few minutes. If the stake isn’t removed after a certain amount of time, then I’m immobilized or comatose. Once I’m immobilized, you cut off my head.”
“Back up, rewind—I do what?”
“You cut off my head,” Casey repeated. “With a sword or an axe if one is handy.”
Barry struggled to keep his breakfast down. “Explain ‘immobilized’. Aren’t you supposed to turn into dust or something?”
“Like I said, most of what you know about vampires is a bunch of bat crap.” She walked out to the middle of the room. “When I’m paralyzed or comatose, I’ll stay that way until the stake is removed. But here is the catch. The older the vampire, the less effective the stake; the younger the vampire, the longer it takes to regenerate after you remove it.”
“How long will this affect you?”
“I don’t know.” Casey took off her blouse and tossed it to one side. Her well-proportioned breasts were complimented by the purple sports bra she wore. “That’s what we’re going to find out.”
“Say what?” Barry’s blushing red cheeks instantly lost their color.
“You’re going to stake me.”
“Now?”
“Yes, now,” she demanded.
“But I just ate, and what if we get blood on the carpet?”
“Don’t worry. Hotel doesn’t charge for steam cleaning.” She placed her feet shoulder-width apart. “Now stand up and get ready.”
Barry pushed the serving cart aside and rose out of the chair. “Casey, I don’t think this is a good idea. What if something goes wrong?”
“I have to be sure you can do this before we meet my family.”
“I get that, but do you even know what will happen if I stake you?” Barry started to wheeze. He pulled out his inhaler and took a deep burst. When it didn’t help, he took another one. “How can I be sure you won’t toss me out a window?”
“I will not toss you out a window.”
“How do I know—”
“Enough already,” she growled.
“But Casey—”
Before he could finish, she lunged at him, eyes blazing red, fangs extended, both arms reaching out to grab him. His instinct to survive surpassed all sense of reason. With both hands, Barry held up the heavy piece of wood and allowed Casey’s momentum to work for him. She screamed when she fell on the stake and collapsed on Barry. Her weight caused them to fall to the floor. Panicking, he rolled Casey off to one side and slid across the room. Staring at Casey, he watched her lifeless body.
“Casey, are you all right?”
No answer.
“Casey, please say something.”
Barry’s hands shook as he crawled over to her and rolled her on her back. The vampire’s lifeless eyes stared up at the ceiling. Blood started to flow from the wound. The only dead bodies Barry had seen before were the thugs Casey dispatched to save his life. He never looked into their eyes when she was done with them. He wished he hadn’t seen hers.
A minute passed, which turned into five. Then a knock on the door.
“Hello! Hello! Is everything all right?” cried out a voice from the other side. Another knock on the door. “Excuse me, this is hotel security. Is everything all right in there?”
If they opened the door with Casey lying there, he would have a lot of explaining to do. “Just a minute,” Barry shouted. “I’ll be right there.” He got up from the floor and slowly walked to the door. With the security bar latched in place, he opened the door and looked through the narrow space. “Can I help you?”
A stocky man with a badge hanging from his left jacket pocket stood in the hallway. He had a puzzled look on his face. “Mr. McElroy?”
“That’s right.”
“Martin Ryan, sir. Hotel security. We received a call about a disturbance in your room.”
Visibly shaken, Barry tried to find the words. “Disturbance? No, I don’t think so. You must have the wrong room.” He tried to close the door, but the man put his foot in the opening.
“Sir, I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m going to have to ask you to let me in. To make sure everything is all right. You understand? Hotel policy.”
Barry’s mind blurred, searching for an explanation. “Is that necessary?”
“Sir, if you don’t mind. Please open the door.”
He contemplated his options and realized he didn’t have any. Barry closed the door and removed the security bar. When he opened the door a little wider, Casey came to the rescue, wearing a hotel bathrobe.
“Is something wrong, honey?”
Barry couldn’t tell if her appearance startled the man or if she was using her powers.
“We got a call about a disturbance coming from this room,” said Mr. Ryan.
Casey giggled, “That was me. I’m afraid I got a little too loud.”
Barry straightened up as she ran her fingers through his hair. “Sometimes we get carried away. He can be such a tiger behind closed doors.”
The sunburst color in Barry’s cheeks caused the security guard to roar with laughter. “I understand. So everything’s okay?”
“Everything is fine,” she giggled again. “We’ll try to keep it down.”
“All right, then. Have a good day.”
“We will.” Casey stepped in front of Barry, closed the door, and replaced the security bar.
“Son of a bitch!” Barry tried to keep his voice down so the security guard wouldn’t return. He took another shot from his inhaler and put it back in his pocket.
“You’re not going to die on me, are you?”
Barry paused. “Son of a bitch!”
“You said that already.”
Feeling faint, he walked over to the middle of the floor and dropped to his knees. Trying to keep from hyperventilating, he looked up to see Casey standing over him.
“You feeling okay?”
After a couple of deep breaths, Barry repeated, “Son of a bitch!”
“Go ahead. Get it out of your system.” She walked over to the serving cart.
“How did you? I mean? You were—”
“Staked? Helpless? Yes, I was.”
“I saw you—”
“Flat on my back with a stake through my heart.” Casey returned and handed Barry a glass of water. “Drink this.”
He sat up and took a couple of gulps. “What happened?”
“I came around and took out the stake. I saw you walk over to the door so I put on this robe.” She removed the garment to show her blood-soaked sports bra with a hole over the left breast. The wound had already started to close up. “How long was I out?”
Barry tried to regain his senses. “Five or six minutes.”
“More than enough time. You understand how much this means to me? If I lose control, you know what you have to do?”
Barry’s breathing slowed. “Shouldn’t I practice a little more?”
“You really want to?”
Barry pondered the question. “On second thought, once was enough.”