Page 69 of Starved Until Sunset

“Is that the guy with the police band radio?” Cody asked.

“That’s the one.”

Otis led Dieter and Eileen into the living room. Dieter wore his customary white pants, white dress shirt, and black bolo tie. The clasp for this one was a large crucifix, the Jesus figure sporting a small, sparkling fake ruby in the center of its chest. His full and neatly trimmed white goatee and mustache matched his hair and made him look a bit like Colonel Sanders. Dieter had represented Cody in the civil lawsuit brought against him by the family of one of the zombies Cody had dispatched as it was attacking Demmy.

Ollie’s grandmother, Eileen, had her silver hair pulled back in the usual long braid that extended halfway down her back. She wore a heavy black sweater with an extreme turtleneck underneath a man’s quilted flannel barn coat. She smiled brightly at the sight of him, and he bent nearly in half to give her a strong hug.

“How are you?” Eileen asked, years of smoking first cigarettes and now pipes making her voice deep and scratchy. “You and Demetrius holding up okay?”

“Yeah, we’re fine.” Cody gestured toward the dining room. “I see the Parson’s Pines Reserves have been called into action again.”

“I like that name,” Dieter said with a smile. “I may get t-shirts printed up.”

“How about jackets,” Otis said. “You know most of us struggle to pull t-shirts over our heads.”

“Even better! I’ll make a note.”

“Come on into the garage,” Otis said as Dieter pulled out his phone to tap a note to himself. “I’ve got a whole system set up out here.”

Dieter followed Otis out of the room and Cody heard the interior door to the garage open and close behind them. He took his chair again, leaned in to pick up his coffee from the table, but stopped when he saw Amelia and Eileen sitting on the sofa and staring at him.

“What?” Cody sat back, coffee forgotten. Guilt flared up within him, a slightly queasy feeling like he’d had too much greasy food. Was this like an intervention? Were they going to cuss him out for being such an asshole to the amazing husband he didn’t deserve?

“What do you know?” Eileen said.

“Oh. That. Well, apparently, about as much as you.” A tiny bit of relief helped tamp down the guilt, but not by much.

“I think you know a lot more than we do,” Eileen said. “Come on, out with it.”

He groaned and leaned forward to snag his coffee cup, finishing it in a gulp. “You know I hate talking about this stuff.”

“Which is why you’re the best person to talk to about it,” Amelia said. “You won’t glorify it or sugar coat it. Now, come on. Stop stalling and tell us what you know. Then we’ll share what we know, and we’ll all be better prepared for what’s to come.”

“Fine.” Cody told them about the scene in the morgue. He didn’t leave anything out, including that Dr. Graham himself was a vampire but called himself a vegetarian because he hunted animals instead of humans.

“The medical examiner?” Eileen said, her face screwed up. Then she looked thoughtful and nodded. “You know, that kind of makes sense. If he’s been around that long, he’s had the chance to really get to know human anatomy and the kinds of things we can do to one another.”

“Jesus Christ,” Cody whispered, putting his face in his hands.

“So, there are two vampires at the center of all of this,” Amelia said. “Dr. Graham’s brother, Aldrik, and this Xavier, who turned both of them.” She looked at Eileen. “Can you imagine having been around for thousands of years?”

Eileen snorted and looked away. “I’d have walked into the sun by now, the way this world has turned out.” She smiled and looked back. “Hey, you think he knew Plato and Aristotle and those guys?”

“Oh, how amazing,” Amelia said, then brightened. “Or Jesus!”

They both cackled, and Cody groaned and scrubbed his hands roughly up and down his face.

“All right, we’ll stop,” Amelia said.

“You’re protecting my grandson, right?” Eileen said.

Cody leaned forward and rested his wrists on his knees, hands hanging between his legs. “As far as I know, Ollie is just fine.”

“As far as you know?” Eileen looked at Amelia. “They fighting again?” She looked back at Cody. “You fighting with Demetrius about monsters again?”

“You know, I don’t need a guilt trip from the two of you about this.”

He snatched his cup from the table and got up, stomping into the kitchen. The coffeepot was empty, and he stood with his hands on either side of it, supporting himself and hanging his head. Demmy had not yet responded to his text. Was he in trouble somewhere and unable to? Or had Cody finally gone too far this time and broken things between them for good? What exactly had he been so angry about anyway? Was he expecting Demmy to change who he was at his core just because Cody hated monsters? Was that fair of him to ask… or demand? And it wasn’t Demmy’s fault that a group of vampires had come into town. He hadn’t set out bait to attract them.