Hi! Thanks for visiting the Detroit Vampire Chronicles. The site will be on hiatus until April 16, 2010. I’m currently working on another (non-Web) writing project that requires most of my time.
On April 16, 2010, regular updates to this blog will resume. Stay tuned for some interesting plot developments and more character photos.
If this is your first time visiting the site, begin with Chapter 1. You can also read a summary of the story.
This blog is on hiatus until further notice.
Maggie walks in. Behind her is a tall, icy blonde man. One glance and I can tell immediately that he’s a vampire. Ori.
“Well, well,” Maggie says. “What have you two been up to?”
“What?” I ask, confused.
She strides over to me and takes my hand. Turning it, she looks at my wrist. There’s no mark left from the razor blade.
“Been cutting yourself, Jude?” She asks in a simpering voice. I’m confused.
“What?” I ask again, pulling my wrist away.
“She’s not very bright, is she?” Maggie says over her shoulder to Ori. He doesn’t reply. His pale blue eyes flick over me once and then it’s as though he doesn’t see me.
I’m getting pissed.
“What the fuck is this, Maggie?”
“You’re trying to turn your little pet into a vampire, aren’t you?”
“He’s not my pet.” I involuntarily glance at Benny. He’s pressed into a corner where the kitchen cabinets come together. He looks terrified.
“What do you think, Ori?” Then Maggie faces me so quickly I don’t see her movements. “Oh, how rude of me. I forgot to introduce you. Jude, this is Ori, our creator.”
He still looks past me.
“Why are you here?” I ask.
Maggie hops onto the counter where I was sitting a moment before. She’s dressed in a silky dark green coat with an intricate pattern. The coat is so long it hides whatever she’s wearing beneath it. She crosses her long legs.
“I lied to you, Jude.”
I wait. I’m suddenly aware of the sound of Benny’s labored breathing.
“I told you that only certain vampires have the power to turn someone. That’s a lie. Any vampire can do it. Ori and I are here to show you how.” Her bright green eyes focus on Benny. He swallows visibly.
“Why did you create me?” I ask Ori.
“We’ll get into all that later,” Maggie cuts in. In a motion so fast it’s just a blur, she hops off the counter, lifts Benny, and takes him into the living room. I follow quickly behind.
She pins him to the floor with her hands and knees.
“Now, watch carefully,” she says, and before I can stop her, she bites Benny’s neck.
After their laughing fit dies down, Benny and Jude wander into the kitchen. Benny cracks open a beer while Jude hoists herself to sit on one of the counters. They’re quiet, lost in thought.
“What are we going to do now?” Benny asks.
Jude shrugs, suddenly irritable. Her whole life feels like one big mess, and the fact that it’s most likely never-ending makes it more depressing.
“I’m so close,” he says.
“Hm?” She isn’t really paying attention.
“I never thought vampires existed. It was just this pipe dream I used to distract myself from the disease. But now you’re here and it’s like, we’re on the way to figuring this out.”
“But now what?”
“I think you should bite me.”
“And what if I kill you?”
“I’m dying anyway.”
“All humans are dying, Benny,” she says.
“Not the way I am.”
He sets his beer on the counter and comes to her, leaning in. She can smell his funny smell — human rust but something else. The disease, maybe.
“Either you bite me or we think of another way,” he says. He puts his hand up her skirt and touches her.
God, he’s so beautiful, she thinks. Up close, she can see how long his eyelashes are, how red his cheeks are.
His fingers continue to probe. If she were still human, she’d be willing to go to bed with him at this point. But she feels nothing.
“That doesn’t work, Benny. I’m a dead woman, remember?” She smiles at him, hoping to be kind. He takes his hand away but stays close.
“Then bite me. Please. Just a little. Let’s see what it does.”
“I don’t know if I can just … stop.”
“Concentrate.” His eyes are pleading. She’s never seen him look so desperate.
She leans in, and he bears his neck to her. She can see he’s shaking a little. She parts her lips, but something about his smell makes her recoil.
“I can’t.” She pushes him away and is about to jump down from the counter when they hear the front door bang open.
In reflex, her fangs drop into place.
“Who’s there?”
A searing pain jolts from my wrist up my arm. I open my eyes and look down. Nothing. There’s no cut, no blood, nothing.
“Wow, Jude,” Benny breathes beside me. “You healed instantly!”
“Hmm, neat party trick, but not very useful for our present experiment. Let’s try again.”
I position the razor over my wrist, less fearful this time.
“When I cut, you have to act fast. See if you can suck any blood before it heals up. Okay?”
Benny nods.
I try again. Again, the quick pain and then nothing. Benny doesn’t move fast enough.
“You’ve gotta be faster than that, Benny.”
“Sorry. I was just trying to stay away from the razor.”
We make a few more unsuccessful attempts, each time a little closer. Benny’s mouth is slobbery on my wrist. I put down the razor in exasperation.
“You don’t have to French kiss my arm, you know.”
“I’m trying to suck!”
“Suck more. Slobber less.”
I slash again (this is getting annoying) and Benny moves quickly. He looks up in triumph. Blood dots his lower lip.
“I got some!” he says excitedly.
“Does it taste rusty, like human blood?” I ask. I can’t help it; I’m curious.
“Umm.” He licks his lip. “It tastes like rotten eggs.” He looks thoroughly disgusted.
We try a few more times but each time, he’s only able to get a drop or two before my wrist closes. I push him away and do it again, watching the whole time. A thin line of blood appears and then evaporates.
I look at Benny. His hair is disheveled and he’s wild-eyed. Suddenly, I start laughing hysterically.
“God, look at us. What a bunch of losers.”
He takes one look at me and starts laughing, too. I keel over and sit down with my back against the vanity. Benny sits on the toilet lid. It takes a few minutes for us to calm down.
Benny leans back, thinking about what Jude has just propositioned.
“I’ve got to tell you, Jude. I’m disappointed. This is a rather elementary offer.”
“I told you. We’ll start from there and work our way through other … methods.”
“And why are you so eager to do it this way?”
“Look, Benny,” Jude swings her legs from the chair armrest and stands to face him. “I’m sick of feeling alone in this. You want to be immortal. And I don’t think we’re getting anywhere by studying moldy old library books.”
“I think I did most of the studying,” he reminds her dryly.
“Whatever! We need to act. I say we try ideas that seem the least dangerous to you–well, to both of us–and work our way up from there.”
“I admire your enthusiasm, Jude, but I have to admit it surprises me. I remember back when you weren’t very keen on trying.”
“I’m feeling .. “
“Desperate?”
“Maybe a little,” she says.
“So, you want me to try drinking your blood? And if that doesn’t work?”
“Then we can try … other things.”
“Such as?”
“Oh, c’mon, Benny. I’ll screw you or bite you or whatever. We’ll throw ourselves off that bridge when we come to it.”
He nods; suddenly serious. Teasing aside, this is exactly what he’s wished for ever since he found out he was carrying the virus.
She motions for him to follow her, and they crowd into his tiny, teal bathroom.
“Ugh, what were they thinking in the 60s?” she says with a quick glance around. She opens the medicine cabinet and pulls out a razor.
“Have anything other than safety blades?”
“Here.” He steps past her and rummages a bit more. “Straight razor.”
“What do you use it for?”
“Scraping parking permits off my car window, mostly.”
She holds it to the light.
“Benny?”
“Yes?”
“I feel kind of nervous right now. Isn’t that stupid?”
“No.” He feels his heart pounding in his chest. “I’m nervous, too.”
“Here goes nothing,” she says, and with a deep sigh, slashes her own wrist.
Gareth lights up his cigarette for the day.
“You know, in a few months, you won’t be able to smoke in any indoor public place in Michigan. They’re passing a clear air ordinance,” his brother-in-law, Michael, tells him.
“I’m aware.”
“So what will you do then?”
“Go outside.” Gareth taps the end of his cigarette into a black plastic ash tray.
“You’re welcome, by the way,” Michael says as he squirts ketchup over a heaping plate of French fries.
“For what?”
“For taking time on my lunch break to meet with you.”
“You asked to meet with me.” Gareth is annoyed but doesn’t show it.
“I’ve got some news. Now I don’t think it has anything to do with the guy who’s been puncturing the bodies you’ve seen, but it’s strange.”
Gareth’s pulse quickens. He takes a drag on his cigarette. The smoke curls around his dark eyes. When Michael doesn’t continue, he raises an eyebrow.
“Well?”
“Five bodies were recently found in an alleyway. Five. All of them torn to shreds. Some older lady who lives nearby found them and called us. I feel bad for her. What a thing to see.”
“Torn apart?”
“Yeah. Ripped limb from limb. Damnedest thing.”
“Do you have any leads?”
“None, so far. It doesn’t even look like something a human could do. And definitely not alone.”
“Dogs, maybe.” Gareth perches the cigarette on the lip of the ashtray, and sips a spoonful of onion soup.
“I thought of that. Wouldn’t be the first time it happened. I hate pitbulls. There was an incident last year–”
Gareth holds up one large hand.
“Sorry,” Michael says. He takes a bite of his cheeseburger and continues to talk around his food. “So, anyway, I thought you might be interested in hearing about it. What with the bodies you’ve seen, and that guy showing up half-eaten in Canada, and now this. Something weird is going on.”
“Any more news on the body found in Canada?”
MIchael shakes his head. “Not that I’ve heard. I don’t really have any connections there, though. Everything I’ve been hearing is third or fourth hand.”
His walkie talkie beeps and the station comes in.
“Aw, shit,” he says, and wipes ketchup from the corners of his mouth with a paper napkin. “I’ve gotta run.” He nods at the food. “You got this?”
Gareth sighs and reaches for his wallet. Michael is walking away when Gareth calls after him.
“Michael?”
He turns. “Yeah?”
“Thank you for keeping me in the loop.”
He nods once and leaves, getting into the squad car that’s parked next to the front door.
Benny waits until she comes out of the bathroom and lies down in her new bed before he leaves. He figures she would like some space.
He goes back to his own apartment for a few days. The world past his window is gray and windy. He only leaves to go to the university library. His money is running out, and he knows he needs to wrap up with school and find a job soon. The thought is depressing.
It is just past dark one evening when he opens the door and senses someone is there. It’s Jude. She’s perched on a chair in the living room, just like last time. She’s wearing a long black dress cut to fit her figure. He leans against the door and lets loose a long whistle.
“Damn, girl, don’t you ever knock?”
“And avoid the fun of breaking and entering? No thank you.”
He makes a show of letting his eyes sweep over her dress.
“I get the feeling you dress up only for me.”
“I know you saw me naked the other night,” she says with a tilt of her head. His expression darkens.
“Really, Jude, I was trying to help you. I didn’t mean to, well, I wasn’t spying. Honestly.”
She waves a hand.
“I know. I won’t hold it against you.”
He drops his eyes.
“So, what will you do now?”
“What do you mean? With my life?” she asks.
“Or lack thereof.”
She shrugs. “What can I do? If anyone comes snooping around, I’ll run.”
“Promise me you’ll take me with you.”
Her bright blue eyes, shot with red veins and with red glowing pupils, bore into his. In an instant he is kneeling in front of her. He takes her cold hands in his.
“Promise me.”
“Benny–”
“Promise me!” He is angry suddenly, and stands. She is surprised but doesn’t show it.
“I promise.”
He paces the room, not looking at her. He runs his hands through his thick hair.
“Why are you here?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Benny is stretched out on Jude’s new couch, reading a book, when she comes in through the front door. He glances at her from the corner of his eye and then sits up abruptly.
“Jude, what’s wrong?” he asks in a quiet voice.
She looks terrible. Her dark hair is dirty and matted. Her pale skin, usually as smooth as a doll’s, has the waxy texture of a corpse. Her eyes are unfocused.
Benny’s palms dampen. He’s never seen her so wild. He hopes she is in control of herself.
She sits on the floor, taking no notice of her new furniture.
“Have you fed recently, Jude?”
She nods.
“In Chicago,” she says in a voice that sounds unused.
“What happened?”
She tells him everything, her despair at killing those people, Maggie’s anger, her fear of finding other vampires.
“And Maggie said, she said I can’t help you. Only certain vampires have the power to make others.”
“How do you know you don’t?” he asks. She looks directly at him for the first time.
“I don’t know,” she says, in wonder. Then she slumps forward, her whole spine curving in a C.
Benny steps forward, hoisting her under the armpits and helping her stand. She leans on him completely and he struggles getting her to the bathroom, her cold arm heavy across his shoulders. She smells like dirty hair but has no other odor–no damp human odor.
He sits her on the toilet lid and runs the bathtub hot. For a split second he’s afraid of scalding her, but then he remembers what she is. The bubbling water rises, and the mirror fogs with steam. Jude sits with her head drooping toward knees that splay inward.
When the tub is filled, he shuts off the tap. Again he hoists her, but when she stands she pushes him away and starts to get undressed. It’s cramped in the small bathroom, so he steps into the hallway, a blast of cooler air hitting him in the face. He turns to shut the door and sees her slip into the tub. Even in this state, he thinks she is the most beautiful woman he’s ever known.
“What’s going on?”
Maggie still won’t look at me. She swings her legs around and sits facing forward.
“Maggie?”
“I know. I know how it happens. But it won’t help Benny.”
“Why not?”
Her eyes dart toward me.
“Not all vampire possess the ability. At least, not that I know of. Only certain ones do, like Ori. There’s probably some lame term for them in vampire circles, but basically, they possess power beyond what other vampire have.”
A million questions swim through my head.
“So Ori? He created you and me, right? Did he tell you why? Can I meet him?”
“Look, Jude, I think you should go back home. To Detroit .”
“What?! Why?”
“Because he’s dangerous,” she says, almost whispering. “I have a bad feeling about him, Jude. He’s not like us. He doesn’t care about humans.”
We sit in silence. I can hear the hum of the washing machine in the basement, and the rush of cars on the street. The clock in the kitchen ticks the time.
“What are we going to do, Maggie? We’ve got dead bodies all over the place. I’ve got a sick friend who wants to be immortal. And I think my family will start to notice that I don’t age.”
She shrugs. “What do you want me to tell you? There’s nothing we can do. If the police come around, leave town. If your family starts asking questions, leave town. It’s a lonely life we’re stuck with.”
There has to be another solution.
“What if we go to Europe ? Try to find others and get some answers. We could take Benny—“
“We’d be risking his life and ours. Who knows what other vampires are like? I’m scared enough of Ori as it is. I don’t want to meet any others.”
“So what now?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why don’t you come stay with me again? At least we’ll be together.”
“Honestly, Jude, I don’t want to live in Detroit . Time is the one thing we have on our side. It won’t run out on us.”
I need to get away from everything, and spend a few days clearing my head. I ask Benny to keep an eye on the house, and using his computer I promptly order a house’s worth of furniture. I’m tired of my air mattress on the living room floor. Benny promises to let the delivery guys in while I’m gone.
I email Maggie, and then schedule a flight to Chicago, the last flight of the evening. I zone out on the plane and when I look down, I see the lights of the Windy City stretching far beneath me.
I decide to ride the El into town for the hell of it, puttering along from O’Hare to Rosemont to Cumberland and on. It’s funny how nostalgic and comforting the dirty, piss-smelling train makes me feel. At Irving Park, I get off and hop the bus, heading east into town. In another life, the press of warm bodies on a steamy bus would’ve made me sleepy, but now, the salt and sweat of the other passengers sets me on edge.
I hail a cab from Clark and Irving Park, and relief rushes through me when I arrive at Maggie’s doorstep. Her corvette is parked out front.
She buzzes me up, and I climb the stairs to her apartment, marveling at the carpet’s brown-striped pattern, and thinking how easy it is to forget small details. How many times in my life have I climbed these stairs?
Mags opens the door and grabs me in a tight hug. Her apartment is clean and airy and homey. It hasn’t changed a bit from the last time I was here. A song is playing, something delicate and instrumental. We settle on the couch, our backs to the armrests, our knees touching.
“What’s going on, Jude?” Maggie asks me with concern, twisting a red curl around her finger in a familiar habit.
I tell her the story about the woman in the alley. She starts frowning and shaking her head.
“So you killed a bunch of people? In front of a witness, who you then let go?” She asks loudly, dropping her hand.
“What was I supposed to do?”
“Uh, not get involved, for starters.”
“What?” I’m incredulous. “You know what they were going to do to her.”
“So?”
“SO?” My voice raises.
“Who are you, Wonderwoman? You’re a VAMPIRE, Jude. You’re supposed to stalk the night, prowling for your next meal.”
“What the fuck should I have done, then?”
“Gee, I dunno. If you were that concerned, you could’ve called the police.”
I hadn’t thought of that.
“I guess I just … reacted. But seriously, what would you have done? Just left her there?”
“Jude, I am warning you, you’ve got to be careful. If the others find out about this …”
“What others? I thought the only other vampire you know is Ori.”
Her green eyes drop quickly, veiled in thick, dark lashes.
“Maggie? Do you know any other vampires?”
“Not exactly.” She chews her lip. “I know of some. Ori is back from Europe. He said he met some.”
Something occurs to me and I wonder that I never thought of it before.
“You can ask him how he made you. God, I’m so stupid! How he made us! And we can do it to Benny–”
“No, Jude.”
“No? Why not?”
And Maggie looks away, not wanting to meet my eyes.
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