Blueblood

Story: Blueblood

Chapter 21 Lilly Palmer

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

Adult Readers, Sexual Situations, Sex

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Lilly Palmer

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

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

Matt nodded a little.

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

Matt had a look that told me he wasn't ready to do that. "I can't."

I smiled at him. "We can talk about it."

Matt grinned. "You're a shrink?"

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

Matt looked puzzled. "You've lived a long time?" He reasoned.

"Wrong again," I said. "I'm only thirty."

"Thirty!?" Matt balked.

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

He smiled. "You're just a kid!"

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

Matt smiled. "Sarah."

"Sarah?"

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

"That's what you're supposed to do when we meet someone."

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

"You'd never seen another vampire?"

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

"Are they still around?" I asked.

"No." Matt shook his head. "They were killed."

"Sarah got you to meet Edwin and the others." I nodded. "That's good. You weren't alone."

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

"What about the vampire that turned you?"

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

I nodded. "Taking the serum isn't a cure, but you can have a life again."

"But it hurts." He grimaced. "I'm not big on pain."

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

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

I smiled. "We're going to change that."

There was a little hope in his eyes.

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

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

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

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

"What a night!" Colin said.

I smiled as I came over to him. "Busy?"

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

I smiled. "It was...very interesting."

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

"Matt's not a bad guy." I smiled. "He's very smart and a survivor."

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

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

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

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

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

"Not everyone."

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

"You helped with Willie and Gabriella."

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

"I just listen."

"You do more than that." Colin smiled kissing me.

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

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

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

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

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

Edwin frowned. "You have the means to do that. You're working with the FBI. We have no such connections."

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

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

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

Edwin's eyebrows rose. "Who?"

I chuckled. "That's what they want you to say. No confirmation they exist."

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

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

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

"I must have missed it." Edwin grinned with a shrug.

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

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

I needed to catch Edwin up with pop culture.

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

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

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

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

Shelly did slow down and stop.

"I smell one," Alex said. "It's close."

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

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

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

"Just pull over!" Alex said urgently.

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

The woman stopped surprised. "What?"

"She couldn't be more clear," Alex said. "You're in danger."

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Stay away!" The woman said firmly. "Don't come any closer."

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

"It's trapped," Alex said softly. "It's getting a little panicked."

"What are you talking about?" The female runner asked. "What's trapped?"

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

"That's the threat!" Shelly said to the woman runner.

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

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

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

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

"Are you new here?" Shelly asked the runner.

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

"And no one told you not to go out at night alone?" Shelly asked.

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

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

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

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

The woman again was shaking her head. "But this is impossible! They don't exist!"

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

"You killed it." The woman was rationalizing in her mind.

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

The runner pointed. "But what about...that?"

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

"You're Americans?" The runner asked.

I nodded. "Yes, and?"

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

I sighed. "I almost wish the body of the vampires didn't become ash so quickly."

"Why?" Shelly asked.

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

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

I nodded. "I suppose."

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

Alex nodded and smiled. "That's why we have you, Shelly!"

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

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

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

I grinned as I sat in an available chair. "There's not a lot of room down here."

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

"Devon?" I heard Colin call from upstairs.

"We're awake," I said. "Come on down."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Matt grinned. "I don't mind sharing." He waved toward the bedroom. "I don't think I will wake him up."

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

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

I grinned at Matt and Sarah. "He's always hungry."

Matt smiled. "And not for blood!"

I patted Matt on the arm. "And you need downtime." I hugged him. "We'll be down again later."

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

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

"Hello, guys." Colin greeted happily.

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

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

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

George shook his head. "I haven't found that out."

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

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

"You've never gotten venom from a wild vampire?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I haven't tried. They've all been killed as soon as we find them."

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

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

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

"We'll have to carry a sample container." I shrugged.

"But venom doesn't last long outside a body," Colin said looking to George for confirmation.

George nodded. "It doesn't." He sighed. "It will have to be a victim."

I frowned. "A victim that's already bitten? That's a shame."

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

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

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

I nodded. "To study, yes."

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

"No." George shook his head. "I can get it here, but no, I don't."

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

"And then what?" Burke asked. "We can't keep it as a pet."

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

George sighed. "I'll talk with Edwin."

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

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

"I married a very smart man!" Colin said grinning.

I chuckled. "I know you were married once, but..."

Colin rolled his eyes. "I mean you, dummy."

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

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

I pulled Colin closer. "I guess I'm lucky you were the one to bite me. You're very smart."

Colin smiled. "You know I love you, right?"

I smiled. "Yeah? Care to show me?"

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

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

"What did you have in mind?"

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

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

"You proved that, too." Colin smiled. "We'll do it again...after a few hours' sleep."

We got up after a good sleep. Now we faced some new challenges. How do we catch a wild vampire? I thought about how we could keep one and what sort of containment we would need. A cage? That would be the best way. Keeping one in back of a van would be dangerous and it would try repeatedly to escape. We were protected to a degree against the vampires, but Shelly and Chuck didn't need the risk it could bite even accidentally in the vampire's attempt to get away. The Disflavor didn't make them incapable of being turned. Colin, George, Burke, Alex, Willie, and I thought we should catch it. Gabriella objected to being left out, but Alex absolutely refused to even consider that. I had never seen him so determined and unbending. Even, and I'm quoting him. "I don't give a damn that you can or can't do it. I'm not saying it's because you're a woman. You're someone I love more than life. Leave me, if you want to, but you are not coming!" Gabriella smiled at him and let the issue drop. Equal rights weren't the issue here. Love was. We were two teams in different parts of the same town. We finally decided that Gabriella could drive the vehicle with a cage in the back. She could drive to a location but stay in the truck with the door locked. And she was to stay...in...the...truck. The way he said to do that, I would stay in the truck. I saw Colin smile at what he saw and heard from Alex.

Edwin told us there was a cellar in the barn where the horses we kept. It was used for storage. Doing a quick study, we found it could be sealed to shield any sun from getting it. We weren't having a guest come and stay. This was going to be an animal. We had Edward call around to several places. He was very creative. I guess working for Edwin had made him get creative. Making up stories for Edwin must be an ongoing thing. We finally got one of those cages of re-enforced steel. A rhinoceros couldn't break through. It was big enough. Edward said something about big game hunting in an area of Africa he had gotten permission to hunt. Edward promised he would be bringing the "animal" by airplane here and would have to prove he could bring it back. The cage was available, and we would send someone there to pick it up.

We continued to have vampires come in daily to start the serum.

Matt saw me a few days later and made a request. He sat wringing his hands as he began. "I want to do the serum, but..."

I waited for the but...then after a while. I smiled at him. "Tell me," I said softly.

"I want you to do it," Matt said finally. It was so quiet, I almost missed it.

"It will still hurt, Matt," I said hoping he didn't think I could do anything about that.

Matt nodded. "I know. Sarah told me it was like giving birth again." He chuckled. "Like I can relate to that." He looked at me. "I'm not really scared about being hurt, but..." he looked sheepish, "...I trust you."

I smiled. "Say it. It will hurt."

Matt looked frightened, and his voice even cracked when he said it. "It will hurt."

I nodded. "We can do it tonight," I said. "We'll do it right in this room." I touched his arm. "I'm good with injections...but I'd like George to give you the first injection. It's in the heart and I prefer he does that. I'll be right there." I had seen it happen, so I addressed it immediately. "Things with a person being taken care of...become confused. Doctors or nurses giving care often become the focus of a patient's attention. I want Colin there with me."

"Okay."

"It's to enforce the fact that I'm committed to someone else," I said smiling. "You might get attached. It's call transference. It happens. What I need you to know and see, is I'm married...happily...to Colin."

Matt smiled. "I won't hit on you. I swear."

I smiled. "The key thing to do here is talk about it."

Matt chuckled. "And you say you're not a shrink."

"I'm not," I said. "I was a medic in the Air Force. It happens...even with the straight ones." I smiled. "We can be friends. We can become good friends, but I believe in being honest. I'm just stating what is expected and what will happen." I smiled. "Okay?"

Matt nodded. "Okay."

I told Colin.

"You want me to what?" Colin asked trying to understand.

"I need you there with me when I give the serum," I said. "Well, George will give the first injection, but I want you there afterward." I nodded at the expression he was giving as he tried to understand. "He doesn't trust anyone. He does trust me. I've been totally honest with him. Feelings happen with a caregiver. I told him we were married and that these feelings can happen. I've seen it before."

"Okay." Colin nodded. "I'll be there."

I nodded. "Perhaps the two of you can become friends," I suggested. "He can use another friend."

Now there were two vampires getting the serum. Matt had it done and would be staying on the cot. It was a nice cot. It was another, but a smaller bed. George was there preparing Matt and inserted the needle in Matt's chest. The pain came. Both Colin and I stayed right by his side. After the first night, Matt woke up and sat up, rubbing his chest.

"That really hurt," Matt said sadly.

I sat by him in a chair and took his hand. "I know," I said with empathy. "We all do." I waved at Colin. "Everyone of us that is a vampire know it will hurt, but don't think about how much it hurt. Think about what you'll get when you have the disc inserted. You'll have freedom and the pain will stop."

Colin smiled at me and then leaned in toward Matt. "We wouldn't do this if it weren't something we all believe in. You get a life back."

I nodded. "Now, we need to pick a room."

"A room?" Matt asked. He chuckled. "A room." He smiled. "Almost like a real person."

I nodded. "You are a real person. You always were. Now you have some choices."

Matt's eyes grew a little. "Wow." He commented amazed. "There's no hunger."

Colin nodded. "Feel here." He took Matt's hand and put Matt's fingers to his throat. "You have a pulse."

Now Matt's eyes grew even more.

Edwin's house was filling up. Sarah was getting the disc inserted. She looked so much more human. Her eyes glistened and the humor was back. We found Matt a room...and I admit, we chose it on purpose. It was on the opposite wing. I worried about him becoming dependent on me. I wasn't that important, but he might take it the wrong way. The first sunrise came, and we stood with Matt as he saw it and had the same reaction everyone did.

The day he got the disc inserted Colin came to me. I was in the media room. Edwin had never had a television before, now Edwin had the big screen, DVD player and a new library of videos. He was watching Doctor Who! We started with the original Doctor Who and was up to the 70s with Tom Baker.

"This is so fake." Edwin groused eating some popcorn we popped to watch these shows.

"Of course, it is," I said. "This was the 1970s! He was the fourth doctor. Wait until we get to the eleventh doctor..."

"How many doctors are there?"

I chuckled. "I'm not telling. You have to watch them yourself."

Matt threw popcorn at us. "Be quiet! Some of us don't care if it's fake. It's a good story!"

Colin came to me and tapped me on the shoulder. Looking at him, he did the finger asking me to come with him. Getting up I followed him into the hall.

"That's therapy?" Colin asked smiling.

"It's cultural!" I defended. "They will be out in the world now. If someone mentions the Tardis or any of the Doctors, they'll know. I haven't even started with the 007 movies. If someone mentions Q or M, they will know they are more than letters in the alphabet."

Colin chuckled. "Okay, okay." He waved me down. "I get it."

"Don't even get me started on credit cards and ATMs." I smiled. "...and bank accounts."

Colin brought me into a hug. "You're doing some great things with them, Devon." He said kissing me. "But how about taking this weekend off?"

I could tell he was planning something. "I suppose I could."

Colin nodded. "We've worked since we arrived." He smiled. "This weekend, it will just be you and me."

I bounced. "No vampires?"

Colin looked surprised. "We are vampires."

"You know what I mean."

"No vampires." Colin chuckled. "You need to pack for a nice few days. We'll leave Friday morning and return Sunday night."

"That sounds interesting." I smiled, kissing him. I walked back into the media room. "Who's up for Sean Connery?" I asked them.

I packed a couple of nice suits along with my casual clothes. I told Matt and all the others there that Colin was taking me away for the weekend. Matt looked a little concerned but was resolved to getting along fine.

Colin and I loaded up an SUV, which I was glad not to be driving. Colin headed South. I wasn't surprised we arrived in London, but when we pulled into a hotel. I had no idea where it was, but we checked in and when the bellman escorted us to this suite. I grinned to myself. The St. James was very...posh? It was a hotel of quiet elegance, not a party hotel. When we came in the lobby the piano music that played quietly told you to keep it down. We checked in and went to our suite with the terrace that you could see some of downtown. There was the living area in the suite with its nice furniture and bedroom, but the feature here was the terrace. A quiet area you could sit outside.

Unpacking, Colin, and I didn't go anywhere. He stretched out on the bed smiling at me, patting the empty space before him.

"This is just about you..." he said as I lay next to him and kissed me. "...and me." He began kissing me a little deeper, gently becoming more intense and hungry. "I love you, Devon. You're the most important person in my life."

I knew that he made me feel that way every day, but hearing it said...so sincere...this was more than just foreplay. He meant it.

"I love you, Colin. We'll never be parted."

We made love often. We played sexual games, but this night was all about love. It was slow but just as intense as it could be. We were panting and trying to suck in air as we finished this session. Colin enjoyed our time afterward, touching and just caressing me as I did him. We had reservations I was told, so we got up, dressed in nice suits and went downstairs to the restaurant. Again, this was a quiet venue. The diners here spoke in quiet tones to one another. No children. I didn't mind children, but sometimes their behavior was a little rambunctious. The ambiance just made you calm. I had been taught manners by my mother and she showed me what utensils were used when. No one looked at us strangely as we sat. No one cared that we were a couple of two men. They were busy with whomever they were with. The dinner was fabulous, but I wondered if Colin had enough.

He looked up at me and chuckled. "We're not done." He said simply knowing why I was looking at him concerned.

I nodded. "It's Friday night." I shrugged. "We have until Sunday. I know there's more."

After dinner, he and I began walking through the streets of London. We were near Buckingham Palace, but we headed in the other direction. No hurry, but I had a feeling I was being guided. We walked across the Thames, and he then looked at the huge Ferris wheel. He grinned at me as his eyebrows wiggled. We walked up to the London Eye. That is what the Ferris wheel is called. He walked to a man that was confirming people on the London Eye.

"Wentworth," Colin said to the man. "We have a private capsule reserved."

I smiled. A private capsule? He had this planned!!

"Yes, sir. We have everything ready." The man nodded and did what he needed. "You have priority."

Entering this capsule...and that's what it was! A capsule, round and very nice and a lot of windows. That's what it was for, to see all of London! What I didn't expect was the table in the middle. There was a bottle of Champagne chilling in an ice bucket, there were chocolates and Champagne Truffles. A man waited dressed in a red vest and white shirt and bowtie as he waved us in. He had the white folded towel over his arm. There was also a dish of something. I looked closer. "Caviar?" I asked Colin who was grinning even more.

"Beluga Caviar." Colin corrected. "With sour cream."

I laughed at what he'd done. It was...nice!

"I know I'm a third wheel." The man with the red vest said. "Regulations and all that. I have to be, but I'll look away." He smiled as he covered his eyes.

"We won't be having sex, I promise." Colin chuckled.

The man chuckled. "You'd be surprised at the number of people who have!"

"We would want more than an hour if we did have sex," Colin said.

"I prefer less of an audience," I said as Colin wrapped his arm around me. "Are people allowed to have sex on this?"

The man looked at me with the...you have to ask that...look. "I got a card from a woman that claims she conceived on the Eye." He smiled. "I promise to be as invisible as possible."

"You don't mind that we're two men?" I asked.

He chuckled. "I've seen it all...the typical male and female, male and male, female and female and even those May/December romances. There's one sticks in my mind."

"Why?" Colin asked.

"Well, she was the December, and he was the May." He said. "She was in her seventies; he was in his twenties." He shrugged. "I say...whatever makes you happy."

Colin nodded. "Then get off the capsule."

"Except that." The man pointed and smiled.

I shook my head. "You have caviar on hand?"

The man looked shocked. "Oh, hell no. This is a Cupid Capsule, but he made it better." He pointed at Colin. "He promised good compensation if I signed for the caviar. Which I did." He waved to the caviar. "You must be pretty special to him. If I had someone like him treat me this well, I'd marry him...and I'm not gay!" He chuckled.

We began to move.

"I'll be..." the man pointed to the other side of the capsule, "...over here. Not looking....or listening...or whatever." He grinned and turned away.

I smiled at Colin. "I do feel like I'm special with you."

"That's because you are," Colin said. "I feel special when I'm with you." He kissed me and walked us to the Champagne. He poured a glass and handed it to me and took one himself. He raised his glass. "To a long, long life where we both feel special because we're together." I clinked his glass against mine.

"I'll drink to that." I smiled.

We, of course, ate what Colin had done so much to have there. The Truffles, the chocolate and especially the caviar. We stood together as all of London was before us as lights seemed to cast a spell on us. Colin had his arms around me as looked over the city together. The other problems we had were going to have to be handled by someone else tonight. This was just for Colin and me.

We consumed chocolate and Truffles. We pretty well got all the caviar consumed. Colin did a lot of it, but he loved food and had a big appetite. We strolled back to the hotel, not caring if anyone else was around as we walked with arms around each other. There were even a few smiles I saw. Not the look, isn't it funny? They're gay smiles but isn't that sweet smiles. London would be special to me from now on.

Once in our suite, I was backing him to the bed as I pulled his jacket off and loosening his tie. "Thank you, Colin."

He smiled. "You had a good time?"

"The best night we've had in a while," I said. "The guy on the capsule was right. I must be special." I said unbuttoning his shirt. "Now, I'm going to make you know how special you make me feel," I said running my hands up his chest. I kissed him in that consuming attempt to devour the man if I could and he gave back as much as I gave.

It was a glorious night!

The next morning, I woke up and realized we didn't have to be anywhere. I smiled to myself, loving the feel of Colin's body pressed against me. All was right with the world! Colin's arm was draped over me as usual. I never liked so much as a Teddy Bear in bed as a child, but I couldn't imagine not having Colin with me.

"Good morning." I heard behind me and felt him move.

I rolled over to face him. "It is a great morning." I smiled kissing him. "What do you want to do today?"

Colin looked surprised. "You don't have something you want to do?"

I chuckled. "Colin, you have to have something you want to do. This shouldn't be all about what I want."

Colin frowned. "Well, no...but I'm not the planner. I enjoy being with you. I don't care what we do as long as we do it together." He smiled. "I've been to London..."

"On business," I said quickly. "There's Buckingham Palace, The Tower of London...there are many parks! The leaves are changing, it's beautiful!"

Colin smiled and rolled over on top of me. "What I was going to say was, I've been to London, but I never saw London. I was so caught up in getting Wentworth Manor back and making the money to do that..." he waved at the outside. "It never occurred to me to get on that London Eye. I never even thought about going to Harrods'." He smiled at me. "I love you, Devon. What I love the most is your enthusiasm about...everything!"

I smiled back. "It's just my immaturity."

Colin's head backed up a little. "Are you nuts!? Honey, you wake up every morning with a smile! Because you wake up with a smile, I have a smile, too! You see everything so positively. We should all be so immature. You love me. I know that. But you love me so...completely. With every fiber in your being, you love me. I see it and feel it. I've been alive for hundreds of years, but until I met you I hadn't lived! I can't wait to see what you think up next. I mean what I say, you are the most important human being I know or even heard of. You're kind and caring. I would have dismissed Matt, but not you. You not only made friends with him but got him to tell you things he told no one else." Colin stressed. "And I don't think it has a thing to do with any gifts you may have gotten because you're a vampire, you were this way before. Most of the time, I forget you are a vampire! There are times I forget I am. That's because of you!"

I looked at him like he was not seeing things correctly. "I haven't done a thing. George came up with the formula, you came up with the funds..."

"No!" Colin said quickly raising his finger. "No, he and I were pretty much...dead inside. George would still be in Manhattan hiding from everyone. He would never accept the FBI and he never would have come here to England. I was afraid I was a monster, but you were never scared of me. Knowing what I was, you didn't run away." He propped on an elbow as he smiled looking at me. "I don't care what we do as long as we do it together." He sighed happily. "Even if that something...is nothing. Now, do you see how important you are to me?"

I looked at the emerald eyes. "I know what I want right now."

All the lovemaking had been...very nice, but this time...I hope the room was soundproof. He and I were a little noisy. There were some loud grunts and occasional shouts. It was indeed a great morning.

After we cleaned up and got dressed, it was lunchtime. We had the whole day! We did walk around London with no agenda, and we made our way to Kent, the southern part of London. There we found Tom Bell. Not a man, but a where. Fish and chips! By reputation, theirs was the best, so we went in and got some. I wasn't disappointed. It was good! The seasons were changing and one of the changes was fog. As the evening came on, in rolled fog. I've seen fog, but this? The air was cold, and the fog was thick. I dreaded what problems drivers were having. Like Charleston, the cold in London was damp. It ate through our jackets and sweaters. We should have known we might encounter one of us. We were having a good time, but we didn't see that many people out. They had more sense than to be out on a night like this. Colin and I weren't lost, but it was difficult to know where we were, so we had to get closer to the street signs to know where we were.

"We're heading the right way," Colin said now that we saw the sign. He suddenly looked up as he sensed something, but not with his eyes or ears.

It just when he got the look, I sensed it, too. A vampire. I froze. Colin was looking around and concentrating on where he was sensing.

"We can feel you there," I said calmly. "As I know you can sense us. We're the same as you."

"No, you're not." A woman's voice said from in the fog. "I sense you are vampires, but you're not like me." Someone came closer and I could see the image of someone. "Why is that?"

"We're under treatment," Colin said, but he was defensive. "What we are is a condition. It's not a curse."

"Condition?" The young woman repeated finding it hard to believe. "I've never heard of a condition. We're vampires."

Colin frowned. "Well, there is a condition." He was getting testy. "I hate this cloak and dagger stuff." He said firmly. "I know that trust is hard for us, but can you get closer so we can see you?"

"You took a risk by even speaking to us," I added touching Colin's arm. "You might see us, but why not come a little closer so we can see you?" What I was surprised about this vampire was her accent. From all the time I'd been in England, the various accents I'd gotten used to. She had a definite accent that spoke of the United States. "You sound American or Canadian."

She chuckled. "So do you." She came closer and we could see a woman in her early twenties. Her hair was a dark blonde and she was pretty. The other thing about her, she was clean. She was personally as well as her clothes. "American as I hear a Southern accent."

I nodded. "Because we are Southern. We're both from Charleston, South Carolina. Where are you from?"

"Akron, Ohio." She said.

I smiled. "A Yankee." I didn't feel threatened by her at all. She was a vampire, but no threat. Her eyes lacked the moisture, and her complexion was pale like all vampires. "What's your name?"

"Lilly." She said. "Really, Lillian, but everyone calls me Lilly."

Now Colin was relaxed. "My name is Colin Wentworth." He put his hand on my shoulder. "This is my husband, Devon Wentworth."

I was so used to operating on the defensive about being gay. I am delighted when we tell people, and they have no reaction at all. I have a feeling that was because we lived in the Bible Belt, we would often get the bad reactions. They didn't like gays much and God forbid a gay vampire! We were an exclusive club.

"How did a nice girl from Akron, Ohio become a vampire in London?" Colin asked.

She laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Paul." She replied. "He was my boyfriend."

"You said was...he's not anymore because...he's dead? Or..." I asked.

She shook her head. "He's a vampire now, too." She frowned a little bitter. "It was him that got me turned into this."

"I'm sorry," I said. "He was the one that bit you?"

She nodded. "I was his second victim that night."

"That is a good thing," Colin said. "His first victim didn't survive, did he?"

"I didn't know about the first victim at first, but..." she shook her head. "Paul was always a dreamer. He had this romantic notion that we'd be...this vampire couple in love forever."

"How'd he get you?" I asked.

"We had gone to this party, and he disappeared," She began. "It was morning before I went back to his flat...alone." She said that last part angrily. "I didn't know what had happened to him." She waved her arms in frustration. "When he did show up the next night...I was angry but glad to see him. I knew he looked strange, but...there was no warning. He hugged me and then...bit me."

"I'm sorry that happened to you," I said. "How did he think becoming a vampire would be a good thing?"

"He fell for the movies and TV!" She explained. "He thought we'd have these magic powers and all that shit." She laughed again angrily. "Needless to say, we're not that romantic vampire couple. We're not even a couple."

"How do you know he's alive?" Colin asked.

"I see him around," Lilly answered. "His bubble has burst and he's a little angry. He tries to get me back, but I'm sort of pissed at him, know what I mean?"

I smiled and nodded. "I can understand why."

She nodded. "So, what is this treatment you do?"

We explained about the venom and serum.

She shook her head. "A venom?" She repeated. She looked at us and waved helplessly. "I have to believe it because here you are, and you don't feel like other vampires."

Colin nodded. "Because we aren't."

"How long ago were you turned?" I asked.

"Five months ago," Lilly said.

"Have you killed?" Colin asked.

Lilly looked guilty. "A dog once, a few cats and rats." She shivered when she said rats. "Rats are disgusting, but it does the trick." She looked at us doubtfully. "Do I have to do something to get this treatment?"

I nodded. "You have to come to us."

"To Charleston!?" She asked as if we'd said the moon, but for a vampire, a trip like that would be like going to the moon.

I laughed and shook my head. "Not that far, but it is about three or so hours' drive...north." I could see she was relaxing. "Have you heard of Thornwood?"

She shook her head.

"There are more vampires in the world," Colin said. "There is a group now up in Yorkshire. Do you have a way of getting there?"

She looked more helpless. "I can't see how. I don't even know where Yorkshire is...I know there are a lot of mines up there."

I nodded approaching her. "It's okay," I assured. "We can get you there, but it won't be tonight...or even tomorrow night."

"We're here in England for a reason. Helping others like us is that reason." Colin said. "The thing is...you'll have to trust us."

I nodded. "You took the first step by speaking to us. Your next step was to reveal yourself. What happens next is you have to come with us."

Now she looked even more doubtful. "If I do...can I ever go home?"

I smiled. "To Ohio?"

"I was attending NYU." She smiled. "But I'd like to get out of London. Anywhere will be a welcome change."

"If nothing else, if you take the treatment, you'll have a future to decide on." I smiled. "We go back to Thornwood tomorrow. We can come back."

"During the day?" Lilly asked.

I nodded. "We can bring you to Thornwood at night. We have somewhere you can stay in the day."

The idea of being somewhere else during the day was frightening to her, but the thought that she could leave this horrible life behind was more tempting.

"What's your full name?" I asked.

"Lillian Palmer." She said.

"Alright, Lilly Palmer," I said. "We'll be back here in a week," I said. "Or unless you prefer another location."

"A week? Seven days?"

I nodded. "We might bring some others. There is a group of humans that work with us. My mother is one such human with us. She's very nice." I waved at Colin. "His daughter is a vampire. They can help you."

She nodded. "Okay. Seven days." She looked at her watch. "It's nine thirty now. Same time?"

I nodded. "We'll be here. Is there anyone you want to include?"

She shook her head. "I just want out." She said pitifully and again, if she had tears, they would be falling.

Colin smiled. "We'll get you out. I promise."

She nodded. "A week." She said as she backed up. "You promised." And she disappeared into the fog.

Colin sighed. "So much for our vampire free weekend."

I put my arms around him. "She found us; we didn't go looking for one." I grinned. "Now we have another movie!" I said happily.

Colin chuckled but rolled his eyes. "Oh?"

"You remember the movie American Werewolf in London?"

Colin thought. "I can't say I do."

"We've got to get you up on current events," I said kissing him. "Now we have American Vampires in London! I'll find the werewolf movie when we get back to Thornwood. I'm sure it's available on demand."

Colin chuckled again and said weakly. "Yea for me." Then he smiled. "And when Edwin or Matt comes to New York we can have British Vampires in Manhattan?"

I smiled. "Now you're getting it!" I looked where we were. "Are you going to be able to find this again?"

Colin nodded. "I'll remember."

We got back to the hotel and had a quiet night...well, mostly. He and I did let out a few loud grunts as we made love, but nothing too loud. We got up, had our breakfast and were on our way back to Thornwood at twelve.

We came into the house where no one was there to greets us. Not that they knew when we were coming back. We got our luggage back in our room and looked for someone...anyone. The media room was empty, as was the library. Going down to the underground room, we found that room was empty. Finally, when we were going down a hall on the first floor we saw Willie.

"Willie!" Colin greeted. "Where is everyone?"

Willie smiled at us. "Well, the vampire last night is now upstairs on the west wing." Then he smiled bigger. "The others are with our new guest."

"New guest?" I asked.

Willie nodded and jutted his head. "Out in the barn's underground."

"You caught a wild vampire!?" Colin asked.

Willie nodded. "We did. Come on, I'll take you to see it."

I had not been to the barn before...why would I?

Willie led me to a door that had the stone steps that led down.

Here we saw where they had all gone. In a cage of steel was a creature that was only human in that it looked vaguely human. His hair was dirty and had stringy hair. Again, the hair on a vampire will grow and he never had gotten a haircut. Not a big man, about my size. The hair was dark, but the color could be from the grime. He was dirty from head to toe and the clothes he wore was so tattered and torn, he might as well have nothing on. This vampire was truly wild. He turned as Willie, Colin and I came down and hissed, but shied away from the cage's edge. His fangs, however, were in great shape which he showed as he hissed. Then I was hit by the smell. Now I got that musky, musty smell Gabriella had described. Chuck and Shelly were a good many feet away from the cage. Burke, Alex, Edwin, Matt, and George were closest to the cage. Gabriella was standing behind Alex.

"...I'll try this," George said as he put a dart in a gun.

Looking at the vampire, he already had two darts in his back.

George shook his head and fired, hitting the vampire in its back again. The vampire shrieked and tried to get the dart. Then I saw the other darts on the cage floor.

Alex looked up and saw us and grinned. "Welcome to the freak show!" He waved at the vampire.

"We go away a couple of days and this is what we come back to?" Colin asked shaking his head. "Shouldn't he be still asleep?"

George nodded. "He was asleep, but the sun's going down. I need him knocked out to get any blood. He fights too hard to get any."

I looked at this vampire as I walked closer to it. "If he just woke up, he's hungry."

George had been setting up a lab down here, but it wasn't all clean like his lab in Manhattan. George nodded and waved to several clear bags of blood he had ready for him on a counter. "He slaps away the bags and tries to get free."

I nodded, looking at what remained of his clothes...he had been a miner. No telling how long ago he was turned, I could see his clothing and knew it had been a while. "He may not know what the bags are or what's in them," I said going over to one of the bags. "Is there something..." I looked around this barn storage area. "Is there a shovel or something?"

Edwin nodded. "Yeah, I'll get it." He came back with a shovel. It had been used and was dirty, but I hoped it would do the trick. I opened a port on the bag and let the blood spill out on it. Then I raised the bag with the shovel to the vampire who now was looking very interested as his nose twitched smelling the blood.

"It's blood," I said to the vampire. "That's what you want right now."

Vampires were stupid, but this one wasn't very bright either. It grabbed the bag and instead of just lifting it and sucking out the blood, it bit the bag. He got some of the blood, but mostly it spilled on the ground. I took another bag. "This is what you need to do," I said to the vampire who looked at me curiously. I opened the port and like I was going to let it drip in my mouth, I showed him how it came out. Then I held it out to him.

"Devon! Get back!!" Colin shouted seeing I was too close for Colin to not worry and about to charge after me to rescue.

I held my hand up to stop Colin. "I'm okay. He just needs to know how to get it." I held the bag closer. The vampire watched as I came nearer. "Take the blood." The vampire's response was to grab the bag greedily and held it up as I did and let the blood pour into his throat. I backed away a little, grabbed by Colin and moved farther away faster. He hugged me to him. "I'm okay, Colin. He couldn't hurt me. I'm already a vampire."

Colin shook his head. "He can hurt you! He could have ripped your arm off!!"

I pulled Colin into the hug again and patted him on the back as he was assessing whether I was still intact. "I'm okay, Colin. He didn't touch me." I hugged him again. "But I noticed something just now."

"What!?" Colin asked trying to calm down.

"There is something operating here. He saw what I did and repeated it. He learned." I pointed out. I looked at the vampire. "Whether he's a nice guy or not, he was human."

"So, you want to try and tame him!?" Colin balked.

I frowned at Colin. "I'd like to know that if an innocent person was bitten. Can he be reached and saved?" I turned to Shelly. "That woman that was running that night, she was going to attacked by a vampire like him! Wild!" I waved at the vampire.

Shelly frowned. "She was a bit paranoid to me."

"Four people jump from an SUV at night, isn't paranoid," I said. "She was protecting herself. It was a normal reaction. Would she be condemned if she had been bitten?" I turned to George. "Have you ever given the serum to one like this?" I waved at the vampire. "Have you gotten a wild vampire back?"

George looked puzzled but shook his head. "They usually don't survive."

I nodded. "Let's test his blood. If we can get the venom, we test it." I smiled at George. "You should be able to tell if there's something in his blood we don't have."

George nodded. "I was planning to find out." He grinned. "Are you sure you don't want to be a doctor? Or at least a scientist?"

I grinned at George. "No thanks. You're it. Who else do we need?"

George chuckled. "I can use the help." He looked at the vampire as it slumped a little. "Oh, now the tranquilizer's is working. Having the blood in him must be helping."

We all turned as the vampire finished the bag and was slowly collapsing.

"Won't the tranquilizers have an effect on the serum?" I asked.

George nodded. "It will register, but it won't affect the results that much." He walked closer to the vampire. George smiled. "I'll get the venom from his bloodstream. We should get the venom from him if we can." He looked at me. "Care to help me?"

"How are you going to do that?" Burke asked but had a feeling what we were going to do.

"In order to get snake's venom, we get a jar, and the process involves sinking the fangs in a special jar with a covering to bite into and force the venom out." George said. "That means...we go in, put the jar under his fangs and sink the fangs in the jar."

"No!" Colin objected, shaking his head. "No way are you doing that." He said to me and George.

George frowned at Colin. "It needs to be done. To see if there's a difference, I need his and someone else's venom without the serum." He looked at all of us. "One of the new vampires coming for the serum can give that sample. We'll compare." He looked at the now sleeping vampire. "The problem is...we need to have the means to store it once we've got it. Even then, it won't last long. I need my high-powered microscope ready when we do it. It's on the way."

Burke came beside Colin. "I don't like this." He said to Colin.

Colin shook his head. "Neither do I." He looked at me. "That means sticking your hand in his mouth." He pointed to the vampire.

I nodded. "I'll be careful." I looked at George. "We'll wear gloves!"

"Gloves that he can easily bite through." Colin pointed out. "There has to be another way."

George sighed. "I try and come up with something. I need to wait for the microscope so we can't do it now. I need a blood sample. I can do simple observations for now with a simple microscope." He went over to bench he had some of those clear test tubes with the stopper on top to keep specimens sterile. He picked a few up and a large syringe. "I need access to his neck. I'm not concerned with sterilizing the site. Just watch him." He said to me and the others around him. He reached in through the bars and rolled the vampire over. Clearing the vampire's neck from the hair and getting access, he stuck the needle in the neck and withdrew some of the black ooze and put the ooze in the container. George held up the tube. "I'll start with this."

"This is dangerous," Colin said to me.

"If I had been bitten by one of these...which I'm not sure Brett wasn't going that way. Would you give up on me?" I asked. "Maybe if we find something out about their venom, we may help." I turned to George again. "Have we given the serum to one of these?"

"We never thought to," George said shrugging. "They weren't seen as a victim. As I said, they always die first."

I nodded. I looked at the vampire. "This one won't." I looked at Colin. "You see we have to, right?"

Colin still looked upset about it and said to me. "I do, but I don't want you hurt."

George frowned as he put his arm around my shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll be careful." He almost growled.