Passenger Princess

I had so many questions for her and needed help figuring out where to start. Apparently, I was looking at her for too long, and she asked, "Are you going to ask me that question that's been bothering you, or are you going to focus on the road." That was a good segue into my first question. I prompted, "How have you figured out that I was thinking about something?" She said vampires with biological markers for each other can often sense what the other one is thinking due to increased heart rate, a special connection between our brains and cortisol levels." I wasn't sure what cortisol levels were, but I could understand the heart rate. I then continued with, "How did you know how to start a new life? I remember you briefly saying how you did it earlier, but since we don't age, how do you keep a job?" She responded, "I had help from my old friends Jasmin and Jeff. Both got jobs in professions that could help me keep working. Jeff got a job working with the federal government, and Jasmin eventually worked with the nursing school in New York. Over the years, both of them have been able to quietly adjust my social security information and my nursing degree. You are smart enough to understand that there is a reason why I am a travel nurse. Besides the money, it has allowed me to stay under the radar for quite some time." I followed up with, "Sorry if this question is insensitive. Your friends must have passed away by now. How are you able to keep it up?" She thought for a second and responded, "They had a son, William, and he had a knack for mechanics and always wanted to learn how things work. He passed that trait on to his son, Bernard. Bernard grew up right around when the internet was started and was a pioneer in its creation. Finally, Bernards's daughter, Olivia, works for a tech firm and created an algorithm secretly hidden in a government database that automatically updates my information." I tried to do all that mental math and followed up with, "That whole family has committed their life to help you out, and do they all know about your secret?" Roxanne answered, "Jasmine and Jeff insisted they help me, and I am forever thankful for them and their family. I have met everyone in that family, and they were all supportive. I was the godmother of all of them when they were kids." 

I pondered that for a second, concluding that Roxanne had a routine and a plan. I wanted to clarify some things regarding being a travel nurse. "I understand the reasoning behind being a travel nurse, but how has anyone not recognized you?" She responded, "I try not to stay somewhere for more than one or two years and would not return to that area for ten years. As an extra precaution, I have also done private contract work in other countries." I questioned further, "How have you gotten the blood we drink?" She smiled. "I'm glad you asked that. Blood expires at a certain point, and when it does, it is poorly tracked. The amount of expired blood bags in the storage room is not counted, and if they are, it is not questioned if a few bags go missing. It is a common understanding that there is no logical reason why someone would steal expired blood, but it doesn't harm us unless the blood was pulled from a dead person, but that never happens."

I stated, "That's smart that you figured all that out, but how many people truly know about us?" She scoffed. "Too many to count. Hunters, the government to a degree, and some secret organizations." She noticed my brow curl a little and continued, "Those organizations include the one in Mexico but also groups that take care of us unique creatures right when we are turned. It's the same concept as a halfway house." I asked, "How does the government fit into this?" She answered, "There is a particular sub-section of the Department of Justice that gets involved if one of us does something really atrocious like mass murder or something.

I asked, "What is the deal with those guys who came after us." She took a long pause, longer than the other questions. She responded, "There have been hunters for centuries. As long as vampires, werewolves, and other such creatures have been around, hunters have tried eradicating us. However, over the years, I have encountered several hunters like Gabriel, Michael, and Ralf, who give things like us a fair shake and allow us to coexist with humans." I was also wondering about that arrangement with the three. I questioned, "How many years did you check in with them? She took a long pause, and I could see the gears in her head turning, trying to do the math. She finally said, "About 15 to 20 years. For the first three years, it was an in-person check, but after that, it was phone calls. They stopped calling me, and I haven't heard from them since." I've always wondered what happened to them because I wouldn't be here if it weren't for their kindness. They could've killed me like the inbreeds tried to do, but they let me live." Before I could respond, the gas light turned on. I typed in gas station on the screen, which said five miles to the closest town. I told Roxanne, "Let's stop, and then we will get back on the road." She responded, "Let's do it." 

As we were exiting the highway, I felt very tired, and Roxanne noticed. She said, "Once we stop, I'll get you some blood." I asked, "Do we always feel this tired during the day?" She responded with, "Yes. We are nocturnal, but we can still be out during the day, however not preferred." We arrived at the gas station about an hour outside Las Vegas and had a great time. I got out of the truck, and Roxanne grabbed me a bag of blood. I went inside and paid with a credit card because the cash was stuffed in a bag buried in the truck's bed. I put $150 down and returned to find Roxanne pumping the gas. She was awesome. Every other girl I was with was a passenger princess and wouldn't dare get her nails dirty, but Roxanne was not like that. I decided to be helpful, grabbed a window wiper from the bucket, and began to get the bugs off the front window, but Roxanne interrupted, "You don't have to do that. I'll take care of it." I couldn't decide if this was a trap or a lose-lose situation. If I said, "I can do it," I risked the possibility of undermining her ability to be an independent young, in theory, woman, and if I allowed her to do it, I might come off as lazy. I was trying to decide if I should ask the dealer to hit me or pass, but the pit boss interrupted, "Stop overthinking. Just hop in and relax for a few minutes." I took the hint and got in to find a bag of blood on the center console. I drank the blood like a four-year-old with a juice box and got on my phone to revive my blackjack skills.