3 Hit the Road Jack

by Christin Lovell

  I read the paragraph again. What hit me was that everyone knew. Everyone who knew the story, had heard it, read it, was familiar with it, even our parents, knew our fate. So many yet not even one had bothered to warn us. How could they not warn us?

  I promptly closed the binders deciding we'd read enough. I pulled him next to me on the bed and curled up into him. I ran my hand over his chest, breathing him in. It had to be wrong I decided. I couldn't imagine not doing this forever with him.

  I woke a few hours later to find myself alone. I rolled over nearly jumping at the sight of Kai hovering in the doorway.

  "He went for a walk."

  "Alone?"

  "With Rafi." I nodded my head.

  "Why didn’t you tell me?"

  "Would you have believed me?"

  I sighed. "Probably not." Just then my phone went off. Looking at the time I figured it was Kellan. "Hello?"

  "Meet me in an hour," Auggy ordered. He was one of the three High Authority leaders, the head haunchos of the vamp army.

  "The usual?"

  "Back door."

  "See you then," I said quickly disconnecting. I grabbed my shoes and bypassed Kai heading downstairs.

  "I'm going with you. You shouldn't be alone until we get whoever's out there."

  I looked at him, offering a knowing smirk and an eye roll. "That's fine."

  "I'm not letting you go a-" he cut off when he realized the argument was unnecessary. "Well, let's go then."

  We walked in silence out to the cars. We still had feelings for each other though his were stronger than mine, and I was completely committed to Kellan. It was hard at times given the pull I felt with Kai. Had I never met Kellan, I could picture myself with Kai, at least for a little while.

  "We'll take mine," he said pressing the keyless remote for his Maserati.

  I slid into the cool, leather passenger seat. He activated the security features and shields before pulling out. The second we reached the main road he pressed play on his iPod. I Want To Sex You Up pumped through the speakers. I narrowed my eyes at him. He wagged his brows and winked. I shook my head not necessarily in disbelief because Kai was very forward, but in slight awe of his persistence given the fact that he knew my status and my future husband.

  "Listen Kai, I've messed up before with you and probably hurt Kellan too due to my own stupidity though he never said anything. While you're a fun fling, Kellan is my forever and I need you to respect that."

  He burst into laughter. "You sound just like him with that crap."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Don't sweat it Leka. Your vamp's already laid down the law."

  "Oh," I stumbled. "When?"

  "A while back; he's only a sissy with you. Gotta give him credit, he's got a mean streak even I didn’t know he had."

  I scrunched my forehead, trying to figure out when this could have taken place. I knew Kellan wasn't a wimp, but he was passive with me most of the time.

  "Didn't know you were engaged to a thug, did you?" Kai smirked.

  "You, hush!" My mind was spinning. I was caught off guard. The man I was going to marry has just shocked the heck out of me. I wondered who else he'd talked to.

  "He's talked to any guy you have regular contact with, even the High Authorities."

  "What?! When the -"

  "You know, you do have to sleep... and he doesn't."

  "Oh. My. God." I studied him as if he were under a microscope. I took in his profile, the slight upward curve of his lips proclaiming his cockiness. His brown eyes were staring at the road ahead, but I could tell they were dancing with amusement nonetheless. "You're lying," I bluntly declared, praying he was.

  "Talk to him," he shrugged.

  "Ugh," I groaned, my stomach was doing flips.

  We parked in a garage near King Street in downtown Charleston and then headed towards the back entrance of the vamp army headquarters. Kai insisted I walk; well, really we were running, ahead of him. He claimed he could look out for me better that way. That was only after he slipped and said he could look at me better that way. I ignored him and focused on business as much as possible. Oddly, it should have worried me to have the assassins still out and searching for me, yet I wasn’t scared. I knew I couldn’t change fate.

  The moment I thought it, Kellan immediately popped up in my mind. Ok, revision, I could change fate, but I couldn’t control it.

  I sighed and gripped the ‘Emergency Exit Only’ door handle outside the headquarters. I waited for the light to flash and the lock to click. We walked through and headed down. After passing the security check point we headed straight to the back office conference room.

  “Finally!” Auggy exclaimed.

  “It hasn’t even been an hour,” I chuckled. Auggy was always intense, the epitome of a muscle-head in that sense.

  “Kai,” he greeted.

  “Augustine,” he nodded in return.

  “So what have you got for me?”

  “Oh, it’s damn good. We’ve finally located Jack.” His eyes lit up with devious delight.

  “So who is this Jack character?”

  “Only the oldest vampire on earth today. He’s survived all these years by more than sheer wisdom though. He’s tied up in a lot of under the table deals and controls nearly all of Europe. No one’s seen him in nearly a decade; we only know he’s still out there because of his signature attack method.” Kai moved towards the table displaying the globe with strategic red dots on the projected image through Europe.

  “Which is?”

  “Black ninjas.”

  “But they could belong to any society. Aren’t they big in Asia?”

  “We know it’s him because of the symbol on their uniforms,” Auggy said.

  “Which is?”

  “This.” He pulled up the image on the screen.

  “A black spade?” I wrinkled my brow studying the clearly defined yet intricately designed piece.

  “Yes. That’s the image stitched in black thread on the upper left part of their tops. It’s a black spade to signify a black Jack of spades card; it’s his signature Leka.”

  “Oh. So he’s a powerful vamp with a black ninja army?”

  “He’s more than that. He’s the Hitler of the vampires. These black ninjas have sold their souls to him in order to save their families.”

  “What do you mean Auggy?”

  “He’s cruel and ruthless is what I mean.” I watched his features stiffen as the anger spread over his face in disgust.

  “He takes a family hostage, kids and all. He gives the male the opportunity to save their lives if he will join his army. If he refuses the first time, Jack will kill a family member, usually a child first. Then he will ask again. If he still refuses, he continues to kill the family one by one until the male either agrees or is killed himself. If he agrees a tiny bomb is injected into the wrist of each of his family members. If he doesn’t give one-hundred percent of himself to Jack’s cause, they are detonated.”

  “How the heck do you inject a bomb into someone’s wrist?” I was flabbergasted, wringing my hands anxiously trying not to picture what they were explaining.

  “He’s lived for nearly three thousand years Leka. He has interest upon interest in his accounts; more than anyone in the world. That kind of money gets you access to nearly anything you could ever want,” Kai stated.

  “These males, does he turn them?”

  “Of course.” Auggy flipped the image to a picture of one of the ninjas. “What he doesn’t tell them though is that if he gets angry or simply because he feels like it, he will detonate the bombs, randomly killing the family members regardless of performance.”

  “How can he get away with that?!”

  “He owns most of Europe. Anyone in power has come in contact with a member of his camp at a certain point for sure. Prime ministers, Presidents, Kings; they’ve all been blackmailed by him.”

  “So, what would a guy like this want with me?”

  “Think a
bout it Leka. You are bringing the larger empires of our kind together; creating alliances. Gain enough of them and he could be overthrown. We’ve already got enough manpower to take him on, but not enough smart technology to surpass what he has invented and invested in.”

  “Oh.” It hit me all at once. I hadn’t thought about it like that. I swallowed the serum slowly climbing the walls of my throat. I couldn’t run from this; I knew that. I probably couldn’t hide either. Unfortunately I’d called attention to myself without meaning to. “So what’s the plan Auggy?”

  “I’ve already briefed Kellan and Rafi. You’re going to Europe.” I felt Kai stiffen beside me. I could feel the tension radiating off of him.

  I grabbed his hand, balled into a fist, and gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. “When?”

  “Tomorrow night. We’ve already notified your school this afternoon and your Eislom is aware as well.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “So you knew the full story too,” I accused.

  “It’s just a story Alexa. Don’t let that fluffy shit get to you.”

  I sighed. “You have a point. Did Kellan really talk to you about me?” Auggy looked to Kai. They passed a look between them. “No way. Don’t look to him for answers. Just tell me straight.”

  “I don’t get in the middle of relationships. You got a problem with your fiancé, take it up with him. Don’t put me in the middle of that shit.”

  I cut my eyes at Kai. “Fair enough. What can you tell me about William? As of right now he seems like a stiff Giles knockoff.”

  “Who the hell is Giles?”

  “Buffy; it’s a TV show. Forget it. Just tell me what you know about him.”

  “He was born in London in the late 1600s. He worked for the prophet directly until he was assassinated. Then he moved to Basque Country and has worked for our Embassy ever since then. He was the Executive Director of Historical Records & Archaeology. When he got wind of your little match up, he knew it was you and Kellan. He put in his notice and hopped on the first flight to South Carolina.”

  “So he’s legit and safe?”

  “As far as I know. Never turned on us or accepted a bribe throughout his entire employment.”

  “Awesome.” I looked around searching for a clock. “What time is it?”

  “4:36am,” Kai offered.

  “Ok. I guess just print a copy of the stuff I need to know about this guy before we head out. Do we have a plan of attack in place yet?”

  He smiled deviously. “That, my dear, is all up to you. I’m relying on you to work your magic and get close to the bastard.”

  Great. How was I supposed to get close to Hitler? Thanks for giving me the easy job Auggy.

  “Anytime,” he smirked.

  “Hey! You’re not supposed to be reading my thoughts,” I frowned.

  “You don’t block it; I’m going to read it. That’s just the suspicious old government conspiracy theorist in me.”

  “Yea, yea.” I rolled my eyes. “Just give me the papers.”

  “They’re set to self-destruct in approximately twenty-four hours. Don’t lose them,” he advised as he handed them to me.

  “Never,” I smirked.

  “Get out of here,” he ordered.

  “Bye Auggy,” I gleefully waved. Auggy and I had a strange relationship. In a lot of ways he was like a bossy older brother. The military intensity only added to that role.

  Chapter 4

  Kai placed a firm, guiding hand on my lower back and walked me out. Since the alliance I’d officiated, the Bladangs had been to the compound regularly and knew it inside-out.

  The second we hit King Street outside the back exit my phone went off.

  “Hello?”

  “Tell me you are not leaving me to go chase some hot-headed, power-hungry bastard with a cockiness complex,” Mel demanded.

  “Ugh, well, I am, but I could tell you I wasn’t if that’d make you feel better.”

  “Lex! How can you risk yourself like this? You are just getting over the Christmas attack and your parents’ deaths. Why, oh mother of Mary why, would you put yourself in the line of fire again?”

  “Because they’re already after me Mel. I have no choice. It’s either they come to me or I go to them, and if I can save you or anyone else around me by going to them, then I am.”

  She sighed. “I don’t like this one bit Lex. Craig told me a little about this vamp and he sounds like the devil himself.”

  “So I’ve been warned.”

  “Any chance I could bribe you out of this?”

  “With what?” I laughed.

  “Delicious, aromatic blood from your very best friend?”

  “Mel! You know I’d never drink from you.” I was horrified.

  “I know. I’d offer myself freely though if it meant you’d stay.”

  “Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll be fine, really. Don’t worry about me.”

  “Well it’s my job to worry about you. And when the heck were you going to tell me about this Miss Cleo crap?”

  “The predictions?”

  “Whatever you call it, yes.”

  “I just found out about it last night.”

  “Well if you ask me it’s a load of crap. It’s a crock of bull balls in a stew pot. Nothing is going to happen to you or Kellan, especially if you listen to your somewhat tortured, psychotic bestie who’s pleading with you to stay here.”

  “Thanks, but I really can’t worry about that right now. It bothers me, but I can’t stop living especially right now with my present life being threatened.”

  “True. Alright. You win this round, which is rare. Promise me you’ll be safe.”

  “I will. You too.”

  “You better get your little butt over here before you leave too!”

  I smiled. “Of course.”

  “See you later then.”

  “Ok.” I hung up. Kai was waiting patiently by the car. I sped to catch up having been distracted by the call.

  “You shouldn’t get so wrapped up in her.”

  “What do you mean? She’s my best friend.”

  “Which automatically puts her life at risk.”

  “Don’t remind me.” He sped off, maneuvering with ease down the empty streets of downtown. His biceps were bulging through is shirt as he ground his teeth. “You’re irritated. Why?”

  “You shouldn’t be pursuing this. You don’t have to take every mission they offer you.”

  “They’re pursuing me. What do you want me to do?”

  “Let me handle it.”

  “I can’t do that. I’m not willing to risk anyone else in my life when it’s me they want.”

  “Don’t be so self-righteous,” he scoffed.

  “I’m not! I’m trying to protect my friends and what little family I have left.”

  “By throwing your life at their feet and begging for mercy?!”

  “You know that’s not what I’m going to do!”

  “You damn well better not,” he growled.

  My serum rushed into my mouth. He infuriated me. Why was someone always trying to control me and my life?

  “I’m not trying to control you,” he sighed.

  “Will everyone stop reading my thoughts!”

  “Put up a block.”

  “I agree with Gabi; it gives me a headache.”

  “Then don’t complain when we read them.”

  “You really did a one-eighty,” I frowned, showcasing my disapproval. Kai was always moody, but this was a bit more than usual. I studied him as he drove in silence.

  “What’s really going on? This whole thing has really hit a hot button for you.”

  “Talk to Gabi about it.”

  “You won’t tell me?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Ok.” I faced out the side window.

  “Object repelled,” the robotic voice of the security feature for his car announced. “Bullet repelled. Bullet repelled. Object repelled. Bullet repelled.” Kai
and I looked at each other simultaneously.

  “Fuck!” he exclaimed, flooring the gas pedal. I turned around to see a black Range Rover with illegal black tint on the windows. They sped up, easily keeping up with Kai’s Maserati, which was impressive considering everything was nearly a blur around us with my vamp vision. “They had to have altered the engine. No way could they keep up with a Maz ordinarily,” he grumbled.

  “What do you want me to do?” I asked, staring at all the buttons and controls.

  “Fire back. This is the switchboard for the missiles built into the back. Make sure you don’t hit anything other than their car if you can,” he said, pointing the middle panel in the center console. “Use the camera to aim,” he said pressing a button that slid out a 7” LCD screen from what looked like a CD or DVD player. I used the short joysticks to lock in on my target on the dual columned screen.

  “Object repelled,” the voice stated. “Bomb detected.”

  “Shit!” Kai abruptly hit the brakes and pulled a hard left as they flew past us. I lost my grip on the joystick as I was thrown into the passenger door. So much for my seatbelt.

  “Where is it?” I panicked.

  “That was the object repelled,” he said as he flew down the interstate going the wrong way on the wrong side.

  Not even five seconds after he sped off in the opposite direction the forest near where we just were exploded. Smoke quickly covered the sky as a fire broke out along the forest wall. A semi-truck headed in that direction came to a screeching halt as we flew past him.

  “How much longer are you planning to go the wrong way?”

  “Until now.” He suddenly spun us around sending me flying into the passenger door again. We sped in the right direction and got off at the next exit, right before the catastrophe we barely avoided.

  “Uh, so I take it this thing isn’t bomb proof?” I asked as I worked to control my erratic, yet still slow compared to normal, heart beat.

  “Very few things are, and they wouldn’t melt under heat to become pliable enough to make a car out of it. We have a shield but it can only protect us from so much.”