Bite Me if You Can

Leigh was only a block and a half from home when she noticed the footsteps echoing her own. At first she didn’t think anything of it. This was Kansas. Nothing ever happened here, especially not at five in the morning. Even Dorothy and Toto had to get picked up by a tornado and dropped somewhere else for adventure to come their way.

Of course, this was Kansas City, not some backwater town. There was crime in the city. It was also five o’clock in the morning, and she was a lone woman walking down a dark street that—while a residential area of old houses with families—was also only a couple of blocks from the downtown core where the homeless and druggies tended to concentrate.

A shiver of unease crept up Leigh’s spine as she became aware that the footsteps behind her had picked up speed and were drawing nearer. She’d walked this route hundreds of times over the last five years and never once felt uncomfortable... and didn’t like that she now was. Telling herself to stay calm, she tried to recall what she’d been taught to do in self-defense class, but, of course, now that she needed it, her brain was blanking on her.

Wasn’t that always the way?

She felt her muscles begin to tense as the footsteps continued to draw nearer, and feared if she didn’t do something soon, it might be too late.

The thought spurred her into action. Changing direction, Leigh cut toward the curb to cross the street, casting a nonchalant glance back as she did, as if looking for traffic. The look didn’t reassure her. The person approaching was a man; tall, slender, and dressed in dark clothes. She couldn’t see his face, however; it was in shadow, thanks to the hood of his jacket. All she’d managed to do with her quick glance was make herself more uncomfortable, more on edge. More scared.

Acting as if she weren’t troubled by his presence, Leigh started across the street, her mind now considering and discarding possibilities of what she should do. A glance around the dark house-lined street ahead told her she was on her own, there wasn’t a car or pedestrian to be seen. No help there.

She really should have taken a taxi home, she acknowledged, but had never had a problem before, why should she have thought this morning would be any different? Besides, it was too late for regrets, they weren’t going to get her anywhere.

Leigh felt her heart squeeze tight as the footsteps followed her across the street. Now her gaze was sharp as she scanned the houses she passed, searching for any sign of life, trying to deduce which she should approach for help. This was a quiet residential street, the houses in darkness, people having long retired for the night and not yet rising. She appeared to be the only person in this area who worked late and was still up.

Coco’s, the restaurant/bar she owned, closed at 3:00 A.M. Well, the bar closed then, the restaurant area closed much earlier. Leigh managed the bar at night. Once the last customer trundled out and the cleaning crew set to work, she retired to her back office to do paperwork; filling out the work schedules, checking time cards, writing up orders, checking the day’s receipts, and so on. She was usually done about the same time as the cleaners. Otherwise, she waited for them to finish, saw them out, locked up and headed home... always between 5:00 and 5:30 A.M., that dark predawn time when most criminals were tucked in bed.

Just as everyone on this road appeared to be, Leigh thought, her heart sinking. Then she spotted a porch light pop on several houses up. A moment later the front door opened and an older lady in a housecoat appeared. The woman didn’t notice her coming up the street, her attention on the German shepherd who slipped past her to pad eagerly down the steps onto the front lawn.

“Waking me up before dawn.” The woman’s annoyed mutter carried clearly in the near silence. “You should have gone when I took you out for your walk earlier.”

Leigh’s heart lifted. A safe port in the storm. She could seek shelter from the woman and call the police, or maybe just a taxi. Surely the dog’s presence would discourage the man following her from making a nuisance of himself?

She put on a burst of speed and opened her mouth to call out, but that was as far as she got. She never heard the man behind her pick up speed, never realized he’d rushed forward. Suddenly he was there before her, forcing her to an abrupt halt.

“Hello, Leigh.”

The sound of her name made her pause with confusion, then the man shrugged the hood off his head, revealing his face.

“Donny?” She said with surprise, relief coursing through her. Donny Avries had worked the bar at Coco’s for a year. He was always eager to please and a hard worker. Milly—Leigh’s friend, and her day manager in the restaurant—claimed he had a crush on her and had begged for steady night shifts to be near her, but Leigh thought that was nonsense. They just got along well as friends. She’d been terribly upset when he’d gone missing more than a week ago.

Usually prompt, and often even early for his shift, Donny simply hadn’t shown up on Monday night. Leigh had tried calling his apartment, but there’d been no answer. When he hadn’t shown up the next night, she’d called again, then grown concerned and called his landlady to have her check on him.

The woman reported that while everything looked fine in his apartment, his cat was obviously hungry and the litter box had been overflowing, suggesting he hadn’t been home for a while. While there were no signs that he’d left on a planned trip, she’d talked to people in the neighboring apartments, and no one had seen Donny since he’d gone out Saturday night with some friends. They’d decided to call the police.

Now, a week later, the police had been to the restaurant twice, asking questions and admitting that he appeared to have disappeared. They told her to contact the station if she heard from him.

“Where have you been?” Leigh asked, anger replacing concern. She’d been worried sick about the man, and here he stood, apparently fine and well.

Donny hesitated, then said simply, “You’ll see.”

Leigh blinked at his answer, not finding it acceptable after all her concern. And frankly, the words—as well as the odd smile on his face—were creeping her out. There was also something strange about his eyes.

“No, I won’t see,” she said firmly. Her fear had now fully turned to anger, and she was no longer in the mood to hear what he had to say for himself. Turning on her heel, she continued in the direction she’d been heading. “You can explain yourself tomorrow when you come by to pick up your severance pay.”

She’d taken only a few steps before, unaccountably, stopping, her body going limp. She heard the soft thud as her purse slid from her lifeless hands and landed on the grassy verge along the sidewalk, then found herself slowly turning back. Donny was no longer alone; another man stood beside him. He was tall and lanky, with long, straw-colored hair that hung in greasy strips around a thin pale face. He also had yellow-brown eyes that seemed to glow.

If her sudden lack of control over her own body hadn’t been enough to scare her, one glimpse of this man’s dead eyes was enough to make her blood turn to ice.

“Hello, Leigh. Donny’s told me a lot about you.” He smiled, and she saw his two canine teeth slide down and forward to form two pointed fangs.

Some part of her mind shut off at the sight, telling her it wasn’t real, that it wasn’t ready to accept it as real and it was going to sleep now. But she snapped back with horror when the man abruptly swooped forward, enveloping her in the darkness that seemed to surround him. She felt a pinch on her throat, then excitement and pleasure rushed through her like a drug.

“Ah,” Donny complained from somewhere beyond the shoulder blocking her view. “I wanted to be the one to bite her.”

Leigh blinked at the whiny sound to his voice, even as the pleasure invading her faltered and the man before her muttered something against her throat.

“What?” Donny asked. He moved into view as he tapped the man’s shoulder. “What did you say?”

The man muttered again, something that came out sounding like, “ ’Huh-uh!” Then he lifted his head with an impatient tsk and glared over his shoulder at Donny.

“Shut up!” he snapped, and some part of Leigh’s mind thought, Ohhh, that’s what he’d said.

“I am the master vampire,” he went on. “I am the one who sires new children of the night.”

Leigh’s eyes widened at his words. Vampires?

She supposed it was hard not to accept that when the guy’s fangs were flashing with every word and there was blood on his tips. Hers, she presumed. She could feel warm liquid running down her throat and dampening the front of her white blouse. It was coming from the spot where he’d nipped her, and she suspected it was blood, so... a vampire? Okay. But “children of the night”? That sounded a bit corny and too late-night-movie to her.

That’s when she realized that she might have lost it. Having such thoughts in the midst of this situation didn’t seem all that healthy. Unfortunately, she realized it wasn’t just her body she couldn’t control. Her mind felt woozy, as if she’d been given a tranquilizer. Her thoughts were her own, but she couldn’t seem to work up much concern over what was happening. While her mind was urging her to scream her head off, she couldn’t seem to work up any fear, or the energy to even yell.

“That is because you are under my control,” the man holding her announced, as if he’d read her thoughts, and Leigh supposed he had. Weren’t vampires supposed to be able to control their victim’s minds? Of course, they were also supposed to be irresistibly attractive and suave. Unfortunately, Donny was just your average red-haired, freckle-faced guy, and Mr. I-Am-the-Master-Vampire wasn’t particularly handsome... or charismatic either, for that matter. Really, it was all rather disappointing when she thought about it.

A low growl drew her attention to Mr. Master Vampire, and she noted with some concern that he looked kind of pissed off.

“You will change your mind,” he growled, staring into her eyes. “You will want me uncontrollably, desire me beyond all others, obey me without question.”

It was the obey thing where he lost her. Leigh wasn’t big on the word. It had been her ex-husband’s favorite order... usually just before he tried to use his fists to convince her. It was the main reason he became an ex.

“Hey, Morgan,” Donny protested, his voice again whiny. “What are you doing? We’re supposed to be turning her for me.”

“Shut up, Donald,” Morgan snapped. His eyes were narrowed on Leigh, and she suspected he was beginning to realize she wasn’t completely under his spell. She knew for sure she was right when he asked, “How can you be thinking? You shouldn’t be thinking, but I can hear your thoughts.”

Leigh had no idea why, either. If she’d been able to, she would have shrugged in response. Unfortunately, while her mind was somewhat her own, her body was not.

A growl distracted Morgan and he glanced down to the side. Leigh still couldn’t move her head, but her eyes did angle down and she caught a fuzzy glimpse of a dog. She recognized it at once as the German shepherd she’d seen come out of the house up the street. For a moment she thought the animal might yet save her, but then Morgan flashed his fangs in a sort of half hiss, half growl, and the dog backed off, head low, teeth bared, but his own growl losing some of its strength.

“Morgan,” Donny began nervously, eyeing the German shepherd, who was still close enough to be worrisome.

“Oh, do shut up, Donald,” the Master Vampire said with exasperation. Then, to her surprise, he scooped her into his arms and started back across the street.

Donny followed. He was muttering under his breath with resentment, Leigh noted, glancing over the shoulder of the man carrying her. Then her view was obstructed as Morgan carried her around the back of a black van. She’d crossed the road just two car lengths before the van earlier, and now suspected it was where Morgan had appeared from. She was sure it had only been one set of footsteps following her up the street. Donny’s. Morgan, she supposed, had been waiting in the van, and if she hadn’t crossed the street, the side door of the van probably would have opened as she passed and she’d have been dragged inside.