by D. S. Ritter
“I’ve had a few sources confirm that,” agreed Smith.
“So,” said Sam, playing with her glass. “What’s the next move then?”
“I’ve got some dangerous people who owe me a favor,” said Smith, putting his arm over the back of the bench, close enough to make Sam’s spine quiver a little. “They’ll deal with it.”
“So, it’s all over?”
“Pretty much. I’d give them a day or two to mop things up, but I’d say things are fairly handled.” Smith grinned. “Have another drink, relax, and look forward to getting back to the parking business, eh?”
Sam nodded, a little too shy to smile. Relief washed over her like a warm tide. Something still prickled her though. It all felt too easy. John didn’t look happy either, but he didn’t share his thoughts with her.
“Anyway,” said Smith, flashing Sam a smile that was all sunshine and encouragement. “You kids stay safe now and stay off that saliva. Addictive stuff.”
“We will,” said Sam, blushing again.
John rolled his eyes in disgust. “Really? Some mighty monster hunter you are,” he said, once his cousin had gone back to his place behind the bar. “He’s not exactly a one woman guy, you know? I mean, he’s got access to multiple dimensions. You think he’s going to settle for a parking lot attendant?”
Sam sighed. “A parking lot attendant with potential, remember?”
“Yeah, we’ll see.”
Chapter Fourteen
While John had been more than happy to use his magic to get her to the bar, he had no intention of leaving it soon, so Sam had to get herself home. She badgered him into lending her money for the bus since he hadn’t foreseen to magic her wallet or phone along with them. Luckily, he had remembered her keys somehow, so she wasn’t locked out of the apartment when she finally got there.
Sam had not seen her car until she got off the bus, but walking up to it, she felt her spirits drop. The vampire had flipped it. “Goddamn vampire hooligans,” she sighed, inspecting the damage, trying to convince herself the piece of crap wasn’t much worse off than before. She’d call a tow truck once she got upstairs.
Tossing the keys into the bowl by the door, she got some cereal out and checked her phone. It had blown up over the course of the morning, and she’d gotten something like ten texts from her coworkers, one of which was a picture.
Heather J:
Just got this from Tina
Can’t believe she gave Matt her number
Below was a selfie of Matt, standing in line outside what looked like a club. His hair was terrible as was his outfit. He’d missed the last decade of fashion tips, it seemed. But what was most interesting, was who was in the background.
Sam almost dropped the phone. There, sauntering into the club like he owned it, was the vampire from her window, helmet hair and all.
Chapter Fifteen
There was no thought to waiting for the weekend. A vampire had marked Sam, and there was no threshold protection in the parking garages, so she needed to make moves as soon as possible. On the one hand, she didn’t want to go alone with John. He might have helped her hangover, but she wasn’t sure how good he would be in a fight. Her friends had proven themselves, but she also didn’t want to put them in danger. She texted everyone with some trepidation.
Sam D:
Might be doing something stupid again.
Got a lead.
Franklin M:
Is it monster time?
Sam D:
Might be.
But it’s really dangerous this time guys.
Carter E:
I am so in.
Kim K:
Baby, we’ll talk about it when I get home.
Heather:
What are we doing this time?
Sam D:
We’re going out to the club
***
They pulled strings and everyone called off who needed to. Heather would need to get a doctor’s note before her next shift, but that was doable. If management suspected they were all hanging out together, nobody said anything about it.
They met up in the parking lot of a strip mall near the club, shut down a few years ago, and took stock before they got into what might be enemy territory.
Snow had just fallen and Sam was bundled up in her work jacket, a big blue parka, when she stepped out of her apartment building. She wore her little black dress, tights and, rather than the strappy wedge sandals, a pair of black lace-up boots. If there was going to be any kicking, stomping or, far more likely, running, Sam would not be turning her ankle like some horror movie heroine.
She climbed into her newly righted car, notoriously bad in slick conditions, and then remembered about the transmission. The vampire or the tow truck operator who had flipped it back over damaged it.
She swore, popped the car into neutral, and climbed out. The apartment complex put salt down on the parking lot and sidewalk, so the inch of snow that had come down was already becoming icy slush, brown and gross. It was hard to find purchase in that mess, and Sam used the concrete bumper safeguarding the sidewalk to push against as she tried to get the little sedan rolling backwards. Despite being small, it was still heavy as hell and barely moved at first, but once she got it rolling, it picked up a little speed. Too much speed, and Sam, not being ready, lost her grip on the hood of the car and fell forward onto the dirty, slushy asphalt. She scrambled to her feet, groaning with frustration and chased down the car, still coasting backwards. She threw the door open, hoped inside and got it started.
It would be awhile before she could save up enough to get it fixed, but as long as just reverse was messed up, she’d make do.
***
Everyone was waiting by the time she pulled in to the parking lot of the dilapidated strip mall. Yolanda and Jesus, seasoned club-goers, were dressed to the nines. Yolanda wore a tight, black number with some nearly revealing bits done in black lace that accentuated her curves to the fullest effect. Jesus was wearing a slick, thin-cut suit with a gorgeous purple dress shirt and an understated skinny black tie. He had his hair slicked back with pomade and had what Yolanda described as his game face on. Sam thought she spotted a bit of rosary peeking from inside his collar.
Heather wore an animal print dress, which looked okay, but borrowed. It didn’t fit her right though she was making it work. She was also wearing a pair of ballet-style flats. “I don’t do this kind of thing much,” she said, shrugging. “I mean, I go to DEMF some years, but you can wear sneakers and jeans to that...”
Franklin had donned what Sam suspected were church clothes. Dress pants with a button-up blue dress shirt, no tie and black loafers. It wasn’t anything special, but that worked out for guys. “So, we’re just waiting on Carter and Kim?” he asked, leaning on his car in the frigid sunset.
“If they come,” said Yolanda, frowning. “Kim’s not really down with this whole vampire hunting biz.”
“Understandable, after what we saw,” said Jesus. “I mean, how we gonna deal with that shit? These guys are some scary bad asses.”
“So are we,” said Franklin, crossing his arms. “I mean, how many people could have handled those things last year?”
“Dude, this is so much worse than last year. We can’t even see these guys, they move so fast. One of them threw Sam like a doll or something…”
There wasn’t much arguing about that. The monsters that had come out of the basement of Seven-One had been strong, but also, mostly made of green ooze, and they slithered, or flapped awkwardly, like the creations of a child playing with biological tinker toys. What they were dealing with now though, were real predators, armed with massive strength and speed, and a human intellect. The odds were not exactly in their favor.
Sam wished she still had some of that vampire saliva wreaking havoc in her bloodstream. She might not have had the advantage, but at least she was somewhere near the abilities of a vampire. She nudged some snow with the toe of her boot and wondered what she’d gotten herse
lf and her friends into.
“Nice of you all to make it, even if I didn’t invite you.” Sam turned and found John standing by the trunk of her car, having appeared out of nowhere. She knew better than to ask where he came from. There weren’t even any tracks in the fresh snow.
“Wow,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “You clean up pretty well. And you left the cape at home too.”
John did a little turn like he was on the catwalk, so everyone could admire his black-as-pitch suit jacked and shockingly red shirt underneath. “Oh no,” he said, “I just altered it a little.”
Sam laughed, but couldn’t help but notice that the dirty snow in the parking lot seemed to avoid touching his nice black leather shoes. It seemed like he used magic constantly, despite being a horrible magician.
Kim and Carter pulled in about five minutes later, Kim frowning, and Carter looking like they were going to Disneyland.
“I told him we’d have one more adventure before settling down,” said Kim, “but, I’ve got job interviews coming up, so I need to be careful okay? Can’t get maimed or killed or something. I really want to land one of these jobs.
“And I want him in one piece too.”
“And you agreed to that?” asked Franklin, clapping Carter on the back.
Carter shrugged. “I spoil her. But seriously, we want to have a real, adult life with actual careers and stuff, and she’s kind of convinced me that monster hunting isn’t really conducive to that kind of lifestyle, you know?”
Franklin laughed. “Man, not even married and already whipped.”
“So, the gang’s all here,” said Sam. “Let’s talk about the plan. First order of business is to get into the club. I think we can do that. We have cash for cover, we’re dressed like we’re supposed to.
Once we’re inside, we need to figure out if it’s a vampire front or not, without them figuring out what we’re doing. If it is, we need to get out of there, ASAP. I’ll send you guys the address of where we need to go if things go south. We can’t fight these guys, so...”
“Actually...” said John, a smug grin on his face. He opened his suit jacket and pulled out several small phials, each filled with a clear liquid that looked like water.
Sam stared. “What is that?” she asked, worried she might already know.
“Something special from Smith’s little kitchen,” said John, inspecting the tiny glass tubes before tossing one to Franklin. “He thought it might be safer if we went in with a ghost of a chance of getting back out alive.”
“But, what is this?” asked Franklin, peering at the liquid inside.
Sam sighed. “Vampire spit.”
Franklin’s face contorted in disgust, like he’d gotten it on him.
“Not straight up spit,” said John. “It’s been tweaked. This stuff is more potent and hopefully comes with fewer side effects.”
“Hopefully?” asked Heather.
“Well, it’s not exactly FDA tested, is it?”
Yolanda raised a perfect eyebrow. “No way, man. I saw what that stuff did to Sam. It cannot be good for you.”
“Pretty sure getting your head ripped off or having all your blood sucked out isn’t good for you either,” said John, shrugging, “but, it’s your choice if you want to take it or not, I just thought I’d help you guys out.”
Franklin eyed the phial which was almost minuscule in his ham hock of a hand. “I guess I’ll try it?” he offered.
Before anyone could stop him, he pulled the tiny top off and downed the concoction, grimacing as he did so. And then he stood there, waiting for it to take effect.
“Am I supposed to feel any different? Because, I don’t feel any different.”
John frowned. “I would be pretty surprised if it worked immediately. Smith is a genius about a lot of stuff, but he’s not a miracle worker.”
“So, we take this stuff and hope, not only that it works,” said Sam, looking at him dubiously, “but also that there really aren’t any harmful side effects?”
“What other choices do you have? If we don’t get this done tonight, the chances of you living to see next week go way, way down.”
Her friends all looked at her for a moment, and Yolanda stepped forward. “I’ll take it,” she said. Sam was a little touched. It was obvious from Yolanda’s expression she was pissed about this whole thing. Jesus also took a phial, probably more for solidarity with Yolanda than anything else. Heather took one, shrugging. Only Kim and Carter hesitated.
Kim sighed. “I don’t really want to take the risk,” she said to Carter, “and I don’t really want you to either, Baby. I told you you could have one last adventure like this, and you can if you want. But I think I’m going to sit this one out.”
Carter looked at her with some surprise. “You sure? I mean, I know you’ve been overwhelmed with the wedding stuff... I just figured we should try to save the world, right?”
“Yeah, except,” and this part, she whispered into his ear.
Everyone watched with concern as his face became increasingly animated, first with confusion, shock, then... happiness.
“YOU’RE PREGNANT?!”
She laughed and hid her eyes in embarrassment from everyone, not expecting him to utterly fail to keep the secret.
“What?!” Everyone came up to congratulate her, except Sam noticed, for John, who slipped her a phial and hit the rest back in his suit pocket. Carter may have planned on one last adventure, but it would not be this one, it seemed.
Chapter Sixteen
The club was located out in the middle of nowhere and during the day resembled a derelict warehouse with a freshly paved parking lot in front. The building was situated among other industrial buildings, including a small power plant. With nothing to recommend it as a club, it would have been impossible to find had it not been for the limousines pulling up, and the huge bouncers manning a velvet rope. The group had parked their shoddy cars a ways back in the lot and were watching the goings on for a moment.
“Well, that isn’t intimidating at all,” said Sam, eyeing a woman in a very tight dress, practically defying gravity as she climbed out of a white limo. “Also, where the hell are these people coming from? This isn’t exactly L.A.”
John was frowning. “I’m not sure. They look like they’re from out of town...” He got out his phone, which was a slick, futuristic number, with what looked like bits of circuit board glued to it, and started texting. He looked over at Sam’s staring and raised his eyebrows. “What?”
“What kind of phone is that?”
“It’s not going to come out for a while, don’t worry about it.”
Sam sighed. She was feeling antsy and scared and frustrated.
On the one hand, she wanted to get this over with. On the other, she didn’t want to die tonight. Who were these guys to barge into her shit? She just wanted to live a normal life. Have a job, go home, do other stuff that interested her, go to bed and do it again. Maybe fall in love. Maybe go back to school... not fight vampires. Why couldn’t saving the world, or at least, Ann Arbor, fall on someone else’s shoulders for once?
She jumped when John’s phone chirped, disturbing her self-pity.
“Okay, Smith says they’re definitely from out of town. This coven we’re dealing with? It’s huge. It’s got a network spanning the country.”
“So, this can’t be the only other nest,” said Sam, feeling sweat break out on the back of her neck.
John shook his head. “It’s complicated. I guess there’s lots of vampire politics involved which are... complex. He wants us to go check things out.”
Sighing, Sam rested her forehead on the steering wheel, risking messing up her makeup. “Of course he does. You can’t just turn yourself into a fly on the wall or something, can you?”
He grinned at her. “Not that kind of magician, sorry.”
They got out of the car, and so did the others.
“We going in?” said Franklin. “I am so ready to go in.”
&n
bsp; “Hold your horses there, guy,” said John, waving his hands. “Once again, this is a recon mission. We’re not here to bust heads. Yet. We find out what this place is, who’s here and why. If it’s a nest, my cousin’s got people to handle burning this place to the ground, okay? We want to get in, get the information we need and then get out. That is all.”
Franklin looked pretty disappointed, but Jesus and Heather’s faces went slack with relief.
Yolanda crossed her arms. “Well, let’s get this over with then. The quicker we get rid of this vampire infestation, the better I’m going to feel.”
“We’ll stay here and keep a lookout,” said Kim, confirming their part of the plan. “If anything goes wrong, we call the cops and... Smith, right?”
“Right,” said John.
“And drive the hell away,” said Heather, looking pointedly at Kim. “No questions, just go.”
Carter and Kim both nodded, shivering. Sam guessed it was chilly, but she really wasn’t bothered, conceivably due to Smith’s concoction. “You guys take care, okay?”
“You too,” said Carter, looking grave. He and Franklin exchanged a complicated, but heartfelt handshake, and the group split, possibly for the last time.
Sam took a deep breath as they neared the velvet rope. “Here we go. Watch, they’ll turn us away at the door. Wouldn’t that be ridiculous...?”
“Don’t worry,” said John, smiling a little. “You look great.”
“Well... thanks,” said Sam, a little shocked. “You clean up pretty well yourself.”
They reached the line to get inside, crowded with clamoring nobodies. The vampire club seemed to work the way all in-demand clubs did; people deemed important and parties comprised of beautiful women got admitted almost immediately, leaving plenty of other hopefuls to look like losers waiting outside. Almost everyone in line wore a black suit. There were one or two women waiting to get in, but the majority were men, trying not to look too anxious or cold.