Maya still had the vile taste of the blood in her mouth. All she could think of was to get rid of it. She didn’t care what the others did. She wasn’t going to drink that disgusting liquid. “I’m going to puke.”
She ran into the bathroom and scooped water from the faucet into her mouth to wash out the taste. When she turned she saw Yvette standing at the door.
“Maybe you’ve got it all wrong. Maybe I didn’t turn.”
Yvette shook her head. “The signs were all there. And besides, I can sense your aura.”
Maya didn’t understand. What kind of new-age junkie was she?
“What aura?”
“Every vampire has a certain unmistakable aura. Only other vampires or paranormal creatures can see it. It’s how we recognize each other.”
“I don’t understand.” She couldn’t see any aura.
“You will. You’re weak right now because you haven’t fed yet.
Once you’ve recovered you’ll slowly find your new senses. So feed or I’m calling the doc and tell him there’s something wrong with you,”
Yvette said.
That was all Maya needed: not only was she a vampire, no, now something was wrong with her. She couldn’t accept it. “Let me try again.”
When Yvette handed her the open bottle, Maya held her breath.
Maybe if she didn’t breathe the scent in, she would be able to swallow.
Again she put the bottle to her lips and took a swig. A second later, she spewed the red liquid over the white marble counter and the pristine mirror. The droplets on the mirror created little rivers and ran down toward the counter, creating an eerie pattern of long strings meant to trap her and tie her up. Like a net in which she felt captured.
“I’m calling the doc,” was Yvette’s only comment.
Maya braced herself on the counter. “Maybe I need real human blood.”
“This is real human blood. It’s fresh, it’s bottled. There’s nothing wrong with it.” As if to prove it, Yvette took a sip and swallowed.
“See?”
There was no denying it. Yvette drank the blood without problems.
“Maybe I’m allergic. Are there any other brands?” Even as a human she’d had a few minor food allergies, so maybe this was all it was: an allergy to one type of blood.
“Allergic? Impossible. I’ve never heard of a vampire who was allergic to blood.” Yvette’s dismissal came without any hesitation.
“Is that the only blood you have?” Maya asked in desperation. She was starving, and her body told her she needed to eat, or drink, or whatever vampires called it.
“Samson keeps some O neg somewhere. Let me check with Carl.”
She started toward the door. “Get dressed in the meantime.”
The moment Yvette left the room, Maya slipped into the clothes she’d brought her. Whoever Delilah was, Yvette had been right.
Delilah’s size was almost the same as Maya’s. The faded jeans fit her almost perfectly, and the soft, red t-shirt was only marginally too tight around her toned biceps.
By the time she was dressed, Yvette was back with another bottle.
Maya read the label when she took it: O neg. She prayed that this tasted better than the previous bottle and unscrewed the top. The whiff that hit her was even more vile than what she’d spit out only minutes earlier.
They expected her to drink that? Nobody in their right mind would touch that awful stuff.
She pushed the bottle back into Yvette’s hand. “I can’t. This is even worse than the other stuff.”
Yvette gave her another skeptical look. “This is the best blood out there. Do you have any idea how expensive it is to get O neg? It’s like a bottle of the best champagne.”
“I don’t care what it costs. I don’t like it,” Maya snapped. “Why don’t you drink it?”
Yvette raised an eyebrow. “I think I will. The bottle’s already open.
No use in wasting good stuff.”
Maya’s stomach growled again, and she hugged herself trying to counteract the hunger. “Maybe I’m not a vampire.”
Yvette tsked. “I know it’s a hard thing to come to terms with, but denial isn’t going to get you anywhere. You’re a vampire, just like the rest of us. Get used to it.”
“But then why wouldn’t I drink human blood? That can’t be right.
Have you ever heard of a vampire who won’t drink human blood?”
Yvette pursed her lips. “I haven’t, but maybe the doc has. Let’s go downstairs and wait for him.”
“What’s his specialty, vampirism?”
Yvette shrugged her shoulders. “I’m afraid all they’ve got here is a psychiatrist. This is a bit of a quiet backwater. In New York we could get you a real doctor, but in San Francisco he’s the only one.”
“There are plenty of doctors in San Francisco.”
Yvette gave her a meaningful look. “Sure there are, but not one who’s a vampire.”
Of course Yvette was right. She couldn’t go to a real doctor. How on earth would she explain her hunger for blood on the one hand, but her body’s refusal to drink it on the other? She needed to see a vampire doctor. How a psychiatrist could help her was beyond her, unless he could hypnotize her into drinking the awful stuff. Maybe that was what Yvette was getting at.
For sure, he must have heard of cases like hers. If not, then her own theory made much more sense: she couldn’t be a real vampire if she didn’t want to drink human blood. They had gotten it all wrong – she hadn’t turned. She was still human. Maybe her freakish strength and lack of reflection was just temporary. There was still hope that this nightmare she’d awoken into would end.
Seven
Gabriel kicked the gas pedal down and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge in Samson’s Audi R8 with a speed of close to ninety miles.
Traffic was light, and an occasion like this didn’t present itself very often. Besides, racing Samson’s sports car was the perfect outlet for his frustration.
The kiss with Maya had turned him inside out. If
