Finally Dead (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 1) (2 page)

Two more
vamps came for her, and the little girl she was trying not to eat. One was like
her, a Classic, the other a Manthori woman, who was shorter than her male
friend. Actually, shorter than
she
was, being only about five feet even.
Tiny for one of her kind.

In
short, this group was incredibly varied. Most Vampires didn’t hang with people
that weren’t their own kind very often. There was no reason for it. It wasn’t a
rule or anything, just what happened, most of the time. This group had three
different types of Vamps though. It would have been confusing, if she was less
well trained.

The tiny
woman got a boot to the middle, which was the first time Eve realized that she
had clothing on. It was the same stuff from the day before, which made sense,
being that she’d died in it on purpose. They’d even left her the awesome
leather jacket she’d been wearing. It
had
been at least. Now it was
smoldering a bit, thanks to the Manthori dude that had scorched it. He was down
at least.

The last
woman was like her. Strong, fast, and a lot older than she was. Eve could tell,
since she was hit six times as she tried to bring the knife around. That kind
of speed came with age, for a Classic. Some were better at it than others, but
as a rule, if a Classic was fast, they were old. It hurt, but not as much as
the flames had. The raw fact was that this new lady was kicking her ass though,
and there really wasn’t a lot she could do about it.

Not
until the Vampire very helpfully stabbed herself with the big knife. It really
seemed like she did it on purpose too, jumping forward so fast that Eve
wouldn’t have been able to stop her from biting the side of her neck, normally.
As it was, the blade sliced the side of her face open, the woman screaming in
pain.

Distracted,
the other Vampire got cut up as well as Eve could manage. That had them all
down then, though it was clear they were also going to recover. They were all
stirring and trying to get back up.

“
Run
!”
She took the Human juice box’s hand and fled then, pulling the slow little thing
along with her.

Or not
that
little. The girl was a bit chubby, to be honest. Healthy, and filled with life.
Tasty energy.

Stuff
that was pulled from her into Eve, even as they ran.

They had
something around six minutes, at a guess, to get far enough away to lose the
downed people. If there had been fewer of them, or if she’d been alone, they
would have all died there. With the girl in tow, that would take too long and
probably get the Human killed. So they did their best, the two of them, trying
to get out of the place.

It was
easy enough to get to the door, since the place was just a house, not some kind
of mansion or palace. Isolated, she noticed, and in the woods. There was a car
out front though, and the keys had helpfully been left in the ignition. That
meant shoving the girl into the passenger’s seat, but the big American muscle
car, which was a bright yellow color, started with a deep and throaty roar. A
minute later they were driving away at speeds that most Vampires would have had
problems keeping up with on foot. Some could though, so she didn’t let up on
the gas pedal.

The girl
next to her moaned.

“God…
God…”

That
wouldn’t help her though. It wasn’t even a proper prayer, was it? If she’d
sounded just a bit happier, it
would
have worked for sex, but that
wasn’t the feeling they were working on.

“Bind
the wound. On your arm?” She could smell the fresh blood flowing still. It was
enough that the vehicle filled with the heady aroma.

She had
enough life energy now though. The link to the girl was strong, and she was
pulling it in. Yeah, her nature called for her to drink it
all
,
absorbing what life she could all at once, but that was the dumb way to do
things. It took all her will power to leave it at that however.

She’d
practiced for it however, for years. Eve had gone without food, even while she
was a regular girl herself, knowing that it would be hard to not attack people
for their blood. It was different, she realized now, and a stronger thing than
she’d been warned about.

Well,
that wasn’t
really
true. People
had
told her about how powerful
the lure, the call to drink, would be. She’d just hoped that what she was
training for was close to enough. So far it really had worked, so she wasn’t
giving up, yet. It wasn’t like hunger though.

It was
different. More like thirst, but also kind of like what she’d always imagined
jonesing for crack would have been like for an addict. An ache, and a calling,
a hunger and a need, all hitting her on several different fronts at one time.

The girl
barely moved, holding her hand over her bleeding arm, but looking around for
something to stop the bleeding with. There was a shirt in the back seat, which
had belonged to a man, at some point. Eve could smell him on the pale pink
fabric. It was strongly attractive. A natural thing, that would have been close
to B.O. she thought. Now she really wanted to fuck whoever that man was. It was
a bit different, really, since she hadn’t thought that she’d have a sex drive
left at all. Most people didn’t really, once they became vamps.

It had
been one of the things she’d been warned about, actually. Many times. She’d be
capable of having relations, but wouldn’t care for it, in particular. Really,
she’d also been told that the older Vampires would rape her, as a corrective
measure. It had taken her years to notice that no one really
did
that
very much. Oh, it happened, and some of the Vampires, like the Manthori,
actually
wanted
sex, but when she looked down at her skin, it was pretty
normal seeming. Pale, but still
her
colored, not bone white chalk. So
something was a bit off.

It could
just be a residual effect of having just turned, however. That had been a thing
that several people had hinted at. If it was, then that part wasn’t going to
last very long.

After a
few minutes of fleeing for their lives, the girl calmed down enough to speak,
and not just whimper gently. It was better. Easier to deal with. Less
attractive.

“Where
are we going?”

Eve
didn’t really know where they were. The road didn’t have lights, and she was
driving with the headlights off, which she remedied, since the other drivers
she might pass would need to be able to see her too. There were woods on either
side of them. All evergreens, which probably meant they weren’t too far away
from where she’d died the day before.

Still in
Washington, or possibly Oregon.

“I have
no clue. Right now I’m just trying to get away from those people. How long did
they have you?” She was distracting the girl, or trying to. It didn’t really
matter how long they’d had her though. Not at the moment. It wouldn’t, unless
they could get away.

The car
was floored however, and had a half tank of gas. The winding road wasn’t hard
to follow, since it all seemed to be moving in slow motion to her still. The
speedometer said they were going one-ten, but it felt like they were crawling
along at about twenty to her.

“Three
days? They said they were going to kill me. That they were going to drink my
blood and rape me. No one did that though. I… don’t think. I, there was
something. That man… he said that… I can’t remember. It was a different man, I
think. The first one. He was tall and skinny, but… I don’t know, it’s like I
can’t remember him.”

Eve got
the idea. One of the men had probably had sex with her, and then compelled her
not to remember it. That would make her easier to keep in line. Not that she’d
present a big problem for anyone. She was too out of shape, and mentally weak,
to put up a very good fight. Trying probably would have just had her beaten
until she couldn’t anymore.

It was
just as well she didn’t know what had happened to her, of course, if that was
the case. If you had to be raped, not knowing it had happened was better. Both
had happened to her before, so Eve was kind of an expert on the topic.

After a
few more minutes of driving they hit a freeway, and she slowed down to nearly
traffic speed. The sign said she wasn’t too far from Spokane. That was hours
away from Vancouver, which meant that those others had to have collected her no
more than hours before. That morning, most likely. The New Vamp had probably
done it, while Edom slept. That type started out being able to day walk. It was
really their main power. They were stronger than a Human, but not too much so.
They could compel people, but only a bit.

They
could pass as a regular person though, not having fangs at all, and stay up all
day, starting in their first week or so. She’d go down as soon as the sun came
up, most likely, and would for centuries, more or less.

By
following signs, she got them both to a hospital, which she thought might be a
mistake, since there would be a lot of blood there, but the girl’s scent
overwhelmed that for her. So did the disinfectant. It reeked, and made her want
to hold her nose, but she didn’t do that. It would be too strange and give her
away as being weird. The nurse came over to them as they walked in, her blue
outfit looking casual, compared to what Eve had expected. Scrubs, like on T.V.
Not an all white uniform with a funny hat.

“What
happened here?” The woman, who was about fifty, and had a long face with enough
wrinkles to show she didn’t smile that often, looked at the girl directly.

Eve
considered trying to compel her, but shook her head a bit instead. She didn’t
actually know
how
to do that, did she? It involved making eye contact,
and concentrating on the other person as hard as you could, but she’d never
done it. So she told the truth.

“We were
kidnapped. Some freaks that said they were vampires? We got away, and came
right here. I don’t know how bad she’s hurt. We need the police.” That was what
normal people did, wasn’t it? Her dad was the Chief in their town, which had
given her some small bit of insight into that kind of mind set.

It
wouldn’t matter if these people were
real
Vampires, because they’d avoid
the cops, if they could. Sending the boys in blue in would just protect this
girl. Not because they could save her directly, but because killing cops would
get attention, and
that
could have the Council on their ass.

The kid gave
her name to the nurse, when asked. Eve hadn’t even thought about doing that,
being too caught up in her own little drama, being undead and all that.

“Lindsey.
Lindsey Stanton.” Then she started crying, but was taken to a little curtained
area that had a bed.

She had
help, so Eve decided to get out of there, in order to avoid any hassles.

On the
way out the nurse looked at her funny.

“Where
are you going?”

“I need
to move the car I stole from the kidnappers. I’m blocking the ambulance bay.”
She sounded a bit too aggressive, so made herself smile. It was the wrong
reaction set, but the woman didn’t try to tackle her. That meant she was out of
the parking lot a few minutes later. Less than that, since everything still
seemed to be crawling around her all the time.

She
needed a phone.

It took
a while to track one down, but she found one. An honest to God
payphone
,
and managed to pan-handle enough change to make a call. A short one.

The
voice that picked up was familiar, since she’d called the Vampire embassy for
the area. A place where she used to work, part time. Yoghurt World. It was a
cover, but someone had to actually make the treats, which used to be her day
job. That,and answering the phones. She knew how to be polite, and about the
people that worked there, so why not?

“How may
I help you today?” That was the way things always got answered at night, to
avoid confusion. During the day they announced themselves as Yoghurt World, in
case it was a supplier or someone looking for work.

“Hey
Barb. This is Eve? I was kidnapped, by some feeders I think, and managed to
escape. I’m in Spokane, Washington?

“Eve!
Edom is freaking out. Where are you? Stay there, and um… Try not to kill
people? You must be starving.”

She
wasn’t, not really.

“No, I
have a link set up. The girl I was
supposed
to kill. She’s in the
hospital. Just a cut on her arm. One of the kidnappers did it, not me. I’m
outside a grocery store.” She had to get the street corner names, but was told
to wait there.

It took
a while, since the call ended suddenly, without her having change for more, so
she sat in the car. No one bothered her, though a man stared at her pretty hard
after a while. He looked to be homeless, and smelled more than a little, even
from across the street. Like piss and vomit, mixed with body odor. He was, she
knew, the sort of person that she once would have been afraid of. Now she
didn’t feel that way at all.

Oh, he
was drunk, and partially aroused, sexually. It was clear his attention was on
her too, which would have made her leery, not long before. Now she knew that if
he tried anything, she could stop him.
Dead
, if she wanted to. It was a
nice feeling.