Drawing Blood (22 page)

Holly waited to see Avery and Stephen’s reaction to the room. She wasn’t disappointed. Their jaws dropped as they looked up and around.

“You didn’t tell me about this, Hol,” Avery whispered.

Holly whispered back, “Yeah, sorry, I forgot. I had other things on my mind at the time.”

Stryker showed them to the couch with the sweep of an arm.

“Please make yourselves comfortable. I’ll be just a moment.” They watched as Stryker pulled a wide ladder to a spot on the east wall. He took four steps up and reached out for three very large books. They looked impossibly heavy, but he carried them effortlessly in one hand, as he moved back to what looked like his favorite chair. He sat down and placed the books on the coffee table.

Stryker placed the largest in front of Holly. “This is one of my family photo albums. Take a look inside.” Sitting beside Avery, Holly slid forward on the couch and opened the book. All of her senses told her the book was authentic. It looked like it had stood the test of many years. It had that indescribable smell that all very old tomes had, and when she opened it, Holly could feel the cloth-like texture of the paper. The album was filled with pictures that must have dated back to the invention of the camera.

Holly gasped and put a hand to her mouth when she recognized a man in one of the pictures. She pointed without touching her finger to the surface of the photo. “You’re telling us that this man is you?”

He looked her directly in the eye. “That is exactly what I’m saying, and I swear on everything I hold dear that I’m telling you the truth.” He looked at Avery then at Stephen. “If you have access to the means necessary to confirm the book’s authenticity, I’d gladly hand it over to you and the others as well. The one you’re looking at right now is a family photo album and the other three contain a modern history of my kind dating back to the 1400’s. You’re welcome to take them, read them, test them, whatever proves to you that I’m telling the truth.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Stephen said in a firm voice. He surprised Holly and Avery by saying, “I believe you.”

Avery did a double take and frowned at her husband. “I really thought I’d be the first person to say that. After all, I’m the writer here. My imagination knows no bounds.”

Stephen smiled at his wife. His admiration for her was evident by the expression on his face. “Sweetheart, you’ve taught me that the world is filled with mystery. Scientists cannot explain everything.” He nodded to Stryker. “I’ll just bet Stryker here has a truckload of doctors who will back up his story. Don’t ask me how I know, but it rings true to me.”

Stephen’s trust in Stryker was instant. Holly could only figure they’d bonded on some sort of male molecular level that she and Avery would never understand.

Stryker said, “You’re right Stephen, I am prepared to introduce you to some of our doctors. I can give you a sample of my blood. You will see it is not human and is unlike anything you’ve ever encountered before. You can take the blood yourself.” He turned his left arm over and exposed the blue veins that throbbed close to the surface of his inner elbow.

Was there ever a more attractive man? Holly had never found a man’s arm particularly sexy before, but every inch of Stryker’s body was food for her starving eyes. She wondered how he’d taste and longed to press her mouth against the beat she could see pulsing under his skin. It was strangely hypnotic. Dragging her eyes away from the life force she could see rushing through his veins, Holly said, “Speaking of blood…do you drink it?”

There was silence in the room. Stryker smiled at her and Holly could have sworn she saw a golden light appear behind him. She glanced at her friends to see if they saw it. They showed no sign of having witnessed the phenomenon.

Stryker finally spoke. “Yes, my kind drinks blood. But we’ve evolved to the point where we can survive without it. Our special abilities manifest only if we consume a small amount of blood every week. When we do not drink blood, we are just like humans except for our long life, our sensitivity to the sun and unfortunately, our inability to procreate easily.”

“It’s all relative, wouldn’t you say? How much blood do you consider a small amount?” Holly pressed.

He laughed. “No more than the amount of alcohol one puts in a shot glass. And the blood has to come from a willing donor.”

Avery said, “Human donors.”

“Yes. We do not take what is not ours without consent and animals cannot consent. Taking blood by force is why we’d never been able to control the hunger so long ago. In humans, fear produces adrenalin. Human adrenalin created by fear acts on the vampire like a drug. It’s instantly addictive and turns us savage. Eventually, it drives us insane. There are people in the world that know of us and are happy to provide us with what we need. Irene O’Neill was one of these people. She was a generous and compassionate woman who had a great capacity for understanding the supernatural. We all mourn her loss.” Sad, but in earnest, Stryker leaned forward in his chair. “The penalty for taking blood that is not freely offered is death. We cannot afford to take such crimes lightly. The last time we were forced to put one of our own to death was over one hundred years ago.”

“You’re over a hundred years old?” Avery squinted at him and said, “Man, that’s some serious Botox, Count Chocula. That explains Dick Clark at least.”

Holly couldn’t help but giggle. Trust Avery to find the humor. The levity broke the almost suffocating tension and Holly sighed deeply.

She said, “So you and your vampire friends are infiltrating the human population. To what purpose?”

Stryker took no offense at how she’d phrased her question or her directness. Calmly, he said, “We want to share this earth. We have much to teach humans and much to learn from them. My mission is a peaceful one, Holly. I give you my word on that.”

She nodded carefully and said, “Go on.”

“Don’t believe what has been written about vampires. We cannot increase our numbers simply by exchanging blood. That process is far more complicated and is forbidden. To my knowledge, the Becoming Ritual hasn’t been performed in hundreds of years. The knowledge of what is necessary to perform it has been all but lost. We cannot procreate easily. Humans do not have such a problem. In fact, they have over populated the world to such an extent that one day it will no longer sustain any life.” He made a pleading gesture with his hands. “We live ten times your lifespan. Our future is bleak if humans continue exploiting this planet.” Holly looked alarmed and Stryker reassured her. “I’m not suggesting that we plan to take over the earth. No. We seek only to co-exist with our human cousins…to learn from each other. We have discovered that humans and vampires are sexually compatible.”

Holly looked away from him and felt warmth spread through her body. Under her breath Avery said, “I’ll say.”

He looked at her genuinely puzzled and said, “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

Avery looked panicked for a split second then made the save. She said, “I said, ‘We’ll pay.”…you know, like…humans will have to pay for raping the earth.” She smiled stiffly and Stryker nodded obviously not deceived, but willing to accept her lame explanation. Avery sighed with relief. Sitting beside her, Holly barely controlled a peal of laughter. Avery surreptitiously nudged her. That only made it worse.

Holly and Avery had learned from their teachers’ black looks back in high school that laughter repressed was more explosive than laughter expressed, but they never stopped testing the theory. Finally, Avery snorted. Their tenuous control snapped and they broke into loud laughter.

Bewildered, Stryker looked to Stephen for some sort of explanation.

Stephen rolled his eyes. “They do this sometimes. I’ve found it’s easier to just ride it out. Trust me, we’ll never get it, but don’t worry. They’re not laughing at you.”

Stryker and Stephen couldn’t help but smile as the two women laughed so hard they cried.

Struggling for control, Holly was finally able to speak. She wiped the tears from her cheeks with a knuckle. “We’re sorry…” She looked at Avery and started again. Breathless, she nudged her friend and said to her, “Don’t look at me, I’ll never stop. I can’t look at you.” She put her hand up and used it as a blinker to keep Avery out of her peripheral vision. It took them another minute of avoiding the other’s face to pull themselves together.

 
“Are you with us again, ladies?” Stephen said. Finally, they nodded and indicated that Stryker could continue.

“Eventually we hope to assimilate into human society and…I guess there is no delicate way to say this…breed. The commingling of our species will make us both stronger. We’ve learned that vampires and humans can have children who do not need to consume blood in order to possess special abilities.”

Holly said, “And you know this because…”

His direct stare pinned her to the couch. “It has happened before. We have discovered that half human, half vampire children possess the best of both species. Some of my friends are both vampire and human and they will tell you there is no disadvantage.” Stryker lifted his glass of brandy and sipped it, waiting for reactions. His eyes never left Holly’s face.

Stephen said, “Stryker, I would like to get a sample of your blood and that of someone with a vampire and a human parent.” He rushed to clarify. “Not that I don’t believe you, but rather I find this endlessly fascinating. I’d be honored to meet some of your doctors.”

“I can arrange all of that,” he said calmly.

Stephen looked at Avery then back at Stryker and said, “And we’d like to take those books you offered as well.”

Ignoring her husband, Avery narrowed her eyes and looked at him skeptically for a second. She said. “So if I get this right, you’re saying eventually after years of “cross breeding”, we could wipe out disease?”

Stryker nodded.

Stephen said, “More than that…this has the potential to solve a vast number of the world’s problems. We just have to open our minds to it...imagine the possibilities.”

Holly shook her head, still trying to understand what she was hearing. “This is huge. It would take me days to list all the ramifications of such a thing in our society.”

Stryker frowned. “It’s not all rosy I’m afraid. There are people in this world who have known about the existence of vampires since the beginning. They believe we are an abomination. They’ve handed down their bigotry from generation to generation, refusing to believe that we’ve evolved. The children follow in the father’s footsteps. Their fear of us has turned to hatred and like the Ku Klux Klan or the Nazis, they long to maintain a “pure” race. They’re not much different than any other racist group except that their order is an absolute secret. It recruits no new members and is kept within the family. They are powerful and extremely ruthless.”

Holly frowned at him. “It’s more than that, isn’t it?”

He inclined his head and gestured for her to continue.

She said, “Think of how much money is spent on human disease. The figure is astronomical. If what you’re saying is true then the health care systems in every country on earth would be turned inside out. If handled properly, your plan could eventually even end poverty. My God, this could revolutionize the world!”

Stryker smiled at her and nodded. “There are those who know about our plan and seek to stop it at all costs. They do not see the world as a whole, but as spoils awarded to the winner. My brother has been able to convince the vast majority of our people, vampires that this plan offers us all the best possible future, but just as in human society…there is always the struggle between good and evil.”

Holly said, “So when you said you work with your brother, you were telling the truth.”

He nodded. “Holly, in time you will learn I am unable to lie to you.”

“But like most men you can stretch the truth,” Avery said as she glanced sideways at her husband. “Like…‘I had every intention of sorting the garbage, but just didn’t get around to it, honey.’”

He laughed. “The longer Holly knows me the more she will be able to detect even the slightest stretch of the truth.”

Holly laughed, “Kind of like that 2% Spandex in jeans? They don’t look stretchy but they are, and that makes them so much more comfortable.”