Chapter 4

"Where is Tige?"

"The Rasta? I don't know. When I woke up he was gone. Can somebody tell me what is going on?"

The woman dressed like a Greek goddess glanced at one of the men. He was dressed conservatively in a gray suit, his dark hair combed straight back, his style straight up early eighties politician, as if he were going for the Ronald Regan look.

What was wrong with these vampires? Didn't they know people didn't walk around dressed like that anymore?

Brother Man, though, was different. He wore all black and matched me. He wore nice pants and an expensive looking silk shirt. His almost shaved head gleamed, and he sported a neat goatee. He had a gold stud in his earlobe and understated jewelry on his fingers and wrist.

He gave me the eye, starting at my feet and stopping at my eyes. He frowned slightly before crossing his arms and turning away.

I dismissed him, too. He was going to be of no help to me. Thanks, brotha.

"Look," I said. "If you can tell me anything at all that might help, then I'd really appreciate it. If not …"

"She still has human in her," the wanna-be Greek goddess said.

"Yes. And she knows nothing about her liege and can't even retract her teeth."

"She is as useless as a kitten."

The Asian looked at her fellow Council people. "Is it unanimous, then?"

Another woman, thin, unattractive but handsome in a K.D. Lange sort of way nodded. "She must be put down."

Oh shit! "Put ... down?" I crept backwards.

"Yes," K. D. Lange said. "You see, you were turned by an outlaw, a Rogue. Only a Master can turn a human. When a Master turns a human, you are left with all of our memories and instincts and an understanding of our abilities."

"Why bother explaining," the Politician said.

"Because she's an unwitting victim," the black man said in a tight, harsh voice.

The Asian woman chuckled. "Ah, I see something has gathered Tony's attention." She gave me an unfriendly look.

Before, I was no more important than a discarded newspaper. But now I was someone worthy to glare at. Bitches are always going to act like bitches.

Tony scowled at her. "When a Master turns a human, we have a Second Generation. But if a Second Generation tries to turn a human, the results can be ..."

"Cruel," K.D. Lange said.

"You have our abilities but none of our instincts," Tony said. "You retain your human qualities, memories, desires."

I ran my tongue over my teeth. "I don't feel human," I lied. "I feel a ... desire to drink blood. Also, I ... have some memories. I just haven't sorted through them yet." I kept trying to figure out how to make my teeth retract. Fear didn't do it. Maybe happy thoughts like puppy dogs or clowns. Nah, that wasn't doing it, either. Oh God, please—

Uh oh! That did it. I could feel them draw back up into my gums. Thank you, God. Thank you!

The Council watched me with more interest.

"See." I smiled widely. "No more pointy teeth." I took another step back. "You know, I can just see my way out."

A creepy looking man with a craggy face and lank dark hair appeared at my side.

I almost screamed.

He stared at me closely. "She's quite human, but she has some abilities." He turned away from me. "What says the Council?"

"We have no use for a Third Generation," that Asian bitch said. "Put her down."

"I agree," K.D. Lange said.

"I concur," Greek Goddess said.

I gasped. "Wait. You say that I don't have any vampire instinct."

The Asian woman laughed. "If you did you would not have used such a passé term. vampire? That's for myths and legends. We are Neratomay—The Undead. You would know that if you weren't thoroughly human."

"I may not have vampire instincts, but I do have survival instincts," I said. "I grew up in the hood, bitch!" I thought about the other room, and like lightening I was there. The craggy-faced vamp was there with me a half second later with a on his face. I had excellent vision, but now I saw with more than my eyes.

It seemed that Craggy Face was trying to claw me, but I managed to jerk or circle, spin, dodge and duck out of his grasp and make it into the jewel-toned room. This couldn't have taken more than a second or two, but my thought process had sped up so that seconds felt like minutes and I could react with split-second precision.

William joined Craggy Face, but William's face split at the mouth reminding me of an alligator. It scared me so badly that I reached for the first thing I could grab—the leg of a side table. I slammed the side table into him as if I was swatting a fly, but it was as if I had hit him with a little plastic fly swatter. The damn table shattered, and he didn't flinch. His big teeth were coming at me, and before I knew it I made a fist and swung at him as if I were Mike Tyson.

As William flew backwards and hit the wall with a satisfying thud, I nearly lost my balance. I couldn't afford to hit the floor on my back because I knew the rest of them would be on me. Since Craggy Face was closest, I clawed at his neck in a death grip and used his body to knock over the vamp behind him.

I thought about the ceiling and found myself there briefly, but because I couldn't stick to stone, I bounded down to the couch while the four pale vamps clawed at the expensive rug where I had been only seconds before. In a blink they were on me again, but I had picked up a piece of the splintered table and had jabbed it out in front of me with my eyes squeezed shut.

I both felt and heard a cry of such pain that it made me cringe inside. I opened my eyes and saw the Politician impaled by the leg of the table.

He looked down at the table leg. "Killed by a cocktail table," he whispered. "Of all the …" Then he turned to ash.

William crouched to leap at me, but he stayed frozen. The others three pale vamps stared at me where they laid in a tangle. Tony and the Asian woman stood at the bookcase-doorway watching me, both of them blinking rapidly.

I didn't wait for round two. I thought about my car and was there in two seconds.

Expecting something to rip my throat out, I started the car and sped away. On my drive home I was shaking and crying from the battle. I mean, I was in little scraps back in high school, but I never thought I'd get into a fight with a group of Vampires. I kept looking around for someone following me. Unless they were tracking me on foot, I wasn't being followed. To be sure, I hit the highway.

I was scared to go home, not wanting to lead anything to my place of rest. Isn't that what Vampires did? Didn't they protect the secrecy of their resting place? Girlfriend wasn't sleeping in any coffin or graveyard, so my resting place was going to be my apartment.