Alex was sitting, waiting patiently at the Highlands warehouse for Nolan and Marc's return. He looked deeply troubled by something. The back door opened and Paul walked in. "Where's Nolan with Marc?" he asked Alex.
"They should be back any minute."
"Good, Nolan knows I expected him to be here so they had better hurry."
"Paul, why are you doing this? I'm just wondering. You never told me why."
"I have my reasons. And they are private." He said with a rather nasty tone.
Alex just let it go and went back to his pondering.
Not even five minutes later, the rumble of motorcycle engines were heard pulling up and Nolan burst through the door with Marc following behind. "Hey, what's up Paul?" was the first thing out of Nolan's mouth. Paul just stared at him.
"You're late." He spat out angrily.
"Look man, I'm sorry…I was just showing Marc here a good time."
"Listen, don't fuck with me. When you are told to be here at a certain time I expect you here, got it?"
"Yes sir."
Paul turned and headed downstairs to the basement to his coffin, still very much pissed off at Nolan's arrogance. "Come on Marc, let's crash…I'm beat." Nolan said.
"Ok, sounds good." He replied as he plopped on a couch in the dark corner. Alex glanced over at them from his chair across the room; his eyes stopped on Marc's now sleeping form. Am I truly doing the right thing? I've wronged Danielle by assisting Paul, maybe for all the wrong reasons. He thought to himself. He shook his head and headed upstairs to the loft to get some rest as well.
When he finally awoke it was after 7 pm. He went down to see if Paul or Nolan were still there. All three of them were gone. I wonder where they disappeared to so quickly? He got changed into a pair of khakis with a white polo shirt and a pair of black shoes, then headed outside and got in his Mercedes. He started it up and drove away.
He stopped in front of Crystal's townhouse and looked to see if her car was there. It wasn't. He drove around the corner and lay back in his seat to wait. After about an hour, the black Thunderbird finally came rumbling up the driveway. Crystal and Danielle stepped out of the car. They stood there chatting as they got their stuff out of the trunk. Alex stepped out of the car and walked over to them. Danielle noticed him first and started yelling, "What are you doing here you scumbag?!"
Crystal spun around to meet Alex face to face.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you." He assured, "I want to help you."
"HELP US??? Hahahaha! You're kidding right??" Dani scoffed.
"No, I'm serious…I swear."
"The word of a Ventrue traitor eh? Why should we believe you?!"
Crystal finally spoke up. "Danielle, let him speak. I sense no malicious intent. Besides, we have no other leads right now."
He smiled at her. "Thank you."
"Let's go inside to talk. Follow me." Crystal led them inside and the girls sat down on the couch in the living room. Alex sat in the chair to their right.
"Nice place." He said to Crystal.
"Thanks. I put a lot of work into it. So Alex, why don't you start?"
"Right. As I said, I want to help you. I know where Marc is."
"Ok, but why should we trust you? You've been working with Paul, and you helped kidnap Marc." Crystal asked.
"Yes, this is true, but I realized it is wrong. The only reason I helped Paul in the first place was because I owed him a favor. And quite frankly, he scares me. So you realize what a huge risk I'm taking by betraying the Sabbat."
"Indeed…but you don't have to do this you know. You are risking your immortal life."
"Never mind me. Would you like my help or not?"
Danielle was sitting quietly contemplating.
"So…you'll tell us where Marc is, just like that? There has to be a catch."
"No catch. I just want to see Paul destroyed. But it's not going to be easy. He has many kindred loyal to him, including Nolan. Nolan is not typical…he's from the far east originally, where he was embraced. He is very old and his power is awesome. You've seen his shapeshifting abilities already. Well…he was the one who embraced Marc."
Upon hearing that Danielle leapt up. "Marc was embraced by HIM??!" she cried.
"Well, that's the thing…Marc has taken to him very quickly. They've become fast friends and Marc….well, Marc has already made his first kill."
Silence fell across the room.
"Oh my…" Crystal whispered.
Danielle was silent.
"Well, I better get going. I'll call you to arrange a meeting."
"Ok, let me show you out." Crystal said.
As he stepped outside, a figure lunged at him out of the shadows and put a knife to his throat. Alex's eyes went wide.
"Garan?!" Crystal screeched as she ran out behind him, "What are you doing here? He is here to help…stop it!"
Garan turned to her and slowly lowered the knife. "Explain."
Alex let out a sigh of relief. Crystal went to hug Garan but he pushed her away with a cold look.
"So, why is he here? You'd better explain quickly."
"He's here to help us I swear, he wants to help us rescue Marc."
Garan scoffed and then started to laugh at her, "Are you really that foolish? You should know this is just one of his tricks to try and trap you. Stupid woman…"
Alex shot him a dirty look. "No, this isn't a trick. I'm being honest." He said.
"You've been around for over a century now Alexander, and you've never been honest." Garan retorted.
"Ok, so maybe I've made a few mistakes in the past…but I want to redeem myself."
"Bullshit." He replied and walked away.
"Gar, wait!" Crystal yelled.
"No, I'm not gonna wait. Not for you." He said as he got into his car and took off.
"Shit! What the hell is his problem?!" she muttered.
"I don't know, but I must go. I'll call you later." Alex said. He walked over to his car and sped off.
"Great, just great!" Crystal mumbled to herself. She went back inside to talk to Danielle about what happened.
Chapter 13 >>>