Vampire

by Amy Mah

  Amy quickly looked around to check if they were still alone. Female vampires bounced about with hardly anything on, yet here she was, feeling shy showing a male her teeth!

  She opened her mouth and yawned to get the best effect as they descended into place.

  “Wow! Those are magnificent! Real old bloodline, and you polish!!”

  “Oft coft I polift!”

  Sliding the fangs back into place, Amy tried again. Another thing the movies had wrong was the ability to talk with your fangs out.

  Max Male and Cute

  “Of course I polish! Twice a day! My aunt says it makes a cleaner bite, and I also file the points. It is hard work, and nobody even notices!”

  “Well, I have noticed. Would you like to see mine?”

  “Err, okay.”

  Amy watched as he yawned, and now she knew why females did not fight males. The only word she could think of to describe his teeth was lethal; they were far, far longer than hers or her uncle’s. This male’s fangs looked like they would not just rip out a throat but could remove an arm or leg with a single bite.

  He closed his mouth and smiled. “Well, what do you think?”

  “I have not seen many fangs: not male fangs, anyway. The only time I have seen them in anger was when I killed a male that was attacking my uncle, and his were only a bit larger than mine. But yours are real fangs; I’m impressed!”

  “Wow! No, no, I’m the one impressed; you killed a male! I have never killed a male! You, a young female, killing a male: no matter how crappy his fangs were, that is still very impressive.”

  “No, not really; it was just luck. He ran a sword though me, and instead of killing me off as he should, he looked up to show off to the others, and that was when I took out his throat.”

  “Didn’t you get into trouble?”

  “No; I think they said it was a self-inflicted wound for being so stupid to let a female’s jaws get so close to his throat without her being in heat. And no one said anything else about it, as my uncle’s friends killed the others and said it was a mass suicide pact.”

  “I would still have liked to have seen it. You know how it is; unless you have been walking the earth since the dinosaurs, you are just too young to be allowed to do anything interesting.”

  “But you are a male! Males can do anything!”

  “Huh! Someone needs to tell my parents that! I’m the only male on our branch of the family for 300 years, and they won’t even let me dress myself. I still get bathed and dressed by famula! And you girls are so lucky running about the place in flowing clothes! I have to look like a, a-”

  “An up-market restaurant waiter?” Amy asked.

  “Yes, and just feel my shirt collar; it’s starched! Cuts the crap out of my neck. It’s not so much a shirt for vampires as it is a vampire shirt! I never go anywhere because they say it could be dangerous, and I still have to walk around from dusk to dawn in a starched collar!”

  “Well, at least you have underwear; if it was not for my aunt believing in modesty in a girl, every time the wind blows down the corridors, you could check me for ownership!”

  The male produced his musical laugh again. “You will get caught if you do it too often, you know.”

  Amy almost stopped breathing. “Do what?”

  “Sneaking out here to watch the sunrise, of course.”

  “Err, is it that obvious?”

  “Yes. It’s against all the rules, so it’s done all the time, but you still have to be careful not to get caught.”

  “You’re not going to tell on me, are you?”

  “No, but you couldn’t have been out in the sun before, as you brought all the wrong stuff with you. I think your human clothes are really cool, but you will need to bring a blanket next time or you could get the crap burnt out of you on the way back in.”

  Amy decided that it would be best not to argue; the less he knew of her being a day walker (or rather, an overcast, cloudy-day walker), the better. She was safe-ish in sunlight; well, she got sunburnt on a dull day, but she didn’t act as a walking firelighter, as was the common belief with the humans.

  From the safety of the hut, she watched the sunrise, and even from the shade, it was a lot brighter than she expected.

  “Wow, that is bright!”

  “Yes, and that is through special night-glass. We forget how dark we have it in the nest, and you must be a deep-downer. What are you, about level 192-ish?”

  “No, level 210, and I counted every level on the way up. I started out dressed as a maid, which meant I could not take the elevator! It took me hours! But how did you know I’m a-err- a deep downer?”

  He looked a little shy.

  “Sorry. The pink bats on your panties are kind of a giveaway, as well as making you cute and crazy in a way that gives me a mega boner when you wriggle your booty. Oh, and the reason why I would know is that your family ownership on your left hip also looks a bit like a bat.”

  Amy swallowed, ignoring the parts of the conversation she guessed were rude.

  “Yes, and it does kind of look bat-ish, and a bit pink, and totally gross as well. Plus, if you think of playing the male and asking to see it, I will bite you, as we have not been introduced. I can’t even tell you my name, but if you have some paper I could write it down.”

  “Holy crap! Forget that; they call me Maxamillion blah, blah, blah! And yes, I know it’s silly, so just call me Max. And what do they call you?”

  “Amy Mah-err-creature of the night, so just Amy, if you please,” said Amy.

  “Now that is a nice name; short, and it has a nice ring to it. You can’t make it any shorter, or it would be a single letter, and you can’t make it sound rude. Crap! You are so lucky to have a name like that!”

  He moved forward, slowly moving his face to one side as he got closer. Amy knew what was going to happen, and she did not know what to do. He’s going to kiss me! she thought. OMG, he’s going to kiss me! What the hell should I do? Wow! Well, it is only a kiss, and why not?

  Amy was even more surprised when he didn’t kiss her but instead said, “Yes, those are the prettiest fangs I have ever seen.”

  Amy was still ready for his kiss, so before his words registered she found that she had puckered her lips and pressed them to his cheek. This was far worse. She had in fact sort of kissed him; it was only by accident, but SHE had kissed HIM!

  Then it was his turn to make a big mistake. “Wow! You’re not in heat, are you?”

  Her face did not have time to turn red as her body knew what to do and it did not involve colors. She expected that most girls had practiced in their minds how to slap a boy’s face for just this sort of occasion. It was just that with vampire strength and a perfectly manicured set of claws, even a male vampire with the best set of fangs she had ever seen outside a wildlife film would receive a slap he would remember for a long time.

  As he lay on the floor, Amy pulled on her top and jeans, throwing the other stuff back in the bag. She left the hut, thinking Now I really do have a reason to run off; how could he? Bastard! How could he be so “I’m so wonderful, just look at my teeth,” and think that I wanted to mate with him!

  It was at that point that Amy screamed. It felt like she was being hit by acid, and she screamed.

  She ceased screaming when she noticed that the pain suddenly stopped and that she was back in the hut. Next to her was the male, and he had his arm holding a blanket tightly around her. She saw that his right hand was very badly blistered and was shaking with the effort to hold her.

  “Are you all right?” she asked, as she had never seen such a bad burn and felt a little sick. She had to look away as he was blowing on it to cool it down.

  “Wow, ow, ow, ow! Crap, does that sting! Yes, I’m fine; it was only a few seconds, so no real harm done. But you! You should be dead! Yee gods, you must have skin like a crocodile to get away with just sunburn.”

  Amy looked at her hands and guessed that her face would be the same: sunburned. But wit
hout Max’s help, she could have been barbequed. She did not understand it; the sun was never a problem before. She just must have been underground for too long.

  “Thank you; it was hotter than I expected. How’s your hand?”

  “Oh, I’m fine. I’ve been burned lots of times and I have some special blood with these fancy herbs that help heal burns. I’ve got some with me for just this problem; give it try. It’s green and tastes a bit like crap, but its herbal so it has to be healthy. And sorry for my comment about being in heat and all. It was in very bad taste, and I deserved that slap, but it’s just what I always say to my sisters when they do something that surprises me. They slap me as well, but never, never so hard! If I didn’t believe you could kill a male before, I do now. That blow knocked me off my feet! A single blow from a young female floored me! All three of my sisters together couldn’t do that! I just thank the gods no one saw me, or I would be a laughingstock throughout the whole nest.”

  “Why are you so convinced that I am young? We can look any age, can’t we? Even my uncle gets confused over my age, so how are you so certain?”

  “That’s easy, silly; adults are stupid and vain. All vampires are vain, and we can only look younger but not older, which is why we are both stuck like this. No one who can look like a fantastic, handsome human in their late 20s would want to look like me, so ergo…”

  “How’s your herbal blood with scratches?”

  “Oh, the face, you mean? Nah, that will give me some street cred, and it will heal in a couple of days. If I am not pushing my luck, can I have a look at your claws? They must be awesome!”

  “Perhaps another time. I should be getting back before I’m missed.”

  “Okay, I will show you the best way back so you don’t have problems with the dumb guards. They are only crappy humans, but for some reason, you get in real trouble if you kill one. It’s not like they are a protected species or anything like that: they are just pet meat. As they say, ‘What do you call an animal that has no fight or flight instincts?’ Lunch!”

  He stopped talking and started checking his pockets, then gave up and instead took a chain from his neck and handed it to her. Amy did not take it; she had had enough problems with rings in the past, so she just looked at it then back at him.

  “Err … it’s pretty; what is it?”

  “We call it a modesty disc. Dad has them made. It’s made up from melted old pet rings, so it’s magic and will give someone one hell of a burn if they try and remove it without your permission. If you hold it tight, it makes the other discs vibrate when we want to have a meeting, but it’s main purpose is to show off the design. Only firsts have gold circle designs. Wearing it shows everyone that you are an alpha, and as we are high-ranking, it gives extra privileges, such as walking about outside.”

  “The disc fashion for alpha girls started years ago when it was a crazy trend for every horny male to insist upon every passing girl showing family markings as soon as they moved to a different level. My sisters asked Dad to do something as they were sick of males demanding to check if they were from our nest, as if it was not obvious, as we all stink of it! You do know we all stink of it, don’t you?”

  “They have told you about the smell, haven’t they? They haven’t! Well, you smell. I smell; we all smell of mouldy old socks; the graveyard smell as the meat would call it. Forget all that crap that males give female about checking if she is a family member. It’s only to get her to lift her nightdress and give him an eyeful; that’s all. The smell is the real marking that tells everyone if you are a nest member or not. If you didn’t smell, you would not live long in the nest.”

  Amy had gotten lost over the idea of being in a nest, let alone smelling of it.

  “I shower three times a day and bathe once a day. Don’t ask why! I’m just so bored, and I get extra TV channels if I stay clean. Therefore, I don’t smell of any nest, let alone socks, okay?”

  He smiled as dropped the chain, complete with a small gold disc, over her neck and stepped back.

  “Sorry. Washing won’t help. It’s in the water; it’s in the air. It was in the gunk that penetrated your body when you had your family mark branded on your hip. It’s in your blood, and you sweat it out of your pores. Why, even the pet meat smells of it!”

  “When you go back in after being in the fresh air, you will see what I mean. Every nest smells differently, which is why all the security is crap. If a human or non-nest vamp were to try and walk in uninvited, they would be attacked by the first vampire to see them. Why do you think it’s called a nest? Sorry, but you do smell of the nest. If not, I would have killed you when I found you in the hut. Come on, let’s get in before the sun gets any higher.”

  Max then looked at Amy from head to toe and sighed.

  “Your aunt will definitely notice those burns unless you can hide from her for about three days. Can you do that?”

  Amy made a face to show her contempt at the idea of trying to hide from her aunt, but all it did was cause pain as her skin just cracked in the attempt to change expression.

  “No, I didn’t think so. Oh, you are so lucky that I’m so gentile as to help a lady in distress.”

  Max took off his jacket, followed by his waist coat. His shirt had floppy sleeves like her uncle’s, but he spoiled the poet effect by having a cravat held in place by elastic, which got stuck behind an ear when he tried to take it off.

  Amy found herself almost spellbound as he pulled his shirt over his head in the sexy way boys did; at least, it would have been sexy if he had remembered to undo the neck button first. Instead, he looked more like a caterpillar failing to turn into a butterfly. Mind you, if he removed his pants next, then he would be one butterfly speaking in a high voice.

  Amy was surprised at how nice he looked. He wouldn’t make a football player, but he was fit and looked to have muscles in all the right places. In the suit, he looked more like an overgrown puppy, but out of it, he looked very, very nice. Amy only realized that she was staring with her mouth open when he smiled at her.

  She looked to one side with sudden interest in the texture of the wooden panelling and hoped that the sunburn would hide the all-over, mega blush that suddenly enveloped her from the tips of her ears to her toes. Amy knew it was not her fault; she just hadn’t seen a boy for so long. The last crush she had had was on Naruto, and she’d had to learn Japanese to work out that he loved someone else. It was understandable; her blushing was only embarrassment and not because she had a strange urge to run her fingers over his chest.

  “The fresh scar here,” he said, pointing to a red, still-inflamed area, “is from a sword wound that is still healing from this morning. I can now have the pleasure of seeing your lovely fangs in action, as you will need to bite me just here.” He pointed to a section in the scar that would have a good vein under it.

  “What are you talking about? No way am I going to have you mark me as yours!”

  Max looked at her to see if she was joking.

  “Wow! You are dumb.” Seeing the way she looked at him, he quickly added, “but I like that in a female.”

  Then he carried on. “Being an alpha, my blood is very rich in err… all kinds of stuff, and it will help your burns heal within a couple of hours. The reason for biting into my scar is so my maids won’t see the bite mark bruising under the skin. Don’t forget, it’s only the surface skin that heals with a lick, and I can hardly tell my parents that I’m letting girls bite me.”

  Amy was not sure if this was a trick, but at least he wasn’t asking her to suck his fingers, so she closed her eyes, traced a blood vessel with her tongue and slowly pierced it with her teeth.

  “Wow! You are so gentle, and you have such nice little hands. What more could a boy hope for with a girlfriend on our first date?”

  Amy nearly choked and almost forgot to lick-seal the wound before getting up in a hurry.

  “Girlfriend? I am not your girlfriend! What is wrong with having small hands? And this is not a date
!”

  Max gave Amy a hound-dog smile, which was so good he must have practiced it in a mirror.

  “No? Okay, perhaps it is just me, but when a girl takes her clothes off in front of a guy, followed by kissing and biting and no money is paid, I was under the impression that it must be a date. Has no one explained to you why boys like girls with small hands? I could tell you, but it would be more fun to show you.”

  “No! Whatever it is, it must be rude!” Amy snarled. “And you know it was nothing like that”

  She turned away, but not so much that she could not watch him dress. At the end he finished by slipping on a pair of black leather gloves, then flipped his hoodie over his head and held it in place with the earphones. Amy wrapped the blanket around herself so well that she looked like across between an Eastern European refugee from some war zone or a very devout follower of an eastern religion.

  Max lead the way back, as the sun was so bright that all Amy could do was stare at the ground from the folds of the blanket. Without any careful sneaking about, Max went straight for the main entrance where they were stopped by fully armed human guards (pet meat). Max snarled and produced a very interesting selection of swear words as he pushed the leading man to one side and stepped into the shade, pulling Amy after him.

  Amy sat on the floor with just her head visible from inside the folds of the blanket and watched Max act the normal vampire. To her, he was a teenager, but with a flick of his hand the earphones were removed and the hoodie was pulled back. The men faced not a teenager but a male vampire with lots of inbred arrogance to go with a teenage boy’s desire to show off in front of a girl. The men were either very well-trained, stupid, or both. To a vampire, all they looked like was a small buffet, and no one wanted a plate of burger and beans to hold a gun to you on your own doorstep.