The Vampire and the Goth Ch. 11

"Hi. I'm Elizabeth Black. Nice to meet you."

Angus leaned over and kissed her hand.

"It's lovely to meet you," he smiled at her.

Angus stood up and looked at David with a scowl. "And I guess you're David."

"I guess I am," David said, with a smart-ass grin.

Dmitri put his instrument on the table and sat down.

"I met Angus in Glasgow when we left Denmark. Angus, Stosh is the vampire who saved my family in Danzig, and who lived with our pack in Copenhagen for a while."

Angus grinned at me.

"Oh, I've heard a lot about you! It's nice to meet the man behind the legend."

I chuckled uncomfortably, while David gave me a curious look.

"I didn't know you saved Dmitri's family," he said.

I gave him a half-smile. "I don't like talking about my life in Europe."

Dmitri started to ramble on about our adventure outside Gdansk, while David looked impressed. Listening to Dmitri's unnecessarily elaborate description of the night I met his family made me feel embarrassed, and Elizabeth squeezed my hand and leaned her head on my shoulder, aware of how uncomfortable I felt.

Suddenly, I felt uncomfortable for a different reason. I looked over Angus's shoulder and noticed a woman with light brown hair staring intently at me. I blinked, and she was gone before I could even get a clear look at her.

"Isn't that right, Stosh?" Dmitri said.

"Hmm?"

The table started laughing, and Elizabeth leaned up and kissed my cheek.

"Dmitri was just telling us what a tender-hearted vampire you are," she said, winking at me.

I smiled. "I don't know about that. I'm really nothing special at all."

David chuckled. "Aw, geez. Just listen to Mr. Humble over here," he said, leaning over and pretending to puke. Everyone else laughed.

Dmitri stood up. "Guys, I think they're closing down the market for the night. Anyone want to get something to eat?"

"Is there someplace we could get a drink?" Angus asked.

David laughed. "What a surprise. The Irishman wants a drink!"

"I'm Scots you twat!"

David rolled his eyes. "Oh, who gives a shit? Wait, excuse me... Who gives a wee shite, arse face?"

"Okay, guys knock it off. There's a lady here," Dmitri said. Meanwhile, Elizabeth was laughing her butt off.

"I'm pretty sure the lady doesn't mind," I said.

We started to walk towards our cars as Angus and David were still arguing about getting a drink. "You couldn't keep up with me if you tried, skirt boy."

Angus smiled at him. "We wear kilts because our dicks are too big for pants. And as far as keeping up with you, I could drink you under the table. Where's the nearest pub?"

David and Angus walked away to find a bar, while Elizabeth, Dmitri, and I walked to the car.

Elizabeth locked arms with Dmitri and took my hand. "I wouldn't mind having some Brazilian food again," she said, smiling.

"Ah, a lady after my own heart!" Dmitri said.

I smiled at Dmitri. "Suck up!"

Dmitri laughed, then his face froze as he began to walk slower. "Why is that woman staring at you?" he asked in a soft voice, tipping his head toward to the wrought iron fence surrounding the graveyard. "Don't make it obvious you're looking," he added.

I shifted my gaze to the direction he indicated. I saw the same woman who had been staring at me earlier.

"I don't know who she is, but I noticed her when we were sitting at the picnic table."

Elizabeth turned her head slightly, then gasped. "That's the same woman who was looking at you the other night at the bar!" she whispered in a strained voice.

Suddenly, the woman turned and began to run away.

I pushed Elizabeth at Dmitri. "Protect her!" I said, as I turned and ran after the woman.

The woman disappeared into the dark graveyard in a flat-out run. I lost sight of her, so I stopped for a moment, listening for the sound of her feet hitting the ground and crunching through vegetation so I could follow her. I began to sprint in the direction I thought she was running when I heard yelling and screaming.

"WHAT THE FUCK! WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK WAS THAT?" a man's voice yelled.

"I DON'T KNOW!"

"It looked like somebody running REAL FUCKING fast," a shaky voice said.

"Do you think it was a ghost?"

"I don't know, but I don't think it was human," said a woman's voice.

"Oh, shit you guys, let's just get out of here!"

"We've got to put out the fire first."

"I knew we should have just gone back to my apartment."

"Oh God, someone's coming!"

I rounded a corner and ran into a group of young people huddled around a small fire and a large bong that appeared to be upended. A large woman stood up, grabbed the bong, and poured the rest of its water on the fire.

"Evening, officer!" a skinny man said, trying desperately to look calm while sweating profusely.

"Relax, I'm not a cop," I said, looking around for the woman who had been watching me.

The group let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Did a woman come running by just now?"

The group looked at each other as the large woman folded her arms across her chest and tightened her jaw.

"Maybe. Were you following her?"

I realized suddenly that she thought I was chasing the woman to hurt her.

"Yeah, I was. She stole my wallet," The lie came easily and seemed to satisfy the rest of the group, but the woman didn't buy it.

"Did you call the cops?"

"No, it just happened," I said.

The woman still looked suspicious, but by this point, the rest of the people who were there seemed to be more interested in leaving than resolving the mystery. I sighed, realizing the woman was long gone and there wasn't much point in trying to follow her.

By the time I got back to the parking lot, Dmitri and Elizabeth were sitting on the hood of the car, waiting for me.

"Did you catch her?" Elizabeth asked.

"No. I ran into a bunch of kids smoking pot while she got away," I said, in a very annoyed tone as we got in the car.

Dmitri gave me a demented grin. "You have a stalker!"

"What?" I growled.

"Elizabeth said this woman was following you around a bar a couple of nights ago. And now she shows up here. So it sounds like you've got you're a stalker. You know, a Buffy wanna-be."

"Fuck," I said, realizing that he might very well be describing was going on.

"Wait, are you saying he's might be getting stalked by a slayer?" Elizabeth asked, her voice rising in anger.

"True slayers are rare," I said, immediately trying to comfort her.

"Yeah, and everybody knows vampires aren't real," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Werewolves, too," Dmitri chimed in, realizing too late that he had said almost the exact wrong thing.

"You're not helping, Dima."

We drove on in silence. Then, Elizabeth asked, "So if he is being stalked by a slayer, how much danger is he in?"

"I'm not in any danger," I responded.

Dmitri nodded. "He's right, Elizabeth. Vampires get stronger and smarter with age. Slayers are human, so they just get older and weaker."

Elizabeth smiled.

"I mean, unless she's a witch or something," Dmitri continued.

Elizabeth frowned, and I groaned, "Jesus, Dima. She's not a witch"

Elizabeth looked back at me.

"These days, most witches are just nature-loving hippies who like pretty rocks. Or else they play D&D. They usually don't have enough belief to have any power," I said, trying to make her feel better.

"Yeah. And even if she were an actual witch, our guy doesn't have to worry about her. The only ones who need to be scared of witches are new vampires."

Immediately, a shadow crossed Elizabeth's face.

"Don't worry, beautiful. Emily will be fine." I knew she would be worried about her friend.

Elizabeth pulled out her phone and started texting.

"She should know anyway."

Dmitri started to say something, but I caught his eyes in the rearview mirror and glared. Whatever might be going on with this mystery woman, Elizabeth needed to make sure her friend would be safe, and I wasn't going to let Dmitri say anything else stupid.

We went back to the Brazilian restaurant, which Elizabeth had dubbed "The Meat Palace". I watched Dmitri and Elizabeth eat with a smile, while Dmitri rambled on and on about werewolf life.

During a lull in the conversation, I asked about his friend, Angus.

"By the time you left for the States, I was getting bored of Denmark, so I decided to head west myself. I ended up with a friendly pack in Glasgow, and that's where I met Angus."

Dmitri told us that Angus was nearly his age, and the two became close friends quickly. In fact, it was Angus who arranged for him to come to a new pack here in America just before the start of the First World War.

"That's why he's here now. Angus' cousin just found her mate, so he's here for the mating ceremony."

Elizabeth smiled. "Is a mating ceremony anything like a wedding?"

"Pretty much. Except the lucky couple has sex in front of the whole pack to prove their devotion."

Elizabeth blushed, obviously shocked, and I laughed.

"Wolves are very open about sex. They pretty much have sex whenever and wherever they want," I said.

"Wow. So it's like an orgy all the time?"

"No, no, nothing like that," Dmitri said. "We're monogamous once we've found our mate. We don't swap partners or do gang bangs or anything."

"But until then, well, you guys are animals," I said, wriggling my eyebrows.

"Well, we do fuck a lot. It's a nice way to promote pack bonding," Dmitri laughed, and Elizabeth blushed again.

"You don't have to be embarrassed."

I squeezed Elizabeth's hand. "She's not embarrassed, Dima. Well, not like you think. Her sister is dating a werewolf."

"Oh, okay." Dmitri frowned. "That makes sense. I don't want to think about my sister having sex, either!"

After dinner, we drove Dmitri to his car and went back to my apartment. Elizabeth was quiet on the drive back home, obviously feeling sleepy. I remembered what her sister said about red meat making her drowsy.

"You know, it's okay to fall asleep," I said.

Elizabeth gave me a half-smile. "My sleep schedule has been kind of turned upside down lately."

"Gee, I wonder why that would be?" I said with a wink.

I led Elizabeth upstairs, took off her clothes, and put her in bed, tucking her in.

"Aren't you going to sleep with me?" Elizabeth asked.

I smiled at her. "I'm not sleepy yet. There's some time left 'til morning. I thought I would read out in the living room for a while."

Elizabeth looked up at me behind heavily lidded eyes.

"Okay. I love you," she said.

I kissed her forehead and noticed she was already starting to snore. I smiled and whispered, "I love you too."

Sunrise was still a couple of hours away, and I wasn't sleepy at all, so I went into the kitchen to warm up some blood and try to straighten out my thoughts. I was confused about what I was going to do with Elizabeth and her desire to become a vampire. I found I was increasingly uncomfortable imagining my life without her. But did that mean I should make her like me?

I walked into the living room and sat down just as I heard the door unlock and open.

David and Angus stumbled in, Angus drunk on booze and David drunk on Angus.

"Sshhh! We don't want to wake up your friend!" Angus said, in a loud whisper.

David giggled. "He's a vampire and it's still night. If he's here, he isn't sleeping."

Angus started giggling too. "Maybe he's fucking that sweet little human of his,"

"Maybe," David said, as he kissed Angus.

"Well, this is interesting," I thought. I sat completely still, not wanting to interrupt them and waiting to see what would happen next.

"She is pretty, isn't she?" David asked.

"If you like that sort of thing," Angus responded, suddenly belching loudly.

"Sshh! Shut the fuck up!" David laughed. "And what kind of thing do you mean? Humans?"

"No, hens," Angus laughed. Then he kissed David.

"Hey! I thought you guys only fucked sheep," David chuckled.

"Hens is our word for girls," he said, only in his thick Scottish accent it sounded like he said gulls.

"So you don't fuck chickens?" David asked.

Angus chuckled. "Naw, m'eudail, I don't fuck chickens. I don't mind the fish every now and then. But I prefer the taste of chocolate!" Angus said as he stumbled toward the living room.

I caught David's eye as they came in, and he smirked at me. I smiled back.

"Hey, let's go lie down someplace that's comfortable."

"Ach! I'm tired of walking, Davey."

"I'll blow you again," David said.

"Yeah, and you'll drink my blood, too," Angus chuckled.

"Hey, no one gets a free ride..."

I smiled as David and Angus stumbled back to the guest room, realizing that David had finally found someone he couldn't sire into a vampire.

I just hoped he didn't drink all of his blood.