I gazed into Brett’s improving eyes. “I love you,” I said.
Thankfully, he was now able to say the same thing to me.
While sitting beside his bed I once again marveled at how new blood could heal old wounds. Brett was looking better and better with each passing degree. Now lacking any discernible cuts and bruises, he was reclaiming the radiant glow that made his ivory skin glisten so brightly. He also had enough energy to thank me over and over for saving his life. Having him alive and well was truly paradise in Vampire World.
“But where am I going to go?” he asked, a melancholy mood coming over him.
I'd almost forgotten. Brett couldn’t go home. He no longer had anyone to take care of him. Except for me.
“Everything is going to be alright,” I said. “Mr. FreeCut will let you stay with us.”
“Are you sure?” he asked.
To be honest, I wasn't one hundred percent sure. But I did know that Mr FreeCut was a kind person who would want to help a vampire in need. And Brett wasn't just anyone, but someone who was so very important to me.
I hated leaving Brett, but really I needed to go ask Mr. FreeCut if his staying with us was okay. If not, I’d have to sneak him into my room and coffin without my guardian knowing. Either way, Brett was going to stay with me, safe and sound.
However, after thinking further about things, I became a little more uneasy about the situation. By bringing Brett into his house, in a way I was putting Mr. FreeCut in danger. But I had to do it. If TriFang knew Brett was still alive, he’d be killed instantly.
At home, Mr. FreeCut fixed me raw death fish soaked in blood. As I ate them and licked the blood off my lips, I decided I could no longer hide any information from him. For the next thirty degrees I told my caretaker everything that had been happening to me. I talked about TriFang, my secret messenger, and most importantly, how Brett's parents had disowned him because he wouldn’t fall in love with a rich vampire that TriFang tried to bribe him with.
Mr. FreeCut seemed surprised but calm. “You know, I always thought Senator BloodHunt was hiding something from me. Now it all makes sense. I think him and I are going to need a serious talk.”
He gobbled up his scaly fish, then peered at me and grinned. “I want you to be happy, Janice. Your boyfriend can stay here.”
I thanked him and gave him a hug.
“But there is one condition,” he said. “Since you haven’t been through a Separation Ceremony together, I must ask that you sleep in different rooms.”
I said that was fine, even though I would have loved feeling Brett’s warm and cold body next to me in the coffin.
We talked and joked like best friends for a while longer. Then it was time to get ready for a difficult day at work; my managerial training tasks at Vampire Supermarket were becoming ever more challenging each day.
I checked myself out in the bedroom mirror before leaving the house. I looked good in my black uniform. At the same time I thought about Brett, hoping he was safe in the hospital. Guilt plagued me for not being with him. But I had to work.
When I arrived, Mira appeared depressed.
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
“You don’t want to know,” she said.
Shortly after I ran into Susan. “Mrs. FangCut needs to see you in her office, right now,” she said. Her tone was unusually stern. Something was not right.
I entered the office and twirled my thumbs in confusion.
Mrs. FangCut was sat behind her desk, “Sit down, Janice,” she said.
As I took a seat, I could immediately tell that she was very upset about something. There was a disturbed look in her perfect eyes, and her skin did not seem to shimmer with the same intensity it usually did.
“I hate to be the person to do this,” she began. “But the situation is out of my control. Even though you’re a great worker with a kind spirit and a larger than life positive attitude, unfortunately, as of today, you’re no longer needed for work at Vampire Supermarket.”
Stunned, I was unable to say a word at first. But as I thought about it, just like when I saw Brett get disowned by his parents, it all made sense.
“Why?” I asked sternly.
“I can’t discuss that,” she said.
I stood up and got into her face. “Yes you can. But you choose not to out of fear.”
She stiffened. “What are you talking about?”
“You know what I’m saying. Some people forced you to fire me, or else they would do something bad to you.”
She took a deep breath. “I had no choice.”
My now ex-boss hit me with a nasty glare. “You made the wrong choice, Janice. Shame on you. All you had to do was ignore them, but you chose to get involved.”
“And I'll keep getting involved,” I replied.
Mrs. FangCut slammed her fist against her desk, revealing a temper that I’d never seen from her before. I was intimidated. “How could you be so stupid?” she yelled. “You’re such an intelligent and beautiful vampire, yet you act like this. Get some common sense into that head of yours, young lady. If you learn to mind your own business, maybe you can come back to work here some time in the future.”
I stood my ground. “I will not give into them the same way you’re doing.”
“Then get out of my office,” she shouted.
I tried to hold back my tears while leaving. But on reaching the door, I turned around. “I once looked up to you,” I said. “I thought you were the best boss in the world. Turns out you’re not. The only thing you are is a coward.”
I stormed out of her office. As much as I loved Vampire Supermarket, all I wanted to do right now was get the hell away from there as fast as possible.
Mira caught up with me and asked what was wrong. I told her that I was fired, but I didn’t say any more than that. I was in no mood for a long conversation.
FALLING, BUT NOT DOWN
Outside, despair hit me. I couldn’t look at the Supermarket. It was a memory. A lonely, sad memory. Only a short time ago I'd been a dashing professional. Now I was out of a job, with very little chance of finding another one. Oh well, I consoled myself, at least I wasn't broke. I went to one of the machines and entered my Carn card.
I stared at the screen, devastated. It told me I had zero Carns. Impossible. I'd had over seven hundred yesterday. NO! There had to be an error!
As I rushed to one of the local banks, I developed a sickening premonition that the machine would turn out to be correct. TriFang….Noooo…..
“There’s got be a mistake!” I screamed at the tiny vampire teller. She wanted to help me, but I didn’t think she could.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” she said. “But I’ll try to figure this out for you. Can you come back in a few days?”
I told her yes, but as I left the bank it was blatantly obvious that a return visit would be pointless. I was a robbery victim.
Instead of drowning in despair, I thought of my shining light - Brett. I had to see him. Now.
I rushed over to the hospital and was overjoyed to find him on his feet, alive and well. He looked better than ever as he came over and kissed me.
“We have to go,” I told him.
He frowned. “Why?”
“I’ll tell you on the way.”
Brett swiped his card at the first Carn machine we came to. Just as I expected, his account had been wiped out completely as well.
His anger was understandable. “How did this happen?” he yelled. “I had over three hundred Carns saved up! Well the hell am I going to do now?”
We stopped off at the bank, but the teller could give no explanation as to what might have happened to Brett’s money. Discouraged, we left.
I tried to calm him down. “It’s okay. Mr FreeCut will help us out.”
We rode an overcrowded train back to my house. Brett rested his head on my shoulder and I could see he was scared. That was a shame. He’d been through so much.
“What do they wa
nt with us?” he demanded.
“They want to stop me from searching for the secret.”
“So what the hell is this secret?”
“I don’t know. That’s what I need to find out.”
Brett sighed. “Well, let's hope we can find out pretty damn quickly.”
I was relieved to know he was one hundred percent on my side. It was fabulous to have a loyal companion during tough times like this, not to mention a sexy lover. But I still hadn’t told him everything he needed to know yet.
Mr. FreeCut gave us a warm welcome as we entered the house. Fresh sausage drowning in gobs of tasty blood and bulky glasses brimming with the red stuff were on the table. I guessed the trauma of nearly dying made fresh blood even more tantalizing, because Brett couldn’t wait to get started. He was already dipping his sausage and chowing before Mr. FreeCut and I had even sat down.
“I heard you’ve been through a lot, young man,” Mr. FreeCut said. “Enjoy.”
“I can’t thank you enough,” Brett replied, slobbering up his blood in pretty much the same way Ernie was doing under the table.
“I just want the both of you to stay safe,” Mr. FreeCut stated. “Don’t worry about Carns. I’ll be happy to provide you with some. The most important thing is that we stick together.”
“Thanks, Dad,” I said. He noticed what I'd called him, and that made me smile.
We made sure all the doors were locked before preparing for bed. My sense of security was stripped, because I no longer felt safe even in my own home. But I couldn’t hide in fear and let it bring me down.
Brett grabbed a crimson pillow and stretched out on the couch in the living room. After saying goodnight to Mr. FreeCut, I kissed Brett, turned off the light and headed to my room.
I lay down in my coffin and stared at the ceiling. It wasn't long before a sultry super vampire with an alternating warm and cold touch crept in beside me. I smiled. Obviously I could not let Brett sleep alone on that stony couch. That would make me a terrible girlfriend.
I relaxed my head on his sculpted abs. Together in this small space, I felt complete, protected and serene.
“I wonder what your old man will do if he catches us,” Brett whispered.
“Well,” I said, hoping that wouldn't happen, “I don’t think he’ll find out. Anyway, he did tell us to stay together, right?”
We laughed. Being with Brett, I didn’t feel like I was in my coffin any more. Instead, I was lying on a bed of beautiful bloodflowers, floating in the sky above a pearly Garlic Moon. I fell asleep in Brett’s arms and enjoyed the best rest of my life.
For the next few days, Brett and I cautiously watched our backs. Though it was impossible to live a normal life these days, I tried to fix things as best I could by looking for a job. I applied at a few clothing stores, a grocery market, and oh my goodness, even a blood café.
Though it was risky traveling the streets even at night, I couldn’t let TriFang stop me from striving to be a success. Every evening with Brett loyally by my side, I rushed over to the fireball practice center, climbed down to the treacherous third level, and practiced my vampire heart out. The competition was only a few days away, and with both of us broke, now would be a great time to win the 10,000 Carns.
Though Brett was also taking part in the tournament, he watched out for me by scoping the area for trouble.
High in the air I faced trouble of my own, competing fiercely against my vampire opponents and the computer generated monsters. But I welcomed the competition, and on my latest visit I blew everyone away by winning eight rounds straight. It looked like all the practice and sweat was paying off. I felt like a champion. Even the crazily moving square didn’t faze me that much any longer. I'd learned how to place my feet in the correct positions in order to stay safe and get the better of my opponents. And the monsters…well they still looked creepy enough. But I'd figured out all of their programmed patterns, twisting and revolving my body nicely to avoid their attacks.
Brett and I also journeyed to the secret cache and practiced our stake shooting, blade throwing and star tossing. Just like the fireball excursions, after countless degrees of sweat and work, I was becoming a pro with these weapons. Out of five shots, I hit the heart of the dummy with a golden-tipped stake four times. And the other shot was only a fraction away as well. Damn that felt good.
“We should take some of this stuff back to the house,” Brett said after throwing a curved blade and nailing the target in the head.
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. I've already told Mr. FreeCut about the weapons. I’m pretty sure he won’t mind.”
Making two trips, we loaded up on stakes, blades and gunners. We also gathered a selection of grains and two bottles of garlic. I cringed while carrying the garlic; it burned my skin, even though I wasn’t physically touching it.
“I’ll take those for a while,” Brett offered, showing no discomfort while holding the bottles, even though I’m sure they were burning his skin too. He also retrieved some Bloodstop ointment.
It was truly a wonder that I could feel at peace when things were so bad. But with support from my incredible boyfriend and Mr. FreeCut, plus my ever-improving fireball abilities, I had faith that my life would turn around eventually.
That evening the three of us chowed down on leftover blood sausage, well aware of the potential trouble around us. From under the table I could hear Ernie's horn thumping on the floor as he slurped on a bowl of hot blood. Despite the perilous situation, we couldn’t let it ruin the joy of fresh blood and togetherness.
We laughed together. Then we drank and ate again.
“Don’t worry,” Mr. FreeCut said. “No vampire punks are getting into my house. I’ll bite their heads off and throw them in the garbage.”
Holding our cups of blood aloft, we toasted his bold words. He said them with such conviction that I felt no fear.
“Senator BloodHunt is coming by tomorrow,” he said. “Why don’t you talk to him about everything that's going on? Maybe he can give you some advice.”
“Yes,” I responded, grinding my fangs. “I’d love to have a few words with him.”
“Okay, I’ll set something up,” Mr. FreeCut said.
Remembering the senator's artwork of the TriFang emblem, I knew the liar had a lot of crap he didn’t want to talk to me about.
But I was determined to make him talk anyway when we met tomorrow.
LAST SECRET
That night I snuggled up with Brett in my coffin. The orb vibrated, interrupting our sublime moment together.
“I’ll be right back,” I whispered.
I went to the corner of my room and put the orb to my ear.
“Janice, you have done an incredible job so far in discovering two major secrets, the blue planet and the unique human blood. Now you must figure out the third secret. I’ve been listening to your conversation with Mr. FreeCut and know that Senator BloodHunt is coming over tomorrow. You need to ask him about a portal. If you haven’t figured it out already, he knows a lot more than he’s telling you. Find out all you need to know. And don’t let him lie to you. Watch your back, Janice. Keep your weapons on you at all times, and be aware that an attack can come at any moment. Good luck.”
I wanted to scream back at whoever the hell was communicating with me, but that wasn't possible. I was beyond fed up.
The next day I was ready to grill Senator BloodHunt. I watched him arrive in his souped-up SUV. I was not gonna hold anything back.
I told him hello and decided to play nice while we feasted on Mr. FreeCut’s bloody grub. I sensed he was aware I was about to release my fury on him.
After a little more friendly chatter, Mr. FreeCut led me in. “Janice wants to talk to you for a few degrees,” he said.
I gawked at the squeaky clean vampire. He might be dressed in a burgundy suit and sporting a tie, but that professional appearance didn't fool me. I got straight to the point.
“Why did you lie?” I shouted. The senator
flinched guiltily.
Sensing trouble, a loyal Ernie released an ear-splitting scream and rushed out from under the table. He lunged at the senator, who though trembling with fright, managed to stay unharmed until Mr. FreeCut calmed Ernie down. Too bad he didn’t get pricked by the horn, I thought.
My temper was now up. After berating him about his drawing of the TriFang emblem, I lectured him on all the crap I’d seen lately. The elaborate parties. The drug-induced blood. The kidnapping. And the dead bodies in the underground tunnel.
The senator was contrite. “I’m deeply sorry for lying to you,” he said. “Yes, I have known about TriFang for quite some time. But I can assure you that the reason I concealed this was for your own protection. I had no idea that someone was leaking information to you. What you know is staggering, especially concerning the blood. Who exactly is this secret messenger? Have you talked to him in person?”
I calmed down a little. I didn’t really see any malice in his eyes. I bought his story. But I didn’t stop throwing the punches.
“He talks to me,” I replied brusquely. “And last time he mentioned a portal that you know something about. Where is it?”
“I have never heard of a portal.”
I kept the pressure up. “You lied to me once. Are you lying again?”
“Certainly not,” he replied.
Mr. FreeCut stepped in between us. “Janice, I think you better calm down. You should trust in his word.”
Brett sat still as a stone, paying close attention to the heated conversation.
“I know about the blood you speak of,” the senator acknowledged. “It has powerful effects on a vampire’s body. Those who drink it regularly become younger and therefore immortal, providing of course they don’t die from loss of blood. It also gives the drinker much more energy than normal vampire blood, and much more pleasure.”
Oh. No wonder I thought Rob looked younger at the underground party. He was younger.
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