Star, Starland Vamp Series, Book 1 (5 page)

Both men were speechless.

“Or are you a guy that likes to harass women?” Once again, my body shimmered, then within a second I changed back into myself. I had hundreds of body prints and I knew how to use them all.

Liquid seeped through the guy’s jeans, creating a river that spilled onto the floor. Suddenly, he was standing in a puddle of his own piss, shaking violently.

“Ah …” I said, exasperated, “Now look what you’ve done
!”  I stepped back a bit, looking at the mess. “You’ve messed up this nice man’s floor!”

“I’m out ‘a here!” pheromone guy yelled, backing out the door, then ran for it as fast as he could. Smiling, Rick tripped him as he ran past. The guy was so spooked that he jumped up with horror in his eyes, looked at Rick, and ran down the street yelling the whole way.

So much for keeping a low profile.

I expertly unloaded the shotgun, sending the shells flying. Each pinged as they hit the floor one by one.

Lowering the weapon, I asked the old man, who watched the whole incident with wide eyes from behind the counter, “Are you okay?”

“Sure
!” he said grinning, lowering his hands. “That’s the most fun I’ve had in years! Hey, you want a job?”

I laughed, enjoying this old man. He had balls. Big ones, despite his frail appearance. I guess you need them working at a Stop and Rob. “No, I’ll pass. I already have a job.”

“Doing what? I know you don’t sell Avon!”

I laughed again, ignoring the question. “How much do I owe you? We pumped gas, too,” I asked, pointing to the items on the counter.

“Not a dime! Hey, you did me a favor tonight!” he said as he excitedly placed the Mountain Dew and Juicy Fruit into a bag.

Gingerly taking the bag from him, I looked into his eyes. “Hey,” I quietly asked, leaning slightly toward him. “You aren’t going to tell anybody about this, are you?” I really didn’t want to erase his memory of the incident. Messing with the minds of the elderly is dangerous. I didn’t want this nice old man to have to spend the rest of his life in a home with no memories.

“Who would believe me?” he answered, solving my dilemma.

“Thanks,” I said, nodding as I walked quickly out the door before any cops showed. The whole incident lasted only a few minutes, but you never knew who was watching.

“Have a nice day
!” I heard the old man yell behind me.

Still carrying the shotgun, I moved as quickly as possible without attracting attention to the Mercedes where Rick was suppressing a smile.

“Not a word,” I said to Rick before he could open his mouth. “Do not say a word.”

Rick feigned innocence, then silently locked his lips and threw away the key. Inside the SUV and safely back on I-95, Rick guffawed. “You find trouble everywhere you go, don’t you?”

“I said not to say it and you promised,” I said, smiling.

“Hey, I promised nothing!” Rick corrected, enjoying himself.

I looked at the weapon still in my hand. “I’ve been wanting a shotgun! Haven’t had one for a while.” I said, throwing it into the floorboard behind the seat.

“Hey, watch it! This car’s new!” Rick feigned innocence. “Well, Abby, one thing’s for sure. I haven’t had this much fun in years!”

“Yeah, that’s what the old man said.”

“I know,” Rick teased. “You forget, I can hear well, too.”

“Among other things,” I said, remembering his gifts. All vamps had gifts and his was mind reading and reading people. Oh, and mind control. All vamps could do that. He could meet someone and immediately tell where they were from, what they were thinking, and what their intentions were. His skills came in quite handy upon more than one occasion. “Hey, you want me to drive?”

“My baby?” He laughed. “Not a chance
!”

“Another baby?” I laughed, and the bantering continued until we saw the quaint Victorian homes that was the trademark of Cooperstown.  I had been here before and they didn’t allow any form of progress within the town. That meant no McDonalds, Wendy’s, or modern pizza places. Main Street was lined with quaint, old fashioned shops, and the locals wanted to keep it that way. In fact, everything in the town closed up tighter than a drum by 6 p.m. You were out of luck if you wanted anything to eat after 9 p.m., but if you sweet talked them, they would probably rustle you up something to eat in the local bar. They were open until
11p.m.

“We’re home,” Rick sang, as we passed through Main Street, following the road to the other side of town.

“Don’t remind me,” I said under my breath.

Rick smiled, but didn’t say anything. Good. I didn’t want to get that started again.

We followed the road as it curved gracefully around Otsego Lake. It really was a beautiful town. Cooperstown was a resort community, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Doubleday Field, and Cooperstown Village, a village with people reenacting the pioneer days. Although it was cute, they seldom got it right. It wasn’t as glamorous as they made it out to be. I guess if I had to be anywhere, this wasn’t such a bad place to be after all.

We followed a narrow road down a long drive. Within minutes, we pulled in front of a two-story Victorian home, constructed with stones in earth tones in variations of tan, brown, beige, with a bit of teal and burnished copper thrown in sporadically. Even though it was dark, I could see each detail and hue with divine clarity. In the front was a wide front porch that wrapped gingerly around the house. The house was located on the outskirts of town on the lake, looking as if it had been there all along; as if it had grown up from the ground along with the surrounding vegetation. Also, the acres of land the house rested upon were secluded, surrounded by trees, providing shelter from prying eyes.

“So, what do you think?” Rick asked, speaking of the house. “I picked it out a few days ago.”

Actually, I loved the house. It was perfect, but I wouldn’t admit it to Rick. “Eh, it’ll do,” I said, smiling.

Rick smiled, too, and shook his head. Being with Rick was so easy. I could easily be myself with him, something I haven’t been able to do with anyone for a long time. It really was good to be home again.

I walked around the car to the hatch back to help Rick with the bags, and saw familiar, very large black cases containing our own arsenal.

“What?” I asked Rick, eyeing all the black cases. “Are you expecting us to be attacked by terrorists? Or perhaps an army?”

Rick shrugged, reaching for a case. He lifted it with ease even though it was quite heavy, at least, to a human. “Well, you never know.”

“But where’s our clothes?” I asked, casually lifting a huge black case, looking around.

Rick pointed to two small duffle bags in the corner, and lifted another case with his other hand.

“That’s
it
?” I asked. That wouldn’t be enough to get me through a day. “You call
that
clothes?”

Rick shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “Since when did you become a fashion geek?” he asked casually.

I rolled my eyes and lifted another very large black case from the trunk.

Together, we took all the cases into the house in one trip. The foyer contained only an ornately decorated mirror within a metal gold leafed frame. The foyer spilled into a spacious living room with broad plate-glass windows overlooking the lake. The view was spectacular, encompassing the lake and the surrounding forest on the other side. Even in the moonlight, the deep hues of the green forest were in sharp contrast to the muted blue water. The room contained beige furnishings, so as not to detract from the spectacular view, the showcase of the room. The furnishings only included a couch and love seat, along with a rocker resting by an antique end table and a lamp, and another high-backed armchair, another side table and lamp.

To the right was a deep fireplace, unfettered by a screen, with utensils hanging to the right. It was housed in the same stone as the rest of the house and had an old-fashioned pot hanger inside on the right. This quaint fireplace reminded me of the old days, cooking on the open fire every night years ago in my father’s home. 

To the left was a wooden stairwell leading to a loft where the bedrooms obviously were. It was rustic, but fit within the home beautifully.

“You like?” Rick asked, bringing me back from my reverie. The case he set down was so out of place in this room, like a vampire just landed in Wonderland.

“I like,” I admitted with a smile, not trying to hide my obvious approval. Immediately, I set down my case and ran up the stairs at vampire speed. “I get to pick out my bedroom first
!” I shouted, sounding very much like a teenager.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Rick shouted, zooming up the stairs behind, clearly amused.

In the end, I claimed the bedroom on the left. It was actually a suite, with an opulent bathroom to the left and a small sitting room
on the right. Luckily, the house contained two master suits. Rick’s was a mirror image of mine on the other side of the wrap around loft. There were five bedrooms in all.

Once all the bags were stowed, the sun was beginning to make an appearance, indicating a new day, and the familiar burn in my throat could not be ignored. “You want to go hunting?” I asked Rick, who was in the kitchen already organizing utensils and pots and pans.

“Naw,” he replied. “I brought some human with me.” Actually, that’s what we called blood bags.

“You aren’t seriously doing human, are you?” I asked, accusingly.

Rick feigned innocence. “Not from the tap.”

“Who was it that told me that drinking human blood was unacceptable?”

“Hey,” Rick countered, “That was before blood banks.”

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.

“Now, don’t look at me like that,” Rick continued. “I haven’t killed anyone for years.”

I lifted an eyebrow, silently placing my hands on my hips.

“For dinner, anyway,” Rick amended, reaching into a chest freezer in the closet. He pulled out a blood bag and threw it at me. “I have a supplier in D.C. who can get me whatever I want.”

I caught it with one hand expertly—not so much as looking at it—then threw it right back. “No, thank you. I’m going hunting.”

“Hey,” Rick tried to sound convincing. “At least this way we don’t have to
kill
.”

I ignored the jab. “As I said, I’m going hunting … animal blood,” I said with a smile. My throat was burning. I had to eat soon. 

“Wait a minute,” Rick replied as he punched a straw in the side of the blood bag as if it were a children’s juice pouch, then raised it to his lips. “Don’t forget
! Y
ou need to register for school in the morning
! Don’t be late!”

“That’s
your
job …
Dad
,” I said, laughing, heading toward the back of the house. 

“I’ll go with you in the morning!” Rick called after me, then added, “when you get back
on time
!”

“By the way, pick me up some Mountain Dew when you’re at the store,” I said, changing the subject.

“You and that Mountain Dew!”

“Hey, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it,” I said as I started toward the door.

Rick laughed and shook his head as I waved over my shoulder and raced out the back sliding glass door next to the floor-length plate glass windows. Outside, bright rays of orange and red shot across the sky, mixing with the brilliant blue sky. I breathed deeply, feeling the air rush into my lungs, inhaling the sweet scents of the forest: evergreen, moss, freesia and baby’s breath were among them, along with various animal scents: bear, raccoon, and elk. A squirrel scurried by near my feet. I looked around to make sure no one was looking, and with reckless abandon, I darted at lightning speed into the forest. As the wind rushed past, blowing my brown hair behind me, I felt free. There was nothing more freeing than running.

But as I ran, piercing azure eyes peering through blonde streaked hair crept repeatedly into my thoughts, along with those strong shoulders … but I quickly brushed the picture from my mind. As of tomorrow, he would be in my charge. I couldn’t help but wonder who was after this kid? He seemed to live quietly with his mother, unlinked to his father. Who was coming for him? I quickly averted my attention back to the hunt.

Even though I had no answers, one thing was certain: this was just the quiet before the storm and the best was yet to come.  The corners of my mouth curled menacingly.

Bring it on.

My feet flew with lightning speed through the surrounding mountains as the scents of evergreen, honeylocust, and pear trees zoomed by. I was almost to Canada when I caught the scent of big game. My throat burned. Lusting for blood, the animal inside me seethed for the kill.  I slowed when I heard heavy footfalls above the ridge. Immediately, I jumped twenty feet into the air, expertly grabbing a branch and silently placing my feet on the same branch, crouched like Spiderman. But I didn’t have webs. I had weapons that were much more effective.

My teeth gleamed in the moonlight as a menacing smile curled my lips, poised and ready. Silently I sprang from limb to limb as graceful as a lemur in the jungles of Africa. I inhaled deeply, tasting the air. The sensual aroma of big game and the sweet, sweet scent of the red, delicious blood filled my lungs. The animal in me snarled in anticipation. The blood of big game was the closest to human and was almost as satisfying. My throat burned and my heart pounded in anticipation, and yes there would be plenty of fight. Just a few minutes more.