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  Chapter5

  Stealing a car wasn’t nearly as hard as I imagined it to be. George explained his process out loud as he drove around the edges of busy parking lots, and I learned that he’d had something of a troubled youth that involved boosting his share of cars. It seemed like he was talking just to keep me from passing out, and I didn’t mind having something to focus on. Plus, it seemed like Ben was happy to learn a thing or two about the father he’d never had a chance to know.

  “That was before Ben was born,” he said. “I knew I wanted to change my life when I found out I was going to be a father, but some things from my criminal days caught up to me and that’s how I wound up getting turned.”

  “Who turned you?” asked Ben.

  “There was a man called Drake that ran the local gang I used to steal cars for. I was a couple levels under him, so I guess you could say he was my boss’s boss, but he had a hell of a reputation for being completely ruthless. I didn’t know anything about vampires at the time, but the stories we’d hear about him all make a little more sense now that I know about vamps.”

  “So he’s the one who came after you?” I asked.

  “That’s the problem with gangs,” he continued. “It’s not like getting a job at Starbucks and then deciding you don’t want to make coffee after a couple of years. You don’t quit and walk away as easily as all that. I was all set to pack Ben and his mother up to move across the country. I’d made arrangements to stay with some relatives in Oregon, and my uncle was even going to set me up with a legitimate job.”

  George sighed at the memory of what might have been and pulled into a parking spot in a dimly lit corner of a Walmart parking lot. He turned off the engine, undid his seatbelt, and turned around in his seat to face us better.

  “The night before we were set to leave, Drake came knocking on the door to ask me to do a job. I’d never dealt with him before, so I knew it was serious if he was coming to talk to me directly. I tried to lie about not being able to go, but he said he heard I was the best and that he needed me to come out that night, so I did what I had to and I went with him.”

  “Is that why mom told me you ran out on us?” asked Ben.

  “I’m afraid so, son. Drake took me out to the middle of nowhere and turned me into a vampire that night. There was no job that he needed me for. He’d just heard that I was good at boosting cars and that I was planning to leave without saying anything, so he turned me just so he’d own me.”

  “That’s it?” I asked. “He turned you into a vampire just so he wouldn’t lose one of his thieves?”

  “Yup,” said George. “It was another couple of years before the feds caught me and threw me into the Facility. I came to check on you guys when I could,” he said to Ben, “but I wanted to keep you safe so I made sure to never get too close.”

  Ben sat silently, processing everything he’d just heard. “I was so mad at you when I was growing up, but I guess now that I’ve been turned myself, I understand why you did what you did.”

  “If I could have had it any other way, I would have,” said George, the pain of all those lost years clearly evident in his voice.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt,” I said, feeling my head begin to spin, “but I’m not doing so well back here. We need to keep moving.”

  “She’s right,” said Ben. “I’d like to talk more about this later if that’s okay though.”

  “Sure thing, son.”

  George hopped out of the car and used the cover of our van to slip a long thin piece of metal into the doorframe via the car’s window seal. He moved his hand from side to side a few times before jerking upwards and reaching down to open the door.

  “No wonder he keeps getting these ridiculous old cars for us,” said Ben. “There’s no way he’d be able to do that with a newer model.”

  The side door opened, and they were able to transfer me quickly from the van to the back seat of the much smaller hatchback that would be our new ride. There wasn’t nearly as much room in this car, so Ben moved up front to sit next to his father after ensuring that I was safely buckled in and supported to keep from rolling around.

  Sixty seconds after George had popped the lock on the car, it roared to life and we were on our way out of the parking lot.

  “This part of the lot is usually where employees park,” explained George. “Someone’s going to come out of there and report their car stolen sooner or later, but hopefully we’ll be well out of the area by then.”

  Ben sat quietly staring out of the window. I wanted to ask him if something was wrong, but I felt too weak to make the words come out. George seemed to be thinking the same thing, because he asked his son if there was something wrong.

  “This is all just going from one giant mess to another. With Trevor King escaping and killing those people, and then those two cops back at the gas station, and now…” he trailed off and twisted in his seat to look at me.

  “You can’t be expected to be perfect,” said George. “You’ve done a hell of a job getting us out and keeping us safe, and we all need to stay focused on the future.”

  “I never intended for it to be like this,” said Ben. “Innocent people have died, and it’s my fault. I can’t help but think it would have been better if I’d never hatched this plan in the first place.”

  “You saved me from that horrible prison, Ben. I owe you my existence for that. Now that we’re out, you have to think about the good we can do for our kind. Vampires don’t deserve to be locked away, and now we know that whiteblood exists and could be used to allow us to live alongside humans without being a danger to them.”

  “It’s hard to rationalize in the moment though,” said Ben. “When I attacked that cop tonight… I never thought I’d be capable of something like that.”

  “Those cops were far from innocent,” said George. “Everything you’ve done, you’ve done for the right reasons. The powerful side of you that will attack to protect what’s important to you will become easier to deal with over time. Trust me on this.”

  Ben nodded silently, but he still looked upset and conflicted over everything that had happened. I wanted to tell him that it was okay, that I agreed with George about everything he’d said, but I was having a difficult time moving or making sounds. The pain had subsided to a dull numbness, and when I tried to wriggle my toes, I couldn’t feel them at all.

  “Ben,” I croaked, desperate to get his attention. “I can’t feel my legs. I think I’m going into hypovolemic shock.”

  “How much longer till we get there, dad?”

  “Nearly an hour. I’m speeding as much as I dare, but I don’t want to risk getting pulled over for a ticket.”

  “Can you hold on a little longer?” Ben reached back and took my hand, squeezing it tightly. He turned his head and spoke quietly to his dad. “Dammit, her skin is clammy and cold, this isn’t good.”

  “It’s just one more hour. If she can hold out that long, then we can save her for sure.”

  My eyelids fluttered closed and I found I lacked the strength to pry them open again. Ben’s voice sounded far away and like I was hearing it from under a mountain of blankets and pillows.

  “That’s just it,” he said. “We may not have one more hour.”

  Chapter6

  The sound of crickets chirping in a raucous chorus filled my ears when I woke again. The car wasn’t moving, and I got the impression that we were parked off the road somewhere rural and private. Tree branches hung out over the car and I could make out the voices of Ben and George arguing outside.

  “—do it without her permission,” said Ben. “After everything I’ve put her through, after all the lies I had to tell her, I won’t do this to her without asking her first. I just can’t have it on my conscience.”

  “Ben, I understand what you must be feeling right now, but we don’t have the luxury of waiting. She might never wake up again, and then we’ll have lost our chance for good. Can you live with that? Can you accept that you’d rat
her let her die than risk her being upset because you made a choice to save her?”

  “I… I don’t know!” Ben screamed. “This is all out of control and moving way too fast. I don’t know what to do.”

  I saw George loom into view through the window, but he was facing away from me still talking to his son.

  “I’m sorry, Ben. We simply have no other choice. It has to be now.”

  He pulled the car door open and his eyes widened when he saw that I was awake. Ben rushed forward to crouch at the open door, and he reached in to take my hand.

  “Jen? Can you hear me?”

  “Yes,” I mumbled. “Feel weak. Dizzy. What… fighting?”

  “We’re too far away from help and you’ve lost a lot of blood,” Ben explained calmly. “Your bandages aren’t holding, and there’s nothing we can do to keep you alive until we can get you to help.”

  Tears trickled down my cheeks as I processed what they were telling me. My mind was thick, like I was under heavy anesthesia or wildly drunk, but it slowly percolated through my brain that I was going to die.

  “Leave me.” I said. “You two go. Find sanctuary.”

  “That’s not an option for me,” said Ben, squeezing my hand so hard it was borderline painful. “I refuse to leave you here to die while we run off and hide.”

  I shook my head and tried to ask what other option we had, but the words wouldn’t come. Ben must have realized my confusion.

  “There’s a way for us to save you now,” he said, exchanging a glance with his father before continuing. “I can turn you and you’ll survive all of this. You won’t be human anymore, and technically you’ll be undead, but you’ll be able to stay with us instead of dying completely.”

  “I’m sorry, kiddo,” said George. “I wish there was another way, but it really is the best option for all of us.”

  With what little strength remained in me, I reached up and grabbed Ben’s neck, pulling his face to mine. I closed my eyes and kissed his lips for what I knew would be the last time as a human. My lips were cracked and dry, and I was numb from my toes to my shoulders, but it was the sweetest kiss I’d ever had.

  “You have my permission,” I whispered into his ear when our lips parted. “Turn me. Save me.”

  Ben looked at his father who nodded in understanding. “Just like I told you, son. Right in the carotid artery, but don’t take too much. You want to suck until you feel the pull of her life force ebbing from her body, then you can transfer your vampire essence into her.”

  I felt the light brush of Ben’s lips on my neck, and then came the slightest piercing sting that I remembered clearly from our passionate love making. He bit deep into me and I felt the blood draining from my body, all the pain and bad emotions going along with it. My head swam and I hovered right at the edge of death for a moment before I felt something else. It was as though I’d been a bathtub with drain unplugged, but then someone had turned on the faucet. Warm glowing energy rippled through my body, and I felt a wondrous lightness of being percolate through me.

  The feeling went from merely pleasant to full on sensual and arousing. I felt my nipples stiffen against my bra, and there was a moistness between my legs that soaked my panties right through. The feeling of Ben’s vampire essence roared through me like a thousand orgasms, and I shuddered beneath him, my mouth open in a silent cry of ecstasy. It was a sensation I’d only come close to feeling when Ben had fed on my during our love making, and even that was a pale comparison to the sheer eroticism of what was happening to me now.

  I felt every whisker of Ben’s stubble on my cheek, and his skin was like hot flame wherever it touched me. A thousand volts of electricity coursed through my veins, and I wanted to strip off my clothes and fuck and sing and dance all at the same time. I didn’t care that Ben’s father was watching us, all I wanted to do was be naked and feel Ben fill me up completely.

  All of the pain from my wound disappeared completely, and I don’t know how, but I could feel my skin and muscle mending itself. The feeling was odd, like having a massage therapist work out a particularly troublesome knot of muscle. It was painful, but it felt like a good release at the same time.

  Knowing I had nothing to fear from my injury, and swimming in a haze of orgasmic bliss and happiness, I drifted off to sleep wondering why I hadn’t had Ben do this to me a long time ago. Being a vampire suddenly felt like it made all the sense in the world, and my last thoughts before sleeping were of how much easier it would be for Ben and I to be together now.

  Chapter7

  “Where are we?” I asked, waking from a deep dreamless sleep. It was light out, and we were parked on a quiet residential street, which judging by the salty tang on the light breeze blowing through the open car windows, was very close to the ocean.

  “We’re outside your parents’ place,” said George. “And we’re glad to see you looking considerably less on the verge of death than you were last night.”

  Other than a crick in my neck from lying awkwardly in the back of the car, I felt no pain from the bullet wound in my side. Moving carefully, I swung my legs down to the floor and sat up, prodding the skin around the bandages to check for swelling or signs of infection. When I was pretty sure it was safe to do so, I gently peeled back the edge of the front bandage and saw a dark crusty smear of blood over the exit wound.

  “Do we have water in the car?” I asked.

  Ben reached down by his feet and produced a half full bottle for me. He handed it back over the seat, and I uncapped it and poured a little onto the edge of my stomach, wiping the clotted blood away with the ragged remains of the shirt they’d cut off me.

  “It’s completely healed,” I said, amazed at what I was seeing.

  “I told you to be patient, son,” George said to Ben.

  The look on Ben’s face told me how worried he must have been. “Why so relieved?” I asked.

  “Turning someone into a vampire isn’t an exact science,” answered Ben. “There are risks involved, and not every attempt is successful. Most of the time, a failed attempt just means the person stays human, but sometimes there are other… uh, complications.”

  “Well, I feel completely normal,” I said. “Other than the fact that a few hours ago I had two bullet holes in me and now I’m completely healed.”

  “Why don’t you give the lady one of those shirts you got for her,” said George.

  “Oh yeah,” said Ben with a sheepish grin. “We pulled over and yanked these off a laundry line. Not the most stylish, I know, but they should fit until we can get you something better.”

  I took the bundle of clothes from him and held up the topmost t-shirt. It had the phrase GOT BRAINS? printed on it in large block letters with a staggering picture of a zombie on it.

  “You couldn’t find a vampire shirt?” I teased, slipping it over my head and pulling it down to cover up my blood stained bra. It was a size too small, and my breasts bulged at the deep v-neck collar, but it was better than arriving at my parents’ place half naked. “I guess the girl whose clothes you stole was a teenager. I’m not sure I’ll fit into those jeans.”

  Ben’s gaze was locked on my cleavage, and he flashed an embarrassed look when he realized I’d caught him staring. Despite all the drama from the last few days, it made me feel a little like I was an awkward teenager and that Ben was a boy I had a crush on. I burst out laughing and felt a load of my stress and anxiety wash away from me. For just a few seconds, it was as though I’d never worked at Facility 47 and I’d never learned that vampires actually existed.

  “It’s good to hear you laughing,” said George. “I hate to admit it, but it was pretty touch and go through the night. There were moments when I doubted Ben had healed you in time.”

  “So am I a vampire now?” I asked, flexing my fingers and trying to figure out if anything felt different. I ran my tongue along my teeth but couldn’t feel evidence of any fangs having sprouted overnight.

  “Hard to say,” said George. “The chan
ge takes a few days to take hold. Since this was Ben’s first attempt at turning someone, he might have just healed you and not actually turned you fully. We won’t know until some time has passed, but when you know, you’ll know it without a doubt.”

  “I didn’t feel anything for almost a week,” said Ben. “Once the change took hold though, there was absolutely no question that it had worked.”

  “What do we do now?” I looked out the window at the house I figured belonged to my parents. A part of me wanted to run out and see them, but a bigger part was afraid after all this time. Would they be upset that I’d been turned? Would they hate me for working in Facility 47 and doing what I did to vampires every day?

  “Maybe I should go in first to let them know what’s going on,” said Ben. “Who knows what they’ve seen on the news. It might be easier to explain things to them before they see you.”

  “I should go with you,” said George. “We don’t know what kind of state they’d be in. They could be angry and on the lookout for the anti-vampire squads. There’s every chance they’ll just attack you without stopping to ask questions.”

  “Guys, these are my parents you’re talking about. Could it really be that bad for me to just go up there and knock on the door?”

  George shifted in his seat to face me better. He had a look on his face like he was about to tell me my dog just died. “Things have never been easy for our kind, but it’s only gotten worse over the last few years. With knowledge of vampires spreading, the government is getting a lot more aggressive in their attempts to take us out of the population. From what I hear, more vampires are killed than captured when the feds go after them.”

  “I wouldn’t blame your parents for acting aggressively towards a stranger that came knocking on their door. There are different vampire factions that are constantly fighting against each other. Some of us just want to live normal lives alongside humans, but there are those who would rather use our powers to rise up and take control of the world. Those vampires are the minority right now, but they’ve become more aggressive to match the government’s tactics. Your parents will sense that we’re vampires and be more likely to attack or run before finding out what’s really going on.”