Camden narrowed his eyes. “I’ll go with you.”
Rayne hopped down from the stool and placed her hand against his solid chest. “I’m capable of going to the bathroom by myself. Besides, the one we were worried about is gone.”
She really wasn’t worried, and she needed a minute to herself without Camden.
He stared at her, his jaw twitching. Reluctantly, he nodded in the direction of a hallway just past the bar.
“I’ll be right here. Don’t talk to anyone. If you see someone suspicious, get out.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes sir,” she said sarcastically.
“I’m serious,” he warned.
She nodded and straightened her clothes before heading in the direction of the hall. One of the fluorescent lights had gone out and left the corridor slightly darker than it should have been, giving it an eerie feel. It held five doors total, two on each side, and one at the very end.
Rayne approached the first set, relieved to see the female restroom sign. She tried the handle, but it was locked. Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned against the wall and waited.
This is so messed up.
She knew that it was wrong and a bad idea, but every time the opportunity to get a little closer to Camden presented itself, she couldn’t resist. As much as she tried to fight it, it seemed it was going to happen anyway. She might as well save herself the trouble and enjoy the ride.
A noise from the door at the end of the hall startled her. It sounded almost like a moan, but she wasn’t sure that she had actually heard it. Eyeing the door suspiciously, she waited for the bathroom to come open.
Seconds later, she heard it again, and this time she was sure. Creeping closer, she listened intently. Again, the moaning sound came, this time accompanied by a soft thud and rustling noises.
Rayne neared the door and noticed there was a deadbolt near the top, and a padlock was hanging open on the hinge. The moan grew louder. The only thought that came to mind was of an injured person needing help.
Removing the lock, she unbolted the heavy metal door, but paused before she attempted to open it. She stared at the silver surface and listened intently, but heard nothing else. She turned her head and pressed her ear against the cold metal. At first, there was nothing, but after a few short seconds, she heard it again.
She pushed away and struggled to pull it open enough to look inside. It was completely dark, not a trace of light to be seen. She could tell that it opened up at the top of a platform with stairs descending straight ahead. A horrible rotting smell hit her in the face and made her stomach churn.
“Ugh. What is that?” she asked herself out loud and used her arm to cover her nose.
Must be some type of basement.
She squeezed through the crack and took a few steps inside, the only light coming through the gap.
The moaning sounds were louder, and this time she could tell there was more than just one of whatever was causing it.
“Hello?”
No answer. She took a few more steps and again called out. “Anyone there?”
Suddenly, the wooden platform began to shake as if someone were running up the stairs. Her eyes widened and she began backing toward the door. Her back hit the cold metal at the same time the source of the moaning reached the narrow beam of light shining through the door.
It was a man. Rather, it was the corpse of a man. His face and body were distorted, with pieces missing here and there, and dried blood splattered his face and clothing along with some other fluids she could only imagine. Part of his jaw was missing, and it looked as though one eye was dangling from its socket.
She watched in horror as he stumbled toward her. She opened her mouth to scream, but was jerked through the opening in the door as a hand covered her mouth. She struggled against the strong arms as her captor used a free hand to shut the door and lock it.
“Shh. It’s just me,” Camden’s deep, soothing voice came.
Rayne somehow managed to rip his hand away from her mouth and backed farther away from the door. She couldn’t believe what she had just seen. “Are you kidding me?!” she nearly yelled.
Camden locked the deadbolt and turned to her.
“That was a zombie!”
Camden held up his hands to calm her, but his eyes were angry. “I told you to go straight to the bathroom and come back,” he said sternly.
She was in shock. There was no way that it was possible that she’d just seen a zombie, a moving, rotting corpse. She glared at him, her expression wide-eyed and angry in return. “There’s a zombie on the other side of that door, and you’re mad at me?” she asked incredulously.
“It’s not a zombie.”
She shook her head. “Are you blind? Then what the hell is it?!”
He tried to quiet her down. “Let me get you out of here and I’ll explain.”
She shook her head. “Vampires, zombies…What else is real that the world doesn’t know about?” She was furious. How could he possibly be mad at her when she was just nearly attacked by a dead guy?
Camden grabbed her hand and led her down the hall and out to his car. He had a lot of explaining to do.
Chapter 13
Rayne plopped down in the passenger seat of Camden’s Challenger and turned to face him as he took his place on the driver side. She waited expectantly for him to tell her just exactly what was going on, and frowned when he started the car without a word.
He pulled out of the parking lot and cut a sideways glance at her. He could only imagine what was going through her head. In less than a week, she’d found out so many truths about herself and the world.
“So?” she asked.
He smiled. “Rather impatient aren’t we?” he asked playfully.
Rayne narrowed her eyes. “Don’t give me that! I just almost got eaten by a zombie! I think I deserve a little explanation!”
This time, it was him who narrowed his eyes. “Well, if you’d listened and done as I told you, it wouldn’t have happened now, would it?”
She gave him an incredulous look. “I thought someone needed help! What was I supposed to do? Just walk away and let them die?” she nearly yelled.
He took his eyes away from the road to give her a stern look. “No, you should have come and gotten me.”
She opened her mouth to say something, but snapped it shut again. “When I heard someone needing help, I wasn’t thinking about that.”
His eyes were on the road again. “That’s just it: You weren’t thinking.”
She turned to stare out the window. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you changed the subject on me. I’m still waiting on an explanation as to what the hell that was,” she said without looking at him.
He couldn’t help but chuckle. She was feisty when she wanted to be. He sighed. “Do you remember what I told you about vampire blood?” he asked.
Rayne turned to look at him and adjusted her position so as not to crane her neck. “Yeah. Euphoric state, makes you heal faster, stronger, and extremely addictive.”
He nodded. “That’s what that was.”
Her eyebrows creased in question and she shook her head. “I’m not following you.”
Camden turned down the wooded driveway that led to the gate outside of his house. “What you saw was a vampire blood addict.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re going to have to clarify that one some more,” she said. “Because what I saw in there, and what almost attacked me, mind you, was one hundred percent, without a doubt, zombie.”
He stopped the car outside the gate and rolled down the window to punch in the security code. The iron gates swung open, and he pulled inside. “Vampire blood is so addictive, that the normal human body will begin to show symptoms of withdrawal before the current ‘high’ wears off,” he said, using his fingers in air quotes. “Meaning, you can still feel the effects of the blood in your system, but your brain goes into panic mode looking for more.”
Rayne nodded and unbuckled her seat belt as he stopped the car in front of the massive house. She climbed out and waited for him to join her.
“Ok. I understand so far,” she said and followed him up the front steps.
“Once the brain stays in survival mode for a while, it takes it up to the next level.” He opened the door, ushered her in, and locked it behind her. “It now only cares about vampire blood. Nothing else matters. Self-preservation, fear, free will, none of it even exists to this brain anymore.”
She nodded. It was making sense so far, as much as it could, anyway. He’d said before how addictive it was, but she never dreamed she’d see it in action.
“After a while, it doesn’t recognize the difference between regular humans and vampires. It only sees blood. Doesn’t matter what kind of blood, just as long as it is.”
Now it’s making a little more sense.
That was why the thing came after her. It just wanted blood, and she was the only thing moving.
“The lack of proper nutrients to the body causes it to decay, usually very quickly. But the effects of the vampire blood last a while, so even though the body is decaying, it is still moving, breathing, and eating because of its healing effects.”
“That actually makes sense,” she said, looking at the ground in deep thought. “I mean, as much as vampires and zombies could, I guess.”
He laughed.
Rayne’s eyebrows furrowed in question. “So what happens after the vampire blood has completely worn off?”
He held up a hand and tilted it from side to side as he winced. “Death, but that’s where it gets a little more complicated.”
“Aha! One of the ‘complicated’ things you talked about the other night.”
Camden nodded. They both stood at the foot of the stairs in the foyer of the house, talking. Neither of them seemed keen on leaving the conversation just yet. “It would be easier to understand if you knew how vampires worked.”
She stared at him intently. She hadn’t noticed until that moment that she wasn’t feeling quite as nervous around him anymore. She was able to be in his presence and hold a full conversation with him without swooning or drooling.
Maybe kissing him has gotten it out of my system.
She didn’t dwell on the thought. She was far more interested in learning more. She moved to the stairs and motioned for him to follow. “Keep going, I’m listening,” she said, as she led him up to the second floor, down the hall, and into her room.
Rayne moved to the dresser and pulled out a pair of shorts and a tank top, what she normally slept in. After watching him take a seat on the edge of her bed, she entered the bathroom and left the door open just a crack so she still could hear him.
“First, a person cannot become a vampire just by being bitten. There is a little science to it.”
“Uh huh,” she said from the bathroom.
“It sort of has to do with genetics.”
Rayne emerged from the bathroom now wearing her pajamas and with her toothbrush still in hand. Her long auburn hair was pulled into a messy bun on top of her head, and she pointed the slender stick at him. “You mean like only certain people can become vampires?”
He shook his head and couldn’t help but notice the way the tight clothing clung to her slender body. “No. I mean in the way that a species of animal can only reproduce with another of its own species. No cross-breeding.” He stumbled over some of the words and had to force himself to look away from her.
“I’m lost. You have to have sex in order to become a vampire?” She began brushing her teeth.
He laughed and shook his head, frustrated at not explaining it correctly.
“No,” he sighed and clasped his hands together in thought. “I mean cells of one species can only bond with another of the same species. A vampire biting you will not turn you, because although we come from the same place, our cells are much more advanced than yours, and the venom we secrete can’t bond with your cells.”
“Venom?” she asked. “You actually have venom?” she asked around her toothbrush, white foam at the corners of her mouth as she disappeared back into the bathroom.
Camden nodded. “That’s why all the old myths tell it as just being bitten turns you. It was originally thought by the few humans that knew the truth, that the venom did it.”
He could hear the sink running and off again before she emerged and sat on the bed across from him. Again, he had to keep his mind focused on the conversation at hand and not her beauty.
Rayne watched him expectantly. She couldn’t explain it. She was no longer that bubbly, bumbling, klutz around him. Of course, she was still all too aware of his presence and how gorgeous he was, but it was as if her body had gotten used to his effects on her.
“In order for the transformation to happen, a few things have to happen. First, a vampire has to drink a fair amount of your blood. Then, after he drinks your blood, you have to turn around and drink his.”
“How do you even know all of this?” she asked, interrupting him.
Camden laughed. “Well, I’m a vampire, and it’s in a book of our history.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You have your own history book?” she asked, her hands folded neatly in her lap as she leaned against the pillows.
“There’s only a few left in the world, but I have one, yes. I’ll let you read it sometime. It’s actually pretty interesting.”
She gestured for him to continue on. “Why does it have to be done that specific way?”
“Like I said, our bodies and cells are much more advanced, so once we ingest human blood, it becomes a part of us. Our advanced cells can actually mutate the blood cells to closely match our own without completely destroying the human genome in them. When the human drinks the blood of the vampire afterwards, they are ingesting cells that carry a mixture of their own DNA and the vampire’s DNA. The human body recognizes its own genes, and reabsorbs it into the body. The vampire portion of these new cells then can replicate themselves into other cells, and after a period of a few days, they have multiplied inside the new host to the point that it eventually eradicates the human portion, and the host becomes a vampire.”
Rayne blew out a huff of air. “Geez. I feel like I just went through biology class all over again.”