Vampire University
Chapter 7
Alexis watched Kate walk out of her bedroom, look around, and then turn around and go back into her bedroom. She simply shrugged and went back to looking at pictures of the boat again. The main problem she was seeing was storage. It might be good for one person but now it was going to have two people.
Alexis really didn't mind sharing a bed with her. That shouldn't be a problem. She hadn't shared a bed with anyone so far but didn't think it would be an issue. She liked Kate a lot. They were perhaps teasing each other a little too much but it was all in good fun.
Alexis more felt Kate than saw her and turned her head to find her right behind her. "Are you okay?" Looking at her revealed that she was maybe a little white and it had her putting her laptop on the table and standing up. "Kate?" At least Kate looked at her. "When was the last time you had blood?"
Kate began to answer her and then didn't. She watched Alexis walk away and go to the refrigerator and open it. "No blood bag. When did you use up the last of it?"
Except Kate was just standing there and not answering her. "Oh, crap" She had been afraid of this day. She could go out and get something to eat. Kate couldn't just go down the street and order some blood to go.
Alexis walked up to her, unbuttoned her shirt and pulled it off her shoulder, and then pulled down her bra strap. "All right, bite me."
"What?" Kate had heard her but it didn't really register.
"I said bite me and drink. You need blood and I have lots of it, so bite me. Just make it fast. …KATE!" Alexis yelled at her. And saw her bend down and expose her fangs but she hesitated and then bit her on the shoulder.
Alexis felt the pain of the bite and let her drink. Alexis didn't really pay any attention to how long she drank or even knew just how much any vampire drank when they bit someone but suddenly Kate was done and licked her mouth clean.
"Are you better now?" Alexis asked.
"Yes, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to… I screwed up." Kate was blaming it on her not having access to a human in the basement. Then Kate looked at Alexis's shoulder and saw the puncture marks. "I'm really sorry." Kate felt like shit. Yes, she felt better physically but she felt terrible about having to bite Alexis to get the blood she needed.
"Just so long as you're better, that's all that matters. But we do really need to solve this problem and it's my mistake for putting this off for far too long." Alexis put her bra strap back on her shoulder and buttoned up her shirt.
Alexis went back to the laptop since it was really all she had. "Dad told me something once. Let's see if I can remember the name he used. Red something, I think." Alexis moved to Google and started a search and finally got the words Red Cross.
"That's it, they do blood drives. Let's see what they have to say about this. It says a donor has to answer a number of questions before they can donate. I wonder if they still have to test the blood? After all, a person might lie.
"The map shows there are two of these locations and something called Community Blood Center South Florida. Neither of us are medical but maybe they'll accept volunteers to help them behind the scenes and not actually collect the blood.
"Are you dressed?" Alexis looked at her again. "Good, let me write this down and let's go talk to them." Alexis picked up a pen and paper. "Grab your helmet, let's see if we can solve this problem once and for all."
\0/ V-V \0/
"Castle, you're generally not here during this shift." He was questioned by someone but it wasn't Ryan, the person he was here to watch.
"It's close enough to the review period. I don't want you people thinking things can be predictable," Rick told him.
He agreed easily. "No, sir."
The problem Rick had was that the Security Tower was 6 floors tall and his boy could be on any one of them. He also didn't want to single him out so he was forced to search each and every floor till he spotted him because of the picture Lanie had shown him.
"Can we help you, sir?" his boy, Ryan, questioned him.
Rick told him basically the same thing. "No, I'm just watching. It's almost review time for each member of this team. It takes a little while to finish so I'm getting a head start. I don't want you guys getting complacent."
"No, sir." Ryan left him and went back to work.
\0/ V-V \0/
Lanie was downstairs and looking for Davidson till she found him. Except he wasn't assisting a human. He was monitoring one of the humans while she was being bitten. Since he was here that allowed her to search his normal area and she had one of her little toys.
Lanie left before he brought the human back, sat her down, and secured her in place. He selected another human and took him back out for the next person.
The system looked normal to her. It was meant to keep the human from running for it or trying to prove to be a problem. Except her device beeped at her. That had her searching her till she zeroed in on it. Except she didn't see anything but her device said there was something here.
That had her going to all the spare restraint systems and her device found something on all of them. She put it away, pulled out a testing swab and ran it across the inside of the restraint, and then sealed it back up again. That was followed by doing it again on one more prior to leaving this area before someone spotted her.
\0/ V-V \0/
Rick had Lanie back off campus grounds and this time they had a metal detector so that the driver would have something to say if or when he was questioned.
"Ryan is adequate at his job, which admittedly does not meet my high standards. But I didn't spot him doing anything he shouldn't. Did you find anything?" Rick asked her as they swept the ground listening for it to beep at them.
"Maybe. Davidson's job is to tend to the humans but I watched him support a Royal drinking. Not all that unusual but it's not part of his job description. He helped direct them to biting her at the wrist. Again not unusual as far as I know.
"The restraints they use to secure the human after feeding are wrist restraints. That's where I found something. All of the spares had something on the inside of the restraints," Lanie explained.
"Interesting. A sedative perhaps?" Castle queried.
"Possibly but why apply it to the human in that manner? Why not just put a patch on the arm or simply inject it. The human won't be bitten for at least another 24 hours so the drug will have cleared by then. So I took samples." Lanie took out her sealed test stick and handed it to him. "I have two more if that one comes back negative."
"Prepare the human with a drug that's on the skin and then direct that she be bitten in that spot. Nice work, Lanie. I'll get this tested. Try and get Davidson's work schedule and match that up for when he actually shows up for work. Let's see if he's putting in some overtime."
Lanie nodded. "Got it. Any guesses what it is?"
"Absorption onto the skin suggests that it's weak and doesn't affect humans, so multiple applications may be needed. I'll look into his records to see how long he's been here and assigned to his position. The Queen may have sponsored him but who gave him his job?
"We're going to be out here for a while and finding a lot of junk." Just as he said that his metal detector beeped and Lanie started digging to keep their cover.
\0/ V-V \0/
Kate and Alexis were back home. "Well, that was amazingly easy. We volunteer our time twice a week for one week each month. Should be enough to siphon off what you need." Alexis dropped the bike keys on the island and looked at Kate. "Are you okay?"
Kate tried to explain. "I'm fine. It's just… There was blood everywhere and I could smell it. I know you don't understand but it's alluring to see and smell so much of it exposed like that."
"Maybe I should be the only volunteer," Alexis suggested.
"NO! I mean I can handle it. It's just we don't start for a week and I'm still out of blood." Kate knew what she was asking and she hated it.
"Basically every two days, right?" Alexis saw her nod.
"So you bite me every two days and try and line up that first day with biting me that morning so you feel fine." Alexis watched her open her mouth. "Save it, it's my job. Just promise to not suck me dry."
"I would never do such a thing! You're all I have here and you're my daughter. Adopted daughter," Kate amended but wished she wasn't just adopted. But her life hadn't gone that way.
"Our phone is blinking at us again." Alexis walked over to it and listened to their new message.
"That was Patrick again," Alexis said. "He says the boat inspection is scheduled for tomorrow at 1:00. He thinks we should be there so we can ask him questions and watch him do it."
"We have time. He finds something bad and it's back to square one," Kate stated.
"No negative waves, Mother. Think positive thoughts. The boat will be perfect. The boat will be perfect."
"Drink your Gatorade and eat something. If I'm going to be biting you for the next week you need to keep your strength up," Kate countered.
"Yes, Mother." Alexis watched her scowl at her and laughed. But she did get some bread and made herself a sandwich. She got out a bottle of Gatorade and did as she was told.
"You have another swimming lesson tomorrow," Alexis reminded her.
"Lucky me," Kate grumbled. But she was at least getting better.
\0/ V-V \0/
They both walked the boat with the inspector since they had asked for it so they got to pay for it. He even showed up wearing a wet suit.
Now he walked the boat first and even checked every rope he found and helped them to raise each sail and was careful to keep it from catching any wind. Since there was basically none today it wasn't all that difficult.
The boat, they learned from him, was a year old and the reading on the little diesel motor showed that save for actually starting it a couple of times it was as if the present owner had bought it and never moved it.
He eventually came up out of the water. "You'll want to have the two hulls scrubbed clean in a couple of years but other than that you have just about a band new boat. Vacuum the carpet, keep it clean, and it should last for years."
"Clean?" Kate asked him since she feared he meant more than just the inside.
"See what that guy down there is doing?" He pointed to a guy who had a hose and was getting the outside wet and using a push broom to scrub it. "You get to do that everywhere roughly once a month. Based on what I've seen I don't think the present owner's been keeping up with it. It helps prevent leaks and bird poop isn't good for any surface."
That was one thing both of them had noticed. Seagulls, at least that was the name they were told, were damn near everywhere and when they had something to say you heard them.
Kate asked him another question. "Do we have a hose and brush?"
"Far forward, can't miss 'em. One of you can wet the boat and the other can brush. Make sure to wash everywhere that's outside. Top first then down each side all the way to the waterline. Any other questions?" he asked. If not he was done and would send them his report complete with pictures.
"Power, I saw solar panels," Alexis said.
"You do and that's a good thing. Presently you're connected to the 220 service. If you need to you can use the 110 service. Your solar panels will compensate. Now those panels are like having the 110 service all on their own. It means you can sail out and park somewhere – say a nice shallow sandbar – and do some swimming or even some fishing and stay there for as long as your fresh water and holding tank will allow. You'll have power without a generator running the entire time."
"Waste tank?" Alexis kept hearing that word.
"Toilet, shower, kitchen sink. You have gauges next to the radio to tell you how full each tank is. Since you're connected to the water supply your tank will always be full. The hose to empty the tank is located under there." He pointed at it. "Just connect that hose here." He took them to it. "Connect the other end to the pump and pay to empty it. How much they pump out is typically how much you'll pay. This cover here is your diesel tank." He showed it to them.
"You two haven't done much sailing before, have you?" He was getting the feeling these two knew next to nothing.
"Not much," Alexis admitted.
"I thought as much." They both watched him search his bag. "Always come prepared is my motto. Here, call this guy. He'll teach you two all you need to know on how to sail and work a sailboat like this one. I'll warn you he doesn't come cheap and I hear he's a bit of a ladies man. So call him or not."
They were left standing there at the boat and watching him leave just like he had arrived.
"Ladies man?" Kate looked at Alexis.
"Got me. I grew up at the University just like you did. Maybe the laptop can tell us something. I'm starting to notice that these people use strange words for nearly everything.
"We need to stop at the marina office and learn what we can. He kept it here so maybe we should too," Alexis suggested and they both headed for the office to learn what they could.
\0/ V-V \0/
Galleon Marina Key West
They found out that they would have access to a pool, private beach, sauna, and exercise room. It was breakwater shielded. There was a patio lounge with tiki bar. Dock master 24 hours a day. 30Amp and 50Amp connections. They were 30 presently. Cable TV connections. Twenty-four hour security, laundromat. Bicycle, moped, and jet ski rental. Free WiFi service.
It was $90 a month, electric was metered and you got a bill for your amount, pump out was $10 instead of how much was pumped out. It cost extra if your month coincided with a special event. In that case you would be charged at $6 per foot for that period of time and then go back to your normal monthly rate.
They were right next to Galleon Resort which was a hotel. They were in historic Old Town. Walking distance from art galleries, shopping, and restaurants. Something about Duval street. Not that they knew what that was.
"We can afford it," Kate pointed out as they walked to the motorcycle and back to their hotel room.
Their slip location was a bit of a walk. Go straight for a while, turn right, turn left, turn right and walk all the way to the very end. They had a dock on one side and water on the other. Meaning the boats closer to the hotel had to go right past them each time.
Parking was at the hotel and since they had a motorcycle and not a car they really didn't need a spot. There was a place to park motorcycles that didn't allow car parking.
"Works for me." Alexis put on her helmet and mounted the bike, inserted the key and turned it, and pressed START. Kicked up the kickstand and slowly took off till she hit a street and then began really riding.
They were both getting used to riding a motorcycle pretty well.
\0/ V-V \0/
"Ladies man." Alexis had the laptop and used Google to find out just what he had meant. "He likes women, especially in his bed." Alexis looked at Kate.
"I'll bite him and drain him dry," Kate informed her. There was only one man she wanted in her bed and he was in Virginia. And she was trapped in Florida.
"Easy there, Mom. Oh look, we have a message." Alexis went to look at it. "It's from Dad!" She knew he would come through.
"Glad to hear you're both safe. Keep it that way. Things have gotten bad here. We have four spies, not just one. Two are in security, one helps with the humans, and one's a professor.
"Found the one with humans is coating their restraints with something. No word yet on what it is. My fear is that it's addictive.
"I have Lanie helping me. She's really something else. One minute she likes me and the next she doesn't but she's good.
"Now for the bad news. I hope you're sitting down for this, I'll wait.
"Ready? The Queen is somehow involved in all of this. She sponsored all four of them from outside."
Alexis yelled at the screen. "YOU HAVE TO BE SHITTING ME!"
"She wouldn't! I get killed and it's a stain on the University that will never go away," Kate added.
"Both of you need to stay right where you are. What I don't get is how the Dragomis are involved in this. If I can find a way I will send you more money but don't count on it so be frugal.
"And Kate, I really wish you had told me, I really do. Maybe we could've found a way. Get Alexis to kiss you for me. Just not on the lips, Pumpkin. Those lips are mine. There's a sex shop in Richmond for those straps :)
"Stay safe."
Alexis heard sniffling and turned to see Kate crying so she kissed her cheek like her dad had asked. "Told you Dad had a crush on you."
"And I'm trapped in Florida." Kate wiped away her tears. "I should've told him, I really should have."