The Healing Souls

A Hard Time

[Victor]

Within the next hour, Dennis had moved Billie to the other side of the counter and the clean-up crew had cleaned and restocked everything. There was no sign of the m******e Dennis had unleashed when he found her shot by the men.

Fallon arrived as I was waiting for my top three choices to arrive. They would be the vampires most likely to succeed in keeping this place running at night without any issues. They learned fast, they were fastidious, and they were eager to please me.

“I’m the manager here,” she said when she entered.

I approached her and held out my hand. She took it cautiously. Most humans didn’t trust vampires, and she seemed no different. She didn’t look into my eyes, though I wouldn’t have tried to enthrall her unless it seemed like she wasn’t going to be a problem.

“I’m Victor Nightshade. Thank you for coming in, I understand this is a hard time for you.”

Her eyes drifted to where Dennis was holding Billie and widened at the sight of the blood on her. Fallon’s hands covered her face and her eyes filled with tears. It was truly a sad sight.

Dennis had Billie in his lap as he sat on the floor. His cheek rested on her head and both of them had blood all over them. The blood on him was obviously from having destroyed the men who killed Billie. It was rather obvious that hers was from the wound that had healed.

The bloodstain on Billie’s shirt bloomed from the center of her body and the lower half of her shirt was black with the still dripping blood it had absorbed. They were sitting on a thick piece of plastic, to keep the floor from bloodying again while we waited.

“Billie…” Fallon whispered.

“I am sorry for your loss, ma’am, but we’re working on a deadline. I need to get Billie and her sire somewhere safe before the sun rises. I will need the security tape. Out of context, this situation could look bad.”

“What happened? What really happened?”

Dennis glared up at her, his eyes glowing with the strength of his anger.

“That bastard you hired to take over for Sybil called in sick tonight so he and his friend could rob the shop. Then his werewolf friend SHOT my Sybil. She begged him not to kill her. I know she did. She wanted to live. She wanted to come work for me and be with me,” he ended in a whisper.

A blood-tinged tear rolled down from his eye, following the trail of several that had come before it and leaving a clean line in the blood on his face. I closed my eyes briefly, remembering back in May when I thought Echo was moving into her second life. I got lucky, but Dennis hadn’t.

Fallon shook her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I’ll… I’ll get the tape. Just a moment.”

She headed into the back. The cleaners came over to me. They eyed Dennis cautiously.

“We need her clothes, Master Nightshade. She hasn’t been cleaned and she needs to not smell like her own death when she wakes,” one of them told me.

“Do you have anything she can wear home?” I asked.

“We can wrap her in plastic….”

Dennis growled at him. He was obviously more sensitive about all of this because Billie was dear to him. I shook my head.

“If he doesn’t mind her smelling like another male vampire, my shirt should fit her. I can just wear the cleaning gear home. Would that be amenable, Master Lyons?”

This was one of the reasons why he was my unofficial third support. Dennis was so well-known in town that he was called ‘Master’ before I ever arrived. He never went insane like I did, because he never accepted the title of Master of the territory, but he was considered the unofficial master.

“That will be fine. I will undress and redress her. All of you will turn away and guard against prying eyes,” Dennis ordered.

The man set a plastic bag on the floor, opening it so it would be easy to take her clothing away. He opened his coveralls and pulled his shirt off, laying it next to the bag. Once that was finished, we all turned away and blocked the view of anyone else.

“She’s dressed,” Dennis told us with that edge of softness in his voice.

“If that’s all you need. Leave. I will dispose of the plastic they’re on.”

“Yes, Master Nightshade,” they replied, and retrieved the bag before leaving the building.

Only the faintest scent of blood was left behind. I knew it came from Dennis and the plastic he sat on. He wasn’t dripping, as Billie had been. Most of the blood on him was dry now.

Tyler came into the store, followed by Silence’s human servant, Drew. Both men bowed to me. When they stood up, both of them had sad expressions on their faces.

For Tyler, I knew it was sorrow for what his Master was going through. I didn’t know why Drew looked sad, but I could imagine it was because of the extreme circumstances of this changing. Where it was normally a time of celebration when one was successful, this was definitely not the time for celebrating.

“Drew contacted me about what happened. I came to drive my Master and his lady home. Is there anything I need to know about, Master Nightshade?” Tyler asked.

“She will need to be bathed, so she can wake up untraumatized. Waking up to the scent of your own death can be difficult. Echo has warming blankets in the bed. I suggest buying some. It would be helpful to give her the most pleasant waking experience possible. You will need to find someplace to stay for the next month. She will have a hard time controlling herself.”

“Ty can stay with us unless you were going to invite him to your home, Master Nightshade. I could always use a hand around the house,” Drew offered.

“Echo doesn’t know about this yet. I will talk to her and see what she would like. I know she is fond of Tyler, as well. Billie–,”

“Sybil. Her name is Sybil,” Dennis whispered.

“You have decided on her vampire name being her human name, then?” I asked.

“Yes. Until she is herself enough to tell me she wants to change it.

“Sybil will wake in three days. That is how long we have to make these arrangements. Dennis, take her home, clean her up, and put her to bed. Make sure she is comfortable.”

“Yes, Master Nightshade,” he replied, standing with Sybil in his arms.

“I brought the SUV, Master. Drew will take your car home, then drive his back to his master,” Tyler told him.

“Good…. Good work, as always, Tyler.”

The men left with their charge. I watched as they carefully loaded Billie… Sybil… it would take a while to get used to that. Dennis stayed with her in the back of the truck while Drew ran off to get his car and Tyler took the driver’s seat.

“Um… sir? Sorry, I don’t remember your name.”

I turned back to see Fallon with a VHS tape in hand. That was fairly old technology, but it didn’t seem like this store was exactly flaunting new technology. I accepted it from her.

“You may call me Victor. Are you alright?” I asked.

“I… I watched the tape. They just shot her. She did everything right and they shot her. Then… where did that vampire go? Where’s Billie?” she asked, looking around frantically.

“Dennis, Sybil’s boyfriend, took her home so she would be safe from the sun. You saw what Dennis did to the men who killed her?”

She nodded. “It was fast and vicious and… and terrible. Then he changed completely and took care of Billie. I remember her talking about Dennis. She said he was a gentleman and took care of her. She said she was going to work for him. That was why last night was supposed to be her last night at work. Billie was starting for him on Monday. Will she still be doing that?”

I sighed and shook my head. “No. Sybil will have to learn a lot of things and she will not remember her life before being a vampire for several decades. All of the experience that would have made her a good fit for the position is gone now. She will be taken care of, though. Dennis will give her a home and protection until she remembers who she is,” I promised.

“She didn’t deserve this. Things were turning around for her. She deserved to be happy.”

“Sybil will be happy. You can trust me. Perhaps there is a time Dennis could bring her by to show you. For the next month, it will be difficult, but once she has adjusted to the hunger, she will be safe to go out in public,” I told her.

Fallon looked up at me, no longer trying to hide her eyes. “You people are really going to take care of her and she’ll really be safe?”

“We take the turning of a new vampire very seriously. We protect them and humans from them. Sybil will never do anything she will regret when her mind comes back to her. We will ensure it. It appears my selections for your new employees have arrived. Please come and meet them. They are eager to learn from you,” I said, redirecting her to the door.

I found out that the store was rather understaffed in the evenings. One of the employees was severed because he was in jail for assault, Sybil was now a vampire, and the newest employee, Joey, was in pieces in a bag destined for the fae lands where his body would be given to a goblin family.

Fallon ended up hiring on all three vampires with the understanding that they couldn’t start until after the sun was down and they needed to leave no later than twenty minutes before sunrise. This would be easier as the days grew shorter.

She understood that these people were just there to fill the spot until someone else could be hired, but it gave her autumn and winter to find new employees. I collected the contact information for Sybil and thanked Fallon for her help. She began walking my people through what time they needed to be there for the night shift and got applications for all of them so it would seem as if they applied and she hired them.

Heading back out to my car, I headed home. It was ten ‘til six in the morning. Sunrise was at seven. I knew my people would be safely at home when that happened. They were younger and more in tune with the movement of the sun.

Now, my only issue was that I needed to tell Echo her new friend died and I had to call Sybil’s family to let them know what happened. Luckily, since we’d revealed ourselves to humans, a procedure was created for informing the family. We even offered counseling services for those affected by the loss.

Once I was in the house, I went to my room to wash the night off my skin. It reminded me a lot of the night Talia changed me into a vampire. Only this werewolf had used a gun and the one who killed me used his claws and teeth.

I turned the water on as hot as I could stand, stripped down, and stood under the spray of the water. I had time; I didn’t need to sleep until nine in the morning now that the sun was coming up later. The shower door opened and I could smell Echo before I felt her arms go around me.

She clung to my side and held me tightly. I must have let some of my feelings slip through the bond. Echo hated it when either Grayson or I hurt.

“What’s wrong, Victor? You’re so sad,” Echo murmured, backing off a little. I always missed her arms when they weren’t around me.

“Something bad happened tonight, princess. I need a little time before I can talk to you about it. Are you okay with that?” I asked.

“Of course, I am. Do you want me to wash your back, or should I go back out to Gray?”

“Stay with me a little while longer, Echo. I want to see you and know you’re safe with me.”

I turned to her and caressed her cheek. My eyes fell on the scar on her chest and again I was reminded of nearly losing her.

Dennis was far stronger than I was. The fear of losing my sweet Echo, of her changing into a vampire, was too much for me. I wouldn’t have known what to do with myself.

He was now waiting for the love of his life to wake up as an entirely different person. Very little of the human personality remained after the change. Even Echo, who I learned wouldn’t lose her memory for thirty years after her change, would be something different. Something darker.

This was a time when he needed a Master he could rely on. I intended to be that Master for him. I knew what I had to do.