Youthful indiscretion

Mara... Everything went wrong with her from the beginning.

At the time, I was just a new officer in the Lace Patrol, while she was working as a public relations manager at the Coordinating Council headquarters.

I saw her from time to time. I admired her devilish beauty and perfect figure, as anyone else would in my place. But I couldn't even dream of a girl like her.

However, it finally happened.

"The Ranger" was the only pub on the base, so it was the usual place to meet friends and party.

When she walked in, I was not too drunk to dance on a table, but brave enough to do crazy things and pick up a girl. It wasn't really a problem. There were lots of young and pretty girls from the office who didn't mind the company of young officers. I thought about picking up a little blonde when I saw her.

Oh, she was gorgeous! With that little red dress and those high heels, with her long dark hair and her sparkling violet eyes. What am I talking about? I kept staring at her boobs as she walked by our table, while she didn't even look at me or any of my friends. Yes, this girl was cold as ice.

One of my friends whistled, but she didn't pay attention.

I really have no idea why I decided to talk to her, but nothing could stop me at that moment. I finished my brandy in one gulp, got up and followed the beauty.

When I reached the bar, she was ordering the drink.

"It's on me!" I announced and sat down next to her.

In spite of my drunken courage, I was sure she would send me away.

But she didn't. Her violet eyes studied my face for a few seconds, then she smiled and said, "Okay.  Wanna have a drink with me?"

"Of course!"

So we drank and laughed and danced, and suddenly she kissed me. Her kiss tasted of honey and poison. It was the taste of sin.

After a while we moved into Mara's apartment. (Actually, I didn't know her name at that time.) And it was amazing! It was great like never before, with no one else. But suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my neck.

It was like a nightmare: I was spending the night with a beautiful woman and found her drinking my blood! I grabbed her hair and dragged her head away from my neck. The girl’s eyes were glowing with the beastly flame, and her fangs (why hadn't I seen them before?) were covered with my blood.

I screamed.

"Don't you like this?" she asked in amazement.

"You are a vampire!" I pushed her away, jumped out of the bed, and started rummaging around for my clothes.

"Don't leave," she said. "I can explain everything!"

No way! I ran out of the room and to the elevator. I got dressed right in the cabin. I didn't find my socks, but I would never go  back to the vampire's apartment for them.

"Holy shit!" I thought. "Does anyone know what this brunette is? She works at the Coordinating Council. How could this happen? I have to tell it to my uncle. Definitely, I’ll talk to him tomorrow!"

***

I didn't meet anyone on my way to the dormitory. The person on duty was asleep and didn't see me pass by. I took my key and went to my room.

First I went to the bathroom  and examined my reflection in the mirror. I saw the blood on my collar and the teeth marks on my neck. My skin around the wound was red and itchy, but I didn't want to go to the hospital and answer their questions. So I washed my face and neck with my shaking hands and treated the wound with alcohol. I was still terrified, but after a while I was able to think about the situation. "Wow, Archie! You're a lucky guy!" I said to myself.

I needed something to drink to pull myself together, but it wasn't easy to get anything in the middle of the night. Finally, I knocked on the door of my neighbor, Captain Gunn, and he sold me some of his moonshine.

I went back to my room, turned on the light… and found her sitting in the chair. That vampire!

I dropped the bottle and backed away.

"Is that you?" I asked hoarsely.

She chuckled. "Oh, Formless! Don't chicken out, honey. I won't eat you."

I rubbed my bitten neck.

She stood up, stretched, and walked toward me. I saw that she had changed her clothes. Now she was wearing a black skirt and blue shirt, but she still looked beautiful. I found myself staring at her breasts under the tight blouse.

"Hey, dude! She's a vampire," I reminded myself.

"My name is Mara," she said.  "Want a drink?"

She handed me a glass with some dark red liquid.

"What's that?" I asked.

"It's a medicine."

I took a sip and started coughing.  Damn it! It was blood! I threw the glass against the wall and grabbed her arms. I wasn't afraid of her anymore. I was angry.

"Are you crazy?! How dare you give me this? Who did you kill, you bitch?"

She twitched and tried to free herself, but I held her tight.

"Don't you want it?" she murmured. "Why?"

"I asked you a question! Where did you get the blood?"

"There. Don't you really want it?"

"No!"

She looked at my face, trying to read something in it.

"It's impossible," she whispered.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking out loud," she smiled again. "It was just a stupid joke."

"It was, indeed."

"I'm sorry, I wish I hadn't bitten you," she said. "But I was drunk and... "

"Forget about it. May I ask you a question?"

"What question?"

"Does your boss know that you are a vampire?"

She took a deep breath and looked me straight in the eye.

"I am half vampire, Archie. I live like a human. And my chief, Kordgan, knows it. Ask him if you don't believe me."

But somehow I believed her. Then she kissed me and I forgot my fears. She didn't bite me anymore. At least not that day.

The next night I moved out of the dormitory and into her apartment. I was in love! We spent two happy and absolutely crazy months together. I didn't pay attention to the gossip behind my back and I didn't care about the envy of my colleagues. But I never forgot to wrap a scarf around my neck.

***

Have I told you that the Lace is not a safe place and that people can get lost there? They can fall into a magnetic anomaly, for instance, or disappear in the No-Man Zone. It's well known that the Lace Patrol Department is not a civilian organization, but a police force. Any one of us can be killed on the job. Sometimes it happens.

But how could an officer get lost right on the Base? He went to the pub and didn't come back - how? The Base was a closed place. Only Patrollers, Coordinators and service workers lived there. I knew about the accident as much as any of the other officers - just gossip. No one told us about the investigation, all the details were top secret.

 If somebody asked my opinion, I would say this:  there was a big and dangerous world behind the high fence of our Base. There lived very aggressive predators with no brains in their heads. If you go outside, you'll die. No one in his right mind would do that. Then again, if one were drunk and did it on a dare... It was possible. It really was. I was sure I was right.

***

That night I came home after duty with flowers in my hands and a small gift for my fiancée. I had been away for a few days and missed her so much.

Mara met me in the hall.

"Darling! What a surprise!"

"Surprise..."

My smile vanished when I saw the man behind her.

"Who is it?" I asked in a dead voice.

The next moment I recognized him. It was Captain Gunn, who lived next door to me in the dormitory. I didn't have time to ask another question because he yelled and attacked us. His shirt was covered with blood and his eyes were full of madness.

I pushed Mara aside and stepped towards Gunn. I grabbed his hand and threw him back against the wall. After such a collision, Gunn should lie down quietly and not move. But he jumped to his feet and lunged at me again. I dodged and landed a punch to his solar plexus.

"Hey, dude!" I shouted. "What's wrong with you?"

He didn't answer, but attacked me again. He tried to reach for my throat and his face changed dramatically. His eyes, with vertical pupils, turned yellow. I could swear they had been brown before! And I saw fangs in his mouth. Holy shit! I tried to escape, but he grabbed my throat with his palms and tried to bite me with his grinning mouth.  So I grabbed his throat in turn, not letting him finish the maneuver, and smashed my knee into his stomach. Then we fell and rolled across the floor. Eventually the bastard was on top of me. I held him by the neck and didn't let him get to me, but my arms were getting tired.

"Gunn! Stop it" I shouted.

But he didn't hear me. He roared and snapped his teeth, trying to seize me by the throat.

Suddenly he collapsed and fell.

Mara was standing over us with a blood-covered kitchen knife in her hand. I pushed the body away and crawled backwards until my back hit the couch.

"You killed him!" I croaked.

"I didn't let him kill you," she replied calmly.

I was so scared I couldn't understand what had happened.

"He was an officer. You've killed the officer!"

"I’ve saved your life!"

I pressed my palms to my temples.

"We have to report the accident," I said, heading for the phone.

Mara blocked my way.

"No, Archie. We won't do it."

"Why not?" I asked.

"You are right. We've killed the officer. We will both be deported. At best."

I stared at her like a fool.

"But what are we going to do with the body?"

"We'll hide it," she ran her fingers over my cheek, " and no one will ever know what happened. Believe me, darling."

I nodded obediently.

We wrapped the body in the blankets and dragged it behind the fence when night came. In the morning there would not be a bone left of him. .

Poor bastard! He went to the pub and didn't come back.

We returned to our apartment and Mara poured some whiskey into a glass.

"Drink it. You'll feel better."

I raised the glass to my mouth, but didn't drink. "Wait a minute," I said to myself, "something’s wrong here." I remembered the marks I'd seen on Gunn's neck. But that was impossible!  

"Mara. Why did Gunn come to you?" I asked.

She shrugged.

"He was looking for you. I made him some coffee, that's all. I have no idea what happened to him."

 I sighed. I was sure that was not all. By the way... I jumped up and hurried to the bedroom. I had already figured it all out, but didn't want to believe it.

I saw the crumpled sheet with blood stains on it.

"Oh no! What is this?" I shook her shoulders with all my anger. "What the hell happened here?"

She chuckled cruelly.

"I'm sorry, my darling. I thought you would be back tomorrow."

"What?"

I felt like something inside me was broken.

"I was thirsty and needed some blood," she said.

"Just blood?" I asked with stupid hope.

"Some blood, some sex," she shrugged again.

I grabbed my head.

"You're an idiot, Mara! He was a blabbermouth. He would have told everyone what you are!"

"He wouldn't. Just another missing person."

"What did you say?" I yelled.

"Don't pretend you don't understand, my sweet boy. Did you really think I would leave that crazy vampire alive?"

"Gunn wasn't a vampire!"

"But he turned into one."

I sank into the nearest chair, exhausted.

"I don't get it."

"The bite of a vampire turns a human into a vampire," she explained. "A secondary vampire. A stupid, predatory, bloodthirsty beast. That's why I don't leave anyone alive."

"And what about me?" My question sounded stupid.

She hummed.

"You’re the fast runner, that's why I didn't kill you that night. But I came after you later. I had some blood to lure a new vampire and a silver knife to kill him."

"So why didn't you?"

"You hadn't changed," she explained. "You were the first one to remain yourself."

"So what?"

"How could I kill you? You're the best partner for me. As long as you stay with me, I don't have to kill, I don't have to hunt, I don't have to hide. It's absolutely safe."

She tried to take my hand, but I wouldn't let her. I stepped back and leaned against the wall. I felt sick and couldn't believe her words.

"Archie, just try to understand..."

"I don't want to!" I shouted. "I can't! I was in love with you! But you... You used me."

"That's not true!" Mara said with tears in her voice.

"It is true! Just tell me. How many... How many people have you murdered in the time that we have been together?

"None!" she said, coming closer to me. "There were none, I swear! Only Gunn, but he came to me himself."

"You're lying!" I slapped her face.

She flew back to the wall and fell down. I stared at my hand and couldn't believe what I had done. Mara raised her head. Her eyes were filled with hate. "You're dead!" she growled and attacked me with all her fury. She scratched my face and hit me with her fists. Finally, I managed to throw her down and pinned her arms to the floor with my hands to keep her from reaching my face. She tried to twitch, but I held her tight.

I licked the blood from my lip and said, "Now we're going to the Supreme Coordinator."

"You're not going to do that," she hissed.

"Oh, I surely will."

"No, you won't. Otherwise, everyone will know that you killed Gunn out of jealousy."

"It was you! You killed him!"

"It's your word against mine. By the way, you helped hide the body! You're a collaborator."

"I don't care."

"You're a fool!" she said with a mocking smile. "You want to ruin your career and your life because of jealousy? Fine. But what about Colonel Igan? What is he guilty of?"

She knew what to say! It would be a terrible shock to my uncle. He would never speak to me after this. He never liked my girlfriend even before. Besides, I didn't know how this story would affect his career. I couldn't let my only relative down like that.

"You see, I'm right," Mara said as she noticed my hesitation.

"Yes, you're right. That’s why I'll kill you myself."

"You won’t do that. You are not brave enough."

I cursed. She laughed. I left her and went to the kitchen. My soul was empty. I fell on the couch and drank half a bottle of whiskey.

Mara entered the kitchen a quarter of an hour later. She was wearing a strict pantsuit and her hair was braided. Her face was cold and I couldn't see any emotion in it. She had nothing in common with the crazy witch who had attacked me a few minutes ago.

"I'm leaving," she said.

"It's your apartment."

"I'm leaving. I won't come back. It won’t be safe for me to stay on the Base."

I wanted to ask her where she was going, but I didn't. It didn't matter anymore.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"It couldn't go on," I replied. "Goodbye, Mara."

She came to me and looked into my eyes.

"Will you kiss me goodbye?"

I remembered Gunn's crazy eyes and her cruel words, "Some blood to lure and a silver knife to kill..."

I pushed her away, "Don't touch me, you bitch!"

She froze for a second and her pupils went vertical.

"We'll meet someday, Archie. Never turn your back on me!"

***

 The next morning I was on duty and heard the latest news. A soldier from my squad was telling the story to two patrols.

"Last night Curt was walking home from a date. And it jumped on him. This beast. It had huge fangs and crazy flaming eyes! Curt wasn't fazed and hit it with all the power of his hand-shocker. The beast fried like bacon on a griddle! You'll never guess what it was! The vampire! How could he hide for so long?"

"Who are you talking about?" I asked.

"It was Lieutenant Skrell, the officer of the third squad. He’s killed so many people. But now he is dead."

I left our office and walked away. I couldn't believe it. Skrell! He was my best friend. My only friend. Poor Skrell…

I raised my head and screamed, "Mara! You're a bitch! Why didn't I kill you? Why?!"