Exsanguination

by DeDanaan, Sean

  “So you started killing them?”

  Nikki shook her head. “The lycans did – killing is the only thing they know.”

  “And the vampires? They didn’t kill any?”

  “Probably some but . . . let’s just say the number of vampires in the police force has grown dramatically in recent days.”

  Susan looked shocked.

  “Lycans can sniff out vampires and they were under strict instructions from their clan leader not to attack them. They’re also afraid of us. By turning as many police officers as we did, we were actually saving their lives.”

  “Wow,” Susan said, “So this was quite the messy business.”

  “Difficult to coordinate properly. Vanessa deserves all the kudos for that aspect.”

  Susan looked grim. “But why Parliament? Was that really necessary?”

  Nikki was about to respond when Vanessa held up her hand.

  “That was my doing. I had Nikki plant charges on the ceiling while I was in the Prime Minister’s office. He made it plain that there would be no way Parliament would issue an order of surrender. I knew that firing off those charges would be a stunning blow and it would make the government realize that we would go to any lengths to prevent our annihilation. Once Parliament was taken out of the equation, it would put the onus on the Prime Minister. I would like to point out that the explosives didn’t take out the entire building by any measure, just one section of it. Some died from falling debris in both the upper and lower house, but not many.”

  Susan sighed. “So what happens now?”

  “Hopefully, peace,” Vanessa sighed. “My fondest wish is to be able to live harmoniously with everyone in this city and others throughout England. I suspect that most people don’t realize the good that can actually come out of this. We are now in the open . . . exposed completely.”

  Nikki interrupted. “With our powers and abilities, it will be like having a superman or a wonder woman on every corner. We would be pleased to protect you. We could see to it that crime would decrease. A woman would likely be able to walk down a darkened street virtually without fear.”

  Parliament momentarily forgotten, there were more murmurs of approval from the audience.

  Vanessa resumed. “We are not your enemy. Yes, the wounds are fresh but they will heal. Are not the people of England now friendly with the people of Germany?”

  “I suppose you have a point there, Countess,” Susan said thoughtfully. “Can we take some questions from the audience?”

  “I don’t see why not,” Vanessa shrugged with a smile.

  A microphone was moved in front of a man who’d raised his hand.

  “Are you considering standing for Parliament?”

  “Ack!” Vanessa exclaimed. “I would sooner crawl into bed full of vipers!” she responded, bringing raucous laughter from the audience.

  Another question followed. “How can you move so fast?”

  Vanessa frowned. “That’s difficult to explain. Phillip, the love of my life, tells me that it might be explained by something called quantum physics. When I move like that, for example from here to there,” she gestured to the other side of the stage, “I am here and then there but at no time am I anywhere in between. I know that’s not a very helpful explanation but it’s the best I have.”

  “Could you survive on animal blood? If so, why not do that?”

  Vanessa’s brow furrowed. “Yes, we could and, if we did so, we’d be miserable. The taste of animal blood is absolutely horrid. Picture yourself surviving for the rest of your life by eating bark. It might keep you alive but life wouldn’t be worth living, would it?”

  “Why not start or buy a blood bank? Then you wouldn’t have to bite people.”

  “A fair question. First of all, if I’ve not said this previously, we almost always feed on those who voluntarily offer themselves. Why do they offer? Ask your host,” Vanessa smiled at Susan who rolled her eyes and moaned audibly. “It’s incredibly pleasurable for the person offering their throat,” Vanessa took a deep breath. “But it’s not just for the physical pleasure that they offer themselves. There’s a good deal of complex psychological conditions surrounding that urge.”

  “If someone came up to you on the street and asked you to turn them, would you do it?”

  “Absolutely not. It alters a person’s entire life – how they live – the problems they would experience and it’s not, by any measure, a short-term thing,” Vanessa held up her hand. “This makes a good segue to a topic that is extremely important,” she frowned.

  “I don’t think anyone could reasonably argue with me when I say that civility, over the years, has decreased considerably. It must be brought back. There are many . . . thousands of newly turned vampires in Britain. For these individuals, self-control and restraint are qualities that must be cultivated over time. Rude or provocative words or actions often lead to arguments and fights. When such things happen between humans, it’s not a large problem. Someone gets punched in the nose or splits someone’s lip and it’s shrugged off. This is not, in any way, a threat but, rather, a caution. Bob takes a swing at someone in a pub and it’s not a big deal. Historically, the odds of that person being a vampire were extremely low. Due to recent events, those odds have grown considerably. Substitute a newly turned vampire as Bob’s target and suddenly Bob is on the floor, bleeding out.”

  “Good God!” Susan exclaimed.

  Vanessa nodded. “People, be nice to each other. It’s the right thing to do and it will keep you safe. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see people smiling at each other on the streets? Tipping hats? Holding doors for others?” her expression darkened. “If you’re the kind of person who revels in getting into fights in pubs, ultimately that behaviour will, sooner or later, end you,” she gestured to another audience member.

  The man stood up. “How long will you live?”

  “I am immortal,” the flat statement brought some gasps from the crowd.

  “That can be a lure, but sometimes being immortal can be a fantasy that is best not translated into reality. I can’t enumerate the number of times I’ve been insufferably bored.”

  “You said you got shot. I imagine that must have hurt quite a bit.”

  “Not really. It was more of an annoyance than anything else.”

  “I don’t have a question really but I just want to say that I saw your photos in Vanity Fair and you’re incredibly beautiful.”

  Vanessa smiled warmly at the man. “Thank you. That’s very kind.”

  “Can you get sick? Catch a cold or come down with cancer?”

  “No, we’re immune to every disease known.”

  “How do you respond to people who refer to you as predators?”

  Vanessa spread her hands. “Aren’t we all? If cows and chickens could talk.”

  A woman stood up. “I have a question for Phillip. When are you going to ask Vanessa to marry you?”

  Phillip reddened as Vanessa looked at him with a questioning smile. He battled down a case of nerves and stood, moving in front of Vanessa. Dropping to one knee, he looked up at her. She returned his gaze with one of anticipation.

  “Vanessa, will you do me the great honour of being my wife?”

  The audience held its breath.

  “Of course I will, darling.”

  There were cheers from the audience as he stood and brought her to her feet. He gave her a lingering kiss.

  Susan stood up and raised her hands. “That’s it, gentlemen! England’s most beautiful vampire is officially off the market and I can’t think of a better way to end tonight’s show!”

  Backstage, Susan approached Vanessa. “Countess, would you consider . . .” she tilted her head and lightly tapped her neck.”

  Vanessa chuckled. “I’ll tell you what, Susan. Why don’t you come out to Smythe House at about ten tonight.”

  “You mean?” she pointed to Vanessa, then Phillip, and then back again.

  “A sublime experience, Susan,” she winke
d.

  Susan’s hands went to her chest. “Oh my God!”

  Vanessa chuckled. “You may need help standing when we’re done with you.”

  Phillip put his arm around Vanessa’s waist and looked into her eyes. “I love you.”

  She smiled. “I love you too, darling. It took me a while to let go of my reservations but I’ve managed it. Have you ever been to a vampire wedding?”

  He laughed. “No.”

  “Neither have I,” she grinned back at him, “but, in case you haven’t realized it from the conversation with Susan, I am going to turn you tonight. I have a plan that should alleviate the concerns I previously voiced. How do you feel about feeding on Susan?”

  Phillip smiled. “You won’t be jealous?”

  She shook her head. “Not over that.”

  That evening, Vanessa took as much blood as possible from Phillip without killing him. It afforded him a half an hour of delicious pleasure. It was followed by him replenishing himself courtesy of the television interviewer.

  XXV

  Susan stayed the night at Smythe House and was with the group at the dining room table, eating ‘breakfast’ at about five in the afternoon. She looked across the table at Vanessa.

  “I have a very great favour to ask you.”

  “Hmm?” Vanessa’s eyebrows went up.

  “Will you turn me?”

  “I thought I made my position on that quite clear yesterday evening.”

  “Vanessa,” she paused and took a deep breath, “I have multiple sclerosis.”

  Vanessa set her fork down and looked steadily at Susan. “Are you being completely truthful with me?”

  Susan reached down to the floor and retrieved her purse, turning it over on the dining table. A variety of pill bottles spilt out. Reaching across the table, Vanessa picked up two of them and handed them to Owen.

  “Please find out what these are used to treat,” she turned back to Susan. “It’s not that I don’t trust you but I like to be sure of what I’m doing.”

  After a few minutes tapping away on his phone, he nodded. “MS.”

  Vanessa stared at the woman. “I wonder if you realize the sort of trade-off you’d be making. Your ability to travel in daylight hours will be severely limited and you’ll have to feed on a nightly basis.”

  “Compared with my current condition, I can definitely accept that.”

  Vanessa stood, walked to the foyer, and reached into her coat pocket. Next, she was behind Susan at the table. Stabbing her in the neck with the syringe, she emptied its contents and returned to her seat.

  “You should start feeling the effects in moments.”

  Tears began to well up in Susan’s eyes. “I can feel changes happening! Oh, my God! I can’t thank you enough!”

  “Yes, you can,” Vanessa responded. “You can thank me by telling no one of this. There will likely be some who will put two and two together based on what I said about diseases during our recent appearance but I think most won’t. People with illnesses would be climbing my gates and walls in the hopes that I might turn them and, thereby, cure them. We would have to move . . . disappear.”

  Susan nodded. “I get it and I won’t breathe a word, as difficult as that may be.”

  “You can come with us when we go out to the clubs tonight. I’ll show you how to feed.”

  “Thank you, Vanessa,” she ran her tongue over her upper teeth and felt the newly extended canines. “MS is a horrible disease and I’ve always been resigned to the fact that there was no way to overcome it and that it would ultimately kill me.”

  The following afternoon, everyone came down to discover a ten-inch thick pile of mail on the table.

  “Good God! What is this?” Vanessa exclaimed.

  Phillip laughed. “Probably a mixture of fan mail and hate mail.”

  The distribution was fairly equal but Vanessa and Nikki took larger portions.

  “I think we’d better have a wastebasket and I’ll start filling it with this,” Nikki began reading “You are a vile spawn of the devil. I want to drive a stake through your heart – slowly, and send you back to hell,” she frowned. “I never thought to ask but the old stake in the heart thing?”

  Vanessa shook her head. “The heart heals just as quickly as any other part of the body and the fact that it’s wood doesn’t matter a bit.”

  “Good information,” Nikki nodded.

  “I know someone who might have written that letter not too long ago,” Vanessa gave her a teasing grin.

  “Oh God, don’t remind me,” she sighed.

  “Here’s a more positive one,” Phillip waved a handwritten note. “Phillip, you are the man of my dreams. Last night, when I went to bed, my hand went down between my thighs and I fantasized that you were . . .” he crumpled it up and tossed it into the wastebasket.

  “Oh Phillip,” Vanessa cried, “don’t tease like that!” she pulled the letter out of the basket and began reading it to herself, her eyes widening. “Christ! This is one warped woman!”

  Swinging from laughter to revulsion, the group read their fan and not-so-fan mail. The intercom from the gate buzzed. Vanessa left the others, walked into the foyer and pressed the button.

  “Yes?”

  “Vanessa, it’s Jack. Please let me in.”

  She pressed the button to open the gates and, a moment later, the detective’s car rolled up in front of the house. Vanessa opened the door to see a haggard, miserable looking Jack. She caught him as he staggered in.

  “Jack!” she hesitated. “Damn it! You’ve been turned!”

  “I’m sick, Vanessa.”

  She easily picked up the man who was roughly twice her weight and carried him to the drawing room, setting him in a chair. She squatted down next to him.

  “I specifically told you to get out of the city, Jack. Why didn’t you listen?”

  “I couldn’t,” he groaned.

  Vanessa shook her head. “Have you fed yet?”

  “No. I won’t do that! I’d rather die!”

  She sighed. “You can’t die, Jack. If you don’t feed, it’s only going to get worse. The sickness and pain will, ultimately, become unbearable. You must feed!”

  He groaned and shook his head.

  Nikki frowned. “What do you do with a vampire who refuses to feed?”

  Vanessa shook her head. “Jack, it may take days or even weeks before you give in. It’s worse than being disembowelled twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. I don’t care how resolute you are. No one can stand up to that kind of suffering. How long ago were you turned?”

  “Two days,” he choked out.

  “Well, it’s all downhill from here, Jack. Tomorrow will be twice as bad and the day after, twice again.”

  The man groaned and doubled over in pain.

  “It’s no good, Jack. Give it up,” she turned to Phillip.

  “Do you have Beth’s number? Remember her?”

  Phillip shook his head and Nikki piped up. “I do.”

  “Call her and tell her to grab a cab out here. Tell her I have plans for her.”

  She turned her attention back to Jack. “Help is on its way, Jack, hang in there.”

  Phillip nudged her. “Can we talk for a moment?”

  Vanessa stood up and looked at him questioningly.

  “You said you had a plan that would deal with my possibly being jealous if you couldn’t feed on me anymore but you haven’t told me what it is.”

  She smiled at him. “Twins.”

  “Twins?”

  Vanessa nodded. “Yup. I’ve got people scouring the landscape right now. Out of deference to you, they’ll be women. We’ll jointly feed off one every other night. Each has a night off to replenish a bit while the other takes her place.”

  Phillip frowned slightly as he considered this. Then he nodded. “I think this could work. Frankly, the thought of you snacking on another guy would drive me up the wall,” he held up his hands. “I know I shouldn’t see it as sexual but
I can’t help it.”

  “I’m aware, darling,” she kissed him, smiling.

  “Must they be twins?”

  “I think it’s best. Otherwise, one or the other might see us as playing a favourite.”

  “It’s crazy enough to work.”

  Beth showed up and Vanessa let her in. “I have someone who is desperate to feed. Are you up for it?”

  “Always!” the girl grinned.

  Vanessa took her over to Jack and whispered to her. The girl bent over, tilted her head and placed the side of her throat gently against Jacks lips. He could feel the heat from her flesh and hear the pumping of her blood. It was too much for him and his eyes began to glow red. He bit and began sucking voraciously. After he’d consumed about half a pint, Vanessa pulled his head back. Beth staggered to the sofa and lay down.

  “Oh God! What have I done?” he cried out.

  Vanessa stroked his hair, soothing him. “Shhhsh, you’ve done what you needed to do, Jack. It’s alright. You’re among understanding friends here. You haven’t killed anyone and you’ll be fine.”

  “It’s going to come back, isn’t it? The hunger?”

  Vanessa nodded. “It will if you refrain from feeding. Things will become awful again.”

  “What am I going to do?”

  Vanessa pulled up a chair, sat down, and smiled at him. “What you’ve always done. Solve crimes and lock up the bad guys. It’s going to be better. If you get shot? No effect. If you get a . . .” she glanced at Joe. “What’s it called?”

  “A runner,” Joe chuckled.

  “If you get a runner, you’ll be in front of him instantaneously. Slap him and he’s knocked out!”

  Jack appeared to be considering this.

  “You’ll be able to hear conversations a hundred yards away. You could be London’s premier detective, Jack,” she smiled softly at him.

  Owen looked at Phillip. “You have a degree in molecular biology, don’t you, Phillip?”

  “So?” he shrugged.

  “So maybe you can figure out how to clone blood?”

  Phillip laughed. “That is so far out of my league, Owen – well beyond anything I could do.”

  “Surely someone is trying to do it. No?”