"Excuse me Miss." I look behind me to see a young man with red hair in a crew cut. He's nicely muscled but not overly done like a body builder. I'm sure he could lift quit a bit but his mortal strength is nothing compared to me. I smile.
"Yes?"
"I hear you're a vampire. Is it true?" God, does everybody know about us these days? I thought I was pretty good at blending in despite the fact that we'd gone public a couple of decades ago. We were incredibly surprised when they welcomed us with open arms. We'd promised them to only drink from livestock and they were okay with that. Only a few were concerned about our existence but we took care of that problem with the subtle persuasion of mind control that we are only allowed to use if we need to bite in an emergency.
There are the occasional hidden dens of where human addicts go to feed the vampire addicts. Our enforcers raid everyone they find and shut them down by killing the vamps. Humans recover from their addictions but we don't. Once we've tasted human blood, there's no going back to livestock.
"No." I lie. I don't want to turn anybody, I don't want to feed from anybody and I don't want to be bothered by is sad story. I've been approached by hundred since we went public by people with terminal illnesses or by people who know someone with a terminal illness or by somebody who'd so afraid of death that they'd choose death to avoid the unknown.
It was none of these reasons that I was turned. I was turned for love and stuck with him in an arranged marriage. Henry thought he loved me and turned me on our wedding night. I thought he was repulsive. At least the boy who wants my attention now is handsome. Henry was ugly, cruel and delusional. I learned sword work from his younger brother Edward and eventually cut off his head. It was the only way I could escape the man.
"You're a terrible liar. My name is Nicholi." He said with a faint Russian accent. He tells me his name as if that makes a difference in him getting what he wants.
"What part of no, don't you understand?" He smiles.
"Jones said you'd be difficult to convince. Just hear me out. There's plenty of time." Sure, just because I'm immortal and 240 years old doesn't mean I have all the time in the world. I live just like every other person on this planet. I go to work, I socialize with friends, human and otherwise, and don't like being late to either one.
Jones? Would that be Bruce Jones? That piece of fertilizer. I should go send him to a den and see how well he likes being lunch. I've worked with Bruce for the last three years and from day one I could tell he was gonna be trouble. Mostly he's been annoying but I can't have him fired because he does his job well.
"Two minutes. I will know if you are lying."
"I need your help." He looks a little unsure of himself.
"Duh. Tick, Tock." He scowls at me.
"Yesterday I was contacted for a hit." Well, that's a first. I drop my digital newspaper to the tabletop and look him in the eyes. What would a hit man want with me? Why does Bruce Jones know a hit man? "I've been hired to kill one of you and that's out of my league." I try to suppress a laugh but a snort slips out. He gives me the evil eye.
"Sorry. Please continue."
"Is there any chance I could kill one of you as I am?"
"There isn't much of a chance of killing one of as one of us. I don't suppose you'll tell me who it is that you're being paid to kill." Fiction gave us all sorts of powers but the truth is we're only telepathic on top of the immortality and super human strength. No flying, no pyrotechnics, no psychokinetics. Just damned hard to kill. So hard that we need to lose our head before we don't come back. No human with a sword could come that close.
"Then turn me. I'll pay you handsomely." I'm not gonna risk returning to my addiction. For me to turn him means going rogue. I don't know who told him I'd turn him… Oh, wait. Bruce. That man really needs to be… It's illegal to turn a human. It's against my own personal rules and it leads to my own death.
"No."
"I was afraid you'd say that. I've done my research."
"Don't believe everything you read." I interrupt.
"I know all about you Lady Angela. Wife of Lord Henry Anderson. You've been with the fang club for 240 years and killed your husband who turned you less than ten years after your marriage with a sword." Henry'd loved me for all of a year before he started sleeping and feeding off the servants. Despite this he raped me weekly. I was happy to be rid of him.
"If you don't back off, you'll suffer the same fate as Henry." I let my deathly energy flow out from me and I smell sweat trickle down his back. So much for him being a hardened killer. I was turned at a time when feeding on humans was common and I've tried very hard not to feed on human blood. Sometime it keeps me up when I should be sleeping.
I think of myself as a civilized person but his fear is a long forgotten treat. My fangs slip out and my vision changes so I see the blood flowing under his skin. In his mind he feels goosebumps on his legs and arms, his palms are sweaty and a bead of sweat runs across his forehead from his red hair. He's doing his best to stay sitting in the café seat across from me. He has done his homework. Running from a vampire is like running from a tiger. You run and he will give chase and no matter if you're an Olympic sprinter or marathon runner you cannot out run a vampire.
I've so missed hunting. I've tried for years to deny it, to fit in to society like the younger vamps are doing. I'm not sure I'm pleased with the outcome of events they set for thirty years ago. I wonder if Nicholi realizes the consequences of his plans when he asked me a question no mortal should ask. I look in his eyes and send him to some calm place in his mind. I affect the rest of the mortals in the mall's food court surrounding us. The young vamps don't know we can do this nor to they have the power to affect the minds of hundreds of mortals in one space.
I stand up and sit on his lap. He tilts his head back beckoning me to feed. It's a good thing I know a witch because without the charmed amulet around my neck I would have easily fed and forfeited my life. I knew the consequences and I came prepared.