Chapter 6
Lead us not into temptation...
"I'm a vampire."
Josh heard the words but didn't understand them. He couldn't understand them. The were meaningless syllables floating in the night air, impossible.
"You're an ass." Josh retorted, trying to keep what little composure he had left. "There's no such things as vampires."
"Said the dead man sitting in the passenger's seat…" Mick replied.
Josh kept staring at Mick, trying to find any hint in his visage that he was kidding. There was none.
"You're serious."
"Unfortunately."
Josh looked away from Mick and stared into his lap. Mick restarted the car and continued driving.
"So you suck people's blood? That's what you did to Tejada wasn't it? You sucked his blood and k-killed him." Josh swallowed, his throat suddenly dry, like sandpaper.
Mick hesitated before answering. "Yes."
"So you…you drink blood. People's blood."
Oh god…
"Okay, let's get this out of the way right now." Mick interrupted. Josh was shaking a bit in the passenger's seat, and Mick needed to calm him down. Now.
"Let's put it this way…I can suck people's blood, but I get most of my blood from the blood bank."
Josh relaxed a bit.
"Are you immortal? And…and are all the vampire myths true? I mean, the coffins, the mirrors, the bats?"
Mick chuckled. "I can live forever, but I'm nowhere near that yet. I sleep in an industrial freezer. Garlic is fine, holy water is fine, crosses are fine. Sunlight sucks but I can stay in it for a while without getting really sick."
"Wow. So you don't burst into flames?"
"Josh, you've seen me in sunlight, for God's sake…" Mick interrupted.
Josh remembered. "Yeah. You did look kind of uncomfortable, I guess."
Mick continued. "As for mirrors…" he pointed at the rearview mirror at his reflection, and Josh understood.
"Film can't capture my image. Digital is okay, though."
"Wow. Just, wow."
Mick shrugged. "Not so much. At least not when you've lived it for fifty-five years."
"Fifty-five years! Holy crap!" Josh's eyes went wide as Mick laughed. For the first time that night, a brightness returned to the two men's eyes, if only for a fleeting moment.
Once the laughter subsided, the pair fell into silence once again.
Mick was the first to speak. "I think I know what's going on with you, Josh. Why you came back."
"How could you possibly know?" Josh answered. He was touchy with this subject, so his answer was terse and cynical. But no matter how hard he tried to abandon false hope, he began to wonder if maybe, just maybe, the vampire had answers.
"Well, I think I know. I'm not sure. If it's what I think it is…" Mick paused. "Something like this hasn't happened in years. I mean hundreds of years. It's just impossible."
"Said the vampire sitting in the driver's seat," Josh added. For a fraction of a second, Mick could have sworn he saw the dead man smile.
"Not many people get a second chance, Josh. Nature just doesn't want it that way. It always comes back to collect."
A half-hour later, Mick pulled up beside a gorgeous apartment complex. Josh recognized the building, even at this hour of the night. It was home to the rich and famous of Los Angeles, the select few who could afford to live in the perfect part of town, in the perfect penthouse apartments.
"What are we doing here?" Josh inquired, marveling at the sight.
Mick smiled. "I think I may know someone who can help you."
