Burning Addiction Read online

  "I'm okay, let's finish this up."

  "Got a hot date?"

  "Not tonight, just ready to get paid and be done. Not that I won't miss this wonderful odor."

  "Okay, kid, come on, back to work. Let's get it done."

  We continued the same way for three more hours. I packed the crate with fish, and he loaded it onto the dock. When we were finally done, I climbed out of the hold and walked over onto the dock where the crates were stacked.

  "Should we load them into your truck and take them to your buyers?"

  "You look dead on your feet, kid. Tell you what, help me load it all in the truck, I'll pay you, and you can be on your way."

  "Thanks, Dan."

  "Sure thing." He patted my back when he walked by me to go to the truck, which was parked in the adjacent lot. I stood and crossed my arms over my chest, trying to control the shaking that was becoming more constant and not focus on how clammy I felt. I needed to get the fuck out of here and get a fix as soon as I got paid. If I waited too much longer, I'd start puking, and I had no desire to explain that to Dan.

  I looked over at the city of Eureka; it really was a beautiful place. But that beauty was lost on me--all I could think about was where would be the quickest place for me to score.

  Dan came back with the panel truck and we started loading the fish in. He had a pretty good haul today, bigger than the last one I'd helped him load. I hoped that meant more money for me, because it sure meant harder work.

  After all the crates were loaded, I jumped down from the truck and closed both the doors. "Here ya go, kid, good job." He handed me some folded-up money, and I tucked it in my pocket without even looking at how much it was. It didn't matter; it would be enough for what I had in mind. And if it wasn't, I'd find other ways to make more money. I found myself on a never-ending cycle: work, make money, buy drugs, do drugs, work to make more money. I didn't even think about anything else anymore, I was never getting off this ride.

  "Thanks, Dan, should I check back tomorrow?"

  "Not tomorrow, maybe day after?"

  "Sounds good, I'll see you then."

  I pulled my coat a little closer and walked back toward old town. After a couple of blocks, I stepped to the side of one of the buildings and pulled out the bills Dan had given me. I counted it out with shaking hands.

  Two hundred dollars. More than enough to get me fucked-up. I took fifty of it and put it in my left pocket, then shoved the rest of it back in my right pocket and continued down the street, passing the tourist district and finally ending up in an area that was downright scary at night and not much better during the light of day.

  I saw who I was looking for, leaning against the side of one of the old buildings, eyeing his phone and trying to act like he wasn't paying attention to anything around him. When actually, he saw everything and everyone that wandered into this area.

  He looked me straight in the eye and didn't say a word. I pulled out the fifty dollars and handed it to him. He didn't even ask what I wanted, he knew. He handed me the little baggie at the same time he took the money, in a sleight of hand he'd perfected. Then he was gone, walking in the opposite direction while still looking at his phone.

  I opened my hand to look at the baggie that held my drug of choice, tucked it into my pocket, and made my way back to Sean's apartment. It was close, only a few blocks away. I picked up the pace, excited and driven to finally get what I'd wanted all day, what my body needed.

  When I got to his place, the door was unlocked as always. I walked in and grabbed my backpack, set a hundred dollars on the counter, and left.

  It was nearly dark now as I walked around the little park that tonight would be my crash pad. I found some redwood trees that were still small enough they had low-growing branches and climbed into their sheltering space. Once I was in there, I took the time to set up, pulling out my kit and getting everything ready.

  At this point it was second nature to liquefy the powder while heating it up on a spoon. I drew a good amount into the needle and set it on my leg while I grabbed the small mirror and used it to find a good vein in my neck. I felt around, and when I was sure of where it was, I kept my fingers there to hold the place.

  Carefully picking up the needle, I slowly injected it into my neck. The slow burn started at the injection area and soon spread to all of my limbs. I gathered everything up before it really hit me and I was unable to move, then climbed back out from under the tree and found a bench out in the open. I lay down on it and used my backpack for a pillow; finally I could rest. The constant want was quieted, if only for a moment.

  I couldn't keep my eyes open they were so heavy and bleary. Everything hit me so fast. I had a vague thought that maybe I'd used too much, or that this batch was different. But even if it was, it didn't matter. I couldn't move, and I didn't want to. Right now, this was where I wanted to be.

  Chapter Three

  Lucas

  I sat in my office, hoping there wasn't anything too crazy happening in the ER and I could take a few minutes to think. I pulled up Brennan's chart on my computer screen to see if any new information had been added, but was disappointed to see nothing had changed. Raking my hands through my hair again, I rested my elbows on my desk and tried like hell to get a grip on these feelings I had no way of understanding, and no clue how to deal with.

  The blare of my phone ringing startled me back to some sense of normalcy. "Hello?"

  "Lucas, where are you?"

  I recognized the voice of my old friend immediately. "Ben, I'm at work. Is there something you needed?" He didn't answer, and for a moment I thought he'd hung up.

  "I'm not sure yet. I'm headed your way and should be there shortly, would you mind if I stayed at your house?"

  "You're actually asking? How many times have I come home and found you skulking around my place?" I asked.

  He laughed at that. "Thought I'd try a new approach this time. How long will you be at work?"

  "My shift ends soon, I'll see you there. You know where the key is?"

  "You know I don't need a key. I'll be waiting, maybe grab a snack on your way home for me?" he asked, knowing it was tougher to do than it was for most.

  "I'll see what I can do." I sighed, he didn't leave me much of a choice. Either I brought it to him, or he'd go looking. That usually didn't end well. Ben and I thought of ourselves as civilized, we tried not to feed on the living unless we were left with no other choice. Part of why I worked as a doctor was the ready supply of blood. But sometimes, if I tried to wait too long to feed, the animal in me fought to take over. Today wouldn't be the day that happened. I could feel the pull of the sun, letting me know in a few hours it would be dangerous for me to be outside. The north coast was foggy and cold, but the sun did shine occasionally, and that was why I worked the late shift. No one minded, they'd rather I do it than them.

  Shoving my phone in my pocket, I rushed around my office gathering files and random paperwork I'd need for my next shift, then walked to the front desk where Tami was just clocking out. "Any new info on the OD that came in earlier?" I couldn't stop myself from asking, even though I knew there was no new information.

  She tapped on the keyboard before looking at the computer screen. "Nothing new. Doesn't look like anyone's come looking for him. We'll need to let the police know we've got a John Doe named Brennan if he doesn't wake up and start talking soon."

  I nodded and tapped the counter in front of me. "I'll see if I can find any additional information. See you later." There was so much I didn't know about him, and so much I wanted to find out. He appeared homeless, and I wondered what had happened to him for that to be the case.

  "No you won't, I've got tonight off," she said with a smile, drawing me out of my thoughts.

  "Good for you, I'll miss you as I'm trying to keep my eyes open at four in the morning," I said halfheartedly.

  "Right, you're always wide-awake. Anyway, I'll see you in a couple of days." I tipped my chin at her and walked
toward the lockers, stepping briefly into the room before moving at vampire speed across the hall to the refrigerated supply area. This was where we kept pints of donated blood on hand in case it was needed. Pulling the door shut behind me, I waited a second and listened to make sure I was alone. When I didn't hear anything, I walked over to the cooler and took out six pints, after checking they were the most common types and near their expiration date. I might be a cold-blooded vampire, but I didn't want anyone dying because I took blood that was needed.

  I rummaged around and found a plastic bag and tucked it all away before cracking open the door and checking the coast was clear. The locker room was just across the hall, and I didn't want to explain why the camera caught me leaving the supply room at the end of my shift, so I moved at vampire speed back to the locker room. I tucked the blood into my backpack and covered it with my change of clothes in case anyone was a little too curious. It hadn't happened yet, but I wasn't willing to take any chances. Making my way out the emergency exit, I crossed the walkway to the underground parking garage. The sky was just beginning to change color as I slipped into my car. The tinted windows helped, but they wouldn't be enough to protect me in full sun.

  The fog layer kept the sun at bay just long enough for me to pull into my driveway. The windows were dark, not giving away that another vampire waited inside for me. He'd left the door unlocked, knowing there was no threat to him here. "Honey, I'm home," I called into the dark house.

  "Oh thank god, if you didn't get here soon, I was willing to risk being burned to ash to rip some poor soul's throat out," he said as he appeared right in front of me.

  The backpack holding the blood slipped off my shoulder, and as I started to hand it to him, he snagged it and rushed into the kitchen. Making no ceremony out of it, he rummaged through the bag and pulled out one of the pouches of blood. "A-positive? At least you could have sprung for some O-negative, you know I like the good stuff," he said with a smile, before biting the edge of the bag and sucking the blood out.

  "You could have waited a second and maybe put that in a glass, heathen," I scolded him.

  "What's the fun in that?" he responded with a bloody smile.

  "Ben, you know I never bring home my work, I don't want them wondering where any missing blood has gone to."

  "Well, either we eat, or we hunt, and I know you'd never go for a hunt in your hometown, so here we are."

  I scooped a bag off the counter and pulled a glass out of the cupboard. "Nothing like a relaxing pint after a hard night of work," I said before taking a gulp. Ben looked at me for a second, frozen in place like only a vampire could manage, before bending at the waist and laughing at me. It felt good to be myself, without all the constraints of fooling the humans. Or should I say, not alarming the humans. I had many I was close to, but I would never consider them friends. They could never know my real self.

  "Have you heard from the Consortium?" Ben asked as he slurped up every last drop. I stopped short of taking another drink and looked directly at him.

  "No, should I have?" It was never good to hear from the Consortium, or more precisely, the Consortium of Blood. Consortium Sanguinis, an order of ancient vampires who tried to rule over us all. They mostly kept to themselves, but when vampires went rogue and killed indiscriminately, or we were threatened with exposure, the Consortium would appear.

  They were led by a board of twelve members, vampires of all different ages and skill sets who were charged with keeping order in our world. Contact from them would rarely be considered a good thing. They only had concerns about keeping the vampire world hidden, not which humans were killed for the sake of their blood. So, feed discreetly and you were fine, as far as they were concerned, but make a public spectacle of yourself, and you'd be losing your head by dawn. I shivered at the thought, not wanting to be parted from my head anytime soon. Ben seemed to sense my thoughts, as a smile slowly spread on his lips.

  "Don't worry, you're one of the good ones, they won't come looking for you. There have been other concerns in the area, though."

  I leaned my hip against the counter, and gave him my undivided attention. "Concerns? Human or vampire?"

  "You know they care nothing what the humans do, their only concern is for the Consortium and their laws."

  "So, tell me what concerns they have with Eureka?"

  Ben licked his lips and pulled a barstool out to sit on. "There's a small group of vamps who've decided to get into the drug business. Normally they'd be of no concern to us, but we have reason to believe there's more to it than that. There has been an abnormal amount of missing homeless and addicts the past year. Any idea why?"

  "No, I've treated a few more overdoses lately, but I haven't heard anything about more missing people. What do you think is happening?"

  "I'm not sure, but we know vampires are involved. There have been a few bodies found drained in the forest on the edge of town. One of the trackers found them and reported it to the Consortium. That's why The Twelve sent me; they expect me to figure out what's going on, and how involved the local vampires are."

  "Maybe it's just a rogue vampire, someone who's living wild and comes into town to feed?" I offered.

  "I don't think so, the people that were drained had been pumped full of drugs. There is no way they would have been wandering in the condition they were in. And that's not all." He paused and seemed to gather his thoughts before speaking again. "I haven't told anyone else this, but this isn't the first incidence I've discovered. It's the same thing in Maine, Oregon, Canada, anywhere the sun is at a minimum."

  "Well that's not surprising, it is where we tend to gather," I said, taking another drink.

  "No, you're right, but what is surprising is they seem to be using the humans to feed from once they're high. Have you heard of this before?" Ben asked, his voice full of curiosity.

  "I forget sometimes how young you are. There have been a few times through our history where this has happened. It's frowned upon by the Consortium, so it's not something they take lightly."

  "I still don't understand why this would be of any use to a vampire, why would drinking from a drug addict be any different than any other human?"

  "Have you never fed from someone who is drunk or high?" I asked; now it was my turn to be curious. He paused for a moment, a look of concentration on his face.

  "Surely I have, but I have no memory of it being any more notable than any of the other countless times I've fed. Why? What are you not telling me?" He stood and moved closer to me.

  "If a vampire feeds from a human who is drunk, he might feel something, or he might not. Our metabolism usually burns through alcohol so fast most vampires don't even notice they've had any alcohol. As you know, if we drink alcohol it does nothing at all. Similarly, a vampire is unaffected by drugs of any kind, our metabolism simply burns it off almost as soon as it hits our system. But if a vampire were to feed on a human who has taken drugs, be it heroin or meth, we can get high. The feeling is fleeting; the amount of drugs that need to be in the human's bloodstream is nearly a fatal dose. But through the ages, some vampires have engaged in this form of entertainment," I explained to Ben. This part of our history was one of the more heinous ones.

  "Do you think it's possible there's a faction of vampires in this area that's using addicts and the homeless in order to entertain their own addictions?"

  "I'm not sure. If they are, they risk being destroyed by the Consortium, they won't let this go unpunished," I said as my mind flashed to the numerous times I'd seen their fury unleashed in the past, and the young addict I'd worked on earlier. Bottom line, you did not cross the Consortium and live to tell about it.

  Chapter Four

  Brennan

  Finally I was free. Free of the constant want, and the need that kept me constantly on edge. I was dreaming, or was it real? The two realities blended together so closely it was hard for me to tell. And I didn't have the energy to try to untangle dream from reality.

  "Dad, what's th
at spiderweb thing above the windows called?"

  I was with my dad--he was an architect, and loved to study the old Victorians around the city of Eureka. Today we were walking around a neighborhood and comparing the different styles of Victorian houses we found there.

  "Fanlight, it's called a fanlight." He smiled warmly down at me and roughed up my hair.

  "Why do they call it that? It looks like a spiderweb to me."

  He chuckled at that. "I'm not sure, Son, but I'm sure you can find out if you do a little research."

  Always pushing me to learn, to find out for myself. I looked up at his smiling face then back at the house. My mind drifted. I was cold and damp, shaking so much I couldn't control it. But still I slept. A thought crossed through my mind that I should get up and go inside, ask Sean if I could crash one more night on his couch, but it passed through my mind like it was never there, and I drifted to sleep again.

  It seemed like no time had passed and I was cold again, like the nighttime fog had seeped into my bones, leaving me chilled so deep I didn't think I'd ever be warm again. I tried to get up, but it felt like my arms and legs had weights tied to them. I couldn't move.

  I tried to open my eyes, but I was just too weak. For a brief moment I thought maybe I was paralyzed, or dead. But then I realized I was still breathing, and I could move my fingers and toes if I really concentrated on it. My mind raced over many different thoughts. Some of them were memories, but many were just random images.

  I thought I was being carried, and someone strapped me down to a table. I tried to fight them off, but my arms still felt too heavy, and I couldn't open my eyes enough to focus; I was at their mercy.

  "Where am I?" I mumbled out.

  "You're safe, don't worry. Try to relax until we get to the hospital." A man I didn't know was sitting across from me in the back of a vehicle. An ambulance, maybe? Then I realized what he'd said. The hospital? I was with my dad--no, I was at the park. Sleeping on the bench. How did I end up here? Then the darkness closed in again.