Blueblood 2: The World - 7. And Here's Edwin!

Edwin was doing well that afternoon. We spent the time getting to know Edwin better.

“I think when you finally are able to eat…” I grinned. “You should move upstairs.”

Edwin’s eyebrows rose. “Why?”

Colin looked around his bedroom below the house. “Where’s your bathroom?”

Edwin chuckled sadly. “We really didn’t need a loo.” He waved at an ornate chair. “We really didn’t need one other than a chamber pot.”

Colin chuckled. “You will need one now.”

“And when will I eat?” Edwin asked as he rubbed his stomach. “I was surprised when I woke up and didn’t have the urge for blood.”

“Tomorrow,” I replied. “You will have to take it slow at first. Your body isn’t used to digesting food and may have some…discomfort.”

Edwin nodded. “George told me.” He shrugged. “I guess I need to move.” He looked around the apartment. “Basil and I lived here together. Being here is comfortable for me.”

Colin nodded. “And you can keep it, but out of necessity it would be more prudent to move.”

“There’s a bedroom I use to shower upstairs,” Edwin said. “I should take a shower before I greet anyone.”

“We’ll help you get a change of clothes,” I said.

Shaved and showered and wearing fresh clothes we went out to the dining room.

George smiled as Edwin sat again at the head of the table. “You have color now!” Edwin was naturally pale. He was one of those men that had such fair skin, it was easy to see his beard shadow even though he’d just shaved.

Edwin touched his face. “When I was shaving…it was almost like I was looking at someone else.”

Nigel came out with the goblet of blood and looked at Edwin surprised. “My goodness.” He said. “You look…well, sir.”

Edwin nodded with a chuckle and waved the goblet of blood away. “I feel better than I have in a long, long time, but you can take that away.” He smiled. “I no longer require that.”

Nigel nodded. “Very good, sir.” He took the goblet away.

Burke smiled. “A whole new world will be opened to you soon.”

Edwin smiled. “I’m looking forward to it.” This was when he sighed. “We’re doing it again tonight, aren’t we?”

George smiled tightly. “We have to, or you become what you’ve been for two hundred years.”

Edwin nodded. “It’s worth it.”

Colin smiled. “You know what will happen now. It won’t be surprising tonight.” He looked at the others at the table. “We found out Edwin is a very good artist.”

Mom smiled. “Really? I’d love to see some of his work.”

Things were pretty calm for the next few hours. It was later when I spoke with Chuck.

“How’s it going with those serum darts?” I asked.

Chuck nodded. “Very well. I’ve got a couple of dart guns, I’m just getting the darts together.”

“The problem is you and Shelly won’t be seen as targets by any vampire because of the Disflavor.” I said.

Chuck nodded. “With Alex and Gabriella, we can track them.”

“Colin and I will be with Edwin for now,” I explained. “Be careful.”

Chuck nodded. “We always are.”

The house was Edwin’s, but picking a room for him was a challenge. Finding one he thought he could live in, we gave him the second injection in the arm. It was again very painful, not only for Edwin but for Colin, George and me as well. We had formed a close connection with Edwin and now his pain was hurting us, too.

One more time Edwin stopped after a few hours and went to sleep.

After Colin and I got a few hours of sleep, we went to Edwin again. Colin had told Nigel to have something simple for Edwin to eat. Chicken. It was the safest. We had him eat in his room to make it easy if he needed to go somewhere in a hurry.

He was another one that loved the taste for the first time in so long. And one more time, he was injected. The pain came again, but we’d given it to him earlier so he could be woken up before sunrise.

As I never really missed a sunrise, I could only appreciate what I saw in their eyes and reaction to the sunrise. Sleepy and a little groggy, we stood with Edwin outside as the sun began to rise over the horizon, but the trees around blocked a little of it. Still, I smiled as I saw the tears from Edwin’s blue eyes come. He had not seen in nearly two hundred years and was moved more than I could imagine. I saw him rub his arms as we all did when the tingling started. We put him back to bed to finish getting the sleep he needed. The evening when he came down he looked almost…normal! He sat down again at his place at the table. He clapped his hands in anticipation.

Nigel came up to Edwin. “My god, you look…human!” Nigel said in amazement.

Colin chuckled. “He is.”

“And I’m looking forward to finally tasting your wife’s cooking I’ve heard about,” Edwin said happily.

Nigel nodded. “I’ll get some of it now.”

I chuckled as I watched Edwin consume his meal with gusto, but was loving each mouthful. The occasional closing of the eyes as he tasted again and swallowed in luxury.

“This is just…divine!” Edwin said.

Colin smiled. “And it’s just the beginning of many wonderful meals.”

“We can even have a meal outside in the sunlight.” I offered.

Edwin sat back a little as he thought about it. “A picnic! I can’t wait!”

We gave him his evening serum and it still hurt him, but as with the others, the amount of time with the pain had lessened.

We were in contact with Stan back in Manhattan who was telling us about recent reports in this part of Yorkshire on the disappearances and unknown deaths.

We had set up a laptop on a table in the Library as we discussed the situation.

“…and what’s interesting…” Stan said. “The area has a number of cases that are still open. There are unsolved incidents all over there, but…” he said dramatically as he typed in a hurry.

“But what?” Chuck asked.

“There is a pattern!” Stan said proudly. “Using Buddy, the incidents go in a clockwise rotation. The next logical location will be north of you…Buddy predicts one of the small towns near Darlington. He even can narrow that pattern down. He thinks the next town will be Piercebridge.” He grinned. “You have to allow some flexibility with human…or rather…vampire error. Even with that, there is a pattern that is also clockwise. Manfield and Barton are possible, but Buddy has high confidence that it will be Piercebridge.”

I chuckled at his relationship with the computer. “Buddy isn’t talking to you now, is he?”

Stan looked like I had said something odd. “Of course, he does.” We watched him pat the glass computer top affectionately. “You have to speak his language.” He smiled. “And I do!”

Colin grinned at me. “I think Mark was right about telling Stan not to leave body fluids on the computer.”

I nodded. “No wonder Mark is jealous of the computer.”

Stan went on without being offended at all. “Now, the thing is…the people in those towns will know this. Locked doors and windows will cause the rotation to progress. If doesn’t...if they don’t get fed in the town, they will go clockwise to Walworth and so on.”

I was thinking about what he’d said. I looked at Edwin. “How many rogue vampires are there in this area?”

Edwin thought a minute. “It varies, we really don’t have an accurate count. There are five that are borderline that were turned from criminals and just nasty people. The others that just wild with no humanity, they are in the dozens.”

“Dozens?” Shelly repeated in shock. “How do they stay under the radar? People have to see them.”

Edwin shrugged a nod. “They do. You kill a vampire and what’s left? They pretty much burn away, especially when the sun comes up.” He got up and was thinking. “The people of the towns don’t talk about it.” He shrugged. “They won’t talk about it.”

I shook my head. “They? You mean regular citizens? How can they allow it?”

“How can they stop it?” Edwin asked. “There are so many vampires that live in those abandoned tunnels, old mines are…the vampires are everywhere. The police will investigate sometimes, but there is no evidence! No bodies of any attackers. The wild vampires are not always smart, they don’t make it back underground or they…are stopped by someone before they bite anyone.” He looked at us pleading. “The people here are…not so willing to go to tell anyone. Attacks like the ones you’re investigating have been going on for centuries. They know about the vampires, but they won’t talk about it.” He threw his hands out frustrated. “They just happen and the people just look the other way.”

“Guys.” Stan said from the screen making us look back. “There is something else…” he gave a nod as we did look at him again. “Using what George told me…how these vampires are targeting people. Devon, you asked why there weren’t any fat vampires. There is an age that plays in this, as well. The victims I’ve dug up through the records from the area. The ones that are questioned, are usually between their early twenties to mid-forties. They are healthy people, but they also don’t fit the profile of many of the people that often vanish. They have no history of running off or running away. They are usually men that come home late, or the woman that breaks down on the road and just vanish, but they are all healthy.”

George nodded. “This is the first case where it’s proven to be fat can save your life.”

“Many records were hard to find.” Stan went on. “Going through the records of local newspapers and police investigations…we can only see what they transfer to databases. There is also those put on microfiche…”

I looked back at Stan. “Microfiche?”

Stan shrugged. “That’s what it’s called, it’s those newspaper and files that are recorded and scanned on these little, almost transparent sheets. Microfiche, you never heard of those? That’s what they’re called, very tiny and you have to use a screen to read them.” Stan sighed. “Those are almost all digitized as a whole and put on data files. That is almost like reading those old medical records that Buddy had a hard time reading. Again, to speed things up, I just downloaded the whole data files. To ease the work Buddy had to do.”

Colin frowned. “All these files, how is our memory? Is it filling up?”

Stan grinned. “Not even a dent.” He waved the idea of a problem off. “Buddy can take it.” He smiled now even bigger. “If nothing else, when we get all these Vampire Capitals we should have a great database for tracking.” His eyebrows danced.

“So, are we hunting tonight?” Shelly asked.

Colin looked at her as he thought. “The problem is that you, Mom and Chuck have that Disflavor. You’re all physically fit, but you won’t be seen as a target.”

Edwin also thought. “We need a new target? Someone human.”

George shook his head. “No. We won’t endanger someone else!” He said adamantly.

Colin nodded. “I agree with George. We can’t put someone at risk.” He looked at Gabriella and Alex. “But you two can sense the area. You might pick up a scent. Could you follow it?”

Gabriella nodded. “Sure, Daddy.”

Colin grinned at Alex. “Of course, to cover more territory, you and Alex will have to break into two teams again.”

Alex nodded with a sad look. “Yeah, I figured that out.” He sighed.

Edwin looked at us. “You can smell them?”

Gabriella nodded. “It’s a very unique smell…kind of a musty, musky smell. We can follow it if the trail is not too old.”

Edwin smiled. “Sarah Bennett…the first vampire to arrive the other night? She claims she could smell the same thing. Could she help?”

Colin and I looked at each other and then to the others in our team.

“That young woman that came with those two older men?” Mom asked.

Edwin chuckled. “Those two older men were her sons.”

I shook my head. “Here we go again with the age thing.” I grinned.

Edwin chuckled again. “She was a young mother and wife, attacked when she was returning from work…late. Fortunately, she wasn’t far from home. After she was turned, she returned home and has been hiding out there ever since.”

“Her husband protected her?” Mom asked.

Edwin nodded. “He did until he died of old age, her sons take care of her now. She raised those boys…while she was a vampire.”

Even Mom was surprised at that. “She was no danger to her family?”

Edwin shrugged. “Her maternal instinct was still there. She never attacked her family. She, like many, fed on livestock.”

I nodded. “George, does an animal bitten by a vampire…become…” I shrugged. “…this sounds stupid, but a cow bit, does it become a vampire cow?”

Colin chuckled. “A vampire Guernsey cow?”

George shook his head. “The venom only works in humans.” He smiled. “It’s a very picky venom.” He shrugged. “But the blood volume in a cow is a lot greater, the cow wouldn’t be killed necessarily.”

I shrugged a nod. “So, no cows or goats with fangs.”

George smiled, shaking his head. “Actually, that’s the best source for renewable blood. The vampires here would know that.”

Willie chuckled. “That beats feeding on rats.” He smiled as Mom rolled her eyes.

“I would prefer she help us after she’s taken the serum,” George said.

Colin smiled nodding. “This sort of thing has been happening for centuries…it can wait another week or so.”

George smiled. “Providing she agrees to take the serum.”

Edwin smiled. “I’d be willing to bet the house, she will after she sees me.”

George nodded. “I’ll begin your disc in a few days. Then there will be no pain.”

Edwin nodded. “Great!”

Chuck got up. “We can patrol around.” He said smiling. “Wait here.” He ran off to another part of the house and returned with what looked like a handgun. “I have this.” He pulled out some dart looking objects. It was clearly a syringe looking thing with an almost fluffy tail. “The problem is it needs to be loaded one at a time.” He waved at Shelly. “She can carry one on her team and I’ll carry one on my team.” He looked at Shelly. “Just be sure of your shot, it will take a few seconds to reload.” He showed it to me.

“I think the best place to shoot a vampire is the leg,” Shelly said. “It will slow them down.” She looked at Edwin. “We have guns. That will work.”

“But guns in England are prohibited,” Edwin said. “The Firearms Act makes any handgun or pump action gun illegal.”

Shelly nodded. “Criminals here don’t have access to guns?”

“But we don’t want to be criminals,” George said. “We’re here to help.”

Edwin nodded. “Do you have enough serum?” He asked George.

George nodded. “Yes, I have several canisters of the serum. We’ll ship what’s needed later when you have enough vampires on the serum. It takes a pretty advanced lab to make. Now, the discs are not hard. It’s a concentrated serum that needs to be inserted under the skin.” He showed where he had his in his arm. “Is there anyone out there that has medical knowledge you trust to help make the discs and insert them?”

Edwin nodded. “Both of Sarah’s sons have children…two have the medical knowledge and can do it. They know about their grandmother.”

“Grandchildren.” Mom said in amazement. “Her sons look like they could be Sarah's grandfathers!”

I waved at Gabriella. “It’s a problem I still have with her being Colin’s daughter.” I shrugged. “You’ll get used to it.”

“Patrol, but don’t hunt unless there’s no choice.” Colin cautioned. “We don’t want them on the alert, yet.”

I looked at George. “I get that the serum won’t work in cows and other animals…does the serum not get into milk and beef?”

George shook his head. “Just like I told Colin. Any fluids are taken into the body…whether drunk or…” he smiled at Colin. “…or by ejaculation won’t change a person into a vampire. It has to be from a bite directly in the bloodstream.”

I nodded as Colin looked away blushing remembering his reluctance to have sex for that reason. I squeezed his hand and smiled. “So, no vampire guard dogs?”

George shook his head. “Not enough blood volume, they die, but no, the venom only works in humans.”

I frowned. “That’s a very specific venom.” I looked at Edwin. “I don’t suppose you know where it originated from or what?”

Edwin shook his head. “Sorry.”

I shrugged. “Maybe we’ll find out at the Vampire Capitol in Cairo.”

Edwin’s eyes widened. “You’re going there, too?”

George nodded. “If we find out where it came from, we could get closer to a cure. Vampires are everywhere.”

Edwin nodded. “I guessed that. We’re isolated because we die in sunlight.”

George smiled. “That’s right.”

“Why Cairo?” Edwin asked.

“According to the Theory of Evolution, we all came from hominids in Africa.” I went on. “The venom is ancient. I’m also willing to bet the house, we’ll find the source of the venom there.”

George smiled. “We’ll find out when we get there. Until then, we have some vampires to find and treat here.”

Again, we gave Edwin his serum, but now the levels of serum were getting to the level needed. The serum was working in shorter time. This time it was about half an hour.

George smiled. “Just a few more and I’ll create the disc for him.”

It was a few more days when the serum took only five minutes to work. George took a blood sample and created the disc for Edwin and inserted it.

“Now, there will be no more pain?” Edwin asked looking at the back of his arm.

Colin smiled. “No.”

Edwin looked at Colin and me. “And you went through all this for decades? The working serum twice?”

Burke came over. “I’m afraid that was my fault.”

Edwin looked surprised. “Your fault?”

Burke nodded. “I didn’t know about the serum, but I knew Colin was a vampire and I wanted to know how he was moving around in the day.” He smiled weakly at me. “I’m responsible for Devon being turned, as well.”

I smiled at Burke. “It was going to happen, you just made it possible for me to get it early.” I put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m fine with it.”

Burke smiled. “He’s very forgiving. I’m not sure I would be.”

It was exactly a week later when we all gathered in the Gallery again. Again, I felt the feeling that they were out there. Again, Sarah is the closest of Edwin’s neighbors, arrived first. She was accompanied by her sons. She walked up to Edwin as her mouth dropped open seeing him.

Edwin smiled giving the wave over himself. “See? It works.”

She walked around him as she looked in awe as she looked at him from head to toe. “You’ve been in the sunshine?”

Edwin nodded. “We had breakfast on the terrace after it was up more this morning. It didn’t hurt a bit.”

She reached out to touch him but stopped. “Can I?”

Edwin nodded. “Sure.” He raised his chin to give her access to his throat.

She touched his neck and felt the beat of his heart. “You have a pulse.”

“And believe me…I have enjoyed eating so much.” Edwin stressed. “No more dependence on blood.” He took her hand. “Trust me. It works.”

Sarah nodded. “But when that doctor…George Holms told us it hurts.”

Edwin nodded. “He never lied about that. It does hurt.” He smiled. “It will hurt a lot, but the results don’t lie.”

Sarah chuckled. “You’ve never been in labor and given birth!” She looked back at her sons. “Suffering the many contractions...fourteen hours of labor for Edmond, ten for Gerald.”

Both Edmond and Gerald nodded with a smile as if to say they were sorry. Again.

Edwin smiled. “It won’t be that long, but it does hurt.”

Sarah smiled nodding. “Let’s do it.”