Mrs. Dracula: Vampire Anthology

by Logan Keys

  Of course, that made me judge and jury, and I was only using justification for what to me, was necessary killing.

  I suppose since Stephen was kidnapped from his family at an early age and raised to be a Comanche warrior, one of the Numunuu, the people, as they called themselves, he didn’t see the need to justify his need to kill to eat. Maybe I was just squeamish. Or maybe it was a female thing since Andrei didn’t have trouble with it either.

  Weeks had passed since I had last seen my husband. I wondered what he was doing, how he planned to find us. I suppose he could go from one small town to the next, there weren’t that many small towns here, although more were building up along the railroad. Still, each town was miles and miles apart from the other, that could take him weeks or months to get through them all. But I wasn’t certain how else he would find us. I would just have to be patient and trust in him. He had never yet let me down.

  It was still early afternoon, so the bar had not yet filled up. Most men, oil workers from the oil well discovered nearby a decade ago, didn’t come in until the sun had dropped and they could no longer work in the oil field. Ranch hands, who worked around the clock, came in staggered times during the day. Often, other business brought them into town.

  I greeted the few customers we had, and feeling restless, I went out on the wooden sidewalk in front of our building, wondering where Stephen was.

  It wasn’t too long before I found him. He and Virginia strolled up from behind the building, Virginia looked a bit flushed, as if she’d been well-kissed. I automatically scanned the streets for signs of her mother although it was really too early for her to be out and about. She usually napped in the afternoons and saved her protests against the saloon for my prime business time.

  By now, most everyone ignored her, and as long as she didn’t cause trouble for my patrons, she could march in front of my establishment to her heart’s content.

  But Stephen and her daughter … was that a problem waiting to happen? I suppose as he was still of a young age, he must get lonely for companionship and romance. But his last affair with a human had ended so badly. Still, what else was he to do? Wasn’t like there was a female vampire on every corner here. I suppose if he wanted a vampire mate, he’d have to go back to the old country. I would discuss that with him and my husband when Andrei caught back up with us.

  They parted ways, Virginia scurrying on toward her house, well aware of the risks she took if her mother discovered her liaison. At least the girl had more backbone now than when I’d first seen her, although she had not yet managed to break completely away from her mama.

  Fortunately, with her mother sleeping every afternoon after lunch, Virginia was generally safe sneaking away.

  Her father ran the local weekly newspaper office and while Virginia worked for him in the afternoons, some days she managed to get away for a few hours during slow times.

  I couldn’t blame the girl who so far, did not have her mother’s mean streak. Really, what normal red-blooded girl could resist Stephen when he put his mind to being charming? He was by far the most handsome young man in town, with tousled dirty blond hair and fine features, and she was a healthy young woman. Only natural she should be attracted to him whether he was a vampire or human. We vampires had an allure that rendered most humans incapable of resisting should we so choose—but I’m not even sure if Stephen had to use special powers.

  Still …I couldn’t help but feel she was going to get her heart broken.

  At last, the day arrived for our first train robbery. I think we’d almost waited too long, my strength was definitely waning.

  We’d debated on how to stop a train with the least amount of damage. We could blow up the tracks, a technique which some robbers used. Others chopped trees down and laid them across the tracks. That was certainly an option since the train traveled through a wooded area.

  And actually, trees were part of our plan, but not chopping them down. We decided to climb the trees and jump onto the top of the train and make our way to the engineer to force him to stop the train. That way we wouldn’t ruin either the train or the tracks.

  We had hired a man to help in the saloon. I made the excuse I was sick and was going to stay in my room while Stephen used the excuse of tending to business. We left our man in charge.

  I dressed up like a man with my hair stuffed under a hat and snuck out of our saloon through the back room. Stephen met me at the edge of town with our two horses.

  We rode hard to have ample time to get set up to meet the train. I loved the freedom of riding a horse astride wearing a man’s breeches. I pulled off my hat to let the wind blow through my hair. A couple of hours later we tied our horses deep in the woods and we each picked a pine tree in a good position of the approaching train and climbed it as easily as a squirrel. Pine trees did have rather rough, scratchy bark, but I settled in as comfortably as I could to wait for the train.

  An hour later, we heard it approaching. We checked our guns, pulled up our bandanas and prepared to jump. We waited until the smoke-belching engine chugged by before jumping on top of the train three cars later. First Stephen jumped, then me.

  The wind nearly blew off my hat, but the feeling atop a moving train was more exhilarating than riding the horse. Certainly much more fun than being inside the stuffy, hot cars.

  Which were about to get stuffier and hotter when the train stopped. At least when the train was moving, a little air came in from the open windows. Fleetingly, I felt sorry for the passengers, although I imagined being hot and stuffy was going to be the least of their bad memories from this trip.

  We made our way to the engine where we pulled out our guns and told the engineer to stop the train. I quickly tied and gagged him and we went on into the first car where we tied up the conductor who had been making his way forward apparently to check on why the train had stopped.

  Making this look authentic, after he was bound, we held up the passengers while I scanned their minds, looking for my victim.

  None here. The next car we got more lucky and not so surprisingly I found two men angrily watching us. What was surprising was in reading their thoughts, I learned they’d planned their own train robbery. Of this train. Oops.

  They had two accomplices waiting ahead where they’d chopped trees down to block the track. When we left, I would have to warn the engineer so they wouldn’t crash the train. One bad experience per day was enough for these people.

  In the meantime, these two would-be train robbers were about to become brunch.

  First, we had to finish robbing the passengers and steal the money from the express car. It had to look authentic. It would be highly suspicious if we took two passengers off the train and no money.

  “Find anyone?” Stephen whispered as the expressman worked the combination on the safe.

  “Yes. Two men in the previous car, they were planning on robbing the train themselves.”

  Stephen’s eyebrows raised. “Too bad for them.”

  At that moment, Stephen yelled, “Watch out,” and I turned to find the two men entering our car, guns drawn. I reacted quickly and kicked the gun out of one hand and punched the other in the face, knocking him cold.

  Taking advantage of the distraction, the expressman bravely pulled a gun out of the safe and aimed it shakily at Stephen.

  Stephen shook his head and ignoring the gun, tapped the man on the temple with his own revolver, knocking the would-be hero out cold. These people clearly had no idea what they were up against.

  “You,” I told the one still-conscious, thwarted, would-be train robber still standing. “Drag your friend outside.”

  He had little choice in the matter and reluctantly dragged his friend out of the car.

  “Now, down the steps and into the woods.”

  His eyes began darting around, he clearly sensed danger. Probably a sense well-honed from years of being a criminal.

  Before we proceeded with getting deeper in the woods to feed, I told Stephen, “You
need to warn the conductor or engineer. These men’s partners have laid trees over the railroad track a couple of miles ahead.”

  Clearly, my knowledge shocked this man, and he became even more agitated. “How did you know … ?”

  “I know many things,” I said mysteriously. Including this man didn’t have long to live. I neglected to mention that fact as I instructed him to keep moving into the woods.

  But he must have had some psychic ability himself and realized he wasn’t long for this earth. Once he was in the woods, he dropped his partner and made a mad dash to escape.

  I sped after him and easily caught him. Given we could run faster than a horse, he had no chance.

  Later, after feeding, Stephen and I decided to go ahead to the place where the other robbers had planned to hold up the train. While we were well-fed now, if we could follow the men to their hideout when they realized something had gone awry with their plans, then we’d know where our next meal was coming from. It always helped to be resourceful. That way we could stay in an area longer and weren’t always on the move.

  Definitely, the men were puzzled when the train slowed instead of crashing into the pile of trees covering the track. They were even more puzzled when armed men came out to face them but it didn’t take them long to realize something had gone badly wrong and they hightailed it. Stephen and I followed them to a cabin deep in the woods.

  Whether or not they hid out at this cabin long term, we got their scent and if they stayed in the area, we’d be able to find them when next it was time to feed.

  —5—

  The months continued to pass. Fall turned into winter, and by now, we’d gone on several train robberies, successfully finding victims each time. But now, after the new year, there were people starting to piece together the peculiarities and newspapers were running stories about the bandits who stole people as well as money.

  The rash of train robberies and unusual circumstances was quite the mystery which several people were trying to solve, and it made us have to take more care.

  We’d been going on a robbery about every six weeks. But someone had figured out that pattern as well.

  That someone, according to Stephen’s lady love, Virginia, was Mrs. Broadbent. Furthermore, Stephen told me, Mrs. Broadbent noticed our regular absences occurred at the same time of the train robberies. Not good for us.

  “I guess we’ll have to supplement our feedings with cows again,” said Stephen.

  I shuddered. Cows were so much dirtier, and I generally ended up with a mouthful of dirty hair. Also, the nutrients were a little off, but we’d survived before on cows and wild animals and we could do it again.

  Stephen noticed my look of displeasure. “Or we could pack up and leave.”

  That was definitely a consideration. There was quite the uproar about passengers disappearing from the trains. And there were times when we’d been confronted with more armed people than usual. People struggled harder when we chose them, seeming to know they wouldn’t survive if they got off the train. “I would have thought Andrei would have found us by now.”

  “He’s probably close,” Stephen predicted. “We’ve had a run of bad weather, all the rain in the fall and then the snow.”

  According to the locals, it rarely snowed here. This had been an unusual winter.

  “Weather wouldn’t have stopped him, you are simply trying to pacify me. I’m beginning to worry something happened to him. Perhaps those men snuck up on him and he wasn’t able to escape.” It was a nagging, exhausting thought not knowing if my love had survived.

  Stephen shrugged, clearly not sharing my fears. “Doubt it. Still, we could probably get away with one more robbery before we have to move.”

  “That means your romance will be over?”

  “I’m not sure. I’ve been considering asking Virginia if she’d go with us.”

  “Stephen!” I said, shocked. “You can’t take a human with us. She would be terrified.”

  “She’s made of pretty strong stuff. She’d have to be with a mother like hers.”

  “It might be best we journey to the old country so you can find a proper vampire wife. Leave this girl to find a mate among humans.”

  Stephen looked troubled. “I know you’re right, but I am quite fond of the girl. I might even love her.”

  The pain in his voice was obvious, and I suspected he wasn’t revealing his true feelings to me—that he really did care deeply for her. “Would you turn her, then?”

  “Would that be so bad?”

  “Do you want her to have a life of running? Of having to move from town to town? Would you want to deny her the chance of having children?”

  “You’re right. I’m being selfish. It would be better for me to leave her behind. She’ll recover from a broken heart.”

  But from the look on Stephen’s face, I wasn’t certain he would recover. For a vampire, and one who had been raised as a Comanche warrior, no less, he had an amazingly loving and sensitive heart.

  We were preparing for our last train robbery, and to leave the town and the saloon. I’d grown quite fond of having my own business. I felt like I adapted quite well to the idea of American capitalism. I suppose that I could hire someone to sell it for me at a later time. Or else leave Mrs. Broadbent, who had been relentless in her daily protest over the months we’d been here, to her victory, never realizing her protests hadn’t affected us at all.

  But her nosiness certainly had.

  Already, she’d taken her concerns to the local sheriff, but as he was one of our most faithful patrons, he easily bought our explanations about the coincidences. Especially when I used my allure to convince him. But we couldn’t risk her taking her concerns to a higher law enforcement official. The Texas Rangers. Or the US Marshal, perhaps. Could we handle them? Of course. But did we want to? No.

  Easier to pack up and move to the next place.

  “Oh, look, we’ve made the papers again,” Stephen said, reading this week’s issue.

  “The kidnapping bandits are still at large. Officials are rightly concerned, not knowing when the next robbery will occur—or who will disappear. Undoubtedly, train robbers like the James-Younger gang are still a menace, and occasionally outright kill a person, but these robberies where passengers are taken off the train, never to be seen again, are of the utmost concern. Of course, the plunder is often returned, but a life is more valuable than any gold or jewels.”

  Given with our own successful business, we didn’t really need the money, we often left the spoils behind where it could be found. “We need to keep the money this time,” I said. “We’ll need money to survive and who knows if we’ll be around to collect any money from the saloon if we can even arrange to sell it. I mean, when we leave town, and there’s another train robbery, that will be highly suspicious.”

  “I agree,” Stephen said. “Don’t like the idea, but sadly, it’s easier to survive with money than without.”

  When night fell, we saddled up our horses and packed up our supplies on an extra horse and took off for the train tracks.

  I’d left a note behind that Stephen and I were splitting up and I was returning to my husband and would be selling the saloon. Even though we stayed in separate rooms, there were those who speculated Stephen and I were a couple, especially since Stephen kept his romance with Virginia a secret. Might as well exploit that belief. In the meantime, the banker would take care of the employee’s salaries and arranging the sale. I had already spoken to him.

  It was uncertain if my plans would actually come to fruition if they determined that Stephen and I were actually the kidnapping train robbers.

  It was a long night, I was more on edge, but I wasn’t sure why. Stephen felt it, too.

  “I don’t know why but I have a bad feeling,” he said. “I guess the way Virginia was talking about her mother has made me antsy. What if Mama Broadbent did contact someone and they’re staking out the train?”

  “We could always abandon the robbery
,” I suggested. “We aren’t destitute, we do have some cash so we could get by without money. We could go back to your tribe and stay a while until things calm down and then start over somewhere else. Shoot, with our talents, we could win money in a poker game, maybe we could head for the Mississippi river boat gamblers.”

  “All true. We’re already here though, let’s see how things progress.”

  “I’d say you were simply pining for Virginia, except I’m feeling it, too. Something is going to happen tonight, but I don’t know if it’s good or bad.”

  “My vote is on bad,” Stephen said.

  “I’ll be super alert with scanning the passengers’ minds tonight,” I promised.

  Dawn broke. The train was due at about 7 am. It was time to take our positions.

  Everything went like clockwork until we chose our victims. When we took them outside, several things happened at once. Surprisingly, Virginia rode up hard on a winded horse.

  “Stephen, my mother contacted the Rangers, it’s a trap!”

  At the same moment, the doors opened on a freight car and a half-dozen Texas Rangers jumped out, armed to the teeth, looking almost like Mexican bandoleros with their criss-crossed gun belts across their chests.

  “Stop right there,” one of the Rangers commanded.

  We froze momentarily until I saw Andrei was among the Rangers. What?

  Stephen noticed him, too. We both made a move, the Rangers cocked their guns.

  Virginia apparently panicked and kicked her horse forward, screaming “No!”

  One Ranger with an itchy finger pulled the trigger, and a shot rang out. At that point, as the saying goes, all hell broke loose as Stephen and I and Andrei burst into action at the same time as the Rangers.