Blueblood 2: The World - 9. Venom. Is There a Difference?

When Matt and I separated from our hug. I saw him change. He was not this angry young guy, who really wasn't young, mad at the world. He wasn’t over what happened to him, but he had given another person a truth he had hidden for so long. He practically changed physically as face relaxed.

“I’ll say it again,” I said gently. “Not one thing you told me about was your fault,” I said again making sure he was looking at me. “Do you know that?”

Matt nodded a little.

I shook his shoulders gently. “You need to say it. I want you to know it wasn’t your fault and believe it.” I urged gently. “If you can’t, we may have to talk about it some more. Can you say it?”

Matt had a look that told me he wasn’t ready to do that. “I can’t.”

I smiled at him. “We can talk about it.”

Matt grinned. “You’re a shrink?”

I looked surprised at him. “What? No way.” I shook my head.

Matt looked puzzled. “You’ve lived a long time?” He reasoned.

“Wrong again,” I said. “I’m only thirty.”

“Thirty!?” Matt balked.

I nodded. “The year after twenty-nine?” I then gave a shrug. “Well, in about a month I’ll be thirty-one. Does that help?”

He smiled. “You’re just a kid!”

I shrugged. “I am just living.” I tapped him on the chest. “I want you to do the same. Live. Tell me, how’d you find Edwin?”

Matt smiled. “Sarah.”

“Sarah?”

He nodded. “I was hunting for my next blood source. I happened on Sarah.” He shrugged. “She spoke to me!”

“That’s what you’re supposed to do when we meet someone.”

“She knew I was a vampire and I knew she was…” Matt explained. “This was over fifteen years ago. She knew Edwin and said I should meet others like us.”

“You’d never seen another vampire?”

He shrugged. “The other ones…that come out of the mines.” He nodded. “They didn’t talk.” He frowned. “There was another one back…I’m not sure how long ago, but his name was Jeffery. He was a bad, bad guy. He was with some others…they were like…some gang or something. They roamed together. I met him, though.” He chuckled as he scratched an ear. “I think they were in a gang before.”

“Are they still around?” I asked.

“No.” Matt shook his head. “They were killed.”

“Sarah got you to meet Edwin and the others.” I nodded. “That’s good. You weren’t alone.”

“I guess.” Matt nodded. “Sarah kept coming by here and well, we became friends…sort of.”

“What about the vampire that turned you?”

Matt smirked. “I killed him.” He smiled at the idea of killing that vampire. “I was hustling and he…well, he offered to pay me.” Matt smiled. “I thought he looked strange, but…I needed the money. I thought he was just kinky, but he bit me.” He frowned. “I remember I had this raging hard-on, but I knew he was doing more. I never did a trick without protection…” he smiled. “…and I don’t mean condoms. I had a knife. I slit his throat.” He laughed. “I worried about getting the clap or venereal disease…I never thought I get this.”

I nodded. “Taking the serum isn’t a cure, but you can have a life again.”

“But it hurts.” He grimaced. “I’m not big on pain.”

“Unfortunately, the serum restarts your heart. It has to hurt.”

“I probably will take it.” Matt said softly. “I just need…to prepare myself.” He looked at where he lived. “I’d offer you something, but I don’t drink anything but blood. I don’t have anything to offer.” He chuckled. “Basically, I live in a hole.”

I smiled. “We’re going to change that.”

There was a little hope in his eyes.

I remained with Matt until almost sunrise when he had to go down for safety.

“Will we see you tomorrow? You don’t need to worry, but we only have enough people to do the serum for one at a time. We can handle about five now. The vampires taking the serum must be watched. The next day, we begin again with a new one. They move upstairs the following night.” I held my hand out to him. “I think you should get to know us. We often go on patrol, but you can come by and observe what we do? You will be safe downstairs if you stay after sunrise.”

Matt nodded taking my hand but pulled me into a hug again. “I’ll be there.” He let me go and was about to turn away. He stopped and looked at me. “Thank you, Devon.” He said and went to the door and opened it to show stairs down and retreated from the horizon as it began to get brighter.

I drove back to Thornwood. Getting things ready for Colin to return, I got our bed ready and the things needed for a bath. I grinned as I heard our door open and the heavy sigh I knew before I turned around.

“What a night!” Colin said.

I smiled as I came over to him. “Busy?”

He frowned. “No, it was way worse.” He slumped in a chair. “Nothing.” He looked at me and smiled. “How was your night?”

I smiled. “It was…very interesting.”

“Interesting? Did he talk to you?” Colin asked and then he chuckled. “Why did I ask you that? Of course, he did.” He grinned. “Well? What did he say?”

“Matt’s not a bad guy.” I smiled. “He’s very smart and a survivor.”

Colin sat forward and rose. “Matt, is it?” He chuckled and he walked to me. “A new friend?”

I nodded as he wrapped his arms around me. “I think so.”

Colin nodded. “He wasn’t…uncooperative?” He kissed me. “Anything you can share?” He smiled. “Or would I be breaching doctor-patient privilege?”

I laughed. “I’m not a doctor, but he did tell me…” I thought about what Matt had said, “…some heavy things. No, I think he should tell you what that was. I can say, it’s not a wonder he doesn’t trust people.”

“He trusts you.” Colin was confident when he said that. “I knew if anyone could get through to him; you could. I trusted you when we met and that was before you were turned. Now, it’s almost…impossible to resist. Everyone we’ve dealt with, you had something to say that helped.”

“Not everyone.”

“Oh? You helped Alex, Willie, Amanda, and even Gabriella.” Colin said.

“You helped with Willie and Gabriella.”

“Willie I helped because you knew what I should say. You helped Gabriella, then afterward you helped her. Alex you keep calm as we dealt with him. Amanda was helped, again afterward and got through when no one else could.” Colin said. “You have a gift.”

“I just listen.”

“You do more than that.” Colin smiled kissing me.

I felt his hands moving over me trying to bring me closer. I loved this man.

We woke again and got something to eat. We were again in touch with Stan who gave us the next town. Sarah was on her next injection and was now staying upstairs. She looked much better. There was another vampire beginning the serum.

“We’ve been lucky so far,” Colin said before we went on patrol. “All the vampires we’ve found have been wild. What if we find one of those borderline vampires? Where do we put them? Are we going to capture them?”

“There is a place where we can put them,” Edwin said as he was going with us on patrol. “I doubt they can be convinced to change. If that’s the case we might be able to convince, what do we do?”

“We have those vampires in the United States,” I said. “They are transferred to a secure location.”

Edwin frowned. “You have the means to do that. You’re working with the FBI. We have no such connections.”

“You need a plan. Something you do with those that are borderline.” Colin said and sighed. “Our positions are clear. We don’t want to kill, but must occasionally. We have to come up with guidelines. It’s still ongoing.”

“There is the Royal Protection Office, but I don’t know if they are aware of vampires,” Edwin said grimly.

I shook my head. “So, no MI6 or Torchwood?” I grinned.

Edwin’s eyebrows rose. “Who?”

I chuckled. “That’s what they want you to say. No confirmation they exist.”

Colin rolled his eyes again but put his arm around my shoulder. “Devon watches too much TV. He keeps looking for the real James Bond and Jack Harkness.”

You could see that Edwin had no idea what we were talking about.

“Oh, come on!” I said in disbelief. “BBC? Popular movies or shows? You do watch TV now, don’t you?”

“I must have missed it.” Edwin grinned with a shrug.

“You have some catching up to do,” I said and looked at Colin. “A young Sean Connery or John Barrowman might tempt me.”

Edwin had a look that said he really had no idea what we were talking about. “Okay.”

I needed to catch Edwin up with pop culture.

We found out the vampires were not our only problem. We traveled south this time to the town of Harrogate.

“I’ll feel better when we have more locals on a team,” Shelly said. “They’d know this area better than we do.”

I nodded. “Well, Sarah supposedly can sniff them out.” I thought about Matt and wondered what he could add. I hope he’d come by Thornwood soon.

Alex sat forward. “Stop.” He said softly as if talking louder would scare off…whatever.

Shelly did slow down and stop.

“I smell one,” Alex said. “It’s close.”

We did cruise a little and saw a woman running. I mean, she was running, dressed for that and not a vampire. She was in shape and it was late. A run after work? Was she a target? I thought and shook my head. Of course, she was, she was alone and in shape. We were cutting through a more urban part. They stuck to the outskirts. Vampires usually didn’t come into town unless forced to because they couldn’t find available targets. This was a more densely populated area. I saw the shadow of someone following the woman.

“We need to get her to safety!” I said pointing at the runner.

Shelly looked at me. “And what do we say? There’s a vampire after you, run and hide!?”

“Just pull over!” Alex said urgently.

Shelly pulled right in the path of the woman, blocking her run. Getting out, she pulled the dart gun out. “You’re in danger,” Shelly said urgently to the running woman. I could only imagine what the runner thought seeing this leather pants wearing woman blocking her path. Shelly was brave, tough and she was pretty, but not exactly the touchy-feely kind of person. She had perfected the hard look she needed to do her job.

The woman stopped surprised. “What?”

“She couldn’t be more clear,” Alex said. “You’re in danger.”

The woman took out a small…something and held it out. “I’m ready. This is pepper spray.” She said and pulled out a wand looking thing and extended it. She held it up like she would use it on us.

"We’re not the danger,” I said. “Why are you running this late and alone?”

“Why is that your business? This time is the best for me.” The woman said. “There are times I can’t sleep and this helps.”

“You know there are things out in the area that can harm you?” I asked her.

“The only danger right now is you.” The woman said poising the spray to let whoever came at her first have the spray in the face.

Alex turned sensing where the vampire was. “It’s hiding.” He said frustrated. “It can sense us!” He walked toward some buildings. There was a pathway between the building as he looked into the darkness.

“Stay away!” The woman said firmly. “Don’t come any closer.”

Shelly had enough. “Look, lady. We’re not the threat, but if you don’t listen, you’ll find out what is.”

“It’s trapped,” Alex said softly. “It’s getting a little panicked.”

“What are you talking about?” The female runner asked. “What’s trapped?”

The vampire knew there was no way out, so it ran out. Alex pointed his sun gun at the approaching figure causing the vampire to shriek and shrink away in pain. It was female this time. Again, hygiene was not a big priority with the wild vampires. Covered in layers of dirt and grime, the vampire had stringy hair and a tattered dress on. She hissed, showing her fangs.

“That’s the threat!” Shelly said to the woman runner.

The woman’s eyes grew seeing the vampire for herself. Shelly aimed the gun and fired at the vampire hitting her leg on her upper right thigh with the dart. The vampire shrieked as she went down in pain. This was the first female wild vampire we’d faced and Alex had his knife out but…the idea of killing her was more difficult for him.

“What is that?” The woman asked as her eyes grew more.

Shelly frowned as she walked over to Alex. “What do you think?” She took the knife from Alex. “She’s a vampire.” She looked at Alex. “She’s not human.” She said to Alex. “Just because she’s female, you can’t do this?” Taking the knife she looked at the female vampire. “Can you talk?” She asked the vampire whose sole answer was a hiss. “Fine.” She reached down, pushed the head back on the vampire and slashed the throat; black ooze came out of the cut.

The female runner was looking horrified at everything she was seeing.

“Are you new here?” Shelly asked the runner.

“We moved here about two years ago.” The runner replied shakily.

“And no one told you not go out at night alone?” Shelly asked.

The runner just looked in disbelief as she watched the vampire slump and die. “I was warned…but I didn’t believe…” she pointed at the vampire. “I thought it couldn’t…the threat would have been human. I came out prepared.” She again showed her pepper spray and defense wand.

I walked over closer to her and said calmly. “I don’t know if the pepper spray would help. I’ve not known a vampire to be stopped by pepper spray.”

The woman shook her head. “I thought…the elderly lady next door said…I just thought she was being ridiculous.”

I nodded. “Perhaps you should listen to someone that has lived here a while. They may know more than you do.”

The woman again was shaking her head. “But this is impossible! They don’t exist!”

Shelly looked up giving the knife back to Alex. “So, what is this? You saw the fangs when it hissed. That was a vampire. There are a few here.” She waved back at the corpse of the vampire. “You saw. What else could it be?”

“You killed it.” The woman was rationalizing in her mind.

Shelly nodded. “Who would have killed you, if we hadn’t come by. Now, we should give you a ride home.”

The runner pointed. “But what about…that?”

“It’ll be ash by morning.” Shelly shrugged. “There could be others out. You need to go home and lock your doors and windows.”

“You’re Americans?” The runner asked.

I nodded. “Yes, and?”

The woman was done. She got in the SUV and gave us directions to her home and didn’t have much to say. We waited for her to get in the house and we left after we heard the lock being turned.

I sighed. “I almost wish the body of the vampires didn’t become ash so quickly.”

“Why?” Shelly asked.

“A vampire discovered in the urban area, seen by police or others might bring more attention and people like the woman tonight would pay more attention,” I said.

“But maybe bring unwanted attention to the ones we’re trying to get on the serum.” Alex pointed out. “People might kill those that aren’t even vampires thinking they could be. People get scared and panic.”

I nodded. “I suppose.”

Shelly looked at Alex. “You need to not worry about the gender of the vampire. That was a killer; plain and simple. Just because she’d female should have nothing to do with it.”

Alex nodded and smiled. “That’s why we have you, Shelly!”

We got back to Thornwood just after sunrise. I was told that Matt had stayed downstairs, so I went down. I was afraid he’d be out for the day but protected from the sun. He was up talking with Sarah who looked more human. She had some color back in her skin. Matt looked back at me and smiled.

“Sorry, we were patrolling last night,” I said to Matt.

Matt nodded. “You told me you did that.” He pointed at Sarah. “We were just talking.”

I grinned as I sat in an available chair. “There’s not a lot of room down here.”

Matt laughed. “It’s better than my hole.” He pointed to a cot they had put down here for him. “This is the closest I’ve had to a bed in a long time.”

“Devon?” I heard Colin call from upstairs.

“We’re awake,” I said. “Come on down.”

Colin came down the stairs and nodded at Sarah and Matt. “Edward told me you were down here.” He said to me and smiled at Sarah. “You look much better now that you’re on the serum.” He looked at Matt. “It’s good to see you, Matthew.”

Sarah smiled. “I ate for the first time yesterday. It was absolutely wonderful.”

“We need people to help,” I said to them. “We need more patrols.”

Sarah nodded. “I’ll help when I’m able.” She smiled as a young man came from the bedroom. “How is he?” She looked at me and Colin. “Oh, this is my gorgeous grandson, Evan.” She waved to us. “Evan, this is Colin and Devon. They’re the ones that are helping us.”

Again, the sight of seeing her grandson, who looked the same age as she did was what hit me first. I held my hand out to him. He was in his mid-twenties with light brown hair and green eyes, but his shade of green was much lighter than Colin’s.

“He’s fine.” He pointed to the bedroom. “It’s great to meet you.” Evan greeted, shaking our hands. “I couldn’t believe it until I saw Nana’s results.” He waved at his grandmother.

Colin looked at the room. “We need to make more room down here.” He smiled. “Or find somewhere else to put people.”

Matt grinned. “I don’t mind sharing.” He waved toward the bedroom. “I don’t think I will wake him up.”

“And we’re limited on staff to administer the serum.” I pointed out. “And they move upstairs after the first night.”

Colin gave a shrugging nod. “I suppose.” Then he put his arm around me. “Let’s grab a bite to eat and go upstairs.”

I grinned at Matt and Sarah. “He’s always hungry.”

Matt smiled. “And not for blood!”

I patted Matt on the arm. “And you need downtime.” I hugged him. “We’ll be down again later.”

Sarah nodded and also hugged Matt. “He’s right. I’m going back to bed…upstairs.” She smiled. “Rest well, Matt.” She yawned. “The sunrise this morning was amazing. Just wait until you can see one again.”

As we were eating…or rather, I ate but watched Colin eat a huge breakfast. I hadn’t developed the appetite he had. I smiled as George came with Burke and joined us at the table.

“Hello, guys.” Colin greeted happily.

“George,” I began. “I have a question. Is there a difference in the venom?”

George looked puzzled and I saw his eyebrows come together. “Not really. The vampire biting has changed the venom. Why?”

“The vampire that bites a person doesn’t make a vampire wild and another enables his victim to keep his humanity?” I asked. "Matt didn't have the urgency need for blood when I saw him after he woke up. Gabriella was being more protective, but said how powerful the desire was. Is there a difference?"

George shook his head. “I haven’t found that out.”

“We stopped a woman from being bitten by a wild vampire tonight,” I said. “Matt was bitten by a vampire that wasn’t wild, but able to seduce Matt,” I said thoughtfully. “I know that over time a vampire can go wild, but…I was wondering if the wild vampire’s venom is different.”

George sat back a little. “I don’t know. I can only test the venom after a vampire is made and that’s always a vampire that’s more human.”

“You’ve never gotten venom from a wild vampire?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I haven’t tried. They’ve all been killed as soon as we find them.”

“Sarah kept her humanity because she had a family she felt she had to go back to,” I said. “But Matt…he had such a horrible childhood but managed to keep his humanity. The vampire tonight was dressed in clothes that were relatively recent. Tattered, but not much. She was a vampire that turned and wild. I just wondered if there was a difference.”

George nodded as he thought. “There could be.” He chuckled. “I’ve never milked venom from a wild vampire. I suppose it would be the same as a snake.” He shrugged. “We’ll put it on the shopping list.”

“How can we do that?” Colin asked. “A victim of a wild vampire may not be cooperative and a dead vampire…How do we do that?”

“We’ll have to carry a sample container.” I shrugged.

“But venom doesn’t last long outside a body,” Colin said looking to George for confirmation.

George nodded. “It doesn’t.” He sighed. “It will have to be a victim.”

I frowned. “A victim that’s already bitten? That’s a shame.”

“But more likely,” Burke said. “All the victims I’ve encountered were bitten by a vampire that wasn’t wild.”

“Or…!” I said as I thought of it. “We capture one and bring it back here! If it needs to be alive, we have to catch one and bring them back.”

“Great,” Colin said not happy at all. “Now we’ll need a way of catching one and bring it back!?”

I nodded. “To study, yes.”

Colin looked at George. “Do you have the equipment here?”

“No.” George shook his head. “I can get it here, but no, I don’t.”

“We need to get the equipment,” I said. “And make a safe place to house the vampire.”

“And then what?” Burke asked. “We can’t keep it as a pet.”

“We can see if it can be reasoned with,” I suggested.

George sighed. “I’ll talk with Edwin.”

As we got to our room, Colin grabbed me, spinning me around. He pressed me against the door kissing me hungrily. It was nice, but I chuckled.

“Okay,” I said smiling. “That was because of what exactly?”

“I married a very smart man!” Colin said grinning.

I chuckled. “I know you were married once, but…”

Colin rolled his eyes. “I mean you, dummy.”

I grinned. “First you say I’m very smart and now you call me a dummy. That doesn’t make sense.”

Colin nodded smiling. “Yes, it does.” He said as his lips traveled over me as he made a path up from my neck back to my lips. “You came up with a plan to test the wild vampire’s venom. George has studied vampires for decades! I don’t know that it occurred to him there might be something in the wild vampire’s venom.” Then he gave me a sad smile. “But that comment after I said you were smart was dumb.”

I pulled Colin closer. “I guess I’m lucky you were the one to bite me. You’re very smart.”

Colin smiled. “You know I love you, right?”

I smiled. “Yeah? Care to show me?”

He grinned and unbuttoned his shirt. “Who else would I let play with this?” He showed his chest hair.

I laughed as my hands were just drawn to his chest. I loved the tickling my fingers got as I ran them across his chest. “That’s very good, but not what I had in mind.”

“What did you have in mind?”

I led him to the shower and we cleaned up quickly. We spent the next couple of hours proving our love for each other. At last, when what little energy we had left was spent and we were gasping for air after our very active loving. I pulled him into a tender kiss.

“That’s what I had in mind.” I smiled running my hand through his head of hair. “You proved you do love me. You know I love you.”

“You proved that, too.” Colin smiled. “We’ll do it again…after a few hours’ sleep.”