The Nectar of Eternal Life Page 6

  “Good day, Nelson, my name is Miss. Fleck.” Elsie extended her hand and tried to look pleasant. “My, you are a tall one.” Elsie felt the warmth of his hand and felt a surge of desire. Nelson’s neck was so long, like a sweeping playground.

  “Wow, your hands are so cold,” Nelson commented, and immediately thought maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned it.

  Elsie used her stock answer, “Oh, I was just rooting around in the freezer for something.”

  Her eyes migrated up his neck, to his sparkling blue eyes. Elsie felt a combination of feelings swirl in her body and mind. The intense need for sustenance had been there all night. Elsie had enjoyed feeling that need intensified to a near fever pitch by Drake’s presence throughout the evening, but now she was a confused bundle of emotions: the first and strongest was her love for Drake, and the second was a deep gnawing sexual desire that could only be quenched by feeding. But, the frustration she and all Vampire women had, who had made the mistake of falling in love with a human, is that she could not fulfill her desire for the man she loved. The presence of a warm human man now seemed to bring out more of the anger she was feeling by the predicament the Great Edict had presented her with. Elsie’s eyes met with Nelson’s. Her penetrating gaze caught Nelson off guard and he looked away. Elsie didn’t have the energy for the hypnotizing game. Like so many Vampires, she was lazy and didn’t have the patience for it.

  “Could I offer you something cool and refreshing to drink before we get started?” Elsie asked already turning towards a refrigerator.

  “Umm, yeah sure. Whatever you have is fine.” Nelson seemed to relax a little.

  Elsie handed him a glass of fruit juice, spiked with a scientifically enhanced and more potent version of Elsie’s own inherent venom, mixed additionally, with a chemical to maximize the victim’s blood flow.

  Beckoning Nelson to take a seat, Elsie stalked slowly around him as she spoke. Her hunger intensified with each passing moment. Nelson’s shoulders relaxed and his eyelids drooped. His head fell onto the back of the couch, exposing the long, inviting feeding site. The vein was plump and coursing.

  Leaning over, Elsie felt the warmth of his flesh and anticipated Nelson’s blood surging through her fangs and the brain rush that made feeding so pleasurable. She felt her fangs swell in her mouth. “My blood, I’m going to rip your throat out,” she whispered.

  The thought of what was flowing beyond that thin layer of flesh was as far as Elsie could push her desire. Her expression went from longing to anger in a flash and Elsie snarled her fangs free, ripping into Nelson’s throat. The anger was apparent as she recklessly tore at his gullet, not caring about wasting any of the fluid she had only moments before declared, precious.

  The room was a mess when Christopher came to clean it up. Blood was splattered everywhere within 5 feet of Nelson’s body. Christopher shook his head. “What a waste. She got more on the floor than in her body.” He felt his fangs pulse and looked around. Bending down to Nelson’s corpse aroused him even more and his teeth extended to their full length. Christopher took one last peek, then dipped his mouth into the gaping wound. He couldn’t afford such fine stock himself, but he constantly admired the men that came into the household. A little stale blood from prime stock was a bonus for him. A little bit just to peak his appetite and intensify his craving. After wiping his mouth with one of his cleaning towels, Christopher washed and cleaned the floor and furniture. With the help of a mechanized lift he rolled Nelson’s corpse over to the disposal chute and dumped the body. The carcass banged and thudded down the shaft until it landed on top of the last of Elsie’s victims in the refrigerated container at the rear of the house.

  ***

  When Elsie returned to her bedroom, Drake knew that she had just fed. It wasn’t just her color that had changed, but her mood. She was less surly, and Drake felt much more at ease. He always feared that when she pushed her desire too far, as she did tonight, that she would lose her self control and feed from him. It was difficult falling asleep beside her sometimes. But he had long ago resigned himself to his fate and realized, at any moment he could be Elsie’s next feed. If it happened, Drake knew Elsie would regret her lapse in self control, but that didn’t help reduce his worry; knowing she just fed was the only thing that eased his mind.

  Not a word was spoken the next morning when Elsie and Drake got up. Drake almost thanked Elsie for arranging the meeting with Megan, but wisely, thought better of it. As soon as Elsie left the house, Drake bounded down the stairs in search of Christopher. It’s funny how the mood instantly lifted as soon as Elsie left the house. Christopher heard Drake pounding down the stairs and playfully ran to hide. Margaret shook her head at his antics, but also was relieved to feel the mood lighten.

  “Margaret, where’s Christopher?”

  “He ran off that way when he heard you coming.”

  “Butt head. He can’t get away from me, especially on such an important day.”

  Margaret stopped Drake for a moment. “Drake. Do I need to caution you about this.”

  “No, I understand that it’s only a brief meeting, and it may be the last of its kind, but right now, I’m excited about seeing her again and nothing can dampen my mood. Not even you, ya sourpuss. Drake planted a kiss on Margaret’s cheek and her serious expression softened as quickly as her cheeks flushed pink. Margaret liked Drake immensely; he brought a charm and lighter mood to the household. She often thought that if she was ever given the opportunity to feed from him, even though she was very physically attracted to him, she wouldn’t be able to…he was just too loveable.

  As Drake took off in search of childish Christopher; Margaret’s warm smile contented her as she went back to her kitchen tasks.

  “Christopher! Where are you, ya big turd head. You’re annoying, you know that, right?”

  Christopher giggled and bolted off down a hallway in an awkward looking, tip toed sprint.

  “Christopher, you know I’m going to pummel you when I find you.”

  Christopher had ducked into a side room. He waited until just the right moment, then stepped on an otherwise annoying squeaky floor board, then ducked behind some furniture. Drake instantly responded and sprung into the room.

  “I know you’re in here Christopher. Come on man, you know this is a big day for me.”

  Drake saw the tips of Christopher’s shoes wiggling in unison to his muffled laughter.

  “Christopher, I see your big feet, man.”

  All of Christopher’s pent up excitement came out in one big guffaw and he sprang out of his hiding spot, startling Drake with a loud shout.

  “Christopher, you’re crazy, man.”

  Christopher loved that Drake called him, man. All he ever heard from his Vampire peers was derogatory terms about his sexual preference. He sometimes wondered if Drake’s attitude would have changed if he had been transformed. Christopher liked to think not.

  Walking slowly and sheepishly over to Drake, he tensed up for a mock thumping.

  “Now let’s get serious, Christopher. This is a big day for me. When can we do this?”

  Christopher tried to change his silly expression into something more serious. “Well, you see, I have many chores to do first, you know. I need to…”

  “You’ll also need to recover from me, beating the pulp out of you.”

  Christopher smiled. He didn’t know why, but it made him feel good to elicit young love…and he adored Drake. “Now if you like.”

  “Thanks Christopher. What do we do?”

  “Follow me. We’ll go directly to her apartment.”

  Drake felt his excitement ramp up. “Does she know I’m coming?”

  “Of course-she ‘d kill me if I hadn’t given her advanced notice. You know women, they always have to look their best.” Christopher winked.

  Megan’s apartment was downstairs on the first floor of the three story house. Elsie seldom went down there. Most of the rooms were used for storage of blood stock. Drake followed Chr
istopher down feeling his heart thump in his chest. He hadn’t seen Megan for two months. Christopher opened a heavy metal outer door with a key and then knocked on the inner door. “It’s Christopher!”

  Megan jumped to the door and opened it with a swoosh. Flinging herself into Drake’s arms she sobbed uncontrollably.

  “It’s okay, it’s okay. Everything will be fine now.”

  Drake kissed the top of her head in rapid fire succession as she clung desperately to him.

  She looked up finally. “Oh Drake, I’ve missed you so much.”

  Christopher was moved to tears and he suddenly felt like an intruder on a private and intimate moment. “I’m not supposed to leave you two unsupervised, but I don’t really see any harm in it. And, Miss Fleck has instructed me to leave you together for only fifteen minutes…I’ll be back in about an hour,” he said, placing his index finger to his pursed lips.

  Drake looked at him affectionately. “Thanks buddy, I owe you one.”

  Christopher smiled warmly and left them alone, locking the door behind him. He felt a confusion of emotions as he walked away.

  “I must look such a mess,” Megan said, straightening her hair and wiping her cheeks as she pulled Drake into her apartment.

  “You look just fine to me.” Drake stopped, and pulled her back to him, looking deep into Megan’s eyes, before kissing her passionately.

  Megan melted into Drake’s arms, and months of pent up passion and emotion were uncontrollably released.

  ***

  Christopher walked into the kitchen where Margaret prepared meals for Elsie’s blood stock.

  “That was fast-how did it go?”

  “He’s still down there.”

  Margaret stopped what she was doing and spun around to face him. “What! Are you crazy? Miss. Fleck distinctly stated that she wanted you there throughout the entire 15 minutes. How long has it been?”

  Christopher nonchalantly filled a glass with water and took a sip. “About 45 minutes. I said I’d be back in an hour.”

  Margaret put her hands on her hips and scowled. “You idiot, Christopher, what if Miss. Fleck comes home. You know she wouldn’t stand for this, when she gave explicit instructions…especially in this matter.”

  “Oh, they’ll be fine. What trouble could they possibly get into; after all, they’re locked up. And they’re in love. Fifteen minutes just seems too brief. I feel sorry for them.”

  “You can’t start feeling sorry for humans-it will only get you into trouble. And what if Megan gets pregnant from this little unsupervised liaison? Then Miss. Fleck will know that you disobeyed her wishes.”

  Christopher’s eyes opened wide. “I didn’t think of that. But Drake told me that when he and Megan were paired as breeders that they decided not to have children, so I can’t see that having changed.”

  “All right, but it’s your job that’s at risk, not mine,” Margaret said as she turned back to her duties.

  Chapter 6

  Transformation

  Time passed and Elsie got a new job in the breeding and research area. She passed by the breeding lab occasionally. The aging process in humans, both fascinated and repulsed her. Working only with young humans for so long had closed her mind to the certainty. Dwelling on it didn’t help, she realized, but the thought kept creeping back into her head. In a couple of short decades Drake would start to lose his youthful good looks and vitality. In 30 years he would likely look old-she had seen some of the before and after pictures. Sure, some of the older men still looked handsome and distinguished, but most, even the ones who had been attractive when youthful, looked old and fat. She regarded feeding from handsome older looking men a kind of a fetish for the rich, having never considered it herself as an indulgence. It was a risky and expensive venture to raise a human for an extended amount of time in the hopes that he would age gracefully. The business risk drove the price up, and in Elsie’s estimation it was far too expensive when there was so much young blood available at a better price. She wondered if Drake would age well. But regardless, Drake would get old and die. There has to be a way; Elsie’s clever mind, fuelled by desperation, formulated a plan to halt this inevitability.

  ***

  Tasha Sanders sat in her office, working on some quarterly reports. Her duties had diminished since The Great Edict, but because of all the staff cutbacks, her workload was still enough for her to keep her job. Her mind strayed from her work to the young man she had just purchased the day before, when the approaching sound of heels broke her train of thought.

  “Hello, Tash. Got a few minutes?”

  “Elsie! This is a nice surprise. What brings you to this ghost floor otherwise known as The Transformation Department.”

  Elsie laughed. “I know, eh. I guess we’re lucky to still have jobs.”

  “An intensely boring job, now, but yeah, at least it still pays the bills, and I can still afford pretty attractive blood stock. That’s the main thing.”

  Elsie laughed again, a little awkwardly this time. “Yeah, I know what you mean; it’s getting so expensive just to survive these days.”

  Tasha recognized the unusual uneasiness in Elsie’s demeanor. “So what’s up, my good friend? Something to do with Drake, I’m guessing.”

  Elsie smiled and looked downwards. “I need a huge favor, Tash.”

  “Oh oh, this sounds serious.”

  “I’ve been visiting the aging labs, and looking up pictures on the aging process,” Elsie began.

  Tasha shook her head. “Silly girl. Why torture yourself. My advice is to just enjoy Drake’s company for a few years and then feed off him before he gets too old.”

  “But I don’t want him to get old, I want us to be together, forever.”

  Tasha frowned. “You mentioned a huge favor. Now would be the time to spring it on me.”

  “Why couldn’t we just convert him?” Elsie shrugged her shoulders irreverently.

  “An illegal transformation…are you crazy?”

  “I know, I know-it is crazy, but I love him so much, Tasha. I just can’t bear the thought of watching him wither away into an old man. It would kill me.”

  “I told you not to get attached to him. They warn us from day one, ‘Do not get emotionally involved with a human.’ And what do you do…you get hooked on Drake.”

  “I know, I know. But in my defense, I was sure he was going to be converted, so I allowed myself to fall in love with him. If they hadn’t of repealed the policy, everything would be fine, or at least if they had of made an exception for Drake. It’s such a shame to lose such a brilliant prospect.”

  “You know we could go to jail for that. I don’t even know what the penalty would be. I don’t think it’s ever happened before, and I don’t think anyone has ever even considered it as a possibility.”

  Elsie perked up in her chair. “That’s just it-no one would be the wiser, if it’s not even something that they’ve ever considered happening.”

  Tasha looked intently at Elsie’s pitiful, pleading expression.

  “I know it’s a huge favor to ask, but I’m desperate.” Elsie finally lost her composure and broke down. “Tash, you’re my best friend; we’ve known each other for almost 200 years. Please, please help on this one.”

  “Oh my blood, Elsie, you’ve really got it bad.”

  “I know, it’s eating me up inside. Please, Tash. I’m begging you.”

  “But, what if after all that he doesn’t want to be with you? You said he’s in love with another human…a human you have living under the same roof, for the love of crimson.”

  “But she’ll grow old. I’ll wait for him. I saved both of their lives; he’ll be grateful.”

  “So, Drake’s agreed to this?”

  Elsie looked down. “No.”

  “You said he hates us. How are you going to convince him?”

  “I’m not. I’m going to do it without his consent.”

  Tasha’s eyes widened. “You’re crazy-you know that?”

&n
bsp; Elsie wiped a tear. “I’m desperate, that’s what I am.”

  “How are you planning on achieving this misguided scheme?”

  Elsie’s expression brightened. “Well, it wouldn’t be that hard, really. I could just bring him here using some excuse, he wouldn’t be suspicious. Once I have him here, I can paralyze him and then you can do the surgical procedure. I’ll be the donor of course.”

  “Oh, you’ll love that,” Tasha said.

  Elsie smiled. “The floor isn’t busy anymore, and now that the Government has suspended transformations, they don’t really keep track of inventory. And like we already discussed; officials haven’t even considered this as a possibility. There’s a good chance we could get away with it. And if I did get caught, I promise on the very blood in my veins that I wouldn’t implicate you in any way.” Elsie finished with a piercing pleading gaze.

  Tasha shook her head and scowled. “You know, we won’t be able to register him. He won’t exist.”

  “All the better. He won’t need to exist - I’ll look after all his needs. And I’m sure with my contacts, I could create an identity in the DNA base for Drake. Please, Tasha.”

  “And what if he squeals? He’s going to hate us that much.”

  “He’ll still be confined to the house, of course. He’ll be fine once he feeds a few times.”

  Tasha winced a little. “When were you planning on doing this?”

  Elsie’s eyes opened wide. “Tomorrow would be a good day. It’s Saturday. No one will be in the building. What do you think?”

  “How is your timing, as far as your feeding schedule?”

  “I planned for it, I’m prepared physically for it. I’m ready.” Elsie was virtually vibrating on the edge of her chair.

  “I can’t believe that I’m about to agree to this mad scheme. Have you considered after? What if he hates you for what you’ve done to him? Are you prepared for that?”

  “I’ll deal with that later. I’ve got eternity to change his mind.”

  “And, eternity to spend in jail.”

  “How much time would they actually give me if it came to that. After all, there isn’t even a law on the books for it.”

  “For the love of scarlet, I can’t believe I’m going to go along with this crazy scheme.”

  Elsie beamed.

  “But, I’m a sucker for a good love story-no matter how ill-advised, or ill fated.” Tasha smiled.