The Vampire University

Chapter 2

They had backpacks, the black bags Castle had given them, and Alexis opened her to search it and found a bag of blood first thing and pulled it out. "I think this is meant for you." She put it back in and searched for that scanner her dad had told her about.

They both knew only Kate needed blood. Alexis was the half-human so she required food. "Found it." She got it out, turned it on, and walked around the bike. Thankfully she got nothing but green lights so back into the bag it went.

Alexis put her black bag and Kate's into one of the hard case saddle bags. "Put on your helmet and get on." Kate was getting the back seat. It should be comfortable since it looked comfortable. It had a high enough back and it even had sides to hold her in place.

Kate put on her helmet but left her visor up. "You know how to ride this thing?" Kate could honestly say she had never even sat on a motorcycle let alone ride on one.

Alexis's eyebrow arched toward her hairline. "Yes, now get on. Or would you rather walk?"

"Ha ha." Kate responded and tried to figure out how to mount this beast. She actually found her seat to be rather comfortable and she had support on three sides. Padded support no less.

Kate watched as Alexis put on her helmet and adjusted her strap, getting Kate to do the same, and then mounted the bike. Alexis inserted the key and turned it, pressed START, and heard it turn over as all of her electronic displays lit up. She saw two gauges with a touch screen in the middle.

"What is DCT?" Kate had heard the description.

"DCT is short for dual clutch transmission. It's basically an automatic transmission," Alexis explained. "It also has ABS, Traction Control, Cruise Control, heated driver and passenger seat, navigation system, electronic driving modes, electronic adjustable suspension, reverse gear so we don't have to push backwards, we can even use it to find a gas station."

"Where do I put my feet?" Kate's feet were just dangling there.

"Fold down the pegs." Alexis pointed at them and watched Kate use her feet to fold them down and put her feet on them. "Put your arms around me or grab hold of something." Alexis was ready to leave.

Alexis put up the kick stand, twisted the throttle, and took off. Kate was surprised when she realized that it was actually rather quiet. "So where are we going?" Rick had refused to tell them or be told.

"Not here," Alexis told her, a little on the loud side. Except she didn't mean not here, she meant she didn't want to talk about it here. Someone might be listening. Right now she just wanted to get away and make sure they weren't being followed.

Kate soon found she liked her arms around Alexis. Kate knew Alexis was highly skilled at combat. She just hoped she was skilled enough to keep them both alive.

It was early morning so they had all day to ride. Stop for gas and stop to get something to eat for Alexis. Kate had a bigger problem. She needed blood.

\0/ V-V \0/

Alexis stopped having been on the road for a couple of hours after trying to make sure there were no recurring cars or trucks behind her and being added. She simply stopped and put her feet down.

Kate tried again since she had stopped. "Where are we going?"

"That's what we need to talk about. We need to be far away from here yet easy to get away from once we get there. Any suggestions?"

"Virginia to somewhere. Canada's too cold. Hm, somewhere south maybe," Kate considered thoughtfully. "Could we slip across the border to Mexico as an escape?"

Alexis shot that down. "No, the closest University is in Mexico City. You might have a rival bloodline there that wants you dead. They might even be the ones that infiltrated us."

"Somewhere warm then," Kate mentioned but didn't have a destination in mind.

"Warm and safe and not close to another university." Alexis played with the navigation unit. "Warm she says. You just want to get me into a bikini that I don't have."

Teasing Alexis was fun. "You can go naked, I won't mind."

"You're going to have to be just as naked as me."

"Good point." Kate had body issues even if she didn't actually have any.

"This is nice and warm." Alexis looked at her. "How do you feel about living on a boat?"

Kate's eyes were huge and her face lost most of its color. "I can't swim!"

"Learn, take lessons, or drown," Alexis fired back. "Let's see, it says we could do this in 3 days but I think we'll do it in 7 instead. I want to see if I can spot cars or trucks that look familiar. Let's ride!" Alexis put her feet on the pegs as she added power and took off.

"Where are we going?" Kate yelped and suddenly wrapped her arms around her even if maybe she didn't have to. She felt better holding onto her.

Alexis twisted her head a little. "Key West."

"FLORIDA!" Kate thought about it and admitted she had asked for somewhere warm. That sounded warm to her. "Doesn't Florida have hurricanes?"

"California has earthquakes," Alexis retorted since that place was warm too.

Kate shut up and let Alexis drive while she spent her time looking at the scenery. What there was of it since they were eventually on an Interstate surrounded by cars, trucks, and even bigger trucks that were all a lot bigger than them.

"We're going to get crushed we stay out here much longer," Kate hollered.

"Suck it up, Kate. Don't be such a baby." Alexis had other things to worry about.

"It's a good thing I like you," Kate said and listened to her laugh.

"I love you, too!" Alexis yelled at her.

\0/ V-V \0/

First stop of the day turned out to be Richmond, Virginia and the Jefferson Hotel. Alexis had chosen to take it easy on Kate today, perhaps for the entire trip.

They soon had a room that had two double beds and backpacks went on each bed along with their black bags. "This is yours if you need it. I'm going to go find something to eat. Do not leave our room." Alexis shook her finger at her in an attempt to lay down the law.

"Yes, Mistress." Kate watched her glare at her and then she left her.

Kate wasn't hungry but she did find a mini fridge that had cans of things in it so she put both bags of blood inside it and decided to search her black bag and see what Castle thought they would need.

\0/ V-V \0/\0/ V-V \0/

Kate saw Alexis come back with a white bag and a white cup. "McDonald's?" She didn't know much about the human world. She was Royalty. She had lived her life at the University. She didn't have to worry herself about what was out here.

Then she watched her take out a box and something that had long yellow sticks in it. "What's that?"

"A Double Quarter Pounder and fries. It's bad for me so I'm going to enjoy it." Alexis took off the pickles, bit into the burger, and moaned.

"How can you eat that crap?" Kate knew all of the Dampires ate food and she had seen them eat countless times, but none of them ate whatever a Double Quarter Pounder was.

"You don't know what you're missing. Wait till I find barbecued baby back ribs." Alexis licked her lips in anticipation.

"I'm going to be sick," Kate gagged but kept watching.

"Go drink your blood or turn on the TV," Alexis told her. "We have to get used to living out here so we might as well adapt."

Kate got up, went to the TV, and looked it over. "How do you turn it on?"

"What am I going to do with you?" Alexis shook her head and rolled her eyes. Then she reached across to the stand between the beds, snatched the remote, and pressed POWER. "Like that." Alexis held it out for Kate to take and have fun with.

Soon Alexis was watching as the channel kept changing over and over again. Kate was on the third cycle through all the channels when Alexis groaned. Kate finally stopped and tossed the remote on the bed.

\0/ V-V \0/

Kate really did enjoy the shower and chose something to wear for today's ride on their motorcycle. She was just finishing when Alexis came out wearing nothing but a towel and watched her rifle through her backpack.

"Why did Castle select a motorcycle? Not that I'm complaining, mind you. But we had cars we could have used." Kate was curious.

"Knowing Dad he was probably thinking about gas mileage and the fact that the bike's smaller so it can go places a car can't. He was probably smiling even before you saw what we would be riding and wished he could see your face." Alexis grinned at her, dropped her towel, and got dressed for today.

Kate smiled wistfully. "That sounds like Castle. He loves teasing me."

"Dad has a crush on you. His problem is that you're a Royal and he isn't. All he can do is keep you alive." Alexis fastened her bra in place.

"HE DOES!?" That was news to her. "He should have told me." Kate felt cheated somehow.

"What would you do about it? We have cameras everywhere. You so much as kissed him and the Queen would either have his head or banish him," Alexis reminded her and put on her pants from yesterday.

"I could've thought of something. Didn't they see us leave?" She knew about all the cameras.

"You forget my dad's job. Those cameras probably had a recurring recorded video so they didn't see anything. They probably haven't even noticed that we're gone yet." Alexis knew her dad was good.

"So how far have we gone so far?" She knew Key West was pretty far.

"We were only on the road for around 2 hours. We'll go farther today," Alexis assured her. "Are you thirsty?"

"My blood!" Kate opened the mini fridge and retrieved her 2 pints of blood. She gave one to Alexis and put the other in her little black bag. "Let's go."

\0/ V-V \0/

Alexis stopped for gas even if she didn't need to and Kate sat there and watched her do it. "Stinky." Kate wrinkled her nose since she didn't like it. However, they were soon back on the Interstate and headed south or at least that was what all the signs said.

They were both Vampires so they both had stamina and had no real reason to stop for anything and Alexis didn't mind missing breakfast or lunch.

Raleigh, North Carolina was the next temporary stop. Alexis wanted something to drink and Kate followed her into a convenience store and stayed close to Alexis. In this place Kate saw all kinds of things. Things she had never seen in her life and the place had a number of people in it who barely even looked at her.

"Gatorade." It didn't look very big to her and after she bought it using that card Castle gave her she saw Alexis chug it down and throw it into a container outside.

"That's better. DAMN IT! Now I have to pee." Alexis turned around, hurried back inside, and found the women's restroom. She grinned as Kate wrinkled her nose at the smell.

Kate got on the bike and waited for Alexis put on her helmet. "You humans are weird," Kate told her. "That room reeked!"

"You're the one that wants to kiss Dad," Alexis countered as she got on the bike, inserted the key, turned it and pressed START.

"I never said that," Kate said. Not that she hadn't wanted to. She just hadn't told anyone. Kate put her arms around Alexis and they were off.

Once on the Interstate Alexis played with the toggles on her left hand and watched it change the display in front of her. A few moments later she was scanning for a good channel and then turned up the volume.

"This thing has a radio!" Kate's opinion of this bike just improved. "What in the world are you listening to?" She had control over it.

"ROCK AND ROLL!" Alexis yelled at her.

"Don't they have something more classical?" Kate pleaded.

"You mean like Beethoven?".

"Yes!" Kate replied enthusiastically. This stuff sounded terrible.

"Are you trying to get me to hurl into my helmet?" Alexis fired back and thankfully Kate shut up.

\0/ V-V \0/

"So where are we now?" Kate inquired as Alexis stopped for gas since they had ridden longer today.

"We're at Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. This is where we can get swimsuits."

"You do remember that I can't swim, right?" Kate reminded her anxiously.

Mischief lit up Alexis's eyes. "So stay on the beach and watch me swim. Just don't pick up any strange guys."

"I don't want some strange guy." Who she wanted was Castle and all this time she didn't know he was interested in her and now look at her. She was on the run and getting farther and farther away from him.

"Don't bite him either. He may be on Crack." Alexis got on the bike, turned the key, and started it after putting in gas.

"Crack? What's Crack?" She was never going to survive out here. NEVER! At least back at the University she had the Castles to protect her.

\0/ V-V \0/

They both had bikinis and they had a room in a hotel on the beach. They were on the 8th floor. It even had a restaurant in it for Alexis. So there they were, wearing bikinis, carrying towels, and sitting in a restaurant.

"What was it you ordered?" Kate saw the lady put a plate in front of Alexis and looked it over.

"Fried shrimp and natural french fries. Want one?" Alexis held out a fry to her, saw the look Kate gave her, and erupted into laughter. Then she ate it herself.

"Keep that up and I'm going to bite you," Kate threatened her since she knew she didn't eat food.

"Only if you have to." Alexis studied her for a moment then ate a shrimp next.

"What?" Had Alexis just said what she thought she'd said?

"It's my job to protect you and keep you alive, Kate. Granted at the moment without any weapons at all I feel kinda naked but if you really need to you can bite me. I'm not having you die while I'm responsible for you. Dad would kill me."

Suddenly Alexis had gone from being a pain to actually being sweet to her.

Kate watched her eat, finish her drink, and then pay the check with that card.

\0/ V-V \0/

They stopped at the store in the hotel. Alexis handed her this orange bottle. "Sunscreen for you and sunscreen for me."

Soon they were out on the beach with towels spread as Alexis handed her two cards.

Kate glanced at them and then looked at Alexis. "What do I do with these?"

"Put them in your bra or on your ass. Just don't lose them. One of them's all the money we're ever going to have so if you lose it we're so screwed." Alexis stood up and took off running to the water after putting on sunscreen and getting Kate to do her back. Then Alexis had done Kate's back.

Kate put both cards between her butt and her bikini bottom, sat down on her towel, and her eyes followed Alexis swimming in the ocean. It looked like she was having fun. She had never regretted not knowing how to swim till now. "Maybe Castle can teach me. If we live through this," Kate said to herself.

\0/ V-V \0/

Next morning after a shower and gathering up all their stuff, Kate drank a little of her blood and put it away, and followed her downstairs so they could leave.

Now Kate was watching Alexis eating eggs, bacon, and toast, and drinking something called orange juice and milk.

\0/ V-V \0/

Kate put on her helmet, got settled in her seat, and waited for Alexis to get them started. She soon realized Alexis was working them back toward the Interstate.

"What are you listening to now?" Thankfully it didn't sound that like dreadful Rock and Roll.

"I think it's Reggae," Alexis told her. "Is that better?"

"Yes, thank you." It still wasn't her music but it didn't sound like that other crap. But that music didn't last all that long. They got too far away and Alexis had to turn it off.

They traveled nonstop till Alexis decided to look for a hotel and a gas station. Gas came first. Kate looked around but didn't see any signs. "Where are we now?"

"Jacksonville. We're finally in Florida. We still have a little ways to go." But they were getting closer.

"Do you think they know we're missing yet?" Kate didn't see how they couldn't but wanted her opinion.

"Oh yeah, they know alright. The question is what are they doing about it. Dad can't hide us any longer. They'll be expecting him to find us." Alexis knew he would still help and possibly get himself killed doing it.

A hotel was next and this time they were on the third floor and had a similar room to the others. The only thing that really changed was the color.

Kate was resting on one of the beds and was watching TV while Alexis was in the bathroom and she heard the toilet flush. That was one more thing as a Vampire she didn't have to worry about. She didn't eat, didn't drink, didn't need to use the toilet. She did have a period, though, and hers wasn't due for another two weeks.

Kate saw Alexis come back out, hop onto her bed, and put all her pillows behind her like Kate had done and began watching TV.

"Is there a plan? For when we make it to Key West?" Kate was naturally curious.

"Since Key West is as far south as you can get in Florida it's also a good place to get trapped. There's only one bridge all the way out to it. Just one two lane road all the way."

"Lovely." Alexis was trapping them. They might be far away but it did sound like a trap to Kate. "But you have a plan." She really, really hoped Alexis had a plan.

"I do but it's a small one. One other reason Dad probably gave us a motorcycle instead of one of the cars is that the cars can be traced back to the University and tell them where we sold it. The motorcycles won't do that. So we sell it and buy a boat that we'll live on.

"If we have to we can move the boat to escape. We just have to find the right one that doesn't cost us too much money."

"You do remember that I don't swim, right?" Kate wasn't sure this was such a good plan.

"Swimming lessons. You're never too old to learn," Alexis answered briefly and looked for the remote. This channel sucked.

"So I'm old now, am I?" Kate teased Alexis since it was fun.

"Just old enough for Dad." Alexis razzed her right back. She got up off her bed and snatched the remote off of Kate's bed so she could change the damn channel.