R. Eric

We stayed out as long as Willie could stand it, but the tingling got to be too irritating for him. Taking the elevator, Colin pressed a button for a floor and the elevator moved. I smiled as I knew what Colin was doing. When the elevator stopped, Willie was going to get out, but stopped. “Get out, Willie,” Colin said pointing to the hall. “But this isn’t the correct floor,” Willie said looking at a floor he’d never seen. I grinned. “Get out anyway.” The difference was the floor h

It was on purpose. They knew that whoever was out there would strike when the security was not as strict. When they were kidnapped, they went, knowing what might happen. It was on purpose. They passed a person on the way out and could have said something, but didn't. It was planned.

We headed back to Willie’s room. Gabriella walked ahead with Willie as they talked. He looked so…different. After he’d gotten cleaned up he looked almost human again. His eyes still needed moisture and his overall skin needed moisture, but he looked good. “He’s doing well,” I said to Colin quietly. Colin nodded. “He is…for now.” He said sadly. I was not prepared for that. “For now!?” Colin nodded. “He has…these moments.” He looked for words to tell me. “He’s fine right now. He h

Getting Willie back was not hard…well…it was hard maneuvering things back up. What impressed me was George had things planned out perfectly. Two of the men he brought with him were in EMT uniforms. The other two were dressed as city transit employees, complete with badges! When we came out on the platform, there was a cop that saw us and stopped us. “What’s going on here?” The policeman asked seeing the gurney. George smiled. “Well, this man was found in an abandoned portion of the subwa

Yes, we all know we need the gay beaten from us. Why fathers think they can get rid of our "unnatural affections" is beyond me. My father was an ultra-conservative Baptist minister who tried to SHOCK the gay out of me with therapy. Aversion Therapy. Electrodes that shocked your junk when aroused by a gorgeous man. I wrote about it a little in North Meets South. He never just hit me, but in ways, it was worse. He believed in spare the rod and spoil the child, so he did hit, but how he treated me was as bad. All that therapy did was force me farther back in the closet until I almost died from my physical revulsion to a marriage I didn't want, but had to have to..."look right." Dad was concerned more about what others thought and what he felt they'd see. A gay son was not going to happen in his family. We aren't possessed or evil, we love humans that are our gender. I've said it many times. If we weren't supposed to, it would be a commandment. It isn't. I'm not evil. Neither are you. No, I steer away from the psychedelic "pow" and other things. I wanted a more cerebral approach to vampires. And putting my Daniel as one, he doesn't die. You probably figured that out. Willie is a good man. He was turned like everyone except Devon, against his will. I do refer a lot to TV and stories because that was my babysitter. I relied on them to keep me grounded. If you want, I'll tell you about my real father. Captain Kirk! He taught me everything I needed to know. Play nice with others regardless of what planet their from. Be firm and don't give in. Believe in mankind. (I don't go so far as to go to conventions, wear costumes or rubber ears. That would be too much for me. I'm not that hard core.)

Stay tuned. The same bat-time, the same bat-channel! (That reference may be hard for those born after 1980.)

As good as things were going we didn’t hunt every night, so the following night we left VUN before sunset to check on Willie. Colin and I discussed it and Colin decided that Willie had to come with us. He couldn’t stay hidden forever. As Colin explained before, Willie really didn’t have a day and night. He was a vampire, but content to stay in the old abandoned tunnels and never left. He woke when he woke and hunted when he was hungry. We got to the old abandoned ticket office for the abandone

After getting something to eat, we met together back in the room where the agents worked. Gabriella had shown she might be as good a tracker as Alex. She was too pleased she’d proven she was more than just Colin’s daughter. Colin wasn’t happy about it, but what could he say to her? Don’t come anymore? Alex was not happy either. The human male was naturally protective. Gabriella was listening in a chair to their objections calmly, but in the end, she got up. “You know? I was watching a prog

Special to me that I scared to admit to? Where do you think that came from? Of course I did! And there's more coming about Mom and her new "friend."

I hadn’t realized just how long we’d been up until I came out to see Colin speaking with Ruben Chance. I looked at my watch. It was almost noon now. Colin came over and hugged me. “How are they?” “Mark’s alive. He woke enough to talk with Stan. Stan told him everything.” I smiled. “I pray Mark recovers, it will destroy Stan if he doesn’t.” I looked at Ruben. “How does the FBI feel about agents that are involved with each other?” Ruben looked surprised. “I thought they already were in

Is he? I don't model a character from someone I know?

As I said in the beginning when we saw Stan and Mark were close, it was none of our business. The relationship was working for them. Should we have stirred the pot? “Should we have done that?” I asked Colin after we disconnected the computer link. Colin grinned. “Those two apparently have been dancing around each other for years. They need to stop dancing. Either say something or move on.” He hugged me closer in the chair we shared. “Remember when you asked me why I trusted you in the beginn

Stan has what some of us have, poor self esteem. He also has demons in the past that Mark wants to be careful about. The fact that Mark might consider Stan as more never even occurred to Stan. It is inconceivable to him until Devon and Colin tell him what the evidence is. There's more. I couldn't believe Daniel when he said he loved me! I didn't feel worthy. I had to ask if he was sure! It's a more common problem than people think.

We flew home to Charleston on a commercial flight. Gabriella was staying in Manhattan. Duh. We had the tablets Stan had mentioned and I was researching the files about Charleston on the plane. “The fact there is another vampire in Charleston is kind of…disheartening,” Colin said. “I lived there a while. I had no clue.” I nodded. “You weren’t supposed to,” I said simply. “Whoever this vampire is, they know how to cover their tracks.” “He might have been the one to turn Brett Marshall.

You got a hole in one!

The previous night had been tough. The next day was a little tense. The agents were still having to adjust to how things were different. It was after lunch when Colin and I got up. When we arrived at the office we used with the agents, Shelly, Mark, and Ruben were discussing what we’d been through earlier that night. Stan had shown them the 3D images we had of the little vampire. “…but he was a child.” Shelly said to Stan like she’s said it before. Stan looked very uneasy as he scratched

The search for other vampires in Manhattan began and Stan used his programs to search for other disappearances and deaths that had yet to be explained. He seemed to be enjoying working with the computer, but he also was very dedicated to the search and looking for clues. I got the feeling he had been more of a geek in high school. While not really enthusiastic about sports maybe, he was fit. A little on the thin side, but I watched as Mark would remind him of simple things like it was time for l

We had begun to get an office together for the agents to work out of on a lower floor. This was a room with no windows if only to protect the equipment we had in here. It was cold, almost. Computers generated heat! There would be several people working there and equipment, so there was a lot of room. Stan’s eyes grew when he saw the computers. He walked over and looked at all the computer monitors and CPUs. “Easy, Stan.” Mark grinned as he leaned toward me. “He’ll be hyperventilating if we’r

Oops! You've never seen a woman or man with both!? It happens. But I slipped. It's corrected.

And why do you think I made him blonde? In fact, I created two blondes with you in mind! Now, you can pick.

Things with Amanda were not good, not because she was resistant, but the pain she had to endure for the first few days was leaving her a bit disheartened and glum. She was new and then again, so was I, so I opted to talk to her. There was one major difference between us. I was a vampire because I chose to be, she hadn’t been given the option. Ursula talked to her, Gabriella talked to her and now I walked in where she was sitting as she watched TV. The door was open a crack. She’d been given a r

“You knew there were others!” Even I thought it was an accusation. Colin shrugged a nod. “I knew there were others. I said I knew of two I knew by name.” Then he grinned. “Well, three. The others I saw, but we didn’t get to know each other.” He frowned as he thought. “We are vampires, but we are still social creatures by nature. We will seek each other out.” “Why?” “For safety?” Colin shrugged as he answered the question. “Like just now. We didn’t confront them now because there were

The situation with Amanda was tense, but her attacker…that was just disheartening. We entered the room where the male vampire was still looking for a way out. He turned to us and immediately hissed. He started to come at us, sniffed and stopped. “That’s right,” Colin said to him. “You won’t find us very good to feed on.” “We’re vampires, too,” I said quietly. “What’s your name?” The reply I got was just a hiss again. He returned to looking for an escape. We were forgotten as he went

We flew back to Charleston. We took Alex with us, which Gabriella was too happy about. Colin was not convinced about it. Of course, he would be, he’s her father. It didn’t matter that she had been turned in her mid-thirties or that she nearly as old as he was. The spin and usual when seeing Wentworth. Alex did the whole thing as he looked amazed. “Wow,” Alex said simply. “Is this VUN’s, or yours?” He looked at Colin. Colin smiled. “I was my family’s, now it’s ours.” He pointed

Another day at sea. We did the stops at Sir Samuels for our coffees and generally just took it easy. I did have a second appointment with the Canyon Ranch Spa for my tanning. Tony waited patiently as I was taken care of. When I was done, he stood grinning. “Are there any tan lines now?” “You’ll have to see for yourself later.” I grinned as I passed him. He chuckled. “I plan to see that.” Tonight, wasn’t a formal night, but we dressed casually for dinner. Tony was hungry