Vampires Among Us [Vampires Among Us 1] (Siren Publishing Classic)

that never was reported.”
    “Why was there an injury never reported?” Erica asked, completely enthralled in his story.
    “Because it was me, and since I was a medical officer, and a vampire, unknown to anyone at that time, I was able to keep my first wound hidden. I guess you could say I lucked out being in medical. That ship could get very hot! One nice advantage to working and sleeping in medical was that it had air conditioning. Oh yes, we were some of the lucky few that almost always had hot water for showers, also! A lot of the sailors would try to sleep topside when it was really warm, but that could cause problems. If action brewed up quick, you might not have time to get your bedroll and yourself out of the way before it was too late. Also, if a storm brewed up, which could happen quickly out on the open sea, you could wake up to find yourself soaked from the sea water splashing up on deck!
    “Anyway, back to what I started with, I actually was hit twice. The first time nobody seemed to notice and the wound closed up quick enough that I could hide it. I did end up going to the ship’s mechanic and asking to borrow a screwdriver and a pair of pliers. I waited until I was alone to dig the bullet out of myself. The second time was a little trickier. One of the gunners was close to me and watched me get hit. I was up on deck trying to help get an injured sailor back down to sickbay, when I got hit. I had the hardest time trying to pass that one off! I ended up pulling rank with the young seaman who had seen me get hit. He was a really nice young man, but he was making such a commotion about me being injured that I ended up snapping at him to get back to his assigned post. I took myself down to sickbay, and by this time of course, I believe half the ship heard that I had been hit. Once down in my office, I locked myself in and pulled what was left of the bullet out of my shoulder, bandaged it up so that it would look good, and walked back out. I was ordered to have one of the other medics take a look at it, and I ended up having to reopen the wound myself with my pocketknife just before he walked in. I went back later and quietly apologized to the seaman I had snapped at, he really did nothing wrong, he was just concerned about my injury. I blamed my irritability on the pain, which of course wasn’t the truth, but it was the only thing plausible.”
    “Oh wow,” Erica now breathed. “It must have been hard on you. How did you, you know, eat?” she asked hesitantly. She was afraid of hurting his feelings, but was very curious.
    “Well, let’s just say that the ten who died didn’t have any blood in their systems when I finished,” he now replied. “In between times, I had managed to bring a small stash of blood on the ship, and then we had some blood for emergencies. Anybody who came down for blood work, well, after the blood work was completed, the blood would need to be destroyed. I took care of that process,” he stated with a grin.
    “You know, the ironic thing was that we kept getting wind from letters from home and things of that nature stating that the Japanese had reported numerous times that they had sunk the USS North Carolina. In fact, before it was all over with, they had reported six different times that they had sunk us. We just kept cruising along.
    “But by the time it was all over with, depression had set into me. I didn’t even realize vampires had the ability to have that happen, but it certainly did with me. I was able to somewhat control it until my tour was over, and then I quit the military altogether. I felt like too much blood was on my hands already, and I had enough. Ironically, that is what led me to Fresno.”
    ”Oh, please forgive my lack of manners, I haven’t even offered you ladies any refreshments,” he stated.
    “Oh, now Mr. Atkins, you have been the perfect host!” Kate replied.
    “Nonsense, my girl,” he brushed Kate’s words aside, as he stood up.
    “Erica, I am afraid I don’t have much to offer you to drink except water, unless you want a glass of scotch,” Mr. Atkins stated as he headed for the kitchen.
    Kate quickly injected, “No alcohol, Erica!” giving her a knowing look.
    “Water is fine, Mr. Atkins.” Erica replied.
    “Kate, Elizabeth, would you two join me in a drink?”
    “Sure, Mr. Atkins, but just a small amount. That supply is for you,” Kate replied for both her and Elizabeth.
    Mr. Atkins walked out of his kitchen with four