Page 52 of The Vampire's Thirst
“Huh?”
“Underwear.”
“Don’t wear the stuff.”
Chiara knew already, but she gasped nonetheless.
“Are we done?”
“No. We’ve just started. We need something to hold our items.”
As Chiara took off down the aisle, Dax followed with a grunt.
After loading a large navy-blue duffel into the cart, Chiara eyed a display. “Toiletries. How could I have forgotten? Are you particular about toothpaste brands or deodorant?”
“What do you think?”
“That’s a no.” She studied the brands, grabbing Crest Complete. Whitening and fresh breath. Twofer. Next, she selected men’s and women’s deodorant. “Do you need razors? Of course you do.” She tossed a pack in the cart.
Muttering something unintelligible, Dax snatched the basket, heading down the aisle with a long, fast stride.
“Where are you going?” Chiara chased him down, an armload of combs, brushes, fingernail polish, moisturizer, and shampoo. “Slow down. We need hair conditioner.”
“We’re done.”
“No. I don’t have my stuff. Women’s is over there. Stop snarling. Your fangs are showing.”
By the time they checked out, Chiara had chosen several skirts, tops, panties, bras, socks, and two nightgowns for herself. Dax tried to escape again when she insisted on trying on bedroom slippers decorated with sleeping bunnies because motel floors were grungy.
After they loaded the bags into the car while Dax still pouted, they found reasonably priced lodgings off the main street. Once settled into the room, they headed to the attached cafe where the vampire said they’d gather intel on the roadblocks.
The waitress poured their coffees while pulling down her off-the-shoulder blouse until Dax had to be blind not to see the swell of her boobs. She snatched a pencil from behind her ear, tapping it on a small notebook.
“So, what’s with the blocked-off streets in town?” Chiara frowned at the woman who continued to yank on her top. How much more tit did she want to show? Pretty soon, she’d be lounging across Dax’s lap with the blouse at her waist.
Flipping a strand of dyed carrot-colored hair off her face, the woman said, “Dunno. Been that way for days. Whatcha want, honey?” Pencil and pad in hand, gum popping in time to her taps, she eyed Dax as if he were the meatdu jour.
“I’ll have three cheeseburgers, extra fries, a strawberry malt.” The fangtard had no problem ordering first.
“You?” The waitress was clearly less enthusiastic about Chiara’s order, taking it while she kept her heavily lined and mascara-laden eyes glued to the dark-haired vampire.
Once the waitress walked away, a man in the booth behind them turned and patted Chiara on the shoulder. “I think it might be a carnival. I heard big trucks going by. The kind they keep packed with equipment. I don’t like having those carny guys in town. We got a lot of nice girls here, and you know about those rides and games boys. Drinking and carrying on till early morning. Bunch of con artists.”
An older white-haired woman at a nearby table threw out her idea. “Nonsense. A movie. They’re definitely shooting a film. I bet pretty soon a bunch of actors will arrive in town. I hope one’s Brad Pitt. I’d rather spend time with Steve McQueen, but he’s dead. So, Brad’s my second choice.”
“Bullshit,” said a cowboy at the table next to her. “Gotta be military maneuvers.”
“Why do you say that?” asked Dax.
“I spied some army guys the first day. Those vehicles that rolled into town were green cargo trucks. Seen enough of them when I was on duty to know what they look like. Not carnival equipment.”
A kid leaning against the jukebox said, “Aliens.”
“What?” Chiara lifted her chin from the palm of her hand.
“A spaceship probably landed, and the government’s got aliens there. This is what the guys on my football team are saying. We figure they’re cutting them up, dissecting them. Finding out where they’re from. What they want with us. Maybe their planet is dying, and they need food. Joe Martin, he’s team captain, says we’re probably gonna be processed and canned when they invade. He watched some movie where the aliens ate humans. Or they could be carrying some outer space virus. If so, we could all die from a disease. Likely turn into zombies.”
When the waitress brought their order, she said, “Well, it could be terrorists with some bioweapon. Those Al-Kinda people from the East Coast are dangerous.”
