The Marradith Ryder Series Part 38
She was half asleep when she heard the answering machine come on in the next room.
“You’ve reached me, but obviously I am not available,” her voice announced. “ Leave a message.”
The machine beeped. There was a pause. Loaded silence.
And then, a sharp intake of breath. “K.”
She sat up in bed.
“K, come get me,” the man’s voice said. “At the 5th Street exit.”
She didn’t reach the phone before he hung up.
Dressed and out the door in less than ten minutes, she pulled her car into the street and speeded towards downtown. She drove recklessly, never once bothering to slow down as her speed climbed over eighty. Her car cut silently through the downpour. The 5th Street bridge was empty, and she turned right onto the exit.
At the bus stop, she saw figures huddling in the shadows. One lifted a bottle in a paper bag to his lips. His dirty hands trembled. Another laid on a bench, trying vainly to sleep. The smell of their filth assaulted her even in the rain.
The third stood, with his back against the stone wall of the bridge. His arms were crossed, his head leaning forward. He wore a long knit scarf around his neck, tucked into the front of his jacket. She stopped the car and got out.
“Scott,” she whispered. She saw his relief as he looked up at her.
He said nothing, but climbed into the car . The other men watched angrily, as if they could not understand why he was being picked up while they were being left behind.
She turned on the heat, sure that he was cold. Indeed, she saw him shivering. He drowsed in and out of consciousness, leaning his head back against the seat.
He was bleeding and holding his throat. She could smell his blood.
When they reached the house he finally pulled the black knit scarf from around his neck. It was covered in blood and bits of dried skin. His neck was red from the burns, but she could see that it had already begun to heal.
“Who did this?” she demanded.
“Keiko,” he said. “Don’t freak, okay? I’m going to be alright. I need to sleep and stay out of sight for a little while.”
“Was it Leighton?” she persisted.
“Leighton is dead,” he replied flatly.
That news did not surprise her. Syd had called weeks before to let her know that she should come say her goodbyes to her old friend. But she’d heard all the stories, and had no need to see him as the thing that he’d become in the end.
“Well then, who are you hiding from?”
That elicited a laugh from him. He turned to her and blinked wearily. He seemed almost gray, pale and bloodless beneath the brown of his skin.
“I’d rather not. Can we go inside?”
The house was new, and as they crossed the threshold together, Keiko realized that Scott was her first real guest. Getting him upstairs was a challenge. He was a big man and his knees gave way twice in his weakened condition. She held him as he climbed up. Once she had him on the bed, she pulled off his jacket, shoes and shirt. Drawing a knife from her bedside table, she sat down on beside him.
He watched in fascination as she trailed the knife across her palm, and then up her arm, to the elbow. His body went still. He felt hot.
“It’s good that Lamia heal quickly,” she said, tossing her long black hair over one shoulder. “I can’t drink from you, but you can drink from me. To assist with your healing.”
His heart beat faster.
She smiled, and her dark eyes shined. She put her wrist to her lips and when she drew it away, they were stained with her blood.
She laughed, just faintly. When she lowered her face to his, she teased, not touching his lips right away. She made sure that he was close enough to smell it.
He kissed her mouth, and gripped her tight in his arms. When the taste of copper was gone from her lips, he kissed her arm, not missing a drop. Keiko realized how much she had missed him. He was the reason she’d come back to the States . If she had her way, she was going to convince him to stay.
She no longer wanted to eat from the dens , to be part of killing so predictable that it was like going to a market. Keiko loved to hunt. And sometimes, to be hunted.
He moved so the full weight of his body was on her. They’d made love before, and played games with blood. He would never admit to her that he felt fear when they first started. Each time they were together she pushed him just a little further, testing the limits of how far he would go.
It was fear that fascinated him. And the rush.
This is part of who you are, she often told him. You aren’t all Wolf.
He felt himself growing stronger as he took her blood.
Keiko shivered as he bit into her neck.
©2009 Lori Titus
Lori Titus’s The Marradith Ryder Series appears each Wednesday on Flashes in the Dark. She is the short story editor for Sonar4 ezine. Her stories have appeared on MicroHorror, Shadeworks, and The Daily Tourniquet. Her first anthology of horror stories, Tales for the Dark, is scheduled for release in 2010.
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June 16th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
So Scott got some of the vampire side as well, and knows another lamia as well. This could be bad news.