The Cowboy and Vampire

Lizzie and Tucker spent the next five days pretending to have a normal relationship. They held hands and took walks by moonlight, went out to eat in the finest restaurant LonePine had to offer, rented movies. Tucker changed his schedule around, started sleeping in way past sunrise and staying up way past sundown. For the briefest time, it was an oasis in the desert of calamity after calamity that was befalling them. In that quiet corner of the country, they grew closer than ever.



Sully and Dad gave them plenty of space and, in the process, came to be friends. As it turned out, Sully was a fine shot and there wasn't much Dad respected more in a man. Dad even started taking naps during the day so that at night they could set up cans on the fence post down in the gully behind the house. There, by the headlights of Dad's truck, they initiated a contest of moonlight trick shooting. They got pretty elaborate. Dad took to shooting between his legs and Sully, showing off his Vampiric abilities, was once able to strike a match at twenty yards.



All the shooting eventually attracted Lenny who has a sense for all things gun related. He drove up in his old truck with a case full of automatic weapons, infrared spotting glasses, and a laser scope.



They were having the time of their life and the hillside trembled under the onslaught. "So, you say you're a Vampire," Lenny said, the laser scope on his .45 winking crimson in the half light.



"Yes."



"I have a hard time believing that." He popped off a long string of shots that rattled the log they had propped up.



"It's true," Dad said, holding his ears.



"Maybe you're just allergic to the sun."



"Oh, no, I am undead. You can shoot me, if you like. With one of the little guns. And not in the face."



Lenny pulled off his hearing protectors. "No. I couldn't do nothing like that."



"I could," Dad said. He raised up the little .22 pistol his own father had given him and pointed it at Sully's chest. "Can I?"



Sully nodded and looked to the side. Crack-crack-crack. Three times the little pistol discharged point blank. Lenny's mouth hung open and he struggled to find words.



Sully winced and slapped at his chest dramatically then tittered. "Oh, my, that smarts." He pulled his shirt aside and Lenny bent forward to examine the wounds. They were already healing closed and as they watched, the misshapen bullets popped out and into Sully's open palm. "Now do you believe?"



"Definitely. I would say I definitely believe. I would also say I am definitely going home now. Very pleasant meeting you."



"Are you sure you have to run off so soon?" Sully asked, slipping the lead projectiles in his pocket. Dad was laughing so hard that he had to hold his sides.



"Afraid so," Lenny said, as he climbed in to his truck.



"Look at him go," Dad snorted. "Like he seen a ghost."



"I think that was kind of cruel," Sully said. They both popped open a beer and walked back toward the house, unaware that they were being watched from the deeper shadows.



Meanwhile, Lizzie and Tucker had driven down to his place for old times' sake. They were walking through the thick grass and past the burnt-up remains of his trailer. Most of it had been hauled away while they were in New York, and all that was left standing was the barn and the water tank, and most of the fence. Mysteriously, the alpacas were shying away from the downed wires.



Rex rolled in the familiar grass, covering himself with the smell of home, dusting his coat with memories. Tucker's eyes took on an eerie shine as the power of his land transferred through the soles of his boots into his soul. Lizzie slipped her arm around his waist and led him toward the barn.



"Naw," he said, dragging his feet, "I'd just as soon avoid it for now."



She looked at him quizzically, then just shrugged her shoulders and they kept walking for a while without saying anything, both knowing there was too much to say.



"Tucker?"



"Yes?"



"Is it because of Snort that you don't want to go to the barn?"



"I guess so."



She sighed deeply. "I'm afraid if I start crying, I might not stop."



"Well then, you better not start."



"I don't want anyone else to die."



"I suspect that a whole lot more people are going to, sweetie. But not you. You won't die. You're eternal."



Lizzie made a funny scoffing noise, something between a laugh and a sob. She moved close to Tucker and kissed his neck softly.



"Lizzie, you got to make up your mind." Sully's words echoed in his thoughts. "You got to live in your world now."



"I've come to one decision already," she whispered as her hands moved down to his belt and even lower. Tucker's breath came shorter but he pushed her back gently.



"What are you going to do about your period?"



"I'm not sure yet. I'm not sure I even believe it."



"Julius does. And that's all that really matters."



"I'm surprised he hasn't shown up here yet."



"He will. Or New Mexico. We have to figure out what we're doing."



"The only thing I want to do is live here with you."



"That's a start. Let's work backward from that. How do you want to do that? As a bored housewife Vampire, feeding on an occasional alpaca and waiting around to nurse me through Alzheimer's? Or as a Vampire Queen ruling the earth, being true to the higher purpose inside you? If what they're saying is true, you can do a great deal more good making sure all that power don't get in the wrong hands."



"Why should I worry about the whole world?"



"'Cause we owe the world a favor."



"For what?" she asked bitterly. "Look what it's done to me."



"For bringing us together. And there is one advantage in you drinking your own blood," he said quietly.



"What's that?"



"You could turn me into a Vampire."



"I would give anything to be able to spend eternity with you, Tucker. But I don't believe that you would much like the things you have to do."



He sighed. "You're probably right."



"How about this? We go to New Mexico. Take Lazarus up on his offer to protect me until my period comes. If there really is a power, we let it go back to the Cosmos. Then no one has it. After that, we can come back here and live out your life together.



After that, I suppose I'm on my own."



"Seems a little simple. Julius and his army won't let it end that easy There's bound to be a scrap of some sort."



"We'll deal with that. The important part is my knowing we'll be together. That's all that matters to me. Besides, I thought you liked it simple."



"It does have a certain beauty to it. I'm guessing Lazarus could help us figure out how to do it all."



Lizzie smiled. "At least, we have some goals to work toward now."



"We'll make staying alive number one. No, we'll make staying in love number one. How's that sound?"



"Good, really good. But let's move making love to number one. Just for now?" She nuzzled her face into his neck and Tucker kissed her. Breathless, he unbuttoned her shirt, letting the moonlight shine on her pale skin, her breasts sparkling like magic.



Taking his hands, she led him back down the hill and toward the barn, never once taking her eyes from his.



Inside, they made love in the loft, clothes spread out on the hay and smelling the sweet smell of summer. Afterward, he heard her sigh, and then, much to his drained surprise, he heard something else. Another voice, other voices. Distant and mumbled.



He will not be easily vanquished. Protect yourself. Go to your childhood. The dark woman will aid you.



Tucker bolted upright. "What? What did you say?"



"Nothing, I said nothing, it was the voices again, I swear."



"What did they say?"



Lizzie pulled her clothes on roughly and fast. "We've got to find Sully and go. I need to get to Lazarus." They drove quickly back to Dad's place, the truck rattling in the deep ruts.



"Dad, Sully," Tucker yelled as they entered his house, "time to get moving. You finished horsing around with your target..." His words died in his throat.



Dad and Sully were both bound to chairs, both pale, and both marked with blood-tinted wounds on their throats. Sully was still as a statue, eyes closed and breathing shallowly. Dad was conscious, eyes burning but drained.



Elita lay back in the recliner with the television remote and a beer, Dad's gray Stetson perched on her head. She was wearing a skimpy black satin cocktail dress and red cowboy boots, her feet propped on the table. She laughed her throaty laugh when she saw their surprised faces. Tucker muttered an oath and reached for his gun but Lizzie stayed his hand. Her back was rigid and fury blazed in her eyes.



Elita showed no sign of concern, just kept flipping through the television stations and sipping her beer. "The reception out here is awful," she said.



Lizzie walked to the center of the room where Dad was, leaned down and untied him. He stood up, his old body tense and ready to lunge, but Lizzie stopped him.



"Stand by Tucker." She said it quietly, but with a dark strength that left no room for argument. Lizzie moved to Sully. She knelt down beside him and whispered in his ear as she untied his hands. His eyes fluttered open, and he mustered a tiny smile.



"What happened, Sully?" she asked tenderly.



He coughed weakly and could hardly get the words out, but finally managed to whisper a response, all the while looking at Elita, his eyes burning with a mixture of rage and terror. "She fed on me."



Those words appeared to be Elita's cue. She jumped up from the recliner, flipped the hat far back on her head, and stood, hips pushed forward. "Lizzie dearest, I suppose you don't yet know how to kill a Vampire. While it's rather challenging for Adamites," she explained, grinning maliciously at Tucker, "it's quite elementary for a Vampire. Simply take their blood. All of it.



Generously, I have refrained from killing Sully. I stopped in time. He's only stunned. He'll be back to himself, or rather herself, by tomorrow night. That is," she purred, "if I choose not to feed again before he has regained his strength." She smiled demurely, looking at her nails.



Lizzie stood. Her power was awesome, light seemed to flow from her. Surprisingly and oddly she was calm. No rage, no angry words. It was as if she had the power of time and gravity wrapped around her little finger.



She turned. "Tucker, please help Sully to his coffin. He needs to rest." He hesitated, unsure if he should leave her alone, but then decided he should at least take the opportunity to get others to safety.



Between Dad and Tucker, they managed to support Sully and carried him toward the basement door and the coffin waiting below. "Its gonna be the catfight of the century," he said, looking over his shoulder one more time as they negotiated through the doorway.