Midnight Squad: The Grim (7 page)

           
“I thought we’d established that.”

           
“Are there more of you?”

           
“Do you mean more here or more in general?” She
responded.

           
“Umm, both?”

           
“I’m the only one here, but there are others. Not many of
us, maybe ten thousand total. I realize that sounds like a lot until you
realize people number in the billions. We’re careful not to add to our ranks.
More vampires mean more competition for food.” She was so composed. It was as
though she was discussing buying coffee. If I hadn’t seen those fangs and eyes,
I’d have never believed it.

           
“I’m sorry, but I don’t really know what to ask. Could
you give me a brief synopsis, and when I think of something, I’ll ask? Penny
nodded, and stood as straight and tall as possible. “Vampires first came into
existence in the sixteenth century when Ponce De Leon angered an Indian
medicine man. One thing that holds true throughout history, never sleep with
both of a man’s daughters together. The medicine man knew he couldn’t kill De
Leon so he used magic to punish the man by giving him exactly what he wanted.
The chief had a spell cast that would turn De Leon into the first thing that
bit him, and he would remain that way for eternity. I guess the chief was
expecting a mosquito, or maybe some other type of insect. Either the spell wasn’t
done correctly, or the magic wasn’t strong enough to change him completely.
Instead, it took traits from the creature that bit him. Thankfully he was
bitten by a vampire bat, or else yours truly might have six legs and a million
eyes.” Wow, there was an unpleasant thought.

           
“Ponce hid himself on the next boat, and secretly made
his way back to Spain. With the high death rates that plagued ships those days,
nobody noticed when he grabbed himself…a bite to eat.” She chuckled, and I got
the feeling she’d probably done something similar herself a few times. I did my
best to give her a sympathy laugh. I tried to treat the conversation as
something that occurred all the time, and I suppose it was pretty common for a
vampire. To be honest, I wasn’t far from completely losing my shit. It was easy
to see that she was dangerous with a perspective on life and death that I
probably would have some trouble understanding, but she was also smoking hot,
and since she’s not trying to eat me I decided letting my little head do some
of the thinking wasn’t too bad. Just listening to her was a pleasure.

           
I think Penny realized the effect she had on me, and so
she smiled and continued, “Well when Ponce arrived in Spain he was very careful
to hide what he was. He only showed his true self to his food and to a select
few friends that he trusted not try to destroy him. He started experimenting
with his meals, and it wasn’t long before he figured out how to make more of
us. It’s not easy by the way. You have to bring the person to the point of
death by devouring their life force, and then share your essence with them. So
for a few days whatever happens to your creation happens to you ten-fold. Yet
another reason we don’t make many vampires. He did this by drinking almost all
their blood, and then sharing it with them. So eventually, he had made himself
a little vampire family. My family met one of his created children in 1712. He
brought over my father before moving on. Father was Scottish royalty, and his
position made us a safe haven for all vampires. Father brought each of us over.
First my mother, then my two sisters, and finally I became vampire. I don’t
mean to be rude, but that’s as much as I’ll discuss about my family.” She
stopped and waited tensely. I nodded, “No problem, believe me. I can understand
if you want to keep your privacy.”

           
Penny’s face relaxed into a beautiful calmness. “Because
of…unfortunate events Elizabeth found me in 1997. I was in very poor shape, and
after nursing me back to health, which was no small feat, I began working here.
Is there anything else you’d like to know?” I took a moment, “I realize this is
probably uncomfortable and awkward, but are the stories true… you know the
crosses, the holy water, garlic, all that stuff?”

           
Her head shook, red hair fluttered softly back and forth
briefly, “Most of it is completely false. Crosses don’t do anything, holy water
is useless, and I love a piece of garlic bread dipped in the marinara sauce
DD’s mom used to send us. Which I guess goes to the next myth…food. A vampire’s
food is blood. Well more specifically, our food is the life essence contained
in blood. That life essence keeps this body from slowly rotting away. I can eat
normal food, but to do that I have to use a portion of that life essence to
make my digestive tract work. Otherwise, the food just rots inside me, and
that’s not pleasant at all. So I can eat and drink just like you if I‘m willing
to expend the extra energy needed to function, but regular food won‘t sustain
me. I can breathe when I want to, my heart beats if I will it, and I can do
everything you do. However, the more like you I try to be, the more life
essence it costs. Luckily I’m well fed around here so I can even have a tan.”

           
Well fed? That sounded like something I’d want to know
more about, but I thought it best to skip it for now. I was determined to hear
everything she had to say, and asking a woman about what she eats usually isn’t
the best way to get them to open up to you. Penny continued, “You saw for
yourself that I’m pretty strong, and there are some…changes that I go through
when I’m getting ready for a nibble. My vision is just like yours, maybe a
little better at night, but not much. My sense of smell and taste is just like
yours. The only obvious difference between us is that I can use echolocation
like a bat. So my hearing is much better than yours.” Penny just stood there
smiling patiently.

           
I cleared my throat. “So can you fly, or call to your
creatures of the night?” Penny smirked, “No, even I can’t defy the laws of physics.
But I can jump very high.” She immediately leapt up to the ceiling, and gripped
the wood paneling with both hands. Amazing, she just hung there like a child
playing on a jungle gym. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. It was amazing. She
just hung there palming the ceiling, and her thighs used the sundress to play
peek-a-boo with my sex drive. I heard DD whisper, “Penny come down, I can see
your hoo-hah.”

           
Even though DD’s whisper was barely audible, Penny
apparently heard it clearly, because she gasped and dropped. As she fell she
pushed the front of her dress down to avoid giving me a free peepshow, but by
their reactions the doctor, DD, and the Boss-lady got a full moon. This was
just plain unfair.

           
Penny regained her composure, “as far as being able to
call my creatures of the night. Unless you want count the clan I play World of
Warcraft
with…I don’t have any creatures of the night.”
Okay she’s sexy, impossibly strong, charming, and plays video games. Well I
know what I want for Christmas, and it’s definitely going to put me on the
naughty list.

           
Penny toyed with her hair. “I guess it goes without
saying that I don’t glitter in sunlight. I’m also not much into brooding, or
self-loathing. I also don’t date people with self-esteem issues who fall in love
with me because they think while I’m dangerous and mysterious, I really have a
heart of gold and only they can see it.” I tried not to laugh, but a couple
brief chuckles did sneak out.

           
“Where is your accent? I mean you said you’re Scottish,
but you sound American.”

           
“A vampire is an apex predator. Our preferred method of
hunting is through deception and subtlety. I’m in America, so I’m doing my best
to blend in by using an American accent. The last thing a vampire can afford is
to stand out. It makes catching prey much more difficult. I can overpower
anybody and take my food, but doing that puts me at risk for injury. No sense
in wasting energy healing if you don’t have to. In addition, you’d be amazed
how quickly a few people can turn into a torch bearing mob once they realize
you’re a vampire
.“
Penny flipped her hair playfully
while I kept trying not to picture us writhing naked in front of a fireplace. I
am so getting fired at this rate.

           
Nothing else I wanted to ask would have been appropriate
for this meeting, and besides, I’m sure we’d have more chances to talk later. I
told her thank you, and she walked out the door. Sometime after the door closed
I was able breathe again, and my heart stopped pounding in my chest. Elizabeth
buzzed, “
Danika
Griffin.” It wasn’t long before the
door opened. A muscular black woman stepped inside. She had an afro that looked
like it escaped the seventies, and black eyes that filled with hate. Honestly,
she reminded me of a muscular black troll kid that escaped an anger management
class. She wasn’t bulky. She was lean but heavily muscled. Ms. Griffin gave no
expression as she walked up to me. I smiled and tried to do my best to make a
positive impression, and avoid being lifted up by my throat again, or worse.
“Hello, I’m”

           
“You’re Sergeant Joseph Reaper, stepson of Colonel Wilson
F. Peterson. I’ve read your file already. I’m
Danika
Griffin, and I’m not impressed.” Damn, it’s a tough room. Elizabeth cleared her
throat, I guess it was a warning because Miss Bitchy-pants rolled her eyes and
walked to the front of the room. She stood there, hand on hip, with a look that
said either she didn’t want to be here, or she really needed to go to the
bathroom.

           
“Penny said she was the only vampire, so what are you?” Apparently,
this was the absolute worst question I could have asked because I quickly
received the look of death. She growled, and her eyes narrowed to angry little
slits. Okay, I’m trying to be professional here, but come on woman work with me
here. I took a deep breath, tried to regain my composure. “I’m sorry; I didn’t
mean to offend you.” I forced a smile on my face, and started counting
backwards to calm myself down. This wasn’t going well.

           
“Let’s get this over with. The sooner this ends the
sooner I can get away from a loser like you. They keep sending us these stupid
jarheads and I swear someone’s getting a new asshole ripped. So here’s the
story…I’m a werewolf, the end. I’m so glad we had this chat. I put it right up
there with having a root canal.” She started stomping out, and made a point to
bump me with her shoulder on the way out. It felt like a sledgehammer just
struck me in the chest. I was just barely able to keep from falling on my ass.
This really was not good. I glanced up at Elizabeth; she was patiently staring
at me, waiting to see if I could control the situation. The crazy she-bitch was
just about to walk out the door when my father’s advice flashed into my head.
When
you’re outgunned, outclassed, and just out of options remember to do your best
to put the fear of God in them because God listens, and at least when you get
to the pearly gates you’ll get to see Jesus laughing at how you just made some
poor bastard piss himself.
       

           
“Griffin! We are not done!” She stopped. Well it’s a
start. I braced myself, “I don’t know what crawled up your ass, but I assume it
was that big melon you call a head! Now you will come back and wait to be
relieved.” She was turning around. I’ve gotten this far, so I might as well go
the rest of the way, “You will not leave without my permission, or would you
understand it better if I just say heel!” She stomped over to me. Her bodies
bone structure changed as she got closer. Clothes ripped as her body increased
in size. By the time she reached me she was standing face to…muzzle. Somehow,
she was a perfect melding of wolf and person. Gray fur covered her body. She
was taller, heavier, and if possible much angrier.

 
Danika
began
growling, her fangs dripped drool, “care to say that to my face.” I thought the
vampire was scary, but here I was staring down something that could literally
bite my head off, swallow it whole, and shit it out in one piece. I looked into
the two wolf eyes, “I’d love to but you’re so damn ugly I feel like I’m going
to lose my lunch just looking at you, and your breath smells like a Chihuahua’s
balls.” She flinched. Those same wolf eyes went from anger to insecurity. I’d
found the chink in her armor, and I felt like a complete heel, but with my head
still attached to my body, I couldn’t back down now. “Listen here Lassie; sit
your furry ass down or do I need to go get a vet and have you put down.” I
heard DD gasp in shock, but I needed to keep it up. I put as much bass and
volume into my voice as possible. I growled, “I said sit down! Are you too stupid
to understand? Sit down or I will sit you down!”

           
Ms. Griffin backed up and sat in a chair. For a drooling
monster with teeth like knives and claws that could shred me to bits, she
really looked kind of mousy and shy. Her eyes started watering, and her long
snout started sniffling. Oh crap she’s going to cry. “I’m sorry.” Her voice was
so quiet and sad. It actually squeaked a little. Her sniffling got worse,
before I knew it she was into full-blown sobbing. I dropped to my knees and
started trying to get her to stop crying, “You hate me! I…don’t…blame…you!”
Snot bubbles were coming out her nose as she gasped out words in between sobs.