6

CHAPTER SIX
A knowing smile curved the doctor’s lips. “Oh, I believe it is. You are angered so much about not finding anyone, that it’s putting a block on your sexual drive. You are sad about it and covering it up with so much anger so that no one can see that you are vulnerable”
“I’m not vulnerable. I never was. Not since I’ve been a vampire.” The last thing Samson wanted to feel was vulnerability. To him it was synonymous with weakness. If the doctor wasn’t careful with his accusations, he’d soon find himself at the receiving end of Samson’s displeasure. Maybe a physical fight would relieve his frustrations.
“Not in the physical sense of the word. We’re all aware of your strength and your power. But I’m talking about your emotions. We all have them. We all struggle with them. Some more than others. Especially a vampire…. You know for us, everything we feel is heightened, so it might be difficult controlling those emotions sometimes. Believe me, my calendar is booked solid with our fellow vampires who need help dealing with their emotions.”
The shrink looked at him. No, he couldn’t allow Templeton to get this close. Emotions were a dangerous thing. They could destroy a man. Samson hauled himself out of the chair.
“I don’t think this is going to work.” The tightness in his chest bore witness to the effect Templeton’s words had on him, even though he wasn’t ready to admit it. Not even to himself.
The doctor stood. “You’re not alone, Mr Perry.” he said. “I can help you. All you need to do is…”
Samson shook his head. Nobody could help him. He had to get through this on his own. “Send me your bill. Good bye, Doc.” He replied.
He stormed out, knowing the doctor had hit a nerve. Well, sex was overrated anyway…And finding someone to live the rest of his life with was overrated too. At least, it was what he was trying to convince himself of. There were nights when he believed his own lies, but it never lasted long. The truth was, he liked having sex-lots of it-but none of the sexy vampire women did it for him anymore. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get an erection. And he was tired of being alone. As tough as he as he was, he knew he wanted someone. But it was beginning to look like things weren’t just going to happen for him like they did with other vampires.
He’d never heard of such a thing happening to any vampire…well, except him. As if his inability to find a mate wasn’t enough. Now he had another issue. Sexual virility was part and parcel of being a vamp in the first place. Everything was supposed to be heightened. Being impotent was a foreign concept in the vampire world. Only humans became impotent. If the news became widespread, he would lose all respect. It was unacceptable.
So eventually he’d conceded, and a month later, he’d made another appointment in the hope there was something the doctor could do for him.
Samson blinked. Tonight was his birthday. He was a one Hundred and Fourty Four year old vampire now.
He strode from his wingback armchair to the wet bar at the opposite end of his elegant sitting room and poured himself a glass of blood. He downed it like a human would a shot of Tequila-minus the salt and lime. The thick liquid coated his throat and eased the thirst, dulling his hunger for other pleasures in the process. Good; no other pleasures would be satisfied tonight.
Same as the last One hundred and seventy-six nights.
Not that he was counting.
Only his thirst for blood had been stilled, the rest of his body’s needs, while temporarily subdued, would go unmet. He was going to get very drunk tonight. That he was sure of.
He had expressly told his pals not to get him any presents or throw him a party. There was nothing to celebrate. Of course he knew it was futile and only a matter of time until they would be at his door. Like pilfering barbarians, they would invade his home, raid his secret stash of quality drinks-and waste his waking hours with old stories he’d heard a hundred times.
They’d given him a surprise birthday party when he’d reached the hundred mark, and it would be no different today, with pretty much the same cast of characters.
In anticipation of the inevitable invasion of his privacy, he had dressed in dapper black pants and a dark gray turtleneck.
The sound of his phone ringing tore through the quiet of his home. He looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was shortly before nine o’clock. Just as he’d thought, the boys were on their way.
“Yes?” he said gruffly.
“Hey, birthday boy. How is it hanging?” Mark’s voice said.
Not a good choice of words, definitely not.
“What is it, Mark?” Samson demanded.
“I just want to wish you a great birthday and see what you’re doing tonight.” Why Mark had to keep up the pretense, Samson really didn’t know. Wasn’t he aware that his surprise birthday party was already out of the bag?
Samson cut to the chase. “When’s everybody coming?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” replied Mark, keeping up with his feigned ignorance.
“What time are you guys going to surprise me with a birthday party?”
“How did you know? Never mind. The guys wanted me to make sure you were there. So don’t leave the house. And if our other surprise arrives before us, keep her there.” He concluded.
Not again. He should have known. He bit back his anger.
“When will you guys ever learn that I’m not into strippers?” Samson asked.
Never have been, never will be.
Mark laughed. “Yes, yes, but this one is special. She’s not just a stripper. She does extras.”
Would he be up for extras? Very unlikely. Especially not after last time.
“I think she’ll do something for you, you know what I mean. She’s good, so give her a chance, will you? It’s for your own good. You can’t go on like this. Vanessa said-”
Samson cut him off. So much for having some fun tonight. “You told Vanessa? Are you fucking nuts? I thought this was just guy talk. I told you in confidence. How could you? You know Vanessa talks a lot” His nostrils flared, and his eyes narrowed. With his fangs suddenly protruding from his mouth, he could have scared a champion wrestler from here till Tuesday. But Mark wasn’t a wrestler, and he wasn’t scared easily. Mark was always calm actually and it took a lot to piss him off.
“Careful how you talk about my woman, Sam. She doesn’t talk too much. And besides, she suggested that stripper. She’s a friend of Vanessa’s.”