The Vampire Gene

"Before you go, Mark," Marcus seemed to emerge from his reverie.

"Hey Marcus. What's up?"

"Do you remember when you gave me that blood sample?"

"Sure. You can have more if you want."

"No, no, that's not it. Well, I might need some more actually. You've got the vampire gene, Mark."

" What ?"

"You're going to be metabolising iron sometime soon, Mark. That's probably why you don't appreciate Barbados as much as normal people. It's too hot for a vampire," I tried to explain.

There was dead silence from the phone.

"Alrighty, then," said Mark slowly. "See you tomorrow."

Rebecca

Mark seemed to take the news well. I thought of how my life had changed in the past few days and shuddered. Mark would go through similar changes, although hopefully he wouldn't end up being abducted every five minutes like I had been.

I was looking forward to having him back, though. He had a cruisey disposition I had always envied, and I missed his company. I was also secretly and selfishly pleased that he was also going to turn into an iron metaboliser.

The discussion at the table turned inevitably to the events of the day. Angus wanted to know all about the fighting, and Oliver was only too keen to relate all the gory details, slice by bloody slice. Fergus interrupted every now and then to add some overlooked aspect of the fighting. He was full of praise for Oliver, and even suggested that he might just be as good as Angus. Marcus shook his head, but admitted that Oliver was indeed an excellent fighter. Oliver seemed slightly overwhelmed by all the praise.

I lay back in my chair watching Angus from underneath my lashes. I was thinking what a shame it was that he had put a shirt on again when Oliver suddenly laughed out loud. Angus looked puzzled, and then understanding dawned on his face as he sensed what Oliver had picked up from my thoughts. He grinned wickedly at me, his eyes glinting. I blushed.

I decided to change the subject, so I started telling of how I'd been shot, and what it had been like to wake up in the boot of a moving car, and how it had felt when the power generated by those shotgun pellets had surged through me. Angus seemed surprised by the effects that being shot had on us, and explained that Marcus had never actually got around to shooting him or Fergus in his many experiments. Marcus looked perturbed by this omission, whereas his brothers looked relieved. Everyone had a good laugh at that.

It was surprising how swiftly the time passed that night, as we sat around that table recounting the events of the day. When we stood up as one to go to bed it seemed almost as if we had known each other for years. It was obvious that Marcus and Julia had become a couple from the glances they exchanged, and the way they moved together.