Bloody Valentine: Rex Carlton Mysteries, #1

Chapter 1

BICYCLING WAS SOMETHING new to Rex Carlton. Ever since he watched a special on PBS about the environment, he knew that sitting alone in his apartment was not the answer. Rex was thirty-years-old, with curly brown hair that grew into an afro, so he kept it cut short. He is five-foot-six and hasn’t kept in shape. He spends his workdays sitting at a desk at Smith Manufacturing in Buffalo, New York and hates his job.

Rex was in a severe rut after his relationship with Tina went sour. Even his strange neighbor Ed Neumann couldn’t help Rex get out of the funk. He spent weeks binge-watching British shows on Netflix and eating take-out pizza and wings. Then he watched that television show on PBS and knew that he needed a change. The career in tech he thought he loved was not what he wanted to do. Dealing with incompetent coworkers was the thing that he despised most.

It was a warm Friday in June, and he was pedaling to a job interview in downtown Buffalo on a beat-up bike he picked up over the weekend at Goodwill. Eight of the ten speeds still worked, and the seat was a bit hard, but he figured his butt would get used to it.

As he rode, he thought about every reason he should leave his job. I almost got fired more than once. Like when I’ve said more than I should to fellow employees. Or when that idiot engineer knocked over the PC sitting under his desk and said he had no idea why it wouldn’t turn on. I can’t deal with that level of incompetence anymore.

He stopped at a traffic light on Delaware Avenue, put his feet down, and panted like a dog. His chest hurt, but he had an adrenaline rush. He thought about the person he despised the most, vice president of sales Edie Randolph. She almost got him fired. Twice. One time she left a nasty voicemail, and after listening to it, he immediately called her back to tell her off. Luckily, she wasn’t in her office, or he was pretty sure he would have been fired.

A car horn blared, and Rex woke from his daydream. Yeah, yeah, he yelled, and waved his hand as he jumped on the seat, and started to pedal.

Maybe this is what I was destined to do. Then he laughed out loud. Destined seems to be a loaded word. I thought I was intended to work in IT, too. Too bad I hate idiots.

Shoot, he said as he neared downtown. What was the address of this place? He racked his brain but could only remember that it was on Pearl Street. Well, he announced, I’m just gonna ride down until I see it. I’m early enough.

Rex coasted down Pearl Street glancing back and forth at the buildings. Eventually, he located the one he was looking for. There was a small sign on the glass door indicating what was inside. The office sat between a drug store and the loading dock to a former department store.

He hopped off his bike and almost fell. He looked around. He didn’t think anyone noticed. Then he fumbled with the u-lock he purchased at Dicks Cycle on his way downtown. He finally got it wrapped around the bike frame and a parking meter.

Inside the office, Gerry Cortez chuckled as he watched Rex’s foibles.

After he took off his helmet, Rex exhaled loudly and headed into the office.

Welcome! Gerry said. I take it you’re Rex?

Yes.

Hi, I’m Gerry. Welcome to Zippee Messengers!

Thanks, he said, and they shook hands.

You had a few problems out there, didn’t you?

Shoot, you saw that? Rex cringed.

Gerry laughed. Oh yeah. No worries. Come on over, and have a seat.

Rex was still nervous, but after meeting Gerry, he felt more at ease.

Chapter 2

VAMPIRES. THE WORD conjures images of Nosferatu and the blood-sucking Dracula. Literature is littered with the remains of them, from Lestat to Twilight. But these are all make-believe. Sure, they scare people and cause panic among some, but they are nothing like real vampires.

Modern vampires aren’t allergic to garlic. Sure, wooden stakes to heart would kill them, but they would kill any human. They don’t live for hundreds of years. That’s all lore and fairy tales.

All these self-identified vampires have one thing in common: they all believe they are real vampires. Many met in online message boards or AOL or Yahoo chat rooms, and email groups or Reddit. They often network through themed gatherings like S&M, and bondage events. They attended Dark Shadows conventions, and often dress in Gothic-style clothing.

Yes, these vampires all have different needs. They don’t suck blood from mammals. Some do believe they need to drink blood, though. Others are attracted to psychic energy. Sexual attraction and flirting are enough for some, while full sexual intercourse feeds the needs of others. To make it easier for the blood drinkers, they use medical personnel and blood donors who are screened for diseases.

There is a coven in Buffalo where a handful of vampires cohabitate. Thana was once part of the coven. She is petite with red hair, and at one time she was the partner of the coven leader, Ambrogio. She still regrets the events that led to her banishment. It has been five years but still hurts like it was yesterday.

In Buffalo, most of the coven sleep in beds, but a few choose to sleep in coffins. Thana is one of the latter. Ever since she was a little girl, she knew she was different. Her parents would buy her gender-specific toys like dolls and purses. But she wanted dark toys, monsters, vampires.

Her parents were never on good terms with each other and were always at each other’s throat. From as early as she can remember, only two things made her feel safe: sleeping in her dark closet, and the taste of blood. As an adult, sleeping in a coffin made her feel safe, away from the evils of the outside world.

The first time she cut her finger she instinctively sucked the cut. She felt a sudden wave of pleasure she had never felt before. It was unusual, mainly since she was only four. Her body flushed warm, and she forgot the pain in her finger.

The next time she cut herself, she did it again and realized that when the blood touched her tongue, she felt that pleasure. It was something the young child did not comprehend, but she knew she wanted that feeling more often.

By the time she turned five her parents had split up. The feeling she received from tasting blood made her forget her unhappy childhood. Sleeping in her closet gave her the security her mother never provided.

Thana’s mother was promiscuous, bringing home a new man every week. When she was older, she wondered whether her mother was a whore, and got paid for the sex she had. Thana hit puberty at an early age, and some of the men her mother brought home noticed. She liked to tease them by walking from her room to the bathroom in only a bra and panties.

One time, one of the men followed her and pushed his way into the bathroom. He proceeded to rape her while her mother was either sleeping or drunk or both. He kept his hand over her mouth until she agreed to stay quiet. He came within a minute.

As he was zipping up his pants, Thana slashed him on the hand with a pair of scissors. He slapped her across the face, and his blood touched her lips. This was the first time she had tasted another human’s blood. She immediately flushed and felt a surge of anger course through her body. The man saw this change in her, and quickly left the bathroom, and ran out of the house. She had finally found what gave her energy, and power over others, and she was not going to stop.

Ambrogio and Thana met at a leather shop one day while they were both browsing the store. Something about him, the way he dressed, the way he walked, she was attracted to him.

He approached her, sensing the energy that she possessed. After some small talk, they left together. It was he who introduced her to the Buffalo coven and brought her into the world she knew. He gave her the name Thana, which means death, as he felt he saved her when they met.

From him, she learned that she was a Sanguinarian vampire, as she fed on blood to give her energy. Ambrogio, however, was a Psi vampire, since he fed off the life force energy