Page 17 of Accidental Vampire

The road had been bumpy for the last 20 minutes, bruising my brain from the inside out. I curled my lip at the thought of tepid blood bags. The way the night was going, cold blood wouldn’t chase away the headache, anyway.

The brakes yelled as they brought us to a stop. The engine cut, transferring all that roaring energy right into my skull. The van door wrenched free with a metallic screech. I filled the space instantly, putting myself between her and the elements.

It was just the mortal. All bald, pudgy, and nervous. He backed up slowly, about 10 feet, thinking that might be a safe distance. There was no such thing.

“Nadine said,” he had to pause to get his voice out of falsetto range before trying again. “Nadine said to help you get settled.” He flicked his eyes to the girl. What tragic errands did Nadine give this lump of a mortal, that a dead girl in the back of a van was just a to-do item to be ticked off?

I uncurled myself from the van, my glare focused on him, making him wither. I let my other senses tell me where I was. Deep quiet. Soft rustle of leaves. The smell of dirt and dead things. No blood, but the dark smell of vampire was freshened by the ripeness of summer. At least he had manners enough not to make a run for it. That never ended well. He pointed off to his left. I let an eternity pass before turning my head.

Right. We were at a cabin in the woods. We, the Family that is, had safe houses stashed all over the Catskills. Summer camp for vampires. The constant pressures of mortals made being in the city tiresome. Vamps were made, recovered, convalesced in the woods. I hadn’t been to this one before. I didn’t think, anyway. But they would all be the same. Well stocked, comfortable beds, and a cellar lined with concrete, rebar, and steel plates.

I turned back and saw him ogling her, licking his lips. A bit eager for the dirty work, wasn’t he? I felt my breath catch in my throat.

“Right,” I said, clapping my hands, the sound startling in the silence. “Let’s get on with it, then.”

Baldy jumped, as if I had jerked his chain. His desire to obey won out over self-preservation. He reached in, grabbed her foot. I could hear his heartbeat tick up.

I snatched him from behind, hefting him off his feet. I flattened him against the van before the notion of struggle crossed his mind. I bit into his neck, tearing flesh, slicing the artery, letting his own fear empty himself into my waiting mouth. The aftertaste of sickness coated my tongue. Cancer, maybe.

I pulled harder, taking every drop. I tasted his death. It was fast and sour. From racing heart to nothing in an eye blink. I dropped the body to the ground and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. I tilted my head back to the moon and breathed deep. Letting the energy ripple through me. It had been a while since I drank a mortal dry. Vampires were a fun bite, but they never gave you this kind of strength. I could be full of Aurora’s blood and still feel spent. I looked down at my hands and flexed my fists, feeling the blood already surging to my extremities. My headache lost its grip and slid away, leaving just a dull tang of the K Juliet had fed me.

“Lachlan Venier, were you raised in a barn, eh?” The stern headmaster voice rolled out of the darkness.

I squinted at the vampire. He was at a respectful distance, surveying the scene with a thoughtful look. I tried to place him. He was short, slim, with hair as black as pitch, worn in a style that was fashionable maybe a hundred years ago. His midnight eyes twinkled with amusement.

“Omar Venier.” I said, a grin spreading across my face.

“Naves, dear boy, Naves.” His tone was light, but it hid a long-standing pain. Omar had caused quite the stir breaking from the Family to become a Naves. If I remembered the gossip right, it had something to do with Veronica not allowing him to make his lover. Broken bonds with one family often meant broken trust right out of the gate with your new family. We looked at the body at my feet.

“I thought you were out of the teething phase.” There was no disappointment in his voice. “Well, no matter. We’ll pack him off to Burnside.”

“Burnside?”

“Ah, you remember, no? The Burnside’s have run that Civil War reenactment camp out near Brandywine.”

I resisted the urge to rub my temples. I wasn’t anticipating a history quiz.

“Ah.” Omar said with understanding. “Yes, that would have been when Warren…” I stiffened out of habit, bracing myself for the waves of grief.

“No matter,” Omar waved away the tension, “After Hutton Brickyard closed in the 80s and we lost the use of their furnaces, Burnside was more than happy to feed our ‘problems’ to his blacksmith forge.”

I nodded. It had been a long time since I had to work out the logistics of dead bodies.

“Modern life, eh.” He said with a shrug. “Oh, and this? This is interesting.” Omar took a step toward the open van door. I blocked him. Most vampires considered it tacky to display our strength or speed, even in front of other vampires. Omar rocked back a step.

“Oh, yes. Very interesting.” He nodded as a sly smile crept across his face.

Panic and anger bubbled up. That, at least, felt better that the nausea. Omar took retreated and inclined his head.

“Shall I?” He gestured to the dead man. “I’ll take care of this. You... get settled.” He swept a gracious hand toward the house.

FIFTEEN

TIFFANY

I felt stiff all over. My brain even felt stiff, like it was paused mid-scene and wouldn’t move forward. I tried to wiggle my toes. Nothing. Fingers? Nope. I... I should be panicking. I should be scared. Right? Why wasn’t I freaking out?

I took a second to collect myself. Literally. I felt like there were bits and pieces of myself floating in the universe, not connected to anything, not connected to me.

---