4 comments/ 23155 views/ 10 favorites Blood or Love Ch. 01 By: naturallysweet Author's note: I have several vampire stories in me, and this is the second one to go on Lit. The vampire mythology is different for this one than "Cruelest of Intentions". "Blood or Love" will go up in chapters. It's not a stroke piece. I hope you enjoy it anyway. Feedback and votes are appreciated, as always. ------------------ Kim wished she could get a wooden stake through the heart of the asshole who'd turned her husband into a vampire, and ruined their lives. At least we're together despite it all, she thought, walking through the back door of their home. But how much longer now that the formula that held his blood thirst in check for the last year was starting to fail? "What's the report?" Kim asked Benson, who was sitting at the kitchen table, munching on celery and doing her homework. Jack's younger sister took turns staying with him while Kim worked and slept. Benson looked up and dropped her pen. "Same thing. It's been what, two weeks now? Maybe he should see a doctor." "You know that can't happen." Kim opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of iced tea. She mentally noted that the blood supply in the fridge was still full, a good thing. When she turned back to Benson, the other woman's big brown eyes were shining, and her face was tight with concern. "But, you've seen what this is doing to him. He can hardly keep anything down. He's hot, then cold. He complains of electrical zaps in his brain." "I don't think they'll know how to treat a vampire," Kim said. "But if this lead works out, we may have help for him very soon." She paused to take a long drink of the cold tea, then said, "You've been making him drink gallons of water, right? That should help flush the toxins out." Benson sighed. "Of course." Kim set her tea down and ran both hands through her blonde hair, its pixie-cut accentuating her fine, delicate features. "I know you had a date tonight, and you've already sat with him today, but could you please come back tonight around nine?" Benson shrugged and began collecting her books and papers up from the table. "Tonight? Yeah, I guess so. I can have Matt meet me here instead. Why? What's going on?" "I'm going to talk to someone who worked with Dr. Campbell, but wasn't at the lab the day the League attacked." Kim leaned against the table. "My friend, Charli, set up a conference call with him tonight at nine. She helped me find him in the first place. His name is Dr. Kitcher. I have a really good feeling about him." "Oh, that's good news," Benson adjusted the purse strap on her shoulder. "Hope he works out better than the last two leads." She gave a toss of her light brown hair that sent it skimming around her shoulders. "Well, I'll be here before nine then. Later, Kim." Kim shut the door behind Benson and collapsed at the kitchen table. She was so tired. It had been ten months since they found out that the organization of vampires, known only as the League, killed Dr. Campbell and destroyed his lab along with all the known antidote. Since then, all she'd done was work and try to find someone else who could help Jack. Now they were down to the wire, and it seemed like she could actually hope again. The antidote was the only solution for vampirism they knew of, but it only worked temporarily - a year was the most any vampire had stayed humanly conscious in Dr. Campbell's research. Jack was coming up on a year now, and it seemed he was starting to revert. She knew if they didn't find another source soon, he wasn't going to make it. Or else, she thought, Benson and I aren't gonna make it. She sipped her iced tea and thought about how so much had changed after Jack took the injection. He'd lost his taste for blood, thank God, yet his body still seemed to require tiny amounts of it. Once a day, she mixed a tube of it into soups and drinks, since he could tolerate some liquids. But two weeks ago, when the regression started, he had insomnia around the clock. If he could doze off at all, it was fitful tossing and turning because of his nausea and pains. Last week, he'd started asking for more blood, but she only increased the amount by a little. She was truly alarmed by his sudden cravings. She figured they had six weeks to find more antidote. But she knew six weeks was being generous. She reached for a cup, filled it with hot water and dunked a tea bag in it. Then she walked into the living room where Jack had sprawled out on the couch. Some of his soft, dark hair, which had grown shaggy, was plastered down around his face. Other pieces were standing up. The long, sinewy body, that she missed holding against her in bed, was covered in blankets. She knew those covers might be tossed aside any minute when the hot flashes took over again. She carefully sat beside him on the couch and rubbed an exposed shoulder. "Here, baby, have some chamomile tea. It will help you feel better." He turned his head and looked at her. She noted how his usually snapping, dark eyes were bleary and red. His face was paler than normal, and a slight sheen covered his skin. He raised up slowly. "Thanks, Kim." Jack's normally strong, confident voice was hoarse, soft. He sipped from the cup, clacking it back down on the saucer as his hands shook. "So, Benny has babysitting duty again tonight?" She didn't miss the shame in his voice. "Yeah. But it'll be more than just Benson. She wants you to meet the new guy she's dating. She thinks he's someone who can help." He took another sip, but she saw the look that crossed his features. "Benson's seeing someone? Nobody told me." "She just met him last week. She knows how you are when she brings dates around." "And she's told him about me?" He set the cup down on the table a little too forcefully. "This is just making things more complicated." "Don't get upset. We're running out of time and options here, Jack. We can't afford to pass on any prospective lead. We just want you better." Jack leaned back against his pillow again, shut his eyes, and inhaled. Kim's hands smoothed gently across his arm. "I promised you I'd find more antidote, and I intend to keep that promise." She reached down and smoothed a sweaty strand of hair out of his eyes. "Tell me, on a scale of one to ten, how human do you still feel?" He sighed. "I don't know. Maybe an eight? I'm too sick to feel much at all, though." "When he gave you the injection last year, Dr. Campbell told us this sickness is temporary, and you'll be fine again for a while." She gave what she hoped was a reassuring smile. Jack shrugged his shoulders. "He also said some of his subjects quickly degenerated into full-on vampirism." "I don't think that will happen with you. You're strong mentally. We still have time to get the cure." "I hope so, else you'll have to stake me." She recoiled. "Don't joke about it." "Who's joking?" he said, his voice glum. "If we don't get the treatment in about four more weeks, someone will have to do it. I'll be too far gone." "Hopefully you'll have the injection sooner than that." She nestled on the couch against him. His arm curled around her, holding her against his cold, trembling body. He felt fragile to her, and that was not something she was used to. She looked up into his pained eyes. "Can you tell if any of your vampire power is getting stronger?" He rubbed his fingertips through her short hair, tracing patterns on her scalp that made her tickle inside. "I think my hearing, sight and smell have improved. You know certain smells just about kill me, like Benny's hand lotion." He made a face. Kim laughed. "Sounds like my sister when she was pregnant. Certain smells just undid her, even things she liked before, like coffee." "That's it," Jack said. "I'm so tired of being sick. I think it will be a little while before I feel like throwing cars around, you know." He tried a smile, but it came out weak. She reluctantly sat up. "Yeah, well keep taking it easy. Keep taking the pain-killer, and the ginger for your dizziness, and lots of water. I'll be back later to take care of you. He reached up and stroked her cheek. "If you don't start taking care of yourself, you're gonna get sick, Kim. I wish you didn't have to put yourself through all this for me." "I'll be fine. I can't stop until we have the antidote. I really think it's within our grasp now, and when it is, we can all rest easy." She stood up. "Here's the remote if you want it." He waved his hand at it. "No thanks. TV would just give me a headache now." She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead, then went back in the kitchen to fix something to eat. About nine o'clock, she left for Charli's place. * * * Jack lay there, tossing and turning on the couch, sweating and freezing. He didn't know he'd fallen asleep until the sound of Benson's key in the door woke him. In walked Benson. When she shut the door, the air rushed his way, bringing her overabundant scents of fruity lotion, matching body spray, and hair products right to his nostrils. He swallowed, waiting for a wave of nausea to pass. Then he opened his eyes. She wasn't wearing enough clothes, was his first thought. He glowered at the skirt that hit well above the knee, showing too much bare leg, and the tight, off-shoulder top. His eyes bore into hers. She looked bashful, knowing her choice of date attire incensed him. "Hey, Jack," she said. "I guess you heard, change of plans. Matt's going to meet me here." She walked over to the couch, leaned down and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "I want you act nice to him, OK? Do it for me." Then she walked back around to the chair directly across from him and flopped down in it. Jack sat halfway up, still glaring at her. "Your clothes aren't revealing at all, are they?" She sighed. "Here we go. I'm twenty-one years old, I can wear whatever the hell I want, so don't start on me." Benson kicked her leg back and forth against the chair. "Anyway, he wants to talk to you. He thinks he might be able to help. He's a good card player too, and a real nice guy. I think you'll like him." "I didn't even know you were seeing anyone, Benny." "You haven't exactly been conscious the last two weeks." She looked down at the floor for a moment. "Well, uh, I didn't want to say anything to you yet, cause I know how crazy you get." She stuck out her tongue at him, then said, "I met Matt over the internet." Jack groaned. "Why, Benny? Can't you just meet a guy at church or school? I can't believe you're dating weirdos off the internet." "God, Jack, he's not weird. It's not like we haven't talked for hours, and we've met a couple times already." When she saw his look, she added, "but always in a public place, of course. I'm not stupid, you know. Besides, lots of people meet on the internet now." "It's creepy." She laughed. "That's funny, coming from you - my big brother, the creepy vampire. Sure, at first it went against my instincts to keep seeing him." She sighed. "But he's just so damn pretty." "Whoa, back up. What do you mean it went against your instincts?" Jack adjusted his position on the couch and stared intently at her face. Humans were supposed to feel a little on edge around vampires, it was a subconscious vibe – an instinct that told them a dangerous predator was near. Kim and Benny had become mostly used to it, living with a vampire for the last year. So if Benny's date set off her alarm bells, there must have been good reason, he thought. Benson rolled her eyes. "He's just too perfect, is what I mean. He's so sweet...charming...good looking and mature for his age." "Sounds like trouble to me," Jack said. "Tell me everything you know about him." She sighed, and then a smile broke out on her face. Her eyes lit up. "His name is Matt Canter, and he's tall...so muscular and hot. Oh, and the most dreamy blue eyes." Jack shook his head. "That's not what I meant! I'll cut right to the chase-what's his favorite beverage?" "Geez, do I have to know everything about a guy I just started dating?" "Well you know there are these creatures out there called vampires, and-" "Jack, get real. He's not a vampire, OK? I think I'd know if the guy I'm seeing is a vampire." "Tell me this, did you ever see him in the sun?" "Well...no. Both times, we met in a restaurant at night." She looked surprised and then angry. "He's not a vampire, OK? He's just really knowledgeable about them." "I worry for you is all, Benny. Vampires are nothing to mess around with." Benny jumped out of her chair and stalked away from it. When she turned, she was nearly exploding with anger. "I've sure cleaned up enough of your messes lately...VAMPIRE, more like 'puking vampire'." Her face twisted in disgust. Jack, no longer cold, threw his blankets on the floor with an angry jerk. "I never asked you to." She walked back to the door and leaned up against it, arms crossed. "I don't know if letting him meet you is such a good idea after all, if you're gonna act this way." Her eyes flashed to the phone on the table nearby and then back at Jack. "Do you want me to uninvite him? I could call and tell him the vampire's too sick and grouchy for company." Jack's head was starting to hurt, and he put a hand up to rub it. "That's OK. I'd rather meet the guy, actually. And if he is a vampire, I'll kill him." I might kill him anyway, he thought. "Ha, you're in no shape to hurt a flea at the moment." "Maybe, maybe not." Then he remembered something else, and his tone changed. "Benny, do you still have that protection Kim gave you?" Benson's dark eyes flickered in confusion. "NoVamp? I have a bottle I keep in my purse. Then I can just spray as needed." Jack rolled his eyes. "You do know that by the time you realize you need it, it'll be too late to go digging through your purse for it?" To demonstrate, he was across the room in an instant and grabbed her, one hand clutching her shoulder, the other in her long hair, pulling her head to the side and exposing her bare neck. Benson blinked, then it appeared her brain and eyes caught up with what happened. She looked up at him and screeched in surprise, pushing her hands against his chest. He let her push him away. But he caught a delicious whiff of her fear-spiked blood among the obnoxious scents she was wearing, and to his dismay, his mouth watered. "Gah! You scared the hell out of me, dammit!" She was clearly shaken and upset. "Don't sneak up on me like that, Jack." It felt like the room was spinning around him. Jack limped back to the other side of the room and collapsed on the couch. "Uhh." He moaned, holding his head. "Aw, damn. I shouldn't have used my speed right now. It just made my headache worse." In the back of his mind, he was wondering when his speed had increased that much. He hadn't been that fast since before he took the antidote last year. Shit, he was definitely regressing. "Good, serves you right." "Anyway, I was just trying to prove a point. You're more vulnerable than you realize. You're supposed to spray it all over yourself before you need it." Benson's nose scrunched up. "But I hate the way that stuff has a garlic smell about it. Yuck, who wants to smell like that? You just want to keep the guys away from me, not the vampires." Jack knew the NoVamp wasn't a perfect solution. Dr. Campbell had developed it, knowing it had its flaws, but at least it was something humans could use to try to deter the top predator. "You've got to admit though, you had nowhere near the time you thought you would to respond, right?" "But that's not fair-you surprised me. If I'd have known it was coming..." He shot her a look, and the tone of his voice raised. "You're not going to know it's coming. That's the whole point, Benson." She mumbled some expletives at him, tossed her hair, and stalked off into the kitchen. Jack watched her go. In her defense, she hadn't been around for the last two years, and had missed out on all the vampire drama that Kim had to go through. Benson had almost completed two years at the university, but too much partying had taken its toll. Now she took classes at the local community college. Jack worried about her, but with what he knew now, he felt it was justified. Minutes later, Jack heard an unfamiliar truck coming up the road. It slowed, then pulled into the drive. "Benny, your date's here!" Benson walked out of the kitchen, a smile on her face. She pushed aside the curtain and peeked through the window. "It's him. Now be good, Jack." She opened the door and greeted Matt with a smile and a kiss to his cheek. "Hey Matt, come on in." Matt stepped into the room. He was definitely human. Jack wrinkled his newly sensitive nose in disgust. The guy had a bad odor about him-the smell of fast food burgers and greasy fries, and too much cheap cologne. It made Jack's stomach turn. He noticed a scar on the side of Matt's neck and wondered at that. He also took note of Matt's accelerating heart rate when he stepped inside and saw Jack. But Matt's voice was even when he walked to the couch and extended his hand. "Hey, nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you, Jack, isn't it? I'm Matt." Jack looked at Matt's hand and slowly reached out to shake it. Matt had cool hands, but not vampire cool. "O-ow, man, you're crushing my hand." "What? Oh, sorry." Jack let go of Matt, who nearly fell back onto the coffee table. Matt scrambled to the love seat and sat there rubbing his hand. After a moment, he looked up. "Sorry you're sick. Benny told me what you are and what's going on." "Benny says a lot." She averted her eyes when Jack glanced at her that time. He put his attention back on Matt, who was rubbing and flexing his hand. Maybe I really am being an ass like Benny says, he thought. "Sorry about your hand," he mumbled to Matt. "I shouldn't have done that." Jack heard Benson breathe out, like a sigh of relief. "Nah, it'll be OK." Matt looked up, but his eyes went to Benny. He winked at her. "I'll get the drinks," she said, already on her way to the kitchen. When she was gone, Jack turned his scrutinizing gaze back to Matt. "So, you met Benson online." "Yep, I sure did." "She says you're into weird stuff." Matt laughed. "I run several websites and dabble in research and the paranormal a bit. I'm especially interested in vampires." "Vampires...supernatural? Hardly. Anyway, there's no such thing." "Au contraire. Benson here divulged that you, my friend, are a vampire. Or I should say, vampire-in-remission." Just then, Benson came back in the room with a couple open bottles of beer. She set them down on the coffee table, and cowered into the love seat beside Matt. Then she swiped up one of Kim's magazines and mumbled, "Sorry for not asking you first, Jack. But you've been so out of it the last couple weeks. And Matt can really help." Jack shook his head. The smell of the beer was already setting his stomach on edge again, or maybe it was the young man with his arm snaking around his sister's bare shoulders. Matt picked up a beer and took a long drink. "Don't be angry at her, Jack," he said. "She did the right thing by informing me about you." Jack watched Matt tilt the bottle around, the beer sloshing inside it. Matt seemed mesmerized by the motion for a few seconds, then he continued. "Anyway, I first became interested in vamps back in junior high." "What happened then?" Matt looked up with a rueful grin. "My brother's friend's cousin became one." He paused a moment, sloshing the beer in his bottle, then said, "The summer between their junior and senior year, he got hurt. Some weird accident and all kinds of rumors were flying about it. He lost pretty much all the blood in his body. When they released him from the hospital, they said he was never the same. He couldn't stay with his family but a few weeks and then he was gone." Blood or Love Ch. 01 "He ran off?" Jack asked, thinking of what he would have done as a vampire. "Or, they found a way to capture him, and put him away somewhere. Evidently, he suffered terrible insomnia. The family would wake up to find him standing over their beds, just staring down at them. Totally freaked them out, as you can imagine. He stopped eating, and started drinking a lot." "Drinking...what?" "Water. Gallons of it every day." "Water?" Jack grimaced at the huge pitcher of water by the couch. Kim and Benson made him drink too much of it. "Then, the family cat disappeared, and then the neighbors' pets went missing." "So far, you're not telling me anything definitive that this was a vampire." "Oh come on, man, you know it all adds up." Matt took a long drink of beer and shifted in his seat. It was obvious to Jack that Matt enjoyed this, and it was the kind of thing the other guy probably stayed up late into the night discussing on internet forums. "Anyway, he lost his mind and became violent. One night, he and his brother got in a fight while playing video games. He bit his brother's arm, drew blood." Jack cocked an eyebrow. "Go on." "They tried to restrain him, but none of them could hold him down. From the sound of things, they barely got out of the house alive. When they ran out, he was still talking to himself and throwing furniture around." "Hmm. What kind of furniture?" "Huh?" "You said he was throwing furniture around. Are we talking footstools, end tables? Or did you mean the dining room table, couches?" Jack gestured for the other guy to elaborate. Matt looked stunned. "Uh, I don't know. Just furniture. But the point of this is, I know about vampires. Not only do I follow the websites and run some of my own, but I've seen vampires in person." He smiled broadly at Jack. "You're my tenth one." "So how is it you've met so many vampires and lived to tell about it?" "It's not like I hunt them in dark alleys," Matt said. "I'm careful about where I go, catch them off guard." Jack moved on the couch until he was upright. "So what, you just look at them, and rush back to your computer to tell the world?" Matt nodded. "All I want to do is learn about them, try to help others be safe. That's why you're such a find. You're a vampire, but you've had the antidote, and I can actually interview you. It's a great, rare opportunity." "What makes you think I'm a vampire?" Matt gave Benny a pat on her bare shoulder and she looked up at him with a smile. "You mean, besides what she told me, and your vice-like squeeze on my hand?" He set his beer bottle down and rubbed his hand again for a moment before he looked up at Jack. "I could just tell the minute I saw you. Look how pale you are, and your eyes look funny-" "I'm sick, for Christ's sake." "Yeah, but I have this strong aversion to you. Felt it the minute I walked in. Just being around you feels really weird, like that feeling you get when a strange, snarling dog approaches you." "Maybe you should pay attention to that feeling." Jack's voice came out like a growl. He watched Matt's good hand settle back onto his sister. Benson moved, and the magazine dropped to the wood floor. She sat stiffly against Matt in the seat, arms crossed, eyes glaring at Jack. Matt got up slowly and ambled around the room, stopping to look at pictures of Jack and Benson when they were kids, pictures of their parents, photos of his wedding to Kim. "Just out of curiosity," Matt began, "the antidote weakened you considerably, right?" Jack glanced at Benson again. She was mouthing the word, "Co-op-er-ate," and her eyes were pleading with his. Jack realized he was getting too worked up again. Benson was only trying to be helpful in her own way. If she really thought Matt could help, then he needed to give the guy a chance, for her sake. "You're weaker, Jack?" Matt asked again. "Yeah, of course." Jack rubbed a hand over his forehead. "The antidote suppresses vampiric power." Matt said nothing, just moved to the end of the couch. Jack's head was spinning, and he felt nausea at work on him again. He sighed and relaxed back into the couch, eyes closed. "And I only have weeks until it wears off completely. So just what is it you think you can do to help?" Jack couldn't help but smirk. "Do you have a shot of the antidote in your pocket?" He heard Matt's quickened heart rate and breath, and the flutter of his hand through the candy dish on the end table. "No," Matt said. "But I have this." There was a rustle of air, and Jack felt the sharp tip of a stake pierce his chest. Blood or Love Ch. 02 Jack's eyes flashed open. He had no time to think of the impossibility of his fast reaction. He only knew that he'd caught Matt's wrist just in time, holding it steady as the human used all his muscle and weight to drive the stake deeper, trying to force it to Jack's heart. But Jack had no problem holding him back. He looked up at Matt's face, pink and straining with effort. Then he heard Benson scream. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her rushing to the couch. She started pulling on Matt. "Get off him! Matt, get off him!" But Jack held him fast. Suddenly, he gave a jerk, and the bones in Matt's wrist snapped like twigs. Matt screamed. Jack released his hold and Matt flew onto the floor, his useless hand taking the stake along with him. But his impact with Benny toppled her backwards over the coffee table. "Benson!" Jack swung around, planting his feet on the floor. She pulled herself up on her elbows, and her eyes widened. Matt was reaching for the stake with his other hand, the one that still worked. But Jack was quicker. He kicked the stake away. Then he reached down, grabbed Matt, and threw him across the room. Matt hit the top of the love seat and sailed on over it, then skidded across the floor, only coming to a stop when he crashed up against the far wall. Jack reached a hand down to Benny. "Are you OK?" Benny looked up at him from beside the coffee table. Strands of her long hair lay every which way; the short skirt had slid even further up her thighs. Her eyes were wide and wild like a frightened animal when she looked from his waiting hand to his face. She raised her hand slowly to accept his, but he didn't give her time. Instead, he grabbed her and jerked her up on her feet. She stumbled against him and his arms went around her, steadying her. He didn't smell her blood, but there was no doubt she'd have bruises and scrapes. He let go of her and shot a seething look across the room to the man curled up on the floor. Bruises and scrapes were far less than what her boyfriend was going to get. Benson tugged on him, causing him to glance back down at her. She'd burst into tears, pulling his shirt up to look at the hole in his chest. "Oh god, oh god," she wailed, wiping at the small amount of blood. It was already congealing. Brushing her hands away, he turned his attention back to the other side of the room. Jack saw flashes of red. After the initial shock of being attacked by Benny's date, all of his senses felt primed and ready to go. There was no more nausea, no headache, and no weakness. He was just ready to do more damage. "Wait, Jack, wait." Benny took his arm from behind, trying to stop his advance. "Jack, please, stop." Jack didn't stop. Benson held onto him, trying to hold him back with all her might, but he just dragged her with him across the hardwood floor. Despite her pleading, he only paused when he was standing directly over Matt, who was moaning and shaking on the floor. Jack glared down. "I should kill you. If I was fully vampire, you'd be dead already." Jack finally realized Benson was still clutching his arm, and he shook her off easily. His gaze returned to the injured man at his feet. "Maybe you thought you were doing a good thing here tonight, or maybe this is a way for you to play hero on your internet forums. I don't give a damn. But you used Benny to get to me, and that pisses me off." Matt was crying softly, holding onto his broken wrist, his breathing labored. He tried to sit up a couple times, but couldn't make it. I probably broke some ribs and who knows what else with that toss, Jack thought, satisfied. A red mist winded its way through his vision, and he took a few deep breaths. He crouched down over Matt, who cowered further away. Jack liked the power that was rushing through him-the awakening strength and energy. "Benny's begging for your life, so I'll let you go. Keep me off your website, and don't send anyone around me or my family. Come near any of us again, and I won't be so gentle. Understand what I'm saying?" Matt just groaned and twitched on the floor. Jack grabbed him by the throat and hauled him up so his feet were inches from the floor. It was like lifting a kitten. Oh yeah, the vampire strength was returning, and it felt great. "Am I clear or not?" "Y-yes," Matt choked out. Jack dropped him back to the floor. Matt grunted and crumpled into a heap on impact. His hand went to his throat. He coughed and sucked in air. "Good. Now get out of here before I change my mind and kill you slowly and painfully." The idea appealed to Jack a lot, and he thought that should have bothered him. But it didn't. He glanced over at Benny. She was standing a few feet away, her light brown eyes huge and filled with tears, hands over her mouth in shock. But he felt nothing at that moment except the desire to kick some ass. He turned back to the man at his feet. Jack didn't know if true vampire slayers existed-people with superhuman strength and ability. He'd never encountered one before. But Matt sure as hell wasn't anything but plain ol' human. Matt, holding an arm across his ribs, struggled to get to his feet again. Impatient, Jack leaned over, grabbed his arm, and started dragging him toward the door. Benny found her voice, but it was garbled with tears. "I don't think he can walk, much less drive himself, Jack." "He better. Cause if he's still on my property in two minutes, I'm gonna rip him apart piece by piece." Jack yanked open the door, slung Matt over his shoulder, and carried him out to the black S10 where he dumped Matt behind the driver's seat. He reached in past the quivering man and started the truck. Then he shut the door and leaned against it, his hands draped casually across the open window. Matt's body shook; he looked as if he was trying to get control of himself. "G-give me a minute. Can't shift with my right hand." "You're not gonna have a right hand if you don't leave now." Matt suddenly found a way to drive, because he threw the truck in gear and peeled out, screeching at the corner and disappearing into the darkness of the countryside. * * * Kim returned later that night, her mood bright, the tiredness visibly relieved from her eyes. This is encouraging, Jack thought when he opened the kitchen door. "I take it the meeting went well with the good doctor?" She looked surprised to see him on the other side, and her sudden smile lit up the room. "Jack, you're feeling better?" He grinned and reached for her. "What do you think?" He pulled her into a tight embrace. Kim's hand went to the back of his head, caressing hair that was still damp from his shower. When she pulled back, she looked at him with disbelief in her eyes. "This is amazing." He followed her gaze to the kitchen table with the open newspaper and half-full cup of orange pekoe tea. When her eyes snapped back to his, her voice was full of excitement. "Dr. Kitcher can help you-he's the real thing. He's set up a lab and recreated Dr. Campbells's antidote. And, guess what? You have an appointment there tomorrow evening. Savannah, Georgia. I've already booked the tickets." "Georgia? Tomorrow?" Kim was silently clapping her palms together, the excitement radiating from her. "Two of Dr. Kitcher's assistants will meet you at the airport and escort you. They'll have to tranquilize you, cuff you..." Her eyebrows pinched together. "He said it's for everyone's protection...including the lab. But by the time you wake up, you'll be OK-you'll have the antidote inside you." Her smiled faded when she saw the look on his face. "What's wrong? You look good and you feel good now, right? It's three hours by plane. It shouldn't be too hard on you." "Yeah, but that's just it." He pulled a chair out for her at the table. When she sat down, he took his own seat again. "The thing is, I'm maybe feeling a little too good." "Oh." He watched her blue eyes and knew the exact moment when she got his true meaning. "OH. That doesn't mean what I think it does, does it?" He nodded grimly. Her eyes registered apprehension, but a slight smile turned up the trembling corners of her mouth. "Do I need to break out the NoVamp?" He shook his head. "It's not that bad yet. I'm in control of my mind. I'm not hungry, and if I do get hungry, you guys have me well stocked." He nodded toward the refrigerator. "If I thought I was any threat to you and Benny, I'd go fall on a stake right now, you know that. You know how much I love you both." "And we love you," she said, reaching over to touch his cold cheek. "You've always had a strong will...and besides, you'll be at the lab soon." She rushed on with the rest. "I'll be with you before you know it. You don't have to worry-they know how to take care of vampires." "Wait a minute, aren't you coming with me?" Kim's eyes lost their twinkle again. "I can't take off work tomorrow, but I'll catch a late flight in tomorrow night." She reached for his cup and took a long sip of the tea. "I hate to send you alone." She sighed. "That's the only bad part. Do you want me to ask Benny to go with you?" He shook his head. "She has school. And, I doubt she'd want to spend any time with me now." Kim's voice picked up excitement again for a moment. "The next time we're all together, you'll be OK, you'll be fixed." She shook her head and rubbed at her eyes, fatigue evident on her face. "I know you're strong, Jack. I'm not worried." He didn't say anything at first. Then he took her right hand and brought it up to his cheek, nuzzling against it, enjoying the warmth. His own skin felt so much colder lately. "Kim...sweetheart, I don't know how to thank you. You've worked nonstop to find help for me for the last ten months. All your effort has finally paid off." "It's more than worth it." She smiled back at him. "Did Benny bring her date over?" He knew he'd have to talk about that sooner or later. "Uh, yeah, about that," Jack said, adjusting his position in the chair. "Jack? What happened? Did you do something to him?" "Maybe a little something," Jack glanced down at the table, then back up to her. "But I went easy on him." "Jack!" "He attacked me. I had to defend myself." He pulled up his t-shirt to show her the already fading scar on his chest. "Thought himself a slayer." Kim looked from Jack's wound to his face and back again, her eyes and mouth wide open. "Oh my god," she whispered. "You could have been killed!" She ran around to his side of the table and threw her arms around him. She held him tight for a while. Then she raised up. "Where's Benny?" She looked around the kitchen as if her sister might be hiding there. Jack drained the rest of the tea and set the cup down. "Up in the guest room. I talked to her when Matt left, but she wasn't in much of a mood for it then. She wanted to go straight up to bed." Kim nodded, eyes still wide. "I'll check in a bit to see if she's asleep, make sure she's OK." She stood up and stretched. "A shower sounds real good about now, and then I'll see you in bed, Mr. Roberts, now that you're able to get yourself off the couch." She gave his shoulder a lingering, playful squeeze. Jack's cock twitched at that. It seemed like forever since he'd been in bed with his wife. He adjusted himself and watched her ass walk out the door to the living room. His eyes settled on the fridge for a moment, then back down to his paper. Jack finished the paper, rinsed out his cup, and went upstairs. He walked past their bedroom and the harsh sound of the blow-dryer in the bathroom, on to the room at the end of the hall. He put his ear to the door and listened to the sound of Benny's heart and the soft rush of her breathing. He felt really bad for her. After Matt left, he'd tried to calm her down, make her realize everything was OK–he wasn't hurt, he wasn't mad. She kept crying and apologizing, all the while backing away from him, her fear rolling through the air. For once, he didn't feel like lecturing her about anything. He even told her he was sorry she had to see that; he hadn't intended to scare her. But she wouldn't be comforted, wouldn't go near him. Instead, she escaped upstairs, closing and locking the door behind her. As bad as he felt about it all, Kim's news made him realize it would all be over soon. Help was less than 24 hours away. Again, his wife had come through for him just in time-the reversion was happening faster than he'd imagined. He thought of Dr. Campbell's subjects who'd reverted quickly. I'm not like them, he decided. He could fight the parasite; he was strong mentally, just like Kim said. He'd proved that back when he first turned into a vampire, mentally fighting it all the way until Kim found help. He moved silently back down the hall to their room, undressed, and stretched out under the covers. It had been so gradual, he hadn't noticed just how bad his night vision was on the antidote until now when it was wearing off. Things around the dark room stood out in fine detail. Moments later, Kim came out of the bathroom and slipped into bed beside him, completely naked. He pulled her smooth body against himself and inhaled her fresh smell. His face nestled against hers, then he dropped soft kisses along her cheek and jaw, enjoying the excited thud of her heart. He moved down to her neck and was aware the second she stopped breathing. Lingering at her throat still, he nuzzled and kissed gently on the pulse that ticked below his lips. But Kim was quiet, unresponsive. Too quiet. Except for her heart. It was kicking wildly beneath his palm. He raised his lips a few inches from her sweet skin. But there was another smell mixed with her own scent, one he recognized easily-fear. His mouth went back to her neck. "You're tickling me. Jack, stop it!" "What?" He raised up, looking down into her wide, blue eyes. "You love it when I do that." "Well...tonight it just tickles." He bent down again and planted his lips against hers, relishing her warmth and sweetness. Gripping her shoulders, he settled the top half of himself over her. Kim whimpered and pushed against him. He broke the kiss and moved back again, frustrated. "Come on, I'm not tickling you. What's wrong?" "You're not letting me breathe," she panted, a hint of anger and something else in her voice. He watched her chest rise and fall, sucking in air. Jack let out a sigh and leaned down on one elbow next to her. "Sorry," he said, pushing a hand across the lock of hair that had caught in his eyes. "We haven't done it for two weeks now. I thought you'd want to. You know, when you come to bed naked, that's always been the signal." "I know." Her tight voice softened. "I do want to, it's just..." "Just what?" "I...I don't know. Nothing. Nothing at all. I'm sorry, just go ahead." He blew out a puff of air in frustration. "You know I can't if something's bothering you. Come on, tell me." "It's just that...I'm a little nervous." "Afraid, you mean. Of me." Kim groaned softly. "I guess it's what you told me downstairs, and the fact that we're this close to fixing you...if something were to happen less than 24 hours from your injection..." Jack rolled onto his back, and his head sunk into the pillow. His eyes went to the ceiling fan over the bed. The fan wasn't moving, and he stared at the dust particles that had collected on the blades. Kim hesitated for a moment, then rolled on her side totward him and laid a hand on his face, feeling gently over his features like a blind person might. "Look, I'm sorry," she said. He took her hand and kissed it. "No, it's OK. You're right. I'm always telling Benny that vampires are nothing to mess around with." She nodded once. "It was OK while the antidote was still in your system. But I know how doing this would excite you, maybe in the heat of the moment, you'd...lose control. I just remember how it was before you had the injection, what you were like." He sighed and dropped her hand. When he spoke, his words came out clipped. "Well, we do need to be careful, don't we?" He sat up and gave a pathetic-sounding heave of his chest. "I'll go downstairs and sleep on the couch...as usual." "No, wait, Jack." Kim grabbed his arm and pulled him back. What was wrong with him? He never acted that way, never tried to manipulate Kim before. He felt a moment of disgust at himself. But hell, he'd been under a lot of stress after all. His mind and body had endured so much since he'd first been turned into a vampire. That's what's going on, he reasoned. No wonder he wasn't acting or thinking like himself. He didn't feel dangerous, but was he going to end up brain-damaged from it all? Kim's hand moved up his bicep and over his firm chest to the spot where the stake had punctured. It was barely a dent now in his otherwise smooth flesh. She scooted closer and pressed her lips to the tiny scar. When her tongue flickered down to his nipple, he closed his eyes and exhaled. He took her short, soft hair in hand, petting it while she trailed her wet lips across his skin to the other nipple, working her hand down his stomach. Jack almost couldn't restrain himself. He'd waited so long, wanted her so bad. When Kim's warm hand landed on his hard cock, his whole body jerked. There was a burst of red fireworks inside his closed eyelids. Lust saturated him, along with a twinge of hunger and a sudden pain in his skull. Mercifully, the hunger and pain left almost as soon as they hit. His eyes popped open, and his breath caught in a panic. He felt disoriented, as if he'd been unconscious but didn't know how long. Kim was still stroking his cock, so it must have been only seconds. But he couldn't shake that strange feeling, the same feeling as when he drifted off to sleep on the couch and woke up to find the movie he'd been watching was over. Alarmed, he reached down and caught Kim's wrist in his hand, holding it motionless but still wrapped around his cool, hard flesh. "What's going on?" His voice came out low and tight. "I thought we just said I'm too dangerous for sex." Kim's voice was soft and seductive, but he could also hear the bone-tiredness behind it. "Only you know how you really feel. I trust you, Jack. Do you think you're dangerous?" He heard it in her voice-she wanted to just give in, just this once, and not have to think about what was best, what was safe. Jack leaned toward her. He smelled her arousal, thick in the air, and he breathed it in deeply. Swirls of red smoke puffed through his mind. He suddenly felt angry. Kim should know better than to lay the responsibility at his feet. So...a part of her was obviously in denial. But then again, she hadn't seen what happened earlier with the wannabe slayer...didn't know how much his vampiric power had returned...didn't know he could see every pore on her nose in the dark room. The thump of her heart made him smile. She wanted him. He shook his head, trying to clear it, willing himself to calm down and think it through. He was getting his vampire powers back, but it was nothing to worry about. This wasn't like when he was first turned. Then, the blood thirst had been the worst thing...so strong, so powerful. Frightening in its intensity. This wasn't like that at all. He wasn't even hungry. I'm in control of myself, he thought. I'm not even thinking about blood, and if I get hungry, there are 36 tubes of it in the fridge downstairs. Kim squeezed her hot hand on his cock and total lust shot through him. It had been so long since they'd been together like this. He wanted her. Now. "No," he said, releasing her wrist. He pushed her back on the bed and wrapped himself around her nude body. "I'm not dangerous at all." As he kissed her, he felt her relax in his arms, slowly at first, but then she eagerly kissed him back. She moaned against his lips when his hands slid down the sides of her body to the dip in her waist, and on down to her slim hips and thighs. Blood or Love Ch. 02 Reaching back up, he cupped her small breasts, then his cold mouth closed around them alternately, and the tip of his tongue lapped and played on the tight, hard peaks. Jack sensed the fear waning, though it remained an undercurrent in her skin. She was forgetting it, and that made him feel better, calmer. He moved lower down her body, hands and lips leaving nothing untouched in their wake, and then he parted her thighs. His tongue slid down Kim's freshly shaved mound until it found its prize-her luscious clit, red and throbbing with blood. The first lick of his tongue over it elicited a heated gasp and she jerked against him. Jack kept swirling his tongue over her and thrusting it in her, tasting the sweet musk of desire. It literally bloomed in his face. Kim moaned louder. His fingers joined his tongue to slide around in her slick heat, then he dipped two of them inside her. The blast of her inner heat on his cold fingers made him feel as if he'd stuck them in flames. He pumped them in and out, and she would have come right off the bed if he hadn't been holding her down. Kim thrashed and cried out his name. Jack crept up the bed and covered her mouth with his, silencing her except for little gasps and moans that escaped her lips. He settled down on top of her body, reveling in her pliant, warm flesh. The blood was humming all through her, and her cheeks were pink with it. When she stilled, he raised up and grasped his shaft in his hand. With his other hand, he hitched her leg up and moved himself closer. Now he had full access to her dripping hot opening. He lined the head of his cock up with it and pushed inside her. Jack nearly growled at the soft, wet heat that gripped him like a hand in glove. For only a second, he caught a whiff of her fear-it had spiked upon his entry. Reluctantly, he paused. "Are you alright, Kim?" The only sound was her shallow breathing. "Sweetheart?" "Yeah," she whispered. Jack lowered himself back down, enjoying her warm skin and her sweet, panting breath on his cheek. He slowly filled her, his own breath coming out in a strangled hiss when her hot wet center engulfed the complete length of his cock. Jack stopped to try to get control of himself. "You don't know what you do to me." Kim didn't answer, and her blue eyes, sightless in the dark, stared up past his shoulder to the ceiling. He stopped his thrusts and looked down at her. Jack bent his head and kissed her gently. Kim finally responded, and then her mouth became urgent on his. Jack released her lips and groaned, pumping in and out of her body. Kim moved with him, her soft little moans urging him on. The sound of her heart, filling with blood and pumping it out, seemed to urge him on as well. His head dipped down and he kissed her cheek, then down to her jawline. She gave a tiny gasp, and he felt her push against him when his lips touched her neck. But Jack ignored that and continued his advance down the svelte flesh until he was nuzzling the indention at the base of her throat. A minute later, Jack slipped his hands into hers and pushed them back against the mattress. Then he raised up, stiff and jerking as he finished into her. Kim's small fingers clenched around his, and she also found her release. Jack collapsed softly next to her, regretting all too soon the separation of his body from her much warmer one. "You OK?" he asked with a smile in his voice. He felt better than he could remember in a long time. "That was...you were...different," she murmured. She took a few deep breaths in and out. "But god, I needed that..." "Me too." He reached over and took her hand that was lying against his. Jack caressed it and then kissed the back of it. "I love you, Kim," he said, but she didn't answer. She'd already drifted off to sleep. Jack raised up and pulled the covers over her. He sat motionless for a long time, just staring at her while as she slept. Finally, he leaned down and kissed her softly on the forehead, lingering over the hot, savory vein that pulsed against his lips. Blood or Love Ch. 03 A storm passed through, and then there were just faint rumblings and the occasional flash of lightning. Jack was downstairs, pacing back and forth in the dark living room. He was much too wired to go back up and lie down next to Kim. He could hear both of the women as they slept upstairs, could detect the soft rhythm of their heartbeats in the quiet house. Their scents still lingered over the room. And then there was that misty redness. It floated around the edges of his mind like a creeping fog. Thin, but more constant than earlier in the night. Jack sank down into the soft cushions of the couch that had been his bed for so many days, and looked around the room. Earlier, he'd straightened everything up from his little scuffle with Matt. Now, there was nothing to do, and he was getting bored. He knew boredom was not a good thing for a vampire. Jack turned on the TV, keeping the volume low enough so that his family wouldn't hear him play Guitar Hero. Then he zoned out, enjoying the release of all thought while he rocked "Sabotage". Several songs after that, Jack was flipping through the TV channels. It was alarming that he couldn't focus on much of anything except how good people looked. Especially when he found a slasher movie, with lots of gore and blood. He couldn't take his eyes off the screen. He flipped the TV off, disgusted with himself. It was bad enough that he was keyed up again, but even worse-hungry. In the dark kitchen, Jack opened the fridge and took out a tube of blood. The label said "Kim" in her rounded scrawl. Why did they bother to label the tubes? he wondered. He shook his head. Women. He popped the cap off the vacuum tube and drank her down. Ah, that was good and salty, although...cold. He grimaced. Cold wasn't doing it for him anymore. And just one wasn't going to satisfy him either. For the last year, he'd been more than happy with a tube per day, mixed in with some liquid human food. But now, the awakening parasite wanted more, and it wanted it hot and fresh. He threw the empty vial into the trash and reached for another one. This was Benny. She's really not a bad sister, he thought as he drained the vial down his throat, enjoying the touch of sweetness that was again marred by temperature and time away from its donor. He stared into the open door at the remaining tubes. He wanted another one. No, he wanted them all. Every tube, and then some. In anger, he shut the door and stumbled over to the kitchen sink. He leaned against it, then turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on his face. He cupped some of the water in his hand and filled his mouth with it, then spit it back into the sink. Those remaining molecules of his family's blood were off his taste buds, for now. Jack thought he was off the hook with this reversion thing because he hadn't been craving blood. If he wasn't hungry, he reasoned, then it wasn't the same as when he was first turned. But now there was hunger. Jack crept back to the living room. For a while, he leaned against the railing of the staircase. He stood there just gazing into the darkness upstairs, toward the two sleeping women. Moments later, he snapped out of it. He wanted to tell himself it was just withdrawal from the antidote leaving his system. After all, it was only hours ago that he'd been flat on his back, sick. He couldn't expect not to have little setbacks. He just didn't want to believe things were happening so fast But he couldn't deny the obvious changes in his thinking. Jack felt absolutely shitty over how he'd treated Kim in bed, guilting her and disregarding her fear. God, he'd put her life at risk by having sex with her tonight. She was right-he could have easily lost control. The truth was, he simply found it harder to care. That red haze blowing through his mind seemed to lower his inhibitions and his reasons to worry. It was taking away all his cares and concerns...except for getting blood. But he cared right now. He had his mind at this moment, and he had to protect his family. He glanced at the clock on the wall. Four in the morning. In a matter of hours, he'd have another injection and the parasite would go into hibernation inside him again. The craving that had begun to claw him would just be a memory. He could hold on a little longer. He decided to go out and take a walk to clear his head. He left the house and inhaled the night. No moon or stars-the clouds still hung low in the sky. The world was alive around him. The rich textures in the darkness were like a caress to his senses. Just one more night left as a vampire, he thought. He could scarcely be honest with himself about it, but a part of him would miss this. He'd almost forgotten what it was like before the antidote. When he stepped out into the darkness, he felt like he'd truly stepped into his world. But after tonight, he'd stumble in the dark. He'd be nothing compared to the creature he was now. It didn't matter. He couldn't stay this way, letting the vampiric parasite with its ever-hunger have total control of his body, and soon, his mind. He thought of Kim and Benson. He would be strong for them. But he couldn't help testing his other abilities. A quarter mile down the road was the Miller farm. He decided to run there. He looked down at his watch, then took off as fast as he could go down the country road to the neighbor's. He stopped in front of the Miller farm and checked his watch, did a mental calculation, and came up with 45 feet per second. Not bad, he thought. He knew he would soon shave more time off his speed as the antidote continued to wear off. Jack thought about the past when he and his maker, Cole, would have races down highways and country roads. Many of those cold nights were filled with laughter and drinks around a campfire, after a hot, fresh meal. It set Jack's mind back to how it all began. * It was late November-getting dark early-but just another day at the bank, until he got a call from Lily. The last thing he expected was to hear her voice again, and he had to admit a part of him was curious. She said she had some items of his she wanted to return. He told her to just give it all to a homeless shelter. But she begged to see him-something she desperately needed to talk to him about in person. Against his better judgment, he agreed to meet her. She wanted him to come to the same coffee shop where they used to hang out. Back then, he'd sip hot tea, she'd have coffee with lots of cream and sugar, and they'd share a large piece of blueberry pie. Now, he didn't feel like eating or drinking. He just wanted to get this over with. He immediately saw her at a table by the window. He stood there a moment, taking in her delicate porcelain face and long, red hair. Her breasts were snug in the plunging neckline of a blue shirt that matched her eyes. He noticed a cup overturned on a saucer on the table across from her, waiting for him. A large piece of blueberry pie sat in the middle of the table, two forks at the ready. She was looking down at a magazine as she stirred a cup of coffee. He slowly advanced toward her table. Lily looked up, saw him, and smiled sweetly. He took the seat across from her. "Hi, Jack." "Lily." The waitress appeared. "Nothing for me, thanks." He turned back to his ex fiancee. "Not even one cup of tea? He'd forgotten how vibrant those blue eyes were. They seemed to draw him in. He broke free of them and looked down at the cup in front of him. He turned it, sliding it around on the saucer before looking back up to her face. "I don't intend to stay long." He saw disappointment flash in those eyes, but her voice was cheerful. "I got your favorite pie." She shoved the plate toward him and leaned forward as she did, her cleavage threatening to overflow onto the table. His eyes took in the cute spattering of freckles on her upper chest and breasts. Jack pulled his eyes immediately up to hers. He read some strange triumph in her sparkling, blue eyes. Lily smiled sweetly. "We'll share it just like old times." "No thanks. I'm not hungry. I'm married." Her smiled slipped a little. "So I heard." Lily straightened up and smoothed her hands down the sides of her shirt, a move meant to emphasize her generous curves again. Her gaze traveled from his short, dark hair to the white dress shirt and tie. "You look really good." "So do you," he answered honestly. "So, how have you been?" "Fine." He kept his voice neutral, polite. "You?" She took a long sip of coffee. "I'm single again." When he didn't answer, she continued. "He cheated on me. I just want you to know that I know how it feels now. It hurts so much. I'm really sorry for the pain I caused you, Jack." Jack's fingers curled on each side of the cup and saucer. He turned his head and looked at the abandoned shops across the street before turning back to Lily. She extended her hands on the table as if she thought he would take and caress them the way he used to. "I just wanted you to know that." Her head tilted to the side, her sugary voice softened. "I don't want you to hate me, Jack." Jack looked down at her red fingernails. "I don't hate you." "At least some small part of you must be glad that I'm alone and miserable." He shook his head. "I'm sorry you're unhappy. I wouldn't wish that kind of pain on you or anyone else." "I know you wouldn't, Jack. You've got too big a heart for that." He raised his head to find her staring at him with a faraway look. Jack cleared his throat. "Do you have something for me?" She looked down at her side and patted a shopping bag on the seat next to her. "Yeah. Some of your clothes." She looked up with a little smile. "I was tempted to keep the t-shirt. It still smells like you." He pretended he didn't hear that. "Just clothes?" he asked. She crossed her arms under her breasts, heaving them up, drawing his eyes right into them. "A comb I think was yours, some photos of us...a pillow." The last item took his thoughts somewhere he didn't want them to go. He forced himself to look at her perfect face, and adjusted his position in the seat. "You really didn't have to come down here for that stuff. I didn't miss any of it." He noticed her right hand went back to the bag, clutching it, as if afraid that giving it over would make him get up and leave. And that's exactly what he needed to do. "Well, it wasn't just the stuff I wanted to give you. I had to talk to you as well. Let you know how sorry I am." "You did that." "And tell you how much I miss you, Jack." Jack sat back in his seat before simply responding, "Her name is Kim." Lily studied him for a moment with a pout on her full lips. "Aww." Her voice was sardonic. "I bet she's a sweetie. Guess I learned my lesson too late, huh?" When he didn't answer, she said, "And I heard about your parents and the car accident. I'm so sorry, Jack. When was that again?" He pushed the saucer and cup away and glanced out the window again. "Six months ago." "Oh, that's right. I would have come to the funerals, but I remember now, I was in California at a trade show." Jack nodded once. Lily took that moment of distraction to reach a soft, warm hand out and place it on top of his, the way she used to when they sat across from each other. He stared down at their hands impassively for a moment. Then, he slowly pulled his hand out from beneath hers and motioned toward the bag by her side. "I'll take my stuff now." Lily looked disappointed. She hesitated, then slowly handed it over, making sure their hands touched again. "How's Benson doing? Still going to UT?" "Not anymore." He knew the reason for the question was to keep him there longer, rather than an actual curiosity about his sister. Lily never liked Bennie. "Aw, what's wrong? Party too much?" His voice was stiff. "Maybe a little too much." Lily smirked. "Doesn't surprise me. She was always a wild child." "I really need to go." He saw the slackening of her full, luscious lips. "You're leaving already? Why the hurry? The new wife have you on a short leash?" Without a word, Jack set the bag down beside him, reached into his wallet and pulled out some money. "I'm sorry, Jack," Lily said, obviously flustered. "You know how my mouth misbehaves." Jack wanted to answer that in an offensive way, but decided against it. "Thanks for bringing my stuff all the way over here, Lily. I'll get your coffee and pie." He dropped bills on the table for a tip. "Wait, Jack." He found himself pausing in the seat, looking back at her. "I was hoping we could be friends, maybe meet like this once in a while just to talk and vent, just be there for each other. I know you're married, but, what's her name, Kim? She doesn't have to know." Jack stood up with his belongings, told her goodbye, paid the bill, and left without another look back. He turned the corner of the building on the way to his car and walked straight into the arms of a waiting vampire-Cole, his soon-to-be maker. "Guess I happened along at the right time," Cole said, looking him over. "You're perfect." * Jack kept away from the large old farmhouse. Instead, he wandered around back to the chicken coop. He leaped over the fence, opened the door, and stepped inside. The chickens immediately started squawking and carrying on, sensing a predator in their midst. He grabbed one up and took off into the woods. When he stopped running, he looked down at the white hen, flapping and darting in his hands. He held her more firmly so she couldn't move at all. He could hear and feel the blood pumping furiously in her small frame. Animal blood wasn't new to him. It didn't satisfy or nourish the parasite, and in effect, his body, nearly as well as human blood. It didn't taste as good either. He petted the hen with one hand, feeling the lined, hard quills contrasted with the smooth, plumed softness of feathers. She was still clucking, panicked. His fingers curled around her fragile, bony neck. Suddenly, he snapped to attention and looked around. It was as though he'd awakened from some blood-tinged coma. He knew what he was doing, yet he didn't really know or even care, until he woke up. He almost crushed the bird in his panic. It was frightening, and he'd felt it before, when he was first turning. He remembered how he tried to fight it off, how he and Cole tried to keep each other "awake" as long as possible to get to the antidote that Cole insisted was real. * "You're sick, Cole. You willingly did this to another person. You knew what would happen. And yet, you say you still have a conscience." Cole shrugged. "Sometimes I still have one." Jack sat down on the tree stump with a sigh. "I guess misery loves company." "I needed someone new, freshly turned. The group I was with was too far gone, so I left. Then I saw you walking through that parking lot, and I couldn't resist. I knew you'd be smart, strong. And yes, it was selfish, but being a vampire isn't all bad. We have fun sometimes." Jack looked up at him, shaking his head. "That's messed up. I won't even tell you how much." "Look, man, we're helping each other. I don't always have complete control, as you're also finding out about yourself." "Thanks to you." "What's done is done, friend. We have to stick together, find the cure." Jack sat with his head in his hands. "I need to talk to Kim. But now I'm afraid to go anywhere near her. In fact, I think I should leave the area, the state...maybe the country. If this goes on too long and I lose my mind..." "Just call her. That's safe enough, isn't it? Let her know you're still alive, and-" "Am I alive? I don't know what I am anymore." Later, Jack did call Kim, and she began a desperate search for help. But Jack slipped further and further into his bloodthirst... * God, what was he doing? As he walked back toward the farm, he realized he'd been ready to drink from a chicken he stole from the neighbors. Pathetic. If things were getting this bad, why not just go home, hand Kim the stake, and tell her to end it all? He was fast becoming dangerous, and he would rather die than hurt anyone, especially Kim or Benny. He crept back to the treeline, looking carefully to see if Mr. Miller had come out to check on the ruckus in the hen-house. There was nobody home, and he confirmed it when he peeked into the empty garage. Good. He was glad nobody was home, for more reasons than one. He put the hen back inside the fence and turned to walk home. But he was still hungry. His throat burned. He couldn't go home to Kim and Benny with this kind of hunger. Dammit. He would find deer in the woods. He and Cole always tried to keep full on animal blood. If he ate plenty, it should satisfy enough to get to Dr. Kitcher and the antidote tomorrow. After all, the hungrier he let himself get, the more out of control he could get. He made a left turn and dashed silently off the road and back into the woods. * * * Jack felt fantastic, if a little sleepy, as the sun crawled over the hills and treetops that morning. Maybe it was the sex with Kim that did it. It was probably the deer he'd drained earlier too. It was a buck, a big guy. At any rate, he felt confident, and the red haze in his brain was nowhere to be found. Benson drove him to the airport. She insisted on it, though she had to skip school to do it. He wasn't happy about that, but was so encouraged by her willingness to be with him that he didn't say anything about missed classes. She'd been uncharacteristically quiet around the house, hardly meeting his eyes as she helped him pack. She also reminded him to wear the right clothes for sun protection. Since the antidote was wearing off, Jack was much more sensitive to the sun again. He stepped off the front porch into the afternoon, glad for the clouds. Benny was actually covered up more than usual too, in jeans and a long-sleeve shirt without the usual plunging neckline. He assumed it was due to the unusually cool weather they were having in late September. "Be careful, Jack." Benny finally looked him in the face when they pulled up to the airport doors. Jack adjusted the dark sunglasses. "Always." Benny continued to grip the steering wheel. Then she sighed, glanced at him, and scooted a little closer on the seat. "And before you say it, I'll be careful too. Just go to school, study, and work at the coffee shop." She reached over cautiously and brushed a strand of dark hair from his face. "I'll miss taking care of you." He laughed and grabbed her hand. "I doubt that. Think of the freedom. You don't have to babysit a puking vampire every night." But instead of hearing her laughter, he smelled fear, felt her body trembling on the seat next to him. "You gonna be OK, Benny?" He released her hand. She looked up at him with tears in her big brown eyes. "I'm just hoping this works. We need this to work." "It'll work. Have faith, OK? I promise, the next time you see me, I'll still be your overbearing brother." "You better." He grinned, but she didn't smile back. Instead, her finger pointed to his button down shirt. "Jack, you were hurt last night with the stake. Let me see it." "There's nothing to see. I heal quickly. Especially when I get enough blood." But he unbuttoned the shirt to show her his smooth skin with no mark from the stake. "I'm so sorry, Jack," she whispered. He was afraid she'd start crying. "Benny, stop apologizing. You did enough of that last night. I'm OK. No harm done, except to the slayer-wannabe." He rebuttoned the shirt. "I have to admit that I was scared last night. For you...of you." "I know, and I hate that. But it's like I told you over and over last night-I'd never hurt you. Never ever." He pointed to his head and then his heart. "Not while there was even a scrap of me left in here. After tomorrow, you won't even have to think about it." Blood or Love Ch. 03 Some of her tears made it out of her eyes and rolled down her face. She wiped them away. "I love you, Jack." He pulled her into a hug. When he let her go, she said, "You better be pumped full of that antidote the next time I see you." Her brown eyes were wide. "I mean, what you did to Matt...I guess he totally deserved it. But, just your speed and strength--you're getting it all back, aren't you?" "Yeah, I am. My other senses have improved a lot too." He ruffled her hair. "Cheer up, Benny. It'll all be over soon." He got out of the truck and shut the door, giving it a couple thumps on the side as Benny pulled away. He knew she was removing the wooden stake from the back waist band of her jeans-the stake she thought he didn't know was there. * * * As he checked in for the flight and walked to his gate, he felt the stares. Again, it was the strange vibe he gave out, though he was acutely aware of one set of eyes watching intensely, purposefully. But when he looked around, he couldn't narrow in on them. He bought a cup of hot tea and a newspaper and took a seat away from the large windows. Nobody sat nearby, so he had plenty of empty seats around him. He barely paid attention to the other waiting passengers as they talked on cell phones, typed on laptops, or read their magazines. Finally, they boarded. Luckily it wasn't a full flight, and all the people who had seats around him got up and moved elsewhere. He didn't have to wonder why. He pulled all the nearby window shades closed and settled back in his seat for the flight. He was incredibly sleepy. They were still gaining altitude when he dozed off. Jack awoke suddenly, feeling a presence. He turned to find a pair of dark brown eyes staring at him from a narrow face, mere inches away. Startled, Jack barely resisted the impulse to throw his hand through the kid's face. The tan, lightly freckled teenage boy jerked his hand around, and that's when Jack looked down and saw the sharp pencil pointed at his chest. It was the second time he'd been threatened with a staking in 24 hours. He reached out and flicked the pencil out of the boy's hand, launching it away in the cabin. "Hey!" the boy protested. "I was using that." He held up a crossword puzzle book. Jack focused his tired eyes on it and then groaned, wiping his hands over his face a few times. Damn, he almost pounced some poor kid. He was getting paranoid. But why was the boy sitting right next to him? Even the flight attendant hurried past Jack without stopping, though he didn't want anything she had to offer from the beverage cart anyway. "Sorry, kid," he said. "You shouldn't get up in people's faces and stare at them while they're sleeping." "Heh." The boy smirked, and his deep brown eyes penetrated Jack's. "I bet you do that all the time." Jack cocked his head, eyes narrowed at the kid. "Excuse me?" A long, slender hand extended toward Jack. "I'm Chamey. What's your name, vampire?" Blood or Love Ch. 04 I apologize for all the time between chapters. Busy, busy :) If you're following this story, feel free to leave a comment. Thanks. * A couple seconds passed, and Chamey's hand continued to float in the air between them. Jack's glare raised from it to the amused brown eyes looking back at him. Chamey finally dropped his hand. "You're not very quick for a vampire, are you?" Jack realized he wasn't getting the same weird feeling around this guy like he had with Benny's date. Chamey was probably just some lonely kid looking for excitement-something to post on the internet to his other nerdy friends. "Don't try to deny what you are," Chamey said. "You give off the freakiest vibe, man. I've been tracking you since the airport, been watching you sleep for the last hour. What are you doing out in the daytime?" "Look, kid-" "I said my name is Chamey. I know you're not hard of hearing. Anyway, at first I was like, ooh, rogue vampire. Strange, cause you guys aren't usually by yourselves, are you?" "Uh-" "Is Savannah your destination? Or just a stop while you go on to bigger, better game?" Jack hesitated, waiting to see if Chamey was finished talking. Then he asked, "If you think I'm a vampire, why aren't you afraid? Why sit by me, talk to me?" "I don't know. Something weird about you. Are you a new vampire?" "I'm not a vampire." Jack threw his hand to his forehead and rubbed hard with his eyes closed. "I can't believe I'm even having this conversation. Go back to your seat." But Chamey stayed where he was. "What's your name?" He sighed. "Jack." Then he grabbed up a magazine from the seat back in front of him, flipped it open, and tried to distract himself with an article on butterflies. But he was all too aware of the encroaching presence. The mouth-breathing annoyed greatly too. He threw down the magazine and turned. Chamey's pale, freckled face was right there, honed in on him with a mixture of amazement, fear, and disgust. Chamey swallowed, his eyes practically bulging. "Man, you creep me out, Jack." "Good. Leave." "That's mainly how I knew what you were. I thought, what do we got here-vamps on a plane? Got all these passengers locked in, no escape. What are you gonna do?" "I was just going to sit here and sleep until the plane landed, but now that I have an unwanted travel companion, I may have to move to another seat." "You're not gonna kill people?" Jack looked around, then lowered his voice. "Better be careful what you say on a plane. And no, I'm not going to...do that." "And for some reason, I believe you." Chamey's voice was soft, full of amazement. "But why not? I'll ask you again, are you newly vamped?" "No. I'm not newly vamped. "Aha. So you admit you have been vamped, just not recently. It's okay, man. You can talk about these things with me. I know you're a vampire. Jack shook his head and stared straight ahead. "So how are you just calmly sitting on a plane? Where are you going, and why?" "It's none of your business." "It is my business." He could feel Chamey's eyes boring into him. "Me, I was supposed to go to Tallahassee to see my grandparents. But I changed my ticket to go along with you." "Yeah? Won't you be missed in Tallahassee?" Chamey shrugged. "I told my family I had a change of plans. I'm eighteen years old. What can they do? I mean yeah, they'll be pissed, but, like they aren't all the time anyway." "I bet they are," Jack said under his breath. "Have you heard of the website Vamped Out? I own that. Making some money off it too. I have a forum and people share the latest sightings and stuff. I'm gonna put your story on VO." "This conversation is over." "Ah, come on, man. I'll keep things totally anonymous." Jack settled back in his seat. "Go bother someone else. I'm trying to sleep." "Of course you have to sleep, it's daytime." "Yeah, it's not like people sleep on planes or anything." "Were you up all night prowling around?" Jack was already struggling to remain conscious. "I mostly stayed in and watched TV." "Seriously? You don't kill anybody, you sit around watching TV. That's so boring." "OK, so I'm a boring vampire. Trust me, it's better that way." Jack yawned and closed his eyes. "Yeah, I know...it's just not right for a vampire." Again, he felt the dark, penetrating stare on him, much too close, and it put him on alert. He jerked his head toward the offending gaze. "Get out of my face." "I can't believe I'm 30,000 feet in the air with a vampire. Can I take your pic, man?" Chamey pulled out his phone and flipped it open. "Nope. Do it, and I'll break your phone...and your hand." Jack smiled sleepily and shut his eyes. He heard Chamey grumbling as he tossed the phone in the seat across the aisle. "Later then. So, don't you wanna know why I'm so into vampires?" "Nope. But I bet you're gonna tell me anyway." "Well, don't freak out or anything, man, but I'm a slayer." Jack was suddenly wide awake; his eyes flashed open and he bolted upright in his seat. He couldn't believe it. Another guy who wanted to kill vampires. He'd never seen one in all the time he spent with Cole. What were the odds he'd run into two within hours of each other? But Chamey just sat there smiling. No stake in hand. Jack looked him over carefully. "You're not a slayer." "Yeah, man. I am." "How many vamps have you slayed?" "Well, see...I haven't actually slayed one before. Haven't even been this close to one in ages." "So you run a website and try to find vampires in your spare time." Jack leaned back again, but his senses stayed alert. "And you've been this close to one before, yet you lived to tell about it? Doubtful. It must have been sleeping. Which is what I wish I was doing right now." Chamey started digging through the backpack on the seat across from him, and Jack grabbed his arm. "What are you doing?" "Don't worry, man, I'm just getting my voice recorder so I can interview you." Jack let his hand drop, but continued to watch him. Chamey dug through the bag, talking over his shoulder. "I don't wanna kill you if you're not a threat. I'd much rather pump you for information." He finally found the voice recorder and turned around. "I just wanna document this." His thumb hit the "record" button. "What, getting your ass tossed all the way up to first class?" Jack rolled his eyes and picked up the magazine again. "See? You're too nice for a vampire. What's wrong with you, man? Not that I'm complaining." He held up the recorder. "You live in Dallas?" Jack stashed the magazine back in the seat and turned to the kid as fast as an angry cat. His fingers were itching to grab and shake him, but he kept them clenched at his side. "I'm not going to tell you where I live so you can post it online to all your slayerette friends and they come and kill me, or worse, kill my wife too." Now Chamey's mouth hung open. "Dude, you're married? Wow, that's like Bride of Dracula stuff." Jack gritted his teeth. "She's human." "Vampires don't marry humans, they kill them or else turn them." Chamey's brown eyes looked huge in his ghostly face. "Unless, you've made her your slave or something? Yeah, do you make her feed you her blood every night while you..." He swallowed, causing his adam's apple to jump. "Cause that would be...eww." Jack's eyes went to the exposed white flesh at Chamey's neck. Slowly, he scooted back in his seat and took a deep breath. "I don't bite people anymore." He shuddered to think of how much he'd wanted to tear into Matt, and later Kim. He leaned forward, his face in his hands for a moment and closed his eyes to try to get rid of the red spots on the edge of his vision. He felt bad for the way he was behaving, even if Chamey did annoy him. He chalked it up to tiredness and hunger, among other things. He just wasn't himself. Then, it dawned on him that it might be a good idea to talk to this strange kid since he knew a few things about vampires...and slayers. Jack especially wanted information on slayers. It was important to know what they were capable of. Matt couldn't have been one. He was clearly just human. And it was obvious that Chamey was too, no matter what he wanted to think. But maybe he could answer a few questions that had been rolling around in Jack's mind. Before he could ask anything, the plane started bumping around. There was a chiming sound, and the captain's voice instructed everyone to fasten their seat belts due to turbulence. He glanced over at Chamey, who was gripping the seat, white-nuckled. "A big, bad slayer, right?" "Yeah, that's right." Chamey relaxed a little as the ride smoothed out. "And where did you learn to kill vamps? Let me guess, the internet." "Right again. Plus, I take karate." Jack cleared his throat. "Tell me about the slayers. What are you, just a bunch of kids that take martial arts and trade sighting stories? Or are there folks out there with super-human strength?" "Slayers are just people aware of the vamp problem and determined to do something about it. No supernatural power, unfortunately." He sighed. "That would be so cool." "My god." Jack was stunned. In a way, he'd hoped there were real slayers. That there was somebody out there who stood a chance against vampires. "I know what you're thinking," Chamey said. "But don't underestimate us because we're fully human." "You're all just as crazy as that fool that attacked me in my own home last night." "You were slayed upon?" There was no missing the admiration in the kid's voice. "Does it look like I was? I mopped the floor with him. And he said he killed nine other vamps. What a liar. He's probably lying in a hospital bed right now. He's lucky I didn't kill him." "See, you didn't kill...weird." "Tell me more about the slayers." "Some call themselves slayers, but they aren't. They're just adrenaline junkies, thrill-seekers. They follow the vamps club to club, seeing how close they can trail. Or they jump into a vamp nest and back out again in the daytime. Maybe get a pic on their camera phone. Crazy shit like that." "Damn," Jack leaned forward again, staring at the back of the seat in front of him until he felt Chamey's elbow in his ribs. "Hey man, are you all right?" Jack straightened up. "First of all, don't elbow vampires. And yeah, I'm all right. But it makes me sick to think of people risking their lives like that. You shouldn't go looking for vampires. That's foolish. They--we're-dangerous." "You don't seem that dangerous." Jack shrugged a shoulder. "I imagine you've seen a lot of casualties with these so-called slayers." "I hear that some have been killed, but I don't know for sure 'cause we try to keep our true identities hidden for security reasons. I mean, some people just stop posting into the forums and the rest of us wonder if the vampires got 'em." "That's a real risk you're taking, Chamey. This isn't child's play." "Hang tight a couple minutes, man. Nature calls." Chamey got up and started making his way to the back of the cabin, and Jack's eyes fell on the backpack on the seat across the aisle. Snooping wasn't his style, but after what happened with Matt, he couldn't take anything for granted. Inside the backpack was clothing, an iPod, cell phone and chargers, a notebook, toiletries, and a small can of NoVamp. There was also one crude wooden stake. It was small and barely angled on one end, but if enough force was used, it could do the job. Jack noticed wood shavings in the bag. So, the kid had been rubbing the stake against something, sharpening it while he sat and watched Jack sleep for the last hour. He stashed the stake and vampire repellent inside his own carry-on bag. Then he put the backpack as it was before. He didn't know he'd fallen asleep until he heard the voice from above him. "You've had the antidote." Jack glanced up at Chamey, who was standing over him. "What?" Chamey flopped down beside him and turned his voice recorder back on. "That's gotta be it. It can put the parasite in dormancy a while. I shoulda thought of that. Why didn't you tell me? I don't believe every story I read online, but I've seen enough to know the antidote is real. Just never thought I'd run into a vamp that had taken it. But I did. Wow, lucky me. The antidote is the only explanation for your behavior." Jack sat up straighter in his seat and rubbed his eyes. "I guess you figured it out." "It's too bad about Dr. Campbell. I heard he's dead." "You know about him?" "I know a lot of stuff." Chamey's thin lips curled up in a little smile. "But there've been all these rumors going around, so I'll ask you. Who killed him?" "The League didn't like what he was doing, finding a cure for vampirism, so--" "The League? The vampire organization? Man, I was like, 99 percent sure they were real, and there were all these people insisting it was a hoax. Hmm. Now that makes me wonder if any vamps have infiltrated my site, planting false information. I've always wondered about "fanger44". But now I got the goods straight from a vampire's mouth." "Yeah, you did," Jack muttered, and yawned again. "So why are you going to Savannah?" "Someone has more antidote for me. There's supposed to be a truck waiting for me outside the airport when we land. They'll inject me and take me to the lab." "Sweet. I wish I could come along." Jack barely heard. He was overwhelmed again by the need for sleep. He didn't know anything until Chamey kicked him in the leg, hard. He woke and turned a fierce glare on the kid. "Don't kick sleeping vampires." Undaunted, Chamey said, "I asked you about being turned, what it's like. They say it can take weeks or months to change over completely, depending on a lot of factors, like if you're alone or with others who also want to resist." Jack finally accepted that he wouldn't get any rest while the boy was there. Resigned, he grumbled and sat up straighter in his seat. "That's all true," he said. "It helps to have a reason to hold on...like someone you love." "Like your wife?" Jack nodded. "Kim. I held on for her. She's sacrificed so much for me. She found me the antidote in the first place, and then spent the last ten months working and searching tirelessly for more. I owe her a lot." "Got any pics, man?" Jack fished into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. "Your wife's hot, man." "Uh...I know." "Who's this?" "Benny, my younger sister." "I can see the resemblance. Gorgeous women," Chamey said, as Jack snapped the wallet closed. "You're lucky." "I know. I just need to get this antidote so I can be safe for them again." Chamey slowly dug for his own wallet and held up a photo. "This is my sister, Trixie." "Cute. This taken recently?" "Nope, when she was a kid, but it's my favorite pic of her." "Where do you guys live?" "Fort Worth." Chamey popped some gum in his mouth, and Jack kindly refused the piece offered to him. Chamey held the voice recorder up again. "I only have a short while with you 'til we land. I promised you I'd keep it anonymous, so let's think of a name to call you on my blog. How 'bout Vladimir?" "Are you serious?" Jack mumbled. "Wait, no. That's actually kind of cool. Fine." "So you lost most of your power and blood thirst after you took the antidote. But now you're on your way to get more. So...you must be getting your vampiness back. Dang, so doesn't that mean you're like, turning evil? Jack nodded slowly, his face tight, lips pressed shut. Chamey stare on him was intense. "I wanna keep an eye on you, he finally said. "Make sure you don't go all bad before you get in that truck." "That's not gonna happen." Jack checked his watch. "I'll be there in less than an hour." "I'd feel better if I walked you through the airport and saw you get in the truck." "It's not necessary." "I need to do this." "Why? If something did go wrong, do you really think you could do anything about it?" "Hey man, I'm not gonna let you out of my sight." Jack was too tired to argue. And what would be the harm in it if the kid tagged along through the airport? "Just watch me get in the truck?" he asked. "Yeah. That's it." "OK." Jack sighed. "I don't think you're gonna go away otherwise." Chamey's face practically beamed. "So, the only thing that could possibly go wrong with our new friendship is that you're steadily getting more evil? And how does that work? I mean, for you personally. How would you do it? Will you suddenly go crazy and try to rip my jugular out? Or will you just get a little more grumpy and nasty each hour?" "We're not gonna be together much longer. So don't worry about it." "I know, but just for fun. How would you go vamp? Jack stared at the seat in front of him and let out a long breath. "The parasite just sort of awakens, stretches, and picks up where it left off, maybe even trying to make up for lost time. It scares me, man. I don't want to hurt anybody." "I won't let you." The plane began to shake up and down as they hit more turbulence. "I hate that." Chamey gripped the seat, eyes bulging. Jack heard his heart doing double-time, along with the shallow breaths. The boy needed a distraction. Now it was Jack that stared intently at him. "You know," he said, moving closer and sniffing toward his neck, "when you're afraid, you smell that much tastier..." Chamey's head whipped around; his eyes narrowed for a second, then a smile stretched ear to ear. "That's so cool. I'm like a pizza with everything to you." Maybe it worked too well, Jack thought. "You need to take vampires way more seriously." "Oh, I do, man. More than you know." Jack settled back in his seat again, trying to ignore the sudden twinge of hunger. His eyes shut, and he was worried at what he saw. On the edges of his mind, were the first wisps of that red fog. * * * Chamey finally caught up with Jack and grabbed his arm, pulling hard. "Hey, wait for me," he gasped. "I almost think you're trying to leave me behind." Jack had barely said a word to him since they landed. Now the vampire stopped and turned with a strange expression on his face. His dark hair was sticking up in places, and there was a light sheen over his pale skin. As Chamey looked into the dark brown eyes, he thought he saw fear in them. The vampire definitely had a startled appearance. But he grunted and took off again. Chamey kept pace beside him that time, but he almost had to run to keep up. Jack grabbed a suitcase from the turnstyle and immediately headed for the exit. Chamey took off after him. He had to dash ahead and stop directly in front of the vampire to get him to stop, and then he stood gasping for air, ignoring the pissed-off look on Jack's face. "What's wrong, man?" he asked. "Can't you just wait a second?" "No. I need to get out of here and get in that truck." "Hold up just a minute longer, okay? I gotta go to the bathroom. It's all that ginger ale I had on the plane. Just wait one minute, then I'll escort you out to the truck, and you'll be on your way. Sound good?" Jack's face held no expression as he glanced toward the exit behind Chamey. "Come on man, just one minute." He pushed Jack toward a row of seats near the door. He didn't know what to expect, but was relieved that Jack sat down and put his luggage on the floor under his long legs. "All right then. Just wait here. Be right back." Before he disappeared into the bathroom, he cast one glance back at the vampire, who was flipping open his cell phone. "One minute!" Chamey called to him with a smile. Jack nodded once, but didn't look up. Satisfied that the vampire was gonna stay put, he went on to take care of business. Blood or Love Ch. 04 When Chamey returned, he breathed a sigh of relief to see Jack in the same spot. But he had a look on his face like the end of the world had come. "What's wrong? You didn't eat someone, did you? That was a joke, by the way." "Dr. Kitcher left a message on my cell. They couldn't pick me up. Some emergency." "What? Oh, man. I hope it's not the League." Jack rubbed the corner of one bleary eye. "When I called back, the lab was already closed for the day." "Man, that sucks." "I couldn't get hold of Kim or my sister either. This is a fucking disaster." "Don't panic. Let's just figure out plan B. So what are we gonna do?" "You aren't gonna do anything. The doctor wants me to meet them at Forsyth Park at six in the morning. They'll give me the injection and take me on to the lab. It's just a little more time than I thought it would be." Chamey shook his head. "A whole night. Man, that's not good." "No, it's not." Chamey stared at the passing crowds, trying to think. He checked his watch. "Then I'm definitely gonna stick with you and protect people from you. We have the whole night together. Cool." "Not cool. I could lose my mind and kill you." "Someone has to look out for you, and for everyone else in town. Besides, I'm not as helpless as you think." Jack gave him a look that said he thought differently. "No, I should probably be alone." "That's the worst thing you could do, is be alone tonight. I'm staying with you." Chamey motioned to Jack. "Come on. Let's get out of here." "I don't know-" "Man, just zip it already. I'm staying with you 'til you get in that truck tomorrow morning." Jack stood slowly. "I feel like I should make you sign a waiver or something. It's dangerous, do you understand that? I'll do my best, but..." "It's just twelve hours. I can survive that long." Jack picked up his luggage and started for the car rental counter. "I hope you're right." Blood or Love Ch. 05 So *sorry* for the long delay. If anyone is still following, I intend to have the story completed before the end of August. Hope you enjoy. ------------ Jack poured blood into the cup of hot tomato soup he'd just removed from the microwave. His hands trembled as he poured, but he was careful not to spill any. The deer had definitely worn off now. He was feeling the hunger. He'd just tapped the last few drops from the vial directly onto his tongue when he felt Chamey's intense gaze on him from the other side of the room. He turned to the boy. Chamey was lounging against the red pillows with a half-empty pizza box on the bed beside him. A slice of pizza with everything--one huge bite removed--was in one hand, the TV remote was in the other but it was poised in the air, as if the sight of Jack's food preparation had made Chamey forget all about the Syfy channel. "Who's blood is that?" he asked through a mouthful of pizza. Jack hadn't bothered to look at the label. He knew who that salty, savory flavor belonged to. "My wife." He smiled and held the cup out to Chamey. "Wanna taste?" Not something he'd usually say, but he though it would lighten the mood. It didn't. Chamey threw the pizza and the remote down on the bed and sat up. "Nah, that's okay. God, Jack, gross." "Kidding, I was kidding. Think I'd part with so much as a drop of this?" He kept that same grin going from the corner of this mouth. Chamey smiled back at him at last. "Oh well, whatever, as long as it slakes your blood thirst." We can joke about stuff like this, really? He wasn't joking now. "It doesn't satisfy as much as it used to," Jack admitted. "I've been wanting more lately." He lifted the cup to his nose, inhaled, and took a long drink before he lowered the mug. "Fresh, hot, straight from the vein..." When he looked up at Chamey again, the boy's dark brown eyes were wide and his lightly tan face had gone pale again. "But that will get you through the night, won't it?" "Yeah, I think. I mean, I'm sure it'll be fine." Way to be reassuring. "Yeah, right, so nothing to worry about." Chamey picked up the piece of pizza he'd dropped from the bed and casually bit off half of it. "Wish this place had a pool, don't you?" he said, chewing noisily. "I bet you're a fast swimmer, being a vampire and all. I love swimming. But no, we had to get a place with no pool." Jack shrugged. "Just wanted to get in somewhere quick, something I could afford..." "I didn't mean this place is bad, or nuthin. I love the retro look." Chamey stuffed the rest of the pizza into his mouth, unable to talk for a few seconds until he'd sufficiently chewed and swallowed. "Besides, just hanging out here with you is fun." He reached for another slice. "This isn't fun to me. I'm worried." "Well I ain't worrying a damn about it. That's what my Mom always says. Not really something you'd frame and put on the wall, but it keeps me pretty level. Anyway, you gotta take your mind off the blood thirst, that's the key." Jack nodded. "Hold on a little longer and everything will be okay." "Sure it will." Chamey pulled his backpack from the floor next to the bed and started digging through it. "Good thing I have everything I need to take care of myself in case...things...go bad." A panicked look came over his face and then deepened as he dug harder through the bag. He started pulling everything out of it, urgently, quickly until he snapped his head up, brown eyes swirling at Jack, heart pounding out of his ribcage. "You took my weapons?" "That's right." Chamey stood up at the foot of the bed and started backing away toward the bathroom, his brown hair standing out against the beige walls. "Okay, a little worried now. You've already gone evil, haven't you?" Jack set the cup down on the nightstand and stood up. "No, I--" "You took my stuff." "I took your weapons because I wasn't sure if I could trust you." Chamey stopped backing up. "You know you can trust me now, don't you?" he asked nervously. "I won't hurt you unless I absolutely have to." Jack nodded, fighting to keep an inappropriate smile from his lips. "I know that." Another long silence, then Chamey cleared his throat. "So, can I have my stuff back?" Jack, chuckling softly, opened his bag, dug through it, and pulled out the stake and the spray can. "What's so funny?" Chamey said, frowning and fidgeting where he stood. "Here you go." Jack straightened up his face and tossed the items onto the yellow bedspread covering Chamey's bed. Quickly, Chamey moved to the bed and shoved the weapons into his bag, except for the stake, which he held in his right hand. "All right," he said, sounding mildly relieved, "now let's get down to business." With his left hand, he reached over to his voice recorder on the nightstand and clicked it on. Jack tossed back the savory contents of his mug and thought about refilling it. It seemed like the fear had left Chamey by then. The room smelled clear of it, and his had demeanor brightened. He dropped the stake to his side, forgotten. "If something happens to you," he said in excitement, "I'll put up a website and dedicate it to you, Jack. I mean, to Vladimir, the nicest vampire I knew for-" he checked his watch "-four hours." He launched into a serious voice with the date and location, then said, "This is Chamey Noel. I'm either documenting Vladimir's salvation or his sad descent into depravity. Telling his story will help me help people protect themselves from vampires. It's the mission statement of my website; it's my life's purpose." "So far," Jack mumbled under his breath, but smiling, "it seems your life's purpose is to annoy the hell out of me." Chamey grinned back at him. "I heard that you know, even without cool special vampire hearing. Well, we've got all night, why don't you start by telling me a little more about yourself? Your family? You don't have to say their names. You can make up names if you want." Jack reached into the mug to swipe out the last few drops at the bottom, then licked his fingers clean. "My family..." He sighed. "My parents died six months ago in a car accident. My wife Ki--Karen and I moved into their home, my sister stays with us most of the time. Karen and...and Barbie...they're good. Good to me...Oh hell, you know their names, Kim and Benny...just change them for your website." "Sure. You have my word. Hey, can I get a pic of you? Of us together?" Jack studied Chamey's eager face for a moment and slowly nodded. Chamey grabbed up his phone and jumped on the bed next to Jack. "On the count of three. One...two...three." The flash went off in Jack's eyes, and then Chamey was up admiring the picture in his phone with big, happy eyes. "All right, this is great. Thanks! Go on, about Kim and Benny?" "I love them so much." Jack began to talk, and he enjoyed it in spite of himself. Maybe it was because Chamey's carefree spirit reminded him a little of his kid sister, or just that he was out of his "sick house" and on an adventure. His thoughts soon drifted to the pack...his maker, Cole, and their adventures... "Earth to vampire, Earth to vampire." He heard Chamey's voice first. Next came the hand waving in front of his face. He shook his head quickly and came back to attention. He wasn't in a forest clearing around a campfire with blood on his hands, no, he was in a hotel...with a kid staring back at him wide-eyed... "What is it? What happened?" But he knew. "I think you were going vamp on me, brother." "Dammit." Jack leaned forward on the bed, hands on his forehead. "The closest thing I can compare it to is when you're having a daydream and don't realize you've drifted off..." "Until someone smacks you up-side the head, and you snap out of it?" He looked at Chamey. "Yeah...I guess." The boy shrugged his skinny shoulders. "My Dad woke me up that way all the time." Jack rubbed his eyes one more time. "Well, that was kinda scary," Chamey said, "but you seem okay now." "Yeah, it'll be okay." Jack went to his suitcase and pulled out another vial of blood, then grabbed two more. He dumped all three into his mug and topped it off with some V8. He took a long drink and sat back down on the bed with a relieved sigh. Chamey watched him in silence for a while, then rubbed his head and spoke slowly. "So what's it like, being a vampire with the antidote? No parasite controlling you?" "I told you that when the parasite had its tentacles deep in me-or whatever it does-it was like the best drug in the world...a constant high? The more red fog in my brain, the less I had a conscience, no worries, just feeding and fun. It was...well, it was bliss." Another weird silence which Chamey broke by saying, "I imagine that's true. See, this is the kind of thing I have a whole section of my website devoted to, vampire biology. The parasite sets up its own chemical factories and pumps the host body full of junk. The chemicals change everything and give you speed, super strength, keen senses, a raging bloodlust." "You're right," Jack sounded as impressed as he was. "You probably know more about it than I do." "Yep, those things enable the vampire host to keep the parasite drenched in what it craves the most-human blood. And keeping its host feeling good is in it's best interest...so long as it's getting the blood. So go on, you were saying being a vampire was blissful and now...?" Jack studied the back of his hands. A stretch of time passed before he answered softly. "A lot of things since the antidote have been a let-down." "Anhedonia?" Jack dropped his hands and looked over at Chamey. "What?" "More vampire biology," Chamey said. "See, the parasite burns out your brain's dopamine pathways. Other subjects I read about who had the antidote, it caused the inability to get pleasure from normally very pleasurable activities, like eating, exercise, sex." "Oh, I get pleasure from sex," Jack said quickly, thinking of his last night with Kim. "But eating? On the antidote, blood no longer tastes the same and normal human food doesn't either. Everything is bland. I just eat enough on a liquid diet to keep me alive. As far as exercise, after having super strength and speed and then being reduced to your average human? Think about it. Yeah, I don't get that much pleasure out of life anymore." "But you've got a loving woman who'd do anything for you," Chamey said, his voice insistent. "You've got a great family. I'd give anything--" "Things were getting better after a while, it's true. But nothing quite compares to being out there...free, wild, powerful." He didn't know why he said that, other than it was exactly how he felt about it in that moment. Shame lit through him. Jack said nothing, but drained his blood and vegetable juice. He was thinking about having more. Slow down, just slow way down. "So tell me some things about vampires I don't know," Chamey said, watching him stare into the empty mug again. "I wish I didn't ever have to think about vampires again." Jack sighed, and set the cup down on the nightstand. "But what do you wanna know?" "You've mentioned your maker and the pack. It's a strong connection, I take it." "Yes, definitely. It is for me. Or it was." "So if you slipped back into that world, of darkness and mayhem, would you try to find them?" "My maker, Cole...I don't know if he's still alive, but I'd try to find him. The last I saw him, he was heading for the Caribbean. We'll have good times there, Jack, he said..." "Yeah, I bet." Chamey stood up. "Hold that thought." He headed for the bathroom, then stopped. "On second thought, don't hold that thought, drop that thought. Think of something else, nothing to do with Cole or blood or, you get the idea." He disappeared into the bathroom. Jack sat alone in the room, and his thoughts went to Kim. They were never far from her. He wanted to hear her voice one more time before it was all over. He felt so homesick for her in that moment that it hurt from his heart to his stomach. He heard the toilet flush and the water running, then Chamey came back out and flopped down on the bed and gave a tremendous yawn. Jack stood up and stretched. The night was making him feel energized. "Where do you think you're going?" Chamey said, and pointed to the bed. "Sit. Let's talk some more. I need a lot more vampire info from you for my website. We've barely covered anything. So tell me how you got turned." Jack sat back down. "There's not much to tell. Just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Grabbed off the street, more or less. What do you want to know exactly?" "What did it feel like? Not the biting part," he said quickly, "but the turning part." Jack sprawled out on his back and stared up at the blank white ceiling. "Turning was...uncomfortable. The process takes some time, and it's not pain-free. But soon you start to feel good. Real good." He lifted his head up to Chamey. "After you get the blood...it's like nothing can compare. Hey, what are you doing?" "Nothing, I'm listening." Chamey had curled up on his side and closed his eyes. Jack felt something akin to panic rise in his chest. "You know you can't fall asleep, Chamey. You have to stay up all night with me." Chamey opened his eyes and looked over at him. "Oh, I will. I know that falling asleep with you in the shape you're in would be a disaster." He gave another yawn. "This is all way too fascinating for me to get any sleep tonight." Jack climbed off his bed and moved over to Chamey's. He leaned over the boy. "Laying there is the worst thing you can do. Get up and walk around some, get the blood pumping." "Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Chamey smiled lazily up at him. "Stop staring down at me, man. You're creeping me out. Anyway, trust me, I can stay up all night, no problem..." * * * "Chamey... Chamey..." His late shows were over, he'd already read the local newspaper and had a cup of tea, and now Jack was leaning over Chamey's bed once more, shaking him. "Wake up!" "What?" Chamey came awake suddenly, grabbing the stake near his hand and swinging it at Jack's heart. Jack snatched his wrist, immediately stopping the stake's advance. "No, it's okay, everything's okay. Calm down." Slowly, he lowered Chamey's hand with the stake to his side. Chamey's brown eyes went big and wild as he turned to the clock. "I fell asleep? Oh man, I'm sorry. I can't believe it. Why'd you let me go to sleep?" "It's okay, I thought you could use a little." Jack let go of him and Chamey sat straight up with shock on his face. "You're still good, right? You didn't go out and slaughter anyone?" "No, no, I was fine, just my usual boring stuff. Promise." "But how do you know? That's the whole thing about the red haze, it pulls you in, you don't know what you did til afterward..." "It left me alone for a while. I worked through a few more vials of blood though," he admitted. Chamey dropped the stake on the bed and rubbed his eyes. He yawned, then slowly got out of the bed. He jumped up and down a few times and stretched. "I'm going to do a kata." "A what-a?" "It's something I do in karate. Just watch." Chamey went through a series of controlled gestures, turns, blocks, sharp strikes, kicks, until he finally ended with a bow and then fists at his sides. He turned to Jack and smiled. "I'm awake now," he said. "That was pretty cool." "Yeah, I know. Hey, you wanna practice some moves with me?" "Uhh," Jack shook his head slowly. "Probably not a good idea. At least not tonight." "Yeah, you're right. We don't wanna tear the place up. Do you like to play cards?" Jack smiled. "Love cards." Chamey sat on the foot of Jack's bed and they played hearts, spades, blackjack, and poker and talked. But as time wore on, Chamey was sinking lower and lower into the bed again. "Come on, Chamey" Jack said, dismayed, "you gotta stay awake now. You should have got some energy drinks." "Hmm? I'll be fine. It's just that I haven't slept for like three nights in a row. Just crazy stuff going on at the house." Chamey threw his cards down, got up and strutted back and forth around the room for a few minutes. He did rapid-fire jumping jacks, dropped to the floor and did push-ups, then leaped to his feet again and started dancing to music from his iPod. Jack sat and watched in amazement as the boy gyrated, turned, head-banged, and whirled. Jack hadn't considered himself to be much of a dancer, but Chamey was so bad he made Jack feel better about his own lack of moves. It amused him to watch. Finally, Chamey collapsed onto the bed, panting, heart thumping, and cast a big-eyed looked up at Jack. "Well, I think that'll do it, keep me up for a while longer." "It was certainly entertaining." "I know, they always said something like that about me at the school dances. Then he surprised Jack by blurting out, "What about your victims?" Jack stiffened. Chamey's abrupt question was taking his mind to territory he did not want to get into. "What about them?" "Who were they? People you knew?" Jack shook his head. He wished he could avoid this, but by the look in Chamey's eyes he knew it wasn't going to happen. You knew all along it was coming, sooner or later. And maybe he needed to talk about it. A little. Maybe. "We weren't even close to home. I tried to stay in the woods and do the animal-blood thing, but it didn't work well. Not for long. And Cole didn't help. His humanity was fading fast. He...uh, he started bringing people back to the camp. I tried to resist, but...it turned into a blood bath...and after a while, I joined in." "Oh." Chamey seemed to struggle to keep his voice level. "How many?" "I don't know. One night after another started blurring together."" "You've got to have some idea how many people you've killed." Jack felt a rush of anger flow in behind a scattering of red in his vision. He opened his mouth to change the subject, but Chamey sat up straighter and fired out the next question that hit Jack like a poison arrow. "Did you kill any kids?" Jack stood up in a second, took a few steps, then turned and spoke much more calmly than he felt inside. "No." "But...how do you know for sure when you can't remember how many you've killed?" "I just...I know, okay?" "No, you don't." He felt the sudden urge to lash out at Chamey, knock him into the beige wall at his back. He stayed where he was. God, what was wrong with him? Victims, kids, that's what. He was sure there hadn't been any kids, but with that red haze blurring so much, but how could he really be sure? If he wondered about it too long, it might drive him crazy and he'd still never know the truth of it. All he could be sure of was that didn't remember any kids. But there had been others. Men, women... He hadn't been able to talk to Kim about the killing except in vague terms, and thankfully she didn't press him. He knew she didn't really want to believe he'd killed people. He didn't want to believe it either. "No," he said in a soft voice. "No kids." He ran a hand through his hair and moved back to the bed. He flopped down on it, quiet under Chamey's stare. Maybe he could put those memories out of his head when he was lying around on the couch at home, but now, in a strange place away from Kim and with his mind hazing up like this... "Hey, I believe you man," Chamey said, fluffing up his pillow. "I understand that's a hard topic. I'll let you off the hook for now. Maybe we'll come back to it another time, you know, when you're ready." But Jack wasn't as ready to forget it as he thought he'd be, because more than ever, he didn't want more victims. "Maybe we should find a Walmart or someplace we can get rope. No, chains. Chains. We need thick ones." Blood or Love Ch. 05 "Oh, I have some of those right here in my bag," Chamey said immediately, then laughed sarcastically. "Of course, you know I'm just kidding. You already looked through my stuff." "I'm sorry about that." Chamey waved a hand at him. "Just playin', I understand why you did it, though it is kinda creepy. Anyway, I don't think the chains are necessary, I think you can make it til morning. Just three more hours, right? Nothing's wrong, nothing happened. Nothing will." * * * The scrawny little thing wasn't going to stand in his way. If he didn't know more desirable game--and plenty of it--was just outside that door, he would have taken this one. But he could wait. A shrill, voice filled with desperation set his ears on edge, made him jerk his head back, blink, and he opened his eyes to find Chamey's big and staring back at him. Jack was on his feet, a foot away from the door. Chamey was up against that door, his back pressed against it, his hand over Jack's which was around the doorknob. The redness, the thing in the fog that had been calling him and propelling him to leave the room and just go take a walk--a walk can't hurt anything, can it?--began to drift out of his mind. The sharp aroma of Chamey's fear and adrenaline was thick in his nose. The boy's rapid pulse jumped at the side of his skinny neck; his heart pounded. "No, Jack, don't leave! You can't leave the room." "What was I...?" He let go of the doorknob, brushing Chamey's hand off his, and took a step back. "I wasn't going anywhere," he said quickly, defensively. "That's not what it looked like to me. You got this blanked out look, then a weirder look, then you just got up and headed for the door. At least you went slowly. Kinda like a zombie. I put myself between you and the door and you tossed me aside, but I went right back and started screaming in your face." Too horrified to say anything, Jack turned and headed into the bathroom. Chamey was right at his heels, but turned back when the phone rang on the nightstand. Jack heard the conversation. It was the front desk clerk, asking if everything was okay because another guest heard screaming. Chamey assured her everything was fine and they would keep the noise down. Jack splashed water on his face and walked back out into the room. "I'm going to drink more of the blood I brought and lay down on the bed for a while, try to get some rest." "It's useless man, you're not gonna sleep at night." "I know, but maybe I can relax a bit. I need to be less keyed up. You can help me." Jack pointed to his head. "In here, in my mind--I don't want to drift off. I don't want to scare you, but the change is getting more persistent. I'm not even conscious of it until I wake up from it." He settled back on the bed. "And don't freak out when I say this, but it's also getting harder to care about it." "No freaking," Chamey said in a high voice. "Yet." "This is getting too dangerous. We better trade beds even though yours is full of crumbled pizza toppings." He rolled his eyes and managed a smile. "Sure, whatever you say." Chamey gathered up his things from his bed and dumped them onto Jack's bed. Jack tossed the empty pizza box onto the dresser, then sat down on Chamey's bed, put a pillow behind his head, and crossed his legs in front of him. "Just keep yourself between me and the door, and keep your weapons handy." He reached down and tossed the NoVamp from the night stand at Chamey, who caught it in one hand. "I'm on it. In fact, I can put this stuff to good use right now." As Jack watched, Chamey jumped up and sprayed NoVamp all over the window and the door. Jack started to gag as the vapors drifted his way. He threw a hand over his nose, rubbed his face, and coughed several times as the acrid stench stung his eyes, nose, lungs. He had to put the pillow over his face for a few minutes until the mist dried down a bit. He was becoming much more sensitive to the NoVamp. That was good in a way, but then no so good... Chamey turned to him, a satisfied look on his face. "You're not getting out of this room til morning, Fangs." Jack took a long drink of water from a bottle on the night stand to help his stinging throat. He tried to speak, but it came out a hoarse whisper. Another drink, then he cleared his throat a few times, and finally said softly, Why don't you tell me about Chamey now?" Chamey seemed hesitant to talk for once. "Eh, I'm not as entertaining as you." "Come on, I've told you all about me. It's your turn. Tell me about your family." "Well, okay." Chamey sighed, blew air out of his pursed lips. "My Mom and Dad are divorced, that happened when I was twelve. I didn't see him for five years, and then Mom let him back in, but he still only comes around once in a while. Mom spends a lot of time on the couch passed out from drinking." "Sorry, it--" "Sounds like a sob story, doesn't it? It's not. I know a lot of people have it much worse off. Anyway, I just graduated high school in May, and am hoping to make a living off Vamped Out and the other websites. Not doing too bad so far." "College?" "Maybe sometime. My grades weren't that good." "You seem like a smart kid to me." "I just couldn't sit still in class. They wanted Mom to get me on medication, and I took it for a while, but then she stopped giving it to me. I had a reaction, or so she said. But the truth was, she was getting my prescriptions filled and taking them herself. Anyway, I hate school, why would I wanna go anymore?" "College is different. You'd probably like it." "Well, maybe sometime, but for now, I don't need it to do what I want to do. Vampires." "So...what got you interested in vampires?" "I got into vampires a little before Mom and Dad split, started the website, opened up a whole new world." "Why? I mean, why vampires and not sports or music or video games, or whatever?" "Oh, I like that stuff too. But with vampires it's a personal thing." Jack had begun to figure as much already. Chamey had made vampires his personal mission. He didn't want to ask why, but it was the next question out of his mouth. "Did vampires...hurt someone you know?" Chamey flipped his brown hair out of his eyes with a puff of breath and looked up at Jack through deep brown eyes. "Yeah. They hurt someone." "Who?" Jack heard himself asking. "My sister." "Trixie?" The look on Chamey's face, the hard feeling in the room between them, and Jack felt a sting of nausea in his gut. "Is she..." "No, she's not okay. She's dead." Jack felt the air leave his lungs along with anything remotely comforting he could say to that. All he could offer was, "I'm sorry." "She was just a tiny thing when--" Chamey took a deep breath and released it slowly. "Hey, you don't have to talk about it." "Yeah, I do. I want to tell you about it, Jack. Want you to understand where I'm coming from. See I feel this connection with you..." He was mumbling now, his eyelids fluttering with damp lashes, but another breath or two and he seemed to get it more under control. By then, Jack was blinking hard himself. Chamey went on, "This happened when I was eleven. We had a small apartment in a bad area of Dallas. Trixie and I used to sleep in the same room. We'd still hear Mom and Dad fighting and shouting and noise from the neighbors, but I'd turn on some music and read to her. She was eight, and she liked that Dr. Suess stuff, you know, Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham?" Chamey wiped a hand across his right eye. "Anyway, a little past midnight and she'd been asleep a while, but I couldn't sleep. I got up to use the bathroom. Our apartment was finally quiet, well as much as it gets, and dark. I was just coming back to our room when I heard glass break and I heard Trixie scream. "I...I ran in and flipped on the light and saw someone on top of her. This woman, blonde, stringy hair, skinny...smelly. The stench of her hit me right away. Like rotten meat. At first I thought it was some lady strung out on drugs who'd broken in the window. There was glass on the floor, on the bed. I yelled at her to get off my sister, and the woman turned. Her eyes weren't like a human's eyes. What I mean is, I couldn't see anybody in there, just glaring blue and hunger. She hissed and her mouth curved up in a weird, freaky grin, and there was blood running down her face. That's when I realized it was Trixie's blood..." Chamey stopped and pushed his face into the crook of his elbow. When he looked back up, his eyes were red, puffy. His voice shook through trembling lips as he continued. "Trixie raised her head and looked around the vampire. Trixie looked right at me. Her eyes went right into mine, and she was screaming at the top of her lungs, 'Help me, Chamey! Help me, brother! Save me!' She just kept yelling that, but it was like I was frozen right where I stood in the doorway. "My Mom must have heard us because she ran in, and in the back of my mind I was thinking where's Dad? and I knew he must have left for the night. That thing on my sister smiled back at us and I saw the bloody fangs. "I rushed at that bitch. I yelled and ran at her, slammed into her, but she backhanded me. Just one hand is all it took, like she was waving away a fly, but it launched me across the room, all the way back into Mom, and we both fell in the hallway. By the time I got to my feet, that monster was gone. My sister was gone too, just...blood in the bed. I looked in the bed, under it, Trixie was gone. That vampire took my sister out the window with her. Took her. She was gone. The-the police found the body..." Chamey broke down now, and Jack was at his side instantly, holding onto him, hugging him to himself as tight as he dared. "I couldn't help her," Chamey said between gasps. "What you did was really brave, Chamey. You were just a little kid, lucky you didn't get taken too, and your Mom, and...shh, shh, it's okay." God, but it wasn't okay. How could it be? Jack's heart, his mind felt like it was breaking, trying to contain all those emotions rushing through him now for the kid, along with all the hatred for what he himself was becoming. Chamey relaxed into his arms, crying now. Hot tears smelling of minerals flowed into Jack's white t-shirt, soaking the front of it. When Chamey wiped the last of the tears away, Jack settled him back onto the bed and stroked away a lock of hair that had stuck to his cheek. "I'm sorry," Jack whispered as Chamey looked up at him. "I'm okay," Chamey said through clenched teeth. The boy's brown eyes narrowed into dark slits. "You feel like an ice cube, though." He suddenly pushed at Jack and shrieked at the top of his lungs. "Get off me!" Jack was up and backing away quickly. Chamey flew off the bed and lunged for the bathroom, then slammed the door behind him. Jack heard sniffling, toilet paper ripping, nose blowing, water splashing. A few minutes later, Chamey stuck his head out. His face was was pink, his eyes watery. "You gotta stay in here all night with me, understand, Jack? And you gotta be at that appointment in the morning. You have to, Jack. I'll die before I let you get out of here." "Nobody's going to die," Jack said calmly, more than ever determined that that would be the truth. Chamey closed the bathroom door again, and Jack stared at the empty cup on the nighstand, and licked his lips, trying not to dwell on how much more he wanted. Is that all you think about now, Jack? Your own belly? He felt deep down disgust for himself. Thinking about blood at a time like this, when Chamey... But blood was almost all he could think about. Not now, when that boy in there needs me...I'm a monster to him. God, don't let me actually become one in front of his eyes. But the caring was less and the hunger was growing. One vial a day had always been plenty, and now, it just felt like one bite of an entire meal. He needed to talk to Kim; she'd get his mind elsewhere. He wondered if she had her phone on. He picked up his cell phone and caressed the speed dial number for her, but was surprised by the jangle of the phone on the night stand. Jack answered it shakily. Front desk, another complaint. He was sorry and there would be no more noise. He'd just slammed the phone down when Chamey walked back in the room. "Still no answer at home?" Chamey asked. He took in Jack's frustrated face. Jack grabbed up his bag and began to search through it for another vial but as the seconds passed, it became more and more reminiscent of the way Chamey had searched through his own bag earlier, for weapons he knew were supposed to be there. No. No way this could be happening. "What's the matter?" Chamey asked him. Jack looked up at him through anger, fear, and disbelief. "It's the blood," he said. "There's no more blood. I'm completely out." Blood or Love Ch. 06 How could he have drunk everything so quickly? Thirty-four tubes of blood, and he'd thought that was overkill when Benny was getting them ready for him that morning. Chamey sank down on his bed and stared up at him. "You're freakin kiddin me. What are you saying man, you already drank everything you brought? No more blood?" "That's what I'm saying." Chamey sat silent for a moment, his fingers curled into the yellow bedspread as he watched Jack rip open pockets in his bag, searching the very bottom and lining. The contents of his entire suitcase were all over the squishy green carpet. "Why didn't you pack extra, you know, just in case something like this happened?" Jack stopped what he was doing and glared up at Chamey. "I DID bring extra." "Oh man. I guess I wasn't paying attention. You really got your drunk on tonight, didn't you?" Jack's only answer was to sling the empty suitcase across the room. It hit the wall beyond Chamey's head with a loud smack! and Chamey jumped to his feet. "Woah, man," he whispered. Jack sat on the floor, his back against his bed, and gave a long sigh. "I'm sorry....I'm just..." He dropped his head in his hands. He was shaking and his thoughts were swimming in a red-tinged ocean. Chamey's heartbeat thumped in his ears. He was glad the NoVamp had dulled his sense of smell and taste at that moment. He was aware of Chamey getting off the bed and approaching him slowly. He jerked his head up to see one hand outstretched to him like he was a wounded animal. "Look, don't panic," Chamey said softly. "Just stay calm and we'll think of something." "I need Kim," Jack said in a weak voice. "She always knows what to do." "Well call her, man." A fresh wave of anger rolled through Jack. He dropped his hands and leaped to his feet, towering over Chamey. "You don't think I've been trying? Every time you go to the bathroom, I CALL!" Chamey moved backward until he backed into his own bed, and then he half sat--half fell on it. Oh damn. "I'm sorry," Jack said. "Okay, okay, let's just think about this, about what's happening to you. You said you started reversion a couple weeks ago. Why is it happening so fast?" Jack shrugged. "There's no certain amount of time, no guarantees. It's just happening faster than we thought it would. I thought I'd have more control over it, but the parasite seems stronger than I remember. Anyway," he cleared his throat and went on, "I was supposed to be under the doc's care by now." "So, what can we do for you between now and when you get into Dr. Kitcher's vehicle?" Jack rubbed his eyes vigorously. He dropped his hand and looked into the wide brown eyes staring back at him. "You may have to kill me before I get worse." "I'm not going to kill you, Jack." "You knew it might come to this." "Yeah, but it hasn't come to this...to that." "I'd do it myself if I could, but this thing inside won't let me. I'm afraid it's getting out of control...already is out of control, and I'm not worth this kind of trouble." "You are to me, and to your family." "I've done terrible things." "You couldn't help it, Jack, you were going out of your mind. Believe me, you're a good guy." "Chamey, I--" Jack closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head to dislodge some of that crimson fog. When he opened his eyes again, he could only whisper, "I'm not good. I'm doing something terrible right now." "Don't be so hard on yourself. You're fine." "Pull out the drawer in the nightstand. The stake's in there." "No, Jack, there's gotta be another solution." Chamey took out his can of NoVamp, jumped up, and sprayed it around the door, the window, the whole side of the room before he turned to Jack with a grin. "There, reinforced it. That'll help for now. It's just too bad it doesn't last very long." The grin faded away. "Also it's too bad I just have this one little can." Jack got off the bed and retreated to the small open closet space in the short hallway outside the bathroom door. The fumes seemed to be following him. He grabbed one of several shirts he'd put on hangers and held it to his face until he felt like he could breathe again. Tentatively, he lowered the shirt and looked at Chamey, who was back on the bed watching him with worried eyes. Muttering, Jack climbed to his feet, took a few steps toward Chamey, stopped and leaned against the wall. "Promise me you'll do it. It will save lives. It'll be justice. It might even make you feel better since you...went through...you know..." "Shut up Jack. You're my friend, my--quickly getting cranky and unpredictable friend--but my friend all the same, and I ain't gonna kill you. But I promise I will if I have to. There, you satisfied?" Jack nodded. "Last resort only. There has to be something we can do..." He suddenly brightened. "Hey, if you have blood, I mean human blood, that will keep you satisfied for a good long while, right?" Jack slid down the wall til he was sitting on the floor. His legs were too long for the small hallway, so he pulled them against his chest and rested his forehead on his knees. "Jack?" You're gonna be the first one I take after all, you useless little... Jack snapped his head up with a gasp, like he'd been rudely shaken out of a disturbing dream. Chamey was saying something to him. "What?" Jack asked, startled. "What is it?" "Did you hear me? If you have human blood--" "No!" "You just need a willing victim." He sighed deeply, trying to calm himself down. "Doesn't exist." "Oh, you'd be surprised, there are any number of people out there who'd love to have you chomp down on them. They come onto my website all the time. We have to tell em like it is, but who knows if the idiots listen." "Well I can't go out looking for one of them." A wry grin crossed Chamey's face. "Too bad there's no room service for vampires. Anyway, it's better if you're drinking from someone who wants to donate to you, rather than you grabbing some poor bastard, or bitch." "I told you, I'm not going to drink anyone, so just drop the idea." Even so, he'd begun to pace the room absently, and his feet were taking him closer to the door. He heard Chamey's voice call out: "Hey man, you don't wanna get too close--" But it was too late. Jack hit the NoVamp zone, and it was like walking into a wall of acidic fumes that blurred his vision, closed his throat and his lungs, and set his skin on fire. He whirled instantly, staggering back toward the other side of the room, coughing, gasping. "I tried to tell ya, man. You okay?" Jack fell down on his bed. Chamey moved to his side with a bottle of water. "Here, just tilt your head back." Jack felt too sick to do anything but what he was told, and Chamey poured some of the water into his open mouth. It was soothing, and he took the bottle from Chamey and splashed some into his burning eyes and onto his skin as well. "Thanks," he said as he wiped the rest of the water from his face. "Not a problem." Chamey went to the window, pushed aside the heavy maroon curtain a bit and peeked out. A few seconds later, he dropped the curtain back in place and glanced at the clock on the nightstand. "The sun's almost up." There was no missing the relief in his voice. "Just another hour to go." Jack nodded, miserable at the thought. For one thing, an hour in his condition was going to seem like an eternity. "I hate to see you suffering like this..." Chamey's face lit up. "I know, I'll find you a rat! Shouldn't be too hard around this motel." Jack could only stare up at him in disbelief. "A rat?" "Yeah, why not?" Chamey studied his appalled expression for a moment. "It's the idea of it, isn't it? Dirty rat's blood? Or is it the size of the thing--too small to be satisfying?" Jack though of Mr. Miller's hen. It had been pretty small, and if he'd been honest with himself at the time, he knew it would have taken more than just one to appease his appetite. "You'd have to catch a whole nest of rats to stop my hunger." Chamey stroked his smooth chin. "Actually, a group of rats is called a mischief, not a nest." Jack sighed and leaned forward with his face in his hands. "But hey," Chamey went on, "even if I can only find you one rat around this motel, at least its blood would be be fresh, hot....that's gotta count for something." Jack fell backward on the bed and rubbed his hands over his face. Thankfully, the mist from the NoVamp had quit drifting through the room. It wasn't bothering him anymore. Chamey was still naming off animals he might find in town. "What about a cat? A bird? A dog? I don't wanna take anyone's poor pet, but...hey, would you be satisfied with some fish out of the Savannah River?" Jack grimaced. He didn't know if Chamey was serious or not, but the idea of a cold fish did not appeal. "There's no time for that. Besides, I had a whole deer last night. That kept me pretty satisfied until the last few hours. But the parasite is calling out for what it really wants." "Human blood," Chamey said in his sober newscaster's voice, which immediately changed to a higher, more annoying one. "Eww, is that thing talking to you inside your brain? I mean, do you actually hear an annoying voice pushing you to the verge of insanity or did you mean it's calling out metaphorically, 'cause... Wow, is it listening to me right now?" Jack nodded grimly. "You know it is. And I'm certain it's been talking to you." "Cool! And yet not cool since that thing inside you wants to kill me. So what do you want me to do for you? Hunt or fish?" "Neither," Jack said. "I'm just going to grit my teeth and bare it." But he wasn't at all sure if he could. "Just another hour, like you said." "Yeah, I guess I can't really leave the room to find prey for you. You might decide to call on some of the motel's other occupants." Jack turned away with a hand over his mouth, alarmed that his fangs had dropped down at the very idea of it. "Face it, Jack. You need a willing victim." "We've already talked about that," Jack said through his hand. "I'm not going to find one out there." Jack got himself composed and the fangs out of sight, then he turned back around to Chamey. It shocked him to see Chamey pumping his left hand and flexing his arm as if he was doing curls with dumbells. He looked up at Jack, his brown eyes big. "You got one right here." "Wait...what are you talking about? You..." But he already knew what Chamey was talking about. "No, absolutely not." "Absolutely yes. You're gonna drink my blood. Come on, it's not like you don't want to. Don't think I didn't notice you staring at me and licking your lips when we were playing cards." "I wasn't--" "Oh yeah, you were. I saw the way your eyes lingered on my veiny hand when I was picking up a card or throwing one down. You were watching these fat, plump veins sticking out, and it distracted you. At first I wondered how you could be that bad of a card player, then I realized you just couldn't keep your mind on the game. Not with this choice meal in front of you." Chamey pumped his hand some more. Jack covered his mouth again for a moment and scrambled off the bed and took a few steps toward the door. He hit the NoVamp zone and almost kept going. The barrier was wearing off already. He could make it out the door if he really wanted... "No," he gasped and moved back toward Chamey. "There has to be another way. It's too dangerous. I could latch on and drink until you were dead." "I'm not afraid, man," Chamey said. "I'll keep the can of NoVamp in my other hand. If I think you're out of control, I'll spray you right in the face with it." "You haven't thought this over. You don't understand what you're getting into." "If anyone understands, it's me. It needs to be done. To protect people." Jack dropped his hands to his side and sat back on the bed. His attention went to Chamey's pumping left hand and bicep. "Would you please stop that?" Chamey smiled. "Just getting them all filled and ready for you." Jack forced himself onto his bed. He lay on his back and draped an arm over his eyes. After a long moment, he looked over at Chamey. "You know what? This isn't worth it." He reached out to the nightstand, opened the drawer, and removed the stake. He tossed it onto the bed next to Chamey. He lay back on the bed and spread his arms and legs out. His chest lay open, ready for the stake. "Here, while I try to distract that thing inside me. My life's not worth all this trouble." Chamey ignored the stake and kept pumping. "I doubt Kim and Benny would agree with you. Come on, live for them. Do this for them." He got up and sat on the bed beside Jack. Jack instantly scooted up against the headboard. This had been a crazy idea all along. Staying in the motel with a defenseless kid? It could never end well. "Get away from me, Chamey." "Why?" "You know why." "Come on, just have a taste." And before Jack's horrified eyes, the kid took his index finger and scraped--more like tore--into his own wrist. "I know you'll be all right. I'm here and available, and just as tasty as the next person. At least I hope. Come on, stop denying yourself. This is what you need and it'll last you a good long while." Chamey had managed to tear just a small hole in the flesh, but it was enough--more than enough--to send Jack into a near frenzy. Especially when Chamey thrust his wrist under Jack's sensitive nose. Jack nearly lost control as the boy's tangy blood caressed his ultra-sensitive nostrils. He wanted to jump on, but instead he managed to find enough control to hold back. And yet he found himself reaching out slowly, carefully for Chamey's dripping wrist. "That's the way," Chamey's voice coaxed, as though he was encouraging a shy kitten to come to him. "Think of how good this hot, juicy blood's gonna taste." Jack moaned, feeling his fangs extended to full length. He watched Chamey's wide eyes zero in on them, saw the kid's adam's apple dart as he swallowed down fear. Jack remembered how hard it was when he was a new vampire, trying to hold back. The humanity in him had recoiled at everything he was doing. He felt like he'd been stronger back then. Now, the parasite wanted to make up for lost time. And now Jack wanted to give in to its overwhelming power and drink this kid til there was nothing left. He forced his eyes back up to Chamey's big brown ones. Forced himself to remember everything the kid had told him about himself. He had to remember this was a person, a friend. He only hoped it was enough. But a voice whispered ominously in the back of his brain. It won't be enough. * * * "You got the NoVamp?" Jack's lips barely formed words, and by that look in his eyes, Chamey knew his mind was spiraling into blood-scented oblivion. But he wasn't expecting what happened next. Jack was on his bed in an instant, climbing on top of him, and by then, it was too late to move. Jack straddled his midsection and pinned him down to the mattress. "What are you doing?" Chamey struggled and pushed, but Jack stayed where he was. "NoVamp?" the words came out harsh, gutteral. "Yeah, I got it." Chamey lifted the can in his trembling right hand. He wondered if he should use it now. Don't panic, just calm down. This was your idea. Jack's weight on him made it hard to breathe and when he wrapped a cold hand around Chamey's hand and drew it up toward his mouth, the panic hit Chamey full force. The can of NoVamp tumbled out of his shaking hand somewhere onto the yellow bedspread. His right hand groped the covers for it. He began to squirm and struggle again. Trying to get away from Jack. Jack wore a calm expression. Something had changed in his eyes, making him look cold, distant. The slightest smile turned up the corners of his lips. "Did you change your mind?" Chamey stopped struggling for a moment and lay flat on his back, panting. He could feel his heart pounding out of his chest. "Would it matter to you if I had?" Jack's eyes blinked rapidly, and it seemed to Chamey that for a moment, he saw something warm and human inside them. Jack's whole body was strung taut as a rubber band, and his hand, cold and clammy, began to shake around Chamey's. His eyes closed, his head lowered. It was such a soft reply that Chamey barely heard it. "Yes, it matters." Jack let go of Chamey's hand, and then opening his eyes again, he slowly started to dismount. Chamey, sweating and shaking, raised up a little and located the NoVamp on the bed, then proceeded to bat it onto the floor with his nervous, clumsy fingers. Oh, man... Jack was halfway off Chamey when he paused and a strange look passed over his features. One brow was cocked slightly over dark, narrow eyes that seemed devoid of feeling. "Better someone else than you, right kid? Is that what you're thinking? Anyway, no thanks. I can go out that door and get my own meals." Chamey stopped breathing. You knew it might come to this. You said you'd do anything to keep people safe. Time to stop talking for once in your life and do something. Be a man. He caught hold of Jack's arm. Jack glanced down at his wrist which had almost stopped bleeding, then back up to him, a soft smile of anticipation on his face. "No," Chamey said. "No?" "I mean yes." He settled back on the bed, trembling, but kept his wrist outstretched to Jack. "I meant, no, don't go, and yes...drink from me." Jack didn't hesitate. He took Chamey's left wrist again and climbed back on top of him. Why do they have to do it like this? Crawling on top of us like big, creepy spiders? I hate vampires! Chamey closed his eyes and waited, then opened them to find Jack still staring down on him with an unreadable expression. "What are you waiting for?" he asked. "Just get it over with." As brave as he sounded, a fresh stab of fresh fear went through him when Jack clasped hold of him more tightly. "Please," he said, and it was little more than a sob. "Don't take too much." Jack paused and a humorless smile slid over his mouth. "If I want to take it all, there's nothing you can do to stop me." Chamey blinked up at him. He started to reply, but let his mouth shut with a snap. He decided he didn't want to spend his last moments on earth talking to a thing inside his friend's body. Jack's expression shifted again--a mix of emotion--as he stared down on him through those dark eyes. And then he leaned forward, gripping him tightly, and sank his fangs into Chamey's tender wrist. Blood or Love Ch. 07 Note from author: My apologies for such a long, long time in getting back to this! I could mention things going on in life that contributed to such a delay, but I won't try to make excuses. This ended up being a short chapter while I re-acclimated my mind to the flow of the story. I hope to finish it all soon. *** Chamey opened his eyes. The room swam in a dizzying pattern before it came into focus. I'm dead, was his first thought. His second was that he'd missed heaven. Sadness overwhelmed him because he wouldn't get to see his sister. Then it hit him. This wasn't hell, it was a skeevy motel room. He was alive. He couldn't be sure that was a good thing at the moment. He tried to sit up, but a wave of nausea forced him back to the mattress. His head hurt, everything seemed to hurt, but he managed to raise his arm, which must have weighed a hundred pounds. He turned it over to see the bloody puncture wounds in his aching wrist. God, it was like coming awake in the middle of a nightmare. It all came back at once, the fear and pain. The vampire. * He hadn't been able to think of that thing as his friend, not when it pressed him down into the mattress and drank his blood. It was a monster, just like the one that attacked Trixie. It bent over him, fangs locked into his wrist, its black animal eyes staring down at him. "That's ENOUGH!" Chamey tried to push the vampire away with his free hand, but it didn't budge, and it didn't stop drinking. There was no escape from its iron grip. Chamey's head slammed back on the pillow. He stared straight up at the ceiling which had been reduced to spots and swirls. Beside him, his hand groped for the NoVamp but couldn't catch hold of it. Inside, his pounding heart stuttered when he realized the can had fallen to the floor. A sob made its way from his throat. He thought of his friend, and what could have been. Jack said I'm smart, but I'm not. Why'd I ever think I could make any kind of difference? He hadn't helped his sister years ago, and now he was just as helpless as she'd been on her back, trapped beneath a vampire. No, not just a vampire–his friend. Jack was still in there somewhere. He had to be. "Jack," Chamey said, his voice low and hoarse, "stop...please stop." There was no sign that Jack heard him. He didn't stop drinking and there was no release from that terrible grip. Disoriented, Chamey's head lolled from side to side. He wondered how much blood was still in his body. At that point, he had no idea how much time had passed and whether Jack had taken just a few swallows or a few pints. He just needed it to be over with. He gasped a few times. After that the only sounds were his panicked heart and Jack's sucking noises. Soon it was all overtaken by the ringing in his ears. Chamey closed his eyes once more and thought about Trixie. His last thoughts turned prayerful. Jack's a good guy and please god, let my blood satisfy the vampire inside him so he doesn't kill anyone else...so he can get himself to... * Chamey let his arm flop on the bed. A low groan sounded from his chest as he tried to revive himself. So tired. Not sleepy, just drained in every way imaginable. But not entirely without hope, because somehow, Jack had stopped himself from taking too much. Chamey rolled over on his side and swallowed. He smacked his dry lips together and encountered a metallic taste. Blood. Panic lit through him. It couldn't be. Jack wouldn't feed me his own blood. Well, Jack in his right mind wouldn't, but what about the vampire? What did Jack do to me? Turn me? Please god, no. Panic twisted his insides. He was turning into a ravenous beast, the same thing that killed Trixie! Except, no way–he'd kill himself before he let that happen. He rolled over on his face. His teeth pressed against his lower lip, and that's when he felt the cut inside his lip and tasted fresh coppery blood. Relief flooded him. It was his own blood he'd tasted, not Jack's. He must have bit his lip when Jack was drinking from him. For a second–just a split second, he was disappointed. If Jack had vamped me, that would mean he wanted to keep me around.... He let that thought go as quickly as it had come. After all, it wouldn't have been Jack vamping him, but that nasty parasite inside him doing it. Apparently it didn't want Chamey anymore than he wanted it. A sense of warmth filled him. I'm still here, still alive. It's Jack's doing. Jack had thought he was losing it but maybe he'd overestimated the speed of his descent. Somehow he maintained the presence of mind to let me go. He wanted to keep me around. Chamey enjoyed that thought until the awful truth came once again, that Jack might have vacated his mind by then. Chamey rolled on his side toward the windows. The plaid curtains were pulled tight, but a glance at the clock showed it was ten after four in the afternoon. He'd slept the whole day? He sat up and a wave of nausea rolled up his belly. It was either lie there and toss up all that pizza or make a run for the bathroom. He staggered off the bed and into the bathroom where he hung his head over the toilet bowl, just in time. When he'd done all he could do, he collapsed next to the toilet and rested his forehead on its cold, yellow pedestal. After a while, he climbed to his feet and gripped the small beige sink, steadying himself. He splashed water over his face and rinsed his mouth out, then drank handful after handful of the funky-smelling water. Nothing had tasted so good in a long time. Maybe forever. When he flipped on the light and looked in the mirror, he almost didn't recognize the chalky face and bleary eyes staring back at him. Dang, he was sick. There was no time to waste in bed. Sick or not, he had to find Jack. He had to make sure Jack made it to Forsythe Park and into Dr. Kitcher's vehicle. You know he didn't make it there. Chamey didn't want to think about that, but he had to. As fast as Jack's regression was going, he wouldn't be able to tolerate the Georgia sun today. He'd be holed up somewhere. Only question was, where? Chamey glanced at Jack's bed, startled when he saw a wallet and cell phone on the rumpled bedspread. Why didn't Jack take his stuff? In his weakened state, Chamey staggered to Jack's bed and collapsed on it. His hand came down on something hard beneath the bedspread. He reached under and pulled out a stake. Oh yeah, my stake. Chamey had forgotten about it since his crude attempts at sharpening it on the plane. Now it was sharpened to a deadly point. Chamey turned it around in his hand. Jack must have worked on it during one of my bathroom trips. Or naps, he thought in shame. He hung his head over the side of the bed to see, and sure enough, there were wood shavings scattered on the floor. Chamey lifted his head and looked at Jack's cell. It was off. The battery must have run out. Discomfort filled his gut when he powered up the phone and saw plenty of charge. The ringer was off and it wasn't on vibrate. A horrible feeling settled inside him. He checked the call list. There were tons of calls from "Kim" and "Benny" as well as a couple from "Kitcher" and "Lab". Heart pounding, Chamey checked the outgoing call list. Nothing. Not one outgoing call since the day before yesterday. The dank air of the room weighed inside Chamey's lungs. He drew in several painful breaths and expelled them while his mind tried to accept the truth of what he'd discovered. Jack lied about calling Kim and Benny. Jack lied. Jack was a liar. A vampire. Chamey gave the mattress a weak punch. "How could I have been so stupid?" he said through gritted teeth. Of course Jack had wanted to run free, to run wild in full vampiric power with no worries and no conscience. Now he was out there, loose, gone in every sense of the word. Chamey pressed the button to dial Kim. She picked up on the first ring. Blood or Love Ch. 08 Dear Readers, I apologize and won't make excuses for the delay. The remaining chapters will be submitted soon. There are 11 chapters total. Thank you to anyone still reading, and welcome to new readers. Thank you for votes and comments. * Jack had lied. She couldn't get around it. She'd always been able to trust him without question. But he'd lied. According to this kid, Chamey, it had all been so he could avoid getting the injection. She looked down at Jack's phone in her hand, once again flipping through all the calls from her that he'd ignored. He wants to be a vampire more than he wants to be with me. You don't really believe that, she told herself as she slipped the phone into her pocket. For the millionth time it wasn't Jack -it was the parasite inside him. She'd just never dreamed it could take over so fast. If Jack was gone... She didn't want to think about that. The antidote would work. Jack was still there - he had to be. She felt it in her heart. But how much longer could he hold out? She stood just inside the door of the motel room next to her sister and Chamey, the strange kid who'd managed to get himself attached to her husband. It made no sense to her because Jack didn't trust people easily. But something had made him trust this guy. After hearing Chamey's account of what happened with Jack, she felt she had to put her faith in the teenager too. And it was obvious Chamey returned the feeling for Jack. Her eyes fell on the red bite marks on his wrist. She couldn't believe he'd let Jack bite him. Even she had never done that. She whipped out her phone and tried the doctor again. Still no answer. Damn it. She leaned against the doorframe and rubbed her forehead with her fingertips, as if she could soothe away the budding headache. Chamey took a step toward her and cleared his throat. "However this turns out," he said, his voice low and serious, "I want you to know I think Jack's a great guy. The short time we were together, he was a friend...like, the best one I ever had." She gave him the only smile she could manage. "I appreciate that, Chamey." "There's more. I think he intended to... to end everything." Her stomach, already hurting, churned a little more. What was he talking about? Chamey pulled a small, wood stake out of his front pocket. "He made this, he just didn't get a chance to use it." All the air rushed out of her lungs. Benson shuddered next to her. "My god." "Would have been nice," Kim said through gritted teeth, "if he'd told me about all the trouble he was having before now." "Aw, Kim." Benson placed a hand on her arm. "He didn't say anything to me either." Tears threatened to spill, but Kim held them back. "I just feel responsible for not seeing it. Or not wanting to." "It's not your fault," Benson said, her voice soft. "You did everything you could. Nobody could ask for more. You never gave up on my brother." "None of us have," Chamey said. "Jack fought the reversion best he could. He's still fighting. I believe that." Kim nodded, but she didn't miss the flash of something –doubt or fear, that passed over Chamey's thin, freckled face. "It's gotta be hard," he went on, "that little monster inside him, filling his head with red fog and the most intense cravings you can imagine. It's a wonder he lasted. He's strong. He has you guys keeping him strong." Yes, Jack was strong. And so was she. She had to do something. So much time had been lost already... As soon as their plane touched down in Georgia, she'd called Dr. Kitcher's cell. She soon found out why he'd never responded to her frantic calls earlier. He interrupted her greeting, his voice nervous and clipped. "We were attacked last night! All but two of us killed." Kim struggled to keep her voice low. "Killed? Oh God. The League?" "It happened so fast. Total destruction of the equipment, everything. If Dr. Rhodes hadn't been here...." Dr. Kitcher's voice faded out, then came back. "We're trying to salvage what we can from the lab and get out of here." Sensing the doctor wouldn't be on the phone very long, she quickly filled him in on what was happening. "With that rate of symptom progression, Jack's reversion is complete. But I knew it the moment my people called saying he didn't show at the airport. I'm sorry, Mrs. Roberts." How could he say that, like it was all over? Kim swallowed and cleared her throat. "I'm coming for my vial for Jack. Just tell me where you are." "I'm sorry, I have to attend to something now." And just like that, he'd hung up on her. Her repeated calls went to voicemail. Not being able to reach him now was driving her crazy. She'd wasted enough time standing around looking at Benny and Chamey. Kim wiped a hand over her eyes and pushed off from the doorframe of the motel room. "I'm going to Whitemarsh Island," she said. "A source told me they heard that's where Dr. Kitcher's lab is... was. Just a rumor, but I have to do something." Benson threw her a doubtful look. "Let me go with you." "Better stay here. Dr. Kitcher's skittish as it is, but now that his lab was attacked..." "She can stay with me," Chamey said, giving Kim a small salute. "I'll guard her body with my life." Kim saw the protest firing up in Benson's eyes. "Please," she said, holding up a hand to ward Benson off. She couldn't deal with it right now. The girl gave a long, exaggerated sigh. "Okay, I guess. Just be careful, Kim. It'll be dark soon." "You guys take care of each other. I'll be back as soon as I can." Kim sprinted across the parking lot to the rental car. When she slid behind the wheel, she hit Dr. Kitcher's number on speed-dial. He picked up on the first ring. She couldn't believe it. "It's Kim Roberts," she said quickly, tucking the phone under her jaw and pulling on her seat belt. "Tell me where to come for the antidote." "I thought I told you, Mrs. Roberts, it's too late for Jack." Sharp knives scraped across her stomach. "I don't –" "Jack had his chance. He should have been there to meet my people." She tried to get a breath of air in the hot car. "I–I know, but something happened. Like I told you, the regression came on so fast. We didn't know." She started the car. "Please, I'm on my way, just tell me–" "We have to leave before dark. As soon as we finish loading the trucks, we're gone." "Where?" "I can't say. Just go home, Mrs. Roberts. Keep yourself safe." Damn him. She cradled the phone against her shoulder and stepped on the gas, shooting backward out of the parking space. "Excuse me, doctor –" she wanted so bad to say asshole, "whether the antidote works or not, it's mine. I paid for it. I want it. Now." "I have to hang up now." "No, wait!" She was about to throw up all over the rental car. "Please," she begged, tears blurring her vision. "I'll double what I already paid you. When I get back home, I'll get the money. You have my word." She would sell her car, her jewelry, the house, whatever it took. A maddening pause on the line and then, "Fine. I'll send Dr. Rhodes to meet you." He gave her an address. "Don't be late. I won't let Ron wait on you if you're late." "Oh I won't be late." Still cradling the phone, Kim punched the address into her GPS. She thought Dr. Kitcher had hung up on her, until she heard his voice again. "This is suicide, you know. Jack's a killer now." He paused, then spoke slower. "Well, there's really no concern, because the odds you'll even find him are miniscule." "I can do it," she said, believing it with all her heart. She stepped on the gas and flew out of the parking lot. * Benny was the hottest girl he'd ever seen. Like, ten times hotter than the picture Jack had shown him. Long brown hair that hugged sweet curves. Big brown eyes that could make him do anything she wanted, whether it was carry her books or run and buy her flowers. She'd dressed surprisingly heavy for the Georgia heat, in short black pants that reached just below her knees and a black t-shirt. She could make anything look good though. It'd been hard to do anything but stand and stare at her from the moment she stepped into the room. The garlicky after-smell of NoVamp hung in the damp cool of the room, along with a musty odor and the scent of stale pizza, but it couldn't cover the sweet floral of Benny's perfume. Her cute nose wrinkled up as she sniffed the air. All he could concentrate on was the fact that for the first time in his life, he was alone in a motel room with a girl. A hot girl. He was definitely going to document this for his website. "God." Her voice, loud with disgust, pulled him from his fantasies. "This is where you're staying with my brother? This dump?" "I rented it for another night." He couldn't help but wonder if that would interest her, but the look on her face told him probably not. She fanned the air with a slender hand. "I know it's not the greatest," he said quickly, "I mean, a pool woulda been nice." Right away, his thoughts went to Benny in a bikini at poolside. Oh, man. She glared at him. "If this place had a pool, I wouldn't stick my big toe in it for a million dollars." Her eyes roamed from his bed to Jack's. "And I wouldn't set my ass on one of these beds for a billion dollars." Now there was an image - Benny on his bed. Sweet. He had to get his thoughts straightened out. Benny was here depending on him for protection. Before he could respond, she started for the door. "I can't breathe in this stink-hole. I'm leaving." He moved to stand in front of the door, blocking her way. "No way. You can't." She put her hands on her fabulous hips and glared at him. He realized his arms were shaking. Having Benny so close, what was it doing to him? "I mean, it's gonna be dark real soon. Jack wouldn't want you roaming around out there with, uh, with him out there. Way too dangerous." Her pretty face fell, her soft shoulders hunched. "I don't see why I have to stay here though." She turned away, and he took a step toward her, reaching out a hand in the hopes that she'd take it. "You don't have to stay here. You can come with me to the sporting-goods store. I'll let you buy anything you want." Before he reached her, she whirled on him. "Go on," she said, waving her hand in his face. "Maybe you'll run into Jack. You called yourself a slayer, so you should be able to handle him." That hit him in the gut a little. Handle Jack? He wasn't completely stupid, no matter what his family constantly told him. Yeah, it had been cool to call himself a slayer. He wanted to help people –warn them about vampires and stuff. Maybe do more. And he had to admit in the back of his mind, he'd always dreamed of finding the parasite who killed Trixie. He fantasized about all the ways he'd make it pay before he took the blood-thirsty vermin out of the world. But he was just a regular dude. Still, there was no other choice for him. He'd help Jack and his family no matter what, stay with them to the bitter end. "Come with me," he said, his voice cracking. "I said no. I'll stay here, thank you very much." How could she be this dang stubborn? He reached out to take her hand. She slapped at him like a maniac. "Touch me again and die!" He jumped back to get away from her sharp red fingernails. "Okay, okay!" He held his hands up. Dang. She was a strong girl. He wondered if she worked out. He couldn't blame her if she was a little out of her mind with fear about Jack, though. He was pretty freaked out too, he just tried not to show it. After a moment, she wiped her eyes and looked up at him, blinking. The sight of her pretty brown eyes all red and bleary made his chest hurt. He knew he was going to give in to whatever she wanted. It's gonna be okay, he told himself. After all, Kim will get back before dark with the antidote. Jack didn't like this place, and I'm pretty sure he didn't like the way I tasted. That's his loss... He wants what's out there, so...he doesn't have any reason to come back here. I'll be back before dark too, with the key to my big plan. He shuddered a little in excitement at the thought of that part. It was settled then. "I'll be back soon," he said. "Just stay put. You've got the NoVamp. You'll be fine." He tried to block out the image of her worried brown eyes, so much like Jack's, as he shut the door behind him. * The smell of garlic settled over everything, raising bile in her throat. She couldn't remember how often she was supposed to reapply the NoVamp, so she just kept spraying every few minutes. Doing that gave her a small sense of control, so she kept it up. The problem was, the can was almost empty. The nasty green carpet squished under her flip-flops as she paced back and forth, clenching the can in her hand. It's useless, she thought. This was all those smart scientists had come up with? NoVamp? All the research they could do, and they hadn't figured out a way to really stop the vamps. Or if they have, they sure aren't sharing it with us. She glanced at the window for the hundredth time. This was ridiculous. It wasn't even dark yet. Jack or any other vampire wouldn't be out, so why continue to spray the garlic junk as if it was going to save her life? Really, what good was it going to do against a determined vampire? She'd only seen a little in person of what Jack could do, and it had scared the holy crap out of her. The rest of his abilities, she'd discovered through research, watching videos, reading websites. She'd even chatted online with slayers, which she now believed didn't exist, as well as a couple survivors. The things they'd described had given her nightmares. She'd been through enough already without this vampire garbage. Her parents' deaths had been a shit-storm of pain. But then what happened to Jack almost put her over the edge. First came the horrible time of not knowing where he was or what happened to him. She thought she'd die from it. And then he returned to them. Of course, she'd been thrilled at first. But he was strange -not quite the brother she'd known before, especially with the gross blood-drinking and everything. She'd tried to put up a casual front, like she wasn't as freaked out about him as she really was. At least the antidote made things bearable for a while... until it started wearing off fast. All she wanted was to have a life again. Get through school, find a decent guy, have fun. But Jack's condition had been impossible to ignore. The last two weeks especially. She'd existed in a nightmare in that house, helping where she could but always feeling like it wasn't enough. Always wondering when she went to bed whether she'd even wake up the next day. It killed her to think that way, to be afraid of him. She loved her brother more than anything in the world. If she lost him, she might as well be dead. They had to find him and fix him tonight. But as positive as she wanted to be, she just didn't see how that was going to happen. She crept to the window of the motel room. Parting the ugly maroon plaid curtains had exposed the southern night, just starting to gleam on the other side of the dirty window. Was Jack waking up? Going out for breakfast? She shut the curtains and dialed Kim's cell, but it went straight to voicemail. Damn it Kim, where are you? Chamey should have been back too. Benny didn't know what to think of him, but he was somehow in the middle of this with them, and as far as she was concerned, the more help they had the better. So why wasn't he back yet? Did he abandon us? Honestly, she couldn't blame him. It surprised her he'd stuck around at all. He certainly didn't owe them anything. But he seemed to care a lot about her brother. Oh my god, what if he ran into Jack out there? Shit. She put her hands to the sides of her face and stared at the door, willing Chamey to come through it. She didn't really mean those awful things she'd said to him earlier, certainly didn't want anything bad to happen to him. So where the hell was he? It's okay, calm down... But it was hard to do that when she felt so alone. She began to pace the room. I could really use a drink right now. Guess I won't be having one of those. She turned on the TV once to help distract herself, but the first thing on was a news report about a murder. She shut the TV off instantly -too afraid she'd see a report of a brutal, bloody death in the area. She walked over to the dresser and looked in the dusty mirror at her pale, sweaty face. God, I look like hell. She raised her arms to pull her frizzy hair back from her neck and caught a whiff of her body odor. Even deodorant couldn't mask her fear. She wiped the sweat away as best she could with cleansing wipes from her bag. Then she realized the air conditioner wasn't blowing cold air anymore. She turned the dials all the way up on cold, but the ancient unit continued to sputter out warm air. Frustrated, she kicked it. It shut off with a dying hiss. God. She needed fresh air or she was gonna pass out. But her imagination was starting to get away with her. It was dark out now. What if Jack was lurking just outside the door, waiting for her to open it and take a step out? She froze in place. Was that Jack's voice calling her name? No, she realized, it was just someone out in the parking lot, talking over the sound of a car radio. She heard more people now, yelling and laughing before they drove off. Normal people having fun like she used to do. She checked the time again. No, she had to stop doing that. She had to occupy herself or she'd go crazy. She began organizing the stuff Jack had thrown around the room. All the tiny bottles of blood were empty -no surprise there. She picked up clothes and folded them up, placing them in his suitcase, which looked like it had seen better days. She threw away all the empty and half-empty bottles of V8, soup, and soda. Then she found Jack's wallet. Inside were pictures she didn't know he carried of her and Kim. Tears stung her eyes as she flipped through them. Kim's birthday party, when he'd got down on one knee in front of everyone and proposed. In the background of the photo, she saw Mom and Dad. She wiped her eyes and flipped to the next picture, taken at a restaurant booth. Jack sat between Benny and Kim with his arms around them. He looked so happy. She wondered if she'd ever see him like that again - the real him... smiling and teasing her. He'd been good to her. Protective of her. She found herself wishing Jack was there now, to keep her safe from the vampire out there in the dark. It was still nearly beyond her grasp that he was that vampire. "I'll never complain about taking care of you again, Jack," she said out loud. "I never really minded, you know. Just be okay. Come back to us as yourself, not a monster." She placed the wallet on top of everything else and shut his suitcase, sliding it under the bed by the wall. When she straightened back up, the muggy heat in the room hit her full force. She stood on shaky legs and a wave of nausea rolled over her. She clasped her hand over her mouth and ran for the toilet where she dry-heaved, but there was nothing in her stomach to throw up. Gasping, with tears running down her face, she staggered to the little beige sink, turned on the faucet and splashed the strange-smelling water on her skin. God, she couldn't breathe in this place. She couldn't stand it one more second. She barged out of the cramped bathroom and over to the door. She hesitated when she grabbed the door handle. She had to get some fresh air. Just a gulp or two, that was all. She looked through the peep-hole. See, nobody out there. She opened the door a little and took a few quick breaths. She could have used a lot more –it took all of her willpower not to run out in a panic. But she had to stay in the room. Blood or Love Ch. 08 She started to shut the door, but an arm reached inside and forced it open. Blood or Love Ch. 09 "Benny, it's me!" Chamey burst into the room. He shut the door behind him and grabbed hold of her, crushing her in a smothering bear hug. "You're okay," he panted into her hair as though he'd just sprinted across town. He was sweaty and gross. And why was he holding onto her like that? "Ew!" She pushed him away. He sniffed the air. "Whew, you really went to town with the No Vamp, didn't you?" He smiled. "That's good, though." "Chamey, you idiot... you scared the hell outta me! I thought you were Jack!" His head drooped. "Oh man. I'm sorry." She took a deep breath and placed a hand over her racing heart, willing it to calm down. She'd been so certain it was Jack's hand in the door. It could have been. Then what? She couldn't dwell on it at the moment because Chamey wouldn't shut up. "Sorry, so sorry, Benny." He kept giving her those sad puppy-dog eyes. "I swear I thought I'd get back before dark. Ran all the way as fast as I could." "Yeah? Good for you." "Benny --" "I'm in one piece, okay? Just shut up for a minute." He glanced at the clock on the nightstand, made a zipping motion across his smiling mouth, and gave her a thumbs-up. She rolled her eyes and turned away from him. Clearly he was an idiot. But he'd come back to her, so that counted for something. She took a deep breath and released it as she glanced at him. He was still trying to catch his breath on the bed. A part of her couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the guy. He definitely wasn't her type, but she couldn't dislike him either. This damn heat's frying my brain, she thought, pulling a strand of damp hair from her neck. She was used to Texas heat, but this little motel room was a hot box of death. She stomped over to the beige cinder-block wall near the dresser, turned, and leaned her back against it. She looked from Chamey's face to the ugly grey door. Staring at it, she felt helplessness closing in even more. Really, what makes me any safer now? Chamey is as useless as I am, and Jack doesn't need anyone to open this locked door for him. If he comes back, he'll rip it off its hinges. He can smash through the window. God, he could just plow through the wall. She placed a hand to her chest and focused on her breathing for a moment. Surely Chamey was as scared as she was. If he wasn't scared, then he was even more stupid than she thought. Sure enough, he didn't look particularly worried. And yet, seeing him look so calm made her feel a little better. At least she wasn't alone anymore. Her racing heart began to slow a bit. Chamey picked up a large shopping bag from the floor. In her earlier panic, she hadn't even noticed him carry it in. "What's that?" Chamey sat back on the bed and hugged the bag to his chest with a smile. "My minute's up already?" "Damn you, what's in the freakin' bag?" He recoiled from the look she shot him and quickly pulled a large box from the bag. He tore it open. Eyes shining, he held up his prize -a black, arrow-like contraption. "Super cool, huh?" He fell back on the bed and ran his hands all over it. She wrinkled her brow. "What is that, a crossbow? Um, isn't that kinda small?" He shrugged. "Doesn't need to be big. All it needs to do is shoot a bolt into Jack." She gasped. "You're going to shoot Jack with that?" He stopped caressing the crossbow and sat up. "What'd you think I was gonna do with it?" "But he... You're just gonna stake him?" Try to stake him, is the operative word here. In every scenario running through her head, she'd have to vote Jack as the most likely to survive. By a long-shot. "Nah. That would be a last resort. Only if I have to, to protect you and Kim. My plan is, when Kim gets back with the antidote, I'll dip the end of the bolts into it. When we find him, I'll shoot the antidote into him from a safe distance. No problem." "No problem," she said, mocking. She had to admit though, it sounded like a good plan, better than anything she'd come up with, which was nothing. Only thing was, in her experience good plans always seemed to go wrong. "But what if you miss?" Chamey squinted at her out of one eye. "Oh ye of little faith. I practiced all the time back home. I'm an expert marksman." "Yeah, I'm sure. Anyway, we gotta find Jack first. And we can't even do that 'til Kim gets back. Have you heard from her? Chamey's look bothered her. He set the crossbow down on the bed. "No, I was hoping you had." "Shit." She rubbed a hand down her hot cheek. She wished she could get more air, but she didn't dare open the door again. Chamey went back to messing with his new toy. He began to hum -- an annoying sound. Really, how could he seem so calm when she felt ready to faint into the disgusting carpet? Silently, because she had nothing better to do, she watched him set up for some practice shots. He took the phone book out of the nightstand, scratched a circle into the cover with his knife, and set it up against both pillows and his backpack. Then he stood by the motel door and shot across the room. He hit his mark. It impressed her, though she wasn't about to let on. But still, shooting an inanimate object was easy. Shooting vampires -not so much. "Just be careful with that thing. My luck you'll shoot one of us instead of Jack." He began practicing a quick-draw. "Nah, I'm all about safety." After a while, he turned to her and cleared his throat. "You, um, want me to reinforce your No Vamp?" "What?" "I can re-apply it for you, in case you missed a spot." She shot him her most scorching look. "You know what? No, I don't need you to do that." He shrank back, his shoulders drooped. She gave a sigh. "Actually, I used it all." "I see." He pursed his thin lips and rubbed his chin. "Unfortunately, I lost what was left of my can too. It fell out of my pocket when I was running, somewhere between here and the sporting goods store." "Whatever. NoVamp's useless anyway. I barely even smell it anymore." She watched him sniff the air for a moment before she moved closer to him and held out her hand. "I need a weapon too. Give me the stake." "The stake? You mean the one Jack made?" He pulled it out of his pocket and examined the tip. "It could be sharper." He grabbed his knife from the nightstand. "Let me do it." She took the knife and the stake, then sat down on the bed next to him. It took a moment but she felt his stare on her. That's when she realized what she'd done. She jumped up from the bed and scurried over to the dresser. She took a seat there. He stared at her, his brown eyes shining as he patted the bed. "You can sit by me if you want. Unlike Jack, I don't bite." Was that supposed to be a joke? Sorry if I don't feel like laughing. She looked down and began to drag the knife blade across the tip of the wooden stake. She'd never done that before. Her hand shook at first, then she got the hang of it. "No thanks, I'm good here." "Just don't cut yourself." "Oh, I'm all about safety," she said, mocking him again. She didn't believe for one second the stake would do her any good in an encounter with Jack. Somehow, it still gave her a small sense of security. She worked on the task, grateful to have something to do. Chamey was even quiet for a while, and she found herself looking up to see what he was doing. He practiced passing the crossbow from one hand to the other, and when he stretched out his arm, her eyes fell onto the red, angry-looking puncture wounds on his wrist. How had she missed that before? Chamey had told them on the phone what happened, but she didn't look him over too closely when they got to the motel. For one thing, she wasn't ready to see how far gone Jack was. Something softened in her heart. She threw the knife in one of her bags, put the stake down on the dresser, and stood up. "So, does that hurt?" "What?" He followed her gaze down to his wrist. "Oh, this? Nah, not really." Trying to sound tough. He had to be. The wound looked awful. "You should let me take care of that," she heard herself say. "I can clean it for you." There was a long enough silence and staring from him that she began to regret the offer. "You'd do that for me?" She shrugged. "The stake's as sharp as it's gonna get, and this would give me something else to do. Besides, you don't want that to get infected, do you? Then your hand would fall off. Yuck." "Well..." What was that look she saw in his eyes? Uh-oh. She'd seen guys get that look with her before. Like they were reading more into things than she meant. God, you'd think I'd offered to blow him. As if I would. "I'm just going to clean it and bandage it for you... not kiss it." "Of course." He jumped up from the bed. "Anything you wanna do to it is fine by me." She grabbed her other bag from the dresser. She hadn't had a lot of time to pack, so she'd just thrown in a little of everything, including some first-aid supplies. Chamey was still on the bed. She marched over, grabbed his hand, and pulled him into the small bathroom. She pushed him down onto the yellow toilet seat lid and set his hand on the edge of the sink to take a better look at his wrist. She thought he'd talk non-stop, but he stayed quiet as she gently cleaned and bandaged it. Jack did this... my brother did this, kept going through her head. She took a deep breath and puffed it out. "Great job," Chamey said when she finished. "You're amazing, Benny." "It's nothing." She found herself staring down at Chamey's pale hands. They were nice hands. She felt him looking at her face, and she could hear him breathing. So annoying. "I think you need stitches," she said. "Or else that's gonna leave a nasty scar." "Really? Cool. My first vampire bite scar. I have other scars. You wanna see 'em?" She shook her head and started throwing things back into her bag, but stopped when she saw his goofy smile out of the corner of her eye. She started smiling too, and it turned to giggles. Crazy giggles. What the hell's wrong with me? Nothing's funny at a time like this. Chamey was laughing too. It filled the cramped room. He had a cute laugh. She looked into his warm, dark brown eyes and the thought rolled through her mind that he might not survive the night. That went for her and Kim too. That sobered her up. She cleared her throat. "You know what you said earlier when Kim was here, about Jack. Was that some kind of cheesy pep-talk, or do you really think there's hope for him?" Chamey's smile faded. He gazed down at his bandaged wrist. "Don't you?" "Yeah, I wanna think there's still a chance..." Chamey jumped up from the toilet seat. "I think there's hope. You know why?" He took a small step toward her. She stuck a hand out to his chest, which stopped him. "No idea." He smiled softly. "Because of you and Kim." She let that register for a moment, but doubt quickly settled back in. She wanted to think love conquered all -would love to be as optimistic as Chamey sounded, but she just wasn't sure. Chamey took another step her way. Only then did she realize her hand was still on his chest. She could feel his heart beating like crazy against her palm. She was aware of just how tiny the room was. The bathroom door stood open behind her. She could take another step back and be out of the room. She didn't move. He smiled big and held up his bandaged wrist. "Thanks, Benny. You're an awesome person, just like Jack." "I said, it was nothing," she mumbled. She turned and exited the room fast. He closed the door behind her. "Nature calls," he said, his voice muffled through the door. She stumbled over to the dresser, sat down, and wiped sweat from her upper lip. Where the hell was Kim? She pulled her phone from the pocket of her capris to try her again. Just as she put it up to her face, it rang. Her heart leaped. "Kim!" "Everything okay, Benson?" Kim's voice was sweet to hear. "I guess. You on your way?" "Be there in minutes." "Hurry." "Chamey with you?" "Yeah. He's got this stupid crossbow thing that he thinks he can shoot into Jack." She sighed. "I don't suppose you have the antidote in a dart form or something?" Kim's voice startled her with its enthusiasm. "Dr. Kitcher's assistant, Dr. Rhodes --I mean, Ron, he was so helpful. He brought me a case with syringes, and get this -- two vials of antidote!" "Really? How long will our descendents have to pay for that?" Kim actually giggled, a sound Benson hadn't heard in ages. Kim went on talking, and she sounded excited...hopeful. It was giving Benson hope too. Maybe this could end well after all. They just had to find Jack. That was the bad part. She watched Chamey come out of the bathroom. He grabbed up the crossbow and leaped around the room, practicing more quick-draws. "Just hurry," she whispered into the phone. A few minutes later, there was a pounding on the door. Chamey ran to the door and pointed the crossbow at it. "Identify yourself!" "It's me," said Kim's voice. Benson pushed him away from the door. "You idiot. Put that stupid thing down." She threw the door open. She couldn't remember ever being so glad to see her sister. Kim walked into the room and Benson threw her arms around her. Kim hugged her back, then pulled away and sniffed the air. "Wow, you must've used a lot of NoVamp." Benson looked down. "Yeah, I used all of it." Kim stopped, as if taking in the fact that they were completely out of vampire repellant. Then she moved to the closest bed, set down a small grey case and flipped it open to reveal two tiny vials of faint green serum --the precious antidote, along with two syringes. "Wow," was all Benson could say. The admiration was clear in Chamey's voice too. "You got the goods. Way to go, Mrs. Jack Roberts." Kim smiled a tired but satisfied smile. "It's thanks to Ron. He was a miracle-worker, getting me all this. He was so concerned, like he would have come and helped us if he could." She picked up a vial of the antidote and began filling a syringe. Benson's mind whirled as she watched Kim. It was almost like the news was too good for her brain to process. "It can be injected into him. Or..." A hesitant look crossed Kim's face. "There's another way too." Benson watched in disbelief as Kim stuck the needle into her upper arm and pushed the plunger. "Kim, what the hell are you doing?" "Wild," Chamey said. "I get it. If he drinks you, he'll be cured." Benson fought to keep her voice calm. "But, what's that shit gonna do to you?" "Nothing, Ron assured me. I have to prepare for the fact that Jack may attack me." The room seemed to tilt. Benson's stomach rolled as she watched Chamey flex his arm repeatedly, pumping up his veins. "In that case, we all need to inject some," he said. "We don't know who he might go for." "Exactly." Kim handed him the syringe, which was still two-thirds of the way full. He shot the green junk into himself, then turned to Benson. She backed away, heart pounding. "No, don't come near me with that needle." "Come on, Benny," he said. "It isn't doing anything bad to us. If you're too scared, I'll inject it for you." She thought she was gonna be sick right there. She put a hand on her stomach as she sank back onto the dresser, shoving an empty pizza box out of her way. Chamey was still holding the needle out. She looked over at Kim and saw her filling another syringe with the faint green antidote. Had it really come to this? Injecting themselves with this mad-scientist goo because her brother wanted to chow down on them? Apparently so. She had to get over the needle-thing and just do it. This wasn't the time to let her past haunt her. "Oh, hell. Give it to me. I can do it myself. Not like I haven't done it a hundred times before." But when Chamey handed her the syringe, she could only stare down at it, trembling. She looked up to find Kim watching her. "On second thought, you do it for me, Kim." "Of course." Kim took the used syringe from Benson and handed it to Chamey. "Use that for your crossbow," she told him. Then she moved to Benson's side with the fresh needle. When Kim removed the needle from her arm, Benson turned to the mirror and waited. Nothing weird was happening -she didn't feel or look any different. She brushed a damp clump of hair from her sweaty forehead. I sure look like hell though. But who really cares? I could die somewhere in Savannah tonight. All three of us could. She glanced at Chamey, looking for that smile of his to reassure her, but he was busy talking into a voice-recorder. He must have felt her looking at him, because he put the recorder down on the bed and smiled at her. "Don't worry, Benny. I won't let anything happen to you." For some reason, she believed him. Not that he could actually save her from her vampire brother, but that he was willing to try. She slid off the dresser and went into the bathroom. She splashed the funky-smelling water on her face and even forced herself to take a few sips. God, how could we forget to bring bottled water? She wiped her face on a rough towel, then went out and stood against the wall near the bathroom door. "So where do you guys think he is?" "Could be anywhere now that it's dark," Chamey said. "Prowling the streets or hanging out in a seedy bar. Maybe on a boat on the Savannah River, slaughtering its occupants." "On a boat?" Kim said. Something in her voice made Benson look up. Her sister's cute pixie face was drawn tight. Her eyes glittered. "Maybe on his way to see old friends?" "Remember," Chamey said, "even if it's come to that, it's not Jack. It's the parasite." Kim just stared back at him, her face emotionless. "I don't believe he's gone." Chamey's voice was firm. "It's like I can feel it --he's not far away." A cold chill trickled down Benson's arms despite the stifling room. She wanted to believe her brother was still in his right mind too. If only she could find him, talk to him.... she was sure she could bring him back, at least long enough to get the antidote in him. "Well," she said, "we have a lot of ground to cover between here and the river, if that's even where he went. I mean, damn, I don't wanna go out there, but what else are we supposed to do?" Kim and Chamey didn't answer. Someone had knocked on the door. It came again, a slow, sharp rapping sound. Benson froze against the wall. Her heart thudded in her chest. The knock came again. Louder. "D-did one of you order a pizza?" Chamey managed to say, his voice strangely high. "Maybe a large with everything?" Benson's leg muscles loosened just enough that she could begin a slow backward retreat for the bathroom. One small, halting step at a time. Coward. Yeah, so what? She ignored the guilt and kept moving. Her instinct to run was overwhelming. She didn't have to see him or hear his voice. She just knew her brother was on the other side of the door. A nightmare seemed to play out in front of her. Kim, syringe in hand, walked to the door. She looked through the peephole, then glanced over her shoulder at Chamey. "Nobody," she mouthed, but the look on her face said she didn't believe it. "Kim," Benson hissed at her. "Get away from the door!" Instead, Kim reached down and took the doorknob in her hand. Before she could turn it, Chamey was there. He put out an arm out and moved Kim toward the dresser. He wrapped his hand around the doorknob. The crossbow in his other hand was shaking. "I've got that creepy feeling, don't you guys?" She was creeped out all right. That was putting it mildly. She had reached the bathroom door now. No exit in there, not even a small window to squeeze through. Blood or Love Ch. 09 "Chamey --" Kim started to say. "I have to protect you guys." He opened the door. It happened in a fraction of a second. A hand reached in and wrapped around his throat. Jack walked in, forcing Chamey back into the room as he came. Blood or Love Ch. 10 Jack lifted Chamey off the floor, holding him there with one hand around his throat. Chamey raised the crossbow, but Jack snatched it away and tossed him backward. Chamey flew onto the bed behind him, rolled over it, and hit the floor on the other side with a loud thwack! and a grunt. Benson screamed, but the sound cut off, as if she had no breath to push it out. She cowered by the bathroom door, hands clasped over her mouth. "Damn it," Jack muttered. Kim turned in time to see the motel door click shut behind him, closing away the dimly-lit parking lot. For her, there would be no attempt to escape. She would do her best to save Benson and Chamey, but she would either cure Jack or die trying. For the moment, she could only stand by the dresser where Chamey had pushed her and stare at Jack. A thrill went down her spine to see him. His dark hair glistened and sections of it stuck out this way and that, as if he'd just run his hands through it. His skin was as pale as she'd ever seen it. It practically glowed against the t-shirt and black jeans he wore. He was not on the streets killing, nor on his way to find his maker. He'd come to them. To her. For a moment it made her forget the penetrating fear and disgust that had hit her when he knocked on the motel door -the same as it had over a year ago when he knocked on the door of their home, as if back from the dead. Jack coughed once more then cleared his throat. "Damn it," he said again, wiping his eyes. She'd almost forgotten about the NoVamp. Of course Jack was experiencing it, but not for long. He wiped his face on his forearm, then broke the crossbow in half like it was a twig. He opened the door behind him and pitched the remains of the weapon outside. The pieces clattered somewhere in the distance in the parking lot. "Aw man." Chamey's voice sounded raspy as he raised to his knees between the beds. He rubbed his throat and frowned at Jack. "Not fair, Jack. Didn't even get to try it out." "Not much of a slayer are you?" Jack turned to her. His brown eyes that she'd always thought were the most beautiful in the world, were now distant and cold. "Kim, little trouble-making human who tried to neuter me." Her hair stood on end at those words, the way he said them... the way he was looking at her. "No --" "Yes." The sharpness in his voice made her shut her mouth. "Just wouldn't leave me alone. Always running around looking for a cure. You're the reason I had to spend a year in that hellish state -a sick, weak man, instead of transforming into something infinitely better." He slinked toward her with unnatural grace. She stepped back from his slow advance until her fist, gripping the syringe of antidote, hit the wall behind her back. She took a shallow breath and released it. "You came home to us, remember? You didn't really want that life. You don't want it now, or you wouldn't have come back." Chamey tried to get to his feet. "She's right, man. I know you wanted all my blood, but you stopped yourself. You came back here looking for help." Jack stopped walking, but kept his gaze fixed on Kim. "I came back to finish him, and I find you here. And Benson. How convenient." Kim struggled to keep the calm in her voice. "Of course we came as soon as we could. I should have come with you in the first place." Jack shrugged. "I'm going to kill the three of you, then find my maker. I'll finally be free." Her lungs tightened. She had to remind herself to breathe again. Clearly there was no time to waste. She had to get the antidote in him. Now. Her gaze swept from Benson to Chamey, willing them not to interfere -not to do anything stupid. But Chamey -watching Jack advance on her again, jumped to his feet. The kid raised up in a martial arts pose. She couldn't believe it, surely he wasn't going to -- He never got another step. Without taking his eyes off Kim, Jack kicked the bed next to him, and the whole thing flipped over and plowed into Chamey. It spun him around and knocked him backward against the other bed. His lower body slid down until his knees hit the floor, and the overturned mattress, covers, and bed frame slammed on top of him. "Chamey!" It was Benson who cried out. She left her spot by the bathroom door and fell to her knees beside him. Jack turned her way, and Benson looked up at him with wide, fearful eyes. He took a couple steps toward her. With her husband distracted, and his back just a short distance from her, Kim took what might be her only chance. She raised the syringe in the air --thumb on the plunger, and rushed at him, bringing it down on his back. Some part of her knew all along this wasn't going to work. Jack whirled on her, grabbing her hand. It happened so fast it took her brain a second to catch up. His cold skin shocked hers. His grip was tight. She looked up at his face and shrank back. His eyes, red around the edges, glittered dark and angry down on her. "You really think I'd let you do that?" No. NO. This wasn't happening. "Jack, please," she choked out. "Come on, Jack, my BFF," Chamey said weakly from below the overturned mattress. With Benson's help, he managed to get it halfway off himself. "If you're so sure it won't work, what's the harm?" "I'm fine just the way I am." He glared at Kim. "Better than fine. " She tried to pull away, and when that didn't work, she tried to pry his fingers open with her other hand. "No, you're not fine," she said, giving up on freeing herself. "This isn't you. Just take the shot, we can all go home." He leaned close. "Too late." With his face inches from hers, she saw the droplets of moisture on his skin, his lips and jaw trembling faintly. "It's that thing inside you talking." Behind him, Chamey climbed to his feet, then fell again. "She's right, man," he said, his voice tight, full of pain. "You've got to fight it. You're stronger than that. Cut through that red haze, buddy. You don't wanna hurt us." Jack casually turned his body in order to look at Chamey. Kim, with her hand lodged in his, had no choice but to pivot around with him. "You're wrong." "Then why haven't you done it already and left our mangled, bloodless bodies strewn out over the room for housekeeping to find? Why aren't you wreaking total vampire carnage right now? If you wanted to, you could have slaughtered us in seconds and been on the way to your maker." "Chamey!" Benson's voice was shrill. "Shut up!" Chamey put a hand to his ribs and grimaced. "You came back to the motel 'cause you knew Benny and Kim would come here, looking for you. You want the antidote. You wanna be with them." Jack squeezed Kim's hand tight, almost too tight. "What I want is waiting on me far from here. Power, freedom, blood. I can't give that up." To her surprise that provoked something in Benson. The girl jumped to her feet, whipped her hair from her face, and planted a glare on Jack. "Really?" Her voice was shaking but indignant, more like her old self. "You can't give this up? Not for me and Kim? I don't believe it." She put her hands on her hips, a gesture Kim had seen countless times. "I know you're still in there. You never gave up on me, even when I was at my worst. I'm not giving up on you either, big brother." Hoping to distract him from the other two, and to diffuse what looked like the beginning of one argument Benson wouldn't win, Kim reached her free hand up to touch Jack's cheek. Before her fingers touched him, he jerked his face away and raised his own hand. He held it at the side of his head, palm aimed at her. She wilted back. Then, so fast she couldn't track it, he brought his hand down and snatched hers. Now both her hands were caught in his. She took a quick, steadying breath and looked deep into his eyes, trying to find her husband in them. Trying to get him to see her. "I love you, Jack... baby." Her voice was as soft and calm as she could manage. She motioned with her head to the syringe trapped in their hands. "Please take the antidote. It's new -you're gonna love it, I promise." His eyes narrowed. His fangs came out. Her lungs tightened and she gasped. Her body jerked back on instinct, trying to run. His hold on her kept her in place. He pulled her up toward him, straining her arms in their sockets as he forced her up on her tiptoes. He leaned down toward her and as his glaring eyes burned into hers, he emphasized each word in a low, deadly voice. "I said, it's too late, bitch." Looking into his eyes -seeing nothing human there, hearing those harsh words from his lips, something changed in her: She believed him. For the last year, she'd heard that same voice speaking similar words in the back of her mind, trying to derail her. She'd never let it before, but now she couldn't ignore that Jack had slipped away from her. The hope she'd carried all that time seemed like a naïve fantasy. Did I really think I could get the antidote into him? Save him... us? Even if he bit her, drank her now, she knew the antidote could do nothing if there was no awareness from the host -nothing in there to connect with. Dr. Kitcher's words ran through her mind: The reversion is complete. Jack is a killer. In one quick move, he stripped the syringe from her grasp and flung it at the wall behind her. She felt a rush of air and then the wall at her back. He'd pushed her up against it. His hands rested on either side of her, caging her in. Her husband's formerly kind face glared down on her. His voice carried a twisted anticipation. "After what you did to me, I'm gonna take my time killing you." It was too much. She turned her head to the right and saw the syringe sticking out of the wall, out of her reach. A look to the left showed Benson with both hands clasped to the sides of her face, her body swaying. "Jack, no," Benson said, the panic back in her voice. "Stay where you are," Kim cried out to her. Actually she wanted to tell Benson to run -Chamey too, but she held it in, afraid Jack would kill them both in their rush to the door. A smile pulled up his lips, exposing his fangs again as he glanced toward them. "Yes, stay there, both of you. I'll deal with you next." He set his predatory gaze back on Kim, and that's when she knew with absolute certainty. The creature that had her trapped against the wall was completely vampire. If there'd been anything left of her husband behind those red-tinged eyes, he would have taken the antidote. He wouldn't let another precious moment go by -risking her life and that of his beloved sister. The full weight of it swept over her, breaking down any final defense. She hadn't been afraid of the parasite in a long time, not since the antidote had put it to rest, other than a twinge of fear that last night in bed with Jack. She'd probably trusted his better nature more than she should have over the last year. But he'd never let her down. Benson had always been the cautious and jittery one, even when Jack was at his docile best. Now Kim's eyes teared up, making his face blur. Her lungs spasmed, clutching for air. Her legs shook and then they buckled under her. She collapsed. He grabbed her, held her against the wall. Pressed his cold body against hers. He pulled her head to one side, exposing her neck. Tears slid down her cheeks, but she locked the sound of her crying inside. Her sobs wracked her body against his as they tried to come out. She'd missed her chance to save him. And herself. But maybe Benson and Chamey didn't have to die. There was a chance they could get away while Jack was busy with her. His soft, dark hair brushed against her ear, as his cool lips passed over her neck. She flinched when his teeth grazed her skin. She shut her eyes and swallowed painfully. "Get out of here, both of you." "If they try to run," he murmured from just below her jaw, "I'll kill them in front of you." She stammered, trying to get her mouth to work and tell them to stop -don't move. But Chamey shouted Benny's name at the top of his lungs. There was horror in his voice. Kim's eyes shot open and every muscle tensed at the sight of Benson leaping onto Jack, piggy-back style. Like a crazed woman, Benson wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled at him, trying to tug him away from Kim's throat. "Get off her, Jack! Leave her alone." She's lost her mind. Kim didn't know how Benson even manage to get herself on his back, let alone stay there. Jack was too aware at all times. And yet here she was, legs wrapped around his sides, clinging to him. Obviously, he was letting her, maybe to make a show of tearing her to pieces. How much time did the girl have until Jack pulled her down and killed her? Benson leaned forward, talking in his ear. "Take your stupid medicine, Jack." Her voice shook now, fighting tears. "Kim doesn't deserve this. She's done everything for you. Stop being a bully!" Jack muscles tightened like steel against Kim's body. He raised his mouth inches from her skin, and when he spoke, his voice was a low threat. "Get off me." "No. "I'm going to kill you." "Then you're just gonna have to kill me, cause I'm not leaving you. I'm not letting you hurt Kim. You love her, in case you forgot." Chamey had bounded up to Benson. He grabbed and pulled on her. She squealed and flailed her right arm backward --her elbow hit Chamey in the adam's apple. He fell back, gasping and coughing, hands clasped over his throat. To Kim's dread, Jack seemed to have had enough of the distraction. He raised all the way up to his full height. Benson, grasping at him, shrieking, couldn't hold on. She slid off his back and onto the floor at his heels. Kim wanted to reach up and put her arms around Jack's neck - pull him closer to her neck again, anything to keep him from turning around and attacking Benson, but she couldn't move her arms. He still had them pinned against the wall. "Look at me," Kim pleaded. She dropped her head to the side so that her neck was fully exposed to him. He didn't listen, and he wasn't looking at her. She saw the flash of rage in his dark eyes. "Benson," Kim said sharply. "If you love your brother, do what he told you. Get out of here. Now." Chamey grabbed hold of Benson from behind and yanked her to her feet. A steely determination crossed his face and his thin, wiry body tightened. He wrapped his arms around her and dug into the carpet with his feet. She tried to get free, but he didn't let her. He forcefully pushed her across the room to the door. "No," Benson said, crying as he yanked open the door with one hand. "I can't leave them, I can't." "Sorry, Benny, but I promised Jack I'd take care of you." Kim felt a moment's relief when he pushed Benson through the open door. He started to shut it behind her, but she popped right back into the room, shrieking again. Kim groaned at the utter stupidity. That's when she saw a hand reaching in from outside, wrapped around Benson's arm. Someone had hold of her and was forcing her back into the room. At first Kim didn't recognize the muscular figure in the doorway. Then he stepped inside, holding onto both Benson and Chamey, pushing them as he came. "Dude, let go," Chamey said, but the man kept walking. He pushed them around the remains of the bed Jack had overturned, until he'd herded them all the way to the bed that stood against the wall. Only then did he drop his grip and turn to Kim and Jack. "Dr. Rhodes?" Kim's jaw dropped in amazement at the sight of Dr. Kitcher's assistant. "Ron?" She couldn't believe he was here. Such a nice man. How had he walked into a situation like this? Jack had let go of her and spun around as soon as Ron came in. With his back to her now, Kim took a chance. Slowly, carefully, she moved from the wall and edged her way between Jack and the dresser. She glanced up at him as she passed, but he didn't look at her. He stared at Ron, scrutinizing him through vicious eyes. Something caught her eye on the dresser as she passed. It was the wooden stake Chamey had shown them earlier. Tempted, she almost reached over to grab it, but with her arms and hands quaking, and Jack standing as close as he was, she knew it was a useless attempt. Besides, she couldn't use it on him. She knew that would always be the truth. She covered the rest of the distance and threw her arms around Benson, then looked up at Ron, scanning him quickly. He was still dressed in the same work clothes that she knew were dirty from sifting through the ruined lab. He didn't have any weapon visible -no stake, no can of NoVamp. Solid muscled arms bulged against his black t-shirt, but that meant nothing against a vampire. "What are you doing here?" He glanced at her with sparkling dark brown eyes and a broad smile that was completely out of place. "Well," he drawled in his deep southern accent, "I followed you." Rubbing his chinstrap beard, he glanced around the room in a laid-back way, as if oblivious to the mess he'd just walked into. "Was afraid things might not go well when you tried to give Jack the antidote. Looks like I was right." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jack move. By the time she turned her head, he'd put himself between them and the door. She took a deep breath, released it, and forced herself to look back into Ron's face. "You shouldn't have come. You can see it's dangerous. It... the reversion is complete." Ron nodded, but seemed in no hurry or fear. He held out a hand to Chamey. "Chamey, is it? Kim told me about you. You've been a good friend to Jack." Chamey still held one arm against his ribcage. He stuck his free hand out and clasped Ron's hand, pumping it in a big handshake, smiling. "He's an easy guy to like. Or, he was. You know what I mean." Ron took Benson's hand next. "Benson Roberts. You're in Jack's file, of course. It's a real pleasure." She shook his hand at the same time she shot Kim a look that asked, 'Is this guy for real?' Kim didn't reply; her mind still whirred over Dr. Rhodes -how terrible that someone else had been pulled into this. Benson turned back to him and gave a quick, tense smile. "Um, now that introductions are done, can we like, do something about Jack? I hope you brought more antidote. He's not gonna let us get near that one he threw in the wall. All he says is, 'it's too late'." "Well, he's right," was Ron's reply. Kim couldn't believe her ears. The shock continued when the doctor calmly turned to Jack and said, "Yes, it's definitely too late for him." Hearing an expert confirm what she already knew drove her heartache even deeper. She sank down on the foot of the bed behind her, pulling Benson down too. She needed to regroup for a moment if that was still possible. But Benson wouldn't let her sit. She jumped back to her feet, yanking Kim up with her. "This is bullshit!" Kim kept hold of her hand as they faced Ron. His eyes on them were all sympathy. "I'm sorry. I know this is unimaginably hard for you. For all of you." He looked Kim in the eye. "I came for another reason too. Dr. Kitcher called me after you left, asked me to assess Jack in person, determine once and for all if the reversion is complete. And if it is, to dispose of him." Kim stiffened, clasping Benson's hand tighter, not realizing what she had done until the girl snatched her hand away with a soft whine. Kim stared at Ron, unable to wrap her mind around the words he'd so easily tossed at them. Before she could ask a question, Jack cleared his throat. They all turned to look at him. "You're a vampire," he said. She watched the scrutinizing look on his face turn to amazement. "I wasn't sure at first, but it's in there. You're like me.... yet different. How?" Blood or Love Ch. 10 "I'm under Dr. Kitcher's new and improved formula." "Dude," Chamey said, "if you were a vampire, we woulda known right away. Fo shizzle. We'd be as squicked out by you as we are by my buddy Jack here." Puzzled, Kim stared at Ron and pushed her hand through her damp hair. "And I saw you in the sun." Ron laughed, a deep, pleasant sound. "Another benefit of the new formula. I no longer throw off 'the danger', as we jokingly call it back at the lab. And I don't have the normal vampire weaknesses. I can go out in the sun without any problem as you saw earlier, Kim." Chamey looked up, his eyes bright as he kicked away a yellow bedspread that had tangled around his foot. "But the vampire power?" "I get to keep all of it, the same as Jack would have." "Wow. That's totally awesome, dude. Jack, did you hear that? Yeah, of course you did." The realization had started to sink in with Kim too. Ron was a vampire, a medicated one, and that's why he wasn't afraid. With Ron here, maybe she didn't have to be afraid for Benson and Chamey. Benson turned to Jack, one eyebrow raised. "See, Jack? You don't have to give up anything if you take the antidote." Ron quickly spoke up. "Jack could have kept his power, if only he'd taken it before the reversion was complete. Speaking of that, we're working on making it longer-lasting. Hopefully, permanent." Kim looked over at Jack, her heart aching so hard it might burst. "Like the old fomula," Ron went on, "this one puts the parasite's mind to sleep, stopping its influence on the host." Jack crossed his arms at his chest. His dark eyes targeted the doctor with hateful intensity. She almost couldn't bear to look at Jack any longer. They had come so close to getting him back. She knew she hadn't even begun to grieve the loss yet. "But now," Ron said, "the parasite's powers keep functioning at full tilt. We're on a fast-track of evolution. He didn't have to succumb to the bloodthirsty monster." Jack tilted his head and frowned. "You don't drink blood?" "Well..." Ron shrugged. "Nothing's perfect. You can't kill the parasite off completely, you know. And to keep it alive, it must eat." He gave Jack a slight smile. "Speaking of eating, I can tell you haven't nourished yourself." "I was pretty nourishing," Chamey muttered. Benson threw her hands up. "If you can do all that with an antidote, why can't you just find a way to kill the stupid thing inside Jack once and for all? So he can have his body to himself again?" "So far it can't be done without killing the host too. Besides, what we want to do is control the parasite." Ron's voice carried an excited tremor. "Use it. Right now is the beginning of a new era --that of the super-soldier. We're there." The huge cry of excitement came from Chamey. He pumped both fists in the air, then doubled over and grabbed his ribs again. He groaned, but his pain didn't curb his enthusiastic words. "Yes! I thought of that -I was right - it's exactly one of the scenarios I've been talking about. On my website." Benson wrinkled her brow when she looked at Ron. "You're gonna make Jack into a super soldier?" Ron settled down on the edge of the dresser. "There were experiments in the early days that got out of control. Subjects escaped and went out into the population, infecting others. Jack was just one of those unfortunate people in the wrong place at the wrong time, infected by an escapee or someone down-line from one." "Cole," Jack said. Kim's stomach clenched at that name and at the longing in Jack's voice as he said it. Benson's voice grew more incredulous. "Are you saying vampires were created on purpose?" "What we did was turn this primitive, bloody state of nature toward a higher purpose, something practical. The applications are enormous." "You're telling me." Chamey was stroking his chin. "And in the process, we'll rid the world of the plague of true vampires." "Who's this 'we' you're talking about?" Kim said. "Who do you think?" Chamey said. "We're talking government-issue, grade A, vampire super-soldiers. The ultimate weapon." He slapped a hand to his forehead. "I tried to tell people this was the happening! Where's my voice recorder? I think it's still on." He began to kick frantically through the debris around him. Ron cleared his throat loud enough that Chamey looked up. Ron held the voice recorder up. He crushed it in one hand and let the small pieces sift through his fingers onto the carpet. "Ah, come on man!" Chamey threw up his hands and jumped around like a toddler throwing a fit. Then he gasped, grabbed his side again, and fell to his knees, clenching his teeth. "No way, oh man oh man...." Ron shrugged a shoulder at him then turned to Kim. "Some of these researchers, like Campbell and Kitcher, were selling it on the side in its developmental stages and making money off desperate folks like you. But now we're already in the process of locating the true vampires and putting them down." "Putting them down?" Benson echoed. "You're a true slayer," Chamey said. "No wonder the League is on the offense. Trying to stop you from wiping their species out." "But you can't do that to Jack," Kim said. A tide of dread rolled into the pit of her stomach. Her husband might not be in that body any longer, but she would crack if she saw it destroyed. Jack laughed. The unexpected sound made her jump a little. "Damn right he can't." Ron flashed a self-assured smile back at him. "We've really cut you a break over the last year, thanks mostly to your wife, and of course, your good behavior." "Living like that was worse than death," Jack seethed. "Not being able to run or be with my maker. Living with these two succulent creatures and not being able to tear into them." Kim stood stunned. Benson whimpered. "Yes, I imagine that was a difficult time." Ron's voice sounded as calm as ever. He reached down and picked up the wooden stake on the dresser. He looked it over for a moment before sliding it into his back pocket. He spoke to Kim. "There are a handful of others like Jack used to be, maintaining their antidote, living out their lives with their families and friends. They'll continue to be watched closely. We're willing to let them be for now, as long as they behave. We may have use for them in the future though." "I've heard enough," Jack said. He was already at the door. "I'm leaving. I'll find my maker. You won't be able to stop me." "I will stop you," Ron said, getting up from the dresser. "I know you haven't fed. You're weak." Jack turned to face him. "Come close. I'll show you weak." To Kim's surprise, Ron backed up slowly until he stood at her right side. She glanced over at him, unable to read his expression. Was he afraid of Jack? "Things have changed, my friend," Ron said. "All vampires will be killed as they are located. Your old friends -if they're even still out there, won't be around much longer. There's nothing to go back to." "We'll see. Maybe the League would like a new member." Benson took a step toward him. "Don't be stupid, Jack, you can't just leave us." He grabbed the door handle. Kim's heart pummeled her chest, she could barely draw a breath. Watching him walk out the door forever, she had no idea what to say or do. That wasn't the case with her sister. Benson seemed to have all the grit for better or worse. She still believed in her brother. She began calling his name. Watching Benson's absolute faith in Jack stung Kim deep inside. Uncertainty began to trickle through her. Benson moved toward Jack, but Ron put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. He pulled her back on the other side of him but had to keep his hand in place to prevent her from rushing for Jack again. "Jack," Benson said, repeating his name again and again, her voice rising to hysterical heights. Jack turned the knob and opened the door. A mournful sob left Benson's throat. "Jack, don't leave me!" At that moment, Kim felt pressure around her body, trapping her arms. Her mind took a second to process that Ron had pulled her against him. His thick arm held her tight against his left side. She couldn't move except to uselessly kick her feet and turn her head. She gasped when she saw that he'd trapped Benson on his right. "Hey!" Benson said. "What the --" Ron buried his nose in Benson's long brown hair. "Ah..." He breathed out in satisfaction. "Succulent. Just like you said." Jack had already stopped and whirled around. His rigid frame filled the door, his hands gripped the door frame. It creaked as if under intense pressure. "What do you think you're doing?" Ron raised his head to Jack. His fangs were out. They gleamed in the room's lamp light. "Like I said, I still need blood. Kim and Benson are right here. And since you aren't taking it, I thought I'd help myself." "What? No!" Benson's voice was a shrill cry. She struggled against him, but had no more success than Kim was having. This couldn't be happening. Ron couldn't mean this, but then she watched him heft Benson higher in his arm and lick his tongue up the side of her face. His fangs drove straight for her neck. Time stopped for Kim. Several things happened at once. Ron released her. Jack vanished from the doorway. There was a rush of air, a grunt, and then Ron was gone too. A horrible sound like an explosion hit her from behind and she fell to the floor. Stunned, she looked back and saw a gaping hole in the wall behind the bed. Dust shot out of the hole and plumed into the bedroom. "What the hell?" Benson said, looking up from the floor nearby. Chamey coughed as he staggered over to them. "You guys all right?" She let Chamey help her up, but couldn't answer, just kept staring at the crumbled wall and trying to make sense of what had happened. She heard Jack and Ron scuffling on the bathroom floor. It couldn't be, she thought, her mind racing as fast as her heart. Did he... Her body trembled. A warm energy pulsed in her chest. It was a comforting feeling, familiar and hopeful, and she found herself standing with legs like jelly in front of the syringe that Jack had pitched into the wall. She yanked it free and stumbled toward the bathroom. She was aware of Chamey limping behind her, trying to keep up. Benson grabbed hold of her as she went by, but Kim shook her off. The most important thing in the world to her now was on the other side of that door. Forcing back tears, she moved to do what she she'd intended to all along. She didn't even have to go the whole way to him. Before she took another step, the bathroom door flew open and Jack stepped out. Blood or Love Ch. 11 Jack paused outside the open bathroom door and looked down into her eyes. For the first time, she saw light in them, warmth. Him. Her vision of him blurred with tears. The syringe shook in her hand. His body trembled too as she slowly raised the syringe toward him. He looked away when it came closer. His face strained. The shaking grew worse and he cursed softly. After a few moments, he breathed out full and slow. He relaxed and looked directly into her eyes again. "I'm sorry." His voice was gentle; his eyes soft, shining. "I'm sorry for everything... for what I've put you through." He reached forward slowly, carefully, and wrapped his large, cool hand around her quaking hand –around the antidote. "I love you, Kim. I don't deserve you, but I always want to be with you." He guided the needle toward his chest. He pushed it all the way in. His thumb on hers helped her push the plunger. "If you'll still be with me." "God, yes." When she pulled the syringe away, the green liquid that had filled it was gone. She looked up at Jack expectantly, but something was wrong. He fell back against the wall. His eyes rolled back in his head. His body convulsed. "Jack!" she said, rushing forward. Ron made it there before her, appearing out of the bathroom. He blocked her way and caught Jack in his arms. "Stay back," he said, "or you'll get hurt. Or worse." Jack thrashed around. His hand flew out and ripped the bathroom door off its hinges. The door crashed into the open closet area. She fell back toward the dresser. Heart pounding, all she could do was watch helplessly as Jack –whites of his eyes turned up, shook and flailed in Ron's grasp. Ron's huge arm muscles corded and his face tightened with his struggle to keep Jack's movements under control. She was aware of Benson at her side, holding her arm. Chamey placed a hand on Benson's shoulder and one on hers. She barely felt anything. Time moved impossibly slow. All she wanted was to go to her husband, but his convulsions rolled on and on. Finally he went still. Ron slowly lowered him to the floor. That's when Kim saw the open syringe in Ron's hand. It was full of green liquid. He smiled at her over Jack's body and held up the syringe. "Guess I didn't need mine after all." A shot of cold rolled through her. She fell on her hands and knees beside Jack and placed a hand on his chest. He still hadn't moved a muscle. His body was limp, eyes closed, mouth slack. A small trickle of blood rolled from one corner. "Oh my god," Benson said, falling to the floor next to her. "What's wrong with him? It never did that to him last time." "Jack," Kim said, shaking him, willing him to open his eyes, to be okay. He didn't move. "I'm sorry," Ron said, looking up at each of them, "but I had to provoke Jack. He was so far gone, there was no other way to be sure." Chamey stooped down to get a closer look at Jack. "Yeah, we get it... you had to try to pull him out of the red." Chamey cradled Jack's cheeks in both hands and looked down at his face. "I knew it," he said, his voice soft, filled with awe. "I think somehow he was influencing that thing as hard as it was him. 'Cause I've seen vamps in action before. They don't mess around. They're not gentle and patient with people. We shoulda been torn to bits. I mean broken in half, limbs ripped off, headless, guts torn out, you name it." He slapped the side of Jack's face. "Come on, buddy, wake up!" Jack didn't wake up. There was no response at all. "Doctor," Kim's voice rose as she said each word, "what the hell is this stuff you gave me? What did I just inject in my husband?" "I warned you, a few subjects have had reactions to this formula." Yes, he'd mentioned at their little meeting that it could cause reactions, including death, but she'd moved on to other questions fast -hadn't listened, not really, because Jack wasn't going to be one of those bad statistics, not an unlucky test subject... She fell on top of his body, holding him, her mind blank, unable to handle anything more. "Did it work?" Benson said, her voice quivering. "Is he fixed? Or is he -?" Ron jerked his head up and looked past them to the motel room door. "We've got company." A knock at the door jolted Kim upright. "This is the manager," a gruff male voice called. "We warned you assholes about the noise. Cops on the way." * * * He let himself into the Roberts' home and paused at the couch, where Benny's laptop sat open. He clicked away the screensaver and was pleased to see the browser opened to Vamped Out -specifically his latest and by far most popular article, which he'd titled, "A Tribute To Vladimir, the Nicest Vampire I Ever Knew, Or Freaky Events as They Occurred To Me In September 2009." Under the title there was a picture of him and Jack, the one he'd taken with his cell phone in that motel room. He'd covered Jack's face with a black rectangle for privacy, just as he'd promised. Those two nights in Savannah already seemed like forever ago, though it was just a few months. "Oh my god, will you shut up!" came the high-pitched, annoyed voice from the kitchen. He grinned. He couldn't wait to see what had Benny riled up now. He followed the sound of her voice toward the kitchen. He was also lured by the smell of pizza. He was ready for a slice or ten. "Howdy, howdy," he said, walking straight to the pizza on the kitchen counter. He stopped in front of the one that had everything. Ahh, Kim knew him well. She handed him a plate. "Help yourself, Chamey. "Thanks, I surely will." He piled the plate high with pizza while sneaking looks at Benny. She was sitting at the kitchen table looking fine as usual, wearing a red shirt and jeans. Her light brown hair was piled up on her head, all messy and sexy. "I told her you were here, Chamey," Jack said from behind his newspaper. He lowered it and looked at Benny. His eyes held laughter, but he kept his voice straight. "How long ago did I tell you that?" "Okay, you knew it a long time before I did, so what?" Benny shot Chamey an exasperated look. "He won't stop showing off. He thinks he can do anything now." "I can do anything." Jack put down the paper, leaned back in his chair, and removed his name-tag from his work shirt. He threw it down on the table. "I could even be a super-soldier if I wanted." "Now that's where I draw the line," Kim said, crossing her arms at her chest. Chamey chuckled at that, almost choking on his mouthful of pizza. Jack shot him a warning look. "Don't laugh at vampires." He leaned into the kiss that Kim planted on his temple. She ruffled his dark hair, leaned down, and kissed him again. It was great to see them so happy, especially Kim. Jack was the main reason for that of course, but Chamey also knew she was much less tired and stressed out. Jack had somehow convinced Ron Rhodes to convince Dr. Kitcher to forget the whole debt for the antidote –past and future, as long as he'd come to the new lab a few times a year and let them look him over, run some tests, that kind of thing. She'd been able to quit her second job. She started to walk away from Jack, but he caught her hand and pulled her down for another quick kiss, this time on the lips. Her smile was huge when she walked away this time. Benny wasn't so forgiving. "You think you're better than us, don't you? Because you can lift cars and hear people when we can't?" She pointed at the textbook in front of her. "At least I'm the smart one in the family." "All right, you got me there." Benny gave a sharp sigh. "I saw that look, Jack." Chamey sat down at the table between them and reached for a napkin. "Benny, you gotta admit, Jack is pretty awesome." Benny turned her harshest glare on him. It still made his heart skip a fearful beat. Of course, Jack heard it. This time Jack was the one laughing at him. Benny grabbed up a carrot stick and pointed it at Chamey. "You just said the wrong thing, buddy. You know better than to take Jack's side, especially since you've been begging me to go to that Taylor Swift concert with you. Now what do you think my answer's gonna be?" She snapped off a bite of carrot and crunched it while watching him. Chamey swallowed, but the lump of pizza in his throat took its time going down. He coughed a few times. Way to be cool, man. "It's not 'til March. That's plenty of time to wear you down." "Whatever." She glanced at the clock, then stood up and started gathering her things. "I'm meeting Amber. Going to a movie. We might do a little Christmas shopping first." She looked at Chamey out of the corner of her eye. "What're you doing this evening?" He looked at Jack. "What are we doing tonight? Vampire hunting?" "No!" Benny and Kim said at the same time, their voices shrill. He leaned back in his seat and chewed another bite of pizza with a smile. Couldn't help but beam in pleasure at Benny's concern... and also that she wasn't going to the movies with a guy. He'd had a few mind-blowing kisses from her after that night in Savannah, but then she'd cooled off fast. He was in this for the long haul though. Yep, she'd eventually realize she was crazy for him too. Benny walked by him on her way to Jack, and Chamey got a soft whiff of her sweet perfume. Man, she always smelled so good. She put her hand on Jack's shoulder. Jack stood up fast and pulled her into his arms. They stood hugging for a long while. "Be careful," he finally said into her hair. "Okay." Her voice was muffled against his chest. Chamey expected Benny to roll her eyes and sigh at Jack's over-protectiveness, but instead she was smiling as he let go of her. Then she turned that smile on Chamey as she strolled past him on her way out the kitchen door. She's so awesome, Chamey thought. She always let that big heart of hers show -just when he least expected it. That's what he loved most about Jack and his family.