Blood Rider

Lee poured her tea and took a sip, exhaling on a sigh of bliss. It was true any sort of indulgence would satiate her temporarily. Pleasure of any sort would consume her demon with the desires it craved and couldn’t get, except via her. Depriving it of such things made it more vocal, more irritating and certainly needier.

There was a knock at the door. She took another sip before pushing herself away from the counter and sauntering to answer it. The tap paused and then three more. A knock that was simply polite, not insistent or demanding. She suspected if she didn’t answer it, it would just continue on with the same pattern just as polite until it drove her completely mad. She swung the door open and as expected Underclass Elizabeth stood on the porch. She held a box in her hands that Lee could already smell something sweet coming from. At least the woman had the decency to bring a bribe. Beth managed to bow, still holding the box. “Raylee.”

Sometimes, the woman’s politeness, her formal attitude, irked the hell out of Lee. As Lee Handler’s assistant, it seemed the woman was always underfoot these days. Running errands for Wilhelm.

There was a man beside her, who Lee didn’t know. He was dressed like a rancher, but one who clearly didn’t work as one. More like he liked a rancher style fashion statement. A large unused cowboy hat was perched on his head. He wore new leathers and a repulsively striped shirt. He was a tad on the pudgy side, enough that he looked soft and cuddly rather than unhealthy. Well fed, which suggested upper middle class. He also had round spectacles and was leaning on a dark wooden cane. The specs were not edgy or tinted and Lee really doubted the cane had a sword in it. Utterly unimpressive and unexpected. She didn’t much like unexpected. Beth ought to know not to bring strangers to where Lee slept.

-He’s staring at us.-

Gawking more like.

Beth cleared her throat and Lee turned her attention back. The girl seemed to be reprimanding Lee with her soft brown eyes, as though it was her and not the human who was being unbearably rude. “What can I do for you, Underclass?”

“Raylee, this is Mr. Roy Bennett. He’s from one of our Southern branches. He’s an anthropologist and sociologist.”

“Good for him.”

Roy let out a soft exhale of breath causing Lee to jerk her eyes to him again. “So stunning. I mean, you can tell just by looking at her that she’s not human. She’s too beautiful. Too still.”

She narrowed her eyes. The man seemed entranced with her. It wasn’t an uncommon a reaction. Lee had been told the painful beauty of her kind could stun a person. When enveloped in a vampire’s aura the first time made a person act befuddled. Not so common in the north where vampires were more common. Or it was so damn cold humans were far more distracted by frostbite than a pretty face.

“A branch far to the south,” Beth emphasized. “He’s researching vampire culture. Naturally he is visiting the colder climates to study vampires where they interact in groups.”

She relaxed slightly and rolled her eyes. “Whatever, Beth. Does Wilhelm honestly expect me to entertain him? Show him the areas of the city vampires congregate at?”

Lee could feel Roy’s pulse jump, causing just a slight pulsing in her aura. Just like a fly moving around when stuck in a web. Not a good idea.

Beth shot him a look. “Of course not. Wilhelm isn’t a fool. You’re so very many things, Raylee, but a tour guide isn’t one of them. No, I’m here for a few reasons. One of which is to show Mr. Bennett his first live vampire before he is exposed to more.”

“I have seen a vampire,” he protested.

“From a distance,” Beth said.

“And the other reasons?” Lee asked blandly, tempted to slam the door and damn the consequences with Wilhelm. He was pushing her. The more he sensed her rebellion the more he pushed. It was enough to make her want to snap, but that is what he wanted. Fact was she was a Council employee, marked as such, and so her resting place was never secure as a vampire would want. She was always vulnerable in her sleep. Beth stopping by unannounced with an unknown guest was just a way for Wilhelm to make that point.

“We know that Richard took some time off to do some personal research. So I’m here to be your donor. I was coming anyway because I’ve a contract from Wilhelm for you.”

“Ah. Busy night.”

“I brought you some of those cream puffs you like so much,” Beth said, giving a bright smile and holding the box out.

Lee snatched the box as her nostrils flared. She eased the box open and smiled. The cream puffs were a delicate pastry they made within University City; chocolate covered, light pastry puffs with a cheesy-whip filling. It just could not be found at the Central Market.

She flicked a look at Roy when she sensed the tremble in his aura field again. He had his eyes wide open with one hand over his mouth as if to contain his obvious surprise and excitement.

-You moved with our normal speed. It must be the first time he witnessed our kind’s speed close up.-

She blinked a few times, letting her muscles relax. She was trying to be polite, even though the man’s beating heart was setting her on edge. He was giving her all the signals her body needed to flare up the blood thirst. It was hard to focus on moving slow, with concise movements and restraint. It was hard enough to restrain her pulsing aura so early in the evening.

-Let it loose, Lee. Wrap it around his malleable mind and drop him to his knees.-

Yeah, that would go over real well.

Lee gave a short nod to Beth and turned back inside, assuming they would follow. In the living room she plopped down onto the couch, stretched her legs out onto the table and slouched down, until she was in a complete sprawl. With hooded eyes she watched Beth and Roy glance around and then sat in the two armchairs across from her. No doubt they noticed the faded antique furniture, all material of various dusky blue hues. The thick velvet curtains, that remained closed at all times, but hid the barred windows. Other than the basic comforts of furniture and a table, the walls were lined with packed bookshelves, with every shelf space crammed with small odds and ends that Lee found to be interesting but likely varied in value extremely. She liked to keep tokens of her personal history as though to make up for the lack of any history in the beginning.

Lee gave Roy a lazy smile. “So who’s for breakfast?”

His body shuddered slightly and adrenaline spiked through his scent. She flared her nostrils again.

-Settle down, Lee. You get too riled up and you won’t fight the thirst. Then where would we bury the bodies, huh?-

Lee snorted and looked away from the humans, to the set of black and white photographs one of her roommates enjoyed. Some of them were close ups of wolves and she idly wondered if any of them were of Tia’s mysterious family. She had known the woman decades and still knew nothing of her origins.

After taking a few slow breaths in and out she looked back at Beth. Beth sat very still with her hands clasped in her lap. She would know Lee was on the edge. The woman was empathic and with her variation of the ability came a keen understanding of vampire and shifter instincts, or the undercurrent beneath their emotions.

Lee gave her a slow smile.

In the year of Creation the final plague was unleashed, wiping out millions. Some of those survived had changed genetically, and their children were visibly altered. Some said it was the cure itself that caused the Changes. What was left of the Old Ways was shattered within months. She supposed what made it so interesting was what they felt behind. The artefacts that still worked in some cases and the vast amount of written and visual material documenting their demise. Humans mourned that time, still suffering the shock of it generations later. Beth would be third or fourth generation changed, or perhaps second, since she was ranked Underclass. It was harder to pretend around most of them. Even if they couldn’t make it past her vampiric shields, they knew she wasn’t human. Not that Lee had a call to mask what she was in her occupation.

For the other races, the End Days represented a new world, where there were enough of them to openly be known by humans and not suffer for it. So open, apparently, as to attract clueless researchers.

-How amusing is that?-

Very. But, still, knowledge is power. At least before Creation we were hidden and so buried in myth humans were oblivious to us.

Roy was likely from the Deep South. He had the slow drawl to his voice and seemed oblivious to her kind. His research should be on shifters, since there were some large packs in the south.

“Would you be adverse to a few questions about the feeding before we begin?” he asked.

She raised her eyebrows and laughed. “Oh, my goodness, Beth. You’re going to let this man wander the city? Or is it just that you think an observation of a vampire feeding will deter him? I expect it won’t work. He has the look of a blundering academic to me.”

“He’s an important guest. We will do all we can to ensure his safety while he does his research. Wilhelm expects you to answer any preliminary questions he might have.”

“Does he?” Lee said thoughtfully. Obviously her Handler was peeved about something she had done. Or not done. Or done too much of. “Ask away, Mr. Bennett.”

“What are the physical traits you use to subdue a victim?”

She didn’t answer right away.

-Seems astonishingly ignorant. Maybe he is one of those amateur academics.-

Like rich people thinking they can delve into every passing whim and people will indulge them?

-Like that. Or maybe he is dying and wants to know about the Turn and this is an excuse.-

Lee flared her nostrils and inhaled deeply. Smells healthy to me.

-Maybe he wants to live forever.-

Life is harsh and cruel. It amazes me humans think by making it vastly longer it will get better.

“Other than the obvious strength and speed I assume,” she finally drawled out. “Well. If I was to hunt, and of course you understand I don’t engage in such outlawed behavior, then there are a few choices. First, I must attract the prey.”

“Victim,” Beth interrupted.

She flashed an amused smirk. “Same thing, different side of the coin.”

“Thus the physical alterations,” he said nodding, ignoring Beth’s detour into semantics.

Lee smiled slowly. “That is a good a theory as any. The most common theory. But besides that, since here our sorts of features cause humans to suspect our nature. What we generally do to get the prey’s attention is to enchant them, capture their mind in a web of intrigue and mystery. Much like the response a human has to someone they are attracted to when they first meet. Hormones and pheromones. Excitement and lust. All the fun stuff.”

“How is this accomplished?”

“That is all natural. Hard to explain it. Purposeful charm? It is our aura form, which is a great deal more active than a human’s aura. When we exert our will, it will respond, and the prey will be ensnared. It is just the lightest of touches.”

“It can be subtle,” Beth said. “Or it can be blunt. A vampire can swamp a human mind until the person is stunned to a standstill.”

-Or crawling on their knees begging for the bite.-

“An aged vampire can,” Lee said. “Point being, the first step is to captivate your prey. The next, is all biology. Our bite, when we’re threatened, can momentarily paralyze our prey. When we’re not threatened, it can be like a narcotic.”

“Its different secretions in the saliva,” Beth said.

Lee sat forward and plucked another cream puff out of the box. “Then it is feed until satiated.” She plopped it into her mouth, almost moaning in pleasure as the taste and texture of the pastry hit her. “Then tap a little on the mind, enforce a false memory or just a little gap in it, and all is said and done.”

He nodded. “Then are we going to proceed?”

She leaned forward more, breathing in the tang of his scent. It was more salt and copper than Beth’s. Most Changed had a sweetness to their blood. Beth was far more delicious a choice for that fact. She was one of those humans, of the Changed anyway, whose blood was hard to resist. It was increasing Lee’s blood thirst to a demanding level. But Roy, would be more satisfying, for the thrill factor. The fear. “Are you offering?” she asked lightly, then smiling widely when his pulse skipped.

Lee didn’t wait for a response, but rather went for Beth. She traced forward, faster than could be tracked by the human eye. She pulled Beth to her feet, wrapping an arm around her waist. Her eyes darted to Roy for a moment. His face was pale and his mouth open. Beth didn’t resist, but for pure dramatic flair, Lee looked her in the eyes, flared her aura making her go limp. Supporting Beth with one arm secure around the waist, she braced a hand behind her neck. Beth’s eyes were completely glazed as Lee sank her teeth into the soft spot above the collarbone. Lee tore the flesh a bit to make the wounds wider and then gulped down the blood that spurted out. She took a little more than was usually needed. Usually she was only permitted to feed just enough to keep the thirst at bay.

When she was finished she clenched her jaw, injecting a clotting and healing agent into the wound. To speed it up she began to lick the wound closed. Her aura flexed, releasing Beth from its blanketing comfort and expanding. Slowly Lee eased her grip and gently lowered Beth to the chair. She plopped back down on the couch feeling lethargic. Now she would have to change. She should have contained her enthusiasm. Only a small amount of blood flow was needed to tap into the life force, but the more flow the faster she could feed and the more satisfying it was.

Letting Beth recover, she licked her lips and studied Roy. “Are you quite alright?”

He swallowed. “Fine. It was just so…”

“Disturbing?” she suggested. “Satisfying? Both?”

“Abruptly violent.”

-Do you think he is one to believe it is all pleasure and sexy when we feed? Not a drop of blood escaping.-

It’s a pervasive belief that the Clan is not about to discourage.

Beth closed her eyes and groaned. “Raylee, that was so very rude.” She touched her neck and looked at her bloody fingertips. “Look at me. I’m a mess.”

“Yet not uncalled for.” Lee flicked her hand in an offhand gesture to Roy. “Instructive, yeah?”

“You’re pissed at Wilhelm,” Beth said, making it a statement.

She shrugged and grinned. “I would say this venture implies he is pissed with me, lovely.”

“I noticed that you have two sets of fangs. Is that normal? I thought it was just the upper fangs,” Roy inserted.

“Teeth? We’re going to discuss teeth?”

“Raylee is somewhat unique in her traits. The modifications once a human is turned progress as time passes. Variations between clans, as you have no doubt studied have been noticed. We have an estimated age for Raylee at approximately two centuries, although no definite documentation of that since it was around the End Days. She can feed with just the upper set. It depends on hunger level.”

“And grip,” Lee added flippantly, annoyed at the cataloguing of her characteristics. “Are we done with this? What does Wilhelm want?”

Beth slid an envelope across the table. “We have a problem in the human sub-quarter and the gutters. Three drained bodies. We suspect a rogue vampire. From the violence of the attacks we suspect newly turned. From the disregard over witnesses and the corpses he leaves behind, it could be accidentally turned. Normally, unclaimed territory killings wouldn’t be noticed, but these are surprisingly close to University City.”

“Got it. Should be easy to track once I go over the murder scenes.” She caught Roy’s frown. “By the scent trail.”

Lee went through the envelope and crime scene information and photos. “I can clean this up by tomorrow. A little track today and the kill on the morrow. What are you doing with Mr. Bennett for his stay?”

“Right now, we are going to visit some of the other Council vampires. Then we will see about arranging some tag alongs, maybe some observations in the vampire sub-quarter.”

“Take him to Viona’s. Humans are the norm there.”

“It is possible he will spend some more time with you as well,” Beth said cautiously.

“Right. Just leave already, Beth. Mission accomplished.”

Beth stood, giving her usual polite smile and short bow. “Always a pleasure, Raylee.”

As they let themselves out Lee called out, “And for god sakes it’s Lee!”