been killed. I’ve got pretty good at it. I can smell blood from quite a distance. I try to drink from where there are already wounds so people don’t get clued in. And I try not to drain too much of the blood, so that it seems like the blood loss could have occurred naturally from the wounds they’ve sustained.” He paused to laugh bitterly. “As if anyone would believe anything else, anyway.”
Carrie privately agreed with Brendan’s last statement. When he wasn’t around for her to see for herself, only the twinge of the wounds his fangs had inflicted on her kept her from doubting the truth of his new nature.
“And like I said, I try to use animals. Stray dogs…not-stray dogs, deer… Sometimes I go outside the city into the woods.” He paused and frowned, looking away then casting a quick glance at Carrie as if preparing to divulge something of which he was ashamed. “I’ve attacked a few people, too, though I haven’t done that for several months. I didn’t kill them, but…I’m sure it hurt and gave them one hell of a scare.”
“Okay,” Carrie said, steeling herself for further revelations, willing herself to stay calm no matter what he might confess. Whatever he said—whatever he’d done—she wouldn’t tell him to leave again. “What else…are you…I mean, can you die?”
“Not easily,” he replied. “I’ve been shot a couple of times and stabbed even more.”
Startled, she reached out reflexively to place a hand on his knee.
He laughed. “I’m fine. Things like that are no threat to a vampire. To die, we have to have our hearts removed and our bodies burnt to ash.”
“Why remove the heart?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe as one final reminder that we’re not human anymore. We can live without our hearts, but we won’t burn with them intact.”
“How do you know all this?”
“I met another vampire a few months ago. His name was Stephen, and he was passing through the city. He spent a few days in my warehouse.”
A weight left her shoulders, as quickly as it had descended, when he said the word ‘he’, and she breathed a tiny sigh of relief. “Oh.” Apparently she wasn’t as numb as she’d thought. Her heart pounded, still speeding even in the wake of the welcome revelation that the vampire he’d shared his home with had been male.
“So, what else do you want to know?”
Carrie paused for a moment. “How do you become a vampire?” she asked, trying to ignore the twinge of pain the question caused her. “How does it work?” She fought another wave of nausea. She most definitely was not numb, she decided. If she vomited, she would pass it off as a reaction to the pain that had begun to throb in her lower back as the anaesthetic wore off.
“Vampires are venomous,” Brendan replied. “The venom is released from the fangs at will. Normally, it’s released immediately after the bite because it paralyses the victim. To turn someone into a vampire, though, you have to drain all but a handful of the blood from their body without injecting any venom. You have to be able to physically restrain them while you do it.”
Carrie withdrew her hand from Brendan’s knee and returned it to her lap, where she began wringing the dirty bills he’d given her as if they were damp laundry.
“Then,” he continued, “you inject the venom. It takes over. The transformation only takes a couple of hours.”
“That doesn’t sound very hard,” she said flatly.
“Well, it’s not easy to leave any blood behind, and it’s difficult to wait until the last minute to release the venom.”
“Why?”
“Because it feels so good.”
“It feels good to release the venom?”
Brendan nodded. “Almost like…” He lowered his gaze.
Carrie turned away—he obviously wanted her to change the subject—and retrieved her purse from where it rested at her feet. “I almost forgot,” she said, “I got you something today.” She withdrew the extra cell
Carrie privately agreed with Brendan’s last statement. When he wasn’t around for her to see for herself, only the twinge of the wounds his fangs had inflicted on her kept her from doubting the truth of his new nature.
“And like I said, I try to use animals. Stray dogs…not-stray dogs, deer… Sometimes I go outside the city into the woods.” He paused and frowned, looking away then casting a quick glance at Carrie as if preparing to divulge something of which he was ashamed. “I’ve attacked a few people, too, though I haven’t done that for several months. I didn’t kill them, but…I’m sure it hurt and gave them one hell of a scare.”
“Okay,” Carrie said, steeling herself for further revelations, willing herself to stay calm no matter what he might confess. Whatever he said—whatever he’d done—she wouldn’t tell him to leave again. “What else…are you…I mean, can you die?”
“Not easily,” he replied. “I’ve been shot a couple of times and stabbed even more.”
Startled, she reached out reflexively to place a hand on his knee.
He laughed. “I’m fine. Things like that are no threat to a vampire. To die, we have to have our hearts removed and our bodies burnt to ash.”
“Why remove the heart?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe as one final reminder that we’re not human anymore. We can live without our hearts, but we won’t burn with them intact.”
“How do you know all this?”
“I met another vampire a few months ago. His name was Stephen, and he was passing through the city. He spent a few days in my warehouse.”
A weight left her shoulders, as quickly as it had descended, when he said the word ‘he’, and she breathed a tiny sigh of relief. “Oh.” Apparently she wasn’t as numb as she’d thought. Her heart pounded, still speeding even in the wake of the welcome revelation that the vampire he’d shared his home with had been male.
“So, what else do you want to know?”
Carrie paused for a moment. “How do you become a vampire?” she asked, trying to ignore the twinge of pain the question caused her. “How does it work?” She fought another wave of nausea. She most definitely was not numb, she decided. If she vomited, she would pass it off as a reaction to the pain that had begun to throb in her lower back as the anaesthetic wore off.
“Vampires are venomous,” Brendan replied. “The venom is released from the fangs at will. Normally, it’s released immediately after the bite because it paralyses the victim. To turn someone into a vampire, though, you have to drain all but a handful of the blood from their body without injecting any venom. You have to be able to physically restrain them while you do it.”
Carrie withdrew her hand from Brendan’s knee and returned it to her lap, where she began wringing the dirty bills he’d given her as if they were damp laundry.
“Then,” he continued, “you inject the venom. It takes over. The transformation only takes a couple of hours.”
“That doesn’t sound very hard,” she said flatly.
“Well, it’s not easy to leave any blood behind, and it’s difficult to wait until the last minute to release the venom.”
“Why?”
“Because it feels so good.”
“It feels good to release the venom?”
Brendan nodded. “Almost like…” He lowered his gaze.
Carrie turned away—he obviously wanted her to change the subject—and retrieved her purse from where it rested at her feet. “I almost forgot,” she said, “I got you something today.” She withdrew the extra cell
Similar Books
