The Death Thief

Motivations

"You...you do?" I asked, sliding into the booth we were presented.

"Why don't you pick something out first," he said, nudging my menu closer to me after the hostess made a quick promise to return when we were ready. "Hen's cooking is the best in town. Anything on here will be good, and don't fuss about the price. Get as much as you want, I've got it covered."

Normally, I'd still end up choosing a plain bagel and a glass of water so as not to impose upon whoever was treating me, but I felt a bit like the town owed me for everything I'd been put through and my stomach may have rebelled if I didn't provide a hearty meal. So I ordered myself a hefty stack of waffles and a cup of tea, while Everett ordered a coffee and donut.

"Tell me what you saw at Antonov's," he began before the waitress had even managed to retrieve our menus from the table.

"What do you mean exactly? About how the children bit me or the part where zombies chased after me?" I kept my voice low, my eyes casting around the diner, which looked as any diner would — lots of chrome, lots of shiny plastic in pastel hues, and lots of blue collar patrons sipping steaming cups of coffee. However, I knew they weren't average Joes and Janes. There could be mages or zombies or werewolves seated around me, and maybe my attackers or just an acquaintance of one of my attackers, was sitting there listening in.

"Those weren't zombies," said Everett with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Those were vampires. Antonov's employees."

"His employees?" I asked, my guard dropping once I knew that none of them would be in the diner during the day.

"He may be a lusty prick, but he's good to his people. Only Kyra, Dragan, and Bernadette are rich enough to afford multiple feeders at any given time. There are plenty in town that can keep a feeder or two in their household, but they have to be a lot more careful with their expenditures than Kyra, Dragan, and Bernadette do. Keeping a human is expensive around here since most are unemployed and those that do have jobs make meager wages. So it's up to their sponsors to provide and the majority of the vampire population can't do so and thus don't have feeders. Instead they're on an animal diet. Antonov hires most of the vampires in town and has them work the farm, growing feed and tending the livestock. That livestock, in turn, feeds the town. Vampires get the blood, werewolves and mages get the standard cuts of meat, and the zombies get what remains of the carcasses. Ghosts don't eat by the way."

I gave him a little nod in agreement, however instead of continuing on, a crooked smile stood out beneath his auburn stubble.

"Seems you're coming to terms with things."

"I-I suppose so," I said with a blush that I didn't particularly understand. I hid it by turning to face the waitress who had also played hostess and shown us our seat earlier. The tall, plump thirty-something-year-old arrived with our orders and a genial smile upon her cherry red lips. A color that matched what was certainly not naturally red hair.

"Here ya go. Enjoy hon." She gave me a wink, revealing a bright teal shade coating her eyelid.

"Thanks Hen," said Everett, who broke his donut in half and dunked it into his coffee.

"Let me know if you need anything else." She then headed back to the counter to serve a group of men in workman's jumpsuits.

"But..." I started, looking down at my waffles as I spread the strawberry syrup around with my knife. "But, Bungee was complaining about being hungry. Is there not enough food on the farm?"

"The animals can sustain, but the fact is, for vampires and zombies, humans are what they need to thrive." He put down his donut and leaned back into his chair, casting his eyes to the ceiling and crossing his arms over his thick chest. "The vampires generally do all right. They hold festivals every now and then where everyone gets a little human blood. The problem is the blood is given up by the feeders in town and they can only be tapped for so much. They need time to build their blood back up before another festival can be held and we are low on feeders here."