by L. M. Justus
Sarah spent the next hour or so dancing with Reed and the others, and she had to admit she was enjoying herself. While she, Reed, and Trudy had been reluctant at first, the vampires had refused to let them stand awkwardly at the edges of the dance floor watching, and eventually they’d relaxed and let the music work its magic. The two–or was it three?–drinks she’d consumed had undoubtedly helped lower her inhibitions. Of course Reed was cold sober because he couldn’t drink anything–being a vampire– but he was also having a great time.
Nathaniel had attracted a posse of women admirers, but it was obvious he had eyes only for Trudy. Sarah was thrilled to see everyone happy for once.
Unfortunately, the upbeat moment came to a sudden halt when she sensed her sister’s fear and panicked thoughts. Sarah grabbed Reed’s arm and yelled, “Sophie’s in trouble!”
He looked startled, but immediately began looking over the crowd. His nostrils flared as he scented the air. Without waiting for her, he darted into the mass of dancers, heading toward the restroom area at the back of the club.
Sarah elbowed her way after him, desperate to get to Sophie. Her sister’s mental cries for help screamed into Sarah’s brain. A group of men were trying to take advantage of her.
A growl of frustration escaped through her clenched teeth. If only these people would get out of her way!
Reed
I picked out Sophie’s unique odor from the sweaty, booze-scented air of the club. The crowd slowed me down, but I barged through to the back of the building as quickly as I could. A narrow hallway curved to the right past the restroom line-ups to a dead end at a closed door, where I finally found Sophie. I felt a flash of relief at seeing her, but rage quickly replaced that feeling.
Some creep had Sophie pressed against the wall with a hand up her skirt. Two of the guy’s buddies hovered beside them, leering and shouting. When Sophie struggled to shove them away, they joined forces to hold her in place.
Adrenaline roared through my veins and my fangs ripped out of my gums. I grabbed one of the men by his shirt and threw him backward. He hit the wall behind me with a loud crack.
The two remaining men had turned and seen me in my angry, vampiric glory. Shocked, they stood completely frozen, jaws slack. I wrapped my hand around the throat of the one who’d been groping Sophie and lifted him into the air. He was dead meat.
I squeezed tighter and he clawed at my hands to get free. Several onlookers surrounded us and I realized things were getting out of hand. I released the man and he fell to the floor gasping for breath. Instead of cowering in the corner, Sophie came over and kicked him in the groin. He shouted, curling into a fetal position.
“Sophie!” Sarah shouted, shoving through the crowd to her sister.
Strong hands clamped onto my shoulders and spun me around. “Hey!”
“Come with me,” Nathaniel said.
I glanced back at the girls to make sure they were okay before letting him drag me to the men’s restroom. I caught a glimpse of the King, who was probably coming to do some damage control. My protective instinct had taken control, but in rescuing Sophie, I definitely hadn’t done a very good job of keeping the vampires’ secret.
Nathaniel shoved me into one of the bathroom stalls, followed me in, and latched the door.
“You must calm yourself,” he said. At first, I’d thought he was angry with me, but his eyes were filled with concern.
I ran my tongue along my teeth and felt the sharp points of my fangs. I leaned my forehead against the cool metal wall and took a few deep breaths. At last, my fangs retracted.
Nathaniel waited patiently, breathing slowly. If he’d been all pissy with me and started giving me a lecture, he would have fueled my fire even more. His calm attitude was exactly what I needed.
“I don’t know why I got so angry,” I said. “I don’t even like Sophie.”
“Mmm,” Nathaniel replied, his dark eyes scanning my face. Seemingly satisfied I was good to go, he turned and let us out of the stall. I gritted my teeth when I noticed the curious stares of the other men in the restroom.
The rest of our group stood waiting in the hallway for us.
“We’re going to head back,” Sarah said.
“Of course,” Nathaniel replied.
Everyone went toward the exit and I followed without saying anything. I wasn’t sure if I’d get in trouble for losing control at the club, but the King had barely spared me a glance.
Once we’d stepped outside into the cold winter night, Marcel finally turned to face me.
“Perhaps you should go for a walk to cool down. There is a beautiful park approximately three blocks in that direction,” the King suggested kindly, pointing. “If we head home without you, will you be able to find your own way back to our lair?”
“Uh, sure, I guess. But . . .”
He placed a hand on my shoulder. “I am not angry, if that worries you,” he reassured me. “I think we were able to mesmerize most of the humans and make them forget what they’d seen. Relax. Enjoy the night.”
I blew out a breath, which clouded in the cold air. “Okay. Do I need a chaperone?”
“That will not be necessary. My vampire scouts are aware you’re our guest and will leave you alone.” He smiled and peeked over at Sarah. “You could take your girlfriend with you, if you like. Unless she prefers to stay with her sister.”
Sarah looked torn, but before she had a chance to consider, Sophie said, “No, you go ahead, Sarah. I’ll be fine and I’m not hurt or anything. The worst part is that I feel embarrassed and annoyed Reed had to come to my rescue. But, thanks by the way,” she added, glancing at me shyly.
“Yeah, no problem. I’m glad you’re okay,” I said.
“Then enjoy your respite and take your time,” the King said to me. “There are still four more hours until sunrise.”
“Right,” I said. Clearly, he still didn’t know I was able to walk around in daylight. I was tempted to blurt it out, but speaking without thinking had gotten me in a lot of trouble lately, so I kept my mouth shut.
After checking with her sister one more time, Sarah agreed to let Sophie return to the vampire’s lair without her. The others left and Sarah and I went in the opposite direction toward the park the King had indicated.
Sarah grasped my bare hand and I felt her warmth through her mitten. “Never a dull moment,” she said.
I snorted. “No kidding.”
It was so late at night–or early in the morning more likely–that the streets appeared empty. I could smell humans somewhere not too far away though, maybe heading home from the club.
Sarah stopped walking and I halted beside her. She had a faraway look in her eyes.
“Hey, are you all right?” I said.
“I’m picking up something strange.”
I looked around in alarm. When I swung my gaze to my right, I spotted someone standing in the shadow of a building. He nodded.
I frowned at him.
Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my left arm. I tore my gaze away from the stranger to figure out what had hurt me. A dart of some sort had stabbed right through my jacket.
Sarah gasped. “Ow!” A dart stuck out of her arm too.
“What the hell?” I felt two more stings, one in my other arm and one at the base of my neck. Sarah swayed and I caught her as she fell.
I tried to lift her and run, but my legs had turned to lead. It was all I could do to lower her to the ground without dropping her. Two more darts hit me and I struggled to breathe. I looked at my hand and turned my palm upward in disbelief. My fingers looked hugely fat; at least three times their normal size. Then they became blurry and my thoughts grew fuzzy. The snowy ground came up and hit me in the face.
My head throbbed and I felt awake, but I couldn’t open my eyes or move.
“Listen to me.” It was Sarah’s voice. “You need to find him some blood right away or he might lose control when he wakes up. You pumped him full of enough tranquilizers to take out a h
erd of elephants for Christ’s sake. I don’t know how much blood he’ll need to make up for that kind of assault on his body.”
“Where are we going to find blood?” a man’s voice said.
“I have no idea, but you’d better find it quick or else get the hell out of here. I know he’ll be able to break out of those ropes like they’re made of thread, and if he takes your blood by force he could kill you by mistake,” Sarah answered.
“But if we leave, won’t he attack you?”
A pause. “Yeah, he might. If anyone has a chance of keeping him in control though, it’s me. I understand why you guys abducted us, but you’re in way over your heads.”
What the heck was going on? Why couldn’t I move? I willed my eyes to open as hard as I could. A grunt escaped my lips.
“Shit! He’s waking up,” someone yelled.
“Go!” Sarah shouted.
My eyes popped open and my vision was tinted red. Two men stood a few feet away from me, staring and frozen still. God, I was thirsty.
I leapt off the table I’d been strapped to, snapping through my bindings with no effort. The men scrambled to get away, but they were no match for my superior speed and strength. I grabbed the closest one and drew his neck to my mouth. He screamed when my fangs bit through his skin and I drank while holding his flailing body in place.
I finished quickly and sealed the punctures with my saliva. I released the stranger and he fell to the floor, scrabbling away on hands and knees.
He turned to me, his face a mask of horror. “Am I infected now?”
“Who the hell are you people? And where . . . oh, crap,” I said, as my body melted into a sleepy puddle on the floor. “Not again,” I mumbled just before losing consciousness.
I opened my eyes and sat up. I was on a carpeted floor next to a set of dining room furniture. Broken lengths of rope hung off the table and one of the chairs lay on its side. A curtained window framed the inky black sky of night. Was it still the same night that we’d been at the club?
I couldn’t have been out too long; my death following an emergency feed was usually much shorter than after a full feeding. I hadn’t the slightest clue how long I’d been down for the count the first time though, after the tranquilizer attack.
I swiveled my head around to gain my bearings; there were two doorways, one leading to a kitchen and a larger one open to a living room. Sarah was seated in the latter with two strangers. It looked like they’d been chatting, but stopped when I woke up.
“I’m so confused,” I said, shaking my head.
“Reed, this is Justin,” Sarah said, indicating the guy on her left, “and Alexandre.”
I stood up, eying the men warily. I would have asked Sarah if she was okay, but she seemed downright chummy with these guys. They all shared a single couch, with a laptop set up on the coffee table in front of them.
The two strangers were both average-looking guys, and looked to be in their mid-twenties. Justin had a long, lean build and curly auburn hair, the other was stockier, with shaggy blond hair hanging over his eyes.
“They’re vampire hunters,” Sarah continued. “Sort of.”
“Sort of?” I said.
“No offense,” she added apologetically, looking at the men. “They’re not nearly as organized as the group Trudy was a part of, that’s all. Also, it’s just the two of them.”
Justin said, “Sarah has been teaching us about vampires. It seems we still have a lot to learn. Until we met you, we didn’t know vampires could be . . . well, not killers.”
He rubbed his neck absently and I realized he was the one I’d munched on earlier. I could have apologized, but I didn’t feel sorry about biting him; it was his fault I’d needed to feed after all.
I remained standing in the entryway between the dining and living rooms, a few feet away from them. “So . . . you somehow figured out I’m a vampire, and therefore assumed I was a psychotic killer. Then you shot us up with a load of tranqs and kidnapped us. Meanwhile, Sarah managed to convince you we’re not actually murderous monsters. What else did I miss?”
“Wait until you hear their story,” Sarah said. “It’s not that different from yours, and I know you’ll understand. Go ahead, Alexandre” she prompted.
He took a deep breath and began. “My brother was murdered several months ago, at the same dance club you were at this evening, Le Cachot Noir.”
“Alexandre’s brother was my best friend,” Justin added.
“We saw the killer,” Alexandre continued. “He had fangs like you and he moved inhumanly fast. It seemed impossible, but he did something to control the minds of the witnesses; he made people forget what they’d seen. We escaped before he had a chance to do the same to us and erase our memories. We reported what happened to the police, but no one believed us. We’ve been hanging out at the club ever since, waiting to catch the killer ourselves. When we saw you, we were convinced you were one of his kind and we thought our opportunity for revenge had come.”
I looked at Sarah. “Isn’t it supposed to be rare for vampires to lose control and kill humans? This is like the fourth or fifth time we’ve heard about a similar kind of murder. It’s getting ridiculous.”
She shrugged. “I’m as baffled as you are. I explained to them that we just arrived here in Montreal and we don’t know the vampires from this area very well yet. As far as I can tell though, none of them are the ancient and crazy type, so I can’t explain the reason behind this kind of attack.”
“What did the vampire look like?” I asked the men.
“He had messy, dark, shoulder-length hair, black eyes like sapphires, and pale skin,” Alexandre said.
Sarah and I shared a glance. “That could be anyone,” I said.
“It could even be Marcel, the King,” she said. “Although his hair isn’t messy and I think his eyes are a light color. I suppose if his hair was messy and he was in a darkly lit club . . .”
“We can’t jump to conclusions,” I said.
“Definitely not,” she agreed. “But we can talk to Marcel. He seems perfectly sane. I didn’t get a chance to tell you earlier, but I read his mind and he’s not crazy.”
Justin gave Sarah a strange look. “You can read minds?”
She groaned. “And to think I never used to tell anyone about that.”
Before the conversation got any more complicated, I said, “Okay, I understand where you guys are coming from, but I’m guessing it’s been a couple of hours since you tranked us, and we need to get back to the Montreal vampires’ house. They’re going to start to wonder where we are. I promise, if we can help you track this vampire down, we will. As the victim of a similar attack, trust me, I’m all for finding him and making sure he doesn’t have the chance to kill again. But we really need to get going now.”
“Yes, of course,” Alexandre said. “I’ll give you our number so you can contact us.”
“I swear we’ll look into it and let you know what we find out,” I said.
“Sorry about attacking you,” Justin said. “We didn’t know.”
“Whatever,” I said and sighed. “I’m almost getting used to it. And here’s a little piece of advice: don’t try to kidnap any more vampires or you’re going to get eaten.”
Nathaniel
Everyone was in a somber mood when they returned to the Montreal vampires’ residence. Reed and Sarah had gone on a wintry walk around town while the rest of the group wanted nothing more than to warm up and get some rest.
After removing their footwear and coats, they filed into the house. Gabriel stepped ahead and stopped at the base of the stairs leading to the upper floor. “Ladies, I will show you to your rooms if you’ll follow me. We have plenty of space upstairs as we have little use for bedrooms exposed to sunlight during the day.”
“I could really use a shower,” Sophie said. Her eye make-up was a smeared mess and her blond hair a disheveled mop.
Trudy rested a hand on Sophie’s arm. “Are you sure you’re okay?�
�
“Yeah, I’m just tired. And I feel . . . dirty. A hot shower will fix everything.”
“All right, if you say so,” Trudy said, her eyes lingering on Sophie as though she didn’t quite believe her.
Sophie turned to follow Gabriel up the stairs and the King bade them goodbye before heading to the basement. Trudy stalled for a moment, darting a shy glance at Nathaniel.
Unsure what to say, he tried to shove his hands in his pockets but discovered the jeans he had borrowed from the King were too tight to do so.
“Well, then–” he began.
Two vampires appeared at the top of the basement stairs, interrupting Nathaniel. He didn’t recognize either one of them and assumed they were other members of the Montreal vampire contingent.
Trudy gave a sharp intake of breath as they passed down the hallway. They were deep in conversation and barely gave him and Trudy a nod of acknowledgment before donning outdoor wear and exiting the house.
A strong odor fueled by a mix of emotions assailed Nathaniel’s nose: fear, disbelief, and . . . intense fury. He turned to Trudy, who stood trembling with her fists clenched.
“Trudy! Whatever is the matter?”
“It’s him. I can’t believe it. How can he be here? He didn’t even recognize me!” Her voice broke and a sob escaped as she brought her hand to her mouth.
“Who is it?” Nathaniel asked.
“He’s . . .” she sniffed, “he’s the one . . .” A tear rolled down her cheek and she was unable to continue. She removed her glasses and wiped her eyes.
“The one . . .” he echoed, his voice drifting off, at a loss for words. He wanted to stop her weeping, but he was sadly out of practice offering consolation. “Please, it will be all right.”
She moved close to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest. Her shoulders shook as she cried and tears soaked into his shirt. He embraced Trudy somewhat awkwardly and caressed her back in a manner he thought appropriately reassuring.
