by K. Aten
Jill finished her beer at the same time as Keller. The vampire looked at her old friend. “Do you have something stronger down here in your little dungeon?” Louve stood and went over to the cupboard in the kitchenette. After rummaging for a few seconds she turned with a fat frost colored bottle in hand. “The label says Bruichladdich X4. Will this do?”
Keller’s eyes widened. “Losh! That is what you come up with?”
Sarah looked at her. “I don’t get it, what’s brewackka—er, what is that?”
The bar manager shook her head in disbelief. “Tis only the highest-alcohol single-malt ever produced! It came about in the late 1600s. Its original name meant ‘perilous whiskey’ in Gaelic.” She narrowed her eyes at Louve. “Where ever did you get that? Did you know that’s one hundred and eighty-four proof?” Even Jill raised her eyes at that tidbit of information.
Louve raised a perfectly arched dark eyebrow. “Warm or chilled?”
Jill looked at her and smiled. “Whiskey? Warm of course!”
Sarah and Keller extricated themselves from the oversized chair and lined up for their shot. When it went down, it was both smooth and earthshattering. Sarah downed it and staggered. Despite the fact that three of the women had other blood, even they felt the effects of the high proof alcohol. “Holy shit, that’s some strong stuff!”
Jill looked at her ex-girlfriend, who had always been a bit of a lightweight. With no small amount of challenge in her eyes she spoke to the little group. “Let’s have a second one for luck.”
Sarah grimaced at her. “You’re evil!” Louve looked at the other three women, then settled her gaze on Sarah who was the only one that made a face after the shot. The singer finally relented. “All right, set ’em up barkeep!” After their second shot, she leaned over and quietly whispered in Keller’s ear. “Should I be feeling this so much? Despite all my special powers I feel half in the bag now!”
Her lover laughed. “It is quite potent but don’t worry, your metabolism will take care of it soon enough.”
Sarah nodded and decided to go with the flow. She looked up abruptly and turned to their hostess. “You haven’t shown Jill the best part of the apartment!”
The veterinarian reached out and traced a finger over the back of Louve’s hand. “But I’ve already seen the owner.”
“Oh, you are very smooth. I’ve heard about you Americans charming the pants off unsuspecting women.”
Jill smirked. “I would hope that you’re suspecting by now.”
Sarah interrupted before they could go any further down flirtation lane. “Louve.” When she had the petite brunette’s attention she prompted. “The bath. You haven’t shown her the amazing bath!”
The Frenchwoman looked at the other three women in slight dismay. “Oh, where are my manners? I have not given you the tour!
Keller grabbed a few bottles of water from the fridge and waved her hand at Louve and Jill. “Go ahead and show Jill around, we’ll be right behind you.” When Louve and Jill left the room, she turned to Sarah and spoke honestly. “Does it bother you?”
The singer shook her head and smiled. “Actually, I think it’s great! I mean, Jill has been single for a long time and can certainly keep up with Louve. I think if they can get over their baggage they could be good for each other.”
Keller leveled a serious look at her. “Even if you are some of that baggage?”
Sarah cocked her head in that familiar Colby look of confusion. “What do you mean?”
Keller ran a hand through her perpetually messy spiked hair. “Surely you realize that Jill still has feelings for you.”
“But we haven’t dated for years, almost a decade!”
Keller shook her head. “Love, I don’t think it matters. The heart doesn’t forget. I get that you two have gone your separate ways emotionally and physically, but I can feel that she still loves you. Only part of that is your deep bond of friendship.”
Sarah looked at her shocked. “I never knew! Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to sleep with her a few weeks ago.”
Keller pulled her into an embrace. “I also sense that she has a good handle on things. I don’t think she wants you back, I simply get the feeling that she’s lonely and that she wishes things could have been different between you.”
Sarah thought about Keller’s empathic impression of her best friend but only had a shrug in response. When she broke it off with Jill years before, it was after they had been fighting for a while. Sarah had been pushing the other woman away for months and Jill was desperate to get back the connection they had shared before Sarah had walled herself off. It was right after the death of her parents and Sarah had been shutting everyone out. Just as it was hard on the Colby sisters to lose their parents, it was also hard on Jill. The Colby family had become surrogates of a sort since her relationship with her own mother had never been very good. Jill resented being shut out when she too was hurting.
Eventually, Jill found the connection with someone else. Sarah broke up with her shortly after Jill admitted to cheating on her. More than once Jill had brought up that she thought Sarah pushed her away on purpose, hoping she would do something that would justify the end of their relationship. It took a while to get to the point where they could be friends again, but since then things had been good. Sarah’s actions with Jill were just a few of the things the singer regretted during that time period. No, she hadn’t handled her loss well at all.
Before her lover could wander too far down memory lane, Keller took Sarah’s hand and pulled her toward the immense bathing room. “Come on, we don’t want them to get too far ahead.”
Sufficiently distracted from her spiraling memories, the singer laughed and allowed herself to be pulled along. “Keller, they just left. How much trouble could they…” Her words faded when they saw the trail of clothes leading from the door to the large in-set bathing pool. Jill was standing in the pool near the side while Louve was seated on the edge with her legs wrapped around the tall woman’s hips. “Wow, they certainly move fast!”
The bar manager shot her an unrepentant grin. “Want to join them?” Sarah’s response was a smile and the slow unbuttoning of her lover’s jeans. By the time they fell sideways into the pool, Louve was well on the way to her first orgasm, or “little death” as she called it.
The next few hours went beyond the expectations of all four women. It was both comfortable and incredibly hot. By the time the three visitors were dressed again and ready to go, it was less than an hour until sunrise. Sarah and Keller were standing a few feet from Jill and Louve while they exchanged phone numbers. Louve gave the tall redhead one last embrace and a very friendly kiss before the two women walked back toward the door where Keller and Sarah were standing. Louve also bestowed an embrace on the singer and bar manager. “It is always a pleasure when you come visit me, mon ami.”
Keller laughed and opened the door behind her. “I think the pleasure belonged to all of us.” Louve had made arrangements for Keller’s car to be left in the private lot behind the church. So when they left out the back door, her Audi was sitting un-molested a few feet away. “Jill, why don’t you let us drop you off at your house. I don’t think you’re good to drive yourself.”
Jill tried to protest. “I can just call for a cab—”
Sarah grabbed her arm. “No way! We’ll take you home, and I can come get you later so you can pick up your car. Or you can take a cab then if you want.”
“Okay, you win! Drop me at home and I’ll call you later for my ride.”
The singer thought for a second as they all got in the car. “We have a self-defense class today at three, we can swing by and pick you up around two. We’ll drop you off at your car on the way. How does that sound?”
Jill nodded unseen in the backseat. “Sounds good. I’ll call you sooner if I decide to take a cab earlier instead of waiting to ride with you.”
It was only a matter of minutes when they pulled up in front of Jill’s house. They made sure she was saf
ely inside then found their own way home. Sarah’s eyes slipped shut mere seconds after plugging her cell phone in to charge next to the bed.
SARAH DREAMED SHE was playing a show at the Cirque du Loup. She was standing on the stage in front of the knife thrower display. Keller was throwing knives at her while she strummed away at her old acoustic guitar. It was weird because no matter what notes she played, the same little tune came out. The tune was familiar, the tune was— Sarah bolted upright, realizing that her phone was ringing. She grabbed it, figuring that Keller must have put earplugs in due to the late hour they got to bed. She mouthed “It’s Jill” to the sleep tousled blonde next to her and Keller nodded then turned back over. Seeing that they’d only been home a few hours, she answered with a groan. “You know you could have waited a bit longer to tell me you didn’t need a ride to your car.” At first there was no sound from the other end. Sarah was confused until she heard a faint whimper. Jill’s voice was a broken whisper.
“S—Sarah?”
Instantly alert, Sarah got out of bed. “Jill? What’s wrong, honey? Where are you?”
“Please…help. I’m—I’m hurt…home…” Her voice trailed off with a faint moan.
“Jill! What happened? Jill!” She tried to get a response but there was nothing on the other end. She turned toward her girlfriend as she began dressing as fast as possible. “Keller!” The half-asleep woman looked up and took out her earplugs. “We have to go now! Something is wrong with Jill, she wouldn’t call unless it was an emergency.” The couple made it to the veterinarian’s house less than ten minutes after Sarah had first picked up the phone. They rushed to the door and immediately noticed it was ajar. Cautiously Sarah entered and began calling for her friend. “Jill? Where are you?” Keller stopped in the middle of the living room and Sarah stopped with her. On the largest wall were the words, “MORE MEAT.”
“Oh God!”
Keller closed her eyes and took stock of the environment around her. “I smell bleach and blood, a lot of it. And—I can hear her, but it’s faint. Upstairs!”
They found her in the large walk-in shower with an empty bleach bottle on the tiles next to the bench. Jill’s broken body was on the bench across the far wall. Legs were twisted into compound fractures with broken bone sticking through the skin. But the worst damage was done to her fingers. Each digit had been smashed and twisted into an unrepairable mess. The injured woman’s clothes were soaked with blood from all her injuries. Jill’s phone was lying next to her head, still connected to Sarah’s. She must have passed out right after talking to Sarah. The tall redhead’s breathing was faint and shallow. Sarah knelt at her side and looked up at Keller in horror. “Why?” When she heard Jill’s breathing begin to falter she shouted in anguish. “No!”
Keller quickly knelt and pushed Sarah back. “Move, let me try to save her.” There was a faint pulse at her neck, so she quickly bit her and drank deep. Then Keller bit into her own wrist and let her blood flow between Jill’s parted lips. After ten minutes, they both breathed a sigh of relief when Jill gave a great gasp and her upper body bowed off the bench. The virus had successfully infected Jill’s weakened body, and it would only be a short amount of time before she was healed. Not wanting the victimized woman to wake with her bloody clothes on, Keller and Sarah began carefully stripping the broken woman. The couple quickly washed her while the bones knitted and the horrific wounds began to close. They dressed her in shorts and a t-shirt, then Sarah carried her friend into the bedroom where she would be more comfortable upon waking.
Keller sat on a chair in the corner of the room, and Sarah paced back and forth around the large bed. Every turn she would swear and worry. “What are we going to do? What they did to her—oh God!” She stopped abruptly as the reality of what was done to her best friend, her ex-girlfriend, began to crash down. Keller was up and had her arms wrapped around the sobbing brunette in an instant. The anguish was overwhelming in Sarah’s voice. “They targeted her because of us!”
Keller held her lover, soothing with both words and washes of emotion. “I know, love, I know. But it’s going to be all right, Sarah, we can get her through this. I promise she’s going to be okay.” Once Sarah calmed down, Keller led her over to sit on the bed near Jill. Then she pulled out her phone and dialed a number that had become too familiar lately. As soon as Louve answered, Keller began speaking. “Don’t talk, just listen. Your stray puppy has gone too far, and it is past time he was stopped. You can call his uncle in Quebec, but I know that Marcel never arrived back home. Not only that but I’m pretty sure he’s been working with Marie. Wolves have been attacking people and animals in the Alum Creek State Park, pets in the surrounding area have been killed, a rash of robberies have taken place in the area south of the farm. Now, mere hours after dropping Jill off at her house, she has been attacked!”
Louve’s voice was loud coming through the phone. “Mon dieu! Is she all right?”
Keller sighed and ran her free hand through her hair. “No, she is not all right. Half the bones in her body were violently broken. She was bleeding to death when we got here, and I was forced to infect her so she wouldn’t die on us. We can’t even report it to the police because Jill is nearly healed already. She is most certainly not all right! What are we going to do about these dogs?”
With each word that fell from Keller’s lips, Louve’s dismay grew. “Mon ange rousse! I am so sorry, Keller, but are you sure it was Marcel? Did she see him, or did you scent him at all?”
Keller shook her head, unseen by the Frenchwoman. “Non, whomever it was covered their scent with bleach. The only thing I could really smell was blood.”
Louve sighed. “Okay, let me make some calls, and we will come up with a plan. I want to call Marcel’s uncle just to be sure. It is not because I do not believe you, but I must let him know what we suspect and see what he has to say. I will also have Alain find and hold Marie until we can question her. If you give me a little time, I can be there en une demi-heure.”
Keller interrupted her. “Non. That would not be a good idea. I think she needs as few people here as possible right now. And none of them can be a wolf until she can process what has happened.”
Louve was silent for a few seconds on the other end of the line, processing the meaning of Keller’s words in the context of her connection to the beautiful veterinarian. It had been many years since the last time someone had so thoroughly intrigued her. Her answer was quiet and pained. “D’accord. I understand, mon ami. Please keep me informed of her well-being.”
“Okay. We will be here until Jill wakes. She will probably need to stay with us until she comes to terms with all the changes she’s just gone through. She has a lot to take in, not to mention dealing with any lasting emotional damage she may suffer from the attack. I will help her as best I can but I don’t know everything they did to her. A lot can happen in a few hours.”
Sarah urgently whispered her lover’s name from Jill’s bedside. “Keller.”
Keller glanced over at the women on the bed. “She’s waking; I have to go.” With that, she hung up her phone and put it back into her pocket before making her way over to stand next to Sarah.
When Jill opened her eyes, she was disoriented. “That’s weird, I would swear we all slept together at that apartment below the club. But clearly we’re here at my house so…” She trailed off as bits of her memory over the last few hours started to come back. She moaned. “Oh God.” The veterinarian shut her eyes again and images flashed behind her eyelids. She gave a little whimper and pulled her body into the fetal position. Keller leaned over and placed her hand on the tall woman’s shoulder to reassure her. Jill merely cringed away from the gesture and yelled. “Don’t touch me!” She remained on her side, hands over her head, murmuring the same words over and over again. “No, please stop. Please, no!”
Keller looked at Sarah with concern. “She knows you, you have to be the one to get through to her. We can’t allow her to get trapped in a psychic loop
or to spiral out of control now that she has the virus in her blood.”
Sarah cast her a helpless look. “What do I do?”
“Reassure her that she’s okay, that no one is going to hurt her.” Before Sarah could turn back toward the bed, Keller grabbed her arm. “Speak slowly and softly, and no matter what don’t let your fear or worry leak out, only send comforting emotions like love. She will be very sensitive right now on all levels.”
Sarah nodded and turned toward the crying woman who acted more like a wounded animal than anything human. She slowly crawled up on the bed, careful not to touch her friend. “Jill, honey, it’s Sarah. I’m right here; I won’t let anything happen to you. Shh, it’s going to be okay. Just look at me okay? It’s Sarah.” She repeated the same words for a few minutes before she started to get through.
Slowly Jill calmed. Her words faded and the rocking back and forth stopped. Keller could sense the traumatized woman’s mind opening to Sarah. The veterinarian moved her hands from over her head and looked up at the singer. “Sarah?” Jill’s voice was small and her mind was a whirlwind of remembered pain and fear. Her eyes filled with tears. “I called and you came.”
“Keller and I both came, we’re here to help.” Jill sat up and grabbed Sarah in a tight embrace. She had no idea how strong she was and as a result Sarah winced slightly. “Easy, honey, let’s sit up here for a moment, okay?” The veterinarian nodded, her tears already starting to dry into milky white lines on her cheeks.
Jill moved to lean against the headboard of the bed, and Sarah adjusted her own position so she was next to her. The red-haired woman spared a quick glance at Keller, and then looked back at Sarah in confusion. Seeming to take stock in her own body, her voice was full of trepidation. She looked down at her hands and ran them over her bare legs. “I don’t understand. I was hurt. They hurt me! Was it—was it all a dream? I saw terrible things. Strange things.”
Keller moved to the other side of Jill so that she and Sarah could both hold her. “No, I’m afraid it wasn’t a dream, Jill.”
