| Chapter 33 "No, no, no..." A.J. said, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. Tracy glanced at him, then up to the front seat, catching Howie's eyes in the rear view mirror. "Is he Ok?" Jennifer asked from the passengers seat. Howie shrugged, "J, you alright back there?" A.J. looked up, "Oh yeah, just fucking peachy. How could I be the only one out of the loop? Why didn't you tell me you were a watcher, and that Kevin and Nick were slayers, and Brian was bit by some hell whore? Huh? It would've been nice to know, ya know?" "Alex, in this case, the less that knew the better," Tracy said. He sighed, peering out the window, "I guess, but it still sucks ass that you didn't tell me." "I'm sorry J, I promise from now on you'll be the first to know everything," Howie said. "Not sure if I want to," A.J. muttered. "Turn here," Jennifer instructed. Howie slowed down and turned. "Pull in over here, it's on foot from now on," she said. "We gotta walk?" A.J. complained. "It's safer that way," Tracy said, "Vampires just can't drive by the headquarters. They'll feel us." "Oh," he said, getting out of the car. The group gathered on the sidewalk. "Now where?" Tracy asked. Jennifer pointed to a patch of woods, "Through there, it leads around to the back of the place." Tracy stepped out to take the lead, "Alright, Alex you stay behind us. If something happens, you haul ass back here and leave, you got it?" "I can take care of myself," A.J. said. Tracy shook her head, "No you can't, not here. You do as I say or you don't go." Howie leaned over to his friend, "Do as she says man, trust me, you don't wanna see her mad." A.J.'s eyes widened a little as he cleared his throat, "Alright, whatever you say." "Good, let's go, times wasting," she said, taking off towards the woods. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Michael stood in the hall waiting for Kevin to say something. He'd been pacing back and forth since he'd fled Brian's room. "He told you?" Michael asked. Kevin stopped pacing and glared at him, "Yes, and I wish to hell he hadn't." "Who?" the older man asked. Kevin sighed heavily, chewing on his bottom lip, "It was Raven." Shock covered Michael's face, "Are you sure?" Kevin nodded. Michael took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Well, well. This could be the break we've been looking for." Kevin's head shot up, "You can't use him as bait Michael." "We don't have a choice. Raven is planning something, and it's gonna be soon. If we don't stop her, you know what'll happen," he said. "I know, but ...." "No but's Kevin, it must be done," Michael said, turning to head down the hall, "I'll alert the association. Go wake Nick up, we're gonna need him." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian watched as the last few observers left the upper level. Finally he was alone. He sighed, wondering what was going on behind the locked door. Whatever it was, he couldn't just lay here and wait for it. He lifted his head and studied his restraints. They were simple really, leather straps buckled in place with a small lock. It shouldn't be that hard to get out of. He took a moment and cleared his head, pouring all his concentration into the task at hand. Soon he heard the lock click, and using his mind he was able to unbuckle the restraint. He smiled to himself, one down and three to go. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ow! Son of a ........." "Shhhh, A.J. do you want to wake the dead?" Tracy snapped. "Sorry," he whispered, pushing the tree branch away that had just slapped him in the face. Howie bit his lip, trying not to laugh. A.J. saw him, "Yeah go ahead and laugh, it's not you she's mad at." "Will you two be quiet!" Jennifer snipped, "If we're discovered out here ....." "We know," Howie said, pulling A.J. along by his shoulder. Jennifer stopped, motioning for them to get down. They all crowded around, peering through the bushes. Across a vast yard was a massive building, stories high. Several guards were on the roof and even more patrolled the grounds. "Damn skippy, it's like Fort Knocks," A.J. whispered. Tracy's heart sank as she realized she wasn't going to be rescuing Brian anytime soon. "Jen, do you know a way in?" Howie asked. She shook her head, "This is as far as I've been." He sighed, "We gotta have a plan." "And a diversion," Tracy added. "And it's gotta be soon," Jennifer said, "the meetings in a few days." A.J. stared at the massive building, "We're fucking screwed." Tracy shook her head, "No, we're not." "But how are we gonna .....?" She held her hand up, "We need help and I know just where to get it. Come on," she said, moving back into the woods. Howie and A.J. glanced at one another, shrugged, then followed the two vampires back the way they came. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "No Kevin, you have to be wrong," Nick said. Kevin shook his head, a sad expression on his face, "I wish I was." "I don't believe it, not Brian, not my best friend!" Nick yelled. Kevin jumped at the outburst. "Michael is calling in the association, there's a planning session in a few hours," he stated. "And you're just going along with this?" Nick asked, angry. "We don't have a choice Nick," he argued. "There is always a choice Kevin," Nick spat, heading for the door. "Where are you going?" "To see my friend," he yelled, slamming the door behind him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian paced around his room, looking for a way out. He was getting antsy. He wasn't sure how long he'd been there, but he was feeling hungry. He knew if he didn't feed soon, he wouldn't be able to control himself. He stared up at the glass walls, wondering how hard it would be to get up there and break out. He sighed, walking over to the bed and sitting down. Even if he did manage to break the glass, he didn't have a clue how to get out of the building. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and looked up. Nick was staring down at him, a shocked, saddened expression on his face. Brian stood up, peering into his best friends blue eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, before Nick looked away. Brian couldn't hear him, but he knew Nick well enough to know he was cussing up a blue streak. Brian bit his lip, contemplating what to do. Finally he threw caution to the wind and slowly made his way up the wall. He stopped in front of Nick, who was still turned away, cursing. Brian smiled, he could hear him now through the glass. Good thing Jane wasn't here to hear the string of expletives leaving her son's mouth. "Nick," he called. Nick turned around and jumped back, not expecting Brian to be standing, or rather floating in front of him. "Nick please, I didn't ask for this," Brian begged. "Why didn't you tell me? We're best friends. Friends tell each other everything," Nick said, hurt. "I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd understand, and then I found out you were a slayer ... and I was scared to," Brian admitted. Nick stepped closer to the glass, "I would never hurt you Brian, you have to know that." "I know, I just ..... I didn't want to accept it, I still don't," he replied. Nick sighed, running his hand through his hair, "I don't know what to do Brian. They want to use you as bait for Raven." "No! They can't Nick, please you don't know what she's capable of," Brian begged. "It's out of my hands, the association is being called in as we speak," Nick told him. "Nick, please, you have to let me go. If I stay here, she'll come. She can feel me, she'll know where I am. I don't want anyone to get hurt," Brian said. Nick shook his head, "I can't let you go." Brian stared into the younger man's eyes intently, "Nick if you don't, you're all gonna die." Chapter 34 |