by AnonYMous
After a thirty-second wait that ate into the first minute of her one-hour packing time, the elevator arrived and the doors parted. Inside was one of her fourth floor neighbours, an elderly black man known as Jerry Rockwell. He was a smelly old drunken former cop in his seventies who somehow managed to drink a bottle of whisky every day and never feel any the worse for it. He just looked a day away from death all the time. He had an unhealthy complexion to match the grey trousers and musty green cardigan he was wearing. Beth actually quite liked Mr Rockwell in spite of his faults because he was always polite and helpful, and as long as he’d been drinking he was always in a good mood too.
‘Hi Mr Rockwell. How are you?’ she asked, running a hand through her hair to wipe out the sleet and snow. His scruffy appearance had made her only too aware of her own suddenly.
‘Fine thank you, Brenda. Is it still raining out?’
‘My name’s Beth.’
‘Whatever. Is it still raining?’
‘I’m afraid it’s worse than that. It’s snow and hail stones.’
Rockwell stepped out of the elevator and staggered past Beth out in to the hall corridor. He reeked of booze. She watched him steady himself by pressing his hand against the wall as he made his way to the front door.
‘You go easy, Mr Rockwell,’ she called after him. ‘It’s very slippery out there. Might be best to stay home for a while.’
‘I gotta stock up on whisky,’ he called back. ‘Been waiting for it to stop raining all mornin’. Can’t wait no more.’
‘It’s not raining, it’s snowing.’
‘Whatever.’
Beth spotted the elevator doors closing and quickly stuck her arm through the gap to prevent them from meeting. The doors reopened and she stepped inside. She pressed the button for the fourth floor and turned back to watch Rockwell walking slowly towards the front door. As he reached the door he looked like he was falling over headfirst but he somehow managed to grab a hold of the doorknob to hold himself up. He twisted it and opened the door. It swung open with surprising force. Someone had pushed it hard from the outside. The door caught Mr Rockwell full in the face, knocking him to the ground. Beth was about to rush out to offer him some help when she saw the person who had pushed open the door from the outside appear in the doorway.
He was a giant of a man, soaked through from the downpour outside. His most distinguishing feature was a long pink streak of hair down the middle of his otherwise shaved head. After walking through the door he looked down at Jerry Rockwell who was lying on the floor in a daze.
‘You okay, old man?’ the hulking figure asked.
Beth heard Rockwell respond with something that sounded like, “I landed on my balls.” The man with the pink hair leaned down to offer Rockwell some assistance before recoiling and holding his nose.
‘Jeez, you fuckin’ stink,’ he said, stepping back from the old man on the floor.
As the elevator doors began to close the man looked over at Beth. Their eyes met for a second. She realised that she recognised him as one of four military guys she’d seen in the Tapioca on the previous night. A second later his eyes seemed to reveal that he recognised her too. He started walking towards the elevator. Before he reached it, the doors closed and it began moving upwards.
Beth had no idea why this man was in her apartment block, but she didn’t like him and was glad he hadn’t made it into the elevator with her.
Fifteen
Vanity had parted company with Dante and Kacy shortly after the morning meeting at the Casa de Ville. They had other business to attend to moving themselves into the Swamp. They had told him that their clothes were still in a hotel room somewhere, so Vanity left them to it and went out with Cleavage and Moose to try and find some new members of his clan. Unfortunately he’d barely gotten started when he received a phone call summoning him to the office of the great Rameses Gaius. He’d been told it was urgent so there had not been time to change into a suit or anything smart to impress the new boss, so he turned up in his jeans and his black leather Shades jacket. This wasn’t likely to make a great impression.
He arrived at Gaius’s office knowing that his days could well be numbered. He was head of the clan that had been infiltrated by the Bourbon Kid. That wasn’t something that was going to make him popular with the vampire hierarchy. Gaius had some serious anger issues and Vanity might be about to feel the force of his wrath. He hoped he would be given time to explain himself before Gaius passed sentence on him. History had shown that the former ruler of Egypt was a merciless killer, one who didn’t usually offer his victims the time to make their excuses before he killed them. It was rumoured he could absorb and control energy sources, granting him the power to expel such things as electricity from his hands. Vanity was hoping not to be on the receiving end of a demonstration of any such power.
Standing guard outside Gaius’s office was one of the vampires from the Panda clan, a fairly decent looking female with an athletic build. Vanity approached and did his best to look confident.
‘Hi. I’ve been summoned to see Rameses Gaius,’ he said.
The Panda girl’s expression gave away nothing. ‘He’s expecting you. Go on in.’
‘Thanks.’ He took a deep breath. He wondered if he looked as nervous as he felt. Before reaching for the door handle he slipped his hand inside his jacket and pulled out a small hand mirror. He pretended to check his reflection in it.
The Panda girl shook her head. ‘You’re a freak,’ she said, finally revealing a playful grin.
Vanity ignored her and continued staring into the mirror, stroking his goatee and flicking his wavy dark hair behind his ears. As a vampire he had no reflection, but the mirror gag always went down well with the females.
‘Maybe you and I could have dinner some time?’ he suggested, winking at the Panda girl.
She shook her head. ‘I couldn’t go out with a man that carries a hand mirror around with him. You’re just too vain.’
‘Don’t diss the mirror,’ said Vanity, trying not to sound offended. ‘This thing’s an antique, handmade in Egypt by a powerful witch doctor. It’s indestructible. Even your ugly reflection couldn’t break it.’
Panda girl sighed. ‘If they cut your head off while you’re in there, I’ll ask for it as a souvenir. Go on in, you freak.’
He slipped his mirror back into his pocket and reached for the door handle, adding one last comment as he turned it. ‘I can see why you’ve got a pair of black eyes.’
Inside the office, Gaius was sitting at his desk wearing the same sharp silver suit he had worn during his rousing speech in the main hall earlier in the day. He was still wearing his dark sunglasses too. His olive coloured skin gave no indication that he was a fully paid up member of the undead. No creature of the night would normally have a tan that healthy. Except maybe for Vanity who had never been one to worry about applying a thin layer of fake tan.
‘Good day to you, Mr Gaius,’ he said courteously, stepping inside the office. The Panda Girl pulled the door shut behind him, making him jump inwardly.
‘Please take a seat,’ said Gaius gesturing to a seat opposite him at the desk. Vanity sat down and took off his sunglasses.
Gaius leaned back in his black leather chair. ‘You really fucked up,’ he said.
‘I know,’ said Vanity raising his hands in defence. ‘But if you’ll…’
‘Normally you’d be dead already. You know that, don’t you?’
‘I was expecting to wake up with a horse’s head on my pillow.’
‘As opposed to a moose head?’
‘Hey, that’s just a rumour!’
Gaius took off his sunglasses and tossed them down onto the desk. Vanity tried once more not to get caught staring at the bright blue eye, which looked kind of weird. He hoped that Gaius would put his glasses back on.
‘You’re alive because I kinda like you. You’re the only guy in town with weirder eyes than me,’ Gaius went on. ‘And as I understand it, you’re pretty
good in a fight.’
‘Thank you.’
‘But the Bourbon Kid was hiding in your clan.’
Vanity nodded. ‘Yes sir. I can only offer my apologies for that. He blended in well. He actually was a vampire, and seeing as we didn’t know what the Kid was supposed to look like, we had no way of knowing it was him.’
Gaius reached down below the desk and hauled something up from the floor. He then placed it down on the desk in front of Vanity. It was a severed head. One that Vanity recognised, just.
‘Whose head is this?’ Gaius asked.
Vanity grimaced at the sight of the shrivelled head. ‘That’s Obedience.’
‘Obedience?’ Gaius didn’t sound convinced.
‘Yeah. He looks pretty messed up, but the CUNT tattoo on his forehead is the big give-away. Not too many people have those.’
Gaius frowned. ‘So why was he dressed as the Bourbon Kid?’
Vanity shrugged. ‘I didn’t know he was.’
‘I was told that the Bourbon Kid was in your clan, using the name Déjà Vu.’
‘That’s what people are saying, but I haven’t seen Déjà Vu since everything kicked off yesterday. I thought it was him you’d beheaded.’
‘We all did. But as you’ve just confirmed for me, we beheaded the wrong guy. So do you know where I can find Déjà Vu?’
Vanity shook his head. ‘I’d say he’s gone. Sonofabitch killed the rest of my clan too. Apart from Cleavage, Moose and a couple of new recruits called Dante and Kacy.’
‘What?’
‘I’ve only got a handful of members of the Shades clan left, and two of them are new recruits.’
‘Did you say Dante and Kacy?’
Vanity sensed a real irritation in Gaius’s voice. ‘Yeah. You know them?’
‘Those two idiots are supposed to be dead. His name was supposed to be in The Book of Death!’
‘You’ve lost me. What are you talking about?’
‘Dante Vittori was hired by me to try and flush out the monk who was hiding in one of the clans. He’s not even a vampire. I had him injected with a serum so he could blend in with the clans. Jesus, Vanity, you’ve had everyone hiding in your fucking clan. How shit are you when it comes to spotting impostors? His girlfriend wasn’t even injected with the serum, surely you can see she’s not a vampire?’
Vanity tugged at his chin beard again. ‘That’s weird,’ he said. ‘They’re definitely vampires. They even told me that they drank the blood of Archie Somers last night.’
It was Gaius’s turn to look confused. ‘What?’
‘I know I thought it was weird too. Said they found a bag of blood with Archie Somers’s name on it. They found it at the police station. No idea what it was doing there.’
Gaius stood up from his desk. His face was thunderous. ‘You know what Archie Somers did to me, don’t you?’ he bellowed.
‘Erm, he married your daughter against your will?’ Vanity suggested in as careful a manner as possible, knowing that there was an element of truth in it.
‘Archie Somers, when he was better known as Armand Xavier, betrayed me. He’s responsible for me being drugged and then mummified for hundreds of years in that godforsaken tomb at the museum.’
‘Oh. Guess he’s not on your Christmas list then?’
‘Fucking right he’s not! When he was killed, the curse on me was broken and that’s when I was able to break free from the tomb at the museum.’
‘Well it’s good to see the story has a happy ending.’
Gaius ignored the remark and stared around the room for a few moments, deep in thought. ‘This is interesting,’ he said finally. ‘At least they didn’t drink his blood from the Holy Grail. I know that because I’ve got it in my trophy cabinet.’
‘The Holy Grail? Seriously?’
‘Yes, not that it’s any of your concern. The important thing here is that I never thought I’d get the chance for revenge on Armand Xavier. But now you’re telling me that his blood is flowing through the veins of Dante Vittori and that whiny girlfriend of his. This is an opportunity for some payback. Revenge on Xavier, as well as those two annoying kids. Where are they now?’
‘I told them they could move into the Swamp with me. Right now they’ve just headed back to a hotel they were staying at. The girl wanted to pick up some clean clothes. Once they’ve packed up all their stuff they’re heading back to the Swamp. Want me to get them to come here?’
Gaius waved a dismissive hand. ‘No that won’t be necessary,’ he said. ‘I have much bigger plans for them. Gain their trust for now. This is your chance to redeem yourself, Mr Vanity. In fact, you just might be able to earn yourself more than a reprieve. You could seriously work your way up the vampire hierarchy if you help me out here.’
Vanity had long since given up hope of weaselling his way up through the ranks in Gaius’s organisation. The opportunity for more power and the benefits that it might bring appealed to him immensely. ‘Okay, he said, trying his best to hold back a huge grin. ‘What have you got in mind?’
‘Just play along with them to start with. Use that legendary hypnotic charm of yours. Feed them whatever bullshit you have to, and see if you can get them to the Santa Mondega Museum of Art and History. I’ll get my old tomb prepared for them. Then Armand Xavier and those two idiots keeping his blood alive can get a taste of what it’s like to be encased in a tomb for hundreds of years.’
‘You’re going to have them mummified?’
‘Poignant, don’t you think?’
Vanity finally allowed himself to unleash a beaming grin across his face. ‘I like it,’ he said. ‘It’s seriously evil.’
‘Yes it is,’ said Gaius, in a more serious tone. ‘But know this, if you fuck this up, if you cross me, or if I even suspect you’re not on the level, I’ll rip your insides out and hang them from the walls of that shitty nightclub of yours. You’re in the last chance saloon, you bearded fuck, and the Devil is ready to call time on you. Is that clear?’
‘Crystal clear, sir. I won’t let you down on this. In fact, I’m looking forward to it.’
‘Good. Now get the fuck out of my office, you cunt.’
Sixteen
Beth stepped out of the elevator and on to the fourth floor of her apartment block. Her one bed apartment was at the end of the corridor. She headed towards it at a slightly quicker pace than usual, her heart pounding with excitement. Her new life with JD outside of Santa Mondega was less than an hour away. Her head was filled with thoughts of what things she needed to pack and what she could afford to leave behind. Starting a new life with JD in a far away place was the dream she thought would never come true. She still remembered how wonderful the feeling had been eighteen years earlier when they had kissed for the first time. That had been followed by eighteen years of hell including ten in prison for the murder of her stepmother. The law courts hadn’t taken into consideration the fact that the murder was in self-defence. Her stepmother had attacked her with a knife, causing the horrible facial scar she had as a permanent reminder, but in the tussle her stepmother had fallen on the knife and cut her own throat.
The sight of the military guy with the pink mohawk entering the building downstairs had set alarm bells ringing in Beth’s head. There was no reason to suspect he was after her, but, she was acutely aware of the fact that she had no idea what enemies JD might have made over the eighteen years they had been apart. In the few hours they had been together she had been so happy to have him back she hadn’t dared to probe him about exactly why he had been away for so long. And what he had been doing. Add to that the fact she was pretty sure he’d had something to do with James the security guard at the museum being knocked unconscious, and she was rightly paranoid.
She reached her apartment and fumbled to get the key into the lock, such was her haste to be out of the hallway quickly. After a few painfully long seconds she managed to turn the key and the door opened. As she stepped into her apartment, she heard a voice call out from down the
corridor.
‘Excuse me, miss. I’m looking for someone. Can you help?’
It was the huge guy with the pink mohawk. He was walking briskly towards her with a gentle smile on his face.
‘Umm, sure. Who are you after?’ she asked.
The man didn’t respond straight away, but carried on walking towards her. Eventually when he was just a few feet away he replied. ‘Beth Lansbury. That’s you, isn’t it?’
Beth wanted to dive inside her apartment and bolt the door shut, but she was caught in two minds. Technically she had nothing to fear from this man. He was acting in a friendly manner, and they were in an open corridor. She only had to scream for help if he did try anything nasty.
‘Uh, yeah. I’m Beth Lansbury.’
The man stopped in front of her. ‘Also known as Mental Beth?’ he asked with a smile.
‘Huh?’
‘That’s what the fat bartender at the Tapioca called you the other night.’
‘Oh.’
‘Says you killed someone. That true?’
‘Umm, who are you?’
The line of questioning was making her nervous. Who was this guy? And what did he want with her? Was he a threat? Or simply someone who had heard much of the local gossip about her?
‘Oh God, I’m sorry. My name’s Silvinho,’ he said holding out a hand. ‘I didn’t mean to alarm you. That probably wasn’t the best way to introduce myself, was it?’
Beth tentatively slipped her hand into his and allowed him to shake her hand. ‘What can I do for you?’ she asked.
‘I’m looking for JD. Is he here?’
He hadn’t let go of her hand yet. Although he had stopped shaking it. ‘JD?’ she asked, in a manner that she hoped wouldn’t give away whether she knew him or not.