The Last of the Red-Hot Vampires

"Yes, of course it's here," I answered, avoiding looking directly at the abyss in front of me. I'm not afraid of heights per se, but they did make me a bit nervous. Even though I knew what I was seeing was an optical illusion, it was good enough to make my palms sweat.

"Then walk over here and prove that you believe what you are seeing is not real."

I licked my lips, looking from him, to Terrin, to the floor. It's not real, I told myself. It's just an illusion, a very high-tech illusion, but an illusion nonetheless. Things like floors do not just disappear into nothing. If I march over there now, I will be able to prove to both of them that whatever their nefarious plan is, it won't work on me. I will laugh in their faces.

Despite my brave pep talk, my feet remained rooted to the two tiles.

"I'm sorry, I have no choice," Terrin told both Theo and me. He made a few notes and gave me a sad look. "I must mark this as a failure. I do hope you do better in your remaining trials, the third of which will commence tomorrow. Good afternoon to you both."

He turned and walked out the door, each step he made causing the tiles to appear in front of him, slowly rippling out until the entire floor was once again visible. I nudged the newly reappeared tile in front of me with the toe of my shoe. It seemed perfectly normal, perfectly solid.

"Hello, can I be of help?" a policeman asked as he walked in from the back rooms. He set down a cup of coffee and peered inquiringly over the desk at us.

"I am Portia Harding. I filed a complaint for assault and kidnapping against this man," I said, pointing at Theo. To my horror, my hand was shaking. "If you could arrest him now, I'd would be eternally grateful."

"Portia Harding?" The policeman frowned, seating himself in front of a computer. His fingers danced over the keys for a few seconds. "I'm sorry, but I don't have a record of a complaint by you, Miss Harding. What is your assailant's name?"

"Theo North. Er…Theodore, I assume."

"It's Theondre, actually," Theo said, walking over to the counter. "You will have to forgive Miss Harding. She has had a trying last few days, and is a bit confused at the moment."

"I'm sorry," the policeman said again, tapping away at the keyboard. "I see no entry for a Theo or Theondre North."

"Sweet mother of reason, you bought off the police?" I asked Theo. "I can't imagine how much it must have cost you to do the hologram of the floor, but to buy off police—that's just wrong in so many ways, I can't begin to name them!"

The policeman looked at me with suddenly wary eyes. "Are you quite yourself, madam?"

"She's fine," Theo said, taking me by the arm and gently pulling me to the door. "Just a little overset. I'll see that she gets back to her hotel."

"You're kidnapping me again, aren't you?" I asked him as he opened the door and all but shoved me through it. "You're kidnapping me right in front of a policeman, but because he's part of your horrible scheme, he's not going to stop you."

Theo sighed and gently pushed me through the door. "You need a drink."

"That's the first thing you've said that makes any sense," I agreed, looking around quickly for the best route for my escape. It was just starting to get dark, the little town in the middle of the busy hour when everyone was hurrying to the shops, then home. I shivered a little, rubbing my arms as a gust of wind hit me. It was raining slightly, more of a drizzle than a rain, but it was enough to chill me. I didn't relish running the mile through the damp night to the pub, especially with Theo on my tail, but I had no choice.

My escape plan was squelched when Theo grabbed my hand and held it in a no-nonsense grip as he started up the sidewalk. "Don't even think about it. We need to talk, you and I. And we could both use a drink. We'll take my car—"

"Over my dead body," I answered, digging in my heels and coming to an abrupt halt.

He eyed me for a moment. "As tempting as that offer is, I need you alive. We will walk if it makes you feel any better." So saying, he started up the hill to where the pub sat at the crown.

"Infinitely. Release my hand."

"No."

We marched along in silence for a few minutes, Theo looking straight ahead with a grim expression on his face, me desperately trying to catch the eye of townsfolk.

"Excuse me, could you help me? I'm being kidnapped." The man to whom I spoke glanced at Theo and hurried on his way.

I spotted a lady with her arms full of groceries. "Pardon me, but could you possibly help me? This large man next to me is kidnapping me."

"Oooh," the woman said, her eyes lighting up as she gave Theo the once-over. "He can kidnap me any day."

Theo snorted and continued to haul me up the road.

"Help—" I started to scream, feeling I had nothing left to lose.