Bad Choices (Hypernaturals 8)

The Maine Problem

After Morgan and I had been fully and comprehensively unplugged, both of us checked over head to toe for health, the two of us went into the temporary positive pressure airlock, dressed, then went to the main house. Mom and Jessica observed Marvin. Measured. Decided that all the things that are going to be done are done. Marvin is going to stay under observation one more night in the full sterile suite, to let everything settle and allow his immune system to recover. That or allow the new immune system we are trying to build to come to life, as the case may be. The good news is that even though we major league screwed with his body, past that first day of cycling, Marvin seems fine. Unhooked, he no longer is on the vital signs roller coaster.

Helen and Rachel are not home yet. Angel said she talked to them. "They did not give details. Something about an all hands on deck problem. They called in all available Crew and Council."

The next day Morgan and I are worked from home since Marvin's status is unclear. He is free from the clinic, and under the close eye of Skye, who had been waiting for days anxiously. Skye is super-happy to be able to take over the care of her husband.

Upon Marvin's release, Mom went and crashed in her RV. Jessica curled up in the Living Room. Angel went into the office. I drove Nakoma to school.

I heard some kids ask about the dude driving the convertible as Nakoma walked up the entranceway sidewalk. She said offhandedly "Oh: That's my dad." As if that is obvious. I suppose it isn't. I do not look old enough to be the father of a nearly fifteen-year-old girl. On the other hand, even taking into account this is only what I look like, I am too old to be anything else unless I were some musician stalking underage women. See Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis and many others for details. I most emphatically am not, and in fact, I am about to deal with men like that.

Our missing Council members came home mid-afternoon on our second day of freedom. I heard the car, went out to meet them, took one look at the bedraggled Vampires, and called back to the house: "Morgan. We are going to need red meat. Stat."

They look exhausted. Helen's normally neatly brushed hair was dirty and fly-away from not having been washed for days.

We plopped Rachel and Helen at the table, large glasses of milk in their hands. Jessica stirred, saw who is home, and joined. She looks pretty tired too. Morgan put another large milk in front of her.

Morgan next pulled out the grass-fed ground beef, and then looked Rachel and Helen over, evaluating their need. Morgan sniffed the air to catch their scent and added that data into her estimates. She started making two pounds of hamburgers per woman, but only a pound and a half for Jessica. She added butter and Avocado oil to the pans but added no extra spices. Her diagnosis of their need is savory and in quantity. I agreed. It is what I would have made.

I sat with them at the table as Morgan cooked and Rachel explained the long delay.

"It was a comedy of errors. We were up in Portland, Maine. A Vampire was feeding in an alleyway. She had denied herself blood for far too long and the compulsion was making her insane. She had no idea about her surroundings and had paid no attention to them. There were security cameras everywhere, and security guards came bursting onto the scene. They thought she was killing him."

This is part of Vampiredom that makes me crazy. This woman fucks up big time, but by the end of this story, there will be no consequences. I have a bet with myself: by the end of this tale, she won't get probation. Maybe a sit down with a Crew member.

Helen kept surreptitiously glancing at the kitchen as Rachel told the story. I have her blood in me at the moment, and so I am able to read her in extra high definition. Helen is worried about Morgan, and how Morgan feels about her. Yet there Morgan is: cooking for her, like everything is OK.