Midnight Squad: The Grim (50 page)

           
“Well I mean Janine was telling me that you were kind of
jealous. Now you, Katy, and Janine are pinning me down...not that I was
complaining. It was just a surprise. I know you explained why I ended up in the
early beginnings of a four way, but then when we go to bed you and Katy both
snuggled up with me. I’m just surprised that you haven’t kicked her ass, or
mine.” I said nervously.

           
Penny smiled and said, “You love me. I love you. If we
are going to be a couple then I suppose I need to clue you in to a few things.
The first thing you should know is that when I’m…feeling passionate…I tend to
bite a bit. A vampire’s human lover tends to be an extra food source. You’re
not the meal, more like an appetizer, or a desert. That means I might take a
sip here and there. Which wouldn’t be a problem, except that if this goes on
too long you’ll start getting sick? You might even die. That’s why whenever a
vampire has a human lover they also take another human so that when I feed it
won’t be
such a drain on you…pardon
the pun.”

           
“So Katy is just a snack? She deserves better than that.”
I growled

           
“She’s more than a snack. If I take you as my lover, then
for our relationship to work we need someone to help share in satisfying my
needs. That is unless you just want anemia. We call the third our Pet. Contrary
to how it
sounds,
it’s actually a highly honored place
in vampire culture. Vampires see Pets as the personification of the love
between a vampire and a human because without a Pet we couldn’t have a
long-term relationship. I really enjoy Katy’s company, and I want her to be our
Pet, but only if that’s okay with you.”

           
I thought it over, “Okay, but only if you explain it all
to her. I don’t want her walking into this blindly. You also need to explain it
to me. I’m in it, but I feel like I’m way behind the learning curve.”

           
“Okay, what do you want to know?” She asked nervously.

           
“Well…what happens when you go to sleep? You get all cold
and…dead.”

           
Penny took a deep breath, “To be honest. I’m not
completely sure. I don’t know if anyone really knows. I’m not conscious, but
I’m not dead either. Getting knocked out is probably the closest thing I can
compare to vampire sleep. I don’t dream. Everything but the most basic brain
functions stops. It’s actually a little scary for us vampires. That’s why we
usually prefer to have very secure bedrooms.”

           
“But you’re not actually dead?” I questioned.

           
“No. I’m not dead. It’s hard to explain what I am when I
go to bed, but it’s not dead.” Penny did her best to comfort me.

           
“Okay I have another question, is there anything I need
to know about being your lover.” I asked.

           
“There is a lot, but until we have some privacy I’ll give
you the two most important rules. The first rule is never give permission for
anyone else to drink your blood. That’s mine, and it’s a serious breach in
etiquette. The second thing is that while you are my equal in all things
because of our relationship, but if we are ever near other vampires then you
need to defer to me. That isn’t an official rule, but it will keep you alive.
You aren’t the most subtle man I’ve ever met, and vampires live in subtlety. So
if we meet other vamps then let me lead so that nothing happens to you. Can you
do that?’ She asked

           
I nodded. Penny smiled and leaned over to give me a kiss.
“So where’d you learn to dance like that anyway?” I laughed, “What do you think
I was doing all the time I was hiding out. I have no marketable skills. I held
a bunch of odd jobs.” Penny looked at me quizzically, “so what else did you do
while you were on the lamb?’

           
“I was a carnie for a couple days, but I got fired
because I got drunk and peed on the gator in the reptile show. Peeing on its
head kind of gave away that it was a dummy. I was even a rodeo clown for a week
but then I sobered up and realized bulls are bigger than me, and angrier.”

           
Penny laughed, “You were a rodeo clown. Wait you were
drunk for a week?”

           
“No, I was drunk for a month. I took the rodeo clown job
when money got low. I worked a week, and then ran out of money the day before
payday. That was just enough time to sober up. Outside of that, I stripped to
keep money in my pocket. It worked out well. Nobody asked questions, and I
never had to explain myself.”

           
“Grim, since you’ve been with us you haven’t touched a
drop of alcohol.
Why the difference?”

           
“When I got here there was so much to do that I just
didn’t have the time to feel sorry for myself. So I just didn’t drink. It’s not
as if I was an alcoholic. It was just a real dark time that I was going
through. If not for you girls I think I’d still be in the bottle trying to hide
from everyone.”

           
“Did the drinking work? Were you able to hide?” She
asked.

           
“No. Sure I could crawl into that bottle and hide from
everybody else, but the problem was that no matter how much I drank I couldn’t
hide from myself.” I leaned over and gave her a hug.

           
We took turns driving. It seemed to take forever, but
eventually we made it to Gator, Texas. It was swampland near the coast. We
found an old beaten up dirt road. Danika tapped the gas, and we made our way up
to my dad’s old hunting cabin. Colonel Wilson was sitting with mom on a porch swing.
Danika pulled up to the house. We all stepped out, and I heard the racket that
only comes with a big family. Mom and all my sisters poured out and surrounded
me.

           
Mom hugged and kissed me like I was still a baby, and I
guess to her I always will be. She smelled like pot roast, and my stomach
growled. ‘Oh my baby…you’ve lost weight. Come inside and let’s get some meat
back on those scrawny bones!” I nodded and looked down. Melanie, my youngest
sister was staring at me as if I was her own amusement park ride. She lifted
her arms and demanded, “Up!”

           
I picked her up and let her ride on my shoulders. Her
long blonde hair kept getting in my eyes. I looked over and Danika and Niki
were just staring at each other. It was like the Mexican standoff of romance.
Finally, Niki broke and leaned in and kissed the werewolf. When she pulled back
she gasped, “I was so worried.” Then she realized that she had just kissed
another woman in front of our parents.

           
Dad walked over with a stern expression. Niki took a big
gulp, and started sweating. She was terrified that our father was going to lose
it right then and there. He glared at Danika and then barked, “Girlie, am I to
understand that you have feelings for my daughter?” Danika wrung her hands
nervously and squeaked, “Yes sir. I’ve been talking with your daughter almost
every night on the phone. I don’t want to cause any problems between you and
her, but I love your daughter.” Dad wheeled around and locked eyes with Niki,
“What about you? Do you have anything to say for yourself?” His voice was like
razorblades on gravel.

           
Niki opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She had to
try two more times before she croaked out, “I love her.” Dad wheeled back
around to Danika, “Did you hear that? Well what do you have to say for
yourself?” His voice sounded like a just barely controlled rage. Danika
sputtered, “I…I…I’m sorry?”

           
Mom finally stepped in, “Quit messing with those poor
girls!” It was only then that Dad’s fake anger melted away and a happy smile
shone across his face. He hugged Danika, “Welcome to the family. Anyone that
can get my daughter to finally come out must be someone special. Just be good
to my baby girl.”
 
He then wheeled back
around and walked into the house. Just before he stepped inside he barked,
“Come on in, we’re having pot roast. There’s plenty for everyone.”

           
Danika just stood there in shock. Niki wasn’t any better.
My sister’s jaw hung wide open. Mom walked over to Danika and gave her a hug,
“If my daughter thinks enough of you to finally come out then you must be
someone really special.” Then she hugged Niki and said, “Close your mouth
dear…you’ll let in flies.”

           
We all went inside the house, and I put Melanie down.
Once there I started making introductions. When I got to Janine, I looked
around. I didn’t see her anywhere. “Janine?” I searched the room. “Janine?
Where’d you go?” Penny and the team started looking
around,
my family stared at us as if we were deranged.

           
Mom finally questioned, “You’re all here, unless one of
you is asleep in that van.”

           
I finally barked, “Janine
get
your ghostly backside out here.”

           
Janine slowly appeared in the center of the room. She
sighed deeply, “I’m here.” My sisters screamed and ran behind Dad. Mom just
pointed and gasped. Janine turned, “See, this is why I was staying out of
sight.”

           
After spending all this time with the girls it never
dawned on me that other people might not be ready for actually being face to
face with something so…different. So I did the introductions again. This time I
was a little more thorough.

           
“Janine, this is my family. Janine’s a ghost. She’s
really nice and friendly. Like Casper with boobies. She was a nun when she was
alive.” I said patiently.

           
Dad muttered, “If the nuns looked like that when I was
growing up I think I’d have been catholic.” Mom slapped his shoulder and gave
him a dirty look. “Oh Snuggie-Bear, you know I only have eyes for you.” Dad
said playfully, and then gave her a kiss.

           
I cleared my throat before there was any unnecessary
tongue action. I have six sisters, and it isn’t for a lack of trying that I
don’t have a seventh. “You’ve all met Katy, she’s a witch. This is Danika, and
she’s a werewolf. Alhambra over there is a
Jinn
. Mom,
Dad…this is Penny. She’s a vampire, and she’s the one.” Mom, Dad, and my oldest
four sisters just beamed with joy. Jackie-O, and Melanie stared in confusion
until Jackie finally asked, “The one what?”

           
“The one I want to spend the rest of my life with.” I
said as I put my arm around Penny and hugged her closely. I’ve never heard that
large a group of women sigh, “Aw that’s so sweet” at once before. It was a
little unnerving. I turned to Penny who just stared at me with her lower lip
trembling. “Did I say something wrong?”

           
Penny wrapped her arms around me and kissed me. Melanie
started making gagging sounds, while my other sisters looked like they were
already each preparing their version of my wedding. The whole room was noise
and celebration. When Penny finally pulled away my Mom ran over and hugged her.
I’ve always thought my family was accepting, but even I didn’t expect my family
to treat my friends like this. I certainly didn’t expect Mom to take to Penny
the way she did.

           
We ate pot roast and chatted away. Each of my sisters
seemed to take a shine to a different member of my team. Niki obviously chose
Danika. They were so sweet together I expected to have diabetes any second.
They kept nuzzling, snuggling, and feeding one another. They were practically
the perfect couple. When they weren’t being madly in love with one another,
they were taking turns loving and petting Niki’s Chihuahua. She named the
little rat Pepper, and I was just glad they were keeping him busy. That little
bastard and I have had a long and unpleasant history. From day one, I’ve hated
that dog. I bought it for Niki’s eighteenth birthday, the first thing he did
was pee on my leg, and the second was hump my other leg. I think Pepper was
almost as in love with Danika as Niki was.

           
Penny was sitting between my second oldest sister Kelly,
and my Mom. At first, they were trying to be polite. They offered her some pot
roast and Penny declined, “I’ll have to pass, but it looks delicious.” Kelly
looked at her suspiciously and said, “You aren’t one of those crazy girls that
never eats are you. Don’t starve yourself just to meet some crazy self-imposed
standard, or because of any weird pressure my knuckle headed brother puts on
you. If he doesn’t love you for who you are then tell us, and we’ll kick his
ass. He can’t take us all.” All my sisters nodded. Great…Penny’s not here an
hour and they already like her better than me.

           
Penny shook her head, “No, it’s not like that at all. For
me to eat the pot roast I’d have to use up a lot of my stored energy to digest
it. Since we’re on the run I have to try and budget out my meals so I don’t
have to feed very often, but it does look really delicious.” Mom put on a
nervous smile and asked, “Please, I’m not trying to be rude, but can I ask a
question?”