CHAPTER SIX - Visitors
Zaheer's eerie smile faltered at the doorway.
"This must be your werewolf friend. I'm sorry, I never got your name."
Korra had never spoken to another vampire before. Not really. She'd come across a good amount, but there was never anything more than a few catcalls, leers, and derogatory remarks. According to Mako, the scent of werewolf blood wasn't particularly pleasing. He'd gotten used to her, obviously, but it was pretty clear that Zaheer was not. The older vampire seemed uneasy, as if her presence was mildly annoying.
Just as she was about to rudely answer, Mako cut in.
"What are you doing here?" he asked again coolly. "We were kind of busy just now."
If Zaheer noted the tone, he didn't show it. "I see that. A werewolf, a vampire, and oh, that fellow is a ghost? I don't think I've ever seen such an unusual hodge-podge under one roof. You never told me about this interesting group you've surrounded yourself with."
Korra felt a little bothered at how he acknowledged them. There was barely any emotion in those eyes of his, where his creepy smile never seemed to reach, but the way he listed them off made her feel like they were just objects. Things that belonged to Mako that he'd collected in his travels or something. It was getting fairly obvious that this guy had little regard for non-vampires, although at least Korra wasn't sensing any overt aggression here either. Not like with the others.
Bolin quietly stood behind Korra, watching the exchange closely.
"Zaheer..." Mako pressed again.
"I just wanted to apologize on behalf of Ghazan and Ming-Hua. I see now that they were understating the injuries they inflicted on you and your wolf."
"His wolf?" Korra barked. "Excuse me?"
"Apologies," he said gently, but not at all apologetically. "Mako, please, let me clear the air between us. Those two have been nursing their bruised egos since you left your position and I'll admit, they've always been a bit immature. I had no part in what they did, although I did sternly warn them that this type of thing won't be tolerated again. Your career may have taken a different path, but I still consider us friends."
Mako frowned. "I told everyone to just leave me alone."
"And we intend to from this point forward."
All three of them shared a skeptical look. Mako shook his head.
"Those two don't even seem the type to frequent hipster coffee shops - "
"Air Temple Espresso is not hipster," Korra protested.
"It's so hipster," Bolin whispered.
"Whatever. What were they even doing there?"
Vampires had the tendency to avoid social environments during the day. If they went out in public, it was usually in the safety of nightfall, to clubs or bars or other historically dark and sinister vampire haunts.
"They were just roaming, as they are known to do. You remember how those two are. According to Ghazan, they saw you driving down to to the coffee shop and foolishly decided they wanted to cause trouble. Again, I've already spoken to them about this and you won't be seeing them again."
Korra scowled. Somehow, she didn't quite believe that. A cursory glance at Bolin showed he didn't, either.
"Sure," Mako shrugged. "It's fine. We're fine. If me or Korra ever run into those losers again I'll rip their bottom jaws out with my bare hands, but you and I are cool, okay?"
"Good," Zaheer's lifeless grin widened. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"
"Um, another time? We really were talking about something important."
The grin began to evaporate.
"Of course. My apologies one last time. I'll leave you to it, I just wanted to make sure…"
"We're fine, Zaheer. We're good."
"Very well," he sighed. "It was nice to see you again, Mako. We miss you at the hospital."
Mako rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Yeah, well..."
"You should know," Zaheer said, his tone darkening ever so slightly. "It is in a vampire's nature to seek others like themselves. If you ever find yourself...wanting of our company again, do not hesitate to find us. You know where we are."
Zaheer looked over at Korra and Bolin, simply nodding at them once.
"Good evening."
Mako closed the door and waited until Zaheer was back on the street before turning around. Outside, Korra could see him hastily pull out a cell phone and call someone. The heated exchange stopped abruptly when he glanced back at their window and saw her watching him, which prompted him to scoot away down the road a little faster.
She quirked an eyebrow. "What a freaking weirdo."
"Sorry," he said sheepishly.
"Sorry for what?" Bolin asked. "Being friends with a killer that's also racist against ghosts and werewolves?"
"'Friends' is kind of a strong word - "
"He called you friends," Korra pointed out. She deepened her voice dramatically. "EET EEZ EEN A VAM-PIYAH'S NAY-CHAH TO SEEK OTHAS LIKE THEMSELVEZZ! BWAAA-HAHAHAHA!"
"I VANT TO SUCK YO BLAHHHHHHD!" Bolin joined in.
"He was nice to me, all right?!" Mako said, frustrated. "It's been hard, and he helped me out. I'll apologize for not realizing him and his people were awful sooner, but that's it. Anyway, I quit, remember? That's why I didn't invite him in. He's not coming over again."
He'd meant that literally. Like all vampires, Zaheer wasn't physically able to enter a home unless invited in by the people that lived there. If the old vampire had any nefarious plans, which judging by the sheer creepiness that exuded from his every pore he did, then the worst he'd be able to do to them would be making faces in the windows. Whatever bullshit the vampires were up to, they wanted nothing to do with it.
Mako stalked back to the couch and grumpily started sipping his lukewarm tea again. Korra joined him, gently bumping her knee on his.
"So...I smell that bad, huh?"
A smile hinted at his lips. "Not that bad."
"He was like, ready to crawl out of his own skin."
Bolin sat on the coffee table in front of them. "What's she smell like? Is it like, wet dog or something?"
"Hey!"
"It's not a smell, really," Mako said, smirking. "It's just, vampires sense blood really well. It's so strong, I guess for our survival. But werewolf blood is not at all appetizing. It's like opening a stocked fridge and finding all the food inside rotten."
"I smell rotten!?"
"No! Just, not what's expected when you're looking at something you're supposed to eat." He could tell now that they were only messing with him. This, they were all used to. "What, do you want to smell appetizing?"
Bolin laughed. "A girl likes to be desired! Jeez, no wonder you broke up with him."
"Right?" she sniffed. "At least I don't smell like roadkill."
"Roadkill!?"
"Having a sense of smell must be pretty wild, huh?" Bolin commented. "I don't even remember what that's like."
"I do not smell like roadkill."
"What's that girl Asami smell like, Korra?"
She jerked and rounded on Bolin. "Can you not?"
His expression was teasing. "I saw how you were looking at her when she was here. When she told you she was into martial arts you practically got down on one knee."
"I did not, asshole."
Bolin slyly poked the Swear Jar across the coffee table. Korra gave him the finger which, thanks to the Obscene Gesture Amendment of 2016, meant she owed the damn thing another yuan.
"You were awfully excited to go with her to the coffee shop instead of me." Mako raised an eyebrow.
"Because I was mad at you and you're a dickhole, not because I - oh, come on!" Korra grabbed Bolin's sliding Swear Jar and shoved into it whatever change she had in her pocket. "Since when does'dickhole' count? No - stop looking at me like that, we established back in January that repetition for the sake of clarification doesn't count."
He snatched it back from her, grinning. "You're getting awfully cussy. Almost like you're being defensive or something."
"Shut up, Bo!" she tossed a throw pillow at him, which sailed right on through and hit the stairs. "Anyway, even if I did have a thing for her, I'm pretty sure we've nipped all of that in the bud. There's definitely no way we're ever hearing from her now. Not after all she's seen."
Mako jumped suddenly, startling them.
"Sorry, my phone was on vibrate," he said, swiping at the screen. "I have no idea who this is. It's local, right? A Republic City number?"
Korra leaned forward to see. "I think so, yeah. But I don't recognize it. One of your vampire comrades?"
Bolin gasped. "Wait a minute! That's Asami!"
"What?!" Korra cried. "Seriously!? Are you sure?"
"Why does she have my number?!" Mako demanded, holding the buzzing phone away like it was made of worms.
"She put her number in her reply to our listing, it felt weird to not give her one of ours! I put it in our response email!"
"Well, then, you answer it!" Mako shoved the phone at him, seemingly in a mild panic. He recoiled.
"What if she can't hear me over the phone?"
"We've pretty firmly established that she can hear you, bro!"
"Well - but - no!"
Mako held it out to Korra. "She's you're girlfriend!"
"Asami is not my - shut up!"
She swatted the phone away as if she were afraid of it, accidentally causing Mako to drop it on the sofa cushions. The three of them hastily scampered away from it until it stopped ringing and the Missed Call icon appeared on the screen. They stared at it quietly for a few seconds.
"What now?" Bolin wondered from under the pillow Korra had thrown at the stairs, ten feet away.
"We don't have to do anything," Mako suggested from behind the sofa.
Korra poked her head up from behind the other side. "What do you think she wanted, though?"
The chorus of shrugs was vastly unhelpful.
"What if she just wanted to make sure you guys were okay?" Bolin said.
"Why would she do that?" Mako scowled.
Bolin pointed a thumb over at Korra and winked suggestively.
"Would you just…?" she got up and grabbed Mako's phone, drawing his security shape on the grid to unlock it.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Mako reached out to take his phone back but she turned away.
"Finding out what she wanted," she huffed. There was nothing to be afraid of and, honestly, she wasn't going to be rude and not call back just because the stupid boys thought she had some kind of crush. They stared at her as she counted the rings. On the third, a tense voice answered.
"Hello?"
"Asami?" Korra asked.
"Korra? Oh, thank God. Listen, do you know who those people were that attacked you?"
She put the phone on speaker so the others could hear. Mako was frowning, and Bolin was pinching his lips together with his teeth, as if scared to talk.
"Yes, it's okay. They were...um, vampires. Like Mako. But they were just thugs, they won't come after us again."
"They're...vampires?"
"Yeah. Asami, are you okay?" She could hear the anxiety in her normally easy, confident voice. "Where are you?"
"I'm not sure if I'm okay." Asami paused. "I'm on campus."
"Going back to your dorm?"
"That's the thing. I can't."
"Why not?"
"I'm in the quad now, and I can see up into the window of my room." She took a deep breath. "The lights just came on and I can see people inside, two of them. I can't see the bigger guy, but the woman is definitely - she hasn't got any arms. Korra, I think it's that couple from the parking lot."
All eyes averted to Mako, who blinked owlishly.
"I have no idea why they'd be there," he admitted. "That makes no sense."
"Do not go in there," Korra advised gravely. "Stay where you are. I'm coming."
Asami hesitated. "You are?"
"Me and Mako."
"What?" he demanded incredulously. "What are you - ?!"
"We have to help her!" she hissed. "These are your people, remember? We can't just leave her!"
Static roughed up the speakerphone as Asami moved. "I...think they're looking for something? I don't know what they could possibly…?"
Korra's mind went immediately to Zaheer on the street, urgently speaking to someone on his phone. The sinking feeling in her gut told her that this wasn't a coincidence. The timing was too perfect. Bolin must have felt it too, as he shoved his brother pointedly. He sighed.
"Okay, let's go."
"We're coming, Asami, stay away from there. Don't call the cops unless they go directly after you," Korra ordered. She hung up and glared at the others, as if daring them to challenge her. "Zaheer definitely just called Ghazan and Ming-Hua on his phone."
Mako still looked reluctant. "Just because we saw Zaheer take out his phone - "
" - right before his minions broke into Asami's dorm?" Bolin scoffed. "Like, maybe it's all just crazy timing, but that guy is super shady."
"I don't think it's a coincidence," Korra shook her head. "No way. You wondered it out loud yourself - why were they at Air Temple Espresso? It was Asami's first time there, too, you knwo. Now they're at her dorm? I don't know what any of this means but this entire day can be made into a movie called Not A Fucking Coincidence!"
Bolin didn't even bother with the jar.
"Why, though?" Mako wondered. "And then why would Zaheer come all the way here to talk to me?"
Bolin shrugged. "Maybe he was checking to see where you were?"
"Why?"
"To make sure we weren't with Asami," Korra realized. "To make sure she was alone?"
Maybe the they hadn't been the only ones spying on Asami lately.
"Why would they be interested in her?" Mako asked, his expression serious. "I knew there was something going on with that girl. They wouldn't be in her dorm unless she was up to something."
"You don't know anything." Korra scowled. "We've watched her for days, she's innocent."
"She can see Bolin! That was always suspicious!"
"More suspicious than people who drink human blood!?"
"This could be a trap, Korra!"
"If the vampires wanted to take us down they've had their opportunities!" she shot back. "Same with Asami! If she was after us, somehow, she's been in our damn house. She's been with me alone. I don't think this is about us!"
Bolin grabbed Mako's keys and threw them at him. "Would you guys just get out of here already? Either make sure she's okay, or find out what's going on. This may not be completely about us, but we're involved whether we believe it or not."
Korra nodded in gratitude. Mako, of course, groaned.
"Bo, we'll call you and let you know what's going on, okay? Hold down the fort."