by Joe Fowler
“Good. Let me guess, you came here to compel some traveling money.” He was controlling his obvious hatred well.
“That had been the plan until Austin won ten thousand on his own. Now the people here can keep their money. You have every right to feel the way you do about our kind in general. You should know that we are not all bad though. I have gone centuries at a time without killing a human. You shouldn’t let your hatred blind you.” Rosalyn must have surprised him with that statement.
“I am glad to hear that. If more vampires were like you then maybe I could relax. You know that you are among the exceptions, not the rule. I lost one of my pack last year to your kind. I don’t blame you for what they did, but I have a rule about vampires in my neighborhood. I will give you a few days, please be away from the Mobile to Biloxi area by then.” He looked at us intently to make sure we understood.
“We will leave tomorrow night. If you aren’t too put off by us, why don’t you hang around with us? It isn’t often I meet a werewolf that I can talk to without it turning into a fight. Besides, it would be a good thing for Austin here. I have been teaching him what he needs to know, but it would do him good to hear things from your side as well.” Rosalyn was full of surprises.
“That would be a first. Hanging out with vampires peacefully.” He smiled and nodded. “My name is Seth.”
“I am Rosalyn and this is Austin. Are you here alone or did you come with someone? I figure that the three wolves we saw at Walmart are probably here.” Rosalyn was speaking like Seth was her neighbor instead of a werewolf who would bite her head off if given the chance.
“Those three were on their way home but my wife is here with me. She loves to play blackjack.” Seth smiled.
“I love blackjack, I just never win.” I decided to contribute to the conversation. That was the first thing I had been brave enough to say since Seth walked up.
“She doesn’t win much either.” Seth laughed. I was conflicted by knowing I needed to be very careful around him and finding that I really liked him. “Come on, I will introduce you. She will be amazed. I don’t usually have such friendly relations with you guys.”
We followed him to the table games area. He approached a really beautiful blonde who was pulling out money to get more chips. She smiled at him and looked at Rosalyn and me with a look of shock on her face.
“Anna, this is Rosalyn and Austin.” Seth introduced us as we all took seats around the table. There was one human sitting in the far left seat. Anna was in the far right. The three of us took seats in the middle.
“Nice to meet you, I think.” Anna said as she flashed a confused look to Seth.
“Nice to meet you, too. I love your hair. I always wanted to be a blonde.” Rosalyn said. I handed her some money and we got chips. Luckily we were on a five dollar table, so maybe a hundred each would last us. I had finally won money at one of these places, and I really didn’t want to give it all back.
We played for a while without much talking. The human on the left went broke quickly so it was just the four of us. We still had to watch what we said since the dealer could hear every word. Rosalyn got on a lucky streak and started winning. We encouraged her to keep upping her bets and the chips began to pile up. She cashed in just over four thousand from blackjack. We went back to the slots in a less crowded area so we could speak a little more openly.
“I almost want to thank you for Friday night. The ones traveling with me were borderline at best. They only kept from killing because they were scared of me. Austin has the kind of values that I hope for. Plus he has been extremely surprising with his strength and speed. I have never met a new vampire as powerful as he is. It was a little scary that first night to see what he could do.” Rosalyn smiled at me. I saw Anna look at Seth wistfully. There was something there.
“We had one like that last year. He was different to begin with but his speed and strength was a shock to us.” Anna said this, which I took to be the reason behind her earlier look.
“I don’t know how much you know about wolves but he was as amazing as it can get. He was too special.” Seth shook his head as he spoke. “He developed alpha traits less than a week after his first turn.”
“I didn’t think that could happen. I thought a wolf had to be like a hundred and fifty before he could become alpha. Some don’t become alpha even if they live much longer than that. Unless I heard wrong.” Rosalyn sounded like this was the most amazing thing she had ever heard. I started paying more attention.
“You heard right. Josh Thorne was very special. There may only be a few creatures of any kind left in this world who could fight him and live now. With all that, he was one of the nicest and most self-sacrificing people I have ever met.” Seth sounded like he missed this Josh a great deal. “The only bad thing was that one of my pack, Alicia, fell in love with him. She was like a daughter to me.”
“She was my best friend. Stupid wolf laws say that two packs can’t live in the same area so they had to move away.” Anna growled that statement more than she spoke.
“I would say that I want to meet him but he would probably kill us. I take it that you are one of those few who could face him and survive. I thought myself to be nearly unbeatable until the other night.” Rosalyn looked to Seth after speaking.
“Yes. For now. He is growing stronger quickly though. It won’t be long until he is the toughest being on earth. If I had known you were as old as you are, then I would have approached our fight differently. I just went at you like I would have an everyday vampire. I was truly shocked when you outran me.” Seth laughed a little before continuing. “That was the first time since I first turned. I didn’t think anyone could outrun me, no matter what the species.”
“I had more incentive.” Rosalyn was laughing too. “A giant wolf chasing you will make anyone run faster.”
We talked with Seth and Anna for a while longer. It was good that I got to meet them. Rosalyn had told me of werewolves as a threat to us and while that was true, it was good for me to see the human side of them as well. Seth was clearly a good man and Anna seemed to be a sweet person. I would always remember that night fondly.
Rosalyn and I got home with a couple of hours left before dawn. We drank beer and watched tv while cuddling on the couch. When we felt the sun approaching we went to bed. She was laying in my arms as sleep overwhelmed me.
Chapter 3
The next night started out like the previous one had, with sex. Afterward, we took our time gathering the things we would take on the road with us. A few clothes with a handful of personal items would be all I took from my previous life. We were showered and on the road by nine. I bid a fond farewell to Hurley.
“How long does it take to get to Jackson from here?” Rosalyn asked when we got going. She was all smiles tonight. I didn’t want to ask why.
“Two and a half hours, three hours at most.” I had made the trip a few times before. “Have you ever been through this area?”
“A hundred years or so ago. I didn’t like the racial tensions, so I stayed away since then.” She hesitated before continuing. “It can be beneficial to vampires to have tensions in an area. The dead bodies that turn up get blamed on whatever the humans are fighting about. Since I rarely kill when I feed, I prefer a happier atmosphere.”
“I hope I don’t spoil the rarely part.” The worry had not left me. I could make up my mind not to kill all I wanted, but could I feed without taking too much? I had failed miserably the first time.
“You’ll get better as you age. Who knows, you may be able to control yourself the next time. We will feed tomorrow night. Don’t stress out over it though. You will get there, it just might take longer than you would like.” She was being supportive and reassuring but my conscious was still stressing from the old couple we had killed.
We made the rest of the trip with very little talk. Highway 49 was mostly small towns and forest so there wasn’t much to see on the way to Jackson. That left plenty of time for me to try to
imagine what my new life would be like. While Rosalyn had been open to my questions, I didn’t want to ask about every little thing. I felt myself welcoming the change in lifestyle, so long as I could keep from killing anyone else.
“First thing we will need to do when we get there is to get a room. We’ll need to pay a few days in advance so they don’t try to wake us during the day.”
“Are the rooms easy to sun proof?” I had been wondering where we would spend the daylight hours.
“Always make sure you get a room on the northern side. If the curtains aren’t enough, then you can hang a blanket over the curtain rod.” She smirked. “Sometimes you end up sleeping in the bathtub if that doesn’t work.”
“Doesn’t sound too comfortable, but I guess it comes with the territory.” I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of sleeping in a tub. We ended up staying at the Quality Inn off of Interstate 20. We wouldn’t need the tub thankfully. A blanket over the window for a little extra protection would be fine.
“It isn’t even midnight yet. You want to go out and see the town?” She asked.
“Sounds good to me.”
We left the hotel and drove around until we saw a bar that looked promising. There were tables around the walls surrounding a dance floor in the middle. We were at the bar ordering some drinks when I smelled them. Two vampires were in the corner staring back at me. I was about to say something to Rosalyn when she spoke.
“They look pissed. I guess Jackson has the more territorial vampires. We might fight.” Rosalyn looked happy about it. She had turned and saw them too. The bartender brought our drinks and we went to pay the vampires a visit.
“This is our bar. You will leave now!” The one on the left with the long hair said. They were both male and clearly upset with us.
“I don’t think so. We just got here and I want to stay. If you have a problem with that then we can settle it outside.” Rosalyn spoke calmly. She clearly didn’t think much of these two.
They rose quickly and motioned for us to follow. They led us to a hallway where the restrooms were. We went past the restrooms to a side door that let out into the alley between the bar and the building next door. We had barely made it out the door when Rosalyn took my drink from my hand. With a nod of her head she pointed me toward them. It appeared I would be fighting them both.
The long haired one drew a long knife from the waistband of his jeans. He came at me making a slashing motion with the knife. I was almost too shocked at what happened to fight back. I knew the vampires were moving faster than a human could, but they appeared to be moving in slow motion to me. I grabbed the hand with the knife and used it to stab the short haired vampire through the chest. He was trying to charge Rosalyn. The long haired one jerked his hand free in a rage and whirled on me trying to backhand me in the head. I ducked and hit him with an uppercut that sent him flying into the wall of the other building. He dropped the knife on impact with the wall and I grabbed it before he could recover. With two quick slashes, they were both headless.
“Very good! I knew you would be tough.” She smiled as she planted a kiss on my lips. “Now we need to take any money they have then throw their bodies in the dumpster. They will decay before morning but we can’t leave them out in the open where someone might see them before they turn to dust.”
I did what she said and started tossing them into the dumpster. The only problem was they were falling apart so I was throwing an arm, then a leg, then a torso, etc. When I was done we tried the door to go back into the club but it had locked behind us. We started around the side of the building, heading back to the front door. Rosalyn compelled the doorman so we didn’t have to repay the cover charge. We headed for the corner table where the previous vampires had been sitting.
“I’m guessing there is no guilt in killing vampires.” I said it plain and simple. I didn’t feel bad at all about them. “I am wondering why they seemed to be moving in slow motion.”
“That is why I tested your speed. You are a whole lot faster than the average vampire. In heightened moments things will slow down for you like that. The thing you might want to remember is that you can feed from them before you kill them. That way you avoid the risk of killing a human.” She smiled at me as I realized my new way to a guilt free existence.
“Excellent! I wish I had thought of that before.” I smiled at Rosalyn. “A way to make money and feed without harming anyone but other vampires.”
“I can usually smell the difference in a young vampire and one old enough to be more than you can handle. I will keep you from going after the wrong one. Actually, I think this world could do with less vampires. Maybe when we find an old one, I will take care of him. We would be doing the world a favor.”
We stayed at the bar until it closed. We drank and danced and had a great time. We decided to head back to the hotel afterward. After sun proofing the windows and putting the do not disturb tag on the door, we started watching an old movie. We didn’t get far into the movie before we were kissing and taking our clothes off. A few hours later we were sleeping soundly in our dark room. My dreams were sweet and peaceful that night.
Chapter 4
We woke together and started the day the way we ended yesterday. Sex was going to be a very happy constant. I couldn’t get enough of her and she seemed happy enough with me. After we showered we started out to find another bar.
This bar had a live band playing. Unfortunately, it was country music. There were vampires here so we decided to face the torture of the music long enough to get a meal. This time there were four vampires, two male and two female. They weren’t any happier to see us than the ones I had killed last night. They approached us while we waited for our drinks.
“You two need to learn the rules of the area. This is our bar. Only we can feed here. Go find some other place.” One of the women said.
“I think we all need to step outside. Unless you four are too scared.” Rosalyn was treating them like children. Which is how they probably seemed to her. The two men smiled and looked happy about the upcoming fight. The two women gritted their teeth and stared at Rosalyn with obvious hatred.
“Follow us.” The same woman did the speaking. We followed them to the far end of the parking lot where there were few cars and less light.
They attacked quickly once we were out of sight of any possible onlookers. I took the two men as easily as I had taken the two the night before. The difference was that I drank from both before I cut their heads off. I kept my eye on Rosalyn even though I knew there was nothing to worry about. She drank her fill and ripped the women’s heads off. We happily found close to four hundred dollars between the four of them. After disposing of the bodies in some nearby bushes, we left the bar since neither of us wanted to face the horror of country music again.
We started driving around Jackson looking for something interesting to do. We had our windows down enjoying the wind and the smells that blew through the truck. Normally you wouldn’t want to ride around in January with your windows down, but temperatures did not seem to matter anymore. Cold or hot, it seemed all the same to me now. In our wandering, we ended up on the outskirts of the city. This is where we hit the mother lode of vampire smells. It was bad enough to overload my senses for a moment.
“Damn, there must be a huge den here.” Rosalyn didn’t seem happy about it. We circled back around until we found the center of the smell. A large warehouse with a lot of cars outside seemed innocent enough, but the smell told a different story. “Let’s go in. I want to see who is running this. We are not supposed to gather in large numbers anymore. It was always larger groups like this that brought about the public’s awareness.”
I pulled into the parking lot and we approached the door to the office. It opened as we got to it. A vampire looked us over and motioned for us to follow without saying a word. He led us through a hallway into the main open room of the warehouse. I was shocked, there were at least sixty vampires here and that was just the vampires I could see. It
looked like a normal warehouse during busy hours except that all of these workers were vamps. The one leading us went to the back of the building. He motioned for us to stay put while he went through a door to another series of offices. We watched the workers taping the boxes shut, stacking the boxes on pallets, and using forklifts to move the pallets to a storing area by the bay doors for truck loading. I could not see what was in the boxes.
“This way, please.” The vampire leading us was back and holding the door open for us to follow.
We passed two doors before he opened the third. We entered the small room quietly since the vampire in the office was shouting on the phone with someone. The vamp who had led us here, left the room. The one on the phone was trying to calm down but the person he was talking to kept upsetting him. This lasted a few minutes before he hung up the phone. He had the look of a used car salesman. He ran his fingers through his hair to calm himself before he turned to us to speak.
“Welcome to Jackson. Are the two of you looking for permanent residence or are you passing through?” He was using his ‘friendly’ voice, which was nothing like how his phone voice had sounded.
“We were passing through but now I think we will stop long enough to put an end to whatever it is you are doing here.” Rosalyn said in a fury. I knew she felt this way but I was shocked she came right out and said it. “We can’t have this many vampires running around in the same area! The humans will find out.”
“I expected such a reaction.” He was actually smiling at us like he was explaining things to a child. “We have solved all the little problems that come from having too many of us in one place. Each vampire has hunting grounds that he is responsible for. No one may hunt on another’s territory. We feed and release. We don’t kill unless we have to. All disputes are brought before me and our council.”