The Vampire's Warden

by S. J. Wright

  “Not as far as I know.” She replied from the doorway, a kitchen towel in one hand, and a wet pan in the other.

  “That’s weird.” I pressed the phone against my ear, “Dr. Fleming, we don’t have anybody on the books for tonight.”

  He hesitated for a moment then continued in a shaky voice that was completely out of character, “Sarah honey, these are the special guests I told you about a few days ago.”

  Holy crap. The Council reps. Trying to ignore the weary feeling in my legs and my desire to fall asleep, I pulled on a jacket, grabbed the keys to my truck from the hook inside the pantry door of the kitchen, and rushed out of the house. Vampires. I was surprised they had not just come up to the house. Couldn’t they fly or something?

  Seeing me rush out, Sadie came galloping over to me with her pink tongue flailing around. I shook my head, “No way, girl. You’re staying in the barn tonight. These people would probably make a quick snack out of you.” I ruffled the thick soft fur around her neck, grabbed her collar, and pulled her to the side entrance of the big barn. I got her inside without too much of a fuss and closed the door.

  An increasing amount of adrenaline had begun to revive me as I pulled up a few dozen feet from the closed gate at the end of our long driveway.

  Three figures stood in the darkness there. One was a very tall man with short white hair, dressed in a pristine black suit and wearing dark glasses. At his side stood a woman, who was nearly as tall as the male vampire beside her. She had long ebony hair that was elaborately braided and twisted into lovely circles on her head. She was dressed in a classy red business suit that included a mini-skirt that barely covered the tops of her long thighs. They both looked entirely irritated and completely out of place. A dozen or so feet away stood the doctor, leaning against his still-idling Pontiac.

  I left the truck running and opened the driver’s door. I wondered how dangerous these two strangers were and if they posed any possible harm to Nelly or Alex as I slowly walked toward the gate separating us. I fingered the key that unlocked the gate. What was I in for if I let these two onto my property? I nodded a greeting at Dr. Fleming.

  Coming to a stop at the large metal gate illuminated by the low beams of my truck’s headlights, I cast each vampire a hesitant glance.

  “Dr. Fleming, if I let these two onto my property, can they be expected to be peaceful?”

  The female gave me a half smile with her painted-red mouth and raised an eyebrow, “She’s feisty.”

  The doctor cleared his throat, “The Council has given their word that there will be no trouble.”

  Miss Skank sighed and turned to the doctor with a tremendously bored look, “Can we please get on with this?” Her accent was hard to define, “There’s much to discuss and I hate getting this mud all over my Pradas.”

  Dr. Fleming came forward with his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, “You’ll need to invite them in after you unlock the gate.”

  “Invite them in?” My thoughts were all jumbled up. Between my physical exhaustion and the shock of having a couple of vampires in front of me giving me major attitude, I felt like my brain was working in slow motion. I rubbed my hands over my face and then gave each of the vampires a steady look.

  “If I invite you onto my property, do I have your word that you will not cause any type of harm to anyone,” I paused for a minute to consider my words carefully before continuing in a stronger voice, “Anyone human or vampire?”

  There was a spark of excitement suddenly between the two of them. They nodded quickly and then shot quick looks at each other that defied any explanation I could figure out. Trusting them completely was out of the question, given the fact that they were undead and presumably sucked the life out of humans. However, if they were truly from the vampire Council, they had a responsibility here. I only hoped they took their jobs seriously.

  “What are your names?” I asked, preferring to be direct.

  The female raised her chin an inch and met my eyes without hesitation, “I am Luanna Rustovski.”

  “And you?” I gestured at the male.

  He took off his glasses and rolled his dark eyes in exasperation, “My name is Gunter Hastings.”

  Finally, I decided it was safe so I pushed the little key into the locked front gate, unfastened the chain, and opened it. As the creaky old thing swung away from my push, I realized I had taken my first real action as the new warden. The decision had been made and somehow I knew there was no turning back.

  “Come in.”

  “You should have told me they were coming.” Alex hissed in my ear.

  I was starting a pot of decaf for the doctor and myself when he had accosted me in the kitchen. I gave him a dirty look and jerked my head toward the sitting room where our three guests were waiting, “Hush!” I peeked around the corner to make sure we were alone, then grabbed his arm, and marched him to the pantry. Once there, I spoke as low as I could and hoped these vampires did not have that super-hearing ability I had read about.

  “I didn’t know exactly when they would be here, Alex. Besides, I didn’t know that it was really any of your business.”

  His eyes widened, “Not my business? I’m here to help you, Sarah. How can I do that if you don’t tell me what’s going on?”

  “Give me a break. I never exactly asked for your help, now did I?” Without realizing it, my voice had risen in frustration. I did not want to get into an argument with Alex at that point, but with all the other crap going on around me, I knew I was nearly at my boiling point, “Listen, if you want to help me, and then get out of here. Go try to find Messenger or something. But I do not need your overprotective, unasked-for bullshit right now.”

  I took a deep breath, put on my best friendly smile and took the coffee tray into the sitting room.

  Luanna had settled herself into a recliner near the fireplace with her legs folded under her, and her mud-encrusted red Pradas were beneath her on the floor. She was staring into the flames with a pensive expression. Gunter had remained standing and was perusing the family photos on the wall by the door. The doctor straightened on the couch when I entered with the coffee and gladly took a cup. I decided I was probably safer sitting next to the familiar family doctor and tried to relax while I waited for them to start talking.

  It was Gunter who began, to my surprise.

  “Your father will be missed.” His accent hinted at some European upbringing, but I could not nail down the exact country. German, maybe.

  “He already is.” I replied.

  “Indeed.” The male turned away from the photos and walked over to Luanna. He slid the fingers of one hand along her neck in a rather suggestive move. I looked away, but not before, I saw her glance up and smile at him sweetly.

  “He was the last male to inherit the position. There will never be another.” The vampire lowered himself rather elegantly into the loveseat across from me and crossed his legs. I noticed that his clothes looked very expensive, just like Luanna’s and I wondered vaguely how much they spent on such things. I imagined that they probably lived in some gorgeous Italian villa somewhere. Hell, I thought, no wonder they look pissed off being out here. I actually giggled a little.

  Gunter gave me an annoyed frown and chose to ignore my stupidity. He continued.

  “In all probability, you may be the last one to shoulder this responsibility.”

  That snapped me back to reality, “What? Why?”

  “The bloodline has been diluted almost completely.” Luanna said, languidly turning away from the fire to stare on me with hooded gray eyes, “The ancestor of yours who created the containment field was a pure Pawnee tribesman. You and your sister carry only a very small part of that bloodline. The very last of it, in fact.”

  I shook my head, “Katie isn’t involved in any of this. She has to stay out of it.”

  “Not to worry, Sarah.” The doctor interjected a little too cheerfully, “There’s no need for Katie to know about this. Right, Gunter?”
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  “As long as this one manages to stay alive and follows the rules.” The male replied dryly. He leaned back and scrutinized me, “There may be a way to keep the field in operation after the both of you die, but it would require a rather delicate agreement.”

  This guy was sitting across from me talking about my death like it was no big deal, so it was with a great deal of effort that I managed to keep my voice calm as I asked what he meant by that.

  “It doesn’t matter, darling.” Luanna said carefully, “The Council has already determined that she doesn’t have the dedication required for that kind of agreement.”

  “Don’t talk about me like I’m not here.” I growled, feeling that anger beginning to rise up in me again, “And what kind of an agreement are we talking about, anyway?”

  “I’m curious about that myself, Sarah.” Dr. Fleming said. I glanced over at him and he looked as clueless as I was.

  Gunter sighed and leaned forward, “I’m not authorized to divulge that information at this point. We are simply here to answer any questions regarding your current situation and handle any immediate problems.”

  I looked blankly from one vampire’s face to the other. Questions? I probably had a hundred or more, certainly more than they could answer in one night.

  “Is Michael the only vampire in my custody right now?”

  “No. There are at least a half dozen underground that are here for the long sleep.” Luanna replied, “Michael is the only one here against his will.”

  At least six more vampires were on my property. Fantastic.

  “Why was Michael sent here? What did he do?”

  Luanna flicked her eyes over to her companion sharply. Gunter acknowledged her look with one delicately raised eyebrow and answered reluctantly, “He turned a human who was under the protection of the Council.”

  “Why would a human be protected by the Council?”

  “It happens occasionally. You, yourself are under Council protection. Any vampire who tried to turn you would suffer the same fate as Michael.”

  There were a few moments of silence during which the vampires did not blink or move at all. I was not sure they were telling me the whole truth about what Michael was accused of doing. Deciding to change the subject, I took a shallow breath and directed my attention to the doctor, “And what is your part in all of this?”

  He wilted a little under my scrutiny, “I am a liaison for the Council. I was an advisor to your father and will be yours, if that is your wish.”

  “I saw your name in my grandfather’s journal.”

  “My father’s name, I suspect. He was the Council’s liaison during that time.” He pursed his lips together and rubbed absently at one of his bushy white eyebrows, “My duties vary. Being an advisor to your father was only one of my duties. I’m also a healer. For humans and vampires.”

  “Why would a vampire need a healer? Don’t they heal themselves?”

  Luanna gave me tiny patient smile, “We are often referred to as immortal, but that’s not exactly the case. We do have the ability to heal minor injuries by drinking the blood of a human. If the wound is very serious, a healer can administer a special mixture of blood that comes from very powerful vampires. It isn’t done often.”

  “So what happens if I decide I don’t want to be responsible for this?”

  All three of them exchanged careful glances, but it was the doctor who answered my question.

  “Then the duty would fall to Katie.”

  That was the moment that Nelly chose to step into the sitting room with a loaded shotgun aimed directly at Gunter’s head.

  “You bloodsuckers need to get the hell off this property.” She stated, “Right now.”

  Chapter Eight

  You could have heard a Prozac drop.

  “Holy crap, Nelly,” I made some odd, high-pitched squealing sound and jumped up to grab the gun away from her. However, someone had beaten me to it. Instead of getting lost, as I had specifically asked him to do, Alex must have been listening from somewhere close by. He wrestled the huge firearm away from Nelly and dragged her into the kitchen.

  The doctor’s eyes were open wide and he looked like he was about to need a change of underwear. Luanna had risen from her seat by the fire and was standing near Gunter, who, to his credit, had not seemed to move a muscle during the entire nasty scene. He still looked rather bored, actually. I apologized three times for the behavior of my housekeeper and made a beeline for the kitchen, where I found Alex leaning over Nelly threateningly. He still had a hold on both her arms. The shotgun had disappeared.

  “What in God’s name were you thinking?” I shrieked, “You’ve never touched a gun in your entire life! Someone could have been killed!”

  “Having one vampire sneaking around the house is more than enough, young lady.” She grumbled, glaring at Alex and me in turn.

  I reached out and grabbed her shoulder, “What? What vampire?” I sneaked a peek at Alex’s face. It had gone an unhealthy shade that reminded me of the color of the cream I put in my coffee every morning. However, he remained completely silent. I refocused on Nelly. She had jerked her arms out of Alex’s grasp and sat down at the kitchen table.

  “That Michael’s a handsome devil. I will give him that much. But I don’t like anything about these other two.” She rolled her eyes to the sitting room, “Filthy, vile creatures.”

  My mouth hung open. She knew about Michael? I do not recall any other time in my life when I had been so completely taken by surprise. Except for that shotgun thing. Oh, yeah, and finding out my Mom was still alive… or undead. Whatever. It was turning into one hell of a night. I turned back to Alex, “Lock that shotgun up somewhere.” Looking back at Nelly, I tried to gather my thoughts. Alex left the room hastily, heading out toward the back.

  “Listen to me, okay?” I made sure Nelly was paying attention by turning her face toward me as gently as I could, “I want you to pack a few things and go stay at your sister’s place. I can take care of things here.”

  She shook her head, “Oh no, you can’t, young lady.”

  “Sheila will be happy to have you. You know that.” I tried to use my most persuasive, pleading, little-girl tone with her.

  It was not working though. The new vampires had woken up the protective instinct in her, and I knew nothing short of physical force would change the outcome. What I saw in her eyes was righteous anger, some of which was directed at me. I began to wonder at that point how long she had known about all this.

  “Nelly, what exactly do you know about Michael?” I asked.

  She looked away, “Nothing.”

  She was lying. Nothing pissed me off faster than somebody telling me an outright lie to my face. If anybody in the world knew how I hated being lied to, it was Nelly. I growled and peered more closely at her. She had started pulling on the lobe of her right ear and rubbing at it, keeping her eyes fixed on the wall in front of her.

  “Look at me. And don’t lie.”

  She finally turned to me, “All I know is that he’s a damn vampire and that he can make more vampires.”

  “Did my mother meet him first or did you?” As if I did not already know the answer to that question.

  A weary little sigh came from her, “It was me. And yes, I was the one who told your mother about him. She wanted to escape from here. I’d had enough of her and wanted her out of all of our lives.”

  So it was her? She pushed my mother into the idea of becoming a vampire? What the hell? However, could I honestly be angry with her if my Mom was already looking for a way out? What else was she not telling me?

  All her work over the years may have stamped calluses on her feet and hands and constructed deep lines on her face, but I realized then that those few years she had been here at the Inn and working under the direction of my mother had caused some deeper kind of wound in her. It must have been a great deal of personal pain that had caused Nelly to do such a thing to a woman who wanted to escape from her family. There
must have been some serious animosity between the two of them. However, I could not blame Nelly somehow. I had built up so much animosity against my mother that Nelly definitely seemed the lesser of two evils.

  I put a hand on her shoulder and met her eyes directly when she looked up at me.

  “We’ll talk about that some other time.” I said evenly, “For now, I’d feel better knowing that you’re safe in Greenwood with your sister. I realize you don’t like vampires and I understand that, but I need their help right now. When they leave, I’ll call you at Sheila’s.”

  “This just isn’t right, Sarah. What if something happens to you?”

  “Alex is here. He can protect me if I need it. It’ll be fine.”