Garner working as a waiter at an upscale restaurant with a growing attraction to a man named Alonzo, who always asks to be put in his section for dinner. One night after work, the man is assaulted while trailing Garner. Garner goes to his aid, but is shot for his trouble.<br><br>Taking time off from work to recover, Garner is resting on a park bench when Alonzo suddenly appears at the other end of the bench. Garner never saw him approach. He asks why Alonzo is trailing him.<br><br>After some hesitation, Alonzo explains he wants to recruit Garner to help fight against others who systematically hunt people like himself. Garner isn’t inclined to get involved in anything dangerous, but he does finds Alonzo more and more attractive, so he agrees to consider the idea. As he learns more about Alonzo’s bizarre and dangerous subculture, what Garner really wants to know is whether Alonzo is romantically interested in him at all.

Call to Love

“Well,” he said, “I believe it comes from the Greek word, vrykolakas—or just Vrykol. It’s from Greek folklore—creatures that live a sacrilegious life. They don’t die.”


Garner froze as he heard these astonishing things. And when he heard the bit about not dying, he shivered slightly as he felt another icy sensation go down his spine. Then, in the silence that followed these words, as he thought about what they could, what they might mean, Garner felt his skin actually creep. It was only his intense curiosity, along with the fact that this was Alonzospeaking that allowed him to continue his inquiry.


Don’t die. He repeated the phrase to himself, and shifted his position on the bench slightly. At last, and taking a deep breath, he said uneasily, “Is that—like—undead?”


Chapter 53