Victorian America - chapter 5

I walk to the highway and start walking away from town. Traffic is thin at first but around seven thirty, I manage to stop a truck that is going in the same direction I am. Not that I have a clue to where I'm going. The driver looks nice, a nice old family man.

"Undress!" he tells me.

"Fuck you" I answer.

He pulls out a crossbow and points it at me.

"Undress or you don't get in."

"As I said: Fuck you."

"Okay lady, you seem to be new at this so I'll spell it out for you: I don't want a sucker chasing my fucking tail because I took his little meal, so either you fucking undress and you show me that you're not marked or you get the fuck out of here."

Now I understand... But undressing here on the side of the highway... The weight of the money in my bag and the face of a furious Susan popping in my mind finally convince me of the route to take. I take off my shirt and the pants keeping my panties and bra on.

"All the way," he insists.

I slowly take off the bra and even more reluctantly the panties.

"Now show me," he says.

I turn around lifting my hair.

"Are you satisfied?" I ask.

"No, show me your thighs, we all know how much they love to have their nose on your privates when they are feeding!"

I lift my left leg, I lift my right.

"Okay," he finally says smiling, "hop in."

I quickly dress up and climb into the cabin. After putting the crossbow away, he starts the engine and he eases his way back into the traffic.

"So little lady, where are you headed?" he asks.

"Hum..." I answer.

"Okay, so I'm going all the way to Denver and then I'll head south."

"That sounds great! I'm Erin by the way," I answer.

"Claudius Pendelcast, nice to meet you," he says.

He drives for an hour before finally breaking the silence.

"Running from something?"

"Not really, I wanted to travel for a while. See the ..." I stop, "... kingdom..."

"That's an unusual thing to do. Not many people travel without a good reason."

"Yeah... I'm an unusual person," I answer not knowing what else to say.

"You know, there's always the risk of finding yourself caught outside after dark when you travel and you clearly wouldn't want that."

As I don't have anything to answer to that, he continues driving. After a while he turns on the radio. The music sounds a bit gothic but otherwise it's clear that the rock and roll revolution did take place in Vampire Wonderland. I look out the window. The scenery is pretty boring and I finally fall asleep.

My dreams are filled with vampires with huge fangs and big dicks. I already told you...

When I wake up, the truck has stopped in an interstate service area. Claudius opens the door and climbs back in, he hands me a wrapped sandwich. It stinks of garlic.

"I had to feed the cargo; I took the liberty of getting something for you too."

"How much do I owe you," I ask while unwrapping the sandwich.

It's full of greasy pork and mayonnaise and, by the smell of it, half a ton of garlic. It looks delicious.

"Don't worry it's on the house, it's always nice to have company."

I look at him suspecting that he will then ask me the usual fair for the ride but he seems sincere.

"Do you want to make a quick stop to the loo or can we move on?" he then asks.

"No I'm fine," I answer the mouth half full of tasty pork meat.

"By the way, I was wondering, what is your cargo by the way?" I ask after a while.

"Ebony wood, I have to deliver them by noon the day after tomorrow to a plantation in Louisiana," he says smiling.

Ebony wood? Them? Had to feed... Oh my fucking God! This truck is loaded with slaves... I stare at the road absolutely and totally shocked... On the other hand it does make sense; no independence means no Secession War means slavery still in place. Vampire Wonderland doesn't sound so cool anymore.

We drive for two more hours before reaching Denver, riding with a fucking **** runner isn't my cup of tea as you can imagine...

"I will stop here," I tell him just before he engages on the highway south.

"Not a problem young lady. Good luck on your trip. It was a pleasure meeting you." He says after dropping me at the next service area.

"Likewise," I answer not so convinced.

I walk around the service area trying to find someone to take me to the city. Finally a nice old lady takes me in her Oldsmobile and drops me by a motel in some trashy neighborhood.

"Six pounds a night, up front!"

I walk through the parking lot towards room six, the night is starting to fall. The room is just like any motel room back home with the notable exception of the three large crosses on the walls and the large garlands of garlic hanging from the walls. I take a long shower after fighting against the army of poodle sized cockroaches that guard the drain. I sit on the bed and turn on the TV.

I end up on BBC eight watching the news and that's when I see my first vampire: tall, dark, wearing a red cape and sporting quite nice fangs. The dreams of my morning nap come back to me. I think it's the first time I masturbate to the news.

I finally fall asleep while a whole new world awakens behind my curtains. Tomorrow I'll need to find something to do, maybe I shouldn't have left the restaurant; the money is not going to last forever.