“I can’t afford it?” I asked this rude man, as Rick shot me a warning glance. “I want this one. Wrap it up.”
The man turned and laughed, still seeing a teenager before him. “Miss, that car is $45,000.”
“Here,” I said, looking him directly in the eye, crossing to him. “Put it on my bill.” Actually, I could use mind control on him, but I’m not into stealing cars. This guy had no idea who he was playing with. “Here’s my card,” I said, handing it to him, my eyes flaring.
“I think you’d better do as the lady says,” Rick said, as one side of his mouth curled into a smile.
“You’re putting a car on a credit card?” the idiot smirked, almost losing out on a sale.
“Actually, it’s my ATM card,” I said, smiling sweetly, then my eyes flared again. “Run it.”
“Uh … yes, Miss … right away, Miss …” Cheap Suit stammered, realizing how close he came to losing out on probably his biggest sale of the day. I was paying cash and I hadn’t even quibbled about the price. Every salesman’s dream.
After he ran the card and I signed the paperwork, the car was mine. When he ran the card, it went through with no problem.
“Here you are, Miss,” Cheap Suit said, handing me the keys to my new car. “And if there is anything else we can do for you …”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, taking the keys and slipping them into my pocket. “Just don’t be so quick to judge a book by its cover next time, bud.” The man nodded sheepishly, realizing again the sale his assumption almost cost him. “Also, we’re going out for a bit. I’m leaving the car here and we’ll pick it up later. Okay?”
“No problem, Miss.” He was very accommodating now. “It will be here for you when you’re ready.”
I nodded, then Rick, Annie, and I climbed back into Rick’s Mercedes SUV.
“Can you believe that guy?” I asked rhetorically, out of Cheap Suit’s earshot, as we headed back to New York City.
“Hey,” Annie said from the back seat. “Take it as a compliment! You look like a teenager! Enjoy it!”
“Yeah, a 230 year old teenager,” I said under my breath.
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Rick said, as we neared Broadway. “Let’s get some work done. Keep a look out.”
So we all started looking for The Mirage, the new vamp club where the rogue vamp I killed in the bathroom at school said to bring Zac. Shivers ran down my spine just thinking of it.
“So, who am I going in as?” I asked Rick, looking for the club.
“Who do you want to go in as?” Rick countered.
I smiled broadly. “Arnold!”
Rick laughed. He could just imagine us going into a vamp club with me looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Not a way to keep a low profile. Too bad I didn’t have his body print. I got close once, but not close enough to touch him. But that’s another story.
He shook his head. “You can go in as yourself, if you want.”
“Go in as someone sexy!” Annie chimed in excitedly.
“Okay, Annie,’ I said, exasperated. “Now you’re officially weird.”
“I’m just saying …” Annie replied, feigning innocence.
The Mirage was on the right side of the street. We had to drive slowly as we passed, as there were many humans waiting to go in, all being turned away. They only let the vamps in, saying it was an “exclusive” club. Well, in New York the only thing you had to do to ensure a long line out the door is to call it exclusive, then the humans were clamoring to get in. Believe me, this is one club the humans shouldn’t want any part of.
“Pull around the back,” I told Rick. All of us were on alert. Whoever it was that wanted Zac was dangerous, even for us. Rick turned down a dark alley, leading to the back of the club. Usually, a human would never want to be alone in the shadows anywhere in New York at night.
But we weren’t human.
Rick slowly pulled into the dark and dingy parking lot in the back of the club, only lit by the reflection of the bright green neon lights reflecting off the sign that simply stated The Mirage. A digital image of blood dripping down the sign over the lettering was an indicator to other vamps that it was a vamp club. In New York, if a sign had blood on it, even a drop, it was a signal to other vamps that they were welcome. Occasionally, a human would show up in a dumpster near a vamp club, but that was very rare, and true of all clubs. But, for the most part, vamps today were smart, staying away from the humans, not inviting them in. No killing was allowed in these clubs, but that wasn’t saying anything for outside. But vamps today—the smart ones anyway—were careful not to attract the attention of the humans.
Annie and I got out of the SUV, followed by Rick. There were a few vamp punks near the back of the club smoking a join, when Rick approached them, offering them $100 bucks each to watch his Mercedes. There were four of them. Obviously, Rick didn’t want to have his Mercedes stripped or defiled in any way before we came out.
“Sure, man,” the head vamp replied, his mouth watering. “Whatever you say!”
“Listen up because I’m only going to say this once,” Rick said, his eyes flaring. He was another vamp you didn’t want to anger. “I can trust you, right? Because if I come out here and find one scratch on it or if I find out you’ve been out joy riding, I’ll burn you myself … alive. Got it?”
The vamp’s eyes grew wide as Rick’s flared. “Yeah, man,” the punk vamp said, holding up his hands in surrender. “Whatever you say, man.”
Rick nodded as we walked away, leaving the punk leader reeling from the experience. But two of his buddies weren’t as smart. “Hey, ladies,” one of them leered. “Wanna party?”
Annie and I stopped dead in our tracks and glared at the punks, but before we could say or do, anything, Rick stepped in. “The ladies are with me. Back off, bud, if you know what’s good for you.” Then Rick’s eyes flared again.
“No problem, man.” They immediately held their hands up in surrender, backing up. “We don’t want any trouble, guy,” one of them replied.
“Then watch the car and there’ll be no trouble,” Rick grinned. “Okay, pumpkin?”
Annie and I suppressed a grin.
With that, we walked around the corner, past the crowd of humans waiting outside, to a burly doorman with short cropped blonde hair, cut into a High and Tight military cut. He wore a muscle shirt that showed every ripple over every muscle in his arms. In fact, his muscles, had muscles. He also wore tight black leather pants and boots.
Perfect.
“Wait just a second, Miss,” Burly said in a rich baritone voice. I was impressed. He could do voiceovers if he wasn’t wasting his time in New York working as a bouncer. He should be an action hero. But, then again, this might be his day job, sort of speak. “You can’t go in without an ID,” he said, clearly a vamp.
I looked up at him, smiling sweetly in a voice too low for the humans to hear. “I was born in the year of our Lord, 1758. I think I’m old enough to enter.” Of course, I could have shown him a fake ID, too, but vamps knew you could fake anything you wanted—if you had the money. Then I smiled menacingly as my eyes flared.
“Sorry, Miss,” Burly said, touching my shoulder. “It’s just protocol. Go on in.”
Body print. He didn’t know what he just did when he touched me. But, then again, I’m sure he hadn’t run into anyone quite like me, either.
“Same as her, handsome,” Annie said with a sexy smile, running a hand over his muscular arm as she walked by, checking him out. She wasn’t a shape shifter. She just liked men, sexy men.
Rick rolled his eyes, “Behave yourself, Annie,” he said, letting us go in front of him. “This isn’t a pleasure trip.”
“So you say!” Annie replied. To Annie, everything was an opportunity for fun. But immediately her demeanor changed as we entered the dark club, her eyes narrowed, checking out every corner. I was glad she was on our side.
In the club, vamps of all eras and countries danced to eerie music. A few in a cor
ner had multi-colored hair in shades of cobalt blue, fire engine red and bright yellow, with skull tattoos. They were young. At the bar were a few vamps that could pass as humans, if they chose, probably stepping in for a drink. Another wore a typical Dracula cape with his hair slicked back, and long fingernails painted black, obviously wanting the attention. But, then again, he might be from that era. One of the old guard. Thank goodness vamp style like that was no longer in vogue. On the dance floor were a few beautiful vamp women wearing dresses slit up to their waists, dancing with dashing young vamps. These vamps were from the silent movie era and never really got over the glam of the time. Other vamps were short, tall, punk, not—vamps of every kind and every era. But you didn’t want to mess with any of them.
“Rick, cover me,” I said low, backing into a dark corner, as Rick and Annie stood in front of me. It was so dark in the club that no one noticed. Most of them weren’t paying attention to anything other than their conquests.
Behind Rick and Annie, my body shimmered, shaking and changing, morphing until I looked like Burly, the bouncer at the door, with broad shoulders and ripped muscles. Within the matter of a second, I towered over Rick and Annie, close to seven feet tall.
Stepping around them, I said, “Let’s go.” Then I strolled past them toward the punk rockers in the corner.
“Steve?” A vamp in a power suit stopped me, grabbing me by the arm. I turned to glare at him. “What the hell, man? Haven’t I told you not to leave the front? Who’s out there?”
Rick and Annie flanked me, ready, if needed.
“The new guy,” I answered simply.
“Oh, my God, Steve!” he bellowed, obviously the boss. “You didn’t! He’s new! How could you do that?” As he ranted, I looked around to make sure no one was looking, but it was so crowded that no one cared. Suddenly, I punched him in the face with the back of my fist, catching him on the side of the head. I could hear his skull crack as he slumped over. Rick and Annie grabbed him and slid him quietly out of the way without notice. I didn’t kill him, as his skull would heal, but he’d be out for days and would wake with an extreme headache.
Steve would probably be fired.
“Hey, Steve,” the bartender nodded to me as I walked by. He was an old vamp, I could tell, but dressed in contemporary clothes, with long, light brown hair that waved to his shoulders and was built. He probably was once a gladiator.
“Hey, guys? What’s up?” I asked the two punk rocker vamps. One had cobalt blue hair and the other had a bright yellow Mohawk with bright red sides. Both had tattoos.
“Buzz off, Steve,” the vamp with the bright yellow Mohawk retorted.
“Now, is that any way to treat another vamp?” I asked him in Steve’s fluid baritone voice.
“Buzz off! We’re not doing anything wrong, so take a hike!” The other vamp with the cobalt blue hair said.
“Not yet,” I continued calmly, then leaned down low so no one could hear, looking Boy Blue straight in the eye. “Ever heard of Abbott?”
“If I did, I sure as hell wouldn’t tell you!” Boy Blue’s eyes suddenly flared, and his muscles tensed. “Get the hell out! Go man the door or something! But leave us alone!” Then he turned to walk away. He knew something. And from the way Big Bird looked, they both did.
Then, looking like Steve, my muscles rippled and my green eyes flared. “That was the wrong thing to say,” I said, grabbing Boy Blue by the throat, lifting him off his chair, as I pushed him toward the back door. Annie and Rick flanked me, watching the vamp crowd.
“What the hell?” Big Bird asked. “I’m getting Bill! This isn’t right!” Boy Blue must have been his girl.
“Bill’s out of commission right now,” I said calmly. “You’re coming with us.”
“The hell he will!” Big Bird yelled, taking a swing at me, when Rick caught his fist in mid air. A few vamps across the room looked over, noticing the exchange.
“Now you’re coming, too,” Rick said, grabbing Big Bird by the back of his neck with one hand and pinning his arms behind his back with the other.
Annie stood between us and the crowd, protecting us from anyone else who tried to be brave, as we headed out the back. A few vamps by the front door across the room talked to another bouncer, as Steve came in the front door.
“Guys! We have company!” Annie yelled, as other vamps turned to look.
Looking across the room at us, seeing himself, Steve yelled, “Hey, you! Stop right there!”
“Let’s go!” Annie yelled as we pushed other vamps aside at vamp speed, heading toward the back door with Boy Blue and Big Bird. Suddenly, a vamp lunged at Annie with a heavy wooden board, swinging it at her, but she blocked it, shattering it to pieces with a Jujitsu move. Then Annie kicked him with both feet square in the chest, sending him flying across the bar. Annie landed gracefully on her feet, poised and ready for more. Then she took out another vamp, literally picking him up and throwing him into three other vamps as I used Boy Blue to push through the back door.
Out the back we moved at vamp speed to the Mercedes, where it set, unharmed. Rick threw a wad of hundreds at the punks watching the van in the back of the club, who wasn’t asking questions as we escorted Boy Blue and Big Bird to the van.
“Thanks, man!” the punk said, his eyes growing wide seeing the bills.
“And you saw nothing,” Rick said over his shoulder, speaking of the exchange. Big Bird was putting up a fight, so Rick punched him hard in the face, knocking him to the ground, then grabbed him by the throat and pushed him to the car.
“No problem, man!” the punk said, holding up his hands in surrender. “I don’t want any trouble.”
“Good,” Rick smiled sweetly, punching Big Bird again. “Thanks!”
The punks watched in awe as Annie opened the back of the van and I pushed Boy Blue into the back. He kicked me in the chest, but I punched him hard in the face at vamp speed, shoving him into the van and climbing in, as Annie quickly shut the hatchback and Rick started the van.
Annie smiled sweetly, waving from the passenger side window as we peeled out of the parking lot. “Toodles!” She said to the punks, as she waved with a seductive smile.
“Bye,” one punk waved, mesmerized, as he watched us go. Out the back of the van, I saw the other punks block the back door of the club, stopping the vamps inside, allowing us an escape, as I smiled to myself.
Tires squealed loudly as Rick drove down the alley to the street, hitting some vamps that were after us with the van as we pulled out. One flew over the top of the van and the other Rick ran over, while another landed on the hood, hanging on.
“Hey, get off my car, man!” Rick yelled loudly to the rogue vamp, who pulled back his fist ready to punch through the glass. “Oh no you don’t, you son of a bitch!” Rick yelled loudly as he expertly spun the van around turning sharply onto the next street, sending Hoodie flying into a nearby building and nearly running over two humans in the process.
“What the hell is going on?” Boy Blue bellowed loudly inside the van, then eyed his friend. “We didn’t do anything!” Big Bird tried to punch me, when Annie punched him first, knocking him out, while I restrained Boy Blue.
“Thanks, girl,” I said to Annie, who nodded, then ripped a Kimber Solo 9mm autoloader from her boot and shoved it into Boy Blue’s temple. “Not another word and not another move or I blow what little brains you have across the side of the van. Got it?”
Boy Blue laughed, knowing that a bullet to the brain probably wouldn’t kill him, but would give him a headache he wouldn’t forget.“With that thing?”
“You wanna find out?” Annie challenged as the corners of her lips curled. The weapon looked small, but was a brand new weapon, top of the line, guaranteed to splatter a vamp's brains halfway across a parking lot, even if it didn’t kill him. Under cover issue.
Boy Blue’s eyes grew wide, when she practically shoved it up his nose. “No, no!” he said, quickly changing his tune.
“He’s all yours!” A
nnie said with a smile.
“Steve, what the hell?” Boy Blue yelled, eyeing me with fear in his eyes. Fear was good.
“She said not another word,” I reiterated in Steve’s velvet baritone, as I pulled out my Ballistics knife, strapped to my ankle. Rick drove quickly through the streets out of town, careful not to attract the attention of the humans. A few expert turns, and we were down a secluded back alley. We waited for a minute. Nothing. We weren’t followed.
Still looking like Steve, I pulled Boy Blue out of the back of the van with one hand, then shoved him against the concrete block building. It rattled. Rick and Annie stood guard. A man walked by, looking, and Rick flared his green eyes intently at the guy and said, “Walk away. You saw nothing.” The guy wouldn’t remember a thing. He turned and walked away.
“Who wants the kid?” I asked Boy Blue about Zac, while pounding his head into the concrete building. Then I held him off the ground, pinned against the wall, waiting for an answer.
“What kid?” Moron replied. “Steve, you know what I know! What the hell?”
“Oh, you know a whole lot more than you’re telling,” I replied, holding the Ballistics knife against his throat, then slid it up his cheek, taunting. “And you’re going to tell me everything.”
“Go to hell!” Boy Blue replied, spitting venom in my face. I wiped it off, then shoved the knife into his throat so tightly that blood oozed from around the knife.
“I tell you what I’m going to do,” I said sweetly, smiling. “I’m going to count to three, then I’m going to ram this knife up your ass.”
“I don’t know, man,” Boy Blue said, finally looking worried.
“One …”
He started sweating. “Please, man, come on …”
“Two …”
“I don’t know anything, Steve, …. What the hell …”
“Three!” Then I grabbed a hunk of cobalt blue hair and pulled his head back, then brought the knife up to his throat, and …
“Okay, okay! Don’t do it, man! I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything I know!” Boy Blue sang like a canary. “I don’t know the guy’s name, but he came into the club last week and said he would pay a million dollars to anyone who found him! He said to bring the kid to the club and “V” would know what to do!” The guy was rambling. Funny how men decided to sing when faced with death.
Star, Starland Vamp Series, Book 1 Page 11