From: ssalter@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (-=[SLS]=-)
Subject: Bite! -02
Organization: OFSA
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 19:53:08 GMT


	The wind whistled across the parking lot as I strode towards
the rental car. Leaves whipped past my face and thunder rumbled
menacingly overhead as I slid into the drivers seat. The flight to
Logan had been uneventful but interesting. It was incredible what
these humans had wrought with their gears and pulley mindsets over the
years. To conceive of a contrivance such as a jumbo jet actually
flying in the air!                                     

	I pulled out of the rental parking lot and headed for the
wharves. I had decided to hunt before going to Sudbury tonight. I was
in no great hurry. I could hole up almost anywhere for one day. A lot
of my kind preferred traditional coffins and even put dirt from a
cemetary in the bottom of it! I don't understand that sort of thing. I
suppose they have seen too many movies. I preferred crisp, clean linen
sheets and a heavy comforter atop me when I "slept". Not that I really
felt any of it when I was sleeping, but I enjoyed the sensations while
I hovered in the realm between consciousness and sleep.           

	Boston traffic was a little better than usual and I only had
to refrain from leaping out of my car and ripping heads off six times.
I greatly preferred the laid back environment of Indiana. This,
though, was a vastly superior hunting environment. I have visited two
friends in New York who love the city. I understand the lure of so
many free and easy  meals, but I prefer the forests and fields of my
home. Besides, animal blood will serve adequetly to serve my needs. It
doesn't thrill the spirit as feasting on a human does, but it works.
                           

	I saw it before it happened. Two cars switching lanes from the
outer and inner to the center lane at the same time with just a brief
flicker of turn indicators. The smaller car was broadsided and slewed
out of control to impact with the barrier tne spun across the three
lanes of traffic heading into the city! All but one other vehicle
managed to swerve violently around it and continued on their way. The
unfortunate was a pick up truck that slammed right into the drivers
side of the once gleaming sports car. I was in the blocked lane, my
flashers blinking madly and parked the car. I opened the trunk of the
rental and chortled with joy as I spied a flare. I grabbed it and ran
up the road about 50 yards and set it burning. Then, I headed towards
the accident, running lightly past my own vehicle. The pickup truck
driver was pawing at the drivers door of the sports car. His eyes were
wide with fear and shock as I approached him.
  

	"Help me please, the door is jammed. It wasn't my fault!" he
almost shrieked as his hands fluttered about while cries of pain and
horror burst from the wrecked car.         

	The smell of gasoline and overheated metal filled the air but
another odor rose above them to twitch my nostrils. The aroma of fresh
spilled blood emanated from the ruined car. I strode up to it,
brushing the man aside and saw a young woman pinned behind the
crumpled steering wheel. Her long blonde hair was streaked with red
from the laceration on her forehead. Blood streamed down the side of
her face as she flailed about trying to free herself. I gritted my
teeth as the Lust surged inside of me.          
	
	Blood always has this effect on me. I need to drink every day
but not much. Over the centuries I have found that the amount of blood
I require for simple sustenance has decreased so that these days I can
get by on as little as a pint per day. I remember the old days as I
grew in power when I would drain two or more individuals every single
night. The actual need is less but the physical urge is still there in
all it's addictive power.        

	I wanted her, right then, right there in her ruined car. I
could almost taste her young, hot essence in  my mouth and swallowed
convulsively. No, not now! I asserted my control and instead, gripped
the twisted metal edges of the crumpled door.           

	"No, there is no way to do it. They will have to cut her out
o..." the man broke off as I heaved with my supernatural strength and
the door ripped open! I reached in and depressed the lever that moved
the seat back and gently extracted the young woman. She was sobbing
now and I lifted her into my arms and carried her towards the back of
the pickup truck.              

	"Get a blanket or coat or anything and lay it down in the
bed." I snapped to the man who stood goggling in amazement. He stood
still for a moment and then shook his head and ran to the cab of his
truck and pulled out an old army blanket. He spread it in the bed of
the truck and I laid the girl down gently. I then covered her with his
own coat and told him to move the truck back. He stood there
uncomprehendingly.          

	"It is going to burn, fool. Do you want to get caught in it?"
I snarled and walked off. 

	"Hey, hey wait a minute.. where are you going?" he called,
taking a few steps towards me. He watched me for a moment and then
leaped into his truck . He started it and began to back up.  I
remained silent as I reached the rental car and entered it. I started
the ignition and savagely depressed the accelerator. Rubber screamed
as I rocketed off into the night, crossing all lanes of traffic in one
quick surge so my license plate wasn't visible to the man in the
truck.           

	My hands shook and in my minds eye I could see the blood
streaming from the woman's head. I smelled it strongly and looked at
my right hand. Lifting it I saw her blood covering two of my fingers.
I slowly and sensuously licked them clean. This only whetted my
appetite and I growled in frustration. Why hadn't I just killed the
man and taken her? I was a killer. I was a damned BloodDRINKER for
CHRIST's SAKE! What business had I saving her life?
          

	I had calmed down by the time I had reached the wharves but
the overpowering hunger inside of me burned hot. I parked and locked
the car and strode down the darkened sidewalk. A row of darkened
stores haunted the side of the street and up ahead, music blared forth
and the stink of alcohol and tobacco wafted from the door of a dingy
bar. I paused there for a moment, looking in the window and observed
the occupants. Cold eyes looked back at me and then followed as I
turned and walked off down the sidewalk. I had no desire to assualt my
senses with the stink of that particular bar.                

	Behind me the door sounded as it opened and closed quietly and
the sound of footsteps was very audible to my ears although the owners
were undoubtably trying to be quite stealthy. I smiled as I turned the
corner and walked down a narrow alley.Reaching the end I turned and
faced the two men that approached me.    

	"Bad night to be wandering around alone" the left hand man
remarked. He stood about my height, about six feet tall, and sported a
mop of shaggy hair and craggy face topped with a bulbuous nose full of
broken blood vessels. In his right hand he carried a large clasp
knife, the blade open and glinting in the dim light from the street.


	"Yeah buddy, you don't belong here so just give us your wallet
and leave" his partner muttered in a raspy voice. He carried a
baseball bat and thwacked it against his horny palm for emphasis.  

	I smiled again and tensed. These poor fools had no idea what
they faced. I was the ultimate killer! My supernatural reflexes and
strength gave them no chance at all. I had taken on a Bengal tiger
barehanded in India once that had been plagueing a village and
defeated it without too much trouble. That was three centuries ago and
I was even more powerful now. The man with the baseball bat didn't
bother to repeat his demand but only swung the bat in a vicious arc
towards my head!       

	I faded off to the side and allowed the wooden bludgeon to
smash against the brick wall of the adjacent building and then lashed
out with my right fist. He collapsed limply as my fist crushed his
skull. His partner's eyes widened and then fled. I watched him for a
moment, scuttling out of the alley and then moved with all my speed. I
passed him so quickly that it didn't register in his brain. We can
move this way, like a flash of darkness, a fleeting shadow when we
wish. He choked out a hoarse cry as he lurched to a stop at the sight
of me standing in the entrance of the alley. He swiveled his head to
look behind him where I had been standing and then swiveled it back
again comically as he stared incredulously.                          

	"Did you ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?" I
asked him softly. I always have loved that line! He gaped at me and
then swung his steel beweaponed hand at me. I reached up and grasped
his wrist as it descended and then clenched my hand. He screamed
weakly as his wrist bones shattered in my grip and he sagged to the
ground. I lifted him high with one hand and glared into his eyes.
        

	"Time to die, nighty night", I quipped as I opened my mouth
wide to show my oversized canines. He began to babble and I pulled him
to me and gashed his throat open. Fastening my mouth to his lacerated
flesh, I fed with a fervor that surprised me. His hot steaming blood
gushed into my body, energizing it and sending me into a rapture. His
heart beat wildly for a few moments and then spasmed uncontrollably as
he died. I threw him down the length of the alley to smash into an
abandoned automobile with a soddened thump.
 

	The hot blood surged through my veins and I flexed my body in
a delicious sensation of power! My senses seemed even more heightened
and I leaped the thirty feet from where I stood to where he had landed
with a single easy bound. I swept him up and ran towards the sound of
water slapping against the side of a seawall. There, I weighted him
with rocks and hurled him far out into the bay. I always cleaned up
very nicely after my meals. That was an absolute rule. There was no
reason to leave evidence that might frighten humans.


	I walked back to my parked car and then drove away from the
city towards Sudbury. The new blood still sang inside my body and I
punched in a radio station with a thrumming beat to accompany me as I
traveled. I didn't exactly regret the death of the two muggers but I
still felt a small pang of sympathy for them. Ah well, at least I was
throroughly replete with blood now. A bucket of blood wouldn't even
arouse the Lust in me for a few days. I would only need to dine
lightly. I really looked forward to the festivities!
    

<Steven>
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