by P. S. Power
Then she could have gotten back by the door and taken the same position. With bloody hands, but still, that might be hidden. Other than that, she was at a loss. Magic maybe? Get some kind of amulet, or a weapon that didn’t make noise, or something? If that kind of thing existed, she’d never heard of one that would really be effective on Vampires. Especially not against twelve at once.
Could she have compelled them? That was a thing she really hadn’t done a lot yet. Mainly because they weren’t supposed to use that kind of thing to feed right now, and other than convincing one street guy that she’d given him a handjob, so he’d leave her alone, she really hadn’t had any experience doing that kind of thing yet. It wasn’t a really strong gift in most Vampires, not the Classics like her, at any rate. Enough to be useful, but not something that would stop loads of other Vamps all at once.
Not if she did it the same way that everyone else did it. It was, she decided, a thing to look into, as soon as her punishment was done for what had happened.
It wouldn’t just be a beating, she didn’t think, not unless Bey did it. She’d been too bad ass. It might be that Lenore could take her in a fight. Edom, too. That went without saying, because they were both old and powerful. They’d have skills that she just didn’t yet, and reactions honed through centuries of living as Vampires that would be impossible for a baby like her to match. But they’d have to really be trying, she thought, and they’d both know that now. Oh, she could let herself be beaten, but once they got that she might win if she fought back as hard as she could, they’d have to be more careful.
Like her mom, after the last time she’d tried to beat Eve into servicing some guy. She’d been fourteen, and nearly as large as her mother. Heavier, since, by some miracle, she’d never gotten into heavy drug use. That level of extreme dissipation just hadn’t been a thing for her, like it was her mom. It had turned into a fight, instead of Eve just being hit with a belt, though in the end she was raped anyway, since the guy hadn’t actually cared if she was willing. Her mother had treated her better after that. Like she knew that someday Eve might just kill her, if she were pressed. That she could pull it off, too.
If her mother had ever considered that, well, then she was smarter than Eve was willing to credit her with. Ed and Lenore would get the idea though. She was too big to just spank, suddenly. Not by them. So, Bey might be called on to do it, or they might be more clever than that. Hence her being worried about being locked away. It was really a common enough punishment. Sort of like prison for misbehaving undead people. Other than a beating or death, or possibly rape just to show who was more powerful, that was the most common kind of thing to do to a Vampire who got out of line. The idea was basically a combination of isolation and starvation. After twenty days of being locked up, you wouldn’t have any links left to energy sources. Not even if you were old, and good at that kind of thing. Then you had only the life left in your physical form to keep you going.
If you didn’t move at all, and refused to think, you could, supposedly, last for a long time.
Most people weren’t that great at not thinking though, were they? After a few months of that kind of thing, most Vampires just died. Even the most ancient ones could only go for about six months. If anyone went longer than that, they were probably either very ancient, or had some kind of trick that she just didn’t know about. Maybe some way to feed magically? It was pretty clear that even if they had to drink blood, Vampires were really magical in nature. To her it just made sense. They didn’t eat blood, they just felt like they had to. Since most Vampires were young, dying off over the years from one thing or another like they did, it probably seemed like there was a huge focus on constantly getting things to eat, even if it wasn’t really needed.
Those links however… Were they things that had to be used the way they were? Eve tried to think it through, not knowing how to do anything like what she was imagining might be possible. She was, supposedly, able to use magic, wasn’t she? Not much, and not well, but Keels had taught her the basics, and she had been practicing daily. That was all inside herself though. She had a feeling, right or wrong, that doing anything away from her interior landscape would burn a lot of energy. That just felt right.
The links she currently had… They were internal, in part, right?
That idea distracted her for the rest of the night as she scrambled to first help make sure everything stayed clean and then got people drinks, acting as a waitress. Unlike the other times that she’d done that kind of thing almost no one slapped her on the rear or tried to cop a feel. A few very drunk men did, but in each case they were stopped by their friends, or for one of them a woman that was just standing there. She seemed scared, which was a bit unkind.
After all, Eve had only killed those Vampires to protect people. Not that she really expected anyone to get that in particular. That the current plan wasn’t for her to serve the rest of her life in prison was huge though. A thing that might not hold, come morning, after the outcry that would be happening.
After all, it was one thing for a man to show that his blood work was funny on television, or even for him to lift some really heavy weights to show the kind of power he had. People would see that as a curiosity, but not be really afraid of it. They saw a lot of impressive things in movies all the time, so it would just seem normal to them. The idea that it was supposed to be real was kind of a big one, but no one would really care all that much, other than some religious nutjobs.
Not about that.
Eve acting alone, had just shown that a single Vampire could be lethal, in a way that any regular Joe or Josina wouldn’t be able to survive if they were on the receiving end. That was going to be a big deal to a lot more people. Ones suddenly worried that their kids would be taken if they were out after dark, or if they got a yogurt at the wrong mall.
Still, no one came for her instantly, which meant that she had floors to clean, and drinks to get to thirsty people. Eve hurried to get that done, rushing from table nine directly to the supply closet to grab one of the sturdy wooden handled brooms.
It was very strange, but no one actually tried to talk to her about what had happened yet. Not Bey, or Edom, or even Barb. The Humans were all polite about it, too, as if they didn’t really believe what had taken place. That was, she knew, very possible.
Humans did things like that. For once it was kind of working out for her, so she just kept going, and faking a smile until morning came.
Chapter eight
She nearly stopped breathing, when she realized what was happening out in the mall, in front of the Yoghurt World. It was, she knew, one of those things that wouldn’t make sense to most people, even if they saw it. Not for what it really was.
Marcus, from across the way, had come into work early. By nearly a whole hour. Okay, that was so strange as to be nearly bizarre, but it was who was walking with him that got Eve to move from her place behind the counter. She smiled, and didn’t rush anyone, but there, surrounding her fatbeard, was…
Everyone.
All her friends.
Darla, Keeley, Hally and Gary. The old gang.
When she walked out, Marcus looked at her a bit sheepishly, and then waved at everyone, as if she wouldn’t know who they were.
“These folks needed to get into the mall, so I said they could come wait at the candle shop. I know that it isn’t exactly inside the rules, but…” He was drowned out by squealing, as Hally and Gary both rushed at her. Too fast, but also in slow motion.
Eve picked Gary up first, and spun him in a circle as if he didn’t weigh nearly sixty percent more than she did, then did the same with Hally. They both smelled incredible, and she had to pull back after a second, but she winked at the redheaded and lightly freckled girl. She could have passed herself off as an actress, though that wasn’t what she was doing, Eve didn’t think. Really, she wasn’t perfectly certain what Hally was getting up to now. She was kind of dating Keels, but other than that, they hadn’t really had a chan
ce to talk in forever.
Gary, who was still fit, and looked lean and like working out was just a daily part of his life, glanced over at Marcus, as if he didn’t want to speak in front of the stranger.
Eve got that. Back home, when they were in school, almost no one actually knew about things being strange in the world. Just to survive they’d had to make sure they didn’t talk to the wrong people about things.
“Let’s go into my place here? The Vampire embassy.” She waved at Mark, gesturing for him to come too, since it was pretty early yet. “This is Marcus Aralias. Yes, he really calls himself that, and no, it wasn’t the name his innocent, and no doubt very normal, parents gave him. He’s a Mage. Number three over in their embassy across the way. Come on.”
She got them all into the shining and brightly colored space easily enough, though Hally was looking at the new guy closely. Suspiciously, to tell the truth. That was different, for her. She was pretty much the world’s most trusting person. At least she had been. Now, she seemed different.
Pretty, and confident, but also like she knew things that regular people just didn’t. Her clothing was, Eve noticed, very nice. Businessy, rather than sexy, like she worked for a corporation, not whatever it was that she really did. She had on a navy blue jacket and skirt, and a string of pearls that made her seem straight from the nineteen fifties. Her face was young though, barely changed from when they were in high school. If it was different at all.
Gary was the one that had changed. There were lines around his eyes now, and he seemed tense, for all he was smiling hugely.
Both of them were still human enough to be lunch though. She would have worried more about that, but the burning pain of the sun would mean that most of the younger Vampires would be down for the day already. No one would mistake her buddies for a snack. Not if they had the discipline to come in that early. A thing proven when Linda walked through the door, to get the watch map. The woman smiled at everyone, and waved at Eve, but only spoke to Lenore. She was in her normal long tweed looking coat with the soft brown leather gloves that were all Eve had seen her in so far.
Rather than explain, even to Lenore, who actually got who most of the people were, she smiled and reached out to touch Keels on the arm.
It got a bit of a look from Hally. So Eve stuck out her tongue, and giggled. It was a thing they did, or used to. The whole group laughed at it, other than the baffled seeming Mark.
He was the one that seemed out of place, really. The rest of them were all really attractive. Uncommonly so, to be honest. Like people that belonged on a television program.
“So, did you all come to see me before the Council calls for my death for being a pain in the ass last night?”
Darla, shining, radiant and blonde, nodded.
“About like that. My sources inside that level of your political structure have the odds at fifty-fifty right now. My guess is that they won’t actually vote to kill you outright, since then you could legally fight. That’s a great thing about your new culture. No one expects you to just let yourself be killed. So they’ll probably try for something a bit less obvious. Starvation, as you’ve already worked out.” How she knew that, Eve didn’t understand, but Keels nodded.
There was a clever smirk on her face though, not a sad look or anything.
“Not that they can do that. You know how to beat it. You have the basic information anyway. Do that, and very few beings will be able to do a lot to you. Anyway, you’re going to miss Christmas, so we came to you! We don’t have forever, since some of us actually have to work, if you can buy that one?” She glanced at Mark and winked. “Not me, but Hally and Gary. Darla, too. She owns Cortechs?”
That got the chubby guy to nod, and sit up straighter. It was cute, and looked almost like he was going to try and hit on the Greater Demon, but his self-esteem was too low for that kind of thing, so he rubbed at his fuzzy face.
“The tech firm? That’s big. Do the rest of you own major corporations, too?” He smiled, as if he were making a joke.
Eve got the idea, he figured that Darla, who looked like an eighteen year old, ultra-hot, cheerleader, was just making that up. More to the point, the model looking Keeley was, for her.
Feeling almost peaceful and happy, even knowing that doom was going to fall on top of her, she rolled her eyes at the fatbeard.
“Seriously? You won the Powerball, and you don’t think that anyone else could have a cool job? Gary owns his own garage, right?” She looked at him, basically making that part up, but he nodded.
“Going on two years now. Which is why I have to get back soon. I just wanted to see you, in case…” He looked hard suddenly. His voice went low. “In case you don’t make it. It’s stupid, but I guess someone on that Council thing wants you dead? If so, I don’t think they’re going to survive very long.”
That, oddly enough, got a nod from Hally, who was about as non-violent as anyone could be, and still know that Vampires, Demons and all that were real.
“No doubt. I would have asked Bal to take care of it already, but Keels said that we should hold off. That you have this one? I… All you did was save those people!”
Keeley smiled, and shifted just a bit, which caused Mark, who was across the table from her to sit up straighter. Probably since she was rubbing her foot up his leg. Eve could hear the action taking place, but she didn’t call the other girl on it. Not directly.
The Greater Demon spoke smoothly though.
“I get the basic idea, to tell the truth. Eve had to act, but she did it so openly that the whole world is focused on her right now. If her Council lets her go without being punished, it will seem to everyone that they’re claiming they can kill with impunity. They can, of course, but unlike some organizations, they’re actually clever enough to keep that kind of thing relatively secret from the average Vamp. Worse, at the moment they have to show the Human world that there are forces at play, to keep their kind in check. Eve did half their job for them, killing those rogues, but now they need to show that even those with power are held to tight standards. More so than the regular police, in particular.” Her foot moved higher and Mark went wide eyed.
Eve shook her head a bit, since it wasn’t her job to keep him from getting lucky.
“I get the basic idea. I just wish they weren’t going to do it in a way that would almost assure that I had to die. My guess is that they’ll order me locked up for three or four months? Enough to kill me, but not so much that it will flat out look like a death sentence?”
Keels smiled, and nodded, her face just slightly wicked. That was probably about whatever she was doing that was making Marcus turn that color of red. His round cheeks were flushed, and a bit of sweat was forming on his brow.
“That is what I would do, if I were them. Something almost has to be done along those lines. The trick here is to take back part of the power from them, publically. Announce that you’re doing it on your own, since that will cut them off, before they can really push you into something lethal. Not that it will be.” She stood up, which got Mark to sink three inches in his seat, though he looked a little disappointed rather than relieved.
“Lenore? Could you set that up for us? A press release, I think? That Eve will be going into a punishment lockdown voluntarily, for the crime of having taken those lives? Six months.” She said it like that length of time was final, but then turned and looked at Eve, spreading her hands in the air delicately. “There are other reasons for that. You won’t die, if you manage things correctly. It will probably drive you a bit insane, but so would a month or two. I’m sure that you’ll be fine, if you plan for it. Better than if you were forced into a box, kicking and screaming.”
Lenore looked angry, but left the room, and after a moment there was speaking on the phone. Eve made herself ignore it, since she was nearly certain that Keeley was going to get her killed. It might even be her point. Though if that was the case, wouldn’t she just do it? Eve really couldn’t stop her from doing it, she di
dn’t think. No one could, except another Greater Demon.
There was one there, but Darla just nodded, her pert nose wrinkling a little.
“That’s dangerous though, Keels.” Looking at Hally and then Gary, she shrugged. It was a gentle and subtle movement that made her breasts rise and fall enough that Mark noticed her doing it. Which was, no doubt, the goal. “Eve can do this. Most Vampires couldn’t. She might die, trying, but if she doesn’t then it will mark her as being far more powerful than she might want to be known as this soon. On the good side, it will give things six months to calm down.”
Hally looked annoyed, and then shook her head, as Keeley walked behind the counter and started to make things for herself. Correctly, even though as far as Eve knew she’d never done that kind of work before. After a few minutes of silence she came back with a tray that was loaded with treats and set half of them in front of Darla, then started eating.
Marcus grinned at the move.
“Where did you get your tapeworms? You’re both so skinny. I feel like a cow sitting here, to tell the truth.” He smiled though, which got Keeley to nod at him.
“We’re both Greater Demons.” There was a gesture with a red plastic spoon, one of the very long handled ones. “She’s The Technician, which you should know, having met before. Several times. You aren’t a Human, so forgetting that, or blocking it out is pretty lame. I’m The Mistress of Souls. I’ll be watching you and Ben for Eve while she’s gone, so no one can screw with you too much. We can work on weight loss if you want? First we need to trim that beard and hair. We’ll do that later. Right now, why don’t you go and set your store up for the day?”
There was a panicked look on his face, and he nearly had to jump over both Gary and Darla to get out, both of them getting a face full of his behind as he did it. Then he scurried off, as if he hardly noticed having done it.