| Chapter 19 Howie walked Jennifer to her hotel room. "I had a great time today," he said as they reached the door. She smiled, "Me too." "So when will you reach Vegas?" he asked. "Sometime late tomorrow afternoon, how bout you?" she asked. He sighed, "We fly out in the morning. We've got radio and local TV in the afternoon, but I'm free after that." "Great, I'll catch up with you then," she said, swiping her key card in the door and opening it. Howie stepped just inside the door and took her hand. Jennifer looked up at him, her eyes gleaming, "Goodnight Howie." He leaned down and gently kissed her lips, then stepped back, "Night Jennifer." She watched as he turned around and headed back down the hall to the elevator. Once he got on, she closed the door and leaned against it, touching her lips with her fingertips, a huge smile on her face. She sighed, then flipped the lights on. "I thought you were suppose to seduce him, not the other way around," Josiah said. Jennifer jumped, "God dammit Jo, you scared me!" The big man smiled, standing up from the chair he had parked himself in, "You should be more aware of your surroundings. What if I had been a slayer?" Jennifer glared at him, then crossed the room to the couch and sat down, pulling her shoes off, "So, why are you here?" "The mistress wanted an update," he said. She leaned back on the couch, "And?" "And what?" he asked. "And so did you right? And don't lie cause I'll know," she teased. For a split second she thought he blushed. "Alright, I wanted to check up on you," he admitted. Jennifer sighed, "Jo, I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself." He shook his head, "Not from what I see. You've got feelings for him don't you?" She looked at the floor, biting her lip. "I knew it! Jennifer, he's a watcher..... you can't get involved with him, you know that," Josiah warned. "And just why not?" she asked, looking up at him with fire in her eyes. Josiah sat down beside her and put his arm around her, "Because we are on opposite sides. You can't let your feelings get in the way of what we're trying to do." "I won't Jo," she said, "But I do really like him. He's sweet and kind, and we have so much in common. Do you know how long it's been since I've found someone that I truly like?" "I know sweetie," he said, smoothing the back of her hair, "I know, but the mistress's goals come first." She nodded, chewing on her bottom lip. He nudged her, "Hey, you never know. When everything is over, you two might ......" She shook her head, "No, when everything is over, he won't want to be around me." Josiah stared at her for a moment, the sadness in her eyes disturbed him. "Well, you'll still have me," he grinned, trying to lighten the mood. Jennifer laughed, "Oh joy," she teased. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin and another slayer helped Nick into the small house. A woman greeted them at the door, "How long since he was bitten?" "About half an hour," Kevin answered, as the woman showed them into a bedroom. "Get his shirt off," she instructed, as she went about preparing a shot. Kevin and the other man, who was part of the pick up team, helped Nick out of his duster and t-shirt. Nick sat on the bed, trembling, breathing hard. His face shown with sweat, as his eyes darted around the room. "It's Ok Nick," Kevin said, "They're gonna fix you up." The woman came over carrying several towels, a bottle of some clear liquid and the syringe. "Lay him back on the bed," she said, placing a few of the towels underneath his neck and shoulder. Nick watched as she cleaned a place on his arm and gave him the shot, then grabbed the bottle. "Hold him down," she instructed. Nick glanced at Kevin with fear in his eyes. "I'm not gonna lie kiddo, this is gonna hurt like a mother," Kevin said, grabbing his arm and shoulder and using his body weight to force them into the mattress. The other man did the same. The woman leaned over him and turned his head to the side, exposing the bite marks. Then she poured the liquid over them. Nick screamed in pain, trying desperately to get up. For some reason this hurt worse than the actual bite, and he desperately wanted to get away from that bottle. Kevin watched as the liquid bubbled over the wound. Much like when you pour hydrogen peroxide on a cut, only this wasn't hydrogen peroxide. Nick calmed down a little. "We have to do it again," the woman said. He turned to look at her, "No!" "I'm sorry," she said, with compassion in her eyes, "I have to do it until it runs clean." Tears welled up in Nick's eyes, as he turned his head toward Kevin. Kevin's own eyes glistened with unshed tears. It was so hard watching his young friend endure this. "Ok, here we go," the woman said, pouring more of the liquid over the wound. Nick screamed until he lost his voice, then he let go and passed out. Kevin looked at the woman, as she shook her head. The wound was still festering. "That must have been an old vampire that bit him," she said. Kevin looked down, feeling guilty for not being there. The woman reached over and touched his arm, "Don't feel bad. We all have to learn." He shook his head, "It's my fault. I wasn't watching him." "And your teacher probably felt the same way when you got bit too," she offered. Kevin nodded, remembering the first time he'd been bitten. The anger and fear on his teachers face as they cleaned his wound. It was years ago, but it seemed like hours. "Come on," the woman said, "Let's get this done before he wakes up." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian sat in the floor of the large training room. Children's playing blocks all around him. Tracy had poured them out and told him to sort them by letter and color, without touching them. He sat cross legged with his elbows resting on his knees, his head in his hands. Slowly a block slid across the floor and into the line he had started. Tracy walked into the room and handed him a glass. "Here, thought you could use a break," she said, noticing the blocks in front of him. She smiled, "That's not what I told you to do." He looked up at her, "I already sorted them, and then I got bored." She sat down next to him, "So you write your name when you get bored?" He shrugged, taking a drink. "Your middle name is Thomas? That's nice," she said. He nodded, stretching his legs out in front of him and sweeping the blocks out of the way as he did. "Um, Tracy, can I ask you a question?" he said, looking over at her. "Sure," she said. "What happens when we bite someone?" he asked, looking into his glass at the red liquid. "Well, it depends on how we bite them," she said. He looked at her confused, "What do you mean?" "We have different ways of biting. Each serves a purpose," she answered, "For instance, if we just bite someone, and don't drink their blood, nothing happens to them. Their wound heals, and that's it," she laughed. "Why are you laughing?" he asked. She shook her head, "Just that, the slayers ....they believe every bite is damaging. So they �cleanse' every one, even if it doesn't need it. It's torturous, the cleansing part. I don't see how they can know about us for all these years and still be so stupid." "So what are the other bites?" he asked. "Well, there is the bite to feed. That's where you bite and drink the blood, but you have to be careful there. If you take to much you'll hurt or even kill the person," she warned, "Then there's the bite to embrace. That's when you turn someone. You bite them, drain their blood to the point they are near death, then you let them drink your own." Brian shivered, remembering his own experience. "Then there's the love bites," she said. "Love bites?" he questioned. She smiled, looking down at the polished floor, "Yeah, um, those are used during love making. They intensify the um ....." Brian blushed, "I get the picture, you don't have to describe it." Tracy cleared her throat and looked at the other side of the room, "Good, um, and there's love nips that go with the love bites." He didn't want to, but his curiosity was peeked. "Ok, what's a love nip?" he asked. She looked back over, "It's where you bite someone, but you don't use all your fangs, just the tips. It's very um" she looked around nervously, "erotic." "Oh," Brian said, trying to picture the act of biting something with only the tips of his fangs. He shrugged, going back to his blocks, moving a few at a time. Tracy watched him spell her name. "Tracy, what's your whole name?" he asked. "Tracy Annette Zavanovich," she answered. He smiled, moving the appropriate blocks until he was done, "Did I spell that right?" "Yes you did," she said, impressed. Noone ever spelled her name right. Brian drank the last of his drink, and sat the cup down next to him on the floor. "So what next?" he asked. She looked at him a moment, "You're tired, we can start again tomorrow." "I can stay up longer," he protested, then promptly yawned. She laughed at him, "No, go get your rest." He sighed, picking up his glass as he got up. She followed him out of the room and through the house to the kitchen, where he deposited his glass in the sink. "Nancy think's it's cute how you clean up after yourself," Tracy said, as they headed for the stairs. Brian chuckled, "Well, it's how I was raised. Speaking of, she said she grew up here." Tracy nodded, "She did." "That's amazing," he noted, "she's spent her entire life here, with you." Tracy stopped at Brian's door, "She's a human servant Brian. Her life is to care after us." He looked at her, shocked, "You mean she's a slave?" "No, not at all," she objected, "Her family swore their servitude to Jas....um to me and my mate at the time. Each generation has the choice to serve, or to move on. We don't make them stay, but they always know they have a place here if they choose to," she explained. Brian leaned against the wall, studying her, "You had a mate?" Tracy looked down, "It was a long time ago." "It can't be that long, Nancy mentioned him," he said. She looked back up, pain radiating from her eyes, "Nancy is much older than she looks Brian. It's a side affect of living with us. Human servants age slower than regular humans." "So how old is she?" he asked. Tracy thought a moment, "Around ninety I think." "Ninety? She looks like she's fifty," he said. She nodded, "Nice side affect, huh?" He nodded, realizing she had steered him away from his actual question. "Tracy, what happened ...with your mate?" he asked. His blue eyes poured compassion over her. "It's late Brian," she said, turning away from him. He caught her arm and pulled her back around, "Tell me please." Tears formed in her eyes, "I can't, you wouldn't understand." "Please Tracy, you've helped me so much, let me help you. Please tell me," he said, almost in a whisper. She looked down as a few tears escaped and ran down her cheeks. She knew she would have to tell him sometime. Now was as good a time as any. She took a deep breath, looking up to meet his eyes, "He was killed by another vampire because he wouldn't join their cause." Brian felt chills run down his back. The look she was giving him, unnerved him. "W-who killed him?" he asked, even though he didn't want to. She turned away from him, speaking in barely a whisper, "Theophilus." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick moaned, stirring in bed. Kevin moved to his side and waited for him to open his eyes. Slowly Nick's eyes opened, and fluttered a moment, before he got them open and focused. Kevin smiled at him, "Hey Nicky, how you feeling?" "Like shit," he answered, his voice hoarse. Kevin laughed, "Good, you're feeling better then." Nick looked around the small bedroom, "Where are we?" "A slayer's house," Kevin answered, "We brought you here after you got bit." Nick closed his eyes, the memories flooding back. "I'm sorry Kev, I shouldn't have gone off on my own," he apologized. Kevin nodded, "Now you know why I always say stay close. The two vampires you took on were old Nick. They could have had you for lunch at any time. I think you amused them so much, they were playing with you, until you staked the woman." Nick laughed, "At least we know one thing." "What's that?" Kevin asked. "My drumsticks work," he grinned. Kevin rolled his eyes, and shook his head. "Kev, am I gonna be alright?" Nick asked, turning serious again. The older man nodded, "Yes, we cleansed the wound, you'll be fine." "I don't feel fine," Nick said, trying to sit up, and quickly laying back down. "You'll be sore for a few days. The cleansing process takes a lot out of you. Go ahead and rest, we've got a few hours before we need to be back at the hotel," Kevin said. He started to get up, but Nick grabbed his hand, "Kev, have you ever been bitten?" He nodded. "How many times?" Nick asked. He thought for a moment, "Five, and each one hurt worse than the last." Nick sighed, "Oh joy .. Things to look forward to." Kevin laughed, "Get some sleep, kid." Chapter 20 |