The Vampire & the Rebel (Completed)

Part 2: Chapter 19

We drove in relative silence for a long moment before she broke it. "So, Jamie, I suppose that I should introduce you to your fellow humans. You already know Marcel. Maybe you know Arnold, back behind you? He's one of my guards, but he's been running a lot of the training for my general human population."

"Nice to properly meet you," Arnold said.

"You too," I agreed. I could remember him yelling instructions in the background while I trained with her guards.

"Up here beside me is Kage. You probably haven't met him. He's something of Leif's assistant and he spends a lot of his time moving around between my properties a coordinating everything."

"Your reputation precedes you," Kage told me. He didn't sound particularly resentful.

I considered how I was supposed to respond to that, but she started talking again. "So, Jamie, once you're in New Haven, we'll get you settled in, and then I'll give you a little tour before dawn. Have any questions so far?"

Millions. "No."

"Well, don't hesitate to ask. I want to utilize you to your full potential."

"Sounds great."

"Don't be so prickly. I just don't want you to be wasted. I'm like this with all my humans, right Marcel?"

"She is," he agreed easily. I imagined he would have been giving me that challenging expression he usually had, but there was no way for me to see it. Even the last rays of the sun were fading on the horizon and the little light that was left was not enough for me to see anything with detail. We were well into the time when the bloodsuckers ruled, and my instinctual dislike of the darkness was difficult to ignore.

Humans were by nature of the sun, but every night that protective orb deserted us.

Because my vision was useless, I focused on my other senses. The vehicle smelled of leather, and the breathing of the other humans was barely loud enough to be heard over the low hum of the engine. They sounded calm as if they had made such journeys before, and I reminded myself that this was not like dealing with one of the hostile leeches.

Still, I would certainly be happy when we reached our eventual destination.

"A shooting star," she commented, breaking the dark silence. "I'm rather a fan of such things, they break up the night sky so nicely. I don't know if humans still know this, but they're pieces of rock burning up as they enter the atmosphere, beautiful in their own destruction. It seems poetry in and of itself."

I would have preferred if she kept her vampiric attention on the road I could only imagine was in front of us in the darkness, because I sure as hell couldn't see it. The vehicle descended into silence for long moments before she broke it again.

"This is why I was so angry that I had to get rid of Lucas. I used to bring him almost everywhere with me. If Lucas were here, he would be making interesting conversation and we would not all be driving in silence. He was especially good at getting new humans to relax a bit."

She paused. When she spoke again, she sounded vexed. "Any of you want to at least try to fill his shoes? Anything?"

"Well," said Kage from the front seat, "I could give you a couple summary reports on general resource development off the top of my head."

She scoffed, "I'm driving, you don't want me to fall asleep while I'm doing that, do you, Leif two-point-oh? Arnold?"

"Well, I've been doing nothing besides training the non-combatants in self-defense lately. I guess the food's getting better again now that the kitchen has been renovated," the guy behind me said matter-of-factly.