Where Is The Knife?

She walked across campus and lay in the shade of one of the trees to take a small nap. In anger, about Persimmon's constant interference, Owen followed her. Her blood will tell all!

When he walked up to her, she was asleep. His canines extended and he bit deep. The blood was warm and clean then he found hints of the poison that Bruce had hit her with followed quickly by Night's Hell that only Ivory had been poisoned with. Owen stopped, but Persimmon's neck kept bleeding. Licking some off her neck he still tasted Night's Hell.

"No," he whispered.

Tearing some cloth from his cloak he wrapped it around her neck and dialed 9-1-1. The paramedics came and took her to the hospital.

The doctors re-bandaged her neck, but it was decided that it wasn't worth the blood transfusions to try and save her since she would be dead soon anyways. In the room where they left her to die, Owen watched. He could turn her so she would live, but she might hate him for it.

Before he could make a decision her hand came up and tore the bandage off allowing the blood to flow freely.

"Persimmon, no!"

Owen tried to stop the flow, though he wanted to drink it up as well. He could hear her beating heart slow...then stop. Her dead eyes stared at the ceiling. Owen felt rage and hatred building as he laid his head on the edge of the bed. He needed to leave, and yet he couldn't bring himself to do so. Only when the blood started to smell different did he look up again. Persimmon's body was gone. Owen knew no one had come in for her. Persimmon had a rainbow body? It was the only explanation he had to her body vanishing, leaving behind the blood covered bed she had been laying on.

He left through the window and returned home. Shedding his over clothes and cloak, he slept. He woke a little while later to a slight burning sensation. At first he thought it was the sun, but when he shifted he smelled garlic. His whole body was burning. Then the burning slowly increased until it became almost unbearable. Garlic juice did this. It cleansed and raised the energy vibrations of the cells. But being a vampire, the change to higher the energy vibrations in his body only caused damage.

Owen was on the verge of screaming when he felt himself plunged into a bath of water and Aloe Vera gel. When the burning stopped, he climbed out of the tub. He had not gotten far when the burning sensation returned. It increased until it was almost unbearable before he was plunged into the bath again. This repeated several times. Each time the pain increased faster and became more and more unbearable until at last it reached the point where the minute he was out of the tub the burning was worse than Bruce's garlic knives.

He screamed, but no sound came out. Owen tried to climb back into the tub, but he couldn't get himself to move. Darkness started overtaking his mind and he couldn't stop it. When Owen woke at midnight he could smell the garlic still. Where was it? Then he remembered that it was on him. He took a quick a shower and scrubbed it off. He didn't want the burning sensation again. In his room he threw out his old clothes; they stunk of Humans. But as the scent lifted in the air he paused.

'Wait, I know this smell,' he thought. 'Ivory.' Softly he beat his head against the window frame. She had taught him so much and yet she and Persimmon were gone.

"That makes twenty-two," he said softly.

Looking out over campus he saw a lone figure wandering out in the open. Climbing out his window he jumped from tree to tree to get a closer look. They were still a good twenty feet away, but Owen could tell it was a young woman. She seemed to be dancing then she froze. He leaned forward a little bit, wondering why. Then he heard Bruce chuckle.

'No! Run!' he thought.

Bruce's first knife flew. She caught it and sent it right back. It hit Bruce in the leg. Bruce sent a second and third barrage at the same time. Again, these were caught and returned. With all the knives buried into Bruce, Owen was sure it was over. So did the girl, because she turned her back and started to walk away. But Bruce had one more knife and it hit her square in the back. Her scream caught in her throat. Chills ran up Owen's back as he watched her writhe on the ground.

"Fetch the knife, Pretty boy," Bruce said to Owen. "Don't take too long."

Owen dropped from the tree and approached the girl. 'Slit her throat. Don't make her suffer,' he told himself. It was the only justification he had to keep playing Bruce's game.

In the darkness he could still see some movement. There was a soft groan and he reached for the knife. It was no longer in her back.

"Where is the knife?"

"Sit down, Owen," she said.

He hesitated.

"Yes, I know who you are."

He sat close to her head. Her hand found his knee. It was gloved, like Ivory. Owen felt his heart kind of flip then twist.

"Still so young at heart, though old in spirit," she said.

"How do you know so much about me?"

She pushed herself up until she was kneeling in front of him.

"I know more about you then you realize." Then she turned away and vomited. "Vampire, biologist extraordinaire, discoverer/inventor of twenty-one poisons, twenty of which don't have an anti-toxin. Left to weep over many freshmen...and a junior or two."

Owen caught the emphasis on two. "Ivory was a junior...who was the other?"

"Ms. Persimmon of course. She was a transfer student."

He let out a small, surprised laugh. "And all that time I called her a freshman."

The young woman slid the knife into his hand and quietly walked away.

"Wait!" he called into the dark, but she was already out of sight.

Owen walked home slowly and returned the knife to Bruce.

"Did you put the 'poor girl' out of her misery?" Bruce asked, mockingly.

"She ran before I could."

"Oh, well. You'll find her soon enough."