Between the Lines

Between the Lines

“What do you want, Tavin?”
“Vara is sick. You have to come.”
Sick. We never got sick. All vampires were dead. No disease survived in us that had been born naturally or by man. This had to be another of his ploys or Vara’s to get me back in her life. It would be great to be near her again. The pull between maser and child never dulled and we were most comfortable when were in around our makers.
“Funny, Tavin. I don’t know how much you paid for this number, but loose it.” I hung up. The urge to throw the phone and smash it into electronic and plastic bits railed through me. I wouldn’t do any good though. I’d just get another one. This time my personal phone rang. The number was also private.
“What!”
“This isn’t a joke. She doesn’t know I called you. I don’t know what to do. She’s getting worse. It’s eating away at her. Please you have to come.”
“What’s wrong with her?”
“I don’t know. It started a month ago. You’re the last person I expected to call, but she needs you.”
I hung my head. I might have banished her from my life, but I didn’t want Vara to die. “I’ll see if I can rearrange a few jobs.”
“thanks, Katia.”
“It’s Kristina now. Katia died a long time ago,” I whispered. I hung up. My blackberry went off again. I answered it this time. It was a job. I knew it in my bones. Shit. I had to take the call. “Hello.”
“Kristina, job for you. It’s out of town.”
I rolled my eyes. “Great. Where to? What is the team getting involved with this time? Disemboweled body? Dinner gone bad?”
My handler chuckled. I’d never met her in person. Hell the only people I had met in the organization were my team and one other Cleaner. My team was shuffled from time to time, but postings didn’t open up all the time. It was a lonely life and solitary. I never talked about the outside world. Making friends was risky inside. Sometimes we never knew who to trust.
“Nothing so dramatic. You were requested. You’re agenda, directions; minor details are being emailed now. You’re to meet with Ronin.”
Ronin? That mane was a legend among the Cleaners. No one believed he was real. If he was, he was an ancient vampire that had been around since the beginning or close to it. Historian. Legends. Whispers abut him circulated the Cleaners. “Are you sure?”
Silence on the other end. “You were requested and we never kid. I suggest that you get going.”
The line went dead. I heard the seriousness of the request in her tone. Command was more like it. Why would Ronin want me? There was no other answer. The only way I would find out was to get there and see what the nightmare historian had in store for me. The whispers of him were all hushed and filled vampire minds with fear of the power that he possessed. We got stronger the longer we existed. His powers would be remarkable.
I slipped the phone into my pocket and sighed. My laptop showed the email. I opened the email, but there was no agenda. Just directions. Where are they having me do? Whatever it was, it might be only something that Ronin could tell me. Maybe she didn’t even know.
My luggage was normally packed, but I got another suitcase and field it with more clothes. When I did, the cat blinked at me. Everyone and a while I’d hire a pet sitter, but with being gong for such long periods of time I had no idea. I couldn’t be without him for ling. He stared at me from the pillows and meowed. His high pitched yowl told me he was hungry. I scratched him behind the ears.
“Alright Ralphy. Come on.” I motioned for him to come into the kitchen. He leapt onto the counter as I poured a small amount of blood into a bowl for him. He began to lap at it and soon his face was buried in the bowl. I ran my hand over his spine and head him hiss. I had found him about twenty years ago. We were obligated to kill such revenants, but I could bear the thought when he wound his body around my ankles and purred. I took him home and fed him. He’d stayed with me ever since. My thoughts drifted to ward my firs call. I couldn’t ignore my maker’s call for help, but I couldn’t ignore the job either. I wasn’t sure what to do, but I did know it would work out. It always did.