Vampire Lane (9 page)

He decided to check out some of the local vampire hang outs, so he yelled for his driver and was soon on his way. He passed numerous women. They all looked like prostitutes, which gave him no sexual desire whatsoever, but perhaps he would eat one on the way back. The car stopped in front of a bar that was clearly meant to attract vampires. He looked at the cursive red lettering of
She’s A Vamp.
He watched the whores eye him, and what they perceived as money.

The music blared loudly from the band inside. It was not really his taste in music, but he wasn’t there for the music. He was there for blood.

He spotted the woman he wanted immediately. He could tell she was an innocent, the blood of the innocent tasted so much sweeter than that of anything else. Well, almost anything else. Babies tasted the best, but he gave up on babies a long time ago. Humans were much too attached, and now in the modern day, it would cause a city wide panic and an amber alert. No, he didn’t need that hassle. The female virgins, yes they were delicious. He sat and ordered a drink and stared at her and waited. She would come to him. He sent the suggestion with his eyes, and she finally approached him. Her light auburn ponytail swayed as she walked. She wore a floral print dress that hung past her knees. She was much more covered than the other women in the bar. When she finally reached him, he just waited until she finally spoke.

“Um...Hi, I just wanted to say hi,” she said barely above a whisper.

“What is your name?” he asked.

“Mmmm ...y name is Mindy.”

“It is nice to meet you, Mindy. It is very loud in here. Would you care to join me for a walk? We could talk and get to know each other better.”

Mindy looked around nervously. He thought she might actually decline his invitation. How could such a thing occur? No human should be able to resist his vampire suggestion.

“Well, I don’t know, I guess that would be fun. We need to stay nearby, okay? Safety first,” she joked.

He faked a laugh and took her by the hand. He led her out of the noisy bar. He knew of a place that would be perfect for the fun activities he had planned.

“My dear, the driver will take us to a well lit park where we can take a nice walk.”

“I don’t know. Getting in a car with a man I don’t know wouldn’t be very smart of me, would it?”

Of course it’s not, but I hope you will anyway.

“I understand if you decide not to, but either way, I will still be going for a nice walk in the park. Do you have a vehicle? You could just follow.”

“No, I don’t have one. I will just text my friend your name; that way if something happens, she knows who I went off with.”

He smiled. She was smart girl, but neglected to think about whether or not the name he would give her would actually be his real one.

“Come inside; we can take a selfie to send her, too.”

Mindy nodded and followed him inside the limo. She took out her phone and they snapped a picture together. He gave her a fake name of Paul Chambers and she typed it out, but before she could send it, Shane took her face in his hands, and stared her in the eyes and sent her a suggestion that it was already sent. He reached for the phone, and then he erased it completely. The driver drove them about thirty minutes to an abandoned house in the bayou. He led her out of the car. It took a lot of vampire power to keep her calm, because she was scared and wanted to scream and run. He finally just picked her up and carried her inside. The furniture was covered with sheets and smelled musty from the moisture getting inside. He set her on the couch gently then put her to sleep with a final suggestion. She was exhausting to control. He sat in a nearby chair to rest a moment. He looked at his prize—a brunette virgin, who now belonged to him.

Chapter 18

Natasha sat at the desk in her family room. She hadn't done much with the room; it was mostly an office with a feminine white desk, and a small flowery love seat on the other side. She was working on the bills Maureen grabbed for her. She knew Tanek would hate it, but she didn’t want to see him. The easiest way to avoid him would be to work from home. When Tanek wanted to speak with her, he could call her. She knew he would have to talk to her eventually about work, but as far as she was concerned, there was no Tanek. She would have to see him at the baby shower, and she doubted she couldn’t really avoid him forever, but she would sure try.

Natasha knew Maureen was working all night, so when she heard the doorbell ring, it was a surprise. She walked over to the door and looked through the peep hole. And there at her door through the little hole, she spotted her sire, Godfryd. If she wasn’t dead already, she would swear she died on the spot, as she felt herself have a bit of a panic attack. She didn’t know what to do. Her door was vampire proof, and she had no intention of letting him inside. She considered running, but knew he loved a good chase, and eventually he would catch her anyway.

“Natasha, my child, I can hear your sweetness from here. Let me inside. I only want to talk with you. I am not angry. I won’t hurt you.”

“How do I know you are telling the truth?”

“You are from my blood line. If I lie, you would know it.”

Natasha knew he meant what he said, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t more to the story than he let on. He may not lie, but he could also keep details to himself. “If I let you in, you have to promise to talk only and leave when I ask you to.”

“On my honor, my child, I will leave when you ask it of me.”

Natasha cracked open the door, and his all too familiar cologne invaded her nose. She wanted to run and hide, but calmed herself and proceeded to open the door.

Godfryd walked inside Natasha’s house, looked around, and sat on the couch. Natasha found the chair as far away from him as she could get and sat on it. “You are here, say what you came to say and leave.”

“I want to say when I found out you had manipulated me to get away, I was…” He paused. “…hurt, and I immediately searched for you to kill you slowly and painfully.”

“And?”

“And then after some time, I realized I wasn’t angry at you for manipulating me. I was angry, because I missed your companionship and wanted you back.”

Natasha didn’t believe him. She knew this was only a half truth. He may have missed her, but he probably still wanted to punish her, too.

“Godfryd, I don't want to live like you. I like my house and my human possessions. I want a normal life, not hiding in the shadows.”

“I know that, at least I do now. I have watched you for a long time. I know you lived for a long time without anyone. You wanted to live like the humans, but were never fully able to.”

Natasha got the most dreadful feeling along her spine. The thought of him watching her for any period of time creeped her out. “Cut to the chase. Why are you here, what do you want?”

“I want you to come back to me as my equal, not my child. You are the only child I have ever missed, the only one I have ever wanted back in my life. Together we can create our own vampire army and rule the night.”

Natasha thought he must be delusional, because there was no way she would ever go back to him, no matter what he promised. “So you want me to sleep in a coffin in a cave with you. So we can make baby vampires together?”

“Not exactly, but yes, except the coffin part. I know you hated that, so you can sleep however you want.”

Natasha couldn’t help herself… she thought about it, but quickly shoved that idea right out of her head. It took her so many years to escape him. No way would she just go crawling back with a few promises. “Thank you for the kind offer, Godfryd, but I must decline. Please leave. Now!”

Godfryd stood up and nodded to Natasha. “I will be nearby. I will stay in touch for when you change your mind. I rather like this city, I may stay.”

Natasha wanted to scream and then stab him in his black hole of a heart. She hated him, but he was her sire, the one who saved her from death.

Chapter 19

Natasha was still awake when Maureen came home from work. She waited for her friend, but she realized she didn't like working from home. She missed the atmosphere and the people. She never even had a chance to work on the floor, waiting tables. She was looking forward to interacting with the customers.

"How was work?" Natasha asked.

"It was great, tips were fab, and Tanek is talking about bringing in live bands. That will be great to bring in more customers."

Natasha felt a bit jealous of Maureen. She was out having fun and making money while Natasha was stuck at home, because she was a big chicken shit. "I think I might come into work tomorrow."

“Really?”

“I can’t hide from him forever.”

“I knew you wouldn’t become a hermit. Laya said you would end up being like a weird vampire shut in.”

“Well, Laya has an active imagination.”

Maureen laughed. “She does, the stories she tells me. I don’t know if they’re really true.”

Natasha wanted to skip sleep and get right to work, but she didn’t.

It was just beginning to get light out when there was a knock at the door. Natasha hoped it wasn’t Godfryd again. That was one vampire she really didn’t want to see again. She looked through the peephole and groaned. She unlocked the door and opened it to Tanek standing there nervously.

“Tanek, you need to leave.”

“Please, Natasha, we can work this out. I’m sorry.”

Maureen stood nearby, watching Natasha. She could tell Maureen didn’t want to be part of whatever was going on between them. “Hey Maureen, why don't you go make us a snack? I will be in the kitchen in a little bit.”

Maureen left the living room, and then Natasha was left with Tanek standing inside the door. She finally invited him inside. She figured she needed to make the break up official so they could both move on. “Tanek, I know you keep saying how sorry you are.”

“I am an idiot. Please let me make it up to you.”

“Tanek, please, I need to say this. When you said you loved me, it was like whatever I used to protect my heart with was finally released. At that moment, I loved you, too. When you said you didn’t mean it, I was crushed. I just can’t continue seeing you when I know you don't love me.”

“Natasha, we can just go on and pretend it never happened. I don’t want to lose you.”

Natasha couldn’t help but feel angry. Her fangs popped out and her eyes turned a deadly red. “Lose me! You didn’t lose me, you gave me away. You had my heart and you didn’t want it,” she hissed.

Tanek stood and backed away. He held his hands up, trying to calm her, but she was so enraged nothing could stop her.

“Natasha, please, you need to calm yourself.”

“I can’t. I hate you so much right now. I hurt, so bad!” she screamed.

Natasha fell to the ground and was emotionally broken. Tanek rushed over to Natasha and held her in his arms. She wanted desperately to hate him, but she just couldn’t. She loved him and always would.

Godfryd’s offer was in the back of her mind. If he really changed maybe going with him would be her best option. She needed to get as far away from Tanek as possible.

Natasha stood up and wiped her blood stained eyes. Her fangs retracted and she felt herself calming more by the moment. “I’m sorry you had to see that. I don't like to lose it like that.”

“We are vampire. It happens.”

Natasha couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “Now that I’m done being a crazy ex girlfriend, I need to tell you something. My sire, Godfryd, came by.”

“What?!” Tanek hissed.

“He came by today. He had been watching me. He wants me to go back to him. He says he wants me as a partner.”

“I will kill him. I will kill him slowly for everything he has done to you.”

Now it was Natasha’s turn. She was trying to calm Tanek, but he was so upset. “I just wanted to let you know I’m thinking about it. Now if you don’t mind, I am very tired and the sun is coming up.”

“Please, Natasha, we need to talk about this.”

“No! It’s time for you to leave.”

Tanek reluctantly walked out of the door. He turned around and tried to speak again, and she slammed the door in his face. She just couldn’t listen to him anymore.

Chapter 20

Natasha sat with Laya at
Bite Me
before work. She insisted they needed to finish a few things for the baby shower. The food, music, and guest list were all finalized last week. Natasha knew they had everything set, but just wanted to get together.

“Okay, so you will get here early and decorate with your cousins. Then I will arrive after dark to finish up. Oh, and I will bring the cake, too.”

“I really don’t think we needed to meet. We had this all figured out days ago.”

“I just wanted to make sure. I want this perfect for Gretchen. Are you sure we have enough food? And the band? Did you call to confirm?"

“Natasha, she's pregnant. As long as you feed her, she will love it.” Natasha smiled and Laya let out a little giggle. “I guess you’re right. I just wanted girl time, and honestly, other than Maureen, you and Gretch are my only friends. So did you want to talk about the break up with Tanek? Maureen told me everything.”