10/31/05

THOSE WHO HUNT THE NIGHT

Chapter 7

Leaving the Wal-Mart, I returned to the SUV, which I had parked at the very back of the parking lot. Nick was still unconscious in the passenger seat. Thankfully no one seemed to have taken note of the half-naked, bloody man passed out in the front seat of the vehicle and called the police.

I dumped everything I had purchased onto the back seat, except for the sleeping bag. This, I unzipped and wrapped around Nick, who was shivering visibly, despite the fact that I had the heat cranked up. Checking his pulse, to make sure he was still doing alright, I found his heart rate slightly erratic, but strong.

I climbed back in the SUV and headed for the highway. Merging onto Interstate 95, I headed northwest, away from the city. But I had only gone a few miles before I saw a sign telling me there was a rest area ahead. I pulled off the highway when I reached it.

As it was around 3 in the morning, the rest area was deserted, just as I had anticipated. Once again, I parked in an out of the way spot. Turning the overhead, dome light on, I turned to Nick. With some difficulty, I managed to rouse him. He blinked at me groggily. I reached around to the back and pulled out one of the bottles of Pedia-Lite. I opened it and handed it to him, telling him to drink.

While he dutifully sipped from the bottle, I produced the bandages and antiseptic. As gently as I could, I cleaned the wound on his neck, using a section of cloth torn from my blouse. He hissed loudly and grimaced as the antiseptic made contact with the open wound. I taped a large bandage over the wound and repeated the procedure with the cut on his temple.

Taking out the small flashlight I carried in my purse, I ordered Nick to hold still, while I shined the light into his right eye. The pupil reacted to the light, but contracted rather sluggishly. I moved the light to his left eye. The hugely dilated left pupil did not react at all. As I had suspected, he was concussed.

With my admittedly miniscule medical knowledge now exhausted, I pulled the sleeping bag back up to cover him and said, "I'm going in to the restroom for a few minutes. I'll be right back. You stay awake and keep drinking."

Grabbing the jeans and one of the sweatshirts from the back, I climbed out of the vehicle and headed for the small, brick building. In the women's bathroom, I changed into the new clothes. I also took the opportunity to wash the blood off and make myself a little more presentable. The wounds on my neck and lower chest were already starting to heal over.

I took my bloody suit and stuffed it into the trash can as I headed out of the bathroom. Back outside, I quickly noticed that a blue pick-up truck, with a matching cap attached to the bed, had entered the lot and was now parked right beside my SUV. I was instantly on my guard. I mean, the entire parking lot was empty, why would someone park right beside my vehicle way in the back?

Sure enough, as I approached the two vehicles, two burly men in jeans and baseball caps stepped out of the shadows and began walking towards me. They were both tall and beefy, with unshaved faces and greasy hair. As they moved closer, I could smell the sweat and stale beer on them.

"Well, hello there, Darlin'," one of the men called to me. He was wearing a tan Carhartt jacket and had a huge silver belt buckle. "What's a pretty, little lady like you doing out in the middle of nowhere all by yourself?"

"I'm not alone," I said calmly.

"Yeah, but your boyfriend doesn't look too good. I don't think he's going to be of much help to you."

I glanced past Bubba to the SUV and saw that, just as he'd said, Nick had fallen back to sleep. He appeared to be oblivious to the world. I wasn't concerned. I didn't really need his help anyway. I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself. In fact, I was rather glad that Nick wouldn't witness what I was planning to do. After all, I had lost a fair amount of blood as well.

Turning my attention back to the two men before me, I crossed my arms over my chest and looked at them calmly. "And what would I need his help for?" I asked.

"Well, my friend and I are looking to have a little party. We think you're going to join us."

"And if I don't want to join your party?"

"I'm not asking you, Sweetheart, I'm telling you," the man said, a nasty leer crossing his face. "So, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. How much pain is involved is entirely up to you."

"Oh, I'll cooperate. Please, don't hurt me," I said, in a mock simpering tone.

He continued to leer at me, oblivious to my sarcasm then glanced over his shoulder to his buddy who was still standing a few feet behind him.

"You keep an eye on the boyfriend. If he wakes up, take him out. You can have your turn when I'm done," the first man said.

Grumbling somewhat at this arrangement, the second man, who was wearing a dark green, down vest and a camouflage cap, headed back to stand beside the vehicles. I watched him for a few minutes. If either Bubba, here, or his buddy, Uncle Ted, made a single move to hurt Nick, there would be hell to pay. Granted, I had decided these two men were going to die, the minute they'd made it clear they wanted to rape me, but, as Bubba had already stated, we could do this easy way or the hard way.

I turned my attention back to Bubba as he started toward me. I forced myself not to back away in revulsion from the pungent smell of his body odor. Stepping up close, he reached a hand out toward my chest. But before that hand could make contact with flesh, I grabbed it and squeezed with all my strength. I heard several faint popping sounds as I snapped all four of his fingers and crushed a few small bones in his hand.

He started to howl in pain, but I cut his cries off short as I jerked him closer and sank my teeth into his neck. It took less than fifteen minutes to drain him. With a satisfied sigh, I let his body slump to the pavement and wiped my mouth with one hand. Oh, yes, that was much better. I felt much stronger now, definitely ready to deal with Uncle Ted.

As I approached the second man, he looked up from contemplating his boots. He seemed surprised to find me standing so close to him. We vampires can move very quietly when we choose to. I smiled at him invitingly. He didn't seem convinced. He tried to look around me for his partner.

"H-hey, what happened to Vince?" he stammered, apparently unnerved by bloody my smile. I can't imagine why.

"I think I wore him out," I said innocently. "And now it's your turn."

Using my inhumanly fast reflexes, I grabbed the back of the man's head and slammed it down on the hood of the pick-up. The camouflage cap went flying into the scrub brush nearby. I let his body slither down the side of the truck and flop onto the ground. Bending down, I checked his pulse. It was still strong. Good, I had plans for him later.

I checked his pockets for the keys to the truck, but didn't find them. Evidently Bubba had been the one driving. Walking back over to the large body of the first man, I found the keys in the pocket of his Carhartt. I noted the metal key chain was in the shape of a well-endowed naked woman and an equally well-endowed, naked man in a very sexually suggestive position and if you pulled on a lever on the side, the two people moved on a hinge and appeared to be having sex... Oh, yes, our Bubba was classy one. I can't imagine why it was that he couldn't seem to find a woman without ambushing her in a deserted rest area.

Returning to the truck, I unlocked it and looked inside. There were a couple of toolboxes and other junk stowed behind the bench seat. Rummaging around, I found a length of strong, nylon twine, which was perfect for my plans. Pulling the twine out, I used it to securely bind Uncle Ted then I picked him up and carried him around to the back of the truck. Unlocking the door of the cap, I dumped him into the bed of the truck then closed and locked the door again.

After transferring my stuff into the pick-up truck, I once again roused Nick and helped him climb inside. He still had the sleeping bag wrapped around him and he suddenly looked very young, like a small child, grumpy from having their nap interrupted. After I got him settled on the passenger side, I moved around and climbed in behind the wheel.

Looking around him in dazed confusion, Nick asked, "What's going on? Where are we going? And what stinks?"

It was then, that I too noticed that the truck smelled strongly of sweat, cigarette smoke, stale beer and wet dog.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it, just roll your window down a little," I said, concentrating on this last question and ignoring his previous two.

He pressed the back of one hand to his mouth. "I think I'm going to be sick," he whispered.

"No, you're not," I said firmly. "Here, just lie down."

I grasped the back of his neck and pulled him down to lie on his side across the bench seat, his head resting against my leg. Within minutes, he was asleep again. Starting the truck, I left the rest area, merging onto I-95 again. I continued on, heading northwest. I had no real plan. I was just making it up as I went along. I just wanted to get away from the scene, to find a quiet, out-of-the-way place where I could think and decide what I was going to do next.

I had messed up so badly. I had left Vero's body at Nick's house. I should have destroyed the body. I should have burned it and the entire house. That was how I usually dealt with the bodies. That way, even if the body was recovered and wasn't completely consumed by the fire, it would be compromised enough not to leave any real evidence of vampires. But there hadn't been time and I had been too busy worrying about Nick, that I hadn't done my job properly. And now the top crime lab in the country had the body of a vampire in their morgue.

I am such an idiot! I silently berated myself. What the hell is the matter with me? I should have torched the house, gotten Nick out of there and left him for the police to deal with. But no, I had taken him with me! What the hell was I thinking?

I glanced down at the man in question, still sleeping against my leg, and almost of its own volition, my hand reached down to stroke the dark, silky head. He stirred slightly at my touch and mumbled something unintelligible. I pulled the sleeping bag back up from where it had slipped a bit, exposing one bare shoulder. I heaved a resigned sigh, acknowledging to myself that if I had had the opportunity to do the fight over again, I still would have taken Nick with me.

I don't know how long I drove, but we were now passing the Area 51 military site. I had passed a couple of highway patrol cars, but so far, they hadn't shown any interest in me. Hopefully they were still looking for a black SUV.

We had almost passed by Area 51, when I began to see signs for Lee Canyon Ski Area. Also seeing signs telling me that the junction for Highway 157 was approaching, which, according to my little GPS unit, would take me up to Charleston Peak, I decided to head that way. Exiting off the freeway, I got onto the almost deserted, two-lane highway, now headed somewhat south and west, into the mountains that had previously been on my left.

The temperature dropped steadily as the car climbed into the higher elevations. By dawn, we were well into the mountains and I saw a road sign advertising cabins which could be rented at a resort just off the highway some miles ahead. Deciding this was as good as any place to stop for a while, I pulled off the highway when I reached the exit and followed the road to the large resort. It was late morning by the time we arrived at the large, multi-story building, which stood against a backdrop of trees and low mountains.

As it was mid-week and still early in the season, too early for skiing at any rate, there were very few cars in the resort's parking lot. Continuing past the resort, I came to the small, cinderblock building that was evidently where one went to rent one of the cabins. It only took me a few minutes to secure a cabin for the next couple of days. I had rented it using a fake name and ID, one of many I had stashed in my purse.

I had requested the most secluded cabin they had and the blue-haired, grandmother-type behind the counter had glanced out the large window at the front of the office and had apparently caught sight of Nick still sleeping in the cab, his head resting against the window of the truck. She looked back at me with a cheeky grin and a wink and said that she had just thing for me. She slid a key across the counter to me and I saw that it bore a small, wooden plaque, with the words 'CABIN 12' carved into it. She also gave me a map of the resort area, which showed the many hiking/biking/cross-country ski trails.

"If you two manage to squeeze in a little hiking time, that is," Grandma said, with another too-familiar grin. Glancing out at Nick again, she added, "Although he looks pretty worn out already."

I forced a smile, took the key and the map, and returned to the truck. The cabin we had been assigned to was at the very end of the long dirt road and was set well back from it, nestled cozily among the trees. It was a small, wood-shingled structure, with a deep front porch and a stone chimney along one side. Parking the truck at the rear of the cabin, I climbed out and let myself in the back door.

Inside, it was simply one large room. There was a kitchenette area, a dining area and seating area, which included a large, stone fireplace, already well-stocked with wood, but everything was completely open. Just past the kitchenette area, was a staircase which led up to a loft where there was an open bedroom. Just past the staircase was a small bathroom. The cabin was clean and neat, if a bit Spartan.

Returning to the truck, I roused Nick and helped him inside. He was still confused and groggy, but too weak and nauseated to protest much. I settled him on the couch then brought the rest of the things from the truck inside. I left Uncle Ted tied up in the bed of the truck. A few hours earlier, he had regained consciousness and had started making a lot of noise. Worried that he would wake Nick, I had pulled of the road and silenced him. I had drunk just enough of his blood to put him out for an extended nap. I didn't want to kill him, just yet. Hopefully I would be needing him later.

Back inside the cabin, I busied myself starting a fire. It was rather chilly in the cabin and I didn't want Nick getting ill on top of the blood loss and concussion. He sat on the couch, wrapped in the sleeping bag and watched me silently. Once I had a cheerful little fire going, I went to the kitchen area and took out a bottle of orange juice from the small refrigerator and returned to the couch. I handed the bottle to Nick. He accepted it without comment. I sat down on the thick, brown rug in front of the couch and we stared at each other for a long time.

Finally, Nick asked, "Why did you bring me here?"

"I don't really know," I answered, which of course, wasn't entirely true.

"Why didn't you just kill me back at my house?"

I didn't answer right away. That was, of course, exactly what I should have done. Nick had seen too much, according to Vampire Law, I shouldn't have let him live.

"Because I don't want you dead," I finally said, which I realized, was the whole truth.

"What are you and Vero?"

"What do you think we are?"

He didn't answer. He just turned away to stare into the fire. He knew what we were. He was an intelligent man and, as much as he wanted to deny it, he'd seen the evidence with his own eyes. He just couldn't bring himself to say the word: vampire.

"What are you going to do with me?" he whispered, still staring at the flames.

"I don't know. That depends on you."

He turned to look at me. "What does that mean?"

"I want you to join me."

"I don't understand... You want me to... become like you?"

"Yes."

He looked away again, towards the fire. I saw that he was chewing his lower lip and he was twisting the edge of the sleeping bag between slightly shaking fingers. I wanted to reach up and pull him into my arms, to stroke his head and comfort him, but I knew he would only push me away.

After several minutes of this uncomfortable silence, I finally scooted closer to the couch and placed my hands on his thighs. I felt his body tense at my touch, but he didn't pull away. Granted, he still wouldn't look at me either.

"It's not so bad, Nick," I said softly. "You would never grow old. You would never get sick again. You would be young and beautiful forever. You'd be stronger and faster than you've ever been. You'd be free of society's constraints and rules. You'd be completely free. And you would never have to face death again."

With these last words, he finally looked at me. His dark eyes were pained and slightly haunted. "But you are dead, Mercy," he whispered.

"Do I look dead to you?" I asked. Reaching under the sleeping bag, I slid my hand up his stomach and pressed it flat against his bare chest. I could feel the rapid rhythm of his heart just beneath my palm. "Do I feel dead to you? Did I seem dead to you when I made love to you?"

What little color remained in his face, drained away at these words and he turned away from me with a slightly strangled sob. His entire body was shaking now. Unable to stand it any longer, I moved to sit on the couch beside him and pulled him into my arms. He did try to resist, but even in daylight, I was stronger than him at that moment and I held him tight. After a minute or two, he gave up and sagged against me, breathing heavily and still trembling.

I held him for a long time and gradually he calmed. "I know what you've been through, Nick," I said, stroking his hair. "I know that you've faced death before and I know that it frightens you. If you join me, you won't have to fear it anymore. It won't be able to touch you."

"But you can die, Mercy, I know you can. I saw you kill Vero," he pointed out, his voice slightly muffled against my shoulder.

"Yes, we can fade, but in Vero's case, he deserved to be executed. He was an animal and he was drawing too much attention on himself and us. You wouldn't do that. I'll help you with your transition and I won't let anything happen to you."

"What about my family and friends?" he asked quietly.

"You won't need them anymore. You'll have a whole new family."

He pulled away from me and sat up, looking at me in distress. "I can't just walk away from them! My family and my friends were there for me when I needed them most. I can't just forget that and turn my back on them."

"You won't have to," I said quickly. "You could still have contact with them. You would just have to be careful and gradually, you'll find that you don't need them anymore."

"That's not acceptable. I want to need them. They're part of me."

"Okay, okay, I'm sure we could work something out," I said, rubbing his chest soothingly. I was so close. He was listening to me, he was considering my offer. I didn't want anything negative to disturb his thoughts. Once he became a vampire, he would feel differently. Once he had drunk human blood, he would naturally find his dependence on human contact lessening. He would begin to think of them as prey and he would begin to seek companionship among his own kind. It was the natural progression.

"Do I have to kill?" he asked quietly.

Damn it, I swore silently, I was really hoping to avoid this question for a while longer. "Well, eventually, no, you won't have to," I said, vaguely.

"What do you mean by 'eventually'?"

I sighed. Okay, fine, I wasn't going to lie to him. "After the initial exchange of blood, you have to drain your first victim. I don't really know why, but if you don't kill the first victim, for some reason the transformation doesn't 'take'. Without the completed transformation, my blood will become a poison to you and you will die. You have to kill your first victim. After that, you don't have to, but Fledglings require much more blood than those of us who are older. And, while we don't have to kill... we like to. It takes Fledglings a while to learn to control this desire and their Hunger. Deaths are fairly common for the first few years."

Seeing the growing expression of horror on his face, I quickly continued, "But I'm sure you'll learn quickly, Nick. You already have a great deal of control over yourself. A few initial deaths and I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Oh, just a few deaths... is that all?" he whispered, looking stricken.

"Yes, but you can choose the victim. You don't have to randomly attack whoever comes your way. You can pick the low-lifes of the world, those who actually do deserve to die. Does that really hurt society? Think of us as tools of evolution. We weed out the bad blood."

"Who gave you the right to appoint yourself judge, jury and executioner?"

"God did! Or the devil, I haven't decided which," I snapped, standing abruptly and beginning to pace. "And really, it's the same difference either way. After all, Lucifer was an angel once, just another one of God's creations. Maybe God wanted there to be evil in the world, give you humans something to strive against. If ya'll had it too good, you'd just get fat and lazy. And then again, maybe we're doing God's work, taking out the bad element. Maybe we're really Angels of Death... or Angels of Vengeance.

"Tell me the truth, Nick, can you honestly tell me that if Walter Gordon was standing right here, in this room, you wouldn't want to rip his throat out?"

"It's not my place to decide his fate," Nick whispered, although there wasn't much conviction behind his words.

"Oh, please, he buried you alive! He left you to die, slowly and horribly, or to force you to take your own life. Who better than you to decide his fate? Or the fates of those just like him?"

Nick looked away, his eyes troubled. But I could see that he was considering my words. I was starting to wear him down.

I moved to kneel in front of him again, my hands resting on his thighs. "We could do this tonight," I said softly. "I have a First already picked out for you. He's in the back of the truck."

"What?" Nick asked, looking up at me, dazed.

"When we stopped at the rest area, he and his buddy threatened to rape me. They were pretty confident of themselves. I'm sure I'm not the first woman they threatened. They just didn't know who they were dealing with this time, but I'm sure they carried out their threats on the other women. His friend won't be hurting anyone anymore, I saw to that. But this one doesn't deserve to live either."

"Wait a minute," Nick whispered, "you're telling me, that you kidnapped someone for me to kill?"

"He's a rapist, Nick, he deserves his fate."

"According to you..."

"I'm sure every woman he has raped would agree with me."

Nick shook his head slightly, frowning, obviously trying to comprehend what I was telling him. He was trembling again and after a minute or two, he brought a shaking hand up to his mouth. "I think I'm going to be sick," he whispered.

Throwing the sleeping bag aside, he stood unsteadily and looked around. I pointed toward the bathroom and he quickly disappeared inside, closing the door behind him. I sat heavily on the couch and sighed. I had screwed up. I had jumped the gun and told him about Uncle Ted too soon, but I had thought I was getting through to him. I just hoped my mistake wouldn't be irreversible. I could always force Nick to accept The Gift, but there were a lot of dangers with that option and I wasn't sure I could face them.

When he emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, he was looking a little less green, but still quite pale. He just stood staring at me for a long moment, his arms wrapped protectively around himself. He was still shaking visibly and was unsteady on his feet.

"Nick, come here and sit down before you collapse," I said gently, patting the cushion beside me.

Reluctantly, he crossed the room and sat down. He allowed me to wrap the sleeping bag around him again. I picked up the orange juice, from where he had set it on the floor, and handed it to him. He accepted the bottle and took a long drink.

"I can't do this," he said after a moment. "My father is a state Supreme Court Justice, my mother is a lawyer. I work for the police department. Everything you're saying goes against everything I have been raised to believe. No one man has the right to sit in judgment over another. I cannot accept what you're offering me."

I sighed and nodded. I needed to think, to get some fresh air. I needed to figure out a way to get him to change his mind.

"I'm going for a walk," I said, abruptly standing. "You should get some more sleep. Drink some more of that orange juice first. Oh, and there's no phone in the cabin. I wouldn't try to go for help either. I doubt you'd get more than a few yards before you passed out. I'll be back in a bit. I won't be going too far."

I waited for a few minutes, until I was reasonably sure that he had, in fact, gone back to sleep, before I headed outside to check out these trails.

To be continued...

Author's note: Okay, so this wasn't where I was originally planning on ending this chapter. But realizing how much stuff I still had planned to cover and seeing how long the chapter already was, I decided to end it here, hence the admittedly lame ending. I just didn't want ya'll to have to wait too long for me to get this chapter finished. So, here's some shirtless Nick to tide you over.