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The Healing Souls
A Late Night
A Late Night2433words
Update Time2024-11-01 09:40:35
[Victor]It had been two weeks since we hosted the dinner for Grayson and I was ready for him to go to work. Not that I didn’t enjoy hearing Echo tell me about all the things they did while I slept, but… actually that. I found myself a little jealous at all the time he had with her while I was trapped in my rest. Of course, it was less time than they’d had in the summers, but there was little time for me to have Echo to myself while he got her for most of the day. It would take a while for us to truly get used to sharing her time and attention. I’d put Echo and Grayson to bed, our nightly ritual, around midnight. It was about three in the morning and I was wrapping up my work for the night. After five months of hard work, the territory was finally in order. All of the vampires who had sworn loyalty to Queen Bellamy’s collective were now members of my brood after we convinced them the curse on the territory had finally been lifted. I even managed to make a trip to Washington to deal with the vampires in a town that was well-known as a tourist destination for fans of a certain series of vampire novels. I helped them work out an agreement with the local wolf pack there to provide a couple of omegas to work in their little vampire/wolf show for pay. Previously, they had abducted werewolves and tried to force them into the shows. It had not ended well almost seventy percent of the time. Now that the northwest was truly settled, I would be able to enjoy my life more. There was less for me to do and my supports would bring anything that needed me to my attention. Everything was perfectly on track for Echo and me to leave for Europe in November. I couldn’t wait to show her my old territory, all of the sights of the world that she had missed, and present her to the vampire world as my Solus Amor and Marius’ daughter. She had the backing of the whole Vampire High Council, plus I had made a name for myself when I hunted down the vampire who stole from me then killed him and every other vampire who had fed on my sweet Echo. I was considered even more of a monster for turning Daniel Darknight, the vampire who killed Echo’s real parents, over to Master Marius for two thousand years of torture. I smiled at the thought. Marius gave me updates on what was being done to Darknight every week. Though I didn’t pass it along to Echo, she was fully aware that the man was suffering for what he’d done to her family. None of the triplets was anything less than pleased about the torment he faced. My phone began ringing and I looked at the caller ID. Dennis Lyons? He was a dhampyr-born vampire who Echo saw as an uncle and I saw as an unofficial third support. I held him in high esteem not only for his abilities as a warrior but his abilities as a businessman. “Dennis? How can I help you this evening?” I asked as I picked up the phone. “Master Nightshade,” he said softly. His voice was rough and sounded shaken. I immediately went on high alert. Dennis was not one to be overly dramatic. “What happened?” “I… I need a clean-up crew at the Flying Star gas station. A werewolf and a human are torn to pieces here….” That was the gas station Billie worked at. I remembered Echo telling me all about how Dennis had met her. She was in love with the idea of him having a second chance. A human? “Dennis, where’s Billie? Did the wolf hurt her?” “She’s… she’s resting. He shot her. I had to turn her to save her life. She agreed. I asked her and she agreed. What if she didn’t really hear me? What if she comes back to her mind and hates me for what I’ve done to her?” he rambled. “Dennis! Get ahold of yourself! No human wants to die. Billie loves you. I know she chose to stay with you. I need to let you go. Stay there with her until I arrive with the clean-up crew. Is there anything else I need to be aware of?” I asked. “There are two police officers here. One is a member of the collective, a jaguar, and the other is a free witch who hasn’t joined the collective but is considering it. The ambulance arrived too late and they turned it away. They had me call you to see about cleaning the mess.” He was listening to the orders of a shapeshifter and a witch, which must mean he shut down after he changed her. To my knowledge, he didn’t have any vampire children. He probably never thought he would do this and to the woman he loved, no less. If she had wanted to be changed, he would probably have asked someone else to change and train her. This was upsetting in a number of ways. Echo really liked her and wanted to be friends with her. They had been to lunch together twice since they met and Echo went with her to visit the pack lands as well. “I understand. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Stay with her. She still needs you,” I told him. “I will. I’ll never leave her side,” he whispered and hung up. Immediately, I called Talon and had him send the cleaners to the shop. I went out to my car and started it up. This would be a delicate situation. I had to take care of the manager of the shop. She would need an employee to cover the nights. If she was okay with them starting after dark, I could assign a vampire until she found a new, human employee. Taking care of the life of Billie was more complex. Her friends and family needed to know she died because she was not leaving the area. They might see her and she wouldn’t recognize them. For the first thirty years after a vampire was turned, they were a blank slate. All they knew was that they were a vampire and that they had to obey the vampire who turned them. Beyond that, hunger was the only other thing they truly knew. I drove out to the gas station. The area was marked off with traffic cones and crime scene tape. I was sure that was to keep people from trying to shop, though most humans were asleep at the moment. The clean-up crew was already inside, getting to work on the bodies and the blood. I was stopped by a tall, Hispanic officer who smelled of jungle cat. “The store is closed, there was an incident,” he told me. “I am aware, officer. I am Master of this territory and I am here to collect Dennis and his childe,” I replied. “Just so you know, I don’t agree with him changing her,” the officer said.“I understand your wariness, Officer…” I looked at his badge, “Martinez. But I assure you, Billie will be well cared for and you can even come check up on her after a month.” Reaching into my wallet, I handed him my card. “Call me and I will arrange it. She won’t be the same woman you know, but she will be alive.” “Anything that smells like death as much as a vampire does can’t truly be called alive. She’ll never feel the sun on her face again. How is that living?” he challenged. “It was my understanding that she slept all day and was up all night anyway. Certainly, it was an option before, but her past kept her from enjoying it. You are worried about your friend. I will guarantee her safety until her mind comes back and she decides what to do. If she would like to end her vampiric life, I will help her to that end. If not, I will ensure that Dennis cares for her until she is no longer dependent on his life to live hers.” “What does that mean?” “Until a vampire is two hundred years old, their life is tied to their master. If the vampire who turned them dies, they will die along with them. Most vampires part ways after one hundred years, but many decide to stay in service to their master until they are two hundred, to ensure they do not suddenly lose their lives,” I replied. He nodded. “And he’ll keep her safe for two hundred years?” “I can guarantee it. I will make sure the proper channels are followed and that she is safe in other ways. May I go now? Dennis needs support. He never thought he would have to do this to her. This has shaken him almost as much as it appears to have shaken you.” “Yeah… I guess…. We’ll stay out here to turn people away.” “Thank you for your service, Officer Martinez. Billie was lucky to have a friend like you in her life.” “Not lucky enough…” he muttered and turned away from me. The loss of a life was hard on everyone. He could see how his friend was gone, but not how she could remain. Once her first month was over, she would be in more control of herself. He would see that some part of her lived on, even if it wasn’t exactly her. In thirty years, he could even see her when her mind came back and she was the person he remembered. It was all I could offer him in comfort. This was not the life she probably imagined having and it was not the night he expected to lose someone who had become a staple in his life… not like this at least. I entered the convenience store and looked around. My people were working diligently. They laid out a path of plastic for me to walk on and I followed it around the counter. Dennis was sitting on the floor, holding Billie to his chest. She was covered in blood and completely limp. I could already see her skin had paled from lack of blood. “Dennis, I’m here,” I said softly, so as not to startle him. He looked up at me with such sorrow in his eyes that I feared he was incorrect and she hadn’t survived the turning. Dennis opened his hand to me and I saw a spent bullet in it. I took it from him. “If this came out then it was successful. In three nights, she will rise and be one of us, Dennis.” “Why do werewolves keep harming her? She only had one night left. They could have robbed the store tomorrow night. One of them is the man she was training. I wanted to look at their faces. He didn’t have to do this. There was no reason to do this to her. That beast set her up so he could kill her. He only wanted blood.” Dennis snarled. I knelt down and put my hand on his shoulder. I wasn’t his blood or his sire, but I was the master he answered to. There was something comforting in that, at the very least. “Only these rabid rogues, Dennis. Trust me. I was killed by a rogue werewolf, as well. Billie will come back and she will remember that you saved her and how you loved her. You have thirty years to show her how much without any pushback from her previous life. Now, I need her purse and the contact information for her manager.” He pointed to a bloodied bag on the counter. I gave him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder before standing to go through the bag. Quickly, I found her phone. It required a thumbprint to unlock, so I turned and used her hand to unlock the phone.I went back to the office to take the security tape and call the manager. I found contact information in the office and proceeded to call the number for the manager. It was four in the morning, but I had no other options. “Hello? Billie? What’s up?” A groggy woman answered. “Is this Fallon?” I asked. “Who is this? Why are you calling from Billie’s phone?” “I am Victor. I regret to inform you there was an incident at your place of business. Two men came in to rob it and one of them shot Ms. Mason. We are cleaning the place up. There is no need to report it to the police. If you could come in as soon as possible, I would like to meet with you about making accommodations to help you out.” “Billie was sh-shot? Is she alright? What hospital did they take her to? I need to contact her family.” “I will take care of that. Unfortunately, the ambulance took too long and Ms. Mason passed. Luckily, her beau was here and turned her into a vampire. She will wake in three days, but be unable to come back to this job. If you come in, I will arrange for a vampire to come work for you overnights while you find a human to fill the position.” “You aren’t the police?” she asked. “I am not. I am the Master vampire of this territory. Please come as soon as possible so I can get this sorted by sunrise. My people are nearly finished cleaning up the mess, so you should be able to be open as usual.” “I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Fallon replied. “Thank you.” After hanging up, I found the tape recorder was in a locked cage. I would have to have the woman get them for me. This would be a far longer night than I had planned. Right now, I needed to focus on getting Dennis all the support he would need for his first childe. As I headed back to the front, I contacted Silence and Dennis’ human servant in order to make sure there was a large supply of blood. Billie’s first feeding would be small, from her master, then she would need a lot more blood in the hour and days to follow. In the first month, a vampire could drink an entire human’s blood volume in one feeding. It was when we were at our most dangerous, in my opinion. You could kill a person without meaning to.