Author's note: I have several vampire stories in me, and this is the second one to go on Lit. The vampire mythology is different for this one than "Cruelest of Intentions".
"Blood or Love" will go up in chapters. It's not a stroke piece. I hope you enjoy it anyway. Feedback and votes are appreciated, as always.
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Kim wished she could get a wooden stake through the heart of the asshole who'd turned her husband into a vampire, and ruined their lives. At least we're together despite it all, she thought, walking through the back door of their home. But how much longer now that the formula that held his blood thirst in check for the last year was starting to fail?
"What's the report?" Kim asked Benson, who was sitting at the kitchen table, munching on celery and doing her homework. Jack's younger sister took turns staying with him while Kim worked and slept.
Benson looked up and dropped her pen. "Same thing. It's been what, two weeks now? Maybe he should see a doctor."
"You know that can't happen." Kim opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of iced tea. She mentally noted that the blood supply in the fridge was still full, a good thing.
When she turned back to Benson, the other woman's big brown eyes were shining, and her face was tight with concern. "But, you've seen what this is doing to him. He can hardly keep anything down. He's hot, then cold. He complains of electrical zaps in his brain."
"I don't think they'll know how to treat a vampire," Kim said. "But if this lead works out, we may have help for him very soon." She paused to take a long drink of the cold tea, then said, "You've been making him drink gallons of water, right? That should help flush the toxins out."
Benson sighed. "Of course."
Kim set her tea down and ran both hands through her blonde hair, its pixie-cut accentuating her fine, delicate features. "I know you had a date tonight, and you've already sat with him today, but could you please come back tonight around nine?"
Benson shrugged and began collecting her books and papers up from the table. "Tonight? Yeah, I guess so. I can have Matt meet me here instead. Why? What's going on?"
"I'm going to talk to someone who worked with Dr. Campbell, but wasn't at the lab the day the League attacked." Kim leaned against the table. "My friend, Charli, set up a conference call with him tonight at nine. She helped me find him in the first place. His name is Dr. Kitcher. I have a really good feeling about him."
"Oh, that's good news," Benson adjusted the purse strap on her shoulder. "Hope he works out better than the last two leads." She gave a toss of her light brown hair that sent it skimming around her shoulders. "Well, I'll be here before nine then. Later, Kim."
Kim shut the door behind Benson and collapsed at the kitchen table. She was so tired. It had been ten months since they found out that the organization of vampires, known only as the League, killed Dr. Campbell and destroyed his lab along with all the known antidote. Since then, all she'd done was work and try to find someone else who could help Jack. Now they were down to the wire, and it seemed like she could actually hope again.
The antidote was the only solution for vampirism they knew of, but it only worked temporarily - a year was the most any vampire had stayed humanly conscious in Dr. Campbell's research. Jack was coming up on a year now, and it seemed he was starting to revert.
She knew if they didn't find another source soon, he wasn't going to make it. Or else, she thought, Benson and I aren't gonna make it.
She sipped her iced tea and thought about how so much had changed after Jack took the injection. He'd lost his taste for blood, thank God, yet his body still seemed to require tiny amounts of it. Once a day, she mixed a tube of it into soups and drinks, since he could tolerate some liquids.
But two weeks ago, when the regression started, he had insomnia around the clock. If he could doze off at all, it was fitful tossing and turning because of his nausea and pains. Last week, he'd started asking for more blood, but she only increased the amount by a little. She was truly alarmed by his sudden cravings. She figured they had six weeks to find more antidote. But she knew six weeks was being generous.
She reached for a cup, filled it with hot water and dunked a tea bag in it. Then she walked into the living room where Jack had sprawled out on the couch.
Some of his soft, dark hair, which had grown shaggy, was plastered down around his face. Other pieces were standing up. The long, sinewy body, that she missed holding against her in bed, was covered in blankets. She knew those covers might be tossed aside any minute when the hot flashes took over again.
She carefully sat beside him on the couch and rubbed an exposed shoulder. "Here, baby, have some chamomile tea. It will help you feel better."
He turned his head and looked at her. She noted how his usually snapping, dark eyes were bleary and red. His face was paler than normal, and a slight sheen covered his skin.
He raised up slowly. "Thanks, Kim." Jack's normally strong, confident voice was hoarse, soft. He sipped from the cup, clacking it back down on the saucer as his hands shook. "So, Benny has babysitting duty again tonight?"
She didn't miss the shame in his voice.
"Yeah. But it'll be more than just Benson. She wants you to meet the new guy she's dating. She thinks he's someone who can help."
He took another sip, but she saw the look that crossed his features. "Benson's seeing someone? Nobody told me."
"She just met him last week. She knows how you are when she brings dates around."
"And she's told him about me?" He set the cup down on the table a little too forcefully. "This is just making things more complicated."
"Don't get upset. We're running out of time and options here, Jack. We can't afford to pass on any prospective lead. We just want you better."
Jack leaned back against his pillow again, shut his eyes, and inhaled.
Kim's hands smoothed gently across his arm. "I promised you I'd find more antidote, and I intend to keep that promise." She reached down and smoothed a sweaty strand of hair out of his eyes. "Tell me, on a scale of one to ten, how human do you still feel?"
He sighed. "I don't know. Maybe an eight? I'm too sick to feel much at all, though."
"When he gave you the injection last year, Dr. Campbell told us this sickness is temporary, and you'll be fine again for a while." She gave what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
Jack shrugged his shoulders. "He also said some of his subjects quickly degenerated into full-on vampirism."
"I don't think that will happen with you. You're strong mentally. We still have time to get the cure."
"I hope so, else you'll have to stake me."
She recoiled. "Don't joke about it."
"Who's joking?" he said, his voice glum. "If we don't get the treatment in about four more weeks, someone will have to do it. I'll be too far gone."
"Hopefully you'll have the injection sooner than that." She nestled on the couch against him. His arm curled around her, holding her against his cold, trembling body. He felt fragile to her, and that was not something she was used to. She looked up into his pained eyes. "Can you tell if any of your vampire power is getting stronger?"
He rubbed his fingertips through her short hair, tracing patterns on her scalp that made her tickle inside.
"I think my hearing, sight and smell have improved. You know certain smells just about kill me, like Benny's hand lotion." He made a face.
Kim laughed. "Sounds like my sister when she was pregnant. Certain smells just undid her, even things she liked before, like coffee."
"That's it," Jack said. "I'm so tired of being sick. I think it will be a little while before I feel like throwing cars around, you know." He tried a smile, but it came out weak.
She reluctantly sat up. "Yeah, well keep taking it easy. Keep taking the pain-killer, and the ginger for your dizziness, and lots of water. I'll be back later to take care of you.
He reached up and stroked her cheek. "If you don't start taking care of yourself, you're gonna get sick, Kim. I wish you didn't have to put yourself through all this for me."
"I'll be fine. I can't stop until we have the antidote. I really think it's within our grasp now, and when it is, we can all rest easy." She stood up. "Here's the remote if you want it."
He waved his hand at it. "No thanks. TV would just give me a headache now."
She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead, then went back in the kitchen to fix something to eat. About nine o'clock, she left for Charli's place.
* * *
Jack lay there, tossing and turning on the couch, sweating and freezing. He didn't know he'd fallen asleep until the sound of Benson's key in the door woke him.
In walked Benson. When she shut the door, the air rushed his way, bringing her overabundant scents of fruity lotion, matching body spray, and hair products right to his nostrils. He swallowed, waiting for a wave of nausea to pass. Then he opened his eyes.
She wasn't wearing enough clothes, was his first thought. He glowered at the skirt that hit well above the knee, showing too much bare leg, and the tight, off-shoulder top. His eyes bore into hers.
She looked bashful, knowing her choice of date attire incensed him. "Hey, Jack," she said. "I guess you heard, change of plans. Matt's going to meet me here." She walked over to the couch, leaned down and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "I want you act nice to him, OK? Do it for me." Then she walked back around to the chair directly across from him and flopped down in it.
Jack sat halfway up, still glaring at her. "Your clothes aren't revealing at all, are they?"
She sighed. "Here we go. I'm twenty-one years old, I can wear whatever the hell I want, so don't start on me." Benson kicked her leg back and forth against the chair. "Anyway, he wants to talk to you. He thinks he might be able to help. He's a good card player too, and a real nice guy. I think you'll like him."
"I didn't even know you were seeing anyone, Benny."
"You haven't exactly been conscious the last two weeks." She looked down at the floor for a moment. "Well, uh, I didn't want to say anything to you yet, cause I know how crazy you get." She stuck out her tongue at him, then said, "I met Matt over the internet."
Jack groaned. "Why, Benny? Can't you just meet a guy at church or school? I can't believe you're dating weirdos off the internet."
"God, Jack, he's not weird. It's not like we haven't talked for hours, and we've met a couple times already." When she saw his look, she added, "but always in a public place, of course. I'm not stupid, you know. Besides, lots of people meet on the internet now."
"It's creepy."
She laughed. "That's funny, coming from you - my big brother, the creepy vampire. Sure, at first it went against my instincts to keep seeing him." She sighed. "But he's just so damn pretty."
