Although a frigid wind scoured Baltimore, Niles Gule sat at a table outside in the middle of Broadway Square. Being a vampire, he didn’t notice the cold although the occasional windblown chip of ice that pricked his ashen cheeks annoyed him. He’d lift a delicate, taloned finger to brush away the sensation while he idly watched the world go by.
Not much was moving in the Crab Cake Capitol of the World at that time of night. Darkness came early in late winter and the humidity from the Inner Harbor drove the damp deep into human bones. Anyone on foot hustled swiftly towards their destination, determined to escape its penetrating fingers. Only Niles, pale, forlorn, and alone, sat at one of the tables that come summer would be filled with diners.
Pale lips sipped a Bloody Mary from a to-go cup. A genuine Bloody Mary he’d laced with cow’s blood to enhance the taste. The alcohol warmed him from the inside, not that he cared. Nights like these reminded Niles he was a lone vampire in a sea of humanity that didn’t understand him. He considered the drink, his lips curving into the vague semblance of a smile, as he recalled how life had been five years ago. Before fate dropped a vivacious beauty named Mariella Cruz into his lap. Back then, he’d been the vampiric equivalent of an alcoholic, spending most of his days alone except for his booze. Now, he realized, he barely drank at all, and seldom alone. He’d only purchased the drink from the Admiral’s Cup to give him an excuse to sit outside in the dark.
He awaited the arrival of his partner.
Brilliant blue eyes swept around the square, ever alert for danger. As a lone vampire without a flight of subsidiary vampires to protect him, he was vulnerable to the predations of other vampires desiring to claim his turf. Niles’ flight, such as it was, consisted of a single, decrepit vampire over a thousand years of age, and a young fifty-something girl with dreams of avarice. The rest of his entourage, because he couldn’t honestly call them his flight, consisted of Cruz and the various human members of the police department he’d grown to know and, surprisingly enough, love.
A breath of warmth brushed his cheek, whispering of approaching humans. The smell of iron rich blood tingled his nose. Along with it flickered the scent of La Vie Est Belle, a floral Parisian perfume he knew well.
Niles shifted in his chair to look north. Two people strolled towards him. The first resolved out of the darkness into the bouncy, compact, vibrant form of his partner, Mariella Cruz, black hair bobbing in the wind. The other figure he didn’t recognize–a tall, spare gentleman with silvery white hair and beard.
The vampire’s eyes narrowed as he watched the pair approach. Cruz trotted backwards for a few steps then hopped beside her companion and tugged on his arm. If Niles didn’t know her, he would think this was a bonded pair of humans out for a stroll. In his experience, most humans didn’t touch each other unless they shared close personal ties.
Her father?
Niles had never met that elusive creature. Cruz told him her sire had brought his family north from Mexico in search of a better life, only to abandon his wife and five children in the slums of the small city then vanish, never to be seen again.
Too tall, Niles decided, assessing the man. And too Anglo. The dude could almost pass as a vamp…
Niles stiffened. He scented the air, seeking to learn if a vampire approached. But no. The smell was warm human with a strong flavoring of men’s cologne. The approaching man was not a rival.
Niles’ stance eased, but he remained on alert. He didn’t like Cruz’s body language. Her motions came across as too familiar. He didn’t like it.
Niles scowled as he caught himself. He was jealous!
Piffle!
He forced his expression to vampire bland and awaited their arrival.
Cruz was skipping like a teenager, her black ponytail jouncing with every step. She sported a cute, knitted Hello Kitty headband to protect her ears and a puffy parka that couldn’t hide her curves. Ug boots completed the ensemble.
The gentleman wore an ankle length wool coat with a bright scarf tied at the throat but no hat. His breath puffed thick steam into the air.
“Niles,” Cruz chirped in greeting. She bounced to a stop beside him. “Fancy meeting you here.”
The vampire lifted a brow, wondering what she was up to. “We planned to meet here,” he responded, keeping his voice cool. His gaze darted between the two humans, trying to fathom their relationship.
Cruz threw him a hurt look. “No need to be so formal, Niles.”
Niles stood, rising to his full six-foot-six height, only to find the gentleman nearly matched him.
“Are you going to introduce me to your companion?” he asked. Between his suddenly raging jealousy and his Victorian Age manners, he’d grown stiff and proper.
Cruz hopped beside the man, most likely to keep warm. “Niles, this is David Willis. Dave, my partner on the force, Niles Gule.”
Willis extended a hand. “Nice to meet you,” he greeted in a warm, rich baritone.
Niles reluctantly shook the hand, glad the human wore gloves. Although he could pass off the iciness of his touch tonight by blaming the frigid weather, most days he avoided handshakes. Humans normally recoiled at his gelid touch.
His blue eyes shifted towards Cruz again. “Relative?” he queried.
Cruz burst out laughing. “Does Dave look Mexican to you?”
Niles stiffened. “I choose not to judge.”
Cruz smacked his arm playfully. “Jeez, Niles, lose the stick up your ass. Dave’s a friend of mine. We met years ago. We bumped into each other tonight up by Bertha’s and he offered to escort me here.” She winked at Niles. “Doesn’t want me to get mugged.”
“With a Sig Sauer under your coat?” Niles asked. He knew he was being waspish but couldn’t help himself.
Willis started but Cruz just laughed.
“I didn’t mention I was armed.” She smiled at Willis with a forgive me shrug.
“Not to worry,” answered Willis, his tone nearly as formal as Niles’. “I’m not afraid of guns.”
“Anyway,” Cruz plowed on, either unaware of Niles’ increasing annoyance or choosing to ignore it. “Dave was telling me about his volleyball league. They’re short a player right now.” She grinned at Niles.
“How unfortunate,” responded the vampire. His iciness refused to thaw.
“The league plays every two weeks in Dundalk,” Cruz explained. “Mixed teams. Dave’s team was in the lead for the championship when they lost their best net man. Fell on the ice last Wednesday. Broke his arm.”
“Bad luck,” murmured Niles.
Willis shrugged, taking the loss in stride. “We’re not playing for Olympic gold. It’s just a local league.”
“Still,” Cruz protested, “you put in a lot of work to get where you are. But you may fall out of first place simply because you’ve lost your best setter.”
“It is what it is!” Willis almost sang in that rich voice. “We shall endure.”
“I was thinking…” Cruz drawled.
Niles fought from rolling his eyes. The moment his little taco got thinking, she landed him in trouble.
She rested a hand on Niles’ arm. “Wouldn’t Niles make a great setter? He’s got the height for it.”
Niles tried to palm her off. “I haven’t played volleyball in years.”
Cruz leaped. “So you have played then?”
Niles growled low in his throat. “Yes. But as I said, it was a long time ago, when I was a teen.”
“They had volleyball back that far?” Cruz spouted, probably not realizing she was potentially outing him as a centuries old vampire in front of someone he didn’t know.
Niles’ expression darkened. “Volleyball was invented in 1898 by a YMCA director looking for a sport most people could play. So yes, it existed all the way back when I was a child.”
Fortunately, Willis appeared to take the exchange as playful banter between two partners.
“What we play probably isn’t much better than the games you played back then,” he said. “We’re not professionals. Just a bunch of folks looking to have a good time.”
“You play mixed teams, don’t you?” Cruz asked.
“We do.”
Cruz beamed at Niles. “What do you say? Wanna try knocking the ball around a bit? If they run short a woman, I could fill in too! It would be fun.”
Niles allowed his gaze to rest on her like a weighted blanket. He refused to dampen her spirit or insult her in front of a friend and yet he didn’t want to volunteer for this. “I don’t think…”
“You’d probably have a good time,” Willis offered. “Low stress. It’s a lot of fun.” He dug around in a pocket to retrieve a business card. “Give me a call if you want to join us. We play Thursday nights.”
Cruz snatched the card that Niles would have allowed to flutter away into the darkness. She grinned at her friend. “We’ll definitely be there, if only to cheer you on.” She dug Niles with an elbow. “Right, Niles?”
Niles grudgingly gave her the answer she desired. “Sure.”
Willis offered a quick grin. Then he thanked Cruz for the chat and ventured on his way.
Cruz took Niles’ elbow and led him in the opposite direction. “We’ll have fun,” she insisted.
Fun. Niles chewed on that word for most of the shift. He hated to tell her vampires didn’t know how to have fun.
___
Cruz bubbled with eager anticipation as she, Niles, and one of their co-workers on the Baltimore PD, Jonas Williams, sauntered towards the high school gymnasium where Willis’ volleyball league played.
“I’m looking forward to watching a ghoul play volleyball,” Williams chortled. The giant man of Polish extraction loved to torment his vampire co-worker because in his eyes, Niles was just too perfect. “You might break a fingernail.” He swatted Niles on the back, hard enough the vampire stumbled forward two steps.
Niles brandished a fang at his nemesis. “They’re talons.” He lifted his hands to wriggle the deadly blades on the tips of his fingers. “I could use them to slit your throat.”
Williams waved the threats away. “Nah. You’ve already told me my blood ain’t no good.”
“Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t enjoy spilling it for shits and giggles,” Niles warned.
“Knock it off, children,” Cruz demanded. “Let’s enjoy some volleyball.”
They entered the gym to find it sparsely occupied. Only a handful of people dotted the stands in isolated groups.
“I guess Covid still has people spooked,” Cruz commented. She climbed into a seat close to the floor near the net.
Niles considered the spectators with a puzzled frown. “Anything strike you as odd about this gathering?” he asked.
Williams gave the assorted groups a quick glance. “They’re all nerds who like to watch a dumb game?”
“You’re here!” sniped Cruz.
Niles continued to study the crowd while he sat down next to Cruz. “No children,” he said.
“What’s that mean?” Williams asked.
Niles shrugged. “I don’t know. Just an observation. If this is some family fun, why didn’t the families bring the kids to watch?”
Williams slammed Niles between the shoulders a second time. “Kids got better things to do with their time. Play computer games. Text each other. Create Tik Tok videos. Make millions of dollars as Instagram influencers.”
Niles frowned at Williams but didn’t answer.
The referee’s appearance gave them the first clue this was not one’s ordinary volleyball game. He didn’t wear black and white stripes like a football referee. He didn’t wear a black hat like a baseball ump. In fact, he didn’t wear anything at all.
“Well now!” Cruz gushed in surprise. “Um…That’s interesting…”
To a smattering of applause, the two teams jogged out of the locker rooms and onto the court. Or, rather, they bounced onto the court. Because every single one of them, male and female, were buck naked.
“All right!” howled Williams, ogling the women. “This is my kind of game! Nude volleyball!”
Niles shot a horrified look at Cruz. “Nude volleyball? Did you know it was nude volleyball?”
Cruz stared at the players, fighting to keep a grin off her face. “No, that I didn’t. There’s Dave!” She whistled and waved. Willis waved back.
Willis wandered over, totally unfazed that he didn’t wear a stitch of clothing. “Glad you came, Mariella. I wasn’t sure you would.” He glanced at Niles. “We could use a setter.”
Niles glowered. “Would I have to take my clothes off?”
Willis smiled. “Of course. It’s nude volleyball.” He offered a hand to help Niles from the stands. “Come on. I’ll show you to a locker where you can put your suit.”
Niles balked. He was, after all, a Victorian vampire, born in the Gilded Age when to flash an ankle at someone you knew was a horrific sin. The idea of running around a gym in front of total strangers nude exploded his mind.
Willis tugged on his arm.
Niles continued to balk. He rose and backed towards the exit end of the bleachers. “I don’t think this is my cup of tea…”
Willis deflated somewhat. “I guess we forgot to tell you about the clothing optional…”
“Yeah, you might have mentioned that!” Niles tried to clamber over Williams who was grinning like a fool and enjoying his discomfiture. The big man deliberately blocked him by tangling up the vampire’s legs with his own.
Willis turned to Cruz. “That’s ok. We’ll play without him. But we’re down a lady now too. Jennifer had to take her son to the hospital. Do you want to stand in for her?”
Cruz’s face glowed. “Really? Me? I’m not that great a player.”
Willis laughed. “Neither are we.” He offered his hand. Cruz took it.
Niles stood entangled in Williams who was howling with laughter.
“You aren’t going to miss this, are you?” the big man chortled. “Cuz I sure ain’t!”
Cruz grabbed Niles’ arm while he was off balance and tugged him free of the stands. Then she was at his back, shoving him ahead of her. No amount of complaining or refusal would budge her from her intended course. Niles could have used some muscle to disengage himself, but he feared hurting her. Worse, he didn’t want to embarrass her in front of so many people. In the end, he allowed her to force him into the locker room.
There, she quickly stripped. Niles could only watch appreciatively as each layer came off. Then, all bouncy and jiggly in all the right places, she whirled on him.
“Off with it,” she commanded. “If I can do this, so can you. You’re way better looking than I am.”
“I would disagree,” Niles grated.
But she was already dragging his suit coat from his shoulders. “You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of,” she said. “You’ll be the hit of the night whether you can spike the ball or not.”
Niles winced as she removed one bit of clothing after another. Finally, when he was down to his birthday suit, ghastly pale without a single tan line, he sighed with unhappiness.
“I’m going to kill you,” he muttered.
“Naw!” Cruz pecked a kiss on his cheek. “You adore me too much. Let’s play!”
Out she bounced in a way only a Latina could bounce.
More slowly, internally wincing, Niles followed and joined the team.
At the sight of him on the court, Williams went wild, whistling and cat calling about pretty boys.
“I’m going kill him!” Niles growled.
Cruz giggled. “Naw. You love him too.”
Niles gave her a glare but accepted his position at the net with her beside him.
“I’ve figured it out,” he said in a low tone.
“What?” Cruz asked.
“How to kill a vampire.” His beautiful blue eyes bore into her.
“How?” she asked.
“I’m going to die of mortification.”
He prepared to set the ball, wishing it was a totally different set of balls he could set.
Williams continued to howl.
© 2022 Newmin
Niles comments: Who knew such things as naked volleyball leagues exist? I didn’t until Dave Willis informed me he played on one. TMI, in my opinion. TMI.