I do not recall any of it. “Thank you for…for saving me.”
“You saved me first. My name is Brandi, by the way.”
In the distance, I hear sirens. I imagine the home is now surrounded by police.
“Do you think it’s safe to go back there?” Brandi asks.
“Why would you want to go back?”
“The police’ll want a statement, right? I mean, that woman needs to be caught.”
I am too drowsy to laugh. “If you tell the authorities you were taken by a vampire, they will lock you up.”
“But the things she did in that house to all those people! She has to be stopped.”
By whom? The only ones capable are vampires, and I am not about to rat out Julia to the vampire authorities. I’d be labeled a snitch for all eternity.
“You are safe. Count your blessings.” As for myself, I do not understand what got into me. I was so close to having what I wanted. A vampire willing to change me. Immortality once again.
I sigh. Soon word will spread among the seedy vampire masses that I betrayed Julia to save a human meant for slaughter. They will say I lost my spine, that I am weak. Instead of following me, they will laugh when I disclose my plan to overthrow the king. Vampires do not follow weaklings.
Why did I do that? Why! I look at the young woman with long dark hair, a round face, and soulful eyes. She is no different than many I have killed with nary a second thought. What compelled me to save her?
“Are you able to drive?” I grumble.
“Yes.”
“Please fetch the silver Mercedes SUV parked one block down from the house. I will need to find a room for the night and lots of Gatorade.” I hand her the keys from my pocket and flop back down on the wet grass. The moon is spinning above me.
“Thank you for saving me. I mean it,” she says.
“My pleasure,” I mutter dryly.
“By the way, you haven’t told me your name.”
I no longer deserve the name Mr. Nice or Nicephorus—those belong to a cold, heartless, respectable vampire.
I was born Steviuus Nicephorus Racker, named after my great-great-great-grandfather—a Byzantine general. I was merely the son of a humble spice merchant, which is why my childhood consisted of traveling in northern Africa from one small village to another while my father purchased spices. He would eventually sell them to the ships bound for the north. That was how we encountered Narcissismo. He was a ship merchant.
“You may call me Racker,” I say. Racker was what my maker called me when I was but his pathetic human pet. It is the name I deserve now after tonight.
“Racker, nice to meet you. I’ll be right back.”
I give Brandi the thumbs-up, unable to do much more than that. I have no idea what will happen to me now.
Sleep. I will sleep. Tomorrow will be a new day.
The next morning, I wake at a roadside motel just outside Houston. I vaguely recall us pulling in last night after I had Brandi procure food and drink.
I look over at the other bed. Brandi is still here, passed out and snoring in a way that no lady ever should. Like a congested boar.
The pleasant news is that I have to piss like a racehorse. A good sign because it means I am rehydrated.
I get to my feet and trudge to the bathroom, where I look in the mirror. “What is that!” A gray hair. “No, no, no.” I lean forward and pluck it out.
“What’s wrong?” Brandi stumbles into the doorway, her brown locks a wild mess.
“Nothing.” I do not believe in whining. I am still a vampire, at least on the inside, and vampires do not cry over one silly gray hair. “I was merely shocked by my handsome reflection. Happens a lot.”
“Errr…are you feeling okay?” she asks.
“Of course.”
“And the neck?”
I turn my head and inspect the puncture marks surrounded by deep purple. “I’ve had worse.” My maker used to find it amusing to drain me to the point of near death and then heal me with his blood, only to repeat the cruel action. At the time, I did not know that had I died with his blood in my veins, I would have turned. I could have killed myself and been free of him long before.
“That sounds pretty awful.”
“Yes. But what is life without pain?” I say.
She winces. “It’s called a good life.”
I shrug.
“So what will you do now? Where’s home?” she asks.
“I do not have a home.”
“No home? No family?” She sounds surprised.
“No.”
“A job?”
“No,” I reply.
“And the car?”
“A gift from an acquaintance.”
She nods, looking like she doesn’t entirely believe me. “Well, I know it’s a lot to ask after what you did for me, but would you be willing to drive me home? My family has to be worried sick.”
“Where do you live?”
“Missouri. That vampire woman took me from a bus. I was on my way home from University of Texas for summer.”
Lucky her. If Brandi had been with her family, they would all be dead by now.
“I am sorry, Brandi, but I cannot take you to your family. I have matters to attend to.” Mostly facing my impending doom and old age. “I will buy you an airline ticket.”
“I don’t have my ID. When that thing took me, I didn’t have a chance to grab my purse.”
“I will pay for a hotel until your family can come get you.”
“You want to leave me alone?” Her big brown eyes tear, and her plump little lower lip quivers.
They do not sway me. “A bus ticket, then.”
“Bus?” Her worried expression turns into a crumbling mess of sobs. “No buses.”
“I understand that is where Julia found you—”
“Please don’t say her name.” Brandi covers her face and cries inconsolably.
“She won’t take you again. I mean, yes, she could, but the chances are quite slim.”
“Oh God. Oh God. She’ll come for me. She said she would if I ran. She said she’d find me and kill my little sister and parents.”
That is Brandi’s problem, not mine, but something stops me from saying so. “Then what do you propose? Because I have urgent business. It cannot wait.” Mostly finding a dark hole to crawl into where I may die in peace.
“What could be more important than getting me safely to my family after what I’ve been through?” She waves a hand through the air. “I mean, I get that you’re some perverse vampire lover, but you wouldn’t have saved me if you didn’t have a heart.”
Oddly, I find offense with her words. “I am not a vampire lover. I simply love being a vampire.”
“You? You’re a vampire?”
“No. I was, though. For a very long time.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I was cured, but that doesn’t matter.” I wave a dismissive hand through the air.
“Hold on, Racker.” She grabs my arm. “You were a vampire, and now you want to be one again, don’t you?”
She must’ve overheard part of my conversation with Julia last night. What she doesn’t know is that I blew my chance. Now I am going to die. “My dear woman, the time for your incessant questions has ended. Our time together must also come to an end. I saved you from Julia, but my obligation ends here.”