"Joshua and Dracu are safe," said Angelina, who rolled over to check the messages on her cellphone as soon as she woke up in the evening. "They're holed up in Albuquerque."

  "That's good," said Caleb, lying next to her. "Can I go back to nuzzling your hair?"

  "Only for a few more minutes," said Angelina. "I've been so busy with your thing I haven't hit the tables in a while. And when I have hit the tables, I've been distracted by, in this order, my ex-boyfriend, my ex-boyfriend's childe, and a small alpaca-clutching vampire telling me dire prophecies about my ex-boyfriend. And I haven't been back to the tables because my ex-boyfriend got kidnapped, my ex-boyfriend needed emotional support from coming out to his parents, my ex-boyfriend needed a ride to pick up his car, my ex-boyfriend's childe was in mortal danger, and my ex-boyfriend had to have a family reunion with Dracu."

  Caleb winced, as Angelina continued.

  I have an unlife too, Caleb. One that doesn't -- and can't -- revolve around you."

  "That's... fair," said Caleb. "I've been so wrapped up in this thing that I forgot other people have... feelings and lives of their own."

  "I mean, I get it, Caleb. It's a big deal, and it could save lives. And it's good that you recognize the pattern. But you were like this even before the Stalker case. Anyway, storage lockers don't pay for themselves."

  "But this is nice, isn't it?" pleaded Caleb, cuddling Angelina even more.

  "I didn't say it wasn't nice," said Angelina, closing her eyes and smiling. "But I want a nice retionship and a healthy one. Maybe I could form a polycule with Pantessa and Stelian."

  "Stelian?"

  "I'm surprised that 'Stelian' was what tripped you up, and not 'polycule.' What do you think, Cal. I've got some makeup spray here that makes me glitter too! Think he'd like it?"

  Caleb smiled and narrowed his eyes.

  "You're teasing me."

  "Of course," said Angelina.

  "That's not a turn-off," said Caleb.

  "Wasn't meant to be," said Angelina. "But... in truth, I do have to get to the tables. And now that you have a few moments of downtime before you need to make your next move in this game of five-dimensional chess you're pying with Renfield, you need to get a cellphone and come up with a strategy that isn't just reactive, but proactive."

  "I hate those things, you know. Cellphones. It's not just the security of it. It's the aesthetics. Just... bricks. Whatever happened to those cellphones that flipped up like Star Trek communicators, or the ones with the keyboards built in?" Caleb wistfully blew some of his long hair out of his eyes.

  "People found something better, old man," said Angelina. "But right. Time's up. Time to get up."

  "Right. Where's my pants?"

  "She's staying with Stelian at Joshua's house. And she prefers to be called Pantessa now, remember?"

  "No, I mean, where are my literal trousers?"

  "Oh." Angelina shifted over a bit, so Caleb could look around.

  "Say, can I rail you?" asked Caleb.

  Angelina slowly, deliberately turned to Caleb, a look of pure murder on her face.

  "Er... can I watch you py poker from the rail? While I set up the cellphone with that Signal app everyone's been talking about? That's... that's the only thing I meant by that."

  The murder-face dissipated.

  "Oh. Yeah, I don't mind."

  "You told me I was bad luck, though."

  "You are, Caleb, but poker isn't about luck," she smirked.

  ***

  Caleb drove Ange to the Orleans, and on the way stopped at a 7-11 to get one of those super-cheap phones that come with pre-paid pns. It would suffice, he wasn't going to use it to watch YouTube, but just to have some secure communication. Truth be told, he probably should have done to set up Signal years ago, but he just didn't know until the new blood -- ha! -- of Pantessa came along, expined it to Angelina, and Angelina expined it to him. Philip vouched for it, so that was good enough for Caleb to trust it.

  There was some frustration getting his account set up, Caleb never was good with smartphones, maybe an artifact of his undead mind and aesthetic tastes forever being stuck in 1998. He sat at the Sbarro's opposite the poker tables, occasionally waving to Angelina. He'd ask how she was doing with a quick "thumbs up/thumbs down" symbol.

  Sadly, Angelina gave him a thumbs down this night. Angelina was good at poker, but that only meant she got the money in when the odds were in her favor - not that she could guarantee what cards would come out. She called those moments where she would get money in as an 80, 90, even 95% favorite and still lose as 'suck outs.'

  Which of course, made Caleb giggle the first time he heard it. But they were both confident that she should rally back. She usually did.

  Caleb looked down at the phone, bracing himself for the thing he had to do next. He called his parents.

  "Hello?" said a female voice.

  Shit. It was Mom. Dad, he probably could handle. Mom... was another story.

  "Hello, Mrs. Trent... I'm... I'm calling for Mr. Michael Trent... I'm--"

  Before Caleb could think of a good lie, Mrs. Trent interrupted him, in a choked up voice.

  "Calvin, is that you? Your dad says you're going by Caleb now."

  "Yeah. It's... it's me, Mom. He told you?" Caleb said, trying to keep at least some manner of composure. "I... I know it's... a lot."

  "Twenty five years, Cal. Can I still call you Cal?"

  Caleb smiled, Mom was still as sweet as ever.

  "Yeah, Mom. You can call me Cal, always."

  "I love you, Cal. I know that. But twenty-five years, Cal! Twenty-five years. And my baby boy, my little baby boy, he's alive. I thought I lost you, but you're alive! I love you so much, Cal. I don't know all of what kind of trouble you're in, but whatever your dad and I can do to help, you know we will."

  "Thanks, Mom. I know you would do anything to help. And... that's why I called. I needed Dad's help with something. And he did help, and... I'm sorry. I can't expin why over the phone, but... the... I... I stayed away to keep you safe. And because I didn't want you... to... look, I don't know how much Dad told you... but it's not safe to mention any of it over the phone. I'm going to give you some instructions, can you write them down? It's to install an application on your mobile phones that allow us to talk securely. So that nobody can wiretap us. Then I can tell you everything."

  "I'd really like that, Cal. I'd like to know what you've been doing, where you've been living. I want to know if you've found a family. Are you eating well? I still worry. I do. I thought you were dead, but I didn't know, and I hoped that you were alive, and if you were alive I was so worried that you weren't eating well, not without me to cook for you."

  "That... will be hard to expin, but... I'm okay," said Caleb.

  "Are you healthy?"

  Caleb, mostly to amuse himself, checked his non-existent pulse. "I'm surviving, which is really all you can ask for."

  "That's good," his mom said. "So, I have the pen and paper."

  "Okay. The application is called 'Signal.'"

  "Single?"

  "Signal, as in traffic signal or bat signal. S I G N A L."

  "Okay. So we put that on both our phones?"

  "Yes, and then add my username. It's C T R Y S T dot 72. Write that down. When I get a message from you I'll start a phone conversation - or a video one, if you're comfortable with that - and we can talk more openly. And I can tell you why I've been away for so long, and... everything."

  "Okay, done."

  "It has been a long time, mom, but I know you pretty well, so I'm guessing you're trying very hard not to cry right now so we can keep talking?"

  There was a little ugh at the other end of the line. "You do know me well, Cal."

  "I'll wait, literally, for your signal. Or for Dad's, if you can help Dad get set up. Just one thing. And this is very important. Whatever happens, Dad should not come down to Las Vegas. It's not safe for him here. I can't expin more than that on the phone, not without the Signal app. I'm sorry."

  "Okay. We weren't pnning on going anywhere anyway. Unless you need us to. Can you come up to Reno?"

  "Maybe. Maybe. I don't know. But I have to stay in Vegas for a while yet."

  "I love you, Cal. I always have. We both have. And we're... well, I'm mad as hell at you for staying away for so long. But I love you and I always will. Unconditionally. You know that. Oh, do you have a girlfriend? Or a boyfriend?"

  "I did... we... Wait. Boyfriend?"

  "I was worried that one of the reasons you disappeared was that maybe you ran off with a boyfriend and thought we wouldn't approve. I knew you were always a little gay, Calvin-- er, Caleb. A mother knows these things. I mean, you really liked women too. You remember Abigail?"

  "I remember Abby, yes. The kind of high school crush that's hard to forget."

  "She moved to Washington D.C. She works for the EPA. Or... she did until very recently. But you also had eyes for Cody. Cody was such a sweetheart. You two would hang out together all the time, with your Super Nintendo, and he taught you to py basketball."

  "Mom, I..."

  "He's married now. He met a nice boy in grad school and they just hit it off."

  "I didn't know Cody was gay."

  "Honey, how could you not? Why do you think I insisted that you leave your door open when you pyed Super Nintendo?"

  "Ventition?"

  "You know, it's okay to be gay, you know," Caleb's mother said.

  "I know it's okay to be gay, I'm just... I don't... I'm not gay, Mom. Besides I'm... trying to get back together with my ex-girlfriend. Which I don't know if that's going to work but I just really miss her, and we've been spending a lot of time together recently, and I realize I haven't always been a good person, and I know I need to get better, but I honestly think I can and I know she thinks that I can, and that's how I know I can--" Suddenly, Caleb remembered why he called his parents in the first pce.

  "Look, Mom, I'll tell you all about her when we get set up with that app, okay?"

  "Okay, Caleb. I love you. Your father loves you. And we can't wait to see you again."

  "Please do? Wait to see me, I mean. I'm... onto something. Onto something that has taken me years to figure out. But I'm almost done. And... if I can, I'm going to try to make it back to you. I haven't been the best son. By a mile. But I love you and dad, too."

  ***

  "So, have you decided where you're going to stay?" asked Stelian.

  "I think I might actually stay here, in Joshua's house," said Pantessa, picking up her dress off the floor, and slipping it on. "Yeah, technically Joshua only gave me permission to enter, not to inhabit, but the guy murdered me and so I figured he at least owes me that. And he's in Transylvania besides. I'm just... unofficially house-sitting. If you ask me, I'm doing him a favor."

  "No objections from me, morally," said Stelian. "Hell, he'd probably be fine with it. I know he's your murderer and all, but for a serial killer, he's not that bad a guy."

  Pantessa frowned and raised an eyebrow. "I know he was supernaturally controlled. I know he was just the weapon, not the real killer. This Renfield guy is. But just because he was a tool does not mean he's forgiven. I don't have good feelings about the knife that stabbed me to death, either."

  "I'd invite you to stay at my pce, but, uh, I live with my mom," said Stelian.

  Pantessa sat down on the bed, thinking and frowning, a little upset.

  "Sorry," said Stelian. "Was it something I said?"

  "Yeah," said Pantessa, "but it wasn't your fault. It just reminded me. My family. My friends. I'm never going to see them again."

  Stelian sat down next to Pantessa and pulled her into a hug, if only because Stelian had no words.

  "I mean, I could, I guess," said Pantessa. "It's not like there's a real w, just the stupid guidelines. But despite what Caleb says, they're not... actually stupid. You start getting family members involved and... they tell friends and those friends tell enemies and... I'm new, but I'm getting how fragile this existence is. How we all have to be... every single one of us has to have common sense, has to make sacrifices, can't stick out, otherwise we bring the wrath of the world upon us. One vampire screws up, and every vampire gets the bme."

  "Don't tell him this, he will never let me live it down, but Caleb's... we don't just respect him because he's the eldest. He's not that old. But... we respect him because he's a survivor. And even at his most curmudgeonly, miserable worst, he still works to help his people survive. I kinda... look up to him. A lot."

  Pantessa snorted.

  "Seriously?" she asked. "The man has more mental issues than Psychologist Weekly."

  "That he does. But he's also dealt with more mental problems than a card shark at an asylum, and lived through them. He's the strongest man - live or dead - that I know."

  ***

  Caleb, at that moment, was in the men's room of the Orleans, crying softly to himself in one of the stalls, wiping tears from his eyes.

  "Hey, buddy," said a voice from the next stall over. "You okay?"

  "Yeah, thanks for checking in. Rough couple of days. Reconnected with... er, my estranged parents, and with my absentee adopted father--" Caleb reasoned that that was true enough "--and I've got a lot on my pte right now with work, lives depend on it, and I'm starting to realize I'm still in love with my ex, and all of it is just too much. I needed to break down in privacy, you know?"

  "Ah," said the voice in the next stall. "I don't know how to help with any of that. I just needed to know if I should ask the casino to bring you some xatives."

  Caleb let out a short ugh. "Thanks, man," Caleb said, leaning back. "I needed that."

  "What's your name?" asked the voice.

  "Caleb."

  "I'm Greg. You wouldn't happen to know an Angelina, would you?"

  "Yes, I do. Regur poker pyer, cat-eye gsses?" asked Caleb.

  "That's the one. Look, I don't know if I should be telling you this," said Greg, "but I think you may have a better shot of getting back together with your ex than you think, if that cheers you up any," said Greg. "She talks about you all the time."

  "It... does, actually. How do you know her?"

  "I've been keeping an eye on her for a good long while. Angelina, I've never met a poker pyer who can read people like she can. It's uncanny. Almost supernatural. I tell you, she's something special."

  "Yeah," sighed Caleb. "She really is."

  "That's why I'm hoping to stake her."

  "What?" said Caleb.

  "Yeah, I stake a lot of people like her."

  Caleb immediately stood up, a little panicked. Was he dealing with a vampire hunter? He flushed the toilet, and headed over to the sinks to wash his hands, keeping an eye on "Greg's" stall -- if that was his real name.

  "So, what, do you work for... an organization?"

  "Nah, I just work for myself. But I do have a side-bet with other stakers. See how many people we can successfully stake this year."

  "You're betting on how many people you can stake?"

  "Hundred thousand goes to the winner," said Greg. "The key is that you can't just stake anyone, you have to find people who have a good chance of making it worth staking. And Angelina absolutely meets the criteria."

  'Py it cool, Caleb,' he thought. 'It's just one vampire hunter. Worst case scenario... well, worst case scenario, I die. He looked around his surroundings. Trying to be aware of his environment. What can he use as a weapon? Was there a crawl space in the ceiling he could access?

  "It's just too bad she said no."

  Caleb blinked. "What?"

  "She said, 'no.' To me staking her."

  Caleb tilted his head. "You asked her and she said no?"

  "Yeah, I figure it's impostor syndrome, you know? I mean, there's this tournament that's perfect for her coming up. DeepStack Extravaganza at the Venetian. It's an 1100 plus 310, runs for a day. Would be perfect," said Greg. "And hey, I get that she'd probably lose, and that's not the point, there's a lot of variance in tournaments, you know? I just hate to see someone that talented grinding it out in small stakes when I know she could be big."

  "Small stakes." Caleb facepalmed. "You want to stake her in a poker tournament."

  "Yeah, I told her up to 1500, if she loses, it's on me, if she wins, I get my initial stake, plus half of what's left. I'll be honest with you, there's an ulterior motive. I wasn't kidding about that side bet. Me and four other pros put in 100 grand. Whoever makes the most money staking people in 2025 gets the 500k pot."

  Greg flushed the toilet, and headed out of the stall, to the sinks, and for the first time, Caleb got a good look at the man. This was no vampire hunter. This was the body of a man who lived a very sedentary lifestyle.

  "I think it's just impostor syndrome, you know?" said Greg. "Poker is still dominated by men, mostly, she might be a bit intimidated."

  "Angelina? Intimidated? Either you don't know her that well, or I don't know her that well," Caleb frowned. "Actually, it might actually be the tter, now that I think about it."

  "Maybe just... talk about it. I absolutely have financial incentive for wanting her to be a horse in my stable, but she's not just good at poker. She's fun to have at the table. Makes everyone feel at ease. Unless she's check-raising you. Then it's like a wolf staring you down."

  Caleb smiled to himself, remembering happier times. He knew the wolf-stare too. From a completely different context.

  "Anyway," said Greg, "I need to get back to the tables. I think this is going to be my st week pying small stakes at the Orleans and will head back to the Venetian for my regur 5/10 and 10/20 game. Just needed to take a break after a brutal series of bad beats."

  "Yeah, lord knows we all need more downtime," said Caleb. "Best of luck at the tables. Unless you're pying against Angelina, then I always gotta root for her."

  "Good man," said Greg, heading out the door.

  "Working on it," Caleb said to himself, after Greg left.

  ***

  When Joshua saw an invite from Caleb on signal, he quickly replied with an update on the situation. Capt. Tengle and Dracu continued heading on to Transylvania, chartering a flight, while he decided to stay in Albuquerque for the time being. He also mentioned that when Dracu got back to his castle, he'd look for anything to help Caleb with Renfield. Drac said he might even have an old sketch.

  But for the most part, Joshua was just relieved that he was done. No more vampires. No more supernatural mind control. He id back on the hotel room bed and shut his eyes. Finally, he could sleep at night.

  And then he remembered something, sat up, grabbed his phone, and texted Caleb back.

  "Tell Stelian and Pantessa they owe me a bed."

  Then he y back down, closing his eye.

  It wasn't too long ter that his phone chimed, and he rolled to the side to check it.

  "What's this about me and Stelian owing you a bed?" texted Pantessa. "You murdered me. I don't owe you shit. Also, I'm staying at your pce until I get my own. Consider it house sitting."

  "Fair enough," texted Joseph, followed by an emoji of a man shrugging. "Mi casa es su casa."

  Pantessa replied with a furious frowny face emoji. And then texted. "...but thank you."

  ***

  Caleb finally got the text that he was dreading: one from 'MamaTrent.38', saying "It took some doing but we think we have this signal thing set up. Are you still up?"

  He took a long, unnecessary breath to clear his mind. He headed over to Angelina's table, waited for the hand in py to be over, and showed her the message. Angelina pced a hand on his upper arm, squeezed it, and nodded. And then he headed back to his Camry for some privacy.

  ---

  He dialed his mother and father. Voice first. He wasn't sure if they could handle the fact that they haven't aged, and he also wasn't sure if he could handle the fact that they have.

  "Hello," said his father, who picked up. "Caleb? This is Dad. Mom's here too. You're on speaker."

  "Hello," he said. What else can you say? "First, I love you both. So much. Second, a lot of what I'm going to say... doesn't sound... believable. But I assure you, every word of it is true. And both of you, you can't repeat a word of it to anyone. Anyone. Okay? There are rules. Well, they're more guidelines. And technically I'm the one who came up with them. But if I came up with them but was seen to break them, nobody would follow them, and then all hell would break loose. Possibly literally, I'm not really sure."

  He heard his mom crying. She said. "It's him, it's really him! He even talks like him!"

  Caleb was taken aback for a moment. "Wait, what does that mean?"

  "Don't worry about that," said his dad. "You can tell Mom what you told me. We're both sitting down."

  "There is no easy way to break this. Vampires are real."

  "Of course they're real. How else would they know if the batter was struck out?" said his mother.

  "No," said his father, "Vampires. Not Umpires."

  "Oh," said his mother. "Sorry, this phone's speaker isn't great. Also: vampires are real?"

  "Didn't want to bury the lede. Yes. Vampires are real. And that's what happened to me. I became a vampire. Drinking blood, hiding from the sun, no pulse, living dead, that's what happened to me."

  A very, very long pause after that.

  "And you couldn't have called?" said his mother, indignantly.

  "Well, I'm calling you now."

  "Twenty-five years, Caleb! No! Twenty-seven!"

  "There was another reason I... Mom, this is going to be even harder to hear."

  And so Caleb told them about Renfield, the family's curse, and his own role in it. He was very grateful that his father admitted his role to his mother, he didn't want to be the one to break that news. He expined that he wouldn't have put them through the pain of reliving these moments, if it wasn't for the fact that he needed to confirm that Renfield's ability to control them and make them kill was reted to his bloodline.

  They caught up on decades of lost time, expining what had happened and why. Caleb told them about Angelina, and Pantessa, and the glittergang, and Mad Tom.

  And there was a lot of crying between the three of them, especially when Mrs. Trent finally figured out how to turn on the video, and Caleb could see all the years that had passed in the lines on their faces.

  ---

  "Cal, it's hard for me to believe any of this is true," said his mother. "I... I have to see it for myself. I'm coming down to Vegas. First thing tomorrow."

  "No! Mom, you and Dad can't come to Vegas. If you do, there's a chance Renfield could possess Dad again, and--"

  Mrs. Trent cut her son off. "No, of course not. Mikey is staying put here in Reno. Someone has to look after the dog, after all."

  "You have a dog?" Caleb wasn't sure why that surprised him.

  "Yeah. Golden Retriever. Want to see?"

  "Yes!," said Caleb, the undead abomination, the bloodsucking creature of the night. "Oh. My. God! Show me the puppy!"

  Caleb's mother moved the cellphone camera over so that he could see a golden retriever, lying on a dog bed, fast asleep.

  "He's so cute! What's his name?"

  "Her name is Jamie."

  "Awwwwww," said the vampire.

  "Right," said Mrs. Trent. "Anyway, I'm coming down there tomorrow. Where can I meet up with you?"

  "Mom, that's not a good idea. I'm kinda locked in this life-or-death struggle with an ancient evil right now? It's not the best time to visit."

  "When they're going through the tough patches, that's when a boy needs his mother most," said Mrs. Trent. "Don't argue with me on this one. I'm not waiting longer than I have to. And when you finally defeat this big evil Renfield or whatever, I'm going to drive you to Reno and you're gonna spend some time with Dad and Jamie, too."

  Caleb sighed. "Mom, you'd be putting yourself in danger."

  "So what," said Mrs. Trent. "I'm old. I get killed, big whoop. That's another thing, you don't want me to die of a heart attack before I get to see you again! By the way, do you have a spare room?"

  "I really don't," said Caleb, accepting defeat. "But I know someone who might," he said, making a mental note to ask Joshua if he was okay with letting his mom stay at his pce, not knowing that it was already occupied by his childe.

  ***

  Angelina, up over one and a half buy-ins (or 750), decided to call it a night, racked up her chips, and headed over to the cashier's cage, where Caleb was already waiting for her.

  "So," he said. "Good night?"

  "Good night," agreed Angelina. "Rough start, but I bounced back. Why do men always think that they can bluff the girl on the table?"

  "I don't know. Probably a machismo thing," said Caleb. "So, uh, I, uh, there's no easy way to put this..."

  Angelina closed her eyes in frustration, waiting for the bad news.

  "...but my Mom is coming to Vegas to meet me. I'm sure she's going to want to meet you, too."

  "What?" said Angelina.

  "I mean, I couldn't not... she... I mean, I did disappear from her life for twenty five years, and I...," Caleb stammered.

  "That's another thing about men. They have no ability to stand up to their mothers," said Angelina. "I take it she can't be dissuaded?"

  "I'd rather go up against Dracu," said Caleb.

  Angelina sighed. "Fine."

  "So, I met a guy in the bathroom named Greg," said Caleb.

  "Oh? Should I be jealous?" teased Angelina.

  "Ha. Ha. But no, he says he wants to give you essentially free money to py in a poker tournament?"

  "He does," said Angelina. "Did he also tell you I turned him down?"

  "He did. Why?"

  "The Deepstack Extravaganza event at the Venetian starts at 11:00 a.m.," said Angelina, sighing. "Otherwise I would have jumped at it."

  "Oh," said Caleb, wondering why the hell he didn't think of that.

  "It'd be nice, but, you know. Big fming ball of death, remember?"

  "Well, not in the poker room itself," said Caleb. "But yeah, you'd have to go through the casino floor, and there are some windows... either that or you'd have to find somepce to stash yourself until 11 a.m. that you wouldn't be disturbed."

  "Yeah, exactly," said Angelina. "It'd require fucking Ocean's Eleven to get me to the Venetian in time for the 11 a.m. start time. Plus, I'd be exhausted until sundown, it's hard to stay awake during the day."

  "True, true," admitted Caleb. "Well, let me give you a ride back to your pce. I guess it's back to the industrial park for me."

  "That's sweet, Caleb. Thank you."

  Caleb smiled. And internally, wheels started turning in his head. "Ocean's Eleven," he muttered, out loud, to no one in particur.

  "What was that?" asked Angelina.

  "Nothing. Just thinking," said Caleb, who was already putting together a crew in his mind.