60. Family Friends (S)
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"What's the news?" Tara asked as she cuddled against my right side.

I was focused on my phone as I tapped out a little message then sent it off. Then I tucked the phone into my jacket pocket and slipped my arm around her shoulders and replied, "She says she's still thinking about it, but no promises. She's got another two months of school yet anyways, so the earliest she could visit is July. Assuming she decides to come at all."

My girlfriend looked thoughtful, then commented "I think she'll come. She acts like she's not lonely but I think she misses having vamp friends she can relate to. And you're pretty close to her age. I think it'd be good for her. And maybe you too."

"Maybe," I shrugged slightly. "I'm not going to pressure her, but I'm glad she's considering it."

Tara agreed, "The fact that you two are texting and stuff fairly regularly is a good sign I think."

"Yeah," I nodded. I wasn't sure I could call Penny a friend, but she emailed me back in March with the information I'd asked for. It was instructions for making a 'potion' that would allow us to go out in the sunlight without being blinded or suffering sunburns. According to the enigmatic vamp it was good for twelve hours once you drank it.

I was pretty skeptical about the whole thing, despite it being exactly what I wanted. The instructions all seemed a little too much hocus-pocus make-believe for me.

Still, Penny and I emailed back and forth a few times, then exchanged numbers so we could text. She even got me onto some social media stuff too. Without even realizing it, she and I had sort of become online acquaintances.

Now it was the beginning of May. Me and Tara spent another nice Saturday night at the club, though it was actually the wee hours of Sunday morning by now. The doors would be closing in around twenty minutes and there were only about a dozen guests left down on the main floor. Half were still dancing, the rest were standing around chatting and enjoying their last drinks.

Reuben stood leaning against the bar sipping a glass of blood while he talked with Zach, and Meg was in the DJ booth while Phoebe was in her favourite spot just to the left of the booth. She usually kept Megan company, or she'd dance where her girlfriend could watch.

Tara and I were cuddling, and we were both smiling as we relaxed and looked over our club and our little family.

About five months had passed since we turned Meg and Phoebe. It took less than two months for my girlfriend and I to be fully recovered, while our new progeny were pretty much self-sufficient before the end of March. As expected, Phoebe moved in with Megan as soon as me and Tara decided they didn't have to stay with us any longer.

Meg returned to her job here, and we hired Phoebe as well. She was in charge of marketing, and she'd already proved her worth. Neither Tara or myself thought much about that sort of thing, but Phoebe was good at coming up with special events and capitalizing on holidays and stuff like that.

"You look happy," Tara commented with a smile.

I nodded, "I am. I love what we've built here, I love our happy friendly little family. And I love you."

She leaned in and we shared a passionate kiss, then replied "I love..."

Tara's voice trailed off as we both picked up the scent at the same time. Undead, three different scents. I didn't recognize any of them specifically but there was a strong 'Toronto Family' vibe in the air.

We both looked down at the main floor in time to see three strange vamps step into view. They'd just come in through the front doors, and they were looking around. There were two women and one man, none were dressed for clubbing.

The man was in the lead. He was about six feet tall, and from what I could see he was fit and trim. His dark hair was cut short but I couldn't see his face from where Tara and I were sitting. I could tell his shoes were some sort of official polished black leather style that reminded me of cops and other 'professional' types. He was wearing dark slacks and had a navy blue spring jacket on.

The two women were both average height, both were slim. One had long blonde hair the other shoulder-length auburn hair. They were both wearing sneakers, the blonde in leggings and the other in tight jeans. Both wore loose hoodies and carried large purses.

All three of them sort of turned their heads as they looked over the interior of the club, and all three wound up staring at Megan and Phoebe. The strangers obviously knew there were vamps in the club, and our two youngest were the ones closest to the door.

I felt a shock of adrenaline, and maybe some kind of momma-bear instincts kicked in because the thought of some strangers from Toronto threatening my young progeny had me acting before I was thinking.

I leapt out of my seat over the table and onto the railing, then from there I jumped out over the dance floor. Twisting as I sailed through the air, I dropped the fifteen feet or so to the floor and landed between the strangers and the DJ booth, facing the three newcomers.

Nether Tara or myself were dressed for trouble, we were dressed for clubbing. My low-heeled shoes weren't great for acrobatics but my enhanced strength and reflexes made up for that.

The three strangers all took a step back when I seemed to drop out of the sky in front of them. And a moment later Tara landed behind them, so the two of us had them surrounded.

To my left I could see Reuben and Zach were already moving as well, they'd both noticed the new arrivals at the same time me and Tara did. Literally within seconds of the three of them stepping onto the dance floor they were surrounded by the four of us, all intent on protecting our two youngest members.

A few of the human guests were startled or freaked out by Tara and I dropping from the ceiling like that, and a few more realized something was up when Reuben and Zach moved in as well. About a half dozen of them quickly grabbed their coats and things then quietly left.

The male vamp raised his hands up in an 'I surrender' gesture, while the two women moved closer to each other.

Seeing their faces now, I could tell the guy was about thirty when he was turned. The two girls were both early- to mid-twenties. The girls looked nervous, if not outright scared. The guy looked wary and anxious. And I didn't feel like any of them were terribly old. The guy was probably fifty or sixty years dead, the two girls were similar.

"Hey sorry!" he stated, keeping his hands raised and to the sides, palms up and open. "We're not looking for trouble, I don't want to fight ok? I'm just trying to help these two out."

Me and Tara exchanged a glance. It didn't feel like they were a threat after all, so I nodded "We'll talk in the office. Reuben, Zach, stay out front here."

I wanted the guys to keep watching the dance floor and the doors, and to keep an eye on Meg and Phoebe. I knew if there was more trouble they'd call us, and I was confident me and Tara could handle these three if anything happened.

Tara led the way, the three strangers followed her, and I took up the rear. When we were in the back and away from the few remaining human guests and the loud music, the guy introduced himself.

"My name's Mikhail, or folks call me Mike. I found these two over at HSC trying to steal blood. They said they were looking for you, but they were starving."

HSC was a big health care hospital facility, and it wasn't that far from our club.

He added, "I don't want any trouble ok? I was just trying to help out a couple vamps down on their luck, and I knew where to find you so I offered to bring them here."

My girlfriend and I exchanged another glance, then she looked at the two girls and asked "And who are you two? What do you want with me and Sam?"

The blonde spoke up, "I'm Patricia, this is Christine. We used to be part of Cheryl's crew, back in Toronto? We heard you were building a new family here in Winnipeg and we came to ask if you'd take us in."

She added, "We're not looking for charity, we came prepared to bribe or buy our way in."

Before either of us could respond she dug into her purse and pulled out a black velvet bag. She dumped it out on the desk, revealing a pile of fancy-looking jewelry. Necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, all in gold with diamonds and other precious stones.

The brunette was still quiet but she followed Patricia's example and produced a similar bag which she added to the pile.

"Cheryl used to brag how much this was worth," Christine said as she finally spoke up. "It's not fake, not costume jewelry. It's all the real deal. Worth at least a million, maybe two. We stole it when we took off."

I sighed and rubbed my forehead, "Why do you want to join us? Why don't you sell the jewelry, keep the money, and just settle down and do your own thing?"

Patricia shook her head, "We need blood, not money. We can earn money by waitressing or stripping, but we don't know where to get blood."

Christine added, "We heard you two were set up here and you were doing really good? So we're hoping you'll take us in and look after us. You know, like keep us safe, give us blood. The jewelry is to buy our way in, and we can contribute with whatever we earn once we get jobs here."

"We're not setting up a big clan here like they had in Toronto," Tara stated. "We don't have a mansion, we're not rebuilding what they had back there."

I added, "And I'm not sure we're looking to take in strays."

Mikhail had been quiet since we started talking to the girls, but he finally asked "Just how fucked up is it in Toronto that vamps there don't know how to feed themselves? When I said I caught these two trying to steal blood, I mean literally they were looking for it in bags! They weren't even snooping around the wards looking at helpless humans."

"I think you answered your own question," I told him as I rolled my eyes. "They're not taught to feed themselves or look after themselves."

"Fuck," he shook his head in wonder.

Tara asked him, "You said you caught them at HSC. Do you work at the hospital?"

He shook his head, "Not exactly. I'm an EMT, I work the night shifts. I happened to spot them lurking around a restricted area, I could tell they were vamps and I figured I'd see what they were up to. When I confronted them they kind of panicked and begged me to help them."

I sighed, then looked back at the two refugees and asked "What's it like back with the Family? It can't be good if you two fled on your own."

Christine shook her head, "It's like Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. It was already bad after you killed the matriarch and half the elders, but since you killed the other two and the last enforcers it's been hell. Like every vamp for themselves. People have been leaving, stealing whatever's not nailed down. There's even been fighting right inside the mansion."

Patricia added, "Cheryl was trying to hang on to her own little private empire? She had a lot of sway before, because her club brought in a fair amount of revenue for the Family. But without the elders there looming over everyone, and with no more enforcers around, things just got wild. She was trying to do a deal with the guys in the livery, and someone slashed her throat. We heard it was Eric."

"And without Cheryl around," Christine continued, "We knew it was only a matter of time before the rest of us were killed or claimed as fucking property. So me and Trish grabbed the jewelry and all the cash we could get our hands on and we got the fuck out of there."

We were all quiet for a few moments after that.

Finally Patricia looked at me and Tara and practically begged, "Please will you help us? Will you take us in?"

Tara looked at me, then she shrugged slightly.

"Ok," I finally sighed. "We'll take you two in, temporarily. We've got a guest room where you can stay till you find your own place. Tara and me will teach you how to hunt and look after yourselves. We'll give you a couple months, but you'll be expected to find jobs and get your own apartment or something."

The two ex-Family vamps immediately showered me and Tara in thank-you's and gratitude. It felt awkward as hell but they were acting like we'd just saved their lives or something.

Meanwhile Tara looked back at Mikhail again and commented, "You seem like a pretty decent guy. I could imagine other vamps coming across a pair of helpless young women like that might have taken advantage."

Mike shrugged, "I'm an EMT, my job's saving lives. I wasn't going to take advantage of a couple starving vamps."

I asked him, "You're a local guy right? One of the independent vamps in town?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Been here for a few decades, it's usually a nice quiet place."

After a moment's thought I told him, "You're welcome around here. Consider yourself a friend of ours."

He smiled, "Thanks. Good to know there's some fellow vamps I can hang out with now and then."

We really weren't looking to form of a new vamp clan, but having more friends and allies couldn't hurt. And I kind of liked the idea that me and Tara started something other folks wanted to be a part of.

I smiled back, "Let's head back out to the bar. We'll get some drinks, and introduce you three to the rest of the group."

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