From that moment of rebirth on,all Cal could think about was killing me. This thirst for my bloodwas not shared by his sister Emily, who really didn't like me atall and was happy to share anything with her brother. She woke upnext to her father on their back porch and experienced a similarkind of intense pain upon revival, sans water, but did not let outan audible shriek despite her vociferous ways. Thaddeus calmlyarose from his slumber feeling just as rested as me and andGarrison. It appeared that the more you died, the more restful yourtime became between the afterworld and the living. There were timeswe actually looked forward to dying, just so we could get a littlerest.
Conversely, Sharon had a difficulttime reemerging. It was lucky that the light hit her before herfather, because water started flowing from her body just as it didfor Cal. We never made the connection between her and Cal untilmuch later in time, but it started to form on that day.
BURIED
Cal and his fraternal twinsisterwere so connected thatwe could never tell whowas comingand who was going. As advertised, Emilyusuallyset Cal upfor most of theirkills by distracting me enough to leave an opening – a neck, a leg, my heart.
“We have to get rid of him,”I saidto Sharon andGary aftera particularlygruesomebe-heading.
“What did you have in mind?”Gary asked.
I smiled, “Howareyou two atgathering rocks”
Sharon looked at Garyandnodded inaffirmation, “We’re good.”
“Then we’ll burythe son-of-a-bitchtomorrownight.”
It was alwaysa struggle to get the hunters to ‘play’ near thewater,because it wasthe oneplace theyknew theyweren't safe. Withoutany specialswimming skills - other thanthe dogpaddle anddrowning- Thaddeus, Emily, and Calusuallyleanedon tacticsthatleveragedtheir on- land and air capabilities.
Everyfightstarted with a move of a scramble, but usually ended with the age, gender andstrength-specific pairings squaring off. But, on this night,I went right at Emily and was giving her a prettygoodbeating when Gary tied up Thaddeusin some old-fashionedfisticuffs.
That left old friends Sharon and Cal to mixit up, much tomy chagrin. Thetensionbetween Sharon and Cal was palatable, and I knew it was only a matter oftimebefore theywood hook up – if they hadn’t done so already.
There was that one time- only a week earlier after I was killed
- whenSharon met Cal in the woods. They went at itforhours in differentforms and, although I didn’t actually see the pairing, the smell of togetherness was all over them.
While I was planning with myteam for thenight’sevents, I noticedthat Sharon was all-too-agreeable to tangle with Cal in the fight. She wasno match for Cal’sstrengthand abilities,yet lookedconfident inher chances of keeping him occupiedwhile I went to work on Emily.
It took Cal only a few minutes to get Sharon in a strangle hold – moreaffectionatelycalled a ‘sleeper’ hold – but hewasn’t really cutting off her airsupply.
“Meet me inthe woodsagain tonight. I’vebeen thinking about you all week.”
Unfortunately for Cal, Iwas tuned intothe frequency of the conversation, whilehe putthe finishingtoucheson tuckingEmily into her dirt nap.
Dating was obviously a ridiculous double-standard in thevampireworld,being that Emily and I had ‘tossed the pigskin’ around afewtimes in thepast.
“Youtasteparticularlydelicioustonight, mydear,”I saidas IdrainedEmily’sblood.
“I detect a hint of bacon in the ‘sauce’ tonight. Itwould be helpful in the future if you could cut back on the porkproducts and substitute it with turkey bacon. I’mtrying to cut some fat out in my diet.”
Cal wasfeeling more amorous than combative on this night.My plan includeda Cal-Sharonpairingbecause Iknew of theirattraction. It had taken me months to find Cal’skryptonite,his weakness. Heinitially tried going after Belinda, but that fire had burned out, and hewas no longer actingas a protective husband in love.
Cal wasso focusedon Sharon that night that he didn’t even notice me drinking thelast dropsof hissister’s blood and then droppingher to theground likea piece ofbiodegradablegarbage. He also didn’t seeme charging athim anddelivering aviolentclose-line to his face.
Anunconscious Caldropped to the ground and I said to Sharon, “Meetyou at thebottom,” before I scoopedup Cal and flew to the ocean. Once wewere in the water there wasno way for the hunters to prevent the inevitable from happening. So Thaddeus fought to get loosefrom Gary,and he wasalmost free until Sharon came over and the two protectors held him down.
Thaddeus had no idea what I wasplanning,but he couldsee thelook ofconcern on Sharon’sface.
“Youcan’t lethim sothis!” Thad implored Sharon.
Sharontriedto fightoff thetears, because there was no crying allowed when protectinga vampire, butshe finally broke down.
“It’swhat hewants.”
“But isit whatyou want?” Thad passionately replied.
Sharon looked at Thad amidst a face-full of tears and regrettablystated,“It doesn’t really matter whatI want. Does it?”
She thenlookedoverat Gary and henoddedthat it was time. They letgo ofThaddeus, whoinstantly changedinto ahawk and flewtowardthe oceanto try to save his boy. Sharon andGary madetheir way to the nearby inlet and knifed through the water as dolphinson their way to the ocean.
Thad flew as fast as he could until he saw me flyingwith Cal a few miles ahead. Hefigured that the only way he could catch me would be to wake his son and cause adisturbance. Being only a milefrom the shore, I was feeling prettygoodabout myplan. Thatwas, until Iheard Thaddeusshriek in the distance at a frequencythat wouldarrest Cal’ssenses, becauseCal started coming out of hisslumber.
My pace slowed as he struggled to keep control ofa now fully- awake Cal.Thaddeus was making up the gap and was now only 400 yardsfrom me, as I wasonly about500 feetfromthe shore.
Just as I was about to lose my grip on Cal, I utilized his strongestfeatureto lock himdown.
“Not so fast, Brewster,”I said asI thrust his razor-sharp teeth into Cal’s shoulder, effectively taking any fight away that he had left. I zoomedtoward thewaterwith Thaddeus on my tail in hot pursuit. Thad
had one more trick up his wing – the no-flap, bullet thrust – and was just about to grab Calwhen GarytheOrcawhalejumped out of the water and swallowed himwhole,as Iplunged tothedepths ofthe ocean with Cal.
Gary andSharon swam to
