Cold Blood is Thicker

Once again Charlie had chosen the cheapest motel he could find at the side of the road. Orri was still completely dazed as Charlie checked in, paid and took the keys. Orri didn’t even realise that he was following Charlie until they got to the room. Orri walked slowly towards the window and looked outside like he had been in the car.

“You sure do like windows.”

Orri turned around, finally responding. He only grunted.

“Hey, something wrong? You’re awfully pale.” Charlie laughed slightly and walked up to Orri, who was evidently not amused, wrapping his arms around his waist. “I’m only kidding. Now what’s wrong?”

“Do you…?” Orri trailed off.

“Do I what?”

Orri looked down, but then looked up into Charlie’s eyes. His eyes looked so sincere. “Do you h-have any… Plans? With me?”

“What d’ya mean?” Charlie pressed his forehead against Orri’s, smiling slightly.

Orri looked down again. “I think you know. Cain told me that you might want to…” Orri swallowed the lump forming in his throat. “Well, I think you know.”

“Cain says a lot of things.” Charlie’s expression went cold and he turned away. “But I don’t. I’ve got enough others to shag, I’m not dragging you into it all.”

Looking confused, Orri blinked his red eyes and watched Charlie. He wanted to ask why, but he was just glad the answer was no.

Charlie’s hands were shoved into his jacket pockets and he walked around the room. “It’s a long story.” Something about Orri was different about the others. Perhaps it was because he could kill on the first night of being what he was. Charlie knew no one who had done that – not even he had been able to. He, too, was too hesitant to kill a human being just like all the other vampires he had known. But not Orri; he either had a great courage to overcome his doubts or a great resentment for mankind. It made Charlie curious as to what Orri’s life had always been like, but at the same time, maybe he didn’t want to know. Maybe something had happened in Orri’s life that had rendered him bitter enough to so easily take a human life. It was fascinating, yet Charlie was somewhat afraid of his potential. Anyone he had gotten close to in the past ended up with him being hated. Orri looking to be the kind showing a huge amount of courage – or dangerousness – could threaten his position as leader of the vampire gang, and possibly his life. It would be best if he backed off.

“What’s a long story?”

“Everything.” Charlie sat down on the bed, scratching at a hole in his jeans.

Maybe it was best not to ask. “What happened to you when you were mortal?” Orri had sat next to Charlie, eventually making eye contact.

“My life, you’re asking?” Charlie replied. “It’s pretty boring, really.”

“I want to know.”

“No, it’s pretty lame.”

“Come on, just tell me. At least tell me the year you were born.”

Charlie rolled his eyes jokingly. “Okay, I’ll tell you a little bit. I was born in eighteen forty-nine, in the middle of nowhere, Texas. My father was a blacksmith, and I never knew my mother. Daddy said she died having me, but I know she just ran away.”

Orri nodded, watching Charlie’s face.

“I knew who she was after I found an old photo in my father’s bedroom. She was black, and I always got the feeling my dad resented that. I could understand, those being the times. And whenever I asked about my mother, he always changed the topic. Despite being a blacksmith, he was a softie. I was a stable boy at the local ranch when I turned fifteen. I had a whole eighth grade education then. Life was pretty plain after that, until the big bank robbery.

“It was then I was sort of taken away by the gang since apparently I had good aim with a gun. I didn’t really have a choice – it was either join them, or be killed. I was pretty miserable anyway, sort of developing a hatred for humanity. I was only with the gang for a few months, and then I was stolen away again.

“It was a train robbery this time, and it was at night. I think it was the fall, in eighteen seventy-four. We went in there as usual, but there was another gang on board. I’m not sure who was there first. Long story short, they dragged me off to their gang, turned me, and I was with them until the early twentieth century.”

Charlie shrugged slightly when he was finished, Orri’s face looking intrigued.

“What happened to them?” he asked curiously.

“It was nineteen fifteen, during the Great War…” Charlie trailed off, looked down at the floor, finding words. He didn’t look up as he continued. “We were up in Halifax, sort of ditching the Wild West outlaw thing. We were near the harbour, and I stayed behind as they went towards the docks. I was out to feed alone, just for no reason, when I heard about the explosion. Two ships collided in the harbour and thousands were killed – including all of them.” Charlie paused, his top lip stiffening. His voice dropped down to a near whisper. “They were all dead, I saw two of their bodies horribly mangled among others. I was lost for years afterwards, alone.” Charlie stopped, and a strange silence lingered until Orri spoke quietly.

“They were all killed?”

Charlie nodded slowly, eyes still fixed to the floor.

“What did you do?”

He finally looked up, giving a forced smile. “It’s miserable. I spent seven years completely miserable, purposely starving myself because I just wanted to fucking die. I wasn’t sure how effective other means of suicide would work because vampires are built tougher than humans. I would probably just hurt myself meaninglessly.”

“You did it for seven years?”

“It seemed like longer. I would drink hardly anything, completely uninterested in feeding. I was always exhausted, my teeth became fragile, my skin started to lose colour, my hair was falling out and I just wanted to die. But I got over it, and then I found Gage.”

Orri took a minute to take it in. So Charlie had been a self-abuser in his past. Was losing the ones bound to you really that hard? Seven years…

Charlie suddenly got up from the bed, walking over to the window. He drew the curtains over the glass, making sure absolutely no light could get in. He did the same to the other window and soon the room was pitch black. Charlie carefully made his way over to the other bed and lay down. “Sun’s up soon,” he murmured.

Orri got under the covers of his own bed, feeling the complete darkness wash over him. He fell asleep quickly, glad that his mind could finally be at ease.