Eilidh woke at sunset with a powerful thirst. For blood and for coffee. The blood was necessary, of course, vampires of her age had to drink at least once a week to survive. Not like the newly turned who had to drink once a day. But the coffee was only a habit she’d developed over the last century or so.
She warmed her blood in the microwave while she waited for her coffee to brew and reminded herself how lucky she was. Vampires no longer had to drink from the vein if they didn’t want to and Eilidh much preferred getting her blood from the bloodbank these days. It was far less messy and although she had the predatory instincts that all vampires had she no longer felt the rush that came with hunting and capturing prey.
Eilidh wandered around her penthouse, coffee mug in hand, looking for tasks to give to Miriam. Eilidh didn’t spend a lot of time in here really so there was never much of a mess to clean up but her glass top side tables and cream leather lounge suite still needed a good wipe down. And of course, her treasured art needed specialized care. Miriam could do that after her break while Eilidh watched the store.
Wednesday evenings were usually busy in the Quill & Query and it reminded Eilidh of why she created the store in the first place. Eilidh loved books. It was a love that began when she was human but back then she could only admire them. Women and certainly not girls, were not taught to read.
But oh, she could read now. And she did. Voraciously.
*****
Eilidh had spoken to three customers before she made it to the counter where Miriam was serving a newly turned vampire. The fledgling looked like he was trying hard not to pounce on Miriam’s neck but he was about to lose the battle.
“Hello, Sir, can I help you? I’m Eilidh, the proprietor of the Quill & Query. My assistant here is about to take a break but I’d be happy to help you.”
Miriam scuttled away to the back room after flashing Eilidh a grateful smile. The young vampire was obviously disappointed but young as he was, everyone knew that employees in The Lights were off the table for all supernaturals. Otherwise, it would be complete chaos.
Eilidh escorted the vampire to the door after his purchase and looked out onto the streets. The suburb that The Lights had been created by the second wave of Vampires to move to Redbough and it was a busy place, full of noise and color. Not just the black that was expected of vampires, although there was some of that too.
From Eilidh’s store she couldn’t see The Village, but she knew it was there. She could smell the faint aroma of human coming from there. Eilidh was over 900 years old so her senses were much keener than the average vampire. The Village was the first part of Redbough to be settled but it wasn’t just humans that lived there, it had a high population of witches too.
Eilidh had first come to Redbough after her second sireborn had left the nest. She’d felt like a change and wanted a bit of excitement again. Her ex, Bodan, had suggested she sire another to ease her boredom but Eilidh didn’t think that was the right reason to reproduce.
Eilidh’s reverie was interrupted by the sound of the theme song from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Miriam was going to have to change that ringtone, it wasn’t funny anymore. But before she could pick up the phone she was interrupted by a customer demanding to speak to the manager. It was going to be one of those nights.
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*****
“Oh my God, Eilidh! Why do you have a cellphone if you never answer the fucking thing!” The gentle hum of voices in the store was silenced as a 6 foot tall blonde Valkyrie strode into the store in black jeans, a fire red tank and a black leather jacket. Actually, she only looked like a Valkyrie. In reality she was a vampire and Eilidh’s siresister.
“Flip! Shut up! This is a cultured place of business not a roadside tavern. I have customers, you know.”
Flip’s laugh seemed to ricochet off the walls.
“Customers? Come on! Nobody actually buys these dusty old books do they? Or have you finally gone modern? Got some Steven King in? Or maybe some E.L. James? Surely not some Stephanie Meyer?” Flip clasped her imaginary pearls.
“Only for the young ones! And I’m surprised you even know those authors. When was the last time you read anything other than a drinks menu?”
“Earlier today. It was a text from your daughter.”
Eilidh lost all desire to yell at Flip. “Reagan?” she asked.
“No. Gianna.”
“Oh.” Eilidh’s shoulder’s sunk and she went back to opening boxes behind the counter. For a moment she’d thought perhaps her eldest sireborn had reached out to Flip to ask for support in making up with her mother. But, no, she should have known Reagan wouldn’t do that.
“How’s Gianna doing? I spoke to her last week, I think. She said something about heading down south to see the summer carnivals.”
“Eilidh. Get your servant to do that, I want to talk to you.”
“Miriam’s my employee, Flip, not my servant. And she’s busy upstairs with some cleaning right now. As you can see, I’m really quite busy myself right now so we’ll have to talk while I’m unpacking boxes. And for the love of all thats unholy will you keep your voice down!”
Flip sat down on the stool behind the counter and Eilidh could feel her eyes traveling up and down her body as she worked. Experience had prepared her for what she knew was coming next.
“Eilidh honey, I’m thrilled you’ve finally stopped wearing shoulder pads and neon leggings but I’m not sure that this ensemble is working for you either.”
Eilidh looked down at her Valentino jeans and coral silk blouse. She knew she should ignore Flip but they always seemed to slip into old patterns when they got together.
“What’s wrong with my outfit?”
“Well, it’s not very vampire-like is it? You’re not going to frighten any villagers when you look like everybody’s slightly nuts Aunt.”
“But looking like the stereotypical vampire slut is going to have the humans shaking in their shoes, is it?” Eilidh shook her head. “Besides, I don’t want to frighten anyone. Those days are over. Isn’t that the whole point of Redbough? An experiment in how to live alongside humans rather that just seeing them as dinner?”
Flip snorted in a very human fashion and said “Redbough! This place is ridiculous. I don’t know how you can stand to live here. You should come with me to New Orleans. It’s fantastic. We can strut about in full view of the humans and they think its a gimmick. Makes it easy to pick them off and no, before you scold me, I don’t always kill my meals. And just so you know, vampire slut is always in fashion.”
“Flip, not that it isn’t fabulous to see you, but is there any point to this visit or did you just come to tell me how awful I look?”
“Well, if you’d answered your phone, I wouldn’t have had to come down here to this tiny little shithole. Anyhow. Yes there is a point. Gianna asked me to tell you something. She didn’t want to tell you herself because she knows how you get and that only upsets her and it turns into a row. Whereas I don’t care if you get pissed at me. We’re family and you can’t make me hate you, no matter how much you want to”
Eilidh stood upright and placed the last stack of books on the trolley to be shelved. She sighed. It was a demonstration of frustration rather than a physical need, and then she gave her siresister her full attention.
“What is it, Flip?”
“Reagan’s missing.”