Doctor Frankenstein Page 12

  She spread her hands, and stood up from the wooden chair she was sitting in. Her dress was black and had a lot of lace on it. To the right there was a counter, behind which there were tobacco products and alcohol. The small store had a gas station out front, and was far enough away from anywhere that it shut down at night. The Queen kept looking at him, her face holding a slightly bemused look.

  “I can do it, of course. Mainly meats. It’s how I broke it in the first place. A piece of bone was where it shouldn’t have been. I should avoid that for a while?”

  Thinking about it, he nodded.

  “Exactly. At least a day. Sort of chew on the other side as well? Now… Unless there’s anything else, I should get back home.” He glanced at the other two vampires, both men, who were standing back, toward the wall, looking uneasy. They both wore fine black suits, which looked sharp and official. Liam was in a pair of blue hospital scrubs.

  He’d been thinking of them as guards or possibly the chauffer, and an attendant. The idea that they might have come along because they had medical or dental issues was possible, so he glanced at each one, making eye contact. Even if he didn’t need to. They’d been being watched the whole time, even when behind him. Neither had tried to be menacing or even made funny faces as a joke. Most people didn’t do that but the little shop, a convenience store, wasn’t all that interesting, he had to imagine.

  Before he could walk out or anything, Narran touched his arm.

  “You’ve rendered a service for me, coming a very far way to see to my comfort. What do I owe you for it?” She looked at him closely, as if he might ask for anything. Liam didn’t need much, really, mainly because Brenner was looking out for him, so far. That would, eventually change, so he needed to figure out some kind of payment scale.

  “Most pay what they think is fair. That will do for this.” It wasn’t that big of a procedure, binding a single tooth, even if it was a thing that almost no one else in the world did. Working on vampires wasn’t outside of what a human dentist could have done but several of the rules were simply different. Plus, human businesses tended to be open during the day. Vampires would burst into flame if they were out when the sun was, so avoided that for some reason.

  That meant his service was probably a big deal to the woman. Blinking, he thought about it and then nodded.

  “I could come and check on this in a few weeks? Call it a month? It would be good if we could plan out people in the local area who need help, ahead of time, so that I can handle things while I’m in the area, if there is need. That should be easier for many than traveling to me.”

  She nodded, smiling a bit. The woman wasn’t classically pretty, he didn't think. Not that he had a lot of thought toward that being important, personally. Her long black hair was a bit lank and while un-matted, it seemed she didn’t wash often. That didn't mean she smelled, though there was a deep musty scent to her that wasn’t what he noticed on most people, even the dead. She was old, though. That was pretty much a prerequisite to having her job.

  Still, she patted his arm, moving closer to him.

  “I’ll have that set up. You can come for… Call it three nights? Is that possible? We have several who could use some tending. Most simply suffer until it fixes itself or they seek the sun in desperation for relief. I can guarantee at least three or four per day. Not a vast amount. We can pay. I will, in fact, especially if I get to set the rate. Call it ten thousand per patient aided?”

  He shook his head, her face going questioning.

  “That’s too high a rate. For this kind of work, you’d have spent less than a thousand. It would vary depending on what was needed, of course. Most will probably be similar to what you had, however. At least for vampires, if there are other types of people in at that time it will vary.”

  The Queen lowered her eyes a bit, then nodded, as if she were being forced to do something different than talking to him about minor things like prices.

  “Very well. A thousand for each, with more if needed. You expect me to subsidize others in the area for that value? It would… Probably still save me funds. At the same time, I can use that to gain favor with several other groups in the area. This isn’t a highly populated place, which is part of why it was chosen by my people. Our activities go largely unnoticed, without having to live in a major city.”

  It made some sense, though the idea of being that far away from their food source of choice seemed off. Then, they seemed to hire or compel others to work with them, so having them uproot themselves to that end or even travel to them for the purpose was probably acceptable. Especially since many could work online, if they were intelligent enough.

  Being smart and having someone else order you to find an at home way to make a good living really would work for most people. People took the easy way out in life, letting others start companies that they worked for, instead of doing it for themselves. Even if that was clearly the better option for most people. If you wanted to make money, working for others who took most of it from your labor was a poor plan. The idea that there was security in working for another was actually an illusion. True, if you ran things you would know about the problems but that made no difference to the function of the economy at all.

  Not that he was doing a great job making his own money, as of yet. Then, he didn’t have to charge as much, being self-taught. He also didn’t have large insurance fees to pay, which helped a lot. If he made even a few hundred dollars per visit it would be enough for him. The deal with Narran, if anyone came at all, would make the long car trips back and forth more than worthwhile.

  That and the fact that it helped people and beings that needed it, who didn’t really have much of anyone else who did the same things. There weren’t a lot of the other groups in the world, compared to human beings, of course. That meant his potential client base was small. Many of them used other methods to provide for their health and wellbeing, such as herbs or magic. In many cases both things actually worked pretty well. Not for everything, or all the time though. It meant he could have a real job traveling and making sure those in need had some aid.

  It might not be enough, for the long run. That was, of course, for another day.

  Narran hugged him, facing him and using both arms. He returned the gesture, in case it was a cultural thing that he’d missed. It seemed inappropriate for a dental visit but she pulled back quickly enough that it didn’t really seem too close or like she was trying to get him to do something other than what he was. One of the other vampires watched him closely but neither of the pale men moved toward him.

  They didn't speak, either. They just loomed, menacingly. Ready to fight at any moment. Except that they kept watching the glass front of the building and tilting their heads to listen, instead of paying too much attention to him. Really, it was as if something else entirely was going on.

  Liam smiled, just a little, at the woman.

  “Do you expect an attack to come? I don’t have anything like that planned. It really isn’t my way.”

  There was a small bow then, from the Queen.

  “Not from you, no. We’ve been seeing hints of things, over the last weeks. Men dressed in black clothing being caught on cameras during the day, while we sleep. I’ve been being moved to a different place every time I go down before the sun. It isn’t late but I should do that now, in fact. We’ve been being followed, which means it is close to time to flee. We cannot defeat the humans during the day. It is their true power over us.”

  There was a small push on his back, the woman propelling him, gently, almost subliminally, toward the front door. He walked, taking the hint that she didn’t want to leave first. He understood the basic idea. It was close to what he’d done when people were trying to kill him for money. Moving constantly, to keep them from locating him. Some still had, anyway. He didn’t even stop for a full day at a time, which meant she was in far more danger than he’d been.

  “In a month, then, Narran. I look forward to seeing you. All of you
.” He addressed the other men then, with a nod. “Be careful. I hadn’t really been aware that things were that dangerous. I think that people are keeping things from me, for some reason. I’m not certain why.”

  One of the men, the taller of the two, who was easily six-four, nearly a full foot taller than Liam was, made a soft huffing sound.

  “That’s going to be your age. A foolish bias, given your capabilities. Clearly your type ages faster than most other groups. It will be that, though. People will be led to think of you as being impulsive or emotional. Some fear you for that as well. You hold enough power to be a force in the world, but such as you, your kind, often use that power without thought to consequence at first. I’ve seen others of your people, who did that kind of thing. Killed for the most minor of slights. You aren’t like that. So far.”

  He looked at Liam, smiling a bit, as if there was supposed to be teasing in the words. He made a rueful face back, even if he was simply taking in the information he’d been given. There was, he suspected, some truth to it. Liam was too young and a human his age would have be treated very differently. Then, most around him tended to act as if he were around twenty or so. That was how old he looked, having been created to seem that way by Mary, who had done the work that way on purpose.

  So he took a breath and decided that the vampire probably meant that he thought Liam was around that age, which was still thought to be too young for most. He didn't ask though, since he was at the door and the others were staying.

  “Talk to you soon. Call if there are any problems.”

  Liam used the pumps out front and paid with his card. Then carefully drove away, followed onto the road by the black van that the Queen and her people were in. It was the kind that Liam was thinking about getting. Not the make or model, just the basic type of vehicle. Big enough, without it being so huge that it would be awkward on the road.

  His plan, originally had been to drive straight through, back home. That didn't exactly happen, since he stopped for an hour as he drove. In the middle of nowhere, well away from any city, was the largest ball of yarn in the world. The sign claimed that anyway, so he decided to stop and pay five dollars to see it. Then he bought a smaller version, a yarn ball, to take away as a souvenir. It was, of course, a tourist trap. He’d looked that kind of thing up once, before his longer trip. The thing there was that he’d never been to that kind of thing, and wanted to try it out, in case it was interesting. It wasn’t, other than seeing how the whole thing was set up. Where the shop was and how you had to walk through it to get out of the vault room that held the big yarn ball behind a red velvet rope.

  It was large but Liam had noticed that it didn’t warp due to the weight of the yarn. That probably meant it was hollow in the middle, being simply an outer layer of real yarn, wrapped around a sphere with nothing but air inside. He took an hour though and looked at the building, the parking lot and then the roads in the area, as well as the natural feeling of the trees and bushes as he left. It was nice, though he didn't take a lot of new data from it. He’d driven past a lot of trees in his time, after all.

  It was, of course, a real issue for him. He was learning fast still, and had a lot he wanted to know about. There would be a time when he ran out of new things to experience eventually. Then, he’d have variations of the old and familiar, which would eventually pale as well. For a human being, who only lived at a regular pace and generally didn’t make it to ninety, they might not ever really exhaust the interesting parts of the world.

  He figured that point would be hit by him inside ten years. Sooner if he increased the rate he learned at. That was a real thing as well. His memory was nearly perfect already. Mastering new skills was becoming easier as he learned other things, too. Some effort was needed, when presented with new problems but he had answers that were close enough to nearly work for a lot of things that took place. It was, he thought, that the long-term problem of his life would probably be boredom.

  Not that Liam was going to worry about that kind of thing at the moment. It was, clearly, just a sign that he’d need to find things to maintain his interest over time. Vampires did it. Then, they mainly played at politics each day, making up false drama for themselves. It worked though, which meant there were ways to bear the brunt of years and longer, if he was willing to attempt to find them.

  The trip back home was a bit mind numbing, since even for him the biggest need while driving was to pay attention to the road constantly. Still, he was able to think and consider things, while he did it. Not as deeply as possible, naturally. That would set off a visual hallucination or vision, or at least could. Instead he opted for a slow, less intense version of the same thing, while putting most of his processing power into making certain he didn’t crash and kill innocent people on the freeway.

  There was a lot to think about, of course. The main thing he kept coming back to wasn’t that he had more to go over in several fields of study, such as chemistry. No, it was that there seemed to be a simple way to slow or possibly stop the attacks coming from inside different government agencies. All they needed to do was suggest to them that they stop doing it. By they, he meant the FBI, not the vampires or werewolves.

  By presenting that idea to the people in charge, openly, it would be taken as a joke. They didn’t think that kind of thing was real, after all. A gag, except to those who were in on the attempts to kill people. They’d been successful several times as well. Given they were probably trying to create super soldiers, using magic and other tricks, it made more sense than fighting them.

  It would work, ultimately, because the people behind the war on the other side didn't expect anyone to simply call them on what they were doing. They were prepared for a fight. Even physical conflict that they couldn’t likely win. No one had, so far, simply suggested that they stop it. No one had pointed out that it wasn’t really needed, in most cases.

  Oddly, he had a thought that the vampires’ habits and lives weren’t going to be acceptable to humans, no matter what they claimed or did. The other groups could pull it off. Sure werewolves wouldn’t always manage it. They got into fights with humans, even Federal agents, and won, when they weren’t supposed to. Wolves were stronger and faster than regular people. It created problems, on occasion. Except that it was an isolated thing. They weren’t, as a group, planning to get into those fights. In fact, most of the time they came up because the humans went looking for them and threatened them in some way.

  Learning not to do that would save way more lives than a stupid war would.

  The vamps had to eat though. Human blood didn’t have to come from the dead but they really did look at that type as a meal, rather than a loved one. Even if they were kind about it and respectful to their food, it was always a part of the interaction. That, along with millennia of tradition that had them killing people to protect themselves was going to be hard for them to beat.

  Frankly, no one sane wanted to mess with the elves at all. Not because they were a real threat, even if they honestly were. It was simply that, as a people, they seemed to be rather non-threatening. They were small, tended to be smooth skinned and youthful looking and while they could use magic to take out small armies, the secret cabals wouldn’t take that seriously until the fight started and their guns all melted in their hands. That or their cars caught fire out of nowhere.

  Still, they’d be left alone upon request by the FBI. That left a gap in the plan but a battle on a controlled front was still better than one in which any of a dozen targets was available all over the country.

  The next problem was that no one was going to listen to him, he had to imagine. Not simply based on him having an idea or two. There would be reasons given, such as him not knowing the situation well enough, or lacking life experience. Both were valid. That didn’t mean he was incorrect, of course. Really, he needed to use his new analysis trick, having a vision of the future, to check and see if he could determine where any flaws were and then work out how to present things in
a way that might work in the real world.

  It wasn’t truly seeing the future, of course. It was simply closer than his normal way of thinking was. There was no way to do that while traveling at the same time. Not if he wanted to return Tiffany’s SUV without damage. It was important to him to do that, if at all possible. That meant putting a lot of his focus into driving and not letting himself become too distracted. That meant he did it when he got home, late in the evening two days after leaving to see the Vampire Queen.

  Then Liam simply sat, with his eyes closed, thinking about what needed to be done. Focusing hard on the topic at hand. Of interest, even in his vision, which formed after no more than a minute of trying to concentrate fully. The depth of it was intense this time, compared to the last. Then, he was also making subtle changes to what might happen, seeing if any of it made a real-world difference. These were minor changes for the most part, though he tried a few large things that he wasn’t really willing to do, just in case his own blind spots were hiding the best answer.

  Finally, after a time that he couldn’t track, which was no more than fifteen minutes in real time, even if it felt like several days, he got out of the car and went inside. Where he found the very people he’d expected to be there. Mitchel Warner, Sondra the vampire, Abbie the Ghost, Brenner, Dan Sanchez and Oaks. Also, Robert Mobley, from the elves.

  The smaller man was sitting off to the side, watching, rather than speaking as Liam came in. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at him, though at least half of them either stood up or waved in his direction. Sondra actually rushed him, pulling him into a close hug.

  “Mr. Liam! Or should I say Doctor Frankenstein? Narran contacted Nicodemus and told us that you used guilt to get her to pay for part of our medical and dental coverage? That’s advanced. There’s great excitement, nationwide, to learn that we have medical and dental coverage, let me assure you.” She was teasing, meaning that she understood the reality had been different than that.