by Raven Steele
“Instead of rebuilding, they decided to re-grade the streets one to two stories higher than the original city in order to avoid the constant flooding and plumbing issues. What you see here is the original part of the city. This section of it has been closed down for at least eighty years, but another part of the underground city has been restored. They give tours of it daily.”
“It’s amazing that all this time I’ve been walking above it, never knowing a whole city lies beneath me.”
“Most people are oblivious to the past or they simply don’t care to know.”
“I wonder if this is what Aris’s home is like,” she mumbled aloud.
“Who?”
She looked up at him. “Aris Crow. He’s a vampire in Coast City. Well, he’s in Rouen right now, but I heard Coast City has tunnels probably a lot like this. Aris grew up in them and helped to destroy some vampire who tried to take over the city. Samira told me all about it at Blutel Estate.”
He didn’t know how to respond. There was so much he didn’t know about her. So much he didn’t know about life beyond Seattle. He used to be part of the vampire world, but that had been at a dark point in his life, much of it he no longer remembered.
She cleared her throat, sensing his discomfort. “It’s remarkable down here. I’ll have to go on the tour one day. I’ve heard they’re available, right?”
“Please don’t. They’ve tried to romanticize the tragedy that happened here, but there was nothing romantic about it. Many people lost their lives.”
“So you took me to the most unromantic place in all of Seattle?”
Lucien frowned. “I never thought about it like that. To me this place is humbling. At any given moment, something grand can be destroyed. It can be buried, leaving no trace of its existence behind. It reminds me that I am no greater than the dirt beneath me.”
They stood there in silence for several minutes. She traced the wooden walls with her fingertips.
Finally, she said, “I understand what you are saying. It’s important to be humble, but your logic is missing something. I think you believe that if you experience any kind of joy, then suddenly you’re not humble anymore and you’ve become greater than ‘dirt’. But consider dirt for a moment. Where would the world be without it? We could not exist. There would be no plants for food and no trees for shelter. Dirt is a necessity. So is every living thing. We all contribute to this earth, and everyone has a role to play. But what would happen if dirt suddenly decided it didn’t like its role anymore and it drowned itself into the sea? How would we grow things then? It is the same with us. If any one of us decides we don’t like our role, or think we don’t have one to play, and we remove ourselves from the world, there will be consequences.”
Lucien shook his head. “That might be true for some, but not for everyone.”
She walked over to him, light from the flashlight illuminated her sea-green eyes. His pulse raced as she stopped inches in front of him and stared up intensely. His gazes flickered to the throbbing vein in her neck. “You have made a difference in my life. If only you knew how much.”
The way she was looking at him made every part of his body come alive again.
“Why did you bring me here?” she asked, her voice soft.
He swallowed and, before he could stop himself, said, “I felt you pulling away from me.”
He ground his teeth together, wishing he’d stop being honest with her, but lying to her felt impossible.
“Why does that bother you?”
She searched his eyes with a hopeful expression. Lucien knew what she wanted to hear, but at least with this, he could be honest. “You deserve so much more.”
Her expression darkened. “Let me decide what I deserve.”
“You don’t know me. There’s something in my past—”
“I don’t care about your past. I’m the last person who would.” He tried to speak, but she interrupted him again. “I want you, Lucien. We were meant for each other, and I know you don’t want to hear it, but it’s true. I feel it every time we are near each other. Don’t you?”
Her words startled him. Meant for each other? Like soul mates? Fate would never allow him to have such a gift.
“I can tell you don’t believe me,” she said, “which I agree might be too soon for you to admit, but can you deny the way your body feels around me?”
To prove her point, she lifted her hand and slipped it beneath his t-shirt to his stomach and up his chest. Her fingers sliding against his skin lit a trail of searing heat through his veins. He sucked in a breath.
“Do you feel that, Lucien?”
He growled low in his throat, trying hard to fight the sensation. “Eve…” he couldn’t finish the sentence.
Her hand lowered until her fingers tucked inside the top of his pants. Her thumb, however, lowered further against the outside of his jeans and rubbed at the top of his extremely hard member. He gripped her arms tightly and stared down at her with hungry eyes, wanting nothing more to fuck her right here and now, but he knew he would hate himself for it. He wouldn’t treat her like a one-night stand.
“I feel you,” he breathed and took hold of her hand at his stomach. “Your touch, your scent, your essence has burrowed itself so deep into me, I’ll never be the same.”
“But?”
The look of disappointment in her eyes nearly shattered him. This time he would lie to her. He had to for her sake. “I need time to figure out whatever this is between us.”
A spark returned to her gaze. “I can give you that.”
She stepped back, putting some space between them. He hated how quickly his body cooled.
“Thank you for bringing me here.” She smiled warmly. “It means a lot to me.”
He exhaled a breath of relief. For now, they were okay, but he knew in the near future, he’d have to disappear from her life. To protect her.
Chapter 17
The next day, Eve was in a noticeably much better mood. He dropped her off at work and returned to the hotel. As he was getting into the elevator, Ronald forced his hand into the closing doors.
“You have a letter, sir,” he said, his voice full of spite and envy. His thin lips puckered together as if he’d just swallowed sour milk.
“Thank you.” Lucien accepted the letter and moved it behind his back.
Ronald stood between the doors, not letting them close.
“Do you need something?” Lucien asked.
“I’m an honest man, Lucien.”
Lucien inwardly groaned. He wasn’t in the mood for a conversation with an unhappy man who took joy in seeing others fail.
“A successful hotel should have an owner who’s seen. There are guests who’d like to meet you,” Ronald lectured.
“Then tell them you’re the owner.”
“Excuse me?”
“Wow them, dazzle them, say whatever you want.”
“You want me to pretend to be you?” he asked.
“Yes.”
Ronald slowly backed away from the elevator doors, smiling big. It didn’t matter that Ronald would have to lie to people; all he cared about was impressing others. And Ronald would gladly give up a piece of his own integrity to accomplish this.
Once inside his room, Lucien opened the letter and glanced down at a name and an address. It had been a while since he’d received one, longer than usual. He was surprised he hadn’t noticed the time, especially since he hadn’t fed. But now with the prospect on his mind, he was suddenly starving.
He picked up his cell phone and called Charlie.
“Hello?”
“This is Lucien.”
Silence.
“I can’t be with Eve tonight. Can you get someone who will actually stay this time?”
“I will do it personally.”
Lucien heard the excitement in his voice, but he didn’t know what else to do.
Charlie asked, “Why can’t you do it?”
“I have to work.”
“Valium has a job?”
Lucien hung up the phone.
When the afternoon came, he drove to the address, stopping in front of a gated community of upscale condos. He parked his Hummer a few blocks away and waited for nightfall.
There was no sunset that evening as dark clouds covered the sky, coloring the night with blacks and deep grays. With the darkness came the rain. It was a different kind of rain, falling harder and faster. October rain. He never paid attention to calendars, for time didn’t matter to him. If it wasn’t for the weather, he would never know what month it was.
After hopping the fence, he leapt to the roof of the three-story building and walked along the slippery shingles. When he was above the condo addressed on the sheet of paper, he jumped down from the roof to land silently upon the balcony. Dark curtains covered the sliding doors, but fortunately they weren’t pulled together all the way. He peeked in the tiny crevice to see a living room with arched ceilings.
The room was all white except for two black sofas that faced each other. In between them was a glass table placed on top of a black bear rug. Resting on the glass were several guns and an assortment of drug paraphernalia. But there was something else — scattered photographs, many of which had fallen to the floor. They were of children and young teens. Illegal photos.
Lucien gripped the metal frame of the window nearly snapping it. This wasn't just about drugs. Someone was hurting children, and now he was going to hurt them.
Three people sat on the couches. A bald man with a head like a cantaloupe plugged one nostril and snorted at white powder lined on the table. Next to him was a black man who spoke so fast most of his words were unintelligible. On the other sofa, a woman with long stringy blond hair laughed hard and loud at something invisible in the corner.
A sudden knock at the door made the woman jump and drop a lighter in her hand. She coughed a few times then settled into an eerie calm. The other two followed suit, staring right through each other.
A man taller than Lucien appeared from out of a hallway. His muscular body looked like it had been pumped full of steroids, and his fists were almost the size of his square face. He glanced at the three sitting uselessly on the couch with disgust. His top thin lip flared up into a sneer, revealing a growing set of fangs.
This wasn’t going to be a regular job.
The vampire’s eyes darted to the window where Lucien hid. He quickly moved away and leaned against the balcony rail, breathing hard. Had vampires become so powerful they believed they could interfere in the human world? If that were true, than it would only be a matter of time before humans found out the truth about vampires’ existence.
When he heard another knock, Lucien returned to the slightly parted curtains. The vampire was in the process of opening the front door. A thin man with black hair and a long, braided goatee moved into the spacious living room but not very far. He kept shifting his weight back and forth like a boat on the water. His eyes darted around the room, unable to keep still for longer then a second.
“You’re late, Jay,” the vampire said.
Jay slid a beanie off his head. “Traffic. Who are they?” He nodded his head toward the zombies in the living room.
“No one you need to worry about,” the vampire replied. He moved out of view behind a wall that Lucien guessed led to a kitchen. He returned carrying a box.
“Fill it up,” he told Jay.
Jay looked down at the packages against the wall.
“This still doesn’t make sense, Bill.” He emphasized the name as if it were a fake. “It’s not safe to be carrying this amount of drugs through the streets of Seattle.”
“I don’t care. I don’t want more people than necessary coming here.”
Jay glanced back to the three sitting on the couch; they looked calm and relaxed. Every so often, the woman’s leg would twitch.
“What about them?” he asked.
“They’ll be dead by morning. Like I said, don’t worry about it.”
Jay hesitated briefly before he bent over and placed the white packages into the box.
“When you’re done delivering those to your men, bring the money back to me for your cut,” Bill said. “And remember, I’ll know if you’ve cheated me.”
Jay nodded grimly and picked up the box. He looked like he wanted to say something else but was too afraid.
“What?” the vampire asked.
From somewhere deep inside, Jay must’ve found a sliver of courage. “When am I going to get my place back?”
“When I’m done with it.”
Jay lowered his head. “I’ll be back before morning.”
He left the room.
Lucien jumped back onto the roof. The falling rain doused him, chilling his skin. A stiff breeze blew in from the north, carrying with it the smell of the bay. He would follow Jay first and then figure out what to do about the vampire, Bill.
Jay jogged down the steps below him. He smelled like cigarette smoke and green olives. Most likely, he was heading to his car and then would have to drive past the gates to leave. The gates.
Lucien jumped off the roof and raced toward the entrance, easily hopping over the tall iron fence. He traveled about a quarter of a mile before he stopped. The area was deserted; tall, leafy trees edged the narrow winding street.
He only had to wait a few minutes before a car, which reeked of cigarettes and green olives, approached. Lucien concealed himself behind a tree and, at the last moment, jumped in front of the speeding vehicle. Jay jerked the steering wheel to the right. The car spun around until its back-end slammed into a streetlight on the opposite side of the road.
Lucien strolled over and peered into the driver’s side window. A dazed Jay tried to find the door handle. Lucien opened the door for him.
“Who the hell are you?” Jay asked.
Lucien decided to show him. Actions always spoke louder than words. He grabbed him roughly around the arms and jerked Jay to a standing position, then he pierced Jay’s skinny neck with sharp fangs.
The life-giving blood flowed into him, quenching the hunger he had stifled for the last several weeks. He pulled the man closer, trying to force out every last drop. His hunger was insatiable, especially since being around Eve and being unable to fulfill his desires. When there was no blood left, he tossed Jay’s body back into the car, still hungry.
The familiar sharp pain stabbed at Lucien’s stomach, forcing him to double over. His hands, knuckles white, gripped the metal roof of the car, which buckled under the pressure. After a few deep breaths, he slowly recovered. Once again, he didn't question the reason behind the pains and focused only on the tasks ahead.
Lucien jumped into Jay’s car and re-parked it normally against the street as to not draw attention. He would return for it later, but right now he had more important things to do.
Back on the balcony of the condo, the same two men lay passed out on the sofa, but the woman was missing. He listened carefully. Something shuffled through a back bedroom out of Lucien’s view. It could’ve been a fan blowing or a person moving as silently as the dead. Lucien wouldn’t be sure until he snuck into the condo, but the moment he did, another vampire would become aware of Lucien immediately.
It was a chance he was willing to take.
He gripped the sliding door handle and pulled slowly, but a latch prevented it from opening. He jerked it hard as quietly as possible, but it still made an audible pop as it opened. The two sleeping men didn’t move. And by their slow breathing and heartbeats, Lucien guessed they'd been drugged.
The movement in the back stopped. He crept down the hallway. Two doors were closed at the end, one on his right and the other on his left.
Lucien had learned over time that you always choose the door on the right. Most humans were right handed so, if given the choice, they’d naturally choose to hide in a room on their right. But “Bill” was not human and would naturally avoid anything human-like.
Lucien opened the door on the left. Darkn
ess greeted him. It took just a moment for his vision to adjust. Several boxes had been piled high around the room as if someone had been in the process of moving. To his right, he found the blond woman standing unnaturally straight against the wall. He didn’t have to listen for a heartbeat to know she was dead. Her once pink skin was now entirely white, and all blood had been drained from two pen-size holes in her neck. Most of her shirt had been torn off, and the tops of her toes barely touched the floor. And lastly, two stakes, just barely sticking out from her flesh, had pierced both shoulders, pinning her to the wall.
A shadow shifted in the corner. “I heard there was another vampire in Seattle.”
Lucien moved to the side of the woman, positioning himself directly in front of Bill.
“Seattle’s my city,” Lucien growled. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here on a job. I’ll only be here a couple of weeks, and then I’m out.”
“What kind of job?”
Bill moved toward the door. “One that pays well.”
“You can sell drugs in any city, why come here?” Lucien stepped toward the door, blocking any potential escape.
“I’m not here for the drugs, although it’s a great side job.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I was told to be.”
“By who?”
“By one more powerful than either of us combined.”
“Stop being cryptic. What are you doing here and who sent you?”
The vampire slammed into Lucien before he could react. Bill was much stronger than he anticipated. The force of the blow pushed Lucien into the door across the hall, breaking its hinges. Bill moved to attack again, but despite Bill’s size, Lucien was faster.
Lucien jumped to the ceiling. With a hand and foot on each side of the hallway, he perched waiting for the moment Bill would look up. He didn’t have to wait long. With hands still pressed against the walls, he swung his legs down and connected them with Bill’s face. Bill slammed into the living room wall over thirty feet away.