Vladimir felt the sun go down and shivered violently. Why was it so cold? He slowly opened his eyes, and could not see anything. Unless someone put out his eyes, he should see something. He couldn't remember. Another chill went through him. Raising his arm, Vladimir hit what appeared to be some type of heavy-duty plastic bag. Panic caused his stomach to clench. Vladimir shivered violently again. He forced his mind to review the events prior to his sleep cycle. It was no good. He had to shut his eyes in order to think clearly. Who would have thought a vampire could suffer from claustrophobia? Certainly not him, and yet he could not abide confining spaces. His memory was sluggish from the cold. Oh, yeah. A memory surfaced. He had spent last night with an extremely lovely, charming female with a noteworthy profession. As what? Vladimir couldn’t remember, but it was just on the edge of his memory. He couldn’t think in enclosed places. He couldn't think when he was so cold. He shivered again. God, it was so cold!

Suddenly, this felt vaguely familiar to him. He had been in this position before. Good, he only had to wait. Keeping his eyes closed, Vladimir concentrated on retrieving his memories of the past evening with… with… oh yes, Jasmine. That he remembered her name said much. Jasmine had been a very passionate woman. More so than any woman, he had been with in…oh, he couldn’t recall. Her smile and blue eyes, as clear as a blue lagoon and petite figure was already warming one particular area of his body. Vladimir had a weakness for women and had many through the centuries, but this one was aware of his game. Even though she had blushed prettily, she had seduced him in return. Yeah, he definitely wanted to see her again.

Vladimir shivered again. Damn, how long did he have to stay this way? He needed to get up and out of this plastic coffin. Then he needed to find his nourishment and search for his sweet flower. It seemed like an eternity passed before he heard light footsteps enter whatever refrigerator they stuffed him in. They stopped right next to him.

Simon grabbed the zipper and slowly opened the bag. Bluish green eyes with gold flecks stared up at him. The vampire inside shivered violently. “ Well, hello, Vladimir. Fancy coming across your corpse again.” The tech gave him a sarcastic grin.

Vladimir quickly shoved the rest of the bag open and jumped off the stretcher. “Do I know you?” he asked, running his fingers through his long, thick blond strands.

“You could say that. This is the second time in four months you have turned up like a bad penny at the morgue. But let me introduce myself again. I’m Simon, and this makes the second time I have saved your ass from having the heart cut out of your body in autopsy.” Simon stepped back, giving the vampire room.

“Oh, right. I don’t recall what happened. I don’t suppose you could shed a little light?” Vladimir ran his hands up and down his arms trying to keep from turning into an ice cube.

"You certainly have a way with women, Vlad. Last night, after what my co-worker deems could only have been wild sex that killed you, you made the mistake of falling asleep next to the lady you seduced. She woke up, and upon finding your lifeless body, called the front desk. They called the morgue, and—voilà! Here you are.” Simon crossed his arms over his chest and grinned.

“Be quiet, or I’ll forget I’m a nice guy, and use you for a double snack.”

Simon held up his hands palms out. “Okay, okay. But don’t I at least deserve a little thanks? After, all, you are still standing—and not sewn up in a permanent cooler—minus your internal organs.”

“Thanks for painting that charming picture for me. I am ever grateful that you intervened, ‘saving my ass,’ as you so delicately put it. Could you at least point me to the way out? I have a lady to see, and an explanation to make up.” Vladimir was bouncing on the balls of his feet, but wasn’t getting any warmer.

Simon pointed to a set of double doors. “You go through those doors, make a right and at the next hallway, make a left. That will take you to the exit. Oh, and if you are talking about the lady you spent the evening with last night, sorry to have to tell you, but she went home today after signing your death certificate.”

“Home?” Vladimir gave the tech a blank stare.

“Yeah, Vlad, she was only here temporarily through a program that sponsors doctors traveling to different countries, doing pro-bono surgeries.”

Vladimir thought hard on where she had said she lived, but the cold had affected his brain. He was sure he would be able to think more clearly after his nourishment. He looked into Simon’s dark eyes. “You wouldn’t happen to know where her home is, now, would you?”

Simon shook his head.

“I thought that might be a little too easy. I’d better get busy, then.” Vladimir began walking quickly to the double doors.

“Vampire.”

Vladimir turned around to face the tech. “Yes?”

“I don’t want to see you here again. Next time, it might not be me when you come in, and then, there’ll be no more you. I'm the only one here that's a member of the Institute and knows about you. You’ve been lucky—so far.”

“I appreciate your candidness. When next in your lovely country, I’ll look you up and take you to dinner, my treat.” Vladimir turned around and went through the doors, heading to the exit just as fast as his feet would go.

Simon slowly opened the doors and shook his head. There weren't many members of the Institute in this part of the world. With three autopsies on the schedule tonight, Simon headed down the hall to gather the first.

Vladimir exited the building and felt the warm air rush over his skin as he rose up into the sky. It felt so good not to be cold. As he thawed, snippets of last night’s conversation slowly returned to him. He recalled that Jasmine had told him she lived in the United States, but he was having a hard time remembering which one she mentioned. Vladimir forced the sluggish blood to flow to his brain so that his memory would work properly. Then it came to him. New Jersey. Well, he knew both, mortals and immortals there. The latter wouldn’t mind having him stay a little while. It paid to be popular all over the world.

Vladimir fed on a group of ten tribal men out on a hunt, careful to take only what he needed until he felt normal again. He watched as the men returned to their hunt, none the wiser for their contribution.

Over the next four nights, Vladimir made his exhausting journey to the United States. He found caves along the way in which to spend his days. Jasmine had stolen his heart and it had been six nights since he had seen her. Finally, he had found her and stood outside her door. He knocked and waited. The door opened and her eyes grew wide as saucers, those beautiful eyes. Then they rolled up into her head and she slowly sank toward the doorstep. Vladimir caught her and sat on the doorstep, his love cradled in his arms. It never occurred to him how she might react upon seeing him again.

Oh, yeah. Simon had said she signed his death certificate. Okay, that was a small hurdle to overcome. He was in love and it was grand. He just had to convince her of it. Gently he stroked her face until her eyes opened, looking up at him. She scrambled out of his arms faster than he had seen anyone move.

"Hi," he said. "I guess you thought you'd never see me again." He stood up.

"You got that right. Just who the hell are you?" She stood with her hands on her hips. It only made him want her more.

"Well, I'm a vampire and I came to claim what you stole from me."

"I didn't—," she began.

"You stole my heart, sweetheart. I'm planning to do the same." She slammed the door in his face.

THE END

This short story is a scene from one of my books that is currently under consideration for print publication. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know. I will keep you updated to the status.

I welcome your comments and opinions so please contact me at duvleer@gmail.com or call 310-480-7526