Found

Found Part 5 - Like the Mafia, but not

Alice stiffened. "What do you mean you have a team of professionals for that?"

Earl paused, his beer halfway to his lips. "Alice, 0.25% of the world population is still 19 million people. People with this condition can work their whole life, we tend to be financially well off, eventually. We can afford to -"

Alice leaned back as she interrupted, "Be the undead mafia?"

Earl stared at her, then burst out laughing. He set down his beer and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Sure, I guess, but we aren't. That's the sort of thing that gets you noticed. We tend to like our anonymity. You could have gone public, right? You could have started up a cosmetic company and made a fortune on anti-aging cream. Or signed up for the Guiness book of records. But you didn't."

Alice looked down. "I didn't want to be a freak."

Earl reached towards her, but stopped. "Hey, I understand completely. This is the sort of thing that could get a person lynched back in the day. That's a big part of why we organized. No one likes being alone, but... It's better to be around people you can be honest with.

Alice looked up and nodded. "How did you find me?"

"In the hospital."

Alice shook her head. "You came to the hospital and fell out of your chair as soon as you saw me. We couldn't find anything wrong with you. So... how did you find me?"

Earl sighed, "I will explain, but you will likely get the wrong idea. I'm not trying to be offensive. I don't mean this in a bad way." He stopped a took a deep breath, Alice looked worried. "I smelled you," he confessed. "I stopped for lunch and I could smell that there was one of us in town. I didn't know you were going to be at the hospital. I was actually looking for the doctor who had been practicing for fifty years. I thought, maybe he would have information about dog or wolf attacks."

Alice nodded slowly. "So, now that you've found me, what happens next?"

Earl chewed thoughtfully around a bite of steak. "That's up to you. I'm going to Prince Rupert tomorrow. I can give you my contact information and that of the ... we call it the Treaty Council. We have a non-disclosure Treaty. But it is up to you if you want to contact them or not. There aren't any others here, so this is your territory. You can always tell anyone who shows up to piss off. If you end up moving, it's considered polite to let the local families know you will be in their space. We can get a little territorial at times."

Alice considered this. Analysing your own behaviour was always problematic, she knew. People have confirmation bias, especially around their own behaviour. However, she was willing to own up to the territorial thing. She had been a jealous wife and mother. She tried not to let it interfere with her relationships, but it was there. It was there enough that ....

Well, by all accounts both of her son in laws has be good men, good fathers. Certainly by the standards of the 1960's. And yet Alice had only ever tried to visit once. She loved her daughters, but had been so uncomfortable being in someone else's house (even if it was her daughter's, or at least her son in laws) that she hadn't ever gone back. It was easier when they came to visit her. In her space, where she was in control.

Of course, once they had children, travelling got a lot harder. She and her children had just sort of drifted apart. It had been the very expensive long distance phone call where he oldest was complaining about menopause where Alice had realized something was wrong. She had been in her sixties at the time and was still regular as clock work. She still was. Four times a year, with the season change.