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Carmen made her way through the morgue. She was meeting Mick here, he had begrudgingly agreed to have her help on the recon of some possible Legion buildings. He was still cautious around her since she kept her allegiances private. When she pushed through the double doors, Mick and Guillermo stopped talking and looked at her. Mick gave her a curt nod, but Guillermo smiled wolfishly, raking his eyes up and down her. She smiled and rolled her eyes.
"Guillermo, are you ever gonna stop hitting on me?"
Guillermo smiled, shaking his head as he pushed a body drawer closed. "Not likely, chica." Mick chuckled shaking his head. Guillermo left them to finish up his paper work for the night.
"You've heard from Beth?"
Mick looked at her questioningly. "Yeah… Oscar let her make a call late last week."
Carmen leaned against the wall of body drawers. "Is she holding up ok?"
Mick ran a hand through his hair. "This whole thing has been really hard on her... she has had to experience a very dark side of vamp life."
Carmen nodded. "I've known Oscar a long time. He will protect the innocent at all costs but he won't hide things just because they are not pretty… she's gonna get a real education on all aspects of vampires."
Mick couldn't hide the sadness and hurt that settled in his eyes. "She already has..."
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Carmen rode along with Mick and Guillermo for most of the night. The deliveries were uneventful, but she was getting a good idea of just how scared the tribe really was. They dropped Guillermo off back at the morgue and switched vehicles. They pulled back out into the night, this time in a 1999 Explorer.
Carmen watched as the night sped but her thoughts circled back to Oscar. I feel for Mick. The wondering if Oscar is safe is killing me, and from the looks of Mick he is not fairing much better. Oscar will keep her safe… he kept me safe for as long as he could.
Stopping Mick kills the engine. "We're here." Carmen gets out following Mick around the back of the warehouse. They could hear talking inside. Carmen edged closer to the door that was opened slightly. Speaking in sub-human tones, "Five humans… 3 male… 2 female. They have three computer workstations. Sounds like they are communicating others at various locations. They're heavily armed." Mick made for the door, fully vamped and ready to kill. Carmen blocked him. "This is not what we are here for," she growled.
Silver eyes met silver eyes. "We can't get information if you kill them. You don't have to impress me Mick… ok… you've made a difference at the ground level"…Mick looks at her, respect was the last thing he had expected to here…Carmen continued, "Are you ready to die? I'm not. There's only two of us and they have the right ammunition."
Mick shrugged out of her grip and headed back to the Explorer. Carmen took one last look in the building and followed Mick. Mick sat behind the wheel seething as Carmen slid in the passenger seat. He started the engine and pulled away from the curb. "Is this why Josef wanted you to come out with me tonight," he spat.
"Have you even talked to Josef lately, Mick? If you had you would know that killing every legion member you see is not going to end this war," Carmen argued.
"Hmphf… Josef and I are not speaking much right now," he answered never taking his eyes from the road. "Well, if you were, you would know that Josef is using every resource he has and some he doesn't to end this culling. He's actually trying to float the idea the tribe policing its self."
Mick's head snapped in her direction. "We already do that. That's what the cleaners are for." She just shrugged. "Do you know what his plan is for this?"
Mick was a bit stunned, Josef was actually trying to stop this insanity.
"I don't know the specifics but this would be a bit more than the cleaners." she offered.
They checked out the remaining locations quickly and without incident. It was nearing dawn when they pulled back into the parking garage. Carmen and Mick walked to their cars, as Carmen got hers she turned to Mick. "He will bring her back to you."… and come home to me, please, God. Mick just nodded as he got into the Mercedes and drove away.
Carmen headed out as well but she had one more stop before she could head home.
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"Tell me again why we have to meet so close to dawn," Carmen snarked as she took the drink Josef offered her. Josef gave her his impish grin. "Because it gives us time to be alone….uninterrupted," he snarked back. Carmen just smiled at him over her glass. Josef leaned against his desk. "But seriously, how was Mick tonight?"
Carmen toyed with her drink. "He is still a bit reckless but he was able to rein it in. He is still very tight lipped around me. He did seem open to the idea of policing the tribe from within."
Josef knocked back his drink and walked around his desk. "Good. Good. Now about this device he has---," he began.
Carmen stood and held up a hand to silence him. "Josef, this is where I draw the line. If you want one of his toys you need two need to make nice and share, because right now," she turned to leave but stopped at the door, "you two are both act like a couple of five year olds."
Josef just watched as the door swung closed. Why do I feel like I just got scolded by my mother?
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Beth finished toweling off her newly dyed hair and took a moment to survey the hotel room. Everything from the eighties era décor to the threadbare towel she clutched in her hand screamed "Cash spoken here." Beth glanced at frayed embroidery at the bottom of the rag. Four Fs. The Four Fs Hotel. "What the hell does that stand for?" She wondered to herself. "It should be the Three Bs. "Booze, babes and blood."
From what Beth saw of the hotel lobby earlier that day, it was an appropriate description. The lobby sported the same shabbiness as the hotel room. Bulletproof glass enclosed the check-in desk. The few chairs scattered around the room were mainly upholstered in thighs and cleavage. Along with the obvious skin were the not so obvious cover ups Beth picked up on; an artfully tied scarf here, a wide cuff bracelet there. This was a place where money was money and body fluids were body fluids.
Still, it was better than sleeping in a car. Oscar had rented one of the "Executive" rooms; a room with a freezer. Oscar definitely needed some cold time and Beth didn't mind sleeping supine for a change, although she declined to sleep between the sheets.
Beth un-wrapped the black plastic comb she'd gotten from the hotel concierge. The vending machine in the lobby that dispensed various toiletries and an impressive array of condoms. For some minutes she tried dragging the narrow teeth through her hair before muttering "Cheap piece of crap!" and tossing the object on the bathroom counter.
"God, I need…" A low hum drew her attention to the freezer on the opposite side of the room. She could see the outline of Oscar's powerful body behind the frosted glass. Beth smiled. "Yes." She hissed. She padded over to the unit and stood for a moment. Oscar was due to get up soon, but Beth couldn't wait any longer. She needed this now. Slowly, she bent down, grasped the freezer lid and cracked it open a hair. The chilly mist curled around her knees. Beth shivered in anticipation and raised the lid fully.
Inside the freezer, Oscar's mind registered the faint creak of the opening lid. His frosty eyelids popped open to behold a delicate hand descending towards his nether regions. "Beth…Beth, what are you doing?"
"I've waited long enough, Oscar. I've got to have it." With that Beth reached down between Oscar's legs and retrieved her prize, a half empty carton of Rocky Road ice cream. She yanked off the lid in an almost desperate eagerness. There was a small plastic spoon jammed into the frozen goo. Carefully, Beth pried it out and began hacking away until she dislodged a large chunk and scooped it into her mouth. If the shock of Beth's intrusion wasn't enough to jolt Oscar fully awake, the orgasmic sighs and moans she was emitting now would certainly do the trick. Oscar bolted out of the freezer at vamp speed and snatched on his pants that had been lying by the side of the freezer.
"Beth! You could have at least knocked and let me get dressed." Beth didn't even look up as she chased a nutty chocolate chunk around the inside rim of her carton.
"Relax, Oscar. I'll tell you what. If you can show me something I haven't seen before…I'll give you a quarter." Apparently modesty had just become a casualty of the current situation. On principal, Oscar could care less, but the shift in Beth's attitude worried him somewhat. There was no hint of anger from Beth. If he had to put a name to the vibe it would be a growing indifference. This was not good. Indifference made people lose their edge and that was not conducive to staying alive. Oscar took a good look at Beth as she slowly paced back and forth. In between bites of ice cream she would absently hitched up her pants. She'd lost at least ten pounds in the last several weeks.
"You should have something else now, Beth. That is all you had in the morning." Beth just waved her spoon dismissively and continued chipping away at her Rocky Road.
"You know, Oscar" she said in between crunching bites "You've got to die of something. At least this tastes good. I am touched that you care so much about my dining habits lately. I remember when I was lucky to get time for a granola bar and a drive by piss out of you." This was great. Angry Beth he could handle. Crude and cynical Beth was something else. Oscar knew he needed to bring Beth out of this funk before it consumed her.
"We should both get something to eat. I'll arrange something downstairs for myself and then we can find something for you. Maybe we could go to that Italian place a couple blocks down." He said, hoping that sounded enticing enough to lift her mood a bit. Beth's replied with a small sigh. She stuck the spoon back in the container and popped the cover back on. Moving towards the freezer, she caught the dirty look Oscar was giving her. He was not looking forward sharing his bed with Beth's indulgence again.
"Look, Oscar." Beth huffed at him. "I had to pay that hooker twenty bucks for this. I'm not wasting a drop. Besides, I'm not about to fatten myself up for the slaughter on the cheap stuff." That was it. Oscar took two large strides to reach Beth and grabbed her firmly by the shoulders. He put a gentle hand under her chin and brought her eyes up to meet his.
"Listen to me, Beth. No one is going to the slaughter. Do you understand me?" He continued to hold her gaze, wanting, needing her to have some faith again. Faith in herself. Faith in him. Finally he felt some the tension leave her shoulders. She closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath.
"Ok." She finally said. Oscar took the carton of ice cream from Beth's hands. He walked over to the freezer, placed it inside and dropped the lid. He walked to the door and opened it, gesturing to Beth to exit first. Beth moved forward out into the hall and Oscar joined her, closing and closing and locking the door behind them.
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The hiss of the freeway filled the emptiness of downtown.
Ben Talbot looked out the open window of his sort of balcony, merely a fence in front of a six inch ledge. He finishing his third martini and would need to drink at least two more if he wanted to sleep.
Vampires added a new level of cynicism to his view of the world. It was one thing to agree to a plea bargain in one of the endless cases of DWI, possession with intent to sell, or assault and another thing to negotiate a vampire related homicide. The girl died not from blood loss but a bullet through the heart. That made the vampire what… a material witness to a homicide and a conspiracy to commit… genocide. As if hunting a tiger with a tethered stalking goat as bait was a crime against the goat and the tiger and the police wanted the tiger to testify against the hunter.
He gave Mick notice that the warrant against Leo was going forward and they ended up having words over it. Ben asserted that he didn't work for Mick or vampires. He had walked out angrily when it was suggested that he worked for the Legion.
That was actually ironic, neither Mick nor the Legion actually asked him to do anything except suppress the fact that it was vampire hunting season. Ben actually snorted a laugh as he thought of Elmer Fudd saying wery wery quiet, it's wampire season… Time for another drink.
Why weren't vampires the enemy? Ben asked himself, as he fixed another martini. I should really just sit the gin and jar of olives on the table as dinner. His father… Ben knew he loved his adoptive parents, the words Mom and Dad made him think of them, the people who raised him. Sitting across the prison table from his father, that was different, Ben could see himself in this man, Andrew.
He'd learned a lot about himself just talking to his father; a man capable of ironic detachment even in prison. Ben knew that he had restored his father's sense of family and more than that, sanity, vampires were real."Benjamin"
The balcony door was open, the city had quieted and the air was moving; a land/sea effect, downtown was too far inland for the weather to seem maritime. Talbot had fallen asleep in the chair again. It was easier to fall sleep this way and then stagger to his bed a hangover a small price to pay for a few hours of oblivion.
The silhouette of a petite woman was backlit by the city's ambient light. I must be dreaming, I'm on the sixth floor… dreaming of vampires again.
"Benjamin." A real voice from a real woman… he sobered up quick.
"Who are you?" Ben was standing now, "or… rather what are you?" He could hear the sneer in his voice. "The Legion send you to collect me… to ask questions for which I have no answers? Where are my manners," Ben mumbled, "Let me offer you a drink. I know vampires drink."
"Why don't you let me get you a drink of water and some aspirin?" Not Myra, the voice was wrong. "People are worried about you." the voice was soft, concerned.
"What, people like you, I don't see it… I see a calculator behind those silver eyes." It was his courtroom voice, the one he used to discredit a witness. "In human terms," Ben spat out the words, "I'm being asked to cover up a gang war, where people are caught in the crossfire."
Ben observed this woman from the back, fine boned, taller than he thought, black pants, white shirt… restaurant wait staff or bartender. When she returned to hand him a glass of water she had a familiar face.
"We're grateful Benjamin, some of us are bystanders too, ordinary people who work and pay bills."
"Just a working stiff, with some desperate human hooked on you for sex and blood."
"That's a bad combination, it makes people, humans, do stupid things. I don't do that anymore."
"What do you do?" Ben can't keep the rage going, he's tired, half drunk, defeated he drops back into his chair.
"Other than work? I regret the life I left behind, one that I lost over an obsession with sex and blood. I'm sorry this has happened to you."
The apology sounds personal, "Do I know you?" Talbot pulls himself together to focus, Why is she familiar? Eyes, chin… he's looking at his mother… Kostan's ball… his last memory of her, covered in blood… reassuring and frightening…
"I'm sorry, Benjamin, I'm sorry every day that I left you and your sister."
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"How does Mick stand it, the view is nice and everything," Logan was talking to himself, "At least my basement is a comfy Hobbit hole." Mick's a killjoy anyway dude! Keeps everything off the net spying on the Legion... the Legion, these guys are the pros but... Morse code requests to pick up a pack of cigarettes... bor-ing!" Logan gulped... he just intercepted a message to call the Cleaners it enraged him a call to clean-up vamp dead.
If Mick would just move his freezer down to the office... I could stay in one room...Shit the phone... where was it... there under some papers.
"Hey Oscar," Logan answered as his fingers flew over the keyboard.
"Give me an update," Oscar commanded.
"Geez, Oscar no please, no how are you Logan?" Logan snarked.
"Give me the update or I will break your Guitar Hero," Oscar threatened.
"Ok…Ok, Mick and I figured out the legion device. It is used for communication via Morse Code." He explained.
"What else?" Oscar pushed.
"The word out of the mansion is that Josef has been working around the clock and pulling in a lot of favors to try and end the culling," Logan explained.
"Good," Oscar grunted.
"How's Beth doing, I guess this has been really hard on her," Logan asked concerned.
"She's making it through," was all Oscar would say about her, "any word from the Cleaners?"
He leaned back taking a sip from his glass, "Just that the Legion calls were slowing, a bit, although I got another one, not five minutes ago" Logan surprised himself by growling.
"Hmphf." Oscar grunted. "I'll be in touch," and with that the line went dead.
Logan just rolled his eyes and tossed the phone back onto a stack of papers.
Oscar crushed the cell phone under his heel. He was taking no chances. The news was getting better. It was time to get back to L.A… even if for just awhile.
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