Sylvie

Chapter 9 – “Apartments are Complex”

Following the distinct scent of human blood ahead of her, Sylvie let her senses guide her through the winding trail about a half mile long towards an apartment complex she knew well. Coming to a stop on a tall orange clay hill that overlooked the apartments, Sylvie held up her hand. “This is the place.” Built in the sixties and seventies, the layout wasn’t anything special and the seven buildings were shoved in the space without regard to the land surrounding it. Along the right side of the lot, two structures were constructed so that they almost formed a makeshift wall. A third and fourth were built parallel to the main road, complete with a concrete entryway now covered in grime and ivy that held the name ‘Branders Bridge Apartments’ etched into the stone almost like an epitaph. Finally, along the left side of the property the last three structures had been constructed almost like a small set of bleachers that jutted out from the woods without any forethought of real design.

“This place used to be a decent area to live in.” Sylvie turned and faced her progeny, her eyes appearing like full blood-moons. “Ever since the crack epidemic from the eighties, this place has become the one spot in Colonial Heights that is as foul as that water in the pool over there.” She pointed to a couple of guys leaning against vandalized brick walls, “I am sure you know lookouts when you see them.”

Casey winked, “I do.” She smiled, “Sylvie, why are you taking the time to explain yourself?” Casey noticed the run-down kid’s park that had been stripped of all good metal and the only thing left was a rusted merry-go-round. “I have no moral quandary with who we feed from, or even possibly kill.” Extending her claws Casey rubbed Sylvie’s shoulders slowly.

“What are you do..” Sylvie started to ask as Casey started to bop her head and begin dancing while circling her. “..Oh, here we go.” Sylvie snickered.

Without caring how the pop beat started in her head, Casey giggled and let a few lines of the song Thriller by Michael Jackson escape her lips as she imitated the pop legends dance moves.

“..It's close to midnight,
And something evil's lurking in the dark,
Under the moonlight,
You see a sight that almost stops your heart,
You try to scream,
But terror takes the sound before you make it,
You start to freeze,
As horror looks you right between the eyes,
You're paralyzed,
'Cause this is thriller, thriller night,
And no one's gonna save you from the beast about to strike,
You know it's thriller, thriller night,
You're fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight, yeah..”

Feeling herself get pushed forward, Sylvie couldn’t help but laugh even in the throes of her blood haze. “What the heck did I do to you?” Lightly crouching so that she could leap from the clay hill and onto the closest set of apartments, Sylvie added, “The only vampire I know that is about to turn a blood bath into a concert.” Giving Casey a quick kiss on her cheek, Sylvie took a couple of steps and launched herself into the air. Gliding through the air effortlessly, Sylvie had her claws extended by the time she’d reached the tall brick building. Scaling the wall, Sylvie made her way to the rooftop and took a second to see Casey make a final dancing spin then dash off using the shadows for cover. Content that her progeny would be able to take care of herself, Sylvie crawled to the edge of the shingled roof and peered down to see three guys playing dice for money. “Quandary?” Sylvie barely whispered to Casey. “How very academic of you to say.” She laughed, “Why that word?”

After tying up her copper-red hair, Casey leapt onto one of the brick walls and carefully crawled across until she was hovering over the lookout like a black widow ready to pounce on its food. “That’s what you are concerned about? I am about to drop on this dude like a hammer without any remorse and you are thinking about the word quandary.” Excitement rushed through Casey’s body and heated her blood with the anticipation of her hunt. Wanting to try more than just a simple puncture and kill, Casey stretched herself from the wall, using her feet to hold her nearly horizontal as she clamped her hand around the tall man’s mouth and dragged him kicking. Blowing a soft breath of hot air across the man’s face, Casey whispered, “There we go, no fear right? I’m your friend, remember?” When the guard stopped struggling and shook his head, Casey pulled him tightly into her body and crawled to the roof. “A friend that requires a little sacrifice from you.” Almost as though the tough guy was asleep, he laid limply against Casey and nodded at every suggestion she gave. Locking her fangs into place, Casey took a deep breath and relished the scent of the man’s blood just below the surface of his skin. Swifty tearing through the thin membrane, Casey hit the jugular vein as though it was born to her.

Sylvie had been ready to jump into the pack of three when she heard Casey feeding. “Casey, keep the count in your head if you don’t want to kill him. I know it will be tough since you are only a few hours old.” Convinced that her progeny heard the simple command, Sylvie waited for the small pack of three guys to once more pick up their dice before silently dropping in the middle of the group. A few curses of surprise came from the men as they stumbled back a few steps. Taking advantage of their hesitation, Sylvie grabbed one guy by his neck, then blew her iron-heavy breath across the noses of the other two, sending them into a drunken stupor. “You aren’t worried about the money on the ground. You both know it will be there later, right?” Sylvie calmly stated as the two enthralled men shook their heads. “Good. Let’s go around the corner and you protect me while your friend and I have a small discussion.” Dragging the one guy by the throat, Sylvie darted out of the light and into the shadows. Ordering the others to stand guard and not watch, the elder vampire swiftly brought her kicking captive’s neck to her mouth and began feeding. Raging through the four holes like a river, blood poured into Sylvie’s mouth and down her parched throat. Unlike normal, the precious fluid didn’t immediately offer relief and instead was absorbed into her very being much like water seeping into sand. Familiar with the way her frenzy worked, Sylvie kept pulling blood from the first man until his body turned to dust and floated away in the light breeze. “Casey…” Sylvie stopped and licked her lips, “...I don’t know what your blood frenzy will be like, but be aware that if you are in one..” Sylvie pulled the second man to her lips, “..You will not feel sedated after your first.”

Watching as her lookout turned to dust in the wind, Casey half snickered. “Sylvie, the counting didn’t work either. Then again, I wasn’t sure I wanted the dude to survive.” Casey heard Sylvie gulping as though she’d not fed in a few days. “I..I’m fine. Do you need me there? Maybe my blood will help?”

Reducing the second gambler to dust, Sylvie licked her fingers and grabbed the final guy. “No, that’s alright Casey.” Sylvie stopped feeding to explain herself further, “I am sure your blood would be more than nourishing for me, so that isn’t the issue.”

“I liked being fed from, if you recall.” Casey lightly giggled as she recalled the feeling. “If my blood is stronger, why not?”

Quickly taking down the last man in her clutches, Sylvie licked her lips free of his blood once his body turned to ash. “Unlike your former employer who ate anything she wanted to, I have always thought that vampire blood could be addictive.” Walking out of the shadows, Sylvie picked up the cash on the sidewalk which amounted to about fifteen-hundred dollars. “It’s just a theory of my own. I mean it’s one thing to use it while in heated passion, because that isn’t feeding. That is used for bonding.”

“I get it.” Casey whispered as she pounced on the second lookout who was half asleep. Dragging the man to the roof like the other, this man managed to pull his pistol from his waist and fire a shot backwards. Moving faster than the guy’s trigger finger, Casey twisted away from the muzzle of the pistol and grabbed the man’s wrist, shattering it instantly. “Tisk. Tisk. Bad boys with guns.” Casey watched as the gun skittered off the roof and landed in the grass. “Poor boy, this will be over soon enough. Count to twenty.” Casey bit into the guy's neck and relished the blood as it cooled her throat and empowered her body a little more than it was prior to the moment. Moments later, Casey watched the little dust-like bits of her last meal go floating off into the distance. “Oh, I feel sort of sloshy.” Casey laid back on the rooftop and held her stomach. “I guess I am a wimp.” She giggled, “I only took down a couple guys and here I am ready to pretend to sleep.” Lifting up her head, Casey spotted Sylvie moving to the front apartment rooftop, “Still in a haze?”

“No, just hungry. The easy picks are gone. Now we have to wait it out.” Sylvie hunched down and sighed.

Getting Sylvie’s attention, Casey pointed to an older-looking sports car with two guys sitting in it doing almost nothing. “Wait for what? That’s a couple of dealers in that car.” Casey laughed, “They are stoned out of their minds, I mean the car looks full of smoke.” Casey shook her head, “Look at it this way you could be a little stoned as well thanks to their blood. Makes it easier to deal with Alan when we go back.”

“That’s true.” Sylvie snorted and agreed with her progeny. “You want one? We can both go back high as kites.”

“Assuming it’s just pot they have.” Casey laughed and leapt from the roof, and landed where the pistol hit the ground. Taking the time to crush the gun into uselessness, Casey tossed the fragments into the woods and walked around the parking lot until she saw the car. Taking a second to smell the air and focus on the two men, Casey nodded. “It’s just weed, thankfully.”

“So are you joining in or am I going to be alone in this?” Sylvie asked as she silently approached the car.

Casey was just about to answer when she noticed an elderly woman walking up to her with what looked like a tray of cupcakes. “Sylvie, can you hold off a few seconds? Can you see what’s happening here?”

“I see her, are those cupcakes?” Sylvie inquired and backed into the shadows so that the two men in the car couldn’t spot her.

Walking to meet the woman in the center of the lot, Casey bowed. “Hi there.”

Swishing her long gray hair behind her, the old woman showed various marks on her neck that were clearly old wounds from vampire bites. “Hello yourself. It’s been a while since I have seen beautiful fangs such as yours.” The woman handed Casey the tray, “Cupcakes with a special enriched jam I created myself.” She winked. “I served a couple years ago when this place used to be nice to live in. They moved on.” The elderly woman shrugged. “I thought you might enjoy something tasty and a little information about a certain abuser in apartment B-8.”

“A blood bunny?” Casey inquired and looked over to Sylvie. “I didn’t know they existed beyond the few I’d met.” Casey took the cakes and plucked one from the tray, “Thanks.” Casey bit into the soft and rich cake and immediately tasted the blood that was infused in the jam. “Inventive and quite delicious.”

“Is that what they call us these days?” The old woman raised one of her eyebrows and smiled, “I like it. Blood Bunnies.” She paused and tapped a cake, “My blood, dear. You can do all kinds of wonderful things with it.” She winked. “Now then, the father in that apartment tends to abuse the wife and son all the time, more so when he’s come home drunk.”

Finishing off the one cupcake, Casey waited until the enriching jam cleared her throat before she spoke again. “Unreal.” She started walking the old woman back to her apartment. “I am curious as to how you knew that I would go after that abusive guy?”

Reaching up to pat Casey on the shoulder, the elder smiled and winked. “I was around a fine set of vampires, and after a bit, you kinda knew which ones hadn't given up their humanity.” She shrugged and gave Casey a kiss on the cheek. “Most of your kind keep the veil in place, mainly because it’s survival. Others do it because it keeps the peace.” The lady walked inside her apartment and set the cupcakes on the kitchen table. “You just seemed to me, to be the kind that had some moral compass to work from. Like I don’t see you feeding from a mother and her children.”

Casey shook her head, “That’s not me.” She huffed, “I am new, tonight as a matter of fact. So I guess I am still forming what and who I will be.”

Silently gliding up to the back door where Casey and the woman were chatting, Sylvie wrapped her arms around Casey for support. “Don’t worry, she’s in good hands with me.” Sylvie pointed to the door leading to the basement. “Do you happen to have that sectioned off as a dark room?”

First handing Sylvie a cupcake, the brown-eyed elder took the time to sit down with a relieved sigh. “Yes, I darkened it years ago. I didn’t know if a vampire would need it or not.” She shrugged. “I guess I am still looking out for my Masters and Mistresses after all this time.”

Taking the time to eat and finish the cupcake, Sylvie felt the blood jam settle her mind and clear her focus. “Amazing.” She looked at Casey. “My eyes?”

“Totally beautiful full white moons, I have my Sylvie back.” Casey leaned over and kissed her girlfriend on the cheek.

Kneeling in front of the old woman, Sylvie smiled and patted her on the knee. “I will add your place to the lightout bunkers. We’ll call this one Cupcake Retreat, how’d that be?”

“Oh my.” The lady fidgeted for a few seconds, “To sit down and talk again with other vampires like before?” She rocked excitedly in her chair, “Yes, Yes. Please. It gets so lonely around here, and I would like to relive some of the old glory times.” She reached out to grasp Sylvie’s hand. “Will you sponsor me? So I am safe?”

“Of course.” Sylvie reassured the kind woman and walked to the door for her basement. “I am going to make my mark here, and that should let others know.” Extending one claw, Sylvie carefully carved the look of her third eye into the door and completed it with a full moon on the right and a sun on the left. “Moon is my eyes, Sun is Casey’s eyes. We both sponsor you.” Sylvie winked. “I am Sylvie Miakoda and she is Casey Rivers. Who do I have the honor of knowing?”

“Vera Carver, at your service.” She bowed to both vampires. “My blood is thinner than it used to be, or I would offer like in the old days.” Vera pointed to the cupcakes, “I am a pretty good baker and derived the jam a few years ago. So, if you could pass on that I make food with my blood, it should resolve any issues.”

Stretching as she stood up, Sylvie nodded gently to Vera. “I will pass it along. There is always a risk though, which I am sure you are well aware of.”

“I am, Mistress.” Vera gently offered and looked at the clock. “The jerk usually gets home about this time. Don’t forget B-8.” Vera raised one eyebrow, “If you were also inclined, there is a drug house across the lot from them. You can’t miss it, the police ignore it and take the kickback.”

Casey laughed, “It seems like we are quickly becoming vigilantes, Sylvie.”

“We can easily handle this, Casey.” Sylvie sighed, “The good part is that no one will come looking at what happened.”

Politely excusing themselves, Sylvie and Casey exited Vera’s apartment and darted through the shadows until they were within a few feet of the two stoned guys in the car that protected the lab apartment. “I think we start here, get in quietly and take down the whole thing before any alarms get tripped.” Sylvie then pointed to apartment B-8. “Then we handle that guy, and give her the money we find in this cesspit.”

Casey slid her arms around Sylvie’s waist, “Sounds like a good plan.” Casey whispered into Sylvie’s ear. “How do you plan to stop the alarms?”

When the word alarms resonated within Sylvie’s mind, the world around her seemed to get smaller and she couldn’t help but lean back into Casey’s arms.

—

An orange light explosion erupted from the back door that the two stoned men were guarding, enveloping them in a long gout of flame. When the orange-red ball of destruction sucked back into the building, it blew out the windows and doors along the entire apartment building. Rattling the rest of the complex, the cheap brick that they’d used tumbled and fell inward sending all the apartments onto the ground.

Screams of help and pain preceded Sylvie seeing many people dragging themselves out of the burning wreckage, sometimes missing a limb. A few others collapsed in the powder of their own drugs and died on the spot.

-Since we weren’t blown out along with everyone else, this is a quick warning against doing a direct attack.-

Quickly looking around for her confirmation that this was a true tangent, Sylvie spotted the eclipse coming from the embrace that the couple was currently in.

-Nothing like having your own sunshine.-

Letting the rest of the scene play out, Sylvie witnessed that the police arrived first and with the proper gear to breathe while in the burning building. Uncaring about the dealers bleeding out on the ground, the corrupt officers grabbed the cash they could from all the basements until the fire department arrived.

-And we still didn’t stop the abusive father.-

When the paramedics arrived and started to pull out people who had gotten sick from the dust in the air, they quickly taped off the entire area saying the entire apartment complex was inhabitable.

-We need a better plan.-

—

“I felt that, Sylvie.” Casey commented happily. “You just had a vision.”

Nodding her head in affirmation, Sylvie turned to face Casey with a smile on her face. “We can’t just go in there and take over. Something in the main drug building will cause it to explode, sending whatever is in those apartments all over the complex itself. I do believe we will need a bit of stealth to pull this off.” She winked at Casey. “I have to teach you how to use your gas form, we can blend in pretty easily that way.” She wiggled one finger, “Just be aware that it uses a ton of blood, so you might end up going into a blood haze.”

“Okay.” Casey laughed and pointed to the abuser's apartment, “Want to take care of them first?” Casey turned to go back into Vera’s apartment only to find the old blood bunny standing right beside her. “Vera, would you mind taking care of the mother and child? You would get a second chance to have a small family.”

Handing both the vampires another cupcake, Ver smiled. “It would be my pleasure, Mistresses. The only thing I would need is a bit of support. I have a minimal and fixed income, that is why I am still in this place.”

Tapping on her ruby red lips for a few seconds, Sylvie spoke up. “When we go to remove that drug den, how about we get you the proceeds that they’ve collected?” She paused, “It should also help the woman get her life on track so maybe all three of you can get out of this place.”

Clapping with excitement, Vera nodded. “I love this plan.” She paused, “Yes, I will do it.”

Sylvie assisted Vera back into her apartment, “Hunker down just in case, since I have no idea how this is going to turn out.” She kissed the elder woman on the cheek, “You have been a wonderful help.” Waiting until she watched Vera disappear down into her basement, Sylvie spun on her heels and faced Casey. “Now then.” Clamping her hand with Casey’s, Sylvie walked around to the front of the buildings and headed for apartment B-8. “I promised you that I would teach you gaseous form.” Stopping in a shadow, Sylvie smiled. “You probably already know that blood is everything, right?”

Casey shook her head with a smile on her face. “I figured that out fairly quickly with Faye.”

“Good.” Sylvie pulled Casey into her arms and leaned against the brick wall. “It empowers all that we have. Some of our abilities use almost none, others use a great deal.” Sylvie paused, “Gas form is one of those heavy drains.” She paused, “While you are young, use it sparingly, unless you have a ready supply of blood handy.”

“Okay.” Casey cooed as she relished the closeness of Sylvie pressed against her. “Please take as long as you want to explain it.” She giggled.

A heavenly chill went down Sylvie’s spine and she almost forgot what she was saying. “I-I-um, gas f-form.” Once she regained her composure, Sylvie gave Casey a quick kiss. “It’s easy. I think of myself as a cloud or a mist coming from water and I just change.”

“Oh, I like that.” Casey exclaimed. Summoning her blood to do her bidding, Casey thought about a light mist on a pond and felt herself change into a thin fog. Initially surprised at the ease in which she converted herself, she recalled watching Faye struggle with it on the yacht even with Vivienne coaching her.

“Don’t hesitate, Casey. You seem lost in thought. Quickly before you run out of blood.” Sylvie carefully coaxed.

Reminded of her duty, Casey pushed the fond memory away and glided through the bottom of the door just in time to witness the abuse that was taking place. First, the little boy had been beaten to a pulp with visible bruising around his eyes and cheeks along with a thin dribble of blood coming from his young lip. Noticing that the little boy hadn’t moved, Casey surmised that the boy was pretending to be knocked out or truly was as to not bring more ire from his father. Second was the ongoing battle with the young wife and the father. Unlike the boy on the floor, The mother was fighting back with all she had. When the man swung she jabbed back in any space that she could connect with. Her condition wasn’t much better than that of her son, with red welts and bruising all over her visible body. A gash from some sharp object had split the skin over one of her eyebrows and drained blood over her eyes.

“Bitch! You can’t even make a fuck’n cheeseburger.” The man stopped the beating for a couple seconds. “Maybe if you had a closer look at the pan you could figure out how to make food.” He jumped off the sofa where he had his wife pinned and grabbed the frying pan that was on the floor. “Now then, let’s see if you can learn.”

Taking on her normal form, Casey appeared in front of the angry man and absorbed the hit from the frying pan causing the weak aluminum to radiate a little hollow chime as it connected with Casey’s face.

In contrast, the moment that Casey had the man's unbridled attention, Sylive appeared from under the door and opened it. A slight movement from the boy on the floor caught Sylvie’s attention and she winked once, then put her finger over her lips.

-Nice to know he’s okay. Smart kid.-

Quickly gathering the two beaten bodies, Sylvie easily hoisted the two in her arms and escaped through the door. “It’s better that you two don’t witness what is about to happen.” Sylvie trailed off for a moment, “You know the kind older lady in apartment A-10?”

The little boy smiled through his swollen lips, “Mmhm, Vera. She makes the best chocolate chip cookies.”

“Good, because you and your mother will be staying with her for a while.” Sylvie offered and reached the front door of Vera’s apartment. Working to place both of the people on Vera’s sofas without causing any extra pain, Sylvie bundled the mother in a light blanket. “I can’t see that he broke anything, but you sound like you are having issues breathing. Let me get a friend over who’s a doctor who owes me a couple favors. Lifting her cell phone from her back pocket Sylvie hit the speed dial.

Moving so she could be in a comfortable position, The mother held up her hand. “Ww-we have tried to hide here before, Wayne found us in a few hours and dragged us both back.” She said half-sobbing.

“Amos. It's Sylvie. Can you hurry along to Branders Bridge Apartments, A-10?” Sylvie basically begged.

Chuckling on the phone, “Trying to have dinner out there are you?”

“Come on, I have two hurt people here that this lovely ex-blood bunny Vera is going to care for.” Sylvie shamelessly offered. “I knew you used to be a doctor way back.”

“Yeah, a spirit-doctor for the tribe, sheesh.” Amos sighed, “Luckily for you I did train as a real doctor for the two world wars. I will be there soon.” Amos disconnected the call.

With the immediate danger cleared up, Sylvie listened for what was still going on from the apartment and was comforted when she knew Casey still had things well under control.

Waiting for her partner to get the victims clear of the abuser, Casey let the man swing a few more times which had the same effect as before. None. “Now that your kid can’t see this, you have about a minute to live and think about your miserable life.” Without thinking about it, Casey clutched the evil man by his neck and squeezed until he started choking. Desperately the man kicked and scraped his dirty fingernails across Casey's glowing skin to no avail. Casey held off until she saw the man’s lips turn blue, then eased up for a few seconds. “That was about thirty seconds.” She paused, having heard the name Wayne from where his wife was trying to survive. Smiling and bringing Wayne close to her face, Casey dropped her four fangs in place. “Wayne, no one will miss you. I would savor this for hours, but I have something better to do than just watch the fear in your eyes,” Flicking her wrist so that Wayne’s neck was exposed, Casey planted her lips firmly over his rapid pulsing and injected her fangs long enough for the blood flow.

Hungry beyond belief, Casey didn’t let the normal flow of Wayne's blood to pulse out evenly but rather sucked it out faster than she knew was possible. By the count of fifteen, her meal had turned to dust without another word.

Licking her lips and scanning for anything that could link the twin vampires to the situation, Casey nodded happily when she realized it was only the family’s blood and such that had been left behind. “Sylvie, I am on my way back, I closed and locked the door to the apartment.” She paused, “You weren’t kidding, I still feel a little hungry from using gas form.”

Unwilling to be spotted from sitting on the roof and spying on the drug dealers, Casey instead went back to Vera’s apartment and settled down in front of Sylvie, backing into her arms and pulling them around her waist. “I like this.” Casey leaned her head back on Sylvie’s shoulder. “Mmm, Now for plan two. Upon the request of our lovely hostess, we are taking down a drug den.”

Vera beamed, “It would go a long way to making this place better.”

Sylvie spoke up, “Yeah, going in blind will make things worse and nothing would survive. So something stealthy would be great.”

Casey hopped up and down excitedly. “I had the very same idea.” She pointed a long red fingernail at Sylvie, “It means you explain animal form.”

Casually taking Casey’s hand into her own, Sylvie walked down into the lightout shelter. She pulled her progeny into a hug and then gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Many find this part difficult to master.” Sylvie pursed her lips. “You’ve done so wonderful, I don’t want you to set back too early.”

Upon seeing the look on her girlfriend's face, combined with the somber way she’d spoken, Casey winked and smiled. “I will explain my plan and see if it resonates with you.” She winked while pulling Sylvie over to the small bed. “I want to use a black widow spider as my animal form.” Casey wiggled her eyebrows. “I’ve had fun all night stretching and twisting myself like a contortionist, so let’s make it permanent.”

“Your animal form isn’t permanent.” Sylvie chuckled. “I just think vampires get into a habit and then use what they like the best, using less blood that way.” Watching Casey as she trailed her fingers across the light blanket as though she were an actual spider, Sylvie rolled her eyes and let out a light sigh. “Alright, just like everything else that our bodies use, blood is the important part.” Sylvie leaned forward and noticed that the sun-glowing orbs had no visible red in a ring. “Well you aren’t hungry, so that is a positive.” A quick kiss to Casey’s cheek, and Sylvie crawled deeper onto the bed, “It’s best to think of your blood levels as values. It doesn’t matter what value you give it, so long as you understand what you have left to spend.” Opening her hand, Sylvie acted like she was playing with an invisible spider. “My general rule has been, think of how much you need to shift and double it.” Sylvie laughed, “I can’t tell you the amount of times I have seen a youngling not use enough blood and they look half-man, half-crab.”

“I have one more question.” Casey crawled on the bed beside Sylvie, “Can we change the very nature of our blood to match the form we take?” Sensing that the question wasn’t fully explained in a way that Sylvie could answer, Casey adjusted. “Can I use my blood to make venom for my black widow spider look? Make it so poisonous that it will kill them in a matter of seconds to minutes.”

A light went off in Sylvie’s head, “I get it now.” She laughed, “I’ve heard about blood-crafters, but I have yet to meet one. There are rumors that a small troupe of them lived close by and made all kinds of blood-infused magical items.” She shrugged, “Kody does it, so maybe it takes some study to do it.” Meeting her moon eyes to Casey’s sunbright ones, She raised her eyebrow. “We are on a time limit. Give it a try and let’s see if you can do this easy enough.”

Unwilling to use Sylvie’s hand as a constant focus, Casey split off her normal mind with that of her supernatural one, where anything was possible. Allowing the blood to flow freely through her limbs and combining that with the image of a tiny bulbous shiny black spider with the super red hourglass hallmark, Casey felt herself shrink down to the sizes that she’d remembered while getting them out of the family lakehouse. Transformation complete, Casey blinked her goldy spider eyes up at Sylvie with a sun sparkle radiating from them.

“I swear you were born to be a vampire, Casey.” Sylvie cooed with delight. “Not even one day and you have the basics without any issue.” Watching as the tiny spider walked into her palm, Sylvie continued. “Now you can go in there and test your blood to poison theory. Want to make your own way or want me to place you at the front door? Tap once on your own, twice for the door.” Two little taps from Casey’s black spider legs provided the answer.

Casey leapt from Sylvie’s palm and skittered to the edge of the door frame, luckily finding a broken part of the door itself, then crawled under and into the living room. Much like the rest of the apartment complex, this abode was structured with the main room in front, an adjoining kitchen and a basement just like Vera’s apartment. Unlike other apartments, this one had been redesigned so it was a functional drug den. Odd chemical scents filled the air as the workers in the kitchen manufactured LSD, Meth, and even cooked crack cocaine beside the other more common drugs like marijuana. Successful results of the drug creations were all over the apartment in the form of people being high and well as passed out from euphoria.

Beginning her in-depth purge of the apartment, Casey quickly crawled over one of the armed guards and found a spot on his arm. Using all four of her fangs to her advantage, Casey punctured and separated the four holes for use. Two injected her vile blood-venom and two allowed her to drink the man’s blood from the open wound.

“Oww!!! Fuck!” One armed guard stood up and started trying to pluck the vampire spider from his arm in a panic. “Get this thing off…” Was the last thing the dealer said before he passed out on the floor due to convolutions from Casey’s poison. Strangling on his own poison-laden spit and vomit that erupted from his mouth, the man let out a final gasp before passing into unconsciousness.

Three other gang members jumped from where they had been carelessly sprawled out and began screaming and stomping at the floor, trying in vain to squash the little monstrous black widow. Each time one member would stomp, Casey easily bounced and found an open space to dig her fangs in.

Within the initial ten minutes of entering the abode, Casey had neutralized the dealers and gang members laying in a poisoned mess throughout. Quickly changing back to her human-vampire form, Casey looked around the place and found the hidden booby traps and trip wires that would have detonated the rooms much like Sylvie had seen. “You are the best, Sylvie. Everyone to my knowledge is dead, so let's dismantle this place.”

-This reminds me of the song Toy Soldiers.-

Casey thought to herself and waited for her girlfriend to arrive. “I am pretty sure that there are a few more downstairs, but I don’t think they are anything but bean counters.” Casey chuckled and embraced Sylvie as she entered.

“Let me do that, Sweetness.” Sylvie winked and pointed to the rest of the apartment. “Let’s set off the traps after the money's gone and such. No sense leaving this place so it can re-open, just like we planned.”

Making her way silently down the steps, Sylvie stayed in the natural shadow of the basement to observe what was going on. All the space in the basement had been taken up with personal-size desks with mechanical money counters and older women who counted and sealed stacks of one hundred dollars equaling ten thousand in every bundle. “Impressive.” Sylvie whispered as she scanned the room. She noticed that the slight whisper from the shadow alerted a couple guards that had been watching the workers. Sylvie watched silently as the two turned on a couple flashlights to illuminate the dark.

Hearing the subtle clicks, Sylvie sprang to the ceiling and crawled along like she’d done many times and dropped down on the armed guard. One fluid move later, the elder vampire had the man’s mouth covered and plunged her fangs into his neck then drawing blood until he turned to dust. Sprinting over before the second guard could pull the trigger on his gun, Sylvie broke the man’s hand and drained him as well.

Scanning the room, Sylvie called for Casey to come down with something to carry the cash in. Noticing that the women that were chained to their seats and had started whimpering and shaking seeing a real vampire for the first time, Sylvie made a quick decision. “Casey, Let’s enthrall them all and then set them free with whatever they can carry.”

Shortly after Sylvie and Casey had the slave-workers free and running quietly out of the front door to whatever lives they could scratch out given the ton of money they carried with them. “That’s settled.” Sylvie happily proclaimed. “We make a great team, Casey.” Sylvie blew a lighthearted kiss to Casey as she filled the bags that Casey had found.

“We do.” Casey laughed and returned the kiss. “I’ll burn the place after you are out, if that’s alright with you?”

Sylvie lost count of the bundles that she’d collected then decided to go out and back to Vera’s apartment. “Fine with me, my Sunlight. I’ll meet you at Vera’s.”

Minutes later the couple appeared back at the elder woman’s apartment to find Amos working diligently on the young mother. “What the hell did she get into Sylvie?” Amos looked up partly worried for his patient. “It is everything I can do to keep her alive. Whatever did this crushed part of this woman’s skull.” Amos pointed at the woman’s eye socket. “I don’t have the tools to repair that, even if I truly knew how.”

Sylvie sprinted downstairs and deposited the bags of cash on the floor and then reappeared for Amos. “That was from her husband. I swore I told you that.”

With a half-grin on his face, Amos shook his head and continued. “No dearie, you just said she was hurt. Very cryptic as usual.” Amos cleared his throat. “I am personally left with one choice, or we take her to a hospital.”

Casey spoke up as she came out of the basement. “The boy needs his mother. I am assuming you mean to turn her into a vampire, right Amos?”

Amos nodded his head, “She’s not my friend, Sylvie. The decision is honestly yours and somewhat hers. You devised this plan, so there’s that much. Becoming a vampire isn’t necessarily a chosen path. If you want to save her, either Casey or I will have to do it.”

Vera spoke up, “Her son is upstairs and crying, I can take care of him for whatever time it takes to acclimate her to being a vampire, If that helps any.” Vera paused, “When I was in service to the others, they always asked us first since we’d been loyal blood donors.” Vera opened some of her new roommate’s belongings and managed to find her driver’s license. “Ah, here we go. Samantha Walker.” Vera smiled, “At least we have a name with a face now.” Vera saw the odd look on Sylvie’s face, “Amos dear. He went to the apartment and got her things.”

Sylvie sighed and walked over to Samantha and touched her forehead hoping that she’d get some sort of vision to help her with the decision. Concentrating on her third eye, Sylvie tried to bring forth the ability using blood and it failed like it always did. Sighing as though she’d been defeated, Sylvie shook her head slowly. “The boy needs his mother.” She paused, “Vera, while you are an amazing lady, you are elderly. The boy could end up in alternate care if Samantha dies.”

With her sunlight-filled eyes, Casey looked lovingly at her moon-goddess. “If it matters any, I say just do it. Make her a vampire or all that we did tonight for them is in vain. Seems like a no-brainer to me, she took all that abuse to save her son, not to leave him alone in the world.”

Sylvie walked over to Casey and cupped her girlfriend's cheeks, and delicately kissed her on the lips. “Consent is a big thing in my mind, Casey.” She kissed Casey again, “Time is a factor and she is unable to decide. I also see no other way.” Clutching Casey to her, Sylvie looked back at her former master. “Amos, Samantha deserves something for saving her son. I’m not fond of the way, but I’m on board.”

“I will teach her what I can and release her. I won’t keep her as a puppet for long.” Amos grinned as his fangs locked into place with a soft click. “Does this mean you will get the notebook from that newswoman for me, Luna?”

Sylvie took Casey’s hand and started for the door. “Amos you have a deal. I’ll get it back since you are doing this and you seem to really love Livia.” Sylvie flashed her half-moon eyes to her maker, “Don’t call me Luna. Please.” She shrugged, “You have at least earned the right to use my real name again.” Sylvie looked back at Casey and stood motionless for a few seconds, lost in her partner's bright buttery eyes. “Looks like we have a long night, Miss Rivers. We should get a move on, if we plan to finish this.”

Casey purred for a few seconds and then nodded, “Where you go, Moon-doll, I will follow.”