Charlaine Harris: An Apple for the Creature

“He’ll find me without your help.” She probably didn’t know about a vampire’s sense of smell—it was as good as a werewolf’s.

“I don’t think so. This lab is extremely well hidden, thanks to another research subject. I’m still not sure exactly what he was, but the fellow had a gift for hiding things. Carl’s little friend came sniffing around after his ‘car accident’ but she never found a thing.” She frowned. “I’d have gotten rid of her, too, but I was afraid it might look suspicious. At any rate, I doubt any werewolves will even try to find you—you’ve got no pack.”

“But David will never give up.”

“Try to be logical, Joyce. There’s no time for that. Remember what you said about werewolf weaknesses? You’re already hungry, aren’t you?”

As if in response, my stomach rumbled; even with the stench, my stomach growled. I must have slept through a meal or two.

“If he bites me tonight, I’ll rise in three days. You can certainly go that long without eating as long as you have water, but how much longer than that could you last? A human can survive a month, but research shows a werewolf starves much more quickly. If you’re injured, it’s even faster.” She smiled, and the sight nearly made me wet myself. “You’re not injured now, but if your vampire doesn’t bite me tonight, you will be.”

She left me another dozen bottles of water, then went through a metal door, and of course locked it behind her. I immediately investigated my cage more thoroughly. It was still secure and I was still hungry.

Despite Angie’s scheme, I wasn’t overly afraid. David would no more abandon me than he would snack on puppies. He’d bite Angie if that was what it took. It was what came afterward that worried me.

Would his sense of honor force David to take care of Angie once she became a vampire? As I’d told her, the bond between a creator and creation was close. If David broke that connection to kill her, it would hurt him emotionally, if not physically, and if he didn’t, then presumably the three of us would be living together for the foreseeable future. It would be like rooming with a mother-in-law, if your mother-in-law was a serial killer.

Considering the logistics of the situation didn’t improve my mood. I didn’t have any idea what time it was, either, which meant I couldn’t even begin to guess how much longer I was going to be in that cage. That naturally made me hungrier and thirstier, and I was trying to decide if I dared risk drinking another bottle of water when somebody arrived.

To my disappointment it wasn’t David. It was Captain Bob.

“Where’s the doc?” he demanded. “The vampire is on his way to the meeting site.”

“How should I know? Why don’t you ask someone who isn’t locked in a cage?”

“It’s for your own good—once she exterminates the vampire, you’ll be safe from his influence.”

“There are no words for how stupid you are. She’s not going to kill David. She wants him to bite her.”

“And when she’s got what she wants, do you think she’ll let him live?”

“You mean she—” Of course she’d kill David! She wouldn’t want to be under the thumb of a stronger vampire. There were no words for how stupid I was, but I didn’t need them. I howled, like a wolf who’d lost her mate, and I Changed to a wolf without even meaning to. Again and again I threw myself against the bars of the cage.

It was idiotic, of course, and when I finally calmed down enough to Change back, I was hungrier than ever.

Captain Bob was watching me.

“Go away,” I said, my throat raw.

“You really love him.”

“Damned right I do, and now he’s going to die because of me.”

“It’s his own hellish actions—”

“Blow it out your ass, ghost boy! If it weren’t for my wanting to go on a play date, David would never have come to the damned seminar and Angie would never have gotten near him. That makes it my fault. I suppose you’ll be right there, cheering her on. Maybe she’ll let you watch when she kills me, too.”

“She won’t kill you. As soon as the vampire is dead, she’ll let you go so you can be with your own kind.”

“What makes them my kind? It was a werewolf who nearly killed me, not a vampire. Speaking of werewolf bites, you might want to check out the ones on your neck.”

“It was a vampire—”

“I’ve seen plenty of vampire bites, and they don’t look like that. Take a good look at yourself in the mirror. Maybe your friend Carl tried to make it look like a vampire bite, but I bet even you can tell the difference between wolf teeth and vampire fangs.”

“Carl was my friend.”

“He was Dead Bob’s friend—he didn’t give two cents for Live Bob.” I threw up my hands in disgust. “Believe what you want. It’s not like I’ll be around to care. Angie won’t leave a witness.”

“Witness to what? Killing a vampire is no crime.”

“How about the other murders she’s committed?” I took a deep breath. “I can smell at least three humans who were kept in this cage, plus two of what I think were witches. Werewolves, too. What happened to them? Carl was in here, too, and you know he’s dead.”

“He was in a car accident!”

“Don’t tell me. I bet his body was completely destroyed.”

“So?”

I didn’t have the energy to argue with him, not with the scents of so many deaths seeping into my pores. I just turned my back on him, and when he came into the cage, shut my eyes and put my fingers in my ears. Eventually he got tired of talking to somebody who wasn’t in a receptive frame of mind. I waited until I was sure he was gone to cry.

Another interminable period of time passed while I tried to figure out some way I could get at Angie before she killed me, but when the lab door opened, I had nothing. I didn’t even want to look at her. I only opened my eyes when I smelled David. At first I honestly thought I was dreaming, but no dream I’ve ever had got that scent right.

I leapt up. “Is Angie . . . ? Did you . . . ?”

“She’s dead.”

“What happened?”

He didn’t answer because he was busy ripping the cage open, and after that, we were both busy for several minutes. Just having him still alive—well, as alive as I’d ever known him to be—should have been enough, but my stomach was growling constantly by that point.

“Sorry,” I said.

He just smiled and picked me up to carry me outside. Breathing the untainted nighttime air was intoxicating. In fact, the air was better than untainted. I smelled werewolves. And chicken soup!

Somebody pushed a cardboard container of hot soup into my hand, and I inhaled it. Only when I was wiping my lips with the back of my hand did I realize that it was Shannon who’d handed it to me.

Other werewolves I recognized were going into and out of Angie’s lab, which was apparently under an old barn out in the middle of nowhere. Whatever spell she’d used to hide the place had been broken.

Shannon gave me another container of soup, saying, “Remember, you’re not human. You don’t have to go slow.”

I took her at her word, and slurped down that and the next two portions without hesitating. Only then did I say, “David, I think you can put me down.”

“Must I?” he said, but did so and promptly wrapped his coat around me. I wasn’t cold, but I did appreciate having his aroma to inhale. I wasn’t sure I would ever get the stench of that cage out of my nose.

“What happened?” I asked again. “Captain Bob said you’d gone to meet Angie.”

“I did, but Angie was in no hurry. She said she just wanted to ask more questions before letting me feed from her, but I don’t believe that she ever intended for me to bite her. She thought that if she drained my blood herself and drank it, the effect would be the same.”