After Dark (The Vampire Next Door Book 2) (17 page)

“What?” Rick wondered if the greasy food smelled worse than Bruce.

“Yeah? You got eyes under those Ray Bans? I mean, do they like glow in the dark or what?”

“Yeah.” He lifted his dark glasses. “See? They’re there. I got eyes.”

Bruce stared back at him warily and said nothing.

“Come on. Tell me something I don’t know. Tell me anything. How come you said the government was behind all this?”

“’Cause they are. I know it. I don’t know why. It could be the CIA, maybe.”

“Yeah, right. Sure.”

“No. It’s true. The government wants to kill all the homeless people. Like it’s the final solution. You know. It’s a plot.”

“So, how do you know this?”

“That’s the word on the street.”

“Come on. What do you mean? I need better than that.”

“’Cause people keep disappearing. One by one. Old people, bag ladies, a lot of them are disappearing. And nobody cares. Street kids, boys who sell themselves for food and drugs. Hookers too, sometimes. One by one. It’s been going on since the early eighties. That’s when it all really started. People began to disappear.”

“Like, maybe they drifted on, to another town,” Rick put his sunglasses back on. He could not stand the brightness of the artificial light.

“I thought so too. Until I saw Regina down in a pool of blood hacked to death, man.”

“What?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Who was she?”

“Old Regina. About fifty, looked eighty though. Wore a big purple hat with a feather. Pushed a shopping cart around town, she didn’t beg, she was too proud. She ate out of a trash can instead. Then one day we didn’t see her. Couple of days later, she was in behind some trash cans, all torn to pieces, like a wild animal got to her. It was awful. I threw up. It smelled, there were flies all over. I ran to tell some people she knew. We all came back. The body was gone, like someone cleaned up. All the bloody papers and garbage were gone too. Like, remove all the evidence. The pavement was even wet, soapy water, like someone cleaned up around there.”

“When was this?”

“Like, maybe few years back. Now I believe it too. It’s a plot. A body gets seen, then missing, the area cleaned up. They say one guy does the butchering, other people come and clean up.”

“So, why don’t you get off the streets?”

“Can’t. I don’t know why. Just can’t. It’s the way I am. I dunno.” He finished his Coke, loudly slurped what was left.

“Ever take a bath?”

“I dunno.”

Rick reached for his wallet, took out some money. “Look, get a room so you can use the shower, will you? And don’t use this cash to buy drugs.”

“I get my dope for free. We all share a joint sometimes. When we can get it.”

The poodle jumped up onto the couch to curl up in his lap. “Yeah, the stuff he told me was pretty bad.” He let the dog chew his fingers while he told Lina what the vagrant told him. “Hey, where is Alex anyway?”

“He’ll be back. He is trying to collect the rent from Sky again. I doubt he’ll get it.”

“Why doesn’t her new boyfriend just materialize the cash over from the fifth dimension, save us all the trouble?”

“Oh, you mean Zontar? He hasn’t been around lately. I’m glad, he scares the poor dog.”

“You think he’s gone back to Jupiter?”

“No. Doing psychic shows, readings, whatever they call it. Channeling. Those sorts of people live off the tourists.”

“That’s true.”

“Speaking of which, how do you know that man wasn’t just crazy?”

“I don’t know. We have nothing else to go on.” He put the dog down and stood up. “Look, have Alex call me.”

“Okay.”

“I’m going to talk to Leon. He knows a few street people, sometimes he lets them sleep on the floor of our place during the day when it’s all shut down.”

Lina gasped, “Rick. If Irina found out—”

“Yeah, I know. She wouldn’t like it. But she won’t find out. Will she?”

“No. She won’t.”

Leon wiped down the top of the bar with a wet rag. It was nearly closing time on the upper levels, on that side of the business. The other side would remain open until near dawn.

Martin knew that. And he knew he would never go down there.

He sipped his beer. Looked at his watch. And swore.

“Look, he said he would be here. Okay?”

“Sure,” Martin growled. “Yeah, right.”

“Well, he’s not downstairs, ’cause I went down to look.”

Martin continued to drink his beer in silence.

“I saw that thing on the news,” Leon continued.

Oh hell.

“Hey, you guys really believe in that stuff? I mean, like, this is the twenty-first century. You guys use crystal balls, too?”

“No, damn it. It’s just to show people we’re interested in the case, and give the tourists a show. That guy is just a useless weirdo in pantyhose.”

Leon laughed, “So, like the department paid for this guy?”

“Yes damn it.”

“How much?”

“Powers that be won’t say. Doesn’t deserve a penny if you ask me. Damn fool says he’s from outer space, or something.”

“So? Maybe he is. He sure looks it.”

“Shut up, Leon. He’s nothin’ but a fool who’s too lazy to go out and get a real job like the rest of us.”

Leon chuckled and poured himself a beer and went to sit with Martin. “You’ve only been in here a few times, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t get out much?”

“Hey. Listen. A kid ain’t like a goldfish, you know. You can’t just feed it and walk away.” He finished his beer. “If he don’t come soon, I’m outta here.”

“Yeah? Have another one. He’ll be here.”

Pavel heard anxious whisperings drifting out of Olga’s room as he quietly made his way through the darkened hallway. Katarina swiftly exited the room, stopped when she saw him, turned away quickly and was gone.

He entered the room unannounced. The two serving women at the bedside stopped speaking when he came in.

“Leave us!” Olga snarled.

“Your Highness is not well?” he was concerned, but wished that he was not.

“I fell.” Her voice was weakened and it sounded like a reptile’s quiet hiss.

“From your horse?”

“No! Down the stairs.”

“Are you badly hurt?”

“I lost the baby!” she laughed quietly, with tears drifting down from her eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not!”

“I must go now; I am glad that I was able to bring you safely home, at least, Princess,” and he turned to leave.

“Where will you go?”

“To where I belong. I do not believe I shall ever return to your father’s castle.”

She said nothing, and he left.

Pavel returned to his small dark room to gather his things, to prepare for his departure. He answered the light knock at the door. “Come in.”

It was Mikhail.

“It is good to see you once again, my friend. You have come to see me off?”

Mikhail hesitated a moment. “My sister...today, this morning she told me of her plans to enter into a convent. She will go soon, she said that she had been thinking of it for some time, but kept it to herself.”

“To be away from here no doubt.” He wrapped his cloak around his shoulders, placed his dagger back into his boot.

“Yes. She told me so. She says she will feel safe in God’s hands, far away from our uncle. He could not harm her once inside the nunnery.”

“And you?”

“I would like to leave with you, tonight. If you will let me.”

“I am leaving now.”

“My horse is ready. I have some money, some clothes, hidden in the stable. I know places to hide.”

“Then come with me now, boy.”

And Mikhail silently followed as Pavel hurried down the stone steps.

“There you are! The both of you!” The king stepped out from the darkness at the bottom of the stairs, armed guards at his side.

Pavel thought carefully before he spoke. “Majesty! I must thank you for your kindness. But now, alas, I must leave.”

He laughed. “Leave? Never! I have need of one such as you. And, my dear nephew, where are you going at this dark hour?”

“To see him off, uncle. That is all.”

“Oh? Is it? Guards! See that they both return to their rooms! And see that they stay there!”

Laura whispered something as she rested her head down on the couch, slowly drifting down into the dark warmth of sleep. He reached down to touch her hand lightly. “I have to go. I have an appointment to keep. I’ll tell you the rest of the story. I promise.” He left.

“Where the hell have you been?” Martin had alcohol on his breath and Rick could smell it.

“Out.”

“Out?”

“With a friend. That’s all.”

“That’s all,” he mumbled.

“Sorry I’m late,” Rick really didn’t care at all. “Okay, so I saw the late edition of the news and it will be in the morning papers, right?”

“Damn it, Rick! What’s going on?”

“Okay, so it was me who talked to that guy. I’ve been asking around. Like I said, this has been going on for a real long time. That’s the word on the street.”

“Yeah? Then how come we just know about it now?”

“I dunno. This guy says one person kills them, someone else cleans up the mess and removes the evidence. Except now, the clean-up crew is not coming around anymore. Bodies are showing up in public. I don’t understand any of it, but I believe him. Even if he is crazy.”

Leon watched as Martin slowly drifted out. He said good night quietly. Even though he seemed intensely angry earlier, he was now too exhausted to argue any longer.

Rick remained, sitting at the bar sipping heated blood from a large beer mug. “He’s really upset about all this, ‘course it bothers me too.”

“Yeah, everyone around here. Like, who could be next?”

Rick turned to look towards the rear entrance. Leon knew how sensitive his hearing was, and so he automatically went to see who it was.

A frail blonde young woman with a little boy. Their clothes were ragged and threadbare, their eyes filled with the sadness of desperation. “It’s okay. Come on in. Yeah, there’s a couple of sleeping bags in the storage room. “

She stared across the room at Rick, stared at the contents of his glass and pulled the little boy close.

“Don’t worry, he’s okay. Come on.”

She hesitated.

“It’s okay.”

Rick said nothing and considered leaving.

“This is Rick, he’s a friend of mine. He doesn’t mind if you stay here.” Leon led the woman and her little boy away. Rick finished the contents of his beer mug and listened quietly. Leon was talking to her, telling her where she could find food, and he told her to be out before dusk.

Leon returned to finish cleaning up.

“Ever have anything disappear with some of those people?”

“Nope. ’Cause I’m careful, that’s why.” Leon also slept during the day. It was the way he was brought up. “She’ll be all right. She’s trying to get off the streets, trying to get a job.”

“So give her one.”

“I will, soon as we find something for her to do.” He quickly went around the semi darkened room to wipe down tables.

“You think she knows who the clientele is on the bottom floor of this place?”

“I dunno,” he admitted. “There’s rumors. You know that.”

“Yeah, I know.” He got up to leave, “Hey, Leon, take good care of her.”

“Good God, that silly witch will still not pay the rent.” Alex returned, slammed the door behind himself as he stormed in. After trying to deal with Sky, he was drained.

“Throw her out, Alex,” his wife called out from the kitchen. “For heaven’s sakes, enough is enough. It’s just not worth it.”

“She keeps tossing up this tenant’s rights garbage in my face. Damn. I’m going to bed.”

“N-no!”

“No? No?” He froze. What was wrong now?

“Alex! You’re sleeping on the couch!”

“What did I do wrong now?” he growled. “Whatever it is, I don’t care! I had a rough night because of that fool you call your friend.”

“She’s not my friend; not anymore. Come on, help me pull the bed out from the couch and I’ll explain.”

Keisha, who managed Lina’s shop during the day, returned home in the evening to find her new home vandalized. The windows were smashed, trash was scattered about the small lawn, garbage tossed on the front steps. But the first thing Keisha noticed were the racist words spray painted all over her new home. The home she had saved ten years for. The police came and took notes. They asked a few questions, looked around for a short time, and left. She packed a few things after inspecting the inside of her home for damage. There was none. They did not enter the house; they had hit hard and fast, whoever they were. And she had nowhere else to go.

“What? They’re here now?” he moaned. “In our bed?”

“Shush!” she whispered. “You’ll wake them up. They’ve had a rougher night than you!”

Keisha did not want ten year old Tirrell to see it. She brought him right from the babysitter’s.

At least little Tirrell was happy. He loved the poodle. He played with her all night until Keisha had to order him to bed. The poodle went under the covers with him.

“They’ve got no place else, Alex!”

The cheap mattress that pulled out from the couch was lumpy and he let her know it.

“I bought them some food.”

“She better not cook anything that smells.”

“No. I told her about that sort of thing.”

“How long?”

“Until she feels safe.”

“Good. Fine. This is good. Lina, let’s get rid of Sky and maybe Keisha will get interested in renting in a better neighborhood.”

“Alex!”

Fred flexed his muscles as he looked at his body in the mirror. The only thing he wore was his big fake golden medallion. The TV was on. He listened to the talk show and laughed. A woman tearfully told of how she was abducted by small people from outer space who impregnated her then took the fetus to experiment on.

He looked at the cash that was on the desk. He did not count it; Russell did. It looked like there was plenty.

Too bad he wasn’t allowed outside much without his costume. Every time he left the hotel he needed to get into character, keep up the image.

Russ sure was a pain in the ass. But he was right. Someone would say, ‘Excuse me, aren’t you that guy who’s like, you know, from Atlantis?’ It already happened once before.

Zontar was Russell’s invention. Fred was an out of work actor. He looked right for the part, too. Perfect Aryan specimen, bred by higher beings to guide sad, helpless humanity.

“Hey! Zontar!”

“Huh? Damn it, Russ. Don’t call me that.”

“Never mind. Listen. The cops don’t want you no more. It’s cause of that nut making a big circus.”

“So? At least I got you free advertising on TV.”

“Yeah? That kind of advertising can wreck a career. Now, listen up. I booked you for the Retired Persons Community Center.”

Fred choked. “Wha—?”

“Shut up. You’re the entertainment ’cause they’re having a variety show tonight. A tarot reader, a comedian, Nancy’s Dancing Beagles, and you, Oh Mighty Zontar, Being from the Higher Realm!”

“What the—?”

“Never mind. It’s money! Just tell the old ladies that they’re going to all win at bingo or something. Now get your clothes on, will you? You’re beginning to worry me.”

Martin cruised his car slowly in the late afternoon traffic as he looked down into the alleyways between the Victorian era buildings that made up the town’s elegant center. The resort and vacation people were easily recognized. They were dressed casually and drifted in and out of shops. The people who lived in town year-round could be identified because they were in constant motion, selling hot dogs, working at cash registers, sweeping the streets, directing traffic, and driving the buses.

And then there were the alley people. He slowed the car and looked down into the shrouded darkness behind the beautified and freshly painted facades of the buildings.

He witnessed one old woman emerge to reach into a trash can when she saw a tourist toss an unfinished sandwich away. She ate it rapidly. It turned his stomach to see it.

Then an old man. He sat on a curb stone, leaning against the lamppost outside of a small bookstore. He had a coffee cup in his filthy hand, and he was pestering everyone who passed by for change.

Another one came out of the alley, reached into the same trash can, found nothing, and rushed back to hide in the darkness. This one was just a kid, maybe seventeen.

There were a lot of them, and they were all vulnerable to the predator.

“Why is it that you trust me, Mikhail?” he asked.

The guards had allowed them to speak with one another, but only under close watch.