by Amy Robyn
I walk up the path that has been neatly shoveled and up to the door with a sign hanging on it that’s letters are worn off. It is illegible. I know it is the right place by following my GPS. Though, it doesn’t seem to be busy at all. I would think that at any given time there would be people in here. What else is there to do in this area? I mean you can only count so many cows.
I push open the door and I am mildly surprised about how clean it is inside. It is well lit and has a homey feeling to it. I shrug out of my large coat, grateful for the heat. I take a deep breath and the smell of fried foods makes my stomach growl. I might as well have something to eat before hassling the owner. I walk up to the bar and sit down. I lay my purse and coat on the stool next to me. The bartender, a man in his late twenties dressed in jeans and a nice clean Henley, walks over to me.
“What can I get you?” He asks. He seems like a nice guy. I do not get the creepy vibes that I get from most men in a bar. I look down and see the ring on his finger. Well that explains why he isn’t a creeper.
“Something smells good. What do you suggest to eat here?” I ask him. He gives me a friendly smile as he picks up a menu and hands it to me.
“Here is the menu but I would recommend the burgers. They are made fresh and the fries are homemade and not that frozen crap.” It’s like he has a direct line with my stomach.
“That sounds perfect. I will take a cheeseburger and fries.” I hand him back the menu and he puts it back in its place.
“Anything to drink?” He asks me.
“I think a coke, at least until I have eaten something.” I give him a wink. I don’t want him to wonder what I am doing here if not to drink. I am sure they probably have people come here just to eat but I bet not often. He pulls out a cup and puts ice in it before picking up the nozzle and spraying the coke inside. He sits it in front of me before going over and yelling my order into the back room. I take a sip of my coke and relax.
It is strange that this bar would start a rumor of vampire feedings. It doesn’t seem like that kind of establishment. It feels like a good place to get away when you need a break. I lean back and look at the entire room. One thing that I notice right away is the lack of animal carcasses on the walls. It is common to find them out in country bars because those areas attract hunters. Not this place, which is probably why I feel more comfortable.
Another thing I noticed right away is that it is well lit. Most bars are dark and smoky. Another thing I never liked about the bar scene. I want to see where I am going and who is approaching me. It’s not necessarily beer goggles that get you in trouble with such dim lights. It could very well be that they look great when you can barely see them. I am not one to go to bars. Can you tell? The type of men who frequent them aren’t the kind of men I want to meet anyway.
This place is far different. Not only is it light and has the absence of carcasses on the wall, but it also is decorated more like a home than an establishment. It has beige and brown curtains, stools, couches and tables. They have sand paintings and southwestern art decorating the walls. It is quite refreshing.
The door opens and a very pregnant woman comes out and the bartender rushes over to take the plates she is carrying. He gives her a gentle kiss before she disappears back behind the door. I smile at them. He sits the plate down in front of me and the aroma hits me, making me practically drool. I lift the large burger and take a bite. I practically moan as the flavors hit my tongue. That little woman with the swollen belly sure can cook.
“Told you it was good.” He says with a wink. I smile at him as I sit it back down.
“Your wife is an excellent cook. Do you guys own this place?” I ask him and he frowns.
“No, the owner very seldom comes out here.” He doesn’t sound like he particularly likes the man.
“My wife and I have offered to buy this place from him. We are the ones who did the renovations and have created a profitable business out of this place. He refuses and lately he has been acting strangely.” Strangely indeed, if he thinks vampires are feeding off of the customers.
“I’m sorry to hear that. My boss sent me here to talk to him. I guess he isn’t here then.” The guy turns and glares at me. Shit, I should have at least eaten my burger before pissing people off. A bell rings and a rush of cold air hits me, making me shiver.
“Well you’re in luck.” He growls as he continues to look at the pudgy man who steps through the door. He walks over to the bartender and stares him down.
“I fucking hate beige. I still don’t see how you’re making any money with this crap.” He says as he wipes his mouth with a cloth and puts it back in his pocket. This man is disgusting. There is no nice way to put it. I loathe that I have to talk to him at all.
“Are you the owner of this bar?” I ask the man who wreaks of sweat and old tobacco. Why, oh why is it that I have to deal with men like this one?
“Who’s asking?” He says. How did I know he would say that? Oh yeah, it is scuzzy man’s MO. If they wrote a handbook it would be the number one retort. It isn’t my first rodeo unfortunately. Just as I know he will hit on me at least once before I walk out the door.
“Emily Sanders from the Colorado West. I was sent over to cover a story and see the video evidence you have.” I tell him before taking the last bite of my burger. I know I will not have time to eat anymore after we leave this room and also it keeps him from trying to shake my hand.
“Your wife is one hell of a cook. Thank you for the meal.” I tell the bartender who doesn’t look too happy with me anymore. Not that I blame him. I put down a twenty and stand up.
“Names Neil Peters and I own this place. If you follow me I will show you the video evidence.” He leads me to a door that leads to the back. I look over my shoulder one more time to see the bartender pick up a phone and start talking into it quietly. I get a weird shiver that goes up my spine as I follow Neil back, like my life is about to change. I check the pocket in my purse for my pepper spray. Like I would go into a private place with a stranger without it.
Chapter 3.
I am just sitting down with one of the fledglings to work with him on our old text. He needs to learn our history just as William taught me. I have always loved holding our old tomes. I love the smell and feel of them in my hands. It makes me wonder about who has held it throughout history. It is older than what Christians call their bible. It is thousands of years old and falling apart in places even though it is made of leather pages instead of paper.
My phone starts ringing and I pull it out of my pocket. I see that it is Steven at the bar. He and his wife are our eyes in town, though town is a strange word for it. Our town consists of four buildings. A grocery store, a feed store, a post office and the bar. What else does a town need? I do not go there often myself. When I need to feed I usually drink from the bag unless we are out. When we are out or running low, I head into the big city and kill two birds with one stone. I feed from someone at the blood bank and have them gather more bags to take home.
It has been a while since I drank for pleasure. Times are different now and we are trying to get the others to switch to bagged. The problem is that they use blood thinners in the blood to keep it from coagulating. It makes us feel the cold. I hate how quickly I get cold now and during the summer I sweat. Sweating as a vampire sucks, pun not intended. We have to make sure we wear dark clothing because if we sweat, we sweat blood.
“What’s up, Steven?” I answer. I like that he knows what we are and carries our secret. Not two years ago and we would have had to either turn him or kill him for knowing. Now, a few actually are allowed to know so that they work with us. We pay them well for their help. Steven has become one of my closest friends over the last couple of years.
“Neil is here and talking to a reporter from Colorado West. He said something about video evidence. I thought we took care of every camera. He must have put up one we don’t know about.” Shit, I really fucking hope not.
“I’m on my way.” I
hang up and look at Thomas. He is a fledgling we found about ten years ago when one of our kind went around changing human all over the countries and leaving them to fend for themselves. I found Thomas in California, sweating blood and feeding willy nilly. He risked exposure because he didn’t understand what was happening to him. I took him under my wing. I found five more who are now in this residence. They have all been through so much. I try to help where I can.
“I will be back Thomas. Why don’t you start reading this chapter? Here.” I say as I point to the chapter I want him to read.
“We will talk about it when I get home.” He nods his head as he pulls the large book toward him. I pat his shoulder as I head upstairs. I need to let William know what’s going on. I find him looking out the window by the entryway. He’s been doing that a lot lately. It’s like he’s feeling nostalgic about something. I asked him once what was wrong and all he said was that change is coming our way.
“Steven called. There is a reporter at the bar with the owner. He fears that we missed a camera or the fat bastard put up a new one. I am heading there now.” William looks over at me with his crystal blue eyes.
“Yes, I think it is time we helped out our friend Steven. He offered to buy the place from the stingy bastard. I think we need to use mind control to get him to sign over the bar. Make sure he receives his payment. That way you can make him believe that he did it so he could retire.” William looks at me with his unusual eyes and then smiles at me. He slaps me on the back as a father would. That is what I consider William, a father. He took me in and saved my life. Not that I didn’t give him hell for it for a long time.
“Oh and make sure you wipe the memory from the reporter. I would hate to bring the hunters back to this part of the country again.” He tells me and I cringe. I fucking hate hunters. They think they are doing a service for humanity and they aren’t. We have never been the problem.
“Consider it done.” I tell him as I turn and walk out the door. I know that William hates using mind control and I understand why. William had been a young man who was dealt a difficult hand. His parents died when he was young and left him with more money than he knew what to do with. He was also left to raise his five sisters. One night a vampire showed up and used mind control on him for months and when he finally had a mind of his own again, his money was gone and all of his sisters were dead. He had been changed and abandoned.
He had hated what he was for hundreds of years. It wasn’t until he met a woman whom he fell in love with. Margaret, was a French prostitute. It started out that he would pay her for her blood and then it turned to affection. The problem is that a vampire can’t have sex unless he meets his mate. It is physically impossible. A vampire knows when he meets his mate by the beating of his heart and the instant erection.
Margaret ended up dying from syphilis and William watched as she took her last breath. He had felt that it would be cruel to make her a monster. He realized that in the act of wanting to protect her, he lost his only friend and woman he loved. He changed after that and embraced the vampire he was. He didn’t change anyone until he found me. I still do not see what he saw in me. He says he knew I was to be his son.
I tighten my coat around me. Damn bagged blood. If I was to drink from a human I wouldn’t feel the cold at all. The blood is thick and warm. I nearly moan just thinking about it. Perhaps Steven will allow me a drink. He does that sometimes. Only for me though. He trusts me. The fledglings put him on edge. I can understand. They are still working on controlling their hunger. I told him that I will always protect him and his wife, Julia.
Julia is a sweet little thing and very pregnant with Steven’s baby. He is crazy about her and I am envious of what they have. It is extremely rare for a vampire to find his or her mate. I have never met a mate to a vampire. The last couple died three hundred years ago by some hunters that had found them. It was tragic because she was also pregnant with what would have been the first hybrid. Of course I wasn’t even born yet. It is all story to me.
I don’t bother with taking a car. I am much faster on foot. Vampires are fast. We have speed, superior strength and our senses are much more heightened. We can also read and control minds. We can erase memories and add new ones. I hate doing it, mostly because of what William had to go through. I couldn’t imagine having something like that happen to me. I am glad that he found that vampire and destroyed him before he could do it again.
I run and I’m at the bar within five minutes. I take a deep breath before entering and smell the most enticing smell I have ever smelled and it makes my fangs drop down. What the fuck. I haven’t had that problem since I was a fledgling. I open the door and the scent magnifies, even over the smell of disgusting human food. I can smell the disgusting male that owns this place in here too. I walk over to Steven. He puts his hand out and I shake it.
“They are in the back room.” He tells me and I try to smile but my fangs do not seem to want to retract.
“Do you still have the money ready to buy this place?” I ask him. He perks right up.
“Yes we do.” He tells me.
“Get your account information ready. We are going to get him to sign it over tonight. You might want to get Kelly here.” Kelly is his sister and a lawyer. She lives a couple of hours away but she came to stay with them until the baby comes.
“She’s in the back helping Julia.” He tells me.
“Good. Get her ready. He will be signing today. William has had it with him and gave me permission to use mind control on him.” Steven beams over at me. I know this is good news for him and his wife, who have both worked really hard to make this a lovely place to visit.
“Thank him for me. You know we will do everything in our power to help your kind.” He tells me what I already know.
“I know you will. I better get this over with. I hate going into that man’s head. It’s disgusting.” I tell him as I head back. The door is locked. I grip it tightly and turn the knob breaking the lock. I will get it fixed for Steven. The enticing smell is stronger and makes me feel a little faint which is strange. I stop and take a deep breath before stopping next to another door. I listen to what is being said.
“I am sorry but this man could simply be kissing her neck. It’s erogenous on some women.” A female voice says. She has a beautiful, lyrical sounding voice. My heart beats once. I freeze. What the fuck. It does it again. Then it stops and I take a deep breath and rub the flesh over where my heart resides. Strange.
“Just keep watching.” A nasally, whiny male voice says and I recognize him as Neil.
“There, see.” I hear his voice again. For some reason I do not like him near the woman, which is strange. Sure I am as protective of women as most men are but never have I wanted to rip one apart for just being in the same room as one.
“It could be staged. I will need a copy of this to take to an expert.” She says and my heart beats again. What the hell is happening to me? First my fangs misbehave and now my heart. I open the door because I need to get my hands on this tape and stop him from spilling our secrets. The screen is paused on Paul, one of our fledglings, feeding on a woman. Damn it. He broke the damn rules. He shouldn’t have even been here. He is our youngest fledgling and doesn’t have as much control.
A woman stands up when she sees me enter the room and my heart not only starts beating, but it feels like it is racing right out of my chest. I put my hand over it as though I can hold it in place. She stares up at me with soft lilac colored eyes. Her hair is nearly black and falls in waves to her narrow waste. The woman is a knock out and from the definite hardness coming from my pants, she is mine.
I take a deep breath and smell her sweet smelling blood that calls to me as if it were a siren’s song. I crave it just as much as I do the thought of sinking my hardness into her wet depths. I nearly groan at the feeling of the heavy erection between my legs. I want to taste her as much as fuck her and not just her blood. I want my tongue between her lush red lips and I want to taste
the juices between her legs. I swallow hard as I try to regain some control.
I turn around and walk back out of the room. I rush back out to the bar and find Steven. He looks at me strangely.
“I need you to call William. Tell him that the reporter is my mate and I am losing it.” I put my head between my legs as Steven gets on the phone and I hear him talking to William. He hangs up and comes around the bar, to my side.
“Do you need to feed?” He asks as he puts his wrist in front of me. I take a sniff of his blood and my nose curls. It has a strong chemical smell to me now. When a vampire meets his mate. He can no longer feed from others. I will only ever crave her blood from this day on. I shake my head.
“I can’t man. She is my mate.” I know he probably doesn’t understand.
“Congratulations. She is a beautiful woman.” He tells me as claps me on the back. I growl at him. He holds his hands up and backs away.
“Mine.” I growl at him. He chuckles.
“I said she was beautiful not that I want her. I only want my Julia.” That calms me down. Fuck. I know he wouldn’t want anyone but his wife. I need to get a handle on this.
“Sorry man. This shit is making me crazy.” I tell him. He laughs again.
“A good woman will do that to us men.” He tells me as the front door opens and in walks William. He stops in front of me and stares at me in awe. I look up at him and he smiles jubilantly.
“I can hear your heart beating. I was starting to think it was just a myth. It gives us all hope.” He looks like my heart beating is the best thing to ever happen. I guess it is, if I wasn’t frightened out of my mind. I hear a shout from the back room and I run. I look like nothing more than a blur. I race back into the room with my mate, to see her holding a can up and Neil is on the ground with his hands over his eyes.
