souls or not. There’s heavy quoting of the holy texts, like Buffy , Interview with the Vampire and Blade , among others. I have my own sources,” Harvey said, patting the thick, hard-bound book splayed facedown next to the laptop. It had Vampire written on its spine with big red letters.
Gabe groaned. “Why?”
“Flame wars are entertaining as long as you don’t take them seriously, but the forum stuff is a smokescreen for the most part. The main admin of the site is a real vamp, and among all the pretend stuff there is some actual vamp-to-vamp convo going on. I put up the recipe for my new and improved tonic. Needless to say, next I had to log in with my other account and flame myself to scare the kiddies away from it.”
“At the risk of sounding like a broken record, why? The tonic’s safe, isn’t it? You made me try the blasted thing.” A hint of accusation slipped into Gabe’s tone.
“Of course the tonic’s safe, but it’s not exactly FDA approved.”
“You don’t have to worry. Nobody will try the thing twice, as long as they have taste buds.”
“It’s not that bad.” The false pitch of Harvey’s voice revealed his lack of conviction.
“Maybe not to you, but the rest of us regular people beg to differ.” Harvey’s brew was unpleasantly bitter, even to Gabe, who drank his coffee black. Although to vampires it didn’t taste much like anything, so he was told.
“That’s a relief,” Harvey muttered.
“Cheer up. Flavor isn’t a factor for your target customer.”
Harvey remained morose. He closed the laptop with a frown and pushed it away. “The truth is, it’s hopeless. Blood is life; it contains your essence. When you drink it, it’s…indescribable. Every person feels different. Blood’s addictive. No vamp will give that up for my bland substitute.”
“You did.”
“I’m atypical.”
“No kidding.”
Gabe was joking, but Harvey looked back at him with absolute seriousness. “Really, I am. Stan and Ray gave me blood after they’d found me. It totally fucked me up.”
“Blood made you sick?”
“Worse. I went wild, I wanted more, couldn’t think of anything else. I think…no, I’m sure I would’ve killed someone. They had to tie me down. Fortunately, I was weak.”
“Then how did you survive?”
Harvey wrinkled his nose. “They gave me cow’s blood. That worked.”
“Oh. I thought it had to be human’s.”
“Nah, any mammal’s will do. Theirs doesn’t taste anything like human’s, though. Cow’s is very bland, but it was ideal for me. So as you see, I’m not a perfect vegetarian.”
“Where do you get cow’s blood in Chicago?”
“As you know, Stan is a CPA, and Ray is a tax attorney. Between the two of them, they know almost every vamp in the greater Chicago area. There’s one who owns an organic dairy farm not too far out of town. Stan does his books. That’s where I got my weekly supply till I switched to my tonic.”
Gabe couldn’t hold his incredulity back. “A vampire-owned organic dairy farm?”
Harvey looked back at him unfazed. “Why not? It’s a business, like any other.”
“If you say so. Have you tried human blood since?”
These reminders of Harvey’s essential nature made Gabe uneasy. It was one thing knowing Harvey was a vampire, another imagining him ripping open the flesh of another human being to suck their blood.
“No. I’m scared what I might do. Syl doesn’t think there’s a danger anymore, but she could be wrong. Blood’s a strange thing. If I wanted to make my tonic successful, it would have to be like methadone. And I don’t see that happening.”
“Bummer.”
“I did what I could. The recipe is out there.” Harvey leaned closer to Gabe and the cup of coffee and took a deep breath.
“Do you ever have the yearning for human blood?” Gabe asked.
“Hadn’t till I met you.” Harvey’s smile and voice were jesting, but he didn’t look Gabe quite in the eye. Not for the first time, Gabe had a
Gabe groaned. “Why?”
“Flame wars are entertaining as long as you don’t take them seriously, but the forum stuff is a smokescreen for the most part. The main admin of the site is a real vamp, and among all the pretend stuff there is some actual vamp-to-vamp convo going on. I put up the recipe for my new and improved tonic. Needless to say, next I had to log in with my other account and flame myself to scare the kiddies away from it.”
“At the risk of sounding like a broken record, why? The tonic’s safe, isn’t it? You made me try the blasted thing.” A hint of accusation slipped into Gabe’s tone.
“Of course the tonic’s safe, but it’s not exactly FDA approved.”
“You don’t have to worry. Nobody will try the thing twice, as long as they have taste buds.”
“It’s not that bad.” The false pitch of Harvey’s voice revealed his lack of conviction.
“Maybe not to you, but the rest of us regular people beg to differ.” Harvey’s brew was unpleasantly bitter, even to Gabe, who drank his coffee black. Although to vampires it didn’t taste much like anything, so he was told.
“That’s a relief,” Harvey muttered.
“Cheer up. Flavor isn’t a factor for your target customer.”
Harvey remained morose. He closed the laptop with a frown and pushed it away. “The truth is, it’s hopeless. Blood is life; it contains your essence. When you drink it, it’s…indescribable. Every person feels different. Blood’s addictive. No vamp will give that up for my bland substitute.”
“You did.”
“I’m atypical.”
“No kidding.”
Gabe was joking, but Harvey looked back at him with absolute seriousness. “Really, I am. Stan and Ray gave me blood after they’d found me. It totally fucked me up.”
“Blood made you sick?”
“Worse. I went wild, I wanted more, couldn’t think of anything else. I think…no, I’m sure I would’ve killed someone. They had to tie me down. Fortunately, I was weak.”
“Then how did you survive?”
Harvey wrinkled his nose. “They gave me cow’s blood. That worked.”
“Oh. I thought it had to be human’s.”
“Nah, any mammal’s will do. Theirs doesn’t taste anything like human’s, though. Cow’s is very bland, but it was ideal for me. So as you see, I’m not a perfect vegetarian.”
“Where do you get cow’s blood in Chicago?”
“As you know, Stan is a CPA, and Ray is a tax attorney. Between the two of them, they know almost every vamp in the greater Chicago area. There’s one who owns an organic dairy farm not too far out of town. Stan does his books. That’s where I got my weekly supply till I switched to my tonic.”
Gabe couldn’t hold his incredulity back. “A vampire-owned organic dairy farm?”
Harvey looked back at him unfazed. “Why not? It’s a business, like any other.”
“If you say so. Have you tried human blood since?”
These reminders of Harvey’s essential nature made Gabe uneasy. It was one thing knowing Harvey was a vampire, another imagining him ripping open the flesh of another human being to suck their blood.
“No. I’m scared what I might do. Syl doesn’t think there’s a danger anymore, but she could be wrong. Blood’s a strange thing. If I wanted to make my tonic successful, it would have to be like methadone. And I don’t see that happening.”
“Bummer.”
“I did what I could. The recipe is out there.” Harvey leaned closer to Gabe and the cup of coffee and took a deep breath.
“Do you ever have the yearning for human blood?” Gabe asked.
“Hadn’t till I met you.” Harvey’s smile and voice were jesting, but he didn’t look Gabe quite in the eye. Not for the first time, Gabe had a
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