Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2021 14:42:38 -0500
From: Richard McQueen <mcqueen.richarderic@gmail.com>
Subject: Blueblood: Dracula, Chapter 7 Planning Strategy

Story: Blueblood: Dracula

Chapter 7 Planning Strategy

Author: Eric McQueen (mcqueen.richarderic@gmail.com)

Adult Readers, Sexual Situations, Sex

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Dr. Petran and Sorin Deluca have things explained and are shown proof. Together with Dragon they make plans to move forward.

Planning Strategy

Sorin was looking at Dr. Petran as if to question her sanity. "You believe
this!?" He asked her in disbelief.

Dr. Petran cocked her head at him. "Give me another explanation." She said
quickly. "I'm a doctor, Sorin. I'm not some silly little girl afraid of
vampires. There is something in their systems I couldn't explain. When they
told me, I had a hard time believing them." She waved at Dragon and the
others there. "They are vampires. Surely you see that."

Sorin was like Dr. Petran and many others. He saw what was in front of him,
but his mind was having difficulty letting it sink in. "They are just
stories." He said as he worked it over in his mind. "My grandmother told me
about them, but..." he shook his head. "They were just stories."

"When I was first bitten," Colin said. "I knew of one other." He said
softly. "He bit me to destroy me. Then I found out he bit my daughter." He
waved to Gabriella who waved at Sorin. His eyes grew having the same
reaction even I had with the age problem. "I met others during the
war...the American Civil War. They were just feeding. Wild. I was not one
of them." He smiled. "I left home, found others...there are literally
thousands of us out in the world." He walked over to
George. "This...brilliant man...came up with a serum...it doesn't take the
vampire out of us, but it puts it to rest." He grinned. "You, Dr. Petran,
Chuck, Shelly, Mark and his partner Stan, who is back at the house on his
computer watching us now...are the only ones here who haven't been
bitten. You aren't vampires."

"If you're everywhere, why come here?" Sorin asked.

"We think..." George began. "No...I know there is an answer here. We have
venom. That's what makes us vampires. We don't change into bats or any of
that nonsense." He shook his head dismissing that idea physically. "There
is a vampire here that did what I've never known was possible. He had a
son." George said walking toward Sorin. "That son holds the key to our
getting rid of this...infection. We are victims, not demons or the
undead. We have an infection." He went to Dr. Petran. "The substance she
saw in our blood is that infection and the serum used to treat it. This son
has a natural...ability to block that venom and infection. I need that to
help us." He waved at everyone here. "To help all of us. We want our lives
back."

"In Transylvania." Sorin was clarifying again. "Because it started here."

I shook my head. "No. It didn't start here, but in the Middle East." I
motioned for Sorin to follow me. "I'll show you what started it."

Sorin followed but kept the vampires with Dragon in front of him as he did,
turning and even walked backward so he could keep an eye on
them. Dr. Petran smiled but followed as well.

I stopped in front of the cell where and held up my hands to stop
them. "Prepare yourselves...they are unlike anything you have ever seen." I
stepped back and waved to the two Old Ones. "This is Earless and
Repeat. Iustina and Repetate in Romanian." I hate to admit it, but those
two put on a show. Repetate and Iustina were at the bars hissing and
reaching out for Sorin. The fangs were always out, but now they wanted
Sorin. Badly.

Sorin jumped back a foot and now he did draw his gun, but Dragon was there
instantly and took the gun away. Dragon had fed before we arrived and his
movements and actions were very fast.

"No! They are not dangerous for us." Dragon said firmly. His demeanor was
dark and shadowed, but he would take no exception to what he had said. "I
will not allow you to harm them."

I nodded. "They are not endangering us because we already are
vampires. They can sense it, smell it and feel it." I backed closer to the
cell bars and stood right below the two Old Ones, who were ignoring me as
they still were reaching for Sorin. "As you can see...they're not
interested in Dr. Petran. She took the serum to make her...less
appetizing." I grinned as I waved at Dr. Petran who was more fascinated by
Iustina and Repetate. She wasn't scared at all. Her scientific curiosity
was stimulated more than her fear. "This..." I groaned. "Disflavor..." I
looked at George. "I still hate that name. I'd prefer Ew Yuk to Disflavor."

Colin chuckled and nodded. "My husband is big on names and movies. He
insisted we call ourselves the Vampire United Nations. The VUN."

I grinned back. "That was a hell of a lot better than Holms' Laboratories!"
I grinned at George. "Nothing wrong with your name, George, but it gives
more...pizzazz!"

George just rolled his eyes. "I just don't have your flare." He grinned and
shrugged.

I grinned back. "You know I love you."

George nodded with a grin.

Dr. Petran got closer and was looking them over and Iustina and Repetate
who ignored her completely, but still wanted Sorin's blood. "What
interesting physiology!" She marveled and turned to Sorin. "Do you still
not believe it?" She waved at Repetate and Iustina. "Here they are right in
front of you! That can't be faked. No hair, naked and..." she looked
closer. "No anus!?" She asked me to confirm what she saw.

"They drink only blood and piss ammonia," I explained. "No solid wastes? No
need for one."

Sorin took his jacket off quickly and pulled his shirt down to reveal his
arm. "Give me that...Disflavor...whatever you call it..."

George smiled and pulled the syringe he had already prepared for Sorin. A
quick dab of the alcohol swab and he stuck the needle in Sorin's arm. "It
takes a few minutes to work its way in, but it works quickly as you can see
with Dr. Petran."

George was right, it did work quickly as Repetate and Iustina lowered their
arms and stopped hissing at Sorin. I grinned as Sorin watched as he became
less focused on by Repetate and Iustina. They were now smiling at me and
happy to see me. Which I spoke to them and opened the door to go in the
cell with them. Sorin's eyes widened as they crowded around me, waving at
the laptop I had left them to watch cartoons and things on. They didn't
understand how to scroll through the database for more cartoons. I grinned
and pulled a CD out that had hours of Bug Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoons.

Dr. Petran was still caught up in the Old Ones and dared to come in the
cell with me. Repetate and Iustina looked at her and even smiled at her!

"I'm sorry this has been so..." Colin began saying to Sorin. "...well, it's
not something we can just explain easily."

Sorin nodded as he began to relax. "I can understand why."

George walked in the cell with us. "Doctor..."

She broke her stare at Repetate and Iustina and smiled at George. "I think
now you can all call me Laurel." Dr. Petran smiled. "This is all...so..."

"Unbelievable?" George nodded. "Sorin."

Sorin looked up at George.

"You wanted to know what that liquid was I was carrying that night," George
said. "I'll do one better. Dragon, are you ready to start again?"

Dragon nodded. "I'm patient."

Sorin looked as if he almost forgot about Dragon and his eyes widened as
Dragon smiled at him only inches away, Dragon's fangs were still out.

"This is the serum I gave to all here with us in our group." He said
holding the vial up. "I'm going to start his treatment again. In five or
six days, he'll see the sunrise again that he hasn't been able to see in
how many centuries?"

Dragon nodded. "It's been quite a few." Then he frowned and rubbed his
chest. "Though I am not looking forward to the pain again."

George nodded and laughed. "No, but it will work. I promise." George
reassured. He had a patient smile for Sorin. "I'm willing to share all I
know, what I've observed and demonstrated what I've found to work with this
venom."

Sorin pointed at the two Old Ones. "Those are vampires, too?" He asked more
to keep it straight in his head.

George nodded. "They are the origins of all vampires."

I was getting an affectionate touch from Iustina. "These are two of many
that were sent into the world. They are the oldest living things on this
planet." I grinned I rubbed Iustina's face below his missing ear because he
liked it there the best. "They are thousands of years old."

Sorin was still having difficulty with what we were telling him, yet unable
to ignore what he saw with his own eyes. "Thousands of years?"

Amasis, who was using the translator because his understanding of English
was still not fluent and he wanted to understand what we were talking
about. He came over to Sorin. "I am over two thousand years old. I found
out I was the last Pharaoh in Egypt."

Sorin heard it and his eyes grew and again, his mind was telling him it was
impossible, but seeing what we've told him was true...not about Amasis or
what we told him about us, but as in the two Old Ones right in front of
him; he couldn't say it wasn't true. "That's...unbelievable." He said
weakly.

"Other than Iustina and Repetate, he is the oldest vampire we've found,"
Colin said. "We have represented here veterans of many wars from World War
II, two veterans of World War I." Colin smiled. "My daughter and I predate
the Civil War in the States."

Willie nodded. "It's only because of the serum, we've been able to branch
out to see what happened to us and began getting a better picture of what
we had to work with."

"We have one in custody that is old, but she's evil," George said. "She was
the source for most of the vampires in the United States, but with modern
day technology, we closed the gaps and began talking with groups around the
world and found there are thousands like us. Willie's right, since we've
been out in the world a more concise understanding is beginning to form and
maybe a cure."

"There are evil vampires," I confessed softly. "But those vampires were
evil before they were bitten. It doesn't come from the fact they were
bitten."

"The venom seeks a human being that's healthy and has the best blood,"
George said. He waved at Dragon's men and us. "All of these vampires are
generations away from these vampires." He pointed to Repetate and
Iustina. "They bite a person and they become what we call the Wild
Vampires. They become like these Old Ones and can't speak." Then he
grinned. "Well, there's Wayne." He pointed to Wayne. "Wayne was bitten by
an Old One in England, but somehow managed to put together that we might
help him. He was a wild vampire. Unable to speak or fully understand, but
we gave him the serum and he is now a fully functioning person."

Sorin looked at Gabriella and then to Colin. "You said she's your
daughter?" He was still having trouble with that.

I chuckled. "Yeah, it blows your mind, doesn't it? I had problems with that
myself. The age thing." I shrugged. "I still do at times."

"And she..." Sorin pointed to my mother, "is your mother. She didn't give
birth to you? I mean, she didn't give birth to you as a vampire."

I shook my head. "Oh, no...she gave birth to me thirty some odd years
ago. We're the youngest vampires here." I grinned. "She and I are the only
ones I know of that became vampires willingly."

"Willingly," Sorin repeated.

"I met Colin and fell in love with the man," I said. "Whether or not you
think being homosexual is right or not. He would be alone if I hadn't."

Mom nodded. "I met William and...we also fell in love, so Devon and I
wanted to be with them and we let them bite us."

"You wanted to live forever?" Sorin asked again in the tone for
clarification.

"We wanted Willie and Colin to have someone in their lives that wouldn't
die!" I said firmly. "For almost two centuries Colin has lost people in his
life."

"You were both injured," Laurel said. "Badly. Granted you healed at a
remarkable rate; is that because of the venom and serum? Not like a regular
person. There is no ritual or anything to kill a vampire?"

"No, we could be killed," Colin confessed. "And it doesn't have to be a
stake through the heart. We can fall and break bones...like our necks. We
can be shot and stabbed."

"Vampires reproduce their numbers by the bite, not sex," George said. "The
venom they infect us with basically rewrites our DNA and we become the
thing that makes this venom." He waved at Repetate. "He bites someone, they
become a wild vampire. I've found that with each new host..." he
explained. "They also rewrite the venom. My venom is my venom and is
different than Colin's. However, our venom all came from one of these
vampires." He said about Iustina and Repetate. "There were hundreds...maybe
thousands of these creatures...manufactured."

"Manufactured?" Sorin asked.

"By who?" Laurel asked.

George nodded. "Well, that's the tricky part." He smiled and scratched his
ear as he did when had to admit something he was still not sure of
himself. "We don't know who they were. The word or symbol for the name has
not been translated, but an empire or king in the ancient world wanted to
weaken his future conquests is our best guess."

"The texts we found..." I waved at Amasis, "thanks to him. A group of men
or scientists came up with something they put in the water. Men and women,
having to drink water that had this...whatever in the water...gave birth to
these things." I said as Repetate knew I was talking about him and smiled
at me. "They are victims, too." I smiled back at Repetate as he found out
to start the CD of cartoons. "They really are kind of sweet."

"Sweet!?" Sorin balked. "They are killers!"

"They are what they were born to be! They can't help that they are what
they were created to be." I shot back. "They are innocent!"

Sorin looked at me like I was insane now. "You defend them?"

"They're not hunting you now," I said simply. "They only consume
blood...human blood."

Colin nodded. "Whether or not you see that they are innocent, they are
important to us for ridding ourselves of this infection." Colin sighed as
he walked closer to Sorin. "You wanted to know the truth...why we were
here." He waved at the surroundings. "This is it. This is the truth."

George nodded. "There is a threat." He said causing Sorin to look at him
again. "We are not the enemy, but there are vampires out there that are a
big threat. They are planning something big, we just don't know what that
is."

"There was a man named Iilya." Dragon said. "He believes we are more than
we are."

"All of the movies and books out about vampires..." I said. "Iilya wants to
be that kind of vampire, he wants power, but there is no vampire like they
want. We're certainly not."

"You're not?" Sorin asked to confirm. "Fangs you have, hunger for blood..."

"I only had fangs twice." I chuckled. "On the serum, we don't have fangs."
I shrugged. "When I first smelled blood, I didn't realize...well...imagine
a steak done just right." I shook my head. "I don't remember anything
smelling so good...and the taste!"

Sorin was becoming more relaxed and nodded. "Okay, so Dr. Petran, I
understand why you need her. She's a doctor and scientist." He
shrugged. "The investigation I did because you were shot, but what do you
need from me?"

George nodded with a smile. "Thank you. For listening."

Colin came over and put his arm around me. "There are dangerous vampires in
this part of the world besides Iilya or Lucian. That is because they were
dangerous men before, now they're planning something...Iilya and Lucian
were the ones that had us shot. I'd wager all I have on that."

Sorin shook his head. "Why?"

"We're not sure, but almost every town has one or two vampires that keep
themselves hidden." I smiled and waved to the other vampires with
Dragon. "There are several here. What's happening now is...there are no
vampires out there at all at night."

Sorin again shook his head. "Maybe they're gone?"

"No," Alex said simply. "One of the things we can say is our advantage
about becoming vampires...our senses were enhanced to make us better
hunters. I can tell if a vampire has crossed a path even a day later from
the scent they leave behind." He took Gabriella's hand. "My wife can even
tell what gender they are. I can't."

"But they're still here," Gabriella said. "They're waiting for something."

"What?" Sorin asked.

Shelly came forward. "I found this today." She handed a brochure to
Colin. "This could be what they're waiting for."

I looked at the brochure in Colin's hand. Written in big
letters. "Halloween in Transylvania." The script used was bright red and
dripping like blood. The image also contained what I knew was Vlad's
castle, but shrouded in mist as the sun was setting. "Dracula Castle
Escape," was also written on the brochure. It was just a couple of weeks
away! "Oh, my god. Transylvania is going to be packed with people then." I
said shaking my head.

Colin nodded and looked helpless a second. "They'll be up late...drunk
mostly and just partying all night." He looked at Sorin. "This happens
every year?"

Sorin nodded and then shrugged. "Of course...it one of the things we're
famous for. Dracula." He thought. "Local law enforcement will be out
fully...there will be over ten thousand people here...probably...tripling
the population!"

I nodded. "I bet this is what they're counting on."

"You think they'll attack the people that come here?" Mom asked.

Colin frowned. "If they want to make a statement, yes."

"We may have pushed their timetable forward some..." I said. "For decades,
they could pick and choose, but since we've offered this serum..."

"...we've forced them to move up their agenda." Colin nodded.

Dragon walked over and looked at the brochure. "My home." He said with a
longing tone and affection, touching the picture of the castle. His castle.

Now Sorin's eyes widened even more. "Your home!?" He looked at the castle
and of course, knew it well as did every person in Romania and around the
world. "You're not..." he now was backing again. "It can't be. You can't
be!"

"Inspector." I shook my head. "You know that book is about a fictional
character. Not Vlad Dracul."

Dragon, not really comfortable with his infamous past and just looked away
at first, but looked at Sorin. "You often talk about what can't be." He
smiled. "Yet it stands before you."

Sorin shook his head. "Because it goes against all we are taught could be."
Sorin looked at the others. "All of you are just fiction!"

I chuckled. "Again, we stand before you."

Dragon was still looking at the brochure and the writing there. "I've heard
about this...hall...o...ween?" He stated hesitantly. "My understanding was
it was mostly for children."

I nodded. "For a lot of people, it is," I admitted. "October 31st has
changed over the centuries and it's not just for children. It's taken on
many cultural influences, superstitions and now is just a day...or should I
say night...of thrills for children and adults."

"Thrills," Dragon repeated as he held the brochure up. "I see images of
strange creatures on this."

I nodded. "Being scared is thrilling," I said simply.

"Devon loved Halloween." Mom said. "I think you stopped Trick or Treating
at..." she thought. "Was it twelve?"

Laughing I smiled as I remembered. "I matured from a pirate, clown and
Power Ranger to ghost, mummy and..." I waggled my eyebrows. "The last
years, I was a vampire!" I patted Sorin on the shoulder. "Sort of
prophetic, isn't it? Only there aren't the plastic fangs or cape now."

Colin grinned but was thinking. "We don't know that is what they're waiting
for."

Chuck stepped forward. "It will be televised. If they are..." he said. "We
need to be prepared for something big."

"Think about it, Colin," I said. "If you sprang out on the night of
Halloween. Would you be suspicious of fangs? It would be considered part of
an elaborate costume. Part of the night's entertainment until it became too
real."

"But if it's venom they spread to make vampires..." Laurel offered with a
nod. "How much venom is required to make a vampire?" She asked George.

George shrugged. "One bite will do it."

"And how fast is the conversion?" Laurel asked.

"A few hours," George said. "The full transformation takes place during the
day after the victim is bitten."

"I don't suppose we have enough serum to counter any attacks that happen
that night," I said to George. "Like I got after the first time I was
bitten."

George shook his head. "No. We wouldn't have enough blood to provide
transfusions either."

"You were bitten twice?" Laurel asked.

"He was bitten by the same vampire I and Gabby were." Colin smiled. "Sorry,
that's the name I used with my daughter. Gabriella and were bitten by the
same vampire. I gave him the serum mere minutes following the bite."

"And then he was purged of all his blood and had it replaced with fresh
blood not having any venom," George added.

"There is no way of blocking these vampires?" Sorin asked. "Garlic or
crosses...Holy Water?"

I shook my head. "They don't do a thing. Crosses do nothing."

"And I love garlic," Colin admitted. "Very nice flavoring, but no adverse
reaction to it."

"They would increase their numbers by thousands!" Sorin said. "There are
people coming from all over the world!"

"That's why I'm saying this..." Shelly said waving at the brochure, "is the
event we're looking for. I know it is. It will even be televised."

"Which Iilya wants," Mark said. "If you wanted to force someone to give
secrets or suffer...scare people over TV."

"People will have their phones and other devices to record and transmit
what happened." Mom said. "Even if you could say it was all staged or not
real afterward...there will be footage going around the world. It would
literally scare the entire world."

Colin shook his head. "We really need to find them."

George walked over to Dragon. "I hate to say it, but..." he pulled out a
vial of the serum. "We're wasting time talking...you need this now."

Dragon looked at the vial, grimaced and nodded. "Let's do it."

George looked at Dr. Petran and Sorin. "Now you'll see how this works."

"But know this..." Colin said. "It will hurt Dragon, but in the end, ...he
will be able to go out and eat again." He walked over to Dragon. "Perhaps
even go home for the first time in centuries if he wants to. He'll have
freedom."


We got Dragon to the chamber he used during the daytime when he slept. We
explained what was going to happen...even had Laurel and Sorin feel Dragon
had no real pulse. Then George again prepared Dragon's chest and inserted
the needle in Dragon's heart. Neither Sorin nor Laurel was ready to see
that it did...hurt...very much as Dragon arched his back with the pain.

Dr. Petran stayed with Dragon and George as Dragon endured the pain. I'd
seen a lot of people suffer as they took the serum, there was no need for
me to see it again. However, I also noted that Sorin was grimacing as
Dragon suffered and walked out of the chamber. He was the police and I knew
he'd seen worse things than this...I imagined. Sorin was mature with a
little grey in his hair, but I think his gruff demeanor was more for show
and to threaten criminals...the human kind. I followed Sorin as he returned
to Iustina and Repetate where I saw Sorin still sitting as he was watching
the two Old Ones enjoy the Bugs Bunny cartoons. He looked this way and that
and then sat in a chair near the Old Ones' cell. That New York Bronx or
Brooklyn accent of the lovable rabbit was distinct and the music told me
what they were looking at. He looked as if he was still working things out
in his head. I pulled a chair near him as he struggled with his own
thoughts. "Give it time." I smiled. "It's a lot to take in just a few
hours."

Sorin came back from his deep thoughts and chuckled. "To say the very
least." He shook his head. "Everything I thought I knew about the world has
sort of...gone all...nebun... little crazy." He circled his temple to say
crazy. He had an Eastern European accent, but I heard less the longer we
stayed here.

I laughed. "You're not crazy. It's hard to believe, but you're not crazy."
I nodded. "Things won't be the same for you now."

"All of you had to go through that?" Sorin pointed back Dragon's
chamber. "All that...pain?"

I nodded. "Yes." I smiled. "Colin did it every day for a while."

Sorin's eyes widened hearing that. "No." He said impressed with the level
of determination Colin and George had. "You, too?"

I smiled. "Well, the first time I was bitten..."

"First time?" Sorin asked. "George said it only took one bite!"

I put a hand on his shoulder and nodded stopping him. "I was the only one
to get the serum so quickly after a bite." I inhaled as I knew Sorin was
trying to understand. "It was mere...minutes after I was bitten, maybe not
even minutes...because Colin was a vampire and I wasn't."

"But you knew what he was," Sorin said to get things clear.

"I found a picture of him in some rubble where the house is now." I
smiled. "He said it was a grandparent and he just looked like him." I
smiled as I thought of that day. "But it was him. Day two, he told me the
truth about what he was after he took the medication and explained what he
was and how the medication was to prevent him from being a vampire."

Sorin shook his head. "But this level of pain!? Every night!?"

I shook my head. "No," I explained about the blood levels needed to be up
and how it hurt because the heart needed restarting. "I would do it if
needed. George has done some major improvements." I held my arm up to show
Sorin the disc of serum. "Now, it doesn't hurt."

"Okay." He said as he was working it through. "I get it. It's a horrible
life and you want out and any sacrifice is not too much, I get that." He
looked at me with his eyebrows still together. "There aren't any
more...surprises? Out there? Is there?" He motioned out of the caverns.

"Surprises?"

"Werewolves, witches, ghosts or goblins...that sort of thing?
Frankenstein?"

I laughed. "I've never seen or heard of any." I shrugged. "I'm not saying
there aren't, I just don't know of any." I thought. "I suppose there could
be werewolves...after all they have an infection as well...but I dare say
they won't be those in the movies."

He nodded as I could see him coming to grips at last with all of this new
information and ideas. "That's good...I guess." He looked at the Old Ones
who were laughing in their way at whatever Bugs was doing. "They are...not
as creepy as before."

"They were made to drink blood. You had what they needed to live...now, you
don't. I'm glad you see they aren't the evil." I smiled. "I don't say they
aren't dangerous...they are...very. Clearly, they are a threat to mankind,
but we can't just destroy them. We might be able to help even."

"Tell me why they were made in the first place," Sorin asked.

"Well, the texts we translated talked of an empire that wanted
scouts...soldiers that would go in an advanced fighting force to weaken
anyone they came across..."

Sorin looked surprised. "Wait. So, this translating project...whatever...is
real?" Sorin asked.

I nodded. "Very real." I picked up my fully charged translator and clicked
it on. "As I said before, we don't have to speak so many languages, so we
never learn to. You do." I smiled. "You slip into English so well, it's not
necessary. We are a diverse world and the vampires which we thought might
be in the hundreds, maybe a thousand are a lot more." I smile. "And we need
to talk to them, so it made sense to back this project and use it."

Sorin shook his head. "Sorry for interrupting. Back to these two. Who could
think this sort of shit up!?" He asked incredibly.

I chuckled. "Many have dreamt of the perfect warrior and the perfect
weapon." I smiled at Repetate and Iustina. "There they are...so they
thought."

Sorin nodded and thought more. "Do you know what happened to this empire?"

I shook my head. "No, not really, but..." I waved at Iustina and
Repetate. "There were a whole lot more of them in the beginning...I can
only offer conjecture what might have happened. There is no proof. I don't
know if this empire had what we do for countering the effects...making them
less of a target to their own people. I would dare to say that these
weapons turned on their creators if they didn't."

Sorin nodded and then gave a reluctant shrug. "It doesn't matter, they're
gone now." He looked at Iustina and Repetate. "But they're still here."

"Yes, they are." I smiled looking as they were smiling at something else
they saw. "I know we're asking a lot from you, Inspector..."

He chuckled. "Just call me Sorin." He shook his head. "I have a feeling
we'll know each other a long time."

I smiled at the idea. "I welcome that," I said sincerely. "I know there
will be a lot of questions later as you..." I waved at him, "assimilate all
this."

Sorin chuckled again. "I'm working on it."

"I had a hard time with it, too," I admitted.

Sorin looked shocked. "I guess you did. Anyone would." He smiled. "You must
have come around...you married him."

I nodded. "He had the harder time than I did."

Sorin looked surprised. "He did? He had a hard time."

"When we first met...he was a vampire already on the serum. He knew about
the venom and that it was in all his fluids. So, therefore in his..."

"Yes, I get it!" Sorin said quickly laughing uncomfortably holding his
hands up to stop me.  I smirked. "Which is harder to accept? The fact that
we're vampires? Or that we're gay?"

Sorin shook his head. "You're both!" He snickered. "I do have trouble
understanding being...gay...but as long as I'm not involved..."

"And until you said that I was rooting for you." I shook my head as I
frowned.

"I admit it!" Sorin confessed. "I don't get it." He threw his hands
out. "It doesn't make sense!" He threw his hand out toward Iustina and
Repetate. "They don't make sense." He frowned. "But they're here and so are
you." He turned again to me. "Do you believe in God? How do you think He
feels about what you are?"

"Are we talking about the vampire thing or the gay thing?" I asked angrily.

Sorin looked puzzled and shook his head. "No, you misunderstand." He
chuckled. "Maybe we should use the translator after all." He smiled. "I
mean...I can't imagine a man I would be attracted to enough to make me want
to have sex with him." He waved at me as if to physically shove the
miscommunication away. "We are attracted to what we're attracted to. We all
do have...things..." He smiled. "Many don't care for what attracts me."

"And what are you attracted to?" I asked now curious.

Sorin was beginning to turn pink. "I like my women..." he scratched the
side of his nose as he was embarrassed. "...let me say...I like meat on a
woman."

I smiled and nodded. "Oh."

He held his hand up again. "Not fat, no, but a few extra pounds...soft and
round." He watched as I was apparently my nose was turning up and pointed
at me. "See!? You're not attracted at all...that's what I meant. You're not
involved, so that's what I meant about the gay part. I don't want to be
involved."

I nodded. "I get it." I looked at him.

"Do ypu believe in God?"

I shrugged and threw my hands up. "I hope so. Whether he's real or not...I
can't answer that. I have no proof one way or the other. I've never seen a
miracle or seen an angel. I've wanted to, but never did. Not one I
recognized anyway."

"That means you don't believe in magic." Sorin nodded.

"Not the Bewitched kind of magic, no, but..." I frowned, "there's magic all
around us."

Sorin cocked his head. "Where?"

"You have it in you." I smiled. "You. That presence that is looking out on
the world through your eyes...seeing me, knowing who I am and more
importantly, who you are. That's magic." I smiled. "There are vampires out
there that are just basic predators. They wake up, hunt, and go to sleep
and do it again the next night. We say they've lost their humanity. I say,
they lose their sense of self." I nodded. "There are wonders in the world
and there are horrors, but they're real I never could have dreamed up this
life." I sighed. "We are animals. Yet there is something different. We know
what we are. I'd say that's pretty magical."

Sorin bowed a little. "I mean...burning bushes and things like that."

I smiled. "Haven't seen one."

He nodded. "Is there anything that really surprised you about all this?" He
asked indicating the caverns.

I nodded. "Oh, absolutely." I frowned. "It was really sad the first time I
had...a problem with what we were doing...killing vampires." I held my hand
up to stop his question. "I wasn't prepared for the one we found in
Manhattan...New York...wherever. New York is big." I chuckled. "The vampire
we found that night was only five years old."

"Five!?" Sorin balked. "You couldn't...use the serum?"

I shrugged again. "I don't know," I admitted. "We were still on the
injections and the discs were new...and Colin said there was nothing left
of the boy at that time that he was a mindless predator and I didn't see
anything but a pissed off vampire about to kill a man!"

"Five," Sorin said in disbelief.

"There are vampires that aren't that picky or didn't have luck hunting,
so..." I explained with a shrug. "The bottom line is they need
blood. Colin, Gabriella, and the others never asked to be a vampire. It was
done by someone else who wanted to kill them. Destroy them."

"And you?"

I smiled. "Well, I was a little different," I explained how Colin had been
forced off the serum and became a vampire and I did it so he wouldn't
suffer. "He could resist so long and...he would die after he attacked me
and realized what he'd done. It wasn't his fault."

"You love him very much." Sorin nodded with a smile. "I can't argue with
that."

"As far as God's take on all of this...He understands much more than anyone
else and He's God! He knows the hearts of all of us." I said
simply. "Vampires, too."

Sorin thumbed back toward Dragon and the others. "He has to do this five or
six more days." He said to confirm.

I nodded. "He will if he wants to see a sunrise." I was very serious
now. "You and I really don't have a clue as to how bad it is...being a
vampire. I don't. I was a full vampire one or two nights. Colin did it for
almost two centuries." I looked up as Repetate was looking puzzled and I
realized the CD had run out. "Wait guys!" I said to them both. "I have
more!" I went to the cell door and looked back at Sorin. "I'm opening the
door. You'll see they won't be interested in you now." I slowly opened the
door and Iustina and Repetate just smiled knowing the enjoyment was going
to continue. I looked at Sorin and smiled. "It's going to work out fine,
Sorin," I assured. "We're just people. Not all of us are fiends or
something to go bump in the night."


It was after Dragon had gone to sleep did Laurel have to retire for
rest. She even called to say there was an emergency she needed to take care
of and won't be back to the hospital a while.  George looked surprised as
she shut her phone down. "I'm glad you're here, but don't you have other
patients?"

Laurel smiled. "Who can do without me a few days." She said. "I was called
in because of you." She pointed to me and Colin. "You were all shot
and...well...I hate to say it, but...money does talk and we couldn't have a
major investor killed by someone without punishing them and getting to the
bottom of who shot you." She almost bounced. "And what better medical
mystery than real live vampires!" She asked pointing at Dragon's prone
form. She took George's arm. "Now, you say you have recorded what you've
found so far on a hard drive. I'd love to see it."


I was with Repetate and Iustina a while but came back to find Sorin looking
around the caverns we were in and he was nodding at what he saw. He stomped
a foot on the hardwood floor and was impressed at the lack of give.

"Do you like where Dragon and his people live?" I asked Sorin.

Sorin turned and nodded. "It's amazing!" He tapped his foot on the floor
again. "What's under here? It's level!"

"Sand, I think," I answered. "The ground has all those stalagmites that are
jagged and the sand fills up the spaces. They boarded it up below."

"It's smooth and level!"

"They had a while to refine it," I said.

He turned to me and smiled. "All these centuries...this was under our
feet." He said marveling.

"It's a little out of town, but, other than the color of some of the
rock...a cave is a cave." I said simply. I looked at what had clearly been
a lava tube at one time, perhaps millions of years in that past and only
hammered out by hand at some portions to make it easier to get
through. "Stalagmites and Stalactites are all pretty much the same
underground."

"And which is which again?" Sorin grinned.

"Sticks tight to the ceiling...stalactites." I pointed up at the ceiling of
the cave.

Sorin nodded. "That's good." He said smiling and he was looking more at
ease now. "So, tell me...who tried to kill you when you were attacked?" He
said leveling his gaze on me. "I still have an investigation."

I told him about Iilya and Lucian and how they were planning something big.

"And you think this Halloween in Transylvania is that event?" Sorin asked
as he worked it in his mind.

"They can do several things that night," I said. "They feed. They make more
vampires and it's televised."

Sorin frowned. "That would be a spectacle, but so...out there."

"But when it begins to happen, the people won't be scared for a while
thinking that's why they're here...to be scared. They will think it's part
of the festivities."

Sorin nodded as he walked over to me. "Something is keeping you here,
though." He said. "More than Dragon and his men...rescuing vampires."

"Understand, this is an ongoing research process. We know that the original
venom has gone through many people and so forth and down the line, it
became what you see. There is no telling how many vampires got the venom,
made it their own and passed it to another. Each time, it seems
fractionally less." I explained. "There is a vampire here that managed
something no vampire can do, as far as I know. A child. He has a son."

Sorin nodded. "And this son has something that will help you?"

"He has immunity," I explained. "He's not a vampire but has the venom. He
has his own antivenin and antibody which George hopes to take from him and
give to us."

"But you'll never die!" Sorin pointed out.

"There is a price," I said. "You have to stay on the serum. If we run out,
we become those things again. You saw what Dragon went through...willingly
to be free of this! He doesn't want to live forever and have no life."

"But you do!" Sorin said again. "You do now! You have that life." He
stressed. "You're flying around the world, eating in fine restaurants,
going to exotic places...you won't die!"

I shook my head. "We will!" I said. "Everyone dies. The problem is...we're
not going to be killed because of illness or age, but we will die. How
would you feel if you know that one day, you will be killed? It's
inevitable! You won't slip away in your sleep after decades of life or even
with an illness." I watched and I was getting angrier as Sorin's eyes grew
as I said what I was saying. "You will die! You will be killed! Something
or someone is going to kill you." I turned back as I was speaking louder
than even I intended. "Or worse...you're in an accident. A plane crashes, a
car runs you over. You lose an arm or leg...but it won't grow back, but you
will live! You won't die. You could be brain damaged and you won't die! The
only one I know that had anything close to a bearable life was Amasis, he
was a god, or so he though for millennia. He stayed in a place like this
for more than two thousand years!!" I was advancing as I spoke, but Sorin
was backing up as I did with shock on his face. "When I saw Gabriella that
first night." I shook my head. "She was this
horrible...monster...this...thing!" I said not hiding my disgust. "She was
more like that undead you read about or hear about. Basically, a corpse
that...and thank God, had some humanity in her still. Her sense of self was
still there and that was magic." I shook my head. "I'm glad I won't be
leaving Colin...necessarily. But think about what I'd do if I lost him!
Eventually, we will lose each other. We know that. Nothing lasts forever."
I shook my head. "No, I want Colin and me to have our time together, but it
will end. I know that."

"Whoa," Sorin said holding his hand up to stop the assault I was giving
verbally. "I get it." He assured me. "My point is you have no idea when. It
could be tomorrow or not for hundreds of years. Thousands of years. I have
maybe twenty to thirty years, I hope." He smiled. "Can't you see where that
would be what a lot of people want?"

I sighed. "Yes. I brought the same arguments to George and Colin." I said
softer. "But it's a cheat. Fearing death. When Brett bit me, and he was the
one that wanted to be a vampire, not because he would live, but to destroy
Colin! He almost did."

"That was the first bite," Sorin said confirming.

"Right." I shook my head. "He wasn't that sharp in the first place, but he
was insane with the turn of the centuries." I looked at Sorin. "This isn't
a state I wish on anyone. I chose this for Colin. My mother chose it
because of Willie." I said sadly. "They were both...all of them...Willie,
Colin, Alex...they were lost and lonely. They're not anymore, but if I can
have today and tomorrow with Colin, I'll take it. Mom can have Willie today
and tomorrow...maybe we can help make up the years of suffering they have."

He gave a shrug and a nod. "I guess there's good and bad with both." He
looked around. "Where's everyone else? I know Colin is here with George..."

"They do nightly patrols," I answered. "We're trying to find these other
vampires. The ones not with Dragon."

"You can do that?" Sorin asked.

"Some of us had abilities we brought over from our days as regular people,"
I said. "Gabriella and Alex have a keen sense of smell. We all do, but
theirs...it's almost supernatural what they can smell."

"So, there is a way for you to sense a vampire."

"We feel it when we meet one." I nodded. "Gabriella and Alex can smell it."
I waved at Repetate and Iustina. "They can, too."

Sorin nodded. "My non-vampire blood."

"George has a detector he claims works. We'll find out that night."


We met with the others to gather what information we got that night back at
the house we rented.

"These vampires are keeping it very low," Gabriella said sighing as she sat
in a chair. "I didn't pick up a thing."


"But they have to feed!" Colin said turning to Sorin. "What about
livestock? Have there been any complaints about missing livestock?"

Sorin shrugged. "I didn't pay much attention it, but now that you mention
it, there have been some reports about someone bothering with them."

"Bothering? How?" Colin asked.

Sorin nodded. "The livestock were all drained of blood, but there were no
deaths."

"What kind of livestock?" Colin asked.

"Cows, sheep, goats, and pigs mostly," Sorin reported. "They need them
alive to go back for more later." He smiled. "Now that I know about it,
knowing what it means, I can watch for it. But these events happened over a
broad range of land. There's no way of determining where they will hit
next."

Colin rubbed his face in his hands. "It will be Halloween night, I'm sure
of it." He looked at Sorin. "I know there will be police there."

Sorin nodded vigorously. "Absolutely there will be...a lot of crazies and
those vampires will be there added to the mix."

Willie sat up. "Your local police will need help. Are you getting help from
other sources?"

Sorin nodded again vigorously. "Absolutely, but we're spread thin enough as
it is even with support staff. It's over all Romania."

Shelly smiled. "Well, how about a few more?" She waved at Chuck and
Mark. "We're all certified with handguns, and we can qualify again if we
need to."

Sorin brightened. "You are agents." He nodded. "I could deputize you. I'd
be within my rights to do that." He then growled. "But you follow orders!"
He pointed to Mark and Chuck.

Chuck grinned as he saluted. "Roger that, Sarg!"

Colin smiled at what he saw. "This could be good!" He said happily. He
stood up. "Now, I'll show you what we have when we find these vampires to
push back! I think we'll get things done now."

"Push back? As in weapons? Garlic and Holy Water doesn't work?" Sorin asked
and then nodded. "Oh, yes, you said you liked garlic, Colin."

Mark came in with...and truthfully it looked more like a toy, but that was
the point. More like those really big squirt guns. "This is a serum gun."
He said opening the cartridge. "It shoots little hard pellets of the
serum."

"Isn't that what you have shot in you!?" Sorin asked. "To rid you of
that...whatever."

"Yes, but the dosage is so low. It just hurts, if it does nothing else, it
will slow them down." Mark replied and he pulled up another...it looked
like a flashlight. "And this..." Mark flipped a switch and it came on,
"...is a sun gun." He waved his hand in front of it and even aimed it at
Sorin. "See? No harm to the humans!"

Sorin rose and took the two guns. "Anti-vampire weaponry." He grinned and
looked up as I knew the look. "There's this great movie...Underworld
Series...they had these great weapons!!"

There was a general groan from everyone and my mother shook her head. "No,
not you, too!"

Gabriella snickered. "Here we go again." She moaned as her eyes
rolled. "Another movie fanatic!"

I chuckled. "Well, Sorin's right, they did have some bitchin' weapons!!"

Sorin looked puzzled. "I said something wrong?"

I grinned at Sorin. "Not at all!" I smiled slapping him lightly on the
back. "We, the very few...appreciate good cinema and a good story." I
frowned at Gabriella and my mother. "Sometimes it's not appreciated by
some...less enlightened individuals."

Stan came in the room but was carrying a tablet he studied as he walked,
but had a near blank stare as he was looking at what he was reading.

"Earth to Stan," Mark said lightly to his partner but looked at Stan's
face. "Is there a problem, Stan?"

Stan looked up as he read. "Huh?" Then he seemed to come around more and
aware we were there. "Oh, yes..." he said looking at all of us. "Now, we
have another problem."

"Another problem?" Colin asked. "What new problem is it now?"

"Well, it's not really a new problem, but a complication." Stan looked at
his tablet. "Buddy and I planted...well...it's sort of a piggyback program
like malware or one of those programs to just ride a message and see what
keys you hit and tell it's source." He said. "Even though we can't find
where this Vampire Death Squad originates. The messages are flying all
around on the World Wide Web."

"Who's Buddy?" Sorin asked as he looked up having looked the plastic gun as
he marveled at what it was supposed to do. "Vampire Death Squad?"

I patted Sorin. "I'll explain in a minute." I said. "What have you found
out, Stan?"

Stan was nodding as he read. "The program Buddy and I created attached
itself to the last message sent...that broadcast the Vampire Death Squad
sent and rode it all over the world. When it arrived at different
locations, it left a piece of itself so I could read other messages that
are received and sent." He waved the tablet. "They are referring to ground
zero." He said looking at all of us. "They're coming here! They think this
is ground zero!"

I shook my head. "But this isn't ground zero," I said simply. "Vampires
originated in the Middle East."

Stan nodded. "They don't know that."

Colin frowned. "If they aren't already here." He said softly.

"Who are these people?" Sorin practically bellowed. "Who is coming or
already here?"

I gave a quick nod and realized he couldn't know. "Buddy is our
computer. Our brain. He's not here, but the mainframe back in Manhattan
ties in with all our computers, devices, translators...Stan is
our...well...he is all things computer. He's a genius. We broadcast a web
broadcast showing Dragon's conversion from vampire back to something more
human to ease the other vampires into trusting us. We thought. This
group...this Death Squad has four kills under their belts, warning
us...through another broadcast that they would kill us!"

"But you're on the same side!" Sorin then asked simply. "They don't see you
as good guys?"

I shook my head. "They couldn't know that."

"Vampire Death Squad?" Sorin said again. "They sound like they could be
teenagers...at best...in college."

Stan nodded appreciatively. "He's right." He smiled at Sorin.

"How do you know?" Mom asked Stan.

Stan turned the tablet to my mother. "The language used." He said
simply. "Many are from the United States, but...everyone is using this
shorthand now, but almost all of these messages have it."

"Buddy translates languages," Shelly said. "Could it just be the
translation program shorting it?"

"No. This generation has grown up on LOL and TMI and all
that. Abbreviations in language when texting. Even messages of love and
hate are abbreviated like 143 means I love you and 182 means I hate
you. They don't have time to write things out. These messages are full of
them and some that are just theirs!" Stan explained. "Buddy doesn't
translate those." He pulled up a message and read it out loud. "TOA 2 GZ
1029 DCWL."

Sorin looked confused. "What? That's just numbers and letters."

Stan pointed at Sorin. "Exactly." He grinned. "That means time of arrival
to ground zero October 29th, Dracula's Castle, Wallachia." He sighed. "I
had to work that one out, but almost everyone these days has their emails
sent to their phones now. They can receive and respond by phone, but this
generation thinks that's too much typing and don't even think about
punctuation. They created and use these shortcuts." He shook his tablet. "I
think these are what these are."

Sorin smiled as he got it. "This is like that movie..." he started, "the
one with those two boys named Corey something in it..." But his tone was
telling me the gravity of this situation was hitting home now as he lowered
the serum gun.

"The Lost Boys?" I supplied.

Sorin nodded. "Yes! Lost Boys! This group could be made up of people like
in that movie, where they grew up, went to college and now fight vampires
on semester breaks!?"

"The really bad part is...these guys are well supplied financially and are
using sophisticated hardware." Stan said. "If anything, I think they're
using college access to computers to do some of these things," Stan
said. "Using Daddy's money to hunt these vampires and using the computer
lab."

Mark threw his hands up. "So, we have some Poindexters in a computer lab
killing vampires while studying Calculus!?"

"Poindexters?" Sorin asked having no clue what Mark meant. "What is that?"

I grinned did a quick search. "Tocilar." I offered.

Sorin's eyes now understood. "Oh." But I saw his face begin to lose more of
that happy discovery look.

Colin leaned toward me and looked puzzled. "What's tocilar?"

"Geek," I said.

"Oh," Colin said.

Sorin suddenly thrusting his arms out. "Stop!! Everyone just stop!" He was
gathering himself and thinking. "I lost myself a little with all this." He
said handing what looked like a Supersoaker to Mark. "I got caught up in
this...fever about vampires, but...I am an enforcer of the law here." Sorin
said a little testily. "This whole...night has been..." he swirled his
finger again around his head. "It's been crazy. I woke up one morning not
even a few weeks ago...where I was handed this case and thought...no, I
knew you were hiding something. There was an explanation. Rich men from the
West are wandering around in the woods that early? A doctor in the
group...with an unknown drug. I knew there was more than what I was told. I
knew it! I'm thinking about drugs or something I can deal with. A simple
crime!" He turned to Colin. "I find out there are vampires! Real vampires
and I've seen them!" He shook his head. "My mind is still telling me it is
a trick, but I can't figure out how or why." He looked at the others in the
room. "You are almost all vampires here." He shook his head. "I saw those
two...what you call Old Ones and I still have trouble with accepting it,
but they were right there! I saw them! There are real vampires and they've
been here for centuries! Longer in some cases." He waved at Amasis. "I knew
you were hiding what you were doing here, but I never once considered
this." He was starting to get loud. "Well, now, I'm back! I'm the police!
This has been amazing, but now there's another group coming in to kill
you!?"

"Wrong, Inspector," I said. "This group is coming to kill all vampires. Me,
Colin, Iilya, Lucian, Gaius...Dragon..!"

Sorin was struggling again as he sat down suddenly. "I have always been
this...show me evidence person." He explained. "I've seen people do some
horrible things to others and themselves." He looked at Colin. "You
suffered like Dragon did tonight almost every night?"

Colin nodded. "Once the levels were..."

Sorin nodded quickly. "I know...it was shorter, but you did it willingly
every night!"

"To try to get rid of this? I'd do it again." Colin nodded. "George will
succeed in finding how to get us free from this venom. I know he will."

Sorin nodded. "What I'm saying, I was always the Investigator. Show me the
evidence. Follow the rules..." he looked up at me, "what your TV shows say
by the book sort of investigator." He threw his hands up. "But there are no
laws about how to deal with vampires! Now, I find out there are vampires
here to help other vampires out, another group of vampires that want to be
Dracula-type of vampire or one in those fiction stories...and now this
group of kids that want all vampires to simply die." He shook his
head. "What rule do I follow? I can deputize all of you, but there will be
thousands of people here that night! How do I protect them?"

Alex smiled sadly. "You can't."

Sorin put his head in his hands as he tried to come up with a
solution. "People are going to die?"

"Definitely." I nodded. "We're going to try to minimize as many as we can,
but there will be deaths."

"A long time ago, some greedy men decided they knew what was best for us
and to hell with the other people and wanted to control the world," Colin
said calmly. "They...over hundreds of years created the creatures like
Iustina and Repetate. The Old Ones were sent out in the world to
destroy. Now, we're trying to clean up the mess. I know about five of these
things. There was one in England that bit Wayne. He saw another
there. Gizmo was the one that Devon met in Germany that was killed. Their
numbers have been reduced, but the effects are still ongoing."

"They're breaking the law!" Sorin asked. "The laws of nature! Why are they
still alive?"

"Because we need to understand them and find out about how to counteract
their venom," I said. "It would be easier to just destroy them, but I think
Dragon did a good job keeping them contained as he has. They're less of a
threat now."

"As long as they're in custody," Sorin said. "But they could get out."

"We're trying to deal with a problem, not get rid of it," Wayne said.

"What can we do?" Sorin asked all of us. "We could broadcast, as you said
you did with Dragon, telling people not to come."

"And not be able to tell them why?" Colin asked.

"We come up with something...we could say there was a terrorist threat."
Sorin offered.

"Which you'll have to show evidence like you said," I said. "What threat?
By whom? How'd you find out?"

Colin stood next to me. "Why did they choose you to solve what happened to
us?" Colin asked Sorin.

Sorin smiled. "Because I have a 94 percent resolution rate. Conviction." He
said trying not to sound too proud. "I get the answer to problems. Drugs,
prostitution, or murder...I get whoever is responsible. I close cases."

"That's great!" I said grinning. "You're good at what you do." I walked
over to him. "Look, Sorin...this is going to be very bad. That...you have
to face."

Colin came up behind me. "We're doing everything in our power to
make...lessen the losses."

"We don't have any guidelines." Mom said. "We'll help in any way, however
we can."

"The danger will not be us," Willie said. "Iilya, Lucian and their
followers will be..."

"And this Vampire Death Squad." I nodded. "We won't have guns to use on
people. The sun gun and serum pellets are our weapons, but we'll be out
there."

"What are your plans for those two..." he pointed with his thumb over his
shoulder. "...Iustina and Repetate?"

Colin nodded. "Well, George wants to take them to Manhattan. He has a lab
there that will work better...he says."

"How are you going to do that?" Sorin asked. "They can't be out the
daytime."

Colin nodded. "They will be in what the first vampires we've transported
in, but they will be from the farthest away. We have containers they can
travel in that will shield them from sunlight."

"We'll move them at night to the container and then put the container on a
plane," I explained.

"This is going to be a busy night coming up," Willie warned Sorin.

Colin smiled at Sorin. "We'll be out there with you." He assured.


Sorin was not in charge of the protection that was needed in Transylvania
that night, but he was part of the task force to help with it.

He met with us almost every day.

Dragon was going through the serum and Sorin got to see him and even shared
the first morning Dragon had to see the sunrise. Burke got him familiar
with the serum guns and sun guns. Now Colin and I were bringing Sorin over
to speak with George.

George and Laurel were working almost night and day with the venom and
Nicolae's unusual blood properties.

Laurel was looking at the computer screen...no more did you have to look
down on a sample under a microscope...the monitor screen showed the cells
that were in Nicolae's blood large and in color! She nodded. "I see...it is
like convergence to the two. The antivenin and antibody..." She looked at
George's notes. "This is...what batch?" She asked. "You added venom
directly from Iustina and Repetate...and the antivenin and antibodies are
living."

George nodded. "And I harvest the ones that survive to further the
process. They are getting stronger."

I cleared my throat making them both turn around. "Sorry to interrupt,
but...have you had a chance to...whatever...tweak the detectors?"

George nodded. "Of course!" He went to a counter near where they were
working and picked up one he had worked on. "John was helping with
this...we can't seem to..." he shook his head, "...you can't just point at
someone and know if they're a vampire or not." He explained as he turned it
on. He looked up. "Dimitry." He called to a man walking by. He was still a
vampire. "Dimitry is going to have the serum tomorrow night, but for
now..." he pointed the detector at Dimitry and the red light blinked and a
little alert sounded from the detector. "At best, it's a proximity alert,
meaning there is a vampire near you."

"But there will be a crowd that night," Sorin said.

"Our senses are tuned to pick up vampires," George explained. "We use
smell; the subtle biochemical changes that occur in the body that can be
read. The problem is...if they are upwind or downwind, you may or may not
get much warning."

I nodded. "But you'll get a warning."

"It's best if one of us is with you at all times," George said
cautiously. He smiled at Sorin. "This will give you some warning."

Sorin shrugged and smiled at me. "It's better than nothing." He looked at
me. "How are we doing this? Do I deputize you all?"

"You could Shelly, Chuck, and Mark, but I think it will be best if Devon,
our mother and the others just fan out in the crowd," Colin said. "More
noses and senses out among the people."

Sorin nodded and still looked a little worried.

Colin put his hand on Sorin's shoulder. "What's going to happen is going to
happen. We'll just do what we can to prevent it from being so much
worse. You're not alone in this."

Sorin nodded. "It will be bad." He sighed.

"It will." I agreed.

"And my people will help as well." Dragon said happily as he walked in the
room. Only he didn't have on that dark leather now. His hair had been cut,
his eyes had moisture and he was wearing a leather jacket over a turtle
neck sweater and a nice pair of pants! He was a very nice-looking man.

"Who are you?" I grinned as Dragon came over to us. "You look familiar."

Dragon chuckled. "That's a joke." He literally bounced. "I look like a man
of the twenty-first century now?" He asked holding his jacket open so we
could see what he had on.

Colin nodded. "Very much so." He looked behind Dragon. "Wasn't Gaius with
you?"

Dragon nodded. "He's spending a lot of time with his son and
daughter-in-law, catching up on missed time with them."

"We should probably get Nicolae out of the country before this...thing,"
Colin suggested to us. "If they realize he's a key..."

George nodded. "I agree. If we lose him..."

"They don't have any idea what we're doing, do they?" I asked Colin and
George.

"No, but we don't want to risk losing him the night of this Transylvania
Halloween thing," George said.

"Okay, they leave within the week," Colin said simply.

"What about Iustina and Repetate?" I asked. "Shouldn't they go, too?"

Colin nodded and brought me aside. "I was thinking..." he looked at me,
knowing I wouldn't like what he was going to say. "You need to go with
them."

"What!?" I practically bellowed. "Leave you here!? I'm not leaving you!"

Colin nodded and tried to calm me down. "I know you don't want to, but
think a minute." He said. "They are dangerous creatures. Not to us, because
we are vampires. Manhattan would be an open feeding ground for them if they
got loose!"

"They won't get loose."

"There could be accidents and...it could happen and who is the one person
they trust right now? You!" Colin said again simply. "If they got loose the
only one they would come to is you."

I waved at George. "They trust him! They let him take their venom!"

Colin nodded again. "With you there. Face it, Devon, you are the only one
that can keep them calm and trying to escape!"

"Colin! I am not leaving you here!" I said now worried about the fact he
would be separated from me if I went. "No," I said shaking my head. "This
might become deadly, even for us! I won't be able to think or do anything
if I don't know you're safe."

"Iilya and Lucian know about these Old Ones," Colin said. "They might come
after them to make them...more the vampire."

"How can I do that, Colin?" I asked him. "I care about them, but I love
you! I love you! I can't leave my husband to deal with this alone."

"I know, but they've never flown before." Colin went on. "Hell, they've
probably never seen an airplane. They'll be scared, but they will be
vulnerable if they stay."

"Fine." I looked at George. "Is the container ready? Is it here?"

George nodded. "It's here."

"We load them up," I said to Colin. "We get Nicolae, his wife and children
on that plane...put Iustina and Repetate in the container and we fly
directly to Manhattan, I get them secured and we fly right back! But you
come with me! I'm not taking chances with losing you."

Colin nodded. "Okay, but we can't leave them alone." Colin objected.

"That's Iustina and Repetate...Colin, they've lived for decades in that
cell. They've lived how many thousands of years?" I shook my head. "We put
them in one of those rooms where we put Brett," I said. "The one they can't
get out of..." I patted his chest. "I don't know if they understand me, but
I'll tell them what will happen and whoever's watching them to keep the
Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry coming and keep them supplied with blood. They
should be fine." I waved toward George. "He'll be there and they know
him. They'll make it a few days to do this and get back."

We'd been so busy these few days, most of the time we collapsed in bed and
just went to sleep. Pitiful. I saw his eyes soften and he smiled. "I will
confess something to you." He waved at Sorin. "I was jealous of Sorin for a
while."

"Sorin!?" I asked surprised. "Why?"

Colin shrugged. "He was...so much more than I...he knew movies as you do
and he's a handsome guy you seemed to like..."

I know my eyes widened. I didn't need to see them. "And you think I would
be tempted...Colin!"

Colin smiled again. "I didn't say that, but you have a way with people and
they just love you. How could he not love you?" He shook his head. "But not
the way I love you. Now, I know you love me and this just proves it more."
He kissed me gently and pulled me into an embrace. "We'll have to hurry."

"I love you, Colin." I grinned. "Besides, I'm not his type."

Colin's eye grew. "And how do you know that?"

"He told me!"

"How did that subject come up?" Colin demanded.

"I'll tell you all of it." I grinned and looked at his slightly peeved
face. "You're kind of sexy when you're jealous." I pulled him to me kissing
him. "I took vows to you. Don't worry about things that won't happen. I
love only you." I said swatting him lightly, making him flinch but knew I'd
never hurt him.'

He grinned pressing his forehead against mine. "I know."


We came back at Sorin was arguing with Dragon.

"...but it's been centuries since you fought any conflict! Things changed
over these centuries." Sorin said. "You are who I think you are, we don't
want to kill anyone."

"I proved I would do anything to keep the people safe!" Dragon
argued. "Something is threatening them again. My men are from several wars
over the centuries." Dragon said heatedly. "Dimitri is the last three of my
people to go on the serum. They are vampires. They will be able to sense
these other vampires. Don't tell me you can't use their help, Sorin."

"That would put more vampires on the serum out there." I pointed out to
Sorin.

He looked up like he was seeking heavenly assistance and then looked back
at Dragon. "Fine. But your people answer to me! Got it?"

Colin chuckled. "Okay, say good-bye to Iustina and Repetate. They leave
tonight." He looked at Dragon. "Can you tell Gaius we're moving his son and
family tonight?"

Dragon nodded with a smile. "I can! I'll go to his house! In the daytime
and tell him!" He said almost excited about the fact he could now.

"Sorin, it takes a few days to get them there and settled, we'll be back
before this Halloween thing. I promise. We'll coordinate what we need to do
when we get back."

Sorin nodded. "I hope so."


Next: We Make Our Move