“What would you like?” Suki asked.
“I’ll have an iced-tea with lemon, please,” she said. Her breathy, little-girl voice raised goose bumps on Jack’s arms.
“I’ll have the same.”
When Suki left to get the drinks, Jack leaned over and said, “Do you have a zombie handbook too?”
She laughed. “Oh, no. My father tells me everything I need to know. He takes care of my exercise and diet. I don’t have to worry about anything.” She reached down, took a compact out of her purse and opened it, examined her face, reached again into her purse for some lipstick, which she applied with care, then snapped the compact shut. All her movements were precise and quick, reminding Jack of a bird.
Jack took the drinks from Suki and asked him, “Can May and I go to a table in the corner where we can talk in private?”
“Sure. Why don’t you sit near the stage there? Or you know what? Go into Dee’s office. Davinia and Chloe will be here soon and they’re going to be setting the tables and stuff. That way you’ll be sure to get some privacy.” He gave Jack a knowing wink.
Jack thanked Suki and led May to Dee’s office. They sat on a small orange couch on the side of the room. In front of them was the low coffee table with Dee’s poster sketches on it. May took one and looked at it carefully. Then she put it down. “A stripper? You?”
“It’s a job,” said Jack, feeling suddenly defensive. “I have to think about getting back into life. I’m not sure what else I’m good for.”
“I didn’t mean to imply you weren’t good for anything,” said May. She gave a delicate sniff. “It’s just that a stripper is a very public thing to do. My father says zombies should keep a low profile. He would be very upset with me if he knew I was sitting in a club with a stripper. I don’t know what he’d say.”
“Well, I want to know what your father has to say about my moving so fast,” Jack said.
She nodded. “He explained to me what happened to you. He made sure you had the super speed to catch the Heart Taker. There’s nothing unusual about zombies having some sort of paranormal strength. I have extra powers as well. For one thing, I am absurdly strong.”
“Absurdly?”
“Yes. Vampires have three times the strength of a normal person. I had to be able to overcome them.”
“Except after making love,” said Jack, remembering his guide book. “After an orgasm vampires are nearly catatonic. It would be easy to stake them then.”
May’s eyes flashed. “Are you insinuating I should sleep with the vampires before breaking their necks and putting a stake through their hearts? If my father heard you say that he’d …”
Jack held his hands up. “I’m not insinuating anything. I was just making a remark.”
“Refrain from making such thoughtless remarks in the future please,” she said.
Jack wasn’t used to such touchy people, but he could tell he’d hurt her feelings by the tight line of her jaw. He tried a different tack. “So, you have extra strength. Anything else?”
“I can see in the dark.”
“That’s good.” Jack sipped his iced-tea. “I bet that comes in handy.”
She lost her pinched look and brightened. “It does. Vampires see well in the dark and so do I. Your super speed will make it easy for you to see and catch the Heart Taker. My father also gave you sensitive eyes; you can probably see well in the dark.”
“I didn’t realize that until this morning.” Jack remembered waking up in the middle of the night and thinking it was already morning. Even the pitch darkness looked like cold, gray light. Is there anything I have to do to control this, er, gift?”
May shook her head, making her black, chin-length hair swing. “No. It just takes over when you need it, or when something moves fast enough to capture your attention. Your brain works faster than you can really think,” she added, finishing her iced-tea. She held the empty glass in her hands, turning it between her palms.
“Was it hard for you to become a zombie?”
“I was only sixteen when I was killed. It was very hard. My father went through a difficult time with me. I was rebellious. I wanted to go back to school, to keep my friends, to go out on dates, and have fun.” She didn’t smile. Her eyes looked like two black pebbles, and somehow they conveyed all the sadness of the world. “I couldn’t do any of that. I was dead. My father had to hide me. Now, everyone thinks I’m his niece. I don’t look exactly like I did when I was alive. Neither do you, really. There is always something different.”
“A loss of humanity,” Jack said.
“Yes, that’s it.” She nodded. “I felt it very keenly.”
“You say you felt it. You don’t feel it anymore?”
“Oh no. Now I am perfectly content.” She flashed him a wide smile.
Jack wanted to believe her smile was sincere. It did look like a happy smile, and her eyes were no longer two sad black pebbles. They twinkled. “I don’t know what I’m feeling yet,” he admitted. “I think scared is mostly what I’m feeling. And sad. I want something to look forward to.”
May’s smile grew wider. “I brought something to show you. I think you will find you have something to look forward to after all.” She held up her purse, which Jack had noted was quite voluminous. “Is there a place I can change?”
“The woman’s bathroom is down the hall from the bar,” Jack said.
“Oh no, I can’t appear in public in the costume I brought with me.” Her smile made dimples on her cheeks.
“Well, you can change here. I’ll stand outside the door. Call me when you’re done.”
“You are a true gentleman, Jack.”
Jack stood with his back to the office door and waited. After a few minutes, he heard May say, “all right.” He opened the door and stopped, stunned.
May had changed from her demure, high-collared pink silk outfit into something that looked like a black vinyl spray-paint job. She had long black gloves, a tight black hood that covered her hair, and thigh high boots with silver stiletto heels.
“How can you run in those?” was Jack’s first question.
“I can run in anything. But I don’t really need to run that fast. Vampires fly, so it’s better not to hope to catch them running. It’s a waiting game. A new breed of mutant has also come into the city. Werewolf mutants. My silver heels are detachable.” She reached down, pulled one off, and made a stabbing motion. “There, one dead werewolf,” she said, satisfaction in her voice.
“Werewolves?” Jack hated the sarcasm that dripped in his voice, but he couldn’t help it. May didn’t seem to notice.
She pulled her hood off and shook her head, freeing her hair. “They are as bad as vampires. And instead of preying on women, like most vampires do, werewolves prey on very young children. Thirteen children between the ages of three and seventeen disappeared from the city last year. About one child per month. Always on the full moon. The police put it down to runaways.” She snorted. “As if a three-year-old would run away.”
“I can’t take it all in.” Jack’s head spun. He’d heard of mutants, who hadn’t? But vampires and werewolves were too strange. Or maybe not. Maybe they were the ones that had always been around and mutants were the strangers. Or did he have it all backwards? Were humans clairvoyant and had anticipated the mutants, vampires and werewolves? Had popular folktales been written by people who could see into the future?
“I go out at night to make sure the city is safe. If you want, I’ll take you with me.” May continued blithely, perched on the edge of the couch. She bent down and put her heel back on. “My father told me he would like you to accompany me one night to see what kind of work I do, and what kind of mutants have been developing lately.”
“Are there so many?” Jack rubbed his face, still trying to make sense of his own musings.
“No, not really. But there is a place in the city you should see. I can’t tell you anything else, but you have to come with me and see for yourself.”
&nb
sp; “I will. You look great,” Jack added.
She spun around, making her silky hair swish. “Thanks. My father helped me make my costume. He’s a very good tailor.”
Jack nodded. “Your father said he became a necromancer a hundred years ago. If you don’t mind me asking, when were you killed?”
“I was killed in the year 1880,” said May.
Jack’s jaw dropped. “How? I mean, your father said you were killed by a vampire. That’s a mutant, isn’t it?”
“Mutants have been around a long time, although back then they were not the result of the nuclear explosion.” She pointed to his poster. “Jack the Ripper was a mutant. He was a werewolf. The police thought he used a razor, but it was simply his claws.”
“I suppose that would explain some things.” Jack shuddered. His theory had been almost right. Mutants had been around for a long, long time. Just under different names. “I wonder if there were more mutants in the past.”
“Oh no. The mutants nowadays are more common because of radiation. But we have lived with them throughout the ages. I have been tracking and killing them for over a hundred years. Long enough to get over my rebellious, teenage misery.” She smiled sadly. “And now I have a new teammate. You.”
That came from left field. Jack thought if his jaw dropped once more it would probably fall off like his arm. Not a good thought. He closed his mouth, and then said, “Did your father make other zombies in the space of time between you and me?”
Her bright smile lost some of its wattage. “Yes. He made several. All were killed.”
“By mutants?”
“Yes, that’s exactly right. By mutants.” Her smile had turned into a grimace. “The last zombie was my beloved, Craig. But he was turned into a vampire by one of the mutants.”
“A zombie vampire.” Jack couldn’t wrap his mind around it. He shook his head. “That’s terrible.” He noticed May was looking sadder than ever, and he took her hand. “I’m sorry. You said he was your beloved?”
“Yes, and I had to kill him.” The last word ended on a muffled sob, and Jack pulled her to him, giving her a hug.
May melted into his embrace. “Oh Jack. Does this mean you’ll stay with me? I was so lonely for so long. My father made Craig for me, and we were so happy together. And when I saw you, I just knew it was meant to be.”
“You mean, I was made …” he was going to ask if he was made for her in addition to catching the Heart Taker, but at that moment the door opened and Brianna stepped in. Her eyes widened and she stepped out again, closing the door behind her.
Jack disentangled himself from May’s embrace and stood up, but May held him by his hand and his arm pulled out of its socket. He wanted to go after Brianna, but he had to take his shirt off and replace his arm.
“I’m sorry,” May helped him put it back in. “We’re going to have to do something about that. Maybe a brace. My father will make it. Don’t worry.”
“That’s all right.”
“My ankle is weak. That’s why I wear the high boots. They keep my foot in place. Did you know that the bigger the defect, the stronger the magic and the stronger the zombie? You must be very powerful and good.”
This was more information than Jack needed right now. He put his hand on her slim shoulder and noted that although slender, she felt like steel and wires. “I have to talk to Brianna, all right?”
“The girl who came in here?”
But before he could answer, the door opened again. Mamie Hoya paused in the doorway. She saw May and her eyebrows shot upwards. “Why, hello, May. Jack. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“No, you’re not.” Jack looked over her head out the door. “Where did Brianna go?”
“She went home. She seemed upset.” Mamie Hoya heaved a rather big sigh. “She got fired from her job this morning.”
“That’s awful. What happened?”
Mamie Hoya gave him a keen glance. “She thinks the Heart Taker was in the Native American reservation casino today. She came to talk to me about it, and she wanted to see you … but May was here. She might have gotten the wrong impression. I’m starting to see clearly though.” She pointed to May’s costume. “The better to kill with, my dear. Is that right?”
May beamed. “Yes. I am a vampire hunter. And lately I have added the werewolves and the shape-shifters to my list.”
“That’s a dangerous business to be in, May.” Mamie Hoya frowned. “Was it your father’s idea?”
“Both our ideas, actually.” May said to Jack, “Do you mind waiting outside? I need to change.”
Jack stood outside the office door and watched as Davinia and Chloe set up tables. They didn’t see him, he was standing in shadow, but even in the dark club he could see everything clearly. He started to see the difference between his vision then and now.
“You can come in now,” May called. She was once again dressed in her demure, below-the-knee, high-collared, pink silk dress.
Mamie Hoya was on the couch looking pensive. When Jack came back in the room, she said, “May told me what she does, and I’m impressed. But she didn’t tell you an important part of it, did she?” She shot a look at May that Jack didn’t understand. “Tell him all of it, May.”
She didn’t look too happy, Jack thought uneasily. “What is the problem?”
“It’s not exactly a problem. Well, actually it is.” May sighed. “You have to understand that mutants are very powerful, far more dangerous than you can imagine. Their very blood is tainted and also … contagious.” She paused, letting that sink in. “When a vampire kills a person, the person is dead and can’t come back, despite what they show on the movies. But sometimes a vampire will make another vampire. On a whim, out of malice, or by accident. All it takes is a particular balance between the vampires saliva and blood, and the human’s blood. And the same is true for the werewolves. If they kill you, which they do most of the time because humans are mostly what they eat, then you’re dead. But a severe bite, with enough werewolf saliva and blood, and the person becomes a werewolf.”
“That’s not the point,” said Mamie Hoya. “The point is, when May was killed by a vampire, she had enough vampire blood and saliva in her system for her father to recreate some of the vampire characteristics in May.”
Jack suddenly saw what they were getting at. Instinctively he put his hand on his chest. “The Heart Taker killed me.”
“Yes. My father saw his chance there, Jack. You were young, strong, and there were enough traces of the Heart Taker’s DNA to add it to yours.” May broke off and bit her lower lip. “I know it’s a shock. I should have told you before. But it’s always a shock, no matter when you learn it.”
“I think I need a drink,” said Jack. He got up and went to the bar where Suki poured him a double scotch and said, “You look mighty pale, man. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Thanks Suki.” There was something to be said for a strong drink, Jack thought, as he sipped his whiskey. The handbook said no alcohol, but an occasional whisky, beer, or red wine was permitted. Thank goodness for small favors. He went back to the office where May and Mamie Hoya were sitting on opposite ends of the couch staring at each other with mutual distrust.
May pointed to her watch. “I have to go. My father will be worried. I will call a cab.” She gave a rueful grin. “Another problem I have is with direct sunlight. I envy you Jack, you can go out in broad daylight. I have to keep to shade and shadow. I’m more comfortable at night. I’ll be back to see you soon. I have something important I need to show you.”
Jack watched her leave. “Should I go see Brianna and tell her all this?” Jack asked Mamie Hoya.
“You can tell her tonight. Here comes Dee. I want to see your rehearsal.” Mamie Hoya patted his arm, making it shift slightly in its socket. “You are going to have to do something about that,” she said.
“I know,” murmured Jack. He stared at the amber liquid in his glass. Things were starting to fall into place. It was like watc
hing a kaleidoscope. First the chips of glass spun and turned, blurred, and then stopped spinning and the pattern emerged. Little things became clear and sharp edged. The whole picture took shape, and even though the design was unfamiliar, it was whole. There were no more pieces missing. Or were there? What did May mean when she said he’d been made for her? What was the important thing May needed to show him?
Chapter Eleven
The Chosen One
Well, it wouldn’t have lasted anyway, Brianna thought as she crawled under her covers and pulled them up over her head. He was too good looking, and even if he was a zombie, girls would be falling all over themselves to get near him. He was sexy and gorgeous, and there was no way she could tell he wasn’t human except when his arm fell off. So he’d been tangled with a girl on Dee’s couch. So she was supernaturally beautiful. So what? Well, she couldn’t compete, that’s what. She wouldn’t lower herself to begging Jack to be true to her if he wasn’t interested. She had too much pride.
She punched her pillow. So what was so important about pride?
Her heart had been broken one time too many, that’s all. She tossed and turned, sleep eluding her. The thought of Jack, sleeping on the couch in her living room was like torture. She wanted to go wake him up. She wanted to feel his body covering hers again. She wanted to erase the vision of him and that black-haired siren from her mind. But most of all she wanted to cry. Instead, she called Jeffrey and told him about her run-in with the Heart Taker.
“I’ll call the reservation police and get the deposition,” he said when she’d finished.
“And the city police. I was there again too. Inspector Morrison was in charge this time.” Brianna rubbed her temples. “I spoke to someone who thinks the Heart Taker has a pattern.”
“That’s one theory.” he didn’t sound surprised.
Brianna paused, waiting for him to say something else. When he didn’t, she plowed ahead, “I’m pretty sure he’ll kill again on Halloween night. I even think he was casing the casino for a victim. You’ve got close ties to the reservation. What do you think, Jeffrey?”
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