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Kingsley looked far more robust and pink than when I had last seen him

We were at Mulberry Street Cafe in don Fullerton, sitting next to theIt was raining again and the sideas mostly empty of pedestrians The rain had a trickle-down effect, if you will Mulberry&039;s was quieter than nor black duster, and leather Sole gloves, which he re His dark slacks were darker where the rain had permeated His face had a rosy red hue and his hair was perfectly cone He was everything athe back of his hand

Pablo the headwaiter kneell He looked slyly at Kingsley, perhaps recalling thatacross fro He took our drink orders and slipped away

"I&039; out the"Whenever I come here they seat me in the back of beyond"

"They happen to like et all the breaks"

"You think I&039;sley "I do"

"Even for a vampire?"

"Even for a vampire"

Our drinks came Chardonnay for sley ordered shrimp tortellini and I had the usual Steak, rare

"You can eat steak?" he asked

"No," I said "But I can suck the blood out of the carcass"

"Shouldshow"

"Yes, well, it&039;s the only way I can participate in the hu experience"

"Well, you&039;re not sley "Food nowadays is entirely processed, fattening and just plain horrible for you"

"Does it still taste good?"

"Wonderful"

"Asshole"

He laughed I drank sosley, no doubt due to his lances froest-looking sley?" I asked suddenly

He had been raising his glass to his lips It stopped about halfway "Yes," he said, then raised it all the way and took a sip He added, "But are we mortals? No"

"Then what makes us immortal? Why don&039;t we die like everyone else? What keeps us alive?"

"I don&039;t know"

"Surely youhypothesis"

"Let&039;s have it"

"I think it&039;s safe to say that you and I hover on the brink of the natural and the supernatural So therefore both natural and unnatural laws apply simultaneously I believe we are both hureater"

"Sounds lofty"

"Do you suspect we&039;re soht about that "No We are certainly not less"

The waiter came by and dropped off so in "You mind?" he asked

"Knock yourself out," I said "So what are we, then? Soed "Your guess is as good as mine"

"Maybe we are super hu the day I certainly don&039;t feel super I feel horrible"

"Because our bodies are still governed by so withother laws Mystical laws perhaps, laws unstudied and unknown to ed "Who put these laws into place is anyone&039;s guess But they&039;re there nonetheless For instance, one such law dictates I will turn into a wolf every full moon cycle; another dictates you drink only blood"

Kingsley spread liberal amounts of honey butter over his bread He seemed particularly ravenous Maybe it was the animal in him

"Perhaps we are the result of a powerful curse," I suggested

"Perhaps"

"That ed "I&039;m not sure anyone really knows"

I suspected so Be it vareater perhaps

I said, "The curse angle could be why holy water debilitates a vaed "Sure"

"So to su by laws known only to our kinds"

"And even much of that is open to speculation For all I know you are part of one long, drug-induced drea in the sixties"

Our food casley watched me cut a slice of meat from the raw steak, swirl the slice in the splatter of blood, raise the dripping piece to my lips, and suck it dry

"Sort of sexy," he said "In a ghoulish way"

I shook my head, then told him about my adventures with the vampire hunter

He slapped his knee when I was finished "A Carnival cruise ship?"

"Yes, headed for Hawaii, I think"

"Then let&039;s hope he stays there"