by Jason Tucker
He laughed. He might actually use the come with me if you want to live bit if he could manage a decent Arnold the Terminator voice. Del didn’t know anything about Caroline other than her name and a brief description that Joey had given him. He tossed another orange slice into his mouth and chewed. And waited. He then silently berated himself for ever opening the gate when he saw Joey. He could’ve been watching reruns of… anything. He did not want to go talk to this woman.
Del stewed over the problem for another fifteen minutes before getting out of the truck. The sun was already starting to ride a bit low in the western sky. The drive was less than twenty miles from his place, but the traffic had already started to snarl even along the side streets. It would take him time to convince here to come with him and more time to get back through traffic. Assuming he could even convince her. Joey said she no longer took his calls, so it wouldn’t be easy. No sense in wasting time.
He hustled across the street and up the little driveway. Del didn’t see a vehicle and that wasn’t a good sign. She was probably at work, and Joey had no idea where she worked. If she weren’t here, that would mean more waiting. He grumbled, still wondering what he was going to say, and knocked on the door. He waited and could hear no movement from inside.
“Shit,” he said. He dug into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed Joey’s number.
“Del,” Joey said, picking up halfway through the first ring. “Just put her on the phone and I will convince her to come.”
“That’s not the issue. I’m knocking, son, and there ain’t nobody home. She’s probably at work,” Del said. “Any ideas? Should I leave a note?”
The line was quiet for a minute. Finally, Joey said, “I can’t let her be a target. Not for things that are my fault. I’ll try calling her again, but I doubt she’ll pick up. Until then, just wait for her. Please.”
“Right,” Del said. “Wait for her. That’s just great.”
“What other choice do we have?”
“I come home and kick your ass back out onto the street?”
“Shit, Del, you love me too much to do that,” Joey said. “You need any favors from me in the future, and you know I’ll be there.”
“Look at you, talking like there’s gonna be a future. You ooze optimism, son,” Del said. He shook his head and resigned himself for whatever was going to some. “Screw it, I’ll wait.”
Chapter Thirteen
Joey paced the bunker floor.
He’d tried to go through the folklore books that Del had, but it was slow going. He found very little information, and it seemed as though the only thing he had on his side was the sun. The lateness of the afternoon was quickly taking its toll on his most powerful ally. The sun would start to dip soon. In no more than an hour or so, a purple and gray evening would slip over the city just before it plunged into darkness. And with the darkness…. He didn’t want to think about that.
He looked at his phone for the fourth or fifth time in the past half hour and then he tried to dial his sister again. Why wouldn’t she just answer? A cold feeling slipped over him. Maybe he was already too late. Maybe the vampire had gone straight from his apartment last night to his sister’s place. Maybe she was already dead. As much as Caroline might have hated him, he still loved her. She was his little sister. He’d bandaged her knees when she fell trying to skateboard. He laughed when she’d cut his hair with pinking shears. He bought ice cream the first time she’d been dumped. She was lactose intolerant, which was something he should’ve remembered, and the ice cream didn’t help, but she seemed to appreciate the thought. He couldn’t be too late.
Joey was about to call Dell and tell him to find a way into Caroline’s house when the sound of muffled voices and movement upstairs caught his attention. Del couldn’t be back already, and he would have called first. Whoever was up there did not belong. Even worse, the trap door that led down into the bunker was open and anyone walking through Del’s place would surely see the gaping hole and ladder.
It was still early enough that the sun was up, so he was certain it wasn’t the girl. Well, he was almost certain. Joey only had Del’s word and a bit of folklore about sunlight being able to kill a vampire. What if it none of it were true. He tensed and waited.
He hesitated for only a fraction of a second before retreating around a corner to a hallway that led toward one of the escape routes to the storm drains. He drew his pistol on instinct. Even if the gun proved ineffectual against the vampire, the checkered grip and the cool metal made him feel better.
The sudden scent of perfume caught his nose. It was faint in the air, but he knew the odor well. It caused a tingle at the stump of his finger. He’d become accustomed to the fragrance of Euphoria during his time with Rachelle. What was she doing here? Maybe Del had decided to sell him out after all. Although, Joey really doubted Rachelle would just stroll into Del’s place if she were trying to hunt him down. She was smarter than that.
“Del, get your ass up here,” she said. “We’ve got a problem. Del?”
It certainly didn’t sound as though she knew Joey were there. He started to poke his head around the corner so he could get a better look at the ladder. If anyone came down, he would have the advantage. Anyone coming down the ladder would be facing the wall when they got into the bunker. Even if they decided to look over their shoulder, Joey would have them.
“Get down there,” Rachelle said. “See if the old bastard had a heart attack or something. That’s all I need.”
A moment later, Joey saw feet starting down the ladder. Expensive leather shoes followed by pant legs of what Joey figured was a custom suit. It had to be Carlos, who obviously didn’t understand the idea of practical clothing. The shoes threatened to slip on the rungs of the ladder, and Joey found himself hoping that Carlos would fall on his ass. He didn’t, but the trip down the ladder was a slow one, with his shoes barely gaining purchase on the rungs.
Carlos stepped off the ladder, but before he could turn around, Joey had crossed the distance, wrapped an arm around Carlos’s neck with one hand and jammed his gun’s barrel into the side of his head with the other. “How many up there with Rachelle?”
“Fuck you,” Carlos said through gritted teeth.
Joey rolled his eyes and squeezed until his bicep started to cut off Carlos’s airway. “You really should be nicer to the guy holding the gun. How many?”
“Just me and her,” Carlos said. The words came out too slowly, as though he had to think about them. Even Carlos could count to two, so Joey knew he was lying.
“You don’t play poker much, do you?” Joey said.
“What?”
“How fucking many?” Joey tried to keep his voice low so Rachelle wouldn’t hear him. He peeked toward the ladder to see if Rachelle had decided to come down. She hadn’t.
“Shit, man. Two out by the car waiting on us and then me and the boss in here.” Carlos was wheezing the words, but Joey didn’t let up his grip.
Rachelle called from upstairs. “Carlos, what in the hell is happening?”
Joey could detect uncertainty in Rachelle’s voice. He whispered now. “Tell your boss to come on down. She’s the next contestant on Tell Joey What the Fuck’s Happening.”
“Fuck you,” Carlos growled.
“Damn it, do it before I put a bullet through your skull.” Joey was not lying, and Carlos seemed to know that. Carlos nodded that he would comply.
Chapter Fourteen
Vincent felt the sluggishness leaving his body as dusk edged ever closer to the city. He hadn’t been able to sleep. He’d waited with the others in the darkened apartment with Nicolette holding court over them through the day. She sat in the tattered armchair and watched them. Vincent thought it seemed as though she might be studying them, figuring out who she might not need. It frightened Vincent, but he would prove himself to her.
For the first hour, she had talked of things that held little interest for him. Still, he listened with rapt attention.
She told the history of his new people, the vampires’ prominence in Babel, their persecution in Europe, and their near extinction in the New World.
Vincent didn’t understand much of it. He’d never been much of a student, and he didn’t know if any of it really mattered. Still, he and the others listened and waited for the departure of the sun when they could have that meal that Nicolette had promised.
After a time, Nicolette had grown silent. Vincent knew she wasn’t sleeping. He wondered if vampires were even able to sleep. Though, with the constant thump of bass coming through the walls courtesy of some clueless and rude soul in the building, he doubted sleep would have come anyway.
So they waited. Whenever one of the vampires moved or groaned, he could see Nicolette’s barely perceptible movements as she watched them. She was definitely gauging them, waiting for someone to do something wrong maybe.
The girl might be small, but he feared her even more than he’d ever feared Rachelle Giovanni. He was sure the others did too even though they were still having trouble speaking. Robens had managed a few sentences, but the others were not doing well. A few words, grunts, growls and hisses, and occasionally pointing. Nothing more. Vincent figured they must be feral, like Nicolette had warned. Maybe she would kill them.
“You are sure you remember how to drive?” Nicolette asked suddenly.
“Yes,” he said. It was the second time that day she’d asked. Everything was still muddled in his brain, but he thought he could figure out how to drive. He couldn’t bear to disappoint her. Nor would he dare.
She slipped out of the chair and across the floor with speed and fluidity that surprised Vincent. “Come with me then. We’ll get a vehicle and then return for the others.”
“The blood,” Vincent said. “What about the blood? We’re covered in it.”
Nicolette tilted her head. The action reminded him of a dog listening to something but not quite understanding. Of course, from the scowl that crossed her face, Vincent knew that she certainly did understand.
“You do what I say. No more questions. I lead this temporary cabal. Are you capable of understanding that?” Her voice held more than a bit of malice.
The other vampires shrunk into the corner, as though they feared what might happen should their mother grow upset.
“I understand,” Vincent said. Her cold gaze withered him, and he bowed his head.
“Good,” she said. “Now follow me so we can get a car.”
He kept his head bowed and followed her out into the hallway. The lights overhead flickered as they always did in the hall, sending jagged flashes of light and dark along the sickly green carpet and yellowing walls. Voices, heartbeats, the rush of blood through veins and other human sounds were thick in the hall. He could sense them through the meager walls. The human scent was strong, almost overpowering. He wanted to rip those people, to tear out their throats and drink them.
Only his fear of Nicolette kept him focused.
Even with his new power, he was still just a lackey. Just a follower.
He hated that.
Chapter Fifteen
“I should’ve figured you’d be here,” Rachelle said. She rolled her eyes and sat down next to Carlos on Del’s tacky little bunker couch. She stared at the barrel of the pistol aimed at her head and grinned. She should’ve thought of this. Yet another mistake to add to the list, but she sure as hell wouldn’t let Joey know that. “Where the hell else could you go, right?”
Joey looked like hell. At least there was that. Gone were the tidy hair and the pressed but cheap suit of the man she once thought she cared for. The Joey in the bunker now was an unshaven shell. She’d been the one to turn him into that, and she was glad for it. He’d wanted too much and thought that he would rule her empire with her. Rachelle had been the one to put up with her father for thirty years, not Joey. She had needed to remind him that he was just another pawn. Then the man actually defied her in front of others. No one did that. Her father hadn’t even done that. Joey had made her look like a fool when he’d refused to kill for her.
And that was why she took his finger. It was why she wanted to torment him. But it was not the only reason she wanted to turn the bastard into a vampire and keep on punishing him. No, she wanted the girl to turn him as a test. The girl promised that she could put Joey, and others she turned, under Rachelle’s control. She could have her own squad of supernatural hitmen. Rachelle bet the little bitch lied about that too. Doing business with monsters was a terrible idea. She wished she’d come upon that little nugget of common sense before the last trip back east when she picked up the beast.
“What’s the deal?” Joey asked.
“What do you mean?” Rachelle sank down into the couch and stretched her legs. Better to make him work for it. And even then, she wasn’t sure how much she would tell him. Hell, she wasn’t even sure how much she really knew. The vampire had lied to her. Everyone had lied and still she couldn’t wrap her head around it. She’d told everyone that she had captured the beast, but that wasn’t the truth. The girl came to her and whispered promises. It was almost as though she put the idea into her head, impossible as it seemed.
“I mean, what’s the deal with sending a vampire to kill me? Were you afraid I would kill my replacement that’s sitting next to you? Because I still might do that. I have no use for Carlos.”
“Hey,” Carlos said. The roughness in his voice seemed bolstered by false bravado. There was no real weight behind the word. Rachelle couldn’t blame Carlos for being afraid. Carlos was very right to think that Joey might just kill them both.
“You want the truth?” Rachelle asked.
“Is that question for real?” said Joey. “Of course, I want the truth.”
“I didn’t want her to kill you. I wanted to turn you into a plaything that I could bring to the brink of death, just to watch you suffer. Let you heal and then do it all over again.”
Joey’s mouth dropped open but he couldn’t seem to find words. Rachelle smiled. Apparently, wrapping his head around something so… psychopathic was difficult. She thought that was funny for a hitman.
“That’s why?” Carlos said, cocking his head at her. “That’s fucked up, boss. I thought -”
“Shut up, Carlos,” Rachelle said.
“Still fucked up,” Carlos said, whispering.
“Seriously,” Joey said.
“Doesn’t matter now. She’s gone.” Rachelle shrugged.
“Yeah,” Joey said. “She’s hunting me and told me that she’s going to make me suffer.”
“What?” Rachelle said. “I figured she would have come after me. I was the one that wouldn’t let her go and forced her into that coffin.”
“She followed me to my house, killed my landlady and told me she was going to make me suffer and pay for the things I’d done. I figured it was you behind it all. Turns out you just wanted a plaything.”
“She found you?” Rachelle asked.
“She knows me somehow,” Joey said. “Or thinks she does.”
Carlos shifted in his seat and looked uncomfortable. He’d been acting strangely since the night before, and it wasn’t sitting well with Rachelle.
“What’s your problem, Carlos?” Joey asked.
Rachelle forgot just how well Joey could read people. That was a good skill to have, but it was dangerous when your enemy could do it too.
“When I would guard the girl, sometimes she talked. Sometimes she asked questions, you know.”
“No, I don’t know,” Rachelle said. “What did you do?”
Carlos shook his head. “I don’t know. She was full of questions. Harmless questions, I thought. I mean you’d already talked to her a bit about Joey. I know that because that’s what she was asking me. She wanted to know as much about Joey as I could remember.”
“So you told her,” Joey said.
“Yeah, I didn’t see no harm. She didn’t have anyone to talk to, so why not? I told her about you,” he said. He opened his mouth, shu
t it, and then opened it again. “Except sometimes, it was like she was in my head, you know. Like she was pulling the answers from me, putting things into my head, making me talk.”
“Yeah, I got that feeling too,” Joey said.
Son of a bitch, Rachelle thought. What was the bloodsucker doing? More importantly, what did it mean for her? Why was the vampire so interested in him? “You want to maybe work out a deal so we can all get out of this alive?”
Chapter Sixteen
Del didn’t know how much longer he could take it.
He’d spent the better part of the afternoon waiting for Caroline to show up at her house, but she still wasn’t home. The playground in the nearby park had filled with kids after school let out, but it was beginning to clear again. The kids were probably heading home for dinner. With his orange long gone, he envied them and wished that he were back at home eating tater tots, sipping tea and reading a magazine.
Del looked at his watch and groaned. It was well after six o’clock. Darkness would be full in minutes. Clouds overhead had been thickening and turning gray throughout the day, and that meant that dark was coming a bit earlier than expected. It also might mean more rain. He looked back toward the darkening playground. He could almost imagine the girl walking across the park, almost blending in with real human children. Almost.
He shivered.
The thought of being out after dark with a vampire on the loose chilled him, but he had to smile at the absurdity of it. He had a shotgun stowed behind his seat and two UV flashlights with him. He hoped it would be enough.
He shifted in his seat to get the blood flowing in his legs again and was about to get out of the truck to stretch when he saw an old maroon Taurus slide into Caroline’s driveway. A woman got out of the driver’s side and then she went around to the trunk. Even from this distance, Del could see the resemblance between Caroline and Joey. They had the same dark hair and the same lithe build.