Chapter Two: A New Home and a New Hunting Ground

"So… You've told us a bit about our new home. But is it in Boston or outside the city?" Stella asked interestedly. Lincoln smiled.

"Well, it's a little ways outside of Boston. Not quite in the city. But close enough that you could probably walk there if you could find a road that wasn't a highway." Lincoln said. As far as he knew, there weren't any. But it would make it easy to get into Boston when he needed to feed.

"And we'll be able to go to Salem?" Lucy asked excitedly. Well, excitedly for her.

"Of course." Lincoln said. They had a long trip ahead of them. Lincoln's car was able to break 500 miles an hour. That would get them to Boston in a few hours if they went at full speed the whole time, assuming that they didn't get pulled over. And the car had radar jamming properties. The driver could speed and as long as they didn't go overboard, they could likely get away with it.

But Lincoln didn't want to risk his loved ones' lives. He was driving about twenty miles over the speed limit on the highway and thus far, they hadn't been pulled over. They were breezing along the highway. They'd been on the road for about two hours so far.

"That's pretty cool. So we'll get to not be in the city, but also have all the benefits of the city." Jordan said. Lincoln nodded. The thing was that he wasn't able to find an apartment or brownstone that would suit all of them, especially when they started building a family.

So he found a property outside the city where he supplied the builders with a blueprint that he developed with Lisa's assistance for the house. It had two stories and plenty of rooms. Lincoln didn't really want as many kids as his parents had had. But with three partners, it was likely he would have his fair share of kids. Still, he would talk to each of his girlfriends and get a sense of how many children if any they wanted to have. His mind was sort of wandering at the moment. It wasn't hard when all that he was really seeing was lines coming at him

They pulled over into a rest stop. He didn't need to eat, but the girls all did. He wished that Lisa could have figured out a way to send them to Boston instantaneously. However, she'd said quite clearly that while she could easily send Lincoln, Jordan, Lucy and Stella to Boston with teleportation, it would require a massive expenditure of energy. Theoretically, Lisa's newest model of LoudTech cell phone could send all of them to Boston. However, even that phone couldn't send an entire moving truck of stuff along with all of them. There were mass issues involved.

The sheer mass of the entire truck, filled with all their stuff was simply too much. The truck continued on its way to Boston while Lincoln drove into the rest stop.
"Anyone need to use the bathroom? Get some food? Drink?" Lincoln asked. Everyone except him did. They went into the building. The girls all went to the bathroom and took care of business while Lincoln ordered their food and drink for them. They'd given him a list of what they wanted. Lincoln was definitely going to miss Royal Woods. There were some colorful characters in Royal Woods.

And he would miss his family. He may not have been close to them ever since his parents found out about him being in a sexual relationship with his own sister. Not that he could blame them. On the one hand, Lisa was working hard on methods to prevent any birth defects in children they might have. On the other hand, it was possible that becoming a Vampire had changed his DNA and that now it would not be an issue. But Lisa was still working hard on the issue, since she wanted to prove that even DNA couldn't best her. He admired her ambition and her confidence.

He ordered the meals and went over to a table, sitting down, waiting for the girls to come over. It took about five more minutes, but they came over and sat down with him.

"Thanks, Linc." Jordan said, sitting down next to him, kissing him on the lips.

"Damn, I'm still not quite used to how much your body temperature has decreased." Jordan chuckled. Lincoln sighed. He wasn't quite used to it yet either. It meant he needed more blankets when it dipped below 60. But he was quickly adapting, and after almost four years, he was doing well.

The girls ate their meals and they went back out to the car. Lincoln got back on the highway, driving towards Boston again.

"So, what's the first thing you ladies want to do once we make it to our new home?" Lincoln asked.
"Check out Boston." Jordan said.
"Relax and unwind from a long trip."

"Go straight to Salem and check out the night life there." Lucy said.

"We can do all those things. It may take time to do all those things. But we have most of Summer Vacation left." Lincoln said.
"I want to go Trick or Treating in Salem." Lucy said.

"We can do that too." Lincoln said.

"It'll be nice to live so close to you guys, even when I'm back in college." Stella said.

"Yeah. Me too. I mean, not super close. Like three hours away, but still." Jordan said.

"Yeah. I'll be happy to be able to see you guys more often." Lincoln said.

"And I'll be happy to hopefully bear your children soon." Lucy breathed, smirking at Lincoln. Lincoln coughed loudly, surprised by Lucy's bold statement.

"I-I'd like that too. But we have to make sure Lisa is ready with her treatments so that you give birth to healthy babies." Lincoln said.

"Sigh. You're right. We'll have to call her when we get there." Lucy said.

Lincoln nodded, smiling in the mirror at Lucy. Unlike in Vampire folklore, Vampires showed up just fine in mirrors in real life. Or at least the kind of Vampire Lincoln was showed up just fine. There were supposedly other strains of Vampire in the world, though they were less well documented or rarer than the kind he was.

"I'd like to have kids too." Jordan said.

"But maybe not yet." Stella added. They'd been talking to each other about it.

"Maybe not yet." Lincoln chuckled. They were both still in school, Jordan for another semester and Stella for a few more years because of her intention of getting a Ph.D. in at least one of her fields. Lincoln was happy that they were working hard to get the best education that they could. He missed them while they were away at college. But he was proud that they were still focused on their educations.

"I'm still wondering if I should go for a Ph.D. as well." Jordan said idly.

"You can if you want to. I would certainly be happy for you." Lincoln said.

"I'm not sure I want to though. Admittedly, I'd have more job opportunities as a teacher with a Ph.D. But that's as much as six extra years of school, and that's if I go at an average rate. I took a bit longer than I expected to finish my Master's Degree." Jordan said. She was twenty-six now and she still had one more semester in school. Theoretically, she could have finished a while ago. But she started taking fewer classes each semester and ended up being a part time student to focus on her athletics a bit more. That wasn't the best choice for her, at least in her own mind.

But she was doing great with both and now she was poised to finish with high marks in everything. Now, she could choose to go for between 3-6 years more to get a Ph.D. But she could also decide to start working as a History teacher or professor with just the Master's degree. Of course, in a lot of colleges, they required that full-time professors had Ph.D.s. So if Jordan wanted to work in aa college, she may well have to go back to school to get said Ph.D. She thought about it. Stella could tell Jordan was eager to continue her education, to prove that she could do it.

Jordan had always been very competitive in a lot of ways.

"GJ. If you want to go for a Ph.D., I totally support you. The whole family does. If you need money to do it, I can easily pay for it." Lincoln said. Even if he wasn't doing well with his new comics that he was putting out, he still had the proceeds from his Full House Gang comics, the proceeds from costumes of the Gang being sold, from posters and toys and stickers and sunglasses and Frisbees and other merchandise. The list of things that bore the Full House Gang insignia was nearly endless.

And Lincoln got a full 25% of the profits from it. It had once been only 15%. But his lawyer negotiated and they got it all the way up to 25%.

-0-

The day dragged on and turned into evening. They decided not to stop and they talked to the truck drivers, who agreed that it was best if they just got there. So though they were exhausted by the time they reached Massachusetts, they took short breaks to clear their heads and continued on the road. Once they reached Massachusetts though, they knew that they were getting close and perked up a bit. Before long, they saw signs that said that Boston was coming up soon. They didn't take any more rest stops once the signs said that Boston was less than 60 miles away.

They continued driving. Lincoln realized that he was speeding a bit faster than he had been before, going about 25-30 miles over the speed limit. But to this point, no officer had pulled them over and Lincoln was admittedly getting a bit overconfident and in his fatigue from driving all day, he wasn't fully thinking straight. So when he saw lights flashing in his rear view mirror, they all groaned. Just another distraction, another thing that was going to delay them.

"Evening, everyone. Do you know how fast you were going?" The officer asked politely.

Lincoln looked at the memory on his dashboard. He was tired and if he hadn't been, he would have remembered that the car scrambled radar, so the officer probably didn't know either.

"Oh, jeez. Was I really going that fast? I'm so sorry, Officer." Lincoln said politely.

"Well, can I see your license and registration, please?" The officer asked. Lincoln reached over Lucy and went into the glove box, looking around for a minute before pulling out his papers.

"Here you go." Lincoln said. The officer nodded and went back to his car.

For about ten minutes, they just waited… And waited. It felt like longer because they were so tired.

"I see that you've never had a ticket before. And you've been driving for quite a few years. That's a good thing. Why the rush now?" The officer asked. Lincoln sighed.

"Normally I don't speed. But you see, we're moving to Boston all the way from Royal Woods, Michigan, and we've been driving all day. We're all tired and… That's not an excuse. But I just lost track of how fast I was going." Lincoln said.

"I see. Well, I'd normally write you a ticket. I could tell you were going significantly over the speed limit. But it's the darndest thing. My radar seems to be fritzing right now. Won't give me a proper, or even a consistent read out. I'm gonna have to let you go. But you all be careful and abide by the speed limits from now on, you hear?" The officer asked. He seemed like a friendly sort of person and he had a light Southern accent. He seemed confused that his radar wasn't working properly, and in fact, it had been working perfectly all day up to this point where he saw Lincoln's car whiz by.

"Of course, Sir. Have a good evening." Lincoln said politely. The officer tipped his hat and got back in his own car. Lincoln drove off, sighing in relief. It had been frustrating to get delayed like this. But ultimately, it was his own fault for speeding like that. He made sure to stay within the speed limit from there on.

Finally, they reached the outskirts of the city, and went around the city limits, heading towards the suburban areas around it. There were some beautiful suburbs. Even in the dark, they could tell that the suburbs were well-kept and that they would have good neighbors around them. Lincoln yawned himself. He had to stay up that night though. He definitely needed to go hunting. He wished he could just settle down in his new home or even set up a few places for them to sleep and just crash. But it was nighttime, so he was awake. He could sleep during the day.

He thought about this as he pulled up to the driveway of their new home. It was a modern looking home with a slightly angular appearance. Lucy sighed as they went into the driveway and pulled up next to the trucks that had gotten there already.
"Hello, Sir." The man said. They'd all started driving at around 5 o' Clock that morning. Everyone had been there bright and early to help them finish up the packing and help them get on the road. With the stops, it was almost 7 pm now. Not exactly getting dark, but late evening.

"How many men do you have available?" Lincoln asked.
"We brought in a crew from Boston as well to get everything settled." The leader said. Lincoln nodded.
"Thank you, for being willing to work so late." Lincoln said. They would definitely all be getting big tips for this. More trucks pulled into the driveway and began unloading the truck. They wanted to get this done as soon as possible so they could get home too. They worked at Lincoln's and his girlfriends' directions, putting the major furniture in the right places while Lincoln and his girls worked as well.

They carried smaller things and personal things into the house and between them, they got everything inside within two hours. They worked fast and at the end, Lincoln gave each of the men 100 dollars as thanks for their work. He didn't know if that was more or less than they usually got in tips, but they thanked him and headed out. Now all that was left was, over the next few days or possibly weeks, getting their own stuff unpacked and settled in. They had personal things to do as well, but for now, they just went up to their beds and collapsed, falling asleep.

-0-

"I have to go to Boston for a little while. No, no…" Lincoln said when he saw Jordan and Lucy about to offer to go with him.
"I just need to get some food if you take my meaning." Lincoln said. They sighed, nodding.

"I'll be back before dawn." Lincoln said. It was about 10 pm at the moment. They'd taken some time to relax and he had to feed now. He drove into Boston, parking in a parking lot and looking around, trying to get his bearings in the new city. He checked his address on his Map Quest first.

That was necessary so he didn't get lost. In his experience, many parking garages looked pretty much the same. He just hoped he wasn't poaching on some other Vampire's territory. It was drama that he just didn't need at the moment. He was cranky and tired and he just didn't need to be dealing with a Vampire who felt that he was imposing on their part of the city. He searched around. Boston's crime rate had gone down in recent years since legislation had gone through in Massachusetts to create a sustainable minimum wage and better treatment of the mentally ill and other laws that protected people.

Crime was at a relative low. But there were still individuals who were just plain bad to the bone, and if they were out there, Lincoln would find them. He searched for over an hour, finding that the streets were pretty calm, even with a lot of people walking them still, even after dark. As the night went on though, people started to head inside and Lincoln found himself alone. He sighed and looked around, realizing that he may just have to choose a homeless person, of which there were fewer now in Boston as well, and go to town on them. Finally, he found a way to not have to choose.

Some young adults were beating up on a clearly mentally ill homeless man. He was screaming, both in pain and about demons and monsters as the young men kicked and beat him. Lincoln stalked into the alley and slammed one of the men against the wall, snarling as he bit down on the man's neck, draining him to the point of severe weakness, but not death. He then went for the second one, who had been frozen in shock and terror at the sight of his friend being fed on and fed on him too. Once he was done, he looked at the third, who was cowering behind a trash can.

"Stand up." Lincoln commanded, his voice strong and domineering. The young man whimpered, shaking his head.

"I said stand up!" Lincoln snapped. The man slowly, shakily stood and Lincoln glared in his eyes, his own eyes glowing and flashing, wiping the young man's memories of the last hour and a half. He did this to the other two as well and then left while they were stunned from the sudden loss of memory.

As he was walking back to the garage, a man and two women stepped out in front of him.
"Would you please join us for a walk? Don't worry, we're not here to fight. We just want to talk." One of the women said.

"We noticed you attacking those men. I don't think I've seen you in this city before. I pride myself on knowing the majority of Vampires in this city." The woman said.

"Are you a Vampire too?" Lincoln asked. The woman laughed.

"No, no, no. No such thing… I'm… I'm actually not quite sure what I am. My mistress never saw fit to tell me. She'll tell me when I need to know, though. I'm sure of it." She said.
"What is your name?" Lincoln asked. The woman shrugged.

"Anita. I've been in this city longer than most of the Vampires. I think I came here in the late 1600s? Yeah, the late 1680s. I'm not sure exactly what year anymore. I guess it doesn't really matter. After so many years, five years here or there doesn't make much of a difference." She said.

"And who are these people?" Lincoln asked.

"Just some people I met tonight. I'm bringing them back to my place for a party." She said, winking at Lincoln. Lincoln knew that it was likely she was a Culled and was bringing them back for her master to feed on.

"Actually, I'm sure my mistress would love to meet you as well. You're not in trouble. She's pretty much in charge of this part of the city, but she's not too territorial." Anita said.

"I can't join you tonight. I have to get home. I just moved here from halfway across the country. I'm full now, but I still am tired and would rather rest than hang out at a blood party or whatever you want to call it." Lincoln said. Anita shrugged.
"Suit yourself. Here's my mistress's card. You can come to call on her if you like in the future. If she doesn't want you, don't be offended. She's a bit fickle sometimes." Anita said, bringing her 'friends' away with her.

Lincoln shrugged and put in the address of the parking garage and headed back to his car, sighing in relief as he got in without having to deal with anyone else. He drove back to his home, got in the shower and cleaned himself up before plopping down on his bed in the basement, falling asleep.