Harvey extended his hand. "I'd say good morning, but I think your answer would be a lie. You look like hell," he said.
"Thanks buddy," David said to his friend as he shook his hand.
"Do we need to do this another day?" Harvey asked as he was very concerned for his friend.
Another bell indicated that another customer had arrived for the book signing. David turned to the door and it wasn't a customer, but rather a group of customers. He sighed. Harvey shrugged his shoulders and smiled at this friend.
"If you get the books, I'll get the table," he said.
"Thanks I appreciate it," David said.
They both briefly disappeared into the back of the store. Five minutes later, a line had formed. The author had set up a small table and a chair. He took the time to walk down the line of customers and shake every hand. He stopped and answered questions. He even took a few photos before the signing had officially started. By the time that he returned to his chair, David had set up a stack of books and placed another full box of books behind the fledgling author. David left the author to meet his fans or potential new fans. He returned to his counter for what he expected to be a very long day.
As the day progressed, fans continually ventured to the cash register to make purchases. Along with the people giving a new author a chance, many regulars came in for their comic book orders. The author didn't help his situation by offering a one of a kind, artist autographed sketch of the hero from his first novel: Demon Rising. It was part of a raffle for anyone who had purchased a book and a comic from the store. The vigilante from his first book was the character that Scott now adored. The signing lasted the entire day and nearly every book was sold. Normally, David would have been ecstatic but he needed to sleep. Eight hours later, the raffle was held and to his absolute delight, Scott had won the signed picture.
David sighed. The sun had sat an hour ago. He had been drinking coffee all day and his mouth was stained. His throat hurt from swallowing the scalding liquid before it had cooled. His author friend was packing up his belongings. He brought the last three copies of his book to the counter. It had been a very long day for both men. David wished that he was bringing him a pillow. He faked a smile as the author approached the counter.
"I don't know whether to thank you or not," he said honestly. "My ass has been going constantly all day. I need a drink and a nap."
"Hey, at least you get paid this week for this. I have to wait for my royalty check to come in from the publisher," the author replied.
"Yeah, I made a whole dollar today," David joked.
"HOLY SHIT! THAT'S MORE THAN I MAKE!" the author jokingly protested.
Both men laughed until the bell rang again. David sighed. He had forgotten to flip the sign. He didn't want to talk to anyone. He especially didn't want to deal with another customer. His feet hurt and his head throbbed. He hoped that it would be Myles coming over to say goodnight before he left for the day. However, the clicking of high-heels on his tile floor told him that it wasn't his regular clientele.
"Probably some girlfriend looking to find a last minute birthday gift for her comic book loving boyfriend," David muttered.
"Hey if she is hot, I'll give her a copy of my book for free," the author added.
"I thought that you didn't have any copies on hand?" David asked.
"Care to donate to the c…oh my fucking god!" he exclaimed as the beautiful visage of Mikhaeli Lanaova came into view.
The beautiful vampire was dressed to turn heads. She wore black high-heels to match her tight black jeans. She wore a low cut black spaghetti strap blouse. She, unlike before, wore her hair down. Her bright red lips smiled as she approached. David swallowed hard. To his friend, a beautiful woman had just walked into view. David knew better. She was the vampire queen. She was as powerful and deadly as she was attractive. David swallowed hard again. His friend however tried to prevent himself from drooling.
"Am I too late?" she asked sweetly. "I wanted to get a signed copy of your book. The sign said to come in."
David knew that she had them. His friend was an avid weightlifter and runner, but he would be no match for the powerful vampire. Her blue eyes fell on David and she smiled. He felt a shiver go down his spine.
"Well, we…" David said.
"…were waiting specifically to give you this copy," the author said as he picked up a copy of his book. "And I am signing this for?"
She purred and slid up next to the unsuspecting author. "Michelle. And can you sign it 'To my sexiest fan'?" she asked sweetly.
The author blushed. "And I won't be lying," he said.
She giggled sweetly. "You're cute," she said.
"Thank you," he said. "And you are most definitely my sexiest fan."
She held out her hand and he kissed it. She giggled again and David almost threw up. He was expecting the vampire to bare her fangs and rip out the author's throat. Instead, she smiled sweetly. When the author had finished his autograph, he handed her the book. She held it to her chest. She caught the author looking at her cleavage. She giggled.
"And how much do I owe you?" she asked.
"I'll cover this one, Dave," the author said.
"But…" David protested but his voice failed him. If he had said anything else, he might have doomed his friend.
"Hey, it's late and this lovely lady probably has other things to do. Speaking of late, I need to get home myself. I have a story that I need to finish…"
Mikhaeli grabbed the author and kissed him. "Thank you," she said as she broke the kiss.
"And I won't be sleeping any time soon. You're quite welcome," the author said as he picked up his briefcase. He bowed slightly. "I bid you farewell."
The author quietly left the building. Mikhaeli and David watched him go. The bell rang as he opened the door. The door closed behind him. Mikhaeli, who still clutched the book to her chest, turned and faced David who held a cross up to her. She giggled again. The bell rang again as Myles entered the store. He was stunned to see David holding the cross up to the vampire queen.
"If you two need to be alone, I can…"
"Stay where you are," she ordered.
"Thank you," David said as his trembling hand held out the cross.
"For what?" she asked.
"For not killing my friend," he answered.
She threw her head back and laughed heartily. "Kill him? I adore him," she said as she brought her attention back to David. "His first book was deliciously dark and gruesome. I loved every second of it."
"You actually read his books?" Myles asked incredulously as he crept next to his friend.
Mikhaeli sighed. "And I am supposed to be the evil one? Some friends you are if you don't support your friend by reading his work. Who do you think encouraged all those geeks to come into this pathetic place?"
"You?" both men asked.
She giggled. "Yes, I did. I want him to keep writing more and more. I like his sex scenes. They make me wet."
David was so shocked by her comments that he dropped his cross. He reached down to pick it up, but Myles grabbed his arm.
"I think she was humoring you. Remember, she walked into a church without flinching."
Mikhaeli smiled. "Very wise. Gentlemen, we have business to discuss."
"I figured you had just come in here to kill us," David said.
Her eyes became cold. Her stare frightened both men. "If I was here to kill you, you would have been dead long ago," she said coldly.
Myles swallowed hard. "You said that you wished to discuss something?"
Her demeanor quickly changed. She licked her red lips and sucked on one of her fingers. David tried not to be aroused but she was like a drug. Myles swallowed hard again.
"You have something that I want," she said sweetly, "And I have something that you want."
"Chris?" Myles asked.
"Yes, I believe that is his name. As much as I have enjoyed him, you have something that is more important to me than your talente
d friend. So, I am willing to trade," she said seductively.
David wondered exactly what she meant by her statement. "And what are the terms of the trade?" he asked cautiously.
"I know that you know the location of one of the tomes of the Order of Twelve. You can deny it all you want but several of your socalled council members already told me that they had lost track of one of the tomes in Denver," she said.
"That doesn't mean that we know where it is," Myles said.
She took a step forward. She was very close to them now. "Listen asshole, don't fuck with me," she whispered. "I am nearly three hundred years old. I have seen many changes in this world. The greatest being the invention of the internet. It is such a wonderful tool. I know losers, such as you, use it for jacking off to porn videos, but I have found other uses for it: Knowledge. The tome that I seek had a very clear trail until it reached the Mid-West a few years ago. I am assuming while I was searching for other tomes, it was moved to Colorado," she said.
"That doesn't mean anything. Colorado is a huge state," Myles retorted.
She reached across the counter and grabbed him by the back of his head. She slammed his broken nose onto the hard countertop. Myles screamed as his blood sprayed everywhere. If his nose had healed, it was just shattered again. His eyes rolled up into his head. Darkness consumed him as he slumped to the floor. David wanted to help his friend but he knew that he couldn't risk taking his eyes off of the vampire.
She dragged a finger through the blood on the counter. She stuck it in her mouth and pulled it out slowly. "Mmmmm," she purred, "Now where was I? Oh yes, before I was so rudely interrupted, your church is the oldest in Denver. I have learned that your council loves to honor their history. Usually, the tomes are hidden in the oldest churches due to their lineage to former council members."
David sighed. "Then why don't you just walk in and take it?"
She threw her head back and laughed again. "And what fun would that be?"
A chill shot down his spine. This woman defines dangerous, he thought. "How will this work?"
She licked her lips slowly. "I will arrive, at the church, with your friend."
"Not some abandoned warehouse?" David asked.
She bared her fangs. "Fucking interrupt me again and you will not have the same fate as your friend."
"Sorry," he said honestly.
Her face immediately switched back to her human face. David couldn't deny that he approved of it for more than one reason. "Thank you," she said sweetly. "No, I prefer the parking lot of the church. A lot less can happen to the tome if it has fewer roads to travel. Plus it is a nice open area. Your priest will hand me the tome and when it is in my possession, I will release your friend."
"But…"
"Nothing else needs to be said other than we will see you tonight at midnight. If you are one minute late, my next meal will be from your headless body. You have five hours."
David swallowed hard. He nodded. Myles started to stir. Mikhaeli picked up her book and clutched it to her chest. "Now, if you excuse me, I have some reading to do."
The beautiful vampire turned and walked to the front door. The bell rang as she exited. David held his breath the entire time. He kept waiting for her to suddenly turn around and attack them. He knew that they would be helpless to stop her. They were injured and injured humans were as helpless as an injured animal in the jungle. Like the injured animals in the jungle, they were dinner.
Myles started to stand. David gave him the stool to sit on. His face was a mess. Blood covered his clothes. David handed him several paper towels as blood continued to drip from his nose.
"That bitch," Myles mumbled.
"Yeah, while you were sleeping, that bitch changed the rules," David said.
"What do you mean?"
David ignored his question. He picked up the phone and dialed a number. After several rings, someone picked up the receiver. David didn't even wait for the voice to answer. "Meet us at the church within the hour," he said and then he hung up the receiver.
"An hour?" Myles protested. "I'd be lucky even to see a nurse by then."
He reached under the counter and removed his first-aid kit. "This will only hurt a lot," he replied.
"Oh hell no," Myles said. David didn't respond. Something else was on his mind.
* * *
Mikhaeli arrived at her castle an hour later. During the drive back to her home, she had stopped at a convenience store. She found a diet soda in the cooler and she brought it to the counter. The store clerk was a man in his early twenties. She flirted with him and she learned that he was studying ancient history. She purposely dropped her purse. He immediately bent over to pick up her belongings. The vampire smiled.
She grabbed his head and smashed it into the counter. The young man was stunned. She latched onto his hair and slammed his head over and over again into the hard wooden counter. His face broke through the Plexiglas that covered the scratch and win lottery tickets. The young man, who was drifting in and out of consciousness, didn't even feel the large piece of Plexiglas that protruded from his right eye. He slumped to the floor.
Another customer, who was pumping gas, came running into the store after he heard the commotion. He saw Mikhaeli covered in blood. He reached for his cell phone to call 9-1-1. As he placed the phone to his ear, his voice was cut off. The phone dropped to the floor as he grabbed his throat. Mikhaeli had yanked the piece of Plexiglas from the clerk's eye and she had thrown it through the other man's neck. He fell to the floor as Mikhaeli stomped on his cell phone.
She found the switches that controlled the gas pumps and she shut them off. She turned off the lights to the sign. She wasn't afraid of being seen, she just didn't want to be disturbed again. She picked up the semi-conscious clerk and she carried him to the slushy machine. She opened up the back of the machine and then she opened the mixing stations. This machine had cherry and mango flavor. She wasn't too fond of either. Instead, she opened the lid to the mango station. She jabbed her razor sharp fingernails into his throat and pulled. His jugular vein was ruptured and blood sprayed everywhere. She held his head above the mixture and watched excitedly as the mango mixture became bright red.
She threw his broken body aside. She filled up two large smoothie cups with her mango blood mixture. She placed a straw into the first drink and she sucked deeply. The warm blood mixed with the cold mango flavoring was a pure delight. She drank it quickly and refilled it so she would have two drinks for her long drive back home.
Before she could leave, a large burly man walked through the door. He was the gasoline company delivery man. He was in complete shock. The floor was covered in blood and bodies were everywhere. Mikhaeli smiled as she walked towards him. It was getting late and she had to return home to get ready for her meeting with the council. However, the burly man grabbed her arm as she passed him. The force of his grip caused her to drop one of her drinks. Her new favorite drink was spilled on the blood stained floor. Before he could say another word, she had him on the floor.
The driver, after she had almost beaten him senseless, was chained to the front of the store. She had covered him in gasoline. She had turned on his tanker truck's pump and opened the valve. Gasoline filled the parking lot. She had pulled a zippo lighter from the driver's pocket. She lit it. Instead of lighting him on fire, she dropped it in the gas that covered the ground. She watched and waited as it approached him. The trucker begged for her help. She smiled evilly. She sipped her remaining drink and watched with great joy as the fire crept up his body. He screamed in agony as his flesh blistered and melted. When his body was completely engulfed in flames, she climbed in her car and left. By the time, the paramedics and firefighters had arrived; the entire convenience store was an inferno.
When she had arrived home an hour later, she was as happy as her dark soul would permit. She sucked the remnants of the slushy through the straw. She sighed. She enjoyed the drink. She tossed the plastic cup into a trashcan as she walked throu
gh the castle. She ventured again into the dungeon level. Her next meeting waited.
Chained once again to the wall of the cell, an unclothed Christopher Heart waited for his fate. After his time with the vampire queen, he wasn't even allowed to dress. As the ancient iron door creaked, he knew that he had visitors. The cell was dark. The only light was from the small eyehole slit in the door. However, the clicking on the stone floor had revealed the identity of his visitor. The vampire queen had come to visit him again.
The light from the hallway burned his eyes. After being chained in the darkness for hours, the sudden bright light felt like hot pokers being jabbed into his brain. He squinted and turned his head away. The vampire queen walked slowly towards him. She was smiling. Christopher could see her out of the corner of his eye. She walked up to him and smiled. Her smile unnerved him. He smiled back just before she slapped him across the face.
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