Vampire$

Before she was half awake, Ross and Kitty and someone new, another woman, another vampire, a redhead named Veronica, were all in her room, rousing her out of bed to show her their new clothes. Vampire clothes.

They were all blacks and reds, the women’s dresses trailing wisps of material to give the illusion of black widows, Ross’s jacket and red ascot making him look just like a movie Dracula.

The three seemed to think this very witty. And they had a dress just like it for Davette. They also had victims on their way.

So Davette got dressed and went downstairs and listened to the three whisper among themselves and wondered what adolescent horror would come about in her home that night. The main living room had been just about transformed to Ross’s specifications. It reminded Davette of these absurd outfits the four were wearing. If only the absurdity were not so vicious and macabre.

I’ve got to get away, she thought. If I can just get to the pills, and take them at dawn, it will be over before they can do anything about it.

So just smile, stupid. And go along with these monsters.

And then leave this all. Leave everything.

And she took a deep breath and braced herself. She could get through anything, couldn’t she? This one last night? Please? Only… what have they planned to show me tonight?

As it turned out, they had to change their plans.

The vast eighteen-foot-high french doors to the grand terrace burst inward with a rush of air and electricity and a White Giant walked into the room.

At least that’s how Davette thought of this great huge man, at least six-five and weighing close to three hundred pounds with huge shoulders and a massive mane of snow-white hair. He had the most piercing blue eyes Davette had ever seen. He was supremely confident, blazingly intent.

And a vampire.

“Ross Stewart,” he bellowed, “you have failed me. What will it be?”

Davette recognized the Voice from the other night.

Ross had stumbled to his feet upon the man’s appearance. Davette felt rather than saw him try to draw himself up to his full height and power as the other vampire approached.

As she also felt him give in as the giant drew near.

“What is it,” he asked, with no Voice at all, “that you want me to do?”

The giant took one more step forward so that he literally towered over Ross.

“Finish it!” he roared. “Finish it! Kill him!”

“Kill Crow…”

“So!” hissed Cat, and his smile was not a friendly one, “that’s the guy!”

“Yeah,” rumbled Jack, sitting forward. “Who is it?”

“I don’t know. They wouldn’t let me know.”

“Any ideas?”

She shook her head. “No. Even when they had me sign the papers, they had tape over his name.

“What papers?”

“I don’t know. He brought them with him. And he made Ross have me sign them before we left.”

Carl Joplin frowned. “You signed them without knowing what they were?”

Davette’s eyes dropped as she nodded.

“Ease off, Carl,” said Deputy Thompson gently.

Carl looked at him, nodded. “Sorry, sugar,” he said to Davette, “I just keep forgetting…”

“Well, how?” sparked Davette suddenly, her eyes bright and flashing. “What did you expect me to do, with four vampires in the room?”

It got very still. The Team sat stunned at this bristling defiance from this meek little broken…

And then Felix started to smile and so did Davette and then everyone laughed and Cat thought, My God, girl! How do you keep shining?

And everyone felt a lot better. Cat got up and fixed more drinks. Even Davette had one. Only Felix declined.

Instead he lit a cigarette and looked at Davette. “Still, it’s important about the papers. More legal documents?”

“Yes. Like the ones I did for Ross. Power of attorney, I guess.”

“How about a last will and testament?”

“It could be.”

“A death sentence.”

“What?” cried Annabelle. “What do you mean.”

Felix frowned at her alarm. “Sorry, Annabelle. But she said she had to sign the papers before she left.”

“Yes,” replied Davette slowly.

“Where were you going?”

Davette paused, looked at Jack Crow.

Jack nodded and answered for her. “… to California.”

“Yes,” said Davette.

“Yes,” repeated Jack. “That was the night you came—”

“To kill you. Yes.” She looked down, looked back up at him. “I’m sorry, Jack.”

He shook his head. “Not your fault. How long did it take you?”

“Three days.”

“You drove?”

“Yes. Almost straight through. We only stopped at all because I was so tired…”

She couldn’t keep her eyes open but it was still too light for Ross to leave the trunk and tell her it was all right to stop. But she had to stop. She had to.

So she did, somewhere in Arizona, at a rest stop. In the shade. She pulled over and lay down for just a second to “rest her eyes'.

When she awoke it was dark and Ross was shaking her awake to get moving and the couple in the Camaro convertible parked beside them at the rest stop were dead and drained, their lifeless eyes staring, a slack corpse’s mouth hanging open over the driver’s door.

She roared back onto the highway and, once more, Ross began to talk.

About being a vampire, about the trouble back in Dallas with the white giant. Something about invading another monster’s territory without permission, something more about getting to stay as soon as he got this “Crow” person. Davette still didn’t understand who this Crow person was and why they wanted to kill him. And she had seen so many murders, horrible slashing murders, already, that she found it hard to worry about anyone in particular. Every night someone else died. Names didn’t matter.

Neither did any other details. Ross had always kept everything secret from her before, yet his wanting to let her in on this trip suddenly repulsed her. She didn’t want to hear. She didn’t want to know.

She didn’t want… anything.

She didn’t even want to die. She was too tired.

She had thought about it, thought about stopping the car at some little town and going to a drugstore and getting sleeping pills and maybe a little vodka (maybe a lot) to wash it down with. But even that seemed too much trouble.

Too numb. Too lost.

So tired.

And then, on the last moonlit leg of the journey, up U.S. 1 along the northern California coast, he finally got her attention. She finally realized why he was telling her so much.

This Crow person was not just a person. He wasn’t just another victim or plaything. He was more. A lot more. Just a man, but a very powerful one.

He killed vampires.

And this thought, that someone existed who not only stood up to them, but fought them and