chapter twenty-

three

                “And what was the name of the professor who accosted her?” asked Bill.

                “Reynolds,” said Rachel. As she ate her supper, she told Bill about Sky being approached by this professor. The other stuff she kept to herself.

                “We are developing intelligence about him,” said Bill, sitting down with his warm TrueBlood. “He is a nasty piece of work. We think he is directly connected with the Take Back the Night Movement and he may be the organizer for things like your window being broken, like my businesses and Merlotte’s being burned down. We also think he may be in contact with a disavowed FBI agent.”

                “Have you heard that vamp hate radio on the internet?” asked Rachel. “Sky was telling me about it.”

                “No,” said Bill. “What sort of content does he have?”

                “I have never listened. Sky said it was terrible. That werewolf who is her office assistant at the college, he told her about it and she listened to it,” said Rachel. “I don’t like listening to that sort of stuff, it makes me feel bad.”

                “He approached Sky? He must be keeping tabs on Sky and Eric some way,” said Bill. “Likely through Latesta.”

                “The FBI guy,” she said.

                “Yes, the FBI guy,” he said. “How was work?”

                “We got in a new shipment of candles and herbs,” she said. “I brought a few candles home, since you like the smell so much. Bill, do you like doing stuff like what we have planned for the fourth?”

                “I do,” he said. “I am not that far from my humanity. True there are things that don’t mean that much to me, but I do like being with people and I love being with you. I know this is July, but do you celebrate Christmas…I am ashamed to say I don’t think I have asked if you are religious.”

                “I am a fruit jar Catholic. I like to go to Mass when I like to go and I don’t close my mind to other ways of believing,” she said. “But I like Christmas and I put up a Christmas tree and I like Easter and I enjoy other holidays like Halloween. Do you like the holidays?”

                “I have not celebrated Christmas in a long time. Of course Thanksgiving is not easy for me because I don’t eat and that is the main feature of the holiday. I haven’t celebrated Easter because…It feels strange to me because I am resurrected myself. Vampires do celebrate Halloween, but we call it Samhain, like the old Celtic holiday. And the Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year. So that is like New Years and Christmas all wrapped up in one. We give one another presents and we party,” he said.

                “That sounds cool,” she said.

                “If you like sweetheart, we can think of things to do that will become our own traditions, so that way you get to celebrate and I can celebrate with you,” he said. “I’m easy.”

                “I want you and I to go see my parents. I want them to meet you,” she said.

                “Do they know I am vampire?” he asked.

                “Not yet.” Bill pursed his lips a little and looked down. “I know, I know, I have told them about you but I have not told them you are vampire. It’s not that I am ashamed, I am so proud of you. I just don’t know what their reaction could be. I mean, dad is a lawyer and a Civil War maniac. When I was growing up I went to every battlefield and every monument in the south and a few in the north. And they are both liberals. But you know, what you think you believe can sometimes be totally different from the reality that confronts you.”

                “I understand sweetheart. But before I go, I want you to tell them I am vampire. It isn’t fair to surprise them,” he said. “Besides they may surprise you and they may accept things.”

                “That is true. You know my dad is in the Southern Poverty Law Center, and he marched in the civil rights marches and he hired a black secretary in his firm,” she said.

                “Have they hired any vampires?” he asked.

                “As a matter of fact, they did, he does probate law,” she said. Bill laughed. “Yeah, ironic right. I guess vampire law is sort of like endless probate.” He nearly choked.

                “That is why I love you, you are a little bit of a smart ass,” he said smirking.  “There is something I want you to just think about. I want you to think about us getting engaged. Vampires and humans can marry now, and if I am going to meet your father and live with you, then he should know this is a serious thing between us.”

                “Are you asking me to marry you?” she asked.

                “Yes, Rachel, I am. Even though I am a vampire, I am a man and an old-fashioned one. Well, to a point. Living in sin is pretty sexy,” he winked at Rachel. “I want this to be right, to make things proper. So, will you marry me someday?”

                “I will marry you,” she said. “Someday.” He laughed and was in the process of getting up and getting ready to go to work when his phone rang. He answered it.

                “Hello Sam,” he said.

                “Hey Bill. Is it true you are selling your place?” asked Sam.

                “I am considering it,” said Bill.

                “Danny Prideaux came by at noon and said you were looking into it. Is there a chance I could get you to stop by and talk to me about it?”

                “Of course Sam. I will come right by,” he said.

                “See you when I see you,” he said. Bill hung up. “Would you like to go to Merlotte’s to speak to Sam?”

                “No, you go on ahead. I think I will take a hot bath and relax, veg out this evening,” she said.

                “Are you tired?” he asked.

                “A little,” she said.

                “You should have half a glass of TrueBlood as well as your vitamins and herbs. Which by the way, I like the taste of the pomegranate and ginger in your blood,” he said.

                “Thank you Bill, I try,” she said.

                “I may be drinking more than I should, I will have to be more considerate,” he said. “Relax, enjoy the evening.”

                “Be careful,” she said. “I think you should call Eric.”

                “Why?” he asked.

                “Just worried about Sky,” she said.

                “I will,” he said.

               

                Sky woke to the sound of someone splashing water in the tub. She opened her eyes. Eric was not in bed. She turned over and realized he had covered her with a little throw that usually lay across the bottom of his bed. She slid out of his bed and went into the bathroom. Eric was lying in the tub, steam coming off him, fragrant of some scented oil. “Hey,” she said.

                “Hello,” he said. His voice was steady but had no inflection.

                “Can I come in?” she asked.

                “Certainly,” he said. She went over, grabbing a towel that was folded on the counter and laid it on the floor by the tub and knelt on it. She rested her arms on the edge of the tub. “Sleep well?”

                “Eric,” she began.

                “Shhhh,” he said. He put his hand to her face. “Did you sleep well?”

                “No,” she said.

                “I didn’t either,” he said. “I had bad dreams, and I fought sleep. But even in my day sleep, I felt your pain and anger and that strange, powerful feeling  you call love.”

                “I thought about us,” she said.

                “And what did you think dearest?” he asked.

                “I think…you are afraid and you are mostly afraid of doing to me what you did to Sookie. You don’t want to endanger me or smother me or control me. So you…care about me…but you are holding me at arm’s length,” she said.

                “You have everything right except one detail. I am not holding you at arm’s length. I am holding myself away at arm’s length so I won’t hurt you,” he said. “So, you want to spend the fourth of July with Rachel and Bill?”

                “Yeah,” she said.

                “Tell Rachel I will bring the wine,” said Eric.

                “Really?” she asked.

                “Yes, Sky, I would do whatever you wanted to make you happy. You just have to make me do things from time to time. I don’t know how to do this, but I am willing to try,” he said.

                “Okay,” she said. “And whenever I ask you to do things for me, I will make sure they are worthy of your effort.”

                “Do a favor for me?” he asked.

                “Yes?” she asked.

                “Don’t ever call yourself a fangbanger, never call what we are doing in our bed fucking, I don’t think of it that way. I never have thought of it as anything else but making love. And please tell me if I ever smother you,” he said.

                “I promise,” she said. “What do you have to do tonight?”

                “I have some meetings. The fourth is Monday. I have to go to New Orleans to meet with some people down there Saturday. I will come home but it will be very close to dawn.”

                “I think I will go home tonight, but you are welcome to come over and stay with me,” she said. “I want you to listen to that radio station with me,” she said.

                “The anti vampire radio station on the internet?” he asked.

                “Yes,” she said.

                “I will be at your apartment later,” he said. “You still look sad.”

                “I was just afraid I had messed things up,” she said.

                “When we fight to feel what we feel, we are fighting for us,” he said. “I don’t like fighting with you, but I like fighting for you.”

                “I love you,” she said.

                “I know,” he said. He leaned forward and kissed her. “Will you scrub my back?”

                “Yeah,” she said, rolling up her sleeves and grabbing the loofa mitt and pouring soap over it.

                Sam was having some supper when Bill came in. “Hello Sam.”

                “Hey Bill, sit down, you want a TrueBlood?” he asked.

                “I ate at home, thank you,” he said. “How can I help you?”

                “Well, I would like to buy your house,” said Sam. “Luna is pregnant.”

                “Congratulations, Sam,” said Bill. “First Jason and Michele, then Sookie and now you and Luna.”

                “Yeah, well, Luna and I are living in my little rental. If it was just the two of us, it would be fine, but now with a baby, I need a place to spread out, a place in the woods is ideal so we can roam on full moon nights,” said Sam.

                “The house was originally seven bedrooms. One of my descendents made the room that was the baby nursery into a bathroom, so there are six bedrooms remaining. Not any closets, the house was built before the war by my father and at that time, closets were taxed as rooms, but with some creativity, you can put in closets. There is the full bathroom upstairs and I put in a bathroom downstairs. It has a spa bath and a large shower. The kitchen is small, but there are two pantries, one I had put up and can be taken down easily and give you another 10 cubit feet of space in the kitchen. The appliances need up dating. The room I use is the only bedroom remodeled. The rest need work, but they have new electricity and each fireplace runs on gas and there is new plumbing. There is a new roof and the outside has been patched and repaired. It needs paint and probably needs some more modern insulation and a heat and air pump, things I don’t need as a vampire,” said Bill.

                “So how much do you want?” asked Sam.

                “I have 5 acres and the house. The house needs a lot of work and I think the realtor is being optimistic. So I want fifty thousand for it. I will take ten thousand down.”

                “Do you want to do this through a bank?” asked Sam.

                “We can do this one on one if you have the down payment. Give me one thousand dollars a month and you carry insurance on the house till you pay it off,” said Bill. “And should anything happen to me, you will pay Rachel the remaining amount.”

                “Write something up for me Bill and let’s sign it,” he said. “I can give you cash and give you proof of insurance when we sign everything.”

                “I will need two weeks to move some things out of the house, sentimental things. I leave the rest for you. Some things, if they are not to your taste, you might want to call Splendide to come and appraise,” said Bill. “If you and Luna would like to go to the house, here is my key. I stay elsewhere and I have another key.” He handed Sam a key.

                “Thank you Bill,” said Sam.

                “You are welcome. Congratulations to you and Luna,” he said, standing up. “Now if you don’t mind, I have some business to attend. I will put together the paperwork and the deed and call you to finalize things.”

                “Sure, we are still getting together for the fourth right?” he asked.

                “Most certainly,” said Bill. “I am looking forward to it.”

                Bill parked in front of Pam’s house and went to the door. Gerald opened the door for not only Bill but Heidi and Maxwell Lee. They were meeting with a group of Area 2 vampires, including the sheriff. “Eric is on his way, just a little trouble with his domestic arrangement,” said Pam.

                “I am sure he will work it out,” said Bill. “Is everyone here.”

                “Yes, and it is worse than we expected, but in the long run it will be good for us,” said Pam.

                “We shall see,” said Bill.

                “Victor Madden ran rough shod over us. Our Area was mostly a natural resources Area. We had the all night groceries, the two bars and a couple of non-vampire type businesses, run by trusted humans. Victor came into my store. He asked what my nightly take was, what my monthly tribute was to Sophie Anne. He said it was not enough, he grabbed my human and he drank him, like a human would guzzle down a soda pop. Then he said I was to donate so much of my blood. I knew it was a desecration of the blood and he was selling V, but I had no choice, I was made only ten years ago, he was an elder vampire,” said Rose Anne Lara.

                “And he forced Vonda at the Bloody Fang. He emptied her till and then told her to go in the back and get ready to siphon some blood. She refused and he dragged her back there and showed her who was boss. When I was told you all had killed Victor, we were happy,” said Lizbet Mikailov.

                “Now, since Victor has been gone, things have not much changed. Vegas people, vampires, have been here collecting the money, and they will take blood if you are short, but they would rather have the money,” said Connie Nichols, also known as Connie the Corpse.

                “New Orleans is a vampire snake pit. If there is one New Orleans vampire there, I will suck your prick Eric Northman,” said Salome Agrippa. She was the Sheriff of Area One. “Every one of those fangers are Vegas vamps. They came in after Katrina and Sophie Anne was killed and they just took over, Baton Rouge too.”

                “That may explain some things,” said Bill.

                “So what are you going to do? Are you going to help us or are you just here to get the De Castro scraps?” asked Booth Crimmons, the Sheriff of Area Two.

                “I am planning to make a move, but not until Spring, I am not ready. I need you to just do what you are doing. Try to meet your tribute, but don’t worry if you don’t. I need you to begin recording things that happen to you and I need you to report new vampires. I also need to hear about any vampire on human crime, and I need to hear about human on vampire crime. I want to hear about anti vampire groups and anything suspicious. But I don’t want you to fight. What I want you to do is contact vampires who are still moving around, invite them to this area. But do it quietly, communicate carefully. I want to call a state meeting somewhere, all area vamps are to appear, and we need a place where we can be safe and unobserved.”

                “How about Marc Chapman. He has that old Victorian fever hospital in Northern Baton Rouge,” said Maxwell Lee.. “If it is just us, no human entourage, then we will be able to bed down comfortably.”

                “Can you make the arrangements for me?” asked Eric.

                “Hell yes, Marc has been touting that place as a vampire spa, he can work this out, maybe even do this for free. He is losing his shirt because Victor Madden thought it was stupid and De Castro doesn’t offer him any help.”
                “A vampire spa?” asked Bill.

                “Yeah, or whatever it is humans call a place where they go to die. Vampires in New Orleans are dropping dead from Sino AIDS. He wants to have a place for them to come to so they will be looked after instead of flaking off all alone in flop houses and in the ground where no one knows what happened to them,” said  Valentine.

                “Are there other social problems like that?” asked Eric.

                “Fledglings abandoned or orphaned. They don’t make it. They get hit by drainers and other vamps and haters. Vamps who are selling the Kiss. And this is something all those New Orleans Vegas vamps are doing. Ten, fifteen thousand a pop. No paperwork, no permission, just suck and dump. Sometimes the makers just take the money and drain them. Most of them drain them, give them the blood and then lay them out where the sun will get them,” said Chico. “Gives all of us a bad name.”

                “Write those sorts of things down,” said Eric. “We will present them.”

                “Do we know when De Castro is going to send us a new Regent?” asked Rasul.

                “We should know something around Samhain, and then they will likely do the ceremony during the winter solstice,” said Eric. “Make the state meeting arrangements then the second Friday of November, for two days. Friday and Saturday. Tell everyone to bring their grievances no matter how minor.”

                “That will be easy,” said Salome.

                After the meeting, Bill and Eric went to Fangtasia. “Have all our friends from the other states registered for your special email?” asked Eric.

                “They have,” said Bill.

                “I want to prepare all the evidence we collect in November and send the files to our friends. They should be doing the same thing, by whatever means they see fit,” said Eric.

                “They already have,” said Bill. “And they are already setting up the documentation on secure file servers.”

                “We need to meet with our friends in high places. After Yule and the New Year. Where would be a good place, an unexpected place?” asked Eric.

“Somewhere up north,” he suggested. “New England perhaps?”
“Vermont has a very large retreat for our kind in a mountain lodge. The rates are

 very reasonable,” said Eric. “ Monarchs and sheriffs and humans only if they can pay their own way. If I have to pay for travel and accommodations, I don’t plan on taking every blood bag every monarch ever had to lay about in suites I pay for and eat up a lot of room service.”

                “Understood, times are tough for everyone,” said Bill. “Eric, is everything okay?”

                “Sky has fallen in love with me,” said Eric.

                “She is a wonderful woman. You must feel honored to have her affections,” said Bill.

                “I was so ignorant I could not recognize it in the bond,” said Eric.

                “We are all learning, Eric,” said Bill.

                “I never felt anything like it, even from Sookie,” said Eric. “It is both exhilarating and frightening. She never loved us Bill. Not really. She only loved the silence we could give her and the protection and the pleasure. She never loved us.”

                “Just figuring that out,” said Bill.

                “You knew?” asked Eric. Bill nodded.

                “I think she loved us a little, but not the way we loved her. Perhaps she loved us as much as she could. Maybe we were loving her the best we could. At any rate, in the matters of love, the fae are like that, they save their deepest love for their own kind,” said Bill. “Niall told me that. But you have the chance to find out what love really feels like. With Miss Faulconer. You can love her and you will know. I have asked Rachel to think about being  engaged to me.”

                “You Bill? I would have thought after Lorena and Sookie you would never want to tie yourself to a woman like that.”

                “I never wanted to marry Sookie, because she would never be vampire and walk with me forever.”

                “And Rachel wants to?” asked Eric.

                “She and I have had serious talks about it. We have not decided when to do that, she is still young and I love her humanity. But we have talked about there being a time when she would want to be made vampire,” said Bill.

                “That is something Sookie never wanted. She loathed the vampire in me,” said Eric.

                “Dreaded,” said Bill. “She never thought being a vampire was a good thing, she thought we were damned.”

                “I want to be good to Sky and I want to make her happy and take care of her, but I am afraid of loving her and losing her.”

 “Always be honest with her,” said Bill. “And open yourself up to her. Trust her.”

                “Is this what Sookie wanted, you and me, standing here like a couple of human men, discussing our relationships?” asked Eric.

                “I don’t know,” said Bill. “Maybe this is what we, as a species need to do anyway, care about one another and respect one another even if we don’t necessarily like one another. That is how our Kings and Queens have cheated us and stolen from us and murdered us and made wars for us. I fought in a Civil War as a human, and I can tell you there was nothing civil about it.”

                “I have been in hundreds of them. This will end in bloodshed, you know that,” said Eric.

                “I know,” he said. “If things get as bad I think they will, I think we should prepare a hiding place for Rachel and Sky.”

                “We can put them with people we trust,” said Eric. “The last place they would ever look. I have been thinking about the weremastifs. I have heard from Antonio. They are ready whenever we are.”

                “When the time comes we can begin contacting the two natured community and invite our friends to meet those communities in their kingdoms,” said Bill.

                “That will do for this evening. I am spending the night with Sky and listening to that anti vampire radio show on the internet,” said Eric.

                “Perhaps Rachel and I should do the same thing,” said Bill.

                “I will mention it to Sky and she can call Rachel,” said Eric.

                “I will see you later,” said Bill.

                Eric parked his car in the parking lot behind Whole Body and let himself into the garden area. Sky was already there, setting up her laptop with two external speakers and Rachel was bringing out some sort of savory little crepe pies. They were warm. “Rachel those smell very nice, what are they?” asked the vampire.

                “Hi Eric, these are mushroom and cheese and spinach crepes with sage and oregano and fennel and then there is a sausage dumpling and cheese dumpling with oregano and fennel,” said Rachel. “I didn’t think vampires liked the smell of food that much.”

                “We do like the smells of some food, particularly if there is not much in the way of garlic in it,” said Eric.

                “Well, I usually don’t eat garlic anymore, because it is an irritant to vampires. But I do substitute ginger and pepper and chili spices when I can. Those are good herbs and spices for the blood. I always recommend them to people who come into my shop who say their vampire lovers are experiencing blood boredom and anemia, which I think is blood boredom. Their blood partners are anemic and they are getting tired blood.”

                “I recommend a half cup of TrueBlood as well,” said Eric. “They like it better if they can combine it with tomato or some sort of fruit juice.” Sky went up to him and he leaned down and kissed her. “Hello lover.”

                “Hey Eric,” she said. “Get your business taken care of?”

                “I did,” he said. “Everything is coming together. We are planning a regional meeting the second week of November, before Thanksgiving.”

                “Very nice,” she said.  Bill came into the gate. Rachel greeted him warmly.

                “You fellahs want something to drink?” she asked.

                “I’ll have a TrueBlood,” said Bill.

                “Eric?” said Rachel.

                “That would be nice, thank you Rachel,” said Eric.

                It was hot, and the air was thick as the two women and the two men sat in the garden and listened to VH8R, Vampire Hate Radio.  It was on one of those free download sites with an attached chat room. Rachel and Bill lounged on the chaise and Eric and Sky sat on an elevated meditation pad. There was a bottle of wine in an ice bucket and they ate and drank wine as they listened to the show.

“Hello fellow humans and this is Vamp Hate Talk on VH8R, coming to you live at VoiceBlog.net, the internet’s voice of sanity and freedom and promotion of human rights and love of humanity itself. I want to begin tonight’s show by talking about our colleges and universities. I understand liberal teaching and agendas are mainly created to serve their own greed by forcing our future leaders and thinkers to take classes that embrace the immoral and the depraved.

“To add to my list of enemies number one is a woman I will call the Scarlett Whore. She is a new comer to our staff and she teaches Vampire topics such as Vampire Feminism, Society and Vampires, Vampire History and Social Paradigms, Vampires in Literature, and Vampirism and Social Media. Five of the most worthless classes in our catalogue of classes and they transfer ladies and gentleman, to institutions of higher learning and because these classes are deemed “unbiased” our faith based colleges must accept the credits for these classes as…get this…social studies and minority studies classes. So even if your college is God Centered and faith based, often offering degrees in divinity and philosophy, you will have to accept these classes as transfer credits.

“I charge the Scarlett Whore with perversion, because you just know ladies and gentlemen, she is banging some oversexed, unnatural demon with fangs indulging in every unsavory act. She is a corrupter of the youth and should be branded a sexual predator.

“Next, I have a very special guest. His name is Harp Powell and he is an award winning, investigative journalist. He has written the definitive book about Shreveport’s most notorious and powerful vampire, the owner of Fangtasia, The Beast of Shreveport,  Eric Northman. As you all know, he is suspected of the death of Sookie Stackhouse, who I understood you interviewed extensively for this book.

“Thank you for having me. Yes, I did spent hours with the Late Sookie Stackhouse. She was incredibly honest, having broken free of the shackles of vampire domination. I think after you and the rest of us read this book, you will realize she had turned her back on the dark and perverted life she had led with vampires and manimals and she wanted to do something, like an act of atonement to the human race she betrayed when she coupled with those fanged demons.”

“Did she reveal the depths of her depravity with these creatures?”

“She did, she was very forthcoming and described orgiastic scenes where she indulged in the sexual fantasies of her vampire lovers, Bill Compton and Eric Northman. If this was not a family show, I would describe some of the instances but you will just have to buy the book”

“Tell us about Eric Northman and his illegal empire.”

“Well in my research, Northman is not even his real name, what that is, I don’t know, and I have not yet discovered it, but as soon as I do, I will make an announcement on my blog hpowell@ humanblog.com and I will reveal his true identity.  Eric Northman is the crime godfather of Northern Louisiana. He has been observed by the late Sookie Stackhouse and others who agreed to speak to me under conditions of anonymity,  selling all forms of human narcotics in addition to selling literally gallons of vampire blood. He addicts humans to drugs and then when these poor afflicted humans become addicted and cannot pay for their drugs, he exploits them in both blood cellars and as vampire whores who will do anything to get what they want. He is a sexual predator, and he is a murderer. He is not only implicated in the death of Sookie Stackhouse, but the death of a young woman last year who attended a vampire party at his house. Then he was implicated in the death of a young woman from Jackson, Mississippi who has been missing for a couple of years now. If there is a real crime boss in this area it is this vampire.

“Oh man, that is sick,” said Rachel, emptying her wine glass and Eric poured her another and then refilled Sky’s glass.

“Are either of you ladies willing to read this book and give us a synopsis of it?” asked Eric.

“I can do it for you Eric,” said Rachel. “Get me a copy of it.”

“Danny can pick up a copy of it for you,” said Bill.

                “Is this the end?” asked Bill.

                “Oh no, he takes calls and reads emails over the air and participates in live chats. He is allotted two hours, but he sometimes asks for additional time if he has an especially busy night,” said Sky. “Then he does a prayer circle at the end. He actually prays for people who are these traitors of humanity  to die along with certain vampires and two natured.”

                “Sick,” said Rachel.

                “And this is the person who abused you in your office?” asked Eric. Sky nodded, her eyes filled with tears. He stroked her cheek and kissed her head. “Bill begin your investigation of this professor and the writer.”

                “I will put it at the top of our list,” said Bill.

                “Isn’t there anything we can do to get his show taken off the air?” asked Rachel.

                “The hate crimes law does not apply to us, and there is the problem of his rights under the constitution to express himself as he wishes. Since there are no laws to protect us, like other minorities, we are free game to the world of hate,” said Bill.

                “My dad volunteers for the Southern Poverty Law Center,” said Rachel. “He is retired from practicing law, but he volunteers his services. Perhaps he can advise us.”

                “That would be helpful sweetheart,” said Bill.

                “Will make sure I am still on the list to get my packet from them,” said Sky.

                They listened to the show, and Eric pulled Sky to settle against him, her back to his chest and he felt her anger and pain and love moving through the bond into his heart. He relaxed and sent comfort vibes to her, and she took them into herself and felt the closest thing to love she had felt from him.

                Rachel was sitting up in bed, as Bill brushed her hair. He liked to do this, especially when she was sad. He would brush her long black hair and then gather it up and braid it in one long braid and wrap it around his hand. “Don’t be sad Rachel, we have always been hated and despised by humans. One man’s pathetic radio show is nothing to be sad about.”

                “I am sad about that, but I am sad and afraid because in addition to his hate, there were so many who called in and went into his live chat and participated in this. It reminds me of something my father quoted to me: They came for the blacks, but because I was not black I said nothing. They came for the Jews, but because I was not a Jew, I did nothing. When they came for the Catholics, I turned away because I was not a Catholic. And when they came for me, no one stood up because there was no one left.”

                “Rachel my love, I will never let them hurt you, I will stand up for you and protect you with my life, whatever it is I have, to trade for your life,” he said.

                “Bill do you think you have a soul?” she asked. She turned around.

                “For a very long time, when I was first made, I didn’t think so. But later, after I was released by maker, I rediscovered my vestiges of humanity and I tried not to use who I was as an excuse to act like an animal,” said Bill. “As to whether I have a real soul, I think I do, though it is distinctly nonhuman. I think when I am judged, when I meet the true death, I will be judged for the evil things I have done since I was reawakened in this existence.”

                “I will call my parents tomorrow and ask dad to help me with information and use it as a context for telling them about you,” she said. “I guess the true test to how much I would stand up for you is telling my parents and having their reaction to you.”

                “Be understanding if they have trouble or they can’t accept at all, this may be too hard for them to understand and approve of,” said Bill. “Have you ever read any John Steinbeck?”

                “Read the Grapes of Wrath,” she said.

                “He wrote a book called Travels with Charley. It is a travel story of a trip he took across America during the 1960’s with his black standard poodle, Charley. He talks about meeting a man and they were talking about the protests, when they were desegregating the schools. The man says the biggest fear was that blacks and whites would fall in love and marry and have children. He draws the analogy that Charley may be a world class dog, superior of his species, smart and entertaining and charming, but would you want your sister to go out with Charley.”

                “But you aren’t a dog, even like Sam…he is a two natured man…he is not an animal, a manimal. He is a man.” She put her arms around Bill. “You may be a vampire, but you are a man, and you are physically a human. If it is wrong to love you and respect you as a wonderful person, a fellow being, then I will just have to be wrong.”

                “Slow Sky,” whispered Eric. “Slow, lover.” He was watching her as she moved above him and he opened himself through the bond. She leaned over him and ran her fingers over his face, he closed his eyes and she ran her fingers over his eyes and his cheeks and his lips. She kissed him and licked his fangs and gently bit his lips. She raised back up and began to move again. Eric pulled her back down against him and turned them so he was above her. He mimicked her motions, touching her face, kissing her mouth, nipping her. His hair, what Sky called his golden glory, curtained their faces in their long waves with silky little curls at the end.

                That was when he opened up the bond and sent everything he was feeling to her. She held him tighter with the intense flow from the bond. She was climaxing fast and hard and Eric was looking at her, staring into her eyes, calm, assessing her and everything that was happening to her. “Can you feel it Sky? This is what I feel when you send me love in the bond.”

                “Eric,” she panted.

                “Feel it Sky,” he said. “Feel it, this is what I feel. This is what I feel.”

                “I love you,” she said. “I love you Eric.” He put his face in her neck. She put her hand on his head.

He whispered something, under his breath. “Tell me Eric, tell me love.” He raised up and there was redness around his eyes but no tears. He was moving faster. “Tell me.” He came, arching his back, shouting. He let himself down slowly and she held him tight.

                “Oh Sky, I love you,” he moaned. 

                Sky came back to bed with a glass of ice water and crushed ice in it. “Do you mind it if I take some aspirin?” she asked.

                “No, lover. It will just make your blood flow a little faster, I will have to be careful not to drink too deeply,” he said.

                “You didn’t take any blood,” she observed, popping the aspirins in her mouth and sipping the water.

                “I am so old I just need a little sip to be healthy,” he said. “There will be times I will want to take blood but I don’t want to bite each time we make love.”

                “Eric, when you said you loved me, did you say that just because it was something I wanted?” she asked.

                “No, I meant it. I realized I had been feeling that for a while but I didn’t want to admit it to myself,” he said. “I love you. Sky, I want to try something with the bond. I want to see how we might be able to use it to communicate with one another. I am going to send you something, a feeling and you tell me how you react to it.”

                “Okay,” she said. “Go sit in the living room, where I can’t see you and I have depend on what you send me, and I am not reacting to your body.”

                “I will sit perfectly still,” he said.

                “You think you are sitting perfectly still, but I can see subtle things that cue me. I used to go hunting with my dad, so I notice that sort of thing,” she said.

                “Like Diana the huntress,” he said.

                “More like the Deer Hunter,” she said. “Go, sit where I can’t see you.” Eric got up and went into her parlor.

                “Get ready dearest,” he said. He relaxed and built the feeling he wanted to send her and pushed it toward her.

                “Shit…run,” she said.

                “Correct,” he said. He pulled the emotion back and then relaxed and sent another.

                “Shhhh,” she said. “Be silent.”

                “Very good,” he said. He drew his eyebrows down and then sent the feelings.

                “That’s weird, it is like bad or…negative…Is that no?”

                “Outstanding,” he said. The he sent another feeling.

                “Affirming…no Affirmative,” she said. “Yes.” Eric worked on several emotional cues. Sky recognized all of them. He came back to bed.

                “We shall have to practice,” said Eric.

                “Is there some reason we are doing this mental telegraph?” she asked.

                “Yes, it is near dawn and I need to sleep, but I will want to tell Bill and Rachel to work out their own signals as well. This may be an interesting study, the use of the true bond in communications.”

                “That would be an interesting study,” said Sky.  Eric pulled her down to him and she curled around his cool body. He pulled the sheets and comfort around her and held her as she fell asleep.