The Captain's smile turned lopsided. She pointed at his head. "Sorry about that, but you were literally lousy when you came aboard. It'll grow back."
Greg gave her a rueful smile. "It had to be done, I guess."
She nodded. "How did you come to be here?"
He grimaced. "It would help if I knew where here is, Captain."
"Of course. We call it BloodDark."
"Uh huh. I come from Earth."
She sat up straighter, her interest piqued. "Indeed? I suspected as much. You have the look of a lost soul about you, something you share with other Earthlings who've been kidnapped and brought here."
He narrowed his eyes and stared at her. "How do you know I was kidnapped?"
She shrugged. "Given how you look and what you've said, I'd say the odds of your not being kidnapped and brought to this world are astronomical. But we digress. You were going to tell me your story."
Greg breathed deep, relishing the taste of air clear of stink. He noticed at that moment the Captain wore a subtle, spicy perfume that he found pleasant. "I'll tell you what I know."
He collected his thoughts. "I'm a civil engineer by trade, working for a company out of New Jersey." Adena looked blank. "That's a place in my country, the United States."
"Okay. Go on."
"We have a contract to build an interstate bridge in Pennsylvania. I was on site late one night with my secretary, Cathy Kozinski. There'd been a hold-up due to subsidence in one part of the site, and we were finishing up the paperwork. Apart from the night watchman I thought we were alone. The crew had left for the day. Cathy and I were in the office cabin in the middle of the compound. Our night watchman was patrolling elsewhere. Someone came in through the door. He didn't knock or anything, just walked in." He shook his head, bemused. "How the guy got into the place beats me. It's surrounded by chain-link fencing with a gate that's locked at night. We stared at him and he... did something to our minds."
Adena nodded, her expression thoughtful. "That sounds familiar. What did he look like?"
Greg wrinkled his nose. "I don't think I can forget him. He was tall, thin to the point of starvation. Pale as a ghost, too. His hands looked more like claws than real people's. And his eyes!" He shuddered. "Blood-red instead of white. Hair kind of thin and slicked-down. His clothes looked like something out of a history book, maybe Victorian or something. He wore a cloak."
Adena gave him a wry smile. "You've just described a Pure Blood —what your people would call a vampire."
Greg shook his head. "Before that dude walked into the office I would've said vampires don't exist."
"Oh, but they do, Greg. They cast a glamour over people, tuning their minds to nothing but obedience to the Pure Blood's commands." She paused. "Tell me, did he pay more attention to you, or to your companion?"
Greg blinked. "Now that you talk about it, he seemed fixed on Cathy."
"Do you know if Cathy's a virgin?"
He felt his face grow hot. "I sure don't know."
"I suspect she is — or was. Are you virginal?"
Greg sat upright and stared at her. "That's a heck of a question to ask a guy!"
Her smile looked less than sincere, but he saw her eyes were serious. "I'm sorry if I offend you, but it's a valid question. Virgins are the favorite prey of the Pure Bloods. He homed in on her. They have the ability to detect virgins. You just happened to be there and, virgin or not, the Pure Blood thought you'd be useful. Otherwise you wouldn't be here." She waved a hand. "I digress. What happened next?""
He shook his head slowly. "You mean to tell me that stuff about vampires going for virgins and drinking their blood is real?"
Adena cocked her head. "Yes. Human blood is like food and drugs combined to Pure Bloods. A virgin's blood is the most prized of all. They really get drunk on virgin blood. What happened later?"
Greg sat back again. "The guy ordered us out of the office, and we walked after him like sheep. I couldn't resist obeying his every command. There was some kind of blue glowing thing in the center of the compound. The guy told us to walk into the light and we did. Next thing I know we're in some kind of stone building, like a church. It's lit by a few lanterns and freezing cold. No sooner had we emerged from the light than an ugly bunch of thugs the size of outhouses grabbed me and Cathy and whisked us away." Greg shivered. "I knew then we were no longer on Earth."
Adena nodded. "And then?"
"They stripped us of everything we had, including clothing. One of the thugs gave Cathy a robe to wear then took her someplace. I never saw her again. I was given a scrap to wear like a kilt and taken across a big courtyard or something to a building and thrown into a cell." He grimaced. "I wish we'd stayed together, maybe I could've protected Cathy."
"I doubt it, Greg." Adena's voice sounded sympathetic. "You, alone against a city full of Pure Bloods and their minions? They would've killed you."
Greg sighed. "They thrashed me, anyway. I was left alone in the cell for some time. I've no idea how long. Whatever spell the guy cast on me wore off after a bit and I went hoarse yelling for help and a lawyer. I lost track of the time." He looked at her. "Does this place ever see daylight? It's like it's always night."
"On this side of the world, yes, it is." Adena thought for a moment, then picked up Greg's uneaten apple. She stood and held it toward the light bulb set in a small grill directly over his bunk. "It's like this. Our world has one face permanently in sunlight. That's the day side.
