I sat in The Last Round, doing some paper work for the bar upstairs, when a trembling young girl came walking up the steps. I put my pen down and looked over at her.
"What can I do for you, sweetie?" I asked.
"I-I'm he-here t-to see M-Mr. Nines," she stuttered.
"You okay, dear?" I asked.
"I-I don't know," she whispered, but I still heard it.
"Come sit down," I said, pushing a chair out with my foot. "I'll get him." I walked into the men's bathroom and pushed open the window that over looked the back ally.
"Baby," I called, looking down to see Nines legs sticking out from underneath his Jeep.
"Yeah?" came the reply, then a grunt and a swear.
"You have a guest," I called. "And would you stop messing with that thing before you break it? Let Damsel look at it." He scooted out from under the car and glared up at me.
"Why does everyone say that?" he asked. "I can fix a car."
"Of course you can, love," I soothed. "But Damsel can take them apart and rebuild them perfectly. You can barely change the transmission." He picked up a towel and wiped the grease off his hands and face, then jumped up, gripping the windowsill and climbing in. He pecked my lips and walked out to the main room where the girl still sat, hands in her lap.
"I'm Nines," he greeted. "What'cha need?"
"I-I….I-I…"
"Jesus, kids, I'm not gonna bite your head off," he said.
"I was told I need to introduce myself when I entered the town," she finally got out. "And, that you could help me."
"What do you need help with, dear?" I asked. She looked at me curiously.
"Oh, I'm the Baron's better half," I said. Nines rolled his eyes but smiled.
"My sire ran away," she said.
"Ran away?" Nines asked. She nodded.
"He explained that he wanted to turn me into a vampire, then after he did, he just left," she said. "I don't know what to do."
"Do you know his name?" Nines asked. She shook her head.
"Did he at least tell you what clan you are?" I asked. Again she shook her head.
"Did the fucker tell ya anything before he split?" Nines questioned. She gave a small smile at this.
"Just that I was now a vampire, but that's about it," she said.
"Okay, here's what I tell all the new blood: One, you get careless, that blood'll make you into a monster - but you rampage 'round here you get put down," Nines said, pulling out a chair and plopping down in it. "Two, don't kill when you feed - no reason to. In this city, there's lots of ways to slake the Beast without leaving a trail of dead. Three, watch your back, always. And lastly, learn how to fight, cuz a speech ain't gonna save your ass when you're starin' down the barrel of a shotgun." The girl stared at him, looking a bit confused.
"Babe," I began, resuming my former seat, "I think she needs a little more detail than that." Nines looked a bit sheepish, realizing he had been a bit vague to the newbie.
"Here's how it was explained to me, kid," I said. "First, no one needs to know you're a vampire, no letting humans seeing you feed, juggling cars or outrunning trains. Just because you can do super human feats, doesn't mean anyone needs to know about it. Keep our secret, a secret and you'll live longer. This is the digital age, and to quote my 'Dad', fuck-ups ain't tolerated."
"You mentioned 'the Beast'," the girl began.
"Yeah, the Beast," Nines said. "Look, I'm not gonna sugar coat it for you. You're a monster now, but you can keep from going absolutely ape shit by holding onto every last shred of humanity you have. Don't kill innocent's, not when you feed and certainly not for sport."
"What if I do?" she asked, her voice wavering.
"It'll cost you a piece of your humanity," I told her, "Loose to much of your humanity and the Beast, will take over."
"What then?" she asked with baited breath.
"Then you have a desperate, scared and reckless creature wearin' your skin, killing to survive, drainin' people dry and exposing us to kine," Nines said. "Which gets ya put down."
"How do I keep that from happening?" she questioned.
"You keep in touch with your humanity and you feed regularly," I said, tossing her a blood bag. "Don't kill what you eat, though." She eyed me for a moment, then asked;
"You said something about your 'dad', did you mean your sire or…" she trailed off. I smirked.
"Vampires aren't born, sugar," I said. "We're made. But my sire's dead. Dad's just the guy who took me under his wing and taught me about being a vampire. Calling him 'dad' is a running joke."
"Oh," she said. "Is…is there anything else I should know?"
"Don't mess with the Sabbat, werewolves don't play nice and if someone tells you a ghost can't hurt you their full of shit," I said. She looked at me wide-eyed.
"Ghosts? Werewolves?" she stuttered. "Their real?"
"As real as you and I," I replied.
"What's the Sabbat?" she asked.
"Bunch o' shovelhead vampires who embrace their Beast and don't live very long," Nines replied. We all sat in silence for a moment.
"I-if I have more questions…?" she began.
"Feel free to come by and ask," Nines said. "The more you know, the easier you keep our secret and the less likely you are to wind up dust." The girl smiled and stood, walking out the door. I turned back to my paper work, picking up my pen.
"What'cha doin'?" Nines asked.
"The paper work for the bar," I said.
"We have paper work?" he asked. I rolled my eyes.
"How have you not been shut down?" I questioned. "There's the liquor license, the taxes, the paychecks…"
"Oh, Damsel usually takes care of that stuff," he said.
"You can't unload everything on Damsel," I said.
"I've got better things to do than paper work," he snorted.
"I know," I replied. "Which is why I'm doing it."
"I have better things we could be doing," he said, leaning over and wrapping his arm around my waist.
"Nines," I chastised. "This needs to get done."
"It can wait," he said, trailing his lips along my neck and running his fingers over my stomach.
"And your libido can't?" I teased. He nipped my neck and slid his hand under my shirt.
"No," he said.
"Nines," I sighed, half in exasperation, feeling his hand slip under my bra and cup my breast.