Blueblood 2: The World - 1. First Steps Into The World

The message to the other vampires out there went out and I knew there would be resistance saying this was bunk and impossible, but I had not expected so many would be welcoming. It just took a day or so before we were getting messages from around the world. There were a lot more vampires out there than any of us realized. George, Colin, Ruben, Mark and I were looking at the number of replies we’d gotten and were watching as the number grew. These groups were isolated, but the program Stan used was bringing them all here at once. I guess they didn’t really talk much with each other.

Stan was beginning to panic. “I can’t do this by myself!” He almost wailed as he waved at the computer. “There are hundreds of replies. I can’t even begin to determine if they want help or not…” he looked at us with wide eyes, “…and this is just day two!”

Mark was patting Stan’s back and nodding. “I’ll help you.”

Stan shook his head. “You won’t be enough! You can barely type!”

Ruben looked as more were coming in and his eyes widened, too. “Jesus, look at them.” He looked at us. “Are there that many vampires out there? I only knew of Uncle Alex! There was the man that turned him, but that was in Europe! There are hundreds, if not thousands!”

Colin nodded as he was thinking. “These were people that were in the other…” he waved out of the building. “…whatever they call the vampire centers call themselves…they were contacts with these groups.”

Ruben pulled up a message. “What is this? Russian!?”

“I’m not concerned about the languages, Mr. Chance. Buddy can translate that.” Stan moaned. “I’m talking about the number of them.”

Mark pulled Stan close. “Deep breaths. Take deep breaths.” He grinned because even though Stan was having a minor panic attack, he was also thrilled. “It will be alright.”

George shook his head as Burke came in. “John, did you know about all these vampires?”

Burke came over and saw the computer screen. “No, I only had those few on file.” He shrugged. “But it’s possible. Vampires are used to being resourceful. Hiding isn’t the hard part because it’s natural. We knew there were others. I had no idea there that many.”

George nodded and touched Stan’s shoulder. “I’ll ask some of the other staff here that are doing other jobs to help you. We have secretaries, file clerks and many others that know about us that work here. They can help.” He chuckled. “Relax.” He looked at Ruben. “I know the family members of Marissa are being held somewhere and I don’t want to know where. We’re just not breaking too many laws, are we?”

Ruben shook his head. “No.” He frowned. “They were breaking laws by aiding Marissa. Who are they going to complain to about their rights being violated? They knew it was a crime against nature, but did it anyway. I don't know a legal defense for that or a lawyer that can deal with that.”

"We know vampires who are lawyers." Colin grinned. "With their help they can ensure their rights are being protected." Colin gave a shrugging nod. "Of course, the lawyers might be bias as they are vampires because of Marisa. I'm sure someone can be objective." Colin nodded and raised his hands to stop everyone. “Okay. The people replying obviously want what we have.” He began to pace again in his circle. “We’re going to have to sort these by country and whatever group they’re with.” He looked at George. “I know you want every vampire out there to have the serum. Will we have enough?”

George shrugged as he thought. “The chemicals are a little complicated, but not hard to make. It will take some time, but we should be able to make enough. We wouldn’t be able to give all them as soon as they may like, but we can do it.” He looked at Colin. "The serum you gave Devon was your serum tailored for you, but it worked. The serum is basic at first for the venom. It's the vampire that changes it. I can make plenty of the standard serum."

I nodded. “I know that Holm’s Laboratories is making money, but all this is going to cost. Can we handle all these people?”

Colin gave a frown. “We shouldn’t handle it all by ourselves. If the other…whatevers…want it, they need to pay.” He said logically. "If they become one of the VUN, it will be covered."

“Are we giving the serum free?” I asked. “I gave the serum to Colin when I first met him but never inserted the disc. I could learn, but can’t they give it to their own people? Doesn’t the serum have to be made with each vampire’s own blood?”

George nodded. “It does That's why what Colin gave you that first time was Colin's. It was made by his blood.. you two have the same blood type, thank god. I don't know what would happen if you didn't.”

“And there is manufacturing and distribution…” I pointed out.

George nodded again. “Yes, but each…whatever…”

I rolled my eyes. “Just call them Vampire Capitals.” I shook my head. “George, you and Colin are geniuses in what you do, but naming things is a problem for you two.”

George grinned. “No, your husband wasn’t much better than I was.”

Ruben had been staring at the screen and turned and looked…amazed. “There are so many of them!”

Colin smiled at Ruben. “On a world that numbers in the billions, you’re upset by a few thousand vampires?”

“Or…” I said. “They could be like you, Ruben. They are regular humans that have members of the family that is a vampire.”

“We’ll need to go through these and find out.” Colin nodded and turned away and sighed. “We’ll need to find out about their past. Are they still human?”

I took his hand. “I’d say they are a little. They replied to the message on a computer. That means they’re thinking.” I looked at George. “But you still want to keep the serum secure, don’t you?”

George thought a minute nodding. “It’s our leverage.” He scratched his red head as he thought. “We can make the serum here. We’ll send the serum to the…” he was working it out in his own head. “Vampire Capitols and instruct them how do make the disc for each vampire and insert them.”

“And they can’t just study the serum to make their own?” I asked again.

“It’s a complicated formula,” George said shaking his head sighing. “It won’t work right if not done correctly. This will be a venture that will take some time.”

Colin smiled. “Well, we know we’re not alone now.” He patted George on the back. “We’ll just have to visit these Vampire Capitals. They really can’t come to us.”

“If it proves to be a good thing…” I added. “We will have additional personnel.”

“And we have the others that are not human still to deal with.” Colin pointed out. “Wild ones here and over there.” He looked at George cautiously. “This is what we wanted, isn’t it?”

George wasn’t happy, but then he rarely was when dealing with the whole vampire world. “What we want; is to get rid of this mess and become human again.” He looked at Burke who smiled at George. “And until I do that, we’ll just have to deal with it.”

Colin smiled as he turned to me. “I wanted to take you to these places on a honeymoon.” He said sadly.

I put my arm around him. “Who says we can’t do both?” I looked at the monitor screen as the world turned. “Where will we start first?”

Colin brought me into him as he rested his lips against my forehead. “I guess England. That’s where Marissa came from according to her.”

“Are we doing this alone?” I asked.

Colin thought. “I don’t think we should. We can take Gabriella, Alex, and Willie with us.” Then he smiled, “…and your mother.” He added with a shrug. “Your mother can be there to show that humans and vampires can get along.” He looked at Ruben. “We should discuss this with the others.”

Mark nodded. “I’ll let everyone know.” He patted Stan. “You’ll have help, baby.” He assured kissing Stan quickly.

Colin and I went to the holding cells with Marissa and Adrian. Neither of them were a threat to anyone now. When we met Marissa, she was so confident in her position as First Vampire. Now she seemed like a lost child. She sat on the bed she used, looking without interest at anything. We were not so cruel to give her nothing to do. We had given her some books to read. We looked at her from behind the observation window.

I shook my head. “She could have done so much.”

Colin cocked his head as he looked. “So much of her life was about being First Vampire. That was who she was. Now, that’s gone.” He smiled at me. “To think, all the vampires in the United States and Canada came from her.” He grimaced. “That thing that looks like an innocent little girl rewarded her nephew that brought her over. How many did he make? Then as the humans expanded in the United States, vampires did, too. She made almost all of them.”

I shook my head. “But where did it originate?” I asked knowing there would be no answer. “Books, movies, and television came up with some pretty good theories, but did it start in Eastern Europe? We know there was a man they called Dracula based on a real man. Did it start over there? Did it start in Egypt as another story said?”

Colin hugged me. “We may never know. We can ask if the others know, but really, we may never find out.”

We did the same with Adrian. He was more unsettled than Marissa as he paced. The books he had been given were strung around his room. Both of them had begun eating and there were empty dishes around Adrian’s room. Seeing him was like watching a caged lion or tiger.

“He will be trouble,” Colin said. “We need to find a place to house these creatures to keep them secure….and to keep everyone else secure.”

I hated that I thought so, but I looked at Colin. “Maybe we should have let him burn.”

“Or maybe just ended him.” Colin nodded. “There is hardly anything left that’s human in him, but he isn’t a full vampire now. He can’t make others.”

We met with everyone on the task force. Vampire and humans had their say. My mother was also included as she would be with us as the human side of our visiting team.

“…I think you need to be there.” George said to Colin. “It was you they saw in that message.”

Ruben nodded. “Agreed, they will know you are a vampire because they can sense you are. That will be your proof. If you and Devon are there, along with Gabriella, Uncle Alex, Willie, and your mother; they will know it’s real.”

Stan nodded. “That was the general quest of most of the messages back, wanting to be assured it was true.”

Mark sat forward. “And Colin’s ability to sense people will help big time to determine if they have things to hide.” Then he sat back again. “I think there should be an escort by us, as well.”

“Us, being the FBI?” I asked.

Mark nodded. “If for no other reason than to show the support of some branch of the government.”

Colin nodded. “But we’ll need Stan here to handle the Control Room.”

Stan grinned. “Well, that’s what those little devices you carry will do. I can be reached that way.”

I turned to George. “You should go, too, George. You have the medical expertise to explain more about the serum and how it works.”

George nodded and he looked at Burke. “Have you been to England?” Then he looked more puzzled. “Do you even have a passport?”

Burke shook his head. "How could I? I don't exist."

Ruben waved that off. “Don’t worry about that. All of you will have passports. Uncle Alex and Willie included. I’m having that done now.” He thought. “I need to speak with my cousin, Congresswoman Chance, and Senator Cook. We will need more backing.”

“And personnel,” George said.

Mom frowned. “I hate to be the one to conduct those interviews.” She muttered. “What sort of background is needed to work here? How will we know they can be trusted?”

“There will be mistakes,” I said. “We may hire someone that will prove dangerous.”

Ruben nodded. “But we’ve done this before. We’ll be as thorough as possible.”

I turned to Shelly. “And I think you should be the one to go with us.” I grinned.

Shelly looked surprised. “Me? Why?”

Colin chuckled. “Well, I can count on you to tell me when I say something that is bullshit.” He reminded her of her comment when we were going after Marissa.

Shelly grinned. “It was bullshit.” She shook her head.

“But you see things very clearly,” I said. “You’re very pragmatic and smart.”

She waved her hands a little helplessly. “That’s what you hired me for, but you know my jurisdiction is only here?”

“But your talents will help there.” Colin pointed out.

Stan grinned as he took Mark’s hand. “I guess you stay with me.”

Mark grinned back. “Yeah.” He squeezed Stan’s hand. “There will be other trips other places. Your being an egghead is needed here.”

Colin smiled. “We’ll make the arrangements. We’ll be extending trust by telling them when we’ll be there and where. I’ll let them know if they want to be included that they will have to come to us.”

George nodded. “They are vampires, so trust will be touchy with them.”

“That’s why we’re extending trust first,” Colin explained. “They will have regular humans that work for them like we do that can bring us to them.” He looked at Stan. “We don’t have names to go by, do we?”

Stan shook his head. “They all have screen names.”

“We’ll just let them all know when and where.” Colin sighed. “They will have to come to us.”

“England,” I said quietly. “I’ve passed through there. The only thing I know about England is they drive on the left, have a monarch and talk funny.”

“People say we Southerners talk funny.” Colin chuckled. “It will be a good trip.”

I nodded. “I hope so.”

“Well! Let’s get cracking!” Colin said standing. “But first, I’m hungry.”

I got up patting him on the back. “I know what we’re doing next.”

After a nice dinner in Vamps, we retired to our apartment. Having finished my evening routines, I came out of the bathroom as Colin was pulling the covers down for us to go to bed. I don’t need to tell you I love the man, you know that already, but seeing him…occasionally it just hits me how much I did love that man. We had done many forms of love and sex; there was nothing taboo or not tried by us, but I walked over to him, turned him around and kissed him deeply, hungrily, which he immediately returned. Leaning in I lowered us both to the bed as I continued to explore his mouth as my hands traveled over his bare chest and sides. It was a few minutes before I stopped leaving both Colin and me a little breathless.

“Not that I’m complaining.” Colin smiled as he pulled me to a more comfortable place on the bed. “But what was that for?”

I smiled. “That was just me feeling that sudden urge to love you, Colin,” I explained as I scooted to the side of him, but not letting go. “I never knew I could love someone so much. It just builds until I can’t hold it in anymore.” I kissed him again. “I needed a job when I met you. That’s all.”

Colin’s eyebrows rose when I said that. “And I hired you.”

“And what a job I got!” I grinned as my hand went down his chest and stomach and into his pajama bottoms and caressed what I knew was now stiff there. “The fringe benefits were out of this world. If someone had told me what I’d be doing now…back then…I would have known they were crazy.”

Colin chuckled. “And now?”

“We’re like pioneers,” I said. “Going into uncharted territory. Let’s face it. You and I are ambassadors going to a foreign country to start talks about a global community. I never would have dreamed this up.” I kissed him again. “But know this,” I said seriously. “I love you, Colin. You may have seen your life as cursed, but in a way…” I thought. “…it was almost like something brought us together, the only way it could. You were given a long life and waited for us to meet. I believe we were meant to be together, Colin. This task we’ve taken on; to bring other like us together is almost too important to be chance.”

Colin nodded as his lips traveled over my jaw to my neck. “I agree.” He looked at me again with those emerald eyes. “I wasn’t kidding when I said before; my life truly began when we met. After meeting you, I got Wentworth Manor back. I got my daughter back…and that one thing I dreamed of but didn’t think I could get. Someone to love me and be with me that loves me. I love you, Devon.”

I felt his hand go down and remove my pajama bottoms and he made love to me, slowly, but saying often as I invited his body into mine, that he loved me. I never doubted he did.