Chapter 26 – Choices (Part 1)
October 1, 2004 = Friday
Looking down at Damsel's lifeless body, I was ready to skip panic and have a meltdown, but for some reason, I knew she wasn't dead. What Gary said about feeding on rats sprang to mind, and I hoped Damsel would forgive the social faux pas if I used it to save her life as I looked around the hill top for any signs of animal life.
A hare several hundred feet away caught my eye in the darkness. There was no way I could catch the fleet footed animal without using my shadows, so I bolted straight through the shadow, coming out on top of the fleet footed animal just as he raised on his hind legs to check for danger. I dove for it, snagging it by the scruff of the neck as it kicked and pawed at my wrist.
I ran back to Damsel, who hadn't moved from where she'd fallen. I knelt beside her, using my free hand to open her mouth, her fangs barely visible behind her bluish lips. I held the rabbit's paws with both hands, using my own fangs to rip out the animal's throat and let the blood flow into Damsel's mouth, hoping the fresh blood would wake her up.
It was only after the last drop entered her mouth that Damsel swallowed, and began straightening her limbs. "What the hell," she yelled, rubbing at her neck. "What the blue fuck made you bite me?"
"Damsel, I'm so sorry," I said, helping her to her feet. "I don't know why I did that, it just called to me."
"So, quack like a duck," she said, her serious face melting into a smirk.
"Are you alright?" I asked, wondering if she might have some sort of aphasia and thereby have some of her words mixed up.
"No, I'm okay," she said, frowning as she dusted herself off. "But, still, why the hell did you bite me? Trying to diablerize me or something?"
"No, I," I said, hanging my head and turning away from her. "Is it that way every time I get near a neck?"
"Shouldn't be," Damsel said, putting her arms around me. "It's probably one of the problems you've been having with your beast."
"Guess I really could use a teacher," I told her, letting her pull me in close even though I wasn't facing her. I nearly killed her, and the memory of the first time I had nearly killed someone was still etched into my brain. Tom Cullen was many things, but mean wasn't one of them and I had put him in the hospital for nothing more than startling me. Guess, I was destined to be the monster.
"All you had to do was ask," she said, kissing my cheek. "Come on, sit over here with me," she said, leading me to the edge of the hill. "First off, as far as you've come, I get the idea you know the basics by now. Keep yourself fed, don't feed from just any schmuck, and spit out anything with a sour taste. The sour taste is actually your body telling you its bad blood."
"Good to know," I said, as we sat and looked over the valley. "What about ghouls? I know how to make one, but I guess no one really said anything about laws for them."
"For the most part, there aren't any laws but one for non kindred," she said, pulling her knees up to rest her chin on her arms. "The masquerade. And since you made them, you're responsible for them. Problem is, they tend to be rather loose lipped when it comes time for them to feed, even going into frenzy if they get hungry enough."
"Frenzy? They lose control?"
"Yeah, it can be bad then," she said, then turned her head to look at me. "Take Patty for example. Her master was a friend of mine, but now that he's dead, she's going out of her mind looking for him."
"What will happen to her?"
"She's got three options. One, her best, is to accept another kindred as her master, but the average ghoul is so hopelessly addicted to their master though, there's no saving them. You could, maybe mind you, save them if you locked them up in a cell. Though, there'd have to be a helluva reason to do it.
"But it is possible. Would the Camarilla be willing to do that?" I asked, already figuring the answer was no when she laughed.
"You saw the way they wanted to kill Jose. Just lop his head off for a backfire! One hellacious argument, though. 'He who is without sin, cast the first stone?' Even Lacroix had to admit his faults at that!" she said laughing. "And it's not like he can lie because we Toreador would have caught his lie."
"So, what would the Anarchs do?" I asked, and she sobered.
"Nothing, most likely," she admitted, settling her head back onto her knees. "Usually we don't mess in other peoples affairs, and Isaac's bunch would probably see her as a threat and shoot her."
"The Anarchs aren't coming off as all roses, here," I told her.
She sighed, looking out over the valley. "No, but we wouldn't have been after Jose's head, either. Lacroix wants to kill everyone who doesn't support him, we leave people alone to fuck things up, and Isaac's somewhere in between. Like Patty's other two options, die or learn to live without him. The last is the best. She's still young and can go on and live her life. Not like Michele's ghoul Remy. She'd die now if she wasn't drinking from a kindred's wrist."
"Why? What's wrong."
"First off, she's like a hundred and fifty. Michele made her a ghoul when she still lived in Paris, back around the mid 1800's. It was because of her Michele survived the fall of France in World War Two, leaving on foot and trekking across country at night, hiding in a makeshift grave by day."
"You know a lot about Michele," I said, looking at her.
"She's my grandsire," Damsel explained. "She came out here about the time the Anarch Free State got started, but like Nines said, there's not that many of us left. Those bikers we came up here with? That's it. That's all that's left of the Free Anarchs."
"Why did she switch sides?" I asked, wanting to know the reason someone would join the Camarilla.
"She's trying to shut down the Camarilla from inside," she admitted. "That stays between us, okay? Lacroix thinks she's loyal, and if he even gets wind she's against him..."
"He'll move against her," I said and Damsel nodded. "That means we need more people in his inner circle who he thinks are loyal, or can at least be bought."
"And you go and make that big move tonight, and probably got Lacroix working against you," Damsel said, chuckling softly to herself.
"Like he needed an excuse. From what I gather, Ventrue and Lasombra hate each other with a passion reserved for ex-husbands," I said, and Damsel laughed at that one.
"Yeah, well, you are one against their many. When all the Camarilla showed up, it was like someone called a Ventrue clan meeting in town. Lots of people with no claim or stake in LA just showed up and stayed. They got the Camarilla rolling, caught us with our pants down just after our cease-fire with the Kue-Jin. We just don't have the numbers to fight back, and we can't make more unless we go to Hollywood. There's no guarantee that the newbies will choose the Anarch way, anyway."
"Rock and a hard place?"
"More like choosing your own style of execution. Slow, steady and painless, or quick and painful. I just don't know how long Isaac can hold out," she said, letting that sink in.
"So, the guys we rode up with are about the only ones Nines can call on to actively fight?"
"They make a great first wave, but after that we wouldn't have anything to back it up with. Every kindred clan has strengths and weaknesses. Brujah would be your shock troops, riding in and making chaos wherever they go. But once the shock wears off..."
"Why not ghouls?"
"Ghouls couldn't stand against a kindred," she said. "Tried and done. They're just too weak."
"What about guns. Military style guns."
"Won't work on anyone who's good with Celerity. I'm not that good with it, I prefer my Presence and Auspex abilities, but even I can see the vapor trails the bullets leave behind. Nines can actually dodge the bullets IF he know's he's being shot at," stressing the word if. "All you see is him blurring, and then when the bullets stop..."
"He can attack. So, best way of attacking is something that they can't dodge. What about using the Brujah to keep their speedsters busy while the ghouls use machine guns to suppress their counterattack," sounding like a military general arranging an attack on a vastly superior enemy. "Or use flamethrowers."
"And we bug out just as bad as they do," she pointed out as she stretched out on the hillside to look at the stars.
I stretched out beside her, thinking it over. The only time we were vulnerable was when we were asleep, but there ghouls would be watching over them. A thought hit me, "Who watches over you when you sleep?"
"Me? No one," she said. "Never had a ghoul because I couldn't rip someone from their life just to serve me."
"How many other kindred feel the same way?"
"Couldn't say," she said dismissively. "What's on your brain?"
"If you knew where they slept, I mean just the house or building not the actual room, you could burn the house down around their ears during the day..."
"Incinerating their ass while they slept," she said, rolling over to face me. "Risky, what if the fire didn't catch them? Or they slept in a fire proof coffin?"
"You sleep in a coffin?" I interjected, finding the idea odd but logical. We did have problems with light and being caught by people who didn't know we were kindred.
"I hear some do," she said defensively. "I prefer satin sheets myself."
"Well, when I get a bed I'm going silk," I told her, and she laughed.
"What do you sleep in now? Or under?"
"The shower stall," I said, grimacing as she laughed louder. "It's like the only place in that tiny apartment that is protected from sunlight."
Damsel nodded, looking at the stars. "So, you'd use the ghouls to attack them while they slept? That could work. Even the Tremere wouldn't be able to defend against that, I think. It would thin their ranks, and if it were done in broad daylight, it'd be hard to pin on any one kindred. That's brutal."
"War is hell," I said, quoting an old war movie. "The Anarchs have two options on this one, attack with everything they can, or find another place to call home."
"What, some small town in No-where-ville?," she said, appalled. "There's a reason we favor the big cities, sweetie."
"Well, they're ideas you can pass on to Nines. Don't tell me where he is, though, I'm going to try to get into the prince's good graces. See if there's anything I can pull apart and mess up his works as best I can."
"Good, we could use more people on the inside. If you're going to go that route though, we need to separate. Lacroix won't think you're in tight if you're still chummy with us Anarchs."
"If that's the case, how about a little fight?" I said with a smirk on my face.
"Lover's quarrel? Bit old fashioned even in my day."
"Well, I am supposed to be straight, and we ride off together..." I said, leading her to the inevitable conclusion.
"And I made a move on you, which you didn't like and we're through." she said, nodding in approval as she rolled back to stare at the stars. "Looks good, the rest depends on the strength of our performance."
"Just react to what I do, and the rest should be automatic," I said, getting up. I held a hand out to Damsel. She took it, and I helped her to her feet and we headed back to my motorcycle. "Just remember, it's an act, okay?"
-o-0-o-
The entire way back to the Last Round consisted of me riding as fast as I could through the cities streets, before finally turning the last street on which the bar was located. I made sure to never let the bike get under fifty the entire way back, and more than several times took a curve so sharp and fast that I scraped my feet rests against the pavement. Damsel must have thought I was nuts because she wrapped her arms around my middle and refused to let go. At least I could be glad I didn't need air anymore.
In front of the Round, I locked the front brakes up and turned the bike sharply to the side, before using my strength to break her hold on my middle and throw her off. Damsel was taken by surprise as she went rolling down the street. I turned the bike around to face her, as Damsel got to her knees.
"Listen, you little bitch!" I yelled for the benefit of anyone listening. "I'm not going to be you're little whore! So you keep your hands to yourself, and leave me the fuck alone."
Damsel spit at me, and I kicked it into first gear and popped the clutch to make the tire roll smoke as I peeled out. Damsel went wide eyed at my show of hostility, and I raised a boot and kicked her right in the face as I passed her, knocking the little Toreador down on the pavement as I passed. I didn't look back as I turned the corner, and I hoped she understood that it was all in the name of getting rid of Lacroix.
I headed for the tower, needing to talk with Walsh about buying that house. The area around the tower was empty as always as I parked my bike. I went in, finding the back in five minutes sign out so I went straight for the elevator and up. When the doors opened, I spotted Walsh.
"She did what?" Walsh said, walking through the upstairs lobby, talking on his cell phone. He looked at me as he listened to his phone, face slack in surprise. "Alright, get me a report about it on my desk as quick as you can. I need to go," he said, motioning me on to his office. "Goodbye," he said and ended the call. "Evening, Miss Flores. How can I help you, tonight?"
"Well, my ghouls did the house shopping I asked them too, and I need to see about buying some Malibu real estate."
"Ah, that would be the Pryce estate," he said, moving to a filing cabinet as I sat down. "Wonderful bargain, picked it up for a fraction of the price it's truly worth."
"Making your money in real estate?" I asked and he nodded.
"Real estate, rentals, car sales," he said as he rifled through the files. "All rather lucrative for a man who's tied to his office at all hours of the night."
"I don't guess you have the luxury of moving about anymore," I agreed, as he found the file he was looking for and put it on his desk. "But I would have thought you had some time to yourself, if only to hunt."
He smiled as he sat down, pulling his pen and began to fill in the blanks on a form. "As a Ventrue, I don't have the luxury of having multiple blood donors to drink from. In fact, there's only four people I know of that meet my strict criteria."
"Clan curse?" I asked, and he nodded.
"How much did you want to put on the down payment?" he asked, changing the topic.
"Let's make it four million," I said, and he wrote it down as he filed the appropriate paperwork.
"From penniless to millionaire in a week, to buying premium beach front property when you were living off the graces of your friend," he said, impressed by the results I was churning out. He pulled out a calculator and started to figure out the rates, then made a small grunt. "The monthly payments on a ten year note come out to two hundred thirty-eight thousand and five hundred dollars a month."
I whistled at the number. It was enough to make me rethink buying the place, but I forced myself to keep calm. "Sounds good," I said and he turned some paperwork around to me.
"Just sign on the line with your alias, Miss Flores, and I'll get you a key to the front door."
I couldn't help but smile as I signed the paperwork and he fished out a key from the file. "This should unlock every door in the house. It has some furniture and is free as part of the estate. It was bought and paid for before the money ran out."
"That should do it," I said, pocketing my new key as I stood. "Take care," I said, as I walked out the door. I took the elevator down, and was soon back on my Harley. I headed for Santa Monica to Four-Play, deciding to take care of Duke and his way of disciplining the girls.
The club looked deserted when I got there, so I parked my bike out front and walked down the alleyway to the side door. It wasn't locked, so I went on in, finding a couple of guys standing outside his office door while some hard rock music blared over the speakers to drown out any sounds coming from the office.
"Guys," I said as they blocked the door.
"He's with a girl," one of them said as I stared him down.
"Yeah, well, he's going to see me, and he's going to see me right now," I said, letting my presence flow a bit to unsettle them. They started to get jumpy, looking at each other and then back to me. Finally they moved away from the door and let me pass, and I went inside.
A girl lay on the couch, dressed in only her skin, while Duke was positioned over her. I could hear her moan and whimper, and enraged, I marched across the room and yanked Duke off the girl as tears rolled down her cheeks and threw him back to his desk.
"What the fuck!" he yelled as he picked himself off the floor. The girl curled up in a ball on the couch to cry, and I kept myself between them to protect her.
"If I knew what kind of horror show you ran out of this office," I yelled at him, "I wouldn't have made a deal with you!"
"What are you doing here?" Duke asked me as he straightened his cloths. I advanced on my new ghoul and forced him back against the wall.
"First, get out of here," I told the girl, who was just straightening herself up to sit on the couch. "Get dressed and go home."
The girl promptly pulled a one piece sun dress up before grabbing her other clothing items up and darter out the door, tears still streaming down her face. The guys at the door look puzzled, but pulled the door closed to leave me alone with my ghoul. Duke scowled at seeing her leave, but only muttered, "Well, there goes the fun I was going to have tonight."
"Fun? Listen hotshot, I just found out how these places operate and you're lucky I'm not ripping your spine out and beating you with it," I snapped back, letting my anger flow out. Duke winced, and I got up in his face. He started to backpedal, finally being forced back onto his chair as I cornered him. "You want to keep living, you're going to start treating these girls with some respect!"
"Respect?" he croaked? "Respect doesn't make money."
"Then you better find a way to make money," I breathed, pressing close. "Because if I find out you so much as forced one of these girls back onto this couch," I said, straddling his lap and getting an inch from his face, "I will come back and make you cut it off yourself. Got it?"
He nodded, and I got off of him, leaving him while he calmed himself. The two guys didn't say anything as I left and headed back to the apartment. A cheap Honda sat at the end of the alley when I got there, and a look over to the light post revealed Sharron wasn't in sight.
I briefly thought about interrupting her, but decided that if the guy was jumpy enough he might do something stupid like pull a knife. I wasn't worried so much for myself, but that Sharron would get hurt or killed. So, rather than stand under the light and get funny looks from guys as they passed, I went upstairs to the apartment. Opening the door, I found Brian leaned up against the desk with his eyes closed. Heather and Constance lay in the bed, cuddled under the blanket. Not a light burned in the entire place, so I lit the candle with the lighter from my pocket.
"Is it morning already?" Brian said, opening his eyes and stretching.
"About five," I told him, and began to take stock of the small room, noting for the first time that there wasn't anything left but the candle and bedspread. "You three must have been waiting for me to get back."
"Well, didn't figure you'd want to waste anytime, so we packed everything and was waiting," he said, rising to stand by the desk. Heather stretched to let me know she was awake, probably just lightly dozing while she waited. She was at least fully dressed in jeans and a tank top.
"How is Constance doing?" I asked them, and we all looked at the sleeping youth as she slept in her pajamas.
"Good so far, she came right around this time," Heather said, as she folded the blanket. "Did you get it?"
"Yeah," I said, fishing the key out of my pocket and holding it up. Heather smiled and even Brian had a big grin on his face. "I assume the Honda at the end of the alley was yours?"
"Yeah," she said as she finished folding the blanket and set it on the desk. "It's about all I have left from my parents."
"Constance, honey, it's time to get up," I said, shaking her shoulder.
"Go away," she mumbled, rolling towards the wall. I reached over and shook her shoulder again, this time she huddled herself into a ball as she whimpered. I sat beside her and began to rock her gently. "Constance, come on sweetie," I said, and shook her again. She came to, sleepily, sitting up beside me and rubbing at her eyes.
"Still dark out," she mumbled, leaning against me.
"Well, I got it," I told her, and she looked up at me and smiled.
"Sweet," she said and laid her head on my shoulder. I put an arm under her and helped her to her feet, while Heather finished stripping the bed and folded the sheets.
"We got a CD player, right?" I asked Brian, who nodded.
"Already loaded up," he said, as he began to go around the apartment to make sure we had everything, finally removing the blood bag from the fridge and handing it to me. I took it, and feeling a bit hungry, drank it on the spot.
With my hunger satisfied, I threw the empty bag in the trashcan and looked around the now empty apartment. "Let's get out of here," I said, leading the way with Constance leaning against me. I was never so happy to leave a home before, but this place was most definitely the pits.
Out in the alley, we headed to the car when I spotted Sharron walking back out of the alley with a john. Constance stared at my ghoul, as we both neared the street, and the John bolted for his parked car. Sharron grimaced at seeing me, but leaned up against the post without saying a word. I walked across the street and I swear the scowl on her face deepened with every step.
"What now?" she whined as I stepped onto the curb. I looked her over, taking in her now dilapidated appearance. Her mascara had run a bit from crying and she needed to touch up her makeup as it was smudged a bit. I looked down, where she rubbed at her leg and there was white stain. She looked pitiful, tired and ready to fall down if it weren't for the lamp post she was leaned against.
"Go home," I told her. "Tomorrow, head back to Four-Play and return to stripping."
"Want your money," she said, pulling a wad of bills from her purse.
"Just my hundred," I told her, as she quickly counted out the bills and handed them to me. "Duke's one of mine now. If he rapes one of the girls, report it to me or Brian. I'm not letting him run Four-Play like he used to," I said, turning to join Brian and Heather as they stood next to the car.
"What changed?" she called as I started across the street.
"I refuse to become the monster," I said as I mounted my bike, and hit the starter. I couldn't help but think of Lasombra lurking under my skin. I had to keep my ancestor from taking over, and delving deeper into my monstrous nature wasn't helping.
Damsel could attest to that.
=o=0=o=
I followed Heather's car out to Malibu while I rode my bike. It was a beautiful drive along the Pacific, with long rows of condos lining the beachfront. We were almost into Malibu before Heather made a sharp left turn into a driveway marked by a stone fence topped by what seemed to be old lamps. The steady burn was a dead giveaway that they were electric, but still, they lit the road driveway well enough to see by at night. The driveway curved and made a loop around a central water fountain that shot streams of water over the top tier.
The garage was four bays abreast, with a space just past it for visitors to park. Heather parked her car there and I pulled in behind her, shutting it down and taking in my new home. It was beautiful, made of blue stone with a large arch over the entryway. I pulled my new CD from the saddlebag, then went and unlocked the door. Stepping inside to find myself in the foyer, with a staircase on my left that led up to the second floor, which was open on both sides.
I walked past it, finding another staircase under it leading into the basement. On the right was the formal dining room, lit by crystal chandelier. The table under it was a large, single slab of wood, probably redwood judging by its cherry shine. In fact, as I looked around, all the wood I could see was cherry red. Continuing my straight line through the house found me in some sort of trophy room. It had a large fireplace that was currently unlit, but the potential for it to be one of those cozy gathering places to sit and act sophisticated.
"Figures if you asked about this, you might have wanted it for something," Brian said, bringing in the boom box and set it up on a table. I unwrapped my CD, and placed in the tray. It spun up, and the heavy bass pattern of 'Who Will Save Your Soul' started to play.
"People living their lives for you on TV, say they're better than you, you agree," I sang, practically dancing through the kitchen with its gleaming stainless steel counter tops and shiny appliances. There was a breakfast nook surrounded by large glass looking out over the ocean. Past that was a living room, which was larger than my dorm room in college at twenty feet square. A large TV sat against the wall, surrounded by shelves designed to hold VHS tapes in neat orderly rows. I looked at all the shelving, and decided the guy must have either wanted every movie ever made in his personal collection, or he planned to add some books to balance it out. There were a few couches in here, and Heather brought Constance in, laying the tired girl to bed on one of the couches before draping the cover over her.
Continuing my clockwise inspection, I went up the stairs to the second floor. I found the place was mostly open, with a bedroom at each corner. Though there were windows for the third story on the southern wall overlooking the ocean, there was no porch, so the view remained unsullied. Each bedroom had its own complete bathroom and walk-in closet.
With nothing else to view, and as the CD progressed on to the next song, I took the stairs down back into the foyer and continued to inspect my new home. I'd never thought I'd by a house before, let alone without inspecting it myself before I bought it, and couldn't help but feel overwhelmed at the sheer size of the place. On the other side of the stairwell from the foyer was a private library. It was partially furnished, with a long row of shelving on one wall. Seriously, was this guy that big a nerd? Or did he just not know what he wanted so he built everything?
Across from the private library was the master suite. It was fully furnished, with a large four poster king sized bed that had curtains that could be pulled to give the sleeping couple some privacy, even if others were in the room. I checked the egg-colored sheets to find that they were satin. The room had its own balcony access, and I followed it out to find a large grassy yard.
I went down the stairs, finding a large hot tub nestled between the stairs just under the balcony. There was some patio furniture already there, several chaise loungers and a couple of tables, and I knew that Heather and Constance would be working their tans just as soon as they could. Feeling envious, I went in through the lower doors into the basement to find a green velvet pool table and a selection of pool cues on the wall. There was even a wet bar on the back wall.
"Just great," I breathed, as I turned right to find another bedroom. Shaking my head, I continued on, finding myself walking down a long wall before finding the stairs that led back up to the main floor. A painting on hinges was left open, revealing a hidden hallway by the staircase from the rest of the room, I followed it into a large bare room. It didn't have any windows, but it did have a bathroom.
"A safe room," I muttered, looking the area over again. No windows, designed to be hidden, and large enough to house several people comfortably for a long period of time. I went back to the painting, finding a set of steel doors that were designed to lock together to keep people out during an attack. I went back down the walls, tapping, and judging by the solidness of the walls, figured that there were probably several inches of steel hiding in there somewhere.
"Well, found my room," I said as I went back out into the game room. The place easily matched the trophy room in size, and under the kitchen was another large bare room. Thoughts of Heather and her clothes-making had me deciding that this would be her private studio, and I'd probably need to get her some mannequins in my size so she could model outfits for me without having to try them on all the time.
The far door left me speechless. It was the same twenty square feet as the living room, but this was designed to be a private theater. Several rows of theater chairs were already set into the floor. In the center, near the back was the entertainment center and projector setup. Most of what it was designed for was to play DVD's and VHS tapes, though I'm sure if it could play that then it could also be used as a TV, and thereby play cable. Smiling I left the room, traveling up the stairs to find Heather and Brian waiting for me.
"Do you like it?" Heather asked, looking a little apprehensive as Brian suddenly decided to take on astronomy and began gazing out the window.
"Loving it," I said, smiling back. "I was thinking we could use the large room by the game room for your fashion studio. It'll give you plenty of room to work on my outfits. Also, the safe room hidden under the painting is where I'll sleep."
"Are you sure? Why not one of the upstairs bedrooms," Heather asked me.
"Well, with my sun restriction, one stray gust of wind on the curtains and I'm fried," I said, and Heather nodded. "Besides, I need to stay out of sight during the day. That's what happened to Jean. She was found by her doctor and he freaked. Called the police and they took her to autopsy. She's lucky she wasn't burnt when they took her out of the house."
"Yeah," Heather said, sounding kind of sad. "I just figured you'd want the grandest room in the place, or at least an upstairs view of the ocean."
"I'm happy just being here," I told her. "Since there's only one bed in the whole place, today, you and Brian need to do a shopping trip with Constance. Go pick out beds and any remaining furniture that'll be needed."
"Also, we're going to need dishes, cooking supplies, food," Heather listed off as we drifted into the kitchen. "Do we need to get you anything in particular for your room?"
"A comfortable bed, silk sheets, wardrobe, dresser, maybe some mannequins," I said, leaning on the countertop.
"Simple or fancy?" Brian asked me, leaning up against the fridge.
"Fancy," I told them and Heather giggled. "We're living the high life now. That means we have an image to uphold. That means from now on, everyone needs to start dressing like middle class, not like we're all just recently escaped the projects."
"I did just escape the projects," Constance groused from where she lay.
"Suppose that goes with the million dollar house," Brian groused also, just as my favorite song on the CD began to play. The simple guitar rift had me feeling pretty happy, as I began to sing along.
"I hear the clock, it's six A.M.
I feel so far from where I've been
I got my eggs, I got my pancakes too
I got my maple syrup, everything but you.
I break the yolks and make a smiley face
I kinda like it in my brand new place
Wipe the spots up off the mirror
Don't leave the keys in the door
I never put wet towels on the floor anymore 'cause
Dreams last so long
Even after you're gone
I know that you love me
And soon you will see
You were meant for me
And I was meant for you."
I couldn't help but think of Samantha while I sang the chorus and where we first met in college. The brunette had been a friend to me when I felt lost in the big ocean of life. We'd grown close over the years we spent together, but now the chorus hit me hard thinking of her as an ex-friend. I'd always remember her fondly, as a true friend if nothing else.
"I called my momma, she was out for a walk
Consoled a cup of coffee but it didn't wanna talk
So I picked up the paper, it was more bad news
More hearts being broken or people being used."
I couldn't finish the song as the part about my mother reminded me she was dead. Killed by the same man who had killed my father, my sister, and me then ruined my life by turning me into a vampire. I felt something wet on my cheek, finding it was another tear of blood. I had nothing to remember my family by. No photos, none of my heirlooms, it was all in boxes at Samantha's.
Without warning I turned from my confused ghouls and stepped into the shadows, thinking of the one place I wasn't supposed to go. Samantha usually ran in the early mornings, during the pre-dawn hour while it was cool and the streets were mostly empty. Hopefully I'd be lucky and all I'd have to do was just slip into her apartment and back out again without her knowing I was there.
I did seem to be luckier than usual. Maybe I could get lucky one more time and abscond with my property before Samantha found out I was there.
And maybe pigs will grow wings and fly.