medieval look.” Micah snickered and then turned serious for a moment. “So you’re really gonna go join what’s his name’s war?”
“Oren? Perhaps.” Herrick stared into space and stroked his blond beard thoughtfully. “Benjamin and Des are already helping them.”
Micah crossed his arms over his chest and slouched down in his seat, his legs kicked out in front of him. “You gotta ask yourself, is this really our problem? I mean, fuck, I don’t even know who the guy is they’re fuckin’ fighting.”
“His name is Claudius. I don’t know if you’ve met him. He looks all of sixteen with a chip on his shoulder and a ruffled shirt.”
“Not ringing a bell.”
Herrick waved it away as unimportant and they fell into silence. Micah’s attention stayed on the woman in the too-short shorts. Eventually, she looked up and caught his eyes. An unspoken communication seemed to pass between them, and she stood and stretched languidly. “Stay out of trouble. Mommy’s gonna go have a cigarette around back.” With another meaningful glance at Micah, she strolled out the door, her hips swaying.
Micah was on his feet. He dumped a handful of quarters on the nearest table. “Toss ‘em in the dryer when they’re done.” Then he, too, disappeared.
“Of course, I don’t mind.”
No one was close enough to hear the comment, and no one cared, anyway. Herrick sighed and his thoughts turned to Caroline. She was probably still watching TV. It would be another hour before she crawled into bed, alone. Perhaps Micah was right. Perhaps he should knock on her door and confront her with the truth.
Then she can scream and reject me outright.
So much better.
He wasn’t sure when it had happened. One day she was a little girl and he was her neighbor. He’d never thought anything impure, or even romantic about her. She was just another in the long line of descendants that he kept an eye on. Sentimentality held over from his mortal days, perhaps. Or guilt. He hadn’t shared the gift of the vampire with his brother. Too late did he regret it, so now it was his duty to see that his brother’s line didn’t end. It was the closest he could give him to immortality.
Caroline left for college; a flush faced child with blond curls. He couldn’t remain the unchanging neighbor forever, and so he’d disappeared, too, though returned now and again, unseen, to make sure they were all right. It was four years before he saw Caroline again. Instead of a shy child she was a woman with stormy eyes and a temperament to match. He hadn’t even realized it was her at first, and by the time he did it was too late. Though she didn’t know it, she owned him.
The washer stopped. He jerked from his thoughts, gathered Micah’s wet clothes and stuffed them into the nearest dryer. The quarters clinked noisily, their echo giving more import to their existence than usual. Like the echo of Caroline’s door.
“Are you a Jedi?”
Herrick looked down and found one of the children staring up at him. The boy’s eyes were large and his hair was thick and curly. In another life he’d have been painted as a cherub. “What?”
“Are you a Jedi?” the child repeated. “You look like one.”
Out of touch, Herrick had no idea what a Jedi was, or if he resembled one. The reverence in the child’s eyes made it clear it was something splendid so he went along. “Yes. Well spotted.”
“I knew it!” The child was suddenly animated. “Where’s your light saber? Can I see it?”
Herrick was spared having to answer when a dark skinned vampire with short cropped hair skidded through the doorway. He lifted his sunglasses and his eyes snapped to Herrick. “We got trouble at Benjamin’s!” Then he turned and ran out the door again.
The boy’s excitement seemed to grow. “Is he a Jedi, too?”
“Yes, of course.” Herrick dumped the extra quarters in the child’s surprised hands. “When your mother returns, tell her crude, tattooed friend that I’ve gone to Benjamin’s.” He stopped himself from adding “if”. Micah wasn’t callous enough to drain the woman’s life when she had children so close by.
Benjamin’s motel was at the far end of town, not that it was much of a town. Herrick had come there following Caroline’s family; she was barely a baby then. He’d been more than a little surprised to find a local concentration of his own kind. Perhaps they unconsciously drew together, even while their conscious mind cried for solitude.
The shabby little town was perfect for them, though. The main attraction was Benjamin’s vampire-friendly motel, with its bank of windowless rooms in the back and Benjamin himself. Herrick didn’t know how many vampires he’d helped over the years, many of them fledglings whose masters had left them to stand on their own. Not to mention the food was easy. The town was small enough that wildlife was available on the fringes, while the highway brought in just enough visitors to keep the locals safe from those who preferred more human food and, should something go amiss, the cops were slow.
Or they were normally.
All three cars were already parked at the Rookwood Inn, lights flashing red and blue against the night sky. Herrick found Des standing a block away under a dark tree. “What’s going on?”
Des’s face was hard and furious. “They killed Benjamin.”
Herrick choked on his response. Who? Why? How?
Though the questions remained unasked, Des answered anyway. “It was that fucker Claudius’ goons. It had to be! Jorick found Benjamin in the office mangled and drained. He barely got the body out of the way before the fucking cops showed up.”
Herrick put a hand to his head. “Who called them?”
“Someone else in the motel? I don’t know! Fuck!”
Herrick’s eyes turned to the motel and then back to his friend. He tried to think rationally. “Why would it be Claudius?”
“Because Arowenia and Jorick’s human are both missing. Who else would take them?”
“Jorick has a human?” That was almost as shocking as the other news.
“Apparently. I don’t know! Ask Oren about it! They’re trying and get ahold of Elsa and see if she knows where they’ve been taken.”
It was too much information, too fast. “I thought Elsa refused to help them anymore?”
“I don’t know!” Des shouted. “Fuck!”
Micah was suddenly there. He skidded to a stop, a cigarette in his hand. “What in the hell is going on?”
Herrick took the helm. “Benjamin’s been killed. Arowenia and Jorick’s human are missing.”
Micah’s eyes bulged. “What the fuck? Benjamin? No, not- but-” He took a step backwards. “Who killed him? Was it that bastard Jorick? I know who he is, he’s that Executioner-”
“Was,” Herrick interrupted. “Long before you were born. And no, they think it was Claudius’ underlings.”
“Claudius. The dude with the chip and the ruffles?”
Des’s hands compressed to tight fists. “That’s him.”
“Then we fuckin’ kill Claudius!” Micah grabbed Herrick’s arm and started to pull him away. He stopped when the other vampire resisted. “What the fuck are you waiting for?”
Herrick cleared his throat loudly. “Claudius is much older than you and there are things to do here.”
“Like what?”
Herrick turned to Des. “Where is the body?”
“My house. I didn’t know what else to do with it.”
Herrick gave a satisfied nod. “Good. Come, then. We’ll see to this first, then we can worry about what steps to take.”
Micah’s eyes bulged. “Are you serious? They just fucking killed Benjamin and you’re worried about – what? Burying him? That can wait until tomorrow! Tonight we get blood!”
“Claudius’ blood will keep until tomorrow. Besides, no one knows where he is. He has several dens. Do you plan to visit them all? That would take days at best. If they’ve taken Jorick’s human, then Jorick will no doubt be on the hunt already. Let him do the legwork.”
Des nodded. “Yeah, though he’s wasting his time. His human is
dead. The whole place reeks of blood, but there isn’t any to be seen. Obviously they drained her and took the body as a trophy for Claudius.”
Herrick turned suddenly thoughtful. “Jorick and Claudius would be an interesting match. They’re very close in age. I can only imagine Jorick’s fury if he cares at all for the human.”
Micah exploded, “I can’t believe we’re having this fucking conversation! Who gives a shit about the human? They killed Benjamin!”
“Yes, Micah, we know.” Herrick glanced towards the police cars. “I suggest we go before they notice us loitering. I don’t want to be questioned.”
Herrick washed his hands. The water was red. It swirled around the sink and down the drain. He finished and stared in the mirror. His face looked young, frozen forever in his early twenties, but his eyes were old. Too old.
Des and Micah waited in the backyard, their hands in their pockets and their eyes on the frosty ground. It hadn’t rained here and the autumn leaves had been raked in crisp piles to create a bare patch of grass. They’d dug a trench, like a miniature moat. It was only a few inches deep but nearly eight inches wide. Instead of surrounding a castle, the miniature trench circled Benjamin, who looked as presentable as Herrick could manage. His face was torn and the side of his neck was ripped out, but the clotted gore had been neatly cleaned away and a scarf had gone a long way towards hiding his hurts.
“He looks… Nice.” Des suggested without really looking.
“Yeah, whatever.” Micah scuffed his feet in the leaves. “So now