Niki pulled out her cellphone, and clicked onto an app. “She’s at the corner of Center and 9th, near Joe Moody Harris Park. Oh shit! That can’t be good.”
“You have a G.P.S. on Danika?” I was stunned.
“I bought her one of those necklaces that you get your kids so that they don’t get kidnapped. She wanders around sometimes, and it’s just easier to find her than wait for her to decide to wander back to me.”
“That sounds kind of paranoid.” I grumbled.
“Please! As beautiful as my Pudding Pop is…I put that pussy on LoJack the first chance I got.” Niki laughed. “Now, can we go please? My baby might be in trouble. Remember, she said that parks were supposed to be neutral ground. In theory, werewolves are safe if they make it to a park. If she’s heading to the park then she’s probably in danger. She better be okay, because if she ran off and gets hurt then I’ll kill her.”
I really tried not to laugh at that. I know she’s worried, but normally Niki is perky, and bubbly. She’s basically a cheerleader. Now I was seeing a whole different side of her. Possessive, paranoid, protective, and generally intense…I could really see the family resemblance with Grim. Grimmy always gets this way when he thinks one of us is in danger. Well to be honest he comes across as a grade-A psycho when he thinks we’re in danger. Now I could see that maybe it’s a family trait. Niki wasn’t quite as bad, but she was definitely in the ballpark.
Sam stomped on the gas, and we were tearing across the city. “We need to try and get ahold of Grim and Penny.” I said.
Niki tapped a picture of Grim on her phone, and a few seconds later he answered. Niki was frantic, “Werewolves! Danika! Park! Go Now!”
I don’t know what Grim said, but Niki huffed in frustration and handed me the phone. I put it to my ear, “This better be really good. We’re just about to get on the helicopter.” I explained everything as succinctly as I could. Grim must have put us on speakerphone because I could hear Penny in the background sounding almost as panicked as Niki.
“We’re pretty far away, but we’ll get there as soon as we can. Now put Niki back on, or better yet just put us on speaker.” I hit the button, and Grim’s voice boomed out, “We’ll be there as fast as possible. Sis…I know you’re worried, but don’t go in there without us. You’re no match for a group of werewolves.”
Niki sobbed, “Please hurry. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”
There was a click as Grim disconnected. I handed Niki the phone, and she gave directions to the park between sniffles. Sam’s Lexus came to a stop, and before he even had a chance to put the car in park, Niki was running off into the park.
“Son of a biscuit!” I growled.
“You’re friend said we should wait here. Maybe you and I could have some alone time while we wait.” Then he wiggled his eyebrows. Great, one of my friends may be getting murdered, beaten, or gang raped by a pack of werewolves, and Sam wants to play some tonsil hockey. All the man’s sexiness just vanished. I still appreciated him driving us here, but any thoughts of sex with the man just became disgusting. To think, it wasn’t that long ago I was thinking about being Mrs. Sam…crud! What is his last name?
I stepped out and started running after Niki. She was leaving me in the dust. Stupid long legs on her stupid skinny body, I’d have a hard time keeping up with her if I was on skates. She was just a tiny body on the horizon before I got even a hundred yards, and I was already sucking wind. I’m I tech-girl, I shouldn’t have to do horrible things like run, or sweat. Where’s a Segway when you need one?
As I kept running, I could hear Niki screaming for her Danika. All I could do was keep running, and hope that my twins didn’t knock me out. I just had to wear the frilly little lacey bra from Victoria’s Secret. It made my girls look good, but it just wasn’t designed for running. The twins kept bouncing everywhere like two bucking broncos. It’d be a miracle if I didn’t hit myself in the face. Also the lace was rubbing my nipples raw.
I was getting closer, which meant that Niki must have stopped running. I kept churning my feet, and hoping I wouldn’t drop dead from a heart attack. Niki’s blonde hair was whipping back and forth as she moved nervously in a circle. I saw Danika sprawled out on the ground beside her. Danika’s leg was bent at an unnatural angle. Niki stood over her, using her own body as a shield to protect the woman she loved. That’s when I saw them. The werewolves circled like hungry sharks. They were waiting for the right opportunity to take Niki apart, or maybe they were trying to figure out how the little blonde girl could stand up to them with no sign of fear. Either way, it wouldn’t be long before they attacked. Niki would be really lucky if they killed her instantly, but it was more likely they’d want to play with her before they finished her. If half of what Danika had told me about werewolves was true, then they’d probably just kill Danika since she was sterile. Niki wouldn’t last long either, unless they decided to keep them around long enough to vent some pent up sexual frustration.
My friends were about to be killed if they were lucky, or raped and killed if they weren’t. Knowing this, I did something incredibly stupid. “Hey you mangy mutts! What’s wrong? None of you man enough to get it up?”
They all whipped their heads towards my direction. I could hear them growling from where I stood. Great…I am so dead. “That’s right, you big losers! You heard me! What’s wrong, can’t get it up, or are you all neutered? It’s probably for the best anyway. I mean, with those tiny weenies, how could anyone ever tell if any of you were inside?” Some things are universal, and one of those is that nothing male appreciates it when you make fun of their genitals.
They all lost interest in Niki and Danika. Well it was now or never. “Who’s got baby penises? Who’s got baby penises? You do! Yes you do!” I spoke in the same voice you’d use on babies or puppies. Yeah, that did it. They started moving towards me. I could only hope Niki would get Danika to safety while the wolves did whatever horrible things they had planned for me. I turned and started running. The least I could do was try and give the two women more cushion to run away. “Come on you pansies! Shouldn’t you all be a lot faster considering you’re not encumbered with all that added weight of a normal sized penis?”
The growling turned to barking and howling, and as tired as I was, I found a whole new gear. I was running as fast as I’d ever ran in my life. I can only credit adrenaline. As fast as I ran, it really was just a matter of time before they caught me. I kept running through the wooded area until my legs were too tired to move. I slumped down next to a steel pole. My back leaned against it, and I heard the chains above my head rattle. It was then that I realized I was on a disc golf course. Great, somebody was going to find bits and pieces of me splattered all around the 3rd hole. You know, if you’d have asked me how I thought I was going to die…it certainly wouldn’t be on a disc golf course. I wonder if hitting me counts as a penalty stroke?
The wolf pack surrounded me, and changed back to their human form. The scrawny naked men were moving closer. Some of them were openly stroking themselves. I started crying. “Oh, it’s too late to beg now girlie. Let’s see if you still have that smart mouth on you after we’ve taken turns stuffing you full of cock.” I cringed, and wrapped my arms around myself and started rocking back and forth.
I felt something fleshy poke me in the face. “Open your fucking mouth!” The man growled. I could only assume by how the others waited that he was the pack leader. I shook my head no, and he spat on me, “Bitch! Before the nights over you’re going to have every hole stuffed full with my meat, so you can open your mouth, or I can break your jaw and stuff my cock down your throat. Now open your fucking mouth!”
He was resting both hands on the cage for the disc golf hole and looking around with a bored confidence that said he believed this was just how things were done. The…son of a bitch actually treated me like I should just accept it. Something boiled inside of me. It was like all the anger and rage I’d avoided my entire life suddenly flared. For the
first time in my life, I actually knew hate. I smiled and opened my mouth like I was about to blow him. My hands wrapped around his stiffening cock. I stroked him a couple of times. “Oh yeah…now suck me off like a good little bitch.” I smiled and leaned in, opening my mouth. One of my hands slid down his length until I had both of his balls in my palm.
I looked up, the man’s face was staring up at the sky. He was just relaxed, and enjoying the stroking. My fingers gripped down on his nuts. I squeezed as hard as I could, then gave a hard yank and twist. “Who’s the bitch now, scumbag!” The man couldn’t even scream. He just squeaked in pain. I refused to let go. I kept squeezing and twisting back and forth. I started digging my nails into his balls, and clawing at his cock. That’s when he started screaming. His men were moving to pull me off. I couldn’t help but smile with satisfaction. I was about to die, but at least I knew mom would have been proud of me for going out fighting.
That’s when I heard a whoosh, and a metallic clang. Wetness poured down onto me. I looked up, and the man’s head was staring down at me in the basket above my head. Next to it was a…Frisbee? The other men started changing, and howling in a panic. I let go of the man’s pecker, and his body flopped onto the ground. Another whoosh, and one of the men crumpled to the ground in agony. His leg was lying beside him.
“Leave her alone. She’s mine!” Penny growled, and the possessiveness in her tone really surprised me. It wasn’t the angry voice of someone looking after their friend’s well-being. It was the insulted tone of someone who had just caught someone playing with their toys without their permission. If I wasn’t so terrified, I’d probably be insulted.
The werewolves were starting to spread out. I think they were trying to make themselves harder targets, or maybe they were just trying to circle Penny. Another whooshing sound, but this time the were caught it. “What’s wrong girlie…you didn’t really think that was going to work, did you?” The were holding the Frisbee laughed. The others joined in. They knew where she was, even if I still couldn’t see her. Penny is tough, but one vampire versus a pack of werewolves…not good odds. Even if Danika got back on her feet, they are still outmatched. I wasn’t going to be much help, unless of course I let a few of them chew on me as a distraction….not going to happen…okay, it might happen, but certainly not intentionally.
I stood up, and then sank into blackness. Everything was suddenly disorienting. It was like part of me was in one place, and another part of me was already at some other destination. I could feel myself getting closer to that destination, but also at the same time being pulled away from my original place in time and space. I couldn’t scream. I wanted to, but there wasn’t enough of me in any one place. When I came to a stop, Grim had his arms around me. It was like we were standing in the center of a long hallway. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all made up of that same smoke that I saw Grim create before in the hangar. It was still flowing like smoke, but it was so thick that it actually acted like a solid. I could stand on it, but I still felt it shifting and flowing underneath me like water.
“Where are we?”
“This is where I go when I fall into the Black.”
“The Black?”
“I had to call it something, and let’s be honest…nobody’s confusing this place with Disneyland.” Grim laughed.
“It didn’t have a name already?”
“Nothing I could pronounce. Angelic words aren’t exactly something that gets covered by hooked on phonics. So I call it the Black. I mean, it is kind of fitting. It’s not really a place, and it’s not really a thing. It’s just blackness.”
I tried to tap my foot, the Black gave way, or should I say, it just conformed around my shoe. It still supported me without any hint of impact. I kept tapping my foot, but there was no sound at all. Since when could gases possess the properties of liquids, and solids? Put me around electronics, and I’m a genius. Put me around magical, mystical smoke that behaves like a solid, a liquid, and a gas all at once, and I’ve got a big bag of nothing. My curiosity was already getting the better of me.
“Is there any way we could take a sample?”
“A sample…why?” Grim stared at me with a curious expression on his face. It was then that I noticed I could see him clearly, but how can I see his face without a light source? Everything was pitch black, but we could still see like we were standing outside on a bright summer day.
“Grim, when we get a chance, I want a sample of the Black. Whatever this is, it doesn’t behave according to the laws of physics, or…anything. It’s just weird.”
“Oh, a sample of the Black. Yeah, we can do that.”
“What did you think I was asking for?”
“Well it was a long drive, and I had a big gulp from the zoo to the helicopter.”
“So?”
“I have to pee. I mean I seriously have to take an epic whizz.”
“Why would you think I want a urine sample?”
“Again…I need to take a piss of epic proportions. The kind of whizz that bard’s would write songs about. So excuse me if I might be a little distracted.”
“You’re so weird.”
“That’s one of the reasons Penny loves me. I’m a lot of things, but never boring.” Grim smiled, and I could tell he meant every word of it.
“You two really do love one another don’t you?” I asked.
“She’s my whole world. It’s not always perfect, but I love her. She can be a little difficult sometimes, and Lord knows her 'I am a vampire, and therefore much better than you all, attitude is pretty irritating. That being said, she’s got the biggest heart of anybody I’ve ever met. For all her vampy badass behavior, she really is just a soft hearted angel of a woman. She knows how screwed up I am, and still loves me in spite of it. That’s pretty amazing, when you think about it.”
“So you love her, and she loves you. So when’s the wedding.” I laughed, but Grim’s expression was so pained.
“I didn’t know she’d told anybody.” Grim sounded so sad.
“Told anyone what?”
“You don’t know?” Grim’s eyes searched me. They were angry, and frustrated.
“Know what?”
“Nothing.” The muscles in Grim’s jaw pulsed as he clenched his teeth.
“No…not nothing, clearly something. Now what is it?”
Grim’s shoulders sagged, “I asked her. Hell, I’ve asked her twice now. She keeps telling me no. She’s got a lot of reasons. Vampires don’t marry humans. Even if we did get married, the other vampires would just use me as a way to hurt her. The only real solution is for me to let her turn me, and blah…blah…blah. Hell, I don’t think she even believes the excuses she came up with.”
“Well, then why do you think she said no?”
“I don’t know. I wish I did. Before we found out I was sterile she was making plans for Katy and I. Now it’s like she’s already bracing for our relationship to fail.” Grim sounded so sad.
“She really wants to change you?” I asked, and tried not to sound too shocked.
“Yeah, she talked about it. That’s the rub, though. If she changes me, then I’d be under her family line. I’d be completely at the mercy of the whims of her father. From what she says, her father demands complete and total loyalty.”
“Being with the boss’s daughter has perks though, right?”
“Yeah, all the money I could want, a position of real status and power amongst them, and eternity with Penny. From what I’ve been told, he spoils all of his daughters, but who knows for sure? She’s a lot more interested in changing me, than I am in changing. I like being human. I’ve gorten a lot of practice at it over the years, but being with her forever does sound pretty great. Also, as much as she talks about it, she seems kind of reluctant to really go through with it. So there is something she’s not telling me. Penny doesn’t really talk much about her family, so I’m assuming it’s not nearly as rosy as she tries to describe it. If things were half as good as she tries to
pretend, then why didn’t she make a beeline back to her family the first chance she got.”
“She loves you.” I said, and Grim grinned from ear to ear.
“I know she does. In spite of all the frustration I know that woman loves me with all her heart. It’s just that sometimes her head gets in the way. What I don’t get is why she didn’t run back before she met me. The only thing I can think is that things aren’t nearly as hunky-dory as she pretends. Someone staked her, and left her to rot for eternity. The more I’m around her, the more I’m convinced it was someone close that left her like that.”
“Really?”
“It’s the only thing that really makes any sense. That’s why she tries so hard to keep us all at arms-length. It’s why she won’t marry me. It’s why she chose Katy instead of…”
“Instead of what?” I asked. Grim just grinned from ear to ear. He was like a child that solved a puzzle. He was so proud to have figured it out that he actually was bouncing back and forth on the balls of his feet. “Instead of what?” I asked again.
“What?”
“I said, instead of what?” I know I sounded frustrated, but if he didn’t start explaining soon, I was going to have to bop him on the head.
Grim wrapped his arms around me, and gave me a big kiss square on the lips. When he pulled away he was laughing. “She’s a tricky little devil. Oh, that sweet...wonderful…and irritating woman. This whole time I thought she was just…but she’s just…hahahaha! It all makes sense now.”
“Grimmy, I love you, but you need to turn the crazy down to three; you’re at an eleven right now.”
“I know, and it’s wonderful.” Grim planted another excited kiss right on my mouth. Under other circumstances I’d be a fan. He was still bouncing back and forth. It was time to do something desperate. I reached out, grabbed him by the nipple, and gave it a good hard twist.
“Ouch! What the hell!” Grim screamed.
“Focus! Now please pretend that I didn’t understand anything you just said. Please explain.” I said, still holding the nipple. Grim might be bigger than me, and I might prefer to avoid conflict, but I do know how to get my point across.
Midnight Squad: The Ties That Bind Page 20