by Deborah Noel
Everyone just nodded in agreement with me.
I was joined by my husband in the family room and we set up the recorder and popped in the footage.
It started with Remmie yelling, “Well just don’t stand there! Clean that shit up. And be careful, too. The asshole’s blood will burn you good!”
Though you couldn’t see my uncle, Sam asked, “Why did he do that?”
“What, kill himself?” Remmie laughed, “’Cause he’s a mean, vengeful, cranky old fuck who hates everyone and he’s too stubborn to give the beast the satisfaction of making him suffer for a job done lousy.”
“Who’s this beast?”
“Our boss.”
“Who is?”
“The one who hired us to do a job.”
“Oh, I see. So you are a smartass?”
“No, I’m Remmie, hired vampire. The black ooze beneath your feet is the remains of my cohort, Tomos. What are you going to do with me anyways?”
“We haven’t figured that out yet. We’d like to ask you a few questions,” Shane chimed in from behind the camera.
“What if I don’t answer?’
Sam laughed this time, “Well, you’ll have to get real comfortable and learn to enjoy your confinement.”
“Am I under arrest or something?”
“Well, I guess you could say you are being held for questioning, and depending on how you cooperate will determine what happens to you next.”
Remmie stood back, “Are you going to turn me over to the beast?”
“Perhaps,” Sam let Remmie sweat out that question.
“Did he have you pick us up because we fucked up with the girl?”
“The one you spoke of with Tomos? Was that the job you were hired to do, find a girl?”
“Yeah, a witch girl.”
“What’s this witch girl’s name?”
“We don’t know by what name she is calling herself these days. We go by scent.”
“And you followed her scent here?” Shane asked.
“No. Ox had a hunch she would be in the Americas and told us to start on the East Coast. We have been here two months so far looking for her. I thought I caught her scent earlier.”
“But it wasn’t her?” Shane asked again to make sure the vampires were off Brae’s trail.
“Nope. Just some cute chick walking by, though I could have taken her for lunch! If you know what I mean.”
Both Sam and Shane ignored his last comment.
“Why do you call your boss the beast?”
The vampire snickered, “’Cause that’s what he is.”
“Is Oxmeade the beast?”
“No employee can address him by his given name.”
“Which is?”
Remmie sighed. “Man, I just told you, no employee addresses him by his given name. It’s Boss to us.”
Sam’s voice filled the air, “Oxmeade Carlsburg?”
Remmie snorted and slowly nodded his head, “Do you know of any other beast that could match him?”
Shane and Sam remained quiet.
“Well, come on now, get to it, men. I wanna wrap up this show. I’m so fucking hungry I could eat a pig and be happy with that. I don’t like being around all this much silver either, if you wanna know the truth.”
“Well, we can arrange for Oxmeade to come and pick you up, if you prefer.”
Remmie thought quietly for a few moments. “What are my other options?”
I could hear Sam chuckle. “Well, there’s always helping us, answering our questions, giving us what we need.”
“And what compensation would I get by helping?”
“Depends on how much you help.”
“I want food. Of the red persuasion.”
“Let’s see how far we get,” Shane answered.
The three of them spoke back and forth about the “mechanics” of the life of a vampire. It was pretty standard stuff. A human gets bitten by a vampire then becomes a fledging. The biting vampire is the creator, which means that the fledging is under its creator’s guidance and, later, control. It’s a lifelong bond. If ever the vampire calls on one of its fledgings for any reason, the obligation is non-negotiable. Death of the creator is the only way to release the commitment. A fledgling can go out on its own and live its own lifestyle, but the bond remains. The fledgling phase lasts a few years. A fledgling becomes an adult vampire after that. There was no set timeline, it just happens.
Human blood was the main sustaining food source, though animal blood would do in a pinch. A vampire could live on animal’s blood, though their strength and powers would be compromised. Any regular “human” food or liquid was enjoyable, but really did nothing for a vampire. Mainly, eating human food in the presence of humans was just for show. Remmie had heard of synthetic blood blend, but he himself had never tried it. The hunt and fight for his food was his preferred choice. He considered himself old school.
Sunlight was a death sentence to a vampire, though Remmie himself had been given a substance with a sweet taste that had allowed him to be in the sunlight for a short amount of time with no ill effects. It had been given to him a few times to help in completing a job or two. He didn’t know where it came from or how to get any.
Silver, in full strength, had the same burning effect as sunlight, though it wouldn’t cause instant death. Unless one did what Tomos did, which was a first for Remmie. Silver in lighter quantities or masked took away their power and rendered a vampire weak.
Remmie explained that for the most part, the rest of the stories about vampires were simply unfounded myths. They weren’t all true. Garlic didn’t hurt his kind, it only lingered on their breath, though it did make some vampires uncomfortable. Crucifixes didn’t burn; he had known many other bloodsuckers who had crosses hanging on the walls of their homes. It was a religious belief as to how they lived their lives while in human form.
It seemed to me that Remmie liked to talk. Sam and Shane hardly had to prompt him.
As I continued to watch, Remmie went on to talk about employment options for vampires. He said that living at night didn’t hamper employment opportunities. Many were nightclub owners, trackers, private investigators, repo-men, truckers, or security guards. With the invention of the World Wide Web, there were lots of options for work. Some enrolled in schooling to become such things as doctors or even online teachers. Doctors could actually work in their own practice or hospitals. Being in light didn’t bother them, as long as they stayed out of direct sunlight. He said that most vampires had a mentality of “where there is a will there is a way and if not, make one.”
“There are more of my kind living in the human world than you would ever believe,” Remmie said to his audience of two.
I thought about what he said. I wondered just how many people I knew who could have been a vampire.
I tuned back in to hear Shane ask about his latest job for Oxmeade.
“Simple. I’m good at tracking and I have been known to associate with some really talented killers. My resume speaks for itself. He came to me and offered me a good dollar for my services. His downfall was he insisted I travel with Tomos and Bernard. He was adamant about it. Normally I work on my own, but he doubled my fee. I was between gigs and the money was the most I’ve been offered for a single job. I had no choice but to agree.”
Already knowing the basics of his assignment for Oxmeade, Shane pressed for a bit of his history on other jobs.
“Tracking and assassinations,” Remmie spoke into the camera directly. “The rest is privileged information. I don’t kiss and tell. Now, I’ve said a lot. I’m hungry. Feed me. Feed me, Seymour, feed me!” And with that he sat on the bench, crossed his legs and folded his arms across his chest.
“First tell me about your other friend,” Sam insisted.
“What other friend?”
“Bernard.”
“Bernard is dead.”
Sam was silent for a moment. “How do you know?”
“Because I created hi
m. I felt the release of his soul.”
Shane chimed in, “What do you mean?”
Remmie stood up and walked over to the cell door to look at his captures.
“When a vampire creates another, their souls don’t technically die like when a human dies. Souls leave the body, but remain stuck outside of it. When we create another, our souls mesh.”
“Mesh?”
The vampire tilted his head, “Aren’t either of you parents?”
Sam laughed, “I’m too old.”
Shane answered, “Not yet.”
“It’s the only way I can explain it to you. I was a father of two during my human life. When my children were born, they instantly became part of my soul. There was an unbreakable bond. When I died by the fangs of my creator, I died in my human form. The process isn’t pleasurable, but the immorality has its rewards.” Remmie reflected for a few moments before continuing. He snapped back to the conversation, “Different story for a different time. Anyway, when a vampire creates another, the human soul leaves; but if the body doesn’t die, the soul can’t truly leave this realm as the body changes life form. It’s almost tethered. It attaches to the creator’s tethered soul. They don’t become one, like two soul mates in human form, but pair up together.” He chuckled, “If you can understand that. I’m going to assume that you have experienced the death of a loved one.” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Well the void that you feel when your loved one dies is the same type of feeling that a vampire has when one of his creations is killed. Their soul departs from the tether linking us. I felt the release of Bernard. He’s no longer here. He’s truly dead.”
He turned back towards his bench. “I’m done talking. My energy is low. I need to quench my thirst. I’ll settle for an animal as to not gross you out.”
Without looking out of his cell he called out, “Something with lots of blood.”
Sam promised Remmie he would bring him back something and thanked him for the information.
The TV screen went blank.
Chapter Thirty-eight
We sat in silence for few minutes. Shane, Brae and Sam joined us. It was early in the afternoon. We made small talk. Sam figured I’d want to talk with Remmie myself, to which I admitted I did. Shane was going to go back to his flat in town and get some more supplies, mainly his stuff this time. We were expecting a visit from Rogi, but none of us knew if he would come during the day or at night. I guessed early evening. The odds were split, favoring my guess by one. Declan, Sam and I would mind the nest while Brae and Shane set about their errands.
I checked on Bullet, he was doing fine. He sniffed around looking for another blue pill, “Not yet, boy, only one a day,” I told him. He looked at me while putting his head back down on the pillow. Declan joined me in the piano room. We sat together at the baby grand. Declan let his fingers dance across the white and black keys creating a beautiful, peaceful melody. I laid my head against his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me closer, snaking his hand between my body and forearm so he could reach the keys again. Without missing a beat he continued playing. Hours ticked away as we sat together.
I excused myself to get something to drink, I offered to bring Declan back a glass of iced tea, but he told me he would be in the kitchen as soon as he finished the song he was working on.
Our witch friends had come back to the house. They were empty-handed and explained that since we would be spending more time at the Castle instead of here, they took their stuff there and arranged their office. They informed me that they were going upstairs to pack the rest of their things to take over as well.
I smiled and set about making some tea. While waiting for the water to boil, I stepped out onto the patio. The sun was just beginning to set behind the trees. I walked across the patio to see if I could see any visitors, Rogi, Malina, wolves, vampires. I spotted nothing. The whistling of the tea kettle reminded me what I had started out to do. I walked back inside to fix my drink. I leaned against the door and slipped deep into thought.
A gentle knock on the glass doors startled me. I jumped and spilled tea down the front of me. I looked out through the glass to see Rogi standing there with a tall man standing behind him, giggling.
This time, the tea was hot as it hit my skin. I grabbed a towel to blot the new stains on my shirt. I opened the door to join the visitors on the patio. I summoned Declan in my mind and shortly after he and Sam joined us.
Rogi started the introductions. “This is Benipal, the doctor I spoke of.” The slender man stuck his hand out to shake each of ours.
“I’m Sam, Cianna’s uncle,” Sam said to both Rogi and Benipal.
Rogi turned his attention to me, “I have made some inquiries but have yet to hear anything about your daughter. If I learn of anything, I will contact you immediately.”
“Thank you.”
“I also wanted to express my deepest apologies for the last time we kept company.” He looked to Declan then back to me.
The two of us accepted his apology.
“Mr. Sam, you must be very proud of your niece, yes?’
Sam acknowledged Rogi. “I am.”
“I want to assure you all that this is not a fishing expedition, as you might call it. I wanted to bring Benipal to meet you.”
Rogi was sitting on a single lawn chair, Benipal took a seat at the table, Declan and I were comfortable on the small lawn sofa and Sam stood back against the door’s frame.
“I thought your friend, Ms. Brae, would be here.”
Declan jumped in, “She is running errands.”
Rogi looked surprised, “I hope all is well?”
Declan only answered with a nod, not wanting to give details.
“Ms. Cianna,” Benipal took my attention. “I understand you are interested in the life and workings of vampires.”
“I am.”
“May I ask why?”
I pondered that question. I thought of the vampire poems I had written. I saw the images of the vampires I had witnessed. I didn’t understand the reasoning behind the cruelty of the lifestyle, the need to kill in the eyes of the beasts I had encountered. I was fascinated by the idea of immorality. I knew that vampires were real and that they were walking the streets like me, but being a romantic type of person and a fighter for what’s right in life, I wanted to find a way to co-exist.
“There are many reasons Mr.… ”
“Benipal, please,” he insisted.
“Benipal,” I smiled at him. “I’m a how and why person. I try to live a good life. I don’t like murder, save for self-defense. I’ve personally encountered the slaying of innocent people at the fangs of vampires. I have investigated six disgustingly brutal murder scenes that I believe were also the doings of vampires. If we are to share this world and walk among each other, we need to do so in harmony. I want to make our world a better, safer place to live.”
He clapped his hands together. “Well said, my dear. Spoken like the true right-fighter I see in your eyes. I share your sentiment. How can I help you?”
I looked at Declan, then Sam. They both nodded. I stood up and walked over to join the doctor at the table.
“I want to learn. Everything thing that I can.”
“It’s good for you that I’m a teacher at heart. And I just happen to be looking for an intern.”
“Ah, I am sorry to have heard about your brother.”
His eyes shifted, turning sad quickly.
“How about a deal?”
“A deal?”
“I’m a detective of sorts. You teach me and I will see if I can solve your brother’s murder.”
“I’m afraid death has gone beyond just my brother. My family has been eliminated. I’m all that is left.”
“I’m sorry again. Do you believe it was Druce or CD that killed your family?”
“Neither of them is the killer, but I’m sure that they had a hand in it.”
“How are you sure?”
He leaned in and whispered, “T
rade secrets.” Then he laughed.
I leaned in to meet him, “Fang bites are like fingerprints, as are slashes from long, rough, razor-like fingernails.”
Again he clapped his hands together. “Bravo, Ms. Cianna! You will be a great student.”
Declan and Sam entertained Rogi while Benipal and I shared hypotheses. I watched them walk across the yard and disappear into the woods. I tried to tune into Declan’s mind. It was quiet. I knew he was listening to mine.
“Benipal, how many of your family members were killed?”
“All of them that remained.”
I looked at him with raised eyebrows.
He inhaled deeply. “My wife died many years ago. I was left to raise my son and daughter alone. My brother helped as best he could. He was involved in secret scientific research. He brought me in. We worked as a team, freelancing. He introduced me to Rogi. I was intrigued by meeting a real vampire. I liked his ideas to learn more about powers and strengths. I sent my son and daughter to live with my only living relatives, my aunt and uncle.”
“So you lost your brother, your son, your daughter and your aunt and uncle?”
“Yes, and I am all that is left of my family. When I die, it ends with me.”
“You aren’t a vampire?”
Benipal chuckled at me, “It isn’t like I haven’t thought about it but, alas, no I haven’t been able to commit. Nor have I had the time. Between the experiments I do for Rogi and then the deaths of my family, I’ve been busy.”
“How long ago did your family members die?”
“Many years ago, over a short stretch of time.”
He changed the subject to his experiments and those of his brother.
“Marscell was very private about his dealings, the client/doctor privilege type of deal. I don’t blame him; his clientele weren’t exactly public figures. I got caught up in Rogi’s stuff, but occasionally helped my brother with some of his supes.”
“Supes?”
“Supernatural cases. You know, vampires, werewolves, witches, shape-shifters. Basically your regular underworld types.”
“Ah.”
“If the word got out about them, well, let’s just say chaos wouldn’t begin to describe our world. Confidentiality was of the upmost importance.”