Blood Reign

by Harvey W. McCarthy

  "How does my ass look?" she flirted.

  "Perfect," he said without thinking.

  Several gasps were heard. She giggled. She loved every second of this particular exchange. "I told you that you had size perfect."

  He tried to speak but his mouth continued to open and close like a fish. She blew him a kiss and she disappeared into the changing room. The torture of the young store clerk continued until they were nearly closed. She gave the cab driver a huge tip for waiting but she knew that she would have a different ride to her final destination. She ventured back into the store.

  She slowly swayed to the counter. Drew, who was wiping his brow with a paper towel, tried to smile as she approached. She licked her lips again. The staff of the store was busy placing her purchases into bags. Drew shook his head as he continued to scan the barcodes attached to each garment. Five minutes later, he had finished and a large four figure number appeared on his computer screen. He swallowed hard. It was the largest commission that he had ever had in his short time working for the store.

  He turned to Mikhaeli who smiled sweetly. He swallowed hard again.

  "Y…Your total is nine thousand, four hundred, twenty-three dollars and eighteen cents, ma'am…er…Michelle," he stammered.

  She pouted and his heart sank.

  "I thought that it would be more," she said honestly. She shrugged.

  She reached into her handbag and removed several dollar bill sized envelopes that she had received at the bank. She licked her fingers slowly and she opened the first envelope. She counted each one-hundred dollar bill. Stacks of Benjamin Franklin's portrait were neatly placed next to the cash register. Drew blanched when he saw the American money.

  "I…I…I…I am not sure if we accept American money," he said.

  Mikhaeli pouted. "It's good money. Hold it up to the light and you can see that it is real."

  "I don't doubt that!" he exclaimed as his voice cracked. "I haven't seen this many American…"

  "Is there a problem?" Leonard Stills asked as he approached the cash register.

  "This nice young man," Mikhaeli said sweetly, "Just said that you do not accept American money despite both countries being each others largest trading partner."

  Leonard shook his head. "No, we do accept American money. My young clerk apparently hasn't been properly trained in how to covert between the currencies. I will have to speak with his supervisor."

  Mikhaeli continued to count out her money. Leonard showed Drew how to access the currency exchange feature on the computer. Leonard connected the computer to the internet. Within seconds, he was entering the total of the sale in the currency conversion site. He nodded to Drew who smiled at Mikhaeli. Again, for effect, she licked her lips before she returned his smile.

  "In American dollars," he said as he cleared his throat, "Your new total is nine thousand, two hundred and seventy dollars and twentytwo cents."

  Mikhaeli smiled. "Here you go."

  She handed Drew a large stack of bills. She patiently waited as he checked each one-hundred dollar bill for its authenticity. He held each bill up to the florescent lights and found the magnetic strip installed by the United States to prevent counterfeiting. Ninety-three one-hundred dollar bills later, he entered the total into the computer. The drawer on the cash register opened. Drew sighed.

  "Is there a problem?" Mikhaeli asked.

  "Yes and no. Now, I have to convert your change into Canadian money."

  She giggled. "You can keep the change, silly," she flirted.

  "Really?" Drew asked.

  "Of course."

  "Thank you. I needed gas money," he blurted.

  He blushed as his embarrassment had reached a new level of crimson. She reached across the counter and patted his hand gently. He smiled sheepishly.

  "It's okay. Maybe you can help me and earn an extra dollar or two," she cooed.

  "Yes?" he asked as his voice cracked.

  She gently rubbed his arm. Her touch sent electric shocks throughout his body. "Well, I didn't want to spend a fortune on a cab," she said as she giggled. She realized that her statement had to sound silly as she had just spent a small fortune in the store. She cleared her throat. "As I was saying, I don't have a car. I am just visiting and I am staying at the Halliburton near the waterfront. Would you be willing to take me in my hotel room…er…I mean take me to my hotel room?"

  The young man swallowed hard. "My…My car isn't in very good condition."

  She smiled and continued to rub the young man's arm. Leonard rolled his eyes. Before Mikhaeli could speak, the older man spoke.

  "Drew," he said with a sigh, "If you can't see that this young woman has taken a liking to you, then you are completely blind."

  Drew turned completely red but Mikhaeli continued to rub his arm. "So what do you say?" she asked sweetly.

  "Well, I can after I help…"

  "Ma'am, considering you spent the gross domestic product of some third world countries in here today, I believe that I can dismiss him early," Leonard said.

  "Thank you," she said sweetly. "I must recommend this fine establishment to my friends. I do have one more request. Can I change into something finer? I had to borrow these clothes after my plane had an emergency landing at the airport. I was soaked running away from the plane. The airline had lost my luggage so I had nothing to wear. Now, I have no problem being naked, but I like to leave a little mystery."

  She threw in the last line to gauge their reactions. Both men swallowed hard but Drew swallowed the hardest. He was starting to sweat. He was incredibly nervous. Mmmmm, she thought, Prime virgin meat.

  "Of course," Leonard said. "Take your time. We are here for another thirty minutes."

  She giggled and grabbed two of her bags. "Oh I won't need that long!"

  She strutted across the store to the changing rooms. She purposefully threw her discarded clothes over the door. She knew that all male eyes would be on her as she exited the changing rooms. She had picked a white blouse to accent her black mini-skirt and jacket. The silk stockings and designer shoes made her the envy of every woman in the store. Her beauty and her sense of style were unmatched. However, her outfit had another purpose: Business and class for when she arrived at the hotel.

  "Are we ready?" she asked.

  Drew nodded as he struggled to carry all of her bags. "My car is in the back lot."

  She slipped her arm inside his overloaded right arm. "Lead the

  way, handsome," she flirted again.

  Drew struggled to keep her bags from falling out of his hands as they made their way through the employee area. She patted his arm and he stopped. She reached in one of her bags and removed an overcoat. She quickly put it on. Drew didn't put the bags down. He just decided suffer in the torrential rain. His jacket would be waiting for him when he returned the next day. He did, however, grab an umbrella from a shelf. They wouldn't notice that it was gone. Plus, they rarely sold the dark purple umbrellas. It would make a nice gift and one that he could afford.

  "How do I look?" she asked as she fastened her belt.

  "Beautiful," he replied honestly.

  He blushed again. She giggled. She reached up and kissed his

  cheek. "Thank you," she purred into his ear.

  "Y…You're welcome," he replied as he handed her the umbrella. "This is for you."

  "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO," she squealed, "I LOVE PURPLE!"

  She grabbed him and kissed him hard. He thought that he was going to melt into a hormonal puddle. She broke the kiss slowly. The young man staggered backwards.

  "Y…Y…You're welcome," he said.

  "Your car now!" she commanded as she opened the door.

  He didn't argue. She held the door for him. He was surprised but

  she nodded in the direction of the parking lot. The awning over the door kept them dry while Mikhaeli opened her new umbrella. She let out low growl as she saw the beautiful dark purple. The dark, wet weather had heightened her mood. She loved
being able to be outside during the day. Drew nodded towards his car which was a beat up, brown Nissan Maxima.

  Mikhaeli smiled, but she really didn't want to get into the car. It was truly out of her class. It was as far beneath her class, in her opinion, as the Titanic was beneath the ocean. Thinking of the Titanic reminded her that she needed to focus but she giggled as they ran towards the car, she remembered that all work and no play made her a very grumpy vampire.

  "It's unlocked!" Drew screamed over the pouring rain and the claps of thunder.

  "UNLOCKED?" she asked. Her voice was filled with disbelief.

  "Yeah, who would bother stealing it?"

  "Good point," she said as she opened the door and ducked inside the cold interior of the car.

  Drew put her bags in his trunk. He dashed around the car to the driver's side door. He ducked inside for protection from the rain. He panted as he wiped his brow on his soaked sleeve. She giggled. The young man was completely out of his element. She knew that she was the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen. He probably had never had this much attention from a woman before. He was only average looking and kind of scrawny, but Mikhaeli did love fresh, untainted meat.

  When she sat down, she had spied a payphone. It was located between two stores in the shopping center. She reached over and rubbed his thigh. "Do you have some quarters?" she asked sweetly.

  "Quarters?" he asked.

  "For the phone," she said as she continued to rub up his leg.

  He began to pant as her hand continued up his thigh. A moment later, her hand found his crotch. He would have blushed if he had had any blood left in his head. She purred.

  "It appears that you have a roll of quarters," she purred as she stared into the trembling young man's eyes.

  "S…S…S…"

  She stared directly at him. "You better not apologize," she ordered. "If you have some quarters, I promise to be quick and then I will take care of this problem of yours all the way to the hotel."

  "R…Really?" he squeaked.

  She grabbed him and he squealed. She pulled him forward and kissed him hard. She explored every inch of his mouth before breaking the kiss.

  "Yes," she answered.

  He never responded. He fumbled in his pockets and in the various compartments in his car. He was sweating profusely as he muttered curses. She sat quietly with her legs crossed. He continued to mutter curses until he found exactly three dollars in quarters. Mikhaeli thought it was humorous that he ignored the nickels and dimes in his search for the elusive quarters.

  He held out his hand. "Here you go," he said proudly.

  "Thank you," she said as she rubbed her hand over his clinched fist. "Now, I will be right back, but no doing anything yourself."

  "I…I don't do that," he said.

  "Liar. You'd be doing it tonight if I wasn't with you," she teased as she opened the door.

  She opened her umbrella again. She cursed the rain to keep up appearances. The more the lightning flashed, the more excited she became. She kept the umbrella close to her head so the rain wouldn't touch her hair. She ran to the payphone. She picked up the cold receiver and placed it to her ear. She dropped the first quarter into the phone and she pressed a ten digit number. The phone started to ring.

  "Yes," an accented voice answered.

  "I am here. Three hours. Halliburton. Four bags," she ordered coldly before she pressed the lever to end the call.

  She placed another quarter into the phone and dialed a long distance number. She waited for the instructions that she knew would follow.

  "Please place an additional one dollar into the phone to complete the connection," the computerized voice said.

  "Gladly," she said.

  She placed four quarters into the phone and waited.

  "Thank you," the computerized voice stated.

  "No, thank you," she said.

  The phone rang and rang. Eventually, the cell phone that she was calling went to voicemail. She listened to the greeting and smiled. She pressed several buttons and she waited for her cue.

  "Oooooo," Mikhaeli said, "I love it when you scream."

  She hung up the phone. She turned to see Drew in the car. She winked. She opened her umbrella and dashed back to the car. Seconds later, she panted as she ducked inside.

  "Burrrr. It's freezing out there," she said. "Maybe there is something warm in here."

  She leaned over and ripped open Drew's pants. The young man screamed as he tried to back out of his parking space. Drew did his best to keep them on the road.

  "OH MY GOD!" he screamed. "I THINK I AM GOING TO EXPLODE!"

  Mikhaeli giggled. Won't be the first thing, she thought.

  Drew, by every miracle known to the human race, got them to the hotel within twenty minutes. Ten minutes later, they were locked in her room. Drew ripped off his clothes as she changed in the bathroom. She emerged wearing her purple lingerie. Drew swallowed hard. She smiled.

  Seconds later, Drew screamed again.

  CHAPTER 21

  The helicopter had struggled through the storm for the last hour. Rain pounded the expensive military aircraft. The crew was thankful to be flying the new Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone helicopter instead of the old Sea King helicopters which had been their predecessors. The old Sea King helicopters, which had been put into service in 1963, had suffered through several accidents as the machines had been pushed past their expected retirement date. Colonel Lees would not have ordered the crew to fly despite the severity of their mission if the Sea King helicopters were still in service. Their safety was his utmost concern. Even flying in this weather had the grizzled military veteran clutching his seat, but it was nothing like the fear that Chris was experiencing.

  The vampire hunter was clutching onto the edge of his seat. His knuckles were completely white. He had his MP3 player in his ears, but the noises from the rotors were drowning out the music. He became frustrated and he shut off his music. He angrily stuffed the audio device into his pocket and he stared straight ahead. The thumping from the rotors and the flashes of lightning served as reminders of his flight. He tried to close his mind and shut out the sound but nothing had worked. He was on the precipice of panic when Larry placed a communication headset over his ears.

  "Maybe this will help," Larry said hopefully.

  "Maybe," Chris replied as he adjusted the microphone.

  "Hang in there, kid," Ty said.

  All three sets of eyes stared at the military colonel. He held up a hand to retract his comment. Despite looking older than Chris, he knew the vampire hunter's secrets.

  "I apologize," he said. "You have aged gracefully."

  "I haven't aged at all," Chris angrily retorted.

  Ty smiled. He knew that Chris was not angry with him. He was frightened. As the helicopter bounced and the thunder shook the sky, the lights flickered inside the helicopter as power surges, created from the charged sky, affected their instruments. Ty frowned as he saw the concerned looks on the faces of his companions. He turned away to watch the colorful Eastern Canadian countryside pass below them.

  "So why are we traveling through this mess?" Chris asked.

  Ty turned to face the frightened warrior. "I received a coded message from Detective Kent Hutchins of the Halifax Municipal Police. He has a homicide that he believes warrants our attention."

  "Did he give any details?" David asked.

  "No," Ty inquired, "But do you think that is really necessary?"

  "No," David replied.

  Silence, except for the rumbling from outside, filled the helicopter. All four men pondered the latest tidbit of information offered by the colonel. David became lost in his own thoughts. The colonel had not offered his religious background, but he knew that Larry was Jewish. He was raised as a Christian. Chris was formerly a priest. He had even met atheists who had joined the highly religious organization who fought and died to rid the world of vampires. However, learning that high-ranking military leaders and local law enforce
ment were also involved in the council had totally surprised him.

  "The council's reach extends beyond just religion," he mumbled as he thought aloud.

  "Pardon?" Larry asked.

  David blinked. "What?" he asked.

  "You said something about the council," Larry said.

  "I did?" he asked.

  Larry chuckled. "Yes, you did."

  "Oh I was just thinking out loud," he admitted.

  "These headsets are highly sensitive," Ty said. "You have to be careful if you don't want others hearing what you are saying."