I walked two blocks to Island Beachwear, found a female clerk that was about Thia’s age, and told her to pick me out something comfortable that she would wear to go shopping in, in a size 0, for a blonde. She didn’t even blink. Within a minute she had a yellow and pastel blue shorts set, sandals, and sunglasses at the counter ready to ring up. Shopping is easy.
***
Before I had a house guest, I’d fallen into the habit of rising well into the afternoon and having several cups of coffee while watching the world news from the cable TV in my suite. Thia however, was apparently a morning person, and was all excited to venture outdoors and have a look around. Coffee would have to wait.
“Don’t forget your sunglasses,” I reminded her. “The sun here is way more intense midday than you’re used to in Illinois. You can actually sunburn your eyes here.”
“Ok. Got ‘em! Now let’s go!”
***
At lunchtime, after shopping all morning and dropping the bags back at the suite, we found our way to one of my favorite spots here. We sat at a cafe table, sharing one very large platter of conch fritters, a coffee for me, and a Coke for her. The breakfast of champions...
Thia was doing a good job of acting mature, but I could tell that she really just wanted to squeal at all of the new and different things she was seeing here. I’d already told her that people watching here was world-class. Oh, hello? Here comes a true beauty! I casually placed my hand over hers on the tabletop to get her attention, and to bring her along.
Together, we peeked at what the approaching redhead was thinking, as she made eye contact with me. ‘Mmm… I’m suddenly thirsty. I think I’ll stop and have something cold to drink and check out that perfect specimen of a man sitting there showing off that gorgeous young thing. They may just need some company!’
Combining white capri pants, flip-flops and an island patterned silk midriff blouse, dark sunglasses beneath a straw cowgirl hat with splotches of bright colors that match her blouse, the whole getup screamed tourist from a mile away. She gave us what she figured was a sexy smile. This was her second of four days here, and she’d already hooked up with two different guys. If I wanted to, I could show a play-by-play narrative of the redhead’s two trists yesterday; but passed on that for Thia’s sake. She wondered if we’d like to ‘play.’
No thanks, lady, we’re not into that. Enjoy yourself though. I felt Thia’s hand tense up.
A quick memory check told us that her husband Bill would be at work right now, back in Ohio. She has twin teenage stepdaughters named Tracy and Stacy that really test her patience. They constantly play the, ‘You’re not our mom’ card, and she hates that. They would be in school right now. She’s thinking seriously about walking away from this whole mess that she married into, but first she has to prove to herself that she’s still desirable enough at thirty-nine that she won’t wind up alone. That’s why she’s here, where nobody knows her. To convince herself that she’s still got it. Apparently she does. She parked herself on one of the tall bar stools at the weathered wooden bartop beneath a bright yellow canopy. The bartender brought her a Bahama Mama in a tall glass that had the name of the place printed on it. Schooner Wharf Bar. She spun her stool around, and rested her elbow on the bar to where she could people-watch the boardwalk, and see us too.
“This is definitely one of the most useful and entertaining gifts I received when the goddess Gaia transformed me -- Reading,” I told Thia quietly. “If I can see a person, I can look into their thoughts and memories. Once I’m in their head, I can ride along with them, even if they move out of my physical line of sight. Oh, and I can see out of their eyes too, while in their head.”
“Hey. Here come two good looking guys my age,” Thia whispered.
The closest one obviously noticed the redhead, so I placed my hand over Thia’s again, and took a peek. Yep, just what they’re looking for; a hot older tourist woman. He elbowed his buddy to get his attention. Obvious much? I looked over to the redhead and peeked inside. She sees them too.
“Woww. She has a dirty mind!” Thia breathed.
Just then, a solo performer named Caffeine Carl stepped onto the small covered outdoor stage behind us. “I’ve seen him here before,” I told her. “This guy sings really well, and plays guitar like you wouldn’t believe. He’s like a white Jimi Hendrix. He can make that six-string talk, in several languages!” The outdoor bar filled up immediately. Carl’s quite a draw. We quickly forgot about the redhead in favor of just kicking back and enjoying his music.
As dusk began making itself known, we got up to stretch and move along. “Key West is one of the best people-watching destinations in the whole of the United States, if you ask me. It’s kind of an uninhibited square mile of paradise. People that come here are usually looking for a good time, and most of the activities here, other than shopping or playing at Smathers Beach, take place at night. Huge crowds gather at Mallory Square right about now every evening to see the street performers work for tips, and to watch the sun plunge right into the the Gulf of Mexico. That is an incredibly beautiful sight to behold. It also signals the beginning of party time here, all up and down the one mile stretch of Duval Street. This is a Reader’s paradise! It’s also home to a very large coven of vampires that have an acquired taste for human blood heavily laced with alcohol.”
“There’s a good beach here? I’d love to see that some time. I’ve never been to an ocean beach,” Thia hinted as we walked. And then, “So, if there’s so many vampires here, why do so many people keep coming here for vacation?”
“Most tourists that come here without the jealous spouse, go home not knowing that they were fed upon by a vampire here. See, contrary to the old-timer stories, vampires very rarely kill humans that would be missed. A homeless person, a drug fiend, a prostitute or the like, perhaps. Not an affluent tourist. No, they just mix right into the party, wait until you get a bit tipsy, guide you into one of the many shadowy places here for a little make-out session, and nail you. Just prior to biting, they make you sort of ‘freeze up’ for the duration so you don’t scream and make a scene, but mostly so that you don’t remember it happening. They don’t take much. When they’re done, they close the bite marks with a quick lick of their saliva. The vampires that play it this way are extremely good looking, and very talented kissers and teasers. I can show you that this very evening, if you think you are up to it. I watch them all the time. They know I’m around. They can sense me, but don’t really know what I am. I don’t bother them. Most think of me as some kind of daywalker vampire, and not as a threat to them. Hardly any of the vampires around nowadays even know I still exist. I used to be revered among them. It seems they have gotten as tired of me as I have of them over time, and they just quit talking about me.”
Our leisurely walk towards Mallory Square took us past small crowds of humans watching the tarpon that swim around and inbetween the smaller fishing boats and the seawall. The crazy things are five or six feet long! They swim by in schools, and provide many photo ops for the tourists. A little further along the boardwalk toward the A&B Lobster House, there was an aggregation of manatees oohing and ahhing another crowd of humans. We stopped to watch them, and I noticed a pretty young Latina woman who was scrubbing down the deck and fixtures of an old wooden tall ship anchored along one of the wooden piers. “That’s what this whole waterfront area is really about,” I told Thia. “The sailboats and tall ships. Schooner Wharf Marina. She’s working hard and not looking too happy about it so, out of curiosity, let’s take a look into her thoughts.”
It quickly became apparent to us, that she was a slave. A victim of human trafficking, owned by the South American man who owned the ship. Her little sister was locked up in a cell below deck, and if she were to run away, her sister would be killed immediately.
“I really do not care for the bastards that practice this kind of thing,” I explained, “but I don’t get involved. It’s part of the whole free will thing. That was not my idea. It wa
s Gaia’s, and way before my time.”
“Can’t you do something to save them?” Thia asked, obviously upset.
“Of course I could. Let’s just say that the next time I need a blood feast, that man would be a good candidate. The world would be better off without him. That’s exactly how I make those choices. See?”
“I do,” she said angrily. “He deserves to die!”
***
Later that night, as we sat at a table as close to the main entrance of Sloppy Joe’s bar as we could get, the redhead came in alone. This time she wasn’t dressed to kill. She wore a modest peach colored sundress, comfortable looking flats and purse to match. Her hair was down, and she wore very little makeup. Seeing us, she gave us a friendly kind of smile, and a slight nod, meant to acknowledge. I return the same. She found herself a stool at the bar, and ordered herself a drink. I gave Thia a little smile, placed my hand over hers, and we had a little look into her head. She’d spent all afternoon with the two boys, and being quite satisfied, she’s out this evening as her everyday self, to see what happens.
Thia, blushing brightly, surprised me. “Good plan. You already know that your slutty self can get as many men as you want. If I was out to prove what you are, that’s what I’d do too,” she said through gritted teeth.
After she’d had two drinks without anyone saying a word to her, the redhead decided to move along. As she drained her glass, a blonde woman her same age sat down next to her, flashing that same smile she’d used on the boys at Schooner Wharf earlier.
“Game on. Watch this! I know who this blonde is,” I told Thia.
We stayed in the redhead’s mind. This was an unexpected turn. It was the first time she’d ever been openly hit on by another woman. She’d never been with one, but since nobody would ever know, she decided to see where this would lead.
“Oh, is she in for a big surprise! Celeste is a vampire,” I explained. “Can you tell?”
“No.”
The redhead bought a glass of red wine for the blonde and another Bahama Mama for herself. Getting more than a little buzzed, she asked the blonde where the best place was to hear some good rock-n-roll. The blonde told her she’d probably like the band at the Boar’s Head Saloon tonight. The redhead drained her glass, the blonde had a tiny sip of her wine, and they get off the stools and walk out the door together holding hands.
“Let’s ride along from here,” I suggested. “Close your eyes and we’ll see through hers.”
Before they walk even a block towards their destination, the blonde, who was faking being drunk, said she needed to sit for a minute on a bench they’d come upon. She brushed a kiss on the redhead’s cheek, and then laid her head on the redhead’s shoulder.
“Wow! She’s quick!” I said. “Here it comes…”
As soon as I said that, Thia tensed up, held her breath, and began to tremble. The redhead felt pleasantly surprised, and instantly turned on when she felt warm wet lips and tongue on her neck, and then BAM! She saw bright flashes of light, and shooting stars as she locked up.
Thia began breathing so hard and fast I was afraid she might hyperventilate herself, and I nearly broke the connection, but suddenly the redhead snapped out of it. She found herself sitting alone on a bench in front of a dark bakery, wondering what the hell had happened. She knew she’d had too much to drink, so feeling very confused, she decided to head back to her room.
I let go of Thia’s hand, breaking the connection. “Score another meal for the local vampires. That was slick!” I said. “Are you alright?”
After a few deep breaths, and wiping some tears from her eyes, “Yes. Yes, I’ll be fine,” she said. “That was just… Intense as hell!”
I stood up, thinking it best for us to leave. A couple of people were looking at us, wondering what was up. Thia got up on her own, and latched onto my arm tightly. We went out the door of the bar, and turned the same way that Celeste and the redhead had, opposite the way to my suite at the B&B.
“Celeste will feed again right away. Are you up for finding her again, so we can follow along in her head?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’m ok now. Seeing that for the first time, like it was happening to me, kinda scared me more than I thought it would. You can protect me from her if she catches us, right?”
“Of course. No vampire, or any other human for that matter, poses any threat to me. As long as you stay close to me, there is nothing they can do to you either. Just relax and learn about vampire behavior tonight.”
“Ok. Cool!”
Another block west on Duval Street, we found Celeste again. She was approaching a young guy dressed in all black, and wearing black eyeliner. I decided that I wanted us to see his reaction to her first off, so holding Thia’s hand, I slipped us quietly into his mind, just in time to see that he noticed the blood smear on her cheek, beside her mouth. He avoided her like the plague, and hurried away down the sidewalk.
The memory of him watching some pretty goth girl getting fed upon by some weird looking male vampire, in a private club in Chicago flashed through his mind. She’d let him feed on her on purpose, in front of others, in trade for one of the legendary orgasms he rewards his volunteers with. Hers lasted for literally a couple of minutes after he’d finished drinking her blood. There were no marks at all on her throat when all was said and done, but the male vampire had had that same blood smear on his cheek. The whole scene had scared the shit out of him, and he’d left as soon as he could, without drawing attention to himself. He’d climbed a long flight of stairs, eventually reaching a red velvet theater cord stretched between two stanchions to restrict access. He’d quickly let himself out, and as he turned to re-hook the cord, there was a sign in front of his face that read, ‘Theater of Darkness V.I.P. Entrance.’
I let go of Thia’s hand, breaking the connection. We stared at each other, momentarily speechless. That male vampire in this boy’s memory was Georges, the same vampire that had attacked Thia!
“Damn! That was clearly a violation of Rule Number One of the vampire code,” Thia said. “For some reason Anne Rice’s book, Interview With The Vampire comes to mind.”
“The story of a vampire exposing his kind to humans, which is the worst crime a vampire can commit,” I interjected. “What her readers don’t realize, is that it was based upon a true story. The names were changed and some details were exaggerated, but other than that, it was accurate. Because of his crime, the real vampire that her main character portrayed was destroyed by the ancients. I think that is why he did it. I think he could no longer bear being undead, and doing what he did was his version of suicide by cop.”
“I wonder if this dude in Chicago knows that?” she wondered.
“No matter where I go in the world, very few of the humans I encounter are ever satisfied. They think mostly about sex, money, and how bad they have it. They all want more, more, more. They all have deep dark secrets that they do not want anyone ever finding out. As far back as when I was first learning about my new powers, during what is now referred to as the stone age, and mankind was still only hunters and gatherers, they harbored these secrets.
“Watching these secret memories, as if they were playing on an Imax 3D screen just for me, has kept me entertained for I do not know how many thousands of years. I am totally addicted to it.”
“You did kill the vampire named Georges, right?” she asked.
“Actually, no. He didn’t fight me. He ran away.”
“Why not?” she demanded, tearing up. “He hurt me!”
“Thia, remember something. I don’t go around killing vampires for feeding on humans. It’s what they do. They can’t help it. I intervened on your behalf only because of what I saw in you. You, are different. I was attracted to you. This business of Georges allowing his human followers to know what he is however, is as you said, clearly a violation of Rule Number One. Looks like I’ll be headed to Chicago pretty soon.”
“I don’t want you to leave me alone here,” she said hesitan
tly.
And I’m not sure that I want to. What am I getting myself into? I’ve let her know what I am. Am I any less guilty than this Georges?
“Ready to call it a night?” I asked.
“I hate to, but I guess we should.”
I took her hand, turned her towards me and risked my luck on a kiss. She didn’t hesitate at all, but melted right into it. I took that opportunity to transport us back to my suite. When she opened her eyes, she was quite surprised!
CHAPTER 12: THIA
This has to be the coolest guy in the world! How did I get so lucky?
“Today was the best day of my life!” I told him truthfully. “I’ve never felt like I fit-in anywhere, ever. You’ve shown me more things, and opened my eyes to more in the last two days than everyone in my whole life put together. Please don’t go to Chicago, or anywhere else for that matter without me now.”
I put my arms around his chest and pulled him to me, where I hugged him tightly and playfully peppered him with kisses on his nose, his mouth and his chin, Then I growled like an idiot, and lightly but frantically chewed his neck like a rabid beast. My leg, brushed strategically against him, told me that I was having quite an effect on him.
“Be careful what you wish for Thia. We have but glanced at the tip of the iceberg of my reality. We haven’t even really touched it yet. Lots of it will doubtless impress you, but parts of it may be totally impossible for you to accept. I never want you to hate me for what I am. Take your time. I have nothing but time.”
“I could never hate you, because of what you’ve already done for me,” I said, looking again in the mirror at myself. I couldn’t believe my eyes! I had changed even more since this morning. My skin was another shade whiter, but ever so smooth and perfect looking. My hair looked like it had real gold highlights woven into it. That just made my lips look redder and fuller, which made my teeth look whiter and bigger than ever. (I’d always felt that my teeth were too small and dull, and my gums too big.)
GENESIS (Tales of the Lesser Gods Book 1) Page 7
