Once Bitten, No Longer Shy by Julie Steimle (chrome ebook reader txt) 📕

weirdo LARPer was a stupid thing to do, and personally insulting for some reason.

“Anyway,” Brandon continued, reading their looks enough, “Uh, we were each of us hanging out at a night fair around the season of Halloween but not on the day. We were hanging out with different friends when we saw a handful of guys dressed funny. Old clothes and all that, and we asked them where the party was. And uh… one of us—”

“Conner,” the third man said with a peek to the guy in the center, “made a side mention that one of them looked like Lestat from those Anne Rice books.”

Connor shrugged. “He did. He had long blonde hair, had frilly clothes, and I saw his teeth.”

“And I chimed in,” the third guy said with a nod, “concurring that he did look like Lestat. But I didn’t know Connor before all this. That’s when we got talking.”

“Anyway, that drew their attention to Connor,” Brandon said. “I was nearby, listening for a chance to go to a party. That’s what I was looking for.”

“And then Conner said ‘How cool it would be to be a vampire’.” The third guy interjected with a peevish look to Connor.

Connor shrugged again. “How was I supposed to know they were real vampires?”

“Anyway,” Brandon cut in again. “They started talking to those two, invited them to a party, and I jumped in, asking about it. And… well, the rest is history.”

“Are you speaking for all three of you?” Mr. Lenox asked. Troy could detect some cynicism in his voice. Mr. Lenox didn’t think that was all, clearly.

Connor moaned. “No. He’s not. I can speak for me. I’m Connor Davis. And look, I went to this night fair expecting to hook up with some hot girls, but I ended up with a bunch of weird guys promising a cool party where lots of gals would be at.”

“Hot ladies,” their third friend said with a nod.

“I didn’t suspect a thing,” Conner said. “I really thought it was a legit party. I mean, even all night it seemed legit.”

“How did you get away?” one of the others in the larger group asked.

Brandon colored with a peek to his friends. “It wasn’t like that.”

“We woke up around the same time the next morning with the bites,” the third man said. “They got us so plastered drunk that night that we thought we were making out with these super-hot ladies, and the next thing we knew we were waking up next to each other on the floor, light headed and drained.”

“We practically crawled out of the place in the morning,” Brandon said. “And besides, they were gone. They were not there, though some other partiers were. But not all of them were bit.”

“How many others at the party had been bitten?” Peter asked.

Looking to him, the third guy said, “Oh, I think a girl and a guy. And we don’t know what happened to them afterwards. They ran out of there.”

“The other guy would be me,” one man from the circle raised his hand. The frat boy. Honestly, his hair was perfect and he had the best teeth.

“And what’s your name?” Mr. Lenox asked.

“Dalton Hayes,” the fray boy said, blushing. “And my story is much the same as theirs. I came to the party with some friends. My friends left early, but I stayed and I woke with the oozing bite. And I just want a cure.”

Matthew nodded.

“And your name?” Mr. Lenox said to the third guy of the trio.

Nodding, the guy raised his hand and said, “Joshua Miller. And believe me, it was the dumbest thing I ever did. I should have listened to my mother.”

Nodding again, Matthew chuckled, hearing the rest of his thoughts. His mother sure had said something, though Troy did not know what. Tom smirked also, hearing other things.

Then they continued around the circle, ending up at Sue.

“I’m Sue Hobbs,” the puppeteer gal said, “I’m just here as moral support. I bumped into Troy in the store and I recognized that he was a vampire but walking in the daylight, and he told me about this meeting.”

Her friend sitting next to her then said, “Hi. I’m Leslie Johnson. And my story is kind of pathetic. Um…” her cheeks were coloring, “Since this is full admittance here, I will confess that I fell in love with a vampire.”

Nicole sighed, nodding commiseratingly.

“I, stupidly, believed all those vampire romance novels—of which I’ve read a billion. And I had hoped one day to have my happily-ever-after with my special vampire lover.” She cringed. “That is, until I found out I was one of many girls he was stringing along.”

Troy winced, nodding at that. It was very much a vampire thing—to romantically string along people for sex and blood. This gal was vampire bait more than Nicole was. And he also had guessed right about her.

“Anyway,” Leslie said, “When I found out about the other women, instead of confronting him, I fumed over it in silence for quite a while. I started thinking over what might happen if I confronted him. He was a vampire after all, and I wasn’t that stupid. So… I decided that I should just break up with him. You know, pretend it was something else and we had different values or something.”

Troy noticed Sue struggling to control her emotions manifesting on her face. Clearly she had been instrument in encouraging Leslie to leave the guy, thinking he was scum, never mind that he was a vampire. Sue probably found out way too late about that detail.

“But when I planned to meet him to break up with him, you know, went to his apartment or tried to at least—I watched an SRA agent kill him right there in the building.”

They all drew in breaths.

“I was hiding behind some stairs when it happened,” she said. “Creepy guy in leather. A crossbow and he reeked of cloves. And, uh, I saw that one of my vampire’s other gals there. She had set him up after finding out the same thing I did, that he was having sex with other women. But then the SRA took away that other girl, and I have no clue what happened to her.”

 Troy grimaced. She was probably dead. Some SRA agents did not see the difference between the vampire and the victim. They saw the victim as tainted and therefore disposable.

“So I ran to my friend Sue, here, and confessed all,” Leslie said. Turning her eyes to William, she added, “And Sue helped me find Dr. McAllister who has been a godsend. I just want to find a cure for the bite and forget this ever happened.”

Many in the group nodded.

The person to Leslie’s left then began his oration. “Hi. My name is, uh, Marcus—Marcus Williams. And I… I had no idea what I was stepping into when I got bit. And since we are making confessions here, I will confess that at the time I was seeking pleasure with a…uh, hooker whom I met on the street. And like with, um, this lady,” indicating Nicole, “it got rough.”

Nicole colored, averting her eyes.

“I didn’t even know I was bitten until the morning after, long after I had paid her and she had gone.” He shook his head. “I didn’t even realize I was bitten by a vampire until I went to the hospital to deal with the fact that my wound was not healing, but kept oozing. And as joke—at least I had thought it was a joke—they recommended Dr. McAllister. I’m just here for a cure. They said it was a possibility.”

Once he finished, the group looked to Peter who sat between Marcus and Deidre. Peter lifted a hand and said, “I’m Peter McCabe, and I am here to support Troy and Mr. Lenox at this first meeting. And I do believe there is only one more person who actually needs to speak.”

He looked to the full vampire who was sitting between Tom and Daniel. The vampire looked a little uncomfortable, realizing they were next to him to prevent him from acting on vampiric impulse.

“What about her?” Connor pointed to Deidre.

Deidre lifted a hand. “I’m not a bite victim, but I’ve dealt with vampire victims… specifically their ghosts. I am what people call a ghost whisperer.”

They stared at her, wide-eyed.

“I’m here to help with the vetting process,” she explained more, elaborating. “I won’t be part of the group.” Then she looked to the vampire, waiting for him to speak. She was clearly curious, and somehow not intimidated.

“Everyone else is here to help with vetting or security,” Troy explained. “Except for you.” He looked to the vampire again.

Nodding to the rest, the vampire said, “My name is Steve Windmiller. And I am a vampire.”

Every bitten person seemed to hold their breaths, tensely watching him.

“I went into it willingly,” he said frankly, his voice resonating in a part of the ear which for some reason was a little mesmerizing. “…And for a while I thought it was a great life.” Steve then lowered his head, shaking it. “I know most of you will never believe this, but after much of my long life, I grew unsettled and worried about my eternal soul. I even made friends with a catholic priest who told me that all souls were redeemable—including one of the damned like me.”

Matthew could detect in the grunts from the other the thoughts of those who clearly did not agree with the priest. They were scared spit-less of this vampire. Troy, however, listened. It was intriguing, and watching Matthew’s reactions showed that the vampire at least believed in what he was saying.

“My hope is to find a cure for vampirism,” he said. “To find a way back into the light.”

Tom snorted and muttered, “You might have to go the destroying angel route for that.”

Steve gazed quizzically at him, while those of the Seven nodded slowly. Troy wondered what Tom meant by that. Did he know something?

“Ok.” Mr. Lenox rose, clapping his hands together, nodding. “It seems we have the makings of two groups who would need separate meetings. I can preside over the nighttime meeting for those who have a foot—or even both feet—into vampirism. Troy, could you organize the group who would meet in the daytime for the at least the initial meetings?”

Cameron lifted his hand. “Can I go to the daytime meeting?”

The bitten drew in a breath some.

“I still have a heartbeat and I prefer the sunlight,” Cameron explained.

“Really?” Nicole gazed at him with indrawn breath, fascinated.

He smiled painfully. “Yeah. It’s slow, but I am still part of the land of the living. I’m in limbo.”

Troy nodded. “Ok…”

“Can any of us join the night group?” Connor asked.

His friends shot him a weird look.

“Are you nuts?” Brandon said.

Joshua rolled his eyes, muttering, “This isn’t a curiosity club, dude. We’re looking for a cure.”

“You can join the group you feel most comfortable in,” Mr. Lenox said, openly thinking it weird that a bite victim would want to linger around those who might cause his wounds to open up.

They all nodded.

“I would definitely like to lead the daytime group for the first meeting,” Troy affirmed to him.

They all stared.

“I was a bite victim before I was forced to be a vampire. I had a pretty successful system for surviving with the vampire bite all these years,” Troy said. “A set of rules, and I would at least like to pass on that knowledge to you.”

“Then how come you are a vampire now?” Dalton asked with a mocking chuckle.

Gazing straight at him and his perfect face, Troy replied, “I broke the rules. It was my one mistake.”

They stared in a hush.

“I also need all of you to help me find the cure for the bite, for my research,” Troy added. “I know. Selfish. But I no longer have an oozing wound, and I need volunteers to help me test possible clotting agents and maybe the final cure. I already have a few clotting agents that work.”

Their eyes widened on him.

“Really?” Matthew said,