The Meridian Gamble

  The man has long, curly hair that’s something between brown and blonde, with stubble along his strong jaw. His muscles are glistening with the sheen of a slight layer of oil. And I’m horrified, frightened that he’s about to be slaughtered before my eyes. Yet, the dinner party has become like a car crash from which I can’t look away. It’s fascinating, in a perverse sort of way. Am I really going to see this? Am I going to watch vampires eat? Will I see their fangs puncture through human flesh?

  Even worse, it’s sexy, the way these morsels are offering themselves up so freely.

  A wide look crosses the vampires’ eyes that betrays their hunger, and the two beauties on the table become the only humans in the room who seem to exist.

  Another server comes out, or at least, I think he’s a server, at first. He’s wearing all white, a long jacket and gloves, and I realize the man looks like a doctor, of sorts. He pulls a sharp needle from a small case which looks frightening, far bigger than the normal one used to draw blood. And the attendant stabs it into the arm of the woman, who lets out a small whine that’s a mix of pleasure and pain. It’s attached to a long tube that has a little valve on its end, and he hands it to Marion.

  Apparently, she gets first drink, because she’s their queen. Marion claps her hands with excitement, like a child at a birthday party.

  “It’s such a treat to drink fresh,” she says. And she begins to gently sip at her main course.

  The doctor inserts another tube into the arm of the woman, and goes to the other victim, the man, inserting tubes into both of his arms. He passes them to Lina and Tom, and Adam crosses over to a chair to the right of me, so he can sit closer to the woman. And he smiles a playful, almost guilty little grin, as he grabs the free tube that’s hanging from her arm.

  “Excuse me, my love,” he says. “I need a drink.”

  And Adam begins to sip.

  At the other side of the table, Lina looks at the man she’s drinking from in disgust. And it would seem that it’s no mistake that she’s with Angel. She really does dislike men.

  “Ugh, why did they set this thing in front of me?”

  “Here, take mine,” Marion says, wearily. And they switch places. The vampires seemingly don’t care about germs, as Marion begins drinking from the man and Lina takes her place, draining the woman.

  I look around, feeling bewildered. And now I’m definitely becoming uncomfortable. I can see Bernard get up from his chair and stand back, as he watches Marion and the others drink. He tries to keep a calm demeanor, but I can tell he’s excited by what his lover is doing. I can almost see the outline of an erection forming in his pants.

  Angel gets up from her seat, and joins Lina. I watch in amazement, as she pulls the cloth away from the woman’s breasts, exposing them to everyone, and begins kneading them. And the woman on the table groans with pleasure.

  Angel notices that she has my attention, and she looks to me and giggles.

  “I used to be a massage therapist, back when I had to earn a living,” she tells me. “This helps with the blood flow.”

  And she goes back to her task.

  I turn to the other side of the table, which doesn’t offer much relief from the bizarre tableau that’s unfolding. Jennifer is massaging the feet of the male donor. And she looks to me and smiles.

  “Better them than us,” she says with a laugh.

  And she notices my eyes, looking him over.

  “He’s beautiful, isn’t he? Go ahead. It’s okay to play with their food.”

  I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Jennifer’s hand slowly creeps up the man’s legs. She reaches under the towel that covers his private parts, and smiles at the erection that begins to bounce beneath it. Tom looks to her and laughs with abandon.

  And I can see it in their eyes. This is some kind of kinky thing the humans take part in. They get off on seeing their lovers feeding, almost like it’s foreplay. And I can’t help but to think it’s tied into the bite, the rush of pleasure they feel when their own masters drink from them. And though I remember Adam saying that not all vampires do it, I can’t help but think that at least one or two of them are in thrall to Marion and the others, that they’ve been bitten.

  Maybe they’ll share their own necks with their lovers tonight.

  And I wonder if I’ll be like them some day, or if I already am. Because I feel drawn toward the man on the table. It’s exciting, to see him helpless before me. I want to touch him. He’s beautiful, almost as attractive as Adam. And despite my bravado, I really haven’t been with that many men who are so spectacularly good-looking, none who were even close.

  I turn to Adam, and he gives me a slight nod of permission, as he sips from his own human.

  And I can’t help myself. I get up and move around Tom and Jennifer, taking a seat to the left of them.

  The man at the table has the most exquisite body, the most perfect flat stomach with ripples of muscles across it. It’s naughty and perverse and kinky, and it disgusts me that I’m like the others, getting off on this.

  I reach out across the table, and run my hands over the delicious ridges that form his belly. They’re well-defined, like Adam’s, yet still uniquely his own. More lean. And their succulent snack gasps with pleasure as I caress him. I begin to massage his neck, comforting him in some way, as the man groans with delight.

  Jennifer switches places with Tom, and now she’s running her hands over his stomach. And I lean in a bit closer, to whisper to her.

  “Are they going to …”

  “Kill him? No, but they’re going to drain them pretty good,” she whispers back. “But don’t worry about it. They’re fetish freaks. They live for this kind of stuff.”

  She laughs.

  “Well, ‘live’ might not be the best choice of words.”

  She leans in closer and puts her hand up to my ear.

  “This is how they offer themselves, to become vampires, hoping they’ll attract one’s attention. Which is so stupid. They don’t really know how it works. I met Tom at a party!”

  “And I met Adam in a bar.”

  Jennifer giggles, and I can’t help but to chuckle along.

  I don’t know what comes over me, but I lean over and lightly brush my lips against his forehead and cheek, and finally his lips. The man tastes like liquor and sin. I can hear Jennifer laugh again, and as I pull away, he strains his neck, struggling for another kiss. I look up, and Marion is watching me as she sips, giving a small smile at my antics. But she pulls the tube away from her lips, and gives a slight look of concern.

  “There’s a taste to his blood,” she says.

  “I think it’s all the scotch that they gave him,” Tom says. “It’s giving me a buzz.”

  “Don’t be stupid. Obviously, I can taste that,” she says, sarcastically. “It’s something else. Something chemical. It’s subtle, like he’s taken an aspirin, perhaps. We’ll have to talk to the handlers about being more careful with our food.”

  At the other end of the table, I can see tiny droplets of sweat building on the body of the woman, as Lina and Angel play games between her legs. I can hear the woman’s breath becoming labored, as she struggles between the thrill of her stimulation and the dwindling energies of her life force.

  And the two girls laugh, maniacally.

  The man is staring off into space, and I feel sorry for him, because he looks just a bit pale. I worry that Tom and Marion drank too deeply. But his demeanor is different that the woman’s. His brow bears the slightest degree of stress, and he seems to stare off from behind his blindfold, as if he’s trying to absorb everything he can about the experience through what limited range of senses he’s been allowed.

  Adam seems to sense that their two victims have had all they can take, and he gets up and moves to the little lounge area. And Jennifer and Tom join him. Slowly, Marion and Bernard pull away too, and I’m relieved that at least one of the humans will survive the night, assuming Angel and Lina don’t jerk the woman off into a
heart attack. But finally, they tire of their prey, and join the rest of their family, as waiters come back in and begin passing out champagne. But the vampires already seem drunk from their feast.

  For some reason, I want to stay with the man for a few moments more, to comfort him after his ordeal.

  “You’d better watch it,” I can hear Tom saying to Adam. “It seems like someone has caught your girlfriend’s attention.”

  “You’re the only one who’s had to worry about that sort of thing,” Adam says.

  And Tom scowls at him, with just a slight hint of real menace. There must be a bit of rivalry between the two men.

  But I don’t care. For some reason, I can’t leave my chair, perhaps because I want to protect the man on the table, and make sure he’s all right. I begin to caress his jaw, and wipe the hair from his brow. And I rub the back of his neck, which must be sore from lying on a hard board. Though it’s difficult to tell, I feel like the man appreciates it.

  It’s interesting to me, to know that they don’t kill their victims. A bit of a relief. Even though the vampires are kinky and bizarre, they don’t take lives. Not on this night, under these circumstances. It helps me to know that at least Adam didn’t intend to walk me into that.

  From the table, the man moves his head ever so slightly. And he seems to think we’re alone, at least for the moment.

  “Who are you?” he says.

  And it makes me nervous, especially for him. For some reason, I think that the vampire supplicants aren’t supposed to talk.

  “I’m no one,” I say back to him.

  “Tell me your name,” he asks, furtively.

  “You don’t need to know that.”

  “Why?”

  I lean in very close to his ear, and whisper.

  “Because now that you’ve dared to speak, they’ll probably feed what’s left of you to the young ones.”

  I get up and leave him at the table. His talking has soured my mood. It makes me feel stupid, to have tried to show him kindness, when he’s just a little sneak trying to get information out of me. And by the time I join the others, the waiters are already clearing them away.

  The evening has come to an end, it seems. Lina and Angel are the first to leave. But before they go, Lina approaches me and touches my shoulder, which practically makes me jump from my skin.

  “Meridian, it was such a treat to meet you. Rarely do I encounter such a challenging young woman. Angel and I really would love to take you to lunch, to get to know you better.”

  “That would be … um, great.”

  “Wonderful,” she says, touching my shoulder again. And I shake my head as she leaves. It’s strange, that her entire attitude toward me has changed, and I feel like I’ve passed a test. And the others look to me in amusement, sensing my discomfort.

  “Somehow I think that’s a lunch I won’t be having,” I say, when she’s gone.

  Jennifer and Tom also say their goodbyes, and Jennifer comes to my side.

  “It was so nice to meet you, Meridian. You know, if you’re really bored with that advertising job, you should come work for me,” Jennifer says. “I’m looking for a new head of marketing.”

  “Wow,” I say, trying to keep my jaw from hitting the floor. “That certainly sounds interesting, but I’m not quite sure I’m at that level just yet.”

  “Oh, I don’t know about that. I like to go with my gut, and something tells me you would be perfect for the job,” she says with a smile. “But at the very least, I’m sure we could find a place for you on my team. Give me a call, and we’ll talk.”

  “Thanks, I’ll do that.”

  As they go, I let out a small chuckle, unsure of what to make of her offer, which excites me just a bit. And now we’re the last ones left. Adam put his arm around my shoulders, and Marion turns to me.

  She eyes me with interest.

  “So what did you think of our little dinner party, Meridian?”

  “It was definitely … interesting.”

  “I’m sure it was all a bit intimidating, especially your first time. But I want you to know that as long as you’re here, you will be safe. Consider yourself under my protection.”

  “Thank you, Marion,” I say. But I’m just a bit unsure how much I can trust of what she says.

  Marion smiles and leans in a bit, whispering to me, even though the others can hear.

  “You have a bit of a cruel streak in you, don’t you?” she says. “I like that.”

  “I can’t help it, that man was irritating, somehow. He was … presumptuous.”

  “He should not have spoken to you,” Marion says. “He definitely will not be invited back.”

  I’ve never thought of myself as being cruel, and I wonder what it is that she sees in me. I do tend to spew venom at the workplace. And there was a certain pleasure to be had in torturing Lina on the Astral Plane. I wonder if it’s some glimmer of Saga’s nature that’s bubbling up inside me.

  And Adam is smiling at me. I feel like he’s proud.

  “Marion, there was something odd about that man.”

  “Yes, I know you didn’t like him.”

  “Well, he just didn’t seem as into it as the woman.”

  “He seemed very ‘into it’ to me,” she says with a laugh. “Though he was a bit chatty. We usually don’t let them speak. He’ll have to be punished for that. Though I think we’ll stop short of feeding him to the young ones, even though he might enjoy it.”

  She looks at me with a mock serious gaze, and laughs.

  “You said there was an odd taste to his blood. Could it have been something other than aspirin?”

  “You mean like poison? That’s impossible. Our systems are too powerful. Anything that could even affect us would kill him instantly.”

  “What about something like Viagra? To ensure that he was excited? Has a spy ever managed to infiltrate this place?”

  “If he had sinister intentions, we would have picked up on them telepathically.”

  “Unless he was very well trained,” Adam says. “Or hypnotized, to mask his fear. Perhaps he was approached just before he came in.”

  Marion stops, and the color in her face seems to fade, ever so slightly. She sets her champagne down on a nearby table.

  “I’ve never tasted blood laced with Viagra, but … you don’t think?”

  “I didn’t taste his blood, but … I once drank from a man who had taken Viagra. Circumstances required that I take a quick sip,” Adam says. “He was one of Charlotte’s toys. You know how she likes to push them to their limits. And I remember thinking it tasted like he’d just had an aspirin.”

  She stops for a quick moment, and looks to Bernard.

  “Thank you, Meridian. I’ll look into this,” Marion says.

  And with that, she rushes off through the double doors, with Bernard in tow. I can see through the round windows that they head to the left, where I imagine the kitchen is.

  And I’m suddenly alone in the room with Adam.

  “I think she likes you,” he says.

  “Did I …”

  I want to ask if I passed, but I’m not sure how to say it covertly, if it’s dangerous to speak, because they might be recording us. But I want to ask if they think I’m Saga, if I gave myself away. Which I’m sure I did. I was stupid, I should never have challenged Lina, or spoken to Marion about my intuitions.

  “You did fine,” he says. “Come on, there’s something else I want to show you.”

  And he leads me through the double doors, where Marion went, only we go in the opposite direction.

  We’re soon at another elevator, not the service one. And I assume this one goes between the floors of their living area. I can hear the car moving with a strange pneumatic whoosh that makes me think it’s state of the art technology beyond what we humans use.

  And I’m still thinking about the hunky man on the table, and what I may have done to him. He wasn’t one of the Luminos, he didn’t have their glow. But he might have
been one of their pawns. I worried so much about them killing him, and now I may have damned him to that fate.

  A sickened feeling rises up within me.

  “Adam, do you think …”

  I don’t even have to say it. Though Adam claims he can’t breach my mental defenses, it still feels like he can read my mind.

  “Don’t worry about him now, Meridian. He brought this on himself. We have more important things to think about.”

  The doors to the elevator open, and we get in. He hits a button low on the control panel, and the car begins sinking down, way down. Adam didn’t say where we’re headed, and I’m afraid to ask, but I’m thinking we must be moving toward the basement. And I can only imagine what strange sights I might see there, maybe a hidden vault filled with vampire treasures. Or a room full of jewelry rescued from the Titanic.

  My mind drifts back to the dinner party, and now that we’re alone, I can’t help but to press the issue.

  “So do you think they suspect anything?”

  “I’m sure they do now,” Adam says, calmly. “But that doesn’t matter. They would have suspected anyway. It’s the knowing that will cause us problems. You’re still my Chosen One, and they can’t do anything without proof, which won’t be easy to get. And we’re not going to give it to them.”

  Adam’s Chosen One. It sounds scary and seductive at the same time. But there’s something else in his eyes. Even though he isn’t saying anything, I can sense it. It’s in the subtle way his jaw muscles clench. And now I’m afraid to think where we might be going.

  The elevator moves in a way that’s quicker than a normal one, and just a bit sickening. I wonder if it’s even meant for humans, it drops so fast. And I wonder exactly how far underground we are. It makes me just a bit nervous, to think that the vampires are burrowing beneath the city, and I wonder just how expansive their hidden lair is.

  The doors open, and we walk out into a darkened corridor. It’s so dark that I can barely see, and I can’t understand why there aren’t any lights, until I finally realize that the vampires don’t need them, their vision is so keen. Adam holds my hand to guide me, and when I stumble for a moment, he deftly reaches out to stabilize me.