Blueblood: A Dark Southern Aristocracy - 24. New York City's Dark World

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 to the door we came in and tried it. There was the single little hole for a key, no knob. He was not getting out that way. He resumed his search for another way out.

“He seems not to be able to do anything but look for blood and safety,” I said watching the vampire look.

“We will probably have to terminate him,” Colin said sadly.

I shook my head. “Why is he like this?”

George’s voice came over the speaker. “Come back, please?”

Colin nodded and went to the door, which opened to let us out. Which the vampire turned to charge the door, but the guard there shined a sun gun at him making him hiss again and shy away back to the other side of the room.

Getting back, we went to a comfortable place in the VUN to talk with George and the senator.

“I hate to say it, but he may be a lost cause,” Colin confessed.

The senator shook his head. “I don’t understand. What happened to him?” He waved at Colin. “As I understand it, you lived for a while as a vampire, but you were never wild, were you?”

Colin shrugged. “I don’t think so.”

“Gabriella was going that way,” I said.

Colin nodded. “But she still had some humanity in her.”

The senator, who normally wore a nice suit, looked so much different this time of night. He was casually dressed in a polo style shirt and jeans. He even appeared younger! I could tell he had been a jock in high school or college, maybe both! Football was my guess. “Whoa, whoa…” he held up his hand. “How is he different? He’s a vampire. So are you all. What’s different?” He nodded. “I saw he was nonverbal, I saw him look like an animal. What’s different about him versus you?”

George frowned as he sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “In some…like this one…the venom just takes over. Every thought and movement is to get blood. The difference is the purpose.” He glanced at Colin. “You held on to your humanity for a purpose. What was it?”

“To restore Wentworth Manor.” Colin grinned. “You know that.”

George nodded. “I held on because I wanted not to be a vampire and I thought I could do that with time.” He sat back smiling. “Gabriella was trying to hold on by keeping Wentworth Manor safe, at least what was left." He pointed toward the room with the unknown vampire. “He didn’t have a purpose, I suppose or lost it over time. He may not have had friends or family. Now he’s operating on instinct alone. Now, it’s get up, seek prey and go back for the day and do it again the next day.”

The senator nodded. “But we’re talking about executing a person. Isn’t he deserving of some rights? Even animals have rights.”

I shook my head. “Do they? An animal has rights, but if a dog has a disease or something else that can’t be cured, he’s put down to protect others and end his suffering. This creature in there has a disease.”

“We’ll try to reach him,” George said. “But I don’t hold out much hope for this one.”

Colin sighed. “There is no criteria to follow about this. No laws for us to follow. There is a danger in that room. He attacked an innocent girl because he needed her blood. Now, we have another vampire to deal with.” He looked at the senator. “If you know a better way, we’re listening.”

The senator shook his head. “This is unknown territory for me. When you told me what you were, I thought you were all just crazy. Creatures like what you said you were, is fiction.” He thought. “I see you’re not. I agree with George on one level. This can’t get out. If people know about this, there will be a panic.”

“And there will be those that want to be a vampire on the serum because they’ll live forever,” I added.

Colin nodded. “He’s right. There will be those that want it just to stay young indefinitely.”

The senator chuckled. “I admit to being tempted myself.” Then he rubbed his not so thin middle. “But I’d like to be thin, young and have my brown hair back. Do that…” he chuckled to George. “…and I might consider it again. Not to mention, if we have those living a lot longer, there’s housing and a whole new department is going to be erected. Social Security will change…it will be messy.” He thumbed toward where we had Amanda. “What about her?”

George nodded. “I called Ursula. She’s a vampire, too. She’s coming to talk to her.”

“Will she be able to go home?” The senator asked.

“It will be a month or so before we consider it,” George said. “She’ll need to start the serum and then I need to tailor the serum to her, make the disc for her and then we’ll talk about her going back.”

The senator nodded. “Basically, the life she had, is over.”

Colin shrugged a nod. “She can pick up that life, but yes. It’s over. We don’t know her family…does she have a mother and father? Any siblings? I know she has a boyfriend. Things will change. For now, she’s a missing person in Manhattan. Police will be looking, but like many, not found.”

“Is there a counselor for this?” The senator asked.

George shook his head. “No, but we need one. There is no psychologist on staff, but we may need to look to have one.”

The senator nodded and then yawned. “Sorry, but I sleep at night.” He grinned. “If you do have to euthanize him. Do it humanely?”

George nodded. “As we would for any animal.”

“But we’ll try to reach him first, right?” I asked.

“But he’s killed before, I know he has,” George said. “If he does regain his humanity, there could be guilt feelings. If not, does he deserve the serum?”

The senator stood up sighing wearily. “You’ve got your work cut out for you.” He reached over and shook our hands. “I’ll leave you to it. Good night.”

After the senator left, I turned to George and Colin. “How did these two get here? Who brought them in?”

George nodded. “It was a fluke, really. One of our guards was going home when he heard the scream. He followed the scream to an alley where she was being fed on.”

“It wasn’t a subway?” Colin asked as if he suspected she was.

George shook his head. “It was dark, but it was in the open air.”

“Meaning, this vampire came out from somewhere.” Colin pondered. “We should have Alex sniff around. See if there are more.”

George nodded. “Let’s do it in the morning.” Then he grinned. “I should get back to John.”

Colin grinned back. “Things are good with that?”

George just gave a look that said it was very good. “Good night!”

I might have been a vampire now, but we got tired after a while. Going back to our apartment was now so much better. “Amanda is being taken care of?”

Colin nodded. “She’s being given a room. A chair and bed even.”

“But under guard,” I said knowing it was true.

“To keep her safe and keep her from becoming a predator.” Colin nodded. “She’s been given the serum. She’s on the road to…whatever life she can have.” He smiled.

“Does she have a choice?”

Colin shook his head. “No. Either she takes the serum or we let her become a vampire.” He stated simply.

“If she chose to be a vampire?” I asked.

Colin frowned. “You’re asking the right questions, I just don’t have any answers.” He raised an arm and sniffed. “I need a shower.”

“We were interrupted earlier,” I said turning to lead him as I walked backward. “Now, I’ll join you.”

Colin smiled knowingly. “You’re going to wash my back?”

I gave him a leering grin. “Whatever you need to be cleaned.”

He grinned more. “I can think of some places that could use a good cleaning.” He pulled me to him kissing me. “I’ll return the favor.”

The romance was still alive between us. Colin and I had gotten caught up in events that happened, but he was still just as passionate as always. I was just attracted to him as when we first got together. It was a loving time we had before we surrendered to sleep at last.

When we got up, I was surprised to see Gabriella was here. She was cooking breakfast!

“When did you get in?” I asked.

“Last night.” She answered. “I missed you.” She offered as an explanation.

I nodded knowing that may be partly true, I knew who she missed. “You did? Then why am I only seeing you now?”

She grinned. “Well, I ran into Alex and he and I went out.” She looked at me. “You and Dad were gone most of the night.”

I told her what happened and she shook her head. “That poor girl.” She said echoing the senator’s remark. “That’s horrible.”

I smiled. “Well, maybe you can help her.”

Gabriella looked surprised. “Me?”

“You were turned, too.” I pointed out. “You’re a woman. She might like to hear from someone that’s in the same position she is now.”

Then Colin came in and did the same thing. Finding out she was here and that she and Alex had gone out.

“Wait,” Colin said. “You came to New York by yourself?”

Gabriella nodded with a chuckle. “I went on the Internet, booked a flight and went to the airport and here I am!”

Colin nodded. “I like that, but you were okay?”

She nodded. “I was. Alex and I had a nice night of dinner, dancing...that was fun, the dancing was new to both of us. It was so free. I liked it....and…” she stopped as she smiled at her father and didn’t say more.

Colin frowned. “I know it will happen, but do I need to hear about it?”

Gabriella laughed. “I know what you and Devon are doing!” She pointed out. “I’m just keeping you in the loop. He’s a nice man, Daddy.”

I chuckled. “You said when she was forty you’d consider having someone touch her. I think she’s past that.”

Colin growled. “That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“You like Alex!” Gabriella said pointed out.

“And I liked John!” Colin said. “It took me years to get used to you and he…” Colin hesitated. “…doing things.” He looked around the apartment. “Where is Alex, by the way?”

Gabriella’s eyes sparkled. “Still in bed.”

Colin grunted hearing that. “We need him to investigate where Amanda was attacked. We need to find out more.”

Gabriella nodded and walked toward her room. “I’ll get him up, Daddy.” She smiled kissing Colin on the cheek and walked on to the room that she and Alex had shared more than a bed.

We descended to the street and took a cab to the area where Amanda had been attacked. Colin knew where we were, but I didn’t. There were a lot of warehouse space and other businesses. I watched as a woman that wore the same sort of uniform Amanda had worn walking down the sidewalk.

“Amanda worked near here,” I said out loud to no one. “That would explain why she was attacked here. Where did that vampire come from?”

Alex looked where we were told was the very spot. We even saw some dried blood that had to have been Amanda’s. “He was a messy eater,” Alex said sadly. He sniffed. “I don’t get much from here. He might have just come by. No other vampires do I sense.” He looked in another direction. “I get the feeling…” he said walking a little in that direction. “Yes. He came from that way.” He said and led us to a manhole cover. “From under this.”

“You can sense that?” I asked amazed.

“I can smell him,” Alex said as he smiled. “It’s like a dog they use for tracking criminals or locate someone missing. There’s a definite trail to here Vampires have a unique, recognizable smell.”

I sniffed. “I don’t smell anything.”

Colin smiled. “Well, a vampire’s senses are enhanced when he’s turned. Because Alex was a good tracker before, he’s even better now.”

“Like you’re ability to sense a person’s character before you were turned.” I nodded but shrugged. “I didn’t have anything like that, so…”

Colin pulled me into a hug. “You’re very resourceful. Don’t think you were shortchanged. But you weren’t a vampire that long, not a hunting one, but your senses were enhanced. You’ll find out when it’s needed.”

This street was busy, so we looked for another entrance down a less traveled street. Colin looked for something to lift the cover. Using that, we lowered ourselves in the underground. Pulling the cover back I watched Alex sniff again.

“That way.” He pointed and we walked. This was a drainage passage for rain and other things, not a sewer, but my nose told me there was something else.

“Is the smell sort of musty?” I asked.

Alex nodded. “Yes! It’s very strong here.” He pointed to the area around where we walked. “There is little ventilation, so the smell would have been contained more.”

I raised my eyebrows. “That’s what a vampire smells like?”

Alex nodded. “That one, yes.” He sniffed again. “It’s getting stronger, this is the correct direction.” And then stopped. “And more.” He sniffed. “I’m getting another smell.”

I sniffed, too. To describe it, I have to be able to describe an odor. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but there was another musty smell, but different. The two combined, but I could smell two different smells. “He had company?”

Alex shrugged. “Or at least two who traveled the same path.”

Intersections below street level with pipes that ran around these...paths, tunnels? It was bricked and concrete. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, they had to intersect. Now I was getting more scent.

“There are more?” I said suddenly in surprise.

“A few more.” Alex nodded. “You do have the enhanced senses.”

Now, to tell you what we found, there was an opening we saw. It was a break in the passage that was not more than a crack, but a person could slip through. That led down to a subway. Was the crack manmade? It may have been natural, but made bigger by humans…or vampires. I was now sensing five or six vampires. Again, there were breaks down here which we followed.

“Can any of you get a signal? Bars?” I asked looking at my phone. “If we run into trouble…they were human and will strike back with human abilities. I have the feeling we’re heading for a nest.”

Colin nodded. “We’re prepared.” He pulled what looked like a walkie-talkie. “This will get through. It doesn’t use a satellite.” Another break and Alex sniffed again and went in. This was a cavern. No signs of man here, just rock. We had traveled a few miles down here, I thought. Now, though, Colin wasn’t following Alex, but leading the way. He knew his way here! I had no idea where we were. A portion suddenly opened and we looked around. Now the smell was very strong. It was daylight out now, if they were here, they’d be asleep…or whatever.

I was also surprised that even with as little light down here, I could see! Colin had said we had better sight than a cat in the dark. I hadn’t noticed it at night before, it was just dark out, but I now saw enough. Then I saw them. There were people down here. All laying like they were asleep. I began counting. There were ten! Male and female at various ages, but looking for anyone else to see them…as dead!

Colin grabbed me and Alex, forcing us back through the break. Now, I heard a train or subway car in the distance. “We need to get out of here. One or two we could handle, maybe, but if we woke them now, we will probably get killed.”

“You lived down here, didn’t you?” I asked. “That’s why you really didn’t need Alex and knew where to go.”

Colin nodded. “Here and another place. You can see it’s always dark here.” He walked faster down the passage and the sound of the subway was getting louder. “I lived somewhere else down here in the thirties. This one became available in the fifties when they built the new tunnels for the subway.” He pushed me through another break and we traveled again until we were in a hallway. At a door, he pushed it open. We were on a subway platform. He looked and nodded. He pressed the walkie-talkie and spoke. “We found a nest.” He reported and gave the subway location. “We need to get an extraction team here. If not now, tomorrow night.”

The reply was a man I didn’t know. “We should do it now. If you were down there, they’ll smell it when they wake up and relocate. I’ll get a team there as soon as possible. How many?”

“Ten.”

There was a pause. “We’ll get help there. Do we extract? Or end it?”

“If they wake up and talk, extract. If they just attack, end it.”

“If they talk, extract. If they attack, end it.” Colin said with a tone I hadn’t ever heard. Bitterness and anger.

“You knew where to find them, didn’t you?” I asked pulling Colin around. “There are more, aren’t there?”

“Once we got here…” He nodded. “Yes. A few of those vampires in there, I knew.”

“And the other place?” I asked.

He nodded. “I’ll show you.”