Blueblood: A Dark Southern Aristocracy - 41. First Vampire

Marissa by the way she looked was young, but she held herself with authority. Dressed in a long dark gown that was clean! Other vampires never bothered with things like clean clothes or even washed. Marissa did. She looked at Colin intently as she did with me. “Interesting.” She said as she got close enough to really smell us. “You are all vampires, yet I sense you’re not vampires.” She stood back from us a little. “Why is that?”

Adrian walked up behind her. “Are you sure this is a wise action?”

Marissa smiled at Colin and me. She didn’t look at Adrian at all. “You must forgive my nephew Adrian. He is like many men, generals, mayors and men of authority...” She explained sadly. She looked at Stephen. “They think sneaking around trying to be clever is how every situation should be handled, right Stephen?”

Colin was slack-jawed! He was no more prepared for seeing Marissa than I was. “You’re the leader?”

Marissa smiled patiently. “I am First Vampire.”

“First Vampire?” I repeated. “That sounds like more than just the fact you were the first vampire in Charleston.”

She nodded. “That is my title. I am First Vampire.”

“First Vampire?” I asked. “And that means what…Queen?”

She gave a slight shrug. “Yes, I suppose. I am the First Vampire of the New World.” She laughed at my confusion. “You’re new, so I’ll explain.”

Colin grimaced. “Then I’m new, too. Explain it to me as well.”

Marissa chuckled. “Well, you’re all new for me.” She looked at one of the men. “Do I need to ask?” She asked a little terse. She didn’t like waiting for…whatever.

I watched one of the men hurry off.

She again smiled at Colin. “I’ll answer a question and then you’ll answer a question. Does that sound fair?”

Colin nodded. “Sure. Ladies first.” He motioned to her.

She curtsied at him. “Thank you. You can go out in the daytime?”

Colin nodded. “We can.” He turned to George. “He'd be the one to answer that question in greater detail.”

She smiled at George. “You were the one to find the way to do that?”

George nodded coming closer. “I did. I’m a doctor…scientist. I created a serum that keeps us safe in sunlight.”

Marissa just blinked. “A serum? You mean medicine?”

“Yes.”

Marissa smiled nodding. “No magic? No talisman or anything like that?”

“No.” George shook his head. “Pure science.”

“Now, my question,” Colin said more relaxed. “You said you were First Vampire in Charleston.”

Marissa nodded. “Really, I am First Vampire of the New World.”

“You weren’t made here? You were turned somewhere else?” Colin asked further.

She grinned. “I arrived as a vampire.” She chuckled. “Which wasn’t easy. When I arrived, this colony was called Charles Towne. It was 1648, but by then I was almost a hundred.” She looked at George. “Can I get the serum?”

George grinned. “Well, it isn’t a onetime thing. It is given at regular intervals on an ongoing schedule. And you need a fairly sophisticated lab to create it.”

She nodded. “So, I can’t just get it?”

George scratched his head. “I could give it to you, but you need to understand and have a working knowledge of biochemistry.”

Marissa smiled tightly. “I see.”

“It’s not a secret I’m keeping from you, but you need to understand it,” George said. “I’ll give it to you.” Then he hesitated. “Once I trust you.”

Then she nodded shaking her finger at George as she walked. “There’s what I was waiting for.” She smiled as the man that went to get what she expected. She took the goblet and sipped.

Adrian came forward. “We need to trust you.”

Marissa sighed. “Which won’t happen if one doesn’t talk to the other.” She said more impatient. “I extend trust and he extends trust.” She looked at Adrian. “Get it?” She wasn’t used to having her decisions questioned and her voice carried that well. “I feel I’m answering questions here.”

Colin nodded. “Are you responsible for the other vampires here in the United States?”

She grimaced. “A few, but not all of them. I did…make some foolish decisions in the past.” She confessed. “Some of the vampires weren’t turned right.” She bowed as she paced. “They lost that part of themselves that…is human.” She looked at Colin. “My turn again. You went where? New York?”

Colin nodded. “Maybe for you that was New Amsterdam.” He grinned. “It was really more tolerable when I got there. When I arrived, I found there was a whole world I could be in and never have to see daylight.”

Marissa nodded. “But you were from Charleston.” A statement, not a question.

“Until Brett Marshall bit me,” Colin said.

“Brett Marshall,” Marissa repeated confused. “He wasn’t any of my vampires. How long ago was that?”

“1851.”

Her face held a sudden understanding as she nodded as she then suspected someone. “Ah, yes. During that time, I had a nephew that wasn’t that discrete or picky. When I found out about it, he was disciplined.”

“Disciplined?” I asked. “Punished?”

She frowned. “He was making vampires for a price.” She answered. “A person would pay and he would make them vampires.”

I was shocked. “Who would want to do that?”

She gave a nod. “People are often afraid of death and willing to do whatever necessary to avoid it, even give up the daylight.”

“How was he disciplined?” Colin asked.

She didn’t even hesitate. “I had him taken outside at sunrise.”

“He was your nephew?” I asked.

She nodded. “He was the grandson or great grandson of my sister.” She waved at the other men. “All these men are children of my sister or brother.”

I looked at the six men there. They were all her nephews? After five hundred years or so, that was possible.

“So, they remained human.” Colin clarified.

She nodded. “And these are their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. There are things that need doing in the day time. Who better to do that?” She smiled. “There was a nephew who helped me get over here from England.” She shrugged. “I couldn’t have made it if he hadn’t helped. It took weeks to cross the Atlantic and he kept me supplied with blood.” She explained. “Other family offered their blood to me. I rewarded them by making some…including him…a vampire.”

“Being made a vampire as a reward?” I shook my head and then I pointed to Stephen. “He said he knew of four. There are two more here? Are the other two coming out?”

She shook her head. “No, the other two live…elsewhere. There were more, but they were all killed over the years.” She frowned. “Two committed suicide.”

Colin’s eyes widened. “Why?”

She smiled and stopped pacing. “They got tired of being a vampire after a hundred years and waited for the sun to come up.” She shrugged. “And there were others that I had to discipline for repeatedly disobeying the rules.”

“You killed them,” I said.

She frowned. “I am a woman. No one would listen long to me if I didn’t stick to the rules. Many, after they were turned, they thought they could take control. I let them know I was in charge. I was First Vampire.” She folded her arms letting me know her decisions were final. “Order has to be maintained.” She looked again at Colin. “Now answer my question more, what is it you are doing in New York?”

“Getting money to rebuild Wentworth Manor.”

She shrugged a nod. “I mean after you took the serum. You’ve made your fortune. You married Devon, but that was local and recent. Why are you still up there?” She finished her blood. She jutted her head at Chuck. “And why do I sense he is human, but I can’t feed off him?”

Chuck grinned. “I take something that repels vampires.”

She smiled with a nod. “And it works.” She looked at George. “You came up with that, too?”

George nodded. “I did.”

She smiled. “Impressive.”

George bowed slightly. “Thank you.” He moved slowly forward. “Do you know the others? Like the ones in England or elsewhere in Europe?”

She nodded. “I do. I’ll share with you…if you share with me.”

George nodded. “I’d be willing to give you the serum…” he motioned to Adrian. “…to you and this man, but I insist I give it. Only I know what to do.” He grinned at Colin. “And he does.”

“But it will hurt!” Colin said. “It will hurt a lot!”

“At first,” George explained. “But if you take it well and finish the first phase, you can see daylight again.”

Adrian turned angrily. “No!” He turned to Marissa. “They’re lying! It’s a trick.”

Marissa looked at Adrian shocked. “How do you know? They’re standing right here. Stephen told us they were eating and walking around in the daylight. They are vampires, can’t you sense that?”

Adrian nodded. “I feel they are vampires, but you would take some…medicine because they say so? It could kill you.”

Marissa shook her head. “They have been forthcoming with answers. What will they gain by killing us…or me?” She walked to him. “Colin is worth a lot of money, so he’s not after any we have. They go out in the daytime. We can’t. You’re not thinking right.”

“I’m trying to keep you alive,” Adrian said. “Keep us alive.”

Marissa smiled. “And I appreciate that, but you’re having suspicions where there doesn’t need to be.” She looked at Colin. “So, once again, what do you do in New York now?”

Colin shrugged. “We find other vampires.”

“And do what with them?” Marissa asked.

Colin grimaced. “That depends on the vampire. If they have some humanity in them, we sometimes begin the serum. We really haven’t had to do that much. The ones that are no longer human…”

“We discipline them, as you did.” I finished.

Colin nodded. “We discipline them.”

Marissa nodded. “A necessary thing.” She looked at Adrian. “When you make a statement like you have, Adrian, you need evidence to back it up. There is no evidence.”

“You’re telling too much to them!” Adrian stressed.

“What will they do with what I’m telling?” She asked logically. “They can expose us?” She waved at us. “We can expose them! It’s an equal threat.” She went to Stephen. “You did well.”

Stephen bowed. “Thank you.” He smiled. “I guess I wasn’t as careful as I thought.”

Marissa smiled with a laugh. “No, you thought getting in with Devon’s mother would help you get information. I’d say you did.” She kissed his cheek. “Very good.” She turned to us again. “But I’ll wait before taking this serum for now.”

Colin looked at George and then me. “Okay. That’s fine.” Colin said. “I have a friend that resisted for decades, but now he’s on the serum and glad he is.”

She nodded. “Well, when and if I agree to the serum…after I see the sun, I will give you the contact information for the others.” She walked slowly toward us.

“There have been deaths in Charleston,” I said. “Recent deaths that could be by vampires,” I said. “Are there others?”

Marissa looked at me. “There are always others.” She cocked her head. “I can assure you, none have been by vampires in my group.”

Colin sighed. “Of course not.” He looked at me sadly. “It would be way too easy, wouldn’t it?”

I nodded putting my arm around him. “We know the vampire that made Brett is dead.”

Marissa looked up. “And Brett?”

“The same as your nephew,” Colin replied.

I looked at Adrian. “You’re right. We could be lying. We may be trying to kill you.”

Colin looked at me shocked. “Devon.”

“But, why would we do that?” I asked. “What do we have to gain? Colin is living a life where he has made money and eats an incredible amount of food and more freedom than I see that you have.”

Colin moved closer to me. “Trust for a vampire is hard.” He said. “If we’re going to hide all our lives in the shadows and scurry like rats, we just have to do what we’ve always done.” Then Colin smiled. “I aim to be more. I want more. Living as we do is dangerous enough, but with planning and cooperation, we can have more.” He looked at Marissa. “Am I making sense?”

Marissa nodded. “Perfect sense.” She moved to a chair and sat down. “Is there further business?”

Colin looked at the six other men in the room as his eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what you are capable of…” he turned back to Marissa. “If Stephen reported to you everything about us, then you know my home is pretty well fortified. No vampire or human would get anywhere attacking us.”

Marissa smiled. “He didn’t mention much about the house except it was big. You spent a great deal of money to build it…and fast.” She leveled a look at us. “Vampires are few enough as it is, Colin Wentworth. Warring with our own makes no sense. We would not get anywhere by attacking you.”

Colin nodded but looked at Adrian. “I’m not convinced all of you are aware of that. That’s why I stating it now.” He took a breath. “Now, I will tell you this. I can usually sense who I can trust by what I hear and see from others.” He looked at Marissa. “I sense nothing from you.”

Marissa shrugged. “Perhaps that’s because there’s nothing to sense.”

Colin nodded. “No, there should be something. I mean with you, I feel nothing, no feeling of goodwill or distrust.” He looked at Adrian. “I sense great fear in him, but it’s schooled.” He turned again to Marissa. “Just as I think you are well schooled, but more so. There is more here than what you’re saying.” He looked at George. “I think we need to keep the serum to ourselves for a while. Until we know what it is you hide.”

George nodded but was concerned. “We need those contacts. The others?”

Colin shook his head. “No, we don’t. We’ve gone this long without any contact. We’ll do just fine a little longer.” He turned to Adrian. “We’ll be in touch. We’ll be running along now.”

Marissa just nodded.

Adrian looked startled and back at Marissa. “We’re just letting them go!?”

Marissa nodded. “They will do us no harm. They know where we are and we know where they are.”

Colin took my hand and led me back up the stairs followed quickly by George, Burke, and Chuck.

I waited until we were in the car and back on the road to Wentworth. That’s when I shuddered. “That was…weird,” I said. “I feel…cold.” And it wasn’t because it was cold outside.

Colin’s mind was going, you could almost see it working.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked him.

He looked puzzled back at me. “I was…not prepared for what I sensed.”

“Meaning?” I asked.

“I meant what I said. If a person is open and friendly, I sense it. When a person is suspicious and maybe not so trusting…I sense it.” He explained. “I felt nothing from Marissa.” Then he almost growled. “Adrian, I felt…” he thought of a word he could use. “…dark.”

George leaned up from the backseat. “He didn’t hide the fact that he didn’t trust us. He was honest about that.”

Colin nodded. “It was more than that.” He gave a frustrated shrug. “I can’t explain it, but…” his eyebrows knitted. “…he has an agenda. Whether it’s Marissa’s agenda or just his. The serum was what he was interested in, not us.”

“He’s dangerous,” Burke said simply. “That much I felt, as well.”

Colin looked at Chuck. “I’m sorry we drug you down here for nothing.”

Chuck smiled. “Are you kidding? I needed a vacation, that house is sweet! If it were a hotel, I’d book it another week or so.” He chuckled. “This job has its rewards.”