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Wadding up the dress, I slung it onto the table. In the same instant, a sharp pain hit, making me double over. Looking down I saw a wooden stake protruding from my chest. Panicking, I clawed at it to pull it out, but never having really been there, it vanished, pain and all. "What... the... hell?"
Savy seized my shoulders, studying me with a frightful expression. "What’s wrong?"
"There something wrong with that dress," I panted, holding my chest that was very much still intact.
"Witches."
There was no use explaining to Savy the dress had come from a vampire who could send projections, apparently even through the mail, not a witch. She was certain everything in this apartment was cursed. Nevertheless, she’d agreed to help me do more than move today, so I’d have to worry about the vision later and if Sander was threatening me.
As soon as she had known everything, Savy agreed to help me find a witch. Everything included my childhood friend, lover, once fiancé had been made vampire. I’d put on my seven-pointed star today for the occasion. A reminder of what I hoped to gain if I actually found a witch willing to help me. Crow. Thinking of Crow being in the city, but as a deranged vampire zombie made me sick. Before last week, I’d decided to never to think of him again. That was before Bobby left me this strange gift stuffed in my pocket now.
Crow hadn’t remembered me or us at all. He hadn’t been transformed into a vampire until after Sigmund's men had messed with him, feeding him a concoction that would turn him into the perfect slave or a zombie, depending on the level of their success. He’d already begun to rot before he was made one of Sigmund’s cloud. Recalling the sad state of Crow’s once beautiful body and the evil look on his face after I’d killed his master brought me to tears over and over this last week. All Crow ever wanted was his freedom and, I’d like to think, me. He wanted me, fangs and all, back on the reservation when no one wanted me.
Bobby warned the wish came with a consequence, and I would need a witch to balance it out. Whatever the hell that meant. Hell, I needed a witch to tell me how to use the damn thing too. Before last week, I wasn’t sure if witches really existed. Vampires and bleeders whisper about all kinds of creatures, but it’s not like I’d ever run into one at the University. Vampires were worse than the humans I’d grown up with who thought since vampires were real, everything else hiding under your bed was too, from mischievous fairies to the tidy bowl man, the monster who was supposed to eat us if we didn’t carry water from the river to flush all the toilets on the reservation regularly.
You’d think some witches would have come to me by now, considering Bobby had a shop catering to them in the back of her bookstore. But for the last week no one had stepped foot in the bookstore, let alone a witch looking for “craft” supplies. Bobby’s name disappeared from the store window the day after she’d left, along with any other physical evidence she’d ever lived here. The pictures of her and Zack along with the boxes she’d packed up vanished too. The books around her apartment contained eerie blank pages. It was like she’d magiced all of it away. For all I knew, it was exactly what she’d planned. How else would a witch move?
Left feeling like all the witches somehow knew Bobby was gone and there was some charm warning them to stay far away, I decided to start searching myself. Savy had been grumbling about witches all day, so I was afraid she’d changed her mind. "Are you still going to help me?"
"Do you think I have no heart? Are you not my best friend? Did I not take off work?” Savy’s overly dramatic answer made me happy. As much as my life had changed, she was still the same. “Let's go find a witch. Besides, I dressed the part." She wore old jeans, a worn sweatshirt and an old baseball cap just like me. We were dressed like two humans who didn’t give a damn about impressing a vampire. Sticking my hand in my pocket, I assured myself again my wish was still okay. Noticing, my friend added, "Are you sure you should take that with you?"
Taking Savy's advice, I locked the appeal in my room before locking my apartment with the real key. Savy shook her head, disliking the lack of security. It worried me too but the theory was the authorities would forget about me if I lived out here, because it was punishment enough.
Across the street sat a little unnamed diner, unless it was named EAT like the only sign suggested. I’d set in the bookstore watching people go in and out of the restaurant a few times last week but hadn’t stepped foot in the place myself. It wasn't I wasn't brave enough to go alone, even during the day. Okay maybe that was part of it. Us bleeders went to the fringe to buy streetwares but nothing else, and even going to the black market was a dangerous endeavor. Both of us a bit nervous, we crossed the deserted two lane street. Sure Savy and I’d encountered plenty of humans in the city, but they were the law abiding upstanding members of society who gave blood monthly and worked hard to make Sanguis City a great place to live, if you believed the hype. Plus, they’d do whatever most bleeders wanted. Out on the fringe things were different. Humans lived here to avoid vampires and to them bleeders were just as bad. With that in mind, I’d figured Savy’s special power was what I needed to get information in these parts and was shocked when she’d agreed.
A little bell above the door, similar to the bell at Bobby's Books, chimed when we entered. Being lunchtime on a weekday, the place crawled with humans. Unlike a vampire hang out or even an establishment that catered to bleeders in the city, this restaurant was lit up and was only made brighter by the whitish furnishings. At least everything used to be white before it was old and yellowing. In the bright daylight, it glowed as large windows let sunshine flow into every crevice, illuminating every corner, the counter, the stools, the booths. Squinting, I glanced up at the garlic hanging in pantyhose from the ceiling like streamers, smelling strong enough to make even me feel queasy. Savy crinkled her nose before straightening her face to keep our cover. We’d heard about the garlic and that they’d only be using silver utensils as well, a further sign vampires weren’t welcome here.
Taking the only two empty stools at the counter, we’d prepared to get information quickly and get out. Too bad our waitress strutting over was the wrong gender. Her bosom said hello first, her cleavage exposed and breasts too large to ignore. With a tight brown beehive on top of her head, where she stored her pens, the woman wore thick makeup, complete with drawn on eyebrows. "What's your poison?" She batted her fake eyelashes, but looked at her order pad.
"Two beers," I muttered with my head down, hiding my fangs as Savy scanned the room for a man. Humans always ordered bottled beer, so we’d blend right in as long as we didn't smile or clink the glass against our fangs. Savy gestured toward a secluded area, having already attracted someone. We took our bottles over to a booth where two men sat, one on either side. One man had a scruffy beard, but underneath you could tell he was middle-aged. The other was clean-shaven, tall, lanky, and younger. Looking surprised for a moment before Savy started talking, they became blubbering idiots. We could’ve robbed them blind.
"Are these seats taken?" Savy asked in her most seductive voice, fluttering her eyes as she slid in. I followed suit and sat on the other side.
“You're welcome to it sweetheart," said the man beside me with the beard. I inhaled, discreetly trying to take in their scent through the garlic and realized Savy had picked well. These men didn’t smell of a hard day’s work, of real sweat or dirt. A closer look revealed their clothes only bore surface stains like the soil from Bobby’s garden we’d rubbed on us for our disguise. Maybe they worked for someone important but didn’t want the other humans to know. They might know something to lead us in the right direction.
"What's two pretty things like you all doing around here?"
"That's none of your business," I started before Savy kicked me under the table.
Savy winked at the bearded man beside me, her head cocked, shoulder rising, looking seductively playful as her hand disappeared under the table to lanky’s leg, hopefully just his leg. Facing the tall skinny man now, she smiled sweetly, carefully showing her fangs. "I’ll ask the questions. We’re looking for a witch. You wouldn't happen to know where they congregate, would you?"
The lanky man stuttered so the bearded one answered, "Never met a witch. I've met a couple bitches, but never a witch." He laughed at his own joke and put his arm around me, pulling me to him, and I had to go with it.
"How about you?" Savy went on, making eyes at the lanky one again.
"Not that I can remember," he stammered.
Beard wouldn't have it. He wanted her to look his way again. "Can't say I know anyone who knows a witch."
"It's okay. You can tell me there's no need to be afraid." Her arm moved and lanky jerked. I closed my eyes, knowing she had her hand wrapped around his nuts.
"Your fangs don't scare me, pretty thing,” Beard blurted out, trying to get her attention. "You wouldn't think it, men like us working for those dead bastards."
"Hold it down!" Savy demanded just in time.
A well-manicured hand with long purple nails took our menus away. The waitress who’d been behind the bar spoke, "What'll it be Randy?"
"Whatever these girls want. It's on me."
"Just another couple beers," I told the bearded one in his ear, trying to look like I was with the guy.
They ordered their lunch, saying, “the usual,” and our beers.
"You girls need to eat while you can," Randy suggested, quietly but seriously, when our waitress sashayed off.
"Why is that, Randy?" Savy got right back to questioning the men.
Beard answered again for him. "Things are changing around here.”
"What do you mean?" I finally spoke up.
"When you fight back, there are consequences." Suddenly I smelled fear rising off the men. The scent was unmistakable, sour and sweet at the same time. He went on, "If you need somewhere to hide out you can come with us. We'll show you a safe place."
"Sure, we’ll go with you." Savy winked at me.
Not to look suspicious, Savy and I downed our beers in silence, waiting for the men to finish their food. With nothing else to do, I eyed the food, impressed.
“Damn it,” I said quietly to my friend as they led us out of the diner. Savy's charm had worked, but I still hadn't gotten any answers about where to find a witch. Whatever they did know seemed interesting enough to follow, but I wasn't sure I wanted to find out.
"Noir, I'm sure they know where the witches congregate. You heard them dancing around my questions. It's a start anyway. We're bound to get more out of them in private." Savy enjoyed playing detective a little too much.
With them being under the influence, I didn't know if they were truly tolerant of bleeders or not. The men didn't know they were in a state of euphoria from talking to my friend. I hoped wherever they were leading us was truly private. Savy's trick wouldn’t work on crowds. We followed the men to Mendon Street in an old part of the city with cobblestoned streets and iron gates in front of the houses. I heard beard’s keys before we came up on a huge brick house and its locked gate. I began to ask where we were but Randy put his finger up to his lips.
I waited until they unlocked the front door and let us in. Even though it looked like a normal house on the outside, it was completely gutted on the inside. The only interior wall remaining had a door opening to the stairs, leading to the basement. This felt bad. It seemed we’d stumbled on to something more than what we were looking for, but I was not going into another basement.
Vampires were not dead to the world during the day like folklore suggested. Quite a lot of them stayed up, waiting in the dark, especially the new vampires. Some even suffered from a sort of vampire insomnia and never slept a wink. Older ones, the authentics observed a more reliable sleep pattern, but Aubrey always woke up easily in the day.
Too confident in her ability, Savy started going down the stairs without question. She’d never been easily frightened of much.
“I'm not going down there. Savy were not going down there,” I bellowed as an uncontrollable panic set in. “What is this place? Where are we, what the hell?"
“Randy get the lights, this little missy is ascared of the dark.” The bearded man poked fun at me.
“We can talk right here.” My voice became steady and firm as I gave Savy the stink eye.
She got the hint. "Yeah, I'm staying up here too. Until you gentleman tell me what's in the basement."
"There's nothing be scared of. It's an old morgue, reinforced with silver. Time comes, you come find us here," Beard beamed.
"But what about the vampires you work for?"
"Were just holding the bodies for them," Randy answered. "Come on down, we’ll show you."
Reluctantly, I followed them downstairs with a queasy feeling. Holding myself up with the help of the rails, I breathed deep to settle my nerves. Stepping into the open space below, I saw it was a morgue all right, ice cold with rows of metal drawers in the wall.
“So there are dead bodies in there?” Savy’s voice shook. Yeah. Nothing frightened Savy more than dying. She wanted to be a vampire one day so old age and death would never touch her. But the idea of dying terrified most bleeders and kept them willing to please the vampires.
Randy and the bearded one sat at a table littered with playing cards, unlabeled beer bottles and cigarette butts.
"So what do you two do, guard this place?" I was beginning to get the picture, but it didn’t make complete sense. "Guard dead humans?"
"There's not only humans in that there fridge. Most of them are vampires."
I backed against the wall slowly. "Why are you keeping dead vampires?"
"They’re useful," Randy answered. “At least that’s what we’ve been told.”
Beard, being the more competent of the two, explained, "They’re only mostly dead. They could be revived, if any vampire would claim them."
"So, what about the witch you were going to tell us about?" Savy tried, not interested in the current turn of events.
"Sugar, you don't talk about knowing a witch. It's bad luck."
"It's no use. Savy, obviously there's some sort of magic,” I waved my hands. “Or something over them, if they won't even tell you. About the witches, that is, try asking what they're doing with the bodies. What is their boss doing with the bodies?"
"Honey, I don't have no boss. We provide a service. That dead fucker hired us to guard these bodies, another dead fucker hired us to transport human corpses here. We’re raking in cash. It's going to be all out war pretty soon. We'll ditch the bodies and have a silver lined box to hide in," he said as he jiggled his keys. “It will be one hell of a party. You’re welcome to sample the goods.” He grabbed his crotch suggestively, and I cringed.
Savy crossed her arms and laughed at him.
“Look here.” Randy stood and opened a big metal drawer and instead of a dead body, it was full of frozen food packs and beer. "There's a microwave and a generator too."
"Doomsday preppers?" Savy whispered to me.
My brow creased. "What do you two know about a war?"
"It's in the paper." Beard handed me this morning’s Sanguis City Times.
I turned it over and sure enough, the headline read Mayor Jameson Threatens Lock Down on Rebel Outskirts. I huffed in aggravation, rolling up the paper. Putting it under my arm, I jutted my chin toward the door. “Come on Savy, we’re leaving. This was a waste of time.”
We left quickly, laughing at our mistake. “Humans are idiots,” Savy commented, trying to save face but shook her head as her cheeks reddened with the same embarrassment I felt.
Reading the paper on the walk back, I knew the city threatening the fringe was nothing new. Vampires blamed this area for every outbreak or infection, anything that happened to endanger Sanguis City. The only difference, this threat seemed to be an ultimatum. The fringe had a week to deliver information divulging who was to blame for the latest outbreak or “all humans” would be punished.
