PS01 - Tall, Dark & Lonely (6 page)

since she no longer had to worry about supporting the kids. She wasn’t going nuts. She would spend less than half her nest egg

in case something happened, but she really needed a reliable vehicle for work.

“Madison!” Jill screeched.

“Looks like her royal highness didn’t get her way again,” Joshua muttered. For a ten year old he was rather perceptive.

“Why do you say that?” she asked as she fought to loosen a bolt. The damn thing was rusted on tightly. It wouldn’t budge even

with WD-40. It had to come off.

“That’s the way she acts now that Candy is around. She’s a total pain.” He bounced the ball. “I don’t understand why she wants

to be like her. She’s gross!”

Madison agreed, but didn’t say anything. Her mother dressed and acted like a hooker. She was half worried that she looked that

way for a reason. Now Jill was taking after Candy. Speaking of Jill…

“I want to go home right now!” Jill demanded near Madison.

“Lower your voice I can hear you fine.” She continued focusing on that damn bolt.

“That woman told me I can’t wear make-up.
I have to earn it
, she said,” Jill said mockingly.

“That woman as you like to refer to her is our grandmother so you will call her ‘Grandma’ or ‘ma’am’ if I hear you disrespect

her again you’re grounded,” Madison warned. She was usually easy to get along with, but Jill’s spoiled attitude was doing a

real number on her nerves.

“Fine!
Grandma
said that I can’t wear makeup or tight clothes!” she said in a whiny voice.

“Good.”

“Good?”

“Good. That was ending today anyway. You’re starting school tomorrow and you weren’t going like that.” To make her point

Madison looked her sister over. Dear god the girl was wearing a plastic mini skirt with a fluffy tight top that showed off her

small breasts and she was shivering. She used to be so reasonable.

“You just don’t want me to embarrass you,” she snapped.

Madison laughed. “First off, we look nothing alike. Secondly, we have different last names and
you
will call me Miss.

Soloman like everyone else. Thirdly you’re not going around looking like a slut for the rest of your life. Have some self-

respect.”

“Madison, what’s a slut?” Joshua’s young voice chimed in. She forgot he was there. She winced as Jill gave her a superior

look.

“Yes, Madison, what’s a slut?” Jill asked. She was going to kill her. That was it. No one would blame her.

“Ah….that is….er…” She was vaguely aware of a car engine shutting down close by. All her focus was on Joshua’s question

and how to answer it in such a way that he didn’t use it to tease Jill in front of people like he was known to do.

“Come on, Madison, you’re a teacher, so tell me what a slut is.” Joshua demanded in a louder voice. That was the normal

progression of events when he would ask an embarrassing or difficult question. The longer she took the higher his voice

became.

“I believe, young man, that name is given to a woman who gives her affections too freely to men,” a deep voice said.

“Oh my,” Jill gasped in a sultry voice, a little too sensually for Madison’s sanity. That could not be a good sign.

“Who are you and why do you have a gun?” Joshua demanded.

“What?” Madison startled by the question jumped back, catching her wrist on something. “Ow!” Damn it, she cut herself.

Thankfully the area was clean, well was before. Now it was covered in blood.

********

bouncing his ball and asking someone named Madison about sluts. He had to stop himself from chuckling. This Madison person

was in a tight spot.

The next thing that caught his eye was a little girl dressed like a whore that reminded him of the light skirts that used to work

the docks when he was a child. She wore too much make-up, too little clothing and had an air of experience around her. She

wasn’t aware of him yet.

The last thing and the most important thing that hit him was the smell of a pure blood, virgin blood. He knew it wasn’t the little

boy. Men, even little boys, never gave off that scent. That particular scent was saved for women. It was enticing and

mouthwatering.

It had to be this little girl. She couldn’t be more than fifteen, maybe fourteen. He eyed the girl. Nope, this little girl was not a

virgin. He wasn’t surprised. Things changed dramatically over the past century. According to the media it wasn’t popular or

normal for teens to remain chaste until marriage or even adulthood.

Even if this young girl had been a virgin she would have been off limits. He didn’t eat where he lived and these children were

clearly the grandchildren of his landlady. He remembered they were to arrive today, which is why he stopped off on the way

home and picked up some more air fresheners for the bathroom. He also never fed off a child before. Never had and never

would. Children were innocents in his eyes no matter their sexual experience.

That left this Madison, probably another child. She would be safe as well under his rules. He couldn’t remember the last time

he fed off a virgin. Was it sixty years? Probably. He had one rule when it came to virgin woman, and that rule had not been

needed in all these sixty years. He only took blood not her innocence. There were plenty of willing women for what his body

needed. Christ how long had it been since he had a woman? December back in 1880 or the 1890's he thought. Sex became

boring and useless. He never escaped his nightmares and never felt close to the woman. It always felt like he was fucking air.

“Come on, Madison, you’re a teacher so tell me what a slut is,” the little boy said impatiently.

He couldn’t help himself. He had to answer. “I believe young man that name is given to a woman who gives her affections too

freely to men.”

“Oh my,” The little girl turned to look at him. She licked her lips invitingly. He was going to have to lock the connecting door

at night to the main house. This was all he needed, he thought dryly.

“What?....Ow!” a woman’s voice said.

The smell of that virgin blood hit him hard. He stopped himself from stumbling back. That wasn’t the worse part. Hunger

ripped through him viciously. That was odd since he just finished two bags of blood on the way home. He wasn’t hungry, but

the smell of her blood was intoxicating.

At the moment he wanted her blood more than anything on this earth. Her blood screamed for him. His hands clenched tightly,

stopping himself from attacking her in front of these two children.
Get it under control!
It didn’t matter what this girl looked

like, he wanted her blood. He’d never felt this intense need before not even those twenty years he spent in Nichols’ dungeon.

His fangs descended. He learned long ago how to control his eyes, but it was a losing battle. He needed to get away from this

woman whoever the hell she was.

He stepped back the same time a young woman, he guessed since he certainly couldn’t tell by the way she was dressed,

stepped out from behind the front of the car and looked first at the little girl than at him while she was holding her wrist tightly.

The sight of the “Ow,” Ephraim guessed.

She rolled her eyes in the direction of the little girl. “Jill, go on inside please and help Grandma with dinner.”

“But-“

“Go,” the woman said firmly. Ephraim studied the woman. He couldn’t discern her age, but he was sure that she was not a

child. She wore an old baseball cap backwards and her face was smudged and dirty. He couldn’t really make out any features.

The only thing he could make out on her face was her eyes. They were brown, but not normal brown. They were rather bright.

His eyes roamed down her body. She was figureless. She was probably also flat-chested by the looks of it and fat. He

confirmed his opinion by her baggy pants. In his experience women wore large clothes to cover extra weight. The only thing

attractive about this woman was her blood. If he didn’t get out of here soon he would find out if her blood tasted as good as it

smelled.

“Are you a policeman?” the boy asked.

“Joshua, you’re being rude,” she chastised the boy. She turned to look at him and smiled. “I’m sorry. This is Joshua and I’m

Madison.”

He nodded. His fangs were throbbing painfully in his mouth for a taste of her. “We just arrived today,” she said when he didn’t

make any attempt to introduce himself.

Again he nodded.

“Well, who are you?” Joshua asked.

He only turned and walked away. If he didn’t go into the house now he would regret it.

“What’s your name?” Joshua yelled.

“Ephraim,” he answered without looking back.

He made his way to the back of the house and up the backstairs. It wasn’t until he dropped the small bag on his desk that he

remembered that he was supposed to have a new neighbor.

“Shit.”

It was Madison. She would be close by to tempt him day and night.

He ran his hands through his short black hair. He could do this. He could live here with this woman. They only shared a

bathroom. She would keep both doors locked. Any woman with sense would lock the door when she lived in a boarding house

even if it was run by her grandmother.

Not that a locked door would stop him. He could push the door down with a pinky finger, but it would serve as a useful

reminder to him that she was off limits. He didn’t want to leave. He was happy here. No one bothered him. He liked his job.

He liked living in the boarding house. He didn’t want to have his own place. He liked the idea of being alone, but not alone.

No, he would suck it up and wait. She had a new job according to Mrs. Buckman. She would save up and move out. Most

young woman wanted to be on their own. Yes, that was it. He just had to wait her out.

He shook his head and grabbed the air fresheners and headed for the bathroom. He opened the door and froze. What the hell

happened to the bathroom? Did Mrs. Buckman have it remolded for her granddaughter? He knew she was anxious to have the

young woman here but he didn’t know that she would go to this extent.

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. No, he smelled cleaning supplies and synthetic lemons. She cleaned. Everything

including the floor beamed. Gone were his air fresheners, dirty towels, garbage and that disgusting odor. Now it was clean and

organized. The shelves were filled with large fluffy towels. The shower was sparkling and held his shampoo and soap as well

as her bathing products. He turned his attention to the medicine cabinet.

She took it upon herself to designate sides, made sense. His side held his razor, shaving gel and cologne. That little collection

took up half of a shelf, leaving the other two shelves empty. Curious, he opened her side of the medicine cabinet. It was well

stocked with cleaners, soaps, lotions, over the counter medicines, tweezers, ear swabs, nail polish remover and a pink razor.

Pink. What difference did it make if it was pink? The other stuff was just as confusing. Why did she need the rest of it? Was she

building something out of all that shit?

He closed the cabinet and opened the first drawer under the sink. Extra toilet paper. Okay, she would need that. He didn’t, but

she would. That was reasonable. He closed that drawer and opened the bottom one and froze.

“Oh…..fuck me….” His hands shook as he reached down and picked up the pink box, menstrual pads. “Fuck.”

He should have anticipated this when Mrs. Buckman told him that a young woman was moving in. He forgot about women’s

courses. He stood up and studied the box. It was a mixed box whatever that meant. He looked it over only to discover it was

super and regular. He had no clue what that meant, but it couldn’t be good where he was concerned.

His eyes closed and he prayed for control. The woman, no, the human whose blood attracted him like no other would be

bleeding once a month next to his room and discarding blood soaked cotton in the trash can. This was hell. Pure hell. It would

take every bit of control not to suck on those discarded pads. Even to him that sounded disgusting.

“Fuck.” There was nothing else to say. He dropped the box back in the drawer and kicked it shut. He braced his hands on the

counter and looked in the mirror. His eyes were a fiery red. His teeth were lowered and he was drooling. Great. His only hope

was to stay the hell away from this Madison person and pray she moved out before her courses came.

Chapter 3

Madison was ripped from her pleasant dream of warmth by rap music. “What the hell?” She forced her eyes to focus on the

alarm clock by her bed. It was three in the morning. Who the hell was playing rap music at three in the morning?

She pulled her knit hat down on her head and jumped out of bed and immediately began shivering. Her baggy sweatshirt and tee

shirt weren’t doing the job. The sweatpants might as well be made of paper for all the warmth it provided. The only thing that

seemed to keep her warm was the thick socks. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and looked around. That horrible

music was coming from her room, but where? It was loud and annoying.

Why was it coming from her room? She stumbled over her unpacked boxes.