Tampyre

Not long after, it was "girls' night out" again. Mary, Jill, Therese, and Amy were sipping Chablis and eating stale bar snacks. For no visible reason, Jill froze. She reached into her purse, and pulled the picture out. She looked off to the side again, then back at the picture and whispered, "It's him. The fucker is over there, and it looks like he's at it again."

Mary got up. "OK, lets get him. You two have your phones? Get this on video."

She walked over to the table where Robert sat. A woman in her thirties sat across from him, with a happy but dazed look. His hunting scent was no match for Mary's fury, though. She pulled out the spare chair, spun it around, and sat down, legs apart, with her arms crossed on top of the chair's back. "Hey big guy, can I get you a drink? I think you'd like a Bloody Mary. I'm Mary, by the way."

Robert blanched. The other woman was too far gone for much of a reaction. He answered, "Do I know you?"

Mary snapped back, "No, but that doesn't seem to matter to you does it? I have something to show you." She passed him a small stack of photos, printed from video stills. He was unmistakable in each one, feeding hungrily.

He leafed through the stack, then set it down with trembling hands. "What do you want?"

"First," Mary said, "I want to remind you that your forgetting trick doesn't work on cameras." She pointed to the others, now at different tables, each with cell phone camera in hand. They waved back, angry grins on their faces.

"You've made that clear. Again, what do you want? Money?"

"I want your ass behind bars, you sick fucker, and I want to know just what the hell you think you're doing. Let me guess, this one," she jerked her thumb at the dazed woman, "is having her period, right?"

"How would I know?" Robert tried to bluff.

"No idea, but you seem to have a real knack for knowing. One more time before my friends call 911. What the hell are you doing?"

Robert considered his alternatives. As long as they were still talking, he was safe for the moment. Possibilities ran through his mind, including one that had never occurred to him before: the truth.

"Well?" Mary was about to give the signal.

"I'll tell you -- all of you, but we need somewhere a little more private."

"Right, you're going to get us alone somewhere? I don't think so. That booth over there is private enough. And what about her?"

Richard shrugged. "She'll be fine in a half hour or so."

Mary signaled a waiter, put some twenties in his hand, and said, "Could you get my friend a cab? She's in no shape to drive home tonight." A few minutes later, the waiter escorted the unfamiliar woman out. Mary herded Robert to the booth in the back, where Jill, Therese, and Amy joined them.

"Okay, fucker. Talk. What is this weird thing you have stalking women having periods?"

Robert began, "This is going to sound pretty crazy, so I need to show you something first."

"Show what, you pervert?"

"Does anyone have a knife or some scissors?"

Amy reached into her purse and produced a small pair of sewing scissors. Robert took them and stabbed point clear through his hand. Someone gasped; all the women looked away. Robert winced, pulled them out, and wiped them off. Blood flowed freely onto the table.

"What the hell was that?" Mary was first to recover from shock.

Instead of answering, Robert dipped a napkin into a glass of water and wiped his hand, front and back. The blood had already stopped flowing. The wound was still there but closed up as they watched. "Do you need to see that again?"

Jill, the one with the weak stomach, shook her head.

Richard started, "Maybe that will help you believe me. I'm a vampyre."

Mary blustered, "Cut the shit, asshole. If that's the best you can do, it's 911 time." She got her phone out of her pocket and flipped it open. "Do you have a name, or does 'asshole' work?"

Richard made a calm-down gesture with his hand. "It's Robert. You need more proof? How's this?" He turned his back to the bar room and stuck out his tongue. Its pointed tip hung below his chin. The women gaped. Amy squirmed in her seat, half-remembering what it felt like inside her.

The women just stared. "Now will you listen?" Richard started his story. The waiter had delivered two more rounds of Chablis before he finished. "So, the phone's right there. The next step is up to you. 911, or what?"

The women looked at each other. Amy asked, "He didn't take anything from you, did he?"

"Well, nothing I wasn't getting rid of anyway." Nervous giggles.

"And he didn't hurt you? Didn't have sex with you?" heads shook again.

Jill spoke. "I'm inclined to believe him. I mean, we have video. He just fed, then left each woman alone. In fact, he was kind of nice to them afterwards."

They thought for a moment, then Mary glared at him, "OK, asshole, Robert, whatever your name is. Why didn't you just ask?"

Robert chuckled, "Right, I walk up to one of you and say, 'Ma'am, I couldn't help but notice that you're bleeding like a stuck pig. May I lick it out of you?' I don't think so."

Amy still had that thoughtful look. "And this really keeps you alive?"

Robert answered, "Close enough."

Therese added, quietly, "It really looked like I enjoyed it, even if I don't remember."

Richard nodded solemnly. "I feed better when you come, believe it or not."

"OK. But ask next time. And don't do that sleepy-forgetting thing. Anyone else?"

The others nodded. Robert looked stunned. "You mean, you're not going to turn me in?"

"For what? For giving the best oral sex in history and making our periods easier? I think I can live with that."

Robert nodded. "OK. I can't always control the sleepy-forgetting thing, as you call it. It's a biological function, but I'll do my best." Robert turned to Mary. "I'll take you up on that offer, if it's still open. The Bloody Mary, I mean. It seems like a good moment to ask you."

Mary blushed furiously and looked down at her hands. Even the part in her hair turned pink. "Uh, yeah. Are you busy later?"

Robert chuckled. "I just had a cancellation. I think I can work you in."

Amy smiled too. "And how about next week, probably Tuesday or Wednesday?"

Jill chimed in, "It might be a day either way, but I'll be ready about the twentieth. Christ, I never thought I'd be doing this -- scheduling a menstrual date with the Tampax Vampyre, the Tampyre."