Chapter 24 – Good News, Bad News
October 1, 2004 = Friday
I awoke the next night to a candlelit bathroom, and immediately went through my routine. I could hear everyone talking in the next room, chattering away about their day. They were all rather excited, which was understandable given the fact that they'd been checking out multimillion dollar beach homes all day. They probably felt rich.
I came out to find more candles lighting the place with Sharron waiting for me with my usual coterie. She sat against the desk drawers, secured with duck tape and gagged in a leather mini so short I didn't see how it covered anything and her crop top was sheer and let just a hint of the skin underneath through, not that the it covered much anyway. There was a deep V-neck that plunged deep into her cleavage to the bottom hem of her top. She saw me and became rather animated.
"What's with her?" I asked them, and everyone got to their feet as Sharron started to thrash on the floor.
"She needs her fix," Brian said, crossing his arms. "I've seen this before, that's why I tied her up. She was getting a bit too rowdy waiting on you to wake up."
"I know how she feels," Heather said, rubbing an arm. "I can't feel it anymore. There's like a hollow spot inside me where I could feel you before, but now..."
"Come here, Heather. You want this?" I asked, biting into my wrist to draw blood. Heather knelt in front of me, taking my wrist in her hands before sucking on my blood. The room was silent as she drank, whether it was out of respect for the moment or fear of what was to come was hard to say. Even Constance looked uncomfortable, but her eyes remained locked on my wrist as she watched Heather drink.
After several mouth-fulls, I pulled my wrist away and Heather leaned back, here eyes fluttering as she reveled in the high of drinking my blood. I looked at Brian, moving aside a bit so he'd have a place to kneel, and held my still bleeding wrist out for him to take. He got the idea, coming to kneel in front of me and sucking on my wrist like a newborn babe. Sharron began to thrash as she watched Brian drink from my wrist, but the tape held as I gave Brian his dose.
After I felt Brian had enough, I pulled my wrist away and he groaned in pleasure. I turned to face Sharron, who was still thrashing and screaming, though thankfully it was muted by the tape across her mouth. I looked at her, and if looks could kill, I'd fill an urn.
I went into the bathroom and dressed in the outfit Heather had laid out on the desk, which gave Heather and Brian a chance to recover as both of them looked like they'd just been at an all night marathon. The clothing Heather had for me wasn't the low cut waist leather Sharron preferred, but rode so high on my waist they almost covered my belly button. I liked it because it kept me covered while sitting. The boots she had for me were a polished black with a flat heel, to which I was grateful for, and were a snug fit.
The top she had laid out was a slate gray long sleeve shirt that as I checked the tag found was made of spandex. I slipped it on over the supplied black sports bra and found it very form fitting. In fact, the whole outfit hugged every curve I had, though only my hands, neck and face showed skin. I was liking it, but I wondered how I was supposed to hide my pistol. It would stand out on this outfit.
Leaving the bathroom, I found Sharron had calmed down from where she sat by the desk. Brian and Heather were by her, and I couldn't help but see a difference in them. Brian seemed darker, scarier even though he was just leaned against the desk. Heather, by contrast, seemed to glow with Constance beside her to illustrate the change.
It made me wonder what the difference was. The only thing that changed beside being their second feeding was Lasombra had chosen me to return to the land of the living. Could he have done something to make my ghouls stand out more? If he did, what was he doing to me?
I shook my head and looked down at Sharron. "Brian, did she have the rest of the thousand dollars for her fix?"
"No, she's a hundred short," he said, reaching into a pocket and producing a wad of bills and some receipts. I nodded to him, then dropped my eyes back to Sharron, and felt my ire rise. She was given the power of presence, her only job to seduce money from men, and she had failed.
I knelt down, straddling Sharron's stomach and let my disappointment and hatred at her flow out. Brian quickly edged away and I could hear Constance whimper somewhere behind me. Sharron's eyes grew wide as she realized I was probably ready to kill her, but I forced myself to think. I wouldn't kill her, that just made me a monster, and I was going to honor that vow no matter what.
"Sharron," I said, my voice hard and lacking in warmth. "If I take the tape off, you're not going to start screaming and wake the neighbors, right?" She nodded slowly, and I pulled the tape off her mouth. "Now, you care to explain why you failed? You were supposed to either bring me a thousand dollars in clothes, and make up the difference with cash. So, where's my cash?"
Sharron whimpered, tears were starting to leak from here eyes. "I tried. At first, I could take any guy I wanted. But Angel, like the next night, she took every well paying guy in the club away from me. I tried, but..." She said, her voice cracking slightly as she was so close to outright crying. I was tempted to sink my teeth in and drain her for being a failure, even as Lasombra seemed to scream at me within my brain that she was a waste of blood and didn't deserve any.
I fought him down, still glad I could do so and struggled to think through the rising din in my mind. It was like having a million thoughts all at once, and I fought it back, to think without becoming the monster, but it was difficult. As quickly as it rose, the din faded and I could think my way forward. I wasn't going to kill her, it was a waste of time and effort, though her ghouling did bring me Angel and she was the better choice by far. At least she had a better chance in the movies, Sharron would be better served in the darker side of Hollywood in the adult film industry.
I smiled. A roommate in college my freshman year had taken up the dark profession as a way of making lots of money for little work. She had always told me that the pay was several thousand dollars for a shoot, with bigger named stars making ten times that. No shortage of film shoots were available as more and more people clamored for video stimulation and release.
"Please, it hurts," she said, fidgeting underneath me even as I sat on her stomach. I leaned in close, making very sure she understood I was serious.
"I'll give you your fix," I breathed, my voice still hard, as I decided her course forward, "But you are going to earn your hundred dollars before you leave the block."
"Anything, please," she begged. I raised my wrist, biting it again to open a wound for her to suck on. I slid off her stomach to position myself on a knee beside her, and offered her my bleeding wrist. She leaned forward, sucking on my blood, and I let her have several mouth-fulls before I pulled my wrist away. She was panting, her eyes rolled back in ecstasy as my blood slid down her throat.
I stood, finding Constance scared in the corner as Heather tried to comfort her. She looked at me and I smiled as I put a hand on her foot, trying to make sure she knew I wasn't upset at her. It was just Sharron I didn't like.
"Let her up and untie her, Brian," I said, going to stand by the fridge. Brian picked her up with one arm, and started to pull the tape from her arms. Once she was free, she looked at me expectantly, then at the others in the apartment and the one tiny bed that Constance and Heather currently occupied.
"So, what now," she asked me, hand going to her belt.
"Well, the trash usually take their business down to the street," I told her, my words causing her to stop undoing her belt. Constance was frightened enough, already. "You can earn my hundred bucks there. Since you seem to need the money so badly, after tonight you'll start looking for a new job."
"What do you want me to do," she asked, her voice small and frightened.
"After tonight? You'll still work the club when you're not going to be a movie star and model," I said, taking one of the Playboy magazines from Brian's back pocket. I opened it up at the middle at the centerfold and looked at the model there and her state of complete undress.
"But, I tried. They didn't want me," she said, almost crying again.
"That's not the only type of movie they make," I said, turning the magazine around to reveal the nude model. "Or the type of model they want."
"But, that's..."
"What you'll be doing from now on," I finished for her, my ire rising again as I handed Brian his dirty magazine. "Since you can't seem to make money the normal way, you'll start off across the street at the light post. That's a normal spot for the trash around here. Go there and find yourself some customers and bring Brian a hundred dollars. When you have it, you can go home and start looking for someone who needs a young slutty woman for 'special roles'."
"Alright," she breathed, hanging her head as she started out the door. Once she was gone, I looked at the rest of the group.
"So, how did house hunting go?" I said, trying to act like it was a normal night in the apartment.
"It don't feel real, at times," Brian said, still glum while looking out the window. "I used to be a two bit druggie who dealt a little on the side just so I could get women to sleep with me. Now, I'm checking out million dollar beach homes I'd expect somebody important to be living in, and that person is going to me. Taking that first sip was the best thing ever."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. After my parents died, I thought I could just throw myself into school and forget about it, but," Heather said, holding Constance close so both would have moral support. "That last one we saw though, that was fancy."
"I remember rule number one," Brian said, his voice low and serious, "So every time we were somewhere, I looked around to see how close people are and how easy it'd be to get away with something. All but one place had neighbors right across the wall from you, and that was the estate we went to last. You could kill someone there easy and not get noticed. No neighbors for almost a mile in either direction. The place is on a little point, and takes up the entire thing, so unless someone were just lucky..."
"You could fire off a gun and not raise suspicion. Like Dennis' house," I said, and Brian nodded.
"Plus, it's real fancy on the inside," Heather said, and Constance nodded.
"According to Patricia," Constance said, her voice sounding more sure of itself since I wasn't trying to scare everyone, "It was built by a lotto winner, but he was stupid and lost all of his money in Vegas. So he's selling the house he already paid for and furnished because he can't afford it anymore."
"Good," I said, and I went over to sit on the bed beside the girls and put a hand on her shoulder. "I didn't mean to scare you. I didn't know everyone would be affected."
"It's okay," she said, smiling at me. "I didn't realize you could be so scary, like Charlie on a bad drunk."
I looked back at Brian, who shook his head warningly at me. Apparently Charlie was her father figure and wasn't nice to her when he got drunk, which gave me a clear picture of what her home life was like and why she'd prefer to be my snack than at home being the entertainment. "So, I guess that means everyone like's the thirty million dollar home?"
Everyone started to talk at once, each illustrating differing points about the estate that they liked and none of it making any sense to me in the din. I smiled, even though I didn't understand one word the three talked about. Finally I held up my hands. "Alright, I get it. I'll talk to Walsh and see about buying it," I said, and they all cheered.
"Oh, your coat," Heather said, quickly getting up and getting the duster she was making for me. "It's not ready yet, but I got the sleeves on it and everything. It still needs a lining, and I've got a few things to plan out that I'm going to add to it, but we can do a fitting now."
She held the thick woolen duster open for me, so I got up and slipped my arms down the sleeves while Heather raised it up and settled it on my shoulders. It fit well, if a bit stiff, and Heather buttoned the three buttons it had over my stomach before going behind me to get something. I leaned over, seeing the panels fall just above my knees, but leaving the front open, meaning I'd have a lot of freedom of movement.
When Heather returned, it was with a long piece of leather she wrapped around my waist like a belt. She produced a piece of chalk and began making marks, which was intriguing. I'd never seen a tailor at work before and was really liking that Heather would be something of a personal seamstress for me. It was making me feel important. Soon, she pulled the leather belt off and slung it over her shoulders.
"So, what do you think?" she asked, looking at me expectantly. At times like this, I wish I could see myself in a mirror, but I wouldn't have my living painting until later, hopefully before the night was through and I was in my new beach home.
Looking at the coat though, it was designed to be somewhat loose, not so much hugging my curves but form fitting enough that it wasn't unisex. The lower panels seemed to be designed to split and protect my legs while on my bike, but being open and to the side when I would be doing something like running. I didn't know where I'd stash my pistol, but maybe Fat Larry knew something, which just left the sword I wanted to carry. At least it didn't need reloading.
"So, the sword?" I proffered to Brian, who went to retrieve it while I asked Heather another question. "Where will it go?
"Brian took me by several stores, and we actually looked at that," she said as Brian came up with the short katana and several small boxes. He laid them out and then handed a cane with a skull head to Heather. I raised an eyebrow at it, and Heather twisted it and slid out a sword. I almost laughed at the thought of using such a sword, but put a hand over my mouth to stifle it into a cough. "Cane sword," she said laughing. "I thought it was cute."
"I prefer something with a bit more bite," Brian said, pulling out another small sword. This one looked like a machete on steroids, on the verge of being considered a Chinese Dao. Brian handed me the sword, hilt first and I took the blade in hand. The hilt was just long enough to use two hands and was made of wrapped cord, with a blade length just shy of twenty inches. The blade curved like a typical dao, with a slight thickness at the leading curve for a good chop.
"Nice," I said, testing it as a cutting weapon. It lacked any reach to make it a good sword, but it'd do in a pinch. Plus, it'd be far quieter. I twirled the blade once, finding it nice, light and responsive. The only problem I could find with it was that it was a show weapon, designed to be put on a wall and admired and wouldn't withstand an actual battle.
"It's designed to be a ninja weapon," Brian said. "more fanciful than useful, I guess, but it's an idea. The scabbard is designed to be worn on your back, hidden under a coat. "
"Well, if you want useful," Constance said, pulling a small box from a bag, "try mine. I was going to ask why you didn't wear sunglasses when I woke up this morning but I forgot. I kind of figured you couldn't get close enough to buy any so I bought you a set," she said and handed me a box. I opened it, finding a set of sunglasses in it. They were a sports frame wrap-around type with a dark smoky lens with a mirror finish. I tried them on, and my world darkened a bit.
"Hey, I can't see your eyes, anymore" she said, and I smiled at her playful attitude and forward thinking. The idea of turning her kindred when she was older lit my brain, and I would have to talk to her about that one day.
"Let's try turning on the lights," I said, and Heather turned on the overhead lights. The room brightened to a normal glow, but not the brightness I last associated with them. "And who's idea was it to bring all the candles for me?" I asked them, as they all pointed to Constance. The kid was really proving useful, more so than my ghouls which made me like her more. I really needed more like her.
I thought about the only ghoul I hadn't seen yet, the one who could probably make me the most money. Angel was probably busy at Four-Play. I needed to pay her a visit before I went to the Trial tonight, and give her a fresh dose before she burnt through what she already had and made a fool of herself. I remembered what Brian had said before about her not having that last little bit to make it in movies, and wondered if my blood could cure that. If it did, maybe I could get a Toreador to put her in one and start her movie career.
Of course, that also meant that she would want to play herself as the head of the house, probably using the master suite. That could be arranged as I'd take a room where my body couldn't be seen, much less found by accident. I'd look the house over myself before deciding where I would sleep, but probably in the basement somewhere, or in a quiet corner of the attic that could be made to block all sunlight, either would need to be sealed from the inside so I couldn't, and wouldn't be disturbed.
Looking at Constance, I smiled at the young woman. She had a wicked smart mind, and was a forward thinker. She was still young, still learning the truth of the world, still frightened by some of the things that lurked in the shadows of the night. But I was going to guide her through it all, and make sure nothing harmed her.
"Well Constance," I said, addressing her directly. "Since you seem to be so helpful with everything, I'm giving you first choice of a room," I said, no more getting the words out before she nearly tackle hugged me to the floor. "I take it you're thrilled?"
Constance just squealed happily, and hugged me all the harder. Heather and Brian frowned, exchanging glances with each other. I caught the exchange, knowing they might pull something, and I was going to have to keep an eye on them. "Anything but the master suite," I said. "That's going to someone else."
"Who?" Heather asked me, and I was tempted to ask if she was an owl.
"Don't know yet," I told them. "I got something I need to work on, and when it gets realized, they might get the room."
"So who is this lucky someone?" Brian asked, frowning as he thought it over. "Can't be Sharron, unless you're one serious actress. You seemed ready to kill her."
"No, I won't kill her. And she's not going to be anything more than a lackey at this point," I told them and Brian relaxed. "I was thinking if I could get Angel moving towards being an actress, she might get the room. Otherwise, I need to find a pretty young thing and start making one young."
"As long as it's not me," Constance said, and I looked at the youngster in my arms. "Marilyn Monroe was my idol when I was a kid, and up until mom met Charlie, I wanted to be just like her."
"So what happened?" Brian asked, and I wish I could slap him.
"Charlie found out about my little obsession and told me if I wanted to be a real actress one day, I needed to get used to trading my body for things."
"Oh," Brian said, realizing the hole he just dug for himself. I hoped he had more brains than to dig it any deeper, but he dug on, "So, what did he do?"
"He traded me permission to be a cheerleader for my virginity," Constance said sourly, getting up off me and turning away from everyone. "When I finally ran out of hot water, and started to bleed from scrubbing so hard, I burned everything I had on her. I couldn't see how she traded her body like that."
"It was a different time, then," I told her, thinking about how Jean seemed so tough as we talked in her pickup.
"Yeah, well, next time you nearly drain me dry, I'll ask her," she said, going to look out the window. "It was nice to think she had come to just cuddle with me."
I watched Heather and Brian's face light up as they figured out Jean's secret identity. "Wait, that was Marilyn Monroe?" Heather breathed, and Brian sat hard on the bed.
"Can't be. She was way too butch. Marilyn was a sex icon, hottest woman on earth. That couldn't have been her."
"What are you guys talking about?" Constance asked, turning quickly from the window to face everyone.
"They are just now figuring out that the one of the Camarilla's deputies is a kindred named Marilyn Monroe," I told her, watching her mouth open in shock. "And to answer your next question, she had a bad first night. She got scared, took some drugs, and passed out. Woke up two days later during her autopsy. She's been hiding ever since, even from other kindred. No one but us and one other kindred know her real identity, and it is my order for it stay that way."
"Yes, mistress," Brian and Heather acknowledged simultaneously.
"Marilyn Monroe is alive?" Constance said, no surprise showing in her voice. She actually sounded somewhat like a jilted lover.
"Do you want to meet her sometime?" I asked her, and she turned back to the window.
"Yeah," she said, after pausing a moment and sighing as she thought it over. "I guess I can't blame her for my stupid, perverted step-father."
"Hey," I said, going over and hugging her. "You're loved here." Constance sighed, relaxing into me as she did so.
"Kind of loved, anyway. I don't know what the blood does to you, or them, but I don't know if it's love. Heather, she's okay, I guess but she seems to want to impress you so she can keep you to herself. She worked most of the night and what bit of the day we were home on the coat trying to get it ready for you. If we hadn't been gone shopping and looking at houses, she might have finished it.
"Brian, he reminds me of Charlie. You know he wouldn't even look away when I changed at my house? I had to strip in front of him!" I looked at Brian who seemed ready to bolt. I was definitely going to have words with him later. "I think the only reason he protected me from Charlie that day was so he could bring me back to you."
"Well, that's his job," I said, hugging her. "He's supposed to protect us. But if anyone harms you, even him, you tell me okay. I'll protect you from everything in the night." Constance nodded, putting her arms over mine. I looked down at the street to see Sharron standing in the streetlight waiting for a customer. She waved to a passing car, flashing her chest as it passed by. After a few moments, Constance lifted an arm to pull her hair away from her neck to showcase her bare skin. The enticement was clear, but I remembered Jean's warning.
"Not tonight, sweetie," I said, kissing the spot. "You're still weak from last night."
"Please," she pleaded, wrapping an arm around my head to pull my head down again. "It's the best feeling in the world. Don't deny me this. Maybe not more than a taste?"
I nodded, lowering my head to her neck and extending my fangs. I bit shallowly, taking a few sips of her blood as she wallowed in the ecstasy my bite offered her before pulling away. She went limp, and I picked her up and carried her to the bed and settled her in.
Heather pulled out the makeup kit and picked up a brush. I settled myself into the chair, taking off my new shades and letting her work while I thought over Constance's desire to have me feed from her while she was in such a precarious position. Did she not know how sick she was? Or did she not care? She wasn't dumb, and she seemed smart enough to be a world class doctor one day. One thought sped through my brain, she was an adrenaline junkie. It made some sense, to me at least, as that would explain why she seemed to accept her fate as my evening snack. Even having me feed from her as she barely clung to life.
Soon, though, Heather had my makeup done and I was able to stand and put my shades back on. Brian pulled out one last box, as I pulled my money cigarettes and lighter from my bag, stashing all of it in a pants pocket and eyed the box which was too large to carry any type of gun. "Since you're going to be riding a Harley, I thought you might want to somewhat look the part of a biker chick," he said as he opened the box to reveal a black vest. I pulled it out, finding it had a large Harley-Davidson logo on the back and sides that laced up. I slipped it on, and buttoned it up while Heather retied the sides.
Once it was on and tied tight, I looked at Brian. "Follow me," I told him and headed down the stairs. I didn't look back, knowing he was going to do as he was told. Once I was down in the alley, I stepped into the shadows and turned back to face Brian.
"Do you want to tell me what the deal was with treating Constance like your own personal harlot?" I snapped at him.
"I can't get my mind off of you," he admitted.
"So that gives you a pass on treating her like your own personal sex slave?" I said hotly, almost ready to yell at him. He shrank under my stare, and I couldn't help but feel my beast stir. "If you ever mistreat her again, you better run because I will rip your head off your shoulders. You hear me, ghoul?"
Brian nodded again, looking small and scared as he finally sank to his knees and cowered under my gaze. "P-P-P-Please, m-m-mistress," he begged me, voice quivering from fear, "I-I'm sorry. I d-didn't mean any harm by it."
I reached down and grabbed him by the hair and lifted him even to my eyes. "Only warning, Brian. One more screw up, and I will take every last drop of your blood." Brian whimpered, and I released him to fall to the ground. "Now go make sure Heather and Constance stay safe."
"Yes, mistress," he said quickly then scampered back through the door to head home. I watched him leave before straddling my bike, deciding to take a moment to calm myself before riding off.
I glanced to the end of the alley, looking to see if Sharron was still struggling for a customer but didn't see her anywhere. I began to wonder if she had vamoosed or if she was busy with a customer. I looked down the shadow filled alley, and decided to test my powers out. I concentrated on the shadow at the far end, and suddenly I was looking back towards my body. I looked down to see Sharron was on her knees sucking the cock on a well endowed, if overweight, customer. I tried to close my eyes, but the vision wasn't physical in nature. It actually took me a bit to figure out I had to want to stop it through mental will, more than just a simple thought of 'Not that!'
Shaking my head, I thought about what all I needed to do in the few hours I had before the trial. Grout said I needed to find Rosa, so I headed to the beach first. It would also let me tell E and Lily about Thin Bloods. So, with a last glance down the alley where my ghoul worked, I started my bike and headed for the beach, which was hardly far enough away to warrant the bike except that it made it where I wouldn't have to come back to get it.
Once at the beach, I parked it in the garage and headed down the access stairs to the beach where I'd met E before. He and Lily sat on the beach, side by side looking out over the waves as I approached.
"Hey lovebirds," I called to them as I got closer.
"Hey, there you are," E said in his Australian accent. "We was gettin' concerned you weren't comin' back."
"Had a lot to do," I told them. "But I did find out about Thin Bloods, if you want to hear it."
"Sure," Lily said, and patted the sand beside her. "Pull up a beach and sit."
I did, and then started telling them what I knew. "Apparently, Lily, you are a twelfth generation kindred. We use the term Kindred because saying vampire can draw attention to us. At thirteenth generation, which is what E is, you lose the ability to feed. Apparently, at that point, you're so thin you're hardly called kindred anymore."
"So why do they hunt us down?" Lily asked me.
"Not you, him and them," I said, gesturing at the others along the beach. "Lily, as a twelfth generation, you have protection of a sort. But, Thin Bloods...There's a book, a kind of bible for kindred. It details the time when Thin Bloods start to rise to power. When they do, Gehenna, which is kindred Armageddon, happens and we all die and get judged. Apparently they think that by culling the Thin Bloods from the cities, they can hold off Gehenna indefinitely."
"That's..." E started to say, then hung his head.
"That's terrible," Lily said. "Well, we planned to leave anyway," she said, rubbing E on the back as she tried to console him.
"Yeah," I said, looking the handful of people on the beach over searching for Rosa. "You guys know where I can find Rosa?"
"Yeah," E said, glancing down the beach to where a burn barrel lit a patch of sand. "That's her in the purple sweater."
"Thanks, and you two might think of getting out of here tonight. Though if you stay, Lily needs to head downtown to a place called Nocturne Theater. We're having a kindred's trial and attendance is mandatory."
"What's that?" E asked me.
"Like it sounds. When someone breaks the Camarilla's laws, they have a Trial. If you can't prove your innocence, you're sentence is carried out at the end. Usually, it ends in death."
"So what are the laws?" Lily asked me. "In case we end up somewhere in the Camarilla."
"First, announce yourself to the prince. He has to grant you the right to be in his city, and that includes the right to feed. Second, keep a lid on your beast. You start rampaging and killing innocents, they will stop you. Three, no creating more kindred without permission. You got lucky with E. No one knows he exists as you're not in main kindred society. Four, and most importantly, keep the secret secret. No one is to know you're kindred, even if you have to kill to protect it. Fail that one, and everyone will come for you."
"Thanks, and thanks for getting me out," Lily said. "Come on, I'll introduce you to Rosa. She can be a bit odd."
"It's appreciated," I said, following her over to the raven haired woman. She watched me approach, picking up a stick and throwing into the barrel as we got close enough to talk.
"I cannot help you," she said, her voice low and heavily accented in Spanish as she stared at the sand under her in the firelight. "I thought I was cursed. But you, you have it far worse."
Lily mouthed 'sorry' before kneeling beside Rosa. "What do you mean?" I asked before Lily could say anything.
"You carry a curse that eats you, gnawing at your soul. He is like a parasite, making you stronger even as you grow weaker. He will devour you, maybe, maybe not. The scales have not decided."
"Is there a way to stop it? Maybe a kindred can..."
"No childe of the Dark Father can help you. The path he has set you down has entwined you together. Only the strongest wins."
I nodded, trying to figure out what I could do. If it all that mattered was strength, how does one get stronger? "If I win," I asked her, hoping she could answer this question. "Does he go away?"
"He fades, becoming like the beast we carry. Always there, but unable to harm you anymore.
"Great," I said rather sourly, finally piecing together what she was saying. If I couldn't overcome Lasombra by pure strength of will, he'd take me over like a second beast. Well, wasn't letting that happen.
I fished in my bag for some twenties, splitting them between Rosa and Lily. "Thanks for the help. Take care of yourself, okay?"
They nodded their thanks and I left wondering if personal power meant anything in my upcoming mental battle. Couldn't hurt, I suppose, so I went back by the apartment to check on Sharron. The ghoul was just coming out of the alley as a car sped off with squealing tires. I pulled up in front of her, killing the motor as she came to stand by me.
"Get my hundred yet?" I asked her, and she shook her head.
"He only gave me twenty," she said rubbing at her cleavage with her panties and giving me a dirty look that threatened violence. "That was gross, by the way."
"Well," I said, locking eyes with her and steeling myself. I should at least make myself follow through on my actions, and mean what I say. "If you're having trouble with just one, maybe you should get used to it."
"What do you mean," she said, her mouth opening in shock.
"Stay here all night long servicing customers at forty bucks a pop. Give the money to Brian if I'm not back by sunrise," I said and she started to pout.
"But, it's gross and I might catch something," she whined, and I felt somewhat guilty about making her do this. I forced the guilt down, telling myself she chose my 'drug' as a thrill of her own free will. In fact, if I thought about it, only one of my ghouls was forced into it and that was Heather, but I didn't hear her complaining. She seemed to enjoy the benefits.
"Then tomorrow night, bring lots of condoms," I said. "Oh, and if you meet a pimp out here, I want his name. Got it?"
"Yes, ma'am," she said hanging her head.
"Now, where is Four-Play? I need to go check on my other ghoul."
"You made that bitch Angel your ghoul too? That's how she got the guys away from me?"
"Yes, but she paid full price for her fix. All three thousand of it. She actually makes money stripping, unlike you," I said, watching her face fall.
"It's on Cotner, just south of Olympic next to the freeway," she said, eyeing a car coming up behind me and I started the bike and pulled away to let her work. The last I saw before I turned a corner was Sharron leaning in through the window to talk with the driver. I couldn't help but feel guilty again, and forced myself to believe that she had made her own bed and I was just making her sleep in it.
Finding Four-Play wasn't hard, the building lit by neon lights in the dark. I parked in the provided parking lot in front of the building and walked in, finding myself in what looked like a motel lobby. The guy behind the counter started to say something, but he stopped at my stare and gestured for me to proceed through a turnstile. Inside the club area, I found myself looking at the stage where a bunch of guys sat around the stage as a blond with an obvious boob job removed her top to the cheers of the men assembled.
I sat in an empty chair at a table next to the entrance, watching as the blond would tease guys by rubbing their face into her cleavage, and one guy got to bury his face between her legs after he held up a twenty. As the song ended, the DJ announced the next girl as June, as the first girl gathered up her clothes and disappeared down some steps built into the back of the stage. A waitress came by, asking for my order. I ordered a Pepsi, and she disappeared, coming back just as June finished. I paid with a twenty, getting seventeen in change back and I nearly balked at the cost of such a small drink. At least I had change for getting Angel's attention later.
As June's song finished, the DJ announced Angel as the next dancer. I took my drink and hurried up the stage, snagging a chair on the corner as Angel walked up the steps, her presence in full swing as every eye in the place fell on her. If I was noticed, she didn't give any indication as the music started and she put on a show, dancing around the pole and teasing the customers.
She was dressed in full white like her angelic name, with a rainbow array of philomene flowers in a crown on top of her long and luscious dark hair as if she were a bride on her wedding day. Her top was made of lace and gave just a hint of modesty of her bouncing bosom, and the skirt had a waistband of lace and a mesh bottom that revealed her long and tanned legs ending just above her ankle and putting her golden calf high wrapped cord stilettos on full display.
I couldn't help but feel some attraction to her, and chalked it up to her minimal presence ability affecting my brain. I pulled the ten dollar bill the waitress had given me and held it up, which caused Angel to come over to stand in front of me at the edge of the stage. She dropped down, putting her chest in my face before lifting her top and burying my head between her bare breasts. My first reaction was to pull away, but I found I was actually loving the intimacy of this. Soon, she let me go, holding her garter belt away from her leg so I could slip my ten in, and then she resumed her dancing.
When the song was over, and she had disappeared through down the stairs, I went back to my table to wait on her. After dancers Desire, Ivy, and Anna came out and danced, Angel appeared from a door behind the stage and headed for my table after spotting me.
"Hey, is there a problem," she said, sitting beside me.
"First dose isn't as strong as initial thoughts led me to believe," I said, remembering the lie I had previously told her about my blood." Probably just the size and weight ratio not being right. Amber came for her fix and was in a pretty bad way by the time I got to her, so I'm here to make sure you don't end up like her if you want to keep taking it."
"Oh, definitely," she said, almost laughing. I looked around at the disappointed guys who almost openly stared at us as we talked and got the idea she was pretty hot stuff. I smiled at one guy, as I pulled my wad of money and waved it at him as if to say he didn't have as deep a pocket as me and he turned away.
"So, let's go somewhere private," I said, noticing that even the bouncers had noticed us together. Words were exchanged in walkie-talkies, and the bouncer holding it looked concerned over something.
"I know a spot," she said, looking upstairs and the small rooms they had and the curtains that were closed on some.
"Cameras?"
"Ceiling, but they're mostly on the stage and the semi-private dancing areas. The VIP area upstairs has one on the stairs only" she said, getting up and leading me by the hand to a nearby set of stairs. We climbed up, the upstairs area darker and more private and past a bouncer who nodded to Angel and me as we went into an empty booth. I sat on the leather couch as Angel closed the curtains then pointed out the camera just outside the booth that faced the stairs. Thankfully it was pointed away from our booth, so anything we did was completely private.
"So, you got it on you?" she said, as she leaned in close in her lingerie and gave me a beautiful view down her top.
"First off, there's a quick truth you need to know," I said, as I got in close enough to almost whisper in her ear and be heard. "I'm a vampire, and you are my ghoul."
"Nice try, hot stuff," she said, laughing as she straightened up. "Prove it."
"Strip," I told her, and while still laughing, she got up and removed her clothes, laying each garment on the divan across from us. It wasn't until she had dropped her g-string that she realized what she had done and tried to cover herself.
"You really are..." she said, her voice trailing off as the weight of it sank in. I nodded, and then patted the spot beside me. She sat down tantalizingly close, and I eyed her well cared for body.
"Do you want your next dose?" I asked her, putting my arm around her bare shoulders and pulling her in tight.
"Yes please," she said, her nose sniffling as if she were ready to cry.
"Are you crying" I said, pulling the hair away from her face to see her better.
"Am I going to end up like Renfield? Eating bugs and going insane?" she whispered, her proximity to me the only reason I heard it over the blaring techno music of the club.
"Not that I know of," I told her, and she looked at me. "I didn't lie about what it can do. You'll live your full life and longer as long as you drink my blood, never aging or growing old, always beautiful and young like you are today. As for what I want from you in the long run? I want to turn you into a movie star. Some of your money will of course be deferred to me, but never to the point your broke."
"So, you don't want me here forever?"
"Not if I can help it," I told her and she smiled. I raised my wrist to my lips and used my fangs to puncture my skin and let the blood flow. She licked the trail of blood off my arm before sucking on the wounds themselves and drinking me into her. When I pulled my wrist away, she leaned against me and moaned at the rapture she felt. I couldn't help but admire the view of her naked body as she relaxed against me and I placed my arms around her to keep her from falling to the floor.
Knowing that I needed to wait to avoid strange stares from the bouncer, I decided to stay in the booth for a bit longer, my hand dropping a bit to stroke her breast with a finger. Angel took a moment to recover, then finally turned her head to face me.
"That's a hell of a kick," she said, smiling. I licked my dry lips as I stared into her eyes, my whole body tingling with desire as I held the modelesque woman. Finally I decided that I was a grown woman and could love who and how I wanted and kissed her strawberry flavored lips. She returned the kiss, and for several long moments we stayed that way.
When we broke apart, she was breathing fast. "How about a private dance?"
I smiled, and she got up as the DJ announced a girl named Dominique. The speakers began to play a slow beating pulse, and Angel began swaying to the beat in front of me, making her entire body a sexual display as the guitar rang its chord. The drums played on, with Angel getting closer as the synthesized sound of "In The Air Tonight" filled the club. Soon, Angel was pressing her body against me, breathing her hot breath into my ear. Her hands ran down my sides as Phil Collins began to sing, then down my legs to my knees.
She slid down my front, pushing my knees apart to kneel in front of me on the couch. Her hands kept rubbing my thighs, sending waves of pleasure up my legs and making me bring my legs together at the intense feeling. Angel didn't protest, as she suddenly wrapped her strong hands under my legs and pulled me almost all the way off the couch, or at least far enough that my ass was barely on the seat cushion anymore. I was about to protest when I could feel Angel's hot breath over my lower-most pants button, and I moaned.
Ideas of what was about to happen began to play quickly through my head, adding to my mental confusion. Half of my brain thought she surely wouldn't go that far, while the other half screamed for her to quit teasing me. Angel though, wasn't ready for me to have any release yet, and began crawling up on top of me, kissing and rubbing me in places no other woman had ever touched before until we were looking into each others eyes. She continued on, rubbing my face into her cleavage as she straddled my chest. Soon, she was kneeling over me, giving me a close up view of her womanhood before starting to slide down, pressing her womanhood against my nose to slide her body the entire way down until we were eye to eye again.
Angel leaned over, dropping one of her pastie covered teats onto my lips. I opened my mouth and began sucking on her bosom. Angel moaned, undulating her body roughly into me as she straddled my left leg, her hands undoing my leather pants as I sucked on her plastic coated nipple. When she had my pants fully unbuttoned, she sat upright on my leg and pulled the top of my leather pants down to bare my panties.
Angel then slipped my panties down, baring my own womanhood before dipping her leg between my womanhood and panties. Just then the tempo changed and the drums rolled and began to beat, intensifying the music. I lost the ability to think as Angel ground her bare womanhood into my leg and her leg ground into mine while undulating and gyrating on my hip and keeping time with the more frantic beat of the song. It was sweet joy to me, the pleasure I felt wrapped up in the heat and pleasure had me wanting more. Angel was panting, sweat already forming on her skin as she kept up the frantic pace, though she leaned forward and ran her other hands up my body to massage my chest.
'When in Rome,' I thought, lifting my own hands to embrace Angel's bare and sweating body. She moaned at my soft caresses, her muscles tensing as she regaled herself of the full range of pleasure to be taken in the situation. I could feel Angel tense more, her now vise-like grip on my leg giving testimony to the joy she was feeling as she began to arch her back as we enjoyed ourselves. My own feelings of lust spurring me to caress the only part of her body now within reach, her bare and ample bosom. I had no more began to caress the fleshy mounds when Angel gave a high pitched moan. Her hands immediately snapped to mine and she began to quiver throughout her body as she reached peak, every muscle tensed and taut.
The moment over, she began to relax, pooling in a fleshy puddle on my front as she panted in my ear. I put my arms around her, comforting and nurturing her even though I wished her to go on. Angel though, offered no movement as she lay on top of me, and my own feelings subsided to leave me yearning again for the experience while my brain kept imagining what it'd be like to achieve the heights of ecstasy with another woman.
'Is it rape if I have her come to the house and share a bed with me?' I thought, wondering that since she couldn't resist my command she had no ability to say no to whatever order I gave. Suddenly, I felt dirty as I thought of Sharron as she sold herself to strangers just outside my apartment without protection. Did I have any right to steal a person's life like that? I forced that thought away, again trying to force myself to remember Sharron had chosen the course that she wanted, even bartered for my blood, practically begging for it, and that was before the first drop passed her lips.
No, Sharron had made her bed, and I wouldn't have her on the street corner hooking if she could truly make money. Angel finally began to stir on top of me, bringing me back to reality.
"Hmm, sweetie," she purred, looking into my eyes with nothing but love and a smile of satisfaction. "I think I made a mess."
"Do you do that for all your clientele?" I asked as I wrapped my arms around her naked body and held her close.
"Just those that tip me four grand," she finally admitted, her lip quivering. "that's why there's no camera's watching what we do up here. Also, notice the music is much louder up here? That's because the speakers are up here to cover up any stray moans."
"Is that why Amber can't make any money? She won't put out?" I asked Angel, who nodded before laying her head on my collarbone.
"My first night in here, I had a customer offer me ten grand after I danced for him if I'd let him..." she said, her voice trailing off. "Of course, I refused. I wanted to save myself for marriage and he left. Jokes on me though. Duke took my virginity before I went home that night anyway," she said, her body giving a small hiccup at the sad memory as she probably relived that night. "Looking back, I could see that was my first lesson. It's best to take the money and put out, or they'll find a way to take it anyway. Though I doubt you'd understand that."
I gave a hmm in response. "I can. Not long ago I was kidnapped by a maniac and tied to a bed while he let his gang do everything imaginable to me," I said, hugging Angel tight to my chest as I thought for the first time since it ended of that grungy bed I was tied to and the things I had endured there. "I think that last night, when he made them all stop, he let me escape to see if I had the strength to get up and run for it."
"Is that how you got away?"
"No." I told her, thinking of the fear of seeing Simeon walk out into of the warehouse and chasing me through the alleys. "He chased me down and killed me. But he deemed me worthy to become kindred. I'm probably lucky that the Camarilla caught him and saved me from what he had planned. He was one warped man, and he wanted to turn me into a monster like him, I think."
"I guess that's something to be grateful for," she said, forcing herself to roll off of me with a grunt. I pushed myself back up on the couch and looked down at my leg and the shiny spot she left behind. Reaching under the couch, she produced a box of tissues and began using one to wipe my leather and herself clean. "So, how long you been…?" she asked as she tried to make conversation.
"About a week. The Camarilla rescued me last Friday," I told her and she snapped her head to face me.
"So, you're not that old? Do vampires even age?"
"No, I'm not," I told her. "And no, we don't age. I've seen hundred and fifty year old kindred who look as young and vibrant as you do. I suppose that never changes unless the person does, and the centuries weigh on you."
"What do you mean about it weighing on you?" She asked with her head on my shoulder as we lay in each others arms.
"Ever wonder what it's like to see everyone you know grow old, the way things are done change? I couldn't help but think of the way Michele and Walsh have seen things change since the mid 1800's. Telephones, power, running water…Everything about their world has changed, and now I'm going to live to see what the next century brings."
"So what do you do? I mean, if everything changes? How do you deal with that?"
"By building a business empire, I guess. Or at least a personal empire. Almost every kindred I've seen that's been around for awhile has some sort of business that they run."
"So, you intend to run an agency? With me as your first client?" she asked, lifting her head to look at me.
"Yeah," I said, and Angel curled back up next to me. I probably could have laid next to her all night long, but I had that Trial to get to. "Well, I have a meeting to attend," I told her as I began to untangle myself.
"Can you put it off?" Angel asked as she sat up on the couch and pulled her leg from between mine and seemingly comfortable with being nude as she didn't even try to cover herself.
"Nope, attendance is mandatory, it seems," I said, getting to my feet and pulling up my panties and leather pants. I walked to the curtain, then looked back to see Angel just getting up and pulling up her g-string.
"Just leave the curtain down and you can head on out," she said as she looked at me, and I slipped out of the curtain. The bouncer at the head of the stairs seemed to be waiting for me to come out, keying up his walkie-talkie. That made two more men in dark clothing turn and face me from the bottom of the stairs.
I couldn't help but feel a bit of panic as I passed the first bouncer and the way he eyed me. It wasn't sexual in anyway, as his eyes constantly roamed over and around me, sizing me up for a fight. I barely heard him say something about weapons as I went down the stairs. One of the men then drew my attention by unbuttoning his coat and pulling it aside enough for me to see the butt of a gun. Judging by the slight bulge under the arm of the other man, he was also carrying something.
I briefly thought about trying to force my way out of here, but any type of fight and the cops would pull the security footage. My eyes were one thing, but I wasn't going to show up on any camera, and that would raise a lot of questions. No, my only way out of here was by playing nice and ditching them later, preferably taking the tape of my time here before it could be checked. At the bottom of the stairs, the guy who hadn't flashed his gun grabbed me by the arm. I gave him a cold gaze, and though he flinched, didn't back off.
"Ma'am, follow me," he said, his voice low and menacing. I nodded, and the one who flashed his gun led the way through the club to a rear door, while the other followed behind me. They took me through the door, which had two doors behind it. One was an emergency exit door, probably to satisfy some fire code, while the other was a heavy wooden door. The guy in front of me opened it, staying outside while I was roughly pushed through to the other side.
I quickly took in the room. It was small, consisting of a private stage on the far end with a pole running into the roof lit by a small array of lights. A black, leather couch faced it, looking rather stressed with evenly spaced scratch marks from fingernails all over the leather. A man sat at a corner desk directly to my left, with a cheep chair for visitors to sit on. He also had several monitors showing the club's various cameras cycling in a display behind him. One thing was certain, with the door now shut, and the club's music a very faint pulse coming through the walls, no one would hear a scream from the soundproof room.
"So, did Velour send you?" the man in the suit said from behind the desk. I was guessing he was the club's owner, which made me either a prospective dancer, or a threat by the way his bouncers behaved.
"Who's Velour?" I asked him, crossing my arms and staring him down through my sunglasses. He continued to eye me, probably trying to tell if I were lying or not.
"Velvet Velour is the owner of Vesuvius, the only other place that's even remotely considered better than mine. She hires only the best dancers for her club, most of them struggling models, and now she's after Angel," he said as he continued to eye me. "From what I've been able to dig up, her real name is Susan Murphy. Real heavy into drugs and prostitution. Served a year, then another after violating her parole. Now she's got her own club, trying to hide her past behind a ton of plastic surgery. Supposed to still be a looker, but I don't see it.
"So if you're not here for Velour, why the interest in Angel?"
"Sex?" I said, shrugging and smiling innocently at him. He didn't seem to find it amusing as he scowled at me. One thought did spin through my brain. If he wasn't reacting to my light complexion, he probably wasn't a ghoul. Meaning this was another one of those rare opportunities to make a play for his business. I just had to survive if he turned me down. Of course, I thought smiling, now that we were alone, maybe my presence could help me now.
"A hot woman like you doesn't spend four grand to sleep with another woman. A man I could understand, that's why we exist, but not a woman," he said, leaning back in his chair. "The last person she sent to me was supposed to pick her up and take her to Velour. Sent him back in a wheelchair. That was last week, so we've been watching."
"Cutthroat business, huh?" I said and he nodded. "So I take it you run this place all on your own? No silent partner I should be worried about before making any deals?"
He smiled at that. "What kind of deal? Want to dance on my stage so you can get closer to your lover?" he said in a somewhat mocking tone.
"I was thinking of giving you a contract alright," I said, making his smile grow even more as I eyed the well scratched couch to my right. I couldn't help but think of Angel saying she lost her virginity to a man named Duke, and add in the couch…Yeah, he was a bad one. But even they could be useful in their own way. Besides, I needed a money train if I was going to buy Malibu beachfront property tonight. The taxes alone would be horrendous.
"The real reason I'm here," I finally began to admit, looking back at him, "Is that I'm looking for businesses to expand into, becoming a sort of silent partner."
"What are you offering, exactly? I've got all the money I need," he said as he studied me.
I mentally went through my cards, finally settling on the Godfather approach. It seemed to work for the Sicilian mobster, but like my other ghouls, I'd give him somewhat of a choice.
"How about you agree to take my drug, and defer twenty-five percent of your profits to me, or I spread your blood all over the floor," I deadpanned, kicking my presence in at full effect and making him flinch. I watched his face, as he seemed to fight it, but eventually he began to shrink in his chair.
I smiled thinking I had won when his arm shot forward and drew a gun. He pointed it at me, and he seemed to find his backbone in the steel contraption. "What say we spread your blood on the floor," he growled at me. He was certain he had the upper hand until I began laughing, that wiped the smile off his face. I took that as a cue and forced my fangs out a bit and he began to turn white as he realized he was in over his head.
"Do it," I said, and the gun lowered a bit. "Fire that gun and give me every reason to shove it down your throat. I'm a vampire," I told him, feeling my pointy canines bite into my lip when I wasn't speaking, so I knew they had to be visible. "That gun will no more work on me than a water pistol. So, either fire your gun and die, or come kneel in front of me like the slave you are."
He studied my face, then lowered the pistol. "What happens to me?" he asked, and I retracted my fangs so I could better talk business, or talk in general. Didn't realize how hard it was to speak with them out and wondered if that was why Dracula talked funny in the movies. Certainly seemed to throw my enunciation off.
"You run your little club however you want. I don't know enough about that to have much of an opinion, so I leave it to professionals," I said, and he somewhat relaxed. "All you do is make weekly payments to me for my cut of the profits. If anything comes up, like this Velour business again, you let me handle it. I might take her club over too, if she's not kindred."
"What about my motel?" he asked, and I raised an eyebrow. "It's for the girls, mostly. I got a franchise down the street that I shuttle the girls between if they have no home. Most of the girls here came to work in Hollywood, only coming here for work because their broke and have only their looks and can't do much else."
"So like Angel, you break their will and sully them so they feel they can never go home?" I said, almost disgusted that I was doing business with the man. Shouldn't I have ethics or something?
"I found out a long time ago that clubs do better where the girls put out. Angel tell you about the trust fund kid she declined when she first came here?" he asked and I nodded. "He complained to me, and yeah, I brought her in and pulled her card. Let her know that if she doesn't put out, I'd put her out. Ever since she's been good to me, like all my other girls."
"Well, this is a package affair," I said, deciding that if the girl didn't have the will to complain to the cops, they certainly wouldn't have the will to stand in court and put the man away. It was a hard lesson I had to be taught once, even though I was only eleven when I learned it. You had to stand up to your bully otherwise you were nothing. I guess it was the best thing I ever learned in that place. Sensei was wise, but I was young and foolish.
Shaking my head of the memory of being so thoroughly disgraced in my sensei's dojo, I pressed on. "Twenty five percent of all profit, in ANY business you have, run, or make a profit from."
"So this is a racketeering operation? I get 'protection' while you get money."
"You also get a long life as long as I'm happy, and if you're attacked, say beaten by five men with baseball bats to the point that most men would die, you'll still be strong enough to call for help and I can have you back on your feet in a day or two. Plus, you seem to get one of my 'special' abilities. Angel can attract any man she wants, whether the man is interested in her or not. Not sure about the rest yet, I'm actually very young, vampirically speaking."
He nodded, getting out from behind his desk and coming around to face me. He didn't look all the certain, but he had left the gun behind. He seemed to think for a moment, then lowered himself to his knees in front of me, the movement stiff and making him wince in pain. He caught my observation with a grimace.
"Old football injury," he explained. "Got sacked by a punk who missed his dive, hit me full force in the knee. Not been able to bend it all that well since."
I nodded, moving beside him and bit into my wrist, opening a pair of small holes and held it in front of him. "Drink," I told him, and he took my wrist in his large hands and hesitated for a moment, before putting it to his lips and sucking on the wounds. I let him have a few mouth-fulls before pulling it away, and he leaned heavily against his desk as my blood went down his throat to become part of him.
I moved past him, sitting in his chair and eying the security system. It was unfamiliar to me, so I studied the screens, watching the girls as they danced for patrons. Soon, I could hear my new ghoul groan behind me, and I turned to face him.
"The pain's gone," he said, rising to his feet quickly. "My knee even works better."
"Fringe benefits for joining the club," I said and he spun to face me. He grimaced at seeing me in his chair, but didn't say anything else. "You are my fifth ghoul. Angel is number four, Amber is actually number three."
"I thought she seemed to get better. I dismissed it as Angel having a bad night when she got her customers back the next night."
"That would have been after I dosed her," I said and he nodded. "Numbers one and two are Heather and Brian. Heather is my personal stylist, and Brian is my daytime protector. You can go to them if you need to contact me if I can't answer my cell," I said as I wrote out my number on a post-it note.
"Do you have any idea where Amber is? I was expecting her to show up tonight, but she's not at the motel and certainly not here."
"She's hooking for me," I said and he grimaced, clearly wanting to say more but wise enough to know I might take offense at that.
"She'd make more money if she were here," he finally said, deciding that was the line least likely to get him killed. Not that I would. Even the simple math of how much a girl could make in a night times how many different girls I saw added up to a lot of money fast. Not that it was all about money, but I wasn't going to cut my nose off to spite my face.
"She's going to move sideways a bit, do some adult film shoots. Having two dancing ghouls in one club isn't working out for them," I said, and he nodded. "Also, does this security system record everything on a tape? Or does it have to be recorded manually?"
"It records to a tape," he said, leaning against the wall. "I have to be able to rewind and watch girls to make sure they do what their supposed to do, and make them obey if they don't."
"Make sure then, that the tapes of tonight are misplaced permanently. Other kindred, which is our word for vampires, might show up on camera, but I don't. We have a very strict law on letting people know we exist, so keep my existence as kindred secret. Understood?"
"Comprendo," he said, moving over to a wall and lifting a panel to reveal a VCR. He pulled a tape from it, handing it to me, before sticking a fresh one in and letting it record. "If you want to stay off the cameras, you can use the side door to leave. It can take you back to the street."
"Good," I said, then picked up the sticky note with my number and handed it to him. "This is my personal cell phone number. Need me, call me. Otherwise, I'll see you in about a week for your next fix. And don't be hard on Amber when she comes back tomorrow, okay?"
"Yes, ma'am," he said, backing away and opening the door, sensing I was ready to leave. A glance at the clock said it was just past eight-fifteen, so I needed to hurry.
"Thank you," I said, showing a small deference in front of his men so he could keep up appearances as the boss here. Most men didn't like working for a man who worked for a woman, or seemed to anyway. Must be a male thing.
"Anytime," he said, smiling as he caught what I was doing. "Sorry you don't have what I'm looking for, and for the mix up. I thought you worked for someone else."
"Not a problem. Have a nice day," I said, then turned and left the club by way of emergency exit, catching a glimpse of his two bulldogs eyeing my butt as I left. Typical men. If it were a threat, they'd beat it to death. If it weren't, well, they'd still beat it, just in a different way.
I headed back to the front and sat on my bike, feeling glad I was working the money flow out. Twenty-five percent of this club's proceeds would likely pay for most of my current life choices, but it never hurt to have more. Plus, his motel would likely come in handy if I needed use of extra rooms.
Starting my bike, and backing it out of its slot, I got on the freeway and started booking it for downtown. I certainly didn't want to be late, and I needed to ask around to see if this Miss Velour was a ghoul or a kindred that I would have to talk to about staying out of my club. Or, if she wasn't, maybe make an offer to her.
Girls did want to stay young and beautiful after all.