by Emily Reese
*****
When Mike went looking for Ben the next evening, he was still troubled by the conversation they’d had the night before. Is that really how it was going to be? Will I just snap someday and take out anyone in the vicinity? It was a lot to take in.
Not finding Ben in his office, Mike checked the practice room, then the kitchen and the common room to no avail. All were pristine, still, and empty. The question of who cleaned their living spaces bounced around Mike’s head as he walked aimlessly from room to room, just in case Ben was in a corner, or a closet… up a wall? Where did one look for a hiding vampire?
“Well now what am I supposed to do?” he muttered to himself. The only place he hadn’t checked was Khale’s office. He tried to ignore the ball of discomfort growing in his stomach as he walked toward the door. Just because the ancient vampire was courteous, polite, and completely changed from their first rocky meeting didn’t mean that he wasn’t still scary.
Mike knocked gently on the door and waited. When no answer came, he cracked the door and peeked in. Khale was sitting behind his desk with his feet up, involved in what appeared to be a rather serious phone conversation. Eyes settling on Mike, he waived him in. Still unsure of proper vampire etiquette, Mike shut the door quietly behind him and waited for the call to end.
“I will. I’ll send two of mine to help you… no Ben just finished testing our stores, they’re uncontaminated… of course. Keep me updated.” Khale hung up the phone and closed his eyes as he leaned further back in his chair.
“You’re welcome to sit.” He told Mike as he pinched the bridge of his nose with closed eyes. Mike wondered if it was possible for vampires to get headaches; if so, Khale appeared to be working on a doozey.
“So…” Mike was unsure where to begin given the tone of the conversation he’d just overhead. “Everything okay?”
“Not hardly,” Khale sat up and smiled at Mike across the desk, “but it’s not yours to worry about. At least not all of it.” When Mike didn’t respond, Khale continued. “There’s been some problems with the female vampires in a different territory. Their Elder is a friend of mine, so I agreed to help.”
“How does this involve me? What sort of problems?” A growing tension warred with Mike’s curiosity.
“They’ve lost their females, and are unable to reproduce. As you can probably tell, we do not sire offspring often, but having the ability is vital.”
“Don’t they have a backup plan?”
“Of course, we all do. We periodically harvest blood from our females and keep it in a secure location should we need it. My friend’s blood supply has been tainted. You and Ben are going to bring him a portion of our stores and help him sire new females. In so doing, we will keep his clan from dying out.”
Mike felt like he was missing something, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Khale, ever patient, waited for Mike to speak.
After a few moments of thought, the question finally came to him.
“So we can’t make new vampires? You and me and Ben? Only the girls?”
“That is correct. I’ll explain it to you in more detail when you return. Right now, I need you to get packed and ready to leave within the hour.”
“Okay.” Mike got up to leave and froze halfway standing when a thought occurred to him. “Do you think I’m ready for this? I mean, is it safe for me to be out in the public?”
“Of course. You’re going into friendly territory, where you will be treated with the upmost respect and courtesy. You’ll have Ben with you.”
“No, I mean,” Mike swallowed deeply, “I’m not going to hurt anybody, am I? Go on some bloody rampage?”
Khale gave him a knowing smile. “I do not think so Michael. If I did, I would not be sending you. All you need to know to survive the centuries cannot be found in our hotel, in a few musty tomes. Our friends can teach you much about blending in with humans.”
“Oh yeah? Why is that?”
“The Elder’s territory is centered in Las Vegas. He’s surrounded by them even more than we are.”
"The trip's going to have to wait," Ben announced, slipping into the office and shutting the door behind him once again.
"I assume you have a reason of some importance, Ben?" Khale asked.
"Especially to this one." Folding his elbows on the back of a chair, the vampire continued. "Detective Martinez called before you were awake. He's coming here."
"Here?" Suddenly, Ben had all Mike’s attention. "Why? What's happened?"
"They got the security camera footage back. He wants you to take a look at it, see if the person on there is someone you recognize." He ended with a meaningful look, and Mike was right there with him.
"Yeah, absolutely that's something I'd want to check out."
"He's on a flight that arrives in an hour or so," Ben addressed Khale. "This should only delay our trip for one night, and keep the police from becoming too interested in Michael."
"Very well, Ben. Wrap it up tonight and you can set out tomorrow." With a small waive he dismissed the two of them and made another call.
"First things first, Michael," Ben said once they left the office. "We need to get you a leather jacket."
"What? Why?" Mike looked at Ben as if he'd lost his mind.
"Because I'm going to touch you, in front of the human. We can't have you seizing up in the lobby can we? Now, about your story..."
CHAPTER SEVEN
It was only an hour after I had made it back to the boat that my visitors arrived. They made no attempt at stealth, their two sets of footsteps as good as any doorbell. Walking down the gently swaying dock, they made an odd couple. One was a male of average height in loose linen pants and a t-shirt, carrying two metal cases. He had a swagger similar to some of my students back home, telling me he hadn’t been in this life long. As they came closer his youth was even more obvious; a pendant on a leather cord, flip flops, hell his tan hadn’t even faded yet. Knowing he was a baby helped ease the panic building in my gut, courtesy of my distrust and fear of unfamiliar vampires… at least until I looked at the other guy.
His height wasn’t what got me; he was taller than me by almost a foot, but at my size, tall starts to run together. No, this guy was walking dark: dark hair, dark eyes, dark countenance. He was wearing a full length coat, which made him an obvious outsider this October. When did Florida ever get cold enough for a heavy coat? Since starting my Second Life, temperatures hardly bothered me, but there was no way this guy wasn’t sweating.
As they came closer and passed underneath the nearest lamppost, I got a better look at him, the one I could only assume was from this “Council” thing. Black hair was slicked back away from his face but shaved on the sides, revealing a man in his early forties with luck enough to have his few wrinkles add to his face rather than take away from it. In comparison to the other vampire, his skin tone was considerably darker; still he wouldn’t be the first vampire I’d seen with a spray tan. A strange smell wafted in on the wind, intensifying as they neared. It had to be the chemicals from the tan because he smelt off. Definitely not a human or vampire smell, but completely other.
The stubble dotting his chin and cheeks could’ve been from a week to a matter of hours; who knew how men got that stuff to look right? Eyes the color of the chocolate pralines back home looked up as he approached, and as nervous as I felt, I managed to keep from bolting. The two men stopped before me and waited, the Council member staying a few steps back. He ignored me, thankfully, and began inspecting the yacht with what appeared to be professional interest.
A forced cough broke whatever haze I had suddenly found myself in and my attention was drawn back to the boy waiting at the bottom of the gangplank.
“Permission to come aboard?” he inquired with a self-deprecating shrug.
“Sure, yeah, come on up. I guess you have something for me?”
“Yes ma’am. I’m here to get you set up with the works, top of t
he line stuff so you can call home no matter where you are.” Inwardly I groaned. It wasn’t hard to guess the need for such special gadgets.
Yes, Khale, I hear you. I will call, tonight.
He scooted past me to the main living room, leaving me to either follow or wait for his companion on the slip. Noise from inside the cabin made the decision for me, leaving my other guest alone while he made his way around the boat, still looking at… whatever the hell he was looking at.
Inside, the boy had already opened and unpacked the two metal cases and was now connecting cables to black boxes with vampiric speed.
“What is all this stuff,” I found myself momentarily distracted by the sound of the waves knocking something against the hull. “Um… what did you say your name was?”
“Cody, ma’am,” he stopped long enough to give me a little salute then went back to his work. “This stuff is everything you’ll need to be in touch wherever you sail this baby. Satellite phone, Wi-Fi, laptop, everything.”
“Why do I need all that? I already have a laptop.” I pointed to my trusty bit of technology charging on the nearby couch.
“Yeah,” Cody laughed, “but I brought you one from this century.” From the mass of electronics before him he removed something shiny and silver, no thicker than a magazine. He placed it into my hand with what I deemed as unfounded reverence.
“You’re telling me this is a computer,” I balked.
“Yes ma’am.”
“And it’s better than what I have?” I looked around, irritated. The rhythmic thumping I dismissed as flotsam against the hull earlier grew louder. What the hell is that?
“Infinitely. Let me finish setting you up here and I’ll show you what she can do!” Cody laughed, oblivious to the noise and my wandering attention. Smiling at his youthful enthusiasm, I couldn’t help but think that Mike would like him, and wondered if my former student still kept this much of his humanity. It was both a hopeful and painful idea.
“The tutorial will have to wait,” a voice said from the doorway. Both Cody and I jumped, neither of us noticing my other guest standing there until now. “I’m going to need some time with Ms. Wallace before dawn and it might take a while.” His tone was courteous, but final. This was simply how things would be. It made me uneasy, as did the smell from earlier that was now filling up the cabin. Something warm and clean, like summer showers in Texas, a scent I’d come to miss the past few weeks. It was an odd smell for a spray tan… but not unpleasant.
“Yes, sir,” Cody said with a quick wink at me, “I’ve just about finished up here.” I held the flimsy, alleged super computer to my chest as he finished attaching many wires and neatly storing everything inside cabinets. Finally, all that was left was a large cordless phone and a small box with an antenna on it.
“Satellite phone,” Cody indicated the brick-like device, “works anywhere in the world. This is your wireless router,” he pointed to the black box, “so you can get on the internet anywhere on the boat no matter where you are.” He closed his now empty cases and came to stand before me. “Skype me when you get some time and I’ll tell you how to really use this stuff.”
“Do what to you?” Apparently this was hilarious to Cody and even the other man near the door, who tried in vain to muffle his snort.
“Here,” Cody dropped a case and produced a business card from seemingly nowhere. “Call me and I’ll walk you through it.” He smiled as I took the card and started out. “Sir,” he nodded curtly to his counterpart, who returned it as he left.
And here we are.
Cody’s constant movement and chatter created a welcome distraction, and the lack there of produced an awkward silence between me and my remaining guest. I looked up to find him inspecting me in much the same way he had the boat out on the slip. It was more than a little unsettling.
“Do you want to sit down or something?” I made a point of not making eye contact when I questioned him, hopeful he’d get the hint and move along… quickly.
“Thank you.” His smile looked genuine as he folded himself into one of the plush couches lining the walls. I took a seat across from him, still clutching my new laptop and staring at the ground. Now what? God, these past weeks of solitude really made me a socially awkward hermit.
“Soooooo…” I began, “you wanted to talk to me.”
“Yes. Although I imagine you have some questions for me first.”
“I do?” I forced myself to lean back into the supple leather. This is my territory; there’s no reason I should be the uncomfortable one.
“Hector said you weren’t familiar with my profession or The Council.” It was unsettling how at ease he appeared to be and how little he moved. Did Ben project that much other-worldliness? Did I? I couldn’t remember; too much in my past experiences had been “on to the next disaster.” I rarely got a chance to just observe my own kind as an outsider might.
“Um, yeah. Your Council thing. What does it have to do with me?
“Back when we first started dividing the country up into territories…”
“Wait.” I held my hand up to stop him. “Give me the short and ugly version. I’d like to get back out on the water before dawn.”
“Sure,” he acquiesced, the corners of his mouth turning up ever so slightly. “The Council is like the supernatural world’s centralized law enforcement agency. My name is Elliot Pierce. I’m an investigator for said Council, and I need to ask you a few questions.” The vision of Collin lying dead on a ruined floor flashed into my head and I shivered. This is bad. This is very, very bad.
“I thought the Elders had jurisdiction over their territories. I thought they were autonomous.”
“They more or less are.” Elliot shifted forward and then lowered his head. “Would you mind if I got rid of this coat? I flew down here on short notice, and didn’t have time to adjust for the weather.” I gestured for him to get comfortable, and with a smile he continued as he removed his coat. He was dressed simply in dark jeans and a white button down shirt, collar open and sleeves rolled midway up his forearm.
Do vampire police have uniforms?
“The Elders do have jurisdiction over their individual territories. They like feeling omnipotent, and for the most part that works. There are however situations where a mediating force is needed. Crimes perpetrated by we non-humans or against us, across territories, border disputes… and if necessary, the policing of the Elders themselves.”
“Really?” To say I was shocked was an understatement. Khale was answerable to this guy? If I’d known Elliot better, I would’ve called him a liar. Yet there sat in front of me, comfortable in his position without seeming on a power trip. “So you could arrest an Elder and what, throw him in vampire jail? Execute him?”
“It rarely gets that extreme. We’re more like a check and balances system when it comes to the Elders.”
“Mmmhmmm.” He lost me back at policing. Policing as in an Elder could be held accountable for a crime. As in Regulus could be stopped… maybe even punished. It was almost too good to be true.
“There are a couple of things we need to talk about, Ms. Wallace.” My attention was back on him immediately, and he was focused intently on me.
“Such as?”
“The Elder of Baltimore, DC, and the surrounding areas, Ari Regulus, has lodged a complaint against you and seeks restitution.”
“Excuse me?” I dropped the wafer-like computer when I jumped to my feet, too outraged to care about any possible damage. In a flash I almost missed, Elliot knelt before me, my laptop in his hand only inches from the floor.
“Basically, he says you blatantly disobeyed his direct order to bring the vampire known as Collin Lucas to him for dispute resolution, as was his right as said vampire’s Elder.” Elliot extended my tiny computer towards me as if it were a peace offering. “He claims you took it upon yourself to deliver Collin to his Second Death over the matter of a dead human.”
I didn�
��t take the computer from him. I couldn’t. I was livid. I was livid and then some. My hands shook and I clenched them into fists, trying to think of something to say that didn’t begin with a remark about Regulus’ parentage or the plans I now had for anything below his waistline.
“Ms. Wallace?” Elliot sounded concerned but I couldn’t see him, could barely hear him. A maddening, tinny sound reverberated in my ears and everything I saw took on a reddish hue. “Maybe you should sit down.” He tried to take my arm and lead me back to the couch. A mistake on his part.
The second he touched my arm, it was as if a levee broke. Whatever kept me together vanished. I would not be made a victim again. Not by Collin. Not by Regulus and his lies, and not by the “vampire police” investigator trying to coddle me. I flung out the arm he reached for, stiff arming him in the chest.
Instead of pushing him back a few feet as intended, I ended up knocking him to the other end of the boat, straight through the wall separating the living room and kitchen. Stunned, I said the first thing that came to my mind.
“Oops.”
I began to laugh. This was just too much, all of it. I started giggling, and before long tears were streaming down my face.
I am so screwed. Regulus had, for all intents and purposes, accused me of murder and I proceeded to throw my world’s version of Serpico through a wall. Prison here I come! Hopefully orange is my color.
“How is this funny?” the cop grunted. Elliot glared at me while trying unsuccessfully to disentangle himself from what used to be the pantry.
“It’s not. It’s damn depressing is what it is,” I gasped in between an embarrassing combination of snorts and squeaks. Walking over I offered him my hand, biting my lip and trying to get control of myself. Not even his apparent hostility and refusal to let me help him up could stop my hysterics.
Maybe if my tears weren’t blinding me, I would’ve seen the attack coming.