Bloodsucking fiends: a love story

out exactly how a vampire can be killed."
    Gotcha, asshole, Jody thought. He had saved her.

Chapter 27 – Bridging the Boredom
    Half past midnight. He stood at the top of the southwest tower of the Oakland Bay Bridge, some fifty stories above the gunmetal-cold bay, thinking, Jump or dive? He wore a black silk suit and he paused for a moment, regretting that the suit would be ruined. He liked the feel and flow of silk on his skin. Oh well.
    Two miles away Jody was walking up Market Street wishing that she could just get drunk and pass out. I wonder, she thought, if I found someone who was really drunk and drank his blood? No, this damn system of mine would probably identify alcohol as a poison and fight the effects. So many questions. If only I'd remembered to ask them.
    She stopped at a phone booth and called Tommy at the store.
    "Marina Safeway."
    "Tommy, it's me."
    "Are you still mad?"
    "Not mad enough, I guess. I just wanted to tell you to stay in the store until after daylight. Don't go outside for any reason. And stay around the other guys if you can."
    "Why? What's the matter?"
    "Just do as I say, Tommy."
    "I cleaned up the loft. Mostly, anyway."
    "We'll talk about it tomorrow night. Stay at home until I wake up, okay?"
    "Are you still going to be pissed?"
    "Probably. I'll see you then. Good-bye." She hung up. How could he be so smart sometimes and so ignorant other times? Maybe the vampire was right, a human could never understand her. She suddenly felt very lonely.
    She ducked into an all-night diner and ordered a cup of coffee as rent on a booth. She still could enjoy the smell of coffee, even if she couldn't keep it down.
    She opened the paper she had bought from the bum with her cosmetics bag and began to read through the personals. "Men Seeking Women."
    "Women Seeking Men."
    "Men Seeking Men."
    "Women Seeking Women."
    "Men Seeking Small Fuzzy Animals"; there was a wide selection of categories. She scanned over the more mundane entries until her eye settled on one under "Support Groups."
    "Are You a Vampire? You don't have to face your problem alone. Blood Drinkers Anonymous can help. Mon.-Fri. Midnight. Rm. 212 Asian Cultural Center, Non-Smoking."
    It was Friday. It was midnight. She was only ten minutes from the Asian Cultural Center. Could it be this simple?
    The first thing she noticed when she walked into room 212 of the Asian Cultural Center is that all of the people sitting in a circle in molded plastic chairs, all twenty of them, were giving off heat signatures. They were all human.
    She was backing out of the door when a pear-shaped woman in a leotard and black cape intercepted her and took her hand.
    "Welcome," said the woman. She sported a set of rather wicked-looking fangs that caused her to lisp. "I'm Tabitha. We're just getting ready to start. Come on in. There's coffee and cookies."
    She led Jody to an orange plastic chair and urged her to sit down. "It's hard the first time, but everyone here has been where you are."
    "Not bloody likely," Jody said, wiping a speck of Tabitha's spittle from her cheek.
    Tabitha pointed to a plastic medallion that hung from her neck by a heavy silver chain. "See this chip? I've been clean and bloodless for six months. If I can do it, so can you. One night at a time."
    Tabitha squeezed her arm, then threw her cape over her shoulder, turned dramatically, and stalked across the room to the cookie table, her cape billowing behind her.
    Jody looked at the other occupants of the room. All were talking, most were sneaking looks at her between sips of coffee. The men were all tall and thin with protruding Adam's apples and bad skin. Their dress ranged from business suits to jeans and flannel. They might have been a chess club out for the evening if not for the capes. To a man, they wore capes. Four of seven had fangs. Two sets of four were made of glow-in-the-dark plastic.
    Jody focused on two of them whispering in the corner. "I told you, this is a babe-fest. Did you see the redhead?" He sneaked a look.
    His partner said, "I think I saw her at Compulsive Cleaners last week."
    "Compulsive Cleaners, I was going to try that. How are the odds?"
    "Lots of gay guys, but a few babes. Mostly they smell like Pine Sol, but it's hot if you like latex gloves."
    "Cool, I'll check it out. I think I'm going to quit going to Adult Children of Alcoholics, everybody's looking to blame, no one's looking to get laid."
    Jody thought, I don't know if I want to hear quiet desperation