Tainted Blood (2 page)

Moving with blinding speed, only available to those in their dreams, Brian flung the offending wolves from his bleeding form. Without waiting for them to recover, he dashed to the forest where he had seen her dress disappear into. He could hear the wolves regrouping behind him as he disappeared into the wooded cover. Panic rose up in his chest as he searched the ground for Heathers track's and found none. A sound in the nearby bushes caught his attention, sending him to them in a desperate attempt to find any clue to where she had gone. The world around him began to flash and disappear, a clear sign that Heather was starting to wake up. The night's adventure was coming to an end, and still Brian hadn't gotten the chance to spend any real time with her.

A sense of depression started to overcome him. The sound of the pack was closing fast.
Why did she have to reject me? Didn't she understand that I did it all for her?
Was it so hard to love a vampire?

The pain that he was feeling began to turn to rage, and he turned in anticipation of the oncoming wolves. He needed them to come so that he could do something with the pain and anger he felt After all, it was partly their fault that he had lost her tonight. They deserved to feel some of his pain.

The brush parted in front of him as he tensed ready to engage his pursuers. A large humanoid wolf walked through the parting brush. It's height towering above him as it's glowing red orbs that made up its eye's pulsed as they looked down its large snout, examining him. A hunger seemed to wash over Brian from the gray black werewolf that stood before him.

Then it was gone, as well as the rest of the world that made up Heather's dream.

Sunlight dimly filtered through the little bedroom's curtains, a clear sign that the new day was just beginning. Brian's back felt slightly sore as he sat up in the bed he had been resting in. Sleep almost never came to him these days. What did he need it for anyway? After all, he was a vampire...sort of. At least, the only real vampire he knew of.

Not that he ever met or saw a real one.

The stiff bed groaned as Brian swung his feet off of it and slowly lifted himself off the bed. His back protesting with a sharp stab as he did so.

I really need to find another place to live.
The little motel had been ideal when he first moved in a few months before. It had everything he needed close by. What with a small local hospital just down the street, and a local casino that allowed him to pick up a few extra bucks when he needed it. Yeah, life was looking pretty good. It didn't take much to suggest the evening orderlies to provide him with free blood from the local hospital's supplies. So he was never hungry or in need.

“Yep, life is good.” Or so he kept telling himself. The little kitchenette which was part of only three rooms that the little apartment possessed, was a short walk from his bedroom. The small refrigerator was filled almost to capacity with I.V.s containing blood of differing blood types. Brian liked to think that having different types around would give him more variety in taste. The truth was it all tasted the same. There was something almost sterile about them, even. He wondered if they would taste different if he removed them from the I.V.s.

“That would be a pain to do.” He mumbled to himself.

It really shouldn't have bothered him. If he needed a change in his diet, he could always eat normal food. It wasn't like he couldn’t eat it anymore; he just found that he never desired it these days. The blood he consumed took care of everything for him. With it, he was stronger than normal, faster, and he was never hungry, not to mention he didn't need to sleep, unless of course he wanted to visit with Heather. That was a part of his life he could never get enough of. At least it used to be.

These days it was getting harder and harder to get himself into her dreams. It was almost as if she was aware of his intrusions and was in some way resisting him.

“Oh, come on. There’s no way she knows what’s going on.” He said as he ripped the top of an IV open and began to drink from it.

I mean, how could she know? It's no possible.
He shook his head then threw himself into an old lazyboy he picked up from a local garage sale in the town he found himself in. Verdi Mogul, it was. The recliner was a dirty green looking thing, but it was surprisingly comfortable after spending most of the night in the stiff excuse for a bed the hotel provided.

I really need to move to a nicer place.
Brian thought. Of course, he knew that wasn't ever going to happen. Not that he couldn't afford it, because money was never a problem for him. At least not as long as he could just suggest that someone donate to his cause. It didn't have to be in money donated of course. Like this motel room he had been staying at, things didn't always have to be money. The owner of the place was now a close personal friend of his. Brian was allowed to stay here for as long as he wanted...for free.

It worked out well for both sides. A few weeks ago, a couple of meth addicts tried to rob the place and it looked as if they were about to kill the owner. If Brian hadn't been staying for free, they most likely would have.

After disabling both criminals and then rushing the wounded owner to the local hospital, Brian didn't even have to suggest that he stay for free anymore. The owner happily asked him to stay, calling Brian his lucky rabbit's foot or some such thing. Yep...life was good.

Yet if it was so good, why did he have an overwhelming feeling of depression each day? It haunted his every waking hour. Sometimes it wasn't very strong at first, like today, but as the day moved forward, it would gain strength until Brian found himself searching the night for Heather's dreams.

Her dreams had always been a place of sanctuary, until the last few months. Ever since she had left him, Heather seemed to go out of her way trying to avoid him in her dreams.

It wasn't always like that. There were nights he found her waiting for him, happy to see him and sometimes very passionately happy to see him. He had to admit, those were some of the best times. The times he remembers most. Oh sure, the adventures they went on were usually good, but the things she could do in those special intimate times...those were to die for. He couldn't help but think that those made all the rejection ones worth it.

How could they not? He knew that when they had those times together, he was seeing the real Heather. The deep and passionate side of her that she could never show in the daylight.

He smiled to himself at that.
Yeah, she can be a wild one,
he thought. The last drop of blood came to an end as he peeled the I.V. open to lick the insides of it clean. Idly, he got up and threw away the empty container, before retrieving the TV's remote control. A local news show popped up on the screen as it came to life. Brian made himself comfortable in his chair as he listened to the report.

A young woman dressed in a brown business suit reported on another animal mauling the night before. The third one this week, apparently a cougar was loose in the surrounding hills. Brian turned the channel bored with the report. VH1 appeared, playing classic 80's music.

“Okay, that's more like it...
not
!” He turned the channel again. After several minutes of channel flipping he tossed the remote to the floor at his feet in disgust. The TV obligingly turned itself off.

“Nothing on, of course. Well, I guess I need to get to work.”

Brian sat at the small makeshift table that he used for his desk. Several notebooks laid haphazard on it, while the glow of a small laptop sat open and on from the day before. The words last written still filled the screen.

“Well, my Muse, shall we see if we can get through this chapter today?” Brian spoke to himself as he began to type out letters and then words, slowly at first and then faster as time began to pass.

He found that he enjoyed this time while he wrote. It was one of the few times that the depression drifted away. In fact, it was the only time that it left independently without Heather being involved. The surprising part was that he always seemed to forget that part each day. If he were asked later in the day long after he finished writing he'd say Heather was the only answer to his depression, but at that moment he felt alive as if there were hope in his life.

A loud knock brought Brian out of his writing. It was sharp and quite surprising as he couldn't remember the last time anyone had knocked on his door. He waited for a second knock before he rose and made his way to the door, just to be sure it hadn't been someone's mistake. A third knock began just as he arrived at the door. If it was a mistake, whoever it was still hadn't figured it out yet.

Brian opened the door not sure what to expect. The sun, now clearly up, shone into his eyes as it opened. He was somewhat thankful that he did not burn like a TV vampire. Otherwise, he would be feeling a bit more discomfort than he was, as he squinted his eyes to see who was standing before him.

“Hello, Brian. Are you going to invite me in?” An older woman’s voice said, as he made out her slight figure. That voice was quite recognizable. He'd heard it for most of his life, and had called it family since he could first speak. The last time he had heard it was less than happy circumstances. She'd been in his basement, and revealed that she was in truth a government agent put with him to watch and take care of him when he was young.

“Aunt Jenn. To what do I owe this surprise?”

“Don't be rude, boy. Are you going to let your Auntie in, or are you going to let me stand here all day?”

Brian seriously considered shutting his door and being done with the whole affair. He owed nothing to this woman who claimed to be his aunt. The last time he had seen her, she left him to his fate and asked him to kill a being known as an Anunauki.

Something that almost got him killed.

“Do I have a choice?”

“Of course you have a choice. But only one good choice.”

Brian stood blocking her way, as emotions ran a gauntlet inside him. What happened to that soothing sense of peace he'd felt as he wrote his soon-to-be book? He missed it, as even now that sense of peace seemed to fade from his mind.

“Very well,” he said as he backed out of the door way and watched as his 'Aunt' walked in. She began to tour the small room, pausing to look at his computer screen as he closed the door, glancing only to make sure no one else stood outside.

“I see your book is coming along nicely. I'm surprised at how long it's taking you.” She said as she walked over to his dirty lazyboy, pausing only a second before hesitantly sitting in it, and leaving nowhere for him to sit except at his computer. Rather than doing that, he decided to stand next her so she had to turn and look up at him. A small sense of satisfaction was his reward for winning that minor victory with her, before he realized what she said.

“Wait, how did you know that I was writing a book?”

“My dear boy, what don't we know about what you do?” She said matter-of-factly. The idea of anyone spying on him wasn't a pleasant thought. It made him wonder what else she knew about. “I can see what I said to you is working its way through that Brian of yours.”

“Why are you spying on me?”

“We're not spying on you Brian. We're simply keeping track of our investment.”

“I'm not your
investment
!” He shouted at her. Forgetting the small victory he'd managed, he stormed over to his other chair and slammed himself down into it. “You don't own me!”

“Brian, no one said that they owned you. I only meant that we had to keep our eyes on our investment.”

“That sounds a lot like ownership to me.” Brian huffed.

“Call it what you like, but we're only looking out for you.”

Something about that statement made Brian laugh. They were watching out for him? Oh, that was ridiculous.

“Is something funny?” His aunt asked.

“How exactly have you been watching out for me? I didn't see you help me get my place here, or give me money for my expenses. What, tell me, have you been doing for me?”

“We have been keeping you safe,” she said calmly.

It really was unnerving to sit and watch her. Nothing he said or did unnerved her. Raising his voice, stomping around the apartment...

Nothing. She had to know he was strong enough to just walk over and snap her neck if he wanted to. Yet, he wouldn't, and he was sure that she knew that. Otherwise, how could she sit so calmly alone in a room with a vampire that was clearly angry with her?

“Brian, who do you think secured this little place for you?”

“Oh, don't go there! I earned my place here. You had nothing to do with it.”

“You earned it? She said with a smile. “And how exactly did you earn it?”

“I saved the owner's life, and foiled a robbery here.” He said feeling triumphant. “I don’t even have to suggest the man to let me stay here.

“And who do you think sent the addicts here, Brian?”

Brian's heart lurched as she said it. Could they really have set the whole thing up? Would they really stoop to such a low thing? “The man was bleeding. He was shot. Are you telling me he took a bullet for money?”

“No, Brian. He didn't take the bullet for money. The two men who shot him did.”

He was stunned. He didn't know what to say. He had wondered why there was never anything on the news when he looked, but to be honest, he really hadn't bothered to look deeply. He just figured he missed an offhand mention.