Dee was sitting up on the table, silently absorbing the full carnage of my wrath.
I returned to bandage her wound. “Let me see.” The sight and fragrance were overwhelming. My eyes rolled as her blood continued to flow. I wrapped the towel tightly. “Keep some pressure on it. It should stop soon.”
She nodded without a word.
“Did one of them bite you?” Concerned of the wound’s origin, I began to consider if any of my victims might be … like me.
“No, one of them used a shiny tool, like some type of knife, just as you arrived.”
“Did any of them drink your blood?” Worried she might contract a disease from one of these misfits, talking helped distract my instinctive beckoning.
“No. They didn’t have the time. Thank God you got here when you did. I don’t know what would have happened.” Dee sighed as she rubbed her wrist.
I knew. ‘People go missin in that place,’ Renaldo had warned. They would have raped her, drank her blood, and killed her. I was not about to traumatize her with that trivial information. “Come on, we need to get you out of here.” Taking her by the arm, I assisted her off the table and wrapped my jacket around her.
“Damn it, Brian!” an angry voice cried out coming up the stairs. “What the hell did you do?” O’Reilly questioned, as he entered the room observing the bodies strewn about.
“Mitch, this is Sam’s sister, Dee. Those assholes were preparing to rape and murder her. The guy over there on the bar is my buddy Phillip. He’s been doped up with that peyote concoction I told you about. Seeing as how this is a crime scene now, you will have ample opportunity to find their stash of magic juices, and their blood supply.”
“How about leaving the detecting to me, Brian!” Mitch snapped, appearing irked by the multitude of bodies strewn about, he pulled me away from Dee.
“Sorry, Mitch, I didn’t have time to wait for the cavalry.”
Mitch shook his head slowly as he surveyed the carnage.
“Sorry, Brian. It’s just this whole thing is snowballing.” Mitch slapped his hand against his face. “Shit, I meant to ask you earlier, what the hell happened to that rock star disguise you were sporting three nights ago at Utopia? I hope you know there’s no way you’re getting out of here without being recognized.”
“My hair is not spiked and blonde?”
“Here’s a news flash, you look exactly the same as the first time we met.”
“Shit, I haven’t seen myself in three days. Mirror issues, you know. This could be a problem.” I took a moment to contemplate my next move.
“But on the bright side, the coroner has matched the blood from Monique’s corpse to the samples we collected after you capped her in the basement last week. The coroner was quite impressed with her apparently functional canines.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I had not intended for any of the bodies to be recovered by the police.”
“Relax, Brian, the coroner is a friend. I needed some personal answers, not that I don’t trust you. Another thing working for us, the coroner couldn’t find a bullet wound in Monique’s head to corroborate the witness accounts of you shooting her. So … if we can find a way to look past how you mangled her body this week … and her fang-infested mouth, we can probably write off last week’s murder as no more than acid-induced, overzealous imagination from a few disreputable witnesses. Hell, I can probably sell it as no more than an ill-conceived propaganda stunt. This week’s mess is a different story. The heat from my boss is building. I can’t keep covering up all of your bullshit by passing the blame on these clowns.”
“Relax, Mitch, I can handle your boss. Bring him to me tomorrow at sunset. I will persuade him this is not a routine police matter.”
“I appreciate that Brian, but I think my boss will be much better served not knowing you personally.” Exasperated, Mitch placed both hands on his cheeks. “I am not sure it isn’t time for me to retire, again. My boss might be better served just thinking I am incompetent, rather than deal with all of this shit.” O’Reilly gestured about the room as he shook his head woefully.
“It is your call.” I looked back to Dee, who was rubbing her wrist. “For now, I would like to take my friends out of here. I will make sure Dee contacts you tomorrow and gives you a statement, so you can put these freaks away. You might have to wait a few days for Phillip over there.”
“Just make sure she stops by tomorrow. I don’t want any of these lunatics back on the street.” Mitch pulled his radio out. “O’Reilly here, I’ve got civilians on the way out, let them pass. What do you want me to do with him?” O’Reilly asked, thumbing towards Phillip.
“We could leave him there; I don’t think he would move for several days.” The thought brought a partial smile, reminiscing the occasions I had done exactly the same after a blowout party. “But I do not believe Samantha’s sister would find that amusing.”
“We could, just to see how long it takes him to fall off his barstool,” Mitch said grinning. “You want rescue to pick him up?”
“No, I’ll take him with us. He will sleep it off in a day or two.” I returned to Dee with a strained smile.
Dee, not fully recovered from her shock, was still leaning on the table.
“Are you ready to go? Can you walk?”
She nodded, but the confusion and fear still gripped her expression. I helped her with the first steps and ushered her toward Phillip. I hoisted him over my shoulder and led Dee toward the exit.
“Show off,” Mitch mused as we passed. “Don’t worry about this, I’ll take care of cleaning up your mess, again.”
Heading down the darkened stairs, Dee grabbed my waist to steady herself. Five cops were surveying the disaster area that was the main bar as we passed through. Amongst the suspicious stares, I overheard a whispered accusation, “That’s him.”
Out on the street, away from prying ears, my irritation returned. “Dee, what in the hell were you two doing in that place?”
“Looking for you.” Dee spoke with trepidation. “Your buddy from Utopia said you might be there. Once we got there, the bartender said you had been a nightly regular. She told us to wait upstairs.” Dee paused, and looked away from the intensity in my eyes. “I think they were going to kill me.”
“That and more.” I wanted Dee to understand the magnitude of the danger, to learn to exercise more caution when dealing with those people. I wanted all of them to leave New Orleans until I was done. Their return had complicated matters beyond my ability to cope.
“Brian, what you just did. How did you … Sam said you were some kind of government agent, but I have never seen anything like that outside a movie. How did you do all of that?”
“All of what?” Playing innocent was never my strong card.
“I might be more traumatized than I have ever been in my life, but please don’t take me for an idiot.” Dee scurried ahead and turned, waiting to gauge my reply.
“Are you staying at your apartment?”
“No. Sam wanted to stay at your hotel, so Phillip and I got a room there as well. And don’t try to change the subject. I am not as easily diverted as my sister.”
“I would not call Samantha easily diverted.”
“I am still waiting for an answer.” Dee blocked my path, forcing me into an ocular inquisition.
“Can this wait until we get back to the hotel and I put Phillip down?”
“What’s wrong, a little heavier than you expected?”
“Not really, I just need the time to make up a good story.” I grinned and sidestepped Dee, accelerating my pace. Her sideways crab walk no longer sufficient to maintain the pace, she turned and scurried behind.
We covered the three remaining blocks in short order and passed through the lobby. It was Samantha over my shoulder, the big scene four nights ago, and now Phillip had taken her place. The self-proclaimed Mr. Low Profile, I was not.
“I should check in on Sam,” Dee suggested, as we entered the elevator.
“She is sleeping, I checked in on her earlier, just before I went to The Chamber.”
Eight doors down from my room, Dee slid the key into the lock. I carried Phillip to the bed and flopped him down.
“Now, you and I are going to have a little chat Brian.” Dee took my hand and led me to the sitting-room sofa and pushed me down. She pulled a chair up close, interrogation style, slapped her hand on my leg, and stared me right in the eyes. “No bullshitting, what is going on?”
I knew it would only be a matter of time before she found out. It made sense to tell her everything. Maybe she could help me figure out how to end things with Sam.
“Do you know the full story of who I am, and why I’m here?”
“Phillip told me everything you wanted me to know.” Dee replied.
“Then you should know everything that has transpired, up until the time you left.” I paused. After this confession, there would be no going back. “Before I tell you, I want you to know, I love Samantha. I never wanted to hurt her.”
“Go on, I am listening.” Whatever effects Dee suffered from her ordeal, any lingering effects were vanquished by her desire to learn the truth.
“The night you left for New York,” I began with a sigh, “I arranged to meet a very evil woman at Utopia, with every intention of killing her. I even had the New Orleans Police Department for back up. From that point, everything went wrong. Somehow, she seized control over my willpower, took me to a vacant house, where she,” I hesitated, as I visualized the sequence of events that followed.
“You had sex with her?” Dee ascertained.
I frowned. Obviously even as a vampire, I could be shamed.
“How could you?”
“You don’t understand, Dee, their willpower is incredibly strong.”
“Oh, when it comes to sex, I am sure your desire is pretty strong too.” Dee’s berating tone showed no sympathy.
“Dee, let me finish.”
“I think you are quite finished, Brian.” She stood up and placed her hands on her hips. The conversation was over.
“Dee, I need to explain.”
“What more is there to explain, Brian?”
“Damn it, Dee, the woman was a vampire! When she was done with me … she tried to kill me. But to her surprise, I was stronger and faster. I killed Monique, I killed her with my bare hands.” I paused for the coup de gras. Dee’s expression of shock was about to elevate to new heights. “Dee, I have become a vampire as well.”
Dee’s ghastly expression instantly changed, surprisingly to one of amusement. She took a step backward. “Brian, I don’t know what to say. When Phillip first told me, and then I saw the video … I believed these people were demented murderers, but not real vampires.” Dee’s speech was accelerating, her anxiety obvious. “Then tonight, those assholes, they all thought they were vampires. And now you confess to fucking and then killing a woman with your bare hands? What the hell were you thinking, getting my sister involved? You are out of your mind, just like those idiots at the club.”
“Shhh,” I suggested.
“I am not going to shhh. You need to get the hell out of this room and Samantha’s life right …”
Dee’s eyes bulged in fear, her ability to speak interrupted, suppressed by a force unknown. “I told you Dee, the will of a vampire is strong. Take off my jacket,” I ordered.
Unwillingly, she pulled the shoulders of the jacket back, and let it drop to the floor. “Refuse me, cry out,” I taunted. The exhilaration of controlling the human mind so effortlessly was intoxicating. I circled Dee, as if she were prey. I leaned close and whispered in her ear, “Resist me.”
“Take off your shirt,” I commanded softly. Conflict raged in her eyes, but her body succumbed. From my experience with Angelique, I understood the absolute surrender forced upon her. Without buttons, the shirt fell quickly to the floor.
“Ask me to stop, or I might take more than your body.” I flashed a sinister grin, exposing my glistening fangs. “Yes, they are quite real.” I picked my Armani jacket from the floor and dusted it off. “Take off your bra,” I ordered silently, my mind dominating her every effort to resist. Her eyes begged for mercy as she began to comply. “That is enough.” Halting her involuntary strip, I maintained complete dominance of her free will.
I pulled my jacket back over her shoulders. “I hope you now understand, but you left me no option. Monique left me no option. I do not know how I survived, or how this happened to me, but it did.” Upon releasing her, Dee gasped for air.
“If I had any clue this would happen, I would have taken Sam and run away from this place, forever.” Dee gazed at me, fearfully, untrusting, as she pulled the jacket tightly around.
“Dee, you need not fear me. I had to prove it to you.”
“How do I know I can trust you?”
“When you were tied to the table, helpless, half naked, and blood running down your arm,” I paused, reflecting on the moment of such strong desire, “believe me, you can trust me.”
“Good Lord, Brian, what are you going to do?”
“What I was planning, before you showed up, was to track down the four remaining vampires, kill them, and then, have a good friend return the favor. That is what I was planning. Needless to say, your arrival created a major hiccup.”
“So what are you going to do now?”
“Well, pretty much the same thing, only I am going to have to say goodbye to your sister face- to-face.” I turned away, wondering if there could be a compromise. “And just when I thought my life just could not get any shittier.”
“Brian, you cannot tell Sam goodbye. She is in love with you. She was ready to stay here and die with you.”
“Dee, for three days I have been tormented by the thought, but there is no sailing off in the sunset scenario now. Hell, I cannot even go in the sun. Tomorrow night, I will confess myself, and then I will tell her goodbye.”
“You really don’t know my sister very well, do you? She will not let you go that easily. Maybe there is some way to …”
“Stop, Dee! There is no way she can be a part of my life. Ever! I am a vampire, the living dead. Tonight alone, I have already drunk two pints of blood and a fifth of whiskey, assaulted at least twenty five people, and almost made a late night snack out of my girlfriend’s sister.”
Dee raised her eyebrows to the last reference. “Did I miss something?”
“You will never know.” Through all the strife, it was hard not to smirk at the thought.
Dee delivered an open palm punch to the shoulder, “Don’t forget to add to your list forcing me to undress.”
“While we are at it, even though it was three nights ago, let’s not forget about Monique either.” Wanting to solidify my case for walking away from Sam, I continued to tally any pertinent facts.
“Based on what you just put me through, I think that is one detail Sam does not need to know.”
“Which part? The sex thing, or the part where I killed her with my bare hands.”
“Both.”
“Dee, I won’t lie to Sam,” I insisted.
“This is exactly why you need to rethink this whole thing. You are a good man, Brian. Sam loves you, and you love her. There has to be some way to work through this.”
“Dee, my life is now cursed. I cannot look at a cross, step in a church, or touch Holy Water. I will burn in the sunlight. Eventually, I will sleep in a coffin and I am sure to develop a most serious drinking problem. And eventually, I will be hunted, just as I hunt those responsible.”
Listening intently, Dee considered the points, her eyes counting off options. “Samantha will not give you up so easily.”
“That is why I need you in my corner, Dee. You need to be the voice of logic.”
“I am in your corner, Brian. That is why I won’t facilitate your plans. I think you can be different from the others. You proved tonight that you are not all evil.”
”What if, just now, I had not stopped? There is no guarantee I wil
l always be able control myself.”
“My sister would not be happy. Mainly, because twenty years from now she would look like crap, and I would still be gorgeous.”
“God, you are so like your sister,” I groaned. “Doesn’t it bother you in the least, the thought of your sister with a vampire?”
“What bothers me more is the thought of Sam being with some jackass like Mike again. Talk about a vampire.”
“Sun will be coming up soon.” I headed to the door, glancing at Phillip passed out on the bed. “He been treating you all right?”
“Until a couple of hours ago, he has been wonderful. He has been worried sick about you, thinks this is all his fault. When this is over, I am going back to New York to stay a while. I believe your friend is deeply in like with me.”
“He has always needed someone special, to put a foot up his ass and keep him in line. I honestly believe you are that woman, Dee.” The thought made me smile, something far and few experienced over the past few days.
“Brian,” Dee called following me out the door. “I know it might not seem like it, but there has to be a good side to all of this. Promise me, for Sam’s sake, you will try to find it before you make any rash decisions.”
I wish I could see a greater purpose, but for the moment, I was blind to it. I nodded my head, if only to offer temporary assurance. “When you are done with my jacket, would you be kind enough to leave it in my room?”
Dee pulled the jacket off and handed it over. Half dressed and damn proud, she grinned. I couldn’t help but sneak a glance at her exquisite shape. “You are so much like your sister, in more ways than one.”
“And in some ways, you will just have to imagine.” She playfully closed the door in my face.
If she only knew how truly difficult it had been. To refrain from taking her body and blood was an epic test of resolve. Dee opened the door, and stuck her head out. “Hey,”
“Hey,” I sighed.
“You keep a handle on that drinking problem and things will be all right.”
I kissed her on the forehead and turned away. “Let me know when you find a support group for that.”
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