After ten minutes of surveying minds, human and vampire, Karen scoped out a bloodsucker standing alone against the wall to her right. He drank blood from an antique goblet and was tall, over six feet, but lean. His long silky hair was tied back into a ponytail. Peering into his head, she knew he didn’t care for the blood he was drinking. It tasted old and unclean. He was her man. She walked directly up to him. He turned his head slowly, his eyes a piercing emerald green.
“Hello,” Karen said, acting shyly and averting her eyes from his.
“Evening,” the vampire said. He didn’t move, only stared at her. Karen felt a coldness coming off his flesh.
“I’m going to make this quick; get to the point if you will.” She squirmed, as if embarrassed to be speaking to such a handsome man. “My girlfriend and I are staying at a friend’s place who happens to be out of town.” Karen brought a finger to the vampire’s chest and ran it down the front of his shirt, circling around the buttons in a slow, snaking pattern. “She sent me out to find someone like you. Are you that someone?”
“I could be,” the vampire said, his voice even, but with a hint of delight.
Karen glanced into the vampire’s eyes for a moment. A chill ran between her thighs. Fighting off a twinge of elation, she said, “I haven’t got all night. My girlfriend is home getting wasted without me…
us
. If you aren’t that guy, I can find another.” She turned, ready to walk away.
“Stop,” he said, his voice commanding, freezing Karen in her tracks. “There is no need to look elsewhere.”
Karen turned around, making sure to avoid direct eye contact.
***
She and the vampire walked out of the club. He seemed to glide as he walked, making Karen feel like a clumsy fool.
“What’s your name?” she asked as they approached the car.
“Garner,” he said, bowing slightly. “Glad to be at your service.”
Karen pushed the button on the key remote, unlocking the doors. “Hop on in, Garner.” She smiled, glancing over at him before getting into the car. “My roommate’s going to love you.”
“I’m sure I’ll love her, too,” he returned, smiling brightly.
Chapter 31
The drive to Morgan’s place was quick. Karen brought up the broken window and dented roof, telling the vampire that the car had been recently vandalized.
“The bastards even urinated in the backseat,” she said. “I doused it with bleach. I wasn’t about to take any chances with disease, you know?”
“Yes, and that’s too bad,” he said. “The youth of today are out of their minds.”
She felt a growing knot in her stomach, tightening as she neared the house. If the vampire sensed her nervousness, she’d simply attest the anxiety to having never been responsible for bringing home a stranger before.
She also thought about Morgan, concentrating her thoughts on him and all the encouragement he had given her. She prayed silently that his plan would work and that she hadn’t taken too long. If Morgan was dead…No, she could think like that. He was alive and waiting at home.
Karen parked the car directly in front of the house. It was risky, should the Murphy people somehow come across it, but she couldn’t risk the chance of the vampire attacking her as they walked to the house. She needed to get inside as quickly as possible.
“We’re here,” Karen said, smiling at her new friend.
“Fantastic,” the vampire answered coolly.
They got out of the car and went inside the house. Karen strode swiftly down the short hall, wanting to get ahead of the vampire and to safety. She walked past the living room and into the kitchen, glancing at Morgan, who appeared very much alive with his one good eye staring at her, on the couch.
“Make yourself comfortable,” she told Garner as he stood just inside the front door.
The bloodsucker walked forward, his gaze locked on her the whole time. Karen smiled back, eagerly waiting for him to enter the living room. She turned away to hide the anxious look creeping past her defenses. Glancing forward again, she saw Garner about to enter the living room when he stopped, as if he’d hit an invisible wall. A look of surprise showed on his face before turning to one of bewilderment.
Karen grabbed the rope, ready to yank it the moment Garner entered the room.
“What the hell?” Garner asked, looking from the couch to Karen.
“What?” Karen asked, pretending she hadn’t noticed anyone on the sofa. She needed the bloodsucker to take a few more steps, make sure he was far enough into the room.
“There’s some beat-up homeless guy on your couch.” The vampire took a few steps into the room, approaching Morgan and staring at him intently like a marine biologist discovering a new species. “Hughes, is that you?”
Karen’s jaw dropped. Garner knew Morgan. She wasn’t sure how in the hell he recognized him, but he did.
“Now, Karen,” Morgan shouted.
Karen yanked the rope. All four paintings hanging on the living room walls slid down, revealing the crosses. Garner hissed, immediately covering his eyes.
“Bitch,” he said. “Morgan, why didn’t you warn me?”
Karen watched as Morgan sprang up, amazed at how fast he was able to move, and wrapped his body around the vampire. Half of Morgan’s face disappeared, buried into the vampire’s neck. Morgan consumed Garner’s blood.
The vampire struggled, but to no avail. Like movie magic, Karen watched as Morgan’s wounds healed. She couldn’t believe the speed he recovered.
Garner tried to shove Morgan off of him. Finally they parted, Morgan coming away and landing gingerly on his feet.
The vampire was down on one knee, weakened. “What the hell are you?” he asked, glaring wearily at Morgan.
Karen dove into the vampire’s mind. He wasn’t as weak as he was letting on. “Morgan,” Karen yelled. “He’s pretending.”
Morgan hissed, hands up, nails protruding like daggers from his fingertips. He lunged at the vampire, but Garner was too fast and avoided the attack. Garner spun on Morgan, smashing a fist into his back and sending Morgan flying into the coffee table, shattering it.
“I’d heard rumors of something like you,” Garner said, grinning. “Now I know it’s true. And once I kill you, I’ll become a legend.”
Morgan sprang. This time he collided with the vampire, slamming his spine into one of the crosses.
Garner howled in pain as smoke rose from his back. The sizzle of cooking meat filled the room. Morgan held the vampire in place for a few moments as Garner kicked and clawed to be free. When the vampire seemed to tire, Morgan released him. Garner slumped to the floor, the flesh at his back molten, weeping.
Morgan hunched down and sank his teeth into the vampire’s neck. After draining Garner dry, he thrust his hand into the corpse’s chest and tore the heart away. The vampire’s body rapidly deteriorated into a pile of oozing gore.
Karen looked on with utter amazement at the gruesome but incredible sight. Staring at Morgan, she saw that her old friend was back, looking almost like himself again, apart from bruises and scrapes.
“Have to vacuum this sucker up later,” he said.
Karen ran over to him and hugged him tightly. “Are you okay now?”
“Yes, much better, thanks to you.”
Karen stepped away, afraid if she remained close she might cry.
“I owe you big time,” he told her. “Thought I was a goner there for a while.” Smiling, he looked her in the eyes. “You did great.”
Karen returned the smile, but then her face faltered. Her legs wobbled. The excitement was over, the rush of adrenaline no more. “I think I need to sit down and rest for a little. Maybe get something to eat.”
“Me, too,” Morgan said, surprising Karen.
“Eat? You’re not finished?”
“No. I’ll need another feeding, then I’ll be fully recharged and good to go.”
Karen nodded, rolling her eyes. “Fine. So, what now? Back to the club?”
Morgan laughed. “No, I have another idea.”
Chapter 32
Warya’s Park was a beautiful nature preserve during the daylight hours, but after sunset it became a dangerous hunting ground for creatures of the night.
From inside the park, Karen couldn’t see the city or its glare of lights, feeling as if she’d stepped into the remotest of countrysides. A breeze blew inland from the Hudson River and stirred the scent of pine from the surrounding trees. A set of swings swayed in the wind, as if ghost children were idling their time on them, Karen mused.
“This place creeps me out,” she told Morgan, wrapping her arms tightly around herself.
“I need to feed,” Morgan reminded her. “This place is full of lowlife vamps. Ones that truly need to be disposed of.”
Karen looked at Morgan, the moonlight’s glow reflecting brilliantly off his eyes. She wanted to see what he was thinking, what the predatory part of him was like. But she resisted, knowing it would lead to nothing.
“Strange,” he said. “There are usually vamps wandering about in plain view.”
“Need bait?” Karen asked.
Morgan shook his head in disapproval and pointed. “See that bench over there?”
“Yes.”
“Go sit there and don’t move.”
Karen noticed, off in the distance, a group of teenagers. They were smoking cigarettes, or something else, and holding skateboards. “I take it they aren’t vampires?”
“No.”
“Morgan,” a voice said from somewhere in the darkness.
Karen jumped, looking to see where the voice had come from. When she saw no one, she looked to Morgan, who immediately knew from which direction the voice had originated.
A figure strolled out of the dense stand of pine. He looked disheveled, like a crackhead. His face was slack, fingers bone thin.
“Good to see you, old buddy,” the figure said.
Karen guessed Morgan’s old pal was a vampire.
“How’s it been going?”
“Surprised to see me?” Morgan asked.
“To see you, no. But to see you
here
? Yes.”
Karen did a quick probe and knew at once that the man was a vampire.
The bloodsucker glanced at Karen. “Who’s this you got with you?”
“The human’s with me,” Morgan said.
The vampire rubbed his hands together. “She’ll make a tasty snack.”
“Like I said,” Morgan reiterated, “she’s with me.”
The vampire smiled. “Heard a rumor about you.”
“Yeah?”
Karen boldly probed Morgan’s mind. The chalkboard never went up, Morgan too occupied with his old friend. The vampire was the brother of another vampire named Thomas, now deceased—by Morgan’s hand.
“That you killed my brother.”
“He sold me out to hunters, Dean,” Morgan said, without hesitation. “Your brother nearly got me killed. And he murdered children.”
Karen connected with the vampire again.
“And why have you come here?” the vampire asked.
“To find myself a meal.”
The vampire did nothing to hide his confusion. He glanced back to Karen, questioned why Morgan was looking for cheap food in the park when he had such a delectable human with him.
“You know, Morgan. It wasn’t just my brother that wanted you dead. I was in on it, too.”
Karen knew the vampire was lying, but why?
Morgan cocked his head. “Why would you tell me that? Aren’t you afraid I’ll do the same thing I did to your brother to you?”
The vampire laughed. “Oh, I don’t think so.”
Words passed clearly through the vampire’s thoughts. He wasn’t alone, had friends with him—the Morses.
“Morgan,” Karen said. “We’ve got company!”
As if on cue, three figures marched out of the trees. Upon seeing the surprised look on Morgan’s face, Karen dove into his head. Morgan knew the men. They were human; hunters. He’d had run-ins with them before.
The men looked like gunslingers straight from the Old West. They wore cowboy hats and long trench coats. The big man, Ben Morse, carried a crossbow, aimed at Morgan. The two men flanking the big man, Ben’s sons, wielded long lances or pikes.
“You see, Morgan,” the vampire said. “You’re not going to lay a finger on me.” He took a step forward.
“That’s correct, Dean, he’s not,” the burly hunter said. Karen watched as the man pointed his crossbow at the vampire and fired. The bolt shot forward, hitting Dean in the back. The triangular head of the projectile blasted through the front center of the vampire’s chest. Dean howled and spun around, confusion staining his face. He took a step toward the hunters then collapsed. The bloodsucker’s body began to convulse and sizzle before coming apart in a mess of slag.
Morgan turned to sprint. Karen, still tapped into his thoughts, saw that she would be okay. The hunters wouldn’t hurt her, believing she was a prisoner under vampire hypnosis.
Movement from the big hunter, the one named Ben, caught her attention. He pulled out a gun-like device and fired it at Morgan. The weapon made little noise as two darts flew through the air, hitting Morgan in the back. He went down immediately, his body convulsing before falling still.
“One hundred-thousand volts will drop any vamp like a stone,” the big hunter said, laughing.
“What’re you doing?” Karen gasped, walking toward Morgan.
“You can go now, Miss. This bloodsucker won’t be bothering you or anyone else anymore. He’s been a tricky one. Not sure how he escaped us before, but we’ll make sure he stays dead this time.”
“He wasn’t bothering me,” Karen shouted, her body fierce with anger. “He’s my friend.”
The men stopped laughing.
Ben shook his head. “Looks like we got ourselves a vamp lover, boys.”
“Disgusting,” said the son on Ben’s right.
Karen faced the men. “You’ve got the wrong idea. He’s not what you think.”
Morgan started coming around, his body slowly moving. The hunter raised the weapon again, firing two more darts into Morgan, stilling him with convulsions.
“I suggest you run along, lady,” Ben said. “We don’t have a lot of sympathy for vamp lovers. You’re only a notch above them on my scum-o-meter.”
The hunters began walking toward Morgan. Ben’s sons raised their pikes to strike.