Canon characters belong to TPTB, not me. The Reno Vamps do belong to me. Warnings here for some harsh language ahead and also some scenes that some might find offensive. Sorry folks, this is just their personalities, it's not me. Well, it is me, but you know what I mean. Rating here might just fall under M for mature if we use video ratings. Me, I still think hard PG13. The MPAA might say R for adult themes and language. Have fun!!!!!!!!
CHAPTER 11
Cary's office, such as it was, was off the foot of the staircase in the octagonal study. There was room to pass from front parlor to keeping room, and then the rest of the room was the office. An odd place in Nick's view, but as Cary rightly pointed out, he did live alone. Off to the side of the plantation desk stood two Martha Washington chairs. The desk faced the windows, obliging Cary to have to turn his chair to the side to look at his visitors, as the chairs were all placed to the right. Directly in back of the office chair was a couple of wingchairs. On the left, on another table looking out of place stood his computer equipment. There was also a copier and a barrister type case, used for files.
Most noticeable were a few items that took Nick's interest. The first was a spectacular three door cherry bookcase. The second was the two cherry rope twisted high back parlor chairs. They had brass finials and ball and claw legs. Nick, knowing a little about furniture, thought it looked like Hunzinger. Rare indeed.
Nick was handed a plain, grey pocketed portfolio while he took a seat in one of the rather uncomfortable Martha Washington chairs. He opened it while Cary took a seat in his rather more comfortable desk chair. Inside the folder were quite a few forms, all in triplicate. He looked up.
"Might as well get started," commented the dark haired vampire, turning on the overhead lights. "Colin should be here in just a few minutes, I called him. After all, as a witness to your signature and who better than an Enforcer, hmm," Cary smiled. "Now, if you open up, you should see the first form is your hunting license...."
"I won't need one of those," Nick told him, rather forcefully.
"I do understand your feelings, Nick, but you still have to prove that you can do it. You don't have to pay for the thing if you don't want it. The cost, by the way, is $2000 a year, in advance..."
"That's quite a lot of money," mused Nick.
"True—but hunting is a privilege in this day and age and we do not want fledglings just going out and killing the population at large, so we try to regulate it. You want to hunt, you pay for it. But first you need to fill out the proper documentation to prove you know how, even if you don't."
Nick sighed, what a bother. He picked up the form and read it over; the first part was mostly standard information with vital stats to fill in about him. Then he looked at the second page and his mouth dropped. He looked up at Cary, incredulous.
"I can't do this. No, moreover, I won't do this." This said rather adamantly.
"We have to know that you know what you are doing."
"I'm 800 years old; I know what I'm doing." Nick angrily shook the paper. "I won't kill."
"Nick..."
"No. LaCroix couldn't get me to do it. You certainly won't."
Cary's turn to sigh. "Just give me a moment and let me figure this out, alright?"
Silence for a few minutes, and then a knock was heard and Colin entered, followed closely on his heels by Alex.
"Cary," greeted the Enforcer, with a nod of his head. "Nick."
Nick nodded acknowledgement as Colin took a seat in one of the wing chairs. He carried an attaché chase. Alex swept the newly transplanted vampire with a disdainful look. Nick wondered at this. The Russian had certainly taken a dislike to him rather quickly—why? He watched as Alex went to sort of half sit on the side of Cary's desk.
"All set?" he asked the brunette vampire, with a smile.
"In a moment. Nick just got the forms, and we were going over them. We seem to be having a problem with the first one." Cary looked away a moment in thought, when Alex brushed a hand through the other's hair. Cary pulled back, to a small but hurt look from Alex.
"What problem?" demanded Colin. This was taking over his Sunday and he had plans.
"Nick won't hunt."
Alex turned to peer down at Nick through his nose. "Why? Don't you know how?"
Now that was snotty, thought Nick. He shrugged.
"I don't kill humans anymore."
Alex was about to say something rather cutting, by the look on his face, but Cary held up a hand to stop him. The auburn haired vampire took it and smiled as he bent over to kiss the hand. Cary gave him a look, shaking his head. Colin looked bored at all of this, but Nick reddened some.
Suddenly a thought struck him with amazing clarity. Alex was jealous of him—because he was staying in this house, with Cary. Astounding. Did Alex have a crush on the handsome vampire, or was it something else... Nick still harbored old Christian biases about this, though they were admittedly slight.
"Look," Cary interrupted his thoughts, "how about this. How about Nick does the planning, but we do the actual killing. No, let me finish. Nick will pick the victim, we kill them, then he disposes of the body, or at least tells us where or how to dispose of the body."
Cary sat back, proud of himself for solving the problem. It was so easy when you thought of it, and you got a free meal. Colin shook his head.
"No, we need to know that he can kill properly," he insisted, folding his arms and getting a rather hard line to his mouth.
"I won't choose either one. As I said, I don't kill humans anymore. Hell, I don't even drink human blood anymore under normal circumstances."
"This is a ridiculous conversation!" exclaimed Alex. He looked down at Cary. "This is something everyone in the Community had to do. Dermo, even I had to do it, and I have perfected my killing skills! So why should this....uebitsch be exempt?"
Nick knew some Russian and this was not very complimentary at all. Uebitsch meant freak—quite the insult indeed. He was about to say something, when he noticed a look come into Cary's eye's. They had turned just a tad golden, not much, but a bit.
"Alex, watch it." He turned to Nick. "Look, just pick someone. Pick the dregs if you want, some criminal, hell I don't care. You don't have to bite, we will do the actual deed and all you have to do is the clean up. We just need to know that you can pick a proper victim if you have to and then get rid of them. Simple. We are vampires, Nick. That's what vampires sometimes do, you know."
Nick shook his head. "So you doubt me that much?"
"No," said Cary, almost pleading. "Look, we know your age. We know you can do it. We know you were taught by one of the best—LaCroix. We respect that, we do. But we need proof. You need to have this signed. If you don't, then the next youngster that comes along will not want to do it and before you know it, we have dead bodies in the street. Bloodless. Then along comes the FBI and the other law agencies and then we risk exposure. Nick, please."
This was as close to begging as Cary had probably ever come. Alex just stared at the blond vampire, something akin to almost hate in his eyes. How dare he cause Cary this? Who did he think he was? No one put his Cary though this, no one.
Nick was torn. He had been in law enforcement, now he was being asked to actively participate in a crime. No matter how you looked at it, it was first degree murder. He looked at the three in the room. Cary looked hurt and Alex looked mad. Colin had an otherworldly look in his eyes, every bit the Enforcer he was. Suddenly, Esme's warnings hit home. Would they actually destroy him over this? He had a feeling Cary did not want too, but he had no qualms about the other two. He wished Janette was here, but he knew what she would tell him.
"Well?" Colin asked hardness to his voice. "We don't have all damned night."
Nick knew defeat when he saw it. Stubbornness was one thing, but he wanted to be around for a while longer. He wouldn't be a martyr to this cause. He looked down, just pick someone and then tell how to...dispose. It sounded so cold, but then, it was.
"I won't have to kill anyone at all? And it is just this one time, right?" he asked, just to make sure of the terms. "I just couldn't do it more than that."
"No," Cary had a definite sound of relief in his voice. "Colin, is this satisfactory?" A nod from the Enforcer. "So," he turned to Alex, "set up a good time."
Alex held his eyes for a long moment. "I have one stipulation." At Cary's quizzical look, he smiled a slow smile. "You do the actual killing."
This caused Colin a raise of his eyebrows and Nick some confusion. Why would he want that? Cary had no conscience about killing; Nick knew that as a fact. Cary even seemed a little put out by the request.
"Why me?" he asked.
"Vicarious thrills. I want to watch you feed, and share."
Cary looked away. If watching a vampire feed was probably one of the more intimate things you could do then sharing the kill was even more personal. Nick looked from one to the other, once more trying to figure out what was going on. Alex's request was the vampire equivalent of a ménage a trois. Colin though, was having none of this. It was with good reason he was an Enforcer—these personal feelings were bull, this was business.
"Alex, seduce him on your own time, not mine. I mean, really, how many years have you been trying this?"
The red-haired vampire turned blue eyes upon him.
"Eternity...I have eternity." He turned back to Cary. "Don't I, mya daraguya?"
The object of this affection looked decidedly uncomfortable. Colin cleared his throat in a gruff manner and Cary looked at him, visibly relieved.
"Next order of business," stated Colin, and it was not a question.
"Ummm, yeah. Next is...flying permits."
Nick was almost amused at how flustered Cary was. Then again, Alex was trying very hard to get him that way. There was a look of pure lust in the Russian's eyes every time he looked at the handsome dark haired vampire. Unique problem, he mused. He reminded himself to ask Esme about it, she seemed knowledgeable.
"Nick?" Cary knocked on his desk to get his attention. "Earth to Nick, are you with us? Good. Next is to get you your flying permit. It should be the next form down."
It was. To Nick's surprise, it was a 50 question test. It covered things like lift, air currents, different aircraft as well as landing procedures and the like. He perused the questions—principles of flight? Navigation? He looked at a sample question and swallowed hard--
A temperature inversion would most likely result in which weather condition? A: Clouds with an extensive vertical development above an inversion aloft. B: Good visibility in the lower levels of the atmosphere and poor visibility above an inversion loft. C: An increase in temperature as the altitude is increased. Correct answer: C
He looked up.
"What is this?" he asked. 800 years of flying and he didn't even know this. Never knew he had to know this.
"Nick," Colin answered him this time, exasperated. "We now have radar, airplanes, aerials, balloons. We have glider pilots and such. Plus the weather can change like lighting here—it could be storming up in Tahoe and scorching in the Valley. You go down to Carson and the weather is different, or even up to Pyramid Lake."
The black haired Enforcer then gave Nick a rare smile.
"Besides, there are only a handful of technical questions. The rest are more or less general knowledge. Things you should know if only by experience. You do fly, don't you?"
Nick conceded this as Cary handed him a pen. It actually had S & G Enterprises written on it, with a phone number—a toll free one. He almost laughed, but really he still had no idea what Cary actually did for a living.
"You want me to take this now?" He asked, realizing why he was handed a pen. At a nod from the others, he shrugged and turned his mind to the test. Colin was right; most of the questions were basic knowledge questions. A few were downright difficult—you needed to go to ground school to learn this. Those made him laugh, earning him a strange look from Colin, who was reading a novel—Tom Clancy. Why did that not surprise him?
He looked over to Cary and raised an eyebrow. Alex had moved behind him to give him a shoulder massage. What surprised Nick was that Cary was allowing this. Again he wondered what the deal here was.
"Too tense," Alex told the other vampire, bending down to Cary's right ear, looking like he was going to nip at it. He didn't though. "You are too tense. Relax."
"Mmmm," moaned Cary, under the ministrations. "Won't work, you know that."
"What, relaxing?" teased Alex, in such a low voice it gave Nick chills. THAT was not the type of voice used between friends.
"No, silly. This. You won't get me into bed, Alex. You know that, don't you?"
He other laughed softly. "As I've told you, love, we have eternity to discuss this. Maybe not now, but who knows a century for now. I can wait that long for you. I don't mind at all." At this, he laid a soft kiss on top of Cary's hair. "I love you," he said, so soft Nick could barely hear. Then again in Russian. "Ya tyebya lyublyu."
Nick finished his test and waved the paper at Cary rather noisily. Two could play this game, and he was not even interested in Cary the way Alex was interested in Cary. They looked up at him and he could feel a smile from Colin.
Cary took the paper, a red marking pencil and went over it rather quickly. He then handed it back.
"Not bad, Nick. You missed 10 questions, most of them technical. You need to get them all correct to pass the written portion of the test."
The blonde's face dropped. "Did I not pass?"
"Not yet, but we give you three chances to do this. The questions are all multiple choices or true/false, so try again." He handed the paper back.
Nick went over it once more. Four missed questions were true/false. The others he took a stab in the dark at. More checking by Cary, with a smirk from Alex. Once more it was handed back, three wrong but process of elimination fixed that and on the third go around he had his perfect score.
"Good, sign here," Cary said pointing to a form that told everyone he passed. Nick did, and then Cary signed, then Colin, then Alex. "Part two is a demonstrative test. We just have to know you can take off and land safely."
Nick snorted at that. This was getting ridiculous. The test was put off till the next day, along with the hunting exam. The next few forms were official forms welcoming him to the Community and his official membership. This the Enforcer took. In fact, Colin had taken one of every form thus far. Then he came to the last form in the package, printed on a piece of parchment. It was not in triplicate, instead there were three separate identical sheets.
"This Nick is a list of rules. These rules are not to be disobeyed under severe penalty which we will get to. First you get to hear the history lesson, so settle back and listen up."
CHAPTER 11
Cary's office, such as it was, was off the foot of the staircase in the octagonal study. There was room to pass from front parlor to keeping room, and then the rest of the room was the office. An odd place in Nick's view, but as Cary rightly pointed out, he did live alone. Off to the side of the plantation desk stood two Martha Washington chairs. The desk faced the windows, obliging Cary to have to turn his chair to the side to look at his visitors, as the chairs were all placed to the right. Directly in back of the office chair was a couple of wingchairs. On the left, on another table looking out of place stood his computer equipment. There was also a copier and a barrister type case, used for files.
Most noticeable were a few items that took Nick's interest. The first was a spectacular three door cherry bookcase. The second was the two cherry rope twisted high back parlor chairs. They had brass finials and ball and claw legs. Nick, knowing a little about furniture, thought it looked like Hunzinger. Rare indeed.
Nick was handed a plain, grey pocketed portfolio while he took a seat in one of the rather uncomfortable Martha Washington chairs. He opened it while Cary took a seat in his rather more comfortable desk chair. Inside the folder were quite a few forms, all in triplicate. He looked up.
"Might as well get started," commented the dark haired vampire, turning on the overhead lights. "Colin should be here in just a few minutes, I called him. After all, as a witness to your signature and who better than an Enforcer, hmm," Cary smiled. "Now, if you open up, you should see the first form is your hunting license...."
"I won't need one of those," Nick told him, rather forcefully.
"I do understand your feelings, Nick, but you still have to prove that you can do it. You don't have to pay for the thing if you don't want it. The cost, by the way, is $2000 a year, in advance..."
"That's quite a lot of money," mused Nick.
"True—but hunting is a privilege in this day and age and we do not want fledglings just going out and killing the population at large, so we try to regulate it. You want to hunt, you pay for it. But first you need to fill out the proper documentation to prove you know how, even if you don't."
Nick sighed, what a bother. He picked up the form and read it over; the first part was mostly standard information with vital stats to fill in about him. Then he looked at the second page and his mouth dropped. He looked up at Cary, incredulous.
"I can't do this. No, moreover, I won't do this." This said rather adamantly.
"We have to know that you know what you are doing."
"I'm 800 years old; I know what I'm doing." Nick angrily shook the paper. "I won't kill."
"Nick..."
"No. LaCroix couldn't get me to do it. You certainly won't."
Cary's turn to sigh. "Just give me a moment and let me figure this out, alright?"
Silence for a few minutes, and then a knock was heard and Colin entered, followed closely on his heels by Alex.
"Cary," greeted the Enforcer, with a nod of his head. "Nick."
Nick nodded acknowledgement as Colin took a seat in one of the wing chairs. He carried an attaché chase. Alex swept the newly transplanted vampire with a disdainful look. Nick wondered at this. The Russian had certainly taken a dislike to him rather quickly—why? He watched as Alex went to sort of half sit on the side of Cary's desk.
"All set?" he asked the brunette vampire, with a smile.
"In a moment. Nick just got the forms, and we were going over them. We seem to be having a problem with the first one." Cary looked away a moment in thought, when Alex brushed a hand through the other's hair. Cary pulled back, to a small but hurt look from Alex.
"What problem?" demanded Colin. This was taking over his Sunday and he had plans.
"Nick won't hunt."
Alex turned to peer down at Nick through his nose. "Why? Don't you know how?"
Now that was snotty, thought Nick. He shrugged.
"I don't kill humans anymore."
Alex was about to say something rather cutting, by the look on his face, but Cary held up a hand to stop him. The auburn haired vampire took it and smiled as he bent over to kiss the hand. Cary gave him a look, shaking his head. Colin looked bored at all of this, but Nick reddened some.
Suddenly a thought struck him with amazing clarity. Alex was jealous of him—because he was staying in this house, with Cary. Astounding. Did Alex have a crush on the handsome vampire, or was it something else... Nick still harbored old Christian biases about this, though they were admittedly slight.
"Look," Cary interrupted his thoughts, "how about this. How about Nick does the planning, but we do the actual killing. No, let me finish. Nick will pick the victim, we kill them, then he disposes of the body, or at least tells us where or how to dispose of the body."
Cary sat back, proud of himself for solving the problem. It was so easy when you thought of it, and you got a free meal. Colin shook his head.
"No, we need to know that he can kill properly," he insisted, folding his arms and getting a rather hard line to his mouth.
"I won't choose either one. As I said, I don't kill humans anymore. Hell, I don't even drink human blood anymore under normal circumstances."
"This is a ridiculous conversation!" exclaimed Alex. He looked down at Cary. "This is something everyone in the Community had to do. Dermo, even I had to do it, and I have perfected my killing skills! So why should this....uebitsch be exempt?"
Nick knew some Russian and this was not very complimentary at all. Uebitsch meant freak—quite the insult indeed. He was about to say something, when he noticed a look come into Cary's eye's. They had turned just a tad golden, not much, but a bit.
"Alex, watch it." He turned to Nick. "Look, just pick someone. Pick the dregs if you want, some criminal, hell I don't care. You don't have to bite, we will do the actual deed and all you have to do is the clean up. We just need to know that you can pick a proper victim if you have to and then get rid of them. Simple. We are vampires, Nick. That's what vampires sometimes do, you know."
Nick shook his head. "So you doubt me that much?"
"No," said Cary, almost pleading. "Look, we know your age. We know you can do it. We know you were taught by one of the best—LaCroix. We respect that, we do. But we need proof. You need to have this signed. If you don't, then the next youngster that comes along will not want to do it and before you know it, we have dead bodies in the street. Bloodless. Then along comes the FBI and the other law agencies and then we risk exposure. Nick, please."
This was as close to begging as Cary had probably ever come. Alex just stared at the blond vampire, something akin to almost hate in his eyes. How dare he cause Cary this? Who did he think he was? No one put his Cary though this, no one.
Nick was torn. He had been in law enforcement, now he was being asked to actively participate in a crime. No matter how you looked at it, it was first degree murder. He looked at the three in the room. Cary looked hurt and Alex looked mad. Colin had an otherworldly look in his eyes, every bit the Enforcer he was. Suddenly, Esme's warnings hit home. Would they actually destroy him over this? He had a feeling Cary did not want too, but he had no qualms about the other two. He wished Janette was here, but he knew what she would tell him.
"Well?" Colin asked hardness to his voice. "We don't have all damned night."
Nick knew defeat when he saw it. Stubbornness was one thing, but he wanted to be around for a while longer. He wouldn't be a martyr to this cause. He looked down, just pick someone and then tell how to...dispose. It sounded so cold, but then, it was.
"I won't have to kill anyone at all? And it is just this one time, right?" he asked, just to make sure of the terms. "I just couldn't do it more than that."
"No," Cary had a definite sound of relief in his voice. "Colin, is this satisfactory?" A nod from the Enforcer. "So," he turned to Alex, "set up a good time."
Alex held his eyes for a long moment. "I have one stipulation." At Cary's quizzical look, he smiled a slow smile. "You do the actual killing."
This caused Colin a raise of his eyebrows and Nick some confusion. Why would he want that? Cary had no conscience about killing; Nick knew that as a fact. Cary even seemed a little put out by the request.
"Why me?" he asked.
"Vicarious thrills. I want to watch you feed, and share."
Cary looked away. If watching a vampire feed was probably one of the more intimate things you could do then sharing the kill was even more personal. Nick looked from one to the other, once more trying to figure out what was going on. Alex's request was the vampire equivalent of a ménage a trois. Colin though, was having none of this. It was with good reason he was an Enforcer—these personal feelings were bull, this was business.
"Alex, seduce him on your own time, not mine. I mean, really, how many years have you been trying this?"
The red-haired vampire turned blue eyes upon him.
"Eternity...I have eternity." He turned back to Cary. "Don't I, mya daraguya?"
The object of this affection looked decidedly uncomfortable. Colin cleared his throat in a gruff manner and Cary looked at him, visibly relieved.
"Next order of business," stated Colin, and it was not a question.
"Ummm, yeah. Next is...flying permits."
Nick was almost amused at how flustered Cary was. Then again, Alex was trying very hard to get him that way. There was a look of pure lust in the Russian's eyes every time he looked at the handsome dark haired vampire. Unique problem, he mused. He reminded himself to ask Esme about it, she seemed knowledgeable.
"Nick?" Cary knocked on his desk to get his attention. "Earth to Nick, are you with us? Good. Next is to get you your flying permit. It should be the next form down."
It was. To Nick's surprise, it was a 50 question test. It covered things like lift, air currents, different aircraft as well as landing procedures and the like. He perused the questions—principles of flight? Navigation? He looked at a sample question and swallowed hard--
A temperature inversion would most likely result in which weather condition? A: Clouds with an extensive vertical development above an inversion aloft. B: Good visibility in the lower levels of the atmosphere and poor visibility above an inversion loft. C: An increase in temperature as the altitude is increased. Correct answer: C
He looked up.
"What is this?" he asked. 800 years of flying and he didn't even know this. Never knew he had to know this.
"Nick," Colin answered him this time, exasperated. "We now have radar, airplanes, aerials, balloons. We have glider pilots and such. Plus the weather can change like lighting here—it could be storming up in Tahoe and scorching in the Valley. You go down to Carson and the weather is different, or even up to Pyramid Lake."
The black haired Enforcer then gave Nick a rare smile.
"Besides, there are only a handful of technical questions. The rest are more or less general knowledge. Things you should know if only by experience. You do fly, don't you?"
Nick conceded this as Cary handed him a pen. It actually had S & G Enterprises written on it, with a phone number—a toll free one. He almost laughed, but really he still had no idea what Cary actually did for a living.
"You want me to take this now?" He asked, realizing why he was handed a pen. At a nod from the others, he shrugged and turned his mind to the test. Colin was right; most of the questions were basic knowledge questions. A few were downright difficult—you needed to go to ground school to learn this. Those made him laugh, earning him a strange look from Colin, who was reading a novel—Tom Clancy. Why did that not surprise him?
He looked over to Cary and raised an eyebrow. Alex had moved behind him to give him a shoulder massage. What surprised Nick was that Cary was allowing this. Again he wondered what the deal here was.
"Too tense," Alex told the other vampire, bending down to Cary's right ear, looking like he was going to nip at it. He didn't though. "You are too tense. Relax."
"Mmmm," moaned Cary, under the ministrations. "Won't work, you know that."
"What, relaxing?" teased Alex, in such a low voice it gave Nick chills. THAT was not the type of voice used between friends.
"No, silly. This. You won't get me into bed, Alex. You know that, don't you?"
He other laughed softly. "As I've told you, love, we have eternity to discuss this. Maybe not now, but who knows a century for now. I can wait that long for you. I don't mind at all." At this, he laid a soft kiss on top of Cary's hair. "I love you," he said, so soft Nick could barely hear. Then again in Russian. "Ya tyebya lyublyu."
Nick finished his test and waved the paper at Cary rather noisily. Two could play this game, and he was not even interested in Cary the way Alex was interested in Cary. They looked up at him and he could feel a smile from Colin.
Cary took the paper, a red marking pencil and went over it rather quickly. He then handed it back.
"Not bad, Nick. You missed 10 questions, most of them technical. You need to get them all correct to pass the written portion of the test."
The blonde's face dropped. "Did I not pass?"
"Not yet, but we give you three chances to do this. The questions are all multiple choices or true/false, so try again." He handed the paper back.
Nick went over it once more. Four missed questions were true/false. The others he took a stab in the dark at. More checking by Cary, with a smirk from Alex. Once more it was handed back, three wrong but process of elimination fixed that and on the third go around he had his perfect score.
"Good, sign here," Cary said pointing to a form that told everyone he passed. Nick did, and then Cary signed, then Colin, then Alex. "Part two is a demonstrative test. We just have to know you can take off and land safely."
Nick snorted at that. This was getting ridiculous. The test was put off till the next day, along with the hunting exam. The next few forms were official forms welcoming him to the Community and his official membership. This the Enforcer took. In fact, Colin had taken one of every form thus far. Then he came to the last form in the package, printed on a piece of parchment. It was not in triplicate, instead there were three separate identical sheets.
"This Nick is a list of rules. These rules are not to be disobeyed under severe penalty which we will get to. First you get to hear the history lesson, so settle back and listen up."