The tall man struck at Andrei and struck again. He drove my lover back until he couldn’t back up any more. His back was against the wall. Literally.
The tall man kept Andrei’s knife away from him with his sword. He said to me, “Hey bitch. Your sister’s a good fuck. Me and twenty two of my men had her yesterday. She’s got a lot of stamina. As soon as I deal with this piece of shit as he should be dealt with. I’ll turn you too. You’re going to be better than your sister.”
That hit me where I lived. My little sister, Janice, was so young and naive. The thought of a long line of men using her for their own evil purposes made my hands shake. I felt so weak I sat down behind Stafford’s desk.
Andrei called on all of his strength and threw the tall man away from him. Andrei moved away from the wall. I could see he was wearing out. It wasn’t fair. My beloved fought an entire battle while the tall man stayed inside.
The tall man looked at me with evil lust in his eyes. I could see I was going to be nothing more than a toy to him; something to amuse himself with for a while then throw away.
I’m more important than that. I forced myself to muzzle my fear and looked around for an equalizer; something I could use to take away the tall man’s advantage. I searched the drawers in Stafford’s desk. The first three had nothing useful except a letter opener in the shape of a dagger but without an edge. The last drawer had a bottle with the answer to my prayers.
I took the stopper out and moved around the room. Andrei saw what I was doing and moved to help me out.
As soon as the tall man’s back was to me, I ran across the room and launched myself onto his back. I wrapped my legs around his belly, reached around his forehead and pulled as hard as I could.
He did what anyone else does in that situation. My move surprised him so much that he didn’t have time to try to counter it. I pulled his head back and his mouth opened. I dumped the bottle of holy water in his open mouth then put both hands on his chin and pulled hard again. I managed to keep his mouth closed long enough for the holy water to have an effect.
I mentioned earlier that garlic and holy water slow vampires down. They won’t kill them. It was enough. The tall man had to deal with his burning belly and Andrei. I added one more move that did the job. I wrapped my arms around his head over his eyes.
He slashed around the room wildly and bucked and whirled, trying to throw me off. He couldn’t get rid of me, and he couldn’t see Andrei.
My lover couldn’t slice his head off because I was too close. He grabbed a stake and mallet from the top of a file cabinet and drove himself into the tall man, knocking him down. I was on the bottom and felt every pound of the tall man’s considerable weight. I kept my hold on him.
Andrei jabbed the stake into the tall man’s chest and hit it with the mallet immediately. The tall man’s hands grabbed the stake and tried to pull it out. Andrei hit it with all of his might over and over.
The tall man screamed. The sound ripped through my ears. His arms and legs made odd, uncoordinated movements.
Andrei wailed away at the stake with the mallet, driving it deeper and deeper.
The tall man screamed one more time. Andrei hit the stake one more time; a heavy blow with all of his weight and hatred behind it. The stake penetrated the tall man’s chest. I could feel the tip touch my skin.
The tall man turned to ashes immediately.
The tall man had bitten me. With him dead, I should have felt better. I didn’t feel any different.
*****
Becky found all of the answers when she and Andrei took a shower later that day. Andrei held her in his arms from behind. He’d been scrubbing her back until he decided that her front needed some attention as well.
His hands distracted her. She wanted to know so she kept her concentration focused as long as she could. “What did you mean when you said that I should be dead?” She moaned. “That feels so nice. I love having a man around.”
Andrei said, “I love being around. Especially when parts of you are so round.” He smirked at his joke. Becky giggled. “Tell me.”
“It’s simple. Becoming a vampire has two steps. A vampire bites a human and injects a solution through channels in his fangs. He sucks a little blood. This prepares the human for the next step where the human drinks the blood of a vampire.”
“The first step happened when that man bit me at the restaurant. Except it didn’t.”
Somehow, Andre’s right hand closed around my left breast. He continued, “That’s right. You would have died if you’d been bitten by an evil vampire and drank the blood of a good one. You’d been hypnotized to believe it happened so you’d show the effects. We’d think you were incapacitated and leave you behind. Actually, the tall man did nothing at all. That’s why you didn’t feel any different when you took my blood or when he died.” He kissed her ear. “That was very brave, by the way.”
“Thank you.” She slid his hand down to her tummy. “Am I getting bigger yet?”
Abruptly, the door to the bathroom opened and Janice walked in. She’d been found by the forces of the good vampires in the tall man’s lair. She couldn’t remember anything from the time she hadn’t been human. Once the tall man died, she returned to her sweet self.
Janice screamed and turned to run out. But she didn’t run. Instead, she wiped the moisture from the glass of the shower and looked very closely at Andrei.
Becky yelped, “Janice?! Leave us alone.”
Janice stood on her tiptoes to look over the top of the shower. Andrei hadn’t covered himself up. Janice studied his body from top to bottom, lingering in the middle for a moment. “Do you have a brother, Andrei?”
Becky said, again, “Janice?! Leave us alone. We’re busy.”
“Yes, I see that. But I want a man for my own. Andrei looks very good to me. If there’s another Andrei running around, I’d be happy to meet him.” She hadn’t taken her eyes off Andrei. He grinned at her. “Yes. I have a brother named Stefan. He’s 23. He’s like me but better looking. I’ll arrange a dinner this week. You can meet him.”
Janice nodded her head and left the room, Andrei laughed. “I like your sister. She’s feisty like you.”
“I like her too. Now. I asked a question. Is my tummy getting bigger?”
“Not yet. It’s only been a week.
Becky wrapped her arms around Andrei. “If I understand correctly, I was never bitten. The appearance of that first step was caused by the hypnosis. That means I’m a good candidate to join your coven.” She happened to be looking at Andrei when she said that. She saw his canines turn into fangs. “You may bite me anytime you want.”
He lowered his head to her neck. She felt two little stings and a blissful stability afterwards. She looked at him. “That was wonderful. Do the next part.”
He cut his arm with his fingernail and let the blood drip into her mouth. He held her as she changed into a good vampire. She smiled all through the process.
THE END