Exsanguination

  “It’s possible, I suppose. I can check into it.”

  Owen smiled. “The Internet is your friend.”

  “Are you married, Jack?” Vanessa asked.

  He nodded.

  “Does she know? Your wife?”

  “No, she doesn’t. I can’t even smile at her anymore.”

  “Why don’t you give her a call and have her take a cab over here.”

  “Why?” he frowned.

  “Because I need to know that you’re going to be able to feed regularly.”

  “My wife? Oh no!”

  “Be practical, Jack. At the very least she needs to know of your situation and if you don’t feed regularly you’re going to be miserable and in pain. You will suffer, your wife will suffer, and your marriage will, ultimately, fall apart. I may not be human but I have a good understanding of human nature. Please. Make the call.”

  “I blame you for this, you know?” he took his phone out.

  “I was the one who told you to get out of town, Jack,” Vanessa replied sharply.

  An hour later, Jack’s wife was at the front door.

  “Why don’t you get the door, Jack.”

  He led his wife to the drawing room.

  “Vanessa, this is my wife, Margaret.”

  Vanessa smiled and extended her hand.

  “Oh, my God! You’re that vampire woman from the television!” Margaret looked alarmed.

  “It’s alright, Margaret. We’re among friends,” Jack tried to reassure her and she gave him a confused look.

  “You’re friends? I don’t believe it!”

  “Margaret, Vanessa saved my life a short time ago. I never told you because I didn’t want you to worry.”

  The woman’s eyes darted back and forth, trying to digest this. “How? What happened?”

  Jack gave her a shortened version of the events that had taken place with the lycans.

  “Thank you,” she said softly to Vanessa.

  “Think nothing of it, Margaret,” she gave a quick shake of her head. “We have an issue to deal with that involves you.”

  “What?” she seemed startled.

  Vanessa took her arm. “I think we should speak privately. Let’s go to the morning room,” she looked at the detective. “You may wish to come, as well.”

  As Jack and Margaret sat down on the sofa, Vanessa took a deep breath.

  “Margaret, you’re going to need a drink. What is your preference? Brandy? Whiskey?”

  “I really don’t feel like one, Vanessa.”

  “I understand, but you’re going to need one.”

  “Whiskey, then.”

  Vanessa poured a triple for her and a scotch for Jack. Setting the drinks on the table, she pulled a chair up opposite the sofa.

  “Margaret, I don’t know if you were aware of it or not but when the rather short-lived war broke out recently, I gave orders that civilians should not be targeted – just the police and possibly the military if they became involved.”

  “I remember something like that was going on.”

  Vanessa nodded. “One of the first things I did was to call Jack and tell him to get out of town for a while. I told him it wasn’t safe. He’s a stubborn man, isn’t he?”

  Margaret nodded and took two large swallows of her whiskey.

  “We don’t know how many of the police were turned – made into vampires but the number may well exceed a thousand,” Vanessa could see the fear and apprehension in the woman’s eyes. Her heart was picking up speed. “Has Jack seemed sick and irritable over the last few days?”

  Margaret’s head snapped sideways to look at her husband. “Oh no! Jack!”

  With the demeanour of a man defeated, he slowly nodded, staring at the carpet.

  Tears began to flow as she put her arm around him. “We’ll get this fixed, my love. We’ll do it somehow.”

  “I won’t give you false hope, Margaret. There is no fix,” Vanessa said, emphatically. “Jack will have to feed on a nightly basis. There is no way around that. I can introduce him to some of the people who gladly accept that sort of attention,” she tried to couch her words euphemistically.

  “No!” Margaret snapped and then looked at Jack. “No one else. If it needs to happen, it will be me.”

  “I won’t do that to you, Margaret,” Jack said flatly.

  “You must, Jack. I will not see you suffer!”

  He ran his fingers through his hair and pulled at it, tears welling up in his eyes.

  Vanessa got up and closed the doors to the morning room. “He needs to be taught to only take a bit . . . a couple of ounces. You won’t suffer any effects if he does that,” she said. “I won’t lie. There’s an instant of pain but then comes the pleasure. It’s like nothing you’ve experienced in your life.”

  As Jack bent over on the sofa, Margaret rubbed her hand slowly on his back.

  “See, Jack? It’s not all bad.”

  He began to sit up slowly and looked at her. “You can really love me so much that you’ll let me do this?”

  She nodded and smiled at him, tears rolling down her cheeks. He buried his face in her neck and bit.

  “Just two shot glasses worth, Jack. Slowly. Just sip a little at a time. Let her feel the pleasure.”

  Vanessa tapped his shoulder. “That’s enough.”

  Jack pulled back slightly and his fangs retracted, leaving his face buried in the crook of her neck. He cried. When Margaret recovered, she looked at Vanessa in amazement.

  “I had no idea!”

  Vanessa smiled. “Only those who have experienced it truly do.”

  Jack had quieted and Margaret shook his shoulder. “C’mon, sweetie. It’s okay. It’s actually better than okay.”

  As he lifted his head, she took a tissue from her purse and wiped his mouth.

  “Let’s go home.”

  An hour after Jack and Margaret left, Antoine called Vanessa from the gate.

  “You must let me in! I have something for you!”

  Vanessa sighed and pressed the button in the foyer to open the gate. Moments later, the Audi pulled up in front of the door and Antoine exited. He moved to the back door of the car and opened it. Vanessa gasped with excitement.

  “Phillip! Come see!”

  They were in their early twenties. Slender twin girls with black hair and large eyes framed with dark makeup. They walked slowly toward Vanessa and Phillip. Apparently, they had rehearsed the moment.

  “We are honoured,” they bowed slightly. They were like Gothic dolls.

  Vanessa looked at Phillip with raised eyebrows. “What do you think?”

  “I think you’re absolutely the most brilliant and resourceful woman I’ve ever known.”

  “Antoine! Come inside!”

  As he walked toward the front door, Vanessa ushered the two girls inside. Phillip was smiling widely. Each was barely over five feet in height. Both had identically cut, long black hair with bangs just touching the tops of their eyebrows. Black lipstick complimented the eye makeup.

  “What are your names?” Vanessa looked from one to the other.

  One of them spoke with the slightest smile. “We are Sara and Mara.”

  “Well, which is which?”

  The two smiled at one another and then turned back to Vanessa. The second twin spoke. “It’s our secret.”

  Vanessa’s brow furrowed slightly. “Well, if I was addressing you,” she pointed at the first girl, “would I call you Sara or Mara?”

  “Yes,” a smile flittered across the girl’s black lips.

  “You know I can do many things, don’t you?”

  They both nodded and spoke at the same time. “You’re a vampire.”

  “Did you know I can go into your mind?” Vanessa looked at the one on the right as she lied. “It’s rather painful and sometimes you can have splitting headaches for days at a time but I can go in there and see what I want. I can find out which of you is which.”

  The two looked at each other, alarmed and
the one on the left spoke. “We’re sorry. It’s something we do to mess with people sometimes. I’m Sara.”

  “Well, Sara, you should know that I’m not someone you should trifle with. Now I’m sure, since you’re twins you’ve got more than a few pranks up your sleeves that you’ve pulled in the past but set those aside if you want to remain in this house. The first trick either of you pull, both of you are out the door, never to return.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Mara said.

  “I’m going to put a thin silver streak in your hair on this side, Sara,” Vanessa touched the girl’s head, “and one in your sister’s hair on this side,” Vanessa indicated opposite side of Mara’s head.

  Both girls sighed and nodded.

  Sara looked sheepish. “We’re really glad you selected us. You’re like vampire royalty and we really do feel honoured.”

  “We’re glad you’re here. It solves a bit of a problem we’ve had since I turned Phillip. Now, you can have a room together or separate rooms. Any preference?”

  The two girls looked at each other. “We’ve never been separated, mum. We’d like it to stay that way.”

  Vanessa smiled. “Then that’s the way it will be. I assume that you have personal effects and clothing where you’re living now?”

  They nodded in unison.

  “Nikki?” Vanessa called out.

  “Right here!” she appeared next to them.

  “Do you feel comfortable driving the Escalade?”

  “I can probably handle that.”

  “Sara and Mara are going to be living here. Could you drive them to their apartment or home or whatever and get their things?”

  “Sure,” Nikki grinned. “I can do that.”

  Vanessa frowned. “You don’t live with parents or something like that, do you?” she looked at the twins.

  They shook their heads and Mara spoke. “We left about six months ago. Couldn’t stand it anymore.”

  “Good!” Vanessa exclaimed and then added quietly to herself: “At least I hope so.”

  Nikki and the twins left. Phillip and Vanessa returned to the drawing room and were approached by Antoine.

  “Aren’t they just little darlings?” he smiled, his hands clasped in front of his chest.

  “They seem alright,” Phillip responded.

  Vanessa and Phillip decided, between them that they would just swap them back and forth. One night she would have Mara and Phillip would have Sara and then reverse it the following night.

  “If we each keep feeding off of the same one, it might lead to attachment on their part,” Vanessa cautioned. “Despite the fact that they’re twins, they’re two different people.”

  “I think we’re going to need some kitchen help,” Phillip frowned. “It’s not going to be fair to Mary to ask her to cook for an ever-increasing crew.”

  Vanessa sighed. “You’re right and that means we’re going to have to go with more structured mealtimes,” she paused, “and we can afford it. Did I tell you the news? We are getting, of all things, war reparations!”

  “You’re joking!”

  She shook her head. “It was in the agreement. Thirty million!”

  “That’s brilliant.”

  “I like it,” she responded with a wide grin.

  “And what about Robert? I wince every time he walks by. I can, and this is no exaggeration, hear his cartilage and joints crunching.”

  She frowned and nodded. “Do me a favour and call around. Find out if there’s any donation centres or blood banks we can buy from. Not any quantity, just small amounts.”

  Phillip’s brow furrowed. “I’ll see what I can find. What are you planning?”

  “A very long time ago, I promised Robert that I would turn him. It’s probably time, but he’s not the sort who would want to go clubbing and I doubt, at his age, he’d be attractive to any possible patrons.”

  “Ah, I understand. A reward for faithful service?”

  Vanessa nodded. “Many years of it.”

  XXVI

  “So, when are we getting married?” Phillip grinned at Vanessa as the sun was setting outside Smythe House.

  Nikki chuckled. “Somebody’s in a hurry.”

  “Hey, I don’t want anyone snatching her out from under me!”

  Vanessa laughed and tapped his nose with a forefinger. “Not to worry, darling. No one snatches me,” she shrugged. “Besides, immortals are never in a hurry.”

  “You have thousands of years behind you. If we waited a year it would seem interminable to me and like the blink of an eye to you!”

  “That would be true. It’s all in the perspective, I suppose. Let me think about it for a bit.”

  “I wonder how Jack is doing. It’s been three days since he left with Margaret,” Owen spoke up.

  “Likely just fine,” Nikki nodded.

  “I’ve been in touch with Ulric. He says there are some lycans left who are the result of humans being bitten in our little war. He claims to have no control over them,” Vanessa sighed softly.

  “Are we going hunting then?”

  “We are. I’m laying odds that they’re hanging out in their original homes. That will make them hard to find. There’s a possibility that, since they’re just recently turned, they may only change during the full moon. Anyone know when the next one is?”

  Owen checked his phone. “This Friday - four days from now.”

  Vanessa nodded, picked up her mobile, and dialled.

  “Antoine, how are you?”

  Pause.

  “Fine. There are a few lycans left in London – enough to create some havoc, I would think. In four days, the moon will be full and that may prompt them to change and feed. I want as many of our people as possible on the streets, armed, and ready to take them down.”

  Pause.

  “Excellent. We’ll be out there as well,” she disconnected the call.

  Nikki looked at her. “V, are there any actual vampires in Transylvania?”

  Vanessa gave her a cross look. “Yes, and in Germany, Spain, France, and every other country in the world and, if you call me ‘V’ again, I’ll be forced to slap you. I neither like nor approve of nicknames.”

  “That mean you’re going to start calling me Nicole?”

  “Now that you mention it, maybe I will,” she responded with a smug smile.

  “It’ll remind me of when my mom used to get pissed at me,” Nikki laughed. “Nicole! I thought I told you to put up this laundry!”

  “You’re completely exasperating sometimes, do you know that?”

  She liked poking Vanessa once in a while – getting just a little rise out of her. She knew better than to pick a fight with her. “So, what are we doing tonight? Pizza and a movie? Clubbing?”

  “I’d like to go clubbing,” Phillip inserted himself.

  “Clubbing it is,” Vanessa smiled and then whispered to Phillip. “You take Sara and I’ll take Mara.”

  The group had become legend at The Broken Fang and were greeted enthusiastically when they entered. They weren’t there five minutes when a good-looking, shapely young woman approached Phillip.

  “Would you feed on me, Phillip? I would consider it an honour.”

  Before he could respond, Sara moved between him and the woman.

  “Bugger off, bitch!” she snarled. “I’m his meal. Tonight, tomorrow and way into the future so, if you don’t want to lose your face, sod off!”

  The woman stared at her in shock and then moved quickly away.

  Vanessa looked at Phillip and Sara and raised an eyebrow. She whispered to Phillip. “You really need to get that under control, darling.”

  They were ordering drinks at the bar when gunfire broke out, accompanied by screams. Vanessa’s head snapped in the direction of the fire.

  “Demons! Monsters! Die!”

  She moved quickly and grabbed the man by the throat, lifting and holding him at arm’s length in the air. She squeezed, causing him to drop his weapon. Letting go, she caught him be
fore his feet touched the floor, her hands on either side of his head, pressing together. With a growl, she pushed her thumbs into the inner corners of his eye sockets. He screamed as she ripped his eyes out. Dropping him, she turned and yelled.

  “Any humans hurt?”

  “Shoulder wound on a man here!” a voice from the crowd responded.

  “Keep pressure on it!”

  Within ten minutes, the police arrived with, of all people, Jack taking the lead. He approached Vanessa.

  “What happened?”

  “This fellow here,” she gestured to the man who was rolling back and forth on the floor, covering his face with his hands and sobbing loudly, “waltzed in, screaming about demons and devils. Then he opened fire with a rifle. We’ve got one man with a shoulder wound who’ll need an ambulance.”

  Jack grunted and frowned. “What’s with his face?”

  Vanessa extended a hand and opened it, palm up. Jack looked at the two eyeballs in revulsion.

  “Want them for souvenirs, Jack?” she smirked.

  “You really had to do that?”

  “I could have killed him outright and would have been justified, you know. I was just feeling a bit creative. That’s all,” she shrugged.

  He crooked a finger at a constable. “Evidence bag.”

  As the constable opened the bag and Vanessa dropped the bloody eyes in, she looked at him. “Hungry, Constable?” She snapped her fingers at the bartender who dropped a bar rag into her hand.

  He grinned at her, displaying his canines. “I’ve already supped, Countess. Thank you, though.”

  Vanessa laughed and turned to Jack. “How many do you have in your department, Jack?”

  “About a third of our number,” he sighed.

  She frowned. “I hope this is an isolated incident and that we aren’t being targeted by religious zealots. They can shoot at us without harm but, as in the case tonight, humans could be wounded or killed.”

  Jack frowned. “I need to get all these people out of here unless you think there’s involvement by others.”

  Vanessa shook her head. “No, I think it’s just this one blind man,” she stared down at the man on the floor and then squatted, whispering in his ear. “I curse you and all your family. They will endure untold suffering.”

  The man started screaming again.

  “What the hell did you tell him, Vanessa?”