Vampires on a Train
Date: 04.11.2007
Keywords: on, Vampires, a, Train,
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The wheel clicked reassuringly on the track
The waiter brought their food: roast beef for him, poached fish for her. Sarah put her napkin in her lap and gazed longingly at his meal for a moment.
"I'm sorry," he said. "You're not happy with your fish? Would you like some of my beef?" It was a terribly bold thing to suggest, but he hardly expected it would be remarked by a girl who was so at ease with four-letter words.
"Oh, no, no." She shook her head and picked up her knife and fork. "Marissa just keeps close watch on me. She won't let me have red meat except on very rare occasions. It's the one thing I miss. That and men, of course."
The food gave him time to think. His original plan had been to find them in their compartment during the day and take care of things then and there. That was the way he'd always operated, and a vampire in his coffin was a pitiful thing, hardly more than a hollow husk, and easily dispatched. But these two were involved in some seductive game that fascinated him.
Sarah was entirely human as far as he could tell, one of those sad, misguided souls who were attracted to what they saw as the romance of the vampire. Marissa herself couldn't be very old as far as vampires went. She was still far too human, without that dry, insect-like vacuity that came to all vampires with age, to the point where they lost all capacity for feeling or emotion and became the dry, lifeless husks that existed for nothing but to feed. These were the ones he usually dealt with: easy to loathe, a pleasure to kill.
But this was intriguing. Sarah was young, beautiful, and seductive, and he was drawn to her. He had gone too long without any real human contact. That he should now find it with the companion of a vampire was an irony that wasn't lost on him. When she openly suggested that they meet after dinner in the privacy of his compartment, looking directly into his eyes and subtly licking the rim of her glass, he wasn't surprised.
He met her gaze, but inwardly he was trembling. "You're joking," he said, pretending to be shocked. He hated to disappoint her.
She smiled at him, a smile more overtly sexual than any he'd received so far. "No, Ted. I wouldn't want you to get the wrong impression of me, but in this case, why not? We're both adults. We know what we want, and attractive, liberal-minded men such as yourself are in such short supply. Why shouldn't we?"
He felt the thrill of danger and the lure of attraction in equal measures. "I can't think of a single reason."
Sarah smiled and returned to her meal, and the conversation drifted on to other, more innocent things, but all the while Ted's mind was racing over plans and stratagems. He was surprised to find that he wanted her, wanted her badly. It was a feeling he hadn't experienced in months.
The meal over, Sarah sat back with a contented sigh and finished her wine. "There is one thing I should mention," she said. "I have to clear it with Marissa first, but I know she won't mind. She might even want to join us, or at least watch. Is that all right?"
He'd expected that and he smiled. "You are a strange couple, aren't you?"
"Yes," she said, pleased to be scandalizing him. She leaned forward to give him a good view of the deep cleavage between her ripe young breasts. "I told you. We're not like those other women. Then you've no objections?"
"No," he said, though this complicated matters.
"Good, then I'll just— Oh, no need. Here's Marissa now. Perfect timing."
He turned just in time to catch the swirl of black as the other woman approached their table. From a distance, she had appeared rather severe, an effect no doubt enhanced by the round blue lenses that covered her eyes, but now, gazing down at the remains of their meal and the empty bottle, her face was open and friendly. She was smiling, and she was devastatingly beautiful—her face pure and angelic.
"Well, how was the meal, Sarah? Fish was it?"
Ted stood, rather too quickly. The train lurched and he almost lost his balance, causing the women to laugh.
"Marissa, this is Ted— Gregory, was it? Yes. Ted Gregory, and Ted, this is Marissa Boros, my teacher and lover."
He smiled, trying to keep his composure while acting suitably shocked at Sarah's words.
Marissa took his hand. Hers was cool and smooth. He detected nothing of the mature vampire's leathery strength.
"Forgive me the dark glasses, Mr. Gregory. A touch of conjunctivitis, I'm afraid."
"Oh, I'm so sorry. But think nothing of it. Sarah's been telling me all about you. Please, sit. Should I order another bottle? Would you like something to eat?"
Marissa smiled and gestured for him to sit as she took a chair. "Thank you, no. I'm on a rather strict fast." She settled into her chair and resumed the conversation. "So she's been talking about me? Naughty girl. She loves to talk, this one. All lies, no doubt. Just what did she say?"
Before Ted could answer, Sarah chimed in. "I was just telling Ted I wanted to take him to bed. Would that be all right?"
Marissa didn't bat an eye. She studied Ted out of the sides of her glasses. "She's an excitable girl, but we're really quite open with our sexuality. I hope she didn't embarrass you?"
Ted shook his head vigorously and Marissa smiled. She turned to Sarah. "I think it would depend on how Mr. Gregory feels about it."
"Ted, please." He corrected. "As for me, yes, it would be fine. It would be more than fine. Wonderful is more like it! And may I add how terribly refreshing it is to find two such fetching women who take such a sensible and refreshing view of such matters."
They laughed again, companionably. The waiter came by and slid the check to Ted. The car was starting to fill up with regular diners now, and the waiter, unusually solicitous, asked Marissa once more if she was sure she wouldn't dine, but again she begged off.
Ted took the opportunity to study her. She was more mature and womanly than Sarah, but that was more a matter of temperament than one of years, and her sense of sophistication was all the more attractive for being set off by a face that was both girlish and classically beautiful, with fine, regular features and a strikingly clear complexion, although unusually pale. And there was something else—a haunting sadness, some hidden sorrow he had never heard of in one of her kind, usually devoid of any emotion.
She was a shape-shifter of course, and could appear as whatever she liked, but even so the form she chose to show the world said much about her inner nature. Marissa chose to present herself as a woman of almost ethereal beauty, of a kind that nearly transcended the sexual. It was terribly clever, to hide such evil behind such an angelic face.
He looked at her nails and saw that the moons didn't show, the beds were white, and it struck him that she was starving. He'd seen it before in vampires deprived of food. She should be feeding well on Sarah's blood—he assumed that was what the girl's choker was for, to hide the marks—but for some reason she was not availing herself of the blood available, but intentionally starving herself. That would explain the slow grace with which she moved as well. She was weak, even dying perhaps. Strangely he felt his heart going out to her.
"Sarah tell me you're her teacher," he said, once the waiter had left.
"Oh yes," Marissa said proudly. "I've taught her almost everything she knows. She's a very good student, too. Shall I show you?"
Without awaiting an answer, she plucked a grape from Sarah's plate. "Sarah?" she asked, as one speaks to a pet about to perform a clever trick. "Open," and when the girl opened her mouth, Marissa placed the grape on her tongue.
"Watch," Marissa said. "She has a truly exquisite mouth."
Sarah sat with eyes closed, her mouth working behind her closed lips. In a moment she opened her mouth and extended her tongue, and there sat the grape, glistening and gelid, neatly and completely peeled.
"Wonderful, isn't she? Can you imagine what else that mouth can do?" Marissa took the grape in her fingers and showed it to him. Her nails were long and exquisitely manicured, but still, there was that paleness beneath then.
"You can have her," Marissa said, "But only if I can watch."
He looked at Sarah, but now that Marissa had joined them, she was silent, her eyes on the tablecloth in front of her, a child in the presence of her elders.
He cleared his throat uneasily. "You want to watch?"
He could see the glitter of her eyes even behind her glasses. "If you're good, I might join in. And you look like you'll be rather good. Is that satisfactory?"
He nodded.
"Good. What's your compartment number?"
For a moment, he couldn't think. Marissa was terribly beautiful, more beautiful than he'd expected, even after he'd seen her board the train.
"Seventeen," he managed at last.
She stood up. "Very well. Give us some time to refresh ourselves, and we'll meet you there. Sarah? Up."
Ted stood up as Sarah rose and smiled demurely at him. It was all too bizarre, too perfect. His heart was thudding in his chest as he caught the scent of Marissa's perfume, wild and sensuous. He'd never known a vampire to wear scent.
"See you soon," Marissa said, and then she turned and walked back through the dining car, Sarah following in her wake without so much as a glance back.
Ted signed the check, his hands shaking. He left a generous tip, and then made his way quickly back to his compartment. He didn't have much time.
Once inside, he took down his black valise from the luggage rack, laid it on the old-fashioned bench seat, and opened the locks. He rummaged around inside, pushing aside the mirrors and crucifixes and vials of holy water till he found the stakes. The simple one made of Linden wood would do for Sarah if it came to that, but he didn't think it would.
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Keywords: on, Vampires, a, Train,