Companions Of The Night Part 5

93."Don't tell me, blue is your favorite color" The Skylark was blue, too, though a darker shade "Blue is a wonderfully nondescript color for a car," Elhan said "n.o.body notices a blue car" The Shadow's engine rumbled to life "Handy trick," Kerry said "Where did you leam so much about cars?"

"Ah, it's something they teach us in vampire school" Be- fore she could think of a suitable reply, Ethan had stashed his breaking-and-entry tools in his pocket "Get in," he told her While she did, he doused the lights on the Skylark and transferred Regina's quilt-wrapped body to the backseat of the Shadow He'd also gotten the denim Jacket from Regina's car, probably while Kerry was busy torching Regina's house "Leftovers?" she asked as Ethan tossed it into the Shadow's backseat "From one of Regina's victims?"

"Possibly " Ethan shrugged "I certainly didn't know all of Regina's business It's history now"

At least (bat's wer, she thought once the evidence was safety in the new car But the instant he slammed the back door, Kerry saw a black-and-white police car turn into the parking lot I'm ifoiMf to get killed, she thought Either Ethan's <)oim) to="" np="" my="" throat="" out="" so="" 1="" can't="" tell="" thm="" anything,="" or="" we'll="" crash="" and="" burn=""><) a="" httfh-'spnd="" chase.="" or="" the="" police="" will="" open="" fin.but="" far="" from="" seeming="" perturbed,="" ethan="" walked="" slowly="" around="" the="" front="" of="" their="" newly="" acquired="" car="" to="" the="" pa.s.senger="" side,="" where="" he="" rapped="" his="" knuckles="" on="" her="" window="" incredulous,="" she="" rolled="" it="" down="" "do="" you="" have="" the="" form?"="" he="" asked="" "i="" didn't="" really="" fill="" it="" out,"="" she="">

"I should hope not" He took it from her and stood there 94.as though checking what she'd written then he dropped it into the mail-slot-like opening in the service department's door The police car was cruising the lot, shining a light in the salesroom Stilt not hurrying, Ethan got into the car beside her "How about stopping for an ice cream?" he asked "You're not taking this seriously enough," she told him, even though the police showed no inclination thus far to arrest them or to open fire "But I am We still have too much time I don't want to go to the swamp until as late as possible, to lessen our chances of being seen " Ethan pulled out of the parking lot "Don't look back," he warned "I'm watching" After a few moments, he said, "They're not following us "

Kerry put her hands over her face "1 can't stand this "

"Nonsense," he told her "You're a natural"

Which was not an encouraging thought "Why are we headed back toward Rochester?" Kerry asked"More traffic this way, JUSI in case we were followed Be- sides, I promised you ice cream "

"This is not a date "

He just laughed They stopped at a restaurant, where he insisted on buying her a sundae After looking at the menu as though unable to make up his own mind, he finally told the waitress, "I'll just have a decaf" He smiled charmingly "Afraid of staying up all night?" Kerry asked He turned the smile on her 'Tell me about school," he said instead of answering "Why?"

95."What else are we going to talk about in here? What electives are you taking? What do you hope for out of life?"

"Oh no" She set down her gla.s.s of water so firmly the water sloshed over the rim and onto her hand "I'm not going to have you sit there and judge me and decide if my life is worthwhile"

"All right, then," he said equably "Have you seen any good movies lately?"

She glared at him wanly, wondering why he wanted to know, how he could possibly use this information against her The sundae came and once she smelled the hot fudge, she found that beyond all reason she was hungry after all How can I bt hungry when I don't even know if my family is still alive?

she chided herself When I don't know whether I'll still be alive by the end of tbt night? But it seemed silly to go hungry until then, just to spite EthanMeanwhile, Ethan carried the conversation by himself, chattering about movies and TV and books and current events He poured sugar and cream in his coffee, occasionally ran his finger around the rim or otherwise played with it but never drank a sip "Can we go?" she finally asked, as a group of bizarrely dressed young people came in, loud and laughing and ob- viously regulars "It's the Rocky Horror Picture Show contingent," Ethan said brightly It was a relief for Kerry to learn they were apparently in costume and didn't normally dress that way, considering the makeup that some of them were wearing, boys as well as girls Two or three had toilet paper draped over their shoul- ders It wasn't a relief that a couple of them waved and Ethan waved back "Friends of yours?" she asked 96."Not the way you mean," he answered "Have you ever been " He let the question drift off and gave her one of those evaluating looks "No, I don't suppose you have You really should consider having some fun once in a while"

"How dare you-"

But at least he was getting up, paying, leaving She followed, scowling at the group of teenagers, unable to think of any way to warn them away from Ethan Outside, it was even colder than she had remembered, and her breath came out frostily Apparently by this time Ethan had enough confidence that she wouldn't lock him out that he let her get in the car in the normal way He even held the door for her Then again, she remembered, he had his lock picks in his pocket"Ceez, Kerry," he said, still in his just-an-average-guy - out-on-a-date mode, "you've really got to develop your con- versational skills"

Of all the nerve "If you talked about something important-," she started "We can talk about important things now that we're alone," he said, starting the car "What shall we discuss?"

"The possibility of Regina's body getting blood all over the backseat of this car"

From infunatingly cheerful, Ethan went straight into an- gry "First of all," he said, "so what? Second, dead bodies don't bleed it's the beating of the heart that causes blood to move through veins and arteries" Considering the way he generally kept his voice soft and even and unemotional, she was stunned by his vehemence, though she had no idea what he was so vehement about "And third, there's no blood left in Regina's body anyway"

"What are you saying?" she asked Suddenly the ice cream 97.sundae seemed to collect in the pit of her stomach like a solid lump. "You drank from her?" she whispered "No" Ethan gave her a look that indicated he was as horrified as she "No," he repeated "Vampires can't drink each other's blood?" she asked.

"Of course they can drink each other's blood," he said "How do you think-" He cut himself off "But she was dead That'd be like "Never mind," she told him By the look on his face, she didn't want to hear whatever a.n.a.logy he came up with "It would be worse than drinking an animal's blood.""Vampires don't drink animal blood?"

He shook his head She guessed. "Or . collected blood from the Red Cross?"

It the idea of drinking someone's blood did awful things to her stomach, apparently the suggestions she was making were doing the same things to his He pulled off the side of the road Alarmed, Kerry backed up against the door, but he put his hands out in a conciliatory gesture "I only want to explain," he said "It's important you understand" He paused as though trying to organize his thoughts Obviously this was something vampires didn't need to discuss between themselves, and just as obviously it wasn't something they normally shared with humans Ethan was speaking hesitantly, having a hard time putting this into words "It's not just the nourishment from the blood itself There's " He ran his hands through his hair, a nervous gesture she hadn't seen from him before As though he re- alized what he was doing and wanted to hide this sign of strain, he rested his elbows on the steering wheel, not looking directly at her anymore, except to steal quick glances He had his hands together, the fingers steepled, which almost 98.looked like praying Perhaps he had the same thought, for he shifted position, clasping his fingers together "There's a physical and mental bond, a sharing of the spirit, for lack of a better word Kerry took in a deep breath "I think I've heard this line from the boy who took me to the harvest dance"

Ethan laughed with what sounded like genuine amuse- ment, which was disconcerting because she hadn't meant to be funny "There 15 a similarity" He looked at her appraisingly, as though trying to gauge how experienced she wa.s.she folded her arms in front of her chest, determined to keep him wondering, before she realized that her gesture had probably told all Ethan said, "Sometimes, not always-but with the right partner-vampires mix the two acts s.e.x and the drinking of blood Either of itself is very pleasurable, but the com- bination "

Parked on the side of a dark road, Kerry didn't like the direction this was taking, even though Ethan was showing no inclination to demonstrate She said, "I'm sure praying mantises and black widow spiders feel the same "

"Difficult to say " Ethan was close to laughing again, this time at her, she was sure "But it is pleasurable for both parties "

He shrugged "Or it can be As with humans, there are always those who take their enjoyment from violence "

"You're saying it's pleasurable because you're a vampire,"

Kerry said "If another vampire dnnks your blood, you don't die I think that makes a pretty significant difference "

For some reason that startled him Then he said, "Kerry, a vampire doesn't kill every time he feeds "

She had no idea whether to believe that "A vampire needs to take a little bit more than your 99.Red Cross does during a blood donation, not much more than a pint It leaves the human slightly lightheaded, a bit weak But exhilarated Even without the s.e.x "

Kerry was skeptical "How many vampires do you think there are?" he asked That seemed a trap "I have no idea""Good answer" Again the light laugh, which might or might not have been sincere "But consider one vampire, one unexplained death per night, how long would it take for people to get suspicious?"

He had a point She said, "Are you trying to tell me you've never killed anyone?"

"Would you believe that?" he asked, his eyes wide with innocence She was tempted, but "No," she said "Good" He laughed "I'm glad you're not that gullible "

"So why do you kill if it isn't necessary?"

"Ah, but it is necessary periodically Without taking blood, the vampire becomes unable to think of anything besides his all-consuming need, which just grows and grows until even- tually he loses what you humans would so arrogantly term 'his humanity ' He becomes like a beast, tearing unthinkingly into the first available victim, and doesn't even recognize until too late if that victim should be his own parent or child or lover He'll feel devastated, afterward, with their blood cours- ing through his veins However, even with a steady diet of blood, too long between kills and the vampire becomes men- tally and physically sluggish He gets weaker and weaker, unable to move, unable to rise out of bed, until finally he's unable even to take the few breaths a vampire needs to survive It's more than the nourishment; it's the draining of the life force. Feeling the echo of another person's thoughts and 100.memories, which is just as life-sustaining to us as the blood itself And besides She pressed, because he was in a much more open mood than usual "Besides ?"

"You won't like it" He put the car into drive and pulledback onto the road "Killing is very pleasurable"

Consider yourself fairly warned. Kerry thought "So what does all this have to do with Regina?"

"Nothing," Ethan said "You're the one who brought up vampires' feeding habits "

"You're making me crazy, do you know that?" Kerry said She could never get the upper hand with him, not even for a minute She forced the frustration out of her voice, deter- mined not to give him the satisfaction "So you're saying that another vampire could have killed her, a blood-starved vampire-or just a slightly perverted one-who drained her, then cut off her head to make it look like vampire hunters?"

"No"

"A vampire wouldn't do that?" Kerry asked, between sar- casm and bitterness Ethan said, "It was the sun that killed her before the decapitation"

"How can you tell"'"

"By how little blood was on the sheets, and the way they were all mussed, as though she struggled A vampire's sleep is very deep No restless tossing and turning as in hu- mans' sleep Sunlight is all that could have wakened hei prematurely"

"Not even " It was hard to say out loud "Not even getting her head cut ofh" Kerry asked incredulously There have been such cases," Ethan told her, "and there were no signs of struggle "

101.

He should know. Unless, of course, he was lying- For *II she knew, vampires weren't nearly as sensitive to sunlight ashe indicated. For all she knew, he could have donned sun- gla.s.ses and opened the shutters himself. She tried to work it out, with him killing Regina and trying to use her as an alibi when the other vampires came looking, but that seemed need- lessly complicated even by vampire standards.

She said, "I a.s.sumed you spent the night with her You know."

He gave her another of those incredulous 1-can't-bclieve- 1-heard-you-say-that looks- "Regina and me?"

"I a.s.sumed," she repeated, feeling like an idiot.

"No."

Fine, she thought. But don't pull that W]io7-R.a)ina-and-me?

routine on me. when you get all twitchy every time her name comes up.

She said, "So these vampire hunters want me because . . . ?"

"Clearly, because you helped me escape and they a.s.sume you're one of us."

"Clearly," Kerry repeated. "And what are they likely to have done with my family?"

That's something else to figure out along the way." Ethan shook his head. "I've been trying to fit Leviticus seventeen- ten into it, and I'm not coming up with anything."

"What?" Kerry asked.

The message on your wall," Another of those looks. "Be- neath the part where they said they had your family."

Kerry remembered there had been letters and numbers she hadn't been able to figure out.

"It's the Biblical injunction against the taking of blood,"

Ethan explained "I certainly had it quoted to me enough when they captured me. 'If anyone partakes of any blood, It02 will set myself against that one and will cut him off from among my people.'"

"The laundry owner." Kerry said. "He's always been real religious. . - " She saw the look Ethan was giving her and petered off. "You and Regina killed him that night, didn't you? And his wife, and Roth, and Sidowski"

"Sister," Ethan corrected. "You left out Ken Kelada, the one I killed while they were in the process of capturing me- But apparently there was at least one more."

Ken. She remembered the laundry owner on the phone, telling Marcia, "Ken's dead," and Sidowski's accusation "He broke his neck, just like that." Ethan had denied it, back when it never occurred to her to doubt him. She had thought she was getting used to the idea of violence, but five people dead so far, not counting Regina- Ethan was watching her. "I told you you wouldn't like it,"

he said.

103.

CHAPTER TEN.

THEY TURNED OFF onto a road that was gravel for a while, then simply dirt T.

"Welcome to Bergen Swamp," Ethan said "Looks like woods to me," Kerry said Ethan grinned at her "Ah, but that's until you step in- to it"

Eventually, when the road was more rutted gra.s.s than din, he pulled over to the side"What if there are hunters?" Kerry asked They'd pa.s.sed two other cars parked closer to the main road "I'll be aware of them long before they sec us," Ethan a.s.sured her "Us?" That was an unpleasant surprise, and she didn't get 104.

out of the car as he opened the back door and flung Regina's remains over his shoulder Surely he wasn't worried that she'd try to escape when they were miles from anywhere "What if there are hunters?" He threw back her own question at her "Do you want to be alone in the car, trying to explain what you're doing here?"

"I could explain I'm waiting for my " Kerry choked on boyfriend and subst.i.tuted, "someone "

"It might work" Ethan smiled at her "With certain hunters"

Kerry didn't like the line of thinking that started "I'd advise you to stay very close," Ethan said "Step where I step Feel free to hold on to the back of my belt There art patches of quicksand"

She scrambled to get untangled from the seatbelt before he got too far ahead "Waif" she yelped One step out of the car and already she was so deep into something that she nearly walked out of her shoe Ethan turned around with a glare for all her noise "Don't-"

"Make a nuisance of myself," she whispered "I know I'm sorry Please don't walk so fast 1 can't see as well as you can "He gave her a chance to get back into her shoe, and when she was ready, she took hold of the hem of his jacket She did her best to walk as quietly as he did, but even stepping into his footprints she made more noise than he did "Are you sure you know where you're going?" she asked Trust me," he said She was beginning to hate it when he said that "I've lived in the area all my life I know every inch of it."

A lot of inches, she thought They walked, it seemed, forever Things scurried just out 105.

of sight-at least out of her sight The underbrush near them crackled ceaselessly Probably bnt not to ask. she thought, pic- turing snakes-which were admittedly unlikely in the middle of the night, with winter setting in-and rabid racc.o.o.ns And other vampires Would Ethan protect her from other vam- pires? Could he?

Finally, in a spot that looked just like every other, Ethan stopped He set Regina's body on the ground, then stooped down Nol praying. Kerry thought-do vampires pray?-but studying the land, and the sky, and the land again "Is this a good place?" she asked "I don't know," Ethan snapped, testy again He rested his face in his hand "I've never done this kind of thing before"

He pushed the hair away from his forehead, and she saw that his hand was shaking He sighed "1 have no idea what I'm doing"

Which was both a relief and a concern "Never had to dispose of a dead vampire's body before?"

she asked"Never had a vampire 1 knew die," he corrected Vampire life-with its secret computer messages, and its blue cars, and its absolute dread of the discovery that could doom all-had sounded, despite the potential for immortal- ity, like a fragile, precarious existence She was surprised he'd never experienced the death of one of his compatriots before "Ethan "

He sighed, burying his face in his hands "Ethan. how long have you been a vampire?"

He shook his head "Almost a year," he whispered It was not what she expected It was not at all what she expected But it explained a lot She crouched down beside him and put her hand on his t06 shoulder Through the leather jacket she could feel his hard muscles but not the coldness of his skin. "How did it happen?"

"I don't want to talk about it" He stood abruptly and took a few steps, but there was no room in which to pace With his arms folded and his shoulders hunched, he looked as young and vulnerable as he had that first night.

Finally he said, "My brother and I were driving from the college to the city, to sec the New Years Eve fireworks down- town over the Ccnesee River It was my first year away from home I was a freshman Peter, a senior." He paused, as though unsure whether to continue Whatever was coming next caused him to speak with his teeth on edge "Out in the middle of nowhere we pa.s.sed by this car stopped by the side of the road, the hood up, no flares or anything It was a couple of kids. the girl lookedabout your age, the boy maybe seventeen, eighteen " Ethan momentarily closed his eyes "Peter felt sony for them He stopped, circled around, pulled up alongside The girl came to my window Her eye makeup was all"-he gestured vaguely-"running She looked like she'd been crying and she said they'd been stuck out there for hours and n.o.body would stop So we said we'd take a look, and we got out of our car"

Ethan turned his back to her to compose himself When he turned back, his voice quavered "The boy had a gun He shot Peter three times, and me twice." He shuddered, tight- ening his arms across his stomach, so Kerry was sure, though he didn't say it, that that was where he'd been shot "They went through our pockets, took our wallets, and when Peter tried to get up, they shot him one more time, in the head, and drove off in our car 1 managed to crawl to Peter's side . but he was dead already I was sure I was going to 107.

die, too And then a car pulled up I thought it was them again " Once more his voice quavered "But it was this beautiful lady Regina She came and sat down there on the side of the road She put my head in her lap and stroked my hair, and she told me I was dying, which i knew already And she told me that, if I wanted, she could stop the pain And she said, if i wanted, she could help me live " He covered his face and finished the story speaking into his hands "I was so frightened, I said I wanted to live "

"How awful," Kerry said, hardly able to speak out loud "Oh, Ethan " She shook her head, knowing that she could never get the words right to let him know how sorry she was She thought again of everything he'd said and done since they first met, and she realigned it all to fit with this beginning And yet And yet "But ," she said, "you've been a vampire at least longenough to change your ident.i.ty once "

He looked at her over his clasped hands "You identified yourself as Michael for the other vam- pires "

"Ah," he said equably, "there is that"

She was no longer hesitant "And when we were just getting out of the car, you said you'd lived in the area all your life, not that you came here for college "

He shook his head, not looking at all contrite "You do have me there," he admitted, walking back to Rcgina's body "d.a.m.n you'" Kerry said He just smiled She was almost willing to try kicking him for making her feel so wretched 108.

He waved her back "I'm going to take her out of the wrappings," he warned "I hate you," she said "That'll probably work out for the best"

It may well have been the most honest thing he'd said to her so far Once more, as he stooped down before the body. she wondered if vampires prayed, or if it would be appropriate to pray for a vampire But Ethan )ust tumbled the body out of the wrappings like someone unrolling an area rug to air it out, and Kerry grimaced, unable to look away before making out what she already knew, that there were two separate pieces Immediately the body and head began to sink in thequicksand "There's a creek a few minutes' walk this way " He pointed "We'll throw the pillow and the nightgown in there " It was the first she realized he must have undressed the corpse back at the house "We'll drop off the rest of the bedding a little bit here and a little bit there"