There Can Only Be One

by Sa'id Salaam

  "Are you you going to kill me, too?" the suddenly sober woman stuttered.

  "Nah, you're killing your self. Go home," Kristine said over her shoulder and did the same. She felt refreshed from the meal and knew plasma would never satisfy her again. She was now one of the monsters she hunted her whole life.

  CHAPTER 6

  "Hey, baby! How was your trip?" Kristine gushed when her husband returned from his trip out west. He didn't get to respond quickly enough and she rushed over and shoved her tongue into his mouth. She leapt into the air and wrapped her legs around his back.

  "Great actually," Prince replied when she finally got off of him. He opened his mouth to tell her about the trip then stopped short when he noticed the changes in her.

  "What?" she asked of his squinting as he gave her a once over.

  "What is what did you do?" he asked and twisted his lips at the bull she started to come with. She let out a deep sigh, lowered her head and came clean.

  "It's so good, baby! So fresh! So clean!" Kristine sang and actually did a twirl.

  "It is, but we don't want to become part of the problem we're supposed to fix," he reminded.

  "I know, I know but they really deserved it! There are plenty of bad people in this city. In every city. It's like killing two birds with one stone."

  "Or two fangs," Prince added and came on board. Now not only were New York's vampire population in trouble, so was it's bad guys. He pulled himself away and went to his son's room for a peek. It was too late to play but after a week away, he wanted to at least look at the boy.

  "Daddy! I mean sup, pops," young Martin greeted when Prince stuck his head in the room to check on him.

  "Sup, buddy. Why aren't you asleep?" he asked as he came over and took a seat on his bed.

  "I was until I felt you come in. It was loud," the child said and stole a hug.

  "Heard me come in?" Prince asked since he was pretty sure he was pretty quiet. Especially since he had extra insulation put in his son's room since he and his wife could get pretty loud when they made love which was pretty often.

  "I felt you. I always feel you and mommy. And Melcina. And the lady in the park," he said.

  "What lady in the park?" Prince asked and felt light headed at the thought. He knew Katrina would find them. Just didn't think it would be so soon. They weren't ready to face her yet. "A white lady?"

  "A Chinese lady. She sells hot dogs," he said and Prince frowned curiously. It was too late to do anything about it now, so he kissed his child on the forehead and tucked him back in. He wasn't sure how, but he had a date in the park tomorrow.

  *****

  "I feel like a real clown!" Prince protested after he got dressed.

  "You look like a clown," Kristine seconded when she looked him up and down. He should look like a clown since he had on a full clown costume complete with the baggy clothes, big shoes, wig, and, more importantly, a full face of makeup that would allow him to travel by day.

  "You sure you don't want to come with?" he asked hoping to get her in a clown costume as well. Then he could laugh at her just like she was laughing at him.

  "I'll pass on this one. Just make sure to get her blood. At least a vial," she reminded.

  "I'll get it all if she is a vampire!" he growled. They both wondered if vampires hadn't somehow morphed again. First, there was BimBo who neither could sense. Then, vampires growing back body parts. And now a possible daywalker in the same park their child played in.

  "Either way," Kristine shrugged since she intended to rid the planet of each and every vampire. They say there can be only one, but that was one too many as far as she was concerned.

  "That must be Evelyn," she added to the chimes ringing throughout the house.

  "I'm not getting it," Prince fussed since he was in full clown regalia. Kristine cracked up again as she went to let the new nanny in. She was taking Martin to the museum today. Just in case the park became a crime scene.

  "Good morning, Mrs. Jones. Is Martin ready?" the sweet lady sang as Kristine let her in.

  "Good morning. He sure is," she replied and turned. "Martin!"

  "Sup, ma," the little boy said sounding a little more like a New Yorker by the day.

  "Miss Evelyn is here to take you to the museum today!" she informed. There was a tense silence as the boy peered into the woman's head. He found no malice and began to nod.

  "Okay, ma," he agreed and grabbed his electronic devices for the road. Kristine called down to the driver so he could be ready. Prince came out the second they cleared the apartment.

  "A'ight, ma. I'm out," Prince mocked and got mushed.

  "You're the one who wanted him to lose his British accent!" she reminded. The child had been born in America but spent his first years of life in England. As a result, he sounded like the king of England. His father was right the rough New York kids would eat him alive if he went to school talking like that.

  "I did," he agreed. She leaned in for a kiss, but Prince pulled back. "Don't mess up my makeup!"

  "Never say that to me again, please," Kristine laughed. She blew him an air kiss as he stepped out. Prince took the stairs in a blur and stepped out into the sun light.

  "Here we go," he said as he felt the sun for the first time since being turned back. He paused for the sizzle and burn but none came. The clown smile painted on masked the real smile underneath as he pranced over to the park.

  "Hot dog! Aningkasao!" the Chinese lady sang in Korean since she actually was Korean. She was smiling, singing, and slinging hot dogs until she felt Prince enter the park. She was weary at first until she saw he was heading directly towards her.

  "Shit!" Prince fussed when the woman took off at an incredible speed. He took a deep breath and took off after her. It looked like a real life cartoon of a cat chasing a mouse as they dipped, dodged, and leapt over benches. Except it was a clown chasing an elderly Korean, Chinese lady which was actually funnier.

  "Ahhh!" the woman screamed when Prince caught up and pounced on her.

  "Who are you! What are you!" he demanded when he pinned her to the ground. She rattled back in rapid fire Korean, but Prince didn't speak that. The best he could do was pull his phone and record her. Then he pulled the syringe and filled it with her blood.

  "Ahhh!" she repeated and dropped dead. Prince stood and glanced around at all the spectators staring at the spectacle. He took a deep breath and turned into a colorful blur as he took off once again.

  "How'd it go? Did you see her? Did you get it?" Kristine demanded as soon as Prince stepped back into the apartment.

  "What's my name?" he asked and cocked his head like a boss. "Of course, I got it. Piece of cake!"

  Kristine snatched the vial of blood and rushed into the spare bedroom that doubled as her lab. Most of the test would take days, but the process was started immediately.

  *****

  "Whew!" Prince cheered as their early morning sexual session came to a mutually climatic ending. Kristine panted and tried to catch her breath. They cuddled up and hit the TV remote to see what was happening in the city.

  “A bizarre scene unfolded in Central Park yesterday...” the reporter reported.

  "Uh oh," Prince said and went for the remote to change the channel. Not that it would have helped since it was on every station.

  "Piece of cake, huh?" Kristine said as the footage of a clown chasing an old lady played on the TV. She could only shake her head as the woman scrambled up trees and over benches with her husband in hot pursuit.

  "Nimble old broad," Prince mumbled when the old lady pulled an NFL worthy juke move and made him miss.

  Kristine just shook her head and rolled off the bed. She put a little jiggle in her walk since she had an audience as she stepped into the bathroom to shower. It was no surprise when Prince came in behind her. The shower took a little longer since they ended up making love under both showerheads.

  "Well, Mr. Clown. I have work to do," she said and wrapped herself in her plush rob
e instead of putting on clothes, so she could get to her lab that much sooner. The woman scientist was a certified lab rat and could spend days in there if left alone. No food or sleep, just numbers and formulas.

  "Let's see what we have!" Kristine cheered and rubbed her hands together when she saw a message from Seoul South Korea. She had sent the video Prince took while he had the woman pinned to a colleague on the peninsula. Kristine skipped the message, ignored the time difference and made the cross continental call.

  "Hello, Kim. What you got for me?" she asked when the call was answered.

  "Let me start with the video of the clown chasing the woman! Oh my God. That was so funny!" she howled with laughter. Kristine tried not to laugh since the clown was her husband. Tried but failed and the two old friends yucked it up for a few minutes.

  "Can we get to the translation, please?" Kristine asked after several minutes had past.

  "Oh my god, you know him don't you! Was that?” she paused and looked. “It is! That's Martin!" Kim exclaimed and set off another round of uproarious laughter.

  "Yes. He was trying to be incognito," she explained without explaining that he was a vampire himself.

  "Or not! Anyway, this is so strange? The woman claims she was given a shot of something when she entered the country. Her and a bunch of other immigrants upon arrival?" Kim translated.

  "Someone is running human trials!" Kristine suggested. It all started to make sense when she put it together. "We've been running into all kinds of strange mutations lately."

  "And the American government is the common denominator!" the Korean offered. The line went silent for several moments while each pondered the ramifications of this development. If this was true then the same government paying them to eliminate vampires were also creating them.

  CHAPTER 7

  "Can you bring me some? Please!" Melcina pleaded when Prince and Kristine prepared to go feed. She had the taste of fresh blood once herself and longed for some more. The synthetic products and plasma were a cheap substitute.

  "Um?" Prince paused to see how he could accommodate her request. Their child was in the next room sleeping or pretending to be sleep so they couldn't have a feeding frenzy in the living room.

  "Sure. We'll bring you some take out," Kristine replied when a bright idea popped in her head. Prince shrugged and nodded since she obviously figured it out. They exited the apartment and headed down the hall.

  "Up or down?" Prince asked when they reached the elevator bank.

  "Up please," she answered with a wicked grin. He pressed the up call button to summon a car.

  A few minutes later, the couple walked out on the roof and overlooked the magnificent city of New York. They both scanned the boroughs trying to decide which way to go. The sound of gunfire could be heard in all directions, so they settled on north.

  Prince walked to the edge of the building and turned around. He cracked a fanged smile at his wife and let himself fall backwards. Kristine leaned over and watched as he plummeted down towards the concrete below. His wings sprang at the last second and he swooped high into the night air.

  "Show off!" she called out and took flight after him. The couple swooped through Central Park and mingled with a flock of real bats. They dipped and dodged with the flying rodents for a few minutes then headed uptown.

  Prince lagged back slightly so he could look at his wife's ass as they flew. She had a mean walk on her but seeing her butt in flight was downright spectacular.

  "There!" she said and pointed below at a group of boys. The Bronx teens were roaming around with their dirty gun robbing and assaulting people.

  "Dinner is served!" he said and followed her down. They landed a block ahead of the boys so they could stumble upon them.

  "Man, that lady only had eight bucks!" the chubby leader named Chubs moaned in disgust. He was mad that the old woman they robbed only had a few bucks. It all went in his pocket since he was the leader. Only because he had the only gun and didn't mind shooting.

  "I can't believe you shot her old ass!" another laughed hysterically. The other two joined in since their leader laughed. The hysteria came to a sudden stop when they turned the corner and saw the man and woman walking towards them

  "Look y'all!" Chub said and looked both ways before pulling the rusty revolver.

  "They look like they got money!" one of the sidekicks kicked. They certainly looked more well off than the old lady they just stuck up. They waited until they were right upon the couple before springing into action.

  "Y'all know what it is!" Chub demanded and shoved the gun into Kristine's face.

  "Can I have the fat one?" Kristine asked her husband as if he were a puppy in a window.

  "Fat ones taste like cake with white icing," Prince advised. "With colorful sprinkles."

  "Oh, I love sprinkles!" she cheered, clapped and bounced up and down. Her excitement quickly waned when she thought about the babysitter. "We'll save him for Melcina."

  "Good idea," Prince said, totally ignoring the attempted robbery in progress.

  "Um, excuse me, but we robbing y'all?" the sidekick said and waved his hand for attention. He would have been better off running for his life but it was too late.

  "Excuse me, but we robbing y'all!" Kristine mocked and cracked her and her husband up.

  "You think it's a game?" Chub snarled and fired at her. Kristine snatched the speeding bullet out of the air and looked at him.

  "You have mommy issues. Did your mom not give you enough attention?" she asked sincerely.

  "She probably propped his bottle on a pillow and went to play cards," Prince added. Chub wanted no parts of what was to come and took off. Kristine and Prince got a good laugh at the fat kid running for his but going nowhere fast.

  They turned to his stunned friends and attacked. Screams filled the still night air as the two vampires fed on the three teens on the street. Prince watched on proudly as his ravenous wife fed from two while he devoured the third. She was becoming quite the animal and he was okay with that.

  "Mmmm! Delish!" Kristine sang with a milk mustache made of blood.

  "Don't forget, Melcina," Prince reminded and nodded ahead at the fat kid who had just made it to the corner.

  "Help! Help me!" the boy pleaded and banged on the door of the corner store. He had been stealing out of this bodega since he was four years old and had no help coming from there.

  "Adios!" the Puerto Rican papi laughed as the vampires descended on him.

  Kristine snatched the chubby youth off of his feet and bolted upward into the sky. Chub fired his gun into her midsection as they ascended.

  "You're tickling me!" she giggled at the bullets hitting her torso and flew away with him

  "Well damn!" Prince exclaimed and took off after her. He caught up as they crossed the river back over Manhattan. Chub got a spectacular tour of the city one last time.

  "I'll go get her," Prince said when they landed back on their own roof and went over the ledge.

  "Show off," she fussed once more as he crawled down the side of the building like a gecko.

  "Is he Spiderman?" the teen asked enthusiastically. The feat wasn't anymore bizarre than flying from the Bronx, but Spiderman excited him.

  "No, he's not Spiderman!" she said and gave him a pop on the back of his head for asking the silly question. It was feeding time once again when Prince returned with Melcina a moment later.

  "Uh oh!" Chub said when he saw the way the babysitter looked at him. Her fangs began to extend as she came near. He took off again but there was nowhere to run.

  Prince and Kristine watched like proud lion parents as their cub made a kill. Melcina had only had human blood when A.J let her feed with him. This was her first kill and she was a natural.

  "Nice," Prince nodded when she jumped on his back and bit his spine to end the pursuit. Chub fell and she landed on top of him.

  Melcina turned Chub's head all the way around so his throat was facing her. She leaned in and took a huge
bite of crime. Chub couldn't even struggle as she drained him dry.

  "Taste like birthday cake!" she cheered, with blood dripping from her chin.

  "With icing?" Kristine asked. She wanted a taste of her own now.

  "And sprinkles!" Melcina nodded. Prince nodded too at the two of them. They were violent and thirsty just how he needed them.

  *****

  "This makes no sense!" Kristine said as she tried to make sense of what was going on.

  "It makes perfect sense. You won't share the cure with them, so they are trying to make one of their own," Prince concluded. The cure was worth billions and governments would rather make the money than spend it.

  "Immigration?" she asked and shook her head. "No, they're using the immigrants as guinea pigs."

  "And causing all sorts of mutations as a result!" Prince growled. That made for unstable creatures who were getting harder to kill. Others like the hotdog lady had traces of vampire that could be detected even if they weren't actually vampires. The lines were deliberately being blurred. Now they needed to find out who.

  "This has to end!" Kristine declared as she thought about the ramifications.

  "This will end!" he assured her since he intended to end it. "Meanwhile..."

  "Yeah, I know," she pouted and twisted her lips. She had stalled and procrastinated long enough. It was time to draw their son's blood so it could be analyzed.

  "I know what that means," Prince said with a pout and a sigh.

  "That makes no sense whatsoever! You're the only vampire on the planet who doesn't like needles!"

  It was true but Prince knew what he had to do. He rolled up his sleeve so he could lead by example. He joined his son playing video games and sat down beside him.

  "Sup, pops," the little New Yorker greeted with a head nod, but without taking his eyes off the screen.

  "Just chilling, homie," he said and grabbed a controller to join him. As planned, Kristine came out a few minutes later in her lab coat.

  "Hey, guys. I need to get blood samples from you both," she said clinically so she wouldn't get any lip.