Her head really hurt.  Vague memories and indistinct feelings of something very wrong shifted through her head.  The dim light of the room confirmed her instincts that evening was approaching.  She groaned and covered her eyes with her forearm.  Lying there, trying to come to full consciousness, she realized that there was a smell of coffee permeating the air.  That smelled good!
    A brief struggle with inertia and she managed to sit up, swing her legs over the side of the bed and plant her feet on the floor.  Looking down, she ran her hands down her body.  Yes, there were tender spots and a little discoloration.  She knew she'd been hurt, but it was all hazy.  She grunted, stood up and put her robe on.  Walking slowly and carefully, she navigated towards the kitchen area and the smell of freshly brewed coffee. 
    "Hi there, Sleepy Head."
    "Uh, hi, Serophia."  Serophia was in her apartment.  She hesitated but continued towards the coffee.
    Sitting a the small table, she raised her cup to Serophia.  "Thank you for this." 
    Serophia smiled in return.  "You're welcome." She paused, "How are you feeling, now?"
    Eliza swallowed a sip of coffee and slowly shook her head.  "I'm not sure.  I hurt a little and it's like something dark is following me, but..."  She took another sip of coffee and swallowed.  "I don't think I can remember what happened.  Why are you here?"
    Moving to the steaming coffee pot and pouring herself a cup, she replied, "You called me and asked me to come over."
    Eliza's brow crinkled in concentration.  "I did?" she whispered almost to herself.  Serophia sat at the table opposite her, but didn't respond to the whispered question.  "Did I tell you why," Eliza asked.
    Serophia put the coffee cup down and sighed.  "Well," she said and related her brief part of last night's events.  It didn't take long and it didn't reveal much to Eliza.
    "And that's it?  I didn't say anything?  You didn't ask me anything?"
    "You didn't seem to be in a mood to talk," she smiled.  "In fact, you collapsed in my arms and I carried you into the bed room and tucked you in."
    Eliza grinned with a flash of her old humor.  "Strong wench, ain't ya?"
    "Awww, there's not a lot to you!  On a good day, you're just a light work out for me!" 
    "Having you work out with me, might be fun," she shot back, then sobered.  "Did I dream?"
    Serophia looked sad and nodded.  "Yes, a couple of times."
    Eliza nodded.  "I thought I remembered you holding my hand.  You know," she hesitated, "you're a good friend.  You came when I called, asked no questions and then sat with me all night."  She sighed.  "Thank you."
    Serophia looked distinctly uncomfortable a the compliments.  "You'd have done the same for me," she offered lamely.  "It's no big deal."
    "It is a big deal, and yes, I'd do the same for you," she thought looking down into the half empty coffee cup.  "I'd do that and more over."  Serophia shivered as her eyes met Eliza's.  She never seen such intensity and the hint of swirling color produced eerie effect.  She felt her hand griped with an inhuman strength and gentleness.  "I owe you one, Serophia.  I own you one," Eliza whispered. 

    Facing the almost full moon on the horizon, she raised the Palinca, sighting through the viscous liquid, allowing the redness to suffuse her vision.  To you, my friend, to you.  May your journey through life be all you hope it to be. The hot August wind caressed her body, but brought her no satisfaction.  Serophia was five hundred miles away doing her internship.  Sofye had a summer job and was taking it very seriously, so she was still on the reservation.  Sam was on detached duty, he couldn't tell her where.  Tonight, Eliza chose to drink alone.
    Eliza swallowed the Palinca and let the heat of it fill her body and being. "Some things you can count on," she thought. The moon, the heat of summer, the pain, you can always count on the pain. "You can always count on the pain," she whispered to the moon, "the pain and being alone."
    The moon had set and even the stars had vanished - obliterated, leaving a suffocating darkness that often precedes dawn.  Grunting, Eliza stood, weaving gently.  Even with her metabolism, Palinca had an effect.  The walk back into town, which she didn't rush, gave her time to sober up.  Being sober, hung over and depressed was not the mood Eliza was looking for.  Holding up the bottle of Palinca, she was pleased to see there was at least one good sip left, which she hastily took advantage of. 
    She took another pull on the bottle and was rewarded with nothing but vapors.  She sighed and tossed the bottle over her shoulder and grimaced when she heard it shatter.  "Reduced to littering," she sighed.  "I have seen better days."  She was still some distance from town when she realized that dawn was rapidly approaching.  "I'm not dressed for sunlight," she muttered.  "I do NOT feel like doing this.  I really don't want to."  She grimaced and started to accelerate her pace, but all she managed to do was trip over her own feet and go sprawling face first on the side of the road.
    She curled into a tight fetal ball.  Her hands hurt from trying to break her fall and so did her right cheek.  She felt like crying and she was almost positive she felt a tear run down her cheek.  She licked her palms and the blood, even though it was her own, gave her a thrill.  "I need blood," she realized.  "I really need it." 
    She began to struggle to her feet when she heard the sound. It reminded her of the snarling of some large animal, but it was in the distance and rapidly approaching.  She turned to face it, managing to rise on one knee.  Five choppers, became visible, approached her and came to a screeching halt opposite her.
    She was half drunk, weak and confused.  A sense of danger and fear coursed through her body, making her more alert, but she wasn't sure how well she could defend herself. Her last experience at defending herself while drunk had not ended very well for her.
    It was four men and a woman on the hogs.  Two of the men were packing a lady.  The machines were at a rumbling idle and all eyes were on Eliza.  No one said anything.  Eliza on one knee returned their stares, but make no move to rise.
    "Lady, you look like shit," the lead biker said.
    "I feel like shit," Eliza replied.
    "Tess can pack you," he said, nodding in the direction of the female biker.
    "I'll pack her," one of the bikers snickered.
    "Shut up, Jason," the lead biker snarled, not even looking in his direction.  "You want a ride?" he asked Eliza.
    "Ok, thank you."  She struggled to her feet under the scrutiny of six pairs of eyes. She unsteadily made her way towards "Tess."  Tess gave her the once over, wrinkled her nose, a gesture Eliza wasn't sure how to interpret, and made room for her on the rumbling hog. 
    The noise and acceleration completely caught her off guard.  She found herself clinging to Tess like her life depended on it.  The roar of engines and the speed were as intoxicating as the Palinca she'd been drinking.  She loved leaning into the turns and the sweeping arc they made as the passed legal speed vehicles at one hundred miles per hour. 
    They entered town, broke down to legal speed and turned off the main road and took an access road towards the local dump.  Turning off again, they approached what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse.  Pulling inside, they killed the engines and just sat for a few moments.
    "She was into it," Tess said.
    "Really?" the leader responded.  "Cool."
    "I wonder what now," Eliza thought.  "At least I'm ready, now."
    "If you want, Tess can take you home, or you can crash here.  You might enjoy tonight's ride," he addressed towards Eliza.
    Eliza was confused.  What was with these people? 
    "Yea," Jason said, "you might enjoy the ride."  His obscene gesture made his intent clear.
    "Oh, shut up Jason," the leader ritualistically said. 
    Jason snickered and didn't seem offended or deterred, even though he didn't repeat the comment. 
    Tess flipped the kick stand down and leaned the big bike to the right.  Eliza took the hint and stepped off.  She was royally hung over, but her wounds from falling were almost healed and the adrenaline rush from the bike ride had her flushed and excited.  "It's not like I have to be somewhere, tomorrow, or anyone will miss me...."  She pulled her leather skirt down, making herself slightly more "decent."  She swiped her hand through her hair, attempering for a little less fly away look.  "If you don't mind, I'll just crash here.  And I'd really like to ride with you tonight."
    "Oh you would, would...."  All eyes swivelled towards Jason and he didn't even bother to complete the sentence.  He just shut up and looked distinctly uncomfortable.

    It was dusk and she could tell she was alone in the warehouse.  Tess was a strange one.  Eliza wasn't sure if Tess was hostile towards her or not.  She make a couple of comments about "rich bitch" and "Daddy's money," but when found out that Eliza was over 30 she'd seemed to reconsider.  She'd also commented that Jason was the one to watch.  "Don't be alone with him," she'd said. "He can hurt you." 
    Eliza had started to give a smart answer but bit it back.  If Tess was being kind to her, she didn't want to insult her.  She stretched and stood up.  The military style cot she'd slept on wasn't the most comfortable thing she'd ever experienced.  "Better than hanging by my toes in a cave," she giggled to herself.
    After the offer, last night, she had "crashed."  Introductions has been made, but all she could remember was Jason, wise ass, as she thought of him, Tess, who being the only female driver, was easy to remember, and Duk, the leader. Yes, that was Duk, like the swimming bird, but with no "C."  He'd made that clear.  Eliza sighed.  "Now where is that damn bottle?"  She looked around for the bottle of rum they'd offered her, last night.  There was still some left.  "Humph," she grunted, "not much!"  Taking a pull on the bottle, she closed her eyes and suppressed the shudder the first drink often caused.  She briefly wondered if she was drinking to much, but dismissed the thought.  "If a bullet won't kill me, a little bit of rum can't hurt," she mused. 
    She wondered where everyone was.  It was almost dark and there was nothing but dead silence.  She wasn't that far from the dump.  The urge to feed was becoming stronger.  Odds were she could zip to the dump and find a bum to assuage her needs. 
    The night was sultry and humid.  She had a pleasant glow from the rum, but really didn't feel like exerting the effort to get to the dump, hunt, feed and return.  She sighed and prepared to set out when she heard the characteristic growl of a Harley approaching. Stopping at the doorway of the warehouse, she watched as Jason rode up.  He saw her standing in the doorway and grinned.  He pulled his bike out of sight, into the warehouse, killed the engine and dismounted.
    Facing her, he grinned.  "We're gonna have some fun, just you and me now that Tess and Duk aren't around. 
    Eliza looked up and saw the full moon rising, silvery and huge on the horizon.  She could almost feel the cool rays caressing her body.  A rush of blood lust raced through her body, centering on and making her loins quiver.  "Yes," she replied huskily, "we are."  Fangs descending, she turned to face him, staring at the blood pulse in his throat.  "Oh, yes," she whispered, "we certainly are." 
    Jason was too involved in his own fantasies to be aware of what was facing him.  He'd removed his vest, revealing a well muscled chest and was grinning as he stepped towards her.  He reached towards her upper body, perhaps to tear off her blouse, perhaps to pull her towards him, but her lightning response was not what he was expecting.  She stepped toward him, grasped his wrist with an iron grip, pulled causing him to stumble and rotate towards her.  He felt a sharp blow to the back of his head and his knees buckled, his vision blurred, and he wasn't sure what was happening. 
    He felt strong arms around his chest and realized that Eliza was easily supporting his dead weight.  He felt her hot breath on his neck and wondered what she was doing.  The searing pain caused his body to jerk and he tried to wrench away from it by twisting our of her grip, but the only response was a soft chuckle near his ear and the sound of a rib cracking as she tightened her grip about his chest. 
    "Relax, sweet meat.  This can be easy or it can be hard.  Either way works for me."
    Jason felt panic starting.  "What are you trying to do to me, you stupid bitch?"  He strained to get his feet under him, but Eliza shook him like a rag doll and clamped her fangs firmly in his neck.  Excruciating pain radiated throughout his body and he could hear the crunch of tearing muscle and tendons.  The sounds of her sucking his blood echoed in his ears. 
    "Stupid, am I?" She took a breath. Reaching up with her right hand, she twisted his head to right, further exposing the left side of his neck, on which she'd been feeding.  She giggled.  "I'll be alive tomorrow."  She used her hand to cover his mouth and muffle his screams as she resumed tearing his neck and suckling his blood. His terror and agony washed through her and incited her to a feeding frenzy. 
    She realized how great her frenzy was as she slowly returned to her senses and found herself amidst fragments of his dismembered body.  She'd literally torn him apart in her quest for food and energy.  She felt good.  She felt great!  Her whole body quivered with life and energy. 
    She smiled and stood.  "I'm such a sloppy eater," she giggled.  "Guess I have to 'do the dishes.'" The cleaning chore went faster than most would believe.  Many hours of practice of "doing the dishes" had made her expert at it.  Disposing of a body wasn't all that difficult once you had the technique mastered.  She wasn't sure what to do with his hog, but she decided to wing it.  After all, it was rightfully her's, now.  All she had to do was lay her claim to it. 
    The bass grumble of approaching engines shook the air.  Four bikes pulled in and the riders dismounted.  "Where's Jason?" Duk asked.  "I see the asshole's bike, but where is he?"
    "He was here," Eliza responded.
    "I know he was here.  His bike didn't come all by itself."
    Eliza felt a flash of irritation.  "I don't know where he is," she shot back.  "I'm not his keeper.  He muttered something and went that way," Eliza said, pointing in the general direction of the dump.
    Tess snickered.  "He's probably trying roll some drunk for a bottle." 
    "Could be," Eliza responded.  "He did want my bottle of rum, but I wasn't in a sharing mood."
    The gang looked at each other.  "You weren't in a sharing mood?" Tess asked.
    Eliza shook her head.
    "And Jason was alright with that?"
    "Not exactly."  Eliza held up the rum bottle that had been broken in there scuffle.  "But it was almost empty and wasn't a great loss."  She hesitated, ran a finger around inside of it to get a taste of the rum.  She licked her finger.  "He did manage to see it my way, though."
    Everyone laughed.  "Ok, where did you hide the body," one of them asked. 
    Eliza laughed.  "If I told, then it wouldn't be hidden, would it?"
    "Are we gonna sit here all night waiting for him, or are we going to get on with it?"  Eliza didn't know his name.  He was one who's name she didn't know.  She also noticed that none of the guys ladies were present, tonight. 
    Duk sighed.  "We need him to handle his bike.  We need five machines, remember?"
    "I'll do it," Eliza piped up.
    "Do what," Duk asked.
    "Handle his machine.  What did you think I meant?"
    Duk looked at his watch and grimaced.  "Can you do that?  I mean that is not a toy bike, you know."
    Eliza walked over to his hog and picked it up.  It was chopped but she could only have one foot on the ground at a time, but with her strength, this wasn't a big problem.  She kick started it, hiked her skirt up to a comfortable position and stared challengingly at him.  "Try me."
    Duk started his machine and the rest follow suit.  He did a quick donut and peeled out, followed by the gang, Eliza bringing up the rear.  "It's not that much different from a bicycle," she kept telling herself.

    She wondered what they were packing.  Each bike had two duffle bags strapped to it and they were taking it easy.  Their staggered formation and near legal speed made them as inconspicuous as 5 chopped hogs can be at 3 AM.  They had ridden out at typical break neck speed.  After an hour or so, Duk has led them into a rest stop.  "Wait here," he said and roared off. 
    The smell of oil and hot engine permeated the thick air.  A couple of the guys cracked a beer and Tess popped one of her saddle bags and pulled out an iced bottle of wine.  The cork squeaked as she removed the top.  She took a decent pull and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.  "Care for a slug, Eliza?"
    After the long ride, she was thirsty.  "Thank you so much for saving my life," she said as she reached for the bottle.  The ruby red port carried more authority than she expected as she took a long pull.  "Wow, a girl could be buzzed on that stuff," she said handing it back to Tess. 
    Tess grinned.  "Won't burn out your innards, but has enough kick to make you happy."  She took another short pull and put it back into the saddle bag and locked it down.  "A locked lid is a lid that you don't lose," she commented idly, but loud enough for Eliza to hear.  Eliza casually checked her saddle bags, and sure enough, they weren't locked.  Quickly locking them she nodded towards Tess, but said nothing.  Tess, smiled and lay back against the sissy bar and closed her eyes.
    An hour or so passed, and they were all half asleep on their machines, when the roar of Duk's hog broke the silence.  Shaking themselves awake, they struggled upright.  He was followed by a small pick up truck.  Everyone dismounted and went over to the truck, so Eliza followed.  Each received two duffle bags and made their way back to the bikes.  She watched as they started attaching the bags to the bikes with bungi cords.  Checking the saddle bags, she found Jason's and followed suit. 
    On the return ride, there was a tense moment when they were overtaken by three state police cars, advertising.  Eliza almost panicked, but Duk slowed down and signaled for everyone to fall in behind him.  The convoy of troopers swept by them without slowing at all.  Eliza felt her heart descend to its normal location.  Duk pulled back to the center of the road and resumed road speed. 
    "What a rush!" she though.  "What a rush!"

    Pulling into the warehouse, they killed the engines and just sat for a few moments.  Eliza wasn't sure what they'd just done, but after a good feed, a little excitement was welcome.  Especially since the way her life had been going lately.  She actually felt alive for a change.  It felt good!
    "Ok, Eliza.  You first.  You get the honor."  Duk grinned.  "Open your bag and lets give a try."
    Not totally sure what to expect, Eliza got one of the duffle bags off of the bike and opened it.  The aroma that met her nostrils was unmistakable.  "Oh, wow," she breathed.  Looking into the bag she could see leaves and bud, tightly packed but not in bricks. She reached in, pulled out a long bud and held it up.  "Who has a pipe?"

    Eliza was lying down.  Everyone was lying down.  She looked up and wondered why she'd never notice how interesting up was, before.  This particular up had a quintessential upness that she'd never totally comprehended until now.  She raised herself to one elbow and shook Tess.  She had to giggle at the expression on Tess's face, but she had to tell her, too.  "Tess..."
    "Yes, Eliza."
    "Tess," Eliza intoned and pointed.  "That's really up, you know." 
    She realized they were both giggling like fools, but it didn't seem all that important.  At least Tess knew now. 

    Eliza's head hurt.  She tried to open one eye but the light was so bright.  Maybe they'd staked her out in the sun.  She finally got her eyes open and realized they were in a dim, cool, upper room that had mattresses on the floor.  Counting her, five bodies littered the area.  She was so thirsty.  She was sure her mouth wouldn't open it was so dry and stuck together.  Maybe the wine Tess had given her had glue in it. 
    She looked around and realized there was a sink on one wall.  Groaning she forced herself up and made her way to it.  Yes!  Cool, delicious water.  Cupping her hands, she drank deeply.  She splashed some on her face, opened her vest and rubbed her breasts with her cool damp hands. 
    Duk staggered over and got a drink too.  He seemed as oblivious to her bare breasts as she was to the fact they were bare.  "That was some GOOD shit!"  He inhaled and exhaled noisily.  "I think I may be suffering from an over toke." 
    Eliza buttoned her vest and replied, "Yea, that was some evil weed.  I think it totally kicked my ass." 
    Duk grinned.
    "Can I ask a question?"
    "Sure, Eliza.  You did good so you get a question."
    "How much is that worth?"
    "You know, Jason said you were narc.  Couple thought you were ATF. Me, I think you are just one screwed up lady, but you got guts and I like you." 
    "I'm screwed up," Eliza repeated, looking offended.
    "Yea, you, but to answer your question, each bag, by the ohzee, is worth about a quarter mil and we have five of them."
    Eliza's eyes got very round.  "Do I get paid," she asked in a small voice.
    Duk broke up laughing.  "You ain't no narc!"  He held out his hand.  "Welcome to our disreputable little crew, and yes, you'll get paid."
    "Cool," Eliza said, taking his hand in hers and shaking symbolically.
    "Can I ask you sort of personal question, Eliza."
    Eliza hesitated. "Why not?"
    "Unless I miss my guess, Jason ain't coming back, is he?"
    Eliza wasn't sure how to answer.  She didn't want to lie and she sure didn't want to admit that she'd eaten him.  She shifted from foot to foot and chewed her bottom lip - a dead give away she was stressed. 
    "Let's just say I think I have a shiny new bike," Eliza replied. 
    Duk nodded.  "'Nuff said."