Events from “Hunters and Gatherers”

Notes by Anthony

“Ben had just called UNO again after four hours of waiting for Desirée when we smelled something burning. He’d won about half of the hands we’d played. I think he found it funny that there was at least one thing he could outwit two vampires in. But the game was quickly forgotten as smoke poured out of Desirée’s ears and nose and mouth. I used Auspex to try and see if something was attacking her, but all I could read was fear in her aura. Thaïs moved faster than I could track and grabbed a towel from the kitchen to pat out the burning cinders in Desirée’s hair. 

“Desirée jerked awake and, after telling us she was okay, hurried to a shower to clean off. She yelled for us to bring her painting supplies to the art room next to her bedroom. While she showered and, presumably, painted, Thaïs continued my athletics training. It was almost dawn when Desirée emerged. While she was unconscious, she’d had a vision in this apartment, but she was totally alone. She had painted me in the dream, but when she looked at the blank canvas in the real world, she saw another painting. In recreating it, she saw the same man in medical scrubs I had. As he was still, we could read part of the tag on his scrubs. “iative Care……er……eeman.” The rest was covered by his jacket. Knowing that he was important, but not knowing what to do next, we slept the day of December 9th away.

“I dreamt of the man in scrubs again. He knelt and picked up a small, dead bird in his hands. He stroked it gently. The bird twitched and flapped in his hands and flew away. I followed it through the sky and saw the fires burning throughout Alexandria and DC. The earth fell away from me as I rocketed up into space. Lights pierced the globe and began moving towards our burning home on the Potomac. I fell into a castle on some far away planet. Or maybe in another universe. A beautiful humanoid sat in a throne room, holding a trident. Blonde and androgynous, with silver eyes and huge wings. Undeniably an angel. It streaked towards earth with fire emanating from its silver eyes. It intended to smite everything on the tiny blue and green dot. Human, vampire, it didn’t matter. It wanted us dead.

“I flailed in the tub. My hands and feet slipped on the blood-slick surface. I was so hungry, listeners. I felt empty and cold and that voice inside was screaming to be fed. I was surrounded by blood, and I nearly started licking it off the sides when I saw him. Ben. He’d taken the couch cushions and piled them next to the tub as a makeshift bed. His neck was just visible under the soft throw blanket he was curled up under. He breathed in sharply, as if about to wake. My bloody hand reached unbidden towards him, my thumb brushing his soft cheek. His blood thrummed under my touch. I wanted to take him. Consume him. Pull his soul into my gut and keep him with me forever.

“I jumped out of the tub, kicking Ben’s legs as I fled. The round metal knob of the bathroom slid in my grip as I barreled forward. I opened the fridge and drained the two remaining clay pots dry. I barely tasted it. Just hoping to assuage the Beast. I banged my head against the closed freezer door. Whatever had passed for adrenaline in my blood drained away with the hunger, leaving me tired and scared and ashamed of myself. Desirée yelled down, asking if I was okay, and I just let out a groan of frustration. How could I explain to her, or to Ben, what I had nearly done? 

“Thaïs stepped out of her room and seemed to put the pieces together without me having to explain. Desirée came down and Thaïs announced that she wanted to go see Samson and see if she could find out more information on the Lady in the Lake. But before we decided anything, I had to go shower. The bathroom looked like a crime scene. My bloody handprints on the doorknob and tub and walls, drops of blood on Benjamin’s pillow. I left my bloody sweatpants in the tub and tried to wash all the blood far down the drain. Out of sight. I knew what I needed to do next.

“When I returned in my Nirvana t-shirt and jeans, they’d turned the news back on and Ben left to clean the bathroom. Martial law was still in effect, but most of the protests and looting in Alexandria had quieted down. I made my request. I’d relied on others the whole time I’d been dead to feed and protect me with blood bags and animals. But we were out of easy options now. I had to hunt. 

“Desirée and Thaïs discussed their different hunting techniques. Desirée typically seduced people at her club, and she could drink from them without ever having to use her powers to control them. They’d leave her club tired but satisfied. Thaïs offered to grab someone off the street like she usually did and bring them to me, but I said no. I couldn’t just be fed like a helpless baby bird. I had to fly the nest and rely on myself. Find my own way of being a vampire.

“Ben walked in, and I drew in an unnecessary deep breath. Strange, even knowing what I know now about him being a ghoul, I was still terrified of how he’d react to this. I told him that I was a vampire. He rolled his eyes and replied that he’d had a whole journal’s worth of notes on this. I told him that I needed to feed, and he shrugged, saying he only had so much blood, but he was ready. I’m not ashamed to admit it, dear listeners, but if I could still cry, I probably would have burst into tears. I smiled and told him in a shaky voice that it was very sweet of him to offer and maybe we’d revisit that, but I needed to learn how to hunt and not hurt someone first. I tried not to think of the two of us on the bathroom floor. Ben agreed to stay and clean the apartment while Thaïs and I left to hunt, and Desirée said she had to go manage the club. 

“We took the private elevator down to the garage. Would you believe, listeners, that this thing was plated in gold? Well, maybe just very shiny copper. Thaïs had the keys to a blue motorcycle. I climbed on behind her and held tight. I’d never ridden a motorcycle before, and between her 6-foot-plus frame and my not-inconsiderable bulk I thought we’d tip over a half-dozen times for sure. She drove us out to the industrial park in Arlandria, and we parked the motorcycle a block away from two men next to a trash can fire pit. She remarked that they’d be easy to overcome, and I slipped into the shadows with Obfuscate to sneak forward. On closer inspection, I saw they were high as a kite on some freshly injected heroin. While I didn’t want to insult Thaïs’ hunting choices, I didn’t feel comfortable drinking blood laced with heroin, given my already tenuous hold on reality. I told her my brain didn’t work too well on drugs, and we walked further into Arlandria to find new targets. 

“I found a few potential marks; a couple drug dealers, a sleeping homeless man, but Thaïs appeared to be looking for something special. Turns out, it was four men preparing to mug us. She said she’d take the two on the right, while I’d go for the two on the left. Listeners, you would not believe the Bruce Lee action shit I saw next. I watched out of the corner of my eye as she reached out to the first one charging at her with a knife, swept out his legs, grabbed him by the feet, and swung him at her other attacker like her own personal baseball bat. While she’d taught me to throw a punch, there was no way I could do something like that, so I used the one thing that had served me well these past eight years as a radio show host and eleven days as a vampire. My voice. 

“One man charged at me with a knife, while the other looked ready to grab me. I reached out with my mind to the knife-wielding man. I smiled. I asked the young man to ‘stop and think about what you are doing, would your mother be proud of you?’ I poured Domination into the question, and the young man fell to his knees, dropping the knife. The other man stared in shock as Thaïs put the beat down on the two behind me. The pulse in his neck jumped.

“The beast stirred within me. It felt righteous. These men had attacked me first. It felt powerful. These men would have dispatched the human Zachary with ease, and now they cowered before your humble radio host. And it was hungry. So very, very hungry.”