Chapter 7: Big City, Little Vampire

The work went on for almost two years. I learned to arrive at the small shop before dawn and hid in the back until after dark. I took off to hunt when I needed, and went to see parts of Nashville and the surrounding area whenever I wanted. I even caught some late night variety shows, and danced at a few honky-tonks. So long as I kept up the detailed work I was doing for Myrtle and Hank, I didn't lack for any jobs. The money they paid me was a pittance, I knew that, but without any other expenses, the little bit of pay was adding up. I had no other real expenses, and now I didn't even need to pay for clothing. Myrtle loved helping me sew outfits that fit me perfectly. I was able to live quite comfortably in the old church so long as I wasn't there for services unless I'd eaten first. No one ever came to the attic area of the church, so I could easily stay there, listening to the music, reading books that I either found or bought, and decorating the large space with the few things that I owned.

However, I wouldn't leave the odd couple for anything. They never showed fear or attraction for me. They simply valued my work and my presence, and in doing so, filled a void that I didn't even know I had. Working with them in the little shop and creating works of beauty gave me a sense of belonging, a feeling of home.

When I was away from the shop, I used the time to try to understand my visions. Of course, the most important vision was frustratingly obscure, but I knew now that the tall, blond vampire with sad eyes would be my mate. I hadn't seen it, but I knew it like I knew my name. I also now knew, and this made my silent heart ache in pain, that the reason the vision was so obscure was that it took place in the far future. The closer a vision was in time, the clearer it became, and so this hazy one was very far off.

Then, on August 24, of 1925, Hank died.

I came into the store as usual on Monday to see what needed to be done, and found the two of them preparing to let me cut out some bridesmaids' dresses. I had taken over the cutting since both of their eyes were bad. I had decided that one of the reasons they didn't fear me as much is that they were both nearly blind.

Halfway through the cutting, my sharp ears heard a dull thud in the front room followed by a heart wrenching scream, "NO!"

I ran in to see Hank face down on the floor with Myrtle desperately trying to roll him over. I ran in and easily flipped his body over hoping he was just having a spell of some sort, but it was clear to my hunter's eyes that there was no pulse. He didn't even have time to erase the shocked look on his face. He was dead before he hit the floor.

Suddenly, my chest felt as if my silent heart had been removed and the hole filled with lead. I couldn't think quickly because the words he's gone kept echoing in my mind pushing any other thoughts out of the way. I numbly went to the corner pharmacy and asked them to phone the undertaker, and went back to watch Myrtle sob over Hank's body.

It only took about 10 minutes for the undertaker to arrive after I phoned. He was a kind man and apologized to Myrtle several times as he quickly took Hank's body away. Myrtle and I simply stood together in the now empty store, holding hands. I couldn't believe how much this man's death left me in sudden misery. They had been my family, and now he was gone, and she was an empty shell sobbing beside me. She was so distraught, that she didn't even notice my stone hand as she held it.

I took Myrtle upstairs to their home and waited for her friends from the Synagogue to come. I watched as she simply walked around the small apartment looking lost with silent tears falling from her cheeks like rain. I would have stayed with her forever, but I was forced to leave quickly when their friends began to arrive because they were definitely afraid of me. I kept watch from a nearby roof. Hank was Jewish, so he was promptly buried the next day. I watched from the trees. The sun shone that day, and I could not go near to say goodbye.

Rather than return to the silent church, I thought it best to just go back to the open shop and finish what needed to be done. I stayed in the shop all the rest of the day and through the night, working and finishing projects. I was glad to have the time to grieve for the man who had accepted me as human, but I wished for someone with whom I could share that grief. I felt as if I carried some great weight, and I needed a friend who could help me carry it.

The pain was especially poignant for me because I had caused so many deaths in my short life, and the reality of what I had done cut into me like a hot blade.

Is this what it felt like for all the families of my victims? Is this pain what I have given to others? I wondered. Guilt swept over me. I had to make things right for Myrtle, and in some way atone for all the others that I had killed.

She came back down on Thursday.

"Hi, Myrtle. I stayed and finished your work. I hope it's okay," I was almost stammering as I tried to say something to her. I was at a total loss.

Myrtle just looked at me through her incredibly thick spectacles. Finally, she said, "Thank you," in a soft monotone. She had no expression on her face at all, it was like her body was there, but she wasn't in it.

"What do you want me to do now?" I nearly begged. I was desperate to help her somehow. I wanted to make up for Hank's death in some way.

"There isn't anything to do?" she looked confused.

"No, Myrtle, I finished all the orders. They have all been picked up, and the money is in the till. Do you have more orders?"

"No, there won't be any more orders...Not any more...I am selling the shop to Horowitz Tailoring...I'm going home."

"You are home," I whispered, feeling as if the small comfort I found here was already slipping from my fingers.

"I'm going to New York. My sister wants me to come and be with her family. I've sold everything. I just came to get a few items, and then I will go to New York City." Her voice never faltered, but it never changed either.

She still seemed confused, like a lost child. I needed to go get more air, but I didn't feel that I could leave her yet. So, I took a deep, searing breath and held on to the beast with all my will power. In two years, I hadn't taken a breath around her, and the air in the shop nearly drove my mind mad with the thick scent. I held onto my thin control as tightly as I could and said through clenched teeth, "I'll help. What do you need?"

She wandered the shop and picked up some odd items: his spectacles, their thimbles, a pincushion, an afghan Hank used on cold days, and several other small items. We put them in a bag, and I walked her upstairs to their small home.

"Myrtle, what else can I do? I want to help you. You and Hank are the only family I've ever really had, and I just want to say thank you somehow." My perfect voice sounded thick.

"Family?" She looked at me and her eyes suddenly seemed a little clearer. "Don't you have anyone here in Nashville?"

"No. I don't have anyone anywhere," I said flatly. It was strange how hollow I felt stating this simple fact. I had no one but her, and the thought made me feel suddenly very cold inside. For the first time in my four years, I knew that immortal meant loss and loneliness rather than endless life.

"Come with me," she said, finally looking directly at me. Her voice became shrill. "You are the only family I have left, so you come to New York with me. Please, say you'll come with me," she pleaded. I had never been asked to stay with anyone, and the feeling was warm and pleasant.

Going with her to her family was probably not safe, but sending Myrtle to New York alone seemed almost cruel. Besides, I needed to stay with Myrtle and somehow make up for the guilt of what I had done. She would need help, and I could see the big city.

"Okay, Myrtle," I said, my heart lightening for the first time in days. "I'll come with you. New York might just be my kind of place."

xxXoOoXxx

It took five days for her to get ready to go in spite of the fact that she had indeed sold everything. Of course, it took me just as long to sort through all the items that I'd crammed into every conceivable spot in that attic. When did I get all this stuff and where did I put it? I wondered as I shoved the last of the items in the dangerously overstuffed trunks.

We each took two trunks, her rattling with their emptiness, and mine threatening to burst the locks. We took the train from Nashville to Grand Central Station in New York City. The train ride was the most difficult thing I had ever done. Luckily, it was summer and the windows could be down, because the passenger car was old and thick with the scent of a thousand humans. We got a sleeper room so that she could sleep and I could ride without anyone screaming at my skin. It was much more difficult than I could have imagined being so close to so many humans. I kept my head out the window at night, letting the wind twist my hair and clear my head like some kind of farm dog.

Of course, I had to do it. Not since I was a newborn did I want human blood so badly.

That night, the two most frustrating visions, the ones that I knew my life was totally wrapped up in, both hit me stronger and clearer than they ever had.

The two hunters were now three because a woman had joined them. I could see the three of them hunting in some forest during the winter, or maybe it was just far to the North. They were laughing together in snowy woods. When the vision ended, I felt suddenly alone. If I had known where and when they were, I would have leapt off the train and found them. I knew that this was the family I wanted and needed.

The second vision hit when the sun was beginning to rise. It was him, and my silent heart reacted to this vision ferociously. He wasn't walking in a door, but rather standing amid a horrific scene. There was a fire burning behind him, and he was picking up what looked like chunks of crystal and tossing them into the flames. My instincts told me that this was death and destruction, and I shrunk away from the vision, but could not leave it. I was fixated by his face, which I could just now make out. It was terrifying. His neck and face were marred by what looked like thousands of crescent shaped bite marks He looked frightening and deadly, every bit the monster. But it was his eyes that truly held me because they were the eyes of a trapped, broken and lifeless man. He didn't want to do this, I could see it, but he had no choice, and the sadness in his eyes forced a sob from me as I came back to the present. My other half was in pain, and I ached to comfort him. I wanted more than before to jump from this train and find him, but I had no idea, again, of when or where he was.

The only thing that I knew for certain as the sun rose and I shut the curtain, was that I was headed in the right direction. It wasn't a coincidence that both visions had gotten stronger when I headed east. I was going the right way.

OooXooO

Myrtle's sister, Edwina Schlitz, lived in a well-kept part of the Bronx in what they called a brownstone. It was her son's house, but he had given it to his mother after he and his family had moved into a larger one in Manhattan. Her son had an enormous amount of money because he was an investor.

Edwina was only slightly less blind than Myrtle, and welcomed me with all the suspicion of a native New Yorker. She spent hours asking me dozens of questions, trying to trick me into telling her what my real motive was in helping Myrtle. Finally, she relented and allowed me to stay in the empty servant's quarters in the attic which suited me just fine.

Myrtle got me a job as a night seamstress at one of the larger dress shops in the Bronx. I loved my job. I was at the center of the fashion world, and I was learning more than just sewing and clothing design; I was becoming quite fluent in Spanish by listening to the Puerto Rican women who worked at night on the machines.

New York proved to be a very easy place to live. I was able to hunt once a week, taking the night train to the edge of town and running a hundred miles to find large game. I loved the night life that New York offered. I loved the fact that I could find humans awake and active at almost any hour of the day or night, and I loved the fact that New Yorkers truly didn't seem to care that I was the closest thing to the angel of death they would ever see. It was a vampire paradise.

Edwina was a shrewd know-it-all that truly seemed to know it all. She often talked with me about banking and investments, and how to grow money. Her husband had been a banker and her son worked on Wall Street, and she had more knowledge about money than anyone I knew.

"It will grow itself, if you do it right. All you need to do is keep one step ahead of the market, and keep your eyes open. This is the roaring twenties! Let the stock market make you rich," she told me as I got their nightly cup of tea with a little bourbon in it. A good "sleeping tea" they called it. After two months, she was finally beginning to accept me as Myrtle's friend. I took care of them in the daytime, and worked at night. Neither one even noticed that I never slept or ate.

"You let me handle your first investments, and then I will show you what to do. I'm even better at money than my son," she stated victoriously.

"I'll give you fifteen hundred, and if that does well, I will give you the rest, but, you have to promise me that you will teach me everything you know," I countered. I saw a brief image of me smiling over the paper, and hoped that I was looking at the financial section. I was very nervous about losing the money I had worked so hard for. Jobs didn't come easily for vampires.

"By the end of two months, you'll gladly hand me the rest," Edwina snorted.

Within a month, that vision was fulfilled. Edwina was good to her word, and practically a psychic herself when it came to money. Within two months, my money had doubled, and I had given her every spare cent I had. The spirit of the times was foot-loose-and-fancy-free, and I loved every minute of it. Edwina was a very good teacher, and by Christmas of 1925, I was able to buy the sisters some lovely hats and handbags from a very trendy shop on the West side.

xXxoOoxXx

"You should work for my son," announced Edwina in January of 1926. We were looking over the investment section of the Times and discussing our next moves. "You are really getting the hang of the business, you know, and a girl like you would go very far." At least that is what she said. What she meant was. My son knows several men, and you are young and pretty and need to find a husband.

"Oh, yes, Edwina. What a perfect idea!" exclaimed Myrtle, who seemed to have made it her life's goal to see me married.

With my perfect ears, I could hear them plotting each night to get me a man. It was very sweet of them, and, if it wasn't an utterly morbid idea, it would have been hilarious. As it was, my life with them was like a comedy that you might see in a dinner theater. Two widowed sisters trying to set up their cute caretaker vampire. The plot had potential.

"I really like my job, Edwina, and I don't like to work during the day. Besides, not much goes on in the stock market at night."

"Oh, but that is where you are wrong. The night time is when all the good deals are made. The powerful and rich players work at night to reap the profit during the daytime. You'll see, honey, you would be a big help to my son."

"Think of all the rich men you could meet!" Myrtle chimed in, exuberantly. She wasn't exactly subtle. "Edwina, why don't you call Herbert after our gentleman caller's appointment," she added with a coy smile. I shuddered.

That afternoon, I met the latest man that the two plotters had invited over.

The poor man was Freddie, the grocer for the produce market we shopped at. He was pleasant enough, and reacted the same way as the other four men the sisters had forced to come over; at first, he was delighted with me.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Schlitz and Mrs. Dewer," he politely greeted them. Then he turned to me and held out his hand, "Hi there Alice, it's a pleasure to see you again."

Well, this won't take very long.

His smile broke wide across his boyish face, until I let him shake my hand. I found that touching my cold, stone-like hand was a great way to make a potential suitor think twice. He shook it, and the smile instantly dropped from his face.

"Oh, well, um, so what have you been doing to keep yourself busy?" he asked me as we sat down and the sisters served tea. Self-preservation had set in, and he sat across the room facing me.

"Nothing much more than work, work and more work during the week." Oh, and seeing visions and drinking the blood of animals on the weekend. "How about you, Freddie?"

"Not much, just work, and then I go fishing on my off days. Do you like to fish?"

Ick, I thought as my nose turned up just a bit. I had tried it, and fish blood was awful, especially since it was cold.

"Not much. I don't like cold blooded animals, but I do like to hunt, though, and shop." It was the absolute truth. The truth was all I really needed to send him packing. "Really, they are two sides of the same coin, don't you think?"

"What do you hunt?" he asked.

"Anything with warm blood pumping through its heart," I answered demurely, flashing a little tooth in a sly smile.

"Oh...um, have you caught anything recently?" he asked as his ears grew red.

"Why, yes, just last weekend, I caught two elk and a black bear near the Canadian border," I said to his widening eyes. It wouldn't be long now.

"Wow! So...what do you do with all those animals?" he asked, looking around for the usual trophies.

"Why I eat them of course, silly," I said with a demure giggle. He just looked at me, blankly.

Then, since the two sisters weren't watching, I smiled a huge smile at him. He nearly broke the door down on the way out, leaving the sisters befuddled again and wondering what was wrong with me that I couldn't seem to catch a man.

He only lasted twelve minutes, but my best time stood at six and a half minutes. He was a young college student - I was rather proud of that one. The sisters were totally clueless that the real problem to me catching a man was that I had already caught so many.

Two evenings later, I met Edwina's married son. Herbert was short, fat and balding, but he carried an air of importance about him. He looked me over several times, apparently shifting between fear and appreciation, asked several questions about the market, and then asked me to help hostess a meeting the next night. I was to wear something "a little more like a party dress than a working suit," and show up at his office building at 8 p.m.

The sisters were euphoric with the news. It mean they got to help me dress up, and that I was going to be surrounded by rich, eligible men.

That Thursday evening, I wore and evening gown for the first time in my life. It was a deep red dress with matching ruby lipstick and had a matching red plume that I placed in my tight curls. I looked absolutely stunning. It was so much fun to dress up nicely and do my hair that I was in high spirits. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I wasn't afraid of anything either. I could be getting myself into a bad situation, but I could also be going to my first professional meeting and party, and that idea had me giddy with excitement. By now, human scent was not nearly as potent as it had been, and I was quite good at finding clean air. Besides, if the meeting went badly, I would just kill anyone who threatened me. No problem.

I arrived fifteen minutes early, and was greeted by a woman in a short dress that was too tight for her sagging body. I could tell that she was once very attractive, but now she wore far too much makeup on her wrinkled face and looked tired from the dark circles around her baggy eyes. Those eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when I walked in.

"Hi, I'm Alice Charles, and Herbert Schlitz sent me here to hostess the meeting."

"I'll just bet he did!" She exclaimed as she gave me a thorough once over. She was obviously one of those New Yorkers who didn't even fear the angel of death. I smiled sweetly and cocked my head to the side, this usually worked to help humans relax a bit, but it didn't work on this one. "What are you, like thirteen or something?" she demanded.

"I'm twenty," I seethed.

She raised a painted, ebony eyebrow. "Do you have any ID to prove that? I am not getting into trouble for you, honey."

"You can ask Herbert, his aunt knows me," I snapped back. She was spoiling my fun, and I decided that I didn't like her. Besides, I did not look thirteen in this outfit.

She looked me over again and shrugged. "You greet the guests and take their hats and coats. Then, take drinks to them as they order from the bar. When the meeting starts, take this pad and paper and sit by Herbert to take notes. You got that?" She barked out the orders like I was her child.

"Yes, I think I can handle that," I purred and smiled widely. She just frowned and walked away. This one wouldn't give the angel of death a second glance. I walked over and positioned myself in a part of the entryway that was in shadow and waited. I didn't want to scare anyone on my first day.

I certainly didn't scare any of the men that came through the elevator doors to the meeting, but I did seem to irritate many of the women. The ladies were all brilliantly dressed in rich fabrics that barely covered their bodies, and each one looked me over in envy as they handed me their coats. I was careful to only breathe by an open window truncheon so that I wouldn't get too overpowered in this small room. I served drinks without breathing at all, and then, with a simple clearing of someone's throat, the meeting began. I quickly grabbed the pad and pen, and began writing everything that was said by the impeccably dressed men around the table. I began to realize that these men were industry insiders and brokers, and that they were sharing information with each other to manipulate the market for their own benefit. This was very illegal, and the prospect of being drawn into this clandestine world both frightened and excited me. In my mind, I began working out the next move I would make with my own money in response to what they were discussing. At the end, I went to hand back the coats to the very friendly men and very irate women, and then I went to go see Herbert.

"So, Greta says you don't have an ID. Are you twenty or not?" he asked outright.

I look twenty, I seethed. "Yes, I'm twenty. My birthday is March 18th. I don't have an ID because I didn't need one in Nashville." I knew that New Yorkers accepted about anything as normal, so long as it originated from a smaller town. I could have probably told him that I was a vampire, and that everyone was a vampire in my home town, and he would have just shrugged it off.

"Well, you'll need one here. I'm going to send you to a lawyer who will get you everything you need. Do you have a birth certificate, or were you born at home?"

"Home." It could be true.

He sighed. "Of course. Then I'll pay for the certificate, you pay for anything else, deal?"

"Sure, that would be great. Does this mean you want me back?" I asked.

"Oh, I absolutely want you back, only get a nicer dress. If you're with me, you need to be top notch with the clothes. We meet twice a week, more if needed, so keep your nights free. Hey, you even did well on the notes," he said as he smiled approvingly and handed me $100. "This is just the start of the money for you if you stay with me. The sky's the limit, sugar, and you can go as far as you want."

I knew what he was saying, my looks could take me far in this illegal world of his, and I wasn't sure that this was a good idea at all, but I was intrigued with the possibilities. With my visions, which were becoming stronger every day, and the information from these meetings, I could become wealthy enough to live however I wanted. This was going to be a good collaboration.