Vampire World (26 page)
Outside, despair
hit me. I couldn’t look at the Supermarket. It was a memory. A lonely, sad
memory. Only a short time ago I'd been a dashing professional. Now I was out of
a job, with very little chance of finding another one. Oh well, I consoled
myself, at least I wasn't broke. I went to one of the machines and entered my
Carn card.
I stared at the screen,
devastated. It told me I had zero Carns. Impossible. I'd had over seven hundred
yesterday. NO! There had to be an error!
As I rushed to one of the
local banks, I developed a sickening premonition that the machine would turn
out to be correct. TriFang….Noooo…..
“There’s got be a mistake!” I
screamed at the tiny vampire teller. She wanted to help me, but I didn’t think
she could.
“I don’t know what’s going
on,” she said. “But I’ll try to figure this out for you. Can you come back in a
few days?”
I told her yes, but as I left
the bank it was blatantly obvious that a return visit would be pointless. I was
a robbery victim.
Instead of drowning in
despair, I thought of my shining light - Brett. I had to see him. Now.
I rushed over to the hospital
and was overjoyed to find him on his feet, alive and well. He looked better
than ever as he came over and kissed me.
“We have to go,” I told him.
He frowned. “Why?”
“I’ll tell you on the way.”
Brett swiped his card at the first
Carn machine we came to. Just as I expected, his account had been wiped out
completely as well.
His anger was understandable.
“How did this happen?” he yelled. “I had over three hundred Carns saved up!
Well the hell am I going to do now?”
We stopped off at the bank,
but the teller could give no explanation as to what might have happened to
Brett’s money. Discouraged, we left.
I tried to calm him down.
“It’s okay. Mr FreeCut will help us out.”
We rode an overcrowded train
back to my house. Brett rested his head on my shoulder and I could see he was
scared. That was a shame. He’d been through so much.
“What do they want with us?”
he demanded.
“They want to stop me from
searching for the secret.”
“So what the hell is this
secret?”
“I don’t know. That’s what I
need to find out.”
Brett sighed. “Well, let's
hope we can find out pretty damn quickly.”
I was relieved to know he was
one hundred percent on my side. It was fabulous to have a loyal companion
during tough times like this, not to mention a sexy lover. But I still hadn’t
told him everything he needed to know yet.
Mr. FreeCut gave us a warm
welcome as we entered the house. Fresh sausage drowning in gobs of tasty blood
and bulky glasses brimming with the red stuff were on the table. I guessed the
trauma of nearly dying made fresh blood even more tantalizing, because Brett
couldn’t wait to get started. He was already dipping his sausage and chowing
before Mr. FreeCut and I had even sat down.
“I heard you’ve been through
a lot, young man,” Mr. FreeCut said. “Enjoy.”
“I can’t thank you enough,”
Brett replied, slobbering up his blood in pretty much the same way Ernie was
doing under the table.
“I just want the both of you
to stay safe,” Mr. FreeCut stated. “Don’t worry about Carns. I’ll be happy to
provide you with some. The most important thing is that we stick together.”
“Thanks, Dad,” I said. He
noticed what I'd called him, and that made me smile.
We made sure all the doors
were locked before preparing for bed. My sense of security was stripped,
because I no longer felt safe even in my own home. But I couldn’t hide in fear
and let it bring me down.
Brett grabbed a crimson
pillow and stretched out on the couch in the living room. After saying
goodnight to Mr. FreeCut, I kissed Brett, turned off the light and headed to my
room.
I lay down in my coffin and
stared at the ceiling. It wasn't long before a sultry super vampire with an
alternating warm and cold touch crept in beside me. I smiled. Obviously I could
not let Brett sleep alone on that stony couch. That would make me a terrible
girlfriend.
I relaxed my head on his
sculpted abs. Together in this small space, I felt complete, protected and
serene.
“I wonder what your old man
will do if he catches us,” Brett whispered.
“Well,” I said, hoping that
wouldn't happen, “I don’t think he’ll find out. Anyway, he did tell us to stay
together, right?”
We laughed. Being with Brett,
I didn’t feel like I was in my coffin any more. Instead, I was lying on a bed
of beautiful bloodflowers, floating in the sky above a pearly Garlic Moon. I
fell asleep in Brett’s arms and enjoyed the best rest of my life.
For the next few days, Brett
and I cautiously watched our backs. Though it was impossible to live a normal
life these days, I tried to fix things as best I could by looking for a job. I
applied at a few clothing stores, a grocery market, and oh my goodness, even a
blood café.
Though it was risky traveling
the streets even at night, I couldn’t let TriFang stop me from striving to be a
success. Every evening with Brett loyally by my side, I rushed over to the
fireball practice center, climbed down to the treacherous third level, and
practiced my vampire heart out. The competition was only a few days away, and
with both of us broke, now would be a great time to win the 10,000 Carns.
Though Brett was also taking
part in the tournament, he watched out for me by scoping the area for trouble.
High in the air I faced
trouble of my own, competing fiercely against my vampire opponents and the
computer generated monsters. But I welcomed the competition, and on my latest
visit I blew everyone away by winning eight rounds straight. It looked like all
the practice and sweat was paying off. I felt like a champion. Even the crazily
moving square didn’t faze me that much any longer. I'd learned how to place my
feet in the correct positions in order to stay safe and get the better of my
opponents. And the monsters…well they still looked creepy enough. But I'd
figured out all of their programmed patterns, twisting and revolving my body
nicely to avoid their attacks.
Brett and I also journeyed to
the secret cache and practiced our stake shooting, blade throwing and star
tossing. Just like the fireball excursions, after countless degrees of sweat
and work, I was becoming a pro with these weapons. Out of five shots, I hit the
heart of the dummy with a golden-tipped stake four times. And the other shot
was only a fraction away as well. Damn that felt good.
“We should take some of this
stuff back to the house,” Brett said after throwing a curved blade and nailing
the target in the head.
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s a
good idea. I've already told Mr. FreeCut about the weapons. I’m pretty sure he
won’t mind.”
Making two trips, we loaded
up on stakes, blades and gunners. We also gathered a selection of grains and
two bottles of garlic. I cringed while carrying the garlic; it burned my skin,
even though I wasn’t physically touching it.
“I’ll take those for a
while,” Brett offered, showing no discomfort while holding the bottles, even
though I’m sure they were burning his skin too. He also retrieved some
Bloodstop ointment.
It was truly a wonder that I
could feel at peace when things were so bad. But with support from my
incredible boyfriend and Mr. FreeCut, plus my ever-improving fireball abilities,
I had faith that my life would turn around eventually.
That evening the three of us
chowed down on leftover blood sausage, well aware of the potential trouble
around us. From under the table I could hear Ernie's horn thumping on the floor
as he slurped on a bowl of hot blood. Despite the perilous situation, we
couldn’t let it ruin the joy of fresh blood and togetherness.
We laughed together. Then we
drank and ate again.
“Don’t worry,” Mr. FreeCut
said. “No vampire punks are getting into my house. I’ll bite their heads off
and throw them in the garbage.”
Holding our cups of blood
aloft, we toasted his bold words. He said them with such conviction that I felt
no fear.
“Senator BloodHunt is coming
by tomorrow,” he said. “Why don’t you talk to him about everything that's going
on? Maybe he can give you some advice.”
“Yes,” I responded, grinding
my fangs. “I’d love to have a few words with him.”
“Okay, I’ll set something
up,” Mr. FreeCut said.
Remembering the senator's
artwork of the TriFang emblem, I knew the liar had a lot of crap he didn’t want
to talk to me about.
But I was determined to make
him talk anyway when we met tomorrow.
That night I
snuggled up with Brett in my coffin. The orb vibrated, interrupting our sublime
moment together.
“I’ll be right
back,” I whispered.
I went to the
corner of my room and put the orb to my ear.
“Janice, you
have done an incredible job so far in discovering two major secrets, the blue
planet and the unique human blood. Now you must figure out the third secret.
I’ve been listening to your conversation with Mr. FreeCut and know that Senator
BloodHunt is coming over tomorrow. You need to ask him about a portal. If you
haven’t figured it out already, he knows a lot more than he’s telling you.
Find out all you need to know. And don’t
let him lie to you. Watch your back, Janice. Keep your weapons on you at all
times, and be aware that an attack can come at any moment. Good luck.”
I wanted to
scream back at whoever the hell was communicating with me, but that wasn't
possible. I was beyond fed up.
The next day I
was ready to grill Senator BloodHunt.
I watched him arrive in his souped-up SUV. I was not gonna hold anything
back.
I told him hello
and decided to play nice while we feasted on Mr. FreeCut’s bloody grub. I
sensed he was aware I was about to release my fury on him.
After a little
more friendly chatter, Mr. FreeCut led me in. “Janice wants to talk to you for
a few degrees,” he said.
I gawked at the
squeaky clean vampire. He might be dressed in a burgundy suit and sporting a
tie, but that professional appearance didn't fool me. I got straight to the
point.
“Why did you
lie?” I shouted. The senator flinched guiltily.
Sensing trouble,
a loyal Ernie released an ear-splitting scream and rushed out from under the
table. He lunged at the senator, who though trembling with fright, managed to
stay unharmed until Mr. FreeCut calmed Ernie down. Too bad he didn’t get
pricked by the horn, I thought.
My temper was
now up. After berating him about his drawing of the TriFang emblem, I lectured
him on all the crap I’d seen lately. The elaborate parties. The drug-induced
blood. The kidnapping. And the dead bodies in the underground tunnel.
The senator was
contrite. “I’m deeply sorry for lying to you,” he said. “Yes, I have known
about TriFang for quite some time. But I can assure you that the reason I
concealed this was for your own protection. I had no idea that someone was
leaking information to you. What you know is staggering, especially concerning
the blood. Who exactly is this secret messenger? Have you talked to him in
person?”
I calmed down a
little. I didn’t really see any malice in his eyes. I bought his story. But I
didn’t stop throwing the punches.
“He talks to
me,” I replied brusquely. “And last time he mentioned a portal that you know
something about. Where is it?”
“I have never
heard of a portal.”
I kept the
pressure up. “You lied to me once. Are you lying again?”
“Certainly not,”
he replied.
Mr. FreeCut
stepped in between us. “Janice, I think you better calm down. You should trust
in his word.”
Brett sat still
as a stone, paying close attention to the heated conversation.
“I know about
the blood you speak of,” the senator acknowledged. “It has powerful effects on
a vampire’s body. Those who drink it regularly become younger and therefore
immortal, providing of course they don’t die from loss of blood. It also gives
the drinker much more energy than normal vampire blood, and much more
pleasure.”
Oh. No wonder I
thought Rob looked younger at the underground party. He
was
younger.
“What’s wrong,
Janice?” Mr. FreeCut asked.
I snapped out of
my trance. “The blood comes from humans,” I said. “Do you know who or what
humans are?”
The senator
shook his head. “I have no idea.”
I wanted to
believe him, but I couldn't bring myself to. “And are you absolutely certain
about the portal?” I pressed. “Because if you’re lying, I’m going to find out
from my secret messenger eventually.”
Before Mr.
FreeCut had a chance to correct me, there was a knock at the door. I peered
through the peep hole and caught my breath. Five threatening vampires wielding
machete blades were bunched by the door, all of them with the haunting emblem
of TriFang engraved on their foreheads. I recognized a few of the dicks who'd
butchered Brett back at the park.
Shaking, I
turned around. “Get the weapons,” I whispered. “TriFang is here!”