The Saturday morning sunrise was two hours away and Lola Keener was nowhere near ready for sleep. She had spent the whole night admiring and primping on her newborn vampire body. She had just finished taking a long bath when she stopped to marvel at herself in the mirror. In Lola felt that was the best day of her life. She was thrilled to be a vampire, and for the first time in her life she rejoiced in her decision to get involved with Tony McGuire over thirty years ago.
When Lola was twenty years old, partying and having a good time were her primary interests. The last thing she wanted was a conventional life and in a fixed relationship with one man. Lola wanted to be on the guest list of the most lavish parties and events in New York, and she had no reservations about using her looks and sex appeal to open those doors. When Tony first appeared in her life, Lola repelled his advances. To her, Tony had multiple attributes that she did not care for and first among them was her belief that he was a fiercely possessive man. Lola knew from the start that Tony was a violent thug, something she wanted nothing to do with. The idea of Tony claiming her as his own personal property made Lola wary of him. She knew that a jealous lover would conflict with her tendency toward promiscuity. Tony also had the unfortunate characteristic of not being a social bon vivant or someone who kept company with the people who were. It was for these reasons that Lola backed away when Tony first began to pursue her, but it was the circumstances of her own existence that soon persuaded her to give him a second look.
Lola’s party-girl lifestyle was nearly wholly financed by the men she dated. Frequently her wants and wishes were hampered by the financial limitations of the man of the hour, and Tony’s greatest virtue was that he always had plenty of money. It also helped that he enjoyed spending his money on her. Tony’s unbounded adoration for her quickly made him putty in her hands, and she was loathed to throw that away. On a whim, she committed herself to him and made herself at home inside his world. As time went on, their mix of greed, adoration, promiscuity and possessiveness produced an ever-growing number of squabbles and fights, and on more than one occasion the fight was with another man. Over the years that they were together, their verbal and physical altercations kept the passion in the bed alive, but it did nothing more than that for Lola. Tony was always just the man of the hour and never the love of her life. And when Tony went to prison, she moved on without looking back. But today, she reveled in the benefit that her long past association with Tony had now produced.
It took Lola nearly an hour to find something in Jeremiah’s closet that she could wear. Her own clothes were dirty and now several sizes too big; Tony’s wardrobe was equally oversized. Jeremiah had the misfortune of being petite by male standards, so consequently, Lola turned to his closet for clean clothes to wear. She soon found a clean dress shirt, suit pants, belt and suit coat that she deemed acceptable for the present. After dressing herself in Jeremiah’s clothes, Lola turned her attention to the sounds that had been coming up from the basement for more than an hour.
“Get this asshole away from me,” Patricia strenuously implored Lola in between her winded breathing.
Lola had just arrived in the basement when Patricia made this plea to her. The petite and tattooed twenty-two-year-old waitress was holding onto the basement’s center stanchion. The chain that was padlocked around her ankle was padlocked to that same pole at the opposite end of the chain. Positioned at a stoop next to Patricia was Jeremiah. His demeanor looked to be pleasant if not excessively friendly, but this did not stop Patricia from wincing every time Jeremiah gently stroked her hair.
“What are you doing, Jerry?” Lola asked disapprovingly.
“I’m getting to know Pat,” Jeremiah answered with a smile.
“Get him away from me,” Patricia pleaded as she cringed away from Jeremiah.
Patricia was mostly skin and bone. The once very pretty, young lady was now a gaunt and haggard shadow of that person.
“Well, can’t that wait until she can at least stand up?” Lola queried with disbelief.
“She needs to accept me now,” Jeremiah insisted in a soft voice that was directed at Patricia.
Jeremiah elected not to tell Lola that he was eager for Patricia to flourish to full health but that he dared not let that happen while she was still rejecting him.
“It looks to me like she doesn’t want to know you,” Lola mused with a hint of sarcasm.
“This is none of your business,” Jeremiah grumbled with a sideways glance at Lola. “We’re mates.”
“What does that mean?” A confused Lola queried with a scrunched face.
“I made her,” Jeremiah fervently stated. “She’s mine. She belongs to me.”
“So, just because you made her what she is now, that means she’s attached to you in some way?” Lola asked while pondering her own question.
“What? You think what was going on between you and Tony all night was some newfound love,” Jeremiah sarcastically countered. “Don’t forget, I know you, Lola. You’ve never been in love with Tony. It was always about the money for you.”
Jeremiah gave Lola an exaggerated look of incredulity.
“He made you,” Jeremiah stressed with vehemence. “You’re connected.”
Lola was intrigued by the word connected and fixed her stare onto Jeremiah while maintaining a questioning expression.
“Connected how?” Lola asked with suspicion.
“All I know is that vampires mate for life,” Jeremiah expressed as though he was annoyed by the question. “Tony says it has something to do with reciprocal psychotropic pheromones,” he continued accentuating his exasperation. “When he gets horny, you get horny. That’s how it works, sweetheart,” he finished with heavy sarcasm.
While Lola mused over this information, Jeremiah turned his attention back to Patricia.
“You know, you should be thanking me,” Jeremiah whispered with a smile while stroking Patricia’s hair. “I’ve given you a gift. We’re going to be together for a long, long time.”
“Keep away from me, creep,” Patricia angrily puffed while shrinking away from Jeremiah’s touch.
“Jerry, leave the girl alone,” Lola articulated as though she was seeing something pathetic.
Instantly, Jeremiah jumped up to face Lola with no more than a foot of distance between them. He wore an expression of rage as he put the point of his finger in her face.
“You stay out of this,” Jeremiah growled into Lola’s face. “This has nothing to do with you.”
Lola was at first shocked and frightened by Jeremiah’s response to her words. She remembered him as almost mousey in his demeanor; the Jeremiah she knew would never have raised his voice to Tony’s woman. In the time it took Lola to take a deep breath, her fear turned to anger. Her astounded expression quickly changed into an angry scowl.
“The girl doesn’t like you,” Lola stated after a few seconds of glaring at Jeremiah with light reflecting eyes.
“She will,” Jeremiah grumbled back with eyes that were equally predatory. “She has too. I’m her mate,” Jeremiah finished in a loud voice.
Lola and Jeremiah went into a staring contest as each fumed and waited for the other to take their anger to the next level. Shortly into their standoff, Jeremiah’s cellphone began to vibrate. He let it vibrate several times before stepping back from Lola and taking the call.
“Yeah,” Jeremiah answered into his cellphone while moving toward the far end of the basement. “Yeah—yeah, everything is okay here—now?” He questioned impatiently. “But the sun is going to be up in an hour,” he halfheartedly complained after several seconds of listening to his caller. “Okay, okay,” he spoke after a few seconds of silence and then he disconnected the call.
Lola stepped back from her anger when Jeremiah moved away. She listened to his side of the call and quickly discerned that it was Tony on the other end. She silently waited for Jeremiah to complete his conversation, because she wanted to know if Tony had instructions for her.
“I got to go,” Jeremiah informed Lola as he put away his cellphone. “I won’t be back until after sunset,” he continued while slowly moving toward Patricia. “If anything happens, give me a call,” he finished just as he stopped to admire his captive.
“What do you mean, if something happens?” Lola challenged just before Jeremiah could turn away.
“I don’t know,” Jeremiah stopped to answer with a shrug and a scowl. “Anything… if the building catches fire, give me a call,” he finished and then started for the stairs.
“And what about her?” Lola loudly asked with a gesture toward Patricia.
“Leave her alone,” Jeremiah commanded in an angry tone of voice.
“Leave her alone?” Lola questioned with disbelief. “She looks half dead,” she cried in astonishment.
“She’ll be fine,” Jeremiah yelled back. “Just leave her alone, and don’t feed her,” he instructed with finality.
Lola watched Jeremiah hurry up the stairs and through the basement doorway before turning her attention to Patricia.
“Help me,” Patricia pleaded pathetically from her crumple position on the floor.
“Hey, you’re going to be alright,” Lola assured softly.
Patricia ignored Lola’s words and continued to plead piteously. Lola was clearly moved by her calls. Her thoughts vacillated between reassuring her or just leaving. After a moment of thought, Lola decided on the latter and left Patricia alone in the basement.
Lola spent the next ten minutes talking with Jeremiah as he prepared to leave. She wanted to extract as much information from him as she could before he left. She was curious to know what Tony’s end plan was, but Jeremiah evaded her inquiry on that subject. He knew Tony would tell her what he wanted her to know when he wanted her to know it. What Jeremiah did speak about were his concerns about leaving her alone in the house. He stressed that no one was to come into the house, and he admonished her against feeding Patricia on two more occasions. He also warned Lola against exposing what she was to humans.
“If they don’t kill you, they will lock you up and never let you go.”
After explaining these dangers to Lola, Jeremiah left the house and took off for the stash house. Over the next four hours, Lola attempted to distract herself with the television. For Lola, sleeping through the daylight hours had yet to become a realistic option. Watching television had the added benefit of drowning out the soft plaintive wails from Patricia. Lola hoped and expected Patricia to tire and stop her whines for help, and she was content to wait for that to happen. What gnawed at Lola’s patience now was the hour upon hour of nothing to do.
After the fourth hour with nothing to do, Lola struck on the idea of visiting her old friend, Mary. It seemed like a completely reasonable thing to do. She knew that Jeremiah would not return until after sunset, and she assumed the same was true for Tony. She reasoned that visiting Mary would also have a utilitarian benefit. Adorning her new figure with new clothes was much on Lola’s mind, and the television commercial advertisements about clothing added fuel to that thinking. After several minutes of considering the idea, Lola defiantly decided to go despite Jeremiah and Tony’s orders.
Lola called Mary’s home first to verify that she was there. She told Mary that she was in New York and that she had something exciting to show and tell her. When Mary agreed to wait for her arrival, Lola ended the call and got up to leave. A second thought about Patricia slowed her departure, and she went into the basement to see how she was.
“Don’t leave me,” Patricia pleaded after hearing Lola’s plan to leave the house.
Lola promised to return before nightfall and made a fervent effort to assure her that all would be all right. After five minutes of promises and pleas, it became clear to Lola that nothing she said was going to ease Patricia’s fears. She suspected that much of Patricia’s dread was driven by her frail and wretched circumstance. The sight of the young girl chained, emaciated and crumpled on the floor gave Lola second thoughts about leaving, but she knew from her own experience that Patricia was going to be fine in the end. After a moment of thought, Lola concluded that a small amount of nourishment would not do any harm, and that it would likely give some uplift to Patricia’s spirit.
Before leaving the house, Lola placed a single raw steak and a glass of water on the floor in front of Patricia. She quickly drank the water and then began examining the unopened package of meat as though it was a curiosity. Lola nearly grinned when she noted Patricia’s bewilderment with the package of raw meat.
“Bon appetite,” Lola grinned before ascending the stairs and leaving the house.
~~~~~Line Break~~~~~~
The sun was minutes away from peeking up over the eastern horizon when Jeremiah entered the back door of the stash house with four plastic grocery bags filled with meat. Tony, Charlie, Malcolm and Keegan were seated about the storeroom seemingly awaiting his arrival. Jeremiah noted an absence of enthusiasm in the room. He quickly surmised that they all were tired of being cooped up together. Without further thought about the reason for the silence, Jeremiah went to the large cooler in a corner of the room and began storing the packets of meat inside it. When he finished doing that, he took out five packages of steaks and went around the room tossing them out one to a person. After dealing out four of the steaks he looked for Ben.
“Where’s Ben?” Jeremiah asked after listening intently to the silence within the interior of the building.
“That’s a good question,” Tony grumbled.
“He’s not here?” Jeremiah questioned with an inflection of surprise.
“He left the same night you did,” Keegan returned casually. “But he said he’d be back.”
“This is why you should have been here,” Tony angrily grumbled.
“You think something happened to him?” Jeremiah asked with a look of concern.
“We don’t know. We don’t know anything,” Tony responded with a mixture of sarcasm and anger.
“Has anyone tried calling him?” Jeremiah challenged everyone there.
“His phone is off,” Malcolm somberly responded.
“That’s standard practice for Ben,” Charlie explained. “When he doesn’t want anyone to know where he is, he turns off his cellphone, but that’s good news. It means he’s moving around somewhere.”
“Or he’s hiding from us,” Malcolm speculated.
“Ben is not hiding from us,” Charlie dismissively responded. “He said he’ll be back. He’ll be back.”
Jeremiah looked at Tony with concern. He knew that Tony had big plans for Saturday night, and he knew a missing man had to be aggravating him greatly.
“Does this change anything?” Jeremiah asked with a stern look at Tony.
“So, now you’re concerned,” Tony angrily countered.
“You don’t think he’s talking to Grasso or somebody like that?” Jeremiah questioned with an undertone of dread.
“I don’t know what to think, do I?” Tony hollered with fury.
Jeremiah reacted to Tony’s rage by instantly taking a defiant stance. A lack of words prevented him from verbally responding, and he limited himself to seething from behind an angry stare. He was several seconds into his silent standoff with Tony when the sound of a car parking outside the building caught the attention of everyone there. Shortly after the engine shut down, they heard the car door open and close. Then footsteps resounded as they approached the rear door of the building. Everyone in the storage room got to their feet and stood facing the rear door. The footsteps stopped just outside the door before pounding started.
“Open up, it’s me,” the voice on the other side announced.
“That’s Ben,” Charlie declared as he hurried over to the door.
Charlie unlocked and opened the door without hesitation, and then Ben stepped through as brazenly as he dared. Several steps into the storage room, Ben stopped and faced Tony.
“Where have you been?” Tony queried in a commanding tone.
“Personal business,” Ben insolently returned.
“You don’t have any personal business when you work for me,” Tony gruffly insisted.
“But you and Jeremiah do?” Ben asked with challenging defiance. “What does that make us, your obedient dogs?”
A low audible grumble could be heard emanating from within Tony’s chest as he took a step toward Ben. A similar grumble began to emanate from Ben in response, and he too took a step forward. Both their eyes were illuminated by the light reflecting off their retinas.
“I’m running a business here,” Tony growled out after a prolonged pause. “I need you here doing what I pay you to do and not out there exposing us—or worst—betraying us,” he finished with a sneer.
“So, if we’re just your employees, does that mean I can quit?” Ben returned with a heavy inflection of sarcasm.
Tony growled under his breath in response to the idea that Ben or Charlie or Malcolm or Keegan could just walk away from what they were doing. That was a scenario that Tony never considered until that moment. He quickly concluded that he was not likely to stop that from happening through physical means, and that he could end up with powerful new adversaries if they did.
“I don’t rat, and I’m no traitor,” Ben fiercely insisted after a pause and with a point. “I had family business, and it couldn’t wait,” he raged with finality.
Tony did not know how to respond to that. When he glanced around the room, he saw Charlie, Malcolm and Keegan staring at him with suspicion and indecision on their faces. He knew in that moment that he could not count on their support, and what he feared even more was that they would turn against him if Jeremiah fought by his side.
“You turned us,” Ben snarled with contempt. “That makes us more than your employees,” he spat out with insolence. “We are your associates, and we expect to be treated that way.”
The word, we, unsettled Tony more than anything he had heard or seen so far. He quickly concluded that it would not be wise to look to the others for help. The last thing he wanted to do at that moment was show weakness.
“Okay then,” Tony agreed after a moment of thought. “Associates,” he blandly conceded after a pause. “But no more unauthorized excursions.
~~~~~Line Break~~~~~
The sound of soft footsteps in the hall outside his condominium did not escape David’s vampire hearing. His notice of someone moving back and forth outside his door was helped by the fact that he was waiting for Cassidy to come over with the file she put together on Tony McGuire. Cassidy had told him that she would be coming over at some time in the morning, but she did not specify exactly when that would be. David had been waiting for Cassidy since his return home from the Cavern Nightclub at five o’clock that morning. It was now a little past seven in the morning. David thought it was much too early for Cassidy to be outside his condominium door. He was expecting her much later in the morning, but the repetitive sound of someone moving around outside his door finally became too much for David to ignore, so he went to see who it was.
Just before David got to the peep hole in the door, he detected Cassidy Tremaine’s distinctive aroma. The smell was faint, but unmistakable. David knew Cassidy’s scent above all other mortals. The fact that her scent was barely seeping through the seams in the doorway did not weaken its telltale signature. David was so sure that Cassidy was outside his door that he came to a sudden stop from the shock of knowing she was there.
David waited and listened as Cassidy alternated between standing and pacing outside his door. He considered opening the door and confronting her, but he suspected she was thinking about canceling their meeting and leaving. He did not want to impose himself upon her if she truly wanted to keep her distance. When Cassidy finally made her decision and rang his doorbell, a sensation of relief washed over him, and he immediately snatched open the door.
Cassidy was astonished by the swift response to her ring. She gasped for air and then froze with shock at the sight of David suddenly standing in the doorway. For Cassidy, the rapid response was a surprise, but it was the thought of being alone with David that frightened her. Cassidy remembered the last time she was inside his condominium. She willingly stayed there in his home and his bed for two days and two nights. Cassidy knew that her resistance to restarting a sexual relationship with David was nothing more than a reluctance. She also knew the strength of her desire for David made that reluctance a tissue thin barrier.
For a few seconds David did nothing but examine the fear and astonishment in her expression. He knew from her gasp and hesitance to move or speak that she was his for the taking. After coming to that conclusion, he reached out and pulled Cassidy through the doorway. He threw the door shut then pulled Cassidy into his embrace. They immediately started kissing with all the passion they could produce. Cassidy dropped the envelope containing the file on Tony McGuire and wrapped both her arms around David. Moments later, David scooped Cassidy up into his arms and carried her off to his bedroom.
~~~~~Line Break~~~~~
It was 10:02am Saturday when David heard his doorbell ring for the second time that morning. Now that Cassidy was here, he was not expecting anyone else. His first thought was to ignore the bell. His hope was that it was a neighbor with nothing of importance to speak with him about. He was sure that his busy body neighbors were accustomed to him not answering his door during the day. When the doorbell rang for the fifth time, David decided to consider the idea that his second meeting had arrived early.
“I got to see who that is,” David (Cristiãn) said while jumping out of his bed.
David (Cristiãn) was in his bed with Cassidy. They had spent the past three hours together in that bed, but neither of them had devoted any time to sleeping. The moment David (Cristiãn) was up on his feet, he began racing back into his clothes. His sudden haste caught Cassidy’s attention.
“Who is it?” Cassidy inquired with intrigue.
“I don’t know,” David (Cristiãn) quickly returned without taking a pause in his dressing. “I mean, I’m not sure—well I know who it could be—but it shouldn’t be,” he fumbled out.
“Who is it?” Cassidy asked again with a more challenging tone.
David (Cristiãn) paused and gave Cassidy an indecisive look. He was by this time loosely dressed in his pants and shirt. His belt was unfastened, his shirt was only partially buttoned, and his feet were bare.
“Stay here,” David (Cristiãn) instructed after a pause. “I’ll be right back.”
After hurrying out of the room, David (Cristiãn) raced to the front door. After stooping to pick up the large envelope that Cassidy had dropped to the floor three hours earlier, he stood up and looked through the peep hole.
“Open the door,” Nadja’s voice reverberated through the door after he looked through the peep hole.
David (Cristiãn) was not surprised that Nadja knew he was standing on the other side of the door. He expected no less from her elevated vampire senses. He was surprised to see her and Petru at his door at this time of day, and he was slightly annoyed, as well. Despite his feelings, he pulled the door wide open.
“What are you doing here?” David (Cristiãn) asked with exasperation.
“I told you I was coming for the files, Cristiãn,” Nadja returned as she brazenly strode through the doorway.
“You said three,” David (Cristiãn) countered as Petru followed her through.
“Plans change,” Nadja promptly replied as she walked into the living room and stopped.
Petru followed Nadja into the living room and on toward the sofa.
“Why is she here?” David (Cristiãn) questioned Petru with a look that said he wanted the truth.
Petru stopped in front of the sofa to consider David’s (Cristiãn) question and how best to respond.
“I think Nadja wanted to surprise you,” Petru carefully said. “Or maybe I should say she wanted to catch you by surprise,” he finished with a smile and while seating himself on the sofa.
As Petru was speaking, Nadja was sniffing the air in the room as though she had caught an unusual scent. Petru ignored her and relaxed back into his seat. David (Cristiãn) moved further into the living room and came to a stop near Nadja.
“Here’s the file,” David (Cristiãn) declared as he extended the envelope toward Nadja.
Nadja ignored David’s (Cristiãn) offer and stepped toward the room’s center with her nose in the air.
“Wow, it smells like Cassidy was here for some time,” Nadja mused. “We must have just missed her… unless…”
Nadja turned toward David (Cristiãn) and gave him an up and down look with a frown of curiosity and a sly smile.
“Is she still here, Cristiãn?” Nadja asked with a mischievous smile on her face.
“Do you want the file or not?” David (Cristiãn) challenged sternly.
“Detective, are you here?” Nadja called softly while slowly moving toward the hallway to the bedrooms and with a suspicious look.
Nadja stopped to take a deep sniff of the air coming from out of the hallway.
“Is that you I smell in there?” Nadja queried with amusement in her voice. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” she gently continued with a smirk.
David (Cristiãn) gave his sister an annoyed look. He knew that she heard Cassidy moving around in his bedroom as easily as he. He also knew that Nadja was determined to have her fun and that nothing he said was going to deter her. David (Cristiãn) looked to Petru with an expression of exasperation in the hope that he could exert some influence over Nadja. Petru’s offered a look of helplessness in response, and then he crossed his arms.
As Cassidy scrambled to dress herself in David’s (Cristiãn) bedroom, she listened to as much of what was being said in the living room as she could. She knew as well as David (Cristiãn) that Nadja was not going to be dissuaded from having her fun. She took a moment to prepare herself for an encounter with Nadja, then she strolled out of the bedroom and into the living room with a scowl on her face.
“There she is,” Nadja announced with a heavy inflection of pleasantry. “Aren’t we looking—radiant this morning.”
“Go to hell!” Cassidy muttered as she passed Nadja and moved to the center of the room.
“Wow!” Nadja exclaimed with a wide smile. “Somebody gets grouchy after sex—or else you’re doing it wrong, brother.”
“What are you doing moving around in the sunlight?” Cassidy hissed at Nadja.
“Oh, didn't Cristiãn tell you we were coming by to collect the files, or were you too busy for talk?” Nadja replied with a playful pout.
“She said three o'clock,” David (Cristiãn) assured Cassidy in his defense.
“My timetable got pushed around, Cristiãn,” Nadja dismissively retorted with a look to David (Cristiãn). “Bergdorf Goodman is having a sale. I just had to get there before the store closed. Besides, I knew you'd be awake and waiting for me. I just didn’t know Detective Tremaine would still be here.”
Petru let out a chortle in response to Nadja’s last response.
Nadja quickly turned her head to give her mate a playful look of admonishment. A moment later, she looked back toward David (Cristiãn) with a smile.
“And I didn't think you would mind if I came by a little early,” Nadja finished with a lie.
Nadja knew that all vampires preferred others to stick to schedules because of their deep sleep periods. It was her hope that she would catch David (Cristiãn) and Cassidy together, but this interception was more than she expected and far more amusing than she had hoped.
“And you couldn’t wait until after your shopping spree to come by for the file?” Cassidy snidely questioned.
“Oh no,” Nadja playfully mused while delicately sitting herself on the sofa next to Petru. “You see, Sorin and Adrianna are hosting a buffet this evening and Petru and I are invited,” she finished with a sly smile.
“A buffet?” Cassidy queried with a confused look toward David (Cristiãn).
“An orgy,” David (Cristiãn) promptly explained without meeting Cassidy’s gaze.
“You’re going to feed on humans?” Cassidy asked with concern.
“Relax, nobody is going to die,” Nadja deflected with a roll of her eyes.
“Are you going to tell them that you’re drinking their blood?” Cassidy tersely questioned.
“Of course not,” Nadja responded as though she thought the question foolish. “And don’t worry, they won’t remember.”
“Yeah right,” Cassidy spoke as though she had just remembered something. “It’s easier to get us humans to forget things when they happen inside a pleasing experience,” she mused.
“Exactly,” Petru confirmed with a hint of surprise in his voice. “Terrifying events leave deep psychological scars that don’t go away,” he qualified with a slight shake of his head.
“Well then, I guess that makes it okay,” Cassidy sarcastically returned while putting on her jacket and starting for the hallway that led to the door.
“Oh, are we going so soon?” Nadja quickly asked before Cassidy could leave the room. “I hope it’s not because of something I said.”
Cassidy stopped to give Nadja a cold stare, then she turned and continued to walk away. David (Cristiãn) hesitated to give Nadja an exasperated glance before hurrying after Cassidy. He stepped past her in the entrance hall and stood in front of her at the door. Cassidy came to a stop a step away from David (Cristiãn) and primed herself for their farewells.
“I’m sorry,” David (Cristiãn) spoke first. “I didn’t know she would come so soon.”
The hallway they were standing in doubled as a foyer for the condominium’s entrance. It was enclosed on three sides. From where they stood, they could not be seen from the living room. Speaking softly gave Cassidy the illusion of not being overheard.
“It’s hard for me to believe you two are brother and sister,” Cassidy spoke at a level just above a whisper.
Cassidy looked away to avoid David’s (Cristiãn) gaze, and he looked straight at her hoping that she would look back.
“She’s just teasing,” David (Cristiãn) softly assured. “You do know she likes you?”
“She tried to kill me,” Cassidy asserted with astonishment.
“No,” David (Cristiãn) gently corrected. “She was trying to save me. There’s a difference.”
Cassidy was aware of that fact, but it provided no salve to the memory that Nadja was the vampire that came the closes to ending her life.
“Well, if this is the way she acts when she likes me,” Cassidy pouted after a dejected pause, “then I would hate to see her when she’s angry with me.”
“No,” David (Cristiãn) agreed with a slight grin. “You don’t want to see her then.”
Cassidy returned his grin with a smile and a blush, and for the next few seconds a growing uncomfortable silence filled the space between them. Up until that moment, she and David (Cristiãn) knew what to do because it was all physical. Their desire for each other required no words. The problem they were experiencing now was a feeling that they needed to define who they were to each other.
Cassidy was loathed to make any form of commitment to David (Cristiãn), and he had no intention of pushing for it. He knew that their continued association was problematic for Cassidy. He knew that the best thing he could do for her was step back and remain out of sight. But right now, while they stood inches apart, he could not stop himself from inching a little closer.
Cassidy was equally enamored by the moment and his proximity. She kept her gaze down to ward off the passion that was flush within her. Shortly into their silence, she looked up and met his eyes, and in that instant her resistance collapsed. Cassidy threw her arms around David’s neck, and he threw his around her waist. An instant later they were entwined in an embrace. Their kissing was passionate, and their bodies were compressed as though they were trying to merge into one. For several seconds they gave deference to lust and desire, then Cassidy pushed away. Silence and labored breathing followed. When it became clear to her that nothing more was going to be said, Cassidy reached for the knob and opened the door.
“Good-bye,” Cassidy said as she quickly walked away.
As she walked away, David (Cristiãn) gently closed the door behind her and then took a moment to recompose himself. When he went back to the living room, he sported the appearance of calm and placidity. Nadja and Petru watched from their seats on the sofa as he walked into the center of the room. Petru appeared to be sorry for their disruption in his morning. Nadja looked to be greatly amused.
“I hope I didn’t spoil your morning. Or were you done?” Nadja spoke with a smile that said she was pleased with herself.
Nadja had just finished speaking when a sudden sensation of lust washed over her. She knew from experience that it was the reciprocal psychotropic pheromones coming off her mate that was arousing her. She quickly glanced over to catch sight of Petru breathing heavily which verified for her his arousal. Nadja knew that she did nothing to stimulate Petru’s libido, and she was also doubtful that he excited himself in such a brief time. It only took her a few seconds to conclude who was exciting her mate.
“And then again, maybe you weren’t done,” Nadja smugly mused while turning her gaze toward David (Cristiãn).
Nadja had seen Petru’s and David’s (Cristiãn) reciprocal psychotropic pheromones in action hundreds of times before. Because Petru was the vampire who turned her brother, she knew that he was now more closely related to David (Cristiãn) biologically than she was. She also understood that the reciprocal psychotropic pheromones between a vampire and his maker imbued them both with the ability to exchange feelings and thoughts whenever they were near or within an enclosed space that was not abnormally large. That capability was equally true between her and Petru, but it did not exist between her and her brother. It is for these reasons that Nadja suspected that David (Cristiãn) was also in a state of sexual arousal.
“Now look at what you’ve done,” Nadja teased as she climbed up and over Petru and straddled his lap facing toward him. “You got Petru all hot and bothered,” she asserted playfully. “Isn’t that right, baby,” she continued while nuzzling her face along Petru’s cheek. “You’re feeling enthused, aren’t you?”
A moment later, Nadja began kissing her mate passionately, and he returned her ardor with equal enthusiasm. Petru’s hands quickly began caressing Nadja’s back and buttocks as though they were searching for the perfect position. Nadja kept her hands grasped to Petru’s head as she rubbed up against him with the whole of her torso. Their kissing shortly began to spread to various locations of their necks, and then the moaning started. David (Cristiãn) was shortly overwhelmed by the pheromones coming off Petru and cringed from his ever-growing arousal that he had no convenient way of satisfying.
“Okay, okay!” David (Cristiãn) shouted with disgust. “Bedroom—go—get out of here.”
Without further instructions, Petru and Nadja got up hand in hand and raced off to the guest bedroom.
~~~~~Line Break~~~~~
“Oh my God! Oh my God!” Mary Thistle exclaimed in rapid succession. “What—what happened—how? You look fantastic. My God, is it really you?” She finished with a mix of astonishment and disbelief in her voice.
“It’s the new me,” Lola bragged with a wide smile while posing outside Mary’s front door.
“This can’t be true,” Mary continued to speak in an amazed tone. “You could pass for twenty-five.”
Lola’s spirit was buoyed even more by Mary’s observation. She gleefully twirled about laughing as she spun.
“Can I come in?” Lola asked after stopping to give her old friend another pose.
Too stunned to speak, Mary nodded in the affirmative. After noting Mary’s nod of approval Lola skipped through the doorway. Smiling and giggling as she went, Lola danced her way to the center of Mary’s living room. It was half past 10am Saturday.
“Is this a prank?” Mary asked while following behind. “Are you some long-lost daughter that Lola never told me about.”
Mary had begun to doubt what she initially accepted. She was expecting Lola’s arrival. She had spoken to Lola earlier that morning on the telephone and was told that she was coming. Mary had no reason to be surprised by the sight of Lola at her front door. What was shocking to her was Lola’s exceptionally youthful appearance. Her first thought was that Lola had lost weight and had undergone some expensive facial reconditioning. It was this woman’s movements that made her doubt herself. Mary could not reconcile the spritely dance of this woman with someone Lola’s age. Mary also had a concern about her clothing. A man’s suit was not clothing that Lola would normally choose to wear.
“It’s me, Mary,” Lola assured as she did a turnabout with her arms stretched out. “It’s really me.”
“I don’t understand,” Mary complained with a confused look. “What happened to you?”
“Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies,” Lola returned with a sly smile.
Mary knew from long experience with Lola that when she said those words, she did not want to speak anymore on the subject and likely would not if pressed. Mary also knew that Lola had difficulty keeping secrets, and that if this was truly Lola, she would likely spill the truth later during a casual conversation about something else. And if she was not Lola that too would be exposed by what she did not know about her history. Mary elected to go with her story and wait for the truth of who this woman is to reveal itself in one way or another.
“Okay—Lola,” Mary greeted with a frown. “Please have a seat,” she offered with a gesture toward the sofa. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Water, please,” Lola requested as she continued to move about the room.
Lola was feeling too energized to sit. The short walk from the bus stop in the morning sun did weather her a little, but her hunger, to a large extent, had not returned.
“Water, that’s a new one,” Mary suspiciously stated.
“Yeah,” Lola cheerfully agreed. “Do remember how I use to love to drink champagne in the morning? I’m a different person inside and out.”
Mary did remember Lola’s fondness for champagne at all hours of the day. The fact that this young woman knew of this proclivity was not enough to put down her concerns about her identity, but it was a strike in her favor.
“Speaking of different,” Lola quickly spoke before Mary could leave the room. “I need clothes. Do you have something that I can wear?”
“Is that Tony’s suit you’re wearing?” Mary questioned with surprise that it fit her so well.
“Jerry’s” Lola corrected. “Tony’s clothes were way too big.”
“So, where are your clothes?” Mary asked with a frown that reflected her extreme interest in the subject.
“Dorchester,” Lola returned with a smile.
Lola knew where the conversation was going, and she had an eagerness to get there.
“So, Tony brought you here without any clothes?” Mary asked dubiously.
“He brought me here in the trunk of his car,” Lola stated melodramatically. “I thought I was going to die,” she finished with a mix of amazed and amused in her manner.
“He kidnapped you?” Mary questioned with shock.
“No—yes—no,” Lola fumbled out indecisively.
“Which is it?” Mary asked in a commanding tone.
“Well, I guess he did,” Lola mused. “But I’m glad he did,” she continued with smile. “He made me what I am,” she finished with a twirl.
“And what are you?” Mary asked with a confused look and a shrug of her shoulders.
Lola gave the question a moment of thought from behind a devious smile before answering with a giggle.
“I can’t tell you.”
Mary was angered by Lola’s reply and gave her a pout of irritation.
“Is this some kind of a game?” Mary asked angrily. “You can’t be Lola Keener. Lola Keener is older than I am. Who are you?”
Lola gave Mary’s strident query a large smile. She then began untucking her shirt on the left side.
“Salome, it’s me—Jezebel,” Lola softly declared while exposing an artistic tattoo and calligraph of the word Jezebel.
Mary was dazed by what she saw and heard. The tattoo was a perfect match for the one that she knew to be on Lola’s left pelvis. Even the name, Salome, was the nickname that Mary had tattooed onto her left pelvis more than twenty years ago. The tattoos were done to signify their sisterly bond. She and Lola had them ingrained on the same night by the same artist while they were intoxicated on drugs and alcohol.
“How is this real?” Mary asked with a bewildered shake of her head. “How did you do this?”
“It’s a secret for now,” Lola gently proclaimed as she stepped forward and took Mary’s hands into hers. “But I will tell you when I can. Okay?”
Mary accepted Lola’s words with an amazed expression and followed that with a nod of her head a moment later.
“So, how about some clothes,” Lola suggested in an upbeat tone. “Do you have something I can wear instead of this?” She asked while stepping back to display herself.
Mary gave Lola a quick look over before answering.
“Yeah, I have clothes but nothing in your size,” Mary said with dismay. “I threw out or gave away all of my clothing from when I was skinny a few years back.”
“Don’t you have something that can be taken up?” Lola asked hopefully.
“I have something better,” Mary responded with an impish smile. “I have a credit card.”
“That’ll work,” Lola concurred with a smile. “And I will pay you back as soon as I have some money of my own. I promise,” she vigorously assured.
“Please, if you’re back with Tony, then I’m sure that won’t be a problem,” Mary responded offhandedly.
Mary was sure of more than that. As Lola’s best friend when she and Tony were first together, she enjoyed significant financial benefits. She recalled Tony dispensing money like it was candy being doled out to children. Despite Lola’s displeasure with her first relationship with Tony, Mary had no doubts about things returning to the way things were. With the possible return to a surplus of money in her checking account as a motivator, Mary promptly changed her attire and drove Lola to the closest Nordstrom department store.
Mary and Lola were not planning to do a substantial amount of shopping. Their goal was to get a few outfits and necessities to sustain Lola until she could go shopping on Tony’s credit card. Once during their outing, a salesclerk inquired of Mary if Lola was her daughter. The question was immensely entertaining to Lola, but Mary was not so amused. The question hurt because they were the same age. Mary desperately wanted answers to Lola’s new look, but she concealed her curiosity knowing that badgering Lola would make her more resistant. Mary and Lola were in the store for just over an hour when they both concluded they brought their spree to a close.
“Wait. Do you need a phone?” Mary inquired as they were passing a cellphone kiosk.
“Yeah,” Lola agreed after a moment of thought. “Just something I can use for personal calls—a prepaid phone is fine.”
Lola had just finished that statement when she noticed Mary giving her a curious look.
“What’s wrong?” Lola asked with a frown.
“You look different,” Mary explained as she continued to examine Lola’s face. “You look older.”
“I do?” Lola quickly queried back.
Lola turned and looked for a nearby mirror. When she got to a makeup mirror, Lola was quick to see the lines and discolorations that were just barely starting to show.
“Are you okay?” Mary asked with concern.
“Yeah,” Lola responded without hesitation. “I must be hungry,” she whispered to herself.
“We can stop at a restaurant on the way back home,” Mary offered with a perplexed expression.
“No,” Lola sharply returned. “That won’t be necessary. Let’s just get the cellphone and go.”
Lola’s reaction, more than her appearance, raised Mary’s suspicion that something was wrong with her longtime friend. Lola’s haste to leave the store seemed odd after her eagerness to get there. After purchasing the prepaid cellphone and entering the parking lot, Lola began walking with long strides and at a rapid pace. Mary hurried to match her pace so that she could inquire about her suspicion.
“So, is it food—some kind of new diet? Is that’s what’s behind this new look?” Mary inquired while struggling to keep up with Lola.
“Something like that—yes,” Lola confirmed while maintaining her pace.
Lola was panicked by the deterioration in her appearance. She had no idea how fast or slow the process would continue or what the result would be. In the time it took Lola to take her next three steps, Mary had lost her patience.
“Hey, come on,” Mary pleaded while grabbing Lola’s arm and pulling her to a stop. “What’s going on with you?”
“It’s a secret,” Lola returned with a dejected shake of her head. “I can’t tell you.”
“Sure, you can,” Mary countered with insistence. “I can keep a secret. The Lola I know, knows that I can keep a secret.”
Lola went into a state of confusion. She wanted to tell Mary everything, but she felt governed by Tony’s warning against exposing what they were to outsiders. The problem with that instruction was the fact that it was not Lola’s practice to regard Mary as an outsider. She paused to give her close friend’s plea a thorough consideration.
“Come on, Lola, you know me,” Mary added after noting Lola’s deliberation.
“Okay, but you have to promise not to tell anyone,” Lola instructed sternly.
“I promise,” Mary returned without hesitation.
“Okay then, the secret is, I’m a vampire,” Lola declared delicately.
“Excuse me,” Mary returned after a momentary stunned silence. “You’re a what?”
“I’m a vampire,” Lola restated with assertiveness. “Tony turned me three days ago.”
For several seconds Mary did not know how to respond. She immediately relegated Lola’s claim into the realm of absurdity and began reconsidering the possibility that the woman she was speaking with was not Lola. Mary could not imagine her old friend trying to convince her that she was something as silly as a vampire.
“So, you’re saying Tony is a vampire too?” Mary asked after a few seconds of thought.
“Yes!” Lola confirmed with enthusiasm. “He said he was turned by a vampire who was over two-thousand years old.”
“Two-thousand years?” Mary dubiously parroted.
“You don’t believe me, do you?” Lola questioned with a smile.
“There’s no such thing as vampires,” Mary asserted with finality.
“Okay, I guess I’ll have to prove it,” Lola verbally assessed as she stepped back to consider the problem.
Mary was intrigued by the challenge and crossed her arms as she waited on the presentation of that proof.
“Give me your knife,” Lola instructed after a moment of thought.
Mary gave Lola an incredulous look.
“Come on,” Lola disputed. “I know you have a knife. You always carry a knife.”
Mary considered the request a moment longer, and then she dug into her purse and pulled out a long thin folding knife. She hesitated to consider what she was doing before handing it over to Lola.
“Come on,” Lola instructed after looking about the parking lot for eyes and cameras that might be watching.
Mary followed Lola to the space between Mary’s car and the one next to it. When Lola turned back toward her while holding the knife, Mary was momentarily frightened. She had no idea what Lola was planning to do with the blade, and the thought that she might use it on her did cross her thinking.
“Okay,” Lola started to speak while pulling up the left sleeve of the suit coat and shirt she was still wearing. “I haven’t done this before, but Tony assures me it will work,” she continued after a deep breath.”
“What are you planning on doing?” Mary asked with a shocked expression.
Lola ignored the question, took a deep breath and then quickly made a long deep cut down her arm.
“Oh my God!” Mary nearly screamed at the sight of the blood profusely discharging out of the wound.
Mary quickly unlocked and opened the door to her car while repeating her ‘oh my Gods’ several times more. After a few seconds of digging in the car’s glove compartment, Mary pulled out a handful of tissues and quickly applied them to the large amount of blood covering Lola’s left forearm. Lola watched as Mary raced to attend to the wound. Shortly into her effort, Mary noticed Lola’s mixed expression of concern and intrigue.
“Come on, I need to get you to an emergency room,” Mary asserted after applying several seconds of pressure to the wound.
“Wait,” Lola returned while resisting Mary’s tug on her arm. “Look,” she encouraged while pushing Mary’s hand and tissue away from her arm. At first Mary was resistant to Lola’s effort to stop her from applying pressure to the wound, but she gradually gave way. She soon noticed that the bleeding was subsiding and began dabbing at the residue of blood to get a better look at the wound. A few seconds later, and much to her surprise, she saw the wound begin to mend on its own. In little more than thirty seconds after Lola cut open her arm, there was no wound or even a visible scar to suggest that there was ever a cut on her arm.
“It worked,” Lola exclaimed with a wide smile.
“Oh my God,” Mary huffed while staring wide-eyed at Lola’s arm.
A second later, Mary wiped away much of the remaining blood before reiterating her verbal response of choice.
“Oh my God!”
“Tony was right,” Lola cheerfully proclaimed. “I heal instantly. See?”
“How did you do that?” Mary asked while moving closer to examine Lola’s arm.
“I told you,” Lola answered with a mix of amusement and insistence. “I’m a vampire.”
Mary did not know how to react. The idea that Lola was a vampire was still difficult for her to accept, but the evidence was difficult to ignore. After a moment of thought, Mary shook her head in resignation.
“Okay. Okay,” Mary began with heavy reluctance. “I believe—I believe you’re something. How did this happen?”
“I told you, and you can’t tell anyone. You promised,” Lola stated with excitement in her voice.
“Yeah, okay,” an amazed Mary agreed.
It took Mary more than a few minutes to get over her astonishment, and then she and Lola got into the car and drove out of the Nordstrom’s parking lot.
“Can you drive me back to Jerry’s?” Lola asked hopefully.
Lola knew she was gradually diminishing physically, and that sleep, and food were the only things that would restore her youth. She started examining her hands and arms to measure how much older she was growing.
“Why not come back to my place?” Mary quickly queried. “You can shower and dress into your new clothes, and I’m sure my vanity set will be more to your liking then Jerry’s.”
“I don’t know,” Lola mused. “I was warned not to spend too much time moving about during the day.”
“You’re fine,” Mary quickly assured. “And besides, all you need is something to eat and you’ll be good as new.”
Mary’s argument made sense to Lola, and it only took her a moment to relent. She did not consider that Mary might have an ulterior motive, and that was mostly because she did not care. Lola was happy to spend time with her oldest and closest friend. Mary was equally pleased to spend time with Lola, but she was also considering a whole new benefit to their association.
When they got back to the house, Lola did as Mary suggested. She showered and dressed in one of the three outfits that Mary purchased for her. She then sat at Mary’s vanity table and began making use of the lotions and makeups there.
“What’s it like being a vampire?” Mary queried from her seat on the bed.
“It’s amazing,” Lola began to gush. “I feel better now than I ever did. Everything is so much better. It’s like my senses have discovered a whole new world beneath the one I use to know. Sounds, smells, tastes are so much more vivid and sharp—sometimes too sharp—like bright light and some smells. But it’s all so amazing and extreme.”
“What do you mean by extreme?” Mary asked with a curiosity frown.
“It’s just that everything feels so much better than they did before,” Lola explained with a shrug. “It’s like living on bread and water all my life and then suddenly feasting on French cuisine.”
Mary quickly took in Lola’s analogy, and then turned her thoughts toward another subject.
“And how are things with you and Tony?” Mary inquisitively asked.
“Different—and the same,” Lola returned offhandedly. “We haven’t been fighting, but I’m sure that’ll come later.”
“So, you’re not going to stay with him?” Mary questioned with a hint of concern in her expression.
“Apparently, I don’t have a choice,” Lola grudgingly acknowledged while carefully attending to her left eyelash.
“Why? Because you’re a vampire?” An intrigued Mary quickly asked.
“I’m told that because he’s my maker, I’m connected to him,” Lola explained while switching her attention to her right eyelash.
It was clear by the change in Mary’s posture that she was intrigued by Lola’s answers, and she leaned forward to ask her next question.
“Connected how?”
“I’m not sure. I mean, he’s still—Tony,” Lola stopped applying eyelash thickener to verbalize her answer with disgust. “But there’s something different going on.”
“Different how?” Mary asked without hesitation.
“Well, you know Tony was never—the man of my dreams,” Lola sighed. “Hell, the only reason why I slept with him was because I wasn’t allowed to have sex with anyone else while we were together.”
“As I recall, you broke that rule a couple of times,” Mary countered with a hint of humor in her tone.
“More than that, especially toward the end,” Lola confirmed with a glance and a smile toward Mary. “But the thing is, last night Tony rung my bell like it had never been rung before,” she continued with a look of astonishment. “We went at it for hours. I couldn’t get enough of him.”
“What? You’re saying you’ve got the hots for Tony now?” Mary questioned with surprise.
“No!” Lola sharply responded. “I’m still not attracted to him—physically—at least, when I’m away from him, I don’t feel any attraction,” she hesitantly explained. “But I think when we’re close, he’s arousing me sexually somehow,” she explained with a grimace of disgust and a shiver. “I’m talking seriously aroused. I was so horny last night, who I was fucking seemed inconsequential.”
“You’re kidding?” Mary giggled.
“Yeah,” Lola stressed. “And it goes beyond sex. I think I can sense his feelings and maybe even his thoughts.”
Mary mused over Lola’s observation before continuing with her thoughts on the subject.
“Well, that doesn’t sound like a bad thing—I mean, if he’s ringing your bell,” Mary pondered. “Some people would say that’s a good deal.”
“Well, I’m not sure I’m one of those people,” Lola sullenly countered while adding eyeliner.
Mary paused to second guess her next words.
“I am,” Mary softly declared.
Lola heard the subtext in Mary’s response loud and clear. She turned to give Mary a concerned look. She knew Mary was talking about becoming a vampire also. Lola had passively considered the thought since her decision to visit her friend.
“Tony wouldn’t like that,” Lola warned after a pause.
“So, we don’t tell him,” Mary countered with defiance.
“I just think we should do this another time,” Lola pushed back. “Tony is up to something, and I don’t think he’s going to like me doing things without his permission.”
“That’s just it, Lola,” Mary countered with exasperation. “Why should it be Tony’s decision. You know he doesn’t trust anyone when it comes to his secrets. I’m your best friend. We’re like sisters. Are you going to let Tony decide to cut me out because he has no use for me? You know the game, babe. It’s me and you versus the men. We do what we want, and we apologize for it later.”
Lola gave no response. She paused to consider Mary’s request. The argument against waiting on Tony’s permission made sense to her, and it was an argument that she had already considered. She knew what was really holding her back was the act itself. Lola knew that she was brazen enough to do it without Tony’s consent. The fact that she only had a peripheral knowledge of the procedure for turning someone into a vampire was the thing that made her hesitant. Attempting to turn Mary into a vampire on her own and without supervision was the fear that stopped her from making the offer.
“Babe,” Mary continued after a moment of silence. “I had a health scare—cancer. It was a couple of years ago and they got it in time. They cut it out, but you know how it goes. Once you get it, it’s just a matter of time before you get it again.”
“I only know what Tony told me in passing about turning someone,” Lola declared in a warning tone. “I wasn’t given any training on how to do it.”
“That’s fine,” Mary countered with a quick retort. “Lola, I trust you. Please, do this for me. I want to be young again. Please.”
Lola’s resistance fell away after Mary’s last plea. She knew that telling Mary that she was a vampire had stripped away much of her resistance to turning her. Lola knew that making Mary a vampire was what she wanted to do from the beginning. She could not imagine being young and on the prowl again without her dearest friend by her side.
It took Lola the lesser part of an hour to complete her portion of the transition process, but it was more than three hours later when she left the house. Concern and worry over what she had done had her anxious to see Mary awaken from the death sleep that she put her in. When Lola left Mary, she was lying still in her bed with no measurable heartbeat. Lola was forewarned that a corpse is what she should see, but that did not ease her concern. She would have gladly stayed at Mary’s bedside to wait out the process, but night was approaching, and Lola knew that Tony and Jeremiah would be calling soon. As she made her walk toward the nearest major street, Lola could only hope that Mary’s body was going through the human to vampire transformation.
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