Vampire Miami by Philip Tucker Read Free Book Online

opposing restaurants and
tasked with outdoing each other in sales.
    Yet somehow she’d never believed it was real.
Had believed only in the version of Nowhere to Run , the
apocalyptic vision of a depraved and degenerate city, abandoned by
the government and prowled by vicious monsters. Not this. Despite
the interviews that had started early last year with a few key
vampires, despite the TV shows, the reports of famous starlets
being flown in for outrageous parties. Despite all the fanfare that
had been starting up.
    But here it was. They crossed a street. There
was a Starbucks. Selah stared at it as if she’d never seen one
before. People inside on their Omnis. Working, or checking their
Gardens, or whatever one did at night here on Lincoln Road.
    Though there were differences. Not everything
was normal. Selah noted the white IDs that everybody had pinned to
their clothing or wore around their necks on simple red cords.
Picture IDs with printed information in simple, clear letters. Plus
the energy felt off. People laughed too loudly, too often. Eyes
were always sliding aside to see who was watching. More than one
person was sunk in misery, sitting alone in some corner, hunched
and staring out at the world like a hunted animal. Groups of men
walked by dressed in black, guns holstered at their hips, their IDs
blue. Too much she didn’t understand. Too much to absorb.
    They left Lincoln Road, and Maria Elena picked
up speed again. Selah was burning with questions now, but couldn’t
find a way to ask. Realized then that she hadn’t seen a vampire
yet. At least, she didn’t think she had. In the films—and
documentaries and online videos and everything else—they looked
just like humans. Pale, of course, with flat black eyes and
unnatural movements, but still mostly human. Maybe she’d already
walked by a vampire and not realized it. Selah looked around and
saw Maria Elena talking to a massive man who stood outside a door
through which pounded and pulsed the most powerful music.
    Selah looked up. Magnum. This was it. They were
still early, it appeared—there wasn’t much of a line. Maria Elena
gestured to Selah, and then reached out and took her by the wrist
and pulled her in through the door, right under the bouncer’s
disapproving glare, and into the black hallway beyond.
    “I’ve got to get right on,” yelled Maria Elena
into her ear. “Stay inside the club. Don’t talk to anybody. Don’t
drink anything. Don’t get any attention, and I’ll find you when I’m
done, OK? Any questions or problems, come find me. I’ll be right
here!”
    Selah felt panic well up within her. Maria Elena
laughed, leaned in and kissed her cheek. “You’ll be fine! Just
watch and stay out of the way. Now go!” She gave Selah a push, took
off her jacket, threw it behind a black curtain, and marched back
outside to the front.

Chapter Four

    Well , thought Selah, turning to face the
interior of the club. Ain’t that the shit . She looked down
at herself. She was still in her traveling clothes. Hands flew up
to her hair. Of course it was a mess. First destination: bathroom.
She hadn’t even brought her purse with her. Painfully
self-conscious, she stepped into the next room. Large and dark, lit
by fitful blue lighting, the room seemed to serve as a nexus for
what looked like three vast rooms beyond, each connected to the
other through this central spot. The room straight ahead was lit in
glacial blues and featured a bar as long as a train car. The room
to the left looked vast, with steps leading down to a dance floor.
The one to the right was the smallest and lit in marsh greens.
Unsure, she watched people move by, and then locked in on a couple
of women as they opened a previously unnoticed door and stepped
into what was clearly a restroom.
    Selah followed. Lifted her chin, set a scowl on
her face, and pushed in right behind them into a reassuringly
average bathroom. The two women were older than Selah, college age
perhaps, and