Chapter 8
I don't know how long I was out, but when I woke up I wasn't in Kansas, anymore, or at least not in my apartment. My eyes fluttered open and I found myself staring at a white ceiling with a simple light fixture. I turned my head and noticed it was a whole room of blandness, but I lay on a couch that looked like one of those ones used for mental patients. For one wild moment I considered the whole thing a dream and me a psycho ward patient, but Bat sat close by in a chair. Behind him sat a dresser and to the right of that was the door out of the room. The couch I lay on sat against the opposite wall, and on the same wall but in the opposite corner stood a refrigerator.
I wasn't sure whether to be glad or depressed to see him. I'd been saved from the nightmare of my apartment and shoved back into the weirdness that was him. I sat up and winced when my head complained of the movement. That knock against the chair gave me a delicious ostrich egg complete with scrambled brains.
"Is there a doctor in the house?" I muttered.
Bat chuckled. "I have several PhD's, but none that quickens the healing process," he replied. "How are you feeling?"
I rubbed my sore head. "Like I was run over by the Werewolf Express."
"Yes, an experience with a werewolf leaves one with a few knocks and bruises," he agreed.
"And stains," I added as I looked down at myself. My clothes were speckled by the werewolf's blood. "Any way I can get a spare shirt?"
Bat stood and walked over to the dresser. He opened a drawer and revealed a long line of spare white shirts like what he wore. "If you don't mind wearing my size," he teased.
"I think I can handle it." He tossed me a shirt and turned to give me some privacy. I slipped off the blood rag and slipped on the clean shirt.
"What do you think about my proposition now?" Bat spoke up.
I tossed my shirt off the end of the couch and looked back to him. "What proposition?" I asked him.
"About changing your life. Vincent and I swore we would let you return to your old life, but your enemies will not be as lenient."
"That would have been nice to know before I nearly got myself killed," I snapped. I paused and furrowed my brow. "Wait a secc. My enemies? I didn't do anything to them, unless they hate me for existing."
"Existing with Tim's ring," he added. "That ring grants immortality to any mortal, and they prefer to keep their mortals mortal. It makes humans easier to handle."
"Who is they, anyway? I feel like we're talking about Voldemort here."
"The Syndicate," Bat replied.
"The Syndicate?" I'd entered a really bad horror novel.
"A Sanguine Syndicate, to be exact, for there are many in the world, though none as dangerous as the one in this city. We often shorten it to ASS in conversations." I choked on my spittle and he smiled. "It's a pleasure to hear you laugh at my jokes. I was afraid Tim had been replaced with a person who held the same sense of humor as Vincent."
I scowled at him. "I'm nothing like that-that-"
"-vampire?" he finished for me.
"Among other things," I agreed.
"From what little I have learned of your temperament I would say you two are of opposite dispositions."
"Huh?"
"Your personalities don't get along."
"Um, thanks. I think." I swung my legs over the side of the couch and sighed. "So what do I do now that my apartment's been redecorated with red paint and couch stuffing?"
"You continue living, but as a different person."
"After being the same person for-well, for a lot of years that's not easy to do," I pointed out.
"Nonsense. No one remains the same person they were when they were born, or even who they were a year ago. Everyone changes, but how many people can say they have the opportunity to completely change their lives?"
"Serial killers with alternate lives and people suffering from a split-personality disorder," I quipped.
"Those people, and you," he replied. "You have an incredibly unique chance to change who you are, and possibly find the person you were always meant to be."
"I'm pretty sure I was meant to be a secretary. It isn't what my degree in art history prepared me for, but I'm not complaining," I returned.
"And you've never wanted to be someone else?"
"Does that someone else happen to have a dangerous job that involves working with a deadly vampire and running from even deadlier werewolves and guys with guns?"
"Yes."
"Then no, I haven't wanted to be someone else." I glanced around the room occupied only by the two of us. "Speaking of someone else, where's tall, dark and gruesome?"
"He's currently hiding your tracks and confusing other pets of the Syndicate with false trails," Bat told me.
"Helpful of him," I commented.
"He prefers to stay alive. So would I," Bat replied.
"I'll third that wish, but 'my enemies' don't seem to want that to happen."
"You would be much safer with Vincent," he hinted.
"Uh-huh, living the life that was meant for me?" I quipped.
"Yes, actually. That is, unless you wish to return to your apartment," he slyly commented.
"You know you're evil, right?"
"I have been called many things, but I prefer the term eccentric."
"I prefer to have my life back, but I don't think either of us are getting what we want.".
"Perhaps you don't know what you want, and a breath of fresh life would be just the trick."
"You're not going to give up 'helping' me find my new life, are you?" I asked him.
Bat smiled and shook his head. "I'm afraid not."
I sighed and my shoulders slumped. "Since I'm kind of tired of running around and almost getting killed, how about we make a deal? I'll try out this life like I would a used pair of pants. If I find it doesn't fit then I'm returning the life and hopefully this ring to you just as soon as I figure out how Tim got it off."
"Your life was never mine to begin with," he corrected me.
"Well, I'll give them to you, anyway. Deal?" I held out my hand, and he took it in a strong handshake. I would never have guessed he had that much energy.
"Deal, but how long will you try this experiment?" he asked me.
"If I survive long enough I'll try it out for a few weeks," I suggested.
Bat grinned and rubbed his hands together. "Excellent. Now all we need do is wait for that undead fool to return and we will make plans for the near future."
"You know, I get the feeling you two don't like each other. Mind telling me the backstory so I'm not totally lost?" I requested.
He chuckled. "A woman and gossip are never far apart, but I'm afraid the tale would be too long."
I gestured around the room and crossed my arms over my chest. "I have time."
Bat opened his mouth, then paused and glanced over his shoulder at the closed door. "It seems you don't have time. Vincent has returned." A few moments later the door opened and Vincent slipped inside. I hadn't heard a thing.
"How'd you do that?" I asked Bat.
"Practice, and the stench of his clothing. He bathes once every century." I'd been so panicked every time I'd been in Vincent's arms, and the wind had blown by us so fast, that I hadn't noticed the stench. Now that it was pointed out I took in the full glory of the smell. It was a mixture of skunk and sulfur with a dash of cow fart to add some flavor.
I gagged and slapped my hand over my nose. "If we're going to be stuck together you're going to have to bath," I honked through my hand. Vincent took my suggestion and filed it under his I-don't-give-a-shit expression.
"It's nearly sunrise," Bat informed us. "You'll have to hurry if you're going to show the lovely Miss Stokes her new home."
Vincent raised an eyebrow and glanced over to me. I shrugged. "I don't have anything better to do," I pointed out.
"Then it's agreed. You two shall begin your new life together tonight," Bat spoke up
. He turned to Vincent. "Which location will you choose?"
"Park Place," he replied.
I thought it sounded good enough, it was one of the high-end Monopoly places, but Bat frowned. "Isn't there a better location?" he wondered.
"Yes."
Bat waited for an explanation, but decided eternity was too long. He gave Vincent one last scowl before he turned to me with a smile. "I'm sure you will make yourself comfortable there once you have had time to settle in." Something in his voice didn't bring me comfort, but I had a few other things on my mind.
"Before I dive headfirst into the deep end of the Weirds-ville pool is there anything else I need to know about this ring thing? You two said I'd be getting some of Vincent's powers, but do I need to sleep in a coffin all day?" I asked the pair.
"No, but your diet has changed," Bat replied.
I narrowed my eyes. "How?"
"Let me put it this way: your sole sustenance is now hemoglobin."
"Huh?"
"Blood, Miss Stokes. You now survive on blood."
The blood drained from my face. "What?"
"It's just a minor side effect to the ring. You can still eat human food, but it won't satisfy your hunger," Bat explained to me.
I threw up my arms and my voice bounced off the walls of the white room. "Just a minor side effect?" I yelled. "You just told me I have to kill people to survive!"
"I said no such thing. I merely said you needed blood to survive," he corrected me.
"Same thing!"
"Not at all. You can take blood from a human without killing them, or you can take a donation from the local blood bank."
"Are you mad?" I screamed.
"That is a matter of opinion, but I have been called that."
"I am not going to be drinking blood to survive! That's just-" I froze when Bat whipped out a long, sharp knife from inside his shirt. The blade glistened in the weak light above us, but it reflected the gleam in his eyes. I scrambled back against the wall behind the couch. "W-what are you doing with that?" I stuttered.
"Proving a point." He pulled back his sleeve and drew the blade across skin on the underside of his arm. A thin line of blood rose up and poured over the sides of his limb. I cringed when he held his arm out to me. "Doesn't that look yummy?" he teased.
"You're really sick, you know that?" I asked him.
"Yes, but aren't you a little hungry?" My stomach answered for us both when it broke out in a loud roar. Bat chuckled. "That proves that point. Wouldn't you want a sip? Just a tiny bit to satisfy that gnawing inside of you?"
The scent of the blood hit my nose and my nostrils flared. The liquid did smell good, but this wasn't a raspberry-strawberry smoothy. He offered me blood. I wanted to close my eyes, but my stomach growled again and my gaze was drawn to the clear, thick liquid. Just one little sip wouldn't hurt anybody. He'd already cut himself so it'd be a waste to let-what the hell was I thinking?
"Take it. It's not often you find a willing victim," Vincent spoke up.
I cast a quick glare at him, but my gaze invariably returned to the blood. Bat scooted closer and held out his arm. "It's getting cold," he commented.
I hated to admit it to myself, but that stuff looked really tempting. That shining blood glistened and called to me. My tongue flicked out and licked my lips, but it caught on my canines. My incredibly long canines. I clapped a hand over my mouth and my eyes widened when I felt the length of those sharp teeth. That wasn't right, but they were useful.
Vincent sneered at me. "Don't waste any more blood on her," he told Bat. "She's too stupid to-" I surprised him, and myself, by lunging forward and clamping my new teeth down on Bat's wound. He didn't even flinch when my fangs sank deep into his skin, and I drained a few quarts before he gently but firmly pulled me away.
I coughed on the last sip of blood and raised a shaking hand to my lips. My teeth slipped back to their normal length, and all the remained of my feasting was a smudge of blood on one side of my lips. The hunger inside of me disappeared and my body slid into the lethargy of food satisfaction.
Bat's face was almost as pale as Vincent's own and his breathing was a little ragged, but he had a kind smile on his lips. "I think that might be enough for now," he told me. I stared at him dumbly, unsure what just happened. Bat took a handkerchief out from his pocket and offered it to me. "You have relatively clean dinner manners," he teased.
I took the handkerchief in my shaking hand and quickly wiped the evidence off me. I felt both sick and satisfied. Vincent stepped forward. "If this pathetic display is done then we need to leave," he reminded us.
I was too shaken to move, and Bat glared at him. "It's a useful lesson, one you should have given yourself if you were useful," he shot back.
Vincent didn't reply, but strode over and lifted me into his arms. I yelped in surprise and clung to him. "Don't you ever ask?" I yelled at him.
"No."
"Now you two children behave living in an apartment all by yourself," Bat playfully scolded.
I was mid-gag when Vincent sped us out of there and off to my new home.