Chapter 11

That night, the two brothers hunted in the town of Mill Valley in Marin County. The area was beautiful, small mountains teeming¹ with strapping², healthy evergreen³ and eucalyptus⁴ trees. The redwood house was maybe a hundred yards ahead, up a steep, rocky slope that they climbed with ease. A brick walkway led to an entryway with double wooden doors.
‘We have to go away for a while.’ William spoke⁵ without turning around to Michael. ‘We have a mission from the Sire. San Francisco was just the start.’
‘That’s excellent,’ Michael said, and he began to smile. ‘I enjoyed what went down there very much. Who are these people, the ones in the big, fancy house?’
William shrugged⁶. ‘Just prey⁷. The/re nobody.’
Michael began to pout⁸. ‘Why won’t you tell me who they are?’
‘The Sire said not to talk, and not to bring the cat.’ Michael asked no further questions. His obedience⁹ to the Sire was complete.
The Sire told you how to think, feel, and act.
The Sire was accountable to no one, to no other authority.
The Sire despised the straight world, as did they.  This definitely looked like the’straight world’. The large house had all the trappings: gardens tended and watered daily; a small pond filled with koi; several layers of terraces leading up to a large house with over a dozen rooms - for just two people. How obnoxious¹⁰ could anyone be?
William walked right in the front door and Michael followed. The foyer had a twenty-foot ceiling, a ridiculous crystal chandelier, a spiral staircase to heaven.
They found the couple in the kitchen, preparing a late meal, both of them sharing the preparations like the goodie-goodies that they were.  ‘Yuppies at play,’William said, and smiled.
‘Whoa!’ the male said, and threw up both of his hands. He was close to six-four and well-built. He was working like kitchen help at the vegetable sink. ‘What the hell do you guys think you’re doing?  Let’s take it outside.’
‘You’re the trouble-making lawyer/William said, and pointed¹¹ at the female. She was early thirties, short blond hair, high cheekbones, slender, with small breasts. ‘We came for supper.’ ‘I’m a lawyer, too,’ the domineering male said. ‘I don’t think you two were invited. I’m sure of it. Get out! You hear me? Hey, you assholes, hit the road.’
‘You threatened the Sire.’William continued to talk to the female.
‘So he sent us here.’
‘I’m going to call the police.’The woman finally spoke. She was upset now, the nubs of her breasts rising and falling against her shirt.  She had a small cell phone in her hand and William wondered if she had pulled it out of her ass¹². The thought made him smile.  He was on her in an instant and Michael took down the husband almost as easily. The brothers were incredibly fast and strong - and they knew it.
They growled¹³ loudly, but that was only an element of surprise, a scare tactic¹⁴.
‘We have money in the house. My God, don’t hurt us,’ the male shrieked¹⁵ loudly, almost like a woman.
‘We’re not after your obscene money - we have no use for it. And we’re not serial¹⁶ killers¹⁷, or anything common like that,’ William told them.
He bit down into the struggling woman’s luscious¹⁸ pink neck - and she stopped fighting. Just like that, she was his. She gazed into his eyes, and she swooned. A tear ran down her cheek.  William didn’t look up again until he had fed. ‘We’re vampires,’ he finally whispered to the murdered couple.

1 teeming   

adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注

参考例句：

• The rain was teeming down. 大雨倾盆而下。
• the teeming streets of the city 熙熙攘攘的城市街道

2 strapping   

adj. 魁伟的, 身材高大健壮的 n. 皮绳或皮带的材料, 裹伤胶带, 皮鞭 动词strap的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• He's a strapping lad—already bigger than his father. 他是一个魁梧的小伙子——已经比他父亲高了。
• He was a tall strapping boy. 他是一个高大健壮的小伙子。

3 evergreen   

n.常青树；adj.四季常青的

参考例句：

• Some trees are evergreen;they are called evergreen.有的树是常青的，被叫做常青树。
• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。

4 eucalyptus   

n.桉树，桉属植物

参考例句：

• Eucalyptus oil is good for easing muscular aches and pains.桉树油可以很好地缓解肌肉的疼痛。
• The birds rustled in the eucalyptus trees.鸟在桉树弄出沙沙的响声。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

8 pout   

v.撅嘴；绷脸；n.撅嘴；生气，不高兴

参考例句：

• She looked at her lover with a pretentious pout.她看着恋人，故作不悦地撅着嘴。
• He whined and pouted when he did not get what he wanted.他要是没得到想要的东西就会发牢骚、撅嘴。

9 obedience   

n.服从，顺从

参考例句：

• Society has a right to expect obedience of the law.社会有权要求人人遵守法律。
• Soldiers act in obedience to the orders of their superior officers.士兵们遵照上级军官的命令行动。

10 obnoxious   

adj.极恼人的，讨人厌的，可憎的

参考例句：

• These fires produce really obnoxious fumes and smoke.这些火炉冒出来的烟气确实很难闻。
• He is the most obnoxious man I know.他是我认识的最可憎的人。

11 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

12 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

13 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

15 shrieked   

v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She shrieked in fright. 她吓得尖叫起来。
• Li Mei-t'ing gave a shout, and Lu Tzu-hsiao shrieked, "Tell what? 李梅亭大声叫，陆子潇尖声叫：“告诉什么？ 来自汉英文学 - 围城

16 serial   

n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的

参考例句：

• A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。
• Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗？

17 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

18 luscious   

adj.美味的；芬芳的；肉感的，引与性欲的

参考例句：

• The watermelon was very luscious.Everyone wanted another slice.西瓜很可口，每个人都想再来一片。
• What I like most about Gabby is her luscious lips!我最喜欢的是盖比那性感饱满的双唇！