The Cowboy and Vampire (Page 20)

"Darling, you look fantastic."

"Are you sure? I don't need just a little more eye shadow? I'm never sure if I have too much or too little. You'd think all my time on stage would have given me more skill with makeup, but I guess I'll have lots of time to practice now, you know, with it being eternity and..." Mathilda babbled.

"That purple shade is just stunning on you," interrupted Sully as he leaned down to kiss her lightly on the cheek.

"You're sweet."

"I'm so excited about tonight. I have the most delicious target."

"Who, Sully? Tell me."

"First, let's move to the balcony. It's a perfectly lovely night and I have a bottle of champagne waiting."

"Champagne?"

"Yes, precious, we're celebrating tonight, are we not? It's your first full year under my tutelage. Sadly, you'll be moving on shortly. Has Lazarus told you where your next assignment is?" Mathilda gasped in response, so unexpected was this news. He gave her no time to respond, however, ushering her through the apartment toward the balcony as he continued. "No, no, not another word. Wait for the champagne and then I can tell you absolutely everything."

The elegant uptown apartment belonged to Sully Unlike many Vampires in Lazarus' tribe, Sully enjoyed standing out in manner and dress. He was small, tiny really with a shock of thick, wavy blond hair, but no facial hair. Rather, he was childlike in appearance, almost angelic looking, pale skin with tender features. Unfortunately, his sweet blue eyes were covered by thick, horn-rimmed glasses. He was, in fact, nearly blind, but managed, nevertheless, to move through the world more confidently than most.

The balcony like the rest of the apartment, was immaculately cared for, an extension of the grandeur of the adjacent dining room.

Sully had spent the last thirty years lovingly caring for this garden, largely to pass time during this tedious Manhattan posting. He had artfully arranged various plants to create a cloistered feeling so that the city down below was nearly nonexistent while the sky above was wonderfully overwhelming. Many of the plants were quite exotic and some even deadly There were countless varieties of blooming potted orchids that Sully replaced weekly with fresh blooms from a greenhouse devoted just to his pleasure. On the balcony he had also planted hemlock, belladonna, Venus fly traps, bittersweet nightshade, baneberry, death camas root, foxglove, sumac, lupine, and many other deadly varieties. The plants had been carefully chosen to reflect the trivial nonsense that Adamites believed about Vampires. Sully loved to watch the mortals he lured here react to his plants. It was such a delicious way to lay the foundations of suspicion, which later would blossom into terror. Of course, by that time, it would hardly matter anymore. Lazarus knew of his gardening interest and periodically had Vampires from around the world send Sully magnificent seeds from the gardens of Europe and elsewhere that Sully meticulously and lovingly nurtured. This time of year it was a bit cool to use the garden, but tonight was unseasonably warm and Sully thought it might be the last chance for a while.

As Sully uncorked the Dom Perignon, he thought about how to break the news to Mathilda that she would be moving on to her next Master. Lazarus had contacted him last evening to say that events were transpiring quickly and there was no room in the scenario for the naivete of a recently turned Vampire. He wished there were time for a few more lessons in the sophisticated hunt - it was so crucial to a balanced lifestyle. Sometimes he pitied new turns like Mathilda, still at the very earliest stages of understanding the craft of the hunt. They were forced to rely solely on their still crude and evolving instincts to ferret out the Adamites who possessed that particular brand of evil that emitted a scent so familiar to the undead. Their absence, these mortals, benefited the world and helped maintain the intricate balance between good and evil.

"Drink, my dear, to your very successful first year," Sully toasted her.

Mathilda, as a recently turned Vampire, was going through the very extensive training required by Lazarus. The first year was often difficult, the reason Lazarus matched young Vampires with Elders, rather like an apprentice to a master or a savior to a disciple. Absolute obedience and submission were required and every need of the young recruit was seen to, from how to hunt to drying tears when an Adamite family member was missed, to correcting their occasional overzealousness. Once the initial adjustment was made, the real purpose, of the training was to teach a young Vampire their role in the world and to pass on the moral codes from the Bible, balancing impulse with purpose. Lazarus and his adherents believed strongly in the Original Purpose of Vampires, the purpose laid down in the Garden of Eden.

Silly Adamites, thought Sully, why live by the notion of an Original Sin when an Original Purpose is so much more compelling.

Their purpose was to embody evil, literally, by devouring its flesh, sucking its life-blood, watching it writhe in agony, containing it.

It was a noble pursuit, protecting the Adamites from themselves.

"I've been tracking my latest victim for nearly four weeks. He's a banker, so he says, but really he's just a tawdry con-artist.

Yesterday, he convinced a sweet old woman to invest $6,000 toward an ostensible real estate venture in Phoenix. What a fraud.

After the check cleared, he immediately wired it to a personal account in Weehawken, New Jersey. He's been pulling the same scam for about two years now and has bilked countless seniors out of their hard-saved money. He has over $300,000 in that account alone."

"How did you find all this out?"

"I broke his security clearance on his internet banking system and put a bug in his car to trace phone communications."

"But how did you spot him at first?"

"The same way you young-uns spot the petty criminals, liars, potential rapists."

"Young-uns?" Mathilda interrupted.

"Forgive my colloquialisms. I'm practicing a new dialect at Lazarus' instruction. What was I saying? Oh, yes. I spot the evil with my instinct. I smell it, just like you. But with more years of training, your sense of smell matures. With this refinement, you will be able to sense a less gruesome, but perhaps more deadly, type of evil in your Adamite prey."

"Like last week. You took that man who was poised to rape his teenaged daughter."

"Exactly. He was quite simple, really. I first scented his evil during a stroll along Madison Avenue where he was shopping with his daughter. I followed him for only two hours, observing his interactions with her. Even a well-adjusted Adamite probably could have predicted that one."

"His daughter will now live a better life. All because of you, Sully" Sully hardly heard her, momentarily lost inside his fantasies about his later rendezvous with the banker. He smiled gleefully, like a little boy, and clapped his hands together in anticipation.

"Now, my dear, enough about me, did you take your snack earlier? You know you are not strong enough yet to control your urges. You must drink the packaged blood at least four times a night."

"Yes, Sully."

"And this evening?"

"I'm going to the nightclub again. I enjoyed that immensely."

"Good choice." Sully refilled her fluted crystal glass. "You will enjoy your new Master, or rather Mistress. She has led an extraordinary life. Make sure she tells you her stories from the Sun King's reign at Versailles. What a deliciously evil time."

Mathilda stuck out her lower lip.

"You will be leaving for Paris tomorrow, my dear," Sully went on.

"I was supposed to be with you for ten years. Are you displeased with me? Why can't I stay with you here? I love you, Sully No one has ever been kinder to me."

"Don't sulk, sweetheart. If you promise to smile, I'll tell you a secret."

"Oh, Sully," she exclaimed, "I love secrets. And you know I can keep a secret well."

Yes, I know, thought Sully, that's one of the reasons Lazarus chose to turn you. That and to contribute to his pet theater project in London's east side. She was indeed a fine actress. Sully unceremoniously downed his champagne and threw his glass onto the floor, startling Mathilda with the shattering glass.

"I just love to do that," he said, giggling. "Oh, the time. I must be off. I have to attend my church service before I meet my banker."

"Sully, you promised me a secret," pouted Mathilda, the sound of her high heels striking the pavement lost in the slam of the door as it shut behind him.