by Zara Novak
Hurst’s bar was one of the few points of interest in Dead Rest for a visiting vampire. Edmund had known Hurst for a few good years now. Whenever there was something he needed to know about the local area, Hurst was usually his first stop. He had no idea how old the vampire was, but he’d never failed to give him information that was useful.
His boots thudded gently against the stairs as he walked down into the basement. He pushed through the double doors and headed straight for the bar.
He took a seat at the long polished counter and took a quick head count of the room. It was a trick of a paranoia that he had learned in his many years of coming to places like this. Keep your wits about you at all times, keep your eyes on the other vampires. Know your surroundings intimately.
Hurst’s bar wasn’t the worst place he’d ever been in, but the company could sometimes be perceived as a little less than savory. It was a far cry from the comfort of the small bar he had back in his home town. Not all vampires were destitute psychopaths. Some of them just wanted to shoot the shit, talk football and drink blood.
Some of the vampires that visited Hurst’s bar weren’t always like that.
There were two other vampires in the bar right now. One sat at the opposite end of the counter, and the other sat at a table in the corner to his left. Both men were huddled over empty glasses, slowly filling them with long strands of drool. They were clearly both in the throes of blood slumber, and they wouldn’t pose a serious threat to anyone or anything in the next few hours. Edmund turned back around to look in front of him and relaxed a little.
He slammed a hand on the bar top to indicate he was waiting. Hurst appeared through the plastic curtain a moment later, and shuffled slowly across the floor until he was stood in front of him.
“Christ alive.” Hurst rasped. “Is that Edmund Volks I see sitting at my bar?”
“You don’t see shit unless you’re drinking or in the presence of a girl.” Edmund quipped. “How are you doing, you blind fuck?”
Hurst threw his head back and answered with a ghostly laugh. “Oh I’ve been just fine Volks, I’ve been doing just fine. What brings you back to Dead Rest? You lumberjack wanna be son of a bitch!”
Edmund couldn’t help but laugh. He might not have agreed entirely with the way Hurst led his life, but he was definitely someone that could have fun.
“I’m doing another job for the man. They want me to find someone around these parts and I was hoping you might be able to give me some information.”
“Is that so?” Hurst raised one of his bushy white eyebrows and pulled a tall bottle and two glasses from under the bar. He set the glasses down and titled the bottle slightly at Edmund. “Refreshment first?”
“Sure, I won’t deprive an old man like you of company. Pour away.”
Hurst snickered as he filled the glasses. When he was done he set the bottle down and pushed one across the counter to Edmund.
Edmund lifted the glass and drank from it slowly. As the blood touched his lips he felt the spark of life move through his veins. His eyes dilated, his fangs pointed. He swallowed the dark liquid down and felt all the tension in his body ebb away. He set the glass back down and took a long breath.
“Damn Hurst. That tastes extremely fresh. You still farm this stuff yourself?”
“Damn right.” Hurst said. “Got a cow in the back right now actually. Just milked her.”
Edmund stared down into the glass and blinked hard. Whatever this stuff was, it was phenomenal. He slammed the glass down hard and heard air crackling in his ears.
“Yeehaw!” Edmund slapped his hand down against the counter top and shot to his feet, kicking his stool back across the bar as he did so. “This shit is like liquid dynamite Hurst, damn!”
Hurst looked down into his own drink quizzically. “I was quite disappointed actually. Pretty young thing, but I can’t stand the taste. It’s not for me.”
Edmund took a couple ignited breaths and paced his adrenaline out. “Shit I haven’t had blood this good in years.” He walked back to the bar quickly and leaned in close with a low whisper. “You mind if I drink from the source?”
Hurst considered the question a moment. “If it were anyone else I’d say no, but seeing as it’s you…” He glanced across the room at the two near unconscious vampires and nodded. “Fuck it. Come on.”
Edmund hopped over the counter top and followed Hurst through the plastic curtain, into the small tiled room in the back. The room was well lit, clinical looking and cold. The tiles were white, though marred with a century of grub and blood stains. There was a drain at the center of the floor and a long hose attached to the wall ahead. There wasn’t much else in the room save for a large metal sink in the corner, and some tables that had body bags on them.
Hurst led Edmund through another doorway curtained by plastic, into a grubby room similar to the previous, albeit a little smaller. Just ahead a light dangled over a naked girl strapped to a stainless steel table. The girl was restrained, gagged, and Hurst had placed a mask over her eyes.
A drip had been placed into her right arm and curled up like a dark red snake to a bag of blood on a stand next to the table.
“Guess who’s back darling?” Hurst said with a dry cackle. The girl screamed through her gag and her limbs rattled the restraints against the table.
Hurst sat in a beat up old chair by the door. He wheezed a desperate breath and pulled another sip from his glass.
Edmund approached the table quietly and stared down at the naked beauty. “What’s with the gag and the restraints?” He asked. “I thought you were good at all that mind shit?”
“Mind shit?” Hurst laughed.
“Yeah.” Edmund raised his empty glass to the bag of blood, turned a tap and watched expectantly as the blood trickled into his glass. Once it was half full he plugged the tap. “I thought you were one of these vampires that could control people with their minds.”
“A little.” Hurst said in a graveled voice. “It’s getting harder to keep it up now though. I’m getting old. I walked her right off the street okay, but she nearly made a run for it when I took her back out. Stupid little bitch even made a swing for me.”
A smile curled over the corner of Edmund’s lips as he stared down at the naked beauty. “Is that so?”
He set his glass down on the table after taking another sip and pulled the mask back from the girl’s eyes to reveal a face of beauty and perfection. He found himself speechless for a moment. The girl squinted as her eyes adjusted to the bright light overhead, and then she started struggling and screaming into her gag again.
He placed a hand on her chest and held his palm down flat. He couldn’t control her like Edmund might have, but he could try and calm her down at least.
He pushed a sense of calm through his hands and channeled it into her body. “Shh. It’s alright. Go to sleep for a bit. Relax, it’s going to be okay.” His voice whispered over her like water, and the girl instantly became less agitated. He held his hand over her until her breathing had returned to a normal rate and her eyes had closed.
Edmund glanced at the bag of blood above the girl and glanced back at Hurst. “How much blood have you taken from her?”
“The girl?” Hurst thought briefly. “With the glass you just took then, that should be 2.6 pints. Few more customers and she’ll be dead soon.” He wiped a hand across the back of his mouth and slumped back in his chair. “I’m getting too old for this shit.”
Edmund brushed a thumb up the girl’s milk white thigh, stopping just as he got to the top. He bit into his bottom lip gently and turned away from the table.
“Anyway. I came here to ask if you could help me out with this thing.” He paced forward a few steps across the white tile, leaned back against the wall and looked at Hurst.
“Cairo Inai came knocking on my door in the middle of the day yesterday. Turns out he had a pressing matter that was very urgent.”
Hurst shivered at the name and sat up straight. “Cairo
Inai? What did that bastard want?”
“As I understand it there was a big fight in town last night. You heard of this?”
“I did.” Hurst smirked. “The two idiots that shot the place up were in here only a few minutes before they went over to the Avalon. They were Circle agents, looking for a young vampire who wiped out his own coven.”
Edmund sat up. “The young vampire who wiped out the Vesper coven? You know him?”
Hurst let out a long and reluctant sigh and dropped his head into his hands. He held it there. “Ansel Draco.”
Edmund’s ears perked up at mention of the name. “So you do know him…”
Hurst lifted his head and stared into Edmund’s eyes with the clouded white of his own. “Of course I know him. That little bastard has shown his face in here a couple of times since he staked his entire family.”
“Here?” Edmund raised an eyebrow. “In the Black Font? What was he after, blood or information?”
“Both actually.” Hurst said. “He came to me with a special request. Said he was trying to find someone.”
“Find someone? Who?”
Hurst squinted at Edmund with one eye. “First you tell me what it is you’re after, and why you’re after him.”
Edmund nodded. Hurst clearly had information that might be useful for tracking Ansel Draco down. He saw no harm in sharing his task with the old man.
“Cairo Inai came to me with a bounty for Ansel Draco. They want me to bring him in alive and hand him over to The Red Circle.”
Hurst shivered again and laughed. “Doesn’t surprise me those limp dick mother fuckers have to resort to outside help to catch a renegade youngin’. So much for being the elite.”
“The Red Circle has always favored brains over brawn.” Edmund shrugged. “Their agents are experienced fighters, but they’re also clumsy. They came after this kid with fucking guns.”
“That just shows how scared they are.” Hurst snorted and spat onto the tiled floor. “They know there’s something different about this kid. It’s not everyday a junior vampire wakes up and finds the strength to kill five vampires a couple hundred years his senior. In fact, come to think of it - I’ve never heard of something like that happening before.”
“What do you think his story is?” Edmund asked. “Cairo Inai showed me footage from one of his agents. This kid is fast, and he’s strong too.”
A dark gravel of laughter poured from Hurst’s throat once more. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you sounded scared Volks. Could it be the great bounty hunter has finally found his match?”
Edmund clenched his jaw and cracked the knuckles on both his hands. “I’ve dealt with guys like this before, they’re a dime a dozen. He’s probably got himself juiced up on magic, drugs, or both. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up killing himself.”
“It ain’t magic, I know that on account of what he came in here to ask me. You might have brought in a few tough guys Edmund Volks, but you ain’t ever faced a guy like this before, I can tell you that much for sure. I’ve spent long enough on this planet to know change when I see it, and this guy is it.”
“Tell me what you know.” Edmund swallowed. “What did he want from you?”
“You’re gonna offer me a cut before I tell you a goddamn thing. I’ve been living in these parts nearly a hundred years now, and I ain’t ever heard of a Ward like Cairo Inai coming to see a grunt like you in person.”
“What’s your point?” Edmund said.
“Point is, is that they’re scared, and that can only mean one thing - they must have offered you a high fucking price, because they know you’re scared too. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was top end of six figures, maybe even seven. And don’t try to bullshit me either, cos I can smell it on you boy. There’s money in this racket.”
“One million.” Edmund admitted.
“Then I want twenty percent of the cut.”
“Let me hear what you have to say first old man. I ain’t promising shit until I hear what you know. You want twenty percent of the cut, you better be offering something good. You know where he his? You know where I can find him?”
“I don’t know where he is.” Hurst said. “But I can tell you where he’s going to be. He came in here just over a week ago, asking if I could help him find a witch. I asked him what he wanted to find a witch for. He just laughed in my face and told me it was none of my fucking business. Then he said if I didn’t have an answer, he’d raze this place to the ground and crucify me at sunrise.”
“Pleasant. So what did you tell him? You find a witch for him?”
“I did indeed.” Hurst nodded. “And I can tell you where he’s heading and when he’ll be there, if you can agree to twenty percent of your final takings.” Hurst held a hand into the air blindly and stared ahead at nothing.
Edmund stared down at the hand, walked over and took it. “Fine. It’s a deal. Who’s the witch?”
“I don’t know her real name.” Hurst whispered and pulled his hand back. “I just call her Rubago.”
“Rubago? What the fuck kind of name is that?”
“I don’t fucking know, that’s just what I know her as. She has a hut not far from here, a few hours drive north of the border. That’s where your boy is heading. She’s only there four days out of the year. She’ll be there soon.”
“What?” Edmund turned his head. “Why only four days a year?”
“She works with the Circle or something.” Hurst shrugged. “Who am I to try and understand the mysterious ways of a witch?”
“Fair enough.” Edmund nodded. “Write that date and address down for me and I’ll be on my way… and Hurst.”
“Yes?”
“Why did you tell the Circle they could find Draco at the Avalon? You’re helping him, you’re helping them, you’re helping me… who’s side are you on?”
“My own.” Hurst said plainly.
“Did you tell them about the witch that he’s looking for?”
Hurst shook his head.
“That’s probably why they hired you,” Hurst coughed, “They’ve lost track of him now. The Circle knew that Draco had been in here to see me last week. They’d already interrogated me on that. They needed information. I wasn’t going to give them the whole picture. I just told them he was looking for places to drink. I told them they could find him at the Avalon. It covered my ass enough so they wouldn’t burn this place to the ground.”
“Fair enough.” Edmund said after a long pause.
He walked towards the table at the back of the room and looked down at the naked girl once more.
“How much do you want for this one?”
“The girl?” Hurst asked as he stood up from the chair slowly.
“Did you touch her? Other than the blood?”
“Touch?” Hurst reared his head in disgust. “No. God no. I always drink first, and she tastes rotten to me. I want nothing to do with her. You actually want this thing?”
“Yeah. I can’t explain. But there’s something about her that I like.”
Edmund stared down at her body and brushed the back of his hand over her hip. He knew exactly what he liked about her. Her blood was good enough to calcify souls, and one look at her body made his cock harder than steel.
“Shit. Take her for free if you want.” Hurst waved a hand. “Tastes like shit to me. Worst birthday present I ever snatched for myself.”
“You’re losing your mind old man.” Edmund shouted. “But thanks. Does she have a name?”
“Rachel I think.” Hurst said and pulled back the plastic curtain as he walked into the other room. “Something like that. Her things are on the chair in the corner. Check there. You want to use the van to take her back?”
“I’ve got my bike. It’s all good.”
“I’ll go write this information for you,” Hurst wheezed, “Won’t be a second.”
The plastic sheeting slapped against the door as Hurst disappeared through it. Edmund walked to the pile of neatl
y folded clothes on the chair in the corner. He picked up her purse, pulled out the driver’s license and stared at the name on the card in front of him.
Edmund read the name back to himself in his mind a few times, then placed the card into his pocket and stood at the foot of the table so he was looking up at the girl from between her feet.
He brushed his thumbs over the tops of her ankles and smiled to himself, happy with his latest acquisition.
“Ruth…” He whispered to himself. “Ruth Summers. I think we’re going to get on well.”
11. Kat
“But how did I get here?” She said between a barrage of intense kisses. “Who are you? I can’t remember.”
She was lying on her back with her legs spread. In between them lay the hulking frame of the beautiful man on top of her. His lips moved down to her neck. He sucked at her skin, sending shivers of warm pleasure over her body.
“Relax and enjoy yourself.” The ruby eyed stranger whispered.
Kat couldn’t remember how she’d got here, in this faceless black void, with only an ink black bed and this handsome stranger for company. She was wearing a set of scarlet underwear that she definitely didn’t own, the stranger above her was only wearing a small pair of black boxer briefs… but his body - goodness his body.
She gave into the barrage of passion, wrapped her hands around his muscled back and pulled him tight against her.
The scarlet fabric of her panties was flooded with her arousal. She rushed her fingers through the stranger’s thick hair, holding his head in her hands as she kissed him wildly.
“I want to be on top of you.” She whispered lustfully.
The beautiful man rolled onto his back and Kat shifted her weight so she was straddling him. She rolled her hips against his crotch, mewing as she felt the long hard ridge of his cock pressing against her pussy.
The stranger wrapped his hands around her waist and thrust up into her firmly. “You want me Kat. Remember?”