Undesirable Chapter 26
TITLE: Undesirable (A vampire novel)
RATING: NC-17 (This chapter NC-17)
SUMMARY: The recent past catches up to George.
Word Count: 6405
Chapter 26
"Well, don't look at me," I said. "I didn't even know we were going to Salt Lake City until we were getting into the car. Neither of us has talked to anyone but you since then. And really, why would we tip someone off?"
Chuck returned his eyes to the road looking frustrated. "No, you wouldn't. That makes no sense."
"You could have a Stan in your organization."
"A who?" Chuck asked. "Wait, the guy who turned you in for cash to Nadette. I don't think so. There is no way any of my people would have betrayed us. I've worked with them for years." He shook his head. "No. I've screened them myself. There is no way they could have betrayed me."
"Well who else knew?" I pursued. "Your guys had to program the permissions for our car - or are you saying you did all of that yourself. You are a hacker along with being a paramedic and a hypnotist and a … a ninja?"
"Ninja," pshawed Chuck. "If my hacker had betrayed us, they wouldn't have choked all the traffic trying to find us. They'd have waited until my car passed through the gate and pulled just us over. They knew we were coming, but they didn't have any of the specific details my people would know."
"-- Maybe no one betrayed us," interjected Wally.
"What?" we both asked.
"Guys, it doesn't take a genius to figure out we are going home to Portland," said Wally. "And anyone looking at a map would know Salt Lake City is right smack on the way. It's practically unavoidable. The vampires might just have made an educated guess."
Chuck sucked in a breath, then let it out. "True."
"So the vampires are fighting each other, that doesn't mean that all of them are involved in that war. You said more than half put their names into the lottery, that means almost half didn't and any one of those vampires could have put up that roadblock."
"I think you are right," said Chuck. "Though that's not a good thing. It means we are going to have to be even more careful about choosing our route. Damn it." He frowned out at the quiet neighborhood street. "Well, in any case, the danger is over for now. I am absolutely sure that my contacts at the club will not betray us, as long as you two play it smart, we should be able to get out of here by morning."
Chuck drove us through a series of tree lined neighborhoods with the ease of someone who knew the territory well. Avoiding the biggest streets, he zig-zagged down a grid of mostly straight streets, quiet as a ghost. Eventually the peaceful, well mowed front yards gave eventually to stores and shops, most of them already rolled up for the night. Then the buildings grew larger and the trees scarcer. Abruptly we reached an oasis of life and noise in a town that otherwise clearly wanted to go to bed. Bars, restaurants and clubs sprang up on every side, with live music and talking. The municipal parking lots were filled up and what few on-street slots there were had a car in them. I noticed people dressed in club clothes walking around. This was the party district, and even mid-week, it was bustling.
Chuck ducked the car into a claustrophobic ally between two lowrise buildings, then turned the wheel hard to pull it into a nearly hidden parking structure. Once more he slipped a card into a reader and a recessed wall of metal rolled up giving us access to the parking stalls. We left our things in the car while Chuck hustled us through a door and into the outer lobby of the club. The décor was identical to one we'd left: same broadsheets of rules, same rust red, brown and gold color scheme. We presented our fake ID's like we belonged to them and were let into the club itself.
This time Chuck didn't wait in the lobby but took us both by the upper arm and lead us firmly past the long line at the registration desk. The people in line looked a bit pissed. One of the pretty desk employees broke from what she was doing with a look of surprise on her face, then she recognized Chuck. "Oh, hey there, stranger!"
"I need one of the party rooms," he said. "ASAP."
"Hey," said an angry looking customer. "The back of the line's there, buddy." Chuck gave him the most commanding stare I'd ever seen and the customer closed his mouth.
"Sorry," said the desk lady in her most apologetic way to the line of customers. "I'll be right with you." She then called over the intercom to someone, and immediately another, more matronly woman came through the employee door at the back. This manager looked vaguely concerned, but then her eyes lit up with recognition when she spotted Chuck. "I wasn't aware you were coming, sir," she said. "I'll get you set up immediately. Usual room?"
"Yes, please," said Chuck. "If it's available."
"It sure is," said the woman. She took over one of the computers and swiped out three cards and handed them to each of us. "There you go. Have an enjoyable evening, sir."
Chuck murmured a thanks and pulled us away towards the elevator, wincing a bit. "Well I wasn't as discrete as I was hoping to be, but I think the bulk of the attention was on me not you." He jabbed his finger into the elevator button, then scanned the hallway around us, warily. His eyes seemed to lock in place. I peered to see what he was looking at but it just seemed to be a mass of mostly college-aged people hanging out looking for a connection.
"Listen," Chuck said suddenly. "You two go up and find the room. Order dinner, finish your homework, I've got business. I'll bring our stuff up when I come."
He then left us and walked down the wide hall with long strides. People jostled around me as the elevator finally opened. I stepped away from the crush in order to keep a line of sight on Chuck. What the heck was he up to now. I spotted him again only 20 feet away closing in on an attractive couple next to a basket where the bracelets were kept. The two looked a little surprised when Chuck tapped the man's arm, but then they grinned at each other. The guy clapped Chuck on the shoulder and the woman leaned forward as if she were sharing a joke, then rocked backwards laughing. Then the three of them walked away and were lost among the throng.
"Geo?" Wally asked. "'Sup?"
I shook my head. "Nothing. Just wondering how seriously Chuck is taking this whole thing, that's all." I turned back to find the elevator's doors had shut and the car was slowly moving upwards. "Let's take the stairs," I said.
This time we were on the fourth floor, but in every other way the club was a repeat of what we'd left that morning. The same rich carpeted hall, same framed mirrors on the walls. I wasn't surprised when I swiped my card into the room's lock that the suite Chuck had rented was an exact copy of the one in Denver, down to the selection of throw pillows.
Despite his admonishment to work on picking our next patron, Chuck had neglected to leave us the laptop, making that task impossible. Instead we ordered dinner and watched one of the non-pornographic movies available on their house system. Wally was entertained. I stewed.
Chuck was back to his old shit, disappearing off for hours, not telling us about what he was up to or when he'd be back. If my life didn't depend on him, I wouldn't have cared, but I was dependent on him and it really irked. The way Chuck's people had laughed when they met up with him in the lobby - it just didn't strike me like they were that worried about the heightened vampire tension. They looked like a bunch of friends yukking it up after work. What was I supposed to believe here? That the entire vampire world was breathing down my throat, trying to get me? Me? Or maybe things weren't quite that serious and Chuck was just playing up the drama. And really, did I have more than Chuck's word about the vampire situation? What did I know of the guy? Nothing, that's what. When he got back, we needed to talk.
The movie had run to credits and there was still no sign of him, or the lap top, or any of our things. I considered running down to the car, but Chuck had the keys with him. Frustrated I paced the room, like a caged lion. I had the faint beginnings of a headache.
I hated this place. Everything about it annoyed me: all overly expensive and impersonal and climate controlled to within an inch of it's life. Stuffy. I hooked a finger under the collar of my designer shirt and dragged it away from my throat but it didn't help much. I couldn't quite seem to get enough air. I was acutely aware of the lack of windows.
Like a very posh prison.
And that was precisely the wrong thing to think, because once I had, I couldn't think of the luxurious suite as anything but holding cell - and it seemed like I was always being held in some kind of a cell. Jeffrey's feeding room. Nadette's dormitory. Abram's guest room. They all were nothing more than a series of traps, disguised as bedrooms.
What if they could lock down this room electronically? Was I really in here by choice or had Chuck told the staff to hold me here, for my own safety? There were no fucking windows to get out of.
Paranoid, I went to the door and turned the knob, half expecting - no outright knowing -- that it wouldn't turn and in fact I was locked in. But the knob turned easily and opened up on the wide hallway beyond. I blinked and stared, not believing it. I stepped outside. No magical barrier prevented me from leaving the room. It was all in my head.
I stepped back in and closed the door again, shaking my head at my irrational fears, but wouldn't you know, the moment the door shut, I had that feeling again. That closed in, trapped feeling. The room seemed more like a tomb than ever. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was buried alive in here.
I had to get out. I just couldn't take it in here anymore.
"I need to go for a walk."
"You what?" called Wally from the bathroom. "What was that?"
I leaned against the bathroom door, "Walk!" I called. "I need some fresh air. I'm just going around the block."
"What? No, Geo, you can't. Chuck said to stay here."
But I couldn't stay there. I couldn't. Every minute I stayed in this room the oppression grew. Goddamn it, I needed air. I needed to be out where I had at least the illusion of freedom. My skin crawled with the need to feel a breeze. I needed to be able to see beyond the end of a room. Claustrophobia seemed to ramp up by the second.
"I'll be back in ten minutes," I said.
"Geo! Ah goddamn, Christ man, I'm on the toilet, give me a second -"
I was barely holding panic at bay. "I'll be right back! Five minutes."
Making sure I had my fake ID and the keycard to the room safely in my wallet, I stepped outside. Immediately I began to feel better. I jogged to the staircase and went down and down. I half expected to see Chuck the moment I reached the lobby but there wasn't a trace of him. Pressing my way through the throng I managed to reach outer lobby. "Scuse me" I said to a group of people who were just hanging out in front of the exit. For a moment I thought they were more of Chuck's cadre and they'd try to keep me inside, but with reluctance they parted and let me pass through the doors.
And then I was outside, and the air felt crisp and fresh and wonderful. I smelled cigarette smoke and spicy cloves mixed with food and the perfume of car exhaust, and they were all delicious. They smelled like the world, the real world, not this strange whelm of running away that I'd become used to. I felt like a normal human being for once, not a "package". I grinned at a cluster of smokers hanging out under a street lamp. They grinned back at me, blue faced and teeth chattering in their skimpy clothes. Not a one of them wanted to get me. One wearing a pink Mohawk, who could have been a girl but I wasn't sure, offered me a cigarette but I declined and headed on farther down the sidewalk.
This walk, I decided, was exactly what I needed. My lungs were thanking me and my legs were thanking me. After being cramped up in a car for hours on end they needed to be used. And I wouldn't be long, I rationalized to myself. Just around the block, like I'd promised, then I'd go back. I strolled down the crowded sidewalk, enjoying the stretch of my muscles. The sex club's neon sign was bright enough to read by. I looked at the mural on the side of the building, which depicted the silhouettes of men and women in disco poses, and that struck me as funny since that wasn't the kind of dancing that was happening inside. False advertisement.
I turned the corner and walked down the ally that lead to where our car was parked. I wondered vaguely if I could somehow get into the Prius without the keys and retrieve our belongings and the laptop, but as soon as I reached the niche, I was confronted by the metal garage door. I walked up to it and felt it's cold solidity. It was made of wide aluminum slats, and didn't even shudder under my weight. I took a few steps over to the metal box on the wall of the niche and glanced at the keypad under the card-reader. Too much effort. Shaking my head I took another step backwards and bumped into someone.
"Give me your wallet," came a quiet voice behind me.
Shit!
My adrenaline spiked. I began to turn around but felt a huge hand against my shoulder steadying me straight. I didn't know who he was, or if he had a weapon, but he was big and I am very small for a guy. Christ, didn't want to be robbed, but I didn't want to get knifed or beaten up either. Did I dare fight him? When I'd been robbed before, I'd gone the chickenshit route and survived. I blinked furiously; cold sweat dripped off my chin.
"Wallet. Hurry."
Gritting my teeth, I reached into my back pocket and pulled out the leather billfold, showing it for just a split second. Then suddenly I turned and tossed it as hard as I could down the alleyway and broke and ran the other direction when the man behind me startled back.
I didn't look back to see him going after my wallet. Hopefully he'd be happy with the almost four hundred dollars I'd just given him. Not to mention all my fake ID and my fucking way back into the club. My goal was the crowded street in front of the club and I almost made it there. Almost.
Then there were arms around my chest, yanking me violently backwards off my feet. I felt the air woosh out of me and I coughed for breath. I kicked out my legs trying to slow our progress down or, shy of that, hurt the guy who had me, but he didn't seem to mind the dents my heels made in his shins. I grabbed at the hands, trying to break their grip and at the same time attempted to coax my squeezed lungs to scream. I could see the clump of smokers, not thirty feet away, surely they had to see me! How could they not see me here? Could they not hear this scuffling?
They couldn't hear my scream because I hadn't made a noise. I couldn't make a sound - why couldn't I make a sound? My head was buzzing and then I knew why.
I was being dragged backwards down the alleyway by a vampire.
I heard a deep chuckle. Then I was spun about and my back pressed up against the concrete wall. I stared up in the dim light at my captor.
"Gregory," I said.
His hair was just as wild as I remembered and if anything his eyes were wider and more crazed. It was definitely him, smooth and solidly muscled, dressed in a leather coat and looking as handsome as one of the Hollywood actors that he was patron over.
Gregory stepped back, leaving me pinned to the wall with his mind rather than his body. The charade was up. He was laughing.
"What, no feigned ignorance? Not going to pretend to be…" he glanced at a card plucked from my wallet. "Lance?"
"Would it have worked?" I asked.
"Of course not, I recognize your mind. I could pick it out of a crowd three blocks away. I could pluck it through the walls of the building."
"You are why I came down here." I should have recognized him manipulating me. That tickle in the head feeling. In retrospect, I remember I had it, but at the time I hadn't remembered the significance of it.
"It's one of my better skills," he said. "Manipulating minds. In my line of business it's very handy. Lots of large egos, men and women used to getting their way without question."
"Why the fuck did you rob me, you asshole. You're rich!" God, I can't believe my own mouth sometimes - yes, the question was a burning one, but really sometimes I just ask for trouble.
Gregory chuckled at my insubordination. Then he slapped my face in a very casual, off handed way. My head was flung sideways and my cheek burned and stung like an SOB. My ear rang out, high and tinny. I reached up and felt the swelling. "You are the one who robbed me first," said Gregory.
I couldn't answer. What was this madman talking about?
"Robbed me of you," said Gregory, in a seductive voice. "You think that any of those others had a chance? No, you were mine the moment I laid eyes on you. Turns out, I don't want your wallet after all," he closed the wallet and reached around to tuck it in my back pocket. "I want something far… more… precious." His finger traced a line down my throat.
I let out my breath. I hadn't known I'd been holding it. It came out in a moan of despair.
"Shh," said Gregory, leaning in closer so that his broad body covered mine and I couldn't see anything. "Shhh. No more tears, no more fears," he murmured. "Playtime is over." I felt his breath, smelled the mint, smelled … that something else that he'd given me once before. My breath caught with sudden longing.
"No," I managed to say, before his lips came down over my own. We were kissing, his tongue thrusting lasciviously into my mouth. Madness dragged at me, eroding my senses. Lust so sharp it hurt took over me, finding a home in my pulse, and I could feel it spreading out over every inch of my skin. I no longer cared about escape. I couldn't care about Wally or Chuck or the Resistance. I needed, needed, needed him.
I wrapped myself around Gregory, like a lover, my hands sliding under his leather coat and running along the smooth silk of the shirt underneath. My fingertips hurt it was so soft. My mouth hurt because he'd nipped me, he was already feeding on me in a small way, little languid sucks at my lower lip. It felt so good. It was fantastic. I rocked against him, stroking myself through the combined fabric of our clothes, wincing at the way it teased. My groin was chafed oh so nicely. But it wasn't enough, not even remotely. Oh god, I needed to fuck something so badly, a hand, a mouth, an ass. I felt a stab of embarrassment that I was being such a complete slut…
--Because I hate this bastard!
How I wrenched my mind away from the whatever the hell seductive spell he put on it, I wasn't sure, but I was suddenly aware that I was in a fucking alley way with a dick so hard I could drill holes in the concrete, molesting a semi-sane vampire in full view of at least twenty people if they bothered to actually look. Worse, I was betraying my real lover, who any moment was going to pop around that corner and ask me what the fuck I was up to. Was I fucking nuts?
Gregory jerked and stared at me with alarm, as if he couldn't believe I'd just managed to weasel my mind out from under him like that. For a moment the look was chagrin but then it darkened to something much more scary.
"Or maybe you'd still like to play?" His voice was cool with anger. "You going to play now? Play the wronged man? 'Oh, please, sir, don't touch me?' is that the card? Tell me, do you prefer the role of the reluctant bottom?" He spun me around to face the wall. I felt his solidity at my back, his breath on my cheek. "Shall we act out a back ally rape scene? A mugging gone very wrong… or right, depending on your point of view. A producer friend of mine says those scenarios are very popular. Audiences eat… them… up…" He licked the side of my throat. "I can do that for you. Anything to accommodate. Though honestly, I would prefer to do such roleplaying in the comfort of my own estate. You could be Lance Burke, and I can arrange a gang bang, or maybe dungeon scene. The advantage of being involved in the movie industry is that you have access to so many sets and props."
"Please," I whispered. "Don't." Despite all the terrifying things he was suggesting, I was still horribly, massively turned on. Part of me actually thought the idea of a gang bang might be hot. Such is the effect of vampires.
Gregory relented. "Or do you think you can give up the childish rebellion for a moment," he said, and again flipped me around so I was facing him. "Aren't you the least bit eager to see me?" he asked, genuinely puzzled. "It must come as some relief to have this over. And you know that I am wealthy and have other Whites in my harem. I can afford to be undemanding of you. You should be damn happy that I got you before some desperate, ugly, neophyte vampire with no money and no social skills lucked on to you."
Emotion welled up. I did feel grateful. Of course, I was happy. Absurdly happy, even. I knew my feelings were almost certainly fake but it didn't make a difference. "Yes, I'm glad," I found myself saying. "Glad it was you."
"Tell me you are thankful I saved you from yourself," urged Gregory in a quick, breathy whisper. "- Because you do know all this running around shenanigans are that - crazy. You could have been really mugged in this alley. You know not to walk down dark alleys, don't you? Didn't your mother teach you that? You could have been stabbed and your blood could have been lost. Your life lost. Christ, you humans are so fragile, so subject to every little horror: a burn, a cut, an infection can be deadly to you. You must be careful! Always careful. Save the adventures for play acting. I will give you as much danger as your body clearly craves, in the safety of my estate. At the end of the night the only blood shed will be in my mouth."
I shuddered at the thought of that, but it wasn't entirely with fear.
"Now consider this again, I will have you. I must have you. Now. This instant. But shall you fight it and make it rape? Or shall we pretend to be lovers? I'd honestly prefer that, being lovers. Wouldn't you?"
"Lovers," I agreed. If sex were to happen, I'd rather it be falsely sweet than terrifying and painful. Gregory seemed to grant my wish. The lust and love washed through me, chasing out the fear. He'd saved me, I told myself. Saved me from my own stupidity. I'd be safe now, and cared for, and loved with Gregory as my patron. Of course, I needed a patron. Everyone needs a patron. What kind of world would it be without our patrons?
"I'm not a monster," said Gregory. "I'm large I know, larger than life at times, but I can be kind. Let me be kind." His fingers found my fly and deftly undid the buckle and with a single yank had my pants down past my hips. The denim stuck to my thighs due to fashion that led them to be tighter than I'd have chosen.
His warm hand reached my cock, pulled it seductively. I opened my mouth and stifled a cry into the hard leather of his jacket. I gnawed on it, putting teeth dents into the folded collar. Somewhere from beyond the end of the alleyway, the smokers talked and laughed, their voices like indecipherable background music to my panting breath.
Gregory remained calm, supporting me when my legs began to feel weak. I felt his grin more than saw it. He was turned on by the possession of me, I could feel the rigidity of him through his clothes, but he made no move to disrobe, or press that on me. I could hear his breathing, tight and excited in my ear. "Yes," he murmured. "Your pleasure is my pleasure. I don't need to be touched when you can do the feeling for both of us. Our minds are merging, now. Feel it? Do you know how good it is to be the predator and to finally have the prey, so warm and soft and helpless beneath you? You ran me a merry chase, but I've caught you now, and you are mine. And I didn't have to pay Nadette a dime. Should have seen her face when you disappeared. Priceless…"
His hand jacked me relentlessly. I had my hands twisted in his clothes, practically tearing the expensive silk at the seams. I felt flush with the triumph of the win. As if I had been the one to track Gregory down, as if I had caught him rather than the other way around, as if I had bullied him into giving me this handjob and he had no choice but to pleasure me. I had him. He was mine. Never let him go… never let him go… my mind looped. I thought briefly of our time together at Nadette's compound, of him fucking me and of being so close, like I was right now.
And then I gave one last deep gasp of breath and shot my load across his hand. Christ, it was intense. All that sexual energy pent up, needing to be released for so long. Needing a vampire to release it. Not any vampire, Gregory. How could I even consider another vampire?
"And now you can be good to me." Gregory buried his face in the crook of my neck. I didn't even feel the bite. I felt nothing but wonderful. My whole body was suffused with a luxurious afterglow. Gregory's arms had tightened around me, but I felt no discomfort. I was floating, relieved, released, gloriously emptied.
And then I came to myself. Snap. Like someone had flipped a reset button in my brain. I grabbed my pants and pulled them up as best as I could while trapped in the vise that was Gregory's arms. He was smacking away at my throat in a grotesque way. I could smell the blood and hear the wet noises and his swallows. Not far away the smokers broke into a fit of laugher, but not at me. I had no idea how on earth those damn club goers managed not to notice this all going down so close by. Were they fucking blind?
Gregory reared back, furious. "Oh, that is just -" He stepped away from me and waved his fist up at the buildings around us. "Don't be such a sore loser, Jeffrey! I got here first. I have him. Pulling these pranks with his mind is unsporting." With one long arm he reached out and snared my shoulder, then pressed me to his side. "If you want, I'll let you pay for the privilege of having him-when we return to my estate. Until then, fuck off."
Are you alright, love? came a thought in my mind. It was Jeffrey. I had no idea where he was, there was no sign of him anywhere physically. I realized with a start that it had been his influence that had knocked me out of Gregory's enchantment both times. Wherever he was, he'd been observing the whole time. I hated to put you through that, but bear with me, I needed time. I have a plan--
Jeffrey's presence in my head cut off.
"Stop interfering," snarled Gregory. "Stop trying to communicate with him. You lost. I won." He paused. Then he let me go and took two steps into the middle of ally and stared out past the oblivious crowd.
"Are you going to fight me, coward?" Gregory shouted. The smokers didn't even look. It was as if Gregory were unnoticeable. "Choose!"
Something huge surged past me. Terror spiked and I let out a small scream as I was knocked back into the cement wall by the wind of its passing. I almost didn't see what was going on, the noise was so intense. There was a resounding thump and the grind of metal folding that seemed somehow vaster than mere sound. I could almost feel myself being struck down and crushed. My eyes cleared enough to register Gregory vanishing under the car. When I could sort my overloaded senses out, I saw Chuck's eerily quiet Prius come to an abrupt shuddering stop on top of Gregory's body.
The driver's door cracked open and Chuck called out. "Get in!" Paralysis left my limbs and I flung myself forward, and grabbed the unlocked rear door handle. Yanking it outwards, I threw myself onto the back seat. The Prius jerked roughly forward, before I even had a chance to close the door again. It bumped up solidly, as if the wheels were rolling over something quite large. Then it was free. I grabbed the inside handle and slammed the door shut.
"What the hell was that?" said Wally from the front passenger's seat, clearly freaked out. "Did we just run over someone?"
"I'm pretty sure it was a sack of garbage," said Chuck. He didn't even make a pretense of stopping at the intersection. Instead he peeled out, the Prius's wheels squealing on the pavement as we turned. Within seconds we were racing our way down the street at speeds well beyond the posted limits. The car didn't sound good. There was an nasty grinding and the screech of something metal being dragged against the pavement.
"George, you okay?" Chuck asked, turning around in his seat. "I thought we'd lost you for a moment!"
"Why did leave the building, Geo?" asked Wally, clearly upset. "Couldn't you have waited a minute for me?"
"No, he couldn't," Chuck answered for me. "That's a time-old vampire trick, to lure the victim out where he can be grabbed without attracting attention. The question is, how did that vampire find you?" He turned around in that scary way he had and glanced at me with such a piercing look that I felt compelled to answer.
"I have no idea," I said, "I have no clue at all." I picking myself up and grabbing the seat belt to strap myself in. The way the car bounced and screeched, I figured it was prudent to use what safety features there were. "Slow down," I said. "The way you are driving, someone's going to call the cops on us. Or we'll get into another accident."
That seemed to get through to Chuck. He stopped panicking and pulled the car into the deserted parking lot of the Big Lots.
"What's here?" I asked.
Chuck turned off the car. "A place to wait for a replacement vehicle. That sack of garbage must have damaged the oil pan - and I think it took off part of my bumper." He then seemed to deflate across the wheel.
"Chuck," I started to apologize.
"--It's not a coincidence," interrupted Chuck. "There were two vampires near the building. And they didn't appear to be working together."
"How do you know this?" Wally asked.
"My people spotted them. But they were both out-of-towners, not locals. People who attended Nadette's party." He looked at me, daring me to fill in the situation.
I said nothing. If Chuck was going to pretend he'd struck a sack of garbage, I wasn't going to contradict him by offering up details of my encounter with Gregory. If Wally never found out what just happened to me, I'd be happy. Besides, there wasn't any pertinent information to be gleaned.
Chuck sighed after a moment. "They must have figured out the Club connection somehow. Probably from knowing my habits -" He slapped the wheel. "Damn it, I don't want to believe that. Back at Abram's did you let on to Jeffrey that you had contacted the resistance?"
Honestly, I couldn't remember. Maybe I had. Maybe Wally had. Jeffrey had been in both our minds, so it was possible he'd fetched it out without us directly thinking of it. Or maybe he'd scanned our minds by the river, when we both were definitely thinking of it. Either way, Jeffrey had shown a preternatural ability to keep track of what Wally and I did. That didn't explain Gregory's involvement though. I honestly couldn't think of a reason why the two of them could be so hot on my trail without every other vampire also converging.
Wally had no more idea than I did.
"Stay here," said Chuck. "It's not that I don't trust the two of you, but I need secrecy more than ever." He then got out of the car and walked far across the vast parking lot. I could see him taking his cell phone out of his pocket.
"Geo?" Wally asked.
"Hmm?"
"Turn your face?"
I sucked in a breath and turned to hide my swollen cheek from him. It still burned where Gregory had casually slapped me. I had no idea how large the bruise was, but clearly, even in the dark of the car, it was somewhat visible.
"Other way," Wally insisted and reluctantly I did, putting up a hand to touch the painful edges.
"What happened?" he said after a moment.
"Don't ask me," I replied. "Just, please. Don't ask."
Wally looked grim and concerned, but he didn't ask, and I was profoundly grateful. He could probably figure it out now. But at least it wouldn't be said out loud and we both could pretend it didn't happen. I wouldn't have to admit I cheated on you. And that inevitable follow up, I enjoyed it. My nightmare had flipped and I felt hideously guilty.
"I called my runner," said Chuck, returning to the car about eight minutes later. "He'll be by to pick us all up in a few minutes. I also got us a place to spend the night, but it's in no way ideal for me."
After that he grew quiet. Cars occasionally passed on the street, but evidently no one had called the cops. We were left alone for fifteen more minutes before an older model Camry turned into the lot and parked next to Chuck's car.
The runner was an older guy, chubby, in his fifties with his hair conservatively cut. He wore a checked cowboy shirt and a belt with a huge Cardinals buckle on it and over both a denim jacket. He nodded to Chuck, but said nothing to either of us and in general treated us as if he only barely recognized that we were there at all.
We shifted our belongings from one car to the other while Chuck grabbed two folded paper grocery bags from a stack he'd found in the Camry's trunk. "I really hate to do this to the two of you, but we really need a place to lay low while I figure this out. I don't know if you guys are somehow giving us away with your minds - or if those vampires are just extremely good at anticipating our moves. Either case, I don't want you two knowing where we are going." He held out the paper bags.
Wally looked at me and I at him. "Really?"
"Really," said Chuck.
Sighing, Wally and I climbed into the back of the Camry and put the grocery bags on our heads. It felt ridiculous. I'm sure it looked stupid. But as improvised blindfolds go it was damn effective. It was a little stuffy under there, but not horribly so. I sat back, feeling the rumble of the engine and the movement of the car wheel, and utterly lost track of where we were. Not that I really had much notion to start off with. Neither Chuck nor our new runner were talkative, and now that the adrenaline was out of my system, the weariness of the day caught up to me hard. I have no idea how long we drove, because after fifteen minutes, I was asleep.
Back to Chapter 25
On to chapter 27
RATING: NC-17 (This chapter NC-17)
SUMMARY: The recent past catches up to George.
Word Count: 6405
Chapter 26
"Well, don't look at me," I said. "I didn't even know we were going to Salt Lake City until we were getting into the car. Neither of us has talked to anyone but you since then. And really, why would we tip someone off?"
Chuck returned his eyes to the road looking frustrated. "No, you wouldn't. That makes no sense."
"You could have a Stan in your organization."
"A who?" Chuck asked. "Wait, the guy who turned you in for cash to Nadette. I don't think so. There is no way any of my people would have betrayed us. I've worked with them for years." He shook his head. "No. I've screened them myself. There is no way they could have betrayed me."
"Well who else knew?" I pursued. "Your guys had to program the permissions for our car - or are you saying you did all of that yourself. You are a hacker along with being a paramedic and a hypnotist and a … a ninja?"
"Ninja," pshawed Chuck. "If my hacker had betrayed us, they wouldn't have choked all the traffic trying to find us. They'd have waited until my car passed through the gate and pulled just us over. They knew we were coming, but they didn't have any of the specific details my people would know."
"-- Maybe no one betrayed us," interjected Wally.
"What?" we both asked.
"Guys, it doesn't take a genius to figure out we are going home to Portland," said Wally. "And anyone looking at a map would know Salt Lake City is right smack on the way. It's practically unavoidable. The vampires might just have made an educated guess."
Chuck sucked in a breath, then let it out. "True."
"So the vampires are fighting each other, that doesn't mean that all of them are involved in that war. You said more than half put their names into the lottery, that means almost half didn't and any one of those vampires could have put up that roadblock."
"I think you are right," said Chuck. "Though that's not a good thing. It means we are going to have to be even more careful about choosing our route. Damn it." He frowned out at the quiet neighborhood street. "Well, in any case, the danger is over for now. I am absolutely sure that my contacts at the club will not betray us, as long as you two play it smart, we should be able to get out of here by morning."
Chuck drove us through a series of tree lined neighborhoods with the ease of someone who knew the territory well. Avoiding the biggest streets, he zig-zagged down a grid of mostly straight streets, quiet as a ghost. Eventually the peaceful, well mowed front yards gave eventually to stores and shops, most of them already rolled up for the night. Then the buildings grew larger and the trees scarcer. Abruptly we reached an oasis of life and noise in a town that otherwise clearly wanted to go to bed. Bars, restaurants and clubs sprang up on every side, with live music and talking. The municipal parking lots were filled up and what few on-street slots there were had a car in them. I noticed people dressed in club clothes walking around. This was the party district, and even mid-week, it was bustling.
Chuck ducked the car into a claustrophobic ally between two lowrise buildings, then turned the wheel hard to pull it into a nearly hidden parking structure. Once more he slipped a card into a reader and a recessed wall of metal rolled up giving us access to the parking stalls. We left our things in the car while Chuck hustled us through a door and into the outer lobby of the club. The décor was identical to one we'd left: same broadsheets of rules, same rust red, brown and gold color scheme. We presented our fake ID's like we belonged to them and were let into the club itself.
This time Chuck didn't wait in the lobby but took us both by the upper arm and lead us firmly past the long line at the registration desk. The people in line looked a bit pissed. One of the pretty desk employees broke from what she was doing with a look of surprise on her face, then she recognized Chuck. "Oh, hey there, stranger!"
"I need one of the party rooms," he said. "ASAP."
"Hey," said an angry looking customer. "The back of the line's there, buddy." Chuck gave him the most commanding stare I'd ever seen and the customer closed his mouth.
"Sorry," said the desk lady in her most apologetic way to the line of customers. "I'll be right with you." She then called over the intercom to someone, and immediately another, more matronly woman came through the employee door at the back. This manager looked vaguely concerned, but then her eyes lit up with recognition when she spotted Chuck. "I wasn't aware you were coming, sir," she said. "I'll get you set up immediately. Usual room?"
"Yes, please," said Chuck. "If it's available."
"It sure is," said the woman. She took over one of the computers and swiped out three cards and handed them to each of us. "There you go. Have an enjoyable evening, sir."
Chuck murmured a thanks and pulled us away towards the elevator, wincing a bit. "Well I wasn't as discrete as I was hoping to be, but I think the bulk of the attention was on me not you." He jabbed his finger into the elevator button, then scanned the hallway around us, warily. His eyes seemed to lock in place. I peered to see what he was looking at but it just seemed to be a mass of mostly college-aged people hanging out looking for a connection.
"Listen," Chuck said suddenly. "You two go up and find the room. Order dinner, finish your homework, I've got business. I'll bring our stuff up when I come."
He then left us and walked down the wide hall with long strides. People jostled around me as the elevator finally opened. I stepped away from the crush in order to keep a line of sight on Chuck. What the heck was he up to now. I spotted him again only 20 feet away closing in on an attractive couple next to a basket where the bracelets were kept. The two looked a little surprised when Chuck tapped the man's arm, but then they grinned at each other. The guy clapped Chuck on the shoulder and the woman leaned forward as if she were sharing a joke, then rocked backwards laughing. Then the three of them walked away and were lost among the throng.
"Geo?" Wally asked. "'Sup?"
I shook my head. "Nothing. Just wondering how seriously Chuck is taking this whole thing, that's all." I turned back to find the elevator's doors had shut and the car was slowly moving upwards. "Let's take the stairs," I said.
This time we were on the fourth floor, but in every other way the club was a repeat of what we'd left that morning. The same rich carpeted hall, same framed mirrors on the walls. I wasn't surprised when I swiped my card into the room's lock that the suite Chuck had rented was an exact copy of the one in Denver, down to the selection of throw pillows.
Despite his admonishment to work on picking our next patron, Chuck had neglected to leave us the laptop, making that task impossible. Instead we ordered dinner and watched one of the non-pornographic movies available on their house system. Wally was entertained. I stewed.
Chuck was back to his old shit, disappearing off for hours, not telling us about what he was up to or when he'd be back. If my life didn't depend on him, I wouldn't have cared, but I was dependent on him and it really irked. The way Chuck's people had laughed when they met up with him in the lobby - it just didn't strike me like they were that worried about the heightened vampire tension. They looked like a bunch of friends yukking it up after work. What was I supposed to believe here? That the entire vampire world was breathing down my throat, trying to get me? Me? Or maybe things weren't quite that serious and Chuck was just playing up the drama. And really, did I have more than Chuck's word about the vampire situation? What did I know of the guy? Nothing, that's what. When he got back, we needed to talk.
The movie had run to credits and there was still no sign of him, or the lap top, or any of our things. I considered running down to the car, but Chuck had the keys with him. Frustrated I paced the room, like a caged lion. I had the faint beginnings of a headache.
I hated this place. Everything about it annoyed me: all overly expensive and impersonal and climate controlled to within an inch of it's life. Stuffy. I hooked a finger under the collar of my designer shirt and dragged it away from my throat but it didn't help much. I couldn't quite seem to get enough air. I was acutely aware of the lack of windows.
Like a very posh prison.
And that was precisely the wrong thing to think, because once I had, I couldn't think of the luxurious suite as anything but holding cell - and it seemed like I was always being held in some kind of a cell. Jeffrey's feeding room. Nadette's dormitory. Abram's guest room. They all were nothing more than a series of traps, disguised as bedrooms.
What if they could lock down this room electronically? Was I really in here by choice or had Chuck told the staff to hold me here, for my own safety? There were no fucking windows to get out of.
Paranoid, I went to the door and turned the knob, half expecting - no outright knowing -- that it wouldn't turn and in fact I was locked in. But the knob turned easily and opened up on the wide hallway beyond. I blinked and stared, not believing it. I stepped outside. No magical barrier prevented me from leaving the room. It was all in my head.
I stepped back in and closed the door again, shaking my head at my irrational fears, but wouldn't you know, the moment the door shut, I had that feeling again. That closed in, trapped feeling. The room seemed more like a tomb than ever. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was buried alive in here.
I had to get out. I just couldn't take it in here anymore.
"I need to go for a walk."
"You what?" called Wally from the bathroom. "What was that?"
I leaned against the bathroom door, "Walk!" I called. "I need some fresh air. I'm just going around the block."
"What? No, Geo, you can't. Chuck said to stay here."
But I couldn't stay there. I couldn't. Every minute I stayed in this room the oppression grew. Goddamn it, I needed air. I needed to be out where I had at least the illusion of freedom. My skin crawled with the need to feel a breeze. I needed to be able to see beyond the end of a room. Claustrophobia seemed to ramp up by the second.
"I'll be back in ten minutes," I said.
"Geo! Ah goddamn, Christ man, I'm on the toilet, give me a second -"
I was barely holding panic at bay. "I'll be right back! Five minutes."
Making sure I had my fake ID and the keycard to the room safely in my wallet, I stepped outside. Immediately I began to feel better. I jogged to the staircase and went down and down. I half expected to see Chuck the moment I reached the lobby but there wasn't a trace of him. Pressing my way through the throng I managed to reach outer lobby. "Scuse me" I said to a group of people who were just hanging out in front of the exit. For a moment I thought they were more of Chuck's cadre and they'd try to keep me inside, but with reluctance they parted and let me pass through the doors.
And then I was outside, and the air felt crisp and fresh and wonderful. I smelled cigarette smoke and spicy cloves mixed with food and the perfume of car exhaust, and they were all delicious. They smelled like the world, the real world, not this strange whelm of running away that I'd become used to. I felt like a normal human being for once, not a "package". I grinned at a cluster of smokers hanging out under a street lamp. They grinned back at me, blue faced and teeth chattering in their skimpy clothes. Not a one of them wanted to get me. One wearing a pink Mohawk, who could have been a girl but I wasn't sure, offered me a cigarette but I declined and headed on farther down the sidewalk.
This walk, I decided, was exactly what I needed. My lungs were thanking me and my legs were thanking me. After being cramped up in a car for hours on end they needed to be used. And I wouldn't be long, I rationalized to myself. Just around the block, like I'd promised, then I'd go back. I strolled down the crowded sidewalk, enjoying the stretch of my muscles. The sex club's neon sign was bright enough to read by. I looked at the mural on the side of the building, which depicted the silhouettes of men and women in disco poses, and that struck me as funny since that wasn't the kind of dancing that was happening inside. False advertisement.
I turned the corner and walked down the ally that lead to where our car was parked. I wondered vaguely if I could somehow get into the Prius without the keys and retrieve our belongings and the laptop, but as soon as I reached the niche, I was confronted by the metal garage door. I walked up to it and felt it's cold solidity. It was made of wide aluminum slats, and didn't even shudder under my weight. I took a few steps over to the metal box on the wall of the niche and glanced at the keypad under the card-reader. Too much effort. Shaking my head I took another step backwards and bumped into someone.
"Give me your wallet," came a quiet voice behind me.
Shit!
My adrenaline spiked. I began to turn around but felt a huge hand against my shoulder steadying me straight. I didn't know who he was, or if he had a weapon, but he was big and I am very small for a guy. Christ, didn't want to be robbed, but I didn't want to get knifed or beaten up either. Did I dare fight him? When I'd been robbed before, I'd gone the chickenshit route and survived. I blinked furiously; cold sweat dripped off my chin.
"Wallet. Hurry."
Gritting my teeth, I reached into my back pocket and pulled out the leather billfold, showing it for just a split second. Then suddenly I turned and tossed it as hard as I could down the alleyway and broke and ran the other direction when the man behind me startled back.
I didn't look back to see him going after my wallet. Hopefully he'd be happy with the almost four hundred dollars I'd just given him. Not to mention all my fake ID and my fucking way back into the club. My goal was the crowded street in front of the club and I almost made it there. Almost.
Then there were arms around my chest, yanking me violently backwards off my feet. I felt the air woosh out of me and I coughed for breath. I kicked out my legs trying to slow our progress down or, shy of that, hurt the guy who had me, but he didn't seem to mind the dents my heels made in his shins. I grabbed at the hands, trying to break their grip and at the same time attempted to coax my squeezed lungs to scream. I could see the clump of smokers, not thirty feet away, surely they had to see me! How could they not see me here? Could they not hear this scuffling?
They couldn't hear my scream because I hadn't made a noise. I couldn't make a sound - why couldn't I make a sound? My head was buzzing and then I knew why.
I was being dragged backwards down the alleyway by a vampire.
I heard a deep chuckle. Then I was spun about and my back pressed up against the concrete wall. I stared up in the dim light at my captor.
"Gregory," I said.
His hair was just as wild as I remembered and if anything his eyes were wider and more crazed. It was definitely him, smooth and solidly muscled, dressed in a leather coat and looking as handsome as one of the Hollywood actors that he was patron over.
Gregory stepped back, leaving me pinned to the wall with his mind rather than his body. The charade was up. He was laughing.
"What, no feigned ignorance? Not going to pretend to be…" he glanced at a card plucked from my wallet. "Lance?"
"Would it have worked?" I asked.
"Of course not, I recognize your mind. I could pick it out of a crowd three blocks away. I could pluck it through the walls of the building."
"You are why I came down here." I should have recognized him manipulating me. That tickle in the head feeling. In retrospect, I remember I had it, but at the time I hadn't remembered the significance of it.
"It's one of my better skills," he said. "Manipulating minds. In my line of business it's very handy. Lots of large egos, men and women used to getting their way without question."
"Why the fuck did you rob me, you asshole. You're rich!" God, I can't believe my own mouth sometimes - yes, the question was a burning one, but really sometimes I just ask for trouble.
Gregory chuckled at my insubordination. Then he slapped my face in a very casual, off handed way. My head was flung sideways and my cheek burned and stung like an SOB. My ear rang out, high and tinny. I reached up and felt the swelling. "You are the one who robbed me first," said Gregory.
I couldn't answer. What was this madman talking about?
"Robbed me of you," said Gregory, in a seductive voice. "You think that any of those others had a chance? No, you were mine the moment I laid eyes on you. Turns out, I don't want your wallet after all," he closed the wallet and reached around to tuck it in my back pocket. "I want something far… more… precious." His finger traced a line down my throat.
I let out my breath. I hadn't known I'd been holding it. It came out in a moan of despair.
"Shh," said Gregory, leaning in closer so that his broad body covered mine and I couldn't see anything. "Shhh. No more tears, no more fears," he murmured. "Playtime is over." I felt his breath, smelled the mint, smelled … that something else that he'd given me once before. My breath caught with sudden longing.
"No," I managed to say, before his lips came down over my own. We were kissing, his tongue thrusting lasciviously into my mouth. Madness dragged at me, eroding my senses. Lust so sharp it hurt took over me, finding a home in my pulse, and I could feel it spreading out over every inch of my skin. I no longer cared about escape. I couldn't care about Wally or Chuck or the Resistance. I needed, needed, needed him.
I wrapped myself around Gregory, like a lover, my hands sliding under his leather coat and running along the smooth silk of the shirt underneath. My fingertips hurt it was so soft. My mouth hurt because he'd nipped me, he was already feeding on me in a small way, little languid sucks at my lower lip. It felt so good. It was fantastic. I rocked against him, stroking myself through the combined fabric of our clothes, wincing at the way it teased. My groin was chafed oh so nicely. But it wasn't enough, not even remotely. Oh god, I needed to fuck something so badly, a hand, a mouth, an ass. I felt a stab of embarrassment that I was being such a complete slut…
--Because I hate this bastard!
How I wrenched my mind away from the whatever the hell seductive spell he put on it, I wasn't sure, but I was suddenly aware that I was in a fucking alley way with a dick so hard I could drill holes in the concrete, molesting a semi-sane vampire in full view of at least twenty people if they bothered to actually look. Worse, I was betraying my real lover, who any moment was going to pop around that corner and ask me what the fuck I was up to. Was I fucking nuts?
Gregory jerked and stared at me with alarm, as if he couldn't believe I'd just managed to weasel my mind out from under him like that. For a moment the look was chagrin but then it darkened to something much more scary.
"Or maybe you'd still like to play?" His voice was cool with anger. "You going to play now? Play the wronged man? 'Oh, please, sir, don't touch me?' is that the card? Tell me, do you prefer the role of the reluctant bottom?" He spun me around to face the wall. I felt his solidity at my back, his breath on my cheek. "Shall we act out a back ally rape scene? A mugging gone very wrong… or right, depending on your point of view. A producer friend of mine says those scenarios are very popular. Audiences eat… them… up…" He licked the side of my throat. "I can do that for you. Anything to accommodate. Though honestly, I would prefer to do such roleplaying in the comfort of my own estate. You could be Lance Burke, and I can arrange a gang bang, or maybe dungeon scene. The advantage of being involved in the movie industry is that you have access to so many sets and props."
"Please," I whispered. "Don't." Despite all the terrifying things he was suggesting, I was still horribly, massively turned on. Part of me actually thought the idea of a gang bang might be hot. Such is the effect of vampires.
Gregory relented. "Or do you think you can give up the childish rebellion for a moment," he said, and again flipped me around so I was facing him. "Aren't you the least bit eager to see me?" he asked, genuinely puzzled. "It must come as some relief to have this over. And you know that I am wealthy and have other Whites in my harem. I can afford to be undemanding of you. You should be damn happy that I got you before some desperate, ugly, neophyte vampire with no money and no social skills lucked on to you."
Emotion welled up. I did feel grateful. Of course, I was happy. Absurdly happy, even. I knew my feelings were almost certainly fake but it didn't make a difference. "Yes, I'm glad," I found myself saying. "Glad it was you."
"Tell me you are thankful I saved you from yourself," urged Gregory in a quick, breathy whisper. "- Because you do know all this running around shenanigans are that - crazy. You could have been really mugged in this alley. You know not to walk down dark alleys, don't you? Didn't your mother teach you that? You could have been stabbed and your blood could have been lost. Your life lost. Christ, you humans are so fragile, so subject to every little horror: a burn, a cut, an infection can be deadly to you. You must be careful! Always careful. Save the adventures for play acting. I will give you as much danger as your body clearly craves, in the safety of my estate. At the end of the night the only blood shed will be in my mouth."
I shuddered at the thought of that, but it wasn't entirely with fear.
"Now consider this again, I will have you. I must have you. Now. This instant. But shall you fight it and make it rape? Or shall we pretend to be lovers? I'd honestly prefer that, being lovers. Wouldn't you?"
"Lovers," I agreed. If sex were to happen, I'd rather it be falsely sweet than terrifying and painful. Gregory seemed to grant my wish. The lust and love washed through me, chasing out the fear. He'd saved me, I told myself. Saved me from my own stupidity. I'd be safe now, and cared for, and loved with Gregory as my patron. Of course, I needed a patron. Everyone needs a patron. What kind of world would it be without our patrons?
"I'm not a monster," said Gregory. "I'm large I know, larger than life at times, but I can be kind. Let me be kind." His fingers found my fly and deftly undid the buckle and with a single yank had my pants down past my hips. The denim stuck to my thighs due to fashion that led them to be tighter than I'd have chosen.
His warm hand reached my cock, pulled it seductively. I opened my mouth and stifled a cry into the hard leather of his jacket. I gnawed on it, putting teeth dents into the folded collar. Somewhere from beyond the end of the alleyway, the smokers talked and laughed, their voices like indecipherable background music to my panting breath.
Gregory remained calm, supporting me when my legs began to feel weak. I felt his grin more than saw it. He was turned on by the possession of me, I could feel the rigidity of him through his clothes, but he made no move to disrobe, or press that on me. I could hear his breathing, tight and excited in my ear. "Yes," he murmured. "Your pleasure is my pleasure. I don't need to be touched when you can do the feeling for both of us. Our minds are merging, now. Feel it? Do you know how good it is to be the predator and to finally have the prey, so warm and soft and helpless beneath you? You ran me a merry chase, but I've caught you now, and you are mine. And I didn't have to pay Nadette a dime. Should have seen her face when you disappeared. Priceless…"
His hand jacked me relentlessly. I had my hands twisted in his clothes, practically tearing the expensive silk at the seams. I felt flush with the triumph of the win. As if I had been the one to track Gregory down, as if I had caught him rather than the other way around, as if I had bullied him into giving me this handjob and he had no choice but to pleasure me. I had him. He was mine. Never let him go… never let him go… my mind looped. I thought briefly of our time together at Nadette's compound, of him fucking me and of being so close, like I was right now.
And then I gave one last deep gasp of breath and shot my load across his hand. Christ, it was intense. All that sexual energy pent up, needing to be released for so long. Needing a vampire to release it. Not any vampire, Gregory. How could I even consider another vampire?
"And now you can be good to me." Gregory buried his face in the crook of my neck. I didn't even feel the bite. I felt nothing but wonderful. My whole body was suffused with a luxurious afterglow. Gregory's arms had tightened around me, but I felt no discomfort. I was floating, relieved, released, gloriously emptied.
And then I came to myself. Snap. Like someone had flipped a reset button in my brain. I grabbed my pants and pulled them up as best as I could while trapped in the vise that was Gregory's arms. He was smacking away at my throat in a grotesque way. I could smell the blood and hear the wet noises and his swallows. Not far away the smokers broke into a fit of laugher, but not at me. I had no idea how on earth those damn club goers managed not to notice this all going down so close by. Were they fucking blind?
Gregory reared back, furious. "Oh, that is just -" He stepped away from me and waved his fist up at the buildings around us. "Don't be such a sore loser, Jeffrey! I got here first. I have him. Pulling these pranks with his mind is unsporting." With one long arm he reached out and snared my shoulder, then pressed me to his side. "If you want, I'll let you pay for the privilege of having him-when we return to my estate. Until then, fuck off."
Are you alright, love? came a thought in my mind. It was Jeffrey. I had no idea where he was, there was no sign of him anywhere physically. I realized with a start that it had been his influence that had knocked me out of Gregory's enchantment both times. Wherever he was, he'd been observing the whole time. I hated to put you through that, but bear with me, I needed time. I have a plan--
Jeffrey's presence in my head cut off.
"Stop interfering," snarled Gregory. "Stop trying to communicate with him. You lost. I won." He paused. Then he let me go and took two steps into the middle of ally and stared out past the oblivious crowd.
"Are you going to fight me, coward?" Gregory shouted. The smokers didn't even look. It was as if Gregory were unnoticeable. "Choose!"
Something huge surged past me. Terror spiked and I let out a small scream as I was knocked back into the cement wall by the wind of its passing. I almost didn't see what was going on, the noise was so intense. There was a resounding thump and the grind of metal folding that seemed somehow vaster than mere sound. I could almost feel myself being struck down and crushed. My eyes cleared enough to register Gregory vanishing under the car. When I could sort my overloaded senses out, I saw Chuck's eerily quiet Prius come to an abrupt shuddering stop on top of Gregory's body.
The driver's door cracked open and Chuck called out. "Get in!" Paralysis left my limbs and I flung myself forward, and grabbed the unlocked rear door handle. Yanking it outwards, I threw myself onto the back seat. The Prius jerked roughly forward, before I even had a chance to close the door again. It bumped up solidly, as if the wheels were rolling over something quite large. Then it was free. I grabbed the inside handle and slammed the door shut.
"What the hell was that?" said Wally from the front passenger's seat, clearly freaked out. "Did we just run over someone?"
"I'm pretty sure it was a sack of garbage," said Chuck. He didn't even make a pretense of stopping at the intersection. Instead he peeled out, the Prius's wheels squealing on the pavement as we turned. Within seconds we were racing our way down the street at speeds well beyond the posted limits. The car didn't sound good. There was an nasty grinding and the screech of something metal being dragged against the pavement.
"George, you okay?" Chuck asked, turning around in his seat. "I thought we'd lost you for a moment!"
"Why did leave the building, Geo?" asked Wally, clearly upset. "Couldn't you have waited a minute for me?"
"No, he couldn't," Chuck answered for me. "That's a time-old vampire trick, to lure the victim out where he can be grabbed without attracting attention. The question is, how did that vampire find you?" He turned around in that scary way he had and glanced at me with such a piercing look that I felt compelled to answer.
"I have no idea," I said, "I have no clue at all." I picking myself up and grabbing the seat belt to strap myself in. The way the car bounced and screeched, I figured it was prudent to use what safety features there were. "Slow down," I said. "The way you are driving, someone's going to call the cops on us. Or we'll get into another accident."
That seemed to get through to Chuck. He stopped panicking and pulled the car into the deserted parking lot of the Big Lots.
"What's here?" I asked.
Chuck turned off the car. "A place to wait for a replacement vehicle. That sack of garbage must have damaged the oil pan - and I think it took off part of my bumper." He then seemed to deflate across the wheel.
"Chuck," I started to apologize.
"--It's not a coincidence," interrupted Chuck. "There were two vampires near the building. And they didn't appear to be working together."
"How do you know this?" Wally asked.
"My people spotted them. But they were both out-of-towners, not locals. People who attended Nadette's party." He looked at me, daring me to fill in the situation.
I said nothing. If Chuck was going to pretend he'd struck a sack of garbage, I wasn't going to contradict him by offering up details of my encounter with Gregory. If Wally never found out what just happened to me, I'd be happy. Besides, there wasn't any pertinent information to be gleaned.
Chuck sighed after a moment. "They must have figured out the Club connection somehow. Probably from knowing my habits -" He slapped the wheel. "Damn it, I don't want to believe that. Back at Abram's did you let on to Jeffrey that you had contacted the resistance?"
Honestly, I couldn't remember. Maybe I had. Maybe Wally had. Jeffrey had been in both our minds, so it was possible he'd fetched it out without us directly thinking of it. Or maybe he'd scanned our minds by the river, when we both were definitely thinking of it. Either way, Jeffrey had shown a preternatural ability to keep track of what Wally and I did. That didn't explain Gregory's involvement though. I honestly couldn't think of a reason why the two of them could be so hot on my trail without every other vampire also converging.
Wally had no more idea than I did.
"Stay here," said Chuck. "It's not that I don't trust the two of you, but I need secrecy more than ever." He then got out of the car and walked far across the vast parking lot. I could see him taking his cell phone out of his pocket.
"Geo?" Wally asked.
"Hmm?"
"Turn your face?"
I sucked in a breath and turned to hide my swollen cheek from him. It still burned where Gregory had casually slapped me. I had no idea how large the bruise was, but clearly, even in the dark of the car, it was somewhat visible.
"Other way," Wally insisted and reluctantly I did, putting up a hand to touch the painful edges.
"What happened?" he said after a moment.
"Don't ask me," I replied. "Just, please. Don't ask."
Wally looked grim and concerned, but he didn't ask, and I was profoundly grateful. He could probably figure it out now. But at least it wouldn't be said out loud and we both could pretend it didn't happen. I wouldn't have to admit I cheated on you. And that inevitable follow up, I enjoyed it. My nightmare had flipped and I felt hideously guilty.
"I called my runner," said Chuck, returning to the car about eight minutes later. "He'll be by to pick us all up in a few minutes. I also got us a place to spend the night, but it's in no way ideal for me."
After that he grew quiet. Cars occasionally passed on the street, but evidently no one had called the cops. We were left alone for fifteen more minutes before an older model Camry turned into the lot and parked next to Chuck's car.
The runner was an older guy, chubby, in his fifties with his hair conservatively cut. He wore a checked cowboy shirt and a belt with a huge Cardinals buckle on it and over both a denim jacket. He nodded to Chuck, but said nothing to either of us and in general treated us as if he only barely recognized that we were there at all.
We shifted our belongings from one car to the other while Chuck grabbed two folded paper grocery bags from a stack he'd found in the Camry's trunk. "I really hate to do this to the two of you, but we really need a place to lay low while I figure this out. I don't know if you guys are somehow giving us away with your minds - or if those vampires are just extremely good at anticipating our moves. Either case, I don't want you two knowing where we are going." He held out the paper bags.
Wally looked at me and I at him. "Really?"
"Really," said Chuck.
Sighing, Wally and I climbed into the back of the Camry and put the grocery bags on our heads. It felt ridiculous. I'm sure it looked stupid. But as improvised blindfolds go it was damn effective. It was a little stuffy under there, but not horribly so. I sat back, feeling the rumble of the engine and the movement of the car wheel, and utterly lost track of where we were. Not that I really had much notion to start off with. Neither Chuck nor our new runner were talkative, and now that the adrenaline was out of my system, the weariness of the day caught up to me hard. I have no idea how long we drove, because after fifteen minutes, I was asleep.
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