by P. S. Power
Darla went still, a bit like a Vampire, then nodded.
“It would have been. He’s dead now, however. Keeley, Zack and I killed him. Several times, to be exact. So you may cross him off your list as well.”
Who did that leave?
“So, Ann, and… Um, Fram? Again, if he wanted something though, wouldn’t he just ask? So, maybe not.” She stopped suddenly, as her friend jumped up, clearing her throat.
“Well! It seems like that’s a good point for you to be leaving on! I loved our little talk. We need to do it again. Far more regularly. You know, if you don’t mind, I am in town several times a week. I have to see to my charge, Zack, and I’d love to hang out. We could go to a club, or take in a show? That, or plot to make his life far more interesting. Speaking of which, you and he have a contract in place, that he hasn’t been using. Unlimited sex, I believe, whenever he wants to use you?”
“There are limits, actually. I’m not really that into things of that nature anymore. You have a point though? I should get used to practicing on him, maybe?”
There was a shrug then.
“It’s a good enough idea. Sex is too powerful a tool for one with your goals in life not to use. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt for you to be closer to him. He’s broken, and insane, for a Greater Demon, but given that you seem to be looking into that side of things, perhaps it would be useful to you, to have an in there?”
Eve stopped and then raised a single eyebrow at the pretty girl.
“Wait, you’re totally setting me up here, aren’t you? You want me to infiltrate or something stupid like that, so that I can get at their secrets? Except, you have to know they won’t be telling me anything that will be of use to you… So…”
Darla, chuckling a bit, moved her toward the door, pulling her up suddenly.
“Actually, I’m trying to get you out of here before my uninvited visitors come. Tarsus and a few others that I’d rather not have thinking about you, in particular. We’ll talk in a few days? Keep thinking, Eve. It’s a useful talent.”
Then, once the door was open, she leaned in and whispered a single word.
“Run.” There was no emphasis in it, but it was the kind of thing that got her going, so Eve moved as hard as she could into pain, heading back to the mall. It was still dark out, but she decided to use it as a bit of exercise, and did the whole trip as fast as she could.
It sucked, doing that kind of thing, but she was sort of growing used to it. Why not? If you did anything enough, it eventually became the new normal, didn’t it? No matter how bad it was. That meant she was in the store at four, and not expected to do anything, anywhere. Really, she needed to get herself a hobby or two, since working all the time, while expected by her, wasn’t really going to fill up all her time, not if she were going to be awake all the time.
Cormack was there, and waved to her, when she got in, but no one else was expected back until much later in the day. About seven. Worse, or better, the place was clean and tidy already. That being the case, she listened to see if Zack was in, and noticed that he was, so made up a nice full tray of goodies to take down to him. She tried her best not to be sloppy, or get anything wrong. She’d hear about it if she did.
Not that he wouldn’t eat it all anyway.
When she got in he was standing behind the main counter, talking to Ben, who was wearing a nice red shirt. At first he didn’t react when Zack did, but after a moment he smiled too.
“Hey! I haven’t seen you in… forever. Not since I got those guys cursed by the Mages, for, um…” He stopped then and looked away. Embarrassed.
Zack laughed and patted him on the back.
“The guys jerking off over you. It was all over the net and made the news. Don’t worry, the curse was a sanctioned thing. Let’s just say they won’t be winning any money gambling for the next few years? Or have much luck with women. I’d been planning to get some of the Gym guys to go and pay them a visit, but Darla figured that it would be enough for their lives to suck for a while. Anyway… I can’t help but notice that you brought treats? Do I get one?”
There were twelve of the things, all large, stacked on the tray. It was enough that she wouldn’t have been able to carry them back when she’d been a human.
“One, or even two of them. Anyway, I had been thinking that I’d bribe you with them and then give you a blowjob? If that goes well I could do you next, Ben? I need to practice first. I want to make sure I won’t get bitey or anything.” The man blushed and made a face, but Zack nodded.
“Sounds like a plan. Come on Ben, you get things like that ten times a week working here, so don’t be shocked to find out that Eve likes you too. Still, we should find out why. It’s a bit sudden, isn’t it?”
He was a bit suspicious, so she held her hand out, for him to get a reading off of. It wasn’t lost on him what she was doing, either, and he took it, then smiled at her.
“Oh, so Darla put you up to it. Well, there are probably fifteen reasons for it, all of them decently good. Just so you know, Ben, adding you in is all coming from Eve.” He looked at the still chubby bearded man, and smiled. “She actually likes you. I’m just convenient for her… I’d sigh over it, but free sex, you know, what’s to complain about? Let me eat first? This all looks really good. Almost like Lenore made it.” That wasn’t faint praise, she knew.
If there was a master of the art of frozen yogurt making in the world, that particular lady was it. To even be compared to her there was a good thing. Really, given her resources, that kind of thing might be a good hobby for her to take up. She could practice during the day and give the experiments away. No one would mind.
The eating took as long as the blowjobs did, and she didn’t feel at all like she’d been about to bite Ben. Oh, he was delicious, and she did manage to swallow and to her surprise make a link from that to the man, which she hadn’t even known was a thing. It was harder to do than getting one from blood, but she grabbed it anyway, after a bit of scrambling. It was nearly a reflex to fight for the potential energy.
The biggest part of things though was that when she touched him there was no tingling. That didn’t mean he wasn’t a Greater Demon, but it was a good sign that he was actually what he seemed to be. So, just a regular Human guy. A tasty one, that she could actually date, apparently. One that when some other people were disrespectful to her went and found Mages to curse them for her. That was pretty progressive for a guy that hadn’t known that such things were even real a half year before, wasn’t it? Okay, so he wouldn’t have exactly been her type, before, back when she was alive, being a bit geeky and a little less than perfect looking, but now that she was the new her, it seemed like a lot of other things might just be more important than those things. Being interesting and a stand up person were both more important to her now, and Ben was that, for sure.
When she was done, having used Zack’s office for both things, since she wasn’t a succubus it hadn’t occurred to her to use a reading room, even if they were all empty, she found herself at a loss again.
So…
She nodded to herself.
The thing to do in a case like that was to make her own entertainment. In this case she decided to try and design a new treat for the shop. She left directly from the bookstore, and headed over to the WinCo, jogging over. She wouldn’t be able to get too much, since she had to carry it back, and with fresh things that could mean crushing them if she had too much with her at once. Still, she had a nice full load of things by six-thirty, and put them away in the various places around the store that wouldn’t have them out on the counter for too long. Lenore wouldn’t like that, she didn’t think.
At seven in the morning, when the other woman came in, Cormack was in the back, fielding phone calls, since that was his job for the day. Eve, however, was trying to basically turn sweetened coconut into a flour like powder. It was harder to do than it seemed like it should be, but the grainy texture of the normal product turned a lot of people off. What she was goi
ng for was a solid base for a sweet, but smooth topping. A sauce, basically.
Lenore bustled in, looked at her, and then at what she was doing. It was close to being a stare. There was no comment on it all, and she went directly to the back. After about half an hour Cormack stumbled out, looking like he was halfway to drunk, since the sun was already coming up.
“Well, I’m off now. Time to hit the soft pillows of relief and die for the day.” He smiled at her, and staggered a bit, but she shook her head at him.
“No. It’s really about time for you to stop being a pussy. Yay! Fight it and keep your ass up for the day, why don’t you? Lenore and I will take turns helping you. It’s a lot easier if you keep moving. So you know, do things. Start on the windows and work your way back, then… I don’t know, go over and do the same with the Mage embassy? That, or head down to the Gym and take them some treats? Those guys are never too full to have a bit more, I bet.” She smiled, not knowing what his reaction would be.
There was a pained groan.
“Bitch. I knew it was coming, but I figured that you’d at least wait for a while after getting out of that hell cage. A week or two? You know, normal people don’t go around being a constant pain in the ass all the time, don’t you?” There was a grin to go with it, even though it was kind of clear that he was also being at least partially serious too.
Oddly enough, that reminded her to warm up a mug of animal blood, and drink it all. She had to use her card for it, but got six new links, and made sure to drop the one that she’d picked up to Ben. She hadn’t fed off of him directly, using blood, but no one would be able to tell that was the case if there was an investigation, would they? It left her with enough links, though all of them were to cows. Which, if she were going to think about it, was no worse than eating a few hamburgers. Better in a lot of ways, being that she was leaving all the animals alive and well.
Given that fact, she could practically start a Vampire version of PETA. Except, in hers they wouldn’t be idiots half the time. It would all just be nude calendars, that and pictures of puppies and baby animals. There was no one on the planet that she wanted to talk to that didn’t like puppies and kittens, was there?
After finishing with that, Cormack actually getting back to work without more of a fight, trying to stay up like a grown-up, and not whining about it anymore, she got back to work.
What she really wanted to create was something that was kind of like the center of mounds bar, only not grainy in texture. It took three tries to get something close enough to move to the next part, which involved making a special batch of the base product. It was just a little sweeter than what Lenore normally had them make up. She used the second machine, which normally had either chocolate or strawberry in it, but this time it was coconut flavored. If anyone wanted a soft serve chocolate cup…
Well, then she was probably going to be in trouble, wasn’t she?
Still, instead of beating her down at eleven when Cormack went over to help Mark straighten and clean the Candle shop, Lenore actually just asked about the new activity. It was kind of nice, since she seemed curious, rather than upset about things being disrupted, like Eve had kind of suspected she might be.
Eve shrugged.
“It’s a coconut base product, with a new kind of topping. It’s all a bit white though, especially with the whipped cream on it. I need someone to taste it for me, too. The idea is to have it be smooth though. Not too grainy, you know? I’m not sure it’s enough yet. If this doesn’t work then coconut milk might. I can put a cherry on it, to break up the pale sameness, but… I don’t know, it’s a bit standard. A little too plain looking.” She glanced at the machine, filled with a nice creamy base, which was just about set up enough for her to try making a product out of it.
Lenore moved in and did it instead, first playing with it, testing it for consistency with a spoon, and to Eve’s surprise, after making a dish of it and decorating it, taking a bite. She played it around her mouth for a bit, then got a cup of water and rinsed, then spit into the silver deep sink.
“Not bad. Perhaps a bit bland for Human palates? Have you considered something that can act as a contrasting undertone? Pineapple is traditional, but as you just stated, a bit too much so. We don’t want to get boring. You should make up a few things, and see what works? If you’re going to taste them yourself, I have to remind you to rinse very well. Otherwise you’ll pay for it later. Also… things will be sharper, and more intense for you. If it seems right for one of us, it will basically have no flavor for a Human.”
Eve nodded, and felt like taking notes, but didn’t. It was the kind of thing she needed to know however.
Otherwise she could mess up and… Be known as a Vampire? She was pretty open about it, to be honest, so that wasn’t going to matter much, was it?
She grinned then.
“I should make some things up and take them to my dad. It would mean running in daylight, but… Well, I won’t get better at doing that by being lazy, will I? Tomorrow though? Unless I get busy. I’m not trying to get out of doing my work, but you know, I should make a point of keeping up with people, if I can.”
That meant getting with her other friends too, she knew.
Rebekah, Hally, Gary, and even Becky Hoader, if she could get in touch with her. She’d gone off and become an actress. Eve hadn’t been following her career, but had heard she was doing well enough. Actually in real movies, and all that kind of thing. She had a new name though, that she worked under. If Eve was going to drop her a line, she needed to learn what that was. They hadn’t been really close or anything, but were old friends from school, and had even done things outside of that, which was enough not to let her get too far away.
Eve had to focus on what she was doing though, if she wanted to get it right. The first thing that was needed was to go and make sure that Cormack wasn’t actually going to sit down. He was about to fall down, it sounded like, so she headed over. It was part of her current project after all, and she had mentioned trying to help him with it in the past.
The Vampire was standing, but had stopped moving, and his eyes were closing and opening, the pattern getting slower each time. She ran in clapping at him, yelling.
“Cormack! Don’t lose it! Here, um… Run!” This required her to pull him along, and really didn’t go faster than a quick, Human level, jog. Still, he did it, and after a bit, they were outside. The man cursed as the sun hit him.
“I’m burning!” It woke him up though, so she didn’t let him pull back and go inside.
“No, you aren’t. It just feels like it. Tough it out and don’t give in. Keep running. We can try going faster?” He did, but she noticed something, a thing that had slipped past her before, even if there were signs of it all over the place.
Cormack wasn’t very fast.
Oh, he could do better than he had been, and probably hit something like forty miles an hour, but it wasn’t the kind of speed that she had. Not even close. It wasn’t even the kind of thing that Barb could do, if she really applied herself. At first she thought that it was because he was being a pussy, and not really trying… which she fully understood.
She wouldn’t have managed a real run the first day she’d stayed up either. That the man wasn’t stumbling around and acting half drunk the whole time was amazing, given that, now that she considered it fully. She kind of had. It had truly been days after the beginning one for her, before she’d managed that kind of thing, now that she thought about it, and that hadn’t taken place in daylight. Cormack was older than she was, and not a wimp though.
So that meant this was really about something else, didn’t it?
“Wait, you don’t have super speed?” All of Bey’s line did, but he nodded at her, still wearing his Yoghurt World apron as they scrambled around outside the mall, on the outer perimeter of it, using the sidewalk as a running track. They kept going, as the Vampire next to her nodded.
“Argh. That’s right. I’m from Lisle’s line. We’r
e stronger than most, but not as fast as those of The Bey. Funny, but picking up cars just doesn’t come up that often.”
She hadn’t known that at all. Not even who Lisle was. Not asking, she pushed him anyway, since to at least a small extent, being willing to face pain was the point of what they were doing.
“Avoiding the agony of the day, that’s why Vampires all go dormant. Make it so you aren’t afraid of the pain, and you can beat it. From now on, don’t let yourself escape it. After a bit your subconscious mind won’t even make you feel tired anymore. It won’t take too long for you to learn it.” Probably longer than it had for Eve to get the same thing, but she hadn’t gotten into bad habits first.
They ran then, and then walked for a bit, since being outside really sucked. That held until nearly two, keeping the man moving fast enough that he didn’t go down the whole time. After that she had him go inside, but kept him with her, working alongside of him, so that they could go and run at need. It was needed, but she was able to pass the time with Marcus, of all people, since it was pretty clear that he was both bored, and had been doing a lot of work on himself while she’d been locked away.
He was dressed in a brown suit, but it was nice material and he’d clearly had it tailored, which made a big difference in how anything fit. The shoes were black, and his tie a bright red. The beard that she’d gotten used to had been neatly trimmed, and while it made him look older than the twenty-five or so he was, that was all to the good. His hair had been cut, too, and honestly, he’d lost enough weight to move from fatbeard to business cutie already. If he lost another forty pounds, or so, he’d probably move all the way into being good looking. Cute enough for real life.
True, his nose was a bit too snubbed for that, and his face a bit too weak around the chin, but not everyone had to be ready for television, did they?
