No Man's Land (4 page)

Kelly awoke this time to find the trailer pitch black. Eventually her night vision took over, outlining her surroundings in a brownish grey. The broken bones in her hands had knitted together, although they were stiff and puffy from lack of motion. She wiggled her fingers and heard them pop and creak in protest. Gingerly she rose to her feet and tested her limits.

Everything critical except for her fangs had healed, but that didn’t mean she felt spry and ready to roll. Her chest throbbed with each breath, and every movement was slow and painful. She’d have bruises and cuts for a few more days at the very least, and the ones she was sporting were extensive. They wouldn’t heal at all if she wasn’t able to eat. Her stomach growled, and she realized that the continual nausea wasn’t from her head injury but the lack of food.

Great. She was starving, in a trailer in God–knows–where. What she wouldn’t give for a human right now, although feeding without fangs would be a problem. She could cut her victim open with a knife and lap the blood like a dog, but it would be a struggle. The venom in her glands had been more than a numbing agent and an anti–coagulant; it was also a narcotic, giving the human a rush of ecstasy followed by mild short–term memory loss. Without her fangs, feeding would be a violent affair, and she’d probably need to kill the human afterward. Not that there were any humans within grabbing distance. Besides, she was in no condition to wrestle her meal to the ground and hold them still as she dined.

They hadn’t killed her, and although this wasn’t exactly the Hilton, it was a reasonable shelter. Maybe her family had also left her some food. Kelly made her way slowly over to the fridge and opened it, blinking as the light temporarily blinded her. It was empty except for one item; a raw steak.

Steak. Kelly frowned at the meat neatly wrapped in plastic on a Styrofoam tray. Were they taunting her? A packet of fresh human blood would have meant all was forgiven and that she was to wait here for them to eventually bring her back. But a steak? Vampires ate solid food for hundreds of years before the need for it tapered off, but she required human blood in order to properly metabolize this food. She’d been so injured that she wasn’t even sure she could digest this without a few pints to wash it down. Animal blood would help, but there wasn’t enough of it in this package to kick–start her healing. And animal blood wouldn’t hold her for long. Did they intend for her to starve to death? Was this a sign of eventual forgiveness, or a cruel reminder of a short, agonizing future?

Taking the Styrofoam and plastic–wrapped package from the shelf, Kelly looked at the date. It was fresh by human standards, not fresh enough by vampire standards. Her heart sank, but it was no time to for an internal debate over the meaning of this strange offering and whether she’d ever be welcomed back into her family. Right now, this steak was all she had.

“Beggars can’t be choosers,” Kelly said out loud, slurring the words with her mangled mouth as she ripped open the package.

She ate the steak raw, wincing as bits jabbed into the empty sockets where her fangs should have been. The thing had been slaughtered months ago and frozen since. It was horrible, but it was the only food in the house. Finishing the two–pound steak, Kelly carefully poured the blood from the plate into a glass and licked the plate clean. She had no idea where or when her next meal would come from.

She eyed the glass of blood thoughtfully. Saving the blood in the fridge would allow her sustenance for later, but there was a good chance it would be undrinkable by tomorrow. She picked up the glass and threw the blood as a shot down her throat. Normally the taste filled her with peaceful satisfaction — a flood of flavors, warm and sensuous on her tongue. This stuff was cold and congealed. Nasty, but it would keep her going.

Kelly rinsed the dishes then carefully peeled off her bloody clothing, washing it in the sink as best as she could before draping it across the counter and the chairs to dry. She freshened up a bit in the bathroom then collapsed into the lumpy bed, convinced she’d be covered in bed bug bites by morning. Reasonably full, and with throbbing pain from the empty holes in her mouth, she drifted off to sleep.

5

B
ang, bang. Bang, bang, bang
.

Don’t hit me! I’m sorry, please don’t hit me!
Elizabeth cringed, covering her head as Cook flung another pot at her. It hit the table, ricocheting off the wall behind and onto the floor. She’d be blamed for the dented pots too. Double the beating, although beating was preferable to some punishments. The two days she’d spent locked in the cupboard without food or water had been far worse.

The cook screamed, her English failing in anger as she ran around the long wooden table, this time brandishing a knife.

I’m sorry, I’m sorry!
The little girl darted under the table, thankful for once that she was tiny and quick.

Not quick enough. A fat hand grabbed her ankle like a steel manacle, throwing Elizabeth face–first onto the stone floor. The grip around her ankle tightened painfully as the cook dragged her from under the table. A sob of terror caught in the girl’s throat as she frantically tried to pull free.

You’ll be sorry soon enough, dirty little bastard
.

Bang, bang, bang
.

Kelly’s mind rose with the sound, jarring her from the unpleasant dream. She wasn’t a human anymore; she was a vampire, and far away from that dingy kitchen. What was that noise? Was someone throwing dining trays around her manager’s suite? Why did her bed feel like the mattress was stuffed with acorns? Why was she so sore? She felt starved, as if she hadn’t eaten in days. And why did her down comforter itch and scratch like cheap polyester?

“Hellooooo,” a cheerful female voice called. “Are you ok in there, sweetie?”

Memory flooded Kelly, and she opened her eyes to stare at the faded, teal–striped wallpaper and lacy curtained window a scant foot from her bed. She was sore with tight muscles, like she’d run a marathon in the night, but thankfully the only pain was from the throbbing in her mouth.

Bang, bang, bang
. “Hellooooo.”

Daylight. Judging from how sluggish she felt, it had to be early morning. It sucked to be up during the day. She’d always tried to pawn off early casino duties on a subordinate vampire.

The banging echoed again through the trailer, and Kelly grumbled. This person wasn’t going to leave until she answered the door. Maybe whoever it was had a bloodmobile parked out front. Probably not, but a girl could have her fantasies.

Kelly squirmed to the end of the bed and stood, wrapping the itchy blue comforter around her naked body and shuffled to the door. A female face peered through the window, disappearing only to reappear at the door as she opened it.

“I’m so glad y'all are finally awake,” the human woman said with obscene cheerfulness. “I saw you moved in last week, but you never seemed to be home when I came 'round. I peeked through the window this morning and saw you sleeping and just
had
to come by and welcome you to the neighborhood.”

The woman appeared to be in her late forties. She was stout, but not obese, her figure at a horrible disadvantage in black leggings and a t–shirt that barely cleared her midriff. Her blond hair showed a hint of dark roots, and her make–up was carefully applied.

Kelly stared at her with fascination. She’d had very little interaction with humans for nearly a century. Sure, she saw them all the time in the casino and spoke with them somewhat before biting them, but she’d not actually had a conversation with one in longer than she could remember. Others handled most of the day–to–day dealings with the humans. She’d been too busy, and there hadn’t really seemed to be a point to engaging them in any kind of social interaction. One didn’t talk to one’s food.

The woman pushed by her into the trailer, and Kelly realized she was carrying a container of some sort. She smelled the warmth of the woman, heard the thud of her pulse. Had she said it had been a week since she’d arrived? A week with only a two pound steak to keep her going after all the blood she’d lost and all the damage she’d needed to heal. No wonder she felt so weak and bruised. Her body was probably refusing to heal further until she ate. If she’d had her fangs, she would have jumped right on this woman and bled her dry. Normally a pint would do it, but Kelly felt like she could drain a whole football team to empty husks and still not be satiated. Her stomach growled.

“I’m Melody Cramer, and I live in the next place down. I brought you over a nice tuna casserole. You don’t seem to have a microwave, but you can warm it up at three fifty for about twenty minutes and it will be wonderful. My heavens, it’s cold in here! You really need to turn up the heat.”

Placing the container of tuna casserole on the counter, Melody walked to the thermostat by the door and adjusted it.

“There. Now I’ll just put this casserole in your fridge here. You can bring back the container when you’re done. No hurry at all. My goodness! You don’t have a lick of food here beyond this steak!”

Steak? Kelly had eaten the only steak in the fridge. How did there come to be another one in there?

“I noticed you don’t have a car. I can pick you up some staples when I run into town. Or maybe you can come with me. If not, the nineteen bus stops right at the end of the road four times a day, and you can catch that into town.”

Melody’s words faded to a buzz as Kelly stared at her. Blood. Blood. She envisioned sinking fangs into the woman’s neck, or her wrist, and the crimson liquid filling her mouth — warm and salty, with that lovely metallic tang. Kelly, in cruel anticipation, swallowed the saliva that filled her mouth and realized that Melody had stopped talking. The woman was looking at her expectantly.

“Oh, sweetie! Here I am babbling away and you probably don’t even have any coffee. I can’t imagine putting my brain in gear in the morning without coffee. I’ll be right back.”

Melody whisked out of the trailer with unexpected speed given her chubbiness. It seemed like the door had barely slapped on its hinges before she was back carrying a plastic tub of Folgers and a handful of coffee filters. Grabbing the stained and slightly melted coffee maker off the counter, she efficiently started a pot brewing. With a steady stream of conversation, she ransacked the little kitchen, looking for who knew what.

“Ah here, you’ve got a couple coffee cups and glasses and some dishes and silverware. One saucepot and one fry pan, and your coffee maker. And this crazy knife. Goodness knows what that will come in handy for. Maybe home protection.” She chuckled.

Kelly looked at the filleting knife. It was the only new thing in the trailer. It was high quality, sharp, with an intricately carved bone handle. It was silver. No doubt it had been specifically left in case she got too desperate, reached the end of her rope, gave up. It was a kind gesture. One she hadn’t expected.

Suddenly the door flung open and a tall, thin woman burst through. Kelly instinctively crouched in a defensive posture, which was ridiculous given she was naked and wrapped in a cheap polyester bedspread inside a ramshackle trailer. The woman seemed out of breath, whipping her blond hair from side to side as she looked frantically from Kelly to Melody and back again.

“You’re alive,” the woman informed Melody, as if she had expected to find the opposite. Kelly frowned.

“Well, of course I am, Jaq,” Melody chuckled. “Although I wasn’t sure I would survive that Shrimp Lo Mein last night. Why Joe insists on getting take–out from that place, I’ll never know. The man has a stomach of iron.”

The blond woman, Jaq, didn’t seem to be paying any attention to Melody; instead, she had turned her pale gray eyes to Kelly, looking her over as if she’d expected her to be dead as well. Kelly stared back, more out of irritation than any particular interest — another human whose pulse beat tantalizingly out of reach. Jaq was ridiculously tall, towering almost a foot over Kelly, with hair the color of sand escaping her ponytail and flying in wisps around a freckled face. The woman was covered with faint spots, as if she were part jaguar.

“You okay?” the woman asked Kelly, her voice soft.

No
, Kelly thought.
I’m starving to death and you smell so good. Even better than the round woman in the yoga pants.

“Fine.” The words came out garbled as she forced her swollen, damaged mouth to form the sounds.

Melody scurried around the tiny kitchen in the background as the other two women stared at each other. This Jaq woman didn’t look to be a threat. Not that Kelly could do much if she was. It was just the way she looked at the vampire, as though Kelly were a wounded animal in need of care — a dangerous wounded animal. The whole thing made Kelly feel uncomfortable — and hungry.

“I’ll just move these clothes and we can sit down. . ..” Melody’s voice trailed off as she picked up the dry shirt from the back of the chair.

Kelly’s blood turned to ice, knowing exactly what the woman had seen. Laundry in a sink, in the dark, without detergent had not made a dent in the dried, caked blood staining the shirt. The skirt was black and hid the stains better, but her shirt had been white with grey pinstripes at one point. It was now pink with grey pinstripes and huge crusted smears of blood.

The tall woman looked away from Kelly toward the shirt and tensed expectantly, a look of alarm coming over her face. Yeah, it looked like Kelly had been slaughtering goats in her spare time. Or had bled out all over her clothing and risen from the dead to find herself in the middle of nowhere in an ancient mobile home.

Would they call the police? Kelly might be able to take on a small group of humans and win, especially if she didn’t have to worry about leaving them alive, but there were probably hundreds of them in the area. They’d eventually overpower her, injure her faster than she could repair herself. Plus, she was in no physical state to battle even these two women, and she sensed no vampires nearby to come to her aid. Suddenly she understood what the elders had always told her about the humans, why vampires chose to live in the shadows and feed with secrecy. There was power in numbers, and the humans far outnumbered even the largest vampire family.