by Ariana Kenny
Chapter 28 Restoring the Centre
I was wrong. It took Mehnaz until nearly 11:00pm before she arrived. As soon as she saw me the only words that left her mouth were “We have a deal.” I ushered her to the back rooms where Viktor, Violet and I had set up. She gazed cautiously around as the door closed behind her. I heard her pulse escalate as she eyed Viktor and Violet.
“They won’t hurt you.” I reassured.
“But they are like you.” She queried.
“We run this place.” Viktor replied, Violet hanging of him in a barely there chiffon gold number that plunged from her neck to her stomach. The red hair danced in ringlets down her bust and back and she came up to Mehnaz as if to examine her. Mehnaz tensed. Violet leaned on her and smiled at me. She loved dramatic play.
“Matthias, she’s sweet. So peaches and cream.” She turned to Mehnaz who shrugged her shoulder to shift Violet away. “So where is your name from anyway.”
“It was my grandmother’s. I thought I was here to take care of business, or do you just like to play with the people you depend on for favours.” Violet let a growl escape her and Viktor quickly soothed her. He knew her temper too well.
“Come” I beckoned, and she sat down on one of two steel chairs next to the side table with a steel tray that Viktor had set up. The tray had a scalpel, tweezers, cotton wool and the container holding the chip. Mehnaz looked even more anxious. Her cylinder which still held the manuscript sat on the floor. She settled in to the chair with as much ease as I could have expected just before Viktor corrected her, getting her to straddle the chair instead.
“So what do I need to do?” She came to the point.
“We’re going to put this in to your neck,” I showed her the chip in the bottle. “Then I am going to give you the scroll to take to a woman by the name of Myria. She lives in this seedy club at the other end of town. Inside the club, toward the back right hand side there will be a maintenance exit. When you get to the door, let them know you are allowed access, and he will run a scanner over your neck. Only people with the chip are allowed in to the VIP area. Once inside, you will see another bar, and go to the person at the bar and tell them you have a message for Myria only. Only her. When you see her, give her the manuscript and tell her that I have what she is looking for if she will fix my problem.”
“Then what?” she pressed, eying Viktor picking up a scalpel and dipping it in the purple liquid to sterilize it.
“Then you go home” I hoped out loud. “I’ll be outside in case anything goes wrong.”
“How will you know if something goes wrong if I am inside, and you’re outside?” Mehnaz asked bringing her hair away from her neck. All the time she eyed Viktor who moved to lean into place.
“Either by the screaming or the fact you don’t come out.” Violet teased with dark humour before sweeping out of the room. I shook my head at Mehnaz whose breath drew short.
“This will hurt a bit.” Viktor warned as he leaned towards her.
Mehnaz sat patiently breathing through the pain, and barely twitched as Viktor cut her pushed the chip in with tweezers, then sprayed fake skin over the top to seal the wound.
When Violet came back in to the room she was holding a deep green dress. “What’s that for?” Mehnaz asked.
“You need to at least look the part if you expect to get through the door.” Violet sounded irritated, but it was her round about way of making amends. "You can change in there.” Violet motioned towards the bathroom, and Mehnaz took the dress and scurried out.
“She’s weak.” Viktor sighed.
“She’s human.” I replied. “Of all of Cam’s rules, Myria at least still follows one – she won’t kill a human.”
“What if Myria just takes the scroll and doesn’t come to you?” Violet asked.
“Well, she’s going to have to come to me” I replied picking up the cylinder. I opened it up and drew out the paper inside. In a quick motion I tore it in half and placed one half back inside the container. I heard a horrified gasp at the door.
“Do you know how old that is – how valuable” Mehnaz cried rushing up with a horrified look on her face.
“The only thing that’s valuable to me is in the room behind me.” I firmly placed the half document in Violet's hand, and she in turn rolled it up and stuffed it in to Mehnaz's cleavage. She looked stunned, but then relaxed and looked at me intrigued
“You said doing this might save lives. Whose?”
“My…" I stopped myself. "Cassandra, Myria’s maybe. Mine.” I explained.
“Myria? Isn’t she the person I am meeting? Is she sick or something? What is it?” she asked too many questions now.
“Myria and I are sick in our souls. Cassandra is all but dead. If Myria accepts the gift, she will come to me and there’s a chance things can be back as they were.” I hoped so very badly. Saying it out loud left me feeling sick in the stomach.
Mehnaz looked still, somber. “When do we go?”
“Now. I’ll drive” Violet said resolute and started to walk to the door.
I put a hand to stop her from moving towards the door, and Viktor eyed me. “No you won't Violet.” I said. “I need to do this without you.”
“What? After all this time?” Violet sounded outraged. I wondered for a moment who was worse to piss off. Violet or Viktor.
“Violet. Let me do this. Mehnaz will be fine, so all I will be doing is driving her there and back. Violet took a step back and Viktor turned to pack up his instruments. Violet cast a glance at Viktor behind her.
Looking back at me Violet sighed. “Be safe.”
“Yeah, I will, thanks.” Mehnaz mocked irritably as I ushered her out the door.
Mehnaz and I sat in silence as I pulled out of my driveway. I was quite comfortable with the silence, but could tell from Mehnaz' ragged breaths and fidgeting hands that she wasn't.
Where are you from?" I said breaking the tension - or trying to.
Really, that's what you want to talk about?"
adjusted my grip on the steering wheel and shifted in my seat. "What did you have in mind?"
"Where did you come from? How old are you? Why is it you need some lowly human to run errands for you? Shall we start there?" She was demanding.
I diverted away from the 101 questions. "It's about an eight minute drive. I don't think I can cover all of that in the time we have."
There was a frustrated sigh before she probed for more. "Is there anything that might help if I knew now, before I go in?"
"Not if anything goes wrong. There will be lots of us in there, in the second room. If something goes wrong -which it won't - I don't think there is anything I could tell you that would help."
"No duck and cover?" She smiled to herself. I shot her an amused look. At least she was still joking. That was a good sign. "Can all....vampires -God that word sounds cheesy to say out loud" She struggled through the sentence "Can they all heal people the way you can?"
"No. We all have different talents."
"Like?"
"Memory manipulation, projection, strategy and prediction, strength.... I'm sure there's a whole lot more I haven't come across." There was a gap in conversation before I chuckled.
"What's so funny?" Mehnaz asked looking at me instead of her hands now.
"Last time I took a trip like this I was the one asking all the questions."
"How long have you been like this?"
"Not long really. About 30 years."
"Wow, frozen in time. I don't think I could do it." She looked back at her hands again.
"Neither did I." I admitted as we pulled to a stop across from the building where the club was. The entire side of the building was painted black. Mehnaz continued to fidget, seeming not to have noticed we had stopped.
"Last question." She announced though I doubted that would actually be the case. "So why can't you go in?"
"If I am lucky she will try kill me; It's complicated. She just won't listen
to me straight out."
"You can't send her a note?" The simplicity of. The solution was humorous.
“I am. You. How else do you think I know she will get the message, what her response might be?"
Mehnaz sucked in a breath before asking me yet another in a long line of questions. "So why is she so angry with you? Ex girlfriend? "Mehnaz said knowingly as she nodded.
"Nothing like that. I replied in disgust." Mehnaz looked confused.
I tried to offer a simple framework for years of mistakes, misunderstandings and vengeance. "She poisoned Cassie, my.... Consort?"
"Consort? You mean girlfriend." Mehnaz correcting me like that word was irritating.
"It's more than that. Girlfriend doesn't cover it. Mate sounds .... So 13 th century.... I don't know. What do you call someone who means more than anything to you."
"That you haven't married? I wouldn't know." I resented her tone.
"We're here." I offered as a diversion. mehnaz turned and saw the club entrance, a light shimmering out from the black doors that opened in the side of the black wall.
"Ah." was her response.
"Ah what?" I asked.
"Now I know why I am wearing the trashy outfit...." Mehnaz gave me a cheeky grin.
“Don't be surprised when you go inside." I advised. "Whatever you see, keep looking forward, keep moving, your head up and your breathing calm". I touched her arm to draw her attention. "Mehnaz. Be careful."
"Like you care." she hadn't meant it to be so cold, but it struck me anyway. I was letting this unprotected, vulnerable girl go in and face what I could not.
"I care. I mean it. I want you going home tonight." I told her as she opened the door.
Mehnaz looked pensively at the floor of the car. "All I have to do is drop off a piece of paper right?"
"Right." I affirmed and she exited the car.
I let her walk away, green dress shimmering where skin didn't show. She made her way to the doorway in the side of the building. The door was open but there were two security guards posted, standing silently in suits. Other than watch her walk away and hope for the best, there was little else I could do. I hadn't told her, but even if I heard her scream, ran to her rescue, there really wasn't much I would be able to do. With so many vampires, with Myria's magic, I wouldn't have a hope in hell.
I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what Mehnaz would be seeing. We had got a description from a lackey sent to kill me about six months before.
The inside had been described as dark, oppressive, with fluorescent lights, a barely used dance floor in the form of a black stage, and spray paint decorations that glowed in the darkness and reflected spinning lights. It was trashy, like Mehnaz had implied, but it drew a hard core client group every night. Drinks were well catered for, with test tube shots offered for free randomly throughout the night to keep people inebriated, and hanging on past their sensibility in the hopes of free drinks. That way, a good portion of people were too out of it to realize when vampire patrons would offer to take them home, spend 'quality' time with them, or worse, invite them to the VIP room.
I say worse because the VIP room, behind the second door I described, was allowed entry or access only to vampire club member and their chosen 'pets'. Both would be accepted by money or invitation only to join, and would have a chip placed under their skin to authenticate their membership. Mehnaz would be entering that second door around now, and realising that the majority of people, were not really people at all. All she had to do was make it to the bar, ask for Myria. Sounded straightforward.
Myria barely left the club, and those she kept close as VIP members or staff were for the majority extremely loyal. Over the years I had tried to engage several to tell me ways of approaching her, details about what was going on, but I rarely got anything of use from them, and there was not one of them I would trust to send a message that wouldn't end up in unpredictable disaster. That brought us here. With me waiting, eyes still closed, trying to hear something, feel something about how Mehnaz was doing. I could hear lots of things inside, but I struggled to pick her voice out.
I was trusting that Myria was sticking with her usual patterns. Of all the things she did, she followed what Cam had always taught her. Never kill humans -if it can be helped of course. Cam had broken that vow a few times herself, but she didn't count the people whose lives she had taken of free will as being human. Myria's so called parents being an example of that. It had confused Myria’s clientele no end as to why she refused to let anyone take a human life on site, but, when you can crush the bones of a vampire at will through using magik, well, people stop questioning your motives fairly quickly. That and the fact that those rules didn't extend to vampires, whom Myria had dispatched in droves when she first established herself and her power base. I had to hope that the rules still applied. That she wouldn't make an exception for someone I sent, that her affection for Cam still held strong enough to want to please her by following her rules.
Then, over the general din, I heard it. Mehnaz screamed. "Damn." Chance in hell or not, I couldn't leave Mehnaz in there alone. Just because Myria might nor kill her, she could still be tortured, broken. I rushed past the door security, flashing past so quickly only light a breeze gave me away. Before anyone could follow, I was through the crowd and knocked on the second door. Myria was just finishing her sentence.
"You can't lie to me - I can smell him all over you." Mehnaz lay sprawled across the floor, holding an arm above her in self protection. All heads whipped around to face me as I burst into the room.
Myria smiled evilly when she saw me, straightened her posture and drew her arms out by her side. Energy pulsed in her palms. I knew she couldn't strike me, but she let loose a bolt striking the ceiling and sending chunks falling on top of me. Of the two dozen or so people in the room, most of them ran out the door at this stage, frightened or too smart to stick around. I pulled myself up from under the rubble as Myria stepped from her platform and recharged the energy in her hands.
"Finally, strong enough to face up at my front door. Shame you did it hiding behind a girl though...." Myria inhaled and arched her body to let the energy rip again.
"Wait. Stop." Mehnaz called. She reached in to her cleavage and pulled out the half scroll. Myria stopped in her tracks, the energy balled in her hands disappearing. With one motion of her fist, Mehnaz was pulled to her feet. Myria took the scroll.
"You found it." Myria spoke gazing at it, then glaring at me.
"I did."
"Where is the rest of it. No crystal, no Cassie." Myria blackmailed me, but I stood my ground.
"No. No Cassie, no device."
"I don't need the device, just the crystal." Myria responded.
"Liar."
"No lie. I built my own. But I still need a crystal to run it. So you have me. Thing is, I won't do anything for you until I know it's there. You could have gone there already, taken it."
"I am really not that stupid Myria. I even hold out for us working past this some day." I spoke I'm earnest. I just wanted this feud over with.
"Magic happens I suppose." Myria whispered. Mehnaz was slowly shifting herself closer to me. "Don't go too far..." Myria cautioned, when Mehnaz fell to the floor in sudden agony. Myria released her just as suddenly as she had struck her.
"Stalemate." I proposed.
"I disagree." Myria came back at me. "I still have your human."
"You won't kill her." I challenged.
"Can still hurt her though." Mehnaz gasped in fear as Myria raised her foot as if to kick her.
I grabbed Myria's foot before it struck Mehnaz and spoke quickly. "We can go together."
Myria yielded. "Fair compromise." We stared each other momentarily. "Best be taking off then. I will be at your place, sunset tomorrow. Bring Cassie and Cam, and I'll restore Cassie as soon as I have the crystal."
"It won't be possible to bring Cam. She's been out of the country." I said hoping that wouldn't change th
ings.
Myria smiled. "Not any more she's not. Send her my love." I knew she was serious, do I didn't stall.
I reached down for Mehnaz, pulling her to her feet. I felt her trembling in my arms. She clutched at me desperately, and I realized how far I had pushed her. Walking her out to the car, she shivered in silence, curled against the car door all the way back to the club.
Violet was on the balcony when we arrived. "Violet." I called and she was there immediately. "We're done Violet. I need to take her home." Violet opened the door and took Mehnaz' hand after kneeling to be eye level. Tears welled in Mehnaz's eyes, so Violet placed a hand on either side of her face.
"No need to worry." Mehnaz nodded at Violet’s words as if on automatic pilot. Violet started to speak again. "You don't need to worry about a thing. There's good news. While you were sleeping your father started recovering. You need to start making arrangements for him to come home. You were having bad dreams because you were worried about him. How to keep him well, but you never went anywhere. Not the museum, because you never took the job, you never met any of us, and you are never going to want to come to this club, or the one you were at tonight ever again. OK?"
"OK." came the response.
"Good girl. Ad arbitrium." And on those words, as I had seen so many times before, Mehnaz fell into a deep sleep. Violet caught her head, and rested it against the seatbelt holder on the inside of the car and closed the door to the vehicle.
"You're using magic too now?"
"I use anything useful that I can. Besides, I just love that you know more about it than I do from books, but I’m still better at it than you." Violet smiled at her own joke to break the tension she felt. "How are we looking?" she asked me eventually.
"Myria will be here tomorrow."
"We will have to make plans to travel then, I can get it done while you take her back." Violet gestured towards Mehnaz.
"We won't have to. I have something else organized. We won't need to travel anywhere." Violet furrowed her eyebrows in surprise.
"Let me explain when I get back." I still wanted to get Mehnaz's back to her place, and myself home before dawn. I climbed into the car again, and drove away with Violet looking after me.