Sapphic Voices Fantasy

And When Should I Have Told You?

Be kind: This is my first attempt at Lesbian fiction, I usually write humour and science fiction but got this idea and couldn’t resist so I wrote it. Tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: Contains scenes of love between Women (nothing graphic) (well, not much) and violence (maybe a little blood). That’s it. Pretty boring Story, really. Still, if this bothers you, it’s a big Internet out there and you don’t have to read this.

Chapter One

“Okay, we all here?” addressing her question to the air, Chase didn’t even look up as she walked into the room, scanning the papers in her hand. She heard the usual chorus of affirmatives and spared a glance up at the people sitting at the table, and confirmed that everybody was, indeed, all there. Flicking a strand of her chin-length blond hair away from her (brown) eyes, she sat down at the head of the table. Sitting next to her on either side were her assistant managers, Shell and Mick. Shell dealt with the people side of things, while Mick worked behind the scenes to make sure everything ran smoothly. The other three women were her most trusted and senior general staff, and Dave and Liam, the only men at the meeting, were the nightclub’s chief bouncers, or “door supervisors”.

Together they ran through the usual end of month nightclub management meeting discussions, ranging from topics such as drinks suppliers to takings for the month. Then, when all the usual conversation was finished, they got on to more esoteric subjects.

“What about the vampires? Everything going ahead as usual?” Shell’s question had an edge to it that did not unnoticed.

“They’re keeping up their end of the bargain.” Flourishing the papers she had been reading earlier, Chase continued: “Look. Nice big payments to the nightclub fund, 12.00 every Friday, regular as clockwork. I see no reason not to honour our own commitments.”

“Even so, it creeps me out. The whole business has creeped me out ever since Mick suggested it” Shell complained.

“It might creep you out, but we’ve had the best profits in months. The other clubs can’t understand it. With the money, we can really start improving the place” countered Mick.

“Hah!”

“It works, okay? Do you realise we’ve got one of the best turnovers in the city?!”

“At what cost?!”

“How many times do I have to explain?!”

“Now look here – “

“Both of you, calm down. Mick’s right. And I don’t want to hear any more about it” Chase cut off the argument before it could go any further. “You know Mick’s right. We’re now one of the richest clubs in the city. What we have to do in return may seem a little distasteful, but I think its worth it, and no one’s forcing you to work here. Now. Its full moon next week – has everyone given their quota of blood? Good. How did the blood drive go?”

Every three months, the club – the Liberty – held a special blood drive among the clientele, touting it as being for the local hospital. It was an easy way of getting the stuff, plus they got great PR among the customers. It had been one of Mick’s more ingenious ideas.

“A bit slow this month, but still plenty” Mick replied, “27 of O Positive, 20 of O neg, 6 of A, 7 of B, and 2 of AB. That’s not including the contributions of our staff. A total of 70 pints, not as much as usual, but over our quota of 50 pints per three months. More than plenty.”

“Good. Is it packaged and ready to go?”

“You bet.”

“Excellent. We’ll deliver tomorrow at the usual time and place. Your turn to do it, Shell. Okay?”

“I suppose.”

“Right, well, I think that concludes our meeting. Unless there’s any other business…?”



Em entered the meeting hall and moved to the nearest unoccupied seat. By the looks of it, she was the last to arrive, but it didn’t matter, the meeting official hadn’t started yet. Seated around her facing a small table at the end of the room were 29 other vampires, and sat behind the table were three people.

There was a man of indeterminate age, his inch-long, wiry black hair just greying around the temples, so he could either be a mature looking 30 year old or looking good for 50, wearing a simple grey business suit, making it look like he had just come from the office, which, in fact, he had. He was a managing director of a rich business firm in the heart of London, and was very good at it. After all, he had been doing it for a long time. Seated on his right was a young man with short, styled dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. He was the definition of ‘tall, dark and handsome’, but something about his eyes made people think twice before getting too close. Seated on his left was a young woman with short light-brown hair and blonde streaks, and murky blue-green eyes. Her light blue jeans and jacket coupled with a grey hooded top looked out of place next to the two business suits.

The man in the middle was Kavorkian, the leader of London’s Civilian Order, and the other two were Jacob, Kavorkian’s right-hand, well, vampire, and Michaela Long, who belonged to Janus, a small and exclusive group whose sole purpose was to keep the peace between humans and vampires, usually by making sure that the vampires didn’t kill anyone and that humans never found out about them.

Of course, the arrangement wasn’t perfect, as the occasional rogue turned up and started making trouble, but the “civilian” vampires did their best to save any humans that got in the way, and deal with the rogue. Em knew that there was a Janus / Civilian Order arrangement in every major city, from New York to Shanghai, and was glad of it. The system might not be perfect, but it worked.

Jacob stood up. “Is everyone here?” His voice never ceased to get on Em’s nerves. After glancing around at the seated congregation, Jacob nodded. “Then let us proceed,” he stated, seating himself as Kavorkian stood up. Kavorkian began reading from the papers in his hand, basically a compilation of news from the other cities. There were one or two marriages, a vampire getting promoted in their job, and such things as this. The Civilian Order liked to spread good news about vampires making their own way into the world – without reverting to type – in order to keep support for their cause. However, the last piece of news, about a rogue having been caught and executed in Seattle after killing several humans was met some disquiet from the listeners.

Noting this, Kavorkian quickly moved on to the main point of the monthly meeting – supplies.

“Our supplier for this month will deliver tomorrow, we will share out the day after at the usual place. There’s less than usual, but still enough to go around if we keep to 2 pints each. As always our suppliers will remain known only to myself, Jacob and Michaela, and all you have to do in return is keep up the usual monthly payment, which I want to remind you all is quite modest bearing in mind that you don’t have to do anything, much less kill anything in order to get it. Clear?”

He saw the nods and the half-hearted ‘yes’s and sighed. “Are there any questions?” The vampires looked at each other. “All right, that’s all for now, be careful out there, you know the rules.” With that, Kavorkian left, followed closely by Jacob and Michaela, presumably for their private chat. Some of the vampires milled around, wanting to catch up with others, but Em didn’t feel like chatting. As she slipped out, she decided that she didn’t want to go back to her empty flat, and headed in the direction of the cinema.



Chase popped another piece of popcorn in her mouth. For whatever reason, she’d ended up seeing a ‘B’ movie, all about some vampires taking over some secluded American town, while a wild-eyed redneck growled and started taking down said vampires, armed with nothing more than an axe and a drawing pin, with what Chase considered to be unrealistic ease. She seemed to be the only one in the place who wasn’t gasping with shock every time a vampire popped out from behind a door or some such.

Frankly, she was bored. She didn’t know much about the real thing, but she knew that they hadn’t lurked behind doorways. They’d hunted, properly, until some pacifistic vampire got the idea, soon after the discovery of blood transfusions, that it would be easier, less public, and less violent, if the vampires got the blood another way. Of course, getting the idea implemented had taken some time, but now they had this “Civilian Order” and whatever it was Michaela was from.

Still, it was money. With that kind of money, she could refurbish the club, get it the way she wanted it. She just wished she didn’t have to deal with, frankly, bloodsuckers. She sighed and kept eating the popcorn while disinterestedly watching the film. Oh, the redneck had found a stake. Goody.



Chase was just walking out of the cinema, hunched against the cold breeze, when she felt someone touch her arm. She spun, startled, and was rewarded with the sight of a pretty woman, whose long brown hair was swept back into a simple ponytail, allowing only a few strands to frame her face. Combined with impossibly green eyes, the effect was stunning. The stranger seemed a little taken aback by Chase’s sudden reaction, so she mumbled an apology, saying she had been taken a little bit by surprise.

“No need to apologise,” smiled the stranger, “My name’s Em. I was just a little curious as to why you didn’t seem very affected by that film. After all, it was a little… gory.”

“Oh. Well, er… I, er…” she stuttered, trying to think of a reason that didn’t begin with “If those were vampires, I’m a Lienz Cossack”, and settled for “well, the special effects were a little overdone… it just seemed a little fake to me that’s all.” She was aware as she said it how silly it must sound, and she smiled as charmingly as she knew how. “Besides, it was just a bit sexist – you did notice all the attacking vampires were male?”

The stranger chuckled. “Sure I did. Must be a male domination thing, huh?” She replied in a mild American accent.

“No kidding!” replied Chase, then as she did not want to let this beautiful stranger get away from her just yet, she gave her best crooked grin and said “want to come for a drink? I know a good pub nearby.”

Em looked at her a little strangely before saying “yeah. I’d like that.”



Nursing her pint of beer, Chase regarded the woman sitting opposite her thoughtfully. Now that she had time to take in details, she could see the woman was dressed very conservatively, with a grey overcoat covering a black trouser suit, almost as if she wanted to fade into the background as much as possible. But for all this, she looked young, and her emerald eyes had a hypnotic quality.

“Like what you see?” the woman asked, a light smile playing over her (well defined, but not pouty, Chase couldn’t help noticing) lips.

“Er, sorry, I didn’t realise I was staring.”

“No problem. You don’t look so bad yourself.”

Chase grinned. “So, what shall we talk about?”



Three months later


Chase mumbled sleepily to herself as she padded out of the bedroom. She liked staying over in Em’s flat – while they hadn’t moved in together, they weren’t averse to sharing their flats – and Chase thought Em’s flat was, frankly, a lot nicer than her own. Her own flat was a dump, where clothes ruled the floor and papers strewn everywhere. In comparison, Em’s flat was pristine. Absolutely pristine.

She entered the kitchen area and saw Em, wearing a simple blue dressing gown, cooking pancakes. The combination of both sight and smell was enough to make her mouth water. She came up behind Em noiselessly, and, placing her hands on Em’s hips, began planting small kisses on her neck. She brushed her teeth against smooth skin, alternating between kissing and nibbling as Em leaned back into Chase’s body. Chase moved her hands from hips to stomach, and, parting the gown, gently drew the nail of her forefinger across the skin, in slow circles, circles that had a certain destination in mind…

“And that’s where we’re going to stop, honey” Em’s voice distracted Chase from her nibbling, but not for long.

“Why?” she mumbled into Em’s shoulder, taking the opportunity to lick the crook of the collarbone.

“Because,” as she gently disengaged herself from the embrace, Em continued “the pancakes are burning, and besides, I have work to go to, as you well know.” Reluctantly letting Em slip out of her clutches, it did seem to Chase that was a burning smell in the air. As for the second part of Em’s statement…

“Aren’t you allowed to be late once in a while?” Continuing the pursuit of her quarry now that she had turned off the cooker, Chase once again held Em from behind and began kissing and nibbling anew, starting just behind the ear and working her way down. She had barely got as far as halfway down a wonderfully supple neck, when Em suddenly turned to her and kissed her full on the lips, hard, her tongue finding its way into Chase’s mouth, where it began to play with its surprised counterpart. The sudden move had caught Chase off guard, but she did not waste time in taking advantage of it. Still in the passionate kiss, Chase held Em even closer and leaned them over the side of the counter, and was moving her thigh into a strategic position when Em broke off the kiss and held Chase at bay with surprising strength.

“I might get away with being late, but I doubt that total non-attendance would go unreported. So you’re going to have to rein it in till this evening, missy.” The words were meant to be authoritative, but it seemed to Chase that Em’s voice was cracking ever such a little bit. Still, she let her go, and with that, Em went to her room to get changed, while Chase sighed and sat down to a breakfast of chargrilled pancake.

Chapter Two

Em sat in her office, but her thoughts weren’t on work. Three full moons had passed since she met Chase. And for every one of them, Chase had found some lame excuse to not be around her, or anyone else for that matter. Last month, when Chase had claimed that she had to go out with some old friends that she hadn’t seen for years, and that she’d forgotten about it till the last minute, Em had followed her from work and watched her hole up in her flat with only the TV for company.

Frankly, Em was beginning to wonder if Chase knew about her. But if she did, why hadn’t she discussed it or brought it up? Was she frightened? Em couldn’t blame her if she was. But Chase was always relaxed around her. She couldn’t understand it. Finally, with these thoughts whirling around her head, she resolved to talk to Chase about it as soon as possible. Get things out in the open. That was the best way.



Chase was at the club, overseeing the set-up of the band for that evening. True, either Mick or Shell could have done it easily, but she felt that this was her club after all, and she ought to have a hand in running it. But her thoughts were with Em. It was an irrational fear of hers, she knew, that kept her away from people on the full moons, but she couldn’t help it. Couldn’t help thinking that anybody might be a vampire, even Em, and that she had to stay in and be safe on full moon. Stupid, she knew, and time she got over it. She had seen the confused look on Em’s face when she had backed out of going over to her flat at the start of the last one, and didn’t want to see it again.

Mick had tried to reassure her that vampires were not the crazed killing machines that some people would have them be. True, they were by nature predators, and they had different… dietary needs, but with the rise of the Civilian Order, vampires had begun to integrate themselves into the world, instead of preying on it, and as a result, were much more successful. There was the occasional rogue, Mick conceded, the occasional vampire that believed the Civilian Order was “betraying our blood” and would go out and cause trouble. However, the other vampires usually dealt with them – privately. Usually. Huh.

Naturally, Chase had wanted to know how Mick knew so much about vampires when they were supposed to be a secret. Mick had managed to spoon-feed her a good story about how some Civil vampires had rescued her from a rogue, and now she was part of a secret organisation whose mandate was to help the vampires integrate into society. Chase wasn’t convinced. Still, it was a believable story, so Chase had let it be.

Next full moon, she decided, she was going to stay with Em. It was time she got over this.



Chase was waiting at her apartment for Em. She had left running the club tonight to Mick and Shell. She and Em had planned an evening in together, and as they rarely felt like cooking, it was going to be takeaway and a movie. Honestly, Chase wasn’t in the mood for anything other than picking up where they had left off this morning in Em’s flat, but if Em wanted to watch a movie, fine, they’d watch a movie. And eat the damn takeaway.

Chase was dressed only in her blue jeans and a white t-shirt, her blond hair slicked back from her face while it dried from the shower. She lounged on the sofa, and wondered would Em would be bringing for food. Several options presented themselves that had nothing to do with edible foodstuffs, but she pushed them firmly away. She was channel hopping idly when a noise at the door alerted her to Em’s arrival – both women had keys to each other’s flats.

Rising from the sofa to switch off the TV, she called out “so what did you get to eat?” Just then, Em came round the edge of the sofa. ‘Damn, how does she move so fast?’ was her first thought. Her second thought was derailed by Em’s passionate kiss, which only ended when Em was atop Chase on the sofa.

“Guess” was her reply.



Chase awoke slowly, the sunlight shafting through the curtains having been what had woken her up. Looking across at the clock, she saw that it was still morning – just. She felt hungry, but didn’t want to wake up the sleeping beauty snuggled up on her shoulder. In the end, she gently eased out of the bed, replacing her shoulder with a pillow. She padded quietly out of the room, pausing only to pull on some jogging bottoms and a t-shirt, and closing the door with a barely audible click, she went in search of food.

Switching on the TV on her way past, she headed for the kitchen and began making some toast for herself and Em, barely registering the news programme – until she glanced up and saw a picture of the front of her club. Her attention immediately secured, she listened to the rest of the broadcast, then switched off the TV. Picking up the phone, she dialled a number.

“Mick? Want to explain what I just saw?”



Em was woken by muffled yelling. It had pauses, suggesting that the yelling was part of an argument. Noting Chase’s absence from the bed, she wondered what the matter could be, got out of bed, and crossed to the door to open it, but what she heard when she did made her close it again, leaving only the smallest crack so she could hear the rest of the ‘discussion’.

“Look, just tell Kavorkian I want an explanation, okay?”

“They found a dead body in my club! Don’t tell me to be calm!”

“An accident?! Is that the best you can do?!”

“They found him without a drop of blood in him! That’s an accident?!”

“Fine, call it an accident, but you can tell Kavorkian he can forget his supplies for this month unless he finds out which of them did it!”

“Oh? Oh? Might not be one of them? Who was it then? The pointy-toothed fairy?”

“Stop telling me to be calm!”

“Yeah? Well, this was your idea from the start! Should I blame you, then?!”

“I am not being ridiculous!”

“Oh yeah? Well, you can tell him that if this kills my trade, his vampire arse can burn in hell!”

There was a slam which could only be Chase violently ending the call. Em closed the door, but not before she heard Chase growl; “Unbelievable! Bloodsuckers!” She slipped back into bed with a heavy heart, barely able to fully comprehend what she had just heard. She heard Chase approach the bedroom, and closed her eyes, as much to fight back tears as to feign sleep.

The door opened, and Em heard Chase enter softly, although the sound of her quick, sharp breaths belied a still-simmering anger. She moved around quietly, evidently getting dressed. Finally, Em felt Chase get on the bed, crawl to where she was lying, and lie down next to her. Keeping her eyes closed, Em mumbled sleepily, doing a credible impression of someone who was only half-awake. Chase’s soft voice rolled over her, although, for the first time, it wasn’t soothing.

“I’ve got to go to the club. Something’s happened. I’m sorry, honey.”

“Don’t worry about it. Can I lie here awhile?”

“Sure, anything you want. Make yourself comfortable, I might not be back for a while. You might be gone by the time I get back.”

“Thanks, and I don’t think so.” Em let a smile play over her lips, so Chase wouldn’t think anything was wrong. She felt Chase kiss her quickly, take a moment to breathe in the smell of her hair, then get off the bed.

“I’m sorry honey. Love ya.”

“Love you too.” Smiling, Em pretended to snuggle down as Chase left the room. When she was sure that Chase had left the flat, She got up and started dressing in a daze. So, apparently, not only did Chase already know about the existence of vampires, it would appear that she was also one of Kavorkian’s suppliers – Through Mick/Michaela.

And also, considering Chase’s growled epithet, she wasn’t the biggest fan of vampires. Great. Just great. Kavorkian was bound to call a meeting. Having finished getting dressed, Em left for her own flat in order to await the message.



Chase had managed to slip in through a side entrance. There were a dozen reporters outside that she did not want to speak to. Ever. Now she was holding an emergency meeting with those others who had managed to slip in unnoticed: Mick, Shell, Dave and Liam. Mick had been trying to keep the other three calm for nearly half an hour - before Chase arrived.

“So what the hell happened? It’s bad enough that someone got offed in my club, but this is ridiculous! I thought we had a deal! I get the legit blood, they stay away and give me the money! So what is this?! Is this their obtuse way of saying the deal’s off?! What? What?”

Mick had stayed quiet through this tirade, hoping that if she let Chase get it out of her system, it would calm her down. Seeing her chance, she countered, “Look, I can assure that the deal is not off. I don’t know what happened but I can promise you I will be talking to Kavorkian about it.”

“You’d better! In my damn club! Unbelievable!”

“I told you, it might not have been a vampire that killed him.”

“Who, then? With his throat torn out and no blood in him?!”

“There are people who could have framed the vampires for this.”

“Like who?! Who knew, apart from us and Kavorkian, that this was my club? And if they didn’t know, what was the point of doing it?!”

“It might have been a rogue, in which case the civil order will deal with them.”

“And how would you know? Who died and made you expert?!”

“I told you, I was saved from a rogue by some civil vamps.”

“And then what? They sat you down and told all about it?!” Chase grabbed Mick by the front of her jacket. “Well?!”

“Basically, yes!”

“And then what? They made you their press officer?!”

“No! It’s complicated!”

Chase shook Mick. “Complicated how?!”

Dave chose this moment to intervene. Placing a restraining hand on the arm that was shaking Mick, he tried to soothe the obviously upset club-owner. “This is getting out of hand. Just let Mick go and talk to Kavorkian and together we can find out what happened. Grabbing Mick’s not going to help. Let go, come on. Come on.”

Just as Chase released her grip, Mick batted her hand away and started to say something angrily, but Chase’s immediate reaction to a physical challenge was an instinctive punch. As soon as she saw Mick go down, she realised she had made a big mistake.

“Shit! I’m sorry, Mick are you okay?” Everyone in the room rushed to help Mick up, Chase being the first. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it, I swear.”

But Mick, who had been playing peacemaker for well over half an hour, was in no mood to be placated. “Is that it? Have you finished now? Or would you like to hit me some more?” Mick glared around the room.

“Mick, I’m really sorry.”

“Sorry, hell. If you’ll excuse me, I have to go to another meeting. Did you mean what you said about the supplies?”

Finding some of her original anger, Chase responded, “yes. I want them to find out what happened!”

“Right. Goodbye.” With that, Mick turned and stormed out of the room.

“Shit! Alright, let’s go.”



Em had found the message waiting for her on the answer phone. Now she waited with all the other vampires in the meeting hall. There had been no time to set up chairs, so most of them were huddled together in worried groups, while Kavorkian and Jacob spoke quietly at the far end of the room. Nobody knew what they were talking about, but they could guess. Just then Michaela walked into the room, and headed straight for Kavorkian and Jacob. None of the vampires could help noticing the ripening bruise on her left cheek, and all had private – and accurate – speculations as to how it had got there. The general mood of the room got noticeably darker.

Kavorkian, Jacob and Michaela spent the next few minutes talking urgently but quietly to each other, using gestures that would have indicated clearly the heated course their conversation was taking, had not all the other vampires been studiously ignoring them. Finally, Kavorkian came and stood in front of the assembled and now attentive vampires.

“Right. As I am sure you are all aware, the body of a man who appears to have been killed by one of our own has been found in a club. A club, moreover, that belongs to one of our suppliers. This month’s supplier. To make things worse, I am reliably informed that she was not overly fond of our like to begin with, and is now understandably very upset.” At this last statement, several gazes, including Em’s, flicked to the bruise on Michaela’s face.

Noting this, he continued; “And Ms Long wishes me to inform you that the mark on her face is the result of an accident that occurred when an argument with the owner became heated. It was not the result of a deliberate action, and the owner has apologised. However, she has also threatened to cut off this month’s supplies unless the person who did this is found.”

This news provoked an immediate belligerent response, which Kavorkian quelled by waving his hands and shouting; “And nobody is to take and individual action, understand? Anyone who does will answer to me! Now, we are going to find out who is responsible, so there is no need for concern. Understood?” With this, the mood became decidedly sulky, but at least there was murmured agreement.

“All right. I want Jacob, Thaddeus, Antonius and Christine to stay. The rest of you can go. And don’t do anything foolish.”

Taking the cue to leave, she wandered with the other vampires out of the hall, then turned in the direction of Chase’s flat. There things they had to talk about.



Em let herself in, and quickly surmised that Chase had not yet returned. Silently, she moved to the kitchen area, and leaned on the side to wait.



Chase unlocked the door of her flat, barely remembering to take the keys back out of the lock, kicked the door shut, and dropped the keys on the floor. She trudged over to the sofa, shedding her jacket on the way. She collapsed on the sofa and closed her eyes, wondering idly if she could be bothered to go to bed, or if this would be where she would sleep. She was so tired, and dealing with the initial P.R. had been a nightmare. Plus, the club was going to be shut for at least another 48 hours – two nights without takings. Not that she didn’t care about the guy who had been killed, apparently in her club, it was just that she had other things to think about.

“Back so soon?” The unexpected noise startled her out of her half asleep reverie and she stood up quickly, stumbling a little as she did so.

“You look like hell.” It was like Em had suddenly materialised as she walked into the moonlight from the window. Chase exhaled and let her shoulders slump again.

“Am I glad to see you, I have had the worst day. Can you come give me a hug, honey?”

“Sure.” Chase felt Em’s arms wrap around her, and the warmth made her feel a lot better.

“You know, it’s a pity, cos I have a feeling I am about to make your day a lot worse.”

Chase groaned in to Em’s shoulder. “Can’t it wait?”

“No, I don’t think so, in light of recent events. You see, I’m a vampire.”

For a moment, the words didn’t seem to register, then Chase’s body stiffened. “You’re a what?”

“I think you heard.”

“I heard, all right.” Chase pulled away from the embrace and held Em at arm’s length. “I just don’t believe it.”

“Why not?”

“Because.”

“Because what? I don’t look like one? Let me tell you something. A lot of stereotypes are wrong.”

“Aha-ah. And the drinking blood? Or is that just a hobby?” Chase voice was getting sharper, more clipped.

Em sighed and moved further away. “No, its not a hobby. It’s a necessity. Only the most feral vampires take life. I think you’ll find that few vampires have actually killed – at least in the last 50 or so years, when blood became easier to… obtain by other means. We didn’t need to prey on others. If you’d talked to Michaela, you’d know that.”

“Mick? How do you know Mick?”

“How d’you think? She’s our contact.”

“Figures!”

“And what happened to her face? Did you hit her?”

“What? That was an accident!”

“She had a bruise all over her cheek! That’s an accident is it?”

“Look, if she hadn’t pushed me away, I wouldn’t have –“

“Pushed you away? And what were you doing?!”

“Nothing!”

“I bet!”

“It’s not the point! Why didn’t you tell me this before?!”

“And how would you have liked me to put it? ‘By the way darling, I drink blood’. Like that, huh?”

“At least I would have known!”

“And why would you have wanted to know?!”

“Why do you think?!”

During the course of the argument, they had moved further apart, almost circling each other. Now, as she spoke, Em moved closer to Chase, and she moved threateningly, very much like a cat stalking its prey. “You want to know why I think you might have wanted to know?” Em’s voice was no longer rising in volume, but was soft, like a menacing purr. “I think that you would have wanted to know, before you climbed into bed with a bloodsucker. Hmm? Am I right? Hmm?” By now, Em was standing directly in front of Chase, her mouth inches from Chase’s ear.

“That is not what I meant.” Chase turned her head away, but her voice, though equally quiet, was defiant.

“Isn’t it?” Em’s voice had an edge of sarcasm now. She reached out to touch Chase, and saw the involuntary flinch before Chase turned away.

“I need some time to think about this.” Chase’s voice was even quieter than before, and it was now the voice of someone who in shock and perhaps not thinking too clearly. She stood still for a couple of seconds before turning around to say ‘I’m sorry’, but the words died unsaid. Em was gone.

Chapter Three

One week later


“Where the hell is she? We haven’t seen her all week.”

“I don’t know,” Answering Shell’s question, Mick glanced at her watch. “but she’s twenty minutes late.”

“Tell me about it. We’re here to decide what to do about the supplies and the vamps. I’da thought she’d be early.” Shell’s sardonic comment went unanswered.

All the usual suspects had gathered in the meeting room, but there was no sign of the boss. Suddenly the phone rang. Mick answered it.

“Hiya Mick, it’s me.” To Mick, the boss’s voice sounded strange.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. About the vamps, you’re their contact, right?”

“Errr… sort of. Look, its full moon soon…”

“I know. Just give them all the blood.”

“Boss?”

“I don’t want to cut it. Just let them have it all. Just tell Kavorkian I still want to know what went down.”

“Are you sure you’re feeling all right?”

“Never better. I’ll be back later in the week. Now leave me alone.” There was a click as Chase hung up. Mick looked at the phone for a few seconds before putting it down.

“Well? What did she say?” Shell’s questioning seemed to wake Mick up a little.

“She said to give the vamps all the supplies. It seems she’s decided to make a gesture.”



“I don’t know why we don’t just take what we want.” Jacob’s voice was petulant and decidedly sulky.

“Because we’re civilised now. We have to follow the rules.” Kavorkian’s voice in comparison was calm and firm.

“They’re just humans! Who cares about the rules?”

“I do. Do you wish to challenge me?” his now contained a hint of menace. Jacob back-pedalled immediately.

“…No. No, of course not.”

“Good.” Kavorkian sighed. That at least had brought Jacob into line, but judging from the mood of the gathering, a lot of the other vampires shared the same sentiments and he couldn’t very well threaten them all. He couldn’t see a way out of this mess. They still hadn’t figured out what had happened, as there were no clues apart from the obvious – a man was dead. He was waiting on police reports that might help him piece it together, but he wasn’t sure if he could control this lot until then. It was full moon soon, cravings would start, and he had to keep everything under control with half supplies. Great. Just great. He just hoped Michaela had a good reason for making him call this meeting – he didn’t want to have dragged the vampires here for nothing.

When Michaela walked in, carrying a large chill box, he’d never been so happy to see a human in his life.



Em had trudged along to the meeting, partly out of duty, and mostly to see what Chase would do. She had pretty much given up hope on Chase, although she had to admit she’d taken the whole “I’m a vampire” thing a lot better than the last one had. The last one had tried to exorcise her, and then when that had failed, had come after her with a stake.

She saw Michaela come in carrying a cold box, and hope clutched her heart, but she pushed it away. Michaela and Kavorkian began an excited conversation, and Kavorkian looked like he was going to hug Michaela, but thought better of it. After a brief dialogue, He came and addressed the assembled vampires with a genuine smile.

“My friends, I have good news! Michaela here has brought all of this month’s supplies and all in time for full moon. It seems that our supplier has had a change of heart, and will not be cutting supplies, as was previously rumoured.”

‘Rumoured’, thought Em wryly. Ten minutes ago he was having heart attacks and now its ‘was previously rumoured’. She chuckled, as did most of the other vampires, and the mood lightened considerably, becoming mostly one of relief. But Em noticed one or two scowls among the relieved faces, Jacob included. ‘Probably wanted to go back to hunting. Now they won’t have that chance. Hmm…”



After all the blood had been allocated, Em approached Kavorkian. “I wonder, could I talk to you for a minute?”

“Certainly.”



It was after full moon, and Em was a little nervous. She hadn’t seen Chase for two weeks and wasn’t sure that she should try to approach her so soon after… well. It was worth a try. She was pacing her flat, trying to figure out a credible excuse for going over to Chase’s apartment. It was harder than it looked.

There was a tentative knock at the door. When she opened, Chase was standing there, in her best jeans and shirt, holding a bottle of wine in one hand, and a bunch of flowers in the other.

“Hi. Can I come in?” To Em, Chase’s voice sounded small.

“Sure.” Em shut the door behind Chase and she offered the flowers to a surprised Em, with the explanation of “well in the whole time we went out, I never brought you any flowers, so I thought now was a good time to start.” The words came out in a rush, telling Em that she wasn’t the only nervous one here.

“I also brought wine. I thought a couple of peace offerings would, um, er…” Em took pity on the uncomfortable Chase.

“Yeah. It helps.” She took the bottle from Chase’s unresisting fingers, brushing them lightly as she did so, and noted with some happiness that this time, Chase did not flinch. “If you just go in the lounge, I’ll just go and crack this open.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”



They were sitting next to each other on the sofa, only two inches separating them, sipping the wine. The conversation had drifted over various inconsequential topics from numbers at Chase’s club to Em’s latest project at work. Eventually, there was a silence that Chase decided to break.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Take your pick. Mainly for reacting the way I did.”

Em chuckled. “Actually, you took it better than most.”

“Yeah? How many have you told?”

“Over 223 years, four people.”

“And?”

“The first two condemned me as a demon, and the third tried to exorcise me. Your reaction was mild by comparison.”

“Gee, thanks. I feel a lot better now.”

“No worries.”

This last exchange had lightened the mood a little.

“Actually Em, I wanted to talk about us.”

“Is there an us?”

“That’s what I’d like to ask you.”

“There could be. If you don’t mind me being what I am.”

“I can’t say I’m overly thrilled.”

“Honest. I like it.”

“But I don’t want to lose you.”

“Oh good. I don’t want to lose me either.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Yes. I know what you mean.”

“Good.” Chase made her move, kissing Em lightly on the lips. She was more than relieved to feel Em respond and deepen the kiss. Chase moved her arms so they encircled Em, pulling her even closer. Em responded by putting her arms around Chase’s neck, and they stayed that way for some time until lack of air forced them to part, entwined in each other’s arms.

“So tell me, how does this vampire thing work anyway?”

“I’ll tell you all about it,” Em kissed Chase lightly on the lips, “later.”

“Later’s fine.”

Chapter Four

Chase was sitting in the small meeting room in her office, waiting for Mick, Em and Kavorkian. Em had said there were important things for Chase and Kavorkian to talk about and Chase could only imagine that they had figured out what had happened with the guy in her club.

There was a knock on the door and Mick came in, followed by Kavorkian and Em.

“Er, hi.” Chase rose to meet the visitors, and offered her hand to Kavorkian. He shook it and smiled warmly, taking care not to let his slightly elongated incisors show. They all sat down around the table, with Em next to Chase and Mick next to Kavorkian. He was the first to speak.

“We have deciphered the mystery of what occurred in this club a few weeks ago. Or Rather, Emmeline did.”

“Emmeline, huh?” Chase smiled at a blushing Em. “So what did happen out there?”

“It was an inside job.”

“Hey?”

“Seven of our vampires, including my principal assistant, became somewhat bored with getting their food ‘legally’. They wanted to return to the hunt and ‘obey our true nature’.”

“Our first civilised rogues, in a way.” Em’s comment seemed to catch Kavorkian off guard for a moment, but he nodded agreement.

“It seems the plan was that this group would kill somebody, and plant them in your club, in order that you would become upset, and hopefully cut supplies, hence forcing the other vampires to hunt.”

“I see. So this is how it feels to be a pawn.”

“I assure you that the vampires in question will be found and dealt with. This will not happen again.”

“I hope not. I apologise if I was a little hasty.”

“Apology accepted.”

“Great. Well, I’d like to keep the old system. It was working out fine until a few weeks ago.”

“That would be satisfactory.”

“Cool. Can I leave you and Mick to iron out the details?”

“Of course. I am sure your nervousness of me has nothing to do with your desire to leave this office.”

“Look pal, a week ago you wouldn’t have made it this far.”

“Of course. I meant no offence.”

“All right. Well, if you’ll excuse me…” Chase rose and walked out of the room, followed closely by Em.

Kavorkian turned to Mick. “Well, at least she didn’t try to stake me.”



They were walking back to Chase’s flat when she spoke. “I’m sorry, Em, but I was getting jittery in there.”

“Why?”

“I dunno. Just was.”

“But I don’t creep you out?”

“You? No way. I love you, you know that.”

“But Kavorkian unnerves you?”

“Are you trying to psychoanalyse me?”

“A little, I guess.”

Chase sighed. “Okay. Look, I love you, and I don’t care what you are, but I just think I need a little more time before I get used to the idea of nice vampires. I think I watched too many horror films.” A crooked smile accompanied this last sentence, and was returned with a wry smile from Em.

“Okay. Time you can have.”

“Thank you.” With this, Chase out her arm around Em and held her tight for a moment before letting go.

“Not interrupting anything important are we?” They had been passing through an alley and the unexpected voice startled them both. “You know, it’s dangerous in these alleys. You two women shouldn’t be here.”

“Great.” Chase said the apparently disembodied voice, “Thanks for the tip. We’ll leave now.” she put her arm around Em and began to walk forward as quickly as she could, but Jacob materialised out of the shadows in front of them, blocking that route of escape. Chase didn’t need to look to know that there were probably vampires behind them as well.

“So. How can we help you?” she said, attempting to put some bravado into her voice that she did not feel.

“You can help by giving us a good run for our money before we kill you. After all, that’s what humans are for. Vampires are the hunters, humans the hunted.”

“Gee. Tempting as that sounds, I think I’ll pass.”

“And besides, what makes you think I would let you do that?” Em interjected.

“Nothing. We just thought we’d execute you as a traitor. I mean, taking up with vermin. Honestly.”

“Who are you calling vermin, pal? Not you.” She quickly amended to Em, catching a look.

Glaring at Chase for an instant, she said to Jacob, “Don’t be foolish.”

Chase took a moment to glance around and counted four vampires. The civil order must have got the others, she guessed. “And besides, you’ve already got he order on your tail. Wouldn’t it be wise to leave town?”

“Maybe. After we’ve dealt with you. Now, I suggest you start running. I want to work up an appetite.”

“Why bother? You guys are supposed to be stronger and faster.”

“We are.”

“So what’s the point?”

“Even so.”

“I’m not going anywhere without Em.”

“Fine.” Without warning, Jacob lunged at Em, who barely had time to react and defend herself. Em ducked Jacob’s swing and managed to hit him in the face. Two vampires grabbed Chase as she ran forward to help Em, holding her back as the fourth vampire went to Jacob’s aid. To be honest, Jacob didn’t need any help. Em had already staggered back, bleeding, when Jacob hit her a second time, sending her to the floor.

Chase elbowed one of the vampires in the chest, winding him, and lunged for the second one. They crashed into the opposite wall, struggling, and she felt someone grab her from behind, trying to pull her off. She flung an elbow back, catching them in the face, but unfortunately this left her open to attack, and the second vampire took the opportunity to punch her in the stomach and follow through with an uppercut. As she sank to the floor, coughing, she got a kick to the side that sent her flying. Lying on her back, dazed, trying to work out how many ribs were broken, she saw the two vampires she’d been fighting standing over her, and reflected that perhaps she should have run when she had the chance.

One of them grabbed her and pulled her upright, and she saw lights pop in front of her eyes as her ribs protested. She saw a struggling Em, who was being restrained by Jacob and another vampire. Em was yelling something, but she couldn’t make it out. She seemed pretty upset, whatever it was. Chase wasn’t thinking too clearly, but she could figure out what was coming next. The vampire holding her sank his teeth into her neck, and even Chase was surprised at how much it hurt, but she couldn’t do anything.

Suddenly, the alley was filled with shapes, people running in from all directions, all rushing the vampires who had been attacking her. They had no chance. She didn’t even remember falling to the floor, but instantly Em was there, crouching down and holding Chase’s head in her lap. In any other circumstances, it would have been a position that Chase would very much have appreciated being in, but right now she wasn’t feeling so good.

She was aware of Em talking to her, but it was like her voice was coming across a distance. Everything was distorted and hollow. Em’s voice seemed to be getting further and further away. She mumbled something and passed out.



She woke up in a bed. A familiar bed. Chase had figured that by now she’d be in hospital being treated for blood loss, but no, she seemed to be in Em’s bedroom. Still, this was not a problem for Chase; given the choice between this bedroom or a hospital bed in a room that smelled of disinfectant, she knew which she’d choose any day.

Just then, Em came in, carrying a tray. There were some bandages on the tray, as well as what looked like a bowl of steaming… chicken soup. Chase chuckled to herself. Some things never change. She locked eyes with Em, who smiled to see her awake.

“Finally! You’ve been out of it for days.” She waved the tray enticingly. It’s difficult to wave a tray in a seductive way, but she managed it. “I thought the chicken soup might tempt you out of dreamland, at least for a while.”

“Did we win?” Chase croaked, not really expecting an answer. For some reason, her throat really hurt.

Em chuckled. “Yeah. My friends showed up just in time. Seems Kavorkian had them follow us just in case Jacob tried anything.”

“Oh. Goody. So what did happen? My memory’s not too clear.”

“I’m not surprised. I tripped out a little; I thought you were dead. The others helped me get you here.”

“Nice of them.”

“They were under orders to take care of us, but yeah.”

“My throat hurts.”

“It will do. Milton tried to feed from you. Happily, the others were able to stop him before you lost too much blood.”

Chase coughed, sending a bolt of pain through her throat. “Great. I don’t suppose you have any aspirin?”

“That’s the secret ingredient in the soup.”

“Great. Thanks.”

“No problem. Just drop a couple of pills in and you’re done.” She smiled.

“I don’t mean for the pills. I mean for taking care of me. I thought after the ‘vermin’ crack you’d be helping Jacob, not fighting him.”

Em sighed. “I would never help a scumbag like Jacob.”

“And the vermin crack?”

“Look, I know its’ going to take you time to get used to the idea, but it’s time I’m willing to invest. I love you, you know.”

“I know. I love you too.”

“I know.” Em smirked. “And now the lovey-dovey stuff is over with, I’m going to feed you some soup.”

“What? You’re going to spoon-feed me? No way.”

Em pouted. “Aww. Doesn’t likkle Chasey want any soup?”

“No. Likkle Chasey wants a kiss.”

“Likkle Chasey is supposed to be having bed rest.”

“Bed, yes. Rest, no.”

“Yes to both. Now eat the soup.”

“If you give me a kiss I’ll eat the soup.”

“If you eat the soup, I’ll give you a kiss.”

“If you give me a kiss I’ll eat the soup.”

“If you eat the soup I’ll give you a kiss.”

“This could go on forever.”

Em smiled. “I hope so. Now eat the soup.”

“Kiss first.”

“Soup.”

“Kiss.”

“Soup.”

“Kiss.”

“All right, then.”



After a while, they forgot about the soup.

The End

If you have enjoyed DL's "And When Should I Have Told You?", then please be certain to e-mail her at  donna_dlw[at]yahoo.co.uk  and thank her for posting this Story.

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