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Bloody Bones :: Гамильтон Лорел
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"What about next time?" he asked.
"There won't be a next time."
"You aren't getting rid of me that easy," he said.
I hoped the darkness hid the smile on my face. I kept it small.
"Tell me about vampires, Anita. I thought a vampire couldn't drink enough blood in one night to kill somebody."
"Pretty to think so," I said.
"They told us in college that a vampire couldn't drain a human being with one bite. Are you saying that's not true?"
"They can't drink a human dry with one bite, in one night, but they can drain one with one bite."
He frowned at me. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"They can pierce the flesh and drain the blood without drinking it."
"How?" he asked.
"Just put the fangs in, start the blood flow, and let the blood fall down your body onto the ground."
"But that's not taking blood for food, that's just murder," Larry said.
"And your point is?" I said.
"Hey, isn't that our turnoff?"
I caught a glimpse of the road sign. "Damn." I slowed down, but couldn't see over the crest of the hill. I didn't dare U-turn until I was sure there were no cars coming the other way. It was another half mile before we came to a gravel road. There was a row of mailboxes beside the road.
Trees grew so close to the road that even winter-bare they covered the one-lane road in shadows. There was no place to turn around. Hell, if a second car had come, one of us would have had to back up.
The road rose up and up, as if it were going to go straight into the sky. At the crest of the hill I could see nothing in front of the car. I had to simply trust that there was more road in front of us, rather than some endless precipice.
"Jesus, this is steep," Larry said.
I eased the Jeep forward and the tires touched road. My shoulders loosened just a little. There was a house just up ahead. The porch light was on, like they were expecting company. The bare light bulb was not kind. The house was unpainted wood with a rusting tin roof. Its raised porch sagged under the weight of the front seat of a car that was sitting by the screen door. I turned around in the dirt in front of the house that passed for a front yard. It looked like we weren't the first car to do it. There were deep wheel ruts in the powder-dry dirt from years of cars turning in and out.
By the time we got down to the end of the road, the darkness was pure as velvet. I hit the Jeep's high beams, but it was like driving in a tunnel. The world existed only in the light; everything else was blackness.
"What about next time?" he asked.
"There won't be a next time."
"You aren't getting rid of me that easy," he said.
I hoped the darkness hid the smile on my face. I kept it small.
"Tell me about vampires, Anita. I thought a vampire couldn't drink enough blood in one night to kill somebody."
"Pretty to think so," I said.
"They told us in college that a vampire couldn't drain a human being with one bite. Are you saying that's not true?"
"They can't drink a human dry with one bite, in one night, but they can drain one with one bite."
He frowned at me. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"They can pierce the flesh and drain the blood without drinking it."
"How?" he asked.
"Just put the fangs in, start the blood flow, and let the blood fall down your body onto the ground."
"But that's not taking blood for food, that's just murder," Larry said.
"And your point is?" I said.
"Hey, isn't that our turnoff?"
I caught a glimpse of the road sign. "Damn." I slowed down, but couldn't see over the crest of the hill. I didn't dare U-turn until I was sure there were no cars coming the other way. It was another half mile before we came to a gravel road. There was a row of mailboxes beside the road.
Trees grew so close to the road that even winter-bare they covered the one-lane road in shadows. There was no place to turn around. Hell, if a second car had come, one of us would have had to back up.
The road rose up and up, as if it were going to go straight into the sky. At the crest of the hill I could see nothing in front of the car. I had to simply trust that there was more road in front of us, rather than some endless precipice.
"Jesus, this is steep," Larry said.
I eased the Jeep forward and the tires touched road. My shoulders loosened just a little. There was a house just up ahead. The porch light was on, like they were expecting company. The bare light bulb was not kind. The house was unpainted wood with a rusting tin roof. Its raised porch sagged under the weight of the front seat of a car that was sitting by the screen door. I turned around in the dirt in front of the house that passed for a front yard. It looked like we weren't the first car to do it. There were deep wheel ruts in the powder-dry dirt from years of cars turning in and out.
By the time we got down to the end of the road, the darkness was pure as velvet. I hit the Jeep's high beams, but it was like driving in a tunnel. The world existed only in the light; everything else was blackness.