Chapter 24: Come with Us

It was shortly past sunset, Sunday evening, when Patricia Boyd awakened from her sleep. Her roommate, Sandra Moore, had been trying to wake her up, off and on, over the past hour. Sandra went from light knocks on Patricia’s bedroom door to hard poundings in her attempts to awaken her. When Patricia finally emerged from behind her locked door, Sandra hurried to confront her.

“You’re late for work,” Sandra exclaimed.

Patricia showed no signs that she heard Sandra’s exclamation; she was too busy sniffing the air that was wafting between them.

“And if you don’t make an appearance today, you’ll probably lose your job,” Sandra continued with a touch of hysterics.

“I’m late?” Patricia queried as though she was barely conscious.

“Yes,” Sandra insisted.

Patricia appeared to be considering her situation as she continued to wander into the living room with a downcast gaze.

“You need to get dressed,” Sandra stridently asserted.

“You know what, I don’t think I’m going in to work today,” Patricia mumbled with indifference.

“What?” Sandra countered with astonishment. “This will be the third day you didn’t go work.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Patricia returned. “I’ll call in,” she added dismissively.

“And tell them what?” Sandra loudly asked.

Patricia stopped wandering about the room to ponder Sandra’s question.

“What?” Sandra yelled again after a prolonged silence from Patricia.

“I don’t know,” Patricia responded while throwing up her hands in a display of annoyance.

Patricia took another moment to sniff in Sandra’s direction. Patricia’s odd behavior caught Sandra’s attention, and she stepped back and gave her roommate a look of dismay.

“What happened to you?” Sandra challenged. “What really happened to you, and what happened with Toby last night? He ran out of here like the building was on fire.”

“He hit me,” Patricia exclaimed with a sudden flair of anger.

“What?” Sandra asked with astonishment.

“He accused me of cheating on him, and then he hit me,” Patricia repeated with a scowl.

“And that’s why he ran out of here?” Sandra asked with skepticism.

“Ah no,” Patricia responded hesitantly. “I hit him back,” she confessed reluctantly.

Despite her hesitance, Patricia had no problem with admitting to Sandra that she hit Toby. What worried her was admitting to herself that she threw Toby across the room.

“You hit him?” Sandra asked with surprise and disbelief.

“I hit him hard,” Patricia qualified with assertiveness.

Sandra paused to consider Patricia’s reply.

“Okay then,” Sandra began with a bewildered shake of her head. “What happened with the missing days? What really happened?”

“I told you,” Patricia returned apathetically. “Some creepy guy named Jeremiah chained me to a pole in his basement.”

“That’s not what you said to the police,” Sandra disputed.

“I didn’t want to talk to the police,” Patricia shrieked. “I never told you to call the police.”

“Patricia,” Sandra shrieked. “You were missing for three days.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Patricia pushed back. “But you shouldn’t have told the police I was kidnapped. I didn’t tell you to do that.”

“Why not?” Sandra asked argumentatively. “He kidnapped you. He should be in jail.”

“I know, I know,” Patricia agreed with a shrug. “But I can’t do that.”

Patricia knew that everything Sandra was suggesting was the correct thing to do, but she could not escape the feeling that it was the wrong thing for her. Much of what occurred around Patricia in Jeremiah’s basement existed as a vague memory in her head. She remembered being hungry, tired and weak. And she remembered Jeremiah, Tony and Lola talking about her as something new, different and dangerous. But what she remembered the most was Jeremiah’s repeated warnings that the police would arrest her and never let her go if they found out what she was. That was the memory fueling her reluctance to file a complaint with the police.

“Why?” Sandra hollered. “Who is this guy?”

“He’s a regular at the diner,” Patricia tossed out with indifference. “He’s a nobody.”

“A nobody who had you chained to a pole in his basement,” Sandra said as though she was shocked to even have to say it.

“I know,” Patricia agreed as she looked down at the floor and shook her head.

Sandra examined her roommate as though she was seeing someone new and different. After several seconds of study, she raised her hand just as she was about to speak when a knock stopped her. Sandra went straight away to the apartment door and looked through the peep hole. On the other side of the door was small thin man that she had never seen before.

“Who’s there?” Sandra asked through the door.

“Is Patricia there?” The small man at the door asked.

“Who wants to know?” Sandra queried back.

“I’m looking for Patricia,” the small man asserted through the door loudly.

“That’s him,” Patricia exclaimed with outrage. “Don’t let him in.”

Sandra was surprised by Patricia’s sudden outburst and flash of temper.

“Go away or I’ll call the police,” Sandra shouted at the door as she backed away from it.

First there was a moment of silence after Sandra’s shout, then came the sound of a key jiggling into the door’s deadbolt.

“No,” Sandra yelled as she raced forward to get her hands on the door chain.

Just as Sandra’s hands reached the door it swung open and knocked her up against the wall and then down to the floor. Jeremiah rushed through the doorway, past Sandra and right up to Patricia in the living room.

“You’re coming with me,” Jeremiah commanded as he grabbed Patricia by the arm and pulled.

Patricia pulled back against Jeremiah's effort to drag her out of the apartment, and to Jeremiah's surprise, she stayed in place. Angered by the strength of her resistance, Jeremiah growled as he began to pull harder.

“I'm calling the police,” Sandra yelled as she got up from the floor, went to the apartment’s landline and picked up the receiver.

“No!” Jeremiah and Patricia simultaneously yelled out.

Sandra froze with the receiver in her hand. She was shocked to hear Patricia and the intruder simultaneously tell her to stop. She was in a state of indecision. She just stood there up against the wall and watched as they continued to struggle. During their tussle, Patricia noticed for the first time that Jeremiah did not smell like food. He was the first person she had encountered since her escape from the basement who did not smell like something she wanted to eat.

“What are you?” Patricia growled with a shocked expression.

“I’m your mate,” Jeremiah growled back.

That answer surprised Patricia, and for a moment she froze from shock. Seconds later, she awakened from her astonishment, and with one sudden twist and pull, she ripped her arms free from Jeremiah's grasp and quickly stepped back.

“What do you mean?” Patricia asked with alarm.

In that instant, Jeremiah saw an opportunity. He could see in Patricia's expression, and in her words and actions, that she was recognizing her difference from others. The idea that he might be able to lure her with words and pheromones popped into his mind.

“We're the same,” Jeremiah advised in a tone just above a whisper.

“I’m not anything like you,” Patricia snapped back with a furious glare.

“We belong together,” Jeremiah rapaciously articulated. “I know you feel it, because I feel you.”

“All I feel is disgust, asshole,” Patricia countered with a repugnant sneer.

“You’re coming with me,” Jeremiah spoke with insistence.

As Jeremiah spoke those words, he took a step forward, and Patricia lurched back in response.

“Stay the fuck away from me, creep,” Patricia scolded.

“I made you,” Jeremiah strongly pleaded. “You’re my mate.”

“You’re insane,” Patricia countered. “Stay the hell away from me,” she insisted while taking another step back.

“You can’t fight it,” Jeremiah entreated with a sly smile. “I know you feel it,” he schmoozed while inching forward. “I feel your excitement. We belong together,” he finished with a smile of satisfaction.

Patricia did feel a sexual excitement rising within her, but it had no effect on her dislike of Jeremiah.

“All I feel is disgust,” Patricia roared as she lunged forward and pushed Jeremiah away.

An instant later, Patricia was racing by Jeremiah as he was falling to the floor. Without hesitation or a look back, she ran out of the apartment, down the hallway and into the building’s stairwell. As she ran, Patricia felt as though she was running from herself more than Jeremiah. She knew, instinctively, that the sexual craving she felt was being instigated by him.

When Patricia came out of the stairwell on the ground floor, she raced to the front exit, threw open the door and ran out of the building. After completing two strides out the doorway, she was surprised by a figure that suddenly approached her from her right. Before she could react, the figure ensnared her, and she instantly realized that a tall strong man was restraining her.

“Hey, hey, hold on,” Keegan encouraged in an amiable voice.

“Let go of me,” Patricia hollered as she fought against Keegan’s hold.

“Okay, okay, I will,” Keegan assured without loosening his grasp. “Just don’t run away. Please. I just want to talk.”

Patricia continued to wrestle against Keegan’s bear hug.

“You’re still trying to run,” Keegan mildly informed.

“Okay, I won’t run, now let me go,” Patricia growled just as she stopped struggling.

“Okay,” Keegan quickly agreed while maintaining his bear hug. “Just don’t run away, okay?” he expressed with a cheerful expression. “I just want to talk.”

“I said okay,” Patricia snarled.

Keegan maintained his grasp for a couple of seconds more, and then he began relaxing his hold. When his arms were no longer overlapped around her, Patricia wrenched her shoulders out from between them, stepped away and turned around.

“Who the fuck are you?” Patricia demanded as she examined the stranger in front of her.

“I’m a friend,” Keegan quickly assured.

Patricia neither accepted nor disbelieved Keegan’s claim of friendship. What she did know was that he did not smell like food, just like Jeremiah. That fact, along with his friendly manner and exceptionally good looks was enough to intrigue her into engaging with him verbally. She was in the middle of closely examining the tall, handsome stranger when Jeremiah raced out of the building.

“Keep him away from me,” Patricia yelled as she hurried behind Keegan.

“Hold on,” Keegan called out while extending a stiff arm out toward Jeremiah.

“She’s mine,” Jeremiah growled as he came to a stop in front of Keegan. “Get out of the way.”

Jeremiah quickly moved to circle around Keegan, but his effort was thwarted when Keegan made a sidestep that blocked his path.

“Stay away,” Patricia yelled as she maneuvered to keep Keegan between her and Jeremiah.

“Back off, Jerry,” Keegan barked at Jeremiah the same moment Patricia yelled.

Keegan’s command infuriated Jeremiah. He moved to within inches of Keegan and grumbled at him with eyes that were reflecting light. For a second, Jeremiah considered lunging at Keegan with his claws and fangs bared, but fear and judgement restrained him from attacking another vampire who was nearly a foot taller than him.

“You don’t want to do that, Jerry,” Keegan gruffly warned with eyes that reflected light also.

After fuming for a few seconds, Jeremiah stepped back and softened his demeanor enough to extinguish the reflection in his eyes. A moment later, Keegan relaxed.

“She has to come with us,” Jeremiah insisted with desperation.

“I’ll take care of it,” Keegan returned softly.

Keegan gave Jeremiah a nodding gesture toward the people further down the street who were watching them. Jeremiah looked in the direction that Keegan indicated and noticed for the first time that half a dozen pair of eyes were fixed on them. After a moment, Jeremiah turned his attention back toward Keegan.

“She has to come with us, Keegan,” Jeremiah whispered with insistence.

“I’ll take care of it,” Keegan stressed in a hushed voice. “Get in the car,” he instructed Jeremiah with a gesture of his head.

Jeremiah paused for a few seconds to fume over the way this event was playing out, and then he set off for the car in a sulk. When he was seated behind the steering wheel of his late model four door BMW X4, Keegan turned about and faced Patricia.

“Are you here to kill me?” Patricia asked snidely.

“No,” Keegan returned with a baffled expression. “And neither is he,” he added with a gesture toward Jeremiah.

Patricia silently considered Keegan’s reply.

“We’re here to protect you,” Keegan added with concern.

“Why do I need protection?” Patricia asked with a mixture of anger and suspicion in her voice.

“Because,” Keegan softly spoke while taking a half step forward and crossing his hands behind his back. “Patricia,” he continued while leaning forward slightly. “You are one of us,” he finished with his voice just above a whisper.

Patricia pondered Keegan’s answer with a confused expression.

“No,” Patricia responded with a brief shake of her head. “I’m not one of anybody.”

“You know you are,” Keegan countered with assertion. “You feel it—you’re stronger—faster. You see better—hear better. All your senses are heightened.”

Patricia was made uneasy by the suggestion that she was a different person. She began shaking her head in disbelief.

“You know I’m right, Patricia,” Keegan continued to gently assert. “Everyone that you’ve come into contact with smells like food—Everyone accept me—and Jeremiah,” he softly pushed while taking a half step forward.

Patricia titled her head up slightly to get a better smell.

“It’s the smells,” Keegan acknowledged with a smile and a nod. “You’re discovering there’s a whole new universe of smells, and you can tell by my smell that we’re the same—like we’re two of a kind living on a planet full of aliens. That’s why you feel like you can trust me.”

“I don’t trust anybody,” Patricia impudently disputed.

“You know it’s true—You’re one of us—And when people who are not like us find out about you, they will lock you up just for being what you are.”

“But I’m safe with you?” Patricia asked suspiciously.

“Yes, you are,” Keegan assured with a nod of his head.

“He chained me to a pole in his basement,” Patricia stridently countered.

“No more chains,” Keegan quickly insisted with a shake of his head. “I promise. No one is going to harm you or touch you or chain you. You have my word on that,” he finished with as much sincerity as he could summon.

Patricia paused to assess Keegan. She wanted to believe him. And because he did not smell like food, it felt like she needed to be with him.

“What did he do to me?” Patricia grumbled as though she was daring Keegan to tell her the truth.

“That’s what we need to explain,” Keegan returned. “But we can’t do it here.”

“And I’m supposed to just trust you?” Patricia challenged defiantly.

“Hey, I didn’t do this to you,” Keegan earnestly pleaded. “He did it. I’m just trying to clean up his mess,” he finished with a gesture toward Jeremiah.

“So, I’m a mess that needs to be cleaned up,” Patricia shrieked accusingly.

“No, no, no,” Keegan quickly reacted. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that if the wrong people find you, then they’ll find Jeremiah, and then they’ll probably find all of us.”

Patricia’s mind locked in on the phrase all of us.

“Who’s all of us?” Patricia eagerly questioned.

“There are others like us,” Keegan confirmed. “You’ve already met a couple of us—ah, Tony and Lola. They’ll be there.”

Patricia had a clear memory of Lola. She recalled that Lola was sympathetic when she was chained to the pole, and that it was Lola who gave her something to eat when she was out of her mind with starvation. That act of kindness left an indelible impression within her.

“Lola?” Patricia mused aloud.

“Yeah, Lola. She’s one of us, and she’ll be there too,” Keegan assured cheerfully.

The thought of being in a room with Lola again gave Patricia reason to believe that there might not be any danger in going with this man. She knew that Jeremiah wanted her alive and unharmed, and she was also weighing her own curiosity about who they were and what was done to her.

“And if I come, no one will chain me or lock me up?” Patricia sternly questioned.

“No, that won’t happen,” Keegan adamantly assured. “If you come with us. I promise, no one will touch you. They’ll be no more chains. We just want to take you to a safe place to talk.”

Patricia considered Keegan and his promises for several seconds. She felt as if she could trust him, and some of that trust existed because she found him attractive. She was also motivated by the belief that she had been profoundly changed in some way. And her fear of being in danger because of that change had her weighing the pros and cons of getting inside the car.

“And what if I decide to leave?” Patricia boldly asked after a moment of thought.

“Then you can leave,” Keegan blithely returned.

Patricia folded her arms and gave Keegan a dubious look.

“And no one will try to stop me—or kill me?” Patricia quizzed with a discerning gaze.

Keegan took a moment to think about the question.

“Well, if they do, then they’ll have to kill us both,” Keegan answered with an amused expression.

Patricia paused a few seconds to scrutinize Keegan’s face.

“Promise?” Patricia asked with a scowl.

“Promise,” Keegan returned with a nod and a smile.

After studying Keegan’s expression for a few seconds more, Patricia returned his smile, rolled her eyes, then got into the back seat of Jeremiah’s car. Patricia took the seat on the passenger’s side and scrunched herself into the corner so that she was as far away from Jeremiah as possible. After Keegan got into the front passenger seat, Patricia looked up at the car’s rear-view mirror and saw Jeremiah looking back at her with a smile of satisfaction. Instantly she turned her gaze out the window.

“Patricia,” Keegan spoke as he turned halfway around in his seat. “My name is Keegan, and I want to thank you for coming. You won’t regret it. I promise.”

“Yeah, just keep him away from me, Keegan” Patricia insisted as she continued to stare out the window.

When Jeremiah began steering his BMW X4 out into the street, Sandra Moore raced out onto the sidewalk and took note of the car and its license plate. She continued to watch as the car rolled away into the distance and then turn out of sight around a corner. For several minutes after Jeremiah’s car was gone from view, Sandra stood on the sidewalk wondering if she should go back inside or wait where she was. When she finally made up her mind to return to her apartment, an NYPD Patrol car turned the corner onto the block, rolled down the street and stopped in front of her. Sandra went to it without hesitation.