The Vampire Keeper (8 page)

“Already dead! What does that mean? What are you?”

“We are Vampires. Well I am, and he was. Our blood helps us heal the most critical injuries.”

“Is that why when I slashed his throat open it didn’t kill him?”

“Yes. We are extremely difficult to kill. The heart must be removed and incinerated or we will regenerate.”

Staring at their headless attacker, Wyler screeched, “Wait! Are you saying that thing is still alive?”

“Beheading is the most serious injury that we cannot revive from immediately, but if someone came along and reattached the head, then yes he would in time revive.”

“How could that be?”

“You see how you are stitching me closed right now?” Wyler shook his head yes, so Larkin continued, “If we leave that body untouched and someone comes along, finds it, stitches it back together, feeds it, or buries it, then the body will rest underground until it is completely restored. Once regenerated, he will revive and come after us again.”

“Can you kill them by burning the body without decapitating them?”

“Yes, as long as you get the heart. If you merely set one on fire without incineration, the body will slowly heal until they rejuvenate back to normal. The best way to ensure that they are turned to ash is to making sure they are immobile so that they can’t find a means of putting themselves out.”

“Why are you telling me all of this?”

“Because you asked, and I want you to be my Keeper. Do you accept?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Yes. Although you will feel loyal to me for life, I will not force you to do my will.” For some reason, Larkin felt Wyler was not like anyone he had retained before. Generally, if they accept the blood then they will be faithfully forever; however, Wyler’s initial resistance was different, so Larkin asked Wyler to make a true commitment, one of his own free will.

“I owe you my life, so I will not refuse.” Wyler omitted to Larkin that he was on his way home to nothing but his father’s old medical office. He had no one else, so he welcomed Larkin’s invitation, not to mention he found himself fascinated with this anomaly.

“You owe me nothing. Do not consent out of duty.”

“I do not only accept out of duty, but out of honor.” Without waiting for a response, Wyler said, “All done. How do you feel?”

“Like I am no longer a fountain. Thank you. Now I need to replenish myself. I stuffed two humans in the closet during the attack. Go see if one of them survived. If they did, bring one to me.”

“I thought they were all vampires.”

“No, they usually send human scouts in as traps. We are more vulnerable when we feed.”

“Feed?”

“As vampires, we drink human blood.” Fear swept over Wyler as he turned to follow Larkin’s command. Larkin caught sight of the fear and added, “Don’t worry; your blood is safe.”

The fear eased away, and he immediately opened the closet. They were unconscious, so he felt for a pulse. He found a pulse on the more stocky man, but not on the other. He reached to grab the one he knew was alive but noticed as he pulled him up that the chest slowly moved up and down on the other, so he grabbed him instead. He pulled him across the floor over to Larkin who propped himself against the wall for leverage, “Here–, this one is almost…”

The dead body fell to the floor before Wyler could finish his sentence, “… gone.” Unsure of what to do next Wyler said, “Do you want me to bring you the other one?”

“No. He was enough for now. We need to gather these bodies first.”

Wyler stood there not knowing what to say or do, so he recounted the night’s events. He stared down as Larkin removed the heart from the decapitated body, and recollected some of the conversation that ensued between him and the vampire.
He said kind of like me. He never said how they were different. He just said they were vampires.

Larkin returned, “I gathered all the pumpers and placed them in the bathtub upstairs. Do you have a light?”

Wyler grabbed his bag and rummaged through it pulling out all the medical supplies as he searched for a flint. “Earlier you said that man was kind of like you. How is he different from you?” He found the flint and steel and said as he extended it toward him, “Is there more than one kind of vampire?”

Larkin grabbed the match from Wyler. “I am growing bored with these questions; I will tell you another day. You have nothing but time now.”

After setting the organs on fire, it was Larkin’s turn to inquire about his new Keeper, “So you don’t have a brother?”

“No. I am an only sibling, and my father perished during the Battle of Charlottesville.” He thought for a moment,
My attacker said something about a brother,
and asked Larkin, “Why is your brother trying to kill you?”

Larkin never took his eyes off of the flame. He only replied, emotionless, “That’s an ever longer story.”

Leaving Wyler alone to deal with his worrisome wife, Larkin returned upstairs to find Jezalyn sitting where they left her. Her hair cupped her diamond shaped face as she tilted her head to the side to inspect underneath the counter. She reached in and retrieved a laptop with small red heart stickers. Hiding out of view, Larkin listened to her thoughts,
This is pretty; it must be Ana’s. I am sure she wouldn’t mind if I borrowed it a sec to check my grades.
He watched her fidget as she navigated through the internet. As she slowly scrolled down the page, he could see the muscles in her arms tense up and release as she softly laughed, “It’s an A!” If he wanted to talk to her without the presence of Wyler, he needed to approach her soon. Larkin lightly tiptoed up behind her as if to steal a kiss and in her ear he whispered, “Hey, what you have there?” Startled, she sprung forward up off the stool causing the computer to slide across the counter. Their hands scrambled to grasp the laptop; luckily, they caught it before it slipped off the edge. After her panic subsided, she glanced down and saw that not only did she catch the computer, but she had also caught Larkin. She stood there for a moment frozen with her hand over his. She got a chill and instantly an “Oh, sorry!” escaped out of her mouth as she released him.

“It’s okay. I didn’t mean to scare you. I am glad your laptop didn’t break.”

“Me too. Especially since it’s not mine.” Larkin let out a slight laugh, and Jezalyn thought,
I hope he doesn’t tell Wyler I almost dropped it.

She still felt a little awkward, so she tried to change the subject and ease the tension. She flashed him a smile and teased, “Wow! You must have been outside quite a while for your fingers to still be cold.”

He quickly made an excuse as to why his hands were cold. “I lost my gloves, so it will probably take them a while to warm up.”

“Oh. I think I saw a pair under the counter earlier.” She bent over tilting her head to the side once again. He watched as her hair slipped down and dangled in her face. She brushed it back with one hand exposing her fair slender neck as she retrieved the gloves with the other. The gloves she found were light pink with tiny white checks. She handed them over to him with a giggle, “I hope you like pink.” He took them from her and unrolled them. They were not gloves but mittens, but he tried them on anyway.

After squeezing his fingers into the narrow holes, he lifted his hands, “What do you think?”

Softly giggling, she observed, “I think you need another three inches.”

He laughed and said, “To be sure you are correct.” He pulled his hands out of the mittens, rolled them back together, and tossed them back under the counter. “I hope I didn’t stretch them out, but if I did, I guess Ana could always use them as booties.” Another soft giggle escaped her supple strawberry lips. He could not help but notice them, since he could practically taste the strawberry lip balm from the smell. The transformation from human to vampire heightened his senses. Now he barely had to inhale to smell something halfway across the room. He could also see sharper, hear from greater distances, and move faster.

Larkin grabbed the computer, swung it around, and opened it. “Let’s see what was amusing you when I walked up.”

“It was my grades. I got an A on my rough draft I submitted the other night.”

“Looks like you also have a few comments. Did you read them yet?” he said while flipping the computer back around to face her.

“No! There are comments? You must have surprised me before I could see them.” She pulled the computer close and began to read.
Your insight into the Medusa myth, in regards to the relationship between Medusa and Athena, is a good topic to explore. You have enough factual material; now try to add more depth to your paper
. Fear swept over her and Larkin watched and listened to her continue,
It feels like you just scratched the surface of their relationship. I would like to see it developed a little further by making a claim or claims and then supporting them. Here are some questions that might help you. Do you think that Medusa and Athena were natural enemies? Do you think that Medusa’s punishment was fitting? Should she have had to bear any punishment? Why or why not? I think you have a good start here, but if you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact me for further guidance through the internal course email.

Even though Larkin already knew the content of her comments, he tried to ask with some excitement, “Well, what does it say?”

Without a word, she flipped the computer around toward him with a hesitant motion. “You can read it if you want,” she finally stated as he pulled the laptop closer. She watched in silence as he read.

He lifted his head only after allowing enough time to pass so that Jezalyn would assume he read the comments before he offered his assistance. “I love mythology,” he confessed. “I’ll read your paper and give some pointers if you’d like.”

“Yeah, that would be great! When do you think you could look at it?” asked Jezalyn

“Any time is good. I could do it now if you had it.”

Without a word, Jezalyn took hold of the computer and retrieved her email that retained the attached document. She opened the report, got up, and offered Larkin her seat. She became flustered at the thought of him reading her report.
What if he thinks I am stupid? I should have never accepted.
She bit her lip as Larkin sat down.
I should go make some tea. It would not only help calm me, but keep me busy while he reads.
She waited a few minutes before she decided,
Yep that’s what I am going to do.
She informed Larkin of her plan to make tea and offered to make him a cup as well. “It might help you warm up some,” she said.

With a smile Larkin responded, “Yes, I would love a cup. Add two sugars please.”

She nodded her head and mumbled, “Just like Wyler. It should be easy to remember,” as she pranced out of the room.

Waiting for the water to boil, Jezalyn grabbed two cups and reached for the sugar. After scooping out a teaspoon, she thought
Huh, two cubes just like Wyler.
After a few more seconds of pondering, she realized Wyler and Larkin had a few things in common. Not only did they both want two sugars in their tea, but they also were nice and helpful. Searching for more comparisons, Jezalyn thought about how loving Wyler was toward Ana, which made her wonder about Larkin.
Well, he is cuter then Wyler, but looks don’t really matter. Yet, there is no way he single; he’s too hot not to have someone special. I bet she is tall, beautiful, and mean. The cruel ones always get the good men.
Her attention was swiftly diverted to the rattling electric tea kettle letting her know that it was ready to be depleted. Soon, Jezalyn returned to the front counter with two cups of tea where she sat one down next to him.

“Thank you” said Larkin, as she wandered off in the direction of the mythology section.

Lost in thought she did not hear him thank her.
I guess I should find some books to help me scratch more than the surface,
she quipped, letting out a sigh. Now at the mythology section, she browsed books by their indexes to determine the usefulness each book held toward her report. About a quarter of the way down almost below eye level, she pulled a large Greek mythology book off of the shelf.
Surely, there must be something helpful in a book this large,
she thought, but before she could scan the index, she peered through the hole and saw Larkin. She observed that he had dark chocolate hair that parted from left to right and stopped at the collar of his shirt; she watched as he used his right hand to sweep back the fallen strands out of his face. Jezalyn couldn’t take her eyes off his tousled locks as she thought,
it looks nice and clean, yet it has an unkempt bouncy wildness to it.

Larkin knew her eyes were upon him, so he could not smile at her little assessment nor would he dare glance up and risk ending it either. After he reawaked as an immortal, Larkin had a mind of a seventy-eight year old with the body and face of a twenty-four year old. It didn’t take Larkin long to discover the power of a boyish face with a knowledgeable mind, but he wondered how Jezalyn would feel about his youthfulness with a now five plus century wit. Larkin pondered if he would be able to challenge her yet conceal his extensive wisdom, but then, he quickly shook his head.
What am I thinking? That is what I have Julius for – he may only have a mind of a sixty year old, but he has the cleverness of ancient. Now, if he just had the maturity of an ancient
, thought Larkin as he took another sip of his tea.

Luckily, while Jezalyn was in the stockroom making the tea, Larkin had already read her report and added helpful statements here and there. When she returned with the tea, he pretended to read so that she would not wonder at his quickness of being finished. He barely glanced up as he took a sip of his tea.

Jezalyn watched as Larkin drank his tea. His skin was currently a wan ivory that she attributed to him wandering about in the cold. Mesmerized by his youthful appearance, she noticed his defined jaw line, and thought,
I bet he would have been mistaken as the son of a Greek god, with structural features like that, or at least as a hero.
She watched him raise his head in contemplation and found herself thinking,
Perhaps like Hercules or Perseus.

Larkin tried not to flinch, because he did not want to interrupt her assessment of him. Bewilderment quickly consumed Larkin as he speculated over his interest in her perception of him.
What am I doing? Why am I holding any regard in her opinion of me? She is a nonessential, disposable being that should not hold an inkling of fascination for me.
He paused, cut his eyes in her direction, and thought,
She must die. I will tell Wyler my decision when he returns.

Jezalyn ducked into the stacks;
did he see me? I hope he didn’t catch me staring
, thought Jezalyn as she debated whether to keep or replace the book. She decided to keep the book as an effort to help minimize the fidgeting that would occur in case he actually had caught her staring at him. She put on a smile and cheerily waltzed toward the counter, book in tow, “Did you finish? What do you think?” Their eyes met, and his once gentle baby-blue eyes sharpened to a slant. Without warning, he lunged over the counter hurling his body onto hers. She instinctively struggled against him, but relented when she felt a sharp stinging sensation on her neck.