Drea
recognizes one of the men, as the man who accosted her in the shop.
He tries to get away, and is arrested. The vampires decide to show
Sandra who and what they are, so she understands their predicament.
Sandra
took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "Go ahead."
Drea
allowed her fangs to grow slowly. Her features changed slightly,
becoming pale and hollow cheeked. Her eyes were no longer their
normal blue, but an eerie red tinged brown.
Sandra's
eyes grew wide, her nostrils flared with fear. She backed away, her
hand reaching for the door. Kirk gently touched her arm, but she
flinched away. Drea changed back quickly. Dizzy, she staggered back a
step. Kirk placed a capsule in her hand. Putting it under her tongue,
she relaxed as the medication hit her system.
"You're—vampires?"
Sandra breathed huskily, quickly. "My God! It's like a
nightmare!"
"No,"
Drea said. "Not us. Whoever is hunting us, they're the true
nightmare. Our people live on synthetic blood. We take medicine to
control the blood lust, and never turn anyone without their consent."
"How
do I know I can trust you?"
Drea
smiled benevolently. "We've taken you into our confidence,
Sandra. We haven't attacked you, nor do we intend to. However, that
man you've arrested has killed at least one person and is either
responsible for, or has knowledge of, the kidnapping of at least a
dozen more."
"Do
you think that the others are dead?"
"I
fear so," Kirk said. "What reason would they have to kidnap
them otherwise? They haven't asked for ransom."
"I'm
confused," Sandra admitted quietly. "You have to admit,
this is a lot to absorb like this."
"We
understand completely," Kirk said. "Believe me, it wasn't
easy for me to accept when Drea first told me."
"He
threatened to tell," Drea added. "It wasn't easy to keep
him quiet without hurting him. It took all my persuasive power to
keep him from waking the entire household."
"She
put up a very convincing argument," Kirk replied with a sly
grin. "She took off all her clothes."
Sandra
laughed loudly, the fear gone from her. "That would about do it.
Most men are pretty easy to convince, when you're naked."
Drea
giggled. "Not that he got to do more than look—I wasn't
modest, but I certainly wasn't a slattern. I had to promise to come
back for visits. We talked for hours at a time and eventually, we
fell in love." She brushed Kirk's hair from his brow.
"It
was at that point she offered to turn me. How could I refuse? How
often is a man given the chance to be with his soul mate forever?"
Sandra
couldn't conceal a little sigh when he kissed his wife.
"You
make it sound so romantic. Don't you ever...? I mean, aren't you
tempted...?"
"To
drink human blood?" Drea asked. "Not often, unless we skip
our medicine. Then, we're no better than the animals who prey on
humans. What sets our group apart is that we found ways to live in
harmony with humans rather than use them."
"I
promise to look into this," Sandra said. "I'll help you
find them." She squinted at them a moment, thinking. "You
know, I think I might be able to help you. We can set up a
surveillance team to watch you while you work undercover."
"We
can't ask that, Sandra," Drea began.
"Why
not? It's my job. This is in my jurisdiction, and you've come to me
with a crime that's connected to something I was already working on."
"We
don't want to get you in trouble," Kirk replied.
"You
won't. My boss is a good guy and he's rather fond of me. I am his
favorite niece, after all." She winked. "Now, let's see
what we can do. Do you need a ride home?"
"Yes,
we do."
"Okay.
I'll have one of my men take you. Once I have a team assembled, I'll
contact you and we'll coordinate our efforts. I normally wouldn't
work with civilians, but we can't get anyone in there fast enough."
"Don't
worry. We're resourceful and quite a few of us have military
training."
"Really?
What about you?"
"I
wasn't always a chef," Kirk said, adjusting his jacket. "I
was a soldier in the Dutch War of Independence, also called the
Eighty Years War. I fought during the resurgence in the late 1580's.
After I got wounded, I went home and was a hired hand in a great
house of one of the generals. That's where Drea found me. She was a
friend of the general's top aide."
"Military
service in modern times has changed some," Sandra pointed out.
Kirk
smiled gently. "And I've been in the military on and off since,"
he replied. "Most recently in Vietnam, but that presented
difficulties. It was hard to get my medicine."
"How
on earth did you manage?" Sandra asked. "Surely the bit
where the sun will roast you...?"
"Myth,"
Kirk said. "Though we do burn easily. No skin pigmentation.
Rather like being an albino. The lotion restores our color and
protects our skin."
"Garlic?
Stake through the heart?" Sandra asked, backing away slightly.
"Garlic
is delicious," Kirk replied. "I use it a lot in my cooking.
Aside from repelling with one's breath, it has no affect on a
vampire."
©
2019 Dellani Oakes
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