by C. J. Pinard
“What about Joshua?” he asked.
She put her head down. “Dead. I’m sorry, Darius. I know you sired him.”
“How?” he breathed.
“He and another guy Pascal used as an experiment at the Vortex kidnapped that sylph, Malina, and she opened a portal into the desert and fried them.”
Darius’s mouth dropped open.
“I know. Clever little witch she is. Pregnant, too, I hear, so she won’t be a sylph much longer,” she chuckled.
“Wow, you’ve had quite a few changes around there since I’ve left, right?”
She nodded. “For sure. So, anyway, I wanted to give you this,” she handed him a small backpack, “but I also wanted to ask you something.”
“What’s that?” he asked, placing the backpack in his lap.
“Do you like being human?” she asked quietly.
He laughed. “You’re joking. Being mortal again sucks ass. I’ve got this young brain in this old body. I used to think it was the other way around. I felt like an old man in a young man’s body before, but it really wasn’t that way. I was acting how I felt I should act. I looked twenty-one, so I would behave twenty-one. Now I have problems acting seventy-five. Why do you even ask this?”
“I’m tired, Darius. I don’t want to do this anymore.”
He eyed her curiously. “Why don’t you let me come live in the house? I won’t be in the way, I promise. I will help out with whatever you need,” he practically begged.
“I don’t know. Those vampires, they’re newborns, no control, I’m afraid they would snack on you,” she said, trying not to smile.
He fixed her with a serious stare. “They wouldn’t if you turned me back into a vampire.”
Chapter 5
∞∞∞
Los Angeles – 1918
Kathryn was shaking as David escorted her to her apartment. He took the key from her handbag and opened the door, its old hinges squeaking as he flung it open. Carrying her, he went straight to the Murphy Bed set into the wall of her tiny studio apartment and pulled it down from its place. He laid her down on it, then sat next to her.
Her eyes fluttered open. They were red and her black eye makeup had run in streams out of the corners. Fresh tears sprang to her eyes as he looked at her, and David wiped them away with this thumb. She was still shaking.
“David, what happened? Aren’t you going to call the police? You killed a man!” She fought down a sob.
“No, he’s not dead.”
She gave him an incredulous look and began to sit up. “Are you insane? Of course he’s dead, you shot him and then broke his neck!”
“Shh,” he said, easing her back down. “I’ll be right back, okay? I need to use the facilities.”
She nodded, then turned away from him.
He made his way into the only bathroom and locked the door. He opened her medicine cabinet and began rifling through various prescription bottles. She didn’t have many. He did find a bottle of Valium and popped open the top, tapping two of them into his palm. He replaced the bottle and made his way to the kitchen. He filled a glass of water from the tap and went back to the bed.
“Here, take these,” he said, handing her the pills.
She sat up again and looked at the two small white tablets in his palm. “What are those?”
“Valium. I found them in your medicine cabinet. I’m not even going to ask why you have a prescription for Valium,” he smiled weakly at her.
She shook her head. “Yeah, you don’t want to know.”
She grabbed both pills and gulped them down with water, then lay back down.
He again smoothed her hair back and said, “I’m so sorry, Kathryn. I will never put you in another dangerous situation again.”
She looked up into his kind brown eyes and said, “I don’t think you put me in danger. You can’t control what bad people do. I don’t blame you at all. I know you were just defending us, and I am grateful. But I still think we should call the police.”
He shook his head. “We can’t.”
“Why not?”
He let out a sigh. “I can’t explain, but I promise I will tomorrow.” He stood up.
She grabbed his hand. “Please don’t go.”
He looked down at her, a pleading look in her blue eyes. “I’m afraid,” she whispered.
He looked at her contemplatively for a long pause and then went to the front door, locking the deadbolt and the chain. He then removed his shoes and coat and crawled into bed beside her. With her back to him, he wrapped his arms around her, smelling her hair and closing his eyes. “I won’t leave.”
The next morning, Kathryn’s eyes opened slowly. Hazy morning light filtered into her apartment through her still-open shutters and she shielded her eyes from it. Groaning, she rolled back over, her head pounding from the medicinal hangover.
Then she remembered David. A little too quickly she flipped over and saw he was gone. She looked down to see she was still in her dress from the day before. Even her stockings were still on.
She pulled herself to a sitting position and rubbed her temples. Heading to the restroom, she found a bottle of aspirin and quickly swallowed two. She then made her way to the small kitchen, where she found a note lying on the countertop:
Kathryn,
I’m so sorry about last night. I promise you will have answers tonight if you let me take you out to dinner. I don’t want to lose you, and I am going to spend the rest of my days making it up to you.
David
She smiled despite the pain and replaced the note on the counter. As the aspirin kicked in, she fixed some oatmeal and unbolted her front door to grab the newspaper. She excitedly scoured every page, looking for news of a suspicious death on the beach. Surely something like a shooting would make the paper – it should have made the front page! But she saw nothing.
“Maybe they haven’t found the body yet, or maybe it was found after this went to press,” she mumbled to herself.
Even though it was Sunday, she still had to be at work later, so she got ready and left her apartment, heading to work by public bus.
“Hi, Gregory,” Kathryn said upon entering, giving a small wave to the front desk clerk.
He forced a smile and said, “Good afternoon, Kat.”
She went up to the second floor housekeeping and was greeted by her boss, Rosa.
“Good afternoon, Rosa. What’s on tap for today?” Kathryn asked.
Rosa, a pleasantly plump dark-skinned woman with a friendly smile and thick, wavy hair pulled into a bun smiled back. “Oh, hello, Miss Kathryn,” she stated with a thick accent. “I need you and Susie and Shelly to clean the ballroom today. Big, big show tonight. The floors must be sparkling and the chandeliers, too! The other girls are already in there.” Rosa seemed overly excited about the job.
Kathryn smirked. “Okay, anything you want.”
She went to the maid’s closet and pulled out a bucket and the necessary cleaning supplies and headed for the ballroom.
As Kathryn entered the massive room, she could see it was a bevy of activity. There were men on scaffolds repairing window frames and chandeliers. She quickly spotted Susie and Shelly and gave them a small wave.
Susie approached her, cleaning gloves on both hands. “Hi, Kat. Shelly and I are doing the floors, could you get the windows you can reach, then get started on the stage? It will need to be scrubbed by hand, the floors are very scuffed.”
Kathryn smiled. “Sure, I’ll get started right away.”
She went to the large public restroom and filled up her bucket with hot water. It quickly became sudsy, as she had already added some soap. She lugged the bucket to the nearest window, and dunking a clean rag in, she began to scrub. They weren’t even very dirty, but hey, if they wanted to pay her to clean already-clean windows, she wasn’t going to complain. While the work left her utterly exhausted by the end of the day, she was just happy her workday was spent on her feet instead of her back.
As she moved to the next window and began scrubbing, she thought about David and smiled. Then she thought about last night and frowned. Had it all been a dream? No, it hadn’t. The note this morning had proved that. She was happy to have another night off so she could let David explain.
She heard someone behind her clearing their throat. She whirled around to see the man she recognized as the Entertainment Director of the hotel. She gasped, then attempted to straighten her maid’s uniform and wipe the sweat from her forehead.
“Oh, hello Mr. Stuart. I didn’t hear you there.”
He smiled at her, a smoldering cigar perched between his nice, straight teeth. His suit was impeccably pressed and tailored, his shoes shiny. Kathryn guessed he was probably in his late forties or early fifties, and even though he was a bit overweight, he was handsome and distinguished-looking.
“Hello, Miss...”
“Berlinski,” she answered, still holding the sloshing bucket.
He smiled, removing the cigar and putting his hand out. “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Berlinski.”
She smiled awkwardly at him, shaking his proffered hand. “Likewise.”
“Tell me, Miss Berlinski, do you know how to dance at all?”
She immediately turned red. Surely he was not asking her to dance, here, in the middle of her workday, no music playing, in front of all these other workers?
She let out a nervous laugh. “Um, I’ve done some dancing before, why do you ask?”
“Well, I’ve got a show to put on tonight, and one of my girls fell down a set of stairs at home. Big, nasty black eye and a sprained ankle. She certainly can’t dance like that.”
Kathryn became more flustered. “Uh, I’m not sure I could learn a routine on such a short notice, sir. What type of dancing is it?”
He took a long pull off the cigar and blew a smoke ring in the air, never taking his eyes off of her. “It’s more of a gentleman’s type of show. Ever heard of the Cabaret?”
“I don’t think so, sir.”
He grinned again, the cigar still in his mouth. “Put that damn bucket down and come with me.”
∞∞∞
Portland, Oregon – Present Day
Thomas opened the door to Charlie’s Diner for Tyler, Jonathan, and Mike to enter. The four found their way to a corner table, where they all barely fit in the crowded booth. Just then, the bell above the door chimed and the four looked up to see Jason Swift enter.
Thomas waved him over. Jason grabbed a nearby chair and pushed its back end against the table as he sat and straddled it. He wore a black polo shirt with a yellow Department of Justice logo on the left front breast with a pair of khaki tactical pants and shiny boots.
Jonathan folded his hands on the table and looked at Jason. “Mr. Swift, good of you to join us. This is Mike Sheffield. He lives at Pascal’s place.”
“What’s up, man?” Jason said.
Mike cocked his head. “I’ve seen you before. You came to the club with these guys a few months ago.”
“Yup,” Jason responded. He was chewing on a toothpick he had snagged from the hostess table on his way in. He stared with ocean blue eyes at Mike.
Jonathan also looked at Mike, and said, “Well, you called this meeting. Start talking.”
Mike looked at them, then down at his own hands. “I know this is going to sound strange coming from me,” he started, his deep voice barely above a whisper, “but I wanted to start by thanking you for trying to save Pascal.”
“Yes, you already said that,” Tyler responded.
“Well, it’s just that I’m still so… so…”
“So what, Mike?” Thomas asked.
“Messed up. I should have tried to save him. I’ve just been so afraid of the sun for thirty years.”
Jonathan shook his head. “I couldn’t stand the prick. It’s not like I’m sad to see him gone.”
Mike looked at him with an intense stare. “But yet, I saw you break the cuffs off and throw him into the shade.”
Jonathan’s face got red. “I was helping Tyler. See, like we said, Tyler here is a doctor, he was trying to save Pascal, as it is in his nature to do so. I really couldn’t care less if the bastard died or not. He and I have… history. Or had history, I should say.”
“Well I just called you here because I think you should know about who’s running the house now. A bunch of newborn vampires who aren’t restricted by the sun.”
“Why aren’t you running the house? You or Angel are the oldest, right?” Thomas asked.
A pretty teen girl in short-shorts came over. “Can I get you anything?” she asked, smiling at the five handsome men.
“Just coffee,” Jonathan answered.
The rest just nodded.
“Five coffees it is,” she said as she toddled off towards the back bar area.
They all watched her walk off, then Mike turned his attention back to Jonathan. “Yes, that is technically true, I am the oldest. But that Brandon, he seems to have a leadership quality about him, so I’m sure he’ll be taking over the house soon.”
“Tell me something, Mike, do these newborns feed off of humans?” Jonathan asked.
Mike chuckled. “Yes. But I think you already knew that, didn’t you?”
Jonathan sucked in a breath. “So, why are you telling us this?”
“Don’t you think someone should tell them about the Treaty?” Mike asked.
Jonathan smiled slightly. “No, that’s not our job. That’s yours. You have a responsibility to let your new… kids… know these things.”
“See, that’s the thing. I heard Pascal talking to them when they were first turned, but I don’t think they truly get it. Maybe they need to see some of your… what are they called? Super powers?”
Thomas snorted. “Yep. But they already did, the day Pascal was killed. My speed, his strength, and Tyler’s ability to manipulate the elements. Did they not ask you about us after we left?”
“Again, yes, I told them. They don’t get it. And check this out, I think I’m leaving the house. I don’t want to be part of a house that is eventually going to crumble on itself.”
Jason laughed and Mike turned to look at him. “Who are you anyway, some sort of cop?”
“No, I belong to a branch of the Justice Department that monitors and tracks the supernatural,” he said, switching the toothpick to the other side of his mouth.
Mike looked at him in disbelief. “The government knows about us?”
Jason chuckled. “Yeah, man. But there are very few of us who do. It’s all hush-hush. Which brings me to my next point. I expect you to keep this information about me quiet, especially if you see me again. You seem to want to establish a trust factor here, so let’s just say, you keep my secret, I’ll keep yours.”
Mike nodded. “Yeah, man, whatever you say. Damn, I thought these guys were the only cops in our world.” He pointed around the table.
∞∞∞
“Have you lost your mind?” Angel asked.
Darius smiled. “Hell no I haven’t. Come on, I miss it! Hey, could you take me back to that Vortex place so I can go out in the sun afterward too?”
“I’m surprised you even want to step foot in that place again,” she murmured.
He laughed. “Yeah, that’s true. But shit, I ain’t got nothin’ to lose. What’s it gonna do, kill me? I figure I got maybe five years left, if I’m lucky. Again, my brain is great, it’s the rest of me that’s fallin’ apart. Totally sucks.”
She stared at him, and then without saying anything, she got up and walked to the front and found Anne the nurse. “Can Mr. Jackson get a day pass or something? I’d like to take him home for…” she scrambled quickly to think of an upcoming human holiday… “Thanksgiving.”
Anne raised an eyebrow at her. “Yes, he can go out for a weekend, but Thanksgiving’s not for two more weeks.”
Angel smiled. “That’s ok. I’ll take him this weekend, then the next. I hate for him to be in here all alone.”
&n
bsp; “What’s your relationship with him anyhow?” Anne asked, looking back down at a chart she had been writing on.
“He’s my great-uncle,” she replied.
Anne looked up and again raised an eyebrow.
“Uh, by marriage,” Angel smiled.
“Uh ok. Well, fill this out and then be back tomorrow before visiting hours are over and you can take the lovely Mr. Jackson home and give us all a break from his constant yapping.”
Angel smiled. “Thank you very much, Anne.”
Anne waved her off without looking up.
As Angel made her way back to Darius, she had a stupid grin on her pretty face.
“What? You look like you just robbed a bank,” Darius said questioningly.
“Wanna come home with your great-niece for the weekend?”
His face lit up. “Hell-to-the-yes, I do!”
“All right. I’ll be back here tomorrow, same time.”
Chapter 6
∞∞∞
Los Angeles – 1918
“Uh, Mr. Stuart, I really need to be finishing these windows. Then I have to polish the stage floor…” Kathryn started.
He waved her off as she padded behind him. “No, honey. I’ll let Rosa know she needs to find another girl. Anyone can clean, ya hear? Not everyone is beautiful and can make me lotsa money dancing in the Cabaret!”
Kathryn was very nervous. She had very little dancing experience, but she did know she was good at one thing: Faking it.
He led her around the back of the building to a door. Inside was a glamorous-looking dressing room with small tables with built-in mirrored lights attached, and benches parked in front of each one. The area was mostly empty, except for three women standing in a huddle talking. They were all wearing long, silky white robes and stopped gabbing when Kathryn and the boss walked in.
“Mr. Stuart, what a pleasant surprise,” one girl said. Kathryn thought she was very beautiful, with sleek black hair and powdery white skin. She had a nice set of straight teeth and a long neck. She looked at Kathryn, then back to Mr. Stuart. “Who do we have here?”