About fifteen minutes later the others woke up and Molochai started driving out to the tiny town of Missing Mile, eager to finish what he started. In the back, Nothing made Charley take another hit of acid. She did gladly. This would probably be the last drug she ever took anyway. There were five bite marks on her, or at least that she could find. One on her inner thigh, on her right breast, in the crook of her elbow, on the left side of her neck and one right beneath her chest on her rib cage. They were still oozing blood. From out of her bag she pulled out a tight black turtleneck shirt and loose black pants. Slipping them on she combed her hair and put on fair layer of black eyeliner. It seemed all they had were sweets. Ho-Ho's, Twinkies, Bologna, McDonald's fries, beer, wine, half rotted chocolates. It went on. Not that she was complaining; she loved fat foods. The beer was cheap though. Laughing and playfully swatting each other they sped down the highway, often crossing the line and swerving. If Charley hadn't been so damn busy with the shit she'd have loved doing this all the time.
Hours later, around 3:00 they arrived at the tiny town. They pulled over in front of a dark store called the Whirling Disk and shut off the engine. Sleepily they curled up together on the mattress, clutching each other, the girl and the three vampires, too tired from spending all night driving to kiss and bites. Smiling slightly Charley fell into a heavy slumber, quite drunk, warm between Twig and Molochai, their hands held over her waist.
All too soon Charley was shaken awake to a clear, cold dawn. Blinking sleepily the girl opened her mouth to complain about getting only four hours of sleep but was abruptly stopped. Nothing's hot mouth captured her own, still tasting morning and old beer, tongue silencing her. He was knelt above her, straddling her hips, keeping her still.
Not quite used to being seduced first thing in the morning the girl lay there, wondering what she should do. Molochai and Twig were curled up together, the latter sucking the others fingers. Nothing pulled away, smiled and put a finger to her lips then to his. Crawling off he slipped on his shoes and grabbed his jacket. The sun had risen fully outside and the van had heated considerably.
Pulling on her black tennis shoes Charley yawned quietly and crept over the two like a spider towards the door. Quietly Nothing opened the door, wincing at the slight grating noise, glancing over to the vampires. They slept soundly, oblivious.
Charley choked a pained yell as she came out to extreme brightness. Nothing shut the door behind them. Shielding her eyes she dug about in her jacket for her sunglasses, cursing loudly. Nothing had been smart enough to put his own round glasses on before going out and smirked at her. Slinging her bag over her shoulder Charley grumbled and looked about.
The town of Missing Mile was ridiculously small to the casino-fed girl. She had grown up in the middle of the biggest gambling city in America, besides Vegas. So many times she had to walk through downtown as a five-year-old, dodging prostitutes and choking on the exhaust of cars just to get home. The sky was always stained red or green from the filth and the sunsets were even bloodier, setting behind jagged giant mountains. There was never any green, just brown dirt and shrubs, gray concrete and cold metal bars to peer through from kindergarten windows.
There was nothing to prepare her for this. It was green, green and more green. There were pines, kudzu, blackberry bushes and more than she could name. The sky seemed so much clearer, the clouds more fluffed and bouncy. For a moment Charley stared through the black lens of her glasses at all she felt she must have missed when she was younger. This was…beyond gorgeous. Even though the town was tiny compared to even the ghetto of downtown. There were mysterious little shops and boarded up stores. The sun had warmed the dew on the rich grass and hung in the air, making the shattered glass from a beer bottle glitter and shine.
"Why did we leave?" Charley asked absently, still enthralled with the back round. Nothing looked up at her, being shorter by an inch. His eyes were dark and troubled, reflecting some yearning that Charley couldn't understand.
"They wanted to kill you…tonight. The only reason they agreed to drive you here was because I told them they could," he explained lowly, seeming very ashamed. Charley started and shrank back. Superstitions about unbelievable strength came into her head.
"You wanna kill me? I thought"
"But! But I'm going to take you to Ghost and tell them you got away. They won't be too pissed. There are others out there," he continued soothingly. The girl felt a bit better but she wasn't sure about the last one. She was grateful that she wasn't going to die but the fact that others would dampened that ease.
"Ghost? Who's Ghost? What can he do to help me"
"I'm not exactly sure. I just got a feeling that he might help you with this," Nothing answered as they kept walking down the street, thoughtfully. Making their way toward the outskirts of the town, toward Burnt Church Road. It was a long walk but the day was warm and moist in a comfortable way, like a light blanket. There were plenty of old houses, with gardens and rusted swings in porches, overgrown gardens.
Soon they came upon an old sturdy house that was set before a Civil war cemetery. The windows seemed to be hooded with curtains like peering eyes, one of the boarded shutters hanging loosely.
At the gravel driveway Nothing stopped abruptly, looking up at the house with a loving but trepid filled face. Charley looked back at him, halfway up the driveway, worried and curious. Nothing shook his head sadly.
"This is as far as I go. If I go up there they'll kill me…or at least Steve will," he said with a bitter half smile. "Just tell them that I sent you. Ghost'll help"
Charley stared at him, totally worried and yet thankful. With a sad tiny smile she nodded.
"Okay, thank you for everything. I could never have gotten here without you," she answered quietly, coming back down the driveway. Taking Nothing's cold hands in her own she brought them up to her lips and kissed the tips. Then she leaned over and kissed him sweetly.
"Thank you"
The young vampire watched her as she headed up the driveway and up the stairs, turning once to wave good-bye. He smiled slightly, sad that he couldn't join her in going up the stairs and sad to see her leave. Sure, he knew she would grow old because she was human but it would've been nice to spend the short time with her. Oh well, this was for the best. He would have to get used to only the company of his species.
On the threshold of the door was a red triangle and a blue triangle interlocking to form a six pointed star. Charley paused at this, eyeing it warily. She turned to look at Nothing again only to find that he was gone. Swallowing a lump in her throat she came closer to the door, the floor sinking a bit and nearly knocked. She held back at the last moment and pulled back. What if he couldn't help? She'd have to see.
Gathering her nerves Charley rapped on the door and nearly bolted when she heard a loud, sleepy voice inside yell 'What the fuck?' A few minutes later she heard stumbling from inside and a mumbling voice, rough and golden with beer and sleepiness. Several locks clicked and the door swung open on its rusty hinges.
Standing there was what Charley thought at first to be a scarecrow. But then she realized that it was a man, a lean tall man. Long tangled hair the color of a raven's wing hung in front of dark eyes, glittering with melancholy and sadness. He wore no shirt, exposing his lean muscled chest, sporting tiny sparse hairs and a trail leading to the belt of his dirty jeans. He looked a bit hollow, as if he had been living off of beer and weed, as if he hadn't noticed his bad five o'clock shadow.
The man looked startled, obviously not expecting a young woman to be standing there, looking quite terrified. He shifted uneasily, aware of his filthy state, rubbing his scratchy little beard.
"Uh, Ghost?" Charley muttered, afraid of being wrong or being in trouble for her affiliation with Nothing. The man blinked at her in surprise then stammered.
"Erm, no. He-he's inside," he answered a bit dimly as he opened the door for her to enter. With a small smile Charley stepped in, breathing out a bit of her stress. The jumble of décor-obscure, lovely jazz and acid rock posters, religious samplers, a bookshelf with volume after volume of herbal lore cheek by jowl with things like Kerouac, Ellison, Bradbury-met her eyes. Their was an old couch, piled with dirty clothes and a litter of beer cans and bottles. It smelled of the laundry and beer actually with the sweet smell of pancakes baking. Underneath it all was the bittersweet smell of roses and blood.
"Who was it, Steve?" a far more sweet and gentle voice called from the kitchen. Another man came out from the kitchen, bearing a plate stacked high with banana pancakes. Ghost, Charley supposed, stopped and stared at her with pale blue eyes that seemed like true windows to his soul. He had rather long white gold hair and pale skin. He bore the look of a caring sweet person, looking a bit frail and spacey. But there was a beauty to him, like a white rose, fragile and lovely. He wore a loose gray t-shirt and long black sweats, his bare toes peeping out of his slack pants.
Blinking twice his eyes glazed over as he limply let the hand holding the pancakes fall. Luckily Steve was close enough to catch it. Charley gave a gasp as the plate fell, and looked on in concern. Had she done anything wrong? Steve merely rolled his eyes and set the plate down on the table. Ghost swayed a bit, his eyes seeing nothing except a horrid image from the girls mind.
A morgue, cold, bright and sterilized. There, lined up in front of the metal drawers, filled with deceased corpses waiting for burial, were four carts, half hidden under plastic sheets. Ghost felt himself in Charley's body as she walked toward the carts, legs shaking and heart clenching, tears already streaming.
Coming upon the first cart he reached out and lightly touched the sheet, causing it to slip off the body. The body's lips were stretched thin over teeth like chips of ivory. A half dried trickle of blood ran from the corner of the mouth. The organs were withered like dried, gray water skins, hanging from a hollow ribcage, visible through the transparent skin. Thin sparse hair the color of fire clung weakly to the dried scalp. The eyes were too dried and shrunken to tell the color. But he could tell that it was a young girl. Sister, the thought rang in his head. A bloody murder scream erupted from her throat.
When Ghost came to from the vision Steve and Charley were staring, the latter very worried. He took a shaky deep breath and blew it out, leaning on the wall, pressing his forehead to the plaster.
"Charley…"
The girl jumped at the mention of her name. How had he known that? What the hell? Who was this guy? Steve looked on, a bit amused but concerned for his friend. These two seemed to share a great love that Charley couldn't fathom.
"You've seen them, haven't you? The twins?" Ghost continued weakly, as if saying all of this made him sick, weary. She eyed him warily, her chocolate eyes switching now and again to Steve. Slowly she nodded sadly.
"Yeah, I have. They killed my family. A friend of yours, Nothing, said you could help me," She answered in a very melancholic way. Something in this house made her remember things, things she thought she had forgotten. Things from when she was happy, before the divorce and the mysterious disappearance of her father. Her little sister and brother, her world, the only people that kept her life sane. Her mother she couldn't stand, her hypocrite, judgmental mother. Father? Oh, he was a drug addict and a seller. He disappeared after leaving to a sale. But her siblings, her life, were the only things she kept going for, kept care of. And they were gone…all gone.
Charley didn't realize that Steve had begun fuming at the name of Nothing or that Ghost had sat at the table and was now staring dimly at the wall, watching her memories as they flew through her mind. All she knew was that all that forgotten joys and the realization that it was all gone once again hit her. Sadness gripped her heart even though Ghost's soothing mind tried to calm her.
Before she knew it the girl fainted and crumbled to the ground.