Blood Heavy (Blood Heavy Series)

by S. L. J. Shortt

  Now he had vampires that wanted to protect him. For some reason, every word she said seemed to make him more and more pissed off.

  “And why are you not trying to eat me right now?” Jerry had to ask.

  “Oh, but trust me, it is tempting. Your smell is very potent. We’re going to have to work hard to resist you. But we don’t feed on humans...not anymore,” she said, a little stiffly.

  “Why not?” he snorted.

  “Just because we’re not human, doesn’t mean we’re monsters. Besides, even that last might change now...” she mumbled the last part.

  “What?”

  Claire didn’t seem to want to say it. It was almost as if she didn’t fully believe what she was thinking. “If your blood can make us stronger, maybe...maybe we can reverse its effects.”

  What she was contemplating finally clicked inside Jerry’s mind. “A cure? You want to become human again?”

  “Wouldn’t you?”

  Jerry didn’t know how to answer that, but the pessimistic side of his brain wasn’t yielding to the idea. No matter what she said, there was no way he was going to trust her. Just her presence alone seemed to be making him angry, and he had no idea why. He should be terrified; instead he had the urge to punch her.

  “Wow,that sounds noble, really, it does. But I’m still having a hard time getting past the fact that both Black Forest and your ‘aid’,” He sketched finger quotes, “tried to eat me last night! So I want you to leave right now, or, no matter how girly it makes me look, I will start screaming!”

  “Daniel -” she tried, but was cut off.

  “Look honey, I’m not buying what you’re selling, so get out!”

  “So you’d prefer to be lying in the morgue?!” Claire suddenly yelled. “Things got out of hand last night, but at least you’re alive! If we wanted you dead, don’t you think I wouldn’t have drained you by now, or dragged you out of here! We are trying to help you!”

  “And I’m sure Jaws was just trying to help Quint! Get out!”

  Claire jumped out of her seat looking ready to unload another wave of anger onto him, but at the last second she seemed to deflate. She backed away quickly and pushed her eyelids together. It didn’t take long for Jerry to realize why.

  In getting agitated she had inadvertently taken in a big dose of his scent and was now fighting the urge to bite him. Now he was really scared. Maybe being so pissy towards her had been a bad idea, but he hadn’t been able to help it.

  Claire had resumed control. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she said “I’m not lying to you, Daniel. We want to help you...and you won’t last a week without us. Keep that in mind.” she turned and left the room, slamming the door as she went.

  Jerry was left with his heart beating frantically in his chest and sweat trickling down his forehead. Yet, something else was still worrying him; why was he having such an easy time adjusting to the fact that vampires existed?

  CHAPTER 5 – SUNBURN

  St. Cloud Hospital - Minnesota

  “Sir, this is dangerous,” the nurse sighed. “The doctor believes he should stay for observation.”

  “I’m his guardian, I’m discharging him,” Joe said forcefully, as he signed the form. Next to him, Jerry was dressed and still groggy, but more than ready to leave. His eyes were darting around the people in the hospital, wondering which of them were actually human.

  The way that Claire had talked made it seem pretty unlikely they’d just leave him alone. That’s why he didn’t want to stay in the hospital. He’d called Joe and begged him to get him out as soon as possible. His uncle hadn’t been happy about coming out at five in the morning, but he had folded in the end.

  “If he starts -”

  “We’ll call you immediately,” Joe finished for her and handed the forms back. “Let’s go kid.”

  Joe and Jerry walked out of the hospital and into the night. As they walked across the parking lot, Jerry saw a man smoking a cigarette a few feet away. He had no idea why, but at that moment he suddenly got a craving to smoke one himself, which made no sense at all because he hated the smell. He shook the idea from his head and continued walking.

  “Thanks Joe,” Jerry said, still looking around. “I didn’t want to be stuck in there when those things show up again.”

  “Okay, can we drop the vampire crap please?!” Joe huffed. He wasn’t happy.

  “I’m tellin’ the truth!”

  Joe just rolled his eyes and walked over to the car. Jerry didn’t speak about it again on the way home, but the moment they got in, he grabbed the first piece of wood he found, and started sharpening the end with a kitchen knife. Straight after doing this he called Goose, which woke him up, but got him on the way over as soon as he told him about the little visit he’d received in the hospital recovery room.

  Goose arrived five minutes later. Uncle Joe had decided to go back to sleep.

  “So, they’re good vampires and bad vampires, but they all want a piece of Jerry fruitcake?” Goose said, looking surprised at the news. “Well, this is proving to be an interesting experience...”

  “Interesting isn’t the word,” Jerry snorted. “And from now on I’m carrying this thing around everywhere I go…Buffy style....”

  “Err, about that...maybe telling that chick where to stick it wasn’t the best idea.”

  “What?”

  “I’m just saying, we’d probably be nasty stains on the road if that other vamp of hers hadn’t shown up.”

  “You’re kiddin’ me? That bitch tried to eat me!”

  “And I told you why...” a voice said.

  Goose and Jerry jumped and shot backwards as they saw Claire standing at the window of Jerry’s room. Her long black hair was flapping slightly in the wind and she was now wearing a leather jacket.

  “Is that -”

  “Yes!” Jerry nodded, holding the wooden stake tight.

  “Can I come in?” she asked.

  “Don’t let her in!” Goose squawked. “Vampires can’t come in unless you invite them!”

  “Actually, we can. I was just being polite,” Claire said. She folded her arms across her chest. “Daniel, we need to talk more.”

  “I think I’ve heard enough, thank you.”

  “Daniel, please, we want to help you.”

  “Like you did last time?” said Jerry, in a hard voice.

  “That won’t happen again, we’re detoxing her and you won’t see her again I promise”

  “Detoxing?” Goose asked, automatically curious.

  “We’re getting your blood out of her system. When she’s clean, she’ll be sent away. Listen, can we do this inside, the sun’s about to come up?” she said, starting to sound a little frustrated.

  “Then I guess you’re about to get a tan,” Jerry growled.

  “What do you want me to do, stay out here and get barbequed just to prove that I’m on the level?”

  “Well, I notice that you’re not forcing your way in here, so I think you were lying about the invitation thing,” Jerry said with a nasty smile.

  Claire looked at him angrily for a moment, then sighed. “Alright, so I was lying: it’s a pain in the ass, and it’s attached to my whole species. Being a vampire comes with a lot of red tape.”

  “I really feel your pain,” Jerry replied sarcastically.

  “Christ, you still sound like her...” Claire mumbled.

  Goose and Jerry looked at each other with confused eyes. “Who?” they chorused together.

  “Look, I’ll explain later, but seriously, I’m about to be burned alive, so can I -”

  “Flame on bitch,” Jerry chirped. The light was starting to creep up in the distance and the sun’s ominous glow began to inch closer.

  “Fine! I’ll just stay here and roast. Sorry to have bothered you. Enjoy getting eaten!”

  Claire threw a nasty look at him as her skin began to lighten with the daylight. About a minute later she started to turn red and a faint sizzling sound could be heard. Claire
gritted her teeth and started growling, breathing hard.

  When her flesh started to burn, she started screaming. It was horrible to watch and smell. Goose and Jerry weren’t feeling so smug anymore. She was clearly in agony.

  “Err, Jerry, I’m starting to think she’s telling the truth,” his voice shook.

  “Yeah, me too...okay! You can come in!” he shouted, but it didn’t help.

  Claire had collapsed in pain and couldn’t move.

  “Shit!” Jerry yelled, and they rushed towards the front door. They burst out, ran over and grabbed her by her jacket, frantically dragging her inside. Her burning body didn’t hurt them because there wasn’t actually any heat emanating from her. Claire was the only one getting toasted. They got her inside and slammed the door behind them. The sunlight that was coming through the windows was still bright, but it wasn’t hitting her anymore.

  As the burning eased off, she stopped screaming.

  “What the hell kind of vampire tries to commits suicide?!” Jerry yelped in amazement.

  “Got your attention, didn’t it?” she breathed, and actually managed a smirk. Slowly, she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a small silver hip flask. She struggled to open the cap with her shaking fingers, but managed it after a few seconds and started chugging it down.

  It wasn’t whiskey. Red liquid ran down her chin as some of it spilt.

  Goose and Jerry’s jaws dropped to the ground, as they watched her wounds begin to disappear. After a few seconds they were gone completely.

  “Holy shit! She’s Wolverine!” Goose blurted out, amazed.

  “Vampire...lots of cons...couple of pros...” Claire breathed, licking the blood off her lips. “Thank you for inviting me in.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  “What the hell is all this noise?!” Joe barked as he walked into the room, looking mad. He stopped when he saw the beautiful young woman standing up from the floor. “Who are you?”

  “My car broke down…I came to see if I could use your phone, and I tripped while I was walking in,” Claire said straight away, smiling. She was a pretty quick liar but it wouldn’t be enough.

  “Err...” Jerry started, trying to warn Claire, but it was too late.

  “You’re lying,” Joe said, glaring at her.

  “No, I -”

  “Her name’s Claire, and she’s a vampire,” Jerry tweeted quickly.

  Claire turned and looked at him, utter shock on her face. He didn’t seem to get the fact that you aren’t supposed to go around telling people that.

  “What? The guy’s a human polygraph, you can’t lie to him,” Jerry shrugged.

  “Well...this is awkward...” Claire said, staying in the shadows.

  “Look, I understand that this whole vampire craze thing is going round, but seriously -”

  “It’s true,” Goose said.

  “Show him,” Jerry agreed.

  Claire sighed and rolled her eyes. She was stuck there now that the sun was up and this guy did seemed to have some kind of weird sixth sense. “Screw it,” she said, and opened her mouth wide. Fangs extended from her upper canines along with a smaller set from her first molars.

  Joe stared. Then his military senses kicked in. He immediately grabbed hold of the nearest thing that could be used as a weapon, which happened to be a wrench that was lying on the table. “Boys, get away from her!”

  “Joe, it’s okay. We just did this dance, I don’t think she’s going to hurt us,” Jerry said. “I’m still keeping hold of this though!” he showed her the stake.

  “I don’t want to hurt anybody,” Claire said, looking Joe in the eyes. His lie detector told him that she was telling the truth, but he still didn’t relax.

  “What in the holy hell is going on?!” Joe demanded.

  “I’m about to tell you,” she said, before looking around the room. “Could we close the curtains please, I’m sort of stuck here...”

  Goose and Jerry looked at each other for a second, before walking over and covering the windows, cutting out the beams of light that were shining through.

  “Thanks, I hate sunburn,” she smiled. They all just looked at her, waiting for her explanation, whilst keeping their distance. “Okay, I’ll start from the beginning, shall I? Now, I know that meeting a supernatural creature isn’t exactly a trip to the Four Seasons...the first time I met a vampire was the same moment that I got turned into one. Let me tell you, that’s not fun. Sensory deprivation, hallucinations and agony while your body change from within. It's like being interrogated by the C.I.A. And when it finally stops...all you're left with is the bloodlust.

  Goose and Jerry cringed.

  “Unfortunately, it takes a lot to get past it. The need for blood just pushes all your humanity underground...you don’t care that you’re hurting people, or that you’re becoming a monster...but vampires are like a good wine, we get better with age, and after a while you have the strength to actually grab hold of your humanity and keep it close again,” Claire wasn’t looking at any of them now. She was staring into thin air, clearly replaying memories.

  She suddenly seemed to snap out of it, probably not wanting to remember any more.

  “Anyway, one of the vampires that managed to maintain her humanity is our leader. She’s very old and probably the smartest person I’ve ever met. She was born just after Rome went up in flames and has probably been abstaining from human blood for longer than any other vampire in the world. This is pig’s blood by the way,” Claire said, showing them her hip flask again.

  “About a hundred years ago she took a long hard look at the world and saw what most of our kind ignored, and that’s the direction that humans are heading in. You’re advancing faster and faster every day. All the medical, scientific and technological breakthroughs you’ve made are just going to keep coming. Sooner or later, you are going to find out that we exist.”

  Jerry had never thought that the supernatural world was real, and so it had never occurred to him that humanity would eventually discover it. But now that he thought about it, it did make sense.

  “Now that’s a bad thing for us. See, a few hundred years ago, if humans and vampires went to war, we’d have kicked your asses. But now, with the weapons that you guys have, we wouldn’t stand a chance. And war is pretty much a certainty at this point. I mean, humans are rarely fond of the things that eat them alive. There would also probably be mass religious hysteria and hate crimes; the days of witch hunting would be back again. We’re stronger and faster than you, but that won’t mean jack when you guys start launching smart bombs at us. Sure, we’d probably have a few sympathizers out there, but they aren’t the ones that tell the fighter planes where to fly. I’m old enough to know and respect the fact that our abilities aside, humans are top of the food chain. If your military pointed their guns at us, we’d be well and truly screwed, and it’s only very very stupid creatures that think otherwise. The end result is simple...we get exterminated.”

  “That’s why you want a cure. So that you can make yourselves human again, before we find out,” Jerry said, catching on.

  “It’s not just that. I don’t like what I am, and I’m not the only one...we’ve been looking for a cure for thirty years. No luck. Everything we try; science, magic, none of it works.”

  “Wait – magic?! You’re kidding me, right?” Goose blurted out.

  “No, sorry; that’s real too. We’re not the only things out there.”

  “So, basically, all of the horror stories and myths and legends are all real? Awesome,” Jerry said grimly.

  “Santa’s not,” she smirked. It didn’t make him feel better. “You’ve got to look past all the exaggeration that sticks to those stories like maggots to a corpse. Most of the legends around today are just variations on what came before, and these things always get amplified with time.”

  “We’ll take your word for it,” he nodded. “Okay, so you were saying about a cure?”

  “Yeah, we’ve tried a lot of diff
erent stuff, and none of it’s worked. Now, the ones that attacked you, Black Forest, they’re the flip side of my coin. They like being vampires, and they really don’t like the idea of humans being able to kill them, so they’re looking for a way to become stronger. Six months ago, a miracle fell out of the sky...you,” she pointed at Jerry, “unfortunately, that miracle could go either way.”

  “So, for Black Forest, Jerry’s like vampire Viagra, and to you guys, he’s a vampire vaccine?” Goose summed it up.

  “Pretty much...the fate of our entire species is resting on your blood, so we’re all taking this turn of events extremely seriously,” Claire said.