten seconds later, the pressure lifted. The three hands that were on top of hers were now removed, and she found herself taking several calming deep breaths while she attempted to purge her system from the intense pressure her head had been under. The pressure that she had to withstand felt intensely violating, and she knew from a quick glance over to the board members that they now knew all of her pain and suffering, all of her humiliation. The mortification of knowing these vampires in front of her now knew all her deep, dark secrets was enough to send her crawling into a hole.

  What surprised her, though, was the change in tone when the female immortal addressed her again. For the first time since she had walked into the room, the lady in charge suddenly showed a compassionate side. “I apologize for the discomfort, Mrs. Harper, and please accept my apologies for what you have had to suffer from one of our kind.” She held Erica’s gaze for a few short seconds, and then slammed her gavel down on the desk in front of her with a loud bang. “Marriage is hereby dissolved immediately!” she announced in a loud voice.

  Turning her attention to Charles, the female board member continued, “Has this one been detained yet?”

  “No madam, but we are working on locating him.”

  “And does this young woman have a safe place to go?” she continued.

  “Yes, Erica is under my family’s protection. I would request that her memory be left intact,” Charles quickly supplied.

  The female board member glanced over to Erica and noted Kevin’s arm still securely wrapped around her waist. A small smile ghosted across her face, as she turned back to Charles. “As long as she stays under your family’s protection, her memory shall be left alone.”

  “Thank you,” Erica whispered to the judicial board members, as Kevin ushered her back to her seat.

  Charles approached the table for signatures on the divorce papers. Five minutes later, they were heading back up the elevator that would take them back up to the VCTF office. Even though it had been a rather short meeting, Erica was emotionally drained by the time they made it back home. Jennifer showed up shortly after they got home, and the two girls spent the remainder of the afternoon watching movies.

  Kevin could feel on a sensitive level that she was still suffering the effects from the board’s invasion of her memories. Having one vampire mess with a mortal’s thoughts was one thing, and to have three do it at the same time was quite another. By the time he realized that three were going to probe her memories all at the same time, it was too late for him to do anything. Not that it would have been a choice to begin with. No one messed with any member of the judicial board and lived to tell about it. Their word was final law, period. No questions, no free passes. Upon thinking it through, he was glad that they were upstanding citizens within their community and always strived to be as fair as possible. With that kind of power in your hands, it would be easy to take advantage of thos
e lesser than you. But Kevin had never known the board to do that. They always gave the person coming before them a chance to give their side of the story, and always gave a chance of redemption if possible. Still, it didn’t make what happened today any easier. The only thing Kevin could come up with as to why they had done what they did was that they tended to forget their strength both on a mental and physical side. It probably never occurred to them how painful three vampires sifting through a mortal’s thoughts and memories would be. At least they had seemed a bit contrite after retrieving said thoughts and memories.

  * * * *

  Kevin gave Erica a small cell phone that contained every member of his family preprogrammed in it. It also had a tiny speaker on the right side and a button above the speaker. Kevin explained this was for emergency use only, and that with one push of the button, Erica would be patched into the VCTF, therefore, would be in immediate contact with him.

  They were still on the hunt for Shawn, and opinions were high that they were also close to making a rather large drug bust. Kevin was still going undercover at the local college, glad to have an excuse to be with Erica. Jennifer was kind enough to fill in for the two classes that Kevin did not share with Erica, so someone was with Erica at all times, giving her a sense of peace and safety.

  Although she was growing more comfortable with this family of vampires, Erica was still plagued with nightmares several times a week. Kevin had taken to sleeping in her bed most nights so that he would be right beside her, comforting and consoling her until sleep reclaimed her. He knew a confrontation with Shawn would occur sooner or later. He just hoped it would be soon, and to get it over with. He wanted Erica to truly be able to put her past behind her, and have the peace of mind of knowing Shawn could never touch her again.

  As Kevin walked out to his car, heading to the office one evening, he glanced over to Erica’s car. She rarely used it, most of the time she rode with either him or Jennifer. Kevin knew once Shawn was taken care of and out of the picture, she would want her independence. That old boxcar of hers was a relic. An idea began to take shape in his head. She would probably balk at it, stating it was over the top, but he felt confident, he would come out victorious in the end. He would just make certain her old relic was flattened.

  * * * *

  Erica climbed out of bed to dress and get ready for class. This morning’s class started at eight o’clock, and she was dressed and ready to leave early. Truth be told, she had another nightmare about Shawn again last night, only this time she dreamt that he had found her at school. Because of the bad dream, the remainder of the night was restless. She finally gave up on the idea of trying to sleep, and had been up since six. Kevin had evidently gotten up even earlier, because he was nowhere in sight when Erica got up. Jennifer was waiting for her downstairs, near the back door, as today was one of the two classes that she covered for Kevin.

  “Good morning, are you ready?” Jennifer cheerfully asked.

  “Yes,” Erica replied. Although she was already feeling last night’s lack of sleep, she tried to put on her best smile and walked out the back door.

  As Jennifer followed out the door, she asked, “Erica, do you want to drive today?”

  “You want me to drive? Oh, um, I guess so.” Erica briefly wondered why Jennifer would not want to drive this morning. She owned a beautiful red Mustang, and loved showing it off every chance she could. Unfortunately, the lack of sleep was making Erica’s brain foggy, and she was unable to think clearly this morning. She wondered if Jennifer had forgotten that she drove an old relic of a car.

  As the girls walked into the garage, Erica failed to notice her old car was not where she last parked it. It took her a few seconds to realize that in the spot where her old car should have been sitting, now sat a metallic midnight blue Mitsubishi Eclipse. She stared in wonder at the beautiful car for a few seconds, a little envious of whoever the owner was.

  She pried her eyes off of the beautiful new vehicle and glanced over the other numerous cars in the garage, searching for her old vehicle. “Where is my car?” she asked Jennifer, as she took a second sweep through the garage, not spotting her old hunk of junk anywhere.

  A tinkling giggle brought Erica’s eyes over to Jennifer. Standing with a wide grin on her face, looking like the cat that ate the canary, Jennifer couldn’t contain her excitement any longer. Confused, Erica knew from the look on Jennifer’s face that something was up, she just didn’t know what.

  “Jennifer…” Erica half growled, shooting an eyebrow up at her. Whatever had happened with her car, she wished someone would just fess up. Otherwise, she was going to be late for class.

  “Okay, Kevin, come on out!” Jennifer called out to the empty garage.

  Kevin popped out from behind the new car. “Do you like it?” he asked Erica, as he gestured to it.

  “Yes, it’s beautiful!” she breathed, as she reverently stroked the shiny paint. “But, I don’t understand. Where is my car?”

  “Oh, now come, love. I figured if I tried to take you car shopping, you would never consent to me buying you something like this. So, I took matters into my own hands.” He was grinning widely as he held out a small key ring with two keys and a remote attached.

  Erica looked at him incredulously. “This is for me?” she sputtered.

  “Yes, and I for one think you will look hot in that car.” Jennifer joined into their conversation. “Go ahead, sit down in it. It drives like a dream.”

  Feeling like she was in a dream, Erica glanced over to Jennifer. “You’ve already driven my car?” Okay, this whole situation was just getting more confusing. As she tried to wrap her head around everything, she wondered if her lack of sleep was to blame for her fogginess.

  “I had a loaner just like this one while mine was in the shop last year. I was sorry I had to give it back!” Jennifer replied, while playfully jutting out her bottom lip in a pout.

  Kevin walked around to the passenger side and sat down in the front seat. “Come on, Erica, sit down in the driver’s seat and check it out!” he called from inside the car. Erica walked over and gingerly sat down in the seat as if she was afraid it was going to break. As soon as she was seated, Kevin reached over, catching her chin with a hooked finger.

  “This is a gift from me to you. No strings attached. I feel better knowing you have some speed under you, should you need it. Besides, I agree with Jennifer, you do look hot sitting over there in that driver’s seat.” With his finger still under her chin, he had access to her mind, as he kept an air of calmness and happiness swirling around her.

  And, as he should have known, she fought against it. “It’s too much, Kevin. I can’t possibly accept such an expensive gift,” she stated, all the while trying to figure out where this almost absurd feeling of happiness was coming from. She couldn’t help herself as she reverently touched the leather seats. Kevin sat watching her for a moment and knew the second she gave in to his efforts. He grinned. She was hooked.

  “Yes, you can. Consider it a friendship gift,” he answered her, shrugging his shoulders slightly as if it were no big deal.

  Even with the calmness and happiness swirling around her, Erica’s temper still stirred as she watched him shrug off buying her a brand new sports car.

  “Who in the hell gives a brand new sports car as a gift to a friend?” she muttered at him. This was just over the top, way, way over the top, as far as she was concerned. And she only thought what he had done when she took a trip to the mall had been overboard. That had been a drop in the bucket in comparison to this.

  “I do,” Kevin calmly replied, again as if it was no big deal. Inside, he was expending huge amounts of energy fighting to keep calmness surrounding her.

  She sighed, the car was beautiful, and when Kevin was giving her “that look.” How could she fight him?

  “Okay, I admit, I do love it, but we need to discuss this. Right now, I am running late.” She glanced down to her watch. “I’ll be lucky if I make it on time now! C
an we discuss this matter later this afternoon?” She had no intention of letting him off the hook just yet, but a quick trip to school and back couldn’t possibly hurt anything, would it? Besides, this was the first time she had ever had a chance to even sit in a luxurious sports car, let alone drive one!

  Kevin gave her his smile that melted her heart and turned her stomach into butterflies. He had the most gorgeous, sexy smile a man could possibly have. Erica wondered briefly if it had anything to do with being a vampire, or if he had been born with that gifted trait.

  “That is fine, love,” Kevin replied, gently running the back of his fingers slowly down her cheek. “I look forward to discussing anything, anytime you want.” Special emphasis was placed on “anything” and “anytime.” Yeah, Erica could just imagine what was running through his brain. Their faces were a mere inch apart, and Erica’s stomach turned into a quivering mass of jelly as she looked into his eyes.

  “Thank you,” she breathed, as she closed her eyes. That was the least she could do. It wasn’t every day that someone handed her keys to a new sports car. She leaned her head back against the seat, finally giving in to the swirl of emotions taking over her body. Definitely lacking in sleep, she gave up the fight, allowing the emotions of love, protection, safety, happiness and contentment to consume her. A gentle smile played on her lips, as she released a contented sigh.

  Kevin watched the mirage of emotions skitter across her face, briefly wondering how much more he was going to be able to stand before losing all control. He fought the urge to snatch her up, kissing her until she was breathless. He knew it was too soon, but his beast was in no mood to listen. It wanted her here, now, underneath him until she was screaming his name over and over. Kevin took a calming breath. Baby steps, boy. If you scare her, you will pay the cost dearly!

  “I should be thanking you,” Kevin breathed in return after a long moment of sternly reminding himself to slow down. “Thank you for coming into my life. You have no idea how long I’ve waited for you.” He took the one finger that had been slowly tantalizing her cheek down to her chin, lifting it to gently place his lips to hers.