Insert disclaimer here. Thanks to Queen of the Damned, the movie, for the inspiration. I suppose the club is their property, but I changed several things. Warning for very strong PG 13.
CHAPTER 17
Nick appeared downstairs that night dressed in khaki pants, sweater and his trenchcoat. He was thinking he was looking rather good when Cary sauntered into the room. Nick suddenly felt much underdressed for Cary wore black leather pants, a green turtleneck and motorcycle boots. He topped this with a leather jacket.
"Nick," he started, stating the obvious, "you need to redress."
"Where exactly are we going?" Nick idly thought that it was a good thing his friend was dead as the pants were so tight he wondered how Cary was going to sit. Not that he was looking there but really.
"Surprise, I told you. Change into something different. No khaki. The sweater and overcoat can stay."
Nick did as told and changed into a pair of black jeans which went very well with his blonde hair and he also changed into a blue shirt to match his eyes. Coming downstairs, Cary expressed approval for the change. Once again, Nick wondered about him.
Soon they were cruising down North McCarran to 395 and south down the highway to South McCarran and on their way to Meadowood Mall. Cary parked in the lot and checked his pockets.
"We're going shopping?" Nick asked, incredulous.
"No. We're taking the bus to our destination."
"Why?" asked the blond vampire as they walked toward the southern Citifare hub and sat in a bus shelter.
"Because where we are going, I don't want my car seen. It's a rather hidden place and publicity is verboten."
Nick shrugged and put his hands in his pockets, it was a bit chilly that night. The number one bus soon came along and they got on the nearly deserted vehicle. Again came the eyes checking them out but Cary was seemingly not interested that night.
The bus lumbered its merry way up Virginia Street and stopped downtown at the main bus transfer station—right across the street from the Bowling Center. They got off and sat for a few minutes until another bus showed up and they boarded that bus toward Sun Valley.
Up Virginia Street the bus went until it turned into Sun Valley Drive. They got off the bus just before Gepford Parkway and Cary waited till the bus left and turned down a side street. Halfway down the block, he checked his surroundings and glanced at Nick.
"From here, we fly," he announced taking off in a hurry so no human could see him do it. Nick followed, silently.
After a rather short flight, they arrived at their destination in the middle of no where. There were several ranches around and also some cattle standing in the road. They landed in front of one of these ranches, which looked like a dilapidated farm house. The door was solid though and the bolt and deadlock were brand new.
Cary walked up to the door and knocked twice. A slot opened in the door and was slid back when whoever it was saw them standing there. The means of entry opened and Nick was surprised to hear modern dance music. They got their hands stamped and walked through a narrow hallway with backlights. Then Cary pushed through another door and stood there watching Nick's face. The other was shocked at what he was witnessing.
The club was dark with strobe and multicolored lights everywhere. A bar was along one wall and a stage next to it. A band was playing the music and people were dancing and lounging around on couches. Or rather, not people—vampires. Oh, there were some mortals but they were all zombified looking with visible bite marks on their necks and wrists. Some vampires were actually drinking from these humans, while others were sharing blood with others of their kind. The atmosphere was eerie and Nick did not like it at all.
Cary led the way to a table off the dance floor and a cocktail waitress in pure black rubber came up to them.
"Hey there, handsome. What would you like?"
"I'll take a number 16 and Nick here will have a number 24."
"Alright, sit tight and it'll be right up," she cheerfully told them and left with a wiggle of her butt.
The dark vampire turned to his friend.
"So, what do you think?"
"I don't. What the hell is this place?"
"This Nicolas is a blood bar. We congregate here and the mortals are allowed in only with their hosts. To feast on somebody's donor is considered very rude. If you do want human blood and don't want to kill for it though and won't feast like I did the other day, this is the perfect place. The blood is very fresh here and if you ask prettily enough, the hosts will be glad to share."
The waitress interrupted this and placed two bottles in front of them, with full glasses.
"Here y'all go. One number 16 and one number 24. Enjoy." And she walked off with the same motion.
Nick looked at the glasses and the bottles. "What are these, pray tell?"
"Blood wine. Number 16 is the best human vintage—nice and warm, very fresh. Yours is bovine—also fresh, though I still don't see how you can drink that swill. In Africa I had to drink from a monkey and I thought I would be ill."
"You get used to it," mumbled Nick under his breath. He took a tentative sip and realized Cary was right. It was good. "So, do you ask a lot?" he inquired.
"I don't really. You have to really careful for a lot of these mortal idiots use different drugs that really can get to your system. I remember I drank from one once and was so sick I actually could not drink blood at all. I was really starving then and no one knew what to do."
"So what happened?"
"Helena. She just showed up one night and did a blood drain and voila, sickness gone once I got some of her stronger blood."
Nick shuddered. "A blood drain. I can't even contemplate of such a thing. Wasn't it painful?"
"They are. She's done it more than once," Cary admitted, confirming what Jill had said. "The results though are worth it. Or at least I think it's worth it. If you speak with others, they don't. Dang if I know why, though."
"I've heard through the grapevine that you seem to be a little colder each time," Nick told him, wondering how he would take the news that he knew of these blood drains. Again, he did not reveal his source. A good cop knew that ground rule.
"Really?" Cary said, archly. "Well, maybe it's true. Who knows?"
Nick looked up suddenly for a female vampire dressed in a very short leather mini skirt and off the shoulder sleeveless top came up to them.
"Hi sugar. Long time no see. How have you've been?"
"Fine Darla. And yourself?" asked Cary of the blonde.
"I've been better. Lost my donor to blood loss, too bad. But I've got another, want to share?"
"No thanks, not tonight. Maybe some other night."
Darla came up and put her arms around him and gave him a lingering kiss. Nick could see a bit of blood flowing.
"But why?" she whined to him, teasing. "You know you want too. Your cute friend can share as well. He's clean."
"Maybe later," Cary said, sort of giving in. Nick just indicated his disapproval of the whole situation with a rather Gallic shrug.
"I'll be back. You know you can't get rid of me that easy, Cary." She smirked at him, with a wink.
"A challenge, Darla? You know how I love challenges."
That got a cat that caught the canary grin. Darla gave him another kiss and left them.
"Clean?" Asked Nick, intrigued beside himself.
"The donor, not you," answered Cary. "Some have AIDS or something or are on drugs. She means that he is just probably drunk. It's a good way to get that way. Or, as I said, you can get very ill indeed."
A moment passed as both men sipped their respective blood.
"Why did you bring me here?" Nick inquired a little more harshly than he intended.
"Why not? I told Alex I would bring you here before you left; you are leaving Monday; you're here."
"Is this the only one in town?"
Cary took another sip of his glass, smiled at the taste, and shook his head in a negative fashion.
"Where are the others?"
"Around. A fancy one is in Incline Village, up in Tahoe. It's almost like a spa and is run by a man by the name of Victor Zelling. He's a mortal, believe it or not, but is knowledgeable about us and built us this lodge. He's absolutely off limits blood-wise, but is very witty. He's a New York intellectual, I guess you could say. Very active in Nevada politics."
"That's it?"
"Well, there is a rather seedy one down south toward Carson, but you really don't want to go there. I won't even go there. I went once and once is enough."
"Why didn't I know things like this? I feel really—stupid," Nick admitted. It was hard for him to admit that, but it was true. He felt dim.
"You don't hang around the Community. You are a mortal lover, so you don't keep up with vampiric things. I bet your master knows about them."
Nick grimaced at the thought of LaCroix. He was the one vampire he did not want to see for a long while, though they had been getting along. He laughed out loud, despite himself.
"I bet LaCroix would love to see me in a blood bar. He would really get a kick out of it, in a perverse sort of way."
Cary toyed with his glass, running his finger around the rim.
"You know, his show is syndicated and he has a column in The Vamp Times."
A blink from the blond vampire, who watched a mortal orgasm while being sucked almost dry by a gothic looking girl. She looked at him and gave him an inviting grin. Nick looked away to her disappointment.
"What is The Vamp Times?"
"TVT. Jill works for them. It's the vampire newsletter, sent out on a monthly basis. It's full of news about happenings, promotions, and the like. Jill has a column there and she's the music critic. She's quite the singer, you know."
"No, I didn't."
"That's what she did as mortal. She sang and danced in the chorus and nightclubs. I thought she told you this?"
"I guess it slipped my mind," said the ex-detective absentmindedly. He was watching several illegal activities take place—murder being one of them as a body was carried out, quite obviously dead. He felt ill all of a sudden and very dirty. This was against every rule he knew and all his morals.
Suddenly, a pair of arms wound around his neck. It was the girl who he was looking at earlier. She licked his earlobe and he felt the blood rise and his fangs start to come in, but he controlled it to stop. The girl looked irked, to say the least.
"So, handsome, what's your problem? Don't want to play?" She asked, her eyebrow pierce sparkling in the lights.
"Unfortunately he's not into this scene, Rennie." Cary glanced at a smoldering Nick. "It's really too bad for he could probably have a lot of fun with you."
"Hmm, how about you, gorgeous?"
"I asked first, Rennie." It was Darla returned, looking territorial.
"Girls," began a rather pleased Cary, "please." Nick rolled his eyes. He wondered if this is what everyone had meant by if Cary got too much. The ego and hormones were raging now in his pal. "Now, if you want to play, alright. But Nick is older than us, and he has to drive us home."
Nick took a deep breath, angry as hell. Cary was on the verge of getting very drunk, from the blood and the mortal he drank from earlier. Darla put her arms around him and kissed the tipsy vampire deeply, while Rennie came from behind and began to suck his earlobe. To understate, Nick felt uncomfortable and extremely mad. This was not fun.
Darla by this time was in Cary's lap and he ran a hand under her skirt as she moaned, deepening the kiss. Rennie meanwhile was caressing him all over and touching Darla a little as well. She was slowly making her way down to his neck.
Suddenly, Nick stood.
"I want to go. Now."
Cary looked up—yellow eyed and fanged. He was rather out of it. "Why?"
"It's getting late, sunup soon.
"Sunup is in a few hours, we'll be home soon enough." He leaned his head back as Darla was licking and priming the other side of his neck.
"I want to go. Now, or you can get home by yourself."
"Like I can't?" asked the other, now getting his adreline up.
"No, I don't think you could. Unless of course you want to stay here past sunrise…"
Cary growled but somewhere in his fogged mind he realized the wisdom in that. He peeled both females off. They were understandably put out, but he soothed them by telling them he'd be back next Friday. Another kiss from both of them and Nick and Cary made their way to the front door. Before they left, Cary left the tip for the waitress and paid the bill—in cash, unusual for him but sound.
They took to the air, Nick having to direct Cary at times and back to the bus stop. There Nick lifted Cary's mobile phone and dialed the taxi number he had seen around town. The van like Whittlesea showed up, the driver grinning at what he thought was the two men around town, one drunk.
At Meadowood Mall, Nick bundled a sleepy vampire into his car and drove to the house. He carried him upstairs, took his shoes off and left him rest. Then he got undressed, took a cleansing shower and went to sleep himself.