There Can Only Be One Read online

  "Hello, son," she sang as the boy came into the room and hopped on the bed.

  "Can we go to the park today?" he asked like he always did. The family had always gone as a family but lately only one parent had been taking him since the other one had been busy dying.

  "Um, we, she, and I have," Kristine stammered and looked to her husband for help.

  "I'll call Abbey," he said. It was already out of his mouth before he thought about it, so he shrugged and made the call. Kristine ignored her babbling boy in favor of listening to her husband. She wanted to hear how he planned to work this out.

  "Hello?" Abbey asked as she tentatively took the call. She wanted to crawl under a rock after the embarrassing episode.

  "Hey, Abbey. We were wondering if you could take Martin to the park? The wife and I both have a ton of work," he explained.

  "Me? After ummm, sure. Okay!" she decided since she did need the money. If the couple wanted to act like nothing happened, then she would too. "I'm on my way!"

  "She's on her way," Prince relayed as he hung up.

  "Yes, please," Martin Junior nodded to his mother.

  "Yes, what?" she asked of the answer without a question.

  "You just asked if I wanted a sandwich. Yes," he said and scrunched his face like she was tripping. He reached his backhand to her forehead to see if she had a fever.

  "I didn't say anything?" she said to her son, then her husband. "Did I?"

  "You must have," Prince insisted since he knew what it meant if she didn't. Kristine deliberately pressed her lips together and looked at little Martin. Prince held his breath, hoped for the best, and got the worse.

  "Yes, mommy. Okay, mommy," the little one said in response to questions his mother merely thought about. He hopped up and went to get dressed and left his shocked parents to deal with it.

  "That doesn't necessarily mean, I mean… he eats food. Loves the sun," Prince offered as his wife nodded eagerly for an explanation. Any explanation other than their child being a vampire.

  "He may just have strong intuition. I tell him to get dressed every day. He wants waffles every day, too!" Kristine added. She knew she wouldn't find out until she took his blood. Even that was no guarantee that she could determine what was up with her son.

  "Yeah," Prince sighed and changed the subject by turning on the TV. The news report of a vampire attack in nearby Queens bought smiles to both of their fangs. They needed to catch and kill as many vampires as possible as much as possible.

  "The door!" their child yelled over the melodic chimes of the doorbell. Kristine was married to a man, so she didn't budge. Meanwhile, Prince stood and went to answer.

  "Hello, Mr. Jones," Abbey greeted shyly and ducked her head. It was a genuine display but she still peeked at his crotch.

  "Good morning, Abbey. Come in," he said and stepped aside. He shook his head at the thoughts booming out of her head as she walked in.

  "Hello, Martin! Mrs. Jones," she greeted to the other occupants.

  "You guys have fun. We've had a long night, so we're going to take a nap," Kristine told the babysitter and her son and took her husband by the hand.

  "See you guys later!" Abbey sang and waved. She shot one more glance at Prince's crotch and thought about what she would do with it.

  "Well, at least we won't have to tell him about the birds and the bees," Prince chuckled and followed his wife to bed.

  *****

  "We're going to be the biggest gang in this borough. This city, state, and country!" Shark told his gang. His crooked teeth earned him the nickname, Shark, when he was young, but now they came in handy after being turned at a vampire party

  "Yeah!" his gang of newly made vampires cheered back. None of them yet possessed the power to read minds and had no idea what was really on his mind.

  Shark had accidentally killed a vampire and felt the rush of power that came with it. The next two kills were no accidents. Nor would the fifty new recruits standing in front of him.

  "We..." he said, then stopped dead in his tracks. His head snapped up towards the strong presence he felt above. All heads followed and looked at the large bat hovering above while Kristine walked into the front door.

  "Knock, knock," she sang and knocked the heads off of two vampires with her silver sword.

  Most times, they brought along the cure to give vampires a chance to turn back. This wasn't most times and all of these vampires were dying tonight. The bat transformed into a man and floated to the floor.

  "The Dark Prince," Shark snarled and bared his claws. He had been talking a lot of shit about what he would do if he ever came for him. So much shit, he actually started to believe it.

  Kristine guarded the door with her sword while the vampires circled to watch the showdown. Shark’s crew expected an epic battle, but they weren't going to get one.

  "Hello, Shark," Prince growled. He flexed his powers and morphed into his wolf like creature. He lunged forward and bit Sharks head completely off. He spit it out and transformed back just as quickly. "Goodbye Shark."

  The gang was relieved to see the wolf was gone, but it was short lived. Prince took a seat and let his wife attack the rest. Kristine chopped the vampires into bite-sized pieces. The ones who ran were gunned down with her crossbow. A few more were dispatched with bites that took chunks and plugs out of her victims. She felt a surge of energy flow into her body and being with each kill. Soon there were just a couple surrounded by empty shells.

  "I feel..." Kristine said and paused to find the right words.

  "Exuberance?" Prince offered.

  "That too, but..." she squinted as the feeling came into view. A fanged smile spread across her bloody mouth when she figured it out. "Horny!"

  "Ah yes!" Prince agreed since he often felt it too after a massacre. The blood and gore was the perfect backdrop for the impromptu love making session. Only the approaching dawn cut it short.

  "Race you home?" Kristine challenged as they stepped back out into the crisp night air.

  "You don't—" Prince began but found himself alone as he wife took flight. Literally since she could now fly, too. "Stand a chance" he finished.

  Prince took a giant leap and spread his wings, as well. He quickly caught up to his wife and flew along side of her. He could easily have beat her, but what fun is that. They arrived back to their high rise and landed on the roof. After a few flights of stairs, they entered their apartment.

  "Hello, Mrs. Jones. Mr. Jones," Abbey greeted groggily as they walked in.

  "Abbey!" Kristine shrieked when the woman's indecent thoughts floated across the room. She frowned her face and rushed her husband into the bedroom.

  "What?" Prince asked but his chuckle said he already knew.

  "We need a new baby sitter!" she demanded. They slid into the shower and picked up where they left off earlier.

  *****

  "Next!" Kristine shouted and dismissed the next prospective babysitter. The agency sent their whole roster to fill the position. Kristine just knew this last prim and proper spinster was perfect until she read her mind.

  "What was wrong with her?" Prince asked since he refused to look into their thoughts. He'd been a vampire long enough to know it's better not to know what people are thinking.

  "She was high as a kite!" Kristine shrieked. Almost half were high off something, some wanted to steal and quite a few had impure thoughts about her husband as well as her.

  "Well, that's all of them. What are we going to do now?" he wanted to know. They had plenty of vampires to kill and needed someone to watch their son while they did. They certainly couldn't drag him from city to city, state to state to state and country to country to kill vampires. Not to mention the park since neither could venture out during the day.

  "There's one more. A student. She is scheduled for later tonight," Kristine said and stood. She was still a wife and mom, so she headed into the kitchen to cook dinner for her men. Meanwhile, little Martin bounced in to chat with his father.
r />   "Out loud," Prince insisted when the child tried to send him his thoughts. The father sounded like an immigrant father demanding his children speak English in their new land.

  "Sorry, dad," he said with a slight curtsey, reminding Prince that they had too many cable channels.

  "No problem. What's up?" he asked. The doting dad and darling dude chatted it up until dinner. The family sat around the table and all ate together.

  Martin was a throwback, old school family man since he was technically from another time. There were no cell phones or social media at the table. No TV or music to compete with pleasant conversation floating around the table. The parents needed to enjoy it while they could since their child would one day become a teenager. A teenage vampire at that.

  "Huh?" Prince asked when he felt his senses tingle. It was the sense and scent of a vampire in the area.

  "Go to your room!" Kristine told her son when she got a whiff a few seconds later. She escorted her son to his room and bared her fangs and guarded the door. Martin bared his as well as his fangs when a vampire knocked on the door.

  CHAPTER 5

  "Come in!" Prince growled and was poised to pounce. He was ready to transform into the wolf if Katrina walked into the apartment. Kristine too had a sword in one hand and the wooden stake, shooting crossbow in the other. The doorknob slowly turned and a woman poked her head in.

  "Bad time?" the young vampire asked when she saw the two vampires in full battle mode.

  "Melcina. The agency sent me," she said and they both relaxed. Kristine peered into her mind and smiled.

  "Come on in!" she said and put her weapons away. They all sat around the large coffee table and conversed. They sipped packs of plasma instead of decaf as they interviewed her. She had all the qualifications and wasn't high. Kristine was also pleased to read no impure thoughts about her husband.

  "So," Prince said and got down to the obvious question. "Who turned you?"

  "My ex. I guess I'm lucky since he gave most of his other girlfriends herpes," she said with a shrug. "I'm from Cali originally. I came here for school."

  Kristine nodded along with her story since she found no contradictory thoughts in her mind.

  "So, where is this ex now?" Prince wanted to know. He was especially dangerous if he was passing out herpes and the vampire virus. Melcina gave up his whereabouts with a soft smile that contained the knowledge that she would never have to deal with him again.

  "Well, Melcina, you can start this weekend," Kristine said and called little Martin out to seal the deal. Both parents smiled on as the newest addition to their family bonded with their boy.

  "Do you think we should give her the cure?" Kristine asked once they were alone in bed.

  "Yes. Just not yet," he said and explained why. "I'd rather have a vampire watching our child until we can kill Katrina."

  "You mean if," his wife sighed. The room went silent as they pondered their future. It would be a short future if they didn't figure out a way to defeat the daywalker.

  ******

  "Just let me put the tip in?" A.J pleaded desperately. He used the same line since he was a teenager, but now it had a different meaning. Now he was trying to stick the tip of his fangs into her femoral artery.

  "It's gonna hurt," the young girl giggled as young girls had since he was a teen.

  A.J hunted the virgins since their pure blood was untainted and delicious. Sweeter than the cherries he popped after he drank. He turned them out, then turned them like he did Melcina. She was the one who got away when she went out east to go to college. Prince had business out in Cali but made a detour to pay him a visit.

  "No, it won't," A.J lied and took a long lick up her thigh, across her labia and down the other thigh.

  "Yes, it will," Prince said as he swooped into the room. He winced from the high-pitched scream that accompanied his sudden appearance. "Now, A.J!"

  "My bad. You scared me," the vampire said and tried to save face in front of his guest.

  "You should be scared," Prince warned and inspected the girl. She was still mortal, so he quickly dismissed her with a, "Beat it!"

  "Yes sir!" she blurted and gathered her clothes. Prince was very happily married but still stole a glance at her jiggling lady parts as she escaped.

  "I know you! The Dark Prince! Man, I loved your music!" A.J gushed. He also knew of his new career as a vampire killer and hoped to flatter him into a pass. It may have worked if not for the fact that there can only be one.

  "I need a list of names. Every girl you turned," he demanded. A.J made a sudden moved that almost cost him his life but only came up with his phone.

  "Here," he said and passed it off. Prince just shook his head at the massive list of young women he had to turn back. "So, we good?"

  "If, 'we' were French. We not though," Prince remarked. A.J still had a confused frown on his face as his head tumbled in mid air. One swift swipe from Prince's claws detached his head from his shoulders and soul from his body.

  The rest of his California trip was spent tracking down and injecting new vampires with the cure. It only cure half since half wanted to remain vampires. Half of them died from the cure while Prince killed the others. Once he finished, it was time to head back to his family in New York.

  *****

  Meanwhile, Kristine was dealing with a dilemma of her own. The new vampire had plenty of plasma to sustain life but the urge to feed was getting stronger. Not to mention the taste of the pure blood straight from the source beckoned.

  "I'm stepping out for a moment," she decided when the urge became to much to bear. Melcina saw the thirst on her face and knew exactly why she was stepping out.

  "Have fun," the babysitter said. She was almost family now and spent time with Martin even when his parents were home. A day shift nanny took the boy to the park.

  "Oh, I plan to," she said and eased out of the unit. Kristine was dressed to impress when she stepped out into the crisp New York night air. She looked both ways before deciding to hit the lower east side of Manhattan.

  The section had a booming nightlife and was bustling with activity. The long line in front of a nightclub beckoned and she went over to investigate. A burly bouncer stuck his arm out to impede her from walking straight inside.

  "Hundred bucks for VIP," he advised. She had saw him lifting the velvet rope for a select few while most waited in the line stretching down the block.

  "Free for me," she corrected and his big head nodded instantly.

  "Free for you," he repeated. Kristine stifled a giggle as she tried her powers of suggestion for the first time on someone other than her husband. She wasn't sure if it worked since Prince went down on her regularly anyway.

  "Oh my!" Kristine swooned when she stepped inside. The sound of a thousand heartbeats boomed over the thunderous bass coming from the sound system. She swallowed hard and fought her fangs from coming out on their own.

  She scanned through the darkness looking for a meal. Her heightened senses slowed the present down like a rap video. Booties and breast shook and bounced in slow motion all around. She searched for her dinner like a housewife selecting fruit in the market. A look over to the bad and she clearly saw a man lace a girl’s drink while she turned her head. His friend distracted her by groping her booty.

  "Yeah right," Kristine fussed of her playful protest. She picked up the drink and tossed it back before she could stop her. It was fine since she had found her dinner. It looked like it was going to be a two-piece meal when the men each took an arm to guide their prey from the club.

  "You guys taking me home? To my home?" she naively asked as they escorted her out.

  After we run a train on you and post the pictures and videos all over the internet, one thought. Kristine read both of their thoughts and found they were on the same page. Now they could be on the same plate, as well.

  Kristine ran briskly along side the car like a black blur all the way it to Central Park, AKA the train station since many a train had
been ran in the huge park.

  "Here's good," one of the men suggested after looking around. Cheapskates were scattered all over with their cheap dates. The coast was clear and this was the perfect spot for a sexual assault.

  "Good for what?" the woman slurred as they laid her down. The men had just began to remove her clothing when Kristine swooped in.

  "There's a good spot!" she said and tossed one of the men up into the tree above.

  "What the—" the other began but didn't finish. He had bigger concerns to be concerned about when the vampire sank her fangs into his neck. Kristine went into a frenzy when she got that first gush of hot blood fresh from his heart. It wasn't moving fast enough for her, so she bit half of his neck away and slurped the gusher. She pulled his head back way further than God designed,with a sickening crunch of bone and cartilage.

  "Oh wow!" she drunk woman said and squinted at the man's head lying almost on his back. Only the spine and shards of skin kept it from falling off and rolling away.

  "I'm out of here!" his buddy decided from up in the tree. He wanted no parts of what was going on down below, so he made a break for it. Literally since his leg snapped loudly when he jumped out the tree.

  "Oh, you're out of here alright!" Kristine agreed with a growl and attacked him too. The would be rapist woke up all the parks pigeons, squirrels and rats when he let out a blood curdling scream when he saw the large fangs coming towards him. Two cops were parked a block over and heard it in their cop car.

  "Did you hear that?" one asked the other haltingly. The scream sent such a chill up his spine and he actually shivered.

  "Nah, I didn't hear anything," his partner said after a shiver of his own. He turned up the window to make sure he couldn't hear what he didn't just hear again. The city didn't pay enough to tangle with the new threat of the vampires.

  Kristine killed all screams and protests when she chomped into his throat. A larynx is needed for sound as she had just swallowed his. Animalistic sounds and snarls emitted from Kristine as she fed. Plasma and blood products weren’t a match for fresh blood from a live victim as she drank every drop. The man's internal organs collapsed from the strong suction.