Chapter 82

She was gagged, then thrown roughly onto the rear seat of a pickup¹ truck. The truck started up and took off with a jolt².  She was being driven somewhere. Jamilla tried to concentrate on everything about the trip. She counted off the seconds, kept track of the minutes. There was stop-and-go city driving, then faster, smoother riding, possibly on Route 1.
Then a very rough road, possibly unpaved. She figured the trip took approximately thirty-seven minutes.
She was carried inside a building, some kind of ranch³ house or roughshod farm structure. People were laughing. At her? They wore fangs⁴. Jesus. She was put down on a cot in a small room and her gag removed.
‘You’ve come looking for the Sire,’ the one who called himself William whispered, his face up close to hers. ‘You’ve made a terrible mistake. Inspector⁵. This one will get you killed.’ He smiled horribly, and she felt as if she were being both ridiculed⁶, and, at the same time, seduced⁷. William touched her cheek with his long, slender fingers. He lightly caressed⁸ her throat, stared into her eyes.
She was repulsed⁹, wanted to run away, but couldn’t do anything.  There were a dozen or so vampires¹⁰ here - watching her like she was meat on a spit.
‘I don’t know anything about a Sire,’she said.’What’s a Sire? Help me out here.’
The brothers looked at each other, shared a knowing smirk¹¹. A few of the others laughed out loud.
The Sire is the one who leads,’ said William. He was so calm, so very sure of himself.
‘Who does the Sire lead?’ she asked.
‘Why, anyone who will follow,’ William answered. He laughed again, seemed to be enjoying himself immensely at her expense.  ‘Vampires, Inspector. Others like Michael and myself. Many others, in many, many cities. You can’t imagine the extent of it. The Sire stands firm with simple directions on what to think, how to act, things like that. The Sire is not accountable to any authorities. The Sire is a superior being. Are you starting to understand? Would you like to meet the Sire?’
‘Is the Sire here now?’ she asked. ‘Where are we?’
William continued to stare down at her. He was definitely seductive.  Disgusting. Then he leaned in closer. ‘You’re the detective. Js the Sire here? Where are you? You tell me.’
Jamilla felt as if she might retch. She needed her space. ‘Why are we here?’ she asked. She wanted to keep them talking, keep them occupied for as long as she could.
William shrugged¹². ‘Oh, we’ve always been here. This used to be a commune - California-dreaming hippies, mind-altering drugs, Joni Mitchell music. Our parents were hippies. We were isolated¹³ from other ways to live and think, so we depended on each other. My brother and I are unbelievably close. But we’re nothing really. We’re here to serve the Sire.’
‘Was the Sire always at the commune?’ she asked.  William shook his head, and gave her a serious look. ‘There were always vampires here. They stayed apart, left the others alone. You had to join them, not the other way around.’
‘How many are there?’
William looked at Michael, shrugged his broad shoulders, and they both laughed.’Legions! We’re everywhere.’
Suddenly William roared and went for her throat. Jamilla couldn’t help it - she screamed.
He stopped inches away from her, still growling¹⁴ like an animal.
Then he purred gently. His long tongue licked her cheek, her lips, her eyelids¹⁵. She couldn’t believe what was happening.  ‘We’re going to hang you and drink every last drop. And the most amazing thing - you’re going to enjoy it when you die. It’s ecstasy¹⁶, Jamilla.’

1 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。

2 jolt   

v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸

参考例句：

• We were worried that one tiny jolt could worsen her injuries.我们担心稍微颠簸一下就可能会使她的伤势恶化。
• They were working frantically in the fear that an aftershock would jolt the house again.他们拼命地干着，担心余震可能会使房子再次受到震动。

3 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

4 fangs   

n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座

参考例句：

• The dog fleshed his fangs in the deer's leg. 狗用尖牙咬住了鹿腿。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Dogs came lunging forward with their fangs bared. 狗龇牙咧嘴地扑过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

6 ridiculed   

v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Biosphere 2 was ultimately ridiculed as a research debade, as exfravagant pseudoscience. 生物圈2号最终被讥讽为科研上的大失败，代价是昂贵的伪科学。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She ridiculed his insatiable greed. 她嘲笑他的贪得无厌。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 seduced   

诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷

参考例句：

• The promise of huge profits seduced him into parting with his money. 高额利润的许诺诱使他把钱出了手。
• His doctrines have seduced many into error. 他的学说把许多人诱入歧途。

8 caressed   

爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His fingers caressed the back of her neck. 他的手指抚摩着她的后颈。
• He caressed his wife lovingly. 他怜爱万分地抚摸着妻子。

9 repulsed   

v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝

参考例句：

• I was repulsed by the horrible smell. 这种可怕的气味让我恶心。
• At the first brush,the enemy was repulsed. 敌人在第一次交火时就被击退了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 vampires   

n.吸血鬼( vampire的名词复数 )；吸血蝠；高利贷者；（舞台上的）活板门

参考例句：

• The most effective weapon against the vampires is avampire itself. 对付吸血鬼最有效的武器就是吸血鬼自己。 来自电影对白
• If vampires existed, don`t you think we would`ve found them by now? 如果真有吸血鬼，那我们怎么还没有找到他们呢？ 来自电影对白

11 smirk   

n.得意地笑；v.傻笑；假笑着说

参考例句：

• He made no attempt to conceal his smirk.他毫不掩饰自鸣得意的笑容。
• She had a selfsatisfied smirk on her face.她脸上带着自鸣得意的微笑。

12 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》

13 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

14 growling   

n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼

参考例句：

• We heard thunder growling in the distance. 我们听见远处有隆隆雷声。
• The lay about the deck growling together in talk. 他们在甲板上到处游荡，聚集在一起发牢骚。

15 eyelids   

n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色

参考例句：

• She was so tired, her eyelids were beginning to droop. 她太疲倦了，眼睑开始往下垂。
• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 ecstasy   

n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷

参考例句：

• He listened to the music with ecstasy.他听音乐听得入了神。
• Speechless with ecstasy,the little boys gazed at the toys.小孩注视着那些玩具，高兴得说不出话来。