Love In Death

by Elizabeth Stokes

  “Anton knew that I might be the best chance at stopping The Sieve, and it worked. The Sieve may have brought me back to life, but it was Anton who stepped in and taught me how to use my new powers and refine them so quickly. If he hadn’t done that, it might have taken years to have the control to see you again. And in that time, The Sieve could have done a lot of damage to both humans and vampires.”

  “How do you know he’s not behind these murders now?”

  “Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

  That was the last thing Xander had said before Allison had hopped out of bed and thrown on her clothes. She insisted that they go talk to Leigh now, and Xander was in no position to argue. And, of course, the quickest way to get there would be to fly.

  And quick, it was. What should have taken them more than twenty minutes by car took them just about five to fly there. As Xander landed as quietly and as gracefully as he could in a nearby park, Allison smiled, thinking she could get used to travel by vampire.

  Allison and Xander walked briskly down Berkeley Road, and she felt much safer with him at her side. It took them only a couple minutes to reach the house, and Allison led the way up the path along the wrought-iron fence. She marched up to the porch and banged on the door.

  A moment later, the door cracked open, and the same goth girl Allison had spoken to before peered out.

  “You again?” she said, annoyed. Then she saw past Allison and recognized Xander. “Oh,” she said, sheepishly.

  “Hi Jennifer,” Xander said.

  “Hold on,” the goth girl said and closed the door.

  Allison looked back at Xander who shrugged and grinned. Better than playing the cop card, she thought.

  A moment later, the door opened, and a tall man with wild hair and a bushy beard stood in front of them. He wore a tie-dye T-shirt and ratty jeans with huge holes in the knees. He was barefoot and almost comically skinny. The man’s face lit up in a bright smile, showing a huge jaw filled with perfectly spaced and perfectly white teeth.

  “Xander!” the man said, walking past Allison and embracing her partner.

  “Hello, Anton,” Xander said, returning the hug with much less enthusiasm.

  Anton then turned to Allison and grinned. “You must be...” he paused for a moment and fished in his back pocket, eventually pulling out her business card she had left earlier in the day. He peered at it and said, “You must be Allison Pratt, Detective.” He said the last part with mock respect, dripping in sarcasm. Then he grinned and embraced her as well. Allison, shocked by the gesture awkwardly froze with her hands half-heartedly patting him on the shoulder.

  “Come in,” Anton said, beckoning them to follow him. Xander was the first to do so, walking past Allison and taking her hand to lead her inside.

  Anton led them into a sitting room directly inside the front door. There were three other people there, including the goth girl that Xander had called Jennifer. The other two were similarly dressed and both relatively young, a man and woman in their early 20s. Allison could tell immediately by looking at their faces that they were anemic.

  Feeders. That’s what Xander had once called them. They weren’t vampires, but they supplied the vampires with food without requiring them to kill. Many vampires kept them around for nourishment and essentially as slaves. Depending on the individual’s choice, they could be manipulated to stick around, or they could voluntarily become Feeders because of some deep-seeded desire to be close to death, the occult, or a life more grim than normal. By the way the Feeders in Anton’s house looked, Allison supposed these were voluntary recruits. Perhaps Anton would turn them into vampires one day. Perhaps they would just grow out of their rebellious, death-obsessed stage and ask to be released. Regardless of the case, these people were not Allison’s concern.

  Anton shooed the Feeders from the room and invited Allison and Xander to sit on the couch. He also offered them a drink and some snacks, but Xander stepped in immediately to refuse. Allison wondered if he worried there would be something in them.

  Allison did not shock easily – particularly considering the way her life had been over the past few months – but she was not prepared for what Anton Leigh looked like. Rather than some occult leader from the 60s, he looked like he belonged in the cast of Hair. He appeared more like a hippie from a lost era than a seasoned vampire.

  Even though Xander and Allison refused refreshments, the Feeder known as Jennifer brought out a steaming cup of tea for Anton. He took it from her and smiled. She then left the room.

  Anton blew softly on the tea before sipping. “How can I help you, Detective Pratt?” he asked.

  Allison looked over to Xander, not expecting to be the one he addressed. Xander nodded to her to go on.

  “Mr. Leigh-” Allison began, but Anton interrupted.

  “Call me Amun,” he said, sipping his tea.

  “Amun?” she asked.

  “It’s Egyptian,” Xander added.

  “Egyptian?” Allison asked. “Is your family from Egypt?”

  Anton laughed. “You might say that. They’re from the old country.” He chuckled, then added, “The very old country.”

  “Um, how old?” Allison asked. “You’ve been around since the 60s, haven’t you?”

  “Sure, the 60s,” Anton said, still chuckling. “The original 60s. No nineteen in front of it.”

  Allison stared at him, her mouth slightly agape. “How old are you?” she asked.

  Anton shrugged. “I lost count after a thousand. Seems unimportant once you get that old.”

  “Mr. Leigh, er... Iman...” Allison began.

  “Amun,” Anton said. “That’s my birth name.”

  “Mr. Amun... What’s your connection to Xander?”

  “We can start there,” he said, smiling. “I’m sure he’s already told you that I had been tracking The Sieve for some time, and I knew his plan was to turn little ol’ Xander into a killing machine.”

  Anton leaned forward and set his tea down on the coffee table. “You see, Detective Pratt, when you first become a vampire, you’re not like he is now. You’re young. You’re hungry. Have you ever been thirsty? I mean, really thirsty? Unquenchably thirsty?”

  Allison shook her head. She knew what it was like to wake up after a night of drinking and want water, or to have had a great work out and how good it felt to get a drink afterwards. But she figured Anton was talking about something else entirely. Allison remembered when she was younger briefly living with her grandfather, who was diabetic. Before he was diagnosed, he would drink water constantly, as severe dehydration was a symptom of chronic high blood sugar. Allison remembered hearing him go to the kitchen in the middle of the night and drink glass after glass of water, sometimes just sticking his head under the faucet and drinking water until it hurt, but never quite slaking his thirst.

  Allison supposed the kind of thirst that Anton was talking about was like that... only probably worse.

  However, instead of sharing all this, she opted to simply say, “No.”

  Anton continued, “When a vampire is born, he has that thirst, and the only thing that calms it is human blood.”

  “Human only?” she asked.

  “Well, it’s not unheard of for a newborn vampire to try to restrict themselves to animal blood, but it’s not the same. It’s like...” Anton thought for a moment, then shrugged and said, “...like eating a slice of bread made out of sawdust instead of wheat flour. It’s just not right.” Anton then cocked his head in the direction of the other room where Allison saw the three Feeders lounging on a couch. “That’s why we keep these guys around. We drink. They don’t die. No muss, no fuss.”

  Allison shuddered at his cavalier attitude.

  “Anyway,” Anton said, “the night Xander died, I broke into the morgue and stole his body. Couldn’t have him waking up with that insatiable thirst with some third-year medical student who pulled the short straw as his only option. So I brought him back here.”

  Allison looked
at Xander, in both disbelief and slight betrayal. He did not make eye contact.

  “For how long?” she asked Anton.

  “Oh don’t feel forsaken, Detective Pratt,” Anton continued. “Xander caught on faster than most. In fact, much faster than most. He was a pillar of willpower and control, and it was clear he wanted to get back to his life... and back to you.”

  “Did you kill anyone?” she asked Xander, tears welling up in her eyes.

  “Allison...” Xander started, then his voice was drowned out by Anton’s laugh.

  “Let me field that one, son,” Anton said. “No, Detective Pratt, he did not kill anyone. I kept my eye on him. He was worth a lot more with a little morality left in him. It’s more than I can say for...” Anton’s voice trailed off a bit, and he smiled as his eyes looked upwards, as if he were fondly remembering something. He continued: “...for the rest of us. I brought some volunteers to him to get his thirst under control, but no, he did not kill any of them.”

  Allison sighed and looked at Xander, who finally brought himself to look at her. His eyes were almost red at this point, and he looked like he was crying.

  “Not that he wouldn’t have,” Anton laughed. “I had to pull him off two or three of them, or he would have drained them.”

  With this, Xander dropped his eyes again, ashamed like a dog caught urinating on the carpet. Allison looked back at Anton, who was grinning maniacally. The happy-faced hippie she had met at the door was gone, and she was finally seeing the true monster inside. Anton may be one of most experienced and oldest vampires that Xander knew, and he may not be driven by violence and danger like others, but it was in this moment that she realized he was no less cruel than The Sieve... and possibly no less mad.

  “Anyway,” Anton said, casually flipping his hair aside before taking a sip of his tea. “Your dear Xander is dead with a clean conscious. He got his thirst under control, and I gave him a few pointers on how to use his new powers.” Anton then shrugged. “The rest you know.”

  Allison glared back at Anton, wanting to get through this conversation as quickly as she could. She said, “There are new murders. Ones that happened after The Sieve. What do you know about them?”

  Anton grinned. “I know a little bit. But information isn’t free, sweetheart.”

  Allison was unfazed by this deflection. She leaned forward and stared into Anton’s eyes. “Were you behind Ed Saunders’ kidnapping the victims?”

  “Ah yes, I heard about poor old Ed. That’s a rough way to go. Head twisted around like that.” Anton held up his hand and spun his index finger around, making a popping noise with his mouth. He then leaned forward and returned Allison’s stare. “But no, I’m not behind any of that. Oh, I knew about it. I know about a lot of things. But I have no interest in collecting blood, nor have I any interest in killing some piece of white trash who works at a stop-and-rob... or a strung-out junkie who got blamed for the murder. I have better things to do.”

  “You know who is behind this, don’t you?”

  “I have my suspicions.”

  “Who?”

  Anton grinned wider, but his eyes remained maniacal. “You realize I could tell you anything, and you’d believe me. I could make you believe me.”

  Allison grinned back. “Yes, you could. But like you said, you have better things to do.”

  Anton paused, as if he suddenly became aware that he had leaned forward and tensed up. Allison was right. What was the point of having this conversation if he were to control it from the beginning?

  Anton looked down at his hand, which was gripping his teacup, and he saw his pale knuckles had grown even more white. Anton then relaxed and leaned back, clearly unsettled by the fact that Allison had somehow wrestled control of the conversation.

  “Who is building a new colony? Is there a new vampire in town?” Allison asked.

  Anton’s grin had vanished now, and he looked deadly serious. “I said before that information isn’t free. But for free, let me ask you two things: What kind of new vampire would have the presence of mind to kidnap his food before he devours it? And what kind of old vampire would feel the need to drain an entire body?”

  Allison continued to stare at Anton for a few more seconds. He made sense, as frustrating as it was. As he described newborn vampires, they would just kill and kill and kill until they curbed the thirst and got their bearings. They wouldn’t go through the elaborate process of luring victims and kidnapping them first. And they most likely wouldn’t bother to find a partner in crime like Ed Saunders to do their dirty work.

  On the other hand, a seasoned vampire wouldn’t need so much blood. To Allison, this was all the more proof she needed that whoever was behind this was building a new colony in secret, feeding the newborns with the blood from these victims.

  As Allison stared into Anton’s eyes, she flashed back to the junkie’s death at the police station. She remembered with vivid detail how the throat just opened up as if sliced by an invisible blade. The only explanation could be a vampire’s influence. However, remembering the flight over here, she was also acutely aware of how much experience would be needed for such fine control. It would be like performing surgery with a scythe.

  The eyes Allison saw before her were clearly mad, possibly from the thousands of years of horrors he had been witness to and partaken in. But could Anton have sliced the junkie’s throat like that? Was there even a way to coax him into demonstrating it for her?

  Maybe later, Allison thought, tapped Xander on the knee. “I think we’ve got all we’re going to get here,” she said. “Let’s go.”

  Allison stood and walked to the door. Xander followed, locking eyes with Anton as he did.

  Just as Allison opened the door and started to walk through, Anton said, “You’re getting cocky, Detective Pratt. Don’t think the game of words we just had will prepare you for the violence and danger you’re courting. And make no mistake. You are on his list.”

  Allison turned away from Anton and walked out the door, not saying another word.

  CHAPTER 19

  They arrived back at Allison’s apartment in almost the same amount of time it took them to get to Anton’s home. Xander leaped through the air and perched on the outside of her living room windowsill. With one clawed hand, he held onto the outside brick of the building, and with the other one swiped up the window, opening it effortlessly. Then, he gently lowered Allison into her living room.

  Allison did not wait for him to follow her. She walked straight to the bathroom and closed the door. As the lights flickered on, she stared at herself in the mirror and turned on the cold water tap. Staring back at her was a very different Allison Pratt than the one who had first made love to Xander Reese when they were both just regular human detectives. That was only a few short years ago, but so much had changed since then. The world had gotten much bigger, and much more dangerous.

  Of course, the moment Allison thought that, she realized that the world actually hadn’t gotten any more dangerous than it was two years ago... or back in the 1960s... or back in ancient Egypt when Anton (or Amun, back then) had walked the earth as a mortal. She had just become more aware of the dangers.

  That didn’t help her settle down.

  Suddenly, there was a quiet knock on the door. Xander’s soft voice called through the door: “You okay in there?”

  Allison splashed some cold water on her face and reached over to flush the toilet to make things sound as normal as she could.

  “I’m fine,” she called back.

  Allison turned off the water and looked at herself again. It was a lot to process, and she had already processed so much.

  She sighed and started to unbutton her blouse.

  † † †

  Allison opened the door to the bathroom and stepped into the dark bedroom. Xander sat patiently on the end of the bed and looked up at her with surprise. She stood before him, entirely naked, the soft curves of her breasts and hips highlighted by the soft light from outsi
de, cradling her body in glowing crescents.

  In this light, her skin appeared warm and smooth, almost flawless, save for several blemishes in different spots where Xander had fed... on her breast... on her neck... on her inner thigh... at the small of her back.

  “God, you’re beautiful,” Xander said softly, his voice suddenly sounding more human than ever.

  Allison walked over to the bed and lay down next to him. As she fell to the sheets, she reached up to cup the back of Xander’s neck, lacing her fingers through his hair and tightening. She pulled him down to her and pressed his soft lips against hers.

  A moment later, she released him, and he reached down to remove his clothes as quickly as possible. Soon, they were both naked, and their bodies pressed against each other. If she could have crawled under his skin to be closer to him, she would have.

  She kissed him again, digging her fingers into his back, and he returned the kiss hungrily. When that kiss broke, she offered her left wrist to him. Xander licked her flesh carefully, then let his tongue trail half-way down her forearm.

  Over the past several months, Allison had gotten use to the initial sting of his bite. He was always gentle, and she was quickly associating the pain with the pleasure that would soon follow. Now, she welcomed it, and as his sharp teeth pierced her flesh, she felt herself growing warm and wet between her legs.

  As Xander suckled on her arm, Allison sighed. She closed her eyes, and felt a tiny bit of her flowing out of her body and into his, penetrating him and nourishing him. Xander’s hips were pressed hard against her thigh, and she could feel him grow excited, along with the intense heat that came with the arousal of feeding.

  Soon, Xander had consumed as much of her as he dared. His tongue darted back and forth against the thin open wound on her arm, licking up the last drops of exposed blood.

  Xander crawled on top of her, and she felt him glide between her legs. He leaned forward and locked eyes with hers. She craned her neck up to kiss him, tasting her own salty blood on his lips. Then Allison pulled back a bit and grinned.