Midnight Squad: The Ties That Bind

by J. L. M. Visada

  “She’s still our friend. That hasn’t changed. Katy just…” Grimmy stopped and looked at me as though he just realized I was there. “Penny, maybe we can just drop it for now?”

  Penny’s eyes started to turn red, “Grim, you can’t keep expecting me to just let it go. This farce has to end soon. I refuse to continue tolerating this…insult.” Whoa! Her shoulders tensed up, and she was looking more and more like she was ready to attack Grim. Apparently there really is trouble in paradise.

  “I’m…going…to…say…this…one…last…time. Let…it…go! Katy made her choice, and she decided that our lifestyle wasn’t for her. She decided that she wanted something else. I don’t blame her for that, and neither should you.” Joseph’s jaw was set in grim determination…no pun intended.

  I couldn’t do anything but stand there as my head turned back and forth like I was watching a tennis match. Penny stepped up to the man and poked him in the chest, “You might not see it as an insult, but I do. We were good enough for her before she found out…” Her eyes turned to me, and as if mentally censoring herself she turned back to him and growled, “She knew what this was when she agreed to it. The little bitch changes her mind the first second things aren’t going her way. Fuck her, and if you keep defending her then all I can say is fuck you, too!”

  “Maybe I should find another room for the night.” Grim said with gritted teeth. I could tell he wanted to yell at her, but he was fighting the urge to explode into a rage filled tirade. The veins in his neck kept pulsing, and his hands were clenched into angry fists. I even heard a few of the knuckles crack and pop.

  “Maybe you should!” Penny screamed, and without a thought, she turned and stormed off to the nearest room. She used a card key and slammed the door behind her. The door frame actually splintered under the impact, but it stayed closed.

  Grim’s face was red in anger. This was a man that never seemed rattled…at least not on the surface. In the entire time I’ve known him, Grim has been the picture of calm. The only time he’d ever let his emotions really get the better of him was when we were in danger. Then he showed a protective streak that was practically homicidal.

  “Grimmy, is everything alright?” Katy said as she peeked out from her door. I know she had to have heard them arguing. Everyone must have heard the argument. Grim’s forehead crinkled, and he looked like he was in pain. Joseph took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

  “It’s fine Kate. Just…it’s fine.” Grim looked like he was almost ready to cry.

  “Grim? Are you sure you don’t want me to…”

  “I said it’s fine. Don’t worry about it Katherine. Penny and I just need a little time to cool down.” Grim’s voice cracked.

  “Are you sure I can’t?” Katy’s words were nervous, like a mouse trying to get the cheese without tripping the rat trap it’s attached to.

  “No. Katherine it’s not your problem anymore. I appreciate the offer, but it’s something she and I have to work out between us. Now can we drop it please?” Grim’s words were heavy with frustration, and I was as confused as I’d ever been in my life. I thought those two never had problems. They go at it like bunnies on Viagra. Who would have thought anything was wrong? I looked back to Katy, and hoped she might give me a clue about what’s wrong. Her lower lip trembled a bit, and then she slowly went back into her room and closed the door.

  “I’m sorry you had to see that DD. Things have been…rough between us three recently.” Grim’s words were so measured, like he was afraid of what he might say. It hurt my heart to see the big guy like this.

  “Grimmy, is there something I can do?”

  “Nothing I can think of, but thank you for asking.” Grim reached down and picked up Penny’s suitcases. He carried them to Penny’s door, and then gently knocked. The big man steeled himself for whatever might happen.

  “Go away!” Penny’s voice was a muffled scream.

  He sighed, and then looked at me. “She’s not going to open for me, but maybe she’ll open for you. Could you please make sure she gets her luggage?”

  “Yeah…sure.” I said. My voice was a nervous whisper. The shock of seeing them nearly come to blows was startling.

  “Thanks DD, you’re a good friend. Make sure to give her the red suitcase. Dr. Fluffenstein is in it, and he always makes her feel better.” Grim’s words were sad, but also held a note of frustration that I wasn’t used to hearing from him.

  Penny screamed through the door, “Stop talking about me like I’m a child!”

  “THEN STOP ACTING LIKE A CHI…!” Grim glared at the door. He looked ready to kick it in, but somehow found restraint. He turned back to me, and with two sharp cracks, popped his neck to relieve the tension. “DD, please make sure she gets the red suitcase. I’ll leave the cart here. I’d help you get situated, but I need to go cool off.” Grim didn’t even wait for my response. He just turned and walked down the hallway to go find another room.

  I picked up Penny’s suitcases, and moved to the door. “Go away DD! I’m not in the mood.”

  “Come on Penny, Grim’s gone. Just let me in…please?” I stretched my please out as long as I could. I only stopped when Penny swung open the door. She was angry, and looked like she wanted to cry. I edged into the room behind her.

  The room was a valentine theme, complete with a heart shaped bed, and a heart shaped Jacuzzi. It must be the most romantic room on the floor, and the irony wasn’t lost on me that Penny would find herself in the “honeymoon suite” during an argument with Joseph. Purples and reds covered the room.

  “Are you alright?” I asked, and I braced for impact. Considering Penny’s previous level of anger, I expected…well I was expecting anything, but what I got was a crying vampire. It was the strangest thing I’d ever seen. I’d never really appreciated how much thought Penny puts into every nuance and movement so that she seems as normal as can be. Now she was crying, but she was so upset she forgot to make tears. No tears, no booger-filled snot bubbles, no outward sign that anything was wrong. Well, that’s not entirely true. She made all the normal sounds of crying, but her physical reactions just didn’t match up so it came across as oddly wooden.

  “I’m sorry about this DD. It’s just…and he’s just…can you believe that idiot actually thinks that a stuffed animal will make things better?” Her voice was angry, but she still popped open the suitcase and snatched up “Dr. Fluffenstein” an adorable stuffed skunk that she’d kept for who knows how long. The only thing keeping her from nuzzling the stuffed animal was an overdeveloped sense of vampire pride.

  Penny has always been a little strange. She was actually the first member of the Midnight Squad. Elizabeth Mann, our old psychotic boss, had found her staked and left for dead. Whoever staked her had decided not to kill her, or maybe they didn’t realize that the only way to really kill Penny is to cut her head off. The stake was imbedded into her heart, and from what I understand, it basically caused Penny to go into a kind of coma.

  Penny wasn’t exactly an open book about her history. We all knew she had a family, and yes, they were all vampires. Her father was some kind of royalty, and he was changed first. When he came back, he used his position to create some kind of vampire sanctuary, and along the way snacked down on Penny, her sisters, and their mom. That’s pretty much all she’s ever said about it, and Penny makes it pretty clear that it’s not a subject for conversation.

  She’s been here since the beginning of all this, and at no time has she ever really let anyone in. I suppose the closest any of us have come to getting through her shell is Grim, but even he only knows the bare facts about her past, and nothing particularly interesting. Still…it’s an improvement. Grimmy really has had a pretty profound effect on her. Before he showed up she was the nicest person you ever never really knew. Now she isn’t always so nice, but now she seems to take a real interest in us. There’ve been lots of changes with her. After we defeated Eisen, Elizabeth, and Alhambra, Penny was so full of power that she was
practically alive. She even had her period, but the more that she and Grimmy are together; the more she’s embracing being the scary vampire computer nerd.

  It’s like she’s not interested in pretending to be just like us anymore. There was a time that she seemed to want to fit in, and now she’s perfectly happy standing out. The first thing she got rid of was her tan. That golden skin faded away to a creamy white that really looked like it had never seen the light of day. The milky white skin just made her crimson hair and emerald green eyes stand out even more. Nowadays she didn’t even breathe unless she was talking, and she almost never blinked. If she zoned out she looked like the world’s most beautiful and lifelike mannequin.

  That wasn’t to say that she had completely changed though. She still loved videogames. World of Warcraft, Second Life, and various Xbox and PlayStation games take up a huge part of her time. We practically had to pry her out of her chair to get her to come along with us. I finally had to promise to upgrade her computer to get her to leave the Mists of Pandaria. Grim kept joking that the World of Warcraft was the only thing saving him from friction burns and a crushed pelvis. At least I think he was joking, but considering how they normally go at it like rabbits…well maybe it is more of a valid concern than he’d like to admit.

  “Penny, is everything okay?” I did my best to keep the nervousness out of my voice, but even I could hear the trembling, and with Penny’s superb hearing…There was no way I was fooling her. Besides, with her crazy vampire hearing she could probably hear my heartbeat from where she sat. Vampires might see a little better than humans at night, but otherwise most of our senses are pretty much the same. The only significant difference is the hearing. Vampire hearing is every bit as sensitive as that of a bat. They actually use echolocation to “see” with their ears.

  “Does it look like everything’s okay?” Penny hissed as her eyes locked onto me, and for a brief second I had to fight the urge to run. Those eyes were almost feral. I felt my throat tighten, and my heart started beating at about twice its normal rhythm. Until that moment I’d always considered Penny to be just another one of the girls. A little strange, but then again, who isn’t. Now, I realized that she was more like a predator. She was a lioness, and we were all just pretending she was tame. The reality was that if Penny ever decided to really and truly go feral, then there’s nothing any of us could do about it.

  Maybe Danika could fight her off for a while, but ultimately Penny could do whatever she wanted with us. Danika was a werewolf, and I’d seen her kill and eat several of the synthetic combatants when we were a quasi-military organization. Even then, Danika still thought like a human. She had human instincts, and you could rationalize with her like a human. Looking at Penny I couldn’t help but think that whatever human in her died when she was turned into a vampire. There was no humanity in those eyes. I know that I’d always considered her a friend, but looking at her now was like looking at something alien. I felt helpless knowing that she could do whatever she wanted to me. As that thought really started to sink in I felt a sudden dampness growing between my legs. Oh God, I have to get out of here.

  Penny must have sensed my…fear. God, I hope that’s all she sensed. She rose to her feet and let her features take on a more human expression. The cold animal eyes softened to look gentle, and more human. Her cold predatory look turned friendly, and suddenly there was the old Penny. It was the same old Penny that goofed around with me, and helped me eat my mother’s care packages when Mom was still alive. That couldn’t have all been an act back then…could it?

  I squeaked out, “Penny, I don’t want to pry, but would you like to talk about it?” Bad mouth, bad…bad mouth! I needed to get out of here, and for some reason my stupid mouth decided this was a time for sisterly bonding! Fudgecicles! I could only hope Penny would just say no and let me walk out of the room before my nipples started pushing out through the fabric of my shirt and bra. Why couldn’t I be somewhere that I could have worn a sweater, or maybe a jacket? Darn evil Floridian weather. Where’s a good snowstorm when you need it? At least then I’d be able to blame the two growing nubs poking out from my shirt on the cold.

  Penny looked much calmer as she paced back and forth across the room. “DD, why can’t Grim just see I’m right, and then we can go on being happy?”

  “I’m sorry Penny; I don’t know what exactly he’s supposed to agree with you on?”

  She took a few steps towards me, and then returned to pacing, “Katy made her decision. She doesn’t want to be with us. Grim refuses to see that as the insult that it is, and even worse…he still treats her like a friend instead of the embarrassment that she is.” Penny’s anger had such a matter-of-fact tone that I almost agreed with her right then and there, but suddenly I realized what she was saying.

  “Penny, Katy is Grim’s friend. She’s my friend, and until recently I thought she was your friend. What happened that has made you hate her so much?”

  “She broke up with us! That little bit…witch actually left us, and refuses to be our pet anymore. Can you believe that?” Penny was incredulous.

  “Well Penny, that’s not an insult. She’s just a young woman. I’m not trying to start a fight, but shouldn’t Katy be able to decide who she is with?”

  Penny paced more quickly. Her irritation grew with every step. “She did decide. She decided to be with us. Katy agreed to be our pet. That should be the end of the discussion. She knew what was expected of her, and agreed to it. Now she has a change of heart because…” Penny stopped. Whatever it was that she was hesitating about had started all this.

  “Because what?” I asked. If I knew what went wrong maybe I could fix it. It would be good to see the awkwardness stop between Penny and Katy.

  “It doesn’t matter why she left us! To think that a human would have the unmitigated gall to snub their nose at their responsibilities as our pet is unfathomable!” Penny’s voice bubbled with rage. She was so demanding, so forceful; I suddenly felt my arousal growing. What the H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS is wrong with me? Fear told me to slip out the door right then, but a hunger from deep inside me kept forcing me to stay. It kept coaxing me to listen to Penny, to make Penny happy. There was something inside me that was suddenly screaming to serve my vampire, to do whatever she wanted. It felt like I’d never have any true satisfaction unless I gave in to her wants, and made her needs my own.

  My voice trembled, “P-P-Penny, why can’t Katy leave? Isn’t that part of love? I mean isn’t the old saying if you love it let it go, and if it comes back it was meant to be?”

  “Vampires do not love their pets!” Penny stomped right up to me. She was angry, her eyes turned to blood red orbs with black irises. She put her hands against the wall on both sides of my head, and I felt myself suddenly become the whole center of her universe. Penny could do whatever she wanted to me. I was defenseless. She was so powerful…so dominant. Her lips were just inches from mine. God, she smelled so good. “Pets are the embodiment of the love a vampire has for their chosen partner. A vampire with a human partner is already taking a risk by being seen as weak, because having a human as a partner means the vampire’s emotions still have control of them. A human partner invites weakness because you humans are frail, squishy things that are far too easily broken and manipulated. A pet simply is a necessity for a true human and vampire coupling because if I continually feed on Joseph, then he could die. I need a pet to sustain me, and Joseph needs me to have a pet for him to survive. DD…in vampire culture pets do not leave. They are replaced! If other vampires knew I’d allowed my pet to just leave, they’d come after me assuming that I was weak.”

  “But you’re Penny. There’s nobody as bad as you.” She was so close now. I could actually feel her breasts gently brushing against mine. I had to fight the urge to press in closer. I just wanted to wrap my arms around her and let her take me. Holy Jehoshaphat! Have I really been alone so long that the first time someone gets near me I’m practically ready to surrender to any and every
whim they might have?

  Penny smiled bitterly at my words, “Normally yes, I could handle myself. The problem is that I’m practically starving, and therefore much weaker than normal. Without Katy as an alternative, I have to ration myself on Grim. It’s the only way to keep him safe, but I’m weaker for it. As it is, I can barely keep myself from decomposing. That’s why I’ve really cut back on some of my normal body functions. At this rate, in another week or two, I’ll have to start using lube to be with Grim because I won’t have enough energy to self-lubricate anymore. Now do you understand why it is Katy’s fault?”

  “But can’t you just…you know…go out and grab a bite? Does it have to be Katy? Can’t you just…nibble on a few people?” I asked.

  “DD, do you know what happens when a vampire bites you?” Penny questioned.

  “Yes? The chemicals you produce start to…”

  Penny interrupted me, and shaking her head as if talking to a slow child she said, “No, I mean do you really know what happens when a vampire bites you? I don’t mean what chemicals are released. I don’t mean what are the biological responses. I mean what actually happens when I bite you?” I felt a tremor of pleasure between my thighs as she said “when I bite you”. It was almost as if my body was ready to leap into her waiting jaws. My panties were practically soaking through.

  “Uh…no…I don’t think I do. What does happen when…I mean if you bit me…hypothetically?” I tossed in that last part trying to avoid sounding desperate and pathetic, but I could hear my own words, and they sounded heavy with need. My only hope at avoiding embarrassment was that she was so angry about the situation that she might not notice.

  “If I bit you, then as your essence flowed down into me, I’d be able to see inside you. I’d know the real you. In some ways I’d know you better than you even know yourself. I’d know every desire you ever had…yes even those dark ones that you people are too afraid to admit to even yourselves. As I drink you down, one of my venoms would pour into you and send your body into an orgasmic bliss you could never achieve on your own. Sexually, there isn’t a man or woman alive that can satisfy you like a vampire can. So when I bite someone, it ruins regular sex for most of them. Some even become addicted to the vampire venom. So I’d prefer not to leave a trail of sexually ruined men and women if I can help it. Also, I prefer my food to stay with me. I don’t like the risk of going out to catch a bite. I like sipping from my prey at my leisure.” Penny had leaned in, and now our lips were almost touching. Those luscious lips were so pale from lack of food that they almost seemed obscenely kissable. I felt my body try to lean forward to just brush against them, but mercifully I still had enough restraint to control myself…but only barely.