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I didn't know what else to do. And then I told him, "It seems fine to me. But I have to go
now."
"'Go?" he said. "But no, no, you mustn't! It's so very cold and lonely here. I am
cold, and you... are so strangely warm."
"'But I must go," I said.
"'And I said you mustn't," he answered, and again I saw the greenish-yellow glow
of his eyes. And of course I knew...
'Then... I snatched myself away from him, and when he came to his feet I
smashed the champagne bottle over his head! He at once sat down again, so heavily
that the chair fell apart under his weight, sending him crashing to the floor. I didn't wait
to see what he would do then but was off and away from that place, up through the
secret ways that only a deckhand knows, to what I prayed would be the clean, sunlit
upper decks.
'But when I got there, oh God... it was evening, and night coming in fast...
_
_
'Give me a moment, and I'll go on. But you know, I think maybe I'm getting used to the
idea now? That these memories will stay with me for ever? So sharing them with you...
perhaps that's as good a way as any of relieving myself of some of the burden. It
sounds cowardly, I know, but if that's the way it is then so be it. I may be a coward, but
at least I'm a live coward! At least I'm not... not undead.
'It was evening, yes, so obviously I had indeed been asleep or in deep shock for
quite some time, at least eight hours. But now... the last rays of the sun were falling
slantingly on the upper decks, and apart from that
' It was as if nothing had happened! There was no sign of trouble, no trace of
blood. But then, of course, there wouldn't be, for these decks had been awash with
brilliant Mediterranean sunlight from early morning until... until now.
'Now all that remained were those last few slanting beams, and the air was that
much cooler in a breeze from the north. As for having docked or run aground: oh, yes
we had run aground but not on any island worth mentioning. It was barely a rock, and
the Star was stuck fast on it. There was no way I could get off the ship, not if I intended
to go anywhere, and no easy way back to civilisation and... and humanity.
'But then I heard commanding voices and the sounds of mechanical activity
for'ard: the creaking of booms as they took the strain, and a rattling of chains. I'd heard
these sounds-before during ship's drills: someone a group of people was trying to
launch a lifeboat, which could only mean one thing: at least a handful of crew members
had survived, and were now attempting to get off the Star before sundown.
'At that point I might easily have made a dreadful mistake, but something warned
me to remain vigilant. So instead of rushing to declare myself, I took off my shoes and
disposed of them over the side and, keeping to the shadows, crept silently toward the
activity. I was on the bridge deck, open both port and starboard where the lifeboats lined
the deck. To starboard, the sun was a golden blister sinking in the sea. Port-side, all
was now in shade...
'The two for'ard boats were small launches, fairly powerful vessels, each capable
of towing a string of lesser boats behind them. The port-side launch was being lowered.
Its lights were on and I could see people inside as it slipped down out of view. I knew
these people; they were all women. And I shivered as I remembered who they were: an
exotic dance troupe called the Belles from Brazil... but in several of their more
outrageous routines they were also known as Val's Vamps! And the thing was... they
were all wearing exactly the same enthralled expression: dazed, staring-eyed, and
zombie-like!
'Down below, the rocks were like dark fangs jutting up from the calm sea, but
directly below the launch was a deep natural channel. And as the winch turned and the
launch settled down to the water, again I heard that commanding voice. But this time I
knew it didn't belong to any crew member. It wasn't the kind of voice you would expect
to hear on a daily basis, but it was the kind I hope never to hear again not on any day,
ever!
"'You have done well", it said, and it was deep, oily, purring, yet in no way catlike.
It was a low rumble, but one that I felt was volatile, which might erupt at any moment
into lunatic laughter or a menacing snarl of fury.
"'You've done well and your payment will be good", it continued. "Well,
depending how well you can hunt, that is. For you all know what you are now, what you
are rapidly becoming. Among my kind my bite is virulent above all others er, mine and
my 'Lady' companion's and we have given much of what we are into making you what
you are. But for every one of you whom we've recruited, we know there are many others
hidden away who have not felt our bite. For quite apart from the task being too great in
so short a period of time even for Great Vampires such as we are still it was a
deliberate omission. We have left them for you..."
'At that a sigh went up, or perhaps it was a gasp of denial or horror. I crept closer,
until I could see everyone who stood there in the launch's now vacant stowage bay. The
male and female creatures, of course: they had their backs to me, for which I was
grateful, and the rest of the small crowd who were all who had all been crew
members. Stewards and deckhands, even an officer or two, their faces formed a pool of
greenish-yellow fire, feral in the failing light.
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