The Vampire Cure: A Sci-fi Vampire Romance (The Vampire Cure Series Book 1)

by Kat Stiles

  As I left, I could overhear the doctor talking. “You’ve made a miraculous recovery. If there’s no change in the next hour or so, I don’t see why we can’t release you tonight. You can call in and let us know how you’re doing.”

  My mind raced, trying to plan everything that needed to be done. First, I had to stop the serum from being produced and administered. Then, I had to figure out how many were given the serum, and how many of that group were changed. My old boss John might have some of the answers. If I could visit him in person, I might be able to persuade him to tell me the truth. One of the perks that came with being a vampire.

  Contacting Edgar for some blood samples after he was released wouldn’t be unusual. I could even say it was a follow-up study on the effectiveness of the drug. I just had to get my lab up and running, to make it seem more legitimate.

  I was about to leave when my mother caught up with me. “Honey, can we talk?”

  The inflection in her voice was telling. And her tempered smile, a smile I’d seen so many times before when I was in trouble, hinted that the conversation wouldn’t be pleasant.

  We walked outside of the hospital, heading toward the parking lot.

  “I didn’t say anything before, because I was so upset with your father being ill. But these things you’re able to do… I don’t understand.”

  At first, I didn’t know what to say. I racked my brain for a plausible lie, but nothing sprung forward. As a scientist, I tended to see things in terms of science. And there was no scientific way I could explain what I was able to do.

  I looked into her eyes. Her gaze was kind but steady. I could tell she wasn’t about to back down.

  Then the thought occurred to me. I was testing a new serum, and it was certainly plausible that it could have side effects. I cringed inwardly at the thought of trying to sell supernatural side effects, but it was all I could think of.

  “It’s the serum I’ve been testing. There have been side effects.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Really? What drug has the side effect of being able to mentally control another human being?”

  I knew it was a hard sell, but I wasn’t quite yet ready to explain to my mother that I was a vampire. I guess part of me was holding out hope that I could reverse this condition somehow. Become human again.

  “I’m not sure what’s causing…my, uh, ability to influence people…” I couldn’t arrange the words in my head without feeling like a total idiot. “Like I said, I’m still testing the serum.”

  “Okay.” Her critical stare relaxed, though her forehead was still wrinkled. I knew this conversation was far from over.

  On my way home, I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened at the hospital. I hoped they would take that attack on the nurse as a warning and stop administering the serum. But so many people had died or were dying because of the virus. They’d probably chalk it up to a side effect or an outlier and keep going.

  And John, my former boss. He promised me he wouldn’t go ahead with distributing that serum, after I urged him not to. Why did I trust him? After being a yes man to the president for so long, sacrificing ethics was probably not a giant leap for him.

  What if selfish jerks like my ex-stalker Galen became this new breed of vampire? And what if this new breed has heightened senses and strength like I do? What would that mean for humanity?

  I remembered studying in college the effects of humans on several ecosystems, how imbalanced they became and how many animal and insect species went extinct. Only with this new serum, humans would be the ones in danger.

  Amy, my best friend and former lab assistant, was still at my apartment when I arrived. Her flawless mocha skin still managed to look radiant, even so late in the evening. I was pretty sure how I looked in comparison. Pale, and not in a beautiful way. It was more in a never-see-sunlight-again way.

  “Do you think I should get a Jaguar or a Tesla?” she asked, in all seriousness. I glanced at the notebook in her hands, filled with luxury items she intended to purchase. My power to see the future amplified after I became a vampire, so predicting the winning lottery numbers was as easy as buying a ticket and picturing the scene. I offered to split it with her if she would claim it.

  “Tesla. Better for the environment.”

  “Good point.” She looked up from her list. “You doing all right? You look a little shaken up.”

  “It’s my initial serum,” I said. “They’ve given it some of the DESVID patients at the hospital.”

  “Isn’t’ that the one that killed some of the test subjects?” Amy asked. In my work I had always only relied on myself to get everything done perfectly, so Amy wasn’t that involved in my testing. I finally let her assist me on the final serum, the one that cured my father.

  “It’s not directly responsible.” I walked over to Hemo’s cage and plucked the little mouse out of it. Then I rejoined Amy and pulled up on his lips to expose his fangs. “One of the possible side effects is a kind of vampirism. The test subjects that died didn’t have this side effect and were attacked. The cause of death was exsanguination.”

  Amy nodded as the pieces seemed to fall together in her mind. “A mutation from the vampire bats. So now we have vampiric mice? That is so cool!”

  Hemo started to get squirrelly, so I returned him to his cage. “Not so bad for mice, maybe. But for humans? This could get worse than the virus.”

  “How do we stop it?” Amy asked.

  “I’m not sure. I don’t know how it affects humans – after the mice mutated, I wouldn’t dare test it on a human. But I foresaw an attack, and when I was at the hospital it happened. A human was bitten by someone with fangs.”

  “Damn! And John released this?” Amy folded her arms against her chest. “That doesn’t sound like him.”

  “I know. But after he sided with the president firing me, I can’t say I’m surprised.” I sighed. “We have to get them to stop administering that serum. And then we can investigate the effects of the serum on human subjects.”

  “How?” Amy asked. “There’s only so many people you can hypnotize in the hospital…”

  “I know one of the subjects, he’s a cop. I think he would agree to some blood samples.”

  “I can try to talk to John tomorrow,” Amy offered. “He’s less pissed at me than you.”

  I shook my head. “It can’t wait. Who knows how many more people are getting the serum now, as we speak?”

  Amy snickered. “So what, you’re just going to break into his house tonight?”

  I looked away, avoiding her gaze, as I pressed my lips together.

  “Oh shit, you’re serious.” She touched my shoulder. “When’s the last time you fed?”

  I grimaced. “Good point. Don’t break into people’s houses on an empty stomach. Bad things could happen.”

  “You got this? You want me to come along?” She took hold of one my hands, and I was amazed at the warmth.

  I considered it for a moment. Having someone along to keep me honest wasn’t a bad idea. But I had zero experience breaking into houses. It could all go south in a heartbeat. I didn’t want the only friend I had to go down with me.

  “I’ll be okay. Plus, I’ll need you to bail me out if I get arrested.” I grinned.

  “Look at you with your badass self!” Amy laughed, her soft black curls bouncing. “Miss everything-has-to-be-perfect is finally gone.”

  Dead, to be more precise. I can’t do everything myself now, I thought, even if I wanted to. When everyone else was awake, I would be asleep. I thought about everything I would miss, being a vampire. Food. How many meals did I eat just for energy and nutrition? I never even got to try a New York style pizza. And sunlight. Working so many long hours at the lab, I barely saw the sun. Now I won’t be able to feel that warmth on my face, ever again.

  Amy softened. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to be mean…”

  I wiped away the small tears that had formed in my eyes. “No, you’re right. It’s just…becoming
a vampire is going to take some time to get used to. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t want it.”

  She hugged me. “You’ll figure it out. You’re the smartest person I know.”

  Her warmth was comforting. I regretted so much of what had happened in my life in past couple of months. Discovering vampires exist. Falling in love with Ryan, only to end up losing him. Investigating a cure for a pandemic virus and getting fired for all my effort. Killing both my stalker Galen and the sire of the vampire coven, James. But the one bright light in all of it was becoming friends Amy.

  “Remember I got your back,” she said. “Anything you need, I’m there.”

  I found myself crying once more. “You’re the best,” I said quietly.

  She withdrew from the hug and grabbed her laptop. Then she plopped down on my couch. I heard the faint sounds of a touch tone phone, followed by a dial tone and a phone ringing.

  “This is John,” the exhausted voice of our ex-boss answered. Amy immediately hung up.

  “Looks like he’s home, too,” she said, as she scribbled the address on a blank piece of notebook paper and handed it to me.

  I wondered if he could trace the call back to her laptop, but that thought quickly disappeared. With her computer science minor and a penchant for finding things no one else could on the internet, I knew she could mask her IP address and any other identifying information.

  I thanked her, and she followed me out. I was about to tell Thundarr to be a good dog while I was gone, when I realized he wasn’t there. Most of me knew it was better and safer for him at my mother’s house. But the selfish part of me wanted him home.

  Yet another thing gone from my life. I’d never again curl up with that big, goofy, furry lab. Dogs and vampires just don’t get along.

  I took a deep breath and exhaled. This wasn’t the end, it was only the beginning. I will find a cure for the new breed of vampirism, and then cure myself. I have to. All of humanity was counting on me, whether or not they knew it.

  John only lived a few miles away, so I thought I would run there. Along the way I caught a couple of squirrels, which was enough to curb my hunger. I stayed in the shadows, avoiding the streetlights. With the quarantine still in full effect, I didn’t pass a single soul. Plus I was in surburbia, where people went to bed by 10 o’clock.

  The quiet was eerie. Had I not been undead, I would’ve been freaked out and carrying my taser for sure. Being a vampire certainly wasn’t ideal, but super strength and super speed had to be the greatest side effects of all time. Now that Galen was nothing more than a pile of ashes, it was nice to not have to watch my back all the time.

  As I approached the house that Amy had written down, I could hear the television playing from within.

  “President Lamp has given the greenlight to a treatment he says has been 100% effective in curing DESVID-2. The first patients were given this treatment earlier today, and initial results are promising.”

  “Why is this the first I’m hearing of this?” John stood, screaming at the TV. “If he had something else, he should’ve told me.”

  His wife nodded but didn’t say anything.

  Is it possible? Was he not in on it? All the anger within me dissolved, and with it went the desire to break into his house.

  All of a sudden, I heard the sound of a tiny dog barking, coming from his backyard. No doubt he caught a whiff of my scent.

  And that’s when it occurred to me—I didn’t have to break in. I could easily get him to come out to me.

  In a single bound, I jumped over the fence. The Maltese went nuts, clamping its little jaws on one of my ankles. Its sharp teeth stung, but I continued to move, which produced some rather strange noises from the dog.

  A light on back porch came on. With the animal still attached to me and barking like a maniac, I staggered behind a tree. Then I commanded the dog to sleep.

  “Fluffy?” John’s voice called out. “Here, girl!”

  He walked out farther, squinting his eyes. “Where’d you go?”

  I adjusted my body to stay hidden behind the tree, and a twig snapped. His wife appeared at the door, and he nodded to her. She went back inside without a word.

  I moved out in the open. “I need to talk to you, John.”

  “Jesus, Liz! You scared the shit out of me.” His head tilted to the side. “What are you doing in my backyard?”

  It occurred to me this plan wasn’t my most brilliant one. Sneaking around in his backyard was suspect at best.

  “Just tell me why you did it, and I’m gone.”

  “Did what?” he asked. “And where’s my dog?”

  He approached me, but then stopped. “Your leg…it’s bleeding.”

  “You promised me, John. Why did you release the serum?” I did my best to compel him to answer, but the darkness and his lack of proximity made it difficult to tell if it was effective.

  His eyebrows knitted together. “You mean what was on the news? That was your serum?”

  He genuinely seemed confused. But if he didn’t do it…

  “What do you do to my dog?” He found the motionless Maltese on the ground, and kneeled next to it.

  “I-I didn’t hurt her,” I blurted out. “She’s only sleeping.”

  “Sleeping? You’re bleeding from a dog bite, and she just decides to take a nap afterwards?” His critical gaze didn’t waver. “If this is some kind of vendetta…”

  “I don’t care about my job!” I yelled, louder than I’d intended. He just wasn’t hearing me. And I had difficulty maintaining control feeling like a criminal. “Side effects are happening already. People are in danger—”

  John lifted the small dog in his arms and stood. “I swear if you hurt one little hair on her head…” He glared at me. “Jail will be the least of your worries.”

  Jail? What was he talking about? And then I saw the blue and red flashing lights approach from the street.

  The nod to his wife, telling her to call the police. I should’ve known John would have a system in place.

  “Listen, you can’t let them distribute any more of that serum,” I said, my voice growing more panicked. I moved closer to him, but he kept his distance, stepping backwards. “You have no idea the consequences—”

  “Freeze! Get your hands on your head!” A voice boomed in the distance. Two cops were closing in on me.

  I knew I could run if I had to, and the cops would never be able to keep up. But that didn’t stop my stomach from doing flips. I’d never been chased by the police before.

  In a last-ditch effort, I turned to John. “You have to stop this. Or it will be a bloodbath.”

  I leaped over the fence to get away. Or at least I tried to.

  The tiny barbs of a taser made contact with my arm. 50,000 volts coursed through my body before it all went black.