Night Life

by Ray Garton

  "I understand, and I agree. But we'll do everything we can to stay out of it, and the first step is to talk to these detectives. We can point them in the right direction and then we can step back into the shadows."

  "All right." She squeezed his hand and smiled.

  "Can I get you something for the headache?" Davey said.

  "I'll get it," she said. She got up and put the laptop down on the lounge chair and went to Davey. She bent down and kissed him, then said, "Be thinking about that line. It needs to be fixed."

  She walked over to the ladder and climbed down.

  Davey settled back and tried to watch Kimmel, tried not to worry about whether or not they were doing the right thing.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The morning of their interview with the Owens, Karen took Keoph clothes shopping. He had sent for some clothes from home, but they had not arrived yet, and Karen was tired of looking at that gray suit. She convinced him to dress more casually, and by the time they left the store, he was wearing a light gray sport coat over a pale blue T-shirt and a pair of charcoal slacks. He carried his gray suit, and some other clothes he'd bought, in shopping bags.

  Karen drove them to the Laurel Canyon address Davey Owen had given her over the phone. Their large, two-story house at first looked deceptively small—most of it was hidden away under a canopy created by a couple sprawling oaks, two willows, and a big silk tree.

  Karen parked her Lexus in the driveway, and they got out and walked up the front steps. She was about to ring the doorbell when the front door opened. A petite woman stood back in the shadows and said, "Are you Karen Moffett?"

  "Yes, and this is Gavin Keoph," Karen said with a smile.

  "Please, come in."

  The first thing Karen noticed when she stepped inside was that it was very dark and cool. Casey led them from the foyer, down a hall, and into a large dark dining room. The rectangular table was set for four at one end, and soft golden light came from a chandelier above it, and the four candles set up on the table.

  "Give your eyes a minute to adjust," Casey said. "We keep the sunlight out during the day. We're usually sleeping right now. You'll have to forgive us—we aren't exactly at our best this time of day. I'm Casey Owen, by the way." She reached out a hand to shake, and Karen took it. Casey's hand was cold.

  Karen's eyes adjusted quickly and she took in Casey Owen. She wore a black blouse with yellow daisies on it and a pair of blue jeans. She was very pretty, with a youthful face.

  "I hope you're hungry," Casey said, "because lunch is ready. Conchata made her famous salmon patties."

  "I'm ready to eat," Keoph said with a smile.

  "Come sit," Casey said, "right here." She seated them across from each other at the head of the rectangular table. Casey sat down next to Karen. "Davey's on the phone, he should be here any minute. I'll go tell Conchata we're ready to eat." She got up and left the dining room.

  Keoph leaned toward her. "Does this look like a vampire's lair to you?"

  "I don't know," Casey said. "I've never seen a vampire's lair before."

  "If you'd told me a week ago that in a week I'd be doing this, I would've laughed in your face."

  Casey returned with a tall, slender man, handsome with dark hair and a well-trimmed goatee. Both he and Casey looked very tired, with drawn faces.

  "You must be Karen," the man said, smiling.

  Karen shook his hand and said, "And you must be Davey. This is Gavin Keoph." Davey's hand was cold, too.

  "Nice to meet you both." He shook Keoph's hand. Davey wore a short sleeve white shirt with a broad black stripe down one side, and a pair of black shorts and tennis shoes. He wore a black glove on his left hand, which was curled up in a half-fist. Karen remembered what Benedek had said about Davey's left hand. "I hope you found your way with no problem," he said as he sat at the head of the table.

  "You give excellent directions," Karen said with a nod.

  The salmon patty lunch was served by a heavyset Mexican woman. When she was gone, Karen said, "Is your maid ... is she ... like you?"

  "Yes, she is," Davey said with a nod. "All our employees are. It only makes sense. See, this thing about us that's brought you here—it's not something we typically talk about to anyone, unless it's someone like us. In order to keep our secret, we have to hire others like us who are as discreet and responsible as we."

  "What do you mean, 'responsible'?" Keoph said.

  Casey said, "We don't prey on people. But there are plenty who do. It's in our nature as vampires to hunt down and attack, to take blood straight from the vein, the artery. That's what we mean by 'responsible'— vampires who don't prey on people."

  "It's what we do," Davey said. "It's in our blood. We choose to resist those urges. We get our blood through safe channels, no one gets hurt. We do our best to live normal lives. We're very private people, a close-knit group. We fear not only being discovered by mortals— who, if they knew the truth, would probably hunt us down and kill us—we're also pretty frightened by those of our own kind who choose to live differently than we. They're as much a threat to us as they are to you. We've known others like ourselves who were killed by the brutals for little more than sport. They hate us. And we're not too crazy about them."

  "Who are the 'brutals,' Davey?" Karen said.

  "They're predatory vampires," Davey said. "They refuse to drink bottled blood. They do their feeding the old-fashioned way. A lot of them are millionaires because they're ruthless, and they have all the time in the world. They're soulless people, Karen, without conscience, people who have actually lost their souls, I think. They're going full-speed ahead without a rudder."

  "I hope you're not expecting me to feel sorry for them," Keoph said.

  "Not at all," Davey said. "They're called brutals for a reason. I'm simply trying to make you understand that they're very different from us. There are a lot of different kinds of vampires out there. We tend to adjust to our environment. Many want to blend in and live comfortably with the mortals, like us. We don't want to hurt anybody. We simply want to be left alone."

  Karen looked across the table at Keoph and he winked at her with a smirk.

  Karen said, "Mr. and Mrs.—"

  "Please," Davey said, "just Davey and Casey. And I don't know if Casey mentioned it or not, but this is a bad time of day for us. We're usually sleeping, because our energy is at its lowest in the middle of the day. We don't normally look this wiped out because we're usually in bed now."

  Karen nodded. "Why should we believe that you're vampires?"

  "You're going to have to believe sooner or later," Davey said. "As they get bolder and braver, the brutals will stalk and attack mortals more and more often. Did you know that, as we speak, there are mortals being bought and sold by vampires, right here in this country? No doubt right here in this city. Most of them are illegal aliens, some are runaways, others are people who've been plucked from their lives and stripped of everything. And no one knows it, except for us vampires. People like Casey and me are stuck in the middle. We think what they do is wrong, and we think they should be stopped and punished. But if we expose them, we expose ourselves, and I'm not sure people would make the distinction, know what I mean? We don't want to be exposed, Karen. Do you understand?"

  Karen exchanged a look with Keoph, who reflected her frown.

  "I'm not sure I do, Davey," she said.

  "I'm saying that we'll give you the information you want," Davey said. "We'll tell you whatever you want to know. As long as you leave us alone. If you want to go after brutals, be my guest, kick some ass for me, but we can't be seen as your informants. If we are, we'll be killed. Do you understand? We'll talk with you today as long as you'd like, and we'll give you the information you're after, but only if, having given you that information, we can disappear back into our lives again, unexposed and totally anonymous."

  Keoph said, "I'm not so sure we can make that promise."

  "Why not?" Karen said.

  "W
e can't promise you won't be exposed," Keoph said. "That will be out of our hands. The information you give us is completely confidential, and you will both remain anonymous. That's the best we can do for you."

  "We appreciate that," Davey said. "I believe you because Walter believed you."

  There was something about Davey and Casey that Karen tried to isolate. Even though they were tired and weak, they both had a great deal of presence, in much the same way some movie actors and most politicians have presence. They were—she searched for the right word—charismatic. They spoke quietly, but something about them—their bearing, perhaps, or body language—made Karen listen closely to everything they said. They were . .. different somehow from Karen and Keoph. Just different.

  "Before we go any further," Keoph said, "I need to see something that proves to me you are what you say you are."

  "Maybe we should let them go at their own speed, Keoph," Karen said. She did not want to rush or bully them—she had a feeling they were going to be very useful allies.

  "No, that's all right," Davey said. He turned to Keoph and opened his mouth wide. Two pale, narrow, snakelike fangs descended from above his canines and curved downward slightly when fully exposed. Then Davey closed his mouth, and they were gone.

  Karen felt a chill the moment she saw the fangs. But she reminded herself that this was Hollywood, and there were some pretty elaborate make-ups out there.

  "Could you lift your upper lip, please?" Karen said.

  Davey closed thumb and finger on his upper lip and pulled it back. There was a small lump in the gum above each canine, with a tiny hole through which the fangs extended and retracted. Davey opened his mouth wide again and the fangs came out of the small lumps, then disappeared in them again.

  Karen gulped back a gasp. There were no makeups that elaborate. And it didn't seem to be the kind of thing that could be accomplished by even the best orthodontist.

  "My turn," Casey said. She took the knife from beside her plate in her right hand, and slashed the blade across her left palm. "Ow, that hurts. But only for a second." She held out her hand so they both could see her palm. The cut was open and blood was bubbling up from the wound. But before it even had time to bleed much, the cut closed up and the skin stitched itself back together, until there wasn't so much as a faint scar remaining. Casey wiped up the smear of remaining blood with a napkin.

  "Oh, my god," Karen breathed. She looked at Keoph—he still stared at Casey's hand. "Oh, my god," Karen said again.

  To Davey, Casey said, "I don't think they were expecting this."

  "We... weren't," Keoph said. His eyes were a bit wider than usual when he looked at Karen. "Were we?"

  "No," Karen said, "we were not. I... I don't know what to say."

  "What were you expecting?" Casey said.

  "Delusional people," Karen said. "At best. We weren't expecting anything so .. . authentic."

  Karen felt a little light-headed and fought to regain her composure. What she had just seen flew in the face of everything she knew to be true. There was no such thing as vampires—they didn't exist, they were boogey men, the stuff of imagination and legend.

  Davey and Casey Owen smiled pleasantly at Karen and Keoph, who sat with their mouths hanging open.

  "You okay?" Davey said.

  Karen nodded once, but she felt as if the breath had been punched from her lungs. She was afraid to speak because she did not trust her voice. As her eyes moved back and forth between Davey and Casey, a shudder moved through her from the top down.

  "Are you okay?" Keoph said.

  Karen turned to him and said, "Don't are-you-okay me, Keoph. You're the one who thought this whole thing was a joke. At least I had an open mind."

  "Can I get you something to drink, Karen?" Casey said. "We have liquor."

  "Do you have any scotch?" Karen said. "I could use a little scotch on the rocks. Maybe more than a little."

  "Be right back," Casey said.

  As she headed out of the room, Keoph said, "I'll have some, too, while you're at it." Then he smiled at Karen and said, "It's refreshing to see a woman handle stress with alcohol. I like that about you, Moffett."

  Karen said, "What can I say? I need a drink."

  "I think we could all use a drink," Casey said as she returned with a tray holding four glasses, a bottle of Chivas Regal, and a pair of tongs in a bowl of tiny ice cubes. "I hope Chivas is okay with everybody," Casey said as she dropped a few ice cubes into one glass and poured.

  Karen took a couple gulps of the whiskey and enjoyed the warmth of it going down. She closed her eyes as she drank and wished she were at home in a hot bubble bath. Opening her eyes, she looked at Davey and Casey and told herself, These people drink blood to survive.

  She took a couple more gulps and poured some more Chivas into her glass.

  "Now that we're past the hard part," Davey said, "what would you like to know?"

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  How and where do you meet?" Karen said. She'd set her small cassette recorder on the table and pressed the record button.

  "In different ways, different places," Davey said. "I belong to a garden club. I keep a flower garden in the backyard—you should see it before you go—"

  Casey laughed and said, "Don't get him started on his garden."

  Smiling, Davey said, "Anyway, that club is made up of vampires. We get most of our blood through that group. Occasionally, we buy it from a small deli that's vampire-owned and operated. We sometimes go to a club that's by and for vampires. We go there for drinks now and then."

  "How do you find out about all these places if they're secret?" Keoph said.

  Davey said, "It's usually easy for us to spot other vampires. None of them advertise that they're vampire-friendly. Word gets around from one group to the next."

  "Do you go out at all during the day?" Karen asked.

  "Occasionally, we have to, for a meeting or a business lunch," Casey said. "When that happens, we use a powerful sun block, wear dark shades, and take big umbrellas for portable shade. It's not that weird— plenty of people, besides Michael Jackson, use umbrellas for shade in the hot sun. It's not unheard of."

  "And no one has suspected?" Keoph said. "You've been writing screenplays how long?"

  "Since 1992," Davey said. "We've written five movies, and now we get a lot of work doctoring scripts. We haven't had a movie out there for awhile, but we're working on a new one."

  "Why romantic comedies?" Karen said.

  Davey and Casey looked at each other a moment and smiled, then shrugged.

  "I'm not sure," Davey said. "It just worked out that way."

  "We found out we were good at them," Casey said. "We didn't know until we tried."

  Karen sipped her Chivas. Her trembling had stopped and she felt quite relaxed, thanks to the scotch. The lunch dishes were removed by Conchata, and Karen folded her arms on the table. "We need to get some sense of the structure of... well, your people. How do they live? How do they find people like themselves without giving themselves up to others?"

  "Like I said," Davey said, "we can usually spot each other easily enough. There's just—I don't know, something different about vampires."

  "There is," Karen said with a nod. "I noticed it as soon as I met you. You have a powerful presence, both of you, even though you're not feeling up to speed. I'm not sure I can explain it in any other way than that. You fill a room."

  "Look," Davey said, "our people aren't the ones you should be worried about. We just want to live our lives and be left alone. You should be concerned about the brutals. You should do something about them."

  Karen said, "It's not our job to do anything. We're just gathering information for our client."

  "Who should we talk to to learn as much as we can?" Keoph said.

  "We'll take you to someone later," Davey said. "From her, you can learn just about everything you need to know. But I've got to warn you, the brutals do not want to be exposed. They prey on people now with im
punity. They don't want anyone to know they're out there. And they'll do anything to see that it doesn't happen. If you're going to ask questions and snoop around, you need to know you'll be putting yourselves in danger."

  Karen said, "Is there any way we can do this without putting ourselves in danger? Because I would prefer that."

  "I'm afraid not," Davey said.

  Karen turned to Keoph and said, "I'd rather do things without danger."

  "But it comes up in the job now and then," Keoph said.

  "Yeah," Karen said. "So we'll deal with it. And we'll be as discreet as possible."

  "Don't expect a lot of people to talk to you," Casey said. "We have one person lined up to talk to you later, but beyond her, you may find no one willing to talk."

  "What about the brutals?" Karen said. "How do they live?"

  "They live in the shadows," Davey said. "Trust me, they would never talk to you. If they knew what you were doing, they would only kill you."

  "But what do they do?" Keoph said. "What kind of work do they do? How do they make a living?"

  "The city's full of night jobs," Casey said. "They still work a lot in the adult entertainment business, too. They have nightclubs and strip joints and peep-shows. The average guy out to look at naked girls is an easy mark. They may only be drunks and perverts, but drunks and perverts are people, too. They're feeding on them. Some get sick and die. Some become addicted to the feedings, to being bitten by the beautiful vampire."

  Karen wrinkled her nose and said, "Addicted to being bitten?"

  "Vampires do more than just bite," Davey said. "The predatory vampire possesses the victim, if only for the duration of the relationship. Their vampirism is psychic as well as physical. It makes the vampire irresistible to the victim. I'm a little rusty because I don't use the ability, but with a little effort, I could make either one of you feel a sudden urge, a need, to go to bed with me, if I wanted. But, as I said, we don't do that. We choose not to."

  A phone trilled somewhere in the house, and Casey stood. "I'll get that," she said as she left the dining room.