"Encounter" by Sarah Johanesen

Encounter

“So” I began, “I suppose you’re wondering how come that bullet didn’t just kill me.”

I walked towards the man in front of me and he backed away to the wall, his freckles disappearing as his face washed white. He was trembling, I could see it, I could… taste his fear.

“V vampire?!” he stuttered.

“No.” I said as he finally hit the wall. “I’m no vampire Joshi.”

“H how’d you kn know my name?”

“Why’s a reporter carrying a gun?”

“I get a, a lot of f freaky people, gimme a h hard t time.”

God he sounded like he needed a breathing aid. Shock I suppose.

I smiled, “Come with me Joshi.”

“W what?” he asked, eyes wide.

“I want you to come with me… you’ll be safe.”

He looked at me disbelieving, “Like hell I will.”

Without stuttering! We’re making progress!

“Look Mr Trigger-happy I’m not some mobster trying to trick you into a dark alley so I can torture you for squealing, okay?”

He just looked at me blankly – no lights on up there.

“Or I could call my partner and he’ll drag you where I want you.”

He looked so very lost. “You a cop or something?”

I sighed. “No.”

He gazed at me, seeing me now as a potential friend – saw how I stood, hands by my side, waiting patiently.

“Okay.” He said subdued. “But I’m allowed to keep my gun.”

“Sure if it makes you feel better.”

That’s how we’d gotten here, in a modest one-bed room in a very inconspicuous B&B. I was sitting in the small lounge area at a table, with the pasty, ginger-haired Joshi in front of me. He looked like your typical computer ace, you know; not seen the sun in months, thin despite eating a whole fridge – a lot like a zombie in fact. Worthy of being an extra in ‘Dawn of the Dead’. He was hot off the press, fresh out of college, I’d read up on him. He’d been working for an online newspaper uncovering the hidden world of the supernatural and criminal alike. But there was a reason he was here, and that reason he would discover in time. Personally I just wish he’d been a bit more… exotic looking. He looked like so many people I meet on a daily basis, why couldn’t I ever find someone who looked like they’d just finished baking cookies?

Joshi was fiddling with a pen from his pocket, pale blue eyes darting around the magnolia room, so clean and tidy. Every once in a while his eyes would settle on me and he’d frown. Then he’d notice I was looking and would turn away.

The bedside clock ticked dully in the silence, and I glanced at the mirror to see if I was still there. I sure as hell felt as if I’d floated away to another place, like my body was an empty shell. Nope, still there - brunette wavy hair still a split-ended mess, pale jade eyes still open, face still expressionless. I raised an eyebrow to see how I’d look. Ah, I don’t know, maybe a smile? Nah, not in the mood.

“So… you said you weren’t a vampire…” Joshi ventured bravely.

I turned my head to him, “That’s correct.”

“So what are you then?”

I didn’t answer at first. Did I really want to be telling him? Then again, who knew how long David would be?

“’Cause I know supernatural when I see it.”

I smiled at him, “Lets see if you can guess.” I knew he wouldn’t be able to, no-one knew what I was – we were closely guarded secrets.

“Er… Okay.” He narrowed his eyes, “lycanthrope?”

I shook my head leaning back in my seat. This could take some time.

“Damn. That narrows the list. Er… a witch?” he asked dubiously.

“No.”

“Animator?” again he was unsure.

“No.”

“Well you can’t be a Naga, or a Lamia… Are you?”

“No Joshi, I’m certainly not.”

He sunk into his seat, “Pyro-kinetic?”

“No.”

“Sorcerer? Flesh-eater? Demon? Jinn?”

“No on all accounts… isn’t Jinn the Islamic for demon?”

“Oh yeah…” He leaned on the table, watching me. “So what are you?”

“Out of ideas already?”

“So sue me! I didn’t even realise vampires existed until I was at college. A friend brought home a chick one night and the ‘chick’ had fangs.” He shook his head. “Not a nice story.”

“Have you ever heard of a witch’s familiar?” I asked.

“Isn’t that when an animal that’s near a witch makes them more powerful… and spies and stuff for them?”

I nodded. “Have you ever heard of a vampire’s servant?”

“What, a Renfield, like in Dracula?”

Oh God where do these people get their information? “No, no, not a Renfield. A proper human servant.”

He shook his head frowning. I wondered for a minute whether he’d put one and two together to reach three.

No, no such luck - just silence. “A human servant - it’s like a witch’s familiar but for a vampire. A human who stays living as long as the vampire… does stuff for them… increases their power.”

“A Ghoul?”

I raised an eyebrow at that one, “No, they hang around cemeteries eating fresh corpses.”

“Huh, never heard of them.” He replied.

I waited for him to get it, my god how much of a hint did he need? I looked at the clock. It was only ten. This could be a long night.

Finally after about a minute of echoing ticking – “What, you’re a human servant… thing?”

I swear angels were singing ‘Hallelujah!’

I turned back to Joshi and with a long feline smile I replied, “You could say that, yes.”

“What do you mean ‘you could say that’?”

“There’s some debate over the servant part.”