The Scent Of Vampires (Book 1)

Chapter 4: Helping a Neck Biter

Leo followed Zephora down the wooden basement stairs, his wings making a swishing sound as they brushed against the steps. From the look of things, the neck biter appeared to not have moved since Zephora had last checked on her.

Leo of course saw and took in every detail quickly. He was a creature made for the darkness of night, and his vision was almost as good a neck biter or killing vamp.

Her face and body were covered in bruises. There were angry bite marks in several places along her neck. Her eyes were closed and her pale skin seemed almost too pale, even for a neck biter.

Leo squatted down closer to her and looked over her injuries. He reached out as if to smooth her fire red hair back from her face, but then quickly pulled his hand back. For a moment he was so still you would have thought he'd turned back into stone. There was a strange look in his eyes, Zephora wasn't sure what he was thinking. Suddenly, his face was expressionless, as he stood and took a few steps back.

"She won't last long if she she doesn't get that blood soon." Pixie said from behind us. Zephora jumped a little, not realizing that she was there and then she noticed Hudson as well.

"Well, let's get on with it then. Looks like we better hit the market pronto. The sooner she gets that blood the sooner she can be on her way." Hudson said turning to leave, clearly not comfortable being so close to the enemy.

"Wait!" Pixie called and she walked over to her ingredient shelf and pulled a few of her potions down and put them in a what Zephora liked to call her "Mary Poppins Bag". "We're going to need something to barter with in order to get that blood." Then she walked back toward the stairs and then paused for a moment. "Oh and someone will need to stay here and look after our guest."

Hudson gave her a dark look that said no way in hell. No surprise there. Zephora was just about to volunteer when Leo said, "I'll look after her." Everyone turned to look at him in surprise. He usually took off in the evenings and wouldn't return until sunrise. Zephora guessed after being stone and stuck in one spot all day made you a little stir crazy.

He must have seen everyone's surprised looks, because he shrugged and said nonchalantly, "I'm a gargoyle, we guard things, it's kind of in the job description."

"Right...Since when have you ever done anything according to a job description. If anything, you usually do the opposite of what would be typical behavior of a gargoyle." Zephora pointed out.

He gave her a dark look. "I'm the only gargoyle you have ever known, so how would you know?" He replied irritably.

Zephora held up her hands in surrender. "All right, you got me there. I guess you're on babysitting duty tonight and the rest of us are off to the market to barter for blood." Everyone groaned at that.

*******

In her room Zephora went about gathering what she would need for the evening. Zephora looked longingly at the single bed with blue and black checkered comforter and new sleep may not be coming anytime soon that night.

Turning to her dresser she pulled open the bottom drawer and then removed various nick nacks she had stored there.  Zephora pulled up the bottom panel of the drawer revealing a hidden compartment. Inside were various weapons. No guns because they were pointless when defending one's self from super nats; except for if one had silver bullets and were facing an angry moon howler, but they were extremely rare and hard to come by. She grabbed a couple a blades and for good measure a wooden stake. As cliche as that may have seemed, a wooden stake really would kill a neck biter or a killing vamp if pierced right through the heart. The only other way to successfully kill a vampire was by removing their head. Zephora had gratefully never had to resort to something so extreme but had witnessed it done before.

Zephora slipped a blade into each of her knee length boots and then tucked the stake into the back of her belt. The end stuck out which she hid under her hooded leather jacket. She tied her dark curly hair back out of her face and pulled up the hood of her jacket.

In another drawer Zephora grabbed some money. While people mostly bartered goods or services at the Outers Market, money was still accepted in certain circumstances. She found a few other items to trade. This would be a first for them, trading for blood, and Zephora had a feeling it wasn't going to be as simple as giving a few potions and money.

There were two sides to the Outers Market, at first glance it would appear to be a normal flee market, but behind the scenes there were often more sinister and black market trading going on. Human blood was one.

Most human communities had passed laws that forbade anyone from donating blood for vampires. There were however some humans that believed if they were to donate the blood willingly vampires would stop attacking humans. Also, the compensation for donating was said to be very good. For a human in a despite situation, Zephora could see why some would willingly donate. Luckily for Zephora, she had never gotten to that point of desperation.

The irony of the situation was not lost to Zephora. She could hardly believe she was about to willingly aquire black market human blood for a complete stranger and neck biter no less. Zephora tried several times to talk herself out of what they were doing, but for some reason she knew that it was the right thing to do for the girl.

Zephora took a calming breath and closed her eyes. There had been a time when she first developed her extra strong senses that they crashed upon her like waves. She would be bombarded with all kinds of sounds, smells, and see things she new she shouldn't be able to. Over the years she had learned how to push them back and only draw on what she needed. Focusing on a specific sense one at a time helped her to maintain control and not feel everything all at once.

She could hear Pixie and Hudson downstairs. Hudson was still grumbling about helping a neck biter and Pixie continued to try and reason with him. Stretching her hearing further, she pushed passed the sound of Hudson and Pixie's conversation. She could hear the toll of a church bell and new it must be coming from one of the human compounds and the closest was a couple miles away.

She next tested her sense of smell. The combination of lavender, from Pixie and the woodsy dog smell of Hudson first hit her nose. Then came the smell of blood and she new that was from the neck biter. Outside she could smell the damp earth and new it had been raining a little.

Zephora finally opened her eyes and looked out her bedroom window. It was now well into the evening. While Zephora couldn't see as well as Leo or a vampire at night, she did have better night vision than most humans. The light rain that had fallen stopped and now there was a fine mist that rose in the air. Even so, Zephora could make out the familiar sights and surroundings. She could see the outline of the iron gate and statue of an angel that was the entrance to the old graveyard up the road. Further on she could see ramshackle buildings broken fences and a few cars that were broken down and not driven anymore. For a moment she thought she saw a shadow move outside.

Just as she about to take a closer look Hudson called, "Zoe, let's get going. We don't have all night."   Zephora rolled her eyes at Hudson's impatience, and snatched up her canvas pack from the bed. They were off to market.

AN: What do you think of Zephora and the gang so far? They all have interesting back stories and I can't wait to write more about each one of them.