Deadly Loyalty Collection

by Bill Myers

  “You sure you don’t need anything?” she could hear Ryan asking Jaimie. “I could run over and get you a glass of water.”

  “I have a glass of water,” Jaimie replied.

  “I meant a fresh one, a colder glass of water.”

  Jaimie smiled. “Ryan, I’m all right. Just stay here with me for a while.”

  Watching them together made Becka’s stomach tighten.

  “All right,” Ryan answered. “I’ll stay right here by your side all night if you need me to.”

  Ryan’s last remark turned the tightness in Becka’s stomach into full-blown nausea. And to make matters worse, she felt terrible for feeling the way she did. Hadn’t Z said — no, hadn’t the Bible said, “Love your enemies”?

  Jaimie wasn’t even her enemy . . . or was she? Becka watched the girl lean toward Ryan. The nausea continued to grow, until Becka knew she had to get away. Without a word, she turned and headed off in the opposite direction, feeling both angry and guilty.

  As she crossed by the catering truck she spotted Maureen, the wardrobe lady, talking with Tim. She slowed to a stop. She didn’t mean to eavesdrop. It just turned out that way.

  “They should be interviewing you over there, Tim,” Maureen was saying. “You saved her life. You’re a hero.”

  “I don’t know what I did,” Tim replied. “I just saw Jaimie and ran to her.”

  “Well, you scared him off, then.”

  “Maybe. It happened so fast. I don’t even know if I saw him for sure. It was something. Kind of looked like a man . . . but kind of like a . . .”

  Maureen was all ears. “A what? What’d it look like?”

  Tim shrugged. “I don’t know. I told you — it happened so fast. But I caught a glimpse of something . . . It almost looked like . . . a bat.”

  “Oh, my. Did you tell the TV people?”

  Tim shook his head. “No, I did not. And I don’t want you babbling anything like that, either. It sounds crazy enough. Besides, as any producer will tell you, if you want your movie to be a hit, let the actress be the one who gets her face on TV, not some ugly mug like me.”

  Maureen laughed. Tim noticed Becka then. He excused himself and walked over to her. “Hello, Becka.”

  She swallowed. “Hi. Listen, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but — ”

  “That’s okay. Did you hear what I was saying?”

  Becka nodded.

  “Then do me a favor, will you?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Don’t say anything to Jaimie about that bat business. She’s got enough on her mind already.”

  Becka looked at him and slowly nodded.

  “A bat!” Ryan’s face was incredulous. “He said it turned into a bat?”

  “That’s what he said,” Becka insisted. They tried to relax in the living room of her hotel suite later that night. “Of course, Tim said he wasn’t sure,” she continued. “It happened so fast, but . . .”

  Ryan paced around the small room.

  She could tell he was concerned and tried her best to be sincere. “How was Jaimie?”

  Ryan sighed. “Okay, I guess. Tim and two of the stunt guys are camping out in her suite.”

  “Listen,” Becka said, “I’m sorry I walked off the set earlier today. I sort of lost it, and I . . . well, I just felt foolish, that’s all.”

  “No problem,” Ryan replied, “but I . . .” His voice trailed off.

  “What?”

  Ryan shook his head. “Nothing.”

  “Tell me,” she said.

  “All right. It’s just that . . . I got worried about you and . . . I left Jaimie to check on you . . . and that’s when she was attacked.”

  “Too bad.” Becka couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

  “I don’t mean anything by it,” Ryan tried to explain. “I just feel kind of bad, that’s all.”

  Becka heard her voice becoming icy. “That’s nice. It’s just too bad I wasn’t the one attacked instead.”

  “That’s not what I meant!” Ryan protested.

  An awkward silence passed between them. Becka couldn’t help noticing that there had been a lot of those lately.

  Finally, Ryan spoke. “I heard half the crew was out looking to buy more crucifixes.”

  Becka nodded. “I heard worse. Some of them are planning on wearing garlic because it’s supposed to ward off vampires.”

  “This is crazy,” Ryan said. He resumed his pacing. “If someone had told me what was happening here, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

  “I know what you mean.”

  “And talk about crucifixes,” Ryan continued. “You should see what Tim and those stunt guys have up in Jaimie’s suite. It looks like they bought out the store.”

  “What are we going to do?” Becka said. “I mean, no one is doing anything that really makes sense. It’s like they’re just sitting around waiting for the vampire to attack again.”

  Ryan nodded. “We’re always on the defensive. Maybe it’s time to start playing offense.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m not sure. Maybe set a trap . . . try to catch the vampire.” Becka was intrigued. “How?”

  “Well, I was thinking — ” Ryan grew more excited as he spoke — “if we could lure him into a dead-end alley or someplace like that, then we could jump out with a bunch of holy water and crucifixes and — ”

  “And do what?” Becka asked sarcastically. “Drive a stake through his heart?”

  “I don’t know,” Ryan said, completely missing her humor. “I doubt I’m up to that. But at least we could get a better idea of what we’re fighting.”

  Becka let out a long sigh of frustration. She knew Ryan was a fairly new Christian, but it was like he’d forgotten everything they’d learned about spiritual warfare. If this thing was real, and she was growing more and more certain it was, then the way to fight it was the same way they had fought other attacks of the enemy: through prayer and the Word of God.

  “Listen,” she said sincerely, “I’m not crazy about using crucifixes, holy water, and all that folktale stuff to fight this thing.”

  He paused. “I know.”

  “Ryan, if we do anything, it should be to pray. If there really is some sort of demonic force involved, then we should be fighting it with prayer.”

  Ryan nodded slowly. “Okay, I’ll blast him with holy water while you pray.”

  Becka protested, “Ryan . . .”

  “Listen,” he explained. “The thing about folktales is that there’s usually some truth to them.”

  “I know, but — ”

  “I just want to do something,” he continued. “I mean, we can pray if you want, but I really don’t think this other stuff will hurt, do you?”

  Becka shrugged. Maybe he had a point. “Okay,” she agreed reluctantly. “If that’s what you want. But if we’re going to pray, we’d better do it now, ’cause things aren’t getting any better.”

  Ryan agreed and moved to sit beside her. Together the two bowed their heads and began to pray.

  Becka loved these times. As a new Christian, Ryan always prayed with freshness and excitement. And he was honest. Very, very honest. Despite his weaknesses and his total cluelessness about Jaimie, his honesty always tugged at and captured Becka’s heart.

  Together they prayed for several minutes, asking God for wisdom about what to do, confessing their doubts and weaknesses, and asking for God’s protection over Jaimie and themselves, regardless of what they were dealing with. But there was one thing Becka would not, could not, do. She did not ask for God’s help to love Jaimie.

  They’d barely finished when Mom opened the door to the suite.

  “Becka, sweetheart,” she said as she entered the room, “John told me what happened to Jaimie. I came back as quickly as I could. Is she all right?”

  “I think so,” Becka said.

  “How are you?”

  Becka stared at her for a moment before answering. How was she? Between he
r frustration over Jaimie’s vampire, her anger over a beautiful Hollywood actress practically throwing herself at Ryan, and her mother hanging around with an obvious creep, Becka definitely felt the stress.

  “I’m just fine,” she said, doing her best to hide the tension in her voice. But even she could hear how harsh and sarcastic the words sounded.

  “Would you like to talk about it?” her mother asked quietly.

  “No, Mom. It’s okay. Really.” She sighed again. “I think I’m just tired.” Tired of Jaimie. Tired of Ryan paying more attention to a girl he’d just met than to the one who was supposed to be his closest friend. Tired of feeling angry and jealous and guilty.

  “Well,” Ryan said after an uneasy silence filled the room, “it’s getting late. Let’s get together first thing tomorrow and start working out a plan.”

  Becka nodded and walked him to the door. But even then a thought came to her mind. “We’ve still got one major problem with any plan we use to trap the vampire.”

  Ryan paused at the door. “What’s that?”

  “We may have everything we need to try to trap the thing, but . . .”

  “But what?”

  Becka took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Every trap needs bait.”

  The next day even Dirk Fallon acknowledged that filming another vampire attack on Jaimie might not be a wise idea. Not after all she had been through the night before. So instead they chose to film the scene in the movie where Van Helsing reveals who the vampire really is.

  They were filming in an old mansion not far from the hotel when Rebecca and Ryan arrived. They’d spent several hours that morning carefully hatching a plan and visiting the location where they hoped the capture would take place. They would explain it all to Jaimie when she was done with the scene, but for now, they watched silently as Steve Delton prepared to confront the actor playing the movie’s vampire.

  “So, gentlemen,” Van Helsing said, “I ask you to consider who among this esteemed group of lords and ladies could possibly be such an abomination.”

  The other three men shrugged their shoulders, clearly at a loss. Jaimie sat in the far corner of the room, listening intently.

  Van Helsing was obviously enjoying his moment in the spotlight. “No opinions among such learned men as yourselves? I’m surprised. All right, then. But first, I ask, are you aware of the three tests of being a vampire?”

  It was about then that Becka felt as if someone was staring at her. She turned and was surprised to see Dirk Fallon, the director, looking in her direction.

  What’s he doing watching me instead of the scene? she thought. Does he know what Ryan and I are up to?

  She figured it was unlikely, but she also knew he made her very nervous, staring like that. In fact, she felt so uncomfortable that if Van Helsing had asked her who the vampire was, she probably would have pointed at the film’s director.

  She looked back to the scene as Van Helsing explained his three tests. First, the vampire could not endure sunlight. Second, he would feel physical pain if he came in contact with a crucifix or other holy object. And finally, vampires cast no reflections.

  Becka turned back toward Fallon.

  He kept watching her.

  She tried to force a smile and nodded. But as soon as she did, he turned away as if he hadn’t been looking.

  What was he thinking? What did he know?

  “So,” Van Helsing was saying, “test one requires the sunlight. It is now night. And since I cannot go among the guests here and spray holy water or touch them with crucifixes, I have done the next best thing. If you will look to your left you will see that I had the large mirror over the mantel rehung this afternoon. It now reflects anyone entering this room from the parlor.”

  The other characters in the scene mumbled their acknowledgment, and Van Helsing nodded to someone near the door. “I have asked Mr. Scott to call all of the guests into this room to hear an announcement. Watch the mirror carefully, gentlemen.”

  Why can’t it be this easy in real life? Becka thought. Too bad we couldn’t just carry a mirror around until we found who the vampire was. Obviously it couldn’t be anyone in the cast or crew, since they were all out in the daylight. But then, who knew if vampires’ fear of daylight was myth or reality? Maybe it was the same about casting reflections. Maybe none of what anyone thought was true. Maybe it was all folklore.

  She threw a glance back over to the director. He was now watching the scene. Good.

  Steve Delton, the actor playing Van Helsing, continued.

  “But one more thing, gentlemen — remember that the vampire is a creature of the night and draws his strength from the dark realm. The only sure way to protect yourself is to stay in the light. Unfortunately — and this is what makes our situation so intriguing — you will never catch him unless you venture into the dark.”

  All was quiet for a second, and then Fallon yelled, “Cut! Print that one.”

  The assistant director shouted, “Half hour cast break. Crew, set up Scene 72 in the parlor.”

  Becka and Ryan exchanged nods. It was time to tell Jaimie their plan. They turned and walked toward her. Up close, the girl looked drawn and pale. In fact, she looked so bad that for a moment Becka had second thoughts about even telling her what they had in mind.

  But they had to do something. If the vampire — or whatever it was — was to be stopped, this was the time to stop it.

  “Hey, guys,” Jaimie called out when she saw them.

  “How are you feeling?” Becka asked.

  Jaimie smiled. “Worse than I look, if you can believe that.”

  “You look great,” Ryan lied.

  “Thank you.” Jaimie almost laughed. “I’m grateful for the compliment, even if I don’t believe it.”

  Ryan smiled, obviously caught. “Listen . . . Becka and I were talking last night, and it seems like it’s time to change our tactics on this vampire thing.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, up to now, none of us wanted to believe it was real, so we just kept sitting around, waiting for it to attack. Now . . . well, maybe it’s time we start fighting back.”

  Jaimie’s eyes widened. “How?”

  “By trapping him,” Ryan explained. “We could set up some place, like in a dead end, and get all our anti-vampire stuff together there. Then we could lure it in there and spring the trap.”

  Jaimie looked puzzled. “But how do we get him to go into the alley?”

  Becka and Ryan exchanged looks. Ryan cleared his throat. “Well, uh, we have to make him think that something he wants is, well, that it’s there. Then when he — ”

  Jaimie still looked confused. “Something he wants. What does he want?”

  After a long pause Ryan finally answered. “You, Jaimie. He wants you.”

  If Jaimie had been pale before, she was downright white now.

  “You wouldn’t actually have to stay there,” Ryan explained. “We’d set it up so you could get out while he stayed trapped.”

  “There’s a dead-end alley a few blocks from here,” Becka added. “If we get him inside the alley and block off the front, the only way out is at the end of the alley through a steel door that leads to a warehouse.”

  “So,” Ryan’s voice grew more excited, “the plan is for you to go down the alley. And when the vampire comes, one of us will block the entrance to the alley while the other one opens the door to the warehouse to let you escape. Then we quickly close the door before he can follow, and he’s trapped in the alley.”

  Jaimie looked doubtful. “He’ll break through the door.”

  Becka shook her head. “He can’t. It’s solid steel with two locks and a crossbar.”

  “You’ve checked this out already?” Jaimie asked.

  Becka nodded. “It’s called Dominski Containers, or something like that.”

  “It has a steel fire door,” Ryan said. “I’m sure the manager will let us use it if Tim or someone from the film company asks.”
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  Jaimie listened as Ryan outlined the rest of the plan. “After the vampire enters the alley, we’ll block the entrance with crosses and water — ”

  “I thought you said Becka didn’t believe in that stuff,” Jaimie interrupted.

  “I don’t,” Becka said. “That’s why we’re also throwing in a big production truck to block the alley for good measure.”

  Jaimie still wasn’t convinced. “Where will you get the truck?”

  “Tim,” Ryan answered. “There’s no way we can pull this off without his help.”

  “I see,” Jaimie said. “Okay, but no one except Tim should know about this.”

  Ryan and Becka agreed.

  Slowly, a smile came over Jaimie’s face. “I guess it’s a pretty foolproof plan, huh?”

  Becka nodded. “As far as we can tell.”

  “That’s good, Becka,” Jaimie said, looking her straight in the eyes. “Because if it doesn’t work, I’m the one who will be at a dead end.”

  6

  At first Tim stared at Becka and Ryan like they’d lost their minds when they approached him about using the warehouse entrance and the production truck.

  “You’re kidding,” he said. “A couple of teenage kids want to trap a vampire?”

  “We’re doing it for Jaimie,” Ryan replied. “It’s only a matter of time before he gets to her again.”

  Tim shook his head. “I’ve got people with Jaimie around the clock. And they’re armed with every bit of vampire defense we can find.”

  “Yes, but those are all defensive measures,” Becka said.

  “That’s right,” Ryan said. “We can’t just wait. We have to go on the offense.”

  Tim looked at them a moment, then nodded slowly. “All right, what have we got to lose? Except my leading actress, of course. But listen, I want you kids to keep this quiet. Half of Hollywood thinks I’m nuts already. I’ll help you, I’ll even drive the truck, but until we catch this thing, let’s keep it between us and Jaimie.”

  “Agreed,” Becka said.

  “Okay,” Ryan added, “but somehow we have to put the word out that Jaimie will be there.”