0356: The Vampire's Daughter Book IV

For several days Vein didn't see Sabastian. He didn't know if he was in the house or not, and didn't dare go to check the basement. In fact, he had taken up residence in an upstairs room to avoid the need to go into the basement.

Vein wasn't certain of anything, but he sensed that something was wrong with Sabastian. Not wrong in the usual sense for him, which Vein considered a normal state of affairs. He felt that something was seriously wrong, or at least newly wrong.

So he gave Sabastian space to figure it out.

After a few day, he decided to test the pledge of safety that Sabastian reported. Vein didn't like Thomas and didn't trust him, but the prospect of being trapped in the house without access to food or entertainment wasn't viable longer term. On leaving, he quickly met one of Thomas' Enforcers.

The Enforcer looked at Vein fiercely, but made no advance or call for support. He just stood across the street from Sabastian's home and watched with disdain.

Vein walked over to him and asked, “Do you happen to have the time?”

“Don't push your luck,” the Enforcer said coldly, “I don't have any desire to play your games.”

“No game, I just want to know the time.”

The Enforcer pushed off of the wall on which he was leaning and walked toe to toe with Vein. “I said don't push your luck.”

Not moving Vein asked, “Is this supposed to scare me?”

“Come on, do something, anything,” the vampire said to him, giving a little bit of a shove with his chest.

“And if I don't?” asked Vein, though he already knew the answer.

“I'll wait,” the Enforcer said, standing down. “Sooner or later you won't have the protection of that freak in the basement and Thomas will hunt you down like the rodent you are.”

“I wait on that day with baited breadth,” Vein said, marveling at the fact that he now had the run of Thomas' territory. He walked away, heading uptown to visit Elizabeth.

Upon arriving, he was greeted by friends and escorted into the building. Everyone was interested in how the new life with Sabastian was going. He reported that it was a blast, that Sabastian was a bundle of laughs, even though you wouldn't guess it from his gruff outer appearance. He was, of course, lying and everyone who really knew him saw the lie.

When Elizabeth saw him, she instantly sat up and looked him in the eye. He smiled and said, “We should talk.”

The pair walked into a private room and Elizabeth started out with, “How is he?”

“I don't know, I haven't seen him for days. And when I last saw him, there was something wrong. Not wrong like usual. It was something new, not necessarily worse, but just new. I've been avoiding him to give him time to figure it out.”

“You have no idea what it is?” Elizabeth asked with genuine concern.

“No idea. He seemed physically OK. It was something else.”

“Well, thank you for coming to tell me. It was a risk and I appreciate that.”

“You give me too much credit,” Vein said, slipping into sarcasm. “There was no risk whatsoever.”

Elizabeth looked at him keenly, “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, it seems that Sabastian has arranged for my safe passage in Thomas' territory.”

Elizabeth's face went cold.

“Yes, I'm not sure how he managed it, but I've tested it out. The Enforcer I met wouldn't touch me.”

“Do you think whatever led to this agreement is what is upsetting Sabastian?” Elizabeth asked, turning away, as she was afraid to hear the answer.

Vein laughed. “That was my first thought, too. But, no, I think the two are unrelated or, at most, only tangentially related. I don't know why I have safe passage, but it came from Thomas.”

Elizabeth turned back to face Vein, “That means that either Thomas has reached out to Sabastian or Sabastian has reached out to Thomas.




[The Vampire’s Daughter: An ongoing vampire story. Copyright Reuben Gregg Brewer, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010. All rights reserved.]