Sands and Victoria Evening 3 part 4
Victoria:
"Oh I don't think you have to worry about my home. After all I just arrived
here in New York. If it's really a war then they probably haven't found me
yet." I look at the two men before me. I really don't want to stay here.
The longer I stay here the greater the chances that . . . "We could always
stay at a hotel?"
Sands: In unison Andre and I ask, "A hotel?"
Victoria: I roll my eyes in embarrassment. Obviously a poor suggestion. "Or we could get out of New York?"
Sands: "I'm not trying to avoid these guys. I say, 'Come on, Viscalli, come get me and I'll shoot your . heads off.'" I think of getting away. The first place my mind goes to is Mexico. Hot, lethal Mexico. My kind of place.
Victoria: "Oh I wasn't suggesting we hide." I don't know what to say, so I stop talking. Men can be so frustrating, I think to myself. Sometimes I wish I could just go back home.
Sands: Andre is suddenly all protective of Victoria. "Of course you weren't," he says.
"Good then," I smile. "Let's go dancing."
Victoria: Andre is very kind, I could get to like him very much. I light up when Sands says we can leave. "Good! Where to? I could use a change of scenery."
Sands: Before I can speak, Andre throws some ice water on my plans. "Sheldon," he says in his Mr. Patience voice, "I have two words for you." Okay, he has my attention now. "Nine. Eleven."
"Uh?" I ask, then it hits me. "You're right, of course," I say feeling pretty stupid. They're not going to let us into any really big place with the guns, and I cannot dance with the jacket on, can I? I turn to Victoria. "Maybe we can find a safer place to dance." I have an idea.
Victoria: I look at him curiously. The wheels are turning in his mind. I wonder what surprises he has in store. I learned over a very short time that Sheldon Jeffrey Sands is very resourceful. "Lead the way."
Sands: I grin, taking Victoria's hand and looking from her to Andre. "Don't we still have that disco room from the 70's?"
Andre tilts his head to the side looking thoughtful. "We probably do. It's in the basement somewhere." He waves a hand.
"Let's go see if we can find it." I look back at Victoria. "We had it all set up, just like a club. Even a glitter ball."
Victoria: "What's a glitter ball?" I ask. I'm a little disappointed that he wants to stay in this place. But I know I'll be all right as long as I am with him, so I put the thought to the back of my mind.
Sands: She doesn't know what a glitter ball is? Where has she been hiding? "It's big ball," I demonstrate with my arms, "covered in little pieces of mirror. When you aim a spotlight at it, it sends lights all over the room. You've never seen one?" I look to Andre to back me up on this. He nods. He's looking thoughtful. I don't know if that's good.
Victoria: "That sounds like fun," I reply. "I know you must wonder where I've been hiding to be so naive about so many things." I wrap myself around his arm. "Let's just say I've been keeping a rather low profile."
Sands: Low profile is one thing, she's been in a cave. That damned McLoud. I'll have to hunt him down sometime, find out what is in his fucking head. Maybe empty it for him. Andre interrupts my plans of revenge. "I would imagine Ernest might enjoy a little disco."
"Who is Ernest?" I ask.
Andre raises an aristocratic brow. "My date."
"Oh. Fine. We'll go down and find the place. I think we need to attack the liquor cupboard first, get something to drink." I smile at Victoria. "Want to go thieving with me?"
Victoria: "I'd love to. " Now this sounds like fun. I turn to Andre, "I look forward to meeting Ernest. If he's half the charmer you are, a girl could get herself in over her head." I lightly touch his cheek.
Sands: Shit. Look at Andre lick it up. He's such a pushover. I tuck Victoria's arm into mine and head back down the hall. The wolf pack is still sniffing around. I do not understand why these people, who claim to be so civilized, are prone to staring. I want to snarl at them, but I control myself in front of Victoria, just like I control my tongue. Yeah, control. That's me. Walk and ignore and think of ways to assassinate them one at a time.
We get down to the main floor and we're forced to walk through the damned ballroom again. I hope Victoria doesn't mind all the stares as much as I do.
Victoria: I lean in closers to Sands and whisper softly. "You certainly attract a lot of attention." I feel that weapon against my ribs. Cerese's words run through my mind. "Psychobeauty. . . " I shut out all the stares, but you can still hear the whispers. "Who is that with Sands?" I hear one dark skinned vamp ask the man at her side.
Sands: I look over at Victoria as we walk. She is so elegant, fluid grace, holding herself like royalty. My attention slips past her lovely neck to a mulatto just beyond. Our gazes lock for a moment. I don't feel hatred from her, only curiosity, so I smile just a little. Then we're gone, Victoria and I, passing over the threshold into the side hallway.
I feel a sense of relief as I lead Victoria to the stairwell and we start down. I'm trying to remember exactly where the disco room was. I think it was just one floor down.
Victoria: "I hope I don't have to do that again," I say to break the silence and then I laugh a little. "Things don't change much, do they? Ballrooms are still the best place for intrigue." I tilt my head towards him playfully as we descend to the lower floors. "Why my brother Claude and I used to cause such a stir a social functions. All the women loved him and despised me."
Sands: We step through the doorway. It's dark here. "You must have cut a swath through them," I comment. This floor looks abandoned. I look left and right. "I think it's this way." I head off to the right, her hand in mine. "Right here." I go to the double doors at the end of the hall. If I'm right, we're right below the ballroom now. I open the door.
Victoria: It doesn't look like too many people come down this way anymore. Things are dusty and they don't seem to supply power to this level. I wonder if things are like this further down, where the guardians are for instance. "Sands? Andre and I were talking." We come to a pair of large cherry wood doors. I love the rich, warm tone of cherry wood. They creak a little as Sands pushes them open.
Sands: Beyond the door is the disco room. It's empty, dark, very nice. "Okay, this is it." I turn to Victoria. "Talking about what?" I search for a light switch or something.
Victoria: "You," I let the word drop. I turn around scanning the room. With our vampire vision it really wouldn't matter if Sands found the light switch or not. "Are you a Guardian ?" I ask as if the answer really doesn't matter.
Sands: "No," I tell her. "This way." I lead her over to the old disc jockey table. There are control panels there behind the glass. I start throwing switches. Maybe if I throw enough it'll cause a brown out in the room upstairs. "Why did you talk about me?"
Victoria: I follow him, he's playing this coolly. "Oh, Andre was fishing for details of our morning, and then that awful Cerese came up with her crowd and starting pushing my buttons." I look up and around and see a slight twinkling from the center of the ceiling. "I almost took her head, but Andre interceded."
Sands: "Don't make an enemy of that bitch, love. She's got connections who would go after you." I look at her. "These people here, they network, savvy?"
Victoria: "She came after me," I hopelessly point to my chest for effect. "I don't back down. Not anymore. Besides she had simply awful things to say about you."
Sands: I shrug. Cerese probably told the truth. Victoria is getting a little excited here. "There are ways to eliminate your enemies without anyone knowing it was you," I tell her calmly. "If you really want me to." I might enjoy arranging for Cerese to be dusted. I could force someone else to do it, then that person would have to die, too. I smile at Victoria. "We still need the liquor."
To Be Continued
Sands: In unison Andre and I ask, "A hotel?"
Victoria: I roll my eyes in embarrassment. Obviously a poor suggestion. "Or we could get out of New York?"
Sands: "I'm not trying to avoid these guys. I say, 'Come on, Viscalli, come get me and I'll shoot your . heads off.'" I think of getting away. The first place my mind goes to is Mexico. Hot, lethal Mexico. My kind of place.
Victoria: "Oh I wasn't suggesting we hide." I don't know what to say, so I stop talking. Men can be so frustrating, I think to myself. Sometimes I wish I could just go back home.
Sands: Andre is suddenly all protective of Victoria. "Of course you weren't," he says.
"Good then," I smile. "Let's go dancing."
Victoria: Andre is very kind, I could get to like him very much. I light up when Sands says we can leave. "Good! Where to? I could use a change of scenery."
Sands: Before I can speak, Andre throws some ice water on my plans. "Sheldon," he says in his Mr. Patience voice, "I have two words for you." Okay, he has my attention now. "Nine. Eleven."
"Uh?" I ask, then it hits me. "You're right, of course," I say feeling pretty stupid. They're not going to let us into any really big place with the guns, and I cannot dance with the jacket on, can I? I turn to Victoria. "Maybe we can find a safer place to dance." I have an idea.
Victoria: I look at him curiously. The wheels are turning in his mind. I wonder what surprises he has in store. I learned over a very short time that Sheldon Jeffrey Sands is very resourceful. "Lead the way."
Sands: I grin, taking Victoria's hand and looking from her to Andre. "Don't we still have that disco room from the 70's?"
Andre tilts his head to the side looking thoughtful. "We probably do. It's in the basement somewhere." He waves a hand.
"Let's go see if we can find it." I look back at Victoria. "We had it all set up, just like a club. Even a glitter ball."
Victoria: "What's a glitter ball?" I ask. I'm a little disappointed that he wants to stay in this place. But I know I'll be all right as long as I am with him, so I put the thought to the back of my mind.
Sands: She doesn't know what a glitter ball is? Where has she been hiding? "It's big ball," I demonstrate with my arms, "covered in little pieces of mirror. When you aim a spotlight at it, it sends lights all over the room. You've never seen one?" I look to Andre to back me up on this. He nods. He's looking thoughtful. I don't know if that's good.
Victoria: "That sounds like fun," I reply. "I know you must wonder where I've been hiding to be so naive about so many things." I wrap myself around his arm. "Let's just say I've been keeping a rather low profile."
Sands: Low profile is one thing, she's been in a cave. That damned McLoud. I'll have to hunt him down sometime, find out what is in his fucking head. Maybe empty it for him. Andre interrupts my plans of revenge. "I would imagine Ernest might enjoy a little disco."
"Who is Ernest?" I ask.
Andre raises an aristocratic brow. "My date."
"Oh. Fine. We'll go down and find the place. I think we need to attack the liquor cupboard first, get something to drink." I smile at Victoria. "Want to go thieving with me?"
Victoria: "I'd love to. " Now this sounds like fun. I turn to Andre, "I look forward to meeting Ernest. If he's half the charmer you are, a girl could get herself in over her head." I lightly touch his cheek.
Sands: Shit. Look at Andre lick it up. He's such a pushover. I tuck Victoria's arm into mine and head back down the hall. The wolf pack is still sniffing around. I do not understand why these people, who claim to be so civilized, are prone to staring. I want to snarl at them, but I control myself in front of Victoria, just like I control my tongue. Yeah, control. That's me. Walk and ignore and think of ways to assassinate them one at a time.
We get down to the main floor and we're forced to walk through the damned ballroom again. I hope Victoria doesn't mind all the stares as much as I do.
Victoria: I lean in closers to Sands and whisper softly. "You certainly attract a lot of attention." I feel that weapon against my ribs. Cerese's words run through my mind. "Psychobeauty. . . " I shut out all the stares, but you can still hear the whispers. "Who is that with Sands?" I hear one dark skinned vamp ask the man at her side.
Sands: I look over at Victoria as we walk. She is so elegant, fluid grace, holding herself like royalty. My attention slips past her lovely neck to a mulatto just beyond. Our gazes lock for a moment. I don't feel hatred from her, only curiosity, so I smile just a little. Then we're gone, Victoria and I, passing over the threshold into the side hallway.
I feel a sense of relief as I lead Victoria to the stairwell and we start down. I'm trying to remember exactly where the disco room was. I think it was just one floor down.
Victoria: "I hope I don't have to do that again," I say to break the silence and then I laugh a little. "Things don't change much, do they? Ballrooms are still the best place for intrigue." I tilt my head towards him playfully as we descend to the lower floors. "Why my brother Claude and I used to cause such a stir a social functions. All the women loved him and despised me."
Sands: We step through the doorway. It's dark here. "You must have cut a swath through them," I comment. This floor looks abandoned. I look left and right. "I think it's this way." I head off to the right, her hand in mine. "Right here." I go to the double doors at the end of the hall. If I'm right, we're right below the ballroom now. I open the door.
Victoria: It doesn't look like too many people come down this way anymore. Things are dusty and they don't seem to supply power to this level. I wonder if things are like this further down, where the guardians are for instance. "Sands? Andre and I were talking." We come to a pair of large cherry wood doors. I love the rich, warm tone of cherry wood. They creak a little as Sands pushes them open.
Sands: Beyond the door is the disco room. It's empty, dark, very nice. "Okay, this is it." I turn to Victoria. "Talking about what?" I search for a light switch or something.
Victoria: "You," I let the word drop. I turn around scanning the room. With our vampire vision it really wouldn't matter if Sands found the light switch or not. "Are you a Guardian ?" I ask as if the answer really doesn't matter.
Sands: "No," I tell her. "This way." I lead her over to the old disc jockey table. There are control panels there behind the glass. I start throwing switches. Maybe if I throw enough it'll cause a brown out in the room upstairs. "Why did you talk about me?"
Victoria: I follow him, he's playing this coolly. "Oh, Andre was fishing for details of our morning, and then that awful Cerese came up with her crowd and starting pushing my buttons." I look up and around and see a slight twinkling from the center of the ceiling. "I almost took her head, but Andre interceded."
Sands: "Don't make an enemy of that bitch, love. She's got connections who would go after you." I look at her. "These people here, they network, savvy?"
Victoria: "She came after me," I hopelessly point to my chest for effect. "I don't back down. Not anymore. Besides she had simply awful things to say about you."
Sands: I shrug. Cerese probably told the truth. Victoria is getting a little excited here. "There are ways to eliminate your enemies without anyone knowing it was you," I tell her calmly. "If you really want me to." I might enjoy arranging for Cerese to be dusted. I could force someone else to do it, then that person would have to die, too. I smile at Victoria. "We still need the liquor."
To Be Continued