pretty much look like anybody else. You're just very pale, but so's a lot of people. Hell, Jack Williams, he drives only late night shifts, never gets up before six. He's paler than you."
I opened my senses, casting adrift the sensory filter that is usually present to keep me from a constant state of hunger. Quickly, her scent washed over me, not her perfume, but the very smell of her flesh, the very bouquet of her being. Her beating heart pounded loudly inside my skull.
Long, pointed fangs slid from their housings. I struggled not to look into her eyes, not to fall into the vortex of all that blood coursing through her body.
I could feel my own blood pumping through me, my head pulsating. My breathing labored, grew louder. Just a moment more, just as long as my discipline could stand this test before I might drown in an ocean of her scent and her hot, steaming blood.
"Oh my fucking God," she gasped, her voice sounding shaky and distant.
I took a long, deep breath. My heart slowed. Fangs retracted into their housings.
Nicole stared at me, shock and fear registering on her face. Her heart beat rapidly, her sweat grew acrid, and her body tensed, as if she might bolt toward the door.
"Do not worry," I reassured her. "I will not harm you."
"After what I just saw, I can't say I believe you."
"All you saw was a clear illustration that Plato presents a more sophisticated and real view of the world than Aristotle."
She laughed dryly, then grabbed her glass, went into the kitchen for more water then quickly returned to her seat, her eyes only leaving me when the kitchen wall separated the two of us. "Christ, this is so fucking unbelievable." Her breath having finally returned, she sounded much more calm. "I felt like I was starting to get to know you, so it was difficult to swallow what you were saying, but - and you really aren't going to hurt me?"
"No. That is the last thing I want to do."
She nodded, apparently believing me. "So, what does this have to do with Frank?"
"Upon arriving here inMadison , Frank was the one who picked me up at the airport. When we reached our destination, he was so kind to provide sustenance."
Nicole's eyes opened wide. "You attacked him? Sucked his blood? You sucked his blood and he survived? He didn't turn into a vampire?"
"Hollywood." I spat the word from my mouth like a substantial gob of phlegm. "I am not a killer, and my bite does not transform one into a vampire. I merely try to sustain myself while causing as little pain and anguish as possible to those who act as my donors."
"Without consent," she added sharply.
"No, but with a mere meeting of the eyes, I can, in effect, hypnotize a person so they never know what happened to them, and I only take a very small amount. Not even a pint."
"If you hypnotize your victims, how do you explain Frank?"
"On very rare occasions, the effect will not be permanent." I related the incident in the bathroom, which had apparently triggered his recall.
Nicole glanced thoughtfully at the ceiling. "So, what are you going to do about it?"
"I willdo nothing."
"Al, you gotta do something. Isn't this situation dangerous?"
"Potentially, but what would you have me do?"
"I don't know. Something. Anything."
"Action will only exacerbate the situation. No one will believe him. Eventually, he will probably cease to believe it himself."
"It'd be nice to think so, but you weren't at that membership meeting. He seemed pretty convinced." She paused, studying her long, graceful fingers. "What if you 'hypnotized' him again? Maybe you might push it right out of his head."
I shook my head. "Ill-advised. Such action would bring undo attention to the situation. Besides, if he is as convinced as you say, even I would find it difficult to control Frank's mind. He would fight me and most likely win."
Nicole rose. I wondered how the shock had affected her. Though she seemed reasonably comfortable with this revelation, it would take her some time to truly come to grips with it.
"Look," she said calmly, "I'm just trying to help. But it looks like you don't want any help, so I'm just going to leave you alone." Quickly, she was out the door, but this time she did not slam it behind her.
As she left, I started to open my mouth to speak, but she was gone before I could tell her that she should take