apart.”
“ That must be lonely. Isn’t there any way around that?”
“ If we keep feeding from each other, yes, but eventually all vampire children feel the need to strike out on their own, the need to make our own way. Once we stop exchanging blood with our sire we begin to see each other as a threat, a fellow predator. We argue, we fight and if one doesn’t leave, we eventually kill each other.”
“ Wow. Don’t invite me to the reunion, then.”
He smiled. “We can tolerate each other in a setting like this club where there is plenty of prey but when alone our instincts eventually win out.”
“ Do you have many children?”
“ Three.”
“ Only three in seven hundred years?”
“ There have been others. They died. Immortal doesn’t mean invincible.”
“ I’m sorry.”
He flashed her a sad smile. “It’s not your fault.”
“ That must be awful.”
“ When you live forever, you get used to losing people. You have to.”
They sat silently for a few moments. Until Frankie decided to move the conversation on to lighter topics.
“ So what other myths are untrue. Obviously you don’t die again during the day?”
“ In the beginning we sleep most of the day but as we get older, we get stronger. We need less sleep and less blood to sustain us.”
“ And you can drink water,” she pointed to the bottle he was sipping from.
“ Every living creature needs water.”
“ What about not casting a reflection in mirrors?”
“ Myth.”
“ Crosses?”
“ Nope.”
“ Photographs?”
“ We avoid them because they are evidence we don’t age.”
“ Garlic?”
“ Uh uh.”
“ Holy water?”
“ No.”
“ Are any of them true?”
He grinned. “Not many. Sunlight, fire, beheading are true. Stakes hurt like hell but won’t kill us. We don’t need an invitation to enter a home, we do cast a shadow, we can eat but not digest regular food, we can walk on hallowed ground just like anyone else and we can’t turn into smoke or bats.”
“ Okay, you just killed my enjoyment of every vampire film from now on.”
“ Don’t blame the film makers, we created most of those myths ourselves or played up a few of the good ones. If people think vampires are afraid of crosses, what better way to prove we aren’t one? And the bat and smoke theories are just very cool.”
“ Cool?”
“ We have to keep up with modern vernacular, Frankie. It’s all part of the cover.”
She laughed. “Yeah, but you can’t pull that one off. It’s like me trying to say ‘totally awesome, dude’ or ‘you go girl,’ it just doesn’t work.”
“ Well, now that you’ve taken my ego down a peg or two, would you like another drink?”
“ Sure.” She handed him her glass and as he poured her another, she wondered about the one question she really needed to ask and hadn't.
He handed her the glass and frowned. “You look worried.”
“ Can I ask you anything?”
“ Of course.”
“ Have you ever killed?” she really doubted she’d get the answer she wanted and a part of her was happy about that. She liked him, perhaps too much and an excuse to walk out would be a welcome relief.
“ Yes. I don’t kill for pleasure and I don’t kill to eat but in the early days I did have accidents from time to time.”
“ And now?”
“ Now when I kill it’s for other reasons.”
“ What sort of reasons?”
“ I’ve turned lovers when they’ve asked me to. I’ve killed for justice. To protect the weak.”
“ You call killing justice?”
“ A form of it, yes. Sometimes it’s the only justice.”
“ Give me an example.”
“ This case. When we find whoever’s doing this I will kill him. He deserves nothing less.”
“ So you’re a vampire vigilante?”
“ No. I kill to protect those that I love and what is mine. This club is mine as are its patrons. I will not allow someone to get away with harming them.”
As reasons went it wasn’t actually a bad one. “You can’t just
“ That must be lonely. Isn’t there any way around that?”
“ If we keep feeding from each other, yes, but eventually all vampire children feel the need to strike out on their own, the need to make our own way. Once we stop exchanging blood with our sire we begin to see each other as a threat, a fellow predator. We argue, we fight and if one doesn’t leave, we eventually kill each other.”
“ Wow. Don’t invite me to the reunion, then.”
He smiled. “We can tolerate each other in a setting like this club where there is plenty of prey but when alone our instincts eventually win out.”
“ Do you have many children?”
“ Three.”
“ Only three in seven hundred years?”
“ There have been others. They died. Immortal doesn’t mean invincible.”
“ I’m sorry.”
He flashed her a sad smile. “It’s not your fault.”
“ That must be awful.”
“ When you live forever, you get used to losing people. You have to.”
They sat silently for a few moments. Until Frankie decided to move the conversation on to lighter topics.
“ So what other myths are untrue. Obviously you don’t die again during the day?”
“ In the beginning we sleep most of the day but as we get older, we get stronger. We need less sleep and less blood to sustain us.”
“ And you can drink water,” she pointed to the bottle he was sipping from.
“ Every living creature needs water.”
“ What about not casting a reflection in mirrors?”
“ Myth.”
“ Crosses?”
“ Nope.”
“ Photographs?”
“ We avoid them because they are evidence we don’t age.”
“ Garlic?”
“ Uh uh.”
“ Holy water?”
“ No.”
“ Are any of them true?”
He grinned. “Not many. Sunlight, fire, beheading are true. Stakes hurt like hell but won’t kill us. We don’t need an invitation to enter a home, we do cast a shadow, we can eat but not digest regular food, we can walk on hallowed ground just like anyone else and we can’t turn into smoke or bats.”
“ Okay, you just killed my enjoyment of every vampire film from now on.”
“ Don’t blame the film makers, we created most of those myths ourselves or played up a few of the good ones. If people think vampires are afraid of crosses, what better way to prove we aren’t one? And the bat and smoke theories are just very cool.”
“ Cool?”
“ We have to keep up with modern vernacular, Frankie. It’s all part of the cover.”
She laughed. “Yeah, but you can’t pull that one off. It’s like me trying to say ‘totally awesome, dude’ or ‘you go girl,’ it just doesn’t work.”
“ Well, now that you’ve taken my ego down a peg or two, would you like another drink?”
“ Sure.” She handed him her glass and as he poured her another, she wondered about the one question she really needed to ask and hadn't.
He handed her the glass and frowned. “You look worried.”
“ Can I ask you anything?”
“ Of course.”
“ Have you ever killed?” she really doubted she’d get the answer she wanted and a part of her was happy about that. She liked him, perhaps too much and an excuse to walk out would be a welcome relief.
“ Yes. I don’t kill for pleasure and I don’t kill to eat but in the early days I did have accidents from time to time.”
“ And now?”
“ Now when I kill it’s for other reasons.”
“ What sort of reasons?”
“ I’ve turned lovers when they’ve asked me to. I’ve killed for justice. To protect the weak.”
“ You call killing justice?”
“ A form of it, yes. Sometimes it’s the only justice.”
“ Give me an example.”
“ This case. When we find whoever’s doing this I will kill him. He deserves nothing less.”
“ So you’re a vampire vigilante?”
“ No. I kill to protect those that I love and what is mine. This club is mine as are its patrons. I will not allow someone to get away with harming them.”
As reasons went it wasn’t actually a bad one. “You can’t just
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