by Lara Nance
“This is garlic powder.” Drake read the label. “I don’t think it’s the same thing as real garlic.”
“It has garlic in it. Sprinkle a little in your hand and see what happens.”
“Okay, here goes.” He glanced at Gerri who shrugged. He flipped open the top and shook a few granules into his palm. When nothing happened he sprinkled more. “I don’t feel anything.”
“This is stupid. I have to go.” Gerri went around the couch. “It’s six o’clock.”
“It’s Saturday. You don’t have to work.” Talia met her at the door. “Don’t you want to stay and play with our vampire?”
“He’s not a toy. You need to sit down and think seriously about how you’re going to handle this.” She lifted her purse strap over her shoulder.
“Wait. One more trial.” Talia took her silver Gucci compact from her purse and opened it. “We’ll see if he can see his reflection.”
Drake took the mirror and held it to his face. “I can see myself.”
“Vampire legends, strike two,” she said.
Gerri sighed. “I need sleep. In case you forgot, I was up all night worrying about you.”
“Okay. I’m sorry. Truly. I was horrible.”
“I’ll call you later, okay?”
Talia nodded, and they kissed each other’s cheeks in farewell.
“She’s nice.” Drake said and yawned.
“You must be exhausted with all you’ve been through. I hope you don’t need a coffin.”
“Suddenly it feels like my eyelids are lead. Fortunately I have no urge to get into a coffin, though. I’m just regular ol’ tired.”
“I think you’re sleepy because it’s morning. Look.” She pointed to the blinds where golden rays of morning sunshine filtered through.
He stood, staring at the window. A visible shudder ran through him. “It must be true about the daytime. I have an overpowering sense of dread.”
“Try it.” She moved closer.
“Try what?”
“Stick your finger in a beam of light and see what happens.”
He raised one brow. “Seriously?”
“How else will you know?”
He rubbed his hands together and edged closer to the window. Then he lifted one hand and poked his forefinger into a stream of light. Smoke rose from his skin, and he pulled it back with a cry. “That hurt.”
“Okay, score one for vampire myth. The sunlight thing is true.” She motioned him from the window, which grew brighter as the sun rose.
“Now I’m really, really sleepy.” He yawned.
“You probably should sleep during the day. That makes sense.”
He nodded, knuckling his eyelids.
“I’ll put you in the guest room. Come on.” She led him down the hall into her smaller bedroom. The window had blinds, and she loosened the thick brocade drapes to completely block out the sun.
When she turned, Drake had already crawled into the bed and closed his eyes.
“Sleep well,” she said.
“Mmm,” he responded.
She closed the door and returned to the living room. She picked up her laptop, and propped it on her knees when she sat on the couch. Then she typed vampire into the Google search bar and waited while entries scrolled down the page. There was so much junk. A site for “real” vampires, a vampire lounge, a Wikipedia entry, and of course, the smash hit novels and movies of the teenage girl in love with a vampire, blah, blah, blah. Then she entered Dracula. History resulted with stories of Vlad the Impaler as the original Dracula, along with tales of Bram Stoker’s novel.
One thing persisted. People had a fascination with vampires. It seemed they always had. The blood suckers weren’t like Frankenstein or mummies. There was sex appeal to a dark mysterious figure who bit people’s necks. Women were so crazy for it, they went willingly into that fatal embrace. Talia shook her head. Nuts.
Then a word popped out at her from the entry on Vlad. Romania. Her new assignment. That was right. Transylvania was in Romania. Her mind started ticking. Her pulse quickened. She quickly typed Romania. Lots of: come visit our beautiful country, rolling hills, forests, mountains, friendly people, ruins of ancient castles appeared. Sure they touted Bran Castle as Dracula’s castle, but it was really only a temporary residence of the ancient leader and had nothing to do with real vampires. The government made no effort to exploit their famous link to the original vampire on a large scale.
Beautiful country—all the offerings you could get anywhere in the world. You could go to Scotland for the same thing and have a much better time with the opportunity to hop over to England or Ireland. Was she missing something? Why would the average tourist want to go to Romania unless you were an archeologist or history buff? Curiosity peeked its head as well. Why had the government not claimed Dracula in a bigger way? It was the one thing that made them different from other countries. Harvey was right. This would be a huge challenge.
Chapter 6
Pounding on the door caused Talia to bolt up from where she’d slumped over on the sofa. Her heart thumped until she reoriented. The banging continued. What the hell? She rubbed her eyes, struggled to her feet, and padded to the door.
Gerri burst in, wide-eyed and out of breath. “Are you okay? Where’s Drake?”
“Didn’t you just leave?” Talia squinted at her.
“No, it’s three p.m. I called but you didn’t answer. It would serve you right if that vampire ate you.” Her friend stomped into the living room.
“I’m sorry. I must have fallen asleep. My phone is in the dining room in my purse.” She hugged her friend and kissed her cheek over and over. “Don’t be mad.”
“All right. Stop.” Gerri wiped the back of her hand over the side of her face. She frowned as she scanned the room. “Where’s Drake?”
“He went to sleep as soon as the sun came up. He’s in the guest room.”
Gerri let out a deep breath. “Here.” She thrust some papers at Talia and plopped into a wing chair across from the sofa.
Talia flipped through them. “What’s this? Oh. Blood!”
“You can actually buy blood, do you believe it?” Gerri grinned. “Well, it’s not human, but how different is animal blood?”
Talia went to the dining room and grabbed her cell. She punched in a number and tapped her toes while waiting.
“Felix? It’s me, Tal. Look I need you to go over to China Town and pick up some pig’s blood from Wong’s Chinese Grocery.”
“Pig’s blood? Are you insane?” His voice always went up an octave when he was angry. He practically shrieked now.
“Don’t give me that pissy tone. I’m paying you a fortune. Now go get a bunch of blood and bring it over to my apartment.”
“Tal, come on. I have a date tonight. It’s Saturday.”
“If you want a bonus this year, you’ll buy that blood and get over here. Tell what’s his name you have an important meeting.”
“Fine. But you’ll pay for this.” He hung up.
“Great.” Talia fell back on the couch, clutching the papers. She pulled her foot under her and sighed. “Now we know where to get blood, the rest is easy.”
“Easy? Nothing about this is easy.” Gerri kicked off her shoes and propped her feet on the coffee table. “Did you think seriously about this situation while I was gone?”
“I did. I want to wait for Felix to tell you my idea.” She tucked her hair behind her ears. “You know, I was thinking my life was over. Getting Drake may be the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“Tal, you keep talking about him like he’s a puppy. Don’t you think that’s wrong?”
She waved a hand in the air. “You know what I mean. Of course I don’t think of him as a pet. Although if he can turn into a bat…”
“Tal!”
“Sorry, sorry.”
“He can’t live here and drink pig’s blood for the rest of his life.”
“You’re right. He needs a job. Something to make him f
eel worthwhile. A way to earn money. Right?”
“I guess, but how can a vampire make his way in the world without people knowing what he is?”
“Think about it, Ger. There are other vampires out there. One of them attacked Drake.”
Gerri bit her lip. She tossed long brown hair over her shoulder. “That’s just it. I keep thinking this is going to be bigger than just finding a vampire in an alley. If there are others, what sort of organization do they have? There has to be interaction among them, some sort of society.”
“Maybe they’re all loners. Whoever bit Drake didn’t care enough to stick around and let him in on all the vampire secrets.”
“True.”
“I’m starving. Want something to eat?” Talia rose and headed for the kitchen.
“Absolutely. Too much excitement and not enough food in the last twenty-four hours.” Her friend followed.
She pulled eggs, cheese, and milk out of the refrigerator. “How about an omelet?”
“Yum.” Gerri pulled up a barstool and settled onto it. “Coffee?”
“For you…anything.” She refilled the coffeemaker.
Thirty minutes later, she had an egg white scramble while Gerri munched toast and a cheese omelet.
“Despite your many failings, you are a great cook,” her friend said between mouthfuls.
“Many failings?”
“That means, way too many to count.”
She snorted. “Bitch.”
“No, that’s you.”
“Right, I keep forgetting.” Talia smiled. She was lucky to have a friend like Gerri who accepted her bitch and all. “I really do appreciate you.”
Her friend smiled for a moment then focused on her eggs. “You think you’re so tough, but you’re really a cream puff. I don’t know how you eat that crap.” She directed her fork at the egg whites.
She shoved a fork full of egg into her mouth and hid her smile. “I’m a size four, I’ll have you know. That’s why I eat this crap.” She tossed her fork on her plate and muttered, “Cream puff my ass.”
“That’s the part of you I love,” Gerri said. “The tough executive who’ll make a success of the Romania assignment and rise above the agency bullshit.”
Talia cleaned their plates and the kitchen before Felix knocked. When she opened the door, and he stood holding a white plastic bucket in one hand. A scowl wrinkled his features.
“Here’s your stupid blood.” He held up the pail.
She took it. He pranced into the living room where Gerri had retreated. Talia put the blood in the refrigerator and joined them.
“Hey, Felix.” Her friend gave him a mock salute.
“Hey, Ger. Are you guys making blood sausage or something?” He flopped on the sofa.
Talia shoved her knee against his thigh, and he scooted so she could sit beside him.
“You’re not going to believe this.” She grinned. “Something sensational has happened.”
“You finally decided to get breast implants?” He lifted his brows.
“Will you drop it? I’m happy with my breasts, for the four hundredth time.” She dug an elbow into his ribs. “You’re supposed to be my assistant, not my image consultant.”
“Well, you might finally get a date if you at least went to a B-cup.” He sniffed.
She tightened her hands into fists to keep from smacking him. “Can you please get over my breasts and listen?”
“Whatever.” He crossed one leg over the other. “Are you going to tell me what the blood’s for?”
“I’m trying, if you’ll shut up for a minute.”
“Okay, okay.” He waved his hands in defeat. “Go ahead. I’m dying to hear this. It better be good because I’m missing a date with a total Adonis.”
“You’ll get over it.” Talia frowned. She launched into the story of her previous night’s adventures. As she talked, Felix’s eyes grew bigger and his mouth dropped open.
“A vampire?” His brows came together. “Is this some kind of joke?”
“It’s not a joke,” Gerri said.
He glanced between them, then clamped his lips together and crossed his arms.
As if on cue, Drake staggered into the living room from the hall, still shirtless and brushing a hand through his tangled hair. He blinked several times and leaned a shoulder against the wall.
“Who’s this?” he asked.
Felix’s jaw went slack as his gaze raked the delicious form of the muscular vampire.
“This is my assistant, Felix.” Talia gestured to the young man on the couch. “We found a place to get blood and he brought it over.”
Drake scratched his chin. “It might be a good idea to have some of that. I’m feeling a bit empty.”
Felix’s shook his head.
Talia stood. “I’ll get you a glass. Just take a seat. I’ll be back in a moment.” She went into the kitchen and emptied another of the bags Gerri had brought. She carefully carried the glass to the living room.
Drake settled on the couch while Felix stared at him. Gerri had one hand clamped over her mouth, but crinkles at the corners of her eyes gave away her grin.
Talia handed the glass to Drake. He drained it and handed it to her empty.
“It’s real. He’s a, a, a vampire.” Her assistant pointed at Talia’s hand. “He just drank that whole glass of blood.”
“I told you,” she said.
“Wha, wha, what happened?” He scooted away from Drake.
“We don’t know. Somebody bit him and left him to die. I found him, so here we are.” she shrugged.
She took the glass and rinsed it in the kitchen sink. Pale red water swirled around and down the drain. She turned off the faucet and leaned against the counter. Would her plan work? It was a huge risk, but if they pulled it off…Well, the tiger always aimed for the peak of the mountain.
She swallowed and returned to the living room. Time to reveal her plan. A thrill of excitement shot through her, making her skin tingle. She might make it to the top of the advertising heap with this scheme.
She stood in the center of the room. “Look guys, I have an idea. Drake can’t go back to his old job and work during the day. He’ll have to send them a letter of resignation so they won’t think he’s a missing person and contact the police.”
Drake’s expression darkened. “That’s true. I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I can’t go home to San Diego. I don’t want anyone to know what happened to me. Nobody would believe it anyway.”
Talia nodded. “Right. I thought a lot about it and I think we can combine coming up with a way for Drake to make a living with my need to rock the advertising world with a publicity campaign for Romania”
Gerri looked bewildered. “You want to tie Drake into your ad campaign?”
She held out her hands. “I’ve been looking at how Romania is currently presenting themselves. It’s all about the countryside, the beauty of the landscape and historic castles. That sort of thing. However, those attractions aren’t enough to make Romania the destination of choice for vacationers. You can have scenic views in a ton of other countries. They need something no one else has.”
She crossed the floor and sat on the arm of her friend’s chair. “What do you think about when you hear the word, Romania?
“Gymnasts,” Felix said with a faraway look in his eyes. “In tights.”
“Okay, but what do you think about when you hear the word…Transylvania?” Talia glanced at each of her guests.
“Vampires,” Gerri said. “Count Dracula.”
“Exactly.” She jumped to her feet and pointed at her friend. “People aren’t specifically searching for the things they’re currently advertising unless they’re history buffs. What they need is vampires—the mystery and romance of Dracula.”
“You want to focus the campaign on Dracula? But he doesn’t exist.” Her assistant scratched his head.
“I’m saying that the publicity campaign I’m planning to present to Romania will involve a v
ampire theme to bring travelers to their country. Stop trying to hide the curse of Dracula under a rug. Bring it out and play it for all it’s worth. Give people what they want.” She planted her hands on her hips. “Remember when we had the only Disney Land? People came from everywhere for that experience because they couldn’t get it anywhere else. I think Romania needs to build a resort and fantasy theme park focused on Dracula that will bring people in from all over the world.”
“You can’t be serious.” Her friend cast a worried glanced at Drake.
“I’m totally serious. Disney did it. And right now, the world has never been more entranced with the vampire theme. We have vampire novels coming at us right and left, blockbuster vampire movies as well at TV shows. The image of Dracula has never been hotter. Beyond that, vampires have always fascinated people. That’s never going to change.”
“You’re probably right,” Gerri said. “Vampires are definitely hot right now.”
She pointed her index finger at the vampire. “And he is going to be the face of this campaign. What do you think, Drake? It could be a great job and you don’t have to hide what you are.”
“Like Victor/Victoria.” Felix nodded, rubbing his chin. He appraised the vampire. “It’s genius. He’ll be a vampire, pretending to be an actor pretending to be a vampire.” He clapped slowly, gazing at Talia. “I don’t know why I ever doubted you, boss. Pure brilliance.”
“Thank you.” Talia swept a bow. She cast an anxious glance at Drake. If he didn’t want to participate, the scheme wouldn’t work. He’d have to buy into the idea wholeheartedly to carry off the role she envisioned.
He studied her for a moment, expression blank. Then he slowly nodded. “I’m not sure how good I’ll be at that sort of job, but I’m willing to try. I can’t think of another way for me to make a living at this point.”
She clapped her hands, relief flooding her. “Thank you. I don’t think you’ll regret the decision. It’ll be hard work, but you’ll have the potential to make a lot of money.” She turned her attention to her assistant. “We have to get to work. Drake must be prepped for his new role and we’ll need photos and a commercial. I’ll write the copy. We have two weeks.”
