Vampires

"Geez, I thought I was never going to get out of there. Have you ordered?"

Alex Stanislaski looked up as his partner sank down in the chair opposite. "Yeah, I told them to wait until you got here before they served it." He raised one lightly tanned hand to the roving waitress and indicated Ben's arrival. The waitress nodded and disappeared into the kitchen before coming over to them with a fresh pot of coffee.

"Ah, that smells good," Ben commented as he smelt the rich aroma of the coffee. "Maggie, your coffee is like the nectar of the gods."

"And your tongue always sounds as though it's been kissing the blarney stone," she retorted in her lilting brogue. With a twinkling smile she turned and retreated to the cafe's counter where the next order was waiting.

Ben took a long drink of his coffee and sighed deeply. "I needed that, this morning. Captain Davies wants our reports on the evening's activities as soon as possible. He's also dropping hints about us seeing the department shrink after the recent traumatic events."

Alex snorted as he reached for the cream. "Traumatic events? I think the good captain should get out from behind his desk more often and then he would realise that tonight's events are practically normal rather than traumatic."

"Here, here." Ben grabbed a roll and started to butter it.

Maggie delivered their food and a comfortable silence descended between the two men whilst they ate. Coming to the diner for their breakfast after finishing the night shift had been a tradition for the past five years since they had discovered it. The food served was a hundred times better than the food in the station canteen and it was quiet at this early hour with just a handful of regulars, mainly truck drivers, having breakfast.

"Alex, can I ask you something?"

Alex looked across at his friend, one black eyebrow raised in silent query. "Ask away."

Ben looked down at his coffee cup as though gathering up the courage to voice his question. "I was helping Mikey with his homework over the weekend. He's studying Dracula in his English class and had a load of questions. Anyway, whilst I was helping him, it occurred to me that all I really know about vampires is what I see on the television. I know from working with you that you don't disintegrate in sunlight and you definitely like to eat normal food."

"What do you want to know?" Alex had been waiting for this to happen. He had always hidden his real identity from those around him. Ben was one of the few who had seen that he was different from others. He had never said anything, seeming to know that Alex would explain things to him when the time was right.

"Whatever you want to tell me."

"I am a vampire. My family is one of the oldest and can trace its lineage to when the first records were kept. We are known as pure vampires because we are born into vampirism. Pures can walk in daylight, although it does weaken us, we can eat and drink normal food. Silver and garlic do not harm us nor does a cross or holy water."

"Wow, I never knew that. But, if that's the case, where did the media get their ideas about killing vampires? It's always the case that if you want to kill one, just get a stake or some silver or show them a cross or splash them with holy water."

"That comes from those that are not pure. Some vampires like to convert humans to the vampire race. The trouble is, if not converted properly, then a human can become a monster, out of control, rather than a member of our world." Alex took a long drink of his coffee before continuing. "The drinking of blood is what provides us with our longevity and our rapid healing. For a proper conversion, pure vampire blood must be used and it must be introduced to the human carefully so that the body can accept blood and use it in the future. If it is not done correctly then the converted vampire will constantly crave blood. His body will react to the blood, creating toxins, causing sensitivity to light. Silver, as you know, has healing properties that react to their blood, often with fatal consequences. Garlic also causes fatal reactions in their blood. Holy water is just a creation of the media."

"Is it just converted vampires who crave blood or can pures crave it as well?" Ben thought back to the events of the evening, the strange look on Alex's face when they had found the body.

"Drinking blood is like drinking a rich, red wine. You enjoy the fruity aroma, the rich taste as it flows over the palette, the warmth as it descends down into your stomach, the high from the alcohol as it hits your bloodstream. Most people, when they have finished their of wine, will throw the bottle away and reflect on how nice the wine was. Some will get another bottle, and another and another because they can't get enough of that high. It becomes an obsession for them and they become an alcoholic. Just as an ancient can become obsessed with the need for blood."

Ben looked at Alex, seeing the seriousness in his silver eyes, knowing that an ancient becoming obsessed with blood was a worrying problem, more dangerous than a converted one running unchecked around the streets.

"Is that what you think happened tonight, at the warehouse?"

"Yes, the kill was too neat for it to have been done by a convert. This had skill and finesse, brought on by years of experience." He looked through the window, not seeing the early morning traffic as another working day got under way. "Somewhere out there is an ancient gone rogue and we have to find him before his obsession becomes a full time problem."

"Well, I guess we'd better find him and get him signed up for Blood Drinkers Anonymous before he goes on a major binge." Ben drained his coffee in a long drink. "You going to be alright with this one, Alex?"

Alex smiled slightly. Alright? He wouldn't be alright until this rogue vampire had been captured and dealt with. A pure who went rogue always caused shockwaves in the vampire community. Their effects could be long lasting, especially if the vampire came from a respected lineage.

"I'll be fine. I'll talk to some of the elders and see you tonight with what I find out. This is going to be a tough case."

Ben nodded in agreement, hoping that it wasn't too hard on his friend. Vampire or not, Alex was his friend as well as partner and he always looked out for his friends.