Second Life

by Emily Reese

  “How is he?” I asked quietly.

  “He would be better with you here. The first years are the most trying.” My guilt stole any words I might’ve attempted, and finally Khale added, “Ben says he’s doing well; adjusting better than we would’ve expected.”

  “That’s great.” It was a lame response. Khale was right. Mike was my responsibility. I changed him into one of us, for better or worse, and then left him before he even realized it. Despite swearing I was done with self-loathing, I had a whole new reason to hate myself. “Tell Ben I said thank you. And thank you too, for taking care of Mike, for giving me time... for everything.”

  “You can tell him yourself if you like. I finally figured out how to transfer calls on this blasted thing.”

  “No!” I said too quickly. “No, not right now. You know how he would get about all this.”

  “I do.” Khale took a moment before continuing. “Once things are resolved, we will need to speak about you remaining home for a while. It’s time you took your place among us.”

  “My place?” I was beyond confused. Would he do that? Khale had never limited my movements or gave me orders in the past. “What are you talking about?”

  “There is more going on in our world than you realize. Yours are not the only demons to surface. We will talk more when you return.” The line went dead. Apparently vampires didn’t say goodbye either. Staring at the phone I tried in vain to understand Khale’s cryptic statements.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw a dark object flying towards me, getting larger as it approached. Turning, I managed to catch it just as it reached me; it was a large duffel bag. I looked up to see Elliot looking smug in the doorway.

  “Time to go, partner.”

  “What are you talking about? Don’t you know what time it is?” I could already feel the pull of dawn, my nerve endings beginning to tingle, my eyelids suddenly weighing tons.

  He stole a quick glance at his watch, reminding me again of our differences.

  “You can go out during the day?” I asked. When he only shrugged I could barely contain my jealously. “Ugh! I’m pretty sure I hate you.”

  “Is there anything you need? I can pick them up for you so we can leave at sundown.”

  “Yeah, sure,” I grumbled. I jotted the few toiletries I needed on a notepad I kept in my nightstand. Extending it to him, I held on when he tried to take it.

  “Just so you know, Pierce, you and I are having a long talk tonight. I’m not going as far as the parking lot with you until you tell me what the hell you are.”

  A quick wink was all I got as he tugged the paper from my grip and left. Cursing the sun for taking the fight out of me before I was ready, I tunneled under the covers to get some sleep.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Getting off the plane in Vegas was amazing. It was still warm, but all the humidity Mike had gotten used to the past few weeks was gone.

  When the cab they were in really hit the strip, Mike’s eyes nearly fell out of his head; there was so much light! He hadn’t realized how much he missed the sun until that moment, when all the neon of Las Vegas made it bright as day.

  The hotel they stopped at was better than anything Mike could’ve hoped for. They were at the Bellagio. The sheer size of the place overwhelmed him, and that was before he noticed the fountains.

  Any other time, he might’ve chained himself to a column and refused to leave; but the weight of the previous night’s events kept him subdued. Only the rainbow above them, constructed of blown glass and light, kept his mind on the here and now.

  Several times Ben had to tug on his sleeve to get him to keep walking under the giant artificial skylight full of giant flowers in every color. “It’s like being back during the day,” he whispered softly.

  “I know. It’s a great hotel. But you look like a rube standing there with your jaw on the floor. Don’t forget, we’ve got work to do.” Ben’s tone was unusually kind, reminding Mike of the awkwardness with him losing it in the elevator. From then on, he resolved to keep his emotions in check. He had no idea what a rube was, but it didn’t sound like a compliment.

  “Benny!” A voice boomed from across the lobby. Many people turned, including Mike and Ben. An extremely tan man was striding towards them with his arms open, grinning like it was the best day of his life.

  “Benny? Is he talking to you?” Mike whispered.

  “Don’t get any ideas.”

  All further conversation cut off as the man pulled Ben into a bear hug and pounded his back heartily. Mike found himself once again playing the rube; Ben was not the touchy-feely type.

  “Hey, man! How the hell are you?” he asked Ben when they parted.

  “Well, Tommy. I’m doing well. You seem in good spirits.”

  “Can’t complain! Business is good; everyone’s convinced they can take the house if they stay long enough,” Tommy laughed as if they were sharing a private joke. With his trendy hair, slick mannerisms, and ultra-white grin, he reminded Mike of a shark. The kind of shark that shot up from below and swallowed you whole. The kind you never saw coming until it was too late.

  “And who’s this? Your newest protégé?” Tommy turned his attention to Mike now. That gaze was definitely predatory, but not all together unfriendly.

  “Something like that. Mike Monroe, this is Tommy, second to the Elder of this territory.”

  “Tommy Cohen,” he said as he grabbed Mike’s hand to shake it, “nice to meet you.” The second Tommy touched his hand, Mike knew exactly why this guy seemed so predatory. He was a vampire.

  The tingle that went up Mike’s arm wasn’t as bad as touching Ben, but it still made him feel a little twitchy. The surprise must have shown on his face, because Tommy dropped his hand quickly.

  “Oh, hey! I’m sorry man. I do so much handshaking here, I tend to forget how to act with you newbies. I guess I’ll have to start remembering that now, huh?”

  “Have you found anything?” Ben asked, his tone serious. Tommy’s grin went from jovial to tight before he answered.

  “Nothing yet. But we will… and then we’ll take care of it.” They two older vampires were silent for a moment before their attention shifted back to Mike, who was still staring at Tommy as if he couldn’t quite make sense of what he was seeing.

  “What?” Tommy asked. “I get something on the suit?” He began inspecting his jacket, which had to have cost several thousand dollars, looking for the offending blemish.

  “You’re tan,” Mike accused. Tommy barked out a laugh and even Ben couldn’t hide his grin.

  “Well yeah. You can’t “live” in Vegas and stay lily white. People would start asking questions.” When Mike still didn’t answer, Tommy put his arm around Mike’s shoulders and steered him through the casino as Ben followed behind. “If you’re that enamored with it, I’ve got a couple of spray tan booths in the spa; we’ll get you taken care of.”

  Mike looked down at his arm and considered the offer before answering. “I may need to take you up on that.”

  “Stick with me kid,” he flashed a gleaming grin Mike’s way, “I love this town almost as much as it loves me.”

  As it turned out, Tommy did not exaggerate. Weaving between slots and tables on the never ending gaming floor, Tommy greeted someone at nearly every table. He shook hands with the old people glued to their favorite slot machine. Every woman that passed received his killer grin, and more than a few came in for a hug or a peck on the cheek. Most were quite attractive, Mike noticed. As they made their way towards the back, handshakes and introductions took a little longer and the tables thinned out. Mike assumed they were private tables for the high rollers. He’d never seen so many designer clothes and diamond jewelry on men than he did in those few rooms. With many jokes and promises, they finally made it to the elevator. As the door shut, Tommy’s grin faded a little and he seemed to lose a bit of his exuberance.

  “Honestly, I don’t know how you do it, Tom,�
�� Ben remarked. Tommy inserted a keycard and pushed the button for the top floor, leaning back against the mirrored wall of the elevator.

  “It’s not so bad. You forget he originally had me in Salt Lake.” Ben laughed along with Tommy, leaving Mike still waiting on the punchline.

  “What’s in Salt Lake?” he asked.

  “Mormons,” Tommy replied. “They’re perfectly nice people, but I’m just too…”

  “Flashy?” Mike offered.

  “Sure, why not,” he laughed. “I’m a little too flashy for a religiously conservative area. Still,” Tommy mused, “I do miss the quiet sometimes. And the views. They have some amazing views in Utah.” The elevator dinged indicating they’d reached their floor. Tommy cracked his neck as the doors opened. “Alright, let’s go meet the boss.”

  *****

  Tommy led the two of them into an exquisite suite. At least Mike assumed it was exquisite. He couldn’t get past the view.

  Almost all the outside walls were windows, giving you as close to a panoramic view as structurally possible. The famous Las Vegas Strip stretched out before them like a giant runway, and just in case you forgot what part of the country you were in, you could turn in the opposite direction and catch the silhouette of the mountains against a purple sky. Mike caught himself gawking and put an end to it quickly this time, hoping it wouldn’t always be like this when he traveled.

  “Welcome.”

  The greeting came from a large armchair that faced out towards the windows, and consequently, away from them. Ben walked confidently through the suite, (which Mike could now honestly say was exquisite,) and stopped in front of the chair.

  “Thank you, Bear.” Ben bowed slightly at the waist.

  Bear? What kind of name was that for a vampire?

  Mike’s received his answer as soon as he caught a glimpse of the creature sitting in the armchair. One look and he decided “Bear” might be an understatement. The man was huge, huge and hairy. His height appeared to be pushing seven feet, with the bulk to match. If he hadn’t been so intimidated, Mike might’ve laughed.

  Bear looked as if someone had taken the biggest, baddest biker they could find and spruced him up to look like a Fortune 500 CEO. He kept his beard neatly trimmed and braided, his wavy black hair pulled back in a ponytail, but the tattoos peeking out from his crisp collar kept the illusion from being complete.

  The giant raised one eyebrow at Mike and Ben coughed. Looking to his right, Mike flushed in embarrassment: the other vampire still bowed while he had yet to do so. Quickly complying he hoped he hadn’t already messed up too much.

  “Please, have a seat,” the giant instructed them.

  Mike followed Ben to the closest couch determined to be as still, quiet, and inconspicuous as possible for the rest of their meeting. Tommy, on the other hand, plopped down in a chair to Bear’s right and hooked one leg over the arm. He was trying, (and failing) to hide a smirk Mike was sure could be credited to his misstep.

  “Please excuse Michael. This is his first time out of our territory and he has yet to be properly instructed in our ways.”

  “It’s no trouble.” The big man waved away the apology and smiled gently at Mike. “Tommy and I are grateful you were able to come on such short notice.”

  Mike took slow and measured breaths while Ben apologized for him. As much as it irked him, Ben had a point; he felt so far out of his element, he’d lost sight of where he started. Instead, he tried to focus on placing the barest of accents he could detect in Bear’s speech; this was obviously a conversation for the “grown-ups.” Mike just happened to be there.

  “I assume that you have your candidates prepared then?” Ben asked.

  “As ready as they’ll ever be,” Tommy answered with a shrug, some of his humor starting to slip.

  “How many?”

  “Ten.” This time it was Bear who responded. “I decided it would be better to err on the side of caution, given our present state.”

  “As you wish. I have suitable supplies. We can begin our preparations whenever you are ready.”

  “That’s our cue, kid,” Tommy said, appearing next to Mike and slapping his shoulder. “C’mon. Let’s go have some fun.” Mike looked to Ben for the go ahead, and when he nodded, made to follow Tommy to the door. If he was supposed to bow to Bear again, no one mentioned it.

  Just as they reached the door, it opened, revealing a petite yet attractive woman in an expensive suit. She was carrying a stack of photos, which she nearly dropped when she saw Tommy and his devilish smile.

  “Oh! Mr. Cohen! I’m sorry, I didn’t know you two were in a meeting. I can just come back.” She made to leave and shut the door behind her, but Tommy caught it. Mike noticed he covered the woman’s delicate fingers with his own on the door handle; she looked as if she would melt into a puddle right there.

  “Forget about it, Hailey. We were just on our way out.” Tommy grinned again and Hailey melted that much further into the floor. The smile faded almost instantly when he noticed what the woman carried. “Are those the photos from security?” he asked, suddenly serious. It took poor Hailey a moment to catch up with his change in demeanor.

  “Um, yes. Yes they are. Bear said he wanted them right away, so —”

  “Thanks, Angel. I’ll take them in. We do need to see these.” He snatched the photos and shut the door in Hailey’s face before she even knew what had happened. “Bear!” Tommy called, walking quickly back to where the elder discussed things with Ben. “We got the pulls from the security tapes.” He rifled through them quickly before handing them over to Bear. “It’s who we thought, but outside of his time here, I can’t place him.”

  “Nor can I,” Bear added after some inspection. “Ben?” Ben took the photos he was offered and looked closely.

  “No, I’ve never seen him. Is this who you think killed your females?”

  “It has to be,” Tommy explained. “Our stores are only accessible from our safe, which you can only get to with a key card and retinal scan, so no human would have access. This guy showed up a few months ago, looking to settle, and we were feeling him out.” His face darkened as he remembered. “We’d just given him clearance the week before… the rest must’ve been hacked, and it’s killing me not knowing how. He left the same day these were taken. We found out about Sarah and Gwen not long after. We think he killed them on his way out. Are you sure you don’t know this guy, Ben?” He extended another photo for Ben to see.

  “I’m sorry, my friend. I wish I did.”

  “Dammit! I should’ve seen it!” Tommy threw the photo across the room and kicked over the nearest chair. Apparently, his cool façade could only hold up so long; the chair slid across the room, knocking aside anything in its wake. It only stopped when it hit the window-wall, which Mike worried might’ve cracked it a bit.

  “Calm down, Tom. Even you’re not infallible.” Bear’s tone was gentle, and it soothed the vampire quickly.

  “Yeah. You’re right, you’re right. Sorry about that.” Tommy began to pick up the mess he’d made, right the furniture. Mike twitched, antsy at invading what should’ve been a private moment. Needing to do something, he began gathering up the scattered debris while studiously trying to ignore the Vegas vampires. He reached down for one of the photos Tommy had thrown, but his hand froze inches from the paper.

  “I know this guy.”

  Three vampires turned their heads slowly towards him. Mike picked the picture up and after a quick glance, turned it to face the others.

  “I know this guy!” He tapped his finger insistently on the man’s face. “We met him in Baltimore! He’s a total, dick…”

  “Who?” Tommy growled.

  “His name.” Bear demanded; the intensity with which the two vampires stared at him had him ready to implicate anyone to get that terrifying attention off of him. Fortunately, he didn’t need to. All things considered, Mike wanted to be on Bear’s good side more than Tommy’s, so h
e directed his answer to the elder.

  “Fred something. Frederico, I think? Something close to that. He works for Regulus.”

  Had he more time, Mike would’ve considered how grateful he was for his vampire reflexes and training with Ben. If not for those, he would not have been able to do three things in quick succession. He would not have had time to register the feral roar that had erupted from the until then collected elder, Bear. He would not have heard Ben’s shout of warning, nor would he have been able to duck in time to miss Bear’s armchair. It went sailing over his head and straight through the window behind him to land (eventually) somewhere on the bustling Las Vegas strip.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The next few minutes were chaos. The fierce wind blew a good bit of the glass from the window back in and straight at Mike. Ben yelled his name and Tommy tackled him to the ground. Bear screamed curses in a language Mike didn’t know while trashing the room. What the hell just happened?

  “C’mon kid,” Tommy shouted while pulling him to his feet before just as quickly pushing him back down as a large potted palm tree sailed past. “Let’s split before he moves on to the large appliances.”

  The two of them crouched and ran to the elevator where Ben was holding the door for them. After punching the button much more than necessary, the door finally closed. It was a good thing too; from the sound of things, Bear was ripping something out of a wall.

  Once they started down, Ben grabbed Mike’s chin roughly and turned his head from side to side, inspecting it closely.

  “Are you all right? You’re covered in scratches. Anything major?”

  “No. No, I don’t think so,” Mike stuttered and jerked free of the older vampire’s irritating touch. “What happened? What did I say?” He was so shaken he didn’t even flinch when Ben began to lick his finger and wipe it across the sorest of his cuts.