Kala: That was the last of the decant.
Acacia's gravelled bass: Taipan didn't give him enough. He needs to feed properly. He's caught in the change.
Kala: We need more blood. You want to go milking?
Acacia: Cow's blood isn't enough, not for a pup in the change.
Hippie: Ain't much in the way of livestock around, anyway.
Nigel: Just put him on ice and let Taipan deal.
Hippie: He's dryin' out, man. Got the DTs real bad. It's gonna screw up his change if he don't get fed.
Kala: Hippie's right, he needs fresh blood.
Silence.
Acacia: Don't look at me. He's already got Taipan's juice running through him. He doesn't need mine to confuse things even further.
Another silence, then Nigel: Sorry, I won't bleed for Taipan's new pet.
Kala: We could make a brew, each of us.
Acacia: From the vein, girl. It's not just the go-juice he needs, but the connection.
Kala: Watch my back, 'Cacia?
Acacia: Sure.
Kevin couldn't stand it any longer. He walked into the living room. Four sets of eyes greeted him, all scanning, curious, nervous. Nigel and Kala sat opposite each other across the coffee table, a plate of sandwiches between them. Acacia leaned against the kitchen counter, arms folded.
'Sleeping beauty awakes,' Nigel mumbled.
'How you feeling?' Kala asked.
'Confused,' he said.
Kala's hair hung loose and curling, her blouse knotted at the waist. Under it she wore a white bra, bright against her dark skin. She smelled of musk, of earth; a current passed through his body. 'Still hungry?'
'What's happening to me?'
'You're changing, still,' Kala said. 'You need to feed.'
'I guess bacon and eggs is out of the question.' The joke came out flat and bitter.
'No longer a basic food group.' Kala gestured to the sofa. 'Sit with me.'
When Kevin didn't move, she walked over and took his hand, led him across and pulled him down next to her. She undid her shirt. He felt the radiance of her flesh, dark and toned, and redolent in the aromas he had come to recognise as distinctively Kala.
Her hand caressed his face, the heat intense as her pink palm and fingers brushed his feverish skin. Her fingers caught at the back of his neck, pulling him down.
'Take your time. Be gentle. Acacia will watch over us, so don't be afraid.'
Acacia snorted behind him. 'Yeah, I love to watch.'
'It's okay.' Kala's voice quavered, her hand shook. The pulse in her neck beat like a bass drum.
Kevin shelved his shyness and buried his face in the crook of Kala's shoulder. He pushed the bra strap aside. She held him against her, her breath catching. Her flesh radiated body heat; carried the vibration of her speeding heart.
'Madness,' Nigel said, and stomped off, taking Hippie with him.
'What's his problem?' Kevin asked.
'Exactly that,' Kala said. 'His. He'll have to work it out himself. Forget him. I'm here, I'll look after you.'
He felt Acacia step up behind him, but she and the room quickly faded as his senses submerged into Kala, only Kala. His hands tightened on her firm body, desperate to feel her against him. His tongue lapped her skin and he tasted salt and soap; he smelled coffee and Vegemite and a rising musk that brought saliva gushing to his mouth. He kissed her tight flesh, burning against his lips. She gasped. He licked the pulsing artery, felt her windpipe bobbing with her ragged breath. Blood rushed through her carotid, thrust in a high-pressure stream from the heart. It thundered past like a coal train, then ran back along the jugular. His kiss became more desperate, making her whimper as his lips and tongue probed her skin. His teeth teased, drew a fold of flesh, squeezed, found the artery and held its delicate rush. Squeezed harder. Her back arched, thrusting herself into him, her hand a claw on his neck. There was a sudden throb of gum and tooth. She cried out under him. The gush filled his mouth with salty life. He sucked and sucked, deluged in a scarlet flood that swept away all reason, all awareness, sent him plunging into a whirlpool of desperate, crimson need. Buried in Kala, taking her into himself, Kevin fell into her kaleidoscope of memories, living each moment as though he was her, as they shuttered past, snap-snap-snap, dreamlike but all too real.
Everything is white except her and the road accident victim lying in the bed. Her uniform, the walls, floor, sheets: white. The patient is surrounded by machines, tubes, stands of dangling plastic bags.
Kevin's hand - the dark-skinned fingers long and thin, nails trimmed and neat, but yet undeniably his - reaches down to close the patient's staring eyes. The man blinks.
Snap
Taipan looms over him, thrusting, stoking the rising orgasm to the point where his body is just one, long scream. Taipan's face leans close, fangs glistening with drool, and the pain and pleasure take him higher than he ever thought possible.
Snap
The night is cold against his face, the bike vibrating between his legs, his hands clinging to the solid mass of leather in front as they ride under a full moon.
Snap
The bike stands nearby in a pine forest, the needles spiky and cold under his bare flesh as Taipan dribbles blood from his wrist into Kevin's hungry mouth. Two fingers of Taipan's other hand work between Kevin's legs, igniting a second fire. His strength grows with every scarlet drop he imbibes.
Snap
Taipan looks up, chin streaked with blood, eyes bloodshot, skin glowing. 'What did you just say?'
'I've had enough.' Kevin's voice is strangely yet familiarly feminine. 'I can't go on like this.'
Taipan answers, 'I need what they got.'
'I should be enough for you.'
Taipan stares and the accusation is plain enough to see.
Despair, fear, loneliness rise like bile. Without Taipan, what will he do? What will he be?
And then he gets the call - Taipan's call. And here he is.
Snap
TWELVE
Kevin stared up at the plastic light shade in the centre of the ceiling. He was on the floor, pain in the back of his head fading quickly. Acacia stood nearby with a broken cricket stump in one hand. She still had the pointy end, he noticed.
'Welcome back,' she said as she took a seat on the sofa.
Another piece of stump lay on the floor near him.
'Kala?' he asked, his voice thick, tongue heavy with blood aftertaste. His body was flushed, excited, eager. Yet he felt ashamed; Kala's lifestream still eddied through him, the emotions raw and powerful, making him feel like a trespasser. A trespasser or worse.
'She's okay. I had to let you know when you'd had enough, was all. Just a little whack. No permanent damage done. To either of you.'
Kevin sat up, dizzy with the sudden movement.
'You might like to change.' Acacia pointed at his crotch with the stump.
Splashes of blood spotted his chest; the front of his jeans showed a moist stain. He felt the cold stickiness followed by the burn of embarrassment in his cheeks.
'It happens, but it won't, not as often. After a while, it's all about the blood. Just the blood.' She sounded sorrowful.
Kevin stood, grateful no-one else was around, and went to the bathroom. His nose twitched at the assault of smells - disinfectant, soap, a touch of wood rot, urine. He rinsed his pants, his groin, his face, aware of red cheeks and lips all crazed in the mirror shards on the wall, the whites of his eyes showing bloodshot and pink. He returned to the lounge room where Acacia gave him the once over, then nodded her approval as he headed for the veranda. He hesitated at the door when he saw Kala leaning against the railing. Low, grey clouds promised rain. Storm birds called, answered by the harsh scream of a white cockatoo. It should have been just a normal day, an exciting day with the chance of a break in the long dry, but given what had just happened - the clammy wetness between his legs - it felt untrustworthy. You couldn't drink - feast - on someone's blood and then walk out to an ordina
ry world.
Kala smiled at him, then turned away. 'You can get away with a bit of sunlight when you're green, but the longer you go, the harder it gets. Just watch out that the sunburn doesn't creep up on you.'
'What happens then?'
'You've seen the movies, eh? Kaboom!' She clapped her hands and he flinched.
'You're kidding, right?'
'Yeah, I am. It's just slow and painful and messy. No fireworks.'
He walked over to stand beside her, his hands on the rail. Eyeing the thick clouds, he imagined the sun on the other side, straining to reach through to fry him. His skin crawled, but it was more the swelter of an open oven rather than the blow torch of impending incineration. The discomfort eased as he took in the view, each detail so clear, the line of trees marking the creek as sharp as a cut-out, the breeze cool and refreshing and smelling of rain. Kala's scent rose to tease him, musky and spiced with fresh blood. She'd put her shirt back on, her bare arms pimpled by the chill. A thick patch of sticking plaster covered the left side of her throat. Her skin was pallid, her eyes dark-rimmed.
Kevin swallowed, tore his eyes from the plaster. 'Did I hurt you?'
'I'm used to it,' she said, gaze fixed ahead. 'A couple of big steaks and I'll be fine.'
'I guess I need to thank you.'
'Feeling better?'
'The best.' He gave a nervous laugh.
She turned, grinning, her teeth so white. 'I'm good.'
He looked away, but she kept staring at him until he chuckled. 'Yeah, you're good.'
She asked in a low voice, 'What did you see, you know, inside me?'
'I saw Taipan give you his blood.'
'The secret to my youthful complexion.' She laughed, a touch of bitterness at the fringe, and then grew serious, moving to put her arm around him, her breast pressing against his bicep, her fingers cold. 'Sharing blood's as close as you can get to another person. It's an act of trust.'
If you tell Taipan what we've just done, you and me, he'll kill you
'You okay?' she asked.
'Flashback,' he said. 'Whew. Just between you and me.' His stomach turned with the poison of deceit, even if he didn't fully understand it. 'I promise.'
Nigel leaned through the doorway. 'Sorry to crash the party, but Acacia wants us out the front. Someone's coming.'
THIRTEEN
They stood on the verandah, watching a stain of dust worm closer across the flats, a brown smudge against the grey of the storm-laden horizon. It was as if the vehicle was running from the storm, as well it might - the western sky was thick with dark, roiling clouds; lightning flashed in their innards and a chill breeze carried the smell of wet earth. Acacia and Kala looked apprehensive, biting lips, exchanging glances.
Nigel and Hippie stood next to the panel van, parked with its nose inside the garage with its bonnet raised. Both men clutched sub-machine guns in grease-stained hands. Motorcycle chrome glinted in the depths of the garage; Kala's Monaro was still tucked away in the second bay.
'Car trouble?' Kevin asked.
'Maybe,' Acacia muttered. She'd picked up a stubby assault rifle. Until he'd arrived here, he'd only ever seen those weapons on television. It explained the mess the gang had made of Hunter's four-wheel-drive. Hunter's four-wheel-drive and the servo; he couldn't afford to forget that. 'How's the van?'
'Good as long as you don't wanna go farther than the creek,' Nigel answered, without taking his eyes off the horizon. Silver-rimmed bullet holes spotted the purple paint. Cracks cobwebbed a window.
'Then we'd better hope that's Taipan coming.' She checked the sky, as though he might be parachuting in.
'Well, it won't be the Crawfords, will it?' Kevin snapped.
'No,' she said. 'No, it won't.'
'You just gonna leave them there, like that?'
'We'll burn them when we go. Can't risk the smoke till then.'
'Jesus! Just another "rural tragedy"?'
She shrugged.
'And what happens to me?'
She nodded at the approaching vehicle. 'I guess we're about to find out. It's a Rover, with bikes.' She relaxed her grip on the rifle.
'I'm gonna go wash off,' Nigel said, wiggling his grimy fingers.
'Dig Budgie out of bed, just to be on the safe side.'
Nigel stalked inside.
'Gets nervous, that boy,' Acacia said. 'Stinks like a wet dog. But don't you worry, young Kevin: no one's going to hurt you. You're Taipan's pup; we take care of our own. Nigel's been pestering Tai to come over ever since he joined up. Having you here - it's salt in the wounds.'
'He knows I didn't ask for this, right?'
She nodded and he felt Kala's fleeting touch on his shoulder, a sparrow landing and then taking off again.
'He doesn't see that,' Acacia said. 'Which is probably why Taipan hasn't done it. Ah, speak of the devil.'
They watched the ancient Land Rover beetle along the farm road, escorted by four motorcycles. A squeal of brakes; an urgent squeeze of his hand before Kala wrenched free and Acacia stepped to the stairs, leaving him abandoned at the rail. The vehicles pulled up and a half-dozen Night Riders scrambled from under the Rover's canvas. Kevin gripped the rail, bracing. Taipan dropped lightly from the tailgate.
'You all packed?' he asked Acacia.
'Sandman's still dicey.'
'No other trouble?'
'Just bringing your boy up to speed.'
'And how's that bin workin' out?'
'He's a quick learner.'
'Is that right?' He rubbed his chin. 'Is that right, Kala?'
She shrugged, a movement at the corner of Kevin's vision, and he felt as if he was meeting a date's father the morning after. Her father or her boyfriend. He kept his eyes averted from the weaponry as dread washed over him.
Taipan walked up to them. 'You taste him?' he asked Acacia, his voice a murmur.
'Hell no. He's your pup.'
He snorted, then rounded on Kala. 'How you bin, Kay?' Kala turned her face away to avoid his kiss. He gripped her chin so he could look her in the eyes. 'You're lookin' a bit pale.' He prodded the bandage at her neck.
'You told me to handle it,' she said.
'Not quite what I had in mind, eh.'
'Then you should've taken care of him back at the silo.'
'Had stuff to do, people to meet.' He pointed to the Rover. 'I knew you'd cope.'
'Then make up your fucking mind.'
Kevin bridled, his lethargy gone, his heart pounding. What was she saying? What was she saying about him? That he was just a job to her? Some kind of trick?
Taipan ran his hand down Kala's neck and pulled her into him. He stared at Kevin over the top of her head, his nose wrinkling as though he'd stepped in dog shit. 'So, our Kala's bin lookin' after you all right, eh, fella?'
'She's been very kind,' Kevin said.
'I know.' Taipan tapped his forehead. 'You bin havin' some of them dreams, fella?'
'A few,' Kevin said.
'Me too.'
'You know, I didn't ask for this.' Kevin squared his shoulders and faced Taipan full-on.
'Life's like that, ain't it?'
'I just don't understand why you seem to be blaming me for something you did.'
The other gang members stirred, all eyes fixed on him and Taipan. Worse than opening the batting or bowling the first ball. At a cricket match, the audience wasn't armed to the teeth. He focused on Taipan and the way the man was holding Kala against him.
'I'm not blamin' you for nothin',' Taipan said. 'I just got more on me plate than nursin' some whelp, that's all.'
'So why'd you do it?' Kevin asked.
'You mean you don't know?'
'The only thing I know for sure is that you're a cunt.'
Taipan pushed Kala to one side. 'Think you can take me, fella?' His eyes locked on Kevin's, his brown irises huge and tinted olive-grey in the muted storm light. 'Got a gut full of fresh juice and shit on the liver, eh?'
Kevin's heart hammered. His hands fi
sted. All he could see was Taipan's mocking expression.
'You can have first swipe,' Taipan said.
'Tai,' Acacia said, but didn't move.
Kevin took a step, fist back.
Fuck!
Taipan had him against the wall, pinned by the throat.
Just the way Mira had.
He clamped down on the thought, fear squeezing him harder than Taipan's grip ever could.
'Maybe I should take a taste, eh,' the biker said. 'See just how much bedside manner little Florence Nightingale there has been givin' you.'
Kevin flailed at Taipan, punching his face, arm, nuts. Like hitting a dozer.
Kala pulled on Taipan's shoulder. 'Tai, let him go!'
'This fella needs to learn his place. He's an accident, nothin' more. I thought he might be useful, but he ain't; just somethin' else for us to worry 'bout.'
Taipan's grip was so tight, Kevin couldn't even swear.
'Tai,' Kala shouted, half-plea, half-protest.
Taipan released Kevin, sending him stumbling against the rail.
'Why can't you just let me go?' Kevin said, a hand to his bruised throat.
'You think you can cut it out there, fella?'
'I can try.'
'Nah,' Taipan said. 'There's not a lot of me in you, but there's enough.' He rubbed his chest, an abstract motion. 'You better stick with us so we can keep an eye on you.'
Kevin and Taipan stood, stares locked, with Kala between them.
Light rain pinged on the iron roof. A misty curtain dropped around the house. Thunder rolled across the flats. Hippie stepped back into the garage, retrieved his jacket where it lay hanging on one of the motorcycles and shrugged it on. The new arrivals scattered for shelter. One woman pushed onto the verandah, complaining under her breath about 'wolfbite one minute, drowning the next'.
Acacia manoeuvred Kala out of the way. 'If you boys can put your pissing contest on hold for a moment, you might care to know that we've got company.'
FOURTEEN
The downpour reduced visibility to maybe the length of an oval. Kevin stared, trying to see through the rain, to detect whatever had spooked Acacia. Nothing. Just his anger turning to confusion and frustration. Lightning cracked and a peal of thunder shook the veranda. Someone rammed a magazine home with a metallic click, sounding insignificant after the storm's roar.
Blood & Dust Page 8
