Jody let go of his wrist but stayed locked on his eyes. They were black, showing no iris. "What do you want?"
The vampire broke the stare and shook his head. "Little fledgling, I want your company, of course. Now sit."
Jody climbed back onto the stool and stared into the glass before her.
"That's better. It's almost over, you know. I didn't think you would last this long, but alas, it must come to an end. The game has become a bit too public. You have to break from the cattle now. They don't understand you. You are not one of them anymore. You are their enemy. You know it, don't you? You've known it since your first kill. Even your little pet knows it."
Jody started to shake. "How did you get into the loft to get Tommy's book?"
The vampire grinned again. "One develops certain talents over time. You're still young, you wouldn't understand."
Part of Jody wanted to slam her fist into his face and run, yet another part wanted answers to all the questions that had been running through her mind since the night she was changed.
"Why me? Why did you do this to me?"
The vampire stood up and patted her on the shoulder. "It's almost over. The sadness of having a pet is that they always die on you. At the end of the night, you are alone. You'll know that feeling very soon. Drink up." He turned and walked away.
Jody watched him leave, relieved that he was gone, but at the same time disappointed. There were so many questions.
She picked up the glass, smelled the liquid, and nearly gagged.
The bartender snickered. "I never had an order for a double of straight grenadine before. Can I get you something else?"
"No, I've got to go catch him."
She picked up her paper, got up, ran up the steps and out of the club. She found that if she stayed on the balls of her feet, she could actually run in the high-heeled pumps. Chalk one up for vampire strength, she thought.
She grabbed the doorman by the shoulder and swung him around. "Did you see a thin, pale guy in black just leave?"
"That way." The doorman pointed east on Geary. "He was walking."
"Thanks," Jody tossed over her shoulder as she took to the sidewalk, waiting to break into a run until she was out of sight from the club. She ran a block before taking off the pumps and carrying them. The street was empty; only the buzz of wires and the soft padding of her feet on the sidewalk broke the silence.
She'd run ten blocks when she spotted him, a block away, leaning against a lamppost.
He turned and looked at her as she pulled up.
"So, fledgling, what are you going to do when you catch me?" he asked in a soft voice, knowing she would hear. "Kill me? Break off a signpost and drive it though my heart? Rip my head from my shoulders and play puppet with it while my body flops around on the sidewalk?" The vampire pantomimed flopping, rolled his eyes, and grinned.
Jody said nothing. She didn't know what she was going to do. She hadn't thought about it. "No," she said. "How can I stop you from killing Tommy?"
"They always betray you, you know. It's in their nature."
"What if I leave? Don't tell him where I'm going?"
"He knows we exist. We have to hide, fledgling. Always. Completely."
Jody felt strangely calm. Perhaps it was hearing the "we." Maybe it was talking in a normal voice to someone a block away. Whatever it was, she wasn't afraid, not for herself, anyway. She said, "If we have to hide, why all the killings?"
The vampire laughed again. "Did you ever have a cat bring you a bird it had killed?"
"Why?"
"Presents, fledgling. Now if you are going to kill me, please do. If not, go play with your pet while you can."
He turned and walked away.
"Wait!" Jody called. "Did you pull me through the basement window?"
"No," the vampire said without looking back. "I am not interested in saving you. And if you follow me, you will find out exactly how a vampire can be killed."
Gotcha, asshole, Jody thought. He had saved her.
Chapter 27
Bridging the Boredom
Half past midnight. He stood at the top of the southwest tower of the Oakland Bay Bridge, some fifty stories above the gunmetal-cold bay, thinking, Jump or dive? He wore a black silk suit and he paused for a moment, regretting that the suit would be ruined. He liked the feel and flow of silk on his skin. Oh well.
Two miles away Jody was walking up Market Street wishing that she could just get drunk and pass out. I wonder, she thought, if I found someone who was really drunk and drank his blood? No, this damn system of mine would probably identify alcohol as a poison and fight the effects. So many questions. If only I'd remembered to ask them.
She stopped at a phone booth and called Tommy at the store.
"Marina Safeway."
"Tommy, it's me."
"Are you still mad?"
"Not mad enough, I guess. I just wanted to tell you to stay in the store until after daylight. Don't go outside for any reason. And stay around the other guys if you can."
"Why? What's the matter?"
"Just do as I say, Tommy."
"I cleaned up the loft. Mostly, anyway."
"We'll talk about it tomorrow night. Stay at home until I wake up, okay?"
"Are you still going to be pissed?"
"Probably. I'll see you then. Good-bye." She hung up. How could he be so smart sometimes and so ignorant other times? Maybe the vampire was right, a human could never understand her. She suddenly felt very lonely.
She ducked into an all-night diner and ordered a cup of coffee as rent on a booth. She still could enjoy the smell of coffee, even if she couldn't keep it down.
She opened the paper she had bought from the bum with her cosmetics bag and began to read through the personals. "Men Seeking Women," "Women Seeking Men," "Men Seeking Men," "Women Seeking Women," "Men Seeking Small Fuzzy Animals"; there was a wide selection of categories. She scanned over the more mundane entries until her eye settled on one under "Support Groups." "Are You a Vampire? You don't have to face your problem alone. Blood Drinkers Anonymous can help. Mon.-Fri. Midnight. Rm. 212 Asian Cultural Center, Non-Smoking."
It was Friday. It was midnight. She was only ten minutes from the Asian Cultural Center. Could it be this simple?
The first thing she noticed when she walked into room 212 of the Asian Cultural Center is that all of the people sitting in a circle in molded plastic chairs, all twenty of them, were giving off heat signatures. They were all human.
She was backing out of the door when a pear-shaped woman in a leotard and black cape intercepted her and took her hand.
"Welcome," said the woman. She sported a set of rather wicked-looking fangs that caused her to lisp. "I'm Tabitha. We're just getting ready to start. Come on in. There's coffee and cookies."
She led Jody to an orange plastic chair and urged her to sit down. "It's hard the first time, but everyone here has been where you are."
"Not bloody likely," Jody said, wiping a speck of Tabitha's spittle from her cheek.
Tabitha pointed to a plastic medallion that hung from her neck by a heavy silver chain. "See this chip? I've been clean and bloodless for six months. If I can do it, so can you. One night at a time."
Tabitha squeezed her arm, then threw her cape over her shoulder, turned dramatically, and stalked across the room to the cookie table, her cape billowing behind her.
Jody looked at the other occupants of the room. All were talking, most were sneaking looks at her between sips of coffee. The men were all tall and thin with protruding Adam's apples and bad skin. Their dress ranged from business suits to jeans and flannel. They might have been a chess club out for the evening if not for the capes. To a man, they wore capes. Four of seven had fangs. Two sets of four were made of glow-in-the-dark plastic.