by Pace, Pepper
I got into my car and headed to the club alone. When I arrived, it was nicely crowded. The DJ was cranking the new joint by Lil Wayne, and the dance floor was crowded. I’ve always held my own in any environment, but I no sooner entered the club before I had the attention of half a dozen brothas!
Under any other circumstance I would have eaten it up, but I did not want the attention tonight and wished they would go about their business. I spent more time declining invitations to dance than I did in searching for Mr. Rasta man.
As I searched the crowd, I felt a tingling that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I looked around, ignoring the guy who had been leering at me.
Across the dance floor was a man who looked so out of place I’m surprised I hadn’t noticed him earlier. This man looked as if he would be more at home at the Country Club, not a dance club.
He had blonde hair and blue eyes and wore dark pants, a white shirt, and a black tie. If he weren’t Caucasian, he’d look like a follower of the Nation of Islam. I guessed his age to be mid-thirties, and he was damn pale. His skin was almost translucent, so I knew he had to be a vampire like me. .
”Hey, Sista, where you going?”
I ignored the leering guy and headed across the room. For the first time I felt fear. It was evident that this pale man was all-eyes-on me.
”Who are you?” I asked when I was two feet from him.
He nodded his head slightly in the way of greeting. “My name is not important. You know what I am. We hoped you would return here.”
”We?”
”Yes. You have many questions. I have answers. If you will follow me?”
Oh, I had questions, but I wasn’t just going to follow Dude. That was what got me into this mess in the first place.
”Look, I need some answers, but I’m not going anywhere. Can we talk here?”
”It’s loud here, and crowded. There’s much you need to understand ...”
Against my better judgment, I followed him outside. As I cross the club’s threshold, someone grabbed my arm.
”Sister, what’s up with that? How you goin’ to go off with—”
The leering guy dropped to his knees, my Vampire escort twisting his wrist at an awkward angle until it snapped. I hadn’t even seen the Vampire move beside me.
“Let’s go,” the vampire said.
I followed in shock until we were at my car “You drive. I’ll tell you where to go.”
”Will you please tell me your name?” I asked.
He looked at me. “William.”
”William. Who is this we that is looking for me?”
”The Council.”
“What Council?”
”The Council of the Neratomay, of course. Please, the hour grows late and there is much to discuss.”
I unlocked the doors, and we both got inside.
William had me drive without telling me the location. Were we going to Indian Hills? Norwood? Where? We took many twists and turns, and I had no idea how I would ever find my way back. I shot questions at William, but I only got was his name, rank, and serial number.
After about an hour of driving I noted that we were no longer in Ohio but somewhere in Indiana. We drove up to a huge house. As we got out of the car I paused long enough to stare and felt a strange foreboding. I slipped my purse under the seat and my keys in my pocket and then stood beside the quiet man.
”William, I don’t know about this ...”
”The Council is waiting,” he said, and then he headed to the house.
The door opened before William knocked. He must have known it would because he kept walking as if he wasn’t in jeopardy of cracking his nose. I followed, looking for danger.
”Follow me,” he said, as if I had any other choice.
The foyer looked like something out of a movie with its crystal chandelier and marble floors. Somebody was more than rich. This was old money rich. William opened a set of doors that led into a room elegantly decorated in jewel tones. He fit right in here. But all-black me felt totally out of place.
He walked to a wall of books and pressed on one of the shelves. The entire wall swung inward. I held back a gasp. Very James Bond or Underground Railroad—I wasn’t sure which.
He turned to me, offering me his hand to help me into this new room. I hesitated before taking his hand. I didn’t like the feel of his skin. It was cool and dry. It felt like the hand of a dead guy. I wondered if my hand would feel like that, too.
The new room we entered was dark, but I had no problem seeing.
The floor was hewn of stone. William led me down a set of stone stairs, warning me to be careful. I was on the verge of backing out of this. I didn’t like basements, especially in vampire’s homes.
”William—”
“Shh.”
I clamped my mouth shut.
The three men and three women stopped talking when William and I entered. Two of the men and two of the women were pale white. If I had seen them walking the streets, I would have surely noticed them. The other woman was Asian, dainty but stunning. Her skin wasn’t pale, but she could have used a bit of “tan in a can.” The other man was black, and for a moment I thought I was looking at Omar Epps. My mouth dropped open before I realized that it wasn’t him. Day-um. Brother man had a chocolate complexion that didn’t need any enhancement.
”She went back to the club,” William said.
”Most of them do,” a woman said. She and her flowing gown looked like something out of Greek mythology.
Alarm bells went off like crazy in my head. They were talking about me as if I wasn’t there. And worse, I didn’t even know where I was. Shit, I was completely at their mercy.
I tried to swallow, but my mouth was dry. “I ... I don’t understand what’s going on.”
”You have no memories of your liege?” the Asian woman asked.
I shook my head. “My what?”
“Where is Tige?”
”The Rasta? I don’t know. When I woke up he was gone. Can somebody tell me what is going on?”
The woman dressed like a Greek goddess glanced at one of the men. He was dressed conservatively in a gray suit, his dark hair combed straight back, his style straight up early eighties politician, as if he were going for the Ronald Regan look.
What was wrong with these vampires? Didn’t they know people didn’t walk around dressed like that anymore?
Brother Man, though, was different. He wore all black and matched me. He wore nice pants and an expensive looking silk shirt. His almost shaved head gleamed, and he sported a neat goatee. He had a gold stud in his earlobe and understated jewelry on his fingers and wrist.
He gave me the eye, starting at my feet and stopping at my eyes. He frowned slightly before crossing his arms and turning away.
I dismissed him, too. He was going to be of no help to me. Thanks, brotha.
”Look,” I said. “If you can tell me anything at all that might help, then I’d really appreciate it. If not …”
”She still has human in her,” the wanna-be Greek goddess said.
”Yes. And she knows nothing about her liege and can’t even retract her teeth.”
”She is as useless as a kitten.”
The Asian looked at her fellow Council people. “Is it unanimous, then?”
Another woman, thin, unattractive but handsome in a K.D. Lange sort of way nodded. “She must be put down.”
Oh shit! “Put ... down?” I crept backwards.
”Yes,” K. D. Lange said. “You see, you were turned by an outlaw, a Rogue. Only a Master can turn a human. When a Master turns a human, you are left with all of our memories and instincts and an understanding of our abilities.”
”Why bother explaining,” the Politician said.
”Because she’s an unwitting victim,” the black man said in a tight, harsh voice.
The Asian woman chuckled. “Ah, I see something has gathered Tony’s attention.” She gave me an unfriendly look.
&nbs
p; Before, I was no more important than a discarded newspaper. But now I was someone worthy to glare at. Bitches are always going to act like bitches.
Tony scowled at her. “When a Master turns a human, we have a Second Generation. But if a Second Generation tries to turn a human, the results can be ...”
”Cruel,” K.D. Lange said.
”You have our abilities but none of our instincts,” Tony said. “You retain your human qualities, memories, desires.”
I ran my tongue over my teeth. “I don’t feel human,” I lied. “I feel a ... desire to drink blood. Also, I ... have some memories. I just haven’t sorted through them yet.” I kept trying to figure out how to make my teeth retract. Fear didn’t do it. Maybe happy thoughts like puppy dogs or clowns. Nah, that wasn’t doing it, either. Oh God, please—
Uh oh! That did it. I could feel them draw back up into my gums. Thank you, God. Thank you!
The Council watched me with more interest.
”See.” I smiled widely. “No more pointy teeth.” I took another step back. “You know, I can just see my way out.”
A creepy looking man with a craggy face and lank dark hair appeared at my side.
I almost screamed.
He stared at me closely. “She’s quite human, but she has some abilities.” He turned away from me. “What says the Council?”
”We have no use for a Third Generation,” that Asian bitch said. “Put her down.”
”I agree,” K.D. Lange said.
”I concur,” Greek Goddess said.
I gasped. “Wait. You say that I don’t have any vampire instinct.”
The Asian woman laughed. “If you did you would not have used such a passé term. vampire? That’s for myths and legends. We are Neratomay—The Undead. You would know that if you weren’t thoroughly human.”
”I may not have vampire instincts, but I do have survival instincts,” I said. “I grew up in the hood, bitch!” I thought about the other room, and like lightening I was there. The craggy-faced vamp was there with me a half second later with a on his face. I had excellent vision, but now I saw with more than my eyes.
It seemed that Craggy Face was trying to claw me, but I managed to jerk or circle, spin, dodge and duck out of his grasp and make it into the jewel-toned room. This couldn’t have taken more than a second or two, but my thought process had sped up so that seconds felt like minutes and I could react with split-second precision.
William joined Craggy Face, but William’s face split at the mouth reminding me of an alligator. It scared me so badly that I reached for the first thing I could grab—the leg of a side table. I slammed the side table into him as if I was swatting a fly, but it was as if I had hit him with a little plastic fly swatter. The damn table shattered, and he didn’t flinch. His big teeth were coming at me, and before I knew it I made a fist and swung at him as if I were Mike Tyson.
As William flew backwards and hit the wall with a satisfying thud, I nearly lost my balance. I couldn’t afford to hit the floor on my back because I knew the rest of them would be on me. Since Craggy Face was closest, I clawed at his neck in a death grip and used his body to knock over the vamp behind him.
I thought about the ceiling and found myself there briefly, but because I couldn’t stick to stone, I bounded down to the couch while the four pale vamps clawed at the expensive rug where I had been only seconds before. In a blink they were on me again, but I had picked up a piece of the splintered table and had jabbed it out in front of me with my eyes squeezed shut.
I both felt and heard a cry of such pain that it made me cringe inside. I opened my eyes and saw the Politcian impaled by the leg of the table.
He looked down at the table leg. “Killed by a cocktail table,” he whispered. “Of all the …” Then he turned to ash.
William crouched to leap at me, but he stayed frozen. The others three pale vamps stared at me where they laid in a tangle. Tony and the Asian woman stood at the bookcase-doorway watching me, both of them blinking rapidly.
I didn’t wait for round two. I thought about my car and was there in two seconds.
Expecting something to rip my throat out, I started the car and sped away. On my drive home I was shaking and crying from the battle. I mean, I was in little scraps back in high school, but I never thought I’d get into a fight with a group of Vampires. I kept looking around for someone following me. Unless they were tracking me on foot, I wasn’t being followed. To be sure, I hit the highway.
I was scared to go home, not wanting to lead anything to my place of rest. Isn’t that what Vampires did? Didn’t they protect the secrecy of their resting place? Girlfriend wasn’t sleeping in any coffin or graveyard, so my resting place was going to be my apartment.
I checked the time. Shit, I needed to be home before sunrise. I couldn’t stop thinking about that Vampire that I’d killed—well … that had made me kill him. He was ashes just like that. Poof! I sped up.
By the time I got home, my stomach hurt so badly that I almost doubled over with cramps. I was ravenous. My mouth watered, my gums tingled, and my pointy teeth lowered.
I grabbed my purse and hurried into my apartment before any of my nosy neighbors saw me and thought I was on something.
I opened the fridge and remembered how the soda had made me sick. Maybe meat would be better. I grabbed an opened pack of hotdogs and shoved two into my mouth, chewing greedily.
I vomited them into the sink. I fell down to my knees and cried. How was I supposed to satisfy this hunger? I didn’t crave blood. And I was in no condition to go prowling the night looking for somebody’s neck to experiment on. Besides, I wasn’t going to be caught out there this close to dawn.
My ex had been hinting for a booty call, as if I would want his tired ass after he cheated on me with … well, with everyone. I crawled to the phone.
”Hello,” a drowsy voice said.
Oops, it was after four in the morning. ”Kent?”
”Yeah, who is this? What time is it?”
”It’s Kim, and it’s almost four-thirty. Sorry to wake you, but I need to speak to you.”
“What? Kim? What’s going on?” Kent was that guy who saw you two years after a bad breakup yet still leered at you as if his eyes could penetrate your clothes.
”I ... uh … was just wanting a little company. It’s been a long time and I was thinking about you.” I almost gagged on that.
Kent chuckled on the phone. “What, you want me to come over there?”
”Yeah.” I tried to sound sexy. “Come over. Keep me company.”
”Okay. I’m going to get cleaned up and I’ll be right over.”
I began to panic. “Kent, hurry! Um ... before I change my mind, you know?”
”I’ll be there in half an hour!” He hung up.
I wondered if I was more Vampire than those Council members gave me credit for because I was getting ready to take someone’s blood and I had no hard feelings about it. Kent was quite the asshole. I checked myself in the mirror. Damn, I still looked good. I reapplied some lipstick and lay on the couch in a tight ball until the next round of cramps passed.
Kent’s stank self arrived ten minutes later.
I opened the door before he even knocked. I could hear and smell him from inside.
His eyes grew wide when he saw me. “Damn ...” His eyes traveled across my body like dirty fingers crawling across my skin. I definitely didn’t like the sensation.
”Kim ... you look so different ...”
I took his hand and led him inside. My teeth were really big in my mouth. Booty call or not, he was going to run if he saw them.
He chuckled. “What made you call me? It’s been a long time. Two years?”
I looked away. “I missed you.” A pain so severe hit me that I doubled over. Drops of saliva fell from my mouth and hit the floor.
”Baby, what’s wrong?” He grabbed my shoulders. “You ain’t on that stuff, are you?”
The hell with the foreplay! I reached up a
nd jerked his head to me, lips shielding the sight of my teeth. He had such a concerned look on his face that I almost felt sorry for him. Almost. Well, no I didn’t.
I placed my lips on his neck and heard him gasp. He gripped me, hands on my ass and breasts, frantic to touch everything at once in case I changed my mind. I held back a gag that sounded as if I was moaning, and he increased the urgency of his touch.
I let my tongue test the texture of his neck where I discovered a pulse that intrigued me. I began to pant because I could smell something wonderful just beneath his skin. The pain in my stomach became even more acute, my limbs tingled, and my head swam. I was about to pass out and miss my opportunity to take blood.
I bit that pulse in his neck and Kent jerked, but I held him tight with my new strength and groaned. A gush of warmth flooded my mouth and throat. The sensation was like eating a filet mignon after being on a tofu diet!
I wanted his blood in my mouth and belly, and I wanted my fingers to touch it. I wanted to roll in Kent’s blood, but I decided to back off. I didn’t really want to kill him, but it was difficult to stop because Kent stood there with his eyes closed, swooning. I licked my lips. I could have eaten more, but my hunger was sated and the terrible cramping had disappeared.
I had a repellant memory of a time when I enjoyed having him touch me. The thought was so foreign that I knew it wasn’t me. Not only was my body different but now my thoughts were different. I still felt but mostly in terms of “ugh” and “yay.”
I understood my bite was an aphrodisiac. I stared at Kent’s torn neck thinking “ugh” and “yay” thoughts. But damn, it was a bloody mess. If vamps fed on people and left them to walk around in such a mess, then the world would know of their existence.
With more desire than instinct, I licked the wound with my tongue. Saliva flooded my mouth again. It was fairly embarrassing to be drooling in such a manner, but when I pulled back, the wound was neat and clean.
I guess it was all I could do with my limited knowledge. He could go back to his girlfriend no worse for wear.
”Kent.”
”Hmmm.” His eyes were still closed.
”You okay?”
