Club Vampyr

Chapter 9


Who is this irresistible creature who has an insatiable love for the dead?


Kerry awoke the next morning feeling far more rested than she had felt for what seemed like a long time. There must be something about vampire-induced comas which allowed the body and mind to enjoy the benefits of sleep, she mused. The first thing she did was smile, because Michel was back, saving her life and all. She deliberately recalled the feeling of his solid form against her, and even though her actions were humiliating, she still relished the fact he hadn't pushed her away. Michel may not have gone all mushy-romantic on her and whispered how glad he was she was alive, or promised to always take care of her, but she still knew that he cared a little bit – even if it wasn't as much as she wished it could be. His returned presence filled her heart with glee, despite the fact he was nowhere to be seen in the morning light.

He was back. She knew she'd be breaking into a goofy grin at seemingly random points in the day. Back and saving her life. There was something more there that she knew she should focus on, think about, and realize that she was ignoring an entire point of his reasoning, but she couldn't bring herself to care over the euphoria. He was in her life, and though she had grabbed on to him as if he had never left, she wasn't naïve enough to think they didn't have a far way to go before they were… something. Nothing could ruin her mood and good cheer.

Except for, perhaps, the conversation she had overheard as she drifted off to sleep. The idea that Michel could be the boss counteracted with her happiness, and she walked out of her bedroom looking as somber as ever. She needed to pee, but at the moment she couldn't bring herself to face the bathroom. What had Tim said about Michel being the boss? Was that true? Did he just mean that her vampire, not-quite boyfriend was this assassin and information retriever sent to find out what secrets she was still keeping? Or did it mean that Michel was just higher on whatever vampire hierarchy there was. Kerry glanced down the hallway, noting the absence of a body or blood in her hallway. That was a good thing. The memory of Regina's burned body on the scorched mattress made her wish she didn't know whether dead vampire flesh burned on contact with the sun or not, but this was one of those times she had more knowledge than a normal teenage girl should. Someone had taken care of the body, just like the voices in her dream had promised, which was good because she wasn't too particular to the idea of losing her safety deposit because of spontaneous combustion.

She walked into her kitchen, jerking open the stubborn fridge door in search for something to drink. She could have sworn she made orange juice yesterday, but if she had, it was not in the refrigerator. She shut the door with more force than necessary and stumbled into the living room.

"Morning," Nathaniel muttered, looking far less rested than she was. Ha, Kerry thought somewhat vindictively, his dad hadn't influenced him into having a good night sleep. Nathaniel raised a tall glass of orange juice to his lips and finished it off with a long gulp. A trail of it dribbled off his chin and splotched on a white Tommy Hilfiger shirt. He tended to wear his brand-named clothes around the house during his anti-consumerism phases so no one in the outside world could call him a hypocrite.

"OJ stealer," Kerry muttered, walking closer to the front window so she could survey the day and watch the people below for a moment. As she neared the unblocked windows, the sun warmed her body, particularly one spot on the hem of her tank top. The cloth sizzled, not quite bursting into flames, but smoking and smelling like a string being deliberately burned by a lighter. "Balls!" Kerry yelled, jumping out of the direct line of sun. Immediately she put a hand over her mouth for that particular curse and turned, wide-eyed, to see if there was any possible way Nathaniel had missed it.

He was smirking at her. Guess he hadn't.

Kerry glared in return, since most of the offensive sayings and curse-words in her vocabulary were thanks to his randomness. She stomped into her bedroom to change and assess the damage to her pajamas. She could remembered that when she and Michel had come out of that closet at sunset, the places where his blood had fallen were burned. She was just lucky there hadn't been more vampire blood on her, or she might have had more problems than she already did – namely third degree burns. Kerry threw on an old worn sweater, not quite ready to face the day with a new set of clothing, and definitely not prepared yet to tackle her bathroom for a shower.

"What are you doing here?" She asked Nathaniel, heading back into the kitchen to grab an apple from the fridge now that she knew she didn't actually have orange juice.

"Waiting for you to wake up," he told her.

"Oh?" She sat across from him at the table. The scene was surprisingly homey. Usually, Nathaniel ate standing up or sitting in one of the chairs in front of the television. It wasn't often she found him being polite enough to use dishes and eat at the dining table. Even if it was her food. "You don't really need to worry about me. I'm fine," she promised.

Nathaniel crossed his arms in front of his chest. "That isn't really what we need to talk about."

"Uh oh," she said. She thought she knew where this was going. It was rather obvious, after her behavior last night, that she had deliberately mislead him into thinking she didn't know a thing about vampires. The bat was pretty much out of the bag now, even though she still didn't want anyone to know about Michel. It was harder to hide his presence when he was an actual, physical person walking around her apartment and saving her life from psycho vampires.

"Yeah, uh oh." He mimicked her, his tone somewhat snide. That wasn't quite what bothered her, however. He seemed to be hiding the fact he was furious behind neutral, clipped words. She couldn't remember ever seeing him like this. "Exactly how long have you been fucking a vampire?"

Kerry's eyes widened in shock, not at his language, but at the fact he perceived more than there had been. "I'm not." She told him the truth, and for the second time in twenty-four hours, it was taken as a lie.

"Don't give me that, Kerry! You were practically hanging all over him." Nathaniel's eyes narrowed as he watched her reaction. Instead of looking nervous or guilty, she stared him right in the eye and dared him to continue thinking she was lying.

"Do you blame me?" She asked, adding a bit of levity into the conversation and hoping it would break through his anger. "He's really hot."

"Kerry," Nathaniel warned. "You've been edging around this conversation for days. Do you realize you almost died last night? Just tell me, are you or are you not in a relationship with that guy last night."

"No." Kerry told him, thankful she didn't have to lie. "We aren't together."

"But you know him?"

Kerry didn't answer his question.

Nathaniel slapped his open hand down on the table. The uneven legs caused it to wobble dangerously, and for a second she thought he might have broken it with the force of his anger. She couldn't blame him, he was entirely justified. She winced as he gave words to his next question. "So you're what? His favourite little snack?"

"No," she denied. She wasn't his anything. Why couldn't Nathaniel just leave it alone.

"Believe me, a vampire wouldn't act the way he did unless he was getting a little something in return." Nathaniel's bitterness and cynicism were out full-force now, and Kerry felt the bite of his insult sharper than the vampire fangs she had almost been bitten with the night before.

"He's not like that," she hissed, not as bothered with his insults on her own character as she was by the unjust ones on Michel. She deserved what Nathaniel said about her. "He never drank from me, or forced me to do something I didn't want. We didn't have sex, and when I begged him not to, he didn't change me. He's far more noble than you give him credit for."

Nathaniel snorted, but Kerry could see him musing over everything she had said. Upon reflection, she had given him far, far more information than she had meant to. He now knew Kerry had once had the option to be a vampire, as well as everything else involved. His eyes cleared, becoming more curious than angry, and full of pity instead of resentment. He never had been able to hold on to anger for long. "It sounds like you hero-worship him."

"I loved him," she whispered, toying with the lace at the edges of the place-mats. For a second after her confessions, she wasn't able to summon the courage to look Nathaniel in the eye. When she finally did, he looked vaguely surprised. "And believe me, he didn't give me many reasons to do so. He lied to me, tricked me, manipulated me, used me, turned me into a felon, threatened my life constantly, played with my feelings, and was mostly one of the most detestable people I've ever met. He was no hero."

"But you love him?" Nathaniel was now leaning forward on the table, as if she was telling him a spellbinding story.

"Despite everything he was – he taught me a lot of what I know today. And I'm not just talking about the vampire stuff. He opened my eyes and helped me really see the world." Kerry finished off, her voice becoming rather wistful. Now that he was back, she wondered how life would progress. One good thing coming out of this conversation with Nathaniel was she was finally able to put words to the emotions and thoughts which had been swirling around in her head for years. This was the first time she had ever talked about it, and now that she started, she could feel the floodgates opening up.

"Past tense?" He asked, that frown playing along his eyebrows again.

"What?"

"You keep referring to him in past tense, as if the relationship is over."

"Because it is." Kerry had a moment of confusion, wondering what he wasn't following along with. "Oh! You still think Michel and I are a current thing. I haven't seen him in almost four years. He's Ethan Bryne." She watched his face as he connected the dots. Nelle had once gotten her to tell Nathaniel the severely edited version of the kidnapping story. Kerry hated repeating it, since none of it was true. The most challenging and nerve-wracking time had been at the police station, as one slip-up or inconsistence might have landed her in jail on murder charges.

"The boy who was kidnapped with you?" Nathaniel asked.

"No," Kerry informed him, starting to tell the true story. "The vampire I had met the night before and helped escape from hunters. You see, it all started with Ian and his stuffed koala Footy…"

After she finished recalling the first night, Nathaniel put a hand up to stop her from continuing. "Hold on. How many nights are there?"

"Three," she answered promptly. After a moment's hesitation, she continued. "Well, kinda four." She thought he was going to tell her he didn't want to hear it anymore. Kerry was somewhat disappointed. After keeping it a secret for all of her later teenage years, she was finally telling someone about everything that happened to her. And not just anyone, someone who would believe everything she had to say about vampires, and probably wouldn't endanger Michel. Well, that last one was iffy, but she'd deal with that possibility later. Now, he was about to say something to put her off from ever finishing it.

"If it's that long of a story, I need food." Nathaniel said instead. Kerry was surprised at how relieved she was.

"You just ate!" Kerry couldn't help but point out. He had finished off a whole thing of orange juice, minus the glass she had yesterday. She was sure that if she checked, half her cereal and the froot roll-ups she kept for an emergency would be gone too.

"I mean real food. Like chips. You don't have anything like that here, since both of you eat like squirrels." They both sat still for a second, thinking about Nelle. It would be unlikely she would ever eat human food again. Finally, Nathaniel stood up. "Let's move the partay over to my place."

Kerry followed him to the door. It was perfectly fine by her. She really needed to pee anyway. Her bathroom would probably be haunted by ghosts, real or not depending on vampires and spirits, for a long, long time.

"You know," Kerry told him, her voice subdued with the gravity of what she had to say. "I found out for sure that Nelle's a vampire yesterday."

Nathaniel looked at her sharply, both relieved and suspicious. He missed fitting the key into the lock on his door twice. Kerry was surprised he even locked it. Most times when he was over at her apartment, he didn't bother burglar-proofing his place. "Your boyfriend tell you that?" He asked, the old resentment echoing through his voice.

"No. The manager chick at Club Vamp did. Before she send someone to kill me."

"Right. Forgot you were forced in yesterday." Nathaniel sounded rather contrite for someone who was about to take her head off again.

"The fact I almost died makes you forget the important things, I guess." Kerry responded, sounding weary of all this vampire business. She knew they were in for a long, long time ahead of them.

Nathaniel went into his kitchen and after running to the bathroom Kerry continued walking into his living room. His apartment was almost a mirror image of her own, according to the blueprints, but in reality the mess made it difficult to tell. She perched herself on his ugly, old, man-couch, as he liked to call it, and hoped there weren't any moldy slices of pizza getting ready to attack. "Tell me more about this Ethan character." He returned and handed her a can of rootbeer and her own bag of chips.

Kerry smiled her thanks, both for the food and his desire to listen. "After the first night, I thought I would never see his cute, middle-age-skank-lovin butt again. Never again must be getting to be shorter and shorter, because the next night after work, my dad wasn't on time to pick me up…" He had heard this part before, as it was the only time she had been able to tell the truth. She continued purging her soul to Nathaniel, far after the clock struck the noon hour and he forced her to make him a sandwich. "… and then I walked home."

"He let you go?" Nathaniel asked, completely entranced by her tale.

"Yes," Kerry replied, the answer tinged with sadness. It was one of those moments in her life, where she thought back and wondered 'what if?' What if her mom had never left? What if she had decided to go to another university instead of this one? What if Nelle had never gotten sick? What if she had taken what Michel offered? It was the big one, and even though she swore she never regretted it, sometimes she secretly did.

"Just like that?" He snapped his fingers to make his point.

"Just like that," she echoed. "I saved his life. He didn't really want to turn me anyway. He was only responding to what he perceived to be my motivations."

Nathaniel shook his head in disbelief. "You might be right."

She might be wrong? She wanted to ask, but she wasn't sure if that's what he was implying. Plus, she didn't think she really wanted to know. Denial was a wonderful thing when it came to her non-relationship with Michel.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I just… needed to protect him. It just seems so stupid to put him in danger through a few careless words after I did so much to save his life."

Nathaniel, on the other side of his gross couch, pondered that for a second. "Surprisingly," he told her. "I understand. I was furious at you for not saying anything the other night when I thought I was guilty for Nelle's… attack. But I think I get it. You know, vampires usually don't need humans to look after them."

"No," Kerry admitted. "He doesn't need me for anything, but I couldn't just betray him like that. I guess I was protecting myself too. I hate feeling inadequate, and this was it was like I was doing something for him."

He nodded. "I'm going to try not to yell at you, hon, but I need you to know that I'm not a hundred percent pleased with you at the moment." Nathaniel told her somberly. Then, a big grin broke out on his face. "So, do vampires have as great sexual prowess as people say?"

Kerry couldn't help but smile back at him. "I dunno. Why don't you ask your mom?"

He grimaced back at her. "Oh, buuuurn. As far as I'm concerned, my parents haven't been together since I was consummated."

"Oh yeah?" Kerry asked, not able to resist a few more digs. "Vampires don't care so much for the visible age difference. Plus, I know for a fact that moms enjoy younger men to make themselves feel more youthful." Ok, that was more painful to herself than funny. Next time, she'd just stick to making fun of his mom instead of bringing hers into the picture. She might not think of the rhymes-with-witch so much anymore, but it was still a sore spot to her entire family.

"Shhhh," Nathaniel said, sensing her discomfort like a surprisingly good friend. He held his finger up to his mouth in a mock gesture. "As far as I'm concerned, my dad is playing sucky-face with single drunk girls."

"You mean like the girl you hooked it up with last week?" Kerry said, getting another zinger in on him. Kerry 2. Nathaniel 0.

"Possibly. Same as your boyfriend is."

"He isn't my boyfriend," Kerry pointed out, willing to give him a point for that one. It wasn't as personal an affront as what she said to him, but it still didn't make her happy to think of all the girls Ethan had used as food and fun over the years. The only thing she could really do was change the subject, before she said something really mean in retribution that she would regret later. "It must be kind of cool having a dad who is a vampire, though."

Nathaniel lost the intense look he got while trying to be witty and match her insults, and thought about that, looking slightly saddened. "Before I was old enough to find out, I only saw him every once and a while. Mostly in the winter, because, you know, the darkness issue. For the first month after he told me what he was, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I went around the house grinning because I had a secret. Then, I told some friends of mine, thinking it would up my cool factor. Luckily, they thought I was making it up, so my dad didn't have to kill me or anything, but that's when I realized it was more of a burden than anything."

"You can talk to me about it now," Kerry said in a quiet, comforting voice. "Nelle, too, but she might have her own problems dealing the change for a while."

"And you don't have problems?" Nathaniel snorted, picking at a loose button on his couch. "Vampires are trying to kill you. The one who is now assigned to extracting information out of you is actually your deepest, darkest secret. And…"

"So Ethan is your dad's boss?" She barely even noticed she had reverted back to calling him by the first name she had learned. She had only called him Michel to his face once and it had been the last word she had ever said to him before last night, but she had gotten used to referring to him that way in her mind. "That assassin guy he was talking about yesterday."

"I dunno about that, but I do know that dad answers to him. Last night after your boyfriend put you to bed, you should have seen my dad answering to orders and 'yessir'ing and 'nosir'ing all over the place." Nathaniel sounded bitter, and Kerry realized that he really was having trouble seeing his father as a man who took orders instead of giving them. She didn't even bother correcting him on the boyfriend thing again.

"Thank him for removing the body for me. I don't think I could have dealt with it in the morning. Especially if it combusted."

"See." Nathaniel told her. "That's the type of information that gets you in trouble. When you asked that Ethan guy to put you to sleep last night was when I knew for sure that you knew about him being a vampire. Before that, I thought you were in a relationship with him and just wasn't aware of what he was." Nathaniel, while his English wasn't always the best, was always bluntly honest with what he wanted to say.

"I guess me slapping you away gave the appearance that we were in one," Kerry agreed. "But how did you know what he was?"

"Fangs." Nathaniel's eyebrows were drawn together in thought. Kerry wasn't sure whether he was trying to remember the exact moment, or if he was struggling with his displeasure with her. "He bared them at me right after you almost fell. Like he blamed me for the incident and was guarding you from a threat."

Kerry remained silent, not knowing what to say.

"Now that I know the story, it's actually pretty hot." Nathaniel continued, not perturbed in the least that she hadn't said anything. He was used to dominating conversations. He grinned at her knowingly.

She looked at him sharply, not able to answer with anything other than sarcasm. "Thanks."

"It's true," he told her, looking innocent. "I thought he was screwing you blind, but now I know he just wants to get in your pants."

"Nathaniel!" Kerry screeched, horrified but slightly pleased by the idea.

"Or maybe it's you who wants to get into his pants." He grinned. "I don't blame you. I bet he's been around long enough to know exactly how to…"

"Do you want me to make you another sandwich?" Kerry asked, desperate to change the topic and stop the blush from creeping along her cheeks. The boy was incorrigible. He just grinned at her, and she realized that if she was still keeping score of the conversation, he had just made a move which won him this round.

"Nah," he told her, and she was actually surprised he was turning down food. "Supper will be in a few and dad is taking me to one of those all-you-can-eat Chinese joints."

Kerry lifted an eyebrow, impressed by the thought of all that food. It didn't take her long before she realized she had spent the entire afternoon talking to her goofy neighbor and it was almost time for the sun to set. "Is it that late?" She asked.

"Why? Do you have a date with your boyfriend?"

Kerry fumed, getting tired of him calling Michel her 'boyfriend' in that gentle-teasing, almost snide tone. She knew what he was doing. If she kept denying it, he'd say something like 'thou doth protestest overtlymuchus' and though she would roll her eyes at his Shakespeare mutilation, he would have backed her into a corner she wouldn't be able to talk her way out of. If she ignored him, like she was tempted, he would tell her she didn't deny it, so it must be true. Sneaky bugger. "I dunno. Maybe I'll never see him again."

"Yeah, about that." Nathaniel looked sheepish, grinning like a little boy who had gotten caught stealing icing from a cake. "You are being brought back into the Club Vamp offices tonight for more questioning. Apparently they're getting the information retrieval assassin guy to hound you. Sorry. I forgot to tell you."

Kerry took a shaky breath, pinching the bridge of her nose with an expression that was more wary than frightened. "The guy your dad says is his boss. So that means it might be Ethan. Probably," she corrected herself. "Probably is Ethan."

Nathaniel only shrugged.

Kerry hoped it was Ethan, because then she wouldn't have to worry about what she said. He would likely think up some flawless cover story, and then the vampires would get their answers and stop trying to do away with her. If it wasn't him, then she didn't know what she would do. She'd be better off dead than trying to outwit someone who tortured other vampires and then killed them for a living. She needed to think about her strategies, and in order to do that she needed to be alone and relaxed. Most of the time, she did her best thinking in the shower, but she was still not going anywhere near her bathroom for the next couple of days if she could help it. "Can I use your shower?" She asked Nathaniel, willing to risk the gross man-scuzz he probably had layered in the tub.

He looked surprised, but then understanding flooded his features just as he was opening his mouth to say something, likely dirty or sarcastic, to her. "Sure."

Kerry nodded her thanks, running over to her own apartment for a towel. She might be willing to risk the tub, but there was no way she was drying herself with one of his questionable towels.

©RelenaFanel.September23.2006

Just because I'm probably lacking in the disclaimer department, the quote above belongs to the song Living Dead Girl by Rob Zombie. Also, Companions of the Night isn't mine, no matter how many of you think I'm secretly VVV herself.