The Vampiric Housewife (8 page)

    
“Good evening, Charlie. How are you?”

    
He fixed some semblance of a smile on his face. “Good, sir.”

    
“If you don’t mind me saying, you don’t look it. You look like you’re in desperate need of your hunting trip with Rhett next weekend.”

    
Charlie wondered how Dr. Venjamin could speak in such a manner. Hunting trips. He must be a cannibal—if not literally, certainly metaphorically. But wasn’t Charlie the same type of monster? Venjamin helped him. He helped Venjamin. They both paid the same price, committed the same betrayal of their own kind.

    
“I won’t disagree with you on that.”

    
“You better take Friday off as well. After we get started on the next phase, you won’t have the chance for awhile. We’ll have a lot of thrilling work ahead of us. Especially you, Charlie. You are special. As is your family.”

    
Charlie chose to ignore that last sentence. “The next phase?”

 
   
“Ah, yes. You know that our purpose here in Sangre Valley is multi-faceted. It’s scientific. Medical. Anthropologic. Moralistic. We work on a very large scale. But to benefit the many, a few will have to be sacrificed. As you know we have resurrected the Living Coven bloodlines from near extinction. We located the few left, put them together in one safe, confined environment, and watched them prosper. They may not be off the endangered species list yet, but they’re thriving. Fertility among the Living and Silent Covens has proven possible despite the odds though still difficult. We have had many couples who have been trying to conceive for years, decades even, without success, even with our in vitro and fertility aides here at the hospital. But there have been a dozen or so families of the two covens who have produced offspring. Yours, of course, being the most successful with three children, the first two offspring conceived with ease. We need to figure out what exactly is so special about you and Valerie—and your children.”

    
“But you’ve done all kinds of tests on all of us. Valerie and I have had multiple examinations. You looked at both of us inside and out. The kids have been pricked with more needles than . . . any kid should be pricked with. Blood tests. Spinal taps. CAT scans. Their first memories are of doctor offices.”

    
He smiled. “Yes. And chemically, hormonally, genetically there has been nothing unique found—yet. That just tells me it’s time to begin experimenting.”

    
Experimenting. That word frightened Charlie. “Experiment how?”

    
“Amelia and John. Mostly Amelia. They have more probability of producing offspring than any other crossbreed.”

    
“I’m not sure I follow, sir.” At least he hoped he didn’t. What the doctor was suggesting made his stomach heave the morning’s blood.

    
“It will be easier to trace the genes of the bloodline if we have generations to inspect. I don’t have a delicate way of putting this, Charlie. I am a man of science and nature, neither of which are delicate. I want both your children to reproduce first with a Living Coven vampire. It seems it will happen naturally with John and Lisa in their current environment. So hopefully he can stay in Sangre Valley longer to be observed culturally as well as medically. But after they’ve had a child, I want to mate John with a crossbreed vampire.” Mate. Like an animal.

    
“And Amelia?” His throat had gone suddenly dry. He could feel his hands shaking, his muscles twitching. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to refrain himself. He was afraid he’d rip Dr. Venjamin’s head clear from his body at any given moment.

    
“She started menstruation three years ago. We’ve already wasted those three years with her. I want to bring Amelia to the hospital. I want to artificially inseminate her. First with semen of one of her own coven. Then a crossbreed like her. Then a Silent Coven vampire, and then, with the semen of her brother. It’ll all be in a hospital setting. Nothing incestuous about it, I assure you.”

 
   
It took Charlie a moment to steady himself. His son’s sperm inside his daughter’s body . . . it was ungodly and wrong. In a tight voice he asked, “What would I tell Valerie?”

    
“As I stated, we can hold off on John. He’s on a good path with Lisa. But Amelia will become extremely ill. She will be quarantined here at the hospital. That will be the story you tell your wife.”

    
“And what will we tell Amelia?”

    
“That she is ill and that these tests will help her and help her own race.”

    
“She’s a smart girl. When she starts having babies—“

    
“We will cross that bridge when we get there. She will be out of the social and moral studies so perhaps we can tell her the truth, or some version of it. Can you see the bigger picture, Charlie? How many other couples we’ll be able to help once we understand what is so different about your offspring? The genes we’ll be able to follow and isolate? The key to a vampire’s strength and speed can be located. To your immortality.” Charlie swore the doctor’s eyes grew large with a wet look of excitement when he said the word
immortality
. “If Valerie was younger, we could have learned more from her. But given her age and her difficulty with Harry . . . the time has passed. Her children’s contribution will be historic however. Monumental. Of course, there will be a few other girls in the study, Jett Wilson’s daughter, Lemuel Anderson’s daughter, but your Amelia will be our star.”

    
Charlie’s anger had reached such a stage that his shaking had become visible. Unafraid, Venjamin touched his shoulder to calm him down. “Now Charlie, I know you’re emotionally involved with the Romanian subjects. I wouldn’t have guessed it of you when we first met. But the fact that married life and fatherhood has brought this kind of emotion out in you is extraordinary to our research as well. It tells of the growth that your kind is capable of under certain controlled circumstances. But you must get back into a different state of mind to continue on to the next phase. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but you must. They are not your family. They are subjects. Once you distance yourself, it’ll get easier.”

    
Charlie did not answer. Could not answer. He could smell Dr. Venjamin’s defunct, earthy scent, hear his heart beating with excitement and anticipation. He could hear the blood coursing through his veins like rapids. He wanted to rip out his jugular and feel that hot blood course down his throat. He wanted to tell Venjamin not to take
that
personally.

    
Dr. Venjamin removed his hand. “If you do not think that is possible, you can and will be removed from the project and Sangre Valley. Of course your help will be invaluable to us, but by no means necessary. Nothing will ever compromise this experiment.” His voice had grown cold and hard.

    
“I do not want to be left out. I want to be part of this. It would be an honor. I will need some time to . . . adjust.”

    
Venjamin smiled. “Of course. You were cold blooded—no pun intended—when I met you twenty years ago. That was why you were chosen to participate in our little experiment. Our little community. And that’s why I know I can count on you now. You’ve invested eighteen years into the Romanian Project. Of course you’d get attached. But I always knew you, of all vampires, would be able to unattached himself.”

    
“What of Harry, when he comes of age?”
    

    
“Ah, Harry. I think I’m more fond of him than any other child in Sangre Valley. There are big things in his future, though maybe different from his siblings. He might be more special than any of you. I can’t wait to watch him grow.”

    
Charlie felt the chills run down his spine for the first time in his vampiric life. He knew without a doubt what he’d have to do. He just had no idea of how he was going to do it. “So where do we start?”

    
Dr. Venjamin smiled.

Chapter Eight

The Bloodman

    
She had scrubbed the floors, vacuumed the carpets, dusted every nook and cranny, and polished the good silverware to a high shine. The dining room table was set and awaiting the guests. The wet bar was furnished with chilled martini glasses. She had washed and redressed the human making him presentable. The hearts were impatiently waiting to be devoured. The sweet, dulcet tones of Frank Sinatra filled the background. Valerie herself was well manicured in her peach gown that accented her thin frame and delicate shoulder blades. Her makeup was impeccable. Harry was soaking in the tub at this exact moment, washing off the grime all eleven year old boys accumulate in a day and fiercely protesting the argyle sweater she had laid out for him. She had spent over an hour curling Amelia’s hair into perfect ringlets and applying her makeup. All that was left was picking out the perfect first date outfit and waiting for the bloodman to deliver her special order of a case of fresh blood for the night’s entertainment.

    
“At least try it on, Aims,” Valerie begged. “The pink will look pretty on you.”

    
“It’s too tight. It belongs to you. I’m bigger than you.”

    
“Only in the chest, darling, and that’s a blessing. Please, just try it on, for me, and then if you don’t like it, we’ll find something else, okay?”

    
“Fine.”

    
There was a knock on the front door. Finally. “Change, and I’ll be right back. That’s the bloodman.”

    
She hurried from her daughter’s bedroom and answered the door.

    
“Your delivery, ma’am.”

    
She was all ready to give him a good talking to for his tardiness. She knew he was new, but he had been on this blood route for a month. He should know his job by now. But lying eyes on him, a warm smile spread across her face. She almost felt like a teenager again, butterflies in the stomach, nervous and excited at the same time. The bloodman may not be punctual, but he was gorgeous. Young, early twenties, strong and tall—strapping. His black hair was slicked back from his handsome face with its dimples and clean shaved chin. He had small, sparkling dark eyes, and a smile with white teeth. In his crisp white bloodman uniform with
Eddie
embroidered in red on the chest, he was a fantasy come true.

    
It was a horrible cliché, she knew that, the housewife and the bloodman. And the daydreams that she had about him . . . Why, she should confess them to Reverend Louis to cleanse her sinful soul! Surely they would condemn her to Hell. She never had such thoughts about Charlie, not even in the beginning. Of course, in the beginning her imagination had no experience, not even a real understanding of what the actual act of sex entailed. Charlie was an attractive man, but she had never been attracted to him, not even at eighteen when he was her savoir. Especially not then, actually. Progressively that part of their relationship developed. Or maybe her attraction had been more to sex than sex with Charlie per se. It was unfair to compare. She knew that. She shouldn’t even allow these thoughts in her head. She was a married woman with children.

    
“It’s a disaster! I’m a disaster. I’m going to cancel.” Amelia stomped down the hall in the halter top dress, tears bubbling in her eyes threatening to ruin her makeup. It was so out of character for her to be so upset over her appearance. Other than the tantrum she threw to get the conical bra like the rest of her female classmates wore, she showed little interest in her physical appearance. She was so sure of herself academically. Valerie wished she could have the same confidence in her appearance.

    
Despite her declarations, Amelia was far from a disaster. She was nothing short of stunning. Yes, the dress hugged her ample breasts and flowering hips, but the dress didn’t look too small, instead her hourglass figure filled it out appropriately. All she needed was to calm down and a pair of heels. Perhaps she was revealing too much cleavage. A cardigan would solve that.