CRIMSON NOCTURNE

CHAPTER 8: VAMPIRE HOUSE

Chen Jing had been walking on air ever since she started spending time with Yi Fei. Even her usual reckless edge had softened. She'd just come back from seeing his new place and was practically skipping down the street. Good thing the two female ghosts hadn't been home -- if she'd seen her crush living next door to a pair of goddesses, she wouldn't have been skipping anywhere.

She pushed open her front door and froze.

Her uncle Chen Hua was sitting in the living room, talking to her parents. He worked in the police department -- Internal Affairs, not street-level -- and was being groomed for the next chief's position. The man lived at his desk. He barely visited his own place, let alone theirs. Something was up.

"Uncle!" Chen Jing said, keeping it polite even though her curiosity was already on fire.

"Chen Jing, come sit down. Your uncle has something to tell you." Her mother grabbed her arm and pulled her onto the couch.

"Right. Since you're here, I'll say it straight." Chen Hua's face was stone. "We've got intel. A serial killer targeting young women has been spotted moving through the city. I came to tell you to get out for a while. Once we catch him, you can come back."

He took a drag of his cigarette. "Technically I shouldn't be telling you any of this. But you're the only child in this branch of the family. I'm not taking chances."

"How long?" Chen Jing asked. The real question was: how long away from Yi Fei?

"Hard to say. A month, if we're lucky. Six months if we're not."

Six months? By then whatever connection she'd built with Yi Fei would be dead in the water. No way.

"No. I'm not leaving. I trust you to keep me safe, Uncle." She stomped off to her room and slammed the door.

Chen Hua felt a headache creeping in. Since becoming a vampire, he'd tried to keep his distance from his human family. He'd only come because Chen Jing was the last kid carrying the family name. And this was the thanks he got? A tantrum. Fine. Let fate decide.

"If you can talk some sense into her," he told Chen Jing's parents, standing up. He waved off their invitation to dinner. At the door he pulled out a talisman and handed it over. "This is a protection charm. Make sure she wears it."

It wasn't a charm. It was a vampire's mark. If any of his kind got near her, they'd know she was under his protection.

* * *

At dinner, Chen Jing shot down her parents' evacuation plan again. "I said no. If you're so scared, you go. The whole world is crawling with killers. Where's safe?"

Her mother gave up and pressed the talisman into her daughter's hand, making her promise not to lose it. Chen Jing couldn't care less. As long as she wasn't being ripped away from Yi Fei, everything else was negotiable.

* * *

While Yi Fei was enjoying his new home and Chen Jing was counting the minutes until she could see him again, while Cheng Yao and Yang Yi were wrapped up in their own lives, Chen Hua stood alone at his office window. He'd climbed the ladder. He was the vampire kingpin of the city now. So why did he feel like nothing more than a dog on a leash?

He exhaled slowly and called his men. "Stand down. Everyone takes a break. The lycanthrope situation was just an excuse to bring Bloody Mary in anyway. No point grinding you into the dirt for nothing."

He hung up and stared at the neon skyline. For the first time in years, he had nowhere to be. Nothing to prove.

He walked the streets without direction, drifting past bars and clubs he knew by heart but had never set foot in. None of them were meant for someone like him.

Then he stopped.

A small sign: "VAMPIRE." The lettering was dull red against dark brick, nearly invisible behind haphazard potted plants. A dive bar. The kind of place he'd always looked down on.

He walked in anyway.

* * *

The inside was nothing like the entrance. Warm wood, soft amber lighting, clean lines. The place smelled like sandalwood and old whiskey. A handful of patrons sat scattered around, none of them sparing him a glance. Perfect.

He took a seat at the bar. Before he could order, an older bartender slid a cocktail in front of him.

"I didn't order anything."

"First time here, sir?" The old man's eyes held a gentle warmth. "We don't take orders here. Every drink is based on how I read the customer."

He nodded to himself and turned away.

Chen Hua picked up the glass and looked at it. Then his blood ran cold.

Bloody Mary.

He nearly shouted. He caught himself, red-faced, and glanced around. No one had even looked up. *Strange place.*

"Something wrong with the drink, sir?" The bartender was back, still wearing that warm smile.

"No. Nothing." Chen Hua downed the glass in one gulp.

The liquid burned through his chest in a way that had nothing to do with alcohol. It churned in his stomach, in his throat, drowning out every bitter thought until all that was left was a numbing relief.

The bartender set a second glass in front of him. Another Bloody Mary.

"Sir. This drink doesn't get you drunk." The old man's eyes locked onto his. "And since you can't drown your problems, why not face them sober?"

Chen Hua's whole body went tight. "Who are you? What do you know? Tell me what I should do."

The bartender chuckled. "I'm just the help. I wouldn't presume to know anything about you, sir. Take your time with the drink. Answers come when they're ready."

Chen Hua stared at the old man for a long moment, then nodded and went back to his glass.

When the second one was empty, the bartender moved to refill it. Chen Hua stopped him. "That's enough. What do I owe you?"

The old man's eyes glimmered with something new. "For a guest like you, sir? Nothing. Vampire is your home."

*This old bastard knows more than he's letting on.* Chen Hua stood, then turned back. "One more thing. What's your name?"

"Vlad, sir." The bartender gave a slight bow. "Just Vlad."

"Will you be here if I come back?"

"It's my job."

The warm smile was back in place. Chen Hua nodded and pushed through the door.

The moment he was gone, Vlad's smile vanished. His face went cold, unreadable.

* * *

The night air cleared some of the fog in Chen Hua's head. He replayed Vlad's words, rolling them around like stones in his palm. *Face them sober.* Fine. He'd let things play out. He couldn't go back to his old life anyway.

"Might as well enjoy the time off before Bloody Mary gets here."

He disappeared into the neon glow.

* * *

The next morning, sunlight streamed through the curtains. Chen Hua had unplugged every phone in the house and slept like the dead. He woke up groggy, squinted at his phone.

Nine-thirty. *Five more minutes.*

The phone buzzed. Then again. And again. Six missed calls. All from the same number. He sat bolt upright and called back, his voice trembling like a choirboy's.

"Sir. It's Chen Hua. You called?"

"CHEN HUA." The voice on the other end was ice. "I always thought you were different from that Zhang bastard. Responsible. Reliable. Now you're running the city and you can't even keep your phone on? What if I needed you? Would I have to die before you noticed?"

There it was. Chen Hua listened without a word, taking the beating.

When the storm passed, the voice went cold again. "Shut down all unsanctioned activity in the city. Tell your people to stop biting. I'll let you know when things go back to normal. Anyone who can't handle it can take a vacation abroad. And one more thing. Bloody Mary arrives tomorrow. Don't approach her. Don't make contact. She has a special assignment."

The line went dead.

*Tomorrow.*

Chen Hua sat on the edge of his bed and lit a cigarette. The smoke curled up toward the ceiling.

He hoped she wouldn't stir up too much trouble.

[END OF CHAPTER 8]