The Drinker of Blood

Chapter Three

The party on the veranda broke up at just past 4:00 in the afternoon, and we all agreed to meet in the lobby of the Blanding at 7:00 to go to dinner. We'd already decided on the place, a local joint with a bar and live music a few nights a week. Happily we all were meat eaters, and the menu we found online fit the bill to a tee.

I had a few things to prepare on my own. The text I'd sent from Fallon's phone was a demand to Marion. The mood of the communications between her and my prey over the last week had been progressively flirtatious, so the note—in which I demanded Marion finally seal the deal—was in perfect tenor with the intensity and underlying desire of each party. I, in the guise of Fallon, merely suggested that I'd had enough of waiting and teasing, and that rather than meeting at the Ramses, that he and Fallon should meet at a small park near the water a few blocks from there. I demanded that he leave behind his "posse," as she called his entourage. The fact that he always had people with him seemed to be a preexisting point of annoyance in the young woman's text messages.

The note I wrote was perfect. Marion would come, and he would come alone. Of that I was certain. But Fallon wouldn't be there to meet him.

But I needed to do a little recce and to pick up a few things. That took barely an hour, and I spent the rest of the time cleaning up and dolling myself up for my night with the girls. I don't know which of those I looked forward to more. My social calendar had been somewhat barren these recent years, and I'd never had a great many female friends.

I decided nothing would ruin this evening, not even me.

The place we were going, a hometown eatery called Chuck's, wasn't fancy, so I opted for worn blue jeans with a capri cut, black flats, and a peasant blouse that showed off my abs, forearms, and neck. I generally don't dress to impress. In fact, I seldom dress up at all. But I like my body, and why throw away a perfectly good opportunity to show it off?

Fallon was waiting when I arrived ten minutes early, a sweet and somewhat nervous smile on her face. There was something going on with me. (I know that sounds silly.) I generally don't get sentimental, but there was something about this kid I liked. And it wasn't just the angelic face and the sinfully perfect body. There was a vulnerability about her, and a sweetness.

I despise weakness in others. But there was something enticing and appealing in this kid's innocence. It made me want to comfort her.

And that was not just my hunger talking.

Though that hunger might be speaking soon. This was the time of the day when I truly needed to steel myself. In the mornings, I always felt my strength gently wane as the morning slowly broke. In the evening, it returned to me in a rush, as if a bottle somehow was totally empty one moment and then magically full the next.

That surge of energy sometimes took my breath away, filling me with a hunger and a giddiness that I needed to keep carefully in check. On that particular day, sunset was due at a few minutes before 7:00 pm. I certainly didn't want to take a nip at either of my two new friends.

I wasn't sure whether God hated me or loved me when, a few minutes later, Freya-Lynn entered the lobby. I never imagined a woman could look so beautiful. She dressed in a style not too different from Fallon and me, capri slacks and a low-cut ribbed blouse that showed off her shoulders and midriff. But she wore it so much better, and at the very moment our eyes met, a surge of power flooded through me as the sun set. Looking at her at that moment, I'd never seen anything so beautiful or wanted anyone so much.

It took me a second or four to find my composure, and then I was fine. But in that scant bit of time, I would have done anything to have her. A few moments later, after awkward pecks on the cheek all around, I actually was giggling.