The Traveling Vampire Show

“You, your friends, it’s all the same. Valeria’s dead. We’re out of business unless we replace her. I want YOU to be her replacement. Agree to surrender and come with us as our vampire, and I’ll let the kids go home. ”

“Why me?” Lee asked.

“You’re perfect. You’re brave and strong… and luscious. ”

“I’m not a vampire. ”

“No problem. All you need to do is travel with our show and take on all comers in the cage. ”

“For how long?” Lee asked.

“You can’t!” I blurted at her.

“For as long as I say. ”

“And you’ll let everyone else go?”

“Certainly. I would HAVE to, wouldn’t I? If I don’t release them, you won’t keep your side of the bargain. ”

“You’re right about that.”

“How about it?”

“Give me a few minutes to think it over. ”

“Of course.”

We turned away from Stryker and faced each other. “You can’t do it,” I said.

“What other choices do we have?”

“Fight.”

“They’ll kill us easily.”

“Maybe, maybe not. At least maybe we can take some of them with us.”

“I don’t want you to get killed, Dwight. Or me, for that matter. Not to mention Slim and Rusty. For all we know, maybe they’ve even got Bitsy. We might all die if I don’t take his offer.”

“You can’t!”

“I’ve got to.”

“What about Danny?” I asked.

At the mention of my brother’s name, her chin started shaking. In a voice that trembled, she said, “Tell him that I love him. This… this is something I had to do. Tell him I’ll always love him. And I’ll come back to him if I can.”

I started bawling again. This time, I didn’t feel embarrassed about it. I was in too much anguish for embarrassment.

“I have to do this, honey. It’s the right thing to do. You know it and I know it.”

“No!”

“Let me have the bow,” she said, her voice gentle and sad.

Though I blurted, “NO!” I didn’t resist when she pulled it from my hand. Nor when she removed the quiver from my back. “I thought we were gonna fight,” I protested.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

She carried the bow and the quiver of arrows to the side of the cage, reached through a space in the bars, and let them fall to the ground.

Turning toward Stryker, she raised her arms in surrender and called, “It’s a deal!”

“Very good. You won’t be sorry. ”

He stood up, stepped in front of the bus and made some gestures with his hands. All around us, black-garbed men and women came out of the darkness. Some appeared from behind the bus and truck. Others climbed out from under bleachers. I didn’t count, but got the impression there must’ve been fourteen or fifteen of them. About half of them carried spears.

They all walked toward our cage.

A few paces from the bars, they stopped. One of them bent down and picked up the bow and quiver. All of them gazed at the body of Valeria. Some were scowling. Many shook their heads and looked dismayed. Others appeared to be weeping.

Stryker stepped up to the cage door.

Looking around at his crew, he said in a loud voice, “This has been a terrible night.” Heads nodded in agreement. “I know how much Valeria meant to all of you… and to me. She was a very special lady. Very special. We’ll all miss her terribly.” He took a deep breath and sighed. “However, the show must go on. To that end, let me introduce the woman who will take over Valeria’s role… our new vampire, Lee Thompson.”

Murmurs and quiet applause came from the crew.

Stryker stepped forward, bent over slightly in front of the door and turned the dial of the combination lock. A few seconds later, he removed the lock and swung the door open.

Lee moved toward it, but Stryker entered. Taking her by the shoulders, he guided her backward toward the middle of the cage. “You’re already in part of the outfit,” he said. “Let’s see how you look in the rest of it.”

The crew applauded again, this time with some eagerness.

Standing rigid in the middle of the cage like a proud soldier, Lee removed her sleeveless chambray shirt. She stood there in the rain, naked except for the very short skirt of red leather.

Stryker picked up Valeria’s red, bralike top.

Lee stood motionless while he slipped the straps up her arms, cupped her breasts inside its stiff leather, and stepped behind her to fasten its back.

Vivian entered the cage, carrying the black cape.

Stryker took the cape and swept it over Lee’s shoulders.