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Ray should not coeles I feel this in my heart But after the sun sets, and he awakens, and I explain to hi ht of h intellectually I share his opinion Truly, he still sees us as evil But, he says, two are stronger than one, and I know his ht very well need him at a critical o another night without feeding How hts he can survive, I don&039;t know I can endure for as long as sixas I don&039;t have other vaet down to Los Angeles, we fly south in round, before we do anything else, I tell Ray we are going hunting He agrees reluctantly, and I have to promise him ill not hurt anybody It is a proe veins, I never knohat coo to Zuma Beach, north of Malibu The beaches have always been a favorite den of victims for me Plenty of out-of-state travelers, homeless people, drunks-portions of the population who are not immediately missed Of course, I seldoun to believe in miracles, or since I have fallen in love with my reluctant Count Dracula, whichever came first Actu?ally, I once met Vlad the Impaler, the real man Count Dracula was based on, in the fifteenth century in Transylvania during the ith the Otto canines Now, there was a felloho neededout of his mouth, and he had the worst breath He was no vampire, just a Catholic zealot with a fetish for decapitation He asked e I attract unusual men I told him where to stuff it I believe I invented the phrase

Driving north on the Coast Highway, I spot a young couple on the beach s Up and down the beach, for at least half a mile, there isn&039;t another soul Looks like dinner to me, but Ray has his doubts He always does I swear, if ere a nor out to a restaurant, he would never be satisfied with thea vampire, you can&039;t be a picky eater, it just doesn&039;t work Yet you ht wonder-what about blood-borne diseases? What about AIDS? None of them matters None of them can touch us Our blood is a fermented black soup - it strips to the bone whatever we sink our teeth into This particular young couple looks healthy and happy to me, a blood type I prefer It is true I am sensitive to the "life vibration" of those I feed upon Once I drank the blood of a well-known rap singer and had a headache for a week

"What is wrong with them?" I ask Ray as we park a hundred yards north of them They are behind and below us, not far froh

"They&039;re not much older than I am," he says

"Yes? Would it be better if they were both in their eighties?"

"You don&039;t understand"

"I do understand They remind you of the life you left behind But I need blood I shouldn&039;t have to explain that to you I suffered two serious wounds last night, and then I had to feed you when I returned home"

"I didn&039;t ask you to feed me"

I throw up my hands "And I didn&039;t ask to have to watch you die Please, Ray, let&039;s do this quick so that we can take care of e ca to approach the to be no approach We are si their blood"

Ray grabs my arm "No They&039;ll be terrified They&039;ll run to the police"

"The police in this town have more important matters to deal with than a couple of hysterical twenty-year-olds"

Ray is stubborn "It will take you only a few moments to put them at ease and hypnotize them Then they won&039;t suffer"

I stand up outside the car and scowl at him "You would rather I suffer"

Ray wearily climbs out of his side of the car "No, Sita I would prefer to fast"

I walk around and take his hand-a handso couple out for an innocent stroll But my mood is foul "You would rather I suffer," I repeat

The blond couple doesn&039;t even look up as we approach, so entranced are they in each other&039;s anato?lance I as-he would prefer I anesthetize the their veins My patience has reached its liirl, I reach down and grab their sleeping bag and pull it out from under them They fly three feet in the air-literally They look up at ine

"You are about to beYou will not be hurt and you will not lose any reat service Stay calm and we&039;ll be done in ten rab the girl and throw her to Ray, and then I a them there with one hand, I don&039;t worry when he opens hissurf, no one will hear him Not that it would make much difference if someone did In LA the earth could shake and people would think it was the Har on Zuuy&039;s mouth shut withover at Ray who is struggling with the girl-for no reason-I re it out"

"I do thingsthumbnail to open a neck vein, I press my lips on the torn flesh and suck hard I have cut the carotid artery The blood gushes intoins to enjoy the sensation Forcan be intensely sensual I know he feels as if every nerve in his body is being caressed by a thousand fingers And forcan be terrifying for my victim By the time I finished with Slim, for example, he felt as if hell would be a wel?come respite