Page 1 of Brewster

Chapter 1

Brewster, Brew to his few friends, watched the party goers as they reveled down the streets. He didn’t care all that much about their noise, but he didn’t mind that they were out and about. Needing to feed, he decided that one or more of them—taking only a few sips of them—would fill his needs and would be perfect for him. Moving alongside the group, bringing the shadows around him, he tripped one of the partiers to have them slow just enough that he could get what he needed from them.

After getting his fill, putting money into their pockets, and leaving them none the wiser, Brew kept an eye on them so that nothing would befall them. With the slight loss of blood and their inebriated state, he would feel guilty if one of them were to fall and harm themselves. Once they were home, he left them to their night and made his way to his home. It wasn’t that far, not with the ancient way that he could travel, but it was just as the sun was coming up, and he’d not meant to stay out that late.

Not that the sun would bother him. Being as old as he was and so full of magic, he could stand several days out in the sun without a single problem. However, it would drain him somewhat, and he didn’t want to be caught unawares ever again. It was, he knew, dangerous for his kind to show too much in the way of magic without someone wanting a piece of it.

“Your lordship?” He told Landon that it was him. Then he asked him why he’d waited up. “It is my duty to make sure that you are well when you arrive home, and I take my duties seriously. What is it that you’ve been doing this night? Or do I want to know?”

“Would it matter that I don’t want you to know?” Landon tsked at him. “I was out chasing rainbows and watching the stars dance on people’s heads until it crushed them beneath itsweight. Did you know that a comet will be coming by this way soon? Not too often does Ohio get anything special coming it’s way.” Again he tsked at him.

“I would think that you’d be better off in your office figuring out the next few businesses that you have under your rule.” Brew told his man that he seldom ruled anyone. “If you say so. But we have been getting calls from that man again. The one that wishes for you to invest in his ideas so that he can expand.”

“He’ll just have to keep calling. I’ve told him a dozen times that I have no wish to invest in his schemes. They’re farfetched and without any merit.” Landon asked him what they were. “He believes that everyone should have free internet and phone service. While that is a good thing to wish, he wants me to foot the bill for it so that it’s not a burden on others. I ask you, my man, what of my burden of paying for it? I have great riches but I do have an end to my money. I cannot afford to have everything that he wishes to put me out of—he also wishes for me to abolish all porn of adults and children. That has merit, but it is something that I don’t think even the richest of all people could stop. It’s there, and there is little to nothing a single person can do to make it disappear. It would take killing off anyone that has an ill thought. I fear that would kill about half the population, and then where would we be?”

“I see.” He doubted that Landon understood anything that he’d said to him. The man had led a sheltered life the last thousand years as his man servant/butler. He didn’t watch the television, never read a newspaper, nor had he been into town with him—ever—so that he’d get a firsthand look and feelings from the people out and about. If he were to take him to town, to the grocery store, the man would be terrified out of his mind with the things that people were doing. Poor man, he wouldn’t survive a moment without someone there to bring him home, even after a few seconds.

Mayhap he wasn’t correct in his assessment of his friend, but he liked the old man and would hate for anything to happen to him. And he also feared that there would be people out there who would take advantage of him, and that wouldn’t bode well for him or his household. He liked the way things were and hated change in any way.

After sitting at his desk for an hour, he decided to go to his lair. Brew didn’t know why he continued to call it that. It was a lovely bedroom with nice furniture in it. He even had his own bathroom so that he could shower and change while at home. Lying on his bed, he thought about the letter that he had received recently. It had to do with an old friend of his, Sirous.

They’d never had a use for a last name until recently. When pressed for one, Brew would simply say his name was Smith. He thought that anyone named Smith wasn’t human. It was why the name was so popular. So many non-humans used it when they needed a last name. He knew, too, that Sirous was no different.

But Sirous was tired of this world and wanted to move beyond to the next. He hated to see that. He’d been there just recently, wanting to brush off the coils of this world himself. The two of them were bored and had no one around them to keep them busy. Also, he thought himself too old to change if someone did come along to shake up his world.

Just as the sun was at its peak, he closed his eyes. It didn’t bother him, not at all, but he did need to rest and that seemed to be the best time to do so. Brew also knew that when he woke, the sun would still be in the sky, and he’d be in a better mood all the rest of the day.

Having the same dream…nightmare he supposed that would haunt him for days afterwards. The child that had snuck into his home was there. The woman with the most beautiful golden hair too. It had taken him a decade or more to realize that they were one and the same person. The child that had come into his homehad grown up to be a beautiful creature that all mankind would seek. But he never saw their faces. Waking up, only his eyes widening, giving any indication that he had been stirred, Brew lay there, allowing his heart to slow and his fear to dissipate as well.

As he showered, he thought of the nightmare. Once the child was in his home, she would flourish into a woman over the years. However, his dreams made it seem so quick. Like the time that she had entered and her adulthood was a single step into his house. Shivering, he thought of the rest of the dream while he stood under the warm spray.

“You shant come to me again, Beverly. I do not wish you in my bed.”The child-woman laughed at him. The sound of it grating on his ears as he backed away from her.“Do you not hear me? I said I will not have you in my chambers nor my bed. You are not anything to me.”

“What should it matter, Brewster? Who cares if we are not mated? No one. That’s who. You shall take me to your bed and make love to me, then fill yourself. It is what I command of you as your—”and that was when he woke up.

He didn’t know why it would make him wake in a cold sweat. Why her voice, above all others, made his skin crawl. The faceless woman would make him scream himself awake at times, bringing the household to his aid with guns and swords. There was so much about her that would, in a heartbeat, make him feel like he should run and hide rather than face her wrath.

Making his way to his office, he sat there at his desk with his computer, downloading the emails from today. It was like him to get a good start on things, but of late, all he wanted to do was roam the streets looking out for the faceless woman. Whatever she did or went, he needed to have an advanced look for her so as not to be caught unawares.

After paying the household bills, there weren’t all that manyof them, and even those weren’t all that much, he looked at his investments. The electric bill was barely worth having it sent to him. They used no electric but for the kitchen and his room. None of his staff ate anymore because, long ago, it had gotten boring for them. The house had long since been paid off. The taxes were paid through the bank, so as he didn’t have to bother with it. Then there were the cars that sat idle in the garage with no one to drive them, but they were kept up so that in an emergency, they would be there for anyone who needed them. His house ran itself, for which he was grateful. Not bothering him was the way that he liked it. As he sat there, reading emails, his mind wandered a little bit, and he was sorry that he was thinking of the dream again. What the hell did it mean? Who was she? And what hold did she have over him that made him so terrified?

Brew decided that he wasn’t going to waste any more time on the dream. Whoever she was, if she even existed, he wasn’t going to dream about her, nor was he going to speculate what she meant to him. He was finished. Done with her and her—the phone ringing startled him. He couldn’t remember the last time it rang. Picking up the handset, he held it to his ear and waited.

“There are people out to get me, Uncle Daniel. Can you please just stop having me chased? It’s my money left to me.” He nearly told her that she had the wrong number when she started talking again. “I don’t understand why you can take what was left to me. You’ve more money than sense anyway. Just fucking leave me alone.”

The line went dead, and he wondered if the girl/woman he supposed was going to be all right. Looking at the phone, he put his hand back on the large handset and closed his eyes. It had been a very long time since he’d used this magic.

Reaching out beyond where he was, he found the apartment. It was a modest house with one bedroom and a living room thatwent into the kitchen. Four rooms, not counting the bathroom. As he began to search the house, he found the woman curled up on the floor between the living room and dining room table. She was crying. He could almost taste her tears, she was so upset. Willing himself to the room, careful that she didn’t see him, he was first hit with the smell of the room, then the look on the woman’s face when she looked directly at him.

“Who are you?” He didn’t move, sure that there had to be a reason why she could see him. “You’re not human, are you? Something…vampire. You’re a vampire.”

It was then that he noticed her face. It was marred by bruises. Blood was on her lips and her neck. Reaching out to touch her, she backed up further into the corner and stared at him. He told her that he meant her no harm.

“Yeah? Well, I’ve heard that before. As you can tell, I’m not all that trusting of that bullshit. How did you get in here?” He told her. “I guess I should have guessed that you’d have magic. Are you into shit with my uncle? He’s out to get my money, though it’s not nearly as much as he has.”

Touching his finger to the large bruise on her face, he closed his eyes. As he reached out beyond them for the man, he was surprised that he’d gotten a good connection. Opening his eyes, keeping the connection to her uncle, he smiled. Not even bothering to hide his fangs.

“He is broke. More than that, he’s had his home repossessed as well as his car. His bank account is overdrawn by several thousand dollars, and he hasn’t anything to fall back on.” She asked him what had happened. “He’s been sued by his family. Your family as well, I suppose. Not only has he lost everything, but once the police find him, he’ll be going to jail. For a good long time.”

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