Zero

by R. E. Carr

  “You gave me to her and to . . . and to him,” Gail finally spat out. “You stripped away your blood and spat me out because she told you to. The sheriff snapped her fingers and you just did it. You left me alone. You left me alone with Kevin, the same monster who tortured me! Even though you came back, I’m sure it wasn’t until after the sheriff had learned to impersonate me, and until after she got whatever she wanted. Am I right? Did I miss some important piece of information here?”

  Javier’s silence was deafening.

  “You’re not a part of me anymore, Javier. My head is clearing. It’s like all the fog is lifting away, and I can see you, the real you. You got a better offer from the sheriff, didn’t you?”

  “Nothing I say will make a difference, will it?” Javier asked softly. “You see the truth of everything. I knew if I wasn’t inside you, that you would see me . . . that you would abre los ojos, but I did it anyway. If I did not, then I would truly be cruel.”

  Gail looked down at her bruises, her stains, and her tattered clothes. She paled slightly at the fast food wrappers strewn across the back seat. She rubbed her forehead.

  “Mi a . . . Gail, please, know that I . . .”

  “I wasn’t enough. I wasn’t good enough,” Gail said softly. “Fine. You know what, I don’t care. Enjoy whatever the sheriff offered you. In fact, enjoy the rest of your life.”

  “Gail, please—”

  She smoothed her dress as best she could and finger-combed her hair into a semblance of order. Javier slumped against the steering wheel as Gail took her hammer and slid out the back door. “Why, Javier?” she asked, as he rolled down the window. “If you were just going to sell me out, why did you bother trying so hard to act like you loved me? Is that some vampire thing I’ll learn one day, or are you just an asshole?”

  “I cannot say,” Javier muttered.

  “What was that?”

  “I cannot tell you why I have done the things I have done. That was part of my arrangement with the sheriff. Once a promise is made—”

  “Then I guess there is nothing really left to say, is there?”

  Javier donned a pathetic smile. “You know, you would have just ended up hating me eventually. This is really for the best, but you can’t just—”

  “I can do whatever I want,” Gail said, turning away. “I’m a fucking bloodsucker after all.”

  She could hear him call weakly one more time, but she instead focused on a teenage boy stashing a bag of snacks in the back seat while flipping away on his phone. He didn’t even see her slide into the passenger seat as he kept texting while starting the car.

  “Holy sh—!”

  Gail gave him her best pathetic face. “Please, please you have to get me away from here. My boyfriend, he—”

  The poor kid dropped his phone. “I can call nine-one-one—”

  “Please, can we get out of here first?” She pointed at a particularly scary-looking guy with a shaved head coming out of the convenience store. “Oh, God, please!”

  The kid stomped on the gas and nearly hit another car. He peeled out of the parking lot and swore profusely until they were safely out on the highway. Once the lights of the truck stop had faded and it didn’t seem like any cars were following them, the kid looked over briefly to Gail.

  “Um, do you need a hospital, or I can take you to the police?” he stammered out.

  “You’re my hero,” Gail gushed. “Please, please can you just drive a little more? Can I . . . can I use your phone to call my mom?”

  “Yeah, um, I think it fell by your feet. Your boyfriend beat you up? Jesus, that’s not cool. There is a statey up ahead usually. We can—”

  “Oh no, my boyfriend works for the sheriff! Please, please just help me. You seemed so nice, and strong—”

  The kid’s eyes glazed over slightly. “Don’t worry, I won’t let anyone hurt you. Just tell me where you need me to go.”

  Less than a half hour later, Gail wiped her mouth as her would-be rescuer slumped in the back of his station wagon, his pants around his ankles and a huge smile on his passed-out face. Gail buried her face in his elbow, topping off with a bit of blood before kissing the kid on the cheek. She left him safely locked at the far end of a strip mall parking lot while she and her hammer ducked into the shadows. The lights in the parking lot flickered as she skulked past.

  She could just see the Biogenesys logo one parking lot away. She picked up her pace as a rent-a-cop car slowed to investigate her handiwork. “Good luck explaining that one, kid,” she muttered as she ducked into the next mall over. Gail breathed a deep sigh of relief as she saw a familiar van still parked by the back door of the Greater Nashville Biogenesys Lab and Urgent Care. She cautiously approached. She hadn’t made it within ten feet when she heard a growl and the distinctive click of a safety coming off a pistol.

  “Well look what the cat dragged in,” Toy said as she levelled her gun at Gail. “What the bloody hell happened to you?”

  Gail raised her hands in the air, letting the hammer crash into the pavement. “Is there another me hanging around maybe?” she asked.

  Toy eyed the bruises and scrapes around Gail’s wrists. “Cat house?” she asked.

  “I guess you were the one that weakened the bars for me.”

  “Why don’t you just sit tight while I call the others?”

  Soon Gail found herself led into the breakroom of the lab, a gun still pointed to her head and a circle of suspicious werewolves surrounding her. She heard them muttering all the questions. “How do we know she’s real?” echoed in her ears.

  “Steve,” Gail said softly at first.

  “What?” Kyle asked. The two taller girls, Nadia and Kayleigh, exchanged strange looks.

  “Steve!” Gail exclaimed. “Go ahead and get him. Even if I were the sheriff, I doubt even she could fake what I taste like, right?”

  “Eww,” Kyle said. “I guess I never thought of that sort of test.” He left, shaking his head in disgust, but to his credit, he did return with a pale, sickly-looking vampire.

  Dark circles ringed Steve’s bloodshot eyes. “What did you do to Georgia?” he asked.

  “How the hell would I know? I’ve been locked up in a dungeon for a few days, getting the shit kicked out of me by Kevin. Let me guess, I haven’t been missed?”

  “Where’s Javier?” Steve asked.

  “He’s the one that handed me over to the sheriff. I guess she made him a better offer.”

  Gail lifted her blistered wrist toward Steve. He turned her hand over and gawked at the marks from the chains. Gail sighed as she waited. Steve looked at all the anxious eyes in the room.

  “Hey, can I have a minute alone please?” he asked. Before anyone could protest, he snapped. “If she beats the shit out of me or kills me, she’s probably the sheriff, so could you please give me a little privacy?”

  “We’ll be right outside,” Nadia said flatly, leading the others out. The silhouette of Toy’s gun could clearly be seen through the frosted glass.

  “What’s with the hammer?” Steve asked as he eyed the tool laying by her bare feet. He cringed a little as he saw her clearly broken toes.

  “Baxter and I have been through a lot together.”

  “Baxter?” Steve raised a brow.

  “I once knew a man who named his shotgun Bessie. This guy looked more like a Baxter to me. Come on - after everything we’ve been through, this is what you find weird?”

  Steve blinked a few times before sitting next to her. He stared at her wrist again. An awkward silence settled between the two of them until Gail finally tilted her head to show off a pulsing, delectable artery. “You wanna just skip the foreplay and go all the way, big boy?”

  “What happened to you, Gail?”

  “What happened to me? Seriously? What happened to me was fucked up enough that once you’re satisfied that this is me, and you get the info about how the sheriff and her goons are staked out in the old zoo out there . . . that I want you to kiss me. I want
you to kiss me long and hard, and tell me that I remember nothing about my time in that cage.”

  “But—”

  “I can happily go the rest of my endless life not remembering Kevin beating me, breaking my foot, feeding me maggots, and trying to shove his fucking blood down my throat, am I clear? I need to forget it, because the more I think about it, the more those old walls you put in my head start tumbling down. I’d rather be a useless basket case than ever think about this again. Can you arrange that? Don’t you think you owe me that?”

  “But what about—?”

  “Just tell me that Javier left me because he got a better deal from the sheriff. I don’t want my lame ass running off after him. OK?”

  Steve nodded. He dragged the chair a little, the horrid sound echoing in the grungy room. As he took Gail’s hand, the world started to spin. Gail blinked and found herself in another room just like this one, but with a Red Sox World Champion poster stuck to the wall and a row of Dunkin’ Donuts cups by the sink.

  “I know this might seem scary at first, Miss Filipovic, but I need you to relax. You’ve been given a second chance . . .”

  Gail blinked and found herself back in the present, Steve still timid and hesitating. Finally, she lunged and grabbed him by the collar. She straddled him and pressed all of her scantily clad, miasma-oozing undead body against his, and all but drove his fangs into her neck. Instinct took over and he slid his fangs inside her. After the tiniest of tastes, he shoved her away and scrambled to his feet. They glared at each other, a mix of hatred and other decidedly-fiery emotions in their eyes.

  “You’re Gail Filipovic,” he choked out.

  She pounced, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Please, make me forget,” she begged, before kissing him deeply. Steve stiffened for a moment before wrapping his arms around her. They remained there, frozen, until an “Ahem,” echoed from the doorway. Steve motioned the ever-cockblocking Kyle away.

  He pulled away from Gail and whispered softly in her ear. “It was all just a dream. You hit your head and everything is fuzzy. Just forget about Kevin at the zoo and those terrible nights. None of it will seem real, OK?”

  Gail pulled even further away and blinked a few times. Her eyes widened in horror. “Come on, Steve, I said make me forget.”

  Steve kissed her again, this time as if he were on the cover of a romance novel. Gail shook her head as she pulled away. “Come on!” she cried. “If there is one thing in this entire universe you can do Steve—”

  Steve looked over to Kyle in desperation. He turned back to Gail, all the color drained from his cheeks. “It’s gone,” he whispered. “It’s just gone.”

  “That’s impossible! You’re Steve the mind-wiping asshole. You make people forget. You made me forget! Damn it, don’t you go dry the moment I need you.”

  “Excuse me,” Kyle interrupted. Steve whirled back around.

  “Just leave us alone!” he barked. Kyle snarled, and Steve’s face softened. “Please. Kyle, just leave us alone for a few more minutes. I need to work this out.”

  With that Kyle’s eyes glazed over slightly and he left the room. Steve shook his head. “What’s happening?’

  “Did you just use the whammy voice on Kyle?” Gail asked.

  “I dunno, maybe,” Steve muttered. “I mean, he might just have been reasonable.”

  The vampires exchanged a look and both sighed. Steve took a deep breath and leaned in one more time. He kissed her slowly. “Please just forget,” he begged.

  “It’s not the same,” Gail said, tears welling in her eyes. “That sickeningly sweet taste is gone.”

  “How about this? You want to forget, don’t you? Just stop thinking about Kevin and the cage for now. Think about something happy. Think about the best memory of your life.”

  Gail closed her eyes. A small smile crept across her lips. She then balled her hands into fists and pounded them into her thighs. Steve grabbed her. “I said happy! Stop, please!” She froze.

  “Gail, what is it?”

  “I . . . remembered . . .” she choked out.

  “What? What did you remember?”

  “A happy night, when I thought anything was possible. I remember a night in a bar when I dreamed that vampires could be real. I remember a boy in a bar in Texas with the prettiest green eyes I had ever seen. I even remember . . . I remember being proud of what I was doing. I remember fighting a good fight. Oh my god, I think I remember everything.”

  “How . . . how can—?”

  “Don’t you see? You made me forget my happiest memories, and then you just asked me to remember them. I couldn’t resist the command! You’ve changed, Steve, and I’ve changed. Everything is so different.”

  “No, no, no,” Steve repeated grabbing his head. “This can’t be happening. None of this is happening!”

  His misery was cut short by the door bursting open. This time Paige and Jonathan led the charge into the fray. Gail gasped as she saw him. “Kris!” she cried. He gave her a blank look.

  “I’m missing something,” Jonathan said, narrowing his eyes at Gail.

  “Is that a tail?” Gail asked at the same moment that Jonathan asked, “Is that a sledgehammer?”

  35

  Paige sat uncomfortably on one side of the little laminate table. Jonathan cleared his throat a few times as he stared at the filthy, bruised vampire girl directly across from him. Steve slumped against the wall a few feet away, his face buried in his hands and his curls falling over his fingers. Paige finally asked, “So, you asked my great-grandfather to purposefully wipe your memories and it didn’t work?”

  “Pretty much,” Gail replied. “The longer I sit here, the clearer everything becomes. I don’t know if it is just him though. I’ve been through a lot, and without Javier swimming around inside and confusing things further, it’s like a fog has been lifted.”

  “And you’re actually Gail this time?” Paige asked.

  “It’s her,” Steve chimed in, not looking up. “What are you two doing here anyway?”

  “Kyle said you commanded him to leave and he couldn’t fight it. I grabbed Jonathan just in case,” Paige replied.

  “I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing,” Steve said. Gail barely covered her snicker. “All I know is that my powers are broken and I’m not entirely sure why.”

  “It’s the Rogue thing,” Jonathan offered. “The new power is replacing the old. I think that’s how it worked in the comics; I mean except for Ms. Marvel, she kept her powers but she had to almost kill her to do it, and she tripped on all of Carol Danvers memories and like went crazy . . . and why are you all staring at me like that?”

  “Have we entered some bizarro universe where comic books are being used to explain vampire powers?” Paige asked.

  Jonathan raised a finger. “Um . . . technically, the bizarro world was DC, Rogue was a member of the X-Men and thus part of the Marvel Universe.”

  “You can remember all that, but not me,” Gail said softly. “You know, you told me once that the worst thing was remembering someone who doesn’t remember you. I’m starting to understand.”

  “I’m sorry, babe, but my brain is a bag of cats,” Jonathan confessed. He looked at the tail flopping over the waistband of his jeans. “Yeah, bad choice of words. I do remember some things about you, but there is just so much going on, so much noise. It’s weird, I can remember tiny details about the craziest things, but when I try to piece it together, it’s just a jumble. I’m so sorry.”

  “Do you remember Paige yet?” Steve asked with a little snort.

  “Steve!” Paige growled. “Look, I know everything is a little crazy, but we need to try to piece together what the hell is going on, and how we can figure out where the sheriff is and what she’s doing. Why she would want Georgia—?”

  “Georgia,” Gail said, gritting her teeth. “I have a lot I want to say to her now. Oh, and you’re still an asshole, Steve. My memories are really starting to come back now. Everything is fucking comi
ng back.”

  “Fine, everything is coming back,” Paige said. “Does that mean that Steve’s powers are fading for everyone? I mean is everything starting to break down?”

  “How the hell would I know?” Gail snapped. “I know what happened to me, and ugh! The sheriff has Javier in her pocket now. She made some deal with him, so now she’s got a vampire who can practically be invisible—”

  “Doesn’t she already have Bam-Bam?” Paige asked.

  “Wait, there is someone named Bam-Bam? Like the Flintstone kid? How did I miss this one?”

  “He’s your brother,” Steve said. “My brother too.”

  “Our brother is a Flintstone?”

  “Enough!” Paige barked. “We will go over the family trees again, and all the vampires, I promise; but for now, let’s get what Gail knows.”

  “Well, I guess from what you are saying, the sheriff has two invisible vampires working with her now. She also has the ability to shapeshift, and some very powerful muscle. Yet despite all that, she kidnaps one of your little band’s token humans? That doesn’t seem right.”

  “Georgia is special,” Steve added from the peanut gallery. “You remember that don’t you?”

  “Oh, I remember a lot. Yes, she’s special and immune to all the vampire powers, and everyone just loves her. I also remember how she was willing to use me, just to save her precious Mr. Lambley. Look - I don’t know exactly what the sheriff has in store for little Miss Special, but I stole a laptop and some notebooks from Kevin after Baxter and I kicked the shit out of him—”

  “Baxter?” Paige asked. Gail pointed to the sledgehammer. “Oh.”

  “You kicked the shit out of Kevin?” Jonathan asked, a little bit of awe in his voice. “I remember a few nasty beatings from him.”

  “Apparently I take after my mother. I can also vomit acid. Is that a normal vampire thing? Look, we can go over and over all these details, but I want to make something clear, OK? I just want to say my piece and then whatever, you can decide what to do with me.”

  “I’m not gonna vomit acid, am I?” Jonathan whispered, as he looked at Paige with genuine concern. She glared at him. Gail cocked her head.