Blood or Love

I apologize for all the time between chapters. Busy, busy :) If you're following this story, feel free to leave a comment. Thanks.

*

A couple seconds passed, and Chamey's hand continued to float in the air between them. Jack's glare raised from it to the amused brown eyes looking back at him.

Chamey finally dropped his hand. "You're not very quick for a vampire, are you?"

Jack realized he wasn't getting the same weird feeling around this guy like he had with Benny's date. Chamey was probably just some lonely kid looking for excitement-something to post on the internet to his other nerdy friends.

"Don't try to deny what you are," Chamey said. "You give off the freakiest vibe, man. I've been tracking you since the airport, been watching you sleep for the last hour. What are you doing out in the daytime?"

"Look, kid-"

"I said my name is Chamey. I know you're not hard of hearing. Anyway, at first I was like, ooh, rogue vampire. Strange, cause you guys aren't usually by yourselves, are you?"

"Uh-"

"Is Savannah your destination? Or just a stop while you go on to bigger, better game?"

Jack hesitated, waiting to see if Chamey was finished talking. Then he asked, "If you think I'm a vampire, why aren't you afraid? Why sit by me, talk to me?"

"I don't know. Something weird about you. Are you a new vampire?"

"I'm not a vampire." Jack threw his hand to his forehead and rubbed hard with his eyes closed. "I can't believe I'm even having this conversation. Go back to your seat."

But Chamey stayed where he was. "What's your name?"

He sighed. "Jack." Then he grabbed up a magazine from the seat back in front of him, flipped it open, and tried to distract himself with an article on butterflies. But he was all too aware of the encroaching presence. The mouth-breathing annoyed greatly too. He threw down the magazine and turned.

Chamey's pale, freckled face was right there, honed in on him with a mixture of amazement, fear, and disgust.

Chamey swallowed, his eyes practically bulging. "Man, you creep me out, Jack."

"Good. Leave."

"That's mainly how I knew what you were. I thought, what do we got here-vamps on a plane? Got all these passengers locked in, no escape. What are you gonna do?"

"I was just going to sit here and sleep until the plane landed, but now that I have an unwanted travel companion, I may have to move to another seat."

"You're not gonna kill people?"

Jack looked around, then lowered his voice. "Better be careful what you say on a plane. And no, I'm not going to...do that."

"And for some reason, I believe you." Chamey's voice was soft, full of amazement. "But why not? I'll ask you again, are you newly vamped?"

"No. I'm not newly vamped.

"Aha. So you admit you have been vamped, just not recently. It's okay, man. You can talk about these things with me. I know you're a vampire.

Jack shook his head and stared straight ahead.

"So how are you just calmly sitting on a plane? Where are you going, and why?"

"It's none of your business."

"It is my business." He could feel Chamey's eyes boring into him. "Me, I was supposed to go to Tallahassee to see my grandparents. But I changed my ticket to go along with you."

"Yeah? Won't you be missed in Tallahassee?"

Chamey shrugged. "I told my family I had a change of plans. I'm eighteen years old. What can they do? I mean yeah, they'll be pissed, but, like they aren't all the time anyway."

"I bet they are," Jack said under his breath.

"Have you heard of the website Vamped Out? I own that. Making some money off it too. I have a forum and people share the latest sightings and stuff. I'm gonna put your story on VO."

"This conversation is over."

"Ah, come on, man. I'll keep things totally anonymous."

Jack settled back in his seat. "Go bother someone else. I'm trying to sleep."

"Of course you have to sleep, it's daytime."

"Yeah, it's not like people sleep on planes or anything."

"Were you up all night prowling around?"

Jack was already struggling to remain conscious. "I mostly stayed in and watched TV."

"Seriously? You don't kill anybody, you sit around watching TV. That's so boring."

"OK, so I'm a boring vampire. Trust me, it's better that way." Jack yawned and closed his eyes.

"Yeah, I know...it's just not right for a vampire."

Again, he felt the dark, penetrating stare on him, much too close, and it put him on alert. He jerked his head toward the offending gaze. "Get out of my face."

"I can't believe I'm 30,000 feet in the air with a vampire. Can I take your pic, man?" Chamey pulled out his phone and flipped it open.

"Nope. Do it, and I'll break your phone...and your hand." Jack smiled sleepily and shut his eyes.

He heard Chamey grumbling as he tossed the phone in the seat across the aisle. "Later then. So, don't you wanna know why I'm so into vampires?"

"Nope. But I bet you're gonna tell me anyway."

"Well, don't freak out or anything, man, but I'm a slayer."

Jack was suddenly wide awake; his eyes flashed open and he bolted upright in his seat. He couldn't believe it. Another guy who wanted to kill vampires. He'd never seen one in all the time he spent with Cole. What were the odds he'd run into two within hours of each other?

But Chamey just sat there smiling. No stake in hand.

Jack looked him over carefully. "You're not a slayer."

"Yeah, man. I am."

"How many vamps have you slayed?"

"Well, see...I haven't actually slayed one before. Haven't even been this close to one in ages."

"So you run a website and try to find vampires in your spare time." Jack leaned back again, but his senses stayed alert. "And you've been this close to one before, yet you lived to tell about it? Doubtful. It must have been sleeping. Which is what I wish I was doing right now."

Chamey started digging through the backpack on the seat across from him, and Jack grabbed his arm. "What are you doing?"

"Don't worry, man, I'm just getting my voice recorder so I can interview you."

Jack let his hand drop, but continued to watch him.

Chamey dug through the bag, talking over his shoulder. "I don't wanna kill you if you're not a threat. I'd much rather pump you for information." He finally found the voice recorder and turned around. "I just wanna document this." His thumb hit the "record" button.

"What, getting your ass tossed all the way up to first class?" Jack rolled his eyes and picked up the magazine again.

"See? You're too nice for a vampire. What's wrong with you, man? Not that I'm complaining." He held up the recorder. "You live in Dallas?"

Jack stashed the magazine back in the seat and turned to the kid as fast as an angry cat. His fingers were itching to grab and shake him, but he kept them clenched at his side.

"I'm not going to tell you where I live so you can post it online to all your slayerette friends and they come and kill me, or worse, kill my wife too."

Now Chamey's mouth hung open. "Dude, you're married? Wow, that's like Bride of Dracula stuff."

Jack gritted his teeth. "She's human."

"Vampires don't marry humans, they kill them or else turn them." Chamey's brown eyes looked huge in his ghostly face. "Unless, you've made her your slave or something? Yeah, do you make her feed you her blood every night while you..." He swallowed, causing his adam's apple to jump. "Cause that would be...eww."

Jack's eyes went to the exposed white flesh at Chamey's neck. Slowly, he scooted back in his seat and took a deep breath.

"I don't bite people anymore."

He shuddered to think of how much he'd wanted to tear into Matt, and later Kim.

He leaned forward, his face in his hands for a moment and closed his eyes to try to get rid of the red spots on the edge of his vision. He felt bad for the way he was behaving, even if Chamey did annoy him. He chalked it up to tiredness and hunger, among other things. He just wasn't himself.

Then, it dawned on him that it might be a good idea to talk to this strange kid since he knew a few things about vampires...and slayers. Jack especially wanted information on slayers. It was important to know what they were capable of.

Matt couldn't have been one. He was clearly just human. And it was obvious that Chamey was too, no matter what he wanted to think. But maybe he could answer a few questions that had been rolling around in Jack's mind.

Before he could ask anything, the plane started bumping around. There was a chiming sound, and the captain's voice instructed everyone to fasten their seat belts due to turbulence. He glanced over at Chamey, who was gripping the seat, white-nuckled.

"A big, bad slayer, right?"

"Yeah, that's right." Chamey relaxed a little as the ride smoothed out.

"And where did you learn to kill vamps? Let me guess, the internet."

"Right again. Plus, I take karate."

Jack cleared his throat. "Tell me about the slayers. What are you, just a bunch of kids that take martial arts and trade sighting stories? Or are there folks out there with super-human strength?"

"Slayers are just people aware of the vamp problem and determined to do something about it. No supernatural power, unfortunately." He sighed. "That would be so cool."

"My god." Jack was stunned. In a way, he'd hoped there were real slayers. That there was somebody out there who stood a chance against vampires.

"I know what you're thinking," Chamey said. "But don't underestimate us because we're fully human."

"You're all just as crazy as that fool that attacked me in my own home last night."

"You were slayed upon?" There was no missing the admiration in the kid's voice.

"Does it look like I was? I mopped the floor with him. And he said he killed nine other vamps. What a liar. He's probably lying in a hospital bed right now. He's lucky I didn't kill him."

"See, you didn't kill...weird."

"Tell me more about the slayers."

"Some call themselves slayers, but they aren't. They're just adrenaline junkies, thrill-seekers. They follow the vamps club to club, seeing how close they can trail. Or they jump into a vamp nest and back out again in the daytime. Maybe get a pic on their camera phone. Crazy shit like that."

"Damn," Jack leaned forward again, staring at the back of the seat in front of him until he felt Chamey's elbow in his ribs.

"Hey man, are you all right?"

Jack straightened up. "First of all, don't elbow vampires. And yeah, I'm all right. But it makes me sick to think of people risking their lives like that. You shouldn't go looking for vampires. That's foolish. They--we're-dangerous."

"You don't seem that dangerous."

Jack shrugged a shoulder. "I imagine you've seen a lot of casualties with these so-called slayers."

"I hear that some have been killed, but I don't know for sure 'cause we try to keep our true identities hidden for security reasons. I mean, some people just stop posting into the forums and the rest of us wonder if the vampires got 'em."

"That's a real risk you're taking, Chamey. This isn't child's play."

"Hang tight a couple minutes, man. Nature calls."

Chamey got up and started making his way to the back of the cabin, and Jack's eyes fell on the backpack on the seat across the aisle. Snooping wasn't his style, but after what happened with Matt, he couldn't take anything for granted.

Inside the backpack was clothing, an iPod, cell phone and chargers, a notebook, toiletries, and a small can of NoVamp. There was also one crude wooden stake.

It was small and barely angled on one end, but if enough force was used, it could do the job. Jack noticed wood shavings in the bag. So, the kid had been rubbing the stake against something, sharpening it while he sat and watched Jack sleep for the last hour.

He stashed the stake and vampire repellent inside his own carry-on bag. Then he put the backpack as it was before. He didn't know he'd fallen asleep until he heard the voice from above him.

"You've had the antidote."

Jack glanced up at Chamey, who was standing over him. "What?"

Chamey flopped down beside him and turned his voice recorder back on. "That's gotta be it. It can put the parasite in dormancy a while. I shoulda thought of that. Why didn't you tell me? I don't believe every story I read online, but I've seen enough to know the antidote is real. Just never thought I'd run into a vamp that had taken it. But I did. Wow, lucky me. The antidote is the only explanation for your behavior."

Jack sat up straighter in his seat and rubbed his eyes. "I guess you figured it out."

"It's too bad about Dr. Campbell. I heard he's dead."

"You know about him?"

"I know a lot of stuff." Chamey's thin lips curled up in a little smile. "But there've been all these rumors going around, so I'll ask you. Who killed him?"

"The League didn't like what he was doing, finding a cure for vampirism, so--"

"The League? The vampire organization? Man, I was like, 99 percent sure they were real, and there were all these people insisting it was a hoax. Hmm. Now that makes me wonder if any vamps have infiltrated my site, planting false information. I've always wondered about "fanger44". But now I got the goods straight from a vampire's mouth."

"Yeah, you did," Jack muttered, and yawned again.

"So why are you going to Savannah?"

"Someone has more antidote for me. There's supposed to be a truck waiting for me outside the airport when we land. They'll inject me and take me to the lab."

"Sweet. I wish I could come along."

Jack barely heard. He was overwhelmed again by the need for sleep. He didn't know anything until Chamey kicked him in the leg, hard.

He woke and turned a fierce glare on the kid. "Don't kick sleeping vampires."

Undaunted, Chamey said, "I asked you about being turned, what it's like. They say it can take weeks or months to change over completely, depending on a lot of factors, like if you're alone or with others who also want to resist."

Jack finally accepted that he wouldn't get any rest while the boy was there. Resigned, he grumbled and sat up straighter in his seat.

"That's all true," he said. "It helps to have a reason to hold on...like someone you love."

"Like your wife?"

Jack nodded. "Kim. I held on for her. She's sacrificed so much for me. She found me the antidote in the first place, and then spent the last ten months working and searching tirelessly for more. I owe her a lot."

"Got any pics, man?"

Jack fished into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.

"Your wife's hot, man."

"Uh...I know."

"Who's this?"

"Benny, my younger sister."

"I can see the resemblance. Gorgeous women," Chamey said, as Jack snapped the wallet closed. "You're lucky."

"I know. I just need to get this antidote so I can be safe for them again."

Chamey slowly dug for his own wallet and held up a photo. "This is my sister, Trixie."

"Cute. This taken recently?"

"Nope, when she was a kid, but it's my favorite pic of her."

"Where do you guys live?"

"Fort Worth." Chamey popped some gum in his mouth, and Jack kindly refused the piece offered to him.

Chamey held the voice recorder up again. "I only have a short while with you 'til we land. I promised you I'd keep it anonymous, so let's think of a name to call you on my blog. How 'bout Vladimir?"

"Are you serious?" Jack mumbled. "Wait, no. That's actually kind of cool. Fine."

"So you lost most of your power and blood thirst after you took the antidote. But now you're on your way to get more. So...you must be getting your vampiness back. Dang, so doesn't that mean you're like, turning evil?

Jack nodded slowly, his face tight, lips pressed shut.

Chamey stare on him was intense. "I wanna keep an eye on you, he finally said. "Make sure you don't go all bad before you get in that truck."

"That's not gonna happen." Jack checked his watch. "I'll be there in less than an hour."

"I'd feel better if I walked you through the airport and saw you get in the truck."

"It's not necessary."

"I need to do this."

"Why? If something did go wrong, do you really think you could do anything about it?"

"Hey man, I'm not gonna let you out of my sight."

Jack was too tired to argue. And what would be the harm in it if the kid tagged along through the airport?

"Just watch me get in the truck?" he asked.

"Yeah. That's it."

"OK." Jack sighed. "I don't think you're gonna go away otherwise."

Chamey's face practically beamed. "So, the only thing that could possibly go wrong with our new friendship is that you're steadily getting more evil? And how does that work? I mean, for you personally. How would you do it? Will you suddenly go crazy and try to rip my jugular out? Or will you just get a little more grumpy and nasty each hour?"

"We're not gonna be together much longer. So don't worry about it."

"I know, but just for fun. How would you go vamp?

Jack stared at the seat in front of him and let out a long breath. "The parasite just sort of awakens, stretches, and picks up where it left off, maybe even trying to make up for lost time. It scares me, man. I don't want to hurt anybody."

"I won't let you."

The plane began to shake up and down as they hit more turbulence.

"I hate that." Chamey gripped the seat, eyes bulging. Jack heard his heart doing double-time, along with the shallow breaths. The boy needed a distraction.

Now it was Jack that stared intently at him. "You know," he said, moving closer and sniffing toward his neck, "when you're afraid, you smell that much tastier..."

Chamey's head whipped around; his eyes narrowed for a second, then a smile stretched ear to ear. "That's so cool. I'm like a pizza with everything to you."

Maybe it worked too well, Jack thought. "You need to take vampires way more seriously."

"Oh, I do, man. More than you know."

Jack settled back in his seat again, trying to ignore the sudden twinge of hunger. His eyes shut, and he was worried at what he saw. On the edges of his mind, were the first wisps of that red fog.

* * *

Chamey finally caught up with Jack and grabbed his arm, pulling hard. "Hey, wait for me," he gasped. "I almost think you're trying to leave me behind."

Jack had barely said a word to him since they landed. Now the vampire stopped and turned with a strange expression on his face. His dark hair was sticking up in places, and there was a light sheen over his pale skin. As Chamey looked into the dark brown eyes, he thought he saw fear in them. The vampire definitely had a startled appearance. But he grunted and took off again.

Chamey kept pace beside him that time, but he almost had to run to keep up. Jack grabbed a suitcase from the turnstyle and immediately headed for the exit. Chamey took off after him.

He had to dash ahead and stop directly in front of the vampire to get him to stop, and then he stood gasping for air, ignoring the pissed-off look on Jack's face.

"What's wrong, man?" he asked. "Can't you just wait a second?"

"No. I need to get out of here and get in that truck."

"Hold up just a minute longer, okay? I gotta go to the bathroom. It's all that ginger ale I had on the plane. Just wait one minute, then I'll escort you out to the truck, and you'll be on your way. Sound good?"

Jack's face held no expression as he glanced toward the exit behind Chamey.

"Come on man, just one minute." He pushed Jack toward a row of seats near the door. He didn't know what to expect, but was relieved that Jack sat down and put his luggage on the floor under his long legs. "All right then. Just wait here. Be right back."

Before he disappeared into the bathroom, he cast one glance back at the vampire, who was flipping open his cell phone. "One minute!" Chamey called to him with a smile. Jack nodded once, but didn't look up. Satisfied that the vampire was gonna stay put, he went on to take care of business.