Loopholes - Part 1

“You murderer!” she screamed. “You killed my boyfriend! You killed him!”

“Shut up,” he growled, grabbing her just below her shoulders and shaking her. “It was an accident.”

The girl’s eyes widened with terror as she tried to pull away from him. She’d seen his fangs. She knew. He had to kill her.

Somehow she’d managed to pull away from him and began running away across the parking lot, screaming for help. He was on her in an instant. He wrapped one arm around her body, pinning her arms to her sides. He covered her mouth. That’s when he saw it … the enticing pulse in her neck

He knew he shouldn’t. He did it anyway. He opened his mouth and sank his fangs deep into her jugular. Her blood tasted sweet, delicious, warm. Her valiant struggles and muffled screams excited him. He carried her into the shadows of the bar. She kicked and twisted. Her efforts were futile. He ignored them. Soon, he sensed her panic. Panic gave way to terror. When he’d consumed half of her blood, terror became hopelessness … acquiescence … despair. He felt her pulse slow to almost nothing. He released her and watched her body sink to the ground like a rag doll carelessly tossed aside.

He wiped his mouth with his hand and licked her blood from it, savoring every drop. He smiled. As he stared down at the girl, her shiny auburn hair covering her lifeless face like a shroud, reality sank in. I’m a murderer, he thought, just like she said. Now it was his turn to panic. What am I going to do? he asked himself as he looked around to see if anyone had witnessed what he’d done. No one. In that neighborhood, people were accustomed to the sounds of gun shots, breaking glass and women’s screams. It went with the territory. Still, he couldn’t just leave two bodies lying in the parking lot. He knew what he had to do and got to it without delay. As he did, calmness overtook him. Leda will know what to do, he thought. She’ll help me get out of this mess.

Leda sighed. A light smile touched her lips as she watched the moonlight shimmer on the river's rippling current. Soft, leather-clad footsteps and the scent of ultra masculine cologne alerted her to the arrival of her riverside companion, Detective Tariq Assad.

He sat down on the bench next to her, stretching his mile-long legs out in front of him and folding his hands in his lap. Like Leda, Tariq worked the night shift. For several seconds, they sat in companionable silence, watching the water flow by.

"Five homicides tonight," Tariq sighed. "You'd think something like guaranteed execution within 30 days of conviction would make people get a grip on themselves.”

"If it were that simple, you'd be out of a job," Leda smiled.

"So would you, Madam Executioner" Tariq pointed out.

Leda nodded, poking out her bottom lip. "What would you do if you couldn't be a homicide detective?"

Tariq thought for a minute. "I guess I'd start my own PI business. What about you? What would you do if you couldn't be an executioner?"

"I would come and work for you," Leda grinned.

Tariq flashed his dimples. "You’d be insane within a week.”

Leda turned away to stare at the river once more, a small frown creasing her brow.
"I’m sorry." Tariq took Leda's hand, enveloping it within both of his own, and gently squeezed. “Listen,” he said, changing the subject, “there’s something you should know, and I want you to hear from me first.”

"Not now," Leda said. She removed her hand from the warmth of Tariq's grasp and placed it in the pocket of her trench coat.

A pale glow appeared on the horizon. Dawn. Leda stretched, sighing heavily. As she stood, Tariq joined her, his 6'4" towering over Leda's neat 5'4" frame.

"Coffee?" he asked.

"Bed," Leda smiled. "Maybe we can meet for coffee tonight before our shifts start."
"Coffee shop across from the station?"

"I'll even spring for the donuts."

"Oh, ha,ha. Make sure you show up," Tariq said pointedly. He gave a small wave as he and Leda turned in opposite directions. Leda headed toward her Market Place apartment and Tariq toward his car parked nearby.

The sky steadily moved from black to grey as Leda walked into a 24-hour convenience store about a block away from her apartment building. She was thirsty. She had to quench her thirst immediately.

On her way to the refrigerators at the back of the store, Leda passed through a long line of people consisting mainly of twentysomethings dressed in black clothes with coal liner around their eyes and black polish on their nails. One of them, a blue eyed blonde wearing black lipstick to match her polish, stared at Leda hostilely. The guy beside her, who had pitch black hair that hung over one eye, smiled. Leda smiled back, nodding her head slightly in greeting.

"You don't wanna mess wit her," the blonde warned.

"Why not?" her friend asked. "She's smokin' hot and cute, too."

"Didn't you see how pale she is? And the way she moves?"

"Maybe she stays out of the sun," argued her friend with a shrug of his wiry shoulders. "And she moves like a cat. Kinda glides across the floor witout makin' a sound. Meooow." His male companions shared in his laughter.

"Hm," scoffed the blonde. "She stays out of the sun all right. She ain't got no choice."

"Whatchoo talkin' about?"

“Look at her. Her skin ain't right. It should be tan but it's more like taupe. Y'know, kinda greyish. She ain't just pale."

"So?" her friend pressed.

"Soooo, she's a freakin' vampire."

Everyone in the group burst out laughing. Most people went around blissfully unaware that vampires lived in their fair city. Vampires, for the most part, only fed on wild animals and strays or got jobs euthanizing animals in shelters and veterinary clinics. They always burned the carcasses afterward. They burned human carcasses, too, when they allowed themselves to regress and feed on homeless people or ne’er-do-wells who stalked the night. They kept low profiles at all times. Vampire laws strictly forbade them to flaunt their existence. Human laws prohibited even the mention of them outside of certain circles.

"She could suck me dry any day," joked one of the other young men in the group.
The blonde, giving up in disgust, turned her back on her friends. She came face to face with Leda, who had heard the whole exchange. Who hadn't? Leda smiled a winning, fang laden smile before reaching over to pluck a bag of potato chips from the snack cart beside her. The blonde turned away quickly, blushing deeply. No one else saw Leda’s telling smile.

Only one member of the group actually made a purchase so Leda had a much shorter wait than she’d anticipated. As they were leaving, the young man who'd flirted with her when she came in, turned to wave good-bye. Leda wagged her fingers at him before stepping up to the counter.

As soon as she exited the store, Leda opened the bottle of mineral water she'd bought and guzzled it. As she tossed the empty bottle into a recycle bin at the curb, the voices of the twentysomethings she’d just encountered drifted over. They stood at a bus stop huddled together smoking cigarettes and chewing the sugarless chewing gum bought by their companion.

"Gee, I wonder what that 'vampire' was going to do with those potato chips, Misty. Use 'em to lure her next victim?" said the young man who'd flirted with Leda.
Misty gave no reply as her friends laughed again at her expense. Leda almost felt sorry for her ... almost. Silly twit should have kept her mouth shut, Leda thought. If she knows we exist, then she knows no one's supposed to talk about it openly and why. Imagine the panic that would set in if people knew there were vampires living and working right next to them.

Most vampires envied Leda her executioner’s job because she could legally feast on human blood almost every day. The death penalty had become federal law after vampires secretly met with the president and his cabinet to offer several solutions to the United States' criminal justice problems. Although she wasn't the only executioner in the country, Leda was considered to be the most "humane" so those states without vampire executioners of their own would send their death row inmates to be executed by Leda. Their attorneys always accompanied the death row inmates, along with one guard – usually a vampire himself – who stood by in case anything went wrong. No other witnesses attended the executions and no doctor was required. Leda’s acute hearing informed her when the prisoners neared death. At that time, she ceased feeding and allowed them to die naturally.

It would be a lie to say that she liked her job, but Leda definitely appreciated it. Feeding was necessary and human blood far surpassed that of animals. She had started out working interrogations for the police but found it dissatisfying. Only a test tube full of blood was needed to read someone's memories; it was like sampling hors d'oeuvres without the luxury of being able to further indulge in the ones that tasted best. So, Leda approached the Vampire Ruling Council to apply for an executioner's job.