"I can try," she said unhappily. "But it's all pretty blurry."
"Just close your eyes, relax, and take yourself back there," he suggested.
Elvi smiled faintly. "You sound like a hypnotist."
"I wish I was," Victor admitted, then added, "If I could read your mind I could pull the
memory from you myself, but—" He paused, eyebrows rising. "DJ might be able to. We
can wait for him and—"
"No," Elvi interrupted quickly. The last thing she wanted was someone poking around
in her brain. Besides, no one else seemed to be able to read her, what if DJ couldn't
either? That was a complication she didn't need, especially not with Mabel so
obviously head over heels for the man.
"Okay, we'll do it the hard way, then," he said wryly. "Sit back, close your eyes, relax
and just let yourself go back to that day. You said you were in Mexico…"
"Yes." Elvi murmured. "Mabel and I were supposed to stay in a resort, but when we
arrived we found there was a problem with their water. Everyone was being moved to
other resorts. They'd made arrangements for us too and we got out of our taxi just to
be ushered into a van."
"Were there others in this van?" Victor asked.
Elvi nodded. "Three couples and four individuals."
"Describe them," Victor suggested.
"Two of the couples were our age," Elvi said, her brow drawing together as she tried to
picture the people in the van. "They were near the front of the van. The other couple
was younger. In their forties I think. They were right behind the driver."
"And the other four?" Victor prompted when she paused.
"Three were young women, university students, I think," she began, and then
grimaced. "They were seated at the back and complaining about the lack of " action" at
the resort and hoping the next one was better." Her voice was surprised as she said
that. She'd forgotten all about it, but then she'd spent the better part of the last five
years trying to forget that trip.
"And the last person?" Victor asked.
Elvi squinted her eyes more tightly closed, searching her memory for the last man. For
some reason, her mind seemed to shy away from him.
"He was seated across the aisle from Mabel and me," she said slowly. "I can't… I have a
vague recollection of jeans and a dress shirt. Average looks. He was quiet. The rest of
us talked some, but he seemed to want to keep mostly to himself."
"How old would you say he was?" Victor asked, sounding tense.
"Mid to late twenties," she said and opened her eyes with realization. All five of the
men in her home this week looked to be in that age range. For that matter so did she.
Victor nodded, and then suggested, "Okay, now tell me about the trip itself."
Elvi closed her eyes again. "They told us it would be a five‐hour drive. It started out
fine. Mabel and I were tired from the flight and napped for the first hour or so. When I
woke up, Mabel was chatting with the German couple in front of us. They were a nice
couple," she added sadly. Mabel told her afterward that they both died in the crash.
"So, you were chatting with this other couple…" Victor prompted.
"The accident happened about an hour after I woke up." She paused and frowned.
"We were on a narrow mountain road. I think the driver swerved to miss something.
The next thing I knew we were rolling. Everyone was screaming and the world was
topsy‐turvy, baggage was flying everywhere.
"The van ended up on its side, on the side Mabel and I were on. I must've been
knocked out; I remember waking up to find I was lying on Mabel. I heard her moan and
was afraid I may be crushing her, but when I tried to move, pain shot through my head
and I think I passed out again."
"And the next time you awoke?"
"That was in the hotel. We were apparently transported there after we were found,"
Elvi said reluctantly, then ground her teeth together and admitted, "I woke up to find I
had fangs and they were sunk in Mabel's throat while she struggled weakly." She
opened her eyes to see Victor was wincing at these words and nodded grimly. "Yes. I
damn near killed her."
"To be frank, I'm surprised you didn't. It takes a lot of blood for a turning. More than
one mortal could supply." Victor frowned with sudden curiosity. "Where did you get
the blood?"
"Mabel bribed one of the maids. The woman's brother worked at a blood bank. She
paid a lot of money for it."
Victor raised his eyebrows. "Well, at least she didn't follow the story of Dracula and