Melabeth the Vampire (19 page)

I was trying not to spaz out; all I got out of my mouth was. “Hi.”

With an angry face, Michael about yelled out. “So this is her. I am NOT taking care of her Ezra.”

“You will not have to.” Ezra pleaded.

“I would like to go to school. A four day old in the house, she is a BABY. And you have a four year old too. How will you manage both?” Michael said with a lot of hand jesters. The way he was swing around that bag of blood, I was sure it would rip open and blood would go everywhere. Then he tossed the bag onto the island.

Ezra said in a very stern voice. “This is a conversation for another time.”

“Yep, I got to go and feed the four year old anyway.” Michael said as he stormed out of the room.

“Ignore him.” Ezra said laying a calming hand on mine.

Michael flashed back into the kitchen. “Yes, ignore me. Everyone else does; my opinion doesn’t matter.” And, with that, he picked up the bag of blood that he had forgotten on the island; then he flashed back out.

I was more than a little taken back. I was sad that the sexy man already hated me. Then I remembered David, and I felt like I betrayed him. I didn’t do anything; why can’t I look? I am chalking up, all these crazy emotions up to lack of food.

I said to Ezra, “food then. I mean food please.”

Ezra smiled, and then said. “Your control; it is amazing. Let’s get you some food. Charlotte, join us.”

I looked up to see where his wife was when she flashed into the room. I would love to know how he knew she was there, or could she hear us from somewhere else in the house. Charlotte gave me a small hug then with a tight smile she said. “Michael will come around; don’t worry dear. So what do you think about Michael? He is a real hunk isn’t he sweetheart.”

While Charlotte played matchmaker, Ezra heated up blood for all of us. We sat around a kitchen island drinking blood out of glass goblets. We talked and joked; all in all it wasn’t too bad of an evening. Ezra promised information tomorrow night. He said we all had enough for one night. I couldn’t really argue with that, because, after the blood kicked in, I was tired.

So, off to bed I went; of course I got the bedroom with all the creepy dolls. It took a little time to fall off to sleep; my last thoughts were about David and Carrie. I was hoping they were fairing alright.

Ok I also may have thought or two of Michael.

Vampires 101

I
awoke to the light of the sun peering through a few small cracks in the window drapes. The clock next to my bed said it was 1:45 PM. I had gone to bed around 6 AM.

I had slept about eight hours; I wasn’t tired anymore as I lay upon the bed thinking. There was a cute skirt with a nice top laid out for me. The top was light pink, and the skirt was faded blue jean. There was a white bra and white panties. Long black stockings set on the bed, and on the floor were my tall black boots. Someone had cleaned them up, and they looked close to new.

Across the hallway there was a bathroom, and there I drew a nice hot bath. After the bathing, brushing of the hair and dressing, I was ready. It was now 3 PM. I was in no hurry; it was nice to take things easy for once.

I was just now realizing that I had no real idea of my surroundings. I had awoken last night to find myself in a room with Alice. Then, after a short walk down a hallway, I was lead into a kitchen by Ezra. After hanging out with him and Charlotte for a few hours, I had just come from down the same hallway to sleep. Ezra had pointed out the bathroom.

Now I found myself heading down the same hallway, but, instead of going into the kitchen, I headed down an adjoining hallway. This led to a giant set of doors that went outside. They had large glass windows in the doors. I could see that on the other side was an in ground pool.

It was surrounded by a wooden gate. This was a huge house; if I whistled, my second sight would bounce around the hallways. I could see there were doors everywhere; I could even see stairs that went up to a second story.

I kept walking around when I came to a big open room. It was full of all kinds of plants and furniture. It had a grand piano in the corner; there were books on shelves, also different style couches and chairs. As I took the room in, I could see all kinds of different instruments hanging all over the place; even an electric guitar with an amp lying next to it. So I guess this is the music room.

I entered the room and was looking around. At the same time I heard someone coming into the room from another direction. At first I was thinking it was one of the Whites, but then I realized, as they he got closer, that none of the Whites make that much noise walking. Also this person was dragging something.

It didn’t take long before I could hear breathing, and then their heartbeats; a heavyset black woman entered the room. I could smell her sweat now; she was dragging a vacuum cleaner behind her. Also she was wearing a baby blue dress with a white apron in front. It was obvious she was the cleaning lady. She was setting up the vacuum and unwinding the cord; she still had not noticed me in the room.

Then I heard another set of feet coming from the same direction. Someone was coming to join her. A skinny
black girl came in behind her; she was much younger than the first cleaning lady. I was guessing, but I would bet that the heavyset lady was the skinny girl’s mother. They shared so many of the same features, and the age difference was about right.

The young girl spotted me first; she let out a loud gasp that nearly scared me from the sudden noise. She quickly put her hand up to her mouth as her eyes opened in surprise. The older lady was now staring at me, eyes wide; I could hear both their hearts speed up.

I could smell the fear.

I could feel my teeth elongate in my mouth as my hunger twisted my stomach.

Their fear made me want to feed on them; I could feel my claws fully extended. I also knew that my eyes were wide open and unblinking as I stared at them like they were meat. They could see my teeth because I had my mouth partly open.

I didn’t know what to do; I was afraid to talk; it would only scare them more.

The oldest lady calmed herself a little bit. She dropped the cord in her hand and took two steps so that she was standing between me and the skinny girl. Then she said very quietly, but still plenty loud enough for me to hear. “Tangy, go… walk away slowly. Go now girl, I got this.”

Well these girls knew who they worked for, and what I was. Tangy shakily responded to the older woman’s request. “Momma… I don’t think I should leave...”

“Shh… go now. Everything is ok,” the older lady said with a very calm voice, but she never took her eyes off of me.

I had time in this moment to get control of myself. I pulled my teeth back up and retracted my claws. It was the sudden fear that I wasn’t ready for.

Then I said. “I am sorry for scaring you. My name is Melabeth. I will let you two alone so you can finish your cleaning in peace.”

I turned and started to walk away; I figured this would be best.

I heard the older lady say. “Thank you Melabeth for showing some control around here. That will be a nice treat, not to have worry about getting eaten by another young one. By the way my name is Betty and this is my daughter Tangy. You take care now.”

It was kind of funny to have people talking to you after you have left the room. I had traveled down the hallway pretty far but could still hear her speaking. She must understand better than me how well vampires could hear.

Then I heard something further down a hallway that I had not traveled down yet. It took me a moment, but then I knew what it was. It was TV; I haven’t seen a TV in forever, so I headed toward the sound.

I came into a room that I would have to describe as comfortable. It had lots of woodwork and it was all stained to a dark finish. And there were dark couches, loveseats and other padded chairs. They were all against the walls and most of them were pointing at the biggest TV that I have ever seen.

On the screen was a show that I had never seen before. Well I bet all my shows have been off air for a while. Directly in front of the TV, was a long black couch. In the middle of the couch was the back of what I knew to be Michael’s head.

I started to move toward the couch when Michael turned his head around; then he said. “Oh, it’s you. Up already? I would have thought you would be a later sleeper.” He turned his head back to the TV show.

“Why is that?” I asked, wondering what makes some vampires sleep longer than others. That is if that’s what he meant.

Michael just shrugged his shoulders. “Your age.” It looked like he was done talking when he suddenly turned his head and stared at me with accusing eyes. “Have YOU hurt any of the help?”

“No… I haven’t; what makes you say that?”

Michael stared at me for a minute; then he said. “You’re young. I forgot today the cleaning ladies are here. Lea’s still asleep; she doesn’t get up until after 5. I guess I am lucky you didn’t run into the help. I didn’t realize you awoke this early.” He turned his head back to the TV.

This kind of hurt my pride, and I didn’t like being treated like a child. “I did meet Betty and Tangy. I have traveled across this country on a bus full of humans, and, guess what? I didn’t kill any of them. I took what I needed; I don’t kill, unless I have to.”

Michael didn't look at me, and then he said. “Whatever, I am sure all humans are safe with you. Now quiet down, I am trying to watch Knight Rider.”

I walked over and sat down next to Michael. I haven’t seen this show before; I wondered if it was any good. I was having real mixed emotions about grumpy Michael. On one hand, he is a real ass, on the other hand he has a really nice ass. Then again I was missing David, and Carrie.

I hadn’t sat down for a minute when Michael said. “Don’t you have someone else to go bother?”

“No.  Shh… I have never seen this show before; don’t ruin it for me with all your blah blah.” I said very calmly.

Michael laughed. Then we sat there for an hour watching a stupid show about a talking car, and I thought they reached the bottom of the imaginary barrel with Mr. Ed.

After that, I had had enough TV, so I excused myself; Michael just grunted. I found my way back to the kitchen and made me a cup of Oh positive. I also scored a pair of sunglasses that were left on the kitchen counter. That was all I needed to take a walk. I went out the back door that I had spotted earlier. I went out the wooden gate that surrounded the pool, and then I found the most amazing garden.

I found my way into a corner of the garden. There was a wall of vines, and an arch doorway that lead into the prettiest little area I had ever seen. Two walls were made out of vines; the other two walls were stone walls. The walls had round green stones, and they held back the higher ground.

Trees grew out at the top of the walls and hung over the little area making a natural sun block. There were a couple of stone benches. Next to one of the benches, water came out of the wall, and fell off making a small waterfall that rushed down into a little pond sitting in the middle of this area.

There were flowers of all types; I don’t know my plants, but it doesn’t matter; all of them were pretty. I sat down on one of the stone benches. There I sat and thought; six months, what had I agreed to?

I heard, and then smelled before I saw both Ezra and Charlotte come under the arch of vines; they joined me in this little hideaway. Charlotte was wearing a nice looking outfit; she had slacks on and it made her look smart, ready for work. The gray material made her blue eyes shine. Ezra was in a blue shirt with jeans with a pair of sunglasses on. He looked as if he was ready for some gardening, while his wife left for work.

Charlotte spoke first. “Good morning.  Oh there are my sunglasses; I was looking for them.”

She was talking about the ones I was wearing. I had found them on the kitchen counter. “Sorry… I would have put them back.” I said; then I handed the sunglasses over to Charlotte.

Now it was so bright I had to squint my eyes. I was in the shade, and I still couldn’t stand the brightness.

“It’s fine.” Charlotte responded with a smile as she put on her glasses. “I have to run to the bank, and take care of some business. When I come back, you, Alice and I are going shopping. You need clothes and, why we’re out, I will pick up a few more sets of sunglasses. You can never have too many sunglasses around here.” She lowered her sunglasses and gave me a wink. Then she gave Ezra a big hug and kiss; Ezra told her to drive safely, then Charlotte left. Ezra sat down on the stone bench next to mine.

We sat quietly for a little while until Ezra broke the silence. “It’s a lot to take in; most of us are Ren for almost a year. We have had time around vampires to learn what we need to know. You’re different; you have been dropped into this world without a roadmap. Last night you told me what you understood about the blood. Your master told you some of what you will need to know. He told you, if you chopped a vampire’s head off, he would grow another one; but did he tell you that the head could grow a new body?”

“No.”

“Well it sounds like he didn’t have much time with you. See, if you did get your head chopped off, it would take days to grow another one. If your body was destroyed, and I had your head, it would take months to grow a new body. Also you would need a lot of blood. See, if you get your head chopped off, you better hope one of your friends finds a part of you because it will take time and a lot of human blood to fix you.”

“Could there be two of me? If someone chops my head off, would my body grow a head, while my head grows a new body?” I asked.

Ezra laughed, and then said. “Everyone asks that. The answer is no; a long time ago I got my head removed in a fight, and there is only one of me. This is how it works. Your blood animates the body, but it is your soul that animates the blood. You cannot split the spirit, and the spirit cannot exist without the blood, and don’t forget the blood cannot exist without energy; that we steal from humans. Your spirit will chase the blood; it will go to the largest quantity. That is until there is no more blood. So your master is right; there are only two ways to really
destroy us for good, burn the blood or starve it. Of course if you get your head cut off and no one picks you up before the sunrises… poof, you’re ashes. And if you get your head chopped off underground, and no one comes to get you, your body will slowly die, for your blood cannot animate a head without a body or a body without a head; without an intact spine you have no motor control.”

I thought about what he said. “That does make more sense. When he first told me, I didn’t understand. What about wooden stakes?”

Ezra rubbed his hands together, and then he said, “Time for the basics; we can call it Vampire 101 if you like. Wooden stakes are one of the oldest ways of killing us, but it only works if you do it right. See, you will find that most of the ways you hear about what will kill vampires is information that is either wrong or incomplete. Records were never reliable back in the day. Also vampire hunters trained each other, so a lot of it was by word of mouth. Of course the problem with this is, that vampire hunters are often killed before they have a chance to train someone, or if he has an apprentice, the apprentice is killed with him. So a lot of information was lost in the past, and some information was told to one person after another until the end result was incorrect information.”

“That reminds me of something I read once. It was about repeating a rumor. They had a group of people sit in a circle. Someone whispered a secret in the ear next to them. Then that person whispered that same secret to the next person, on and on until it made it back around the circle to the person who first told it. Then you could hear how much the story had changed.”