The Comanche Vampire (11 page)

“Oh,
I think I can manage,” she said with a little giggle. “But thanks.”

“It’s
no trouble,” Ned said. He moved in swift and put his hands on her shoulders.
“Do you see the cat over there?”

When
she turned to look for the non-existent feline, Ned latched his fangs into the
side of her throat with savagery.
 
He
drank long and deep, the way a thirsty man might take water after a desert
walk.
 
She turned around with eyes wide
and he met her gaze square on.
 
Although
he didn’t possess many of the mythical powers vampires were rumored to have,
Ned had learned he could hypnotize on a minor level so he stared into her
eyes.
 
He willed her to forget the
encounter, then saw her to her Ford.
 
By
the time he reached the time clock, he’d begun to feel better but he punched in
late.
 
Ned rushed to his table and saw
Mindy sigh with relief.

“I
thought you weren’t going to show up.”

“Aw,
I ran late,” Ned told her.

“I’m
outta here,” she said. “See you tomorrow.”

Sunday
nights were usually light but this one wasn’t.
 
Lots of soldiers from Fort Sill, easy to spot with their military
haircuts and bearing, came and stayed late.
 
Working from eleven to seven put his meal break around two-thirty so he
met Gary.
 
Ned feared his buddy might be
a little peeved but Gary wasn’t.
 
Instead, he wanted to know all about Anne.
 
When Ned revealed she taught history at the
college, Gary whistled. “I’m impressed.
 
That’s awesome.
 
So when are you
seeing her again?”

Ned
shrugged. “I
dunno
.
 
Maybe I shouldn’t even bother.”

“Are
you crazy?
 
She’s hot.
 
I’d give it a try.
 
You might even get to sleep with her.”

He
didn’t mention he already had. “Oh, I’ll see what happens.”

At
five after seven, as Ned headed to clock out, his name was paged.
Phone call at the courtesy desk for Ned Big
Eagle. Phone call at the courtesy desk for Ned Big Eagle.
 
Ned figured it must be Anne.
 
He headed over to take the call.
 
“Hello?”

“Ned?”
Anne said. “Hi, I just wanted to see how you’re feeling.”

So
she cared.
 
He understood and he liked
it.
 
But her concern made what he had to
do more difficult.
 
“I’m all right now,”
Ned told her. “I took what I needed and started feeling better right away.
 
I’m just a little tired so I’m getting ready
to head home.”

Relief
made her voice huskier than ever. “Oh, that’s good. Could you come by for a
minute, please?”

Refusing
Anne wasn’t something Ned wanted to do.
 
“Why?” he asked, tone level.

Her
light laugh swayed him. “I couldn’t sleep, wondering how you felt. I’d just
like to see you before I head off to class … so will you?”

If
he weren’t dead, he’d die now as he yielded to temptation. “All right, I’ll
stop by.”

“Thank
you,” she told him. “Coffee’s made.”

In
the morning sunlight, Ned scolded himself for his decision.
 
He’d be pale––maybe not so bad this early––but
he’d promised, so he presented himself at her door.
 
Anne, power dressed in a gray pinstriped
skirt suit, let him in.
 
Once Ned was
inside, she hugged him.
 
“Thanks again
for indulging me,” she told him. “You probably think I’m silly to worry.
 
I’ve only known you a few days but there’s
this intense connection between us.
 
I think
you feel it too.”

“I
do.”
 
Ned couldn’t deny it.
 
If he lied, she’d be aware.

Anne
flashed him a smile and exhaled the breath she must’ve been holding. “I thought
so,” she said. “I can’t explain it but it’s there. I feel like I’ve known you
forever, Ned.
 
I thought you looked a
little haggard when I let you in but you look pretty good now.
 
Do you have time for coffee?”

“I
can drink a cup, then I’ll get out of your way.”
 
He shouldn’t have come, he should be halfway
home by now, but here he was, right where he wanted to be.
 
Once seated at her tiny table with a mug in
his hand, Ned relaxed.
 
He might as well
enjoy every moment he could squeeze in with Anne because soon there wouldn’t be
any. He needed to figure out a way to untangle himself from her despite the
connection they both felt, but he’d save coming up with a solution for
later.
 
He sipped her coffee, found it almost
as strong as what he brewed.

“It’s
good,” he said.

Anne’s
fragrance wafted across the table, stronger than ever. “Thanks,” she said. “I
know you’re tired and probably just want to go home, get some sleep … but I
really am glad you stopped.
 
I suppose
you work tonight, too.”

“Yeah,”
Ned replied.
 
The new schedules were up
and he was dealing more than doing security so his hours changed. “I’m working
11 p.m. to 7 a.m. every night except Thursday and Friday this week, then I work
6:00 p.m. until midnight on Saturday and Sunday.”

She
scribbled his schedule on a scrap of paper as he watched with mixed
feelings.
 
He’d never allowed himself to
become close to any woman except his long-dead wife.
 
Their marriage and relationship reflected the
culture and time with no resemblance to how he’d watched men and women interact
in the modern world.
 
As a warrior, he’d
often remained celibate to bank his strength for war, not love.
 
Although he liked to consider himself a
Comanche warrior, Ned admitted he’d grown tame over the years he’d been a
vampire.
 
He hadn’t ridden out as part of
a war party since before he followed the rest of the
Quohada
to surrender at Fort Sill.
 
Nor had he
killed or raided with the wild blood lust of his past since before 1900.
 
If he did so now, he’d end up in jail, the
one thing he imagined would be worse than his meager existence.
 
He wasn’t a man, not really, but Anne brought
out the male essence left in his soul.
 

Anne
studied a pocket calendar before she said, “So, would you like to do something
Friday after my last class? I could have you over for dinner if you want.
 
I can fry chicken like nobody’s business, or
I’ve got a recipe for maple glazed pork chops I’ve wanted to try.”

His
mind told him to refuse but his heart yearned to accept and his body betrayed
him with rising desire. One more time, he thought, I’ll be with her one more
time but it needs to be on my terms, not hers.
 
“I don’t eat chicken,” Ned said. “How about you come out to my place and
I’ll get some buffalo steaks? I’ve got a lodge out behind the house and I’ll
cook them, old fashioned Comanche style, on a fire.”

“I’ve
never had buffalo.
 
Is it good?”

“Better
than beef,” Ned assured her. “It’s lean and tender.
 
What do you say?”

“I’d
love to,” Anne said. “I’ll just drive out after my last class of the day if
that’s okay.
 
It’ll be after four or so.”

“Sure.”
He stood up and walked into the small kitchen to put his cup in the sink. “I’ll
look forward to it and I’ll see you then.”

She
nodded. “It’s a date.” The words sounded so foreign to him.
 
Ned didn’t expect a good-bye kiss, not with
her lips painted and make-up in place but Anne rose and walked him to the
door.
 
She grabbed his shirt with both
hands and pulled him closer, then stood on tiptoe to press her lips against his
mouth.
 
Anne tasted sweeter than honey
and it took willpower to break free but Ned did.
 
If he didn’t, he’d strip off her professor
clothing, and take her on the living room carpet.
 
He figured she knew what he wanted because the
smile playing around her lips managed to be both wanton and poignant.

Ned
spent Thursday with the horses, pleased to be outdoors, where it didn’t matter
if anyone saw his extreme pallor. After dark fell, he headed into Lawton and
bought several buffalo steaks. A local rancher sold them at a store tucked away
into one of the many strip malls. Although expensive, Ned found them worth the
price. He preferred buffalo to beef and hoped Anne would like it.
 

While
in town, he hung around some of the worst dive bars, rough places most people
with any sense avoided.
 
With the stealth
he’d used to hunt and the ruthlessness he’d relied on in raids, Ned took blood,
plenty of it, so he’d be sated.

 
On Friday he prepared the lodge.
 
He brought out some of the hides he’d tanned
himself long ago, soft as cashmere, and made a bed inside.
 
Ned laid the fire in front so it’d be ready
and set up his cooking gear.
 
Most of it
was modern but came as close as possible to the way
Comanches
once cooked.
 
In the villages, the women
had performed the task but out on the prairie during a hunting trip or other
travels, warriors could prepare basics.
 

Ned,
with time to practice, had become a master at it.

Mid-afternoon
he sauntered down and lit the fire so it had time to burn down to the
coals.
 
He carried several potatoes along
to slow roast in the ashes.
 
They weren’t
the same as some of the wild tubers he’d eaten long ago but close enough.
 
I’ll
give her a traditional evening meal, which I hope she likes.
 
Unless Anne thought otherwise, Ned
planned to spend the night in the lodge.
 
He still believed they must part, but the more time he spent with her,
the less he wanted to end their relationship.
 
But he saw no other option. If they continued, sooner or later, she’d
realize something was terribly askew and ask questions.
 
Anne’s
too smart not to notice I’m strange and keep weird ways.
 
She’ll figure it out or come close.
 

Ned
refused to imagine her shock, hurt, anger and fear if she learned the
truth.
 
If she didn’t believe it, she’d
think he must be insane.

Down
along Medicine Creek the afternoon shadows shaded the lodge and fire.
 
Ned’s camp lay behind a hill and by four,
most of the sunlight shifted away from the spot.
 
Although it wouldn’t be full dark for hours,
it’d be dim enough he wouldn’t look ghoulish or sick.
 
He smoked two cigarettes while waiting, ears
tuned to hear Anne’s car the moment she turned off the blacktop.
 

Ned
opened his senses to everything around him.
 
He relished the wind’s quiet caress against his face, heard the whisper
of the breeze as it ruffled through the tall grasses. Ned caught the cry of a
red-tailed hawk as it soared high above and gazed upward until he caught sight
of it in flight.
 
He followed it with his
eyes until it passed out of sight.
 
Then
he watched the clouds drift across the late summer sky.
 
Somewhere not far away he heard quail and Ned
listened to the horses blow and stamp in the corral.
 
A deep relaxation poured over him as he
became one with the natural world surrounding him.
 
Ned’s mind drifted easy and aimless until he
heard Anne’s car.
 
Then he came to his
feet and ambled down the trail to meet her.

“Anne,”
he called and then added a screech he’d once used on raids into Mexico. On a
whim, he’d dressed the way he once had, in deerskin leggings with a colorful
breechclout.
 
He’d braided his hair in
tandem and put the scalp feathers from the powwow in his hair. He wore knee-high
leather moccasins.
 
Ned even donned his
bear claw necklace, authentic and
Pea’hocso’s
from
his distant past. Although he seldom did, he put simple silver wires with one
blue, one red bead, earrings, in both ears. After so long, he didn’t have much
of the little he’d owned when he became a vampire but what he did, he wore or
displayed.
 
His war shield and lance
stood outside the lodge, too.
 

She
came around the side of his house almost running. “Ned, where are you?” she called.
 
He stepped forward so she’d see him and watched
her eyes widen.
 
Today, he wasn’t the
modern Native American man she knew but a wild Comanche, a page out of the
past.
 
Anne stared and he wondered if
he’d gone too far but then she smiled and walked to him.