Bathory Blood

Anna

Anna was the overweight daughter of the clinic's owner. Thirty-five, a bullish lesbian and incredibly lonely. The women she usually pulled were not the type she wanted. She preferred the younger, sweeter, more innocent kind of girl. Like Glen, she thought, as she saw her arrive for work that morning.

Anna liked to hang around in the changing area while the girls got ready for work. She knew what they said about her behind her back, but she didn't care. It wasn't like any of them would date her anyway, so she might as well get her kicks out of them.

As usual, Anna was standing in the changing room watching Glen, and the other girls undress. Usually, the girls found it icky, but Anna was the boss's daughter, so nobody dared say anything. Today Anna had dyed her overly short hair a shocking pink.

As she removed her street clothes, Glen was preoccupied with her dreams. Especially that Erzsebet had mentioned Anna having access to vampire blood. Blood that, when drunk or injected, would grant the user temporary vampire powers. It wasn't easy to believe, and maybe it was the sheer repetition of the dreams, but she was beginning to sway.

Wearing only a black lacy bra and panties and pushing her aversion to the pit of her stomach, Glen approached Anna. It wasn't that Anna was unattractive; it was how she conducted herself that put people off her. Maybe Anna didn't know any better, Glen reasoned? Beneath her lecherous outer shell may reside a decent person who wants to be loved.

“Hey,” Glen smiled and waved nervously. Oh my God, did I wave, Glen thought, regretting her choice of icebreaker instantly? Anna frowned. She wasn't used to being approached by the employees. She preferred to ogle them from a distance.

“I know you're busy making sure we're all safe here in the changing room, but I was wondering...” Glen trailed off when Anna's frown deepened. “It doesn't matter. It's nothing; forget it.” Glen turned away, admonishing herself for not having the courage to go through with it, and instantly turned back. “Did you want to hang out sometime?”

“Hang out?” Anna was suspicious as she'd been the victim of cruel jokes before. She didn't expect that kind of behavior from an employee, but perhaps they'd had enough of their job, and this was their way of quitting?

“No big deal. Not a date. Just come over to my place, share a glass of wine or two?” Glen wanted to be sure that Anna understood this wasn't a date. Just two girls, being friends. Besides Anna not being her type at all, Glen still hoped to hook up with Tiffany once she'd calmed down.

“Date? Your place? Wine?” Those were the keywords that struck chords within Anna, and she suddenly grinned from ear to ear, her eyes shining with delight. She'd had a feeling that hanging around the changing rooms while signaling her intent would pay off one day.

It was the first time Glen had ever seen her smile, and she didn't like the unadulterated love she saw in Anna's eyes. It was pretty alarming.

“Not a date,” Glen repeated.

“Sure,” Anna replied, clearly not believing it at all.

“You asked the bull out on a date?” The incredulous voice belonged to Jess, short for Jessica, which she hated because she looked a little like Jessica Rabbit from the Roger Rabbit movie. Annoyingly, people would often point this out once they heard her full name. If Jessica was a little shorter, slimmer, and had redder hair, she could understand it, but she looked nothing at all like Jessica Rabbit as far as she was concerned. Jess and Glen were cleaning the corridor, which led to Erzsebet's isolation room.

“Not a date. I said, not a date.” Glen reiterated. “Why does everyone think it's a date?”

“What about Tiffany?” Jess continued, oblivious. “I thought you were trying to get back with her?” Glen groaned loudly. It was impossible. She was about to repeat the no date thing when a sudden wave of nausea overtook her, and she swooned. “Glen?” Jess's voice sounded distant and garbled, as though Glen was underwater. “Come on, girl, sit down here.”

This was the first time Erzsebet had ever connected with a person who was awake. And what a joy it was to find that the person she had made it with was Glen.

“Once you have the blood,” Erzsebet imparted quickly, not knowing how much time she had. “Use it to free me, and we shall rule together. We can be together for eternity.”

And then, just as suddenly as it had arrived, Glen's nausea was gone. Finding herself sitting on the floor, she tried to stand, but Jess forced her back.

“Stay there, girl; I'm gonna call the paramedics.” Jess tried to hold her down, but Glen fought her off and stood. “Ow!” Jess complained, rubbing her arm. “I guess you're fine then.”

“I'm sorry,” Glen said as her mind whirred. Free her? What the hell was going on? “I think I got my period.” It was a lie, but Glen had to provide a reason for her sudden fugue.

“Dramatic.” Jess turned away and continued cleaning, leaving Glen to her thoughts on what freeing Erzsebet Bathory meant. There being vampire blood was one thing, but an actual vampire alive today? Where would she be kept? As this thought entered her mind, Glen looked along the corridor and stopped at the 'No Admittance' sign on a heavy security door. There was an electronic keypad outside. Glen had never cleaned beyond that door and had never seen anyone go through it.

“You ever cleaned through there?” Glen asked, pointing at the door. Jess was still angry with Glen, but she followed Glen's finger to the door and shrugged.

“Says no admittance on it.”

“Yes, thank you, Jess, I can read.” Glen realized she sounded impatient. “Sorry, the period.”

“Yeah, I think I'm going to set a reminder on my phone for next month,” Jess warned, only partly joking. “No, I've never cleaned through that door. Nobody has.”

“Somebody must clean it, right?”

 “Maybe you should try asking your new girlfriend?” Jess retorted, intending it as a cruel jibe, but Glen nodded, thinking it was a great idea. She would do exactly that later.