by Mlyn Hurn
“Are we going to play a game, or go to sleep?”
AnnaBelle laughed and pulled the covers back down. “Sleep, please. I am really tired.”
“I’m not at all surprised, sweetheart.” Iain shifted around on the bed, straightening his pillows before finally lying down on his back.
AnnaBelle made her mind up quickly. “Start as you mean to go!” Her grandmother always said that, and she didn’t understand until recently what she meant. She scooted over and rested her head on Iain’s chest.
“What did you just say, sweetheart?” Iain asked her softly. He had now wrapped one arm around her shoulder, holding her easily. His hand rubbed up and down her arm.
AnnaBelle couldn’t help what she did next. With a smile curving her lips, she snuggled up even closer to Iain. “That was something my grandmother used to say. She was just full of those kinds of things.” AnnaBelle stopped as she yawned hugely. She mumbled the next phrase. “Just because your friends paint their butts green and jump off the bridge, doesn’t mean you have to do it too!”
* * * * *
Iain chuckled, tucking the covers up around AnnaBelle. He continued to rub his hand up and down her arm. It seemed almost unreal, lying here with AnnaBelle. They had now shared the most intimate act of all. Hearing AnnaBelle’s breathing deepen as she drifted to sleep, Iain knew that this would all work out.
When AnnaBelle had hesitated at the completion act, Iain had felt his heart begin to thud heavily in his chest. The guilt he had felt earlier at taking her without warning, and her knowledge, had driven him from the apartment earlier. They still had many issues to discuss, “relationship” ground to cover. He needed to know what she had experienced upon her awakening. Most of all, Iain was beginning to realize that AnnaBelle was going to be in his life for a very long time.
The next second, in that quiet place we all have in our heart, where we hide our most protected hopes and dreams, Iain acknowledged that he hoped AnnaBelle would be a part of his life for eternity.
Chapter 14
AnnaBelle was alone the following day when the message came. Iain had left late morning to get ready for his evening class. Time after time that morning AnnaBelle had bitten her lip to keep from telling him about her visitor last night. There was also the other strange thing that had happened on her roof during the rainstorm. Why had she felt the need to go to the top of the building as the building weather conditions worsened? And of course the big question remained…was she now his donor or a vampire? She had not died, to her knowledge anyway.
The message came in the form of a telegram and she was half grateful because it interrupted her doubting thoughts and speculations, which only served to make her nervous. AnnaBelle stared at it for several minutes before she opened it. After all the strange things that had been happening to her lately, the arrival of a plain old telegram seemed rather anticlimactic. Of course she chided herself over being so foolish. What had she thought would happen? She admitted with a wry chuckle that suddenly finding a black crow tapping on her window and a letter in its beak would have made a much better story.
Or perhaps a bat to bring the note, screeching away loudly and scratching with its long claws on the window until she let it in. Once inside though, the bat would magically flap its wings and transform itself into a human and deliver the note. Reluctantly acknowledging that she’d watched one too many late night horror movies while growing up, she sat on the sofa, peeling open the telegram’s envelope. Her laughter faded immediately as she read the note.
“Come nine. Stop. Club Hell Fire. Stop. Bring film and all photos. Stop. Dress Goth. Stop. Gatekeeper will have your name. Stop. Simon. Stop.”
AnnaBelle set the telegram down on the coffee table. She had already gathered all the photographs except for the missing one, and there were only two rolls of film remaining, which she had retrieved from the dark room. By folding the pictures, she managed to fit it all into a small fanny pack, including the negatives. But the dressing Goth-style had her stumped.
AnnaBelle went to see Lamenta for help with the Goth style of costume. AnnaBelle was pleased that Lamenta accepted her explanation about a costume party. And Lamenta loved dressing up, even if was only helping a friend dress up. Gowned, but not entirely ready, AnnaBelle took a cab from Lamenta’s at eight fifty. She knew she would be a few minutes late, but hopefully it wouldn’t matter. She’d gotten tripped up when trying to leave a phone message at Iain’s, and decided to call her uncle’s machine, and leave a message there as well. Thankfully, Lamenta had known someone at the phone company to get service restored today. After all, she didn’t want Iain to be worried.
* * * * *
Iain had just glanced at the clock once again and realized it was only five minutes later than the last time he’d looked. When he had not seen AnnaBelle arrive as she had the previous nights, a few minutes early, Iain guessed she was just running late. Since it was now more than an hour and a half into the lecture, he was pretty sure AnnaBelle wasn’t coming as promised.
He’d been talking as fast as he could, trying to speed through the lecture. There were a few things he left out, and one section he cut entirely. If he skipped the question period, he should be out of here by nine. Tonight was supposed to be on vampire traditions, but to be honest Iain’s brain was so occupied with worries about AnnaBelle, that he would be hard pressed to remember what he had been discussing the last hour.
Something caught his eye, and he looked towards the open doorway at the rear of the auditorium. He saw someone waving towards him, but he couldn’t tell who it was until they stepped away from the bright light in the lobby. Iain froze for an instant as he recognized Pete. Pretty sure something was happening, Iain abruptly ended the lecture, rattled off the chapters to read and then took off running up the aisle towards Pete. He moved too fast for any of the eager pupils to catch him.
Outside the auditorium, Iain stopped to question Pete. Pete shook his head and pointed to his car, which already had the emergency light on the roof of the car.
“Get in! I’ll tell you on the way.”
Iain barely waited to close his door before he spoke. “Where is AnnaBelle?”
Pete put the car in gear and headed for the less respectable part of the city. “I went over to check with you both to see if you’d heard anything from Fauster. Lamenta called out to me from her window. It appeared that I had just missed AnnaBelle. Lamenta offered to let me into the loft so I could listen to the message she put on her machine for you.” Pete reached into his pocket and pulled out a yellow slip of paper.
“I found that on the table and replayed the message. The telegram really tells what is going on, plus Lamenta told me she had to find AnnaBelle a suitable costume to wear this evening. According to Lamenta, AnnaBelle should fit right in.”
“Hell!” Iain muttered under his breath. Simon must have contacted her, but she had not said a word to him. AnnaBelle had most likely decided she could handle this on her own. “How long will it take us to get to this place?”
“We should get there around nine-thirty, if we’re lucky.”
* * * * *
AnnaBelle got out of the cab feeling ridiculous. As she looked at the line of club hopefuls it was hard not to laugh. There were about fifty people standing and waiting hopefully for admission to the popular club. And other than male and female, she saw that there was very little variation in their costumes. Ignoring the “boos” and “get back in line” statements and other colorful accusations thrown her way, AnnaBelle walked up to the club’s bouncer. She caught her breath as he turned to her.
“Yeah? You need something, little girl?”
His appearance, over six foot something, broad chest and big muscular arms, plus his black leather vest over naked skin was an impressive deterrent, she realized. Still, AnnaBelle cleared her throat. Since she had just seen him reject four perfectly dressed young adults, if he said no, or there was a foul up over her name, there was no doubt in her mind she would not be s
eeing her uncle tonight.
“Hello! I am supposed to meet a man inside.” She stopped as the man’s face changed and he reassessed her again. She could guess what his assessment of her would be.
Her long golden-red hair was ratted high on her head. She had more eye makeup on tonight than she’d probably worn total in her life. Her lips were painted a perfect shape and a lovely shade of dark red. She was also dressed in a black leather vest, but hers fit like skin. Since it was laced together and too small, it left a great deal of cleavage visible. AnnaBelle hoped that nothing would fall out. She was wearing a short black leather skirt, fishnet stockings and bright red ankle boots, with three-inch heels to complete her knock dead sexy outfit. Yup! AnnaBelle had little doubt as to what this guy considered her business was tonight.
“He was to leave my name here, so I could get in.”
The man grinned, appreciating AnnaBelle’s cleavage. “What name, baby cakes?”
AnnaBelle smiled tensely, working hard to reign in her temper. “AnnaBelle Blue.”
The goliath didn’t check his list. He recognized the name immediately and the importance that had been placed on her admittance tonight. His manner changed also. He reached over and released the silver latch on the red velvet rope. “Right this way, miss.”
AnnaBelle was stunned by the change in the man’s manner. She also ignored the catcalls upon her admission. A glare from goliath and one loud “shut up” effectively stifled the revolution.
Inside the club, music was blaring, the lights dimmed and people were everywhere. AnnaBelle glanced around, but didn’t feel the least bit reassured by what some of the people were doing. She quickly deduced that the safest place in here, and where to get answers to her questions, was the bar. Traveling to the bar was an adventure. She received two offers to be bitten, three people, one of whom was a woman, offered to serve as a donor to her.
At the bar, seeing her reflection in the mirror, AnnaBelle realized the makeup on her neck had rubbed off. She tried to rearrange her hair, but Lamenta had done a good job with the hair spray. Now all she had to do was catch the attention of the burly bartender.
* * * * *
In the car, Pete asked about the strange telegram he had found at Fauster’s apartment. “Any idea who this Simon is, or why he wants this film?”
Iain had decided that Pete was trustworthy, if he knew about Fauster’s activities. “Simon is a vampire who lives in Europe. I should have linked it sooner that he arrived and then Fauster disappeared.”
“Do you think this Simon has already murdered Fauster and is just luring AnnaBelle here to get those pictures?”
Iain shook his head. “I don’t think Simon would murder someone just to get what he wanted, but then all of us are capable of unusual or out of the ordinary acts if we get pushed far enough.”
They didn’t speak again until the reached the club. Pete used his flashing lights and double-parked a short distance from the entrance to Club Hell Fire. As Pete and Iain approached the long line of people waiting hopefully to be admitted into the club, each scanned the line, looking to see if AnnaBelle was in the crowd waiting. Approaching the impressive doorman, Pete showed his badge and they were admitted without argument.
Inside the club the music was blaring, people were dancing and Pete had to shout. “If we split up to look for her we can cover twice as much ground, but if one of us spots her, we’d never be able to contact the other one in time.”
Iain didn’t like the way Pete said “in time.” He nodded his head in agreement when Pete suggested they start at the bar. The burly bartender tried to ignore them until Pete flashed his badge again.
“We’re looking for a woman,” Pete started to explain.
“Who isn’t, man?” the bartender snapped back. His hands rested on the black shiny surface of the countertop bar.
Iain growled lowly, “Screw this!” He reached out and caught the big barman’s fingers, squeezing tightly. At this point he didn’t care that he could end up crushing the man’s bones. “She has long red hair and her name is AnnaBelle, damn it! Have you seen her?”
Pete was so surprised at Iain’s aggressive behavior, which struck him as completely atypical for his idea of a college professor, that he almost missed the barkeep’s eyes darting towards the stairs for a split second when he heard the woman’s name. He shouted at Iain.
“The stairs over there—come on!”
* * * * *
AnnaBelle paused at the top of the stairs. There was only one door so she guessed she needed to go in for further instructions. Moving slowly, trying to be quiet, she turned the handle of the door. It opened quietly and AnnaBelle entered the empty room. She could hear voices and moved in that direction. The door was open and inside AnnaBelle could see a large room. There was a table near the center, and two men were seated and playing chess.
* * * * *
Simon glared at the older man across the table from him. “Damn you, Fauster! How can you cheat at chess?”
Fauster grinned and tossed back another shot glass of the rarest whisky made. “I’ll show you one day, Simon. But for now,” he grinned devilishly, “I enjoy winning too much.”
“I’m beginning to think this whole trip was a mistake. I can’t get any rest from all the snoring you do all day long. No wonder you live alone!”
Fauster chuckled. “And how is your harem?”
“I don’t have a harem. It’s only three women—“
“How can you stand the bickering they must get into? Lamenta nags me enough for five women!” Fauster stood and moved over to the small kitchen. “Is there anymore of that prime rib?”
“Holy hell! Do you ever stop eating?” Simon turned in his chair to look towards the kitchen. “I hid it at the back of the bottom shelf. It seems to me every time I leave, you eat all the food.”
Fauster laughed, but it was muffled as he reached into the refrigerator grabbing the meat. Walking back to the table, he started eating it cold. “Uhm, it’s still your move, Simon.”
Simon glared at Fauster’s smile. “You could heat that up, you know.”
“When you are as old as I am, Simon—“
“I’ll never be that old Fauster!”
Fauster chuckled. “Time will tell.”
* * * * *
AnnaBelle couldn’t believe the way they were acting. For a kidnapping, this appeared entirely too friendly. “Uncle Fauster!”
Both men turned abruptly at being interrupted. AnnaBelle stepped further into the room. She watched as Fauster turned to look at Simon.
“Damn! Did you hear her come in?”
Simon shook his head. “No, but considering the amount of noise you have been making I doubt we could have heard an entire herd of elephants!” He no sooner finished speaking when they heard footsteps running towards the room.
Pete and Iain ran into the room a second later. AnnaBelle took a step towards Iain, but stopped as her uncle spoke. “Well, Simon, it appears we can hear when the elephants arrive. Looks like you’ll have to order in dinner. Chinese sounds good since I doubt you’ll pay for prime rib again.”
“Stop!” AnnaBelle stomped her high-heeled foot and then grimaced at the pain. She hated heels and normally never wore them.
Fauster crossed to AnnaBelle and hugged her tightly. “I am sorry to have worried you, niece. I do hope you didn’t call and tell your parents about this. Hellfire! Hunter!” Fauster hit his upper thigh with his fist. “You didn’t call him, did you?”
AnnaBelle shook her head. “I thought you would be tied up, handcuffed or something. Instead you are playing chess like old friends! He’s the enemy, damn it, and a kidnapper!” She glared at Simon. “Pete, please arrest this man.”
“We are old friends, sort of,” Fauster told AnnaBelle. He reached out to touch her hair and his ring got stuck. “Lamenta has to be responsible for this look, dear niece. The woman is a tramp at heart.”
“No she is not! She has been really nice and sweet—“ Anna
Belle looked around the room at the four men who had dominated her life the last few days. “And I think she is the only person who has been completely honest with me.”
Fauster grinned at his niece. “She is a—“ he paused as he considered how to classify Lamenta and her position in his life. “I would be lost without her, but I bet she put the moves on you, Pete!”
Pete flushed in embarrassment, which only made Fauster laugh uproariously. Feeling the need to take care of the kidnapping issue, he cleared his throat. “We thought you had been abducted, Fauster. I found the telegram in the loft, and Iain and I have, uhm, come to the rescue?”
Iain stepped forward, grabbed AnnaBelle’s arm and pulled her to his side. “Obviously there have been some misunderstandings on everyone’s part. AnnaBelle, give Simon the film and we’ll get out of here. Fauster can explain everything to you later.”
AnnaBelle shook her head. “I want to know what is going on. I walk in here and you two are squabbling like naughty, ill-behaved children.”
Fauster looked at his niece, guilt written all over his face. “Well, Belle, I’ve known Simon for a long time.”
“And that makes his kidnapping you all right?”
Simon spoke up. “It wasn’t totally a kidnapping, AnnaBelle. If you will give me the film and the negatives, I’ll return to my home tomorrow, and quite happily.”
“No!” AnnaBelle shouted, surprising herself at the anger, not relief, growing inside of her. “This film was supposedly so important that you implored me to come and help you, Uncle Fauster. I assumed I was helping you test it.”
Fauster moved back to the table, sitting down. AnnaBelle was sure he looked even guiltier now than he had a few minutes earlier. “Just tell me what this is all about.” She twisted her fingers together. Over the last few days she’d had her world turned upside down. There was a growing sense of unease that she couldn’t rationalize away.