The Bloodsuckers: Vampire Lawyers of Middle Tennesse

Episode 34: It's Going to be Fein

Scott and Michael’s conversation was interrupted by a slight buzzing sound. Micheal jerked up, looking startled, then he fumbled with something under his shirt. A moment later he came up with a cell phone.

“Oh, damn,” Michael said, “it’s the hospital.”

“Got to go in?”

“Yeah.” He clipped his cell phone back on the elastic waistband of his scrubs. “Sorry to cut out on you.”

“I think you have more important things to do.”

“I have a home theater in there,” Michael said, jerking his thumb towards the hallway that lead off the game room, “and Roger is about to show something vampirish. If you want another drink, get him to make you one. There’s dancing out there,” he said, pointing out the back door, “or you can go upstairs to socialize. Or just sit here and drink. Whatever you like. We lock all the rooms we don’t want people in; everything else is fair game.”

“Thanks. I might try to find Josie.”

“Good luck,” Michael said doubtfully. “I told you, she’s like a cat; you won’t find her unless she wants to be found.”

Scott spent another couple of minutes nursing his drink; once he got used to it, he rather liked it—it was like having a real drink again—but it had to be taken in measured doses. Then he got up and, taking his drink with him, he went upstairs to see if he could manage to find Josie after all.

He couldn’t tell, but it looked like there were even more people in the house than before. Then he realized there was an upper deck outside the dining room and there were people flowing in and out the back door onto it.

He wandered into the living room. Some people turned to look at him—eyes roving up and down, assessing his costume, trying to figure out what he was—and a few gave him a slight nod or smile in greeting, then went back to their conversations.

He was just starting to ease his way around the room—dodging angel and fairy wings, trailing gowns and robes, devil tails, and an assortment of other costume paraphernalia—when Josie called out to him.

“There he is now. Scott!”

He looked up and saw Josie waving to him from one of the arm chairs in the corner. There was another woman perched on the arm of the chair. She was wearing a loose, low-slung Greco-Roman gown with what appeared to be a brown, stuffed parrot perched on her shoulder. Her blonde hair was piled high on her head and curled into ringlets,

After a few more feet of delicate maneuvering, he was able to reach them.

“Hey,” Josie said, “where have you been?”

“Downstairs talking to your brother. And having a drink,” he said, showing her the glass.

“What sort of drink?” she asked, looking at the glass in confusion.

“An extra bloody Bloody Mary.”

“How can you make a Bloody Mary extra bloody?” the blonde-headed woman on the arm of the chair asked.

“Well, for starters, you make it with real blood,” Scott replied.

Josie smiled a little. “My brother made that for you?”

“Yeah. He’s got a friend who’s a vampire, and they perfected it together. Which I’m rather glad for; Michael said he made Roger sick the first time they tried it.”

“Speaking of siblings,” Josie said, “this is my nerdy little sister, Becca.”

He offered his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Becca.”