A Vampyre's Daughter by Jeff Schanz (free novel 24 TXT) 📖

with that title. It was originally titled, ‘Ten Little Niggers’ in England in 1939, and then later changed to ‘And Then There Were None’ in the United States in 1940. The original title was deemed culturally offensive.”

Brandt carefully opened the cover and saw the small print on the bottom of the first page. “1st Edition, Dodd, Mead, New York 1940.”

She doesn’t need Google. She is Google.

He accepted the book with as much reverence as he could muster. “Thank you,” he said. He briefly considered cracking a joke asking how to download this to a Kindle, then thought better of it.

They both wandered around the library for a few more minutes. Lia looked like it was a normal routine of hers to examine the neatness of the shelves and the alphabetical accuracy, although she would be the only one who would be messing it up. Brandt stopped in front of a small display on a very low corner shelf. He scrunched his eyes to make sure he saw what he thought he saw. “Kama Sutra?” “The Joy of Sex?” “A Guide to Better Sex?” The titles weren’t meant to be said aloud, but they just slipped right out. An impish smirk creased his cheeks as he pivoted toward Lia.

At first, she darted her eyes downward, and Brandt thought she would do another one of her famous blushes. Eventually, she met his eyes with an imperious expression. “As you can see, I have all kinds of instructional manuals.” She delivered it flatly, letting slip a nearly imperceptible grin.

 

 

Brandt would’ve preferred doing anything other than going back to his bedroom. Being out and doing anything was immensely better than convalescing in a bed. But he had slowed down after a half-day outdoors, and especially after the stair climb, he was feeling run down. He excused himself to take a nap and Lia agreed it was a good idea. She stayed in the library as he stiffly shuffled back to his room.

His mummy bandages had barely loosened during the day, so he left them on as he got back into bed. It felt so wrong to get back into a bed in the middle of the day. The last time he had napped in the middle of the day, it was during his time in the Army, and he had men that stayed on guard as he and a few other men took some reviving rest. It was as alien as anything he could think of to be in a comfy bed as the sun blazed outside, but he chagrined and got himself settled under the sheet. He left the comforter off as his compromise.

Without anything better to occupy himself, he cracked open the old book. Literally. The binding popped and creaked as he spread the pages apart. Luckily, nothing looked damaged. He got through the first few chapters before he closed his eyes.

His mind played with the ironic connection that both he and the book characters were stuck in a mansion on a lonely island. Assuming some murders were likely to take place in this murder mystery, was that a significant factor in Lia’s choice of book for him? His argumentative conscious shook its head at him.

If you were doomed, you’d already be dead, dude.

Good point.

The idea of Lia being a murderer or assassin was about as comical a thought as the man-eating rabbit from “Monty Python’s Holy Grail.” Brandt’s inner consciousness chuckled at the reference. And then he briefly recalled the image of Lia cheerfully walking toward him with a dead chicken, its blood running down her chest.

He dismissed that and nodded off to sleep.

CHAPTER 6

 

 

 

 

Sundown came and Brandt was glad he had awakened in time to see it. Surprisingly, he was feeling much better. He rewrapped his mummy suit and went downstairs.

He sat with Lia on the short stone wall and stared off into the distance as the sun melted into the horizon. He had seen sunsets on the water before, but this one seemed special. Lia had donned an unusual hat that had a sheer veil like she was either a beekeeper or an unconventional bride. Brandt wanted to ask about her peculiar habit concerning the sun, but he was learning to pick his words carefully when it involved her eccentric mannerisms. He couldn't imagine there was anything sinister going on around here, even though his curiosity was eating him alive about so many things.

Her aversion to the sun.

The family coffin in the basement.

Nobody ate much here, nor grew or prepared much food.

There was an elusive father that hadn’t been seen or heard yet. And he could supposedly fly without a plane or helicopter.

There was no visible way off this island, and yet the father reportedly came and went at leisure.

And there was the mysterious bat creature with glowing eyes.

If this were a movie, Brandt knew the audience would groan because the clueless hero hadn’t realized that all these things added up to the father and daughter being something like vampires. However, reality didn’t answer questions like that with such convenient and absurd explanations. Besides, he still was leaning toward the idea that the father was a figment of Lia’s imagination.

The sun had disappeared into the sea and left a majestic orange hue in the atmosphere. That prompted Lia to pull back her veil and blink at the dimming light show. After a few moments, she straightened up and said, without looking at Brandt, “Father will be coming soon.”

Brandt wasn’t sure what his reaction should be to that announcement. After some consideration, he simply said, “I look forward to meeting him.”

She smiled only briefly. “He wants to meet you too.”

A bit loaded. And again that strange statement, as if her father hadn’t ever seen Brandt before, even though the guy rescued Brandt from the sea (supposedly), and he sat in Brandt’s room and talked over him while he slept (suspected).

As she had done so often, sometimes eerily and sometimes sweetly, Lia seemed to sense his thoughts. She turned to him and said, “He’s seen you of course, but never really talked to you gentleman to gentleman.”

That clarified things a little, even if it was such an odd way to put it. “Gentleman to gentleman.” It sort of had the vibe of Brandt being a gentleman caller for Lia, and her father needing to meet and approve the match. With the weird things that went on here, and the old-fashioned atmosphere, the notion of him being seen as a suitor was not out of the realm of possibilities. He could clear that up with the father though, and at least finally find out if the dad was real or not.

Deciding to defuse the moment with a joke, Brandt said, “Well, only if he’s feeling up to it. I’m sure his arms are tired after flying in.”

When Lia looked at him with a stunned stare, Brandt assumed she misunderstood his joke. So he adopted a goofy grin and flapped his arms like a bird. Lia’s expression didn’t change.

“Tough crowd,” he said softly. “Sorry, it’s a dumb old joke.” He shrugged and tried to look like he didn’t care if his joke was a flop. Lia seemed to realize that he was trying to be entertaining and she rubbed his knee with her palm. She didn’t say anything else in response.

He sighed and tried to keep his thoughts together. There were more realistic things to worry about other than bad jokes and matchmaking fathers. He needed to discuss some things with Lia that he had been putting off. Things he was hoping he wouldn't have to deal with but realized it would be irresponsible not to.

Brandt patted the hand that Lia had placed on his knee. The touch of her skin was cool yet a little stimulating. What the heck it is with her touch?

“There’s some things about me you need to know,” he said.

She nodded absently and said, “There’s plenty of time.”

“Maybe, and maybe not.”

He leaned forward, twisting to make sure she met his eyes and understand that he was serious. She returned his gaze with a calm, measured stare of her own. He tried very hard not to notice her entrancing eyes.

Brandt took a brief moment to gather his strategy to present what he needed to say. “My boat crash wasn’t an accident. It was intentional. I blew up that boat. I blew up two boats actually.”

Brandt wasn’t sure what reaction he was hoping for from Lia, but what he got wasn’t anything close to what he was expecting.

She nodded flatly and said, “Yes, I know. I saw it.”

Brandt couldn’t stop to evaluate her reactions right then. He needed to plow through. And he needed her to understand the possible dangers that could be waiting.

He continued. “I had to do it. And I was expecting to die from it.”

“I understand,” she said, again flatly.

This girl is from another planet. His voice became more forceful. “Those were bad men and they were trying to kill me. And I turned the tables on them.”

This time she didn't respond and stayed attentive.

He sighed and decided to get to the point. “I didn’t know anyone lived out here, or I may have steered the chase somewhere else. You see, those guys were assassins, really bad men who work for a very dangerous criminal enterprise. An opium cartel. I was making them take me to their boss’s yacht and I was going to sink it with explosives. But they messed up my plans and I had to blow both of our boats. I didn’t expect to survive. Then you saved me. And hopefully, the rest of the bad guys don’t know I’m still alive. But they might. And if they search the area…” He paused, seeing if the realization was sinking in yet. “They might find all of us.”

Lia seemed to consider what he said. She blinked a little and looked to the horizon briefly before meeting Brandt’s eyes again. There seemed to be a weight she was bearing now which hadn’t been there before. Or had it always been there and he had not bothered to see it? With a more serious look on her face that hadn’t appeared very often with her, she closed her eyes and nodded.

“We will protect you,” she said. “I promise you will be safe.”

Brandt sighed. “No, sweetie. You don’t understand. These guys are really dangerous. They have automatic weapons, and explosives, and a lot of money. They own people. Murderous lackeys, politicians, police, and powerful people all over the globe. There’s no one that can help us, believe me, I’ve tried. I tried and lost, and the sea should’ve been my gravestone. These guys are soulless killers. And if they find any of us here, then they will not leave anyone alive as witnesses.”

The gloom that Brandt was trying to portray was finally weighing on Lia. She stared at the ground and appeared to be in deep thought. Finally, it’s sinking in. Now that she understood the gravity of the situation, he also needed to ease up on the gas pedal.

“Ok, look,” he said. “Here's the situation as best as I can explain it. The bodies and the evidence sank with the boats, and way out here nobody may ever know what happened. And I hope that's true not only for my own sake but for the sake of someone else.” He paused, knowing it was useless to hold anything back since he went this far. “I was trying to protect my brother.”

Lia finally straightened up like she had heard something concerning. Funny that it had been the mention of his brother. She asked immediately, “Is he all right?”

“Yes. I think so. I sent him and his wife to Canada, and they went to live with some friends for the time being. The bad guys were trying to kill him to get to me. And I did what I could to get him away from them. Including exterminate them.”

Brandt examined Lia’s eyes to