by Jane Woods

It was a relatively uneventful day, for Halloween. They'd had no prank runs at all and the few runs they did have had been fairly simple. They’d even been able to keep their scheduled appearance at St Joseph’s Elementary School to do a program about fire safety with a few Halloween safety tips thrown in for good measure. They handed out florescent tape for the kids to add to any dark costumes they might be wearing. They hated calls that involved trick or treaters and automobiles.

They’d been toned out during dinner but the run was canceled when they were less than a block from the station. Chet, of course, complained more about the cancellation than the call out. They got called out during dinner so often that they found it odd to actually finish a meal in one sitting. The other guys were secretly happy to have an excuse to not eat Chet’s meatloaf. Henry wouldn’t even eat this stuff, in fact, he growled at it.

Since they hadn’t really had dinner, they all dipped into the candy bowl that was supposed to be for the trick or treaters a little more often than they normally would have.

Johnny hardly needed the extra sugar, he was already pacing around like a caged tiger. He couldn’t believe that they’d had so few calls. Tonight of all nights. It wasn’t natural. Something had to happen soon. He could feel it in his bones. He knew something would happen. He just didn’t know what and that made him even more nervous.

Roy watched him pace and just shook his head as he snagged another of the cupcakes Joanne had sent in with him. She’d made even more than she needed for the kid’s Halloween parties at school so she sent the rest to the station. Roy looked at the orange frosting with the black licorice bat in the center of it. How can kids eat this junk? he wondered as he absently took a bite. He went back to watching Johnny. That man can find more things to worry about than anyone I know. Now he’s probably worried because there’s nothing to worry about.

It wasn’t until almost 10:30 that the tones sounded sending the squad to a possible heart attack. Johnny looked almost jubilant as he jumped into the passenger seat of the squad.

“You’re sure chomping at the bit,” Roy commented as he handed him the address.

Johnny looked at him strangely then shrugged it off. “Better than just sitting around watching grown men eat baby sized candy bars and cupcakes. You, ah, you have some orange frosting on your nose, partner.”

Roy took a swipe at his nose with one hand as he put the squad in gear and headed out of the station to respond to the call.

As it turned out, the man’s wife was probably right and it was more a case of too much holiday candy than any real cardiac problems but he was so anxious and his blood pressure was so high that Rampart wanted him brought in anyway.

Roy got into the ambulance with the patient and the victim’s wife got into the family station wagon. Both vehicles pulled away within minutes. Leaving the street dark and peaceful once more. It was too late for trick or treaters and most people had their front lights turned off by this time giving the Halloween decorations in the yards an even spookier look. Johnny stared at them for a minute then shook his head and got back to work. He still had most of the equipment that they had used to put away in the squad.

Once everything was in the proper bay, he walked back around to the driver’s side. He was startled to see an incredibly tall woman standing there. She was over six feet tall and if that wasn’t strange enough, she was dressed all in black, her long, dark hair seemed to flow to her waist and she had whitish make up on her face which contrasted with the bright red lipstick and dark eyeliner which was generously applied. She looked like something from The Addams Family.

“Whoa, you startled me. Great costume. You on your way to a party or something?” he asked with a pleasant grin. He didn’t usually dig chicks who towered over him but that might have been from platform shoes. Besides, she might be pretty underneath all that face paint. She certainly appeared to have curves in all the right places.

She didn’t answer. She only stared deep into his eyes for a minute then suddenly, she grabbed his arms pinning them to his sides. She was unbelievably strong. Try as he might he couldn’t get out of her grip. “Hey, what the---?”

She slammed him hard into the squad. “Ow. Hey!” The blow stunned him slightly and he was beginning to be a little anxious. He struggled harder. Her grip was nearly breaking his arms. How did she get so strong? She held him up against the squad and he couldn’t break free. He looked up at her face again and what he saw really terrified him. She had two overly long fang-like teeth that protruded over her bottom lip. The kind they sell with vampire costumes but these teeth did not look like they were made of wax. She was going for his throat and there was nothing he could do about it!

“No! Get back,” he screamed when he finally found his voice. He tried even harder to get away but she had his body pinned to the squad with her own and he couldn’t move his arms or his legs. He felt trapped and helpless. There were people in the houses all around him but he felt completely alone. All he could do was watch in horror as her face came closer and closer to his neck. Finally he felt her sharp teeth dig into his neck. He tried to scream but was unable to make a sound. Everything started to spin then went completely dark.

When he opened his eyes again. She was gone. At first, it all seemed like some kind of nightmare but then he realized he wasn’t in bed. He was laying in the small strip of grass at the curb next to the squad. He had no idea how long he’d been out but it might have been hours. He realized that Roy was stranded at the hospital. He jumped up quickly but had to grab onto the squad for support as he felt suddenly dizzy. He waited until he regained his equilibrium then he yanked the door opened and jumped behind the wheel. Roy is gonna kill me, he thought as he cranked down the window hoping the night air would clear his head. He started the engine and eased the squad away from the curb. He wanted to get out of here but he forced himself to drive slowly because he still felt a bit woozy.

In a few minutes his head began to clear. He became aware that something warm was running down his neck. He put his hand up to feel it but he thought he knew what it was. He glanced at his fingers when he was stopped at a red light. Blood. He knew it. He reached into his pocket and held his folded handkerchief up to the wound. No one was going to believe this.

Finally he arrived at the hospital. He hoped he’d wiped all traces of the blood away as he shoved the handkerchief back into he pocket and got out of the squad. He still felt a little groggy but he had the urge to get inside where there were other people and plenty of light. He glanced around the dark loading dock, wondering who or what might be hiding in the shadows. He still couldn’t believe what had happened to him. He took a deep breath and went inside.

Once he was inside the bustling E. R. he felt a little better. Enough that his earlier fears seemed silly. Enough that he began to question the reality of what had happened to him. Rampart was not having a slow night. He made his way through the throng of people as quickly as he could. He didn’t see anyone he knew. He was craning his neck in search of his partner when Roy’s voice suddenly came from behind him.

“Well, there you are.”

Johnny figured he’d be mad although he didn’t sound it. He could have been waiting for him for hours for all Johnny knew.

“I was about to send a search party out for you. You get caught in traffic? Hey, whatya do, cut yourself?” Roy asked, turning Johnny’s head slightly so he could exam his neck. There was a large smear of blood on it and a stain on his shirt.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Johnny assured him quickly. Too quickly. Roy would never buy it.

“Let me see.” Roy took a step closer to get a better look.

“I’m all right,” Johnny insisted, taking a step back. Suddenly, he didn’t want anyone to know what had happened to him. He wanted to just forget the whole thing.

“It won’t hurt to have a look,” Roy insisted. He figured he’d need reinforcements on this. Dr. Early was walking by. He’d added an eye patch and a fake parrot to his usual hospital garb in honor of the day. Roy decided to ignore the doctor’s feeble attempt at a costume. “Hey, Doc. Come here a minute, will ya?”

“What is it, Roy? Johnny, what in the world happened to your neck?”

“You wouldn’t believe it,” Johnny sighed, resigning himself to being found out.

“Come on. Room three is free. Let’s check it out. Arghh,” he finished with his best pirate imitation.

“Arghh to you and to your ex-parrot,” Johnny muttered under his breath as he dutifully followed them into treatment room three. He’d had more than enough of Halloween by now.

“It’s nothing really,” he complained as he sat on the exam table. The pathetic looking plastic jack o’lantern in the corner caught his eye as he watched the doctor put some antiseptic on a swab. “This really isn’t necessary.” His protests fell on deaf ears.

The doctor pushed his eye patch up onto his forehead then swabbed Johnny’s neck with something that was cold and had a decided sting to it. Johnny just gritted his teeth, hoping it would all be over soon.

“Suppose you tell us what happened,” Long John’ Early suggested, pulling his eye patch out of the way before beginning to clean the wound.

“Ow, Doc, that smarts,” Johnny objected.

“Don’t change the subject. What happened?” Dr. Early persisted.

“Some lady bit me,” he admitted miserably.

“What?” Roy laughed. “What in the world did you do to her?”

“Nothing,” Johnny spat angrily.

“You mean some woman just walked up to you and bit you for no reason.” Roy was doubtful.

“I told you you wouldn’t believe it,” Johnny snapped at him.

“Okay, Johnny, calm down. We believe you. You’ve obviously been bitten. I guess muggers are getting more creative these days,” Dr. Early commented as he pulled a light over and began to examine Johnny’s neck more closely.

“Muggers?!” Johnny was suddenly feeling very relieved. Of course that was it. A logical explanation for the attack. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He looked inside. Everything was still there. He could still feel his change and car keys in his other pockets. “But, Doc,” he said sadly. “I wasn’t robbed.”

“Don’t sound so disappointed,” Roy laughed. “What did this woman look like?”

“I don’t know. She was wearing a costume.”

“What kind of costume?” Roy continued his interrogation.

“If you must know, she was dressed like a vampire.”

“A vampire?” Roy and Dr. Early asked in unison.

“Go ahead and laugh.” Johnny was disgusted. At least a vampire costume was more in line with Halloween than a half assed pirate costume.

“Who’s laughing?” Dr. Early asked. “Someone’s idea of a joke, I guess.”

“Well, it isn’t very funny. I mean this chick had fake fangs and everything. I swear I could even feel her sucking out my blood.” An involuntary shiver came over him. He remembered the mind numbing terror he’d felt during the attack. He remembered every last detail including the last sound and sensation he’d felt before he lost consciousness.

“Hey, Johnny,” Dr. Early said kindly. “It’s okay. It was just some sicko trying to scare you.”

“It worked,” Johnny confessed in a hoarse whisper. He shivered again.

“It would have worked on me too,” Dr Early told him. “Now, let's give you a tetanus shot. Just in case.”

“In case of what?!”

“Johnny, calm down. You know it’s standard procedure in the case of a human bite,” Dr Early assured him.

“Yeah, I guess I do,” Johnny admitted, running his hand through his hair nervously. He sure hoped it was a human bite. He found his mind wandering. He tuned out most of the conversation that Roy and the doctor were having as Dr. Early dressed his wound. Only the prick of the tetanus shot brought him back to the conversation.

“Well, I guess you’re fit for duty again, Johnny,” the doctor was saying.

“Good, let’s go back to the station and lock the door,” Johnny muttered. “I’ve dealt with enough crazies for one night.”

“Maybe the rest of the night well be slow,” Roy offered as they left the treatment room.

When they got back into the squad Johnny checked his watch. It was only a little over an hour since they’d left the station. He must not have been out for as long as it seemed. Still, this whole thing was giving him the creeps. “You don’t suppose there really any such thing as a vampire, do you?”

“No, I don’t,” Roy said with conviction. “But I am sure there are psychos who get their jollies out of scaring people. It’s Halloween, Johnny, you know that’s the night all the weirdos come out.”

“Yeah, I know. I know but still, I’m beginning to HATE Halloween.”

“Don’t worry, it’s almost over,” Roy assured him as he backed into the darkened station. All was quiet. The other guys were already asleep.

“I’ll take care of the log. Why don’t you head on to bed,” Roy offered.

“Thanks,” Johnny sighed wearily. “I’ll take care of the door.” He walked up to the wall to lower the large bay door. Suddenly a bat fluttered in through the open door. It swooped low to clear the opening and Johnny froze. He’d seen all the old Dracula movies thanks to Chet’s horror flick obsession. He knew what it meant to have a bat diving at you.

“Roy!!” he screamed on top of his lungs, glad his vocal cords were not paralyzed as they had been during the earlier attack.

The terror in Johnny’s voice seemed to shake the entire station. Roy had been in the cap’s office. He’d just opened the logbook when he heard it. He ran back into the bay as fast as he could. He saw Johnny back into the wall and cover his head with his arms. Then he slid down the wall to a sitting position on the concrete floor.

Roy switched on the main lights bathing the apparatus bay in bright light. It took a moment for Roy’s eyes to adjust but when they did he saw the bat circle the area twice and then fly back out the door. He hit the button to close the door, then ran to his terrified partner. He squatted next to him. “It’s okay, Johnny. It was just a bat.”

“It was not, Roy! It was her. If they don’t kill ya the first time, they come back for more -- disguised at a bat. You know that, Roy!” He was shaking with a combination of fear and rage.

“No, Johnny, it was just a common garden variety bat. Nothing more.”

By this time the rest of the station was awakened. The men stumbled sleepily out into the bay. “What’s going on?” the cap demanded in a voice that was not quite awake.

“Nothing, Cap,” Roy called over his shoulder then turned back to his partner. “Calm down, Johnny. Look, you got yourself bleeding again.”

“What happened to him?” Chet wondered.

“Just a bat,” Johnny repeated. He wanted to believe it was just a coincidence. He really did.

Marco handed Roy the box from the squad that contained the bandages.

“A bat bit you, Pal?” the cap asked, squatting on the other side of Johnny. He was awake enough to be alarmed by Johnny’s odd behavior.

“No.....a person,” Johnny answered in a quiet voice.

“Was it a six foot tall woman dressed in a black gown with long black hair, lots of eye make up who was incredibly strong?” Chet asked.

“How did you know?” Johnny was now feeling a bit frantic.

“It was on the 11 o’clock news,” Marco told him. “This bird’s been attacking people all over town tonight.”

“Really?” Johnny felt relieved. Maybe it was just some nut.

Roy had removed the old dressing and was preparing to treat and re-bandage Johnny’s wound.

“Boy, she really took a chunk out of you, Pal” the cap said sympathetically.

“She had fangs,” Johnny said quietly.

“Really looked like something out of the horror flicks, eh?” Chet asked.

“Yeah, that’s why I didn’t think anything of it at first. I just figured she was on the way to a costume party. I mean, I was just talking to her and then -- bam! she grabbed me. You wouldn’t believe how strong she was.”

“You let her get too close,” Stoker commented quietly.

“Most people said they ran off when they saw her or when she went for them,” Marco told him.

“Yeah right, Gage running away from a girl. It’s usually the other way around,” Chet teased.

“Put a sock in it, Kelly,” Johnny said sourly.

“Did you see this happen, Roy?” the cap asked.

“No, I was riding in with the victim. He was all alone.”

“Were you scared?” Marco asked.

“What a stupid question,” Johnny scoffed. “I was terrified,” he finally admitted with a laugh.

“Well, look at it this way, Gage. That’ll be the most impressive looking hickey anybody ever had.” Chet intending that the remark cheer him up.

“Chet,” everyone groaned.

“Don’t worry, Johnny. She wasn’t a real vampire,” Marco assured him.

“How do you know?” Johnny asked him.

“Because a real vampire just leaves two little puncture wounds on your neck not a big gash like that. Besides they drain all of the blood out of you,” Marco explained.

“That’s only if they want to kill you, Lopez. If they like you and want you for a mate, then they just take a little. Just enough to turn you into a vampire too,” Chet said mysteriously.

Johnny didn’t realize he was joking. His eyes widened and his complexion paled. “How do you know?”

“Oh it’s a well known fact --” Chet began but was interrupted by the cap.

“Knock it off, Kelly,” the cap lambasted the Irishman. He could see that Johnny’s initial terror had returned. “He’s full of it, as usual, John. Don’t pay any attention to him. Look, Pal, you look a little rocky. You wanna take the rest of the night off and go home?” he asked Johnny kindly.

“NO!” The suggestion upset him even more than usual. “I don’t want to do that. I’d be all alone at home. You know what they say about safety in numbers, Cap.” Johnny pretended to be joking but fooled no one.

“Okay. If you’re sure.” The cap stood up and stretched. “What say we all hit the sack, huh?”

Mike extended his hand to Johnny and pulled him to his feet.

“You guys go ahead. I’m just gonna log that last run. I’ll be in in a few minutes,” Roy told them as they headed for the dorm.

The cap helped Roy put away equipment he’d used on Johnny. “He okay?”

“Yeah. Doc Early looked at the bite and gave him a shot.”

“Takes all kinds to make up the world, I guess. Some people have really warped minds. They get their kicks out of terrifying people. Everything will probably look better to him in the morning. I gotta tell ya, something like that would have scared the hell out of me,” the cap told him.

“Me too,” Roy agreed closing the bay door as quietly as he could. “I’ll be in in a few minutes.”

The cap nodded and headed for the dorm while Roy returned to the cap’s office to finish the log. Everyone was sound asleep twenty minutes later when Roy slipped into his bunk.

They’d been asleep about an hour when Johnny began to roll around and groan in his sleep. He was having a terrible dream. In it, he was broke into the plasma room at Rampart. He began ripping open units of blood and drinking them. He had an uncontrollable thirst and he could stop himself. The E. R. staff and the guys from the station were surrounding him. He didn’t want to hurt them but he knew that he’d have to kill them if they got too close.

“Stay away STAY AWAY,” he hollered.

He woke the rest of the station up. The cap switched on the light. Johnny had fallen out of bed but he hadn’t completely awakened.

Roy swung his legs over the side of his own bunk and got up. He reached down to help him up.

“Stay away, Roy,” Johnny warned, clutching his pillow to his chest. “I don’t want to hurt anyone but I need this. Don’t try and take it away.”

“You can have it,” Roy assured him. Roy was still a bit groggy himself.

“You don’t understand. I’m so damn thirsty.” Johnny was trying to explain his need for the blood he thought he was clutching but he was also beginning to wake up and be embarrassed.

Mike left the dorm unnoticed.

“I must be losing my mind,” Johnny admitted sadly.

“You were just dreaming,” the cap told him calmly.

“I thought I was......” Johnny’s voice trailed off and he shuddered.

“It’s okay, Johnny,” Roy told him as he helped him up off the floor and sat him back on the side of his bed.

“You suppose you should give him something to calm him down so he can sleep?” the cap asked quietly, pulling Roy aside.

“What if we get a run?”

“Yeah, you’re right. Is he okay, though?”

“I think so. It was just a nightmare which is kind of understandable under the circumstances.”

Mike returned to the dorm and handed Johnny a glass of water. Johnny looked up at him quizzically.

“You said you were thirsty.”

“Oh yeah. Uh, thanks, Mike.” Johnny took the glass. He wasn’t especially thirsty but he took a sip to be polite. And regretted it immediately. “Yuck! Where the heck did you get this? The reel line? It tastes like rubber,” Johnny complained.

“Boy, that’s gratitude for ya,” Chet noted.

“Sorry, Mike,” Johnny apologized to Mike who seemed to be scrutinizing his every move. “I’ll just put it here by the bed in case I need it later, okay?”

Mike just nodded. That was exactly what he wanted Johnny to do with it but if things worked out well, he wouldn’t be needing it.

They all went back to bed and five of them went back to sleep. Mike listened until he could tell they were all asleep, then he got up. He didn’t make a sound as he left the dorm and padded into the apparatus bay carrying his turnout pants. When he was in the bay he slipped into his pants, and walked up to the engine. He yanked an inch and a half from the hose bed and pulled about eight feet of hose onto the floor. He went around and charged the line. He opened the rear bay door and stood by the back of the engine with the nozzle of the hose just out of sight. Then he waited. He knew she’d come. She had to. Johnny was the only one who had spoken to her and allowed her to get within arm’s reach. As good as an invitation and that’s all it took. Initial contact.

He knew the story all too well. It happened over and over again. Who knew when it really began? But Mike knew exactly when it became his problem. It was when his ancestor turned over a rock and learned the secret. Maybe things would have been different if he’d known enough to keep his mouth shut about what he’d found. But he hadn’t. He’d published a book about the whole thing. He'd even glamourized Dracula instead of telling the truth. What a can of worms that had opened up. More books, later movies came about, all bringing fame to the very thing he should have reviled. The more people that knew about them the more powerful they became. And now the discoverer of this evil and his descendants were cursed to battle them for all eternity. Every Stoker since, Bram knew how to keep his mouth shut, that was for sure.

He kept his eyes on the back parking lot until he saw it. A mist slowly forming at the end of the lot. It would have been invisible if it hadn’t been for the powerful security light. That was how they appeared. That whole bat business was a product of Hollywood.

He tightened his grip on the nozzle he had in his hand. He hadn’t had Father Jackson bless the engine and its contents at St. Joseph’s this afternoon for nothing. He had five hundred gallons of Holy Water at his disposal now. Five hundred gallons minus the glass he’d given Johnny earlier.

She had taken form now and was slowly walking toward him. She stared hard at him. He heard her words in his mind. “You are not the one I desire.”

“I’m the one you’re getting,” he fired back at her mentally. He’d lost track of how many he’d slayed over the years. They were strong but not nearly as intelligent as the public had been led to believe. Not nearly as attractive either if, they couldn’t put you in their thrall. For some odd reason, Stokers were genetically unaffected by the form of hypnosis that they used. He saw this woman as she really was. Five or six centuries old and quite the worse for wear. A real hag. He thought this knowing she could hear his thoughts.

Predictably, she was enraged. She ran toward him to attack without thinking. She entered the station uninvited which was against the rules. She was startled by her mistake but she was also well with in reach of the hose. Mike braced himself against the rear of the engine and opened up the nozzle.

It was over within a matter of minutes. When the Holy Water hit her, the force of it knocked her to the ground. The blessed water was like acid to her. With one final enraged mental scream she began to liquefy. Soon there was nothing more to her than a cloud of steam and a dark stain on the bay floor.

He dragged the hose outside and drained it as well as he could then he put it back in the hose bed. A mop made quick work of the water but the stain was there to stay. Mike knew that every shift that worked at the station would try to remove it but it was permanently embedded in the concrete. The only thing left of the vampire. It was a small price to pay compared to losing Johnny to them.

He knew that there would be much debate about the origin of the stain but he’d never tell them where it came from. He was a Stoker who knew how to keep his mouth shut. He stretched and yawned as he put the mop away.

Then he took off his turnouts and padded back into the dorm, hoping they wouldn’t get a run and he could just sleep for the rest of the night.

They didn’t get a run but the wake up alarm seemed to come awfully early the next morning. Although he was tired, Mike managed to look reasonably well rested. Johnny, however, looked every bit as beat as he felt. He was the last one to the table.

“You look like the morning after, Gage. I know what’ll fix you right up,” Chet told him. He went to the fridge and poured some tomato juice into a glass. This always worked for him. But when he handed it to Johnny, the paramedic just stared at it wide-eyed for a minute then slapped it out of his hand. The glass went flying and smashed against the wall, after dumping its contents onto an unsuspecting Marco.

“That’s not funny, Chet!” Johnny yelled angrily. He looked like he was about to attack Chet who stood there blinking in disbelief.

“What’s going on in here?” the cap demanded. He’d heard the ruckus from his office and came storming into the day room.

Johnny still looked furious. Chet still looked baffled. Marco was a mess but he was the one who broke the tension.

“Well, Cap, I decided to take a tomato juice bath. I heard it’s real good for your complexion.” He tried to make light of the situation but he was still annoyed. He stood up and started unbuttoning his soaked shirt.

The cap was not completely satisfied with that explanation but it looked like it might be the only one he was going to get. Although he didn’t know exactly what happened, he was sure that Chet was behind it.

“You go on and change, Pal and Chet, you get this mess cleaned up. It looks like somebody’s been shot in here.”

“Shot? I -- oh, I get it,” Chet was confused for a minute then slapped his forehead as the light dawned. “You thought I was trying to be a smart ass and hand you a glass of blood, right? I wasn’t. I just know that tomato juice is good for a hang over and you look like you had one,” he tried to explain.

“I don’t have a hangover,” Johnny argued.

“Well, I haven’t been sprayed by a skunk either,” Marco said, mentioning the other common use for tomato juice.

“Just go change, Pal and you might want to hose that shirt off in the shower so that juice doesn’t make a stain and ruin the shirt,” the cap told Marco. “Chet, get this mess cleaned up.” He took on a different tone with Chet.

“But..I...but....” Chet stammered but a stern look from the captain made him think better of it. “Why is everything always my fault,” he muttered under his breath as he went to get some cleaning supplies.

“Speaking of stains, Cap,” Marco called from the apparatus bay. “You ought to see the one that’s behind the engine out here.”

“That one’s not my fault,” Chet vowed as they all went out to inspect the stain. All but Mike, that is. He just picked up the morning paper, happy that everyone had survived Halloween and the attention would be off vampires for another year. Let them wonder about the stain. He’d never tell. He was a Stoker who knew how to keep his mouth shut.

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