Forbidden Fangs

Chapter 13

The drive passed comfortably, with both of them exchanging idle chatter. Kylie told Logan about her litter of younger siblings and he told her about growing up traveling through Europe with his parents. The sun shone in the driver's side window, illuminating Logan's left arm and glinting off his wristwatch. He had an interesting story for that watch, something about his uncle and father fighting a duel, although perhaps not against each other… he had an interesting story for everything, it seemed. Even so, he said much while saying very little. Kylie wasn't getting the kind of answers she wanted. She didn't press him though. His heroic charm was not lost on her, nor was his handsome jawline.

Before long they pulled into a long driveway which meandered to a small country house and then looped around back on itself. Thick forest crowded the sides of the cracked pavement and reached up to scrape at the windows of the house. Kylie had not even noticed the turnoff they'd taken to get there, nor the entrance to the driveway itself. The heavy sedan straggled over the uneven pavement and coasted to a stop. Kylie swung out of the car and closed the door gently, bringing her purse and her backpack with her. The house was a quaint bungalow with an attached garage that looked like the car would not fit in it. The whole thing was dilapidated and in need of a new paint job and re-shingling.

“Right this way,” Logan said, beaming as he led her up the concrete steps. Inside the house was no more impressive; it was messy, with most of the furniture covered in dust cloths and little sign of activity. Logan seemed extraordinarily proud of it though, and gave her a quick tour of both bedrooms, the bathroom, the living and dining rooms, and finally showed her to the solid basement steps. Kylie suddenly felt somewhat hesitant, and clutched her backpack like a teddy bear. Logan had saved her, and he seemed so charming, but could this be a Silence of the Lambs type situation?

No, that was ridiculous. She was just reacting to everything she'd seen and learned. She smiled weakly and followed Logan down the concrete steps into the dimly lit basement. The only nice accoutrement was the thick bearskin rug stretched across the middle of the floor. A poor-looking pot bellied stove stood cold in one corner. A dusty bookshelf with a single patched armchair occupied another. The third housed a gritty mini bar which looked like it saw some use, and the stairs filled the fourth. Logan walked over to the bar with a smile.

“Would you like anything? He asked, picking up a cocktail shaker and giving it a mock-rattle.

“I guess I could go for a… wait, Logan, come on. You said this place was secure, and I don't feel safe at all. And where's all this information we're supposed to be going over?”

“Oh right!” Logan put down the cocktail shaker and slapped his forehead as if he'd forgotten. “There's that.” He reached out and pulled the bar's single tap handle. Kylie heard some machine whirring and clicking and spun about.

The corners of the room containing the stove and the shelves segmented and rotated like they were part of an old-timey castle. A bank of computers with plush leather chairs replaced the stove, and an immaculate set of shelves with ancient-looking leather bound books replaced the dilapidated ones. A long leather sofa sat in front of the shelves, looking inviting in the dim light. Suddenly the bear rug and the rustic mini bar became an obvious part of the whole room; they fit. From above she heard the sound of the heavy door closing and a lock slamming home.

“This basement is blast-proof when sealed like this,” Logan smiled, pouring himself a shot of whisky and wafting it next to his nose. “It has a self-contained life support system for emergency situations, but right now we're breathing fresh air. Most of what we know about Wythirian vampires is contained within the computer system,” he indicated one of the sleeping monitors, “but I also happen to have one of the best private collections of un-transcribed works, my parents gave it to me for my birthday years ago.” He nodded at the shelves and took a sip of whisky. “So as you see, we've got lots of information to go over. Unfortunately the greater part of it is unsubstantiated - we don't know what's truth and what's legend in many cases. Even so, we should be able to find something to our advantage.”

“Like that they're allergic to daylight?” Kylie asked moving closer to the shelves and running a finger along a leather bound spine. “How do you typically go about capturing vampires?”

“Only one vampire has ever been captured in known history.” Logan said, raising his eyebrows. He swirled his drink. “It was lured to an island and then locked outside as the sun rose. It surrendered itself rather than burn. Most of the hard facts we know came from its interrogation, actually.”

“So how did you find me?” Kylie asked, “I mean, how did you track down the vampire?”

“With this.” Logan tapped his ordinary looking watch. “It's not just a family heirloom. It points me in the direction of any Wythirian technology and gives me a rough idea of distance. It was pretty lucky that I managed to track that vampire to your building, and get inside. I picked the lock on the outside door but I didn't have time with yours, sorry again about that by the way.”

“The vampire didn't have any technology,” Kylie said, confused.

“He landed his ship on the roof,” Logan explained, “that's what I tracked initially. But actually, the Wythirians always have technology with them. They have neural implants which allow them many seemingly supernatural abilities. That telepathic push you mentioned is one of them. They're able to easily influence weaker-willed humans. Good thing you're one of the strong ones.”

Kylie nodded and sat down on the sofa, patting the cushion next to her. Logan came over and sat, still swirling his drink. It looked right at home in his big rough hand. His weight on the cushions was a comforting presence, and Kylie wanted to nuzzle into him as she'd done in her sleep the previous night. But she knew she had much to learn. She took a deep breath.

“Tell me everything,” she said, “everything you think I should know about the Wythirians. Once I know that, we can start to research.”